2- Oliver Wood
Slytherins' and Gryffindors' watch from the stands as Harry Potter nimbly flies through the air following the golden snitch while Draco Malfoy follows hot on his heels, both seekers willing to do almost anything to catch the tiny ball. Everyone in the crowds watches with anticipation, waiting for one of the players to catch it, hardly noticing a new announcement that Slytherin chaser, Y/n L/n has scored another ten points for her team, now making the score 130 Slytherin to 130 Gryffindor.
"Nice shot, L/n!" Marcus Flint hollers.
Y/n has been on a scoring streak lately to the dismay of the Gryffindors'. Throughout the five previous years of her playing for her team, she'd been consistent, therefore making her predictable. Oliver caught onto her predictability and blocked almost every shot she'd make.
Over the summer holiday, Y/n invested her free time into practicing quidditch with her older sister who just so happened to get recruited on the Holyhead Harpies. Every morning they would wake up at 7:00 AM, eat breakfast, then spend the rest of the morning into late afternoon playing against each other. After a long day of practicing, they'd do maintenance on their brooms (they'd polish their brooms once every three days and do daily inspections to make sure everything is in pristine condition), go inside to take showers. Whenever there was a game, they would try to go and take note of new moves they'd want to try the next day. During this time, Y/n learned how to break her old habits and be completely unpredictable with her movements and scoring.
The seekers lost sight of the snitch (much to their frustration and dismay) and the game continued on for another forty or so minutes, Y/n racking up points against Gryffindor until Harry spotted the snitch flying right in front of his face and grabbed it.
"Harry Potter catches the snitch!" Lee Jordan shouts.
Madam Hootch flies around then announces, "Slytherin wins!"
Slytherin cheers while Gryffindor looks confused and outraged.
"What!?"
"But Harry caught the snitch! That should've put them in the lead!"
Multiple angered words were heard from the red-and-yellow-clad stands when Lee Jordan announces the final score, 340 Slytherin to 310 Gryffindor.
The Slytherin team takes a lap around the pitch earning cheers from their fellow housemates while the Gryffindors' from the stands just grumble and make their way back into the school.
Once the victorious team lands, they are confronted by the opposing team along with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
"She cheated!" Ron shouts being held back by his twin brothers, Fred and George, from charging at the chaser. "That's the only way they could've possibly won! She cheated! Admit it L/n!" He glares at the Slytherin girl.
"How dare you!? How dare you accuse me of cheating! You've got some nerve, Weasley!" Y/n retaliates defensively. "Unlike you, some of us have pure talent!"
"Talent? Is that what you're calling it?" Angelina Johnson mutters to herself.
"Oh please!" Ron starts again. "Up until this year you've sucked!"
"Don't talk to her like that!" Miles Bletchley, the Slytherin keeper, makes his way between the pair.
"He's got a point." Oliver Wood states. "I've been able to catch your shots in the past L/n. What 'ave you did to win now?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you. I don't have to explain myself to any of you." She huffs, storming away to the Slytherin locker room.
"You lot do know her sister plays for the Holyhead Harpies, right?" Marcus questions the other team rhetorically. "She's spent her whole summer playing. She's told us."
"Nobody can get that good in just a few months," Ron argues.
"We'll make her tell the truth." The Weasley twins chorus with identical smirks.
The Slytherin team sends their opponents' harsh glares as they walk in the direction Y/n had to change into fresh clothes for dinner.
~~~~~~~~~~
Oliver pinches the bridge of his nose as Fred and George finish telling everyone in the boy's locker room about their plan to get Y/n to admit that she cheated during the game.
"So you want me to slip her veritaserum? How do you reckon I do that? 'Oi, L/n, take this, we want to know if you cheated or not.' Fat chance." Oliver scoffs.
"Well not like that!" George exclaims exasperatedly.
"Just apologize about what happened on the field earlier, say good game, then slip it into her drink when nobody's looking." Fred finishes.
"It's unlikely that nobody would notice. He'll get caught." Harry points out.
Fred thinks for a second to consider what Harry mentioned before he gets a mischievous glint in his eyes. "That's why we'll distract everyone with firecrackers or something."
"Or maybe get Seamus to blow something up." George snickers.
~~~~~~~~~~
"There she is, the quidditch star herself!" A guy from the Slytherin table announces excitedly as Y/n passes by to get to her usual seat.
"Nice game today L/n. You really put those Gryffindors' into their place!"
More congratulations were said and Y/n smiles at the attention she's given, ignoring the bitter looks from the opponents' table.
"L/n! Hey, L/n!" Y/n glances over to see Oliver Wood walking toward her.
"What do you want now, Wood?" She rolls her eyes, expecting him to start shouting about how she'd supposedly cheated.
Students from all four houses who heard watch Oliver go right up to Y/n, almost all of them curious as to what is about to happen.
"I wanted to apologize... you know... 'bout earlier." She furrows her brows in confusion, along with a few onlookers, and he continues. "Look, we shouldn't have called you a cheater earlier, that was wrong. You guys put up a good match."
"Cut to the chase, Wood."
"Good game." He holds out his hand for her to shake.
"What?" She asks, not believing for a second that he'd willingly congratulate his enemy.
"I said-" He begins but is quickly cut off by her.
"I heard you, but I just never thought you'd congratulate me."
"Why not?" He asks, still holding out his hand awkwardly.
"Because you're you and you hate losing."
"Look, I just came over to be nice."
"Okay, well, thanks."
Y/n reaches out to shake Oliver's hand when loud bangs followed by orange sparks erupted at the Gryffindor table. Everyone looks over to see Seamus's face covered in soot with his hair sticking up in an unnatural way due to the explosion. Oliver takes this chance and gets the vile of veritaserum George stole from Snape's personal potion cabinet in his classroom from his pocket and tips the liquid into her goblet.
"Did you just spike her drink?" Draco, who is sitting in front of Y/n, asks, watching Oliver quickly shove the small bottle into his pocket. Y/n looks over and doesn't catch Oliver as Draco had.
"What are you talking about, Malfoy? Course, I didn't. Who do you think I am?" Oliver asks defensively, a hint of nervousness is evident in his tone.
"It looks like a stupid Gryffindor just spiked our chaser's drink!" Murmurs buzz throughout the Great Hall, every student now paying attention to the scene.
Y/n has a smirk on her face as she lifts up her goblet and holds it out for Oliver to take. "If you didn't put anything in it then why don't you drink it?" She suggests cockily, knowing that he'd do it whether he did or didn't put anything in her cup.
"But then you won't have anything to drink." He argues.
"We can switch goblets if you're so concerned." Y/n shrugs, her goblet still shining in her hand for him to take.
He hesitantly takes the cup and holds it to his lips, debating on if he should actually drink it or if he should just come clean. Either way, he'd be coming clean, so what's the harm in it?
"Scared, Wood?" Marcus, who occupies the seat next to Y/n's, smirks.
"You wish." He replies right before taking a drink from the goblet.
The Gryffindor boys who are in on the plan widen their eyes not thinking that he would actually get caught and have to drink truth serum.
"So, Wood," Y/n gets his attention. "What did you put in my goblet?"
"Veritaserum."
"Uh-huh. Who's plan was it?"
"Fred and George." He mumbles quietly.
"Should've known from the start that a Weasley would come up with something dim-witted like this." She mumbles mainly to herself then gives her attention back to the boy standing in front of her. "Do you honestly think I cheated?"
There is a pause for a brief moment before Oliver decides to answer. "Yes."
Y/n gives him a cold glare as she snatches the goblet from his hand, a bit of the juice splashing out at the harshness, and takes a sip, everyone's eyes grow slightly wide at the action, not expecting her to actually drink it.
