Your fifth year at Hogwarts was tainted by rumours of an escaped convict from Azkaban named Sirius Black, who was rumoured to have been sighted on a number of occasions around Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest. The rumours suddenly turned into panic on Halloween night when there was an attack on the Portrait of the Fat Lady outside the Gryffindor common room, and the portrait insisted that it was Sirius Black who was trying to break into the common room. This incident rattled everyone, especially those of you who lived in Gryffindor Tower, so you were beyond grateful for the distraction of Quidditch.
The first match of the season took place the week following the attack on the common room, and Oliver Wood's strict training schedule actually gave you some reprieve from the stress of the incident and gave you and your friends something else to focus on.
As you flew out on your brooms on the stormy November morning, you had to wipe the rain from your rain goggles as it poured from the clouds above, and once you could see ahead of you, you looked across at your opponents for the match, the Hufflepuff team.
"Hope you don't plan on winning today, Diggory," you said to your friend in jest, who laughed good-naturedly.
"Guess I'll just have to prove you wrong, Y/L/N," he answered back with a challenging grin.
You and Cedric had become closer after he'd bought you a replacement Butterbeer in third year when Veronica Spratt had stolen yours. And as well as you got along, you were both equally competitive when it came to Quidditch. But thankfully you were able to leave the competition behind on the pitch and were still good friends once the Quidditch uniforms were off.
The match went by in a blur, both figuratively and literally as the heavy rain obscured your vision despite the goggles, which made it extremely difficult to see the Quaffle. Once Gryffindor was winning by fifty points, Oliver called for a time-out so that everyone could recuperate and gather themselves after half an hour of flying in the harsh conditions. You squeezed water out of your hair and rubbed your cold and damp hands on your pants, and everyone else was trying to dry off a bit and regain feeling in their hands and feet.
Once back in the air, you felt slightly better despite the fact that it was still raining. You passed the Quaffle back and forth, avoiding collisions with the opposing Hufflepuff Chasers and ducking below any flying Bludgers. Harry and Cedric both soared up into the air in pursuit of the Snitch, but suddenly gasps filled the stadium as hundreds of dark shadowy figures appeared in the sky above the pitch, seemingly out of nowhere.
"What the hell are those!?" you shouted to Angelina and she shook her head, looking as frightened and shocked as you felt. The shadows immediately descended upon Harry in the sky who was still chasing after the Snitch, causing the boy to tumble from his broom, which flew out of sight at the impact of the attack. You gasped and covered your eyes as Harry's shape plummeted towards the ground at a shocking speed, unable to bear the sight, but you sighed in relief as you saw his speed slowing down with the aid of someone's magic.
"Cedric Diggory has just caught the Snitch," Lee announced over the speakers, "and despite our unexpected guests, Hufflepuff wins!"
You looked down and saw that Cedric had indeed caught the Snitch while Harry had been accosted by the shadow creatures, but he was now dismounting his broom and sprinting over to Harry, who was being lowered to the ground by Dumbledore who pointed his wand at the boy from the stands. White light filled the air as you flew to the ground and dismounted and the dark shadows disappeared while you ran to where Harry was now laying on the wet ground.
You and Cedric both made it to Harry at the same time, but the boy was unconscious. You were relieved to see that he was still breathing at least and you pulled your goggles up onto your head and looked at Cedric, who looked shocked despite having just won the match.
"Cedric, what were those things?" You asked him and he looked up at you, his eyes wide, "they're Dementors. The guards of Azkaban."
"Azkaban? But what are they doing here?"
"I don't know, but they're not supposed to come near the Hogwarts grounds," he said gravely.
You and Cedric both leaned down and put Harry's arms over each of your shoulders and lifted him up from the ground as the other two teams made their way over to you.
"Congratulations on your win, by the way," you told him, trying to lighten the mood as you half-carried, half-dragged Harry towards the approaching teachers.
He smiled sadly, "thanks, I just wish it wasn't at Harry's expense."
---
In the Hospital Wing, you all hovered around the bed anxiously waiting for Harry to wake up. "He looks a bit peaky, doesn't he?" Ron pointed out nervously.
Fred scoffed at him, "peaky? What'd you expect him to look like? He fell over a hundred feet!"
"Yeah, c'mon, Ron. We'll walk you off the Astronomy Tower and see how you come out looking," George mocked his younger brother.
