The Education of Oliver Wood

Shadows of the Past

Oliver breathed heavily as he landed on the pitch and jogged towards the coach, trailing behind the rest of the team. Weathers glanced at him before settling his gaze on the chasers and going through pointers on their formations. He then moved on to the beaters, pointing out a few weaknesses, and then the seeker Benjy Williams.

He finally turned his attention to Oliver, sighing before he spoke.

"Better, Wood. But I still need to see more improvement. I want you in early tomorrow for extra conditioning," Weathers said gruffly. Oliver nodded, keeping his face straight, though he was slightly disappointed with his performance. "Alright, dismissed."

The team started moving towards the locker room as Weathers walked over to his coaching staff. Oliver started rolling his shoulders, trying to work out the soreness in his back. He was still taking more bludger hits than he liked. Though there was some improvement, he worried it wouldn't be enough for management. There were only a few weeks left before the season opener and that wasn't much time to make a significant amount of change, though he was hoping to at least have a good start.

"You comin' this weekend, Wood?" Carpenter asked, catching up to him. Oliver slowed down slightly, letting the rest of the team pass around them.

"What's this weekend?" he asked, glancing over at the chaser, trying to remember if he had heard him mention something earlier. He had been rather focused on playing today. At least more so than he had in the past.

"'What's this weekend?' Have you been listening? Harker's having a party. Fairly sure the entire League is going to be there," Carpenter said with a laugh. "Just a little something to help get the season off to a good start and all."

"Oh... suppose I'll be there then," he said, thinking it over.

While he was supposed to be avoiding situations that might land him in the gossip columns, surely one party wouldn't hurt. And he had been rather good at staying under the radar the last week or so. Or, at least he thought so. Certainly hadn't done anything worth writing about in his mind.

"Perhaps that fit little chaser on the Arrows will be there," Carpenter said with a wink.

Oliver frowned. Emmie wasn't one for big parties with people she didn't know well. But there was a good chance that she would be there. It was the first party of the season. Her team would likely drag her out to it, knowing them.

Was he ready to see her?

"Maybe," he said finally. Carpenter laughed.

"Lighten up, Wood. Should be fun," Carpenter said, jogging ahead of him.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Wilda asked, stepping up to Oliver's side, a frown already on her face. "You're supposed to be keeping things in check and going to a League party seems like a good way to blow that up. You're running out of chances. "

"I'll be fine," he said, scowling at her. He was an adult. Surely, he could conduct himself well enough at one party. Wilda sighed.

"I'm serious, Wood. You should be playing it safe," she continued. "And playing it safe is not giving the press even more to write about. Which is sure to happen if you go to a party where you'll most definitely run into your ex-girlfriend."

"Just leave it, Griffiths," he said, picking up his speed. What did she know about him and Emmie anyway?

"I'm trying to help you," she said urgently.

"Would ye fuckin' stop. I already have one mam and that's enough," he shot over his shoulder, though he winced slightly. Since when did he speak so harshly? Ah, right. This was part of the new Oliver. Wilda only shook her head as she stopped trying to catch up to him, huffing in anger.