"For your, and everyone else's, information, I did not cheat today, nor in the past at a quidditch match. I didn't explain myself to your not totally pathetic team because I don't want you to know my strategies. Now sod off because I'm incredibly infuriated that you would think so little of me."
Oliver hung his head in shame and made his way over to the Gryffindor table to sit with the rest of the quidditch team.
He spent the rest of the dinner pushing food around on his plate with his fork feeling guilty for both his and his team's actions toward her and making a plan to make things better.
During his time of silence, Y/n went back to casually talking with her team and offered to teach the chasers a few of her strategies the next time they had practice in order to help build strength on the team and improve some skills.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Slytherin team improved significantly with Y/n's coaching and she was even promoted to captain of her team the last practice they had. Not only were the chasers improving, but so was the keeper as he had to manage to keep the chasers from scoring.
Their efforts were not put to waste as the last few games against Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff ended in victory for Slytherin and everyone watching could tell that they were the team to beat this year instead of Gryffindor as it had been in the past.
While the Slytherins were coming up with ways to win, Oliver had his own plan. He and the other Gryffindors trained relentlessly after hearing the news of what the Slytherins are like on the pitch. They improved, but they didn't know if it would be enough to win. That would all be put up to the test the next day when the teams are to go head to head in another game.
Even with the Gryffindor team trying relentlessly to improve, Oliver's mind was elsewhere as he crafts a plan to make it up to Y/n.
~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone in the crowd is leaning forward as close as they can get to the edge of the bleachers in anticipation as they watch both teams walk out onto the pitch, mount their brooms, then take off to the skies to fly around for a few moments to hype up their houses until they finally reach their positions.
Madam Hooch walks out onto the field, looks up at the players, and says, "Now, I want a nice, clean game. From all of you." She says this every time a new match is about to take place, but this time she made sure to look each of the players in their eyes to make sure she gets her point across as she, as well as every other professor and student, can sense the thickness of the tension in the air.
She kicks open the trunk holding the balls and everyone watches as the bludgers shoot up into the air followed closely by the snitch. The beaters lock their eyes on the dangerous bludgers and the seekers do the same with the snitch.
Madam Hooch bends down, picks up the quaffle, and throws it up into the air. The game has begun.
Y/n snatches the ball before anyone else and she zips across the sky with it tucked securely under her arm while the Gryffindor chasers try to grab the ball away from her.
Y/n, fed up with their attempts, aggressively hurdles forward without a care in the world if she bumps into other players in her way. She knocks Angelina aside as well as some of her own teammates who weren't quick enough to move out of her way. Trailing behind her were Marcus Flint and Adrian Pucey who made sure to keep Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet away from Y/n.
Lee Jordan announces what's happening, as if nobody is intently watching, and adds a few snarky remarks toward Y/n as she reaches the three goal posts Oliver is blocking. She raises her arm with the ball in her hand and performs a fake-out which leads to her earning ten points for her team.
"Slytherin chaser Y/n L/n has scored the first ten points!" Lee Jordan announces while cheers come from the Slytherin stands and groans come from the Gryffindors
"Nice shot Y/l," Oliver shouts as she flies over and catches the quaffle.
"Bugger off you daft mule." She snarls.
Oliver flies back up to his place and throws to ball over to Katie Bell who is shoved aside by Adrian and Marcus catches the quaffle. He throws it back to Y/n and she scores once more.
"Another ten points to Slytherin! Come on Gryffindor, pick up the pace!" Lee gets a pointed look from McGonagall and a sharp reminder about no favouritism from the said professor.
The game continues on and the tension remains, mainly from the Slytherins as they play more aggressively than they had been before, especially by Y/n who seems to fly like a rocket across the pitch.
Every time Y/n was the one with the quaffle going to score against Gryffindor, Oliver seemed to miss the ball either entirely, or just out of his grasp, but almost every time Marcus or Adrian was the one to go up against him, he caught their throws and soon enough people started catching on to what he seemed to be doing, though the majority of them thought that one of the Slytherins, namely Y/n, jinxed his broom so she could score.
Alicia goes over to Fred and George and they make a plan to take her out of the game so they could win, so, whenever they were able to hit one of the two bludgers, they aimed to hit Y/n to knock her off her broom.
Marcus and Adrian, on the other hand, decided to only give the quaffle to Y/n since Oliver seems to be purposely missing her shots for some odd reason.
Once Y/n realizes that Oliver is throwing the game she becomes livid.
"Ten points to Slytherin!"
"WOOD! ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE I'M CHEATING!? THAT'S LOW, EVEN FOR THE LIKES OF YOU!" She screeches once he misses yet another one of her shots.
"What are you talking about, L/n!?" He shouts back beyond nervous that he'd been caught.
"YOU'RE THROWING THE BLOODY GAME!"
"Don't you want to win!?"
"OF COURSE I DO, BUT NOT IN A FIXED GAME!" Y/n starts flying over to Madame Hooch about to forfeit the match for a fair game when George sends a bludger at her.
"LOOK OUT!" Oliver yells horrified just seconds before the ball rammed into Y/n's left shoulder. Everyone is silent when she lets out a scream of great pain as she falls off her broom.
"Y/n L/n just took a nasty bludger to the arm and is going down! Is that Wood?" Oliver flies over to Y/n as fast as he possibly can and catches her just before she crashes on the ground. "Nice catch by Wood! Looks like L/n's got herself a keeper!"
"AH! WOOD, MY ARM!" She shouts through clenched teeth.
"Sorry," He mutters, concentrating on getting her on the ground safely.
The moment he lands, Y/n tumbles out of his arms and joins Madam Pomfrey on the field.
"Come, dear. Let's fix you right up." The healer gently ushers her away from the game to the hospital wing. As they walk Y/n looks back and sees Oliver has already mounted his broom and is flying back up to the goalposts he's supposed to defend.
~~~~~~~~~
Heads snap in the direction of the large double doors of the infirmary as one swings open and in stumbles the Slytherin quidditch team along with a few of Y/n's friends that were watching from the stands.
"Are you alright?" Marcus asks worriedly, hoping that their star player will be able to continue playing.
"Never mind me, did we win?" Y/n inquires.
"Of course we did!" Adrian laughs heartily. "Wood practically threw the match!"
"That's because he did! I was going to demand a rematch from Hooch when that stupid weasel broke my shoulder!" She fumes.
"He broke your shoulder?" Draco asks in shock.
"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey gave me a potion that'll heal me within the week. Until then I have to miss some quidditch practising, but I can coach you lot until I can play again."
"How are you so nonchalant about this?" One of her dorm mates, Iyla Bower, questions.
Y/n shrugs in reply but instantly regrets the decision as yet another sharp pain shoots in her shoulder and she hisses in pain with her teeth grit and eyes tightly shut.
"Are you alright?" Oliver asks from the doors surrounded by a few members of his team.
"Just peachy before you lot showed up." A few snickers rise from the Slytherins. "What do you want?"
"We- No. I want to sincerely apologize for my previous actions. I shouldn't have tried giving you veritaserum, I'm sorry for throwing the game today, and most of all I'm sorry I doubted your honesty."
"Then why are they here?" She asks giving a pointed glare to both of the twins as she's not quite sure which one broke her shoulder.
"He made us come to apologize, but we've done nothing." Angelina states with a roll of her eyes. "Honestly, it's weird how much he-"
"Shut up!" Olive whisper shouts in embarrassment.
"I don't need your pathetic apologies. I'd appreciate you leaving more than whatever attempt at an apology you could come up with."
"You heard her, let's go!" George states as he spins around and quickly leaves. He's followed by the rest of the team excluding Oliver who continues standing there awkwardly.
"Why are you still here? She's made it pretty obvious that she wants you to leave." Lydia Mills, the first friend Y/n made on the Hogwarts Express, questions.
"I uh, nevermind. Get well soon, L/n."