"Probably a right sight better than he normally does," Harry said quietly as he finally stirred from his unconscious state, you sprung up out of your chair to look at the boy. "Harry!" Hermione immediately leaned over him, "how are you feeling?"
"Brilliant," he replied dryly.
"Gave us a right good scare there, mate," George told him earnestly as he sat down in the chair next to the bed.
"What happened?" Harry asked, groaning as he pulled himself into a seated position and pushed his glasses onto his face.
"You fell off your broom," Ron answered him.
"Really?" Harry scoffed, "I meant the match. Who won?"
You cleared your throat as everyone shared awkward looks and you moved closer to him. You reached his side and squeezed his arm gently, "um...no one blames you, Harry. The Dementors aren't meant to come inside the grounds. Dumbledore was furious. As soon as he saved you, he sent them straight off."
Harry just looked at you blankly, not really registering what you were telling him, and then Ron spoke up, "there's something else you should know too, Harry," Ron fidgeted nervously with the bundle in his arms and you winced, knowing exactly what he was about to tell his friend, "when you fell, your broom...well it sort of blew into the Whomping Willow, and well..." he held up the splintered remains of Harry's Nimbus 2000 which the twins had collected from near the tree and wrapped it in a Gryffindor banner.
You watched Harry's face fall and signalled to the twins that you should give Harry some space, so you and the twins dragged Neville and Seamus out of the room, leaving Ron and Hermione to comfort Harry.
You and the twins later decided to cheer him up by passing the mantle of the Marauder's Map, which you knew by heart at this stage, to Harry. The twins had caught him trying to sneak to Hogsmeade in his Invisibility Cloak one snowy morning in December, and took the opportunity to enact your previously agreed arrangement of showing him the Map. You could only hope that he wouldn't get into any trouble while using it.
---
Following your successful win against Ravenclaw a number of months later, the morale of your team had risen again. Cedric had insisted on a rematch, feeling terrible about catching the Snitch while Harry was being attacked, but your team agreed, by a majority rules vote and much to the irritation of the twins who now held a grudge against Cedric, to accept the defeat and look ahead to the next game instead.
Oliver pushed you all harder than he had before. He had you training five days a week and you were all exhausted and irritable, but he was insistent on winning the Inter-House Cup since it was his last chance to do so, and you all just had to learn to deal with the early morning practice sessions before class. But even when you beat Ravenclaw in January, Oliver remained relentless with his training schedule, and since your next match was against Slytherin, he pushed the schedule to seven days a week.
By the time the day of the match came around on a clear April day, you were beyond ready to win the Cup. Oliver's intense desire to win had begun to rub off on you, and you also needed a long break from training which probably also played a part in your eagerness to play.
From the beginning of the match, everyone was playing dirty. You snatched the Quaffle from the air shortly into the game and scored, but you were immediately slammed to the side by Marcus Flint. The boy's violent impact winded you and sent you spiralling straight to the ground, but you managed to pull up the nose of your broom just on time, preventing yourself from making what would've been a devastating crash into the ground below.
You heard angry shouting from above you as you flew back up into the air. "Oi! What the bloody hell are you playing at Flint? You could've gotten her killed, you prick!" You looked up just in time to see Fred firing his bat at the back of Flint's head, making the Slytherin boy's head snap forward and right into his broom handle, giving him a bloody nose.
Penalties were given to both teams but Fred couldn't care less, he flew over to you and gripped your arm, "you okay, Y/N?" His eyes scanned you quickly for any visible injuries. You sat up on your broom and reached over, squeezing the hand he had on your other arm, "I'm okay, thanks Freddie." He stared down at your hand on his for a moment and then nodded at you, flying off to rejoin the match.
The match got even more messy as time went on, Alicia scored but was later grabbed roughly by the hair by the opposing chaser, which granted her a penalty. Slytherin later scored and then Angelina ended up getting hit with the Slytherin Beater's bat which earned him an elbow to the face from George who was right behind them.
Multiple penalties were handed out throughout the match as the violence continued, and those penalties often resulted in goals. You scored a penalty after Oliver was winded by two Bludgers that were sent in his direction by the Slytherin Beaters, bringing Gryffindor into the lead. As time went on, you were running out of stamina and your ribs were hurting from the blow you got from Flint earlier in the match. But just as you were really starting to feel the strain, Harry caught the Snitch, and Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup that year.
