The next week of school had started and Erin still hadn't heard a word about the results of the Gryffindor try-outs. Benji hadn't either and his nerves hadn't gotten any better. Oliver sure as hell was taking his sweet ass time.
Erin tried to catch some kind of sign when they walked through the hallways, but Oliver had an excellent poker face. He did smile at her when they crossed paths, but it wasn't a "don't-worry-he-made-it" kind of smile. Beatrice was not a fan of the lack of dislike for the Gryffindor captain, but Erin was still a little confused. If she let herself be, she'd catch feelings for him again in approximately 5 seconds. He just had to be nice to her twice and she was sold. But she knew that had no good outcome. He'd never be interested in her in that way, so she was signing herself up for a broken heart. Moreover, she needed to focus. The best possible solution would be to just become friends with him, but could she do that? If it meant him helping her become team captain, she sure as hell was going to try.
Erin's N.E.W.T classes were taking up a lot of time though as they were definitely a lot harder than last year. She found herself in the library often, trying her best to keep up good grades whilst having her full focus on quidditch.
It was on her way to the library that she had received the news.
"Erin!" Someone shouted loudly from across the hallway. She almost got a heart attack from the sudden outburst. Her little brother was running up to her and she knew exactly what that meant.
"I made it! Erin I made it!" Erin didn't need any extra information. She dropped her bag and scooped up her brother, twirling him around.
"Oh Merlin Benji that's so fantastic! I knew you could do it!" She put him back down, saving his bright smiling face somewhere in her brain with all her other happy moments.
"I'm a reserve Chaser. I'm a Chaser, Erin, just like you!"
"I'm so proud of you Benji. Just wait until our parents hear about this."
"You reckon dad's going to be proud?" Benjamin's face softened a little, a sad look slowly entering his eyes.
"Of course he's going to be. I know he will", Erin said. This was no time for sad faces. Suddenly, Benjamin straightened his face and stood back up, back straight.
"Hi captain", he said. Erin turned around to see Oliver walking down the corridor.
"Well well, shouldn't you be getting ready for practice?" Oliver asked him, a smile lingering around his lips.
"Right, I just needed to... Right, bye Erin!" Benjamin ran off again like a maniac, making Erin chuckle.
"Do they all call you captain? Seems a bit much to me", Erin joked, to which Oliver shrugged.
"Not really, but can't say I dislike it. He's a good kid." Erin looked at the spot Benjamin was just standing. Oliver gave him a spot on the team. Nope, nope, she needed to focus.
"Thank you, by the way. You can't imagine how much this means to him."
"Well, he deserved it. He's a fast little devil, that guy. With a bit of training he'll be a great addition to the team", Oliver said.
"Guess it runs in the family", Erin joked, dramatically throwing her hair back.
"Can't argue with that", he said, causing Erin to blush madly. Oh hell no. She was hopeless. Erin envisioned last year's fiasco again, which was a great help.
"Well, I should go. See you on Thursday", she said, quickly walking away, trying not to show the major mood shift she just experienced.
"2PM, quidditch pitch?" Oliver shouted. Erin just stuck up her thumb, not able to bring out a normal sentence. She could do this. She could be friends with Oliver Wood.
"Oliver, you coming?" Katie and Angelina were waiting at the end of the corridor, shaking Oliver from his thoughts.
"Right, let's go", he said, following the girls out.
"Thinking over a new strategy again?" Angelina mocked Oliver's absence.
"You could say that", he said, focusing back on the more important things, such as quidditch.
Thursday approached quickly and although she wouldn't admit it, Erin was really excited for her meeting. There was no denying the fact that Oliver was a great captain. Not only was he involved with the game, the Gryffindor team had become very tight ever since he became captain and it showed. She arrived ten minutes early, but Oliver was already present, clipping the twigs on his broom.
"Well hello captain", Erin said, stuck on the new nickname.
"Oi, you're early, that's good." Oliver stood up and told Erin to follow him. They went to one of the changing rooms, where Oliver had scribbled an entire strategy on a blackboard. Erin had trouble finding the red thread in the jungle of lines, names and sketches.
