Beatrice was a little skeptical about Erin hanging out with Oliver, but the same was the case for Oliver's friends. Angelina was the first to notice. She commented on it when she noticed Oliver giving the latest edition of Which broomstick to Erin in the Great Hall.
"Since when do you speak to Erin Evans?" she asked suspiciously when he sat down at their table.
"Not so long. She's trying out for captain and could use some help."
"You're helping her?" Katie joined. "Why would you help someone from another team?" Oliver shrugged.
"Aha you're just trying to figure out their tactic, aren't you?" Fred asked, making Oliver think of Erin's new move again. Updating them about their Hawkshead Spiral Dive could give them a massive advantage, but he had promised her he wouldn't tell them.
"She really wants it, so why wouldn't I help her?" Ever since they started talking, Erin got less and less defensive around him. He still hadn't figured out why she seemed to dislike him, but he didn't care much anymore.
"I know what it is", Angelina said. "Oliver is developing a little crush." Oliver almost choked on his pumpkin juice at what he was hearing. A crush on someone from another team? That was a thousand steps too far. He helped her become captain and he liked talking to her about quidditch, but that was it.
"Nope, not going to happen", he said, glancing over at the Hufflepuff table, where Erin sat. She sure was pretty, everyone could see that, but he could never see himself dating someone from another team. He didn't have time to date anyone in general.
Erin was looking through the magazine Oliver had lent her. Since Benjamin made it to the team, that meant that their mum would get him his own broomstick. She took the time during supper to leaf through the pages of Which Broomstick and afterwards she'd discuss which one to get with Oliver. Benjamin didn't know he was getting a broomstick yet because it was something Erin had discussed with her mother during summer, so she wanted it to be a surprise.
"Let's go to the dorms, I still have to finish that stupid Potions task", Beatrice sighed. She had chosen Advanced Potions as a N.E.W.T class and was already regretting it. Snape gave them loads of homework every time and that combined with Beatrice's art of procrastination was not a good combo.
"Can't, I'm meeting up with Oliver for Benji's broom, but I'll help you when I get back", Erin said.
"You're hanging with Oliver again? Merlin, start dating already", Beatrice grunted.
"We're just friends, barely even. More like ... quidditch mates", Erin said, cringing at how bad that sounded.
"So you're telling me you don't want to snog him every time he walks by?" Beatrice smirked.
"No! It's not like that", Erin whisper-yelled and punched Beatrice's arm. Erin was finally getting to the point where being just friends with Oliver seemed like a doable option, but that didn't mean Beatrice didn't have a point when she said Erin wanted to snog him every time she saw him. One-sided crushes were the worst, but at least she was slowly dealing with it.
"I just need to find a new crush", Erin stated, looking around the Great Hall. That had gotten Tamsin's attention, as she joined the conversation.
"Ooh we need to find you a snack? I'm happy to help", she said. "What's your type?"
"Gryffindor quidditch captain", Beatrice said immediately, earning another elbow to her arm.
"Really? Oliver? He's an absolute maniac", Tamsin said.
"No... She meant Charlie Weasley, that quidditch captain", Erin lied, shooting Beatrice her nastiest look to tell her to shut up.
"They just need to play quidditch, that's pretty much her only rule", Beatrice then said. Erin didn't like people discussing her love life. It made her feel so vulnerable.
"Well there are plenty of snacks on the Hufflepuff team", Tamsin said. "Michael, Anthony, even the new kid Jonathan." They were indeed not bad-looking, but Erin didn't know them very well. She sighed. A good team captain had to know all their players, that was lesson one Oliver had taught her. She wasn't there yet.
"Anyway, I have to get going. See you guys around." Erin stood up and took the magazine with her. She couldn't see Oliver at the Gryffindor table anymore, so she presumed he was already waiting for her in the Courtyard.
"There you are." Oliver was waiting right outside the door of the Great Hall, which Erin hadn't expected. She was so shocked that a scream left her throat.
"Oi, calm down, it's just me", Oliver laughed.
"Don't ever bloody do that again!" she said, trying to regain a normal heartbeat. "You scared the living hell out of me." She gave him back his magazine and they made their way over to the Courtyard.
"So what do you think?" he asked her when they sat down. She crossed her legs and took the magazine again.
"Well, he definitely needs a fast broom, that's for sure. The Nimbus 2001 would be best, but they're really expensive." They never really struggled badly at home because their mother worked loads, but she couldn't afford a 700 galleon broomstick.
"Well, the 2000 version severely dropped in price after the 2001 release. It's a little slower, but still really fast, though. Or you could choose the broom you have, a Comet Two Sixty is not bad, but a joke next to the new Firebolt."
Erin gnawed on her lip. The Nimbus 2000 was around 400 galleons now. Her mum had never really given her a budget. Maybe she should ask her about it first.
"I'll send my mum a letter, asking for the budget, but the Nimbus 2000 would be my first choice. Maybe a Comet if a Nimbus is too expensive." Oliver nodded.
"So what's this Firebolt I keep hearing about?" she said.
"You haven't seen it? It's out of this world." He turned the pages of the magazine until he had found what he was looking for. On the page was a picture of a fine looking broom, but it looked more average than it was.
"Every twig is hand-picked", Oliver said. "It's the fastest broom yet and has superb balance and precision."
"And how much does it cost?" Erin laughed. Olivier rubbed his neck awkwardly.
"About a couple thousand galleons. I'm afraid we'll never see one at Hogwarts."
They talked for a bit longer about broomsticks and then said goodnight. They'd see each other tomorrow again for their next session of Team Captain 101.
Erin was always in a good mood, or at least most of the time, but she hadn't had one bad day in all of September. She had taken Oliver's tips to heart and had really gotten to know all of her quidditch team mates. She especially got along very well with Anthony Rickett, one of the Beaters, as he was absolutely hilarious. She also taught Heidi most of the moves they did as Chasers and Jonathan, their new Keeper, was making great progress. She already knew Cedric, Michael and Tamsin pretty well, and of course there was Beatrice, but she felt like she had really made some progress in the past few weeks.
What Oliver had taught her helped loads too. Her new team tactics had way more cohesion and included everyone. It was fun to experiment with including the Beaters in a Chaser move.
Apparition lessons went really well too. They had already had a third of all lessons and Erin had managed to apparate across the Great Hall a couple times already. The first two lessons had been all about the "three magic rules of apparition", being: focus always, never touch someone who's apparating and never apparate to places you don't know. Those lessons were rather boring, but after those, they started to learn how to actually apparate and that was a lot of fun.
Oliver wasn't great at it, as he was rather clumsy, but he was slowly getting the hang of it. Erin didn't mind being his partner anymore. Being partners just meant taking turns apparating and making sure they didn't get lost or splinched. Oliver was highly competitive and always got annoyed when he didn't