"THAT'S IT?" Eleanor Riddens exclaimed a little too loud at the Ravenclaw table the next morning, alarming a hungover Charlotte Grey. "No playing with each other's wands or even a little snogging?"
"Eleanor!" Auriga warned her friend as fellow Ravenclaws were giggling amongst themselves, "Please, quiet down!"
"I know, I know, but still, we're all a little disappointed. We thought we were going to hear some juicy gossip on his failed attempt to win you back," Eleanor remarked with her lips pursed.
The brunette shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Whatever, I'm too hungover for this." She grabbed her book bag and a stood up from the table. "I'm going to go to the library and do some homework."
"Do you want to do Professor Lupin's work with me?" Violet pleaded with a soft smile on her face, "He is so persistent on homework and due dates."
A puzzled expression fell over Auriga's features as her brows furrowed. "I don't have any from him, I think he has quite a liking to me."
•••
LIKE MOST SUNDAY MORNINGS, the library was practically empty when Auriga entered with her bag and placed it on one of the table with a thud, earning a 'shh' from a studying fifth year Slytherin. She scoffed to herself and sat down, pulling out her binder and opening it up to a page she struggled with.
Her eyes read each line one by one, but they were burning as her migraine pounded her head and soon the words were blurring into one blob. Auriga began to drift off into a sound sleep, her head slowly slipping out of her hand.
Suddenly, she is awoken from her daze by a vaguely familiar voice. "Had a rough night, Black?"
Her head snapped up with a worried expression glancing around the library, her dry mouth smacking her lips for moisture. Sitting in front of her was the one and only Oliver Wood.
Noticing her concerned expression, he explained to the confused girl, "You were snoring and Madame Pince told me to wake you."
Still in a slightly chaotic state, she nodded and weakly smiled. "Thanks, I guess."
She had never really talked to Oliver by herself, usually with the rest of her team and it was only teasing pep talk, such as "Hello, cowardly lions," or "You'll see our Ravenclaws." It was odd to see him up close and in something as mundane as a simple maroon jumper and khaki pants.
"What brings you here on a Sunday?" Auriga asked with a grin.
He shrugged with a blank expression. "What brings you here when you're hungover?"
Offended, her cheeks flushed with red and she retorted, "How would you know that?"
Oliver exhaled and leaned in closer to her from across the table, "Excuse me, Black, but you reek of firewhiskey and I've already heard of everything that happened at Ravenclaw's party; who hooked up, who broke up, etc."
Her lips pursed as she brushed her curls off her shoulder and sniffed, "Well, I might have drank a little bit last night, but I'm perfectly fine right now."
His eyes glanced down at the puddle of drool on her notes and looked back up at her. She noticed his expression of doubt and quickly covered the spit with her elbow with a defensive smirk on her face.
"I'm okay."
Oliver then narrowed his eyes and exhaled, "Come on, your ex is your Quidditch captain, you can't be fine."
Auriga stiffened at his words and she glared at him with her gaze wide. "I don't know why that's a big deal."
"You've sworn since you were a second year that you would become team captain, and now the ambition is suddenly lost?" He wore a smirk on his face as he teased her.
The girl raised her eyebrows as she hesitated to reply, her mouth refusing to lie, "Yes, I've found that the position isn't fit for me."
Oliver scoffed and shook his head as he sat back in his chair. "Please, Black, you practically make that team whole. You were born to be the leader of that team, so why aren't you in the position?"
She observed the boy for a moment as her mind buzzed. Of course she knew why, but she didn't want to spew out her family drama in the library and possibly tear up in front of the boy. "It's kind of a personal thing, but we could talk about it later? Maybe tomorrow?" As she was speaking, she was placing her schoolwork back in her binder.
"Where and when? I have practice tomorrow from 6 to 8 and I'll be pretty exhausted afterwards," He rambled on, surprised by her sudden offer.
"Great, then you'll be a great listener. See you at the astronomy tower tomorrow at 9!" Auriga put her binder in her book bag and began to stride away, her brown curls bouncing around her cheerful expression.
•••
THE BELL RANG, causing various students to rise from their seats without permission from Professor Lupin. "Ah! I dismiss you," He ordered with a glare that was reminiscent of a certain McGonagall, "Alright you can go now, Miss Black, can I speak to you for a moment?"
The brunette glanced to Charlotte, Violet, and Eleanor, who were already leaving and didn't seem to be willing to wait for her, and simply slung her bag over her shoulder as she approached her teacher. "Yes, Professor Lupin?"