You all screamed in delight and descended onto the pitch, you hugged your teammates with tears in your eyes as fans ran down from the stands in celebration. You felt yourself being lifted off your feet, Fred had scooped you up into his arms and into a huge hug, you shrieked in laughter as he spun you around in the air, his face buried in your neck. You were vaguely aware of Colin Creevey, the second-year Gryffindor who was taking photographs of the scene, and you made a mental note to find the boy later, and ask him for copies of whatever pictures he'd gotten of that moment.
---
Later that night, celebrations were in full swing in the Gryffindor common room. You, Angelina and Alicia had cleaned up and dressed in your nicest clothes and ran down to the party. Lee and the twins had organised the party and in doing so, they provided two punch bowls, one that was just normal, non-alcoholic punch and another that they'd dumped the entire contents of a hip flask into. You opted for the second bowl, telling yourself that it was a night for celebration, and seeing as there were no classes the following day you figured you could afford to let loose for the night.
Some of the seventh-years had put a silencing charm on the common room door and the doors to the dormitories so you wouldn't be found out by staff, and also so you wouldn't wake the younger students from third year and below, who weren't allowed by the Prefects to stay at the party past curfew. Once curfew had passed and the night was progressing, everyone was getting slightly more giddy and relaxed, and seeing as the second enhanced punch bowl was getting the most use, you could figure out why. And considering how the twins had enchanted the bowl to keep refilling itself, you could tell that the night was only getting started by that point.
You and the rest of the older Gryffindor students danced along to a mixture of wizard music, and to the delight of you and other Muggleborns in the room, some popular Muggle songs as well. The twins had set off a special set of fireworks into the air above your heads which didn't burn or flicker out, instead they provided flashing lights for the makeshift dance floor as the couches and chairs were moved to line the walls of the large room.
As you danced, you felt a warm hand grab your waist and you were immediately pulled into the arms of none other than Fred Weasley, who grinned down at you with sparkling eyes and flushed cheeks that were clearly a result of the punch. Your own inhibitions were hindered by the punch and without a moment's hesitation, you laughed in joy and threw your arms around his neck as you danced with him.
He spun you around and even dipped you as you both laughed yourselves breathless and sang along with the music at the top of your lungs with everyone around you. While you were less self-conscious than you normally were, you couldn't help but think about how he had grabbed your waist and pulled you close.
And as you looked up at him and saw how he stared back at you with a giddy look and a silly grin on his face, you wondered if it would be so bad if you kissed him right then and there.
Once that thought entered your mind you panicked, because what if you went in for a kiss and he pulled back in disgust, and told you that you were like a sister to him, and it ruined your friendship forever? But even if he didn't see you like that, you couldn't come up with a rational explanation that would justify why he'd been holding you and dancing with you the way he had been.
You figured you would get yourself another drink of liquid courage from the punch bowl and give yourself a minute to mull it over, and so you excused yourself from your friends. Once you reached the table, you bumped into Oliver Wood who was also helping himself to the punchbowl.
"It's spiked, you know," you told him as you sidled up to him. He turned to look at you and his hazel eyes very briefly scanned your face and then he smiled, "well that explains why I'm having such a good time."
You laughed at that as you poured yourself a drink, "who would've guessed that Oliver Wood knew how to relax and have fun?" You smirked at him and he shook his head in amused exasperation, "Y/N, I can promise you that I do actually know how to have fun. As surprising as that might be to you."
He angled his body to face you fully and tilted a brow in challenge, and you realised then how different he was when he was relaxed, nothing like the intense boy who pushed you all to your limit during Quidditch season.
You took a sip of your drink and rose to the challenge, "okay Oliver, if that's true then come and dance with me and my friends."
He raised his brows as he looked over your shoulder, "it seems like your friends are a bit occupied at the moment."
You glanced over your shoulder and felt your heart drop. Fred was dancing with Angelina now, holding her close and spinning her around, exactly as he'd been doing with you just minutes before.
You mentally kicked yourself at your own stupidity, of course Fred didn't see you like that. Your naïve hopefulness had clouded your judgement and it was just his playful, fun-loving nature that you'd been seeing. Of course there was just friendship between you, how could you have been foolish enough to believe otherwise.
