Catching Her Heart Pt. 1

Chapter 2

The next morning at breakfast, Oliver smiled against the lip of his goblet of pumpkin juice as a school barn owl dropped a letter onto his plate of bacon, eggs and sausage. Setting the goblet down after taking a drink, he tore open the letter and read:

Hello Oliver,

Thank you for the warm welcome. First off, I must ask you how you did that! It was lovely magic. Of course, I'm sure I could figure it out if you don't want to tell me, but then I haven't yet found the library. Hogwarts is amazing, and huge! How do you ever find your way? I suppose I will, too, in time, but at the moment it just seems so daunting.

I must also ask you what Quidditch is, I suppose by my question, you probably guessed that I come from a non-wizarding family — I read up on the wizarding world as much as I could before coming, and learned that — if you come from a magical family, that is, you would call me Muggle-born. I am an only child, and my parents are dentists. They... that is to say, if you don't know what that is, they fix people's teeth in the Muggle world.

You're right... I — I'm not really good at making friends. I try — but it is difficult for me to find people I can get along with. I suppose it all goes back to my parents — they are so busy with their work that I was alone all the time, and I often found that I enjoyed reading more than some other people's company, so your offer of friendship is greatly appreciated, thank you.

I don't even know what you look like though, you said you saw me talking with Percy Weasley last night about classes? Is that his name? I did meet a boy named Ron Weasley on the train. Are they brothers? Oh, and I also got to meet Harry Potter! They were sitting together on the train when I helped this boy, Neville, look for his toad, and we asked them about it.

Well, it's almost time for breakfast I am afraid, and I had better find the Owlery before it ends to make sure you get this by then.

Hermione

Oliver smiled and tucked the letter in the pocket of his robes before finishing his breakfast and heading off to class. During class, he pulled out a piece of parchment and wrote Hermione back.

Hello lass,

In answer to your first question, it isn't anything but general magic. By that I mean, think of an object that you want the parchment to look like, then tap it with your wand. Address it, and send it off. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. As for the library, it's located on the fourth floor. You'll learn your way around soon, I have no doubt.

Quidditch is wizards' sport. It's played in the air on broomsticks. There are two teams with seven players on each team. Two Beaters, a Keeper — that's me — three Chasers, and a Seeker. We will be holding tryouts for a new Seeker during the second week. Our old Seeker graduated Hogwarts last year.

There are three kinds of balls — one is the Quaffle. The Chasers handle the Quaffle, and try to get it through one of three hoops. These hoops are at each end of the field, called the Pitch. The Keeper defends the hoops. The two Beaters defend the players from one of two balls enchanted to knock them off their brooms that are called Bludgers. The goal of the Beater is not only to defend his own team, but to knock the Bludgers back toward the opposing team.

The Seeker can be the most important player on the team, they can either win or lose the game for the team. You see, their job is to look out for a tiny golden ball — the Golden Snitch. It's wicked fast and damned near impossible to see. The game continues until one team's Seeker catches the Snitch. It's worth 150 points to the team that catches it, while every goal passed the Keeper with the Quaffle is worth only 10 points. If you're interested, I suggest reading Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp. It talks in more detail about the game on things like equipment and penalties.

I am a half-blood. My dad's a wizard, my mom is a Muggle, but I grew up in the wizarding world. My mom has a sister with some kids, but her folks died before she met my dad. We don't really associate with her side of the family — it's not that we have anything against them, because we don't, it just... makes it easier. I'm not sure how it is for other half-bloods, but for us, it was like we were living a lie whenever we were around them. The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, and all. We had to make up excuses, and we actually moved away when I started showing signs of magic when I was five. I am also an only child, though I have always wanted to have a sister.

Yes, Ron and Percy are brothers. The twins, Fred and George, who are also on the Quidditch team — they're the Beaters — are also their siblings. There are two older brothers, I believe their names are Bill and Charlie, Charlie was the Seeker that graduated, I knew him, but wasn't acquainted with his brother so I am not sure of his name and just haven't asked to be honest, there's also a younger sister, Ginny, who hasn't started Hogwarts yet. It's nice that you got to meet Harry — I haven't yet. The train was too crowded. Maybe I will eventually, who knows.

You're welcome for the friendship, lass, you can write to me any time, and if you want to know what I look like — if you haven't figured it out by then, you can come and watch the tryouts in our second week. Glad you found the Owlery this morning — see, you're already learning your way around!

I'd better go now before I lose points for taking so long on this. Luckily, right now we're just supposed to be taking notes. *wink*

Oliver

Oliver slid the piece of parchment away from his stack and looked up at the board where Professor Binns was still writing and droning on. He looked around and saw a window was open so he quietly withdrew his wand and tapped the letter. This time it quickly folded itself into a crane and flapped its wings. "Hermione Granger," he whispered. "Head for her dorm, off you go." He held his breath as the crane lifted into the air and made its way out the window, before he sighed and began writing down the notes on the board, scribbling madly to catch up before they disappeared.