𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕾𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖙 𝕬𝖓𝖉 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕲𝖔𝖑𝖉𝖊𝖓
* * *
September 1994
There was a clear idea in Romy's head. That was to get rid off Cedric Diggory so she would feel less miserable.
He wasn't that bad sometimes, she just started to grow annoyed by his mere presence. Everything about him hurt her.
In order to do that, she needed help and she knew exactly who to ask.
"Mum!" She walked into her mother's office, calling her.
"Hi, my love. What is it?" Juliet said, her head still purged into the essays she was correcting, but a small smile emerging on her lips the second her daughter's presence embraced the room.
"Mum, do you..." She paused. "Would you be disappointed if I were to give up my Prefect badge?"
The small voice of her darling daughter finally had the mother raising her head, staring up at the little blonde. "What makes you say that?"
"I just... I don't feel like I should be a Prefect. I'm not that good of a student, and just because people like me, should not be a reason I was elected." Romy explained, avoiding eye-contact.
Juliet smiled. Romy reminded her so much of Remus, and not just because of her chocolate brown eyes and her lighter hair.
"That wasn't my question. What makes you think you could ever disappoint me?"
"Mum.." Romy whined. Her mother always got corny with her.
The Professor chuckled. "I love you. And I'm proud of you. Prefect badge or not. But you should think about it a little. Avoiding Cedric Diggory may be enough of a reason right now but maybe not in a few months."
"How did you-"
"Mothers always know. Mine did anyways." Juliet shrugged.
Romy fiddled with her fingers. "Did nana ever protect you from anyone... pushy?"
Romy called Hope 'grandma' but every time she referred to her maternal grandmother that had passed a long time ago, she called Euphemia 'nana'. Juliet found it adorable. She liked talking about her deceased mother with Romy, it felt like she was still around and her daughter could get to know her.
"She tried. Why? Is someone bothering you?"
"Cedric, mum. Keep up." Romy rolled her eyes.
"Don't give me attitude missy, you two became enemies out of nowhere." Juliet raised an eyebrow.
"It's been four years!"
"If it's been that long, why can't you make up already?"
Juliet had a point. Romy knew it. So she just walked out, mumbling under her breath.
"At least start mumbling when you're out of sight."
~
One thing Oliver Wood hated was how his competitors would try and spy on his team's practices to learn from his techniques. Well, to be fair it wasn't just him, all houses fell victim to a spy from a different house.
The players were always Quidditch crazy.
But, they would at least hide. That's why he was very confused when he noticed Andromeda Lupin standing in the middle of the pitch looking up at them with a small bloc note in hand as she was scribbling on it.
He lowered his broom until he reached her and glanced at her suspiciously, trying to read the opened page.
"Good morning Oliver. Don't you think you start the practices rather early?" She said in a light tone.
"What is this? What are you doing here?"
"I need your players' measurements for the sweaters."
She held up the bloc note, and he could see Katie's name on the small page, followed by words such as sleeves, shoulders, width, length, and also preferred colour.
He assumed she had a page with all of their names. His suspicion seemed to have been correct as she turned back a few pages and he saw his name.
"Oh, but, now that you're here, would you mind if I started with you?" She held up her measuring tape.
"Uh, actually..." He looked back up at his team who had paused mid-air and were looking back at the two. "Hey! Keep practising!"
"Romy, get out!" Harry shouted down. Him and Teddy despised seeing her with their captain, it was weird.
"Shut up!" She flipped him off.
"Oy! No distractions! You have something to seek!" Oliver scolded Harry.
They resumed their training, and Oliver turned back to Andromeda who was just nonchalantly looking around.
"Andromeda, would you mind waiting until we finish practice? We have twenty more minutes and I don't want to waste training time." He asked politely.
"Oh, of course! No problem. Where should I wait?"
"You can go to the locker room, it'll probably be easier for measurements too. And less cold."
"Sure. Later!" She waved, turning to walk away but freezing in the process. She quickly turned back. "Where-"
"That way." He pointed behind him, in the opposite direction where she was heading.
"Yep. Knew that." She said, walking in the direction indicated.
He smirked, but his expression turned back to his usual stern one when he noticed the twins staring down at him, and he went off yelling after them.
~
"Romy!" Angelina grinned, walking into the locker room.