"Y/N?" The sound of your name pulled you from your reeling thoughts and you turned back to Oliver who was looking at you with concern, "are you alright?" he asked you.
You nodded quickly, "yeah I'm fine, sorry, just zoned out a bit. Did you say something?"
He smiled sheepishly then, "I said I would still be willing to dance with you if the offer still stands?" You laughed despite yourself, and then agreed because you still wanted to enjoy your night, despite whatever thoughts were going through your mind.
You both refilled your drinks and then you confidently grabbed Oliver's hand and pulled him to the crowd of happy and slightly unsteady Gryffindors. You ended up having a great time with Oliver, and he actually was a lot of fun. He spun you around and you giggled as he attempted some sort of dance move, but he shrugged it off when it didn't quite work out and continued dancing with you anyway, and you found his humility quite endearing.
As the hour wore on, you and Oliver went your separate ways. He leaned down and pecked your cheek lightly, "enjoy the rest of your night, I had a great time so thank you for that."
You grinned at him, "will do, congratulations again on the win today." He smiled warmly, "it was a team effort, Y/N," and then he squeezed your hand and walked back to his friends on the other side of the room.
You smiled as he walked away and headed back to your own friends who had reconvened on the dancefloor, well except for Fred and Angelina, you noticed with a tightness in your chest. You had forgotten about their close dancing while you were dancing with Oliver, but now that they were both very clearly not with the rest of your friends, the irrational feeling of doubt filled your mind.
Alicia spotted you walking over, "Y/N! There you are! We all saw you dancing with Wood, did you snog him!?" The girl was clearly very tipsy as she threw her arms around your neck and giggled.
George and Lee stood beside you both and looked at you, as though they were also eagerly awaiting your answer. You shook your head, "no I didn't snog him, Alicia," and she sighed wistfully and took her arms from around your neck, "well at least I won't be the only girl in the dorm who hasn't snogged someone tonight," she said and you felt your mouth drop open.
"Why, did Angelina...?" You trailed off, unsure about how to finish the sentence. You looked up at George and Lee, but their eyes were looking over your shoulder and you watched as Fred and Angelina stepped down from the doorway that led to the stairs to the dormitory, both of them giggling hysterically.
"Oh," was all you could say, and for the first time in your life, you felt your heart completely break.
The two rejoined you and Angelina immediately threw her arms around you and Alicia, and you looked over her shoulder directly at Fred, whose face had fallen slightly when he realised you were standing there and had seen them. You dropped your gaze, not trusting yourself to keep yourself together if you looked at him any longer.
You patted Angelina on the back and gently pulled her arm from around your neck, "I'm going to head to bed. Enjoy the rest of your night, guys," you told them and then waved as you quickly made your way to the dormitories.
You had just reached the door to the girls' dormitories when a hand grabbed your wrist, making you turn around. "Y/N," Fred said simply, as if he didn't know what else to say.
"What?" you asked, and it came out more sharply than you'd intended as you pulled your wrist from his grasp.
"I- um. Are you okay? You left quite suddenly back there," he asked somewhat awkwardly, though the flush on his face from the punch still blotched his cheeks slightly.
You crossed your arms, "of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?" When he didn't answer, you continued, "you should go back downstairs to the others, you appeared to be having a great time."
He narrowed his eyes at you then, "what and you weren't having the time of your life with Oliver Wood?" You did a double take then, "excuse me? What's that got to do with anything?"
He shrugged his shoulders irritably, "you snogged him didn't you?"
You sighed in exasperation, "no, I didn't, for your information. Not like you and Angelina."
He looked affronted, "I didn't get with Angelina."
You scoffed at that, "well, you could've fooled me, Fred!"
He shook his head incredulously, "I didn't! And even if I had, why would you care?" You thought you saw a slight glimmer of vulnerability on his face then, but you refused to let your mind and your foolish hopes of Fred seeing you as anything more than a friend, to blind you again.
"I don't care," you said in a huff, and then you turned on your heel and walked into the girls' dormitory, and shut the door behind you, but not before you heard Fred say, "you could've fooled me."
_____
A/N: There's nothing like a bit of old-fashioned teenage drama to spice things up a bit! If you've read up to this point, let me know what you think so far!