He turns away quickly and shuts the doors behind him.
~~~~~~~~~~
"He's staring at you again," Lydia subtly nudges her head pointedly to the Ravenclaw table where a boy in their year sits with his head in his hand looking intently at Y/n. The girl looks up at him and gives a small smile as he quickly averts his eyes and takes a sudden interest in his food.
Iyla laughs a bit before stating, "You know, I've heard from a few students in our charms class that he's really into you."
"Really?" Y/n smiles. She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and catches him looking at her again.
Iyla hums in agreement. "I've also heard that a certain Gryffindor quidditch captain is not too happy about that." She uses her fork to point out Oliver Wood glaring daggers at the Ravenclaw.
"If he weren't a Gryffindor, I'd say that's almost sweet," Lydia adds.
"Sweet?" Y/n questions.
"He's jealous," She explains.
"I doubt it. He's just an arrogant, good for nothing, piece of-"
"He's coming over!" Iyla whisper shouts excitedly.
"No, he's not. He's just sitting there like a lazy slug."
"Not Wood, Rogers!" Lydia huffs.
Y/n looks up to see Jack Rogers making his way from the Ravenclaw table over to the Slytherin table where the three girls sit patiently as they pretend they don't know he's coming over.
"Hey, you're Y/n, right?" The girls turn to face him and Y/n nods with a pleasant smile.
"Yes. Rogers, right?" She asks.
"Yeah, but most people just call me Jack." Y/n hums with a slight nod.
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Y/n asks, "Is there a reason why you came over here, or are you just admiring the scenery?"
"I was wondering if you'd possibly consider accompanying me on the next trip to Hogsmeade." He asks with his gaze averted to a basket of rolls on the table.
"I'll consider it," Y/n responds, trying to sound suave when in her mind she is anything but.
"Really!?" Jack perks up and looks thrilled then quickly tries to become collected as he leans against the wall. "I mean, cool. Maybe I'll see you later then."
"Maybe you will," Y/n smirks.
Jack stands upright and makes his way back to the table where his friends sit, eagerly waiting for him to tell them what happened.
The three girls break their composure and start excitedly talking about what just happened and about what Y/n should wear on the date. Caught up in the excitement, neither group caught sight of Oliver making a sudden exit from the Great Hall.
~~~~~~~~~~
The door to the Three Broomsticks opens an Oliver looks up from his butterbeer to find Y/n and Jack walking in with their arms linked and Y/n laughing at something her date just said. He rolls his eyes and goes back to sipping on the sweet drink.
The pair make their way to an empty table a few feet away from Oliver and Y/n takes her seat, neither noticing the scowling quidditch player.
"I'll go get the drinks, you stay here and keep the table," Jack says. Y/n agrees and starts looking around the slightly crowded room until her eyes lock with Oliver's. She gives him a questioning look. After not averting his gaze, she rolls her eyes with a slight sneer and goes back to scanning the room.
Minutes later Jack comes back with the drinks and places Y/n's glass in front of her then sits.
Oliver chugs the last of his drink then abruptly leaves. This, of course, catches Y/n's attention and she stares at him confusedly.
"You like him, don't you?" Jack asks with a disappointed tone.
Y/n brings her attention back to the boy and starts acting defensively.
"What? Of course, I don't. Don't be ridiculous."
"Are you sure? You seem to stare at him a lot."
"No, I don't." She argues.
"Look, this has been a lovely date, but you seem a bit preoccupied. Not only did I catch you staring at Wood just now, but for the past few weeks."
"I don't stare at him. He's absolutely repulsive." She huffs, crossing her arms.
Jack gives her a pointed look and lets out a slight sigh. "Thank you for coming with me today, but I think we should go our separate ways." He stands once more with his mug in hand and moves to sit at a different table leaving Y/n to sit alone with her drink and her thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Nice job everyone," Oliver stands before his team of panting Gryffindors without looking in any way tired from the afternoon's practice. "remember, we have another practice two days from today and I expect to see you all there." With that, he dismisses the team and he starts packing up the truck of quidditch equipment.
By the time he has caught and locked up the bludgers, the others had already changed and went on their way back to the castle so he walks alone to the locker room.
Just as he is about to open the door he gets pulled to the side of the building away from prying eyes.
"L/n?"
"Why'd you do it?" She asks sharply, pointing her wand to his throat threateningly.
Oliver stands there shocked and confused with his back pressed against the brick wall without a chance to escape the furious Slytherin in front of him.
"Do what?" He croaks, the tip of her wand pressing harder into his neck making it uncomfortable to breathe.
"Why'd you make him leave? I know you did something. Did you pay him? Did you promise to do his homework?"
"I have no idea what you're talking-"
"Liar!" She hisses.
"Honest to Merlin!" He shouts.
"Jack Rogers you daft mule! What'd you do to make him leave!?"
"I didn't do anything! I swear! Please lower your wand!"
Annoyed, Y/n lowers her wand.
"You did it! He left because of you. Just- just tell me why you did it." Her voice quickly goes from angry to defeated.
"He left you? Because of me? That doesn't make any sense."
Y/n huffs and sends sparks at his feet.
"Ow! Hey, I'm just as clueless as you are!"
"Sorry, I didn't do it on purpose, it just sort of happens when I'm upset." Y/n puts her wand in the inside pocket of her robe. "He left saying something ridiculous about me being preoccupied with you."
Oliver smirks. "Really?"
She glances back up at him and rolls her eyes.
"You're a prat."
"Well, are you?"
"Am I what?"
"Preoccupied with me? I wouldn't judge you if you are."
"You're ridiculous, you know that? Not only did you ruin my date, but you accuse me of cheating, you throw a game, make a fool of yourself in front of my friends, and glare at Jack the entire week leading up to our date. If you weren't a stupid Gryffindor I'd..."
"You'd what?"
"I'd think you're interested in me. Not the whole accusing me of cheating thing, but the other stuff."
"And because I'm in Gryffindor I'm not into you?"
"Exactly! So what's the deal?" Oliver looks down at the ground chuckling slightly. "What's so funny?"
"Y/n, I think you're the most stubborn, accusatory, oblivious, hard-working, beautiful girl I've ever met in my entire life."
Y/n feels her cheeks grow warm at his backhanded compliment. "What?"
"I've liked you since we played our first match against each other. You're so passionate about quidditch and I always thought you were pretty. The reason why I could block all of your shots is that I was always watching you play and I caught onto your patterns. You bit the inside of your cheek before you caught the quaffle. You wrinkle your nose when you pass by your opponents. Your eyes darted to a goal post before you tried to perform a fake-out. You changed over the summer and this change threw me off. The only thing that stayed the same is your smile whenever you score. I think you look perfect in those moments. After that game, I got so caught up in your change that I thought you cheated, and I'm very sorry. You looked so angry that I thought throwing the game and watching you smile would make everything up. And I admit, I was jealous that Jack asked you out. He had the courage to ask you out before I could, and it just... Yeah. I was jealous. Seeing you with him at the Three Broomsticks made me so... mad! While I'm being honest, I'm glad he left you because now I told you how I really feel about you."
"Do you really mean that?" Y/n asks, astonished that the boy she thought she hated would actually say such nice things to her of all people.
"Every word." He answers with a hopeful smile.
"But I'm in Slytherin. We're supposed to hate each other."
"Well, luckily I've never really liked that unspoken rule."
"You're an idiot." She smiles.
"You're beautiful."
Overwhelmed with intense emotions, Y/n wraps her arms around Oliver's neck and brings him down into a passionate kiss. Oliver quickly reciprocates and places his hands on her hips, pulling her closer.
All too soon they pull apart with content smiles.
"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for that." Oliver mumbles.
"Just shut up and kiss me again, lover boy."