He sat down at his desk and motioned for her to reside in the chair in front of him. "Please, come sit."
She shuffled over, still puzzled as she pulled the chair out. "Sir, am I in trouble?"
"Oh, of course not! I just wanted to tell you about your, uh, your, um..." His humorous voice trailed off into a timid one as he struggled to finish his thought.
"My father?" Auriga retorted, her brow arched. "I know all that I need to know about him."
The man's face became pale as he glanced to the irritated girl who's face was burning under the surface. "Listen, he may seem horrid, but-"
"May seem horrid?" She snapped, her brows now furrowed as her witty tongue moved quickly, "Excuse me Professor, but he committed a mass homicide and left his 5 year old daughter to wonder when her father would come to visit home again! Made her give up her dream of quidditch because there were too many rumors of her letting him into Hogwarts! He might be doing some things with good intent, but I will not accept him as a good guy until he proves that he can be in my life."
The chair squeaked against the wooden floor as she jumped out of her chair and began to make her way to the exit. "Miss Black!" Professor Lupin called out to her, the girl ignoring him and storming past the classroom desks.
As she strode to the door with her eyes tearing up, she could barely hear the man mumble a few more words that would've broke her if she could comprehend them.
"Sometimes you are exactly like him, it hurts."
•••
AFTER HER CONFRONTATION WITH PROFESSOR LUPIN, Auriga was even more doubtful of if she should share such personal information with her own quidditch rival. The cold November air nipped at her face, her nose reminiscent of a small rainier cherry as the temperature sent a shiver down her back.
She was never in the corridors late at night that often, having only gone out that late to meet with a boy she once dated in Hufflepuff. Even then, she wasn't as worried as she was now, considering the Hufflepuff boy was a prefect and they always knew how to get away from Filch. She wasn't sure of Oliver and his ways of speaking around.
As she entered the astronomy tower, a head of short brown hair snapped around to meet eyes with her. He sat by the large window, the moon illuminating his features and showing his weak grin. "Was wondering when you would show up."
Auriga sent him a soft smile as she approached the boy. "Well, I'm here now," She teased in a breathy chuckle, "So how was practice?"
"Miserable," He exhaled with a laugh, "Blimey, we have one of the best teams we've had in years, no offense, but they need some shaping up to do."
"How so?"
"We lost to Hufflepuff!" Oliver exclaimed in a harsh whisper as Auriga sauntered over to sit across from him. "Godric, we lost to Hufflepuff, I mean, they have Diggory, I'll give them that, but that's about it!"
The girl clicked her tongue and shook her head. "That's a shame."
"But congratulations on defeating them last week, heard it was brutal."
A soft blush fell across her face and she giggled, "We weren't that good, Davies just makes himself out to be some 'Quidditch God'."
"Oh yeah, speaking of Davies..." His voice trailed off as he darted his eyes to hers'. "What's the real reason you aren't captain?"
Auriga stiffened and she gazed out of the grand window in distraction. "It's because, um, well, with all the rumors surrounding my father, you know who i-"
"Woah, woah, woah! I've heard from some people that he's the Dark Lord but-"
"No you git!" She exclaimed as her cheeks were fuming with embarrassment, "My father is Sirius Black and that's it!"
Oliver's face blanched and his mouth formed an 'o' shape. "Oh, um, my bad, continue."
The girl sighed heavily and then continued, "Anyway, with all of the rumors going around and people harassing me about it, I really didn't want it to affect my team, y'know, have something bad happen to us at a game or something." As she finished her words, her eyes became watery.
He chewed on the inside of his lower lip as he processed her statements. "I'm sorry to hear that."
The silence echoed through the classroom as they gaze out the glass pane, their breaths appearing on the window in small clouds.
"Well if you ever want to talk about it some more, I'm always there," He broke the ice as he began to stand up. "I'm sore from practice and I still need to wash up for bed."
Auriga nodded and exhaled. "Yeah, I should be heading there soon, but you have a longer walk, so go get started," She softly chuckled at him.
Oliver nervously let out a breathy laugh and began to walk out of the room. "Okay,, I'll see you later."
"You too," She muttered as she gazed at him, the boy sauntering out of the exit with his bag.
See you later? Why would she see him later? This was just a one time thing so she could lift some weight off of her chest, no connections made at all.
As she collected herself to leave, Auriga glanced quickly out of the window one last time, a dog's bark suspiciously ringing in her ears as she left the classroom, puzzled.
•••
WRITTEN: APRIL 2nd, 2019
EDITED: MAY 13th, 2019
PUBLISHED: MAY 13th, 2019