"OLIVER wood if you crash this broom, i swear-!"
i shrieked as we made another sharp turn, my hands gripping tightly onto the wooden handle of the broom we were on. his scottish tainted laughter boomed in my ear.
i was finally getting the flying lesson i was promised. even from the quidditch pitch the view of the castle was ethereal, sunlight hitting it in the first time in weeks.
the only problems were the tricks oliver had been doing. while it was fun, it scared me half to death, the speed and the uncertainty making my heart race.
"don't be scared, y/n!" i could feel his hot breath on my ear, a stark contrast to the cool air piercing my body and face. "you've got the captain of the gryffindor quidditch team flying you!"
"doesn't mean i can't fall off this broom and die!" i protested, my grip on the broomstick tightening as oliver had the broom twirling through the sky. oliver laughed again.
"alright, alright!" he slowed down the broom, bringing it slowly down so that the clouds weren't in my face anymore. my grip loosened, and i sighed as i leaned back onto his chest. it was warm.
"no. never again, oliver, i swear to you." i laughed as i shook my head, my hands going to fix my hair. i sighed as i looked out to the view from here. "see? look how nice this is. nice and peaceful."
"it's better to go faster," oliver hummed, looking out to the view. "but this is quite nice."
i took a breath of fresh air. "it's beautiful." i hummed, my hands moving to have a loose grip of the broom just above where his were.
i stared at the castle for a bit in silence before receiving an answer. "yeah. really is beautiful." i felt the heat of his breath on my head. i looked up at him from our position, having to crane my neck up to see the bottom of his chin.
he looked down at me. a grin spread across his face. "we should do this agai-"
"oi!" my head snapped to look down at the booming voice. i couldn't see them very well from here, but they seemed to be slytherins, due to the excessive amount of green i saw. "come down here!"
oliver sighed, but slowly brought the broom down to the ground. i got off first, fixing my hair a bit. i glanced at the group, catching glimpses of surprised draco, theo, and mattheo. even blaise, who i'd never seen show much emotion save for our little moment a couple days ago, quirked up his eyebrows.
my eyes widened a bit as well. i didn't really want to deal with them today. oliver picked up the broom, holding it at his side as he stood next to me.
"sorry to interrupt your date, wood," mattheo stepped up in front of the group, his expression almost bitter as he faced off in front of oliver. it was very unlike the teasing and playful mattheo who always bothered me. "but we've got practice."
"must've lost track of time." oliver responded, looking disinterested. "sorry about that, riddle. next time we'll make sure to leave before you come."
mattheo pursed his lips as if he ate something sour, turning his gaze to me. "didn't tell me you had a boyfriend, bee." the slytherin glanced at oliver, who was looking straight at him. "much less wood."
"i, uh, i don't." i pursed my lips, biting back a laugh. for enemies, they were awfully close together. but i needed to be serious. "we're just friends."
i saw draco scoff from behind mattheo, and my gaze flickered over to him, blaise, and theo. they all were bearing holes into my face with their eyes. it was kind of uncomfortable.
i met eyes with blaise. just a couple days ago i could pinpoint the differences in his emotions from looking into his eyes. now they seemed almost cold, but strong. like he was trying to look into my soul. i was forced to look away from the intensity of it all, blinking as i looked at draco.
"i'm serious. it wasn't a date." i didn't even think that it was like a date. maybe, i guess, but it seemed pretty friendly to me. then again, i'd never had a date before.
"really? seemed like it to me." theo stepped forward, a hand in his pocket. his eyes, darkened by his deep set eyebrows, bore into me. they were dark, dangerous, and hot. so, so, incredibly hot.
oliver stepped in front of me, breaking our eye contact. "we'll get going so you can start to practice." his face nor voice showed any signs of him being playful.
quidditch rivalry was intense on and off the field, i guess.
"yeah, we'll just go." i stepped up, trying to diffuse the situation. i offered the group a small smile as i pressed my grabbed onto oliver's forearm. "sorry for taking up your practice time."
mattheo's eyes flickered down to the hand i had on oliver's arm before looking straight into oliver's eyes.
"s'alright." i didn't even know if he was saying it to me. his eyes were on the boy beside me, the staring contest they were holding almost lasers burning into one another's eyes.
mattheo broke eye contact first, looking at me with a thin smile. "see you later, bumblebee."
he hopped on his broom and flew into the air, most of the team following after him with no hesitation, draco among them. blaise lingered for a bit, still looking at me with that intense stare. he offered me a quick twitch of the corner of his lips as he mounted his broom.
i waved back at him. thank god our friendship was still intact.
theo was the only one left now. he walked towards me, with an awkward smile still on my face, and pressed a hand into the top of my head, messing up my hair.
"if you wanted to learn, you should've told us." he talked straight to me as he practically pushed my head down, ignoring the frown that oliver was giving him. he kept my head pushed down for a bit, my gaze forcibly on our shoes in the grass, before he ruffled my hair one last time and took his hand away.
i huffed, running a hand through my hair and stretching out my now sore neck. i looked up at them, sensing the tension between the two that theo was so obviously ignoring.
"well, i'll see you later, puff." theo mounted his broom fast- faster than i thought was possible without looking, and hovered in the air a bit, starting to get caught into a staring contest with oliver.
i glanced at the latter boy, seeing the corner of his mouth lifting up in a quick smirk. theo frowned, turned, and left.
oliver stared at the subsiding figure of theo before turning to look back at me. his lips quirked into a playful smile.