He chuckles in amusement and pulls her back to him. This kiss is much sweeter than the first and less needy. A perfect second kiss.
"L/n! Where are you!? We have practice!"
The pair quickly move apart at the sound of Marcus Flint calling for the Slytherin captain.
"This stays between us." Y/n whispers sharply. She places a quick kiss on his cheek then jogs away. "Coming!"
Flint looks behind him to see Y/n running from behind the locker rooms.
"What were you doing back there?" Draco asks curiously.
"Stretching away from wondering Gryffindor eyes. You never know who's watching. Besides, I don't want them to see the new warm-ups I've come up with." Her lies seem to satisfy her teammates. She calls over the team and orders them to commence their regular stretches while she changes into her uniform.
~~~~~~~~~~
Throughout the four weeks of Oliver and Y/n having a secret, somewhat, relationship, there was a lot of secretly flirty banter, quick winks, smiles covered by smirks, and many more meetings behind the locker rooms. During this time, Oliver found himself daydreaming more often about Y/n, more specifically, what it would be like taking her out on dates to Hogsmede or sitting with her at one of the tables in the Great Hall while holding her hand. In his mind the events were perfect. He didn't have to worry about being caught or questioned why he was dating a Slytherin. Instead, the only problem he had to face was imagining new scenarios.
The real world seems to get more difficult for him. Because Y/n is constantly on his mind, he's been losing focus on important information he needs in order to prepare for the NEWTS. Not only that, but they've both been acting suspicious to their housemates and almost blowing their cover. He'd asked Y/n several times to go public but each time she refused.
Y/n, on the other hand, thought that this arrangement was adequate until they graduated and from them on they could go public. She didn't understand why Oliver felt a need to go public and be teased for the last few months of their time at Hogwarts nor did she want to. Of course, she found it difficult to sneak away from her friends and teammates to secretly meet up with him, but it didn't bother her.
~~~~~~~~~~
The last, and arguably the most important quidditch game of the season, finally arrived and the Great Hall is buzzing with excited charter about Slytherin and Gryffindor going head to head in the final game. Among this chatter, the captains murmur some last-minute strategies and encouragement, as well as a few empty threats from Y/n with even more prying ears trying to listen in on the conversation.
"Hey L/n!" One of the twins suddenly shouts causing the Slytherin team to face him. "When we win feel free to polish our trophy since that'll be the closest you'll ever come to getting it!"
A few laughs ring out from the Gryffindors as Y/n sneers.
"When we win, I won't allow you to put as much as your little finger on it!" She retorts.
The bickering between both teams continues until they had to separate into different locker rooms to change and prepare for the game.
Moments before Y/n walks into the Slytherin girls locker room, Oliver catches her arm and pulls her to the side of the small building.
"What are you doing? We have to change!" Y/n whispers with a slight giggle.
Can't I just give my girlfriend a good luck kiss?" Oliver smirks and presses his lips to hers quickly.
"That was a pathetic kiss," Y/n fake pouts. "Let me show you how to do it." She quickly wraps her arms around his neck, gently pulls him down toward her and kisses him passionately.
Oliver pulls back first for air with a dazed, lovesick smile. "You're amazing," He breaths.
"So are you, but just keep that thought when I win."
"Who says I'll let you?" Oliver teases.
"You won't let me but I'll still win."
"If you're so confident then let's make a bet."
"A bet?"
"Yeah. If Gryffindor wins you have to let me kiss you in front of everyone."
"Oliver." She warns.
"I know you don't want us to get teased, but you don't have to care about what others think about us. Please?"
"Fine. But is Slytherin wins we'll keep us a secret until we graduate."
"Deal. Seal it with a kiss?" He asks childishly, puckering his lips for her to kiss.
Y/n rolls her eyes with an adoring smile and kisses him quickly.
"Okay, you need to leave now before our teams come looking for us."
"One more kiss?" He asks. She gives him a quick peck on the cheek and starts trying to push him away. "That was a pathetic kiss." He mocks.
"If you're patient you'll get a better one later."
"Promise?"
"Promise. Now go."
Oliver smiles and sprints over to the Gryffindor boys locker room and runs in startling his teammates.
"Where were you?" Fred curiously asks.
"Unimportant. Finish changing and meet me at the lineup. One of you, tell the girls to meet there."
He changes as quickly as possible and joins the others.
"I know we all want to win, but this is the game we need to win. Potter, catch the snitch as quickly as you possibly can. Johnson, Bell, Spinnet, keep the quaffle away from the Slytherins at any cost. Weasleys', try not to hurt anyone too badly," He turns around and mumbles under his breath, "especially not Y/n."
~~~~~~~~
"Remember how I usually tell you that winning isn't important but it feels better than losing? Forget that. Winning this game is the most important thing we need to do right now. We better win or you'll be hearing from me! Seeker, catch the snitch no matter what you have to do! Keeper, don't you dare allow one of those Gryffindors to score! Beaters, knock their chasers off their brooms! Chasers, either make sure you get the quaffle through one of the hoops or give it to me! Do I make myself clear?!"
"Yes, captain!" The team shouts.
"If we win I will personally polish all of your brooms and buy you all a round of butterbeer the next time we go to Hogsmeade. If we don't, I will force all of you to run fifteen laps around the pitch directly after the game! Do I make myself clear?!"
"Yes, captain!"
"Do not show them any mercy, do I make myself clear?!"
"Yes, captain!"
"Now line up, play your hardest, and have fun! Do I make myself clear?!"
"Yes, captain!"
They all started on their way to the lineup and Marcus turns to Y/n.
"Why are you so competitive today? I'm not complaining, I'm just curious."
Without facing him she answers, "This is the last game of the season and my last quidditch game at Hogwarts. I'd prefer to leave with the win."
He humans in understanding and doesn't say anymore as they get into their positions, waiting for Lee Jordan to announce them.
The teams only have to wait a few minutes until everyone flies out onto the pitch and up into their positions.
~~~~~~~~
"Harry Potter has caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins!"
The Gryffindors cheer happily and the Slytherins groan in disappointment, the players groaning louder than the rest.
Y/n lands as quickly as she can with Oliver following hot on her heels.
"Y/n! Stop!" He shouts. She reluctantly does so and turns to face him.
"Congrats, Wood."
"Thanks. You played well, I honestly thought we were going to lose at one point. If Harry hadn't caught the snitch, we probably wouldn't have."
"If I'm being honest, I didn't think I was going to make some of those shots. You did fantastic up there."
"Thanks." He looks down awkwardly. "Look, I'm not going to force you to keep up on your end of the bet. I know you're uncomfortable and I guess I don't mind waiting just a little longer."
"Really?" She asks shocked.
"Yeah. I get it. Slytherins aren't known for their bravery."
"Excuse me?!" Heads starts to turn toward the pair.
"I'm fairly certain you heard me correctly. I think you're too much of a coward to go through with the bet."
"I am not a coward!"
"Prove it." He smirks when she storms forward, grabs hold of his robes, and pulls him down to face her.
"Watch me."
She pulls him closer and kisses him in front of the crowd of students, some watching, others not paying attention.
Murmurs rise from the students and staff around them, quickly gaining the attention of almost everyone attending the final game of the year.
Y/n pulls back. "Happy now, lover boy?"
"Nope."
"What?" Y/n asks confused. "I held up my end of the deal!"
"Technically the deal is to let me kiss you."
"You sneaky little-" Oliver quickly places his hands on her waist, steps forward, and gives her a second kiss in front of everyone.
As the frantic whispers continue, Fred and George let out wolf whistles towards the couple.
Oliver rests his forehead on hers and smiles brightly. "Now I'm happy."
"Oh shut up." Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the rest of her team sneaking away to get changed and quickly moves away from Oliver. "And where do you think you lot are going?!" They freeze, refusing to face her. "Fifteen laps!" And so they start jogging.
