Captain - An Oliver Wood Fanfiction

Chapter 32 - I want to tell you about someone, actually

"I'll be back in a couple weeks, okay?" Erin said. She was waiting for her brother at the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Oliver was keeping her company. They had spent the rest of the night outside of Benjamin's dorm room, checking up on him once in a while. Fred and George had provided them with plenty of snacks from the kitchen and they just talked for a while until Erin fell asleep in Oliver's arms. Oliver had laid her down on the couch in his common room and tucked her in, alternately checking up on her and Benji.

"Take your time. If you need me, just owl me, okay?" he said, pulling her into a hug. She was going home for a couple weeks to attend the funeral and to be with her mother for a bit.

"I will", she said. Benjamin walked into the hallway, so Erin quickly kissed Oliver and waved at him, before walking up the stairs with her little brother.

"Are you okay?" she asked Benjamin, who looked numb.

"I will be", he said and then took Erin's hand, which was something he hadn't done for at least seven years.

"We will be", he said and smiled at her sadly. Erin nodded, really happy to have a sibling.

And so a very, very confusing and exhausting three weeks started. The two apparated home with Dumbledore and spent the day with their mother, which consisted mostly of more crying.

Erin opened the door every two minutes to receive home cooked meals from the neighbourhood whilst her mum talked on the phone with family. Their aunt came over to help with organising the funeral and they went out every day just to get their minds off of things.

They had mourned over their father already, years ago. Her father hadn't been with them emotionally for a long time, but it was still tough to see his chair in the corner by the window, empty. Erin knew she'd be okay and so would Benjamin. She just really hoped her mother would be too. Her aunt would be staying with her for a couple of weeks, but after that, she'd be all alone. Her kids would be at Hogwarts and her husband was gone. Erin really hoped she'd manage.

Although she had shed so many tears already, she still cried at the funeral. She spoke about how her dad got her into lacrosse - as there were quite some muggles at the funeral - and how she knew he was proud of her, even though he couldn't tell her. He had showed her that over Christmas break, as she had hoped for, and for her, there couldn't have been a better goodbye.

After the funeral, a little weight was lifted off her shoulders though. There was only future to look forward to and with her family here and at Hogwarts, Erin knew she'd be able to handle it.

Every night before bed, she would go to Benjamin's room for a bit, just to talk. And every time before she'd leave she'd say: we'll be okay, and they would be.

She wrote Oliver almost every other day, simply telling him what they had done that day. He'd write her back, telling her the latest gossip at Hogwarts. They were preparing for their match against Slytherin and Erin really wanted to be there when they'd win. Because she was sure they'd win.

The Hufflepuff team on the other hand hadn't won. Cedric had taken over the captain spot when Erin left and Heidi had temporarily taken her place as Chaser. Erin didn't mind, as her head was not in the quidditch game at the moment. They had had way too little time to prepare properly though, so Slytherin had crushed them. Oliver told her that over a letter, telling her how much better she was at being captain.

Erin hadn't told her mum about Oliver yet, as she had already too much going on right now, but as her departure back to Hogwarts neared, she really wanted to tell her. Her mother worried so much about her and Erin wanted her to know that she'd be okay. She'd be okay because she had him. She wanted her to know that she was happy, because that would make her mother happy too.