"Hi, Angelina! Arms up." She ordered, taking the tape out.
"Are we hugging? What's happening?" Angelina froze as her teammates walked past, watching in amusement as the girl was taking her measurements, quickly scribbling on her notebook.
Andromeda hummed, walking to Fred next. One by one, the Quidditch players allowed her to just walk around them and take their measurements while they got ready to leave. The Hufflepuff hadn't noticed the Gryffindors had left until she finally looked up from her bloc note when she heard movement again.
"Oh, you're still here."
"Was I supposed to leave?"
Oliver almost wondered if she was being sarcastic but the genuine curiosity in her voice convinced him otherwise.
"I don't know, just surprised."
"I didn't get your measurements." She explained.
"Right." He nodded, walking closer to her and holding his arms up.
Romy's heart started to pace faster and she was getting flustered by the proximity. With shaky hands, she held the measurement tape against his arm and started the whole process she had repeated just minutes earlier.
"Are you cold?" He questioned, his eyes not having left her for a second.
"No, I'm fine." She shook her head.
"You can borrow my jacket if you are." He proposed nonchalantly.
Gallantry seemed to be a natural trait of Oliver Wood and Romy found it very attractive. But she couldn't exactly express that she wasn't cold, simply nervous around him.
"What about you then?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I'm fine. Hot because of practice anyways." He shrugged, handing her his jacket.
"Thank you." She accepted the jacket, putting it back on before scribbling some more in her notebook. "By the way, the others asked for personalised things, would you want one?"
"Things? What things?"
"Initials, favourite numbers, favourite colours... you know."
"No, I- red? Red, yeah, red is fine."
"Okay, would you want an O.W. on it?"
"That does sound cool but-"
"A bit pretentious? I get it."
"Still..."
"I got you."
Oliver stared. Romy just gets it. You don't need to formulate things or overcomplicate them, she'd just understand and would not overthink. It was peculiar and refreshing.
~
"Andromeda Hope Lupin! Is that Oliver Wood's jacket you're wearing?!" Rose gasped, the second she had gotten to the Hufflepuff table.
"My, my, naughty little Romy, what have you two done when we left the locker room?" Fred teased, turning around to be part of the discussion.
"Could it be? Hufflepuff's adorable sunshine with our Quidditch captain?" George joined in.
"I don't know what the hell is happening, but I demand to know." Lola joined them after having seen the small commotion from the other side of the Great Hall, her toast in hand. Kyra soon following behind.
"Nothing is happening." Andromeda brushed them off cluelessly. "I was cold and he offered me his jacket."
"Oliver Wood?" Kyra asked, getting confirmation from Rose.
"What about it?" The Hufflepuff asked her friends before biting on an apple.
"Who would have thought, eh Georgie?" Fred smirked at his twin.
"I know Freddie." He then turned to Romy. "Listen, you gotta understand that Oliver barely even meddles with the ladies. He won't approach them. Calls them distractions."
"So?"
"What they're trying to say is, perhaps Wood has a thing for you," Lola explained clearly.
"Over a jacket?" Romy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Oliver is just a gentleman, he didn't mean anything by it. And he asked me to make them sweaters for Quidditch."
"There's potential still."
"Whatever."
Romy decided to tune out her friends' teasing words as she continued eating her breakfast. She was just doing a favour for him, why would he suddenly have a crush on her? He never noticed her before. She would know, she was always focused on him. She'd rather not let others feed into her own secret delusions.
"You got something to say, Ced? You've been glaring for half an hour." Kyra addressed the Hufflepuff that was a few seats away.
Romy looked up, meeting eyes with him.
"So, you and the Gryffindor captain, huh? I guess you are popular with the men after all."
Instantly, Romy could feel her blood boil. "Diggory, I'll give you a chance to shut up before I stab you with my fork."
"Yeah? Why don't you try, princess? Or are you scared you'll get blood on your new toy's jacket?"
Romy rose from her seat, fork on hand but was pushed to sit back down by her best friend.
"Easy," Rose said. "Mind your own business, Ced. If you'd ask me, I'd say you sound jealous."
"Fucking ridiculous." He scoffed, looking outraged.
"Is it though?" Fred deadpanned, receiving a middle finger in response.
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