"What was that about?"
"I told them if we lost they'd have to run fifteen laps. I don't like to lose."
"I love it when you lose when I get to kiss you afterwards."
"Oh, shut up," She grumbles with a small smile.
"Nice shot, L/n!" Marcus Flint hollers.
Y/n has been on a scoring streak lately to the dismay of the Gryffindors'. Throughout the five previous years of her playing for her team, she'd been consistent, therefore making her predictable. Oliver caught onto her predictability and blocked almost every shot she'd make.
Over the summer holiday, Y/n invested her free time into practicing quidditch with her older sister who just so happened to get recruited on the Holyhead Harpies. Every morning they would wake up at 7:00 AM, eat breakfast, then spend the rest of the morning into late afternoon playing against each other. After a long day of practicing, they'd do maintenance on their brooms (they'd polish their brooms once every three days and do daily inspections to make sure everything is in pristine condition), go inside to take showers. Whenever there was a game, they would try to go and take note of new moves they'd want to try the next day. During this time, Y/n learned how to break her old habits and be completely unpredictable with her movements and scoring.
The seekers lost sight of the snitch (much to their frustration and dismay) and the game continued on for another forty or so minutes, Y/n racking up points against Gryffindor until Harry spotted the snitch flying right in front of his face and grabbed it.
"Harry Potter catches the snitch!" Lee Jordan shouts.
Madam Hootch flies around then announces, "Slytherin wins!"
Slytherin cheers while Gryffindor looks confused and outraged.
"What!?"
"But Harry caught the snitch! That should've put them in the lead!"
Multiple angered words were heard from the red-and-yellow-clad stands when Lee Jordan announces the final score, 340 Slytherin to 310 Gryffindor.
The Slytherin team takes a lap around the pitch earning cheers from their fellow housemates while the Gryffindors' from the stands just grumble and make their way back into the school.
Once the victorious team lands, they are confronted by the opposing team along with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
"She cheated!" Ron shouts being held back by his twin brothers, Fred and George, from charging at the chaser. "That's the only way they could've possibly won! She cheated! Admit it L/n!" He glares at the Slytherin girl.
"How dare you!? How dare you accuse me of cheating! You've got some nerve, Weasley!" Y/n retaliates defensively. "Unlike you, some of us have pure talent!"
"Talent? Is that what you're calling it?" Angelina Johnson mutters to herself.
"Oh please!" Ron starts again. "Up until this year you've sucked!"
"Don't talk to her like that!" Miles Bletchley, the Slytherin keeper, makes his way between the pair.
"He's got a point." Oliver Wood states. "I've been able to catch your shots in the past L/n. What 'ave you did to win now?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you. I don't have to explain myself to any of you." She huffs, storming away to the Slytherin locker room.
"You lot do know her sister plays for the Holyhead Harpies, right?" Marcus questions the other team rhetorically. "She's spent her whole summer playing. She's told us."
"Nobody can get that good in just a few months," Ron argues.
"We'll make her tell the truth." The Weasley twins chorus with identical smirks.
The Slytherin team sends their opponents' harsh glares as they walk in the direction Y/n had to change into fresh clothes for dinner.
~~~~~~~~~~
Oliver pinches the bridge of his nose as Fred and George finish telling everyone in the boy's locker room about their plan to get Y/n to admit that she cheated during the game.
"So you want me to slip her veritaserum? How do you reckon I do that? 'Oi, L/n, take this, we want to know if you cheated or not.' Fat chance." Oliver scoffs.
"Well not like that!" George exclaims exasperatedly.
"Just apologize about what happened on the field earlier, say good game, then slip it into her drink when nobody's looking." Fred finishes.
"It's unlikely that nobody would notice. He'll get caught." Harry points out.
Fred thinks for a second to consider what Harry mentioned before he gets a mischievous glint in his eyes. "That's why we'll distract everyone with firecrackers or something."
"Or maybe get Seamus to blow something up." George snickers.
~~~~~~~~~~
"There she is, the quidditch star herself!" A guy from the Slytherin table announces excitedly as Y/n passes by to get to her usual seat.
"Nice game today L/n. You really put those Gryffindors' into their place!"
More congratulations were said and Y/n smiles at the attention she's given, ignoring the bitter looks from the opponents' table.
"L/n! Hey, L/n!" Y/n glances over to see Oliver Wood walking toward her.
"What do you want now, Wood?" She rolls her eyes, expecting him to start shouting about how she'd supposedly cheated.
Students from all four houses who heard watch Oliver go right up to Y/n, almost all of them curious as to what is about to happen.
"I wanted to apologize... you know... 'bout earlier." She furrows her brows in confusion, along with a few onlookers, and he continues. "Look, we shouldn't have called you a cheater earlier, that was wrong. You guys put up a good match."
"Cut to the chase, Wood."
"Good game." He holds out his hand for her to shake.
"What?" She asks, not believing for a second that he'd willingly congratulate his enemy.
"I said-" He begins but is quickly cut off by her.
"I heard you, but I just never thought you'd congratulate me."
"Why not?" He asks, still holding out his hand awkwardly.
"Because you're you and you hate losing."
"Look, I just came over to be nice."
"Okay, well, thanks."
Y/n reaches out to shake Oliver's hand when loud bangs followed by orange sparks erupted at the Gryffindor table. Everyone looks over to see Seamus's face covered in soot with his hair sticking up in an unnatural way due to the explosion. Oliver takes this chance and gets the vile of veritaserum George stole from Snape's personal potion cabinet in his classroom from his pocket and tips the liquid into her goblet.
"Did you just spike her drink?" Draco, who is sitting in front of Y/n, asks, watching Oliver quickly shove the small bottle into his pocket. Y/n looks over and doesn't catch Oliver as Draco had.
"What are you talking about, Malfoy? Course, I didn't. Who do you think I am?" Oliver asks defensively, a hint of nervousness is evident in his tone.
"It looks like a stupid Gryffindor just spiked our chaser's drink!" Murmurs buzz throughout the Great Hall, every student now paying attention to the scene.
Y/n has a smirk on her face as she lifts up her goblet and holds it out for Oliver to take. "If you didn't put anything in it then why don't you drink it?" She suggests cockily, knowing that he'd do it whether he did or didn't put anything in her cup.
"But then you won't have anything to drink." He argues.
"We can switch goblets if you're so concerned." Y/n shrugs, her goblet still shining in her hand for him to take.
He hesitantly takes the cup and holds it to his lips, debating on if he should actually drink it or if he should just come clean. Either way, he'd be coming clean, so what's the harm in it?
"Scared, Wood?" Marcus, who occupies the seat next to Y/n's, smirks.
"You wish." He replies right before taking a drink from the goblet.
The Gryffindor boys who are in on the plan widen their eyes not thinking that he would actually get caught and have to drink truth serum.
"So, Wood," Y/n gets his attention. "What did you put in my goblet?"
"Veritaserum."
"Uh-huh. Who's plan was it?"
"Fred and George." He mumbles quietly.
"Should've known from the start that a Weasley would come up with something dim-witted like this." She mumbles mainly to herself then gives her attention back to the boy standing in front of her. "Do you honestly think I cheated?"
There is a pause for a brief moment before Oliver decides to answer. "Yes."
Y/n gives him a cold glare as she snatches the goblet from his hand, a bit of the juice splashing out at the harshness, and takes a sip, everyone's eyes grow slightly wide at the action, not expecting her to actually drink it.
"For your, and everyone else's, information, I did not cheat today, nor in the past at a quidditch match. I didn't explain myself to your not totally pathetic team because I don't want you to know my strategies. Now sod off because I'm incredibly infuriated that you would think so little of me."
Oliver hung his head in shame and made his way over to the Gryffindor table to sit with the rest of the quidditch team.