"have fun?" he hummed as he looked down at me, gently grabbing my elbow and pulling me off the field.
"oh, yeah, so much." the sarcasm stumbled on my tongue as i regained my composure. i guess we were just ignoring that interaction. i was fine with that. "i'm definitely never flying again."
oliver laughed, tucking his hands into his pockets. "hey, you never know until you fly by yourself. haven't tried that yet."
i shook my head. "i don't think i want to." i shivered dramatically. "who knows if i'll plummet to my death."
"i thought you said you weren't afraid of heights!" oliver laughed as he accused me. "plus, you agreed to it. i only suggested it."
"yeah, well i'm afraid of heights now." i huffed, sulking jokingly. "thanks for ruining roller coasters for me, bud."
"roller... roller coasters?" it took oliver a while to get the words rolling off his tongue. he glanced at me. "is that something wizards do in america? roller coasters?"
i blinked. "oh, no. it's a muggle thing. like, an amusement park ride. i think britain should have some too." i shrugged. "but i'm never going to go on one again, thanks to you."
oliver laughed. "alright, i'm sorry. what can i do to make it up to you?" i huffed, turning to hide the obvious smile on my face. i was acting ridiculous and i couldn't care less.
oliver bent over to meet my face, leaving us face to face. he grinned, unaware to the way he made my heart start to race. "hm? out with it."
"i-" i cut myself off with a sharp breath as i stumbled back in lieu to oliver doing the same. a bludger whooshed between us, making its way back into the game.
adrenaline coursed through my veins as oliver frowned, and the blood pumping in my ears covered the sound of him yelling to the slytherins.
i looked up, following his gaze with wide eyes and saw a smirking mattheo handing a bat back to one of his teammates. he just shrugged at oliver, glanced at me with a grin, and went back to his practice.
"fucking hell. that riddle..." oliver glared into the skies, taking a step closer to me and dragging his eyes off of the slytherins in the air and onto me. "y/n? you alright?"
i laughed, trying to calm my nerves. "um, yeah. just- just a bit spooked is all..." i cleared my throat. "uh, you want to get out of here before we actually get hit?"
"the bludgers shouldn't even be out yet, they just got a new beater." oliver frowned, shaking his head. "they should be training, not out hitting bludgers yet."
he sighed, bringing his hand to rest between my shoulders. he peeked a smile at me. "let's go. the others would kill me if i let you get hurt."
i laughed, half because of nervousness, and raised an eyebrow. "'the others?' what do you mean by 'the other-'"
"ah- nobody. don't worry about it." oliver gently pushed me along, like a shepherd hoarding its sheep.
"wha-?"
"shh."
:~~~~~~~:
"how long have you been studying?" i heard someone pull up a chair next to me, the voice taking too long to register in my herbology filled mind. i snapped my head up from my work, meeting eyes with the hairy potter. i blinked. he smiled at me.
"um..." i looked back down at my paper. "since... 4:20–ish?" i shrugged, rubbing around my eyes.
"i think you need a break." i yawned, my body clearly agreeing with him. "...do you want to listen the quidditch game on the telly? the twins snuck one in a couple years back. took it from mr. weasley."
i groaned, my lips twitching up into a grin. "no, not quidditch again. shouldn't you also be studying? i know for a fact advanced d.a.d.a. has a final project due tomorrow."
harry shrugged. "i got an extension. have a quidditch game that day. slytherin vs. griffindor." he turned his head to me, blinking his pretty eyes at me. "wanna come watch me?"
i shook my head. "i've got two final exams and i have to study for o.w.l.s that day. i really don't have time. i have no idea how you balance schoolwork and quidditch."
"hermione lets us copy her," harry fiddled with his wand, hitting it against his thigh. he did that a lot. i 'ah'ed in understanding. "so, the quidditch game? it's cannons vs. puddlemere."
i laughed, leaning back in my chair. "is that all you think about? quidditch?"
harry shrugged. "only half the time." he didn't bother to elaborate further. i cocked an eyebrow.
"and what about the other half? schoolwork?" i huffed out a big breath of air, relief coming through me now that i was taking a break. "i hope it is."
"you."
i sat there for a moment, shocked by his forwardness. a sly grin creeped on his face, but the slight tinge of red on his tanned skin betrayed him. i started to laugh, half in shock and half from nervousness.
"that was good." i laughed a bit more, fanning myself. was it hot in here? i was a bit warm. "you're- you're so funny, harry."
i cursed myself internally. why was i being so cringe??
harry shrugged, the grin still on his face. "i, uh, practiced that with the twins." god, i had made it awkward. shit.
"...well, i should get back to studying." i said after a pregnant pause, gripping the quill in my hand. harry's tapping grew against his thigh. "tell me how the quidditch match turns out?"
"um, yeah! sure. of course," harry stood up, tucking his wand into his pocket. "well, i'll, um, see you around, yeah?"
"uh huh." i nodded, smiling awkwardly up at him. "yeah, see you harry."
"alright." harry stood there for a moment before waving quickly and making his way out of the maze of chairs in the library awkwardly.
i sat there, wondering if i should help him or not, before giving up and going back to my work. as soon as he was gone, i slumped against the table.
"merlin's fucking beard."
DARLINGGGG GUESS WHO JUST ESCAPED THE PSYCH WARD 👹👹👹
30k is insane so i decided to post with only 1 and a half chaps done after this one. thanks my pookies ill try to feed u more often ❤️❤️❤️❤️