"What's wrong with this strategy?" Oliver asked her.
"What do you mean?"
"What's wrong with it? Why wouldn't it work?" Erin analysed the board again, starting to recognise names in the scribbly handwriting. She noticed Beatrice, Anthony and her own name. The name "Flint" immediately gave away the opposing team. Did Oliver just shake an entire game strategy out of his sleeve for two teams he wasn't captaining?
"Hufflepuff versus Slytherin", she mumbled and then started to dissect the lines. Hufflepuff had an offensive strategy, which was a first mistake. Slytherin always played offensive and Hufflepuff could never compete with their level of strength.
"You can't win against Slytherin like this", Erin said.
"Why not?"
"Because they're far more aggressive. You'd never get the Quaffle far enough to score with such a direct strategy. They'll push you off your broom before you can even get hold of it.''
Oliver nodded, signaling that she was right.
"Then how could you win?" he asked, pointing at the piece of chalk and a cloth. Erin hesitantly picked it up and started to erase the arrows, Oliver following her every move.
"If we want to win against Slytherin, we have to be smarter than them. We have to focus on getting the Quaffle to the goal with a couple of detours", she said, drawing an arrow to the left flank. "That's where Flint will be. He always takes center stage", Erin mumbled, moving Flint's name. "You can expect him to play foul, so speed is key." She kept on drawing arrows, envisioning the strategy in her head.
"Not bad", Oliver said when she was done. "You're not using your Beaters, though. They can make your life a lot easier."
"They can distract Flint? He's the most difficult pawn in the game."
"Flint will just use the Bludgers to smack you off your broom." Erin scanned the board again.
"Best go for Pusey or Warrington then. They haven't got much going on upstairs." Erin said, to which Oliver chuckled.
"That's more like it. You know your opponent, that's good, but as captain it's so much more important to know your own team's skills. What's Hufflepuff's strength?"
"Cedric's a good Seeker", Erin mumbled.
"Wrong. You have the best Chasers, Erin. Although our team might just beat you in that department", he smirked.
"If you're good. Own up to it. You've got good Chasers, so make use of them." Erin nodded.
"What's your weakness?" Oliver asked. Erin sighed. There were quite a few, which is why they always came in third or fourth.
"We don't have a solid keeper", she said. Maybe Jonathan would be better, but it was hard to judge that already.
"Correct, but that's not the main problem. What is?" Erin shrugged. She had no idea and it was frustrating. She needed to know this to be able to lead the team.
"You don't play as a team. You and the other Chasers work really well together and the two Beaters make a great team. Cedric's a solid Seeker, but you're not a whole. If you want to win games, you have to all be connected. You need to know what the others are going to do in order to function well. You have to be in tune with each other."
Oliver had a point. During practice they often trained separately. The Beaters never really appeared in Erin's game plans, whilst they could really make or break a game.
"You're so right", Erin grunted, sitting down on one of the benches.
"Hey, I never said it was easy", Oliver chuckled, joining her on the bench.
"Then why does it look so easy when you do it?"
"Well, it's the only thing I'm good at, so I have to use its full potential", he laughed.
"Oh that's not true, you're good at a lot of things", Erin protested, earning raised eyebrows from Oliver.
"You're good at dueling, I've seen you at the Dueling Club last year. You're a terrific Keeper and a true Gryffindor, don't put yourself short."
"Wow Evans, didn't know you were so interested in me", he smirked, causing Erin's cheeks to go bright red. Why did she say all of that? Why did she embarrass herself yet again?
"I'm not, I'm just observant", she said. That wasn't technically a lie, but she seemed to be a little more observant when the Gryffindor quidditch captain was involved.
"So quidditch", she changed the subject. "What more have you got for me?"
They spent the next hour going over team play and encouragement. They decided to meet next Thursday again so they could go over famous quidditch captains and what their skills were. Oliver had even given Erin some homework. She had to come up with a game plan for their first match against Ravenclaw. Erin thoroughly enjoyed the lesson, as it was very, very helpful. She kind of felt like it was a bit unfair to the rest of the players who wanted to try out as captain, but she didn't exactly want to cancel the next date either.