He spent the rest of the dinner pushing food around on his plate with his fork feeling guilty for both his and his team's actions toward her and making a plan to make things better.
During his time of silence, Y/n went back to casually talking with her team and offered to teach the chasers a few of her strategies the next time they had practice in order to help build strength on the team and improve some skills.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Slytherin team improved significantly with Y/n's coaching and she was even promoted to captain of her team the last practice they had. Not only were the chasers improving, but so was the keeper as he had to manage to keep the chasers from scoring.
Their efforts were not put to waste as the last few games against Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff ended in victory for Slytherin and everyone watching could tell that they were the team to beat this year instead of Gryffindor as it had been in the past.
While the Slytherins were coming up with ways to win, Oliver had his own plan. He and the other Gryffindors trained relentlessly after hearing the news of what the Slytherins are like on the pitch. They improved, but they didn't know if it would be enough to win. That would all be put up to the test the next day when the teams are to go head to head in another game.
Even with the Gryffindor team trying relentlessly to improve, Oliver's mind was elsewhere as he crafts a plan to make it up to Y/n.
~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone in the crowd is leaning forward as close as they can get to the edge of the bleachers in anticipation as they watch both teams walk out onto the pitch, mount their brooms, then take off to the skies to fly around for a few moments to hype up their houses until they finally reach their positions.
Madam Hooch walks out onto the field, looks up at the players, and says, "Now, I want a nice, clean game. From all of you." She says this every time a new match is about to take place, but this time she made sure to look each of the players in their eyes to make sure she gets her point across as she, as well as every other professor and student, can sense the thickness of the tension in the air.
She kicks open the trunk holding the balls and everyone watches as the bludgers shoot up into the air followed closely by the snitch. The beaters lock their eyes on the dangerous bludgers and the seekers do the same with the snitch.
Madam Hooch bends down, picks up the quaffle, and throws it up into the air. The game has begun.
Y/n snatches the ball before anyone else and she zips across the sky with it tucked securely under her arm while the Gryffindor chasers try to grab the ball away from her.
Y/n, fed up with their attempts, aggressively hurdles forward without a care in the world if she bumps into other players in her way. She knocks Angelina aside as well as some of her own teammates who weren't quick enough to move out of her way. Trailing behind her were Marcus Flint and Adrian Pucey who made sure to keep Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet away from Y/n.
Lee Jordan announces what's happening, as if nobody is intently watching, and adds a few snarky remarks toward Y/n as she reaches the three goal posts Oliver is blocking. She raises her arm with the ball in her hand and performs a fake-out which leads to her earning ten points for her team.
"Slytherin chaser Y/n L/n has scored the first ten points!" Lee Jordan announces while cheers come from the Slytherin stands and groans come from the Gryffindors
"Nice shot Y/l," Oliver shouts as she flies over and catches the quaffle.
"Bugger off you daft mule." She snarls.
Oliver flies back up to his place and throws to ball over to Katie Bell who is shoved aside by Adrian and Marcus catches the quaffle. He throws it back to Y/n and she scores once more.
"Another ten points to Slytherin! Come on Gryffindor, pick up the pace!" Lee gets a pointed look from McGonagall and a sharp reminder about no favouritism from the said professor.
The game continues on and the tension remains, mainly from the Slytherins as they play more aggressively than they had been before, especially by Y/n who seems to fly like a rocket across the pitch.
Every time Y/n was the one with the quaffle going to score against Gryffindor, Oliver seemed to miss the ball either entirely, or just out of his grasp, but almost every time Marcus or Adrian was the one to go up against him, he caught their throws and soon enough people started catching on to what he seemed to be doing, though the majority of them thought that one of the Slytherins, namely Y/n, jinxed his broom so she could score.
Alicia goes over to Fred and George and they make a plan to take her out of the game so they could win, so, whenever they were able to hit one of the two bludgers, they aimed to hit Y/n to knock her off her broom.
Marcus and Adrian, on the other hand, decided to only give the quaffle to Y/n since Oliver seems to be purposely missing her shots for some odd reason.
Once Y/n realizes that Oliver is throwing the game she becomes livid.
"Ten points to Slytherin!"
"WOOD! ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE I'M CHEATING!? THAT'S LOW, EVEN FOR THE LIKES OF YOU!" She screeches once he misses yet another one of her shots.
"What are you talking about, L/n!?" He shouts back beyond nervous that he'd been caught.
"YOU'RE THROWING THE BLOODY GAME!"
"Don't you want to win!?"
"OF COURSE I DO, BUT NOT IN A FIXED GAME!" Y/n starts flying over to Madame Hooch about to forfeit the match for a fair game when George sends a bludger at her.
"LOOK OUT!" Oliver yells horrified just seconds before the ball rammed into Y/n's left shoulder. Everyone is silent when she lets out a scream of great pain as she falls off her broom.
"Y/n L/n just took a nasty bludger to the arm and is going down! Is that Wood?" Oliver flies over to Y/n as fast as he possibly can and catches her just before she crashes on the ground. "Nice catch by Wood! Looks like L/n's got herself a keeper!"
"AH! WOOD, MY ARM!" She shouts through clenched teeth.
"Sorry," He mutters, concentrating on getting her on the ground safely.
The moment he lands, Y/n tumbles out of his arms and joins Madam Pomfrey on the field.
"Come, dear. Let's fix you right up." The healer gently ushers her away from the game to the hospital wing. As they walk Y/n looks back and sees Oliver has already mounted his broom and is flying back up to the goalposts he's supposed to defend.
~~~~~~~~~
Heads snap in the direction of the large double doors of the infirmary as one swings open and in stumbles the Slytherin quidditch team along with a few of Y/n's friends that were watching from the stands.
"Are you alright?" Marcus asks worriedly, hoping that their star player will be able to continue playing.
"Never mind me, did we win?" Y/n inquires.
"Of course we did!" Adrian laughs heartily. "Wood practically threw the match!"
"That's because he did! I was going to demand a rematch from Hooch when that stupid weasel broke my shoulder!" She fumes.
"He broke your shoulder?" Draco asks in shock.
"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey gave me a potion that'll heal me within the week. Until then I have to miss some quidditch practising, but I can coach you lot until I can play again."
"How are you so nonchalant about this?" One of her dorm mates, Iyla Bower, questions.
Y/n shrugs in reply but instantly regrets the decision as yet another sharp pain shoots in her shoulder and she hisses in pain with her teeth grit and eyes tightly shut.
"Are you alright?" Oliver asks from the doors surrounded by a few members of his team.
"Just peachy before you lot showed up." A few snickers rise from the Slytherins. "What do you want?"
"We- No. I want to sincerely apologize for my previous actions. I shouldn't have tried giving you veritaserum, I'm sorry for throwing the game today, and most of all I'm sorry I doubted your honesty."
"Then why are they here?" She asks giving a pointed glare to both of the twins as she's not quite sure which one broke her shoulder.
"He made us come to apologize, but we've done nothing." Angelina states with a roll of her eyes. "Honestly, it's weird how much he-"
"Shut up!" Olive whisper shouts in embarrassment.
"I don't need your pathetic apologies. I'd appreciate you leaving more than whatever attempt at an apology you could come up with."
"You heard her, let's go!" George states as he spins around and quickly leaves. He's followed by the rest of the team excluding Oliver who continues standing there awkwardly.
"Why are you still here? She's made it pretty obvious that she wants you to leave." Lydia Mills, the first friend Y/n made on the Hogwarts Express, questions.
"I uh, nevermind. Get well soon, L/n."
He turns away quickly and shuts the doors behind him.
~~~~~~~~~~
"He's staring at you again," Lydia subtly nudges her head pointedly to the Ravenclaw table where a boy in their year sits with his head in his hand looking intently at Y/n. The girl looks up at him and gives a small smile as he quickly averts his eyes and takes a sudden interest in his food.
Iyla laughs a bit before stating, "You know, I've heard from a few students in our charms class that he's really into you."
"Really?" Y/n smiles. She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and catches him looking at her again.
Iyla hums in agreement. "I've also heard that a certain Gryffindor quidditch captain is not too happy about that." She uses her fork to point out Oliver Wood glaring daggers at the Ravenclaw.
"If he weren't a Gryffindor, I'd say that's almost sweet," Lydia adds.
"Sweet?" Y/n questions.
"He's jealous," She explains.
"I doubt it. He's just an arrogant, good for nothing, piece of-"
"He's coming over!" Iyla whisper shouts excitedly.
"No, he's not. He's just sitting there like a lazy slug."
"Not Wood, Rogers!" Lydia huffs.
Y/n looks up to see Jack Rogers making his way from the Ravenclaw table over to the Slytherin table where the three girls sit patiently as they pretend they don't know he's coming over.
"Hey, you're Y/n, right?" The girls turn to face him and Y/n nods with a pleasant smile.
"Yes. Rogers, right?" She asks.
"Yeah, but most people just call me Jack." Y/n hums with a slight nod.
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Y/n asks, "Is there a reason why you came over here, or are you just admiring the scenery?"
"I was wondering if you'd possibly consider accompanying me on the next trip to Hogsmeade." He asks with his gaze averted to a basket of rolls on the table.
"I'll consider it," Y/n responds, trying to sound suave when in her mind she is anything but.
"Really!?" Jack perks up and looks thrilled then quickly tries to become collected as he leans against the wall. "I mean, cool. Maybe I'll see you later then."
"Maybe you will," Y/n smirks.
Jack stands upright and makes his way back to the table where his friends sit, eagerly waiting for him to tell them what happened.
The three girls break their composure and start excitedly talking about what just happened and about what Y/n should wear on the date. Caught up in the excitement, neither group caught sight of Oliver making a sudden exit from the Great Hall.
~~~~~~~~~~
The door to the Three Broomsticks opens an Oliver looks up from his butterbeer to find Y/n and Jack walking in with their arms linked and Y/n laughing at something her date just said. He rolls his eyes and goes back to sipping on the sweet drink.
The pair make their way to an empty table a few feet away from Oliver and Y/n takes her seat, neither noticing the scowling quidditch player.
"I'll go get the drinks, you stay here and keep the table," Jack says. Y/n agrees and starts looking around the slightly crowded room until her eyes lock with Oliver's. She gives him a questioning look. After not averting his gaze, she rolls her eyes with a slight sneer and goes back to scanning the room.
Minutes later Jack comes back with the drinks and places Y/n's glass in front of her then sits.
Oliver chugs the last of his drink then abruptly leaves. This, of course, catches Y/n's attention and she stares at him confusedly.
"You like him, don't you?" Jack asks with a disappointed tone.
Y/n brings her attention back to the boy and starts acting defensively.
"What? Of course, I don't. Don't be ridiculous."
"Are you sure? You seem to stare at him a lot."
"No, I don't." She argues.
"Look, this has been a lovely date, but you seem a bit preoccupied. Not only did I catch you staring at Wood just now, but for the past few weeks."
"I don't stare at him. He's absolutely repulsive." She huffs, crossing her arms.
Jack gives her a pointed look and lets out a slight sigh. "Thank you for coming with me today, but I think we should go our separate ways." He stands once more with his mug in hand and moves to sit at a different table leaving Y/n to sit alone with her drink and her thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Nice job everyone," Oliver stands before his team of panting Gryffindors without looking in any way tired from the afternoon's practice. "remember, we have another practice two days from today and I expect to see you all there." With that, he dismisses the team and he starts packing up the truck of quidditch equipment.
By the time he has caught and locked up the bludgers, the others had already changed and went on their way back to the castle so he walks alone to the locker room.
Just as he is about to open the door he gets pulled to the side of the building away from prying eyes.
"L/n?"
"Why'd you do it?" She asks sharply, pointing her wand to his throat threateningly.
Oliver stands there shocked and confused with his back pressed against the brick wall without a chance to escape the furious Slytherin in front of him.
"Do what?" He croaks, the tip of her wand pressing harder into his neck making it uncomfortable to breathe.
"Why'd you make him leave? I know you did something. Did you pay him? Did you promise to do his homework?"
"I have no idea what you're talking-"
"Liar!" She hisses.
"Honest to Merlin!" He shouts.
"Jack Rogers you daft mule! What'd you do to make him leave!?"
"I didn't do anything! I swear! Please lower your wand!"
Annoyed, Y/n lowers her wand.
"You did it! He left because of you. Just- just tell me why you did it." Her voice quickly goes from angry to defeated.
"He left you? Because of me? That doesn't make any sense."
Y/n huffs and sends sparks at his feet.
"Ow! Hey, I'm just as clueless as you are!"
"Sorry, I didn't do it on purpose, it just sort of happens when I'm upset." Y/n puts her wand in the inside pocket of her robe. "He left saying something ridiculous about me being preoccupied with you."
Oliver smirks. "Really?"
She glances back up at him and rolls her eyes.
"You're a prat."
"Well, are you?"
"Am I what?"
"Preoccupied with me? I wouldn't judge you if you are."
"You're ridiculous, you know that? Not only did you ruin my date, but you accuse me of cheating, you throw a game, make a fool of yourself in front of my friends, and glare at Jack the entire week leading up to our date. If you weren't a stupid Gryffindor I'd..."
"You'd what?"
"I'd think you're interested in me. Not the whole accusing me of cheating thing, but the other stuff."
"And because I'm in Gryffindor I'm not into you?"
"Exactly! So what's the deal?" Oliver looks down at the ground chuckling slightly. "What's so funny?"
"Y/n, I think you're the most stubborn, accusatory, oblivious, hard-working, beautiful girl I've ever met in my entire life."
Y/n feels her cheeks grow warm at his backhanded compliment. "What?"
"I've liked you since we played our first match against each other. You're so passionate about quidditch and I always thought you were pretty. The reason why I could block all of your shots is that I was always watching you play and I caught onto your patterns. You bit the inside of your cheek before you caught the quaffle. You wrinkle your nose when you pass by your opponents. Your eyes darted to a goal post before you tried to perform a fake-out. You changed over the summer and this change threw me off. The only thing that stayed the same is your smile whenever you score. I think you look perfect in those moments. After that game, I got so caught up in your change that I thought you cheated, and I'm very sorry. You looked so angry that I thought throwing the game and watching you smile would make everything up. And I admit, I was jealous that Jack asked you out. He had the courage to ask you out before I could, and it just... Yeah. I was jealous. Seeing you with him at the Three Broomsticks made me so... mad! While I'm being honest, I'm glad he left you because now I told you how I really feel about you."
"Do you really mean that?" Y/n asks, astonished that the boy she thought she hated would actually say such nice things to her of all people.
"Every word." He answers with a hopeful smile.
"But I'm in Slytherin. We're supposed to hate each other."
"Well, luckily I've never really liked that unspoken rule."
"You're an idiot." She smiles.
"You're beautiful."
Overwhelmed with intense emotions, Y/n wraps her arms around Oliver's neck and brings him down into a passionate kiss. Oliver quickly reciprocates and places his hands on her hips, pulling her closer.
All too soon they pull apart with content smiles.
"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for that." Oliver mumbles.
"Just shut up and kiss me again, lover boy."
He chuckles in amusement and pulls her back to him. This kiss is much sweeter than the first and less needy. A perfect second kiss.
"L/n! Where are you!? We have practice!"
The pair quickly move apart at the sound of Marcus Flint calling for the Slytherin captain.
"This stays between us." Y/n whispers sharply. She places a quick kiss on his cheek then jogs away. "Coming!"
Flint looks behind him to see Y/n running from behind the locker rooms.
"What were you doing back there?" Draco asks curiously.
"Stretching away from wondering Gryffindor eyes. You never know who's watching. Besides, I don't want them to see the new warm-ups I've come up with." Her lies seem to satisfy her teammates. She calls over the team and orders them to commence their regular stretches while she changes into her uniform.
~~~~~~~~~~
Throughout the four weeks of Oliver and Y/n having a secret, somewhat, relationship, there was a lot of secretly flirty banter, quick winks, smiles covered by smirks, and many more meetings behind the locker rooms. During this time, Oliver found himself daydreaming more often about Y/n, more specifically, what it would be like taking her out on dates to Hogsmede or sitting with her at one of the tables in the Great Hall while holding her hand. In his mind the events were perfect. He didn't have to worry about being caught or questioned why he was dating a Slytherin. Instead, the only problem he had to face was imagining new scenarios.
The real world seems to get more difficult for him. Because Y/n is constantly on his mind, he's been losing focus on important information he needs in order to prepare for the NEWTS. Not only that, but they've both been acting suspicious to their housemates and almost blowing their cover. He'd asked Y/n several times to go public but each time she refused.
Y/n, on the other hand, thought that this arrangement was adequate until they graduated and from them on they could go public. She didn't understand why Oliver felt a need to go public and be teased for the last few months of their time at Hogwarts nor did she want to. Of course, she found it difficult to sneak away from her friends and teammates to secretly meet up with him, but it didn't bother her.
~~~~~~~~~~
The last, and arguably the most important quidditch game of the season, finally arrived and the Great Hall is buzzing with excited charter about Slytherin and Gryffindor going head to head in the final game. Among this chatter, the captains murmur some last-minute strategies and encouragement, as well as a few empty threats from Y/n with even more prying ears trying to listen in on the conversation.
"Hey L/n!" One of the twins suddenly shouts causing the Slytherin team to face him. "When we win feel free to polish our trophy since that'll be the closest you'll ever come to getting it!"
A few laughs ring out from the Gryffindors as Y/n sneers.
"When we win, I won't allow you to put as much as your little finger on it!" She retorts.
The bickering between both teams continues until they had to separate into different locker rooms to change and prepare for the game.
Moments before Y/n walks into the Slytherin girls locker room, Oliver catches her arm and pulls her to the side of the small building.
"What are you doing? We have to change!" Y/n whispers with a slight giggle.
Can't I just give my girlfriend a good luck kiss?" Oliver smirks and presses his lips to hers quickly.
"That was a pathetic kiss," Y/n fake pouts. "Let me show you how to do it." She quickly wraps her arms around his neck, gently pulls him down toward her and kisses him passionately.
Oliver pulls back first for air with a dazed, lovesick smile. "You're amazing," He breaths.
"So are you, but just keep that thought when I win."
"Who says I'll let you?" Oliver teases.
"You won't let me but I'll still win."
"If you're so confident then let's make a bet."
"A bet?"
"Yeah. If Gryffindor wins you have to let me kiss you in front of everyone."
"Oliver." She warns.
"I know you don't want us to get teased, but you don't have to care about what others think about us. Please?"
"Fine. But is Slytherin wins we'll keep us a secret until we graduate."
"Deal. Seal it with a kiss?" He asks childishly, puckering his lips for her to kiss.
Y/n rolls her eyes with an adoring smile and kisses him quickly.
"Okay, you need to leave now before our teams come looking for us."
"One more kiss?" He asks. She gives him a quick peck on the cheek and starts trying to push him away. "That was a pathetic kiss." He mocks.
"If you're patient you'll get a better one later."
"Promise?"
"Promise. Now go."
Oliver smiles and sprints over to the Gryffindor boys locker room and runs in startling his teammates.
"Where were you?" Fred curiously asks.
"Unimportant. Finish changing and meet me at the lineup. One of you, tell the girls to meet there."
He changes as quickly as possible and joins the others.
"I know we all want to win, but this is the game we need to win. Potter, catch the snitch as quickly as you possibly can. Johnson, Bell, Spinnet, keep the quaffle away from the Slytherins at any cost. Weasleys', try not to hurt anyone too badly," He turns around and mumbles under his breath, "especially not Y/n."
~~~~~~~~
"Remember how I usually tell you that winning isn't important but it feels better than losing? Forget that. Winning this game is the most important thing we need to do right now. We better win or you'll be hearing from me! Seeker, catch the snitch no matter what you have to do! Keeper, don't you dare allow one of those Gryffindors to score! Beaters, knock their chasers off their brooms! Chasers, either make sure you get the quaffle through one of the hoops or give it to me! Do I make myself clear?!"
"Yes, captain!" The team shouts.
"If we win I will personally polish all of your brooms and buy you all a round of butterbeer the next time we go to Hogsmeade. If we don't, I will force all of you to run fifteen laps around the pitch directly after the game! Do I make myself clear?!"
"Yes, captain!"
"Do not show them any mercy, do I make myself clear?!"
"Yes, captain!"
"Now line up, play your hardest, and have fun! Do I make myself clear?!"
"Yes, captain!"
They all started on their way to the lineup and Marcus turns to Y/n.
"Why are you so competitive today? I'm not complaining, I'm just curious."
Without facing him she answers, "This is the last game of the season and my last quidditch game at Hogwarts. I'd prefer to leave with the win."
He humans in understanding and doesn't say anymore as they get into their positions, waiting for Lee Jordan to announce them.
The teams only have to wait a few minutes until everyone flies out onto the pitch and up into their positions.
~~~~~~~~
"Harry Potter has caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins!"
The Gryffindors cheer happily and the Slytherins groan in disappointment, the players groaning louder than the rest.
Y/n lands as quickly as she can with Oliver following hot on her heels.
"Y/n! Stop!" He shouts. She reluctantly does so and turns to face him.
"Congrats, Wood."
"Thanks. You played well, I honestly thought we were going to lose at one point. If Harry hadn't caught the snitch, we probably wouldn't have."
"If I'm being honest, I didn't think I was going to make some of those shots. You did fantastic up there."
"Thanks." He looks down awkwardly. "Look, I'm not going to force you to keep up on your end of the bet. I know you're uncomfortable and I guess I don't mind waiting just a little longer."
"Really?" She asks shocked.
"Yeah. I get it. Slytherins aren't known for their bravery."
"Excuse me?!" Heads starts to turn toward the pair.
"I'm fairly certain you heard me correctly. I think you're too much of a coward to go through with the bet."
"I am not a coward!"
"Prove it." He smirks when she storms forward, grabs hold of his robes, and pulls him down to face her.
"Watch me."
She pulls him closer and kisses him in front of the crowd of students, some watching, others not paying attention.
Murmurs rise from the students and staff around them, quickly gaining the attention of almost everyone attending the final game of the year.
Y/n pulls back. "Happy now, lover boy?"
"Nope."
"What?" Y/n asks confused. "I held up my end of the deal!"
"Technically the deal is to let me kiss you."
"You sneaky little-" Oliver quickly places his hands on her waist, steps forward, and gives her a second kiss in front of everyone.
As the frantic whispers continue, Fred and George let out wolf whistles towards the couple.
Oliver rests his forehead on hers and smiles brightly. "Now I'm happy."
"Oh shut up." Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the rest of her team sneaking away to get changed and quickly moves away from Oliver. "And where do you think you lot are going?!" They freeze, refusing to face her. "Fifteen laps!" And so they start jogging.
"What was that about?"
"I told them if we lost they'd have to run fifteen laps. I don't like to lose."
"I love it when you lose when I get to kiss you afterwards."
"Oh, shut up," She grumbles with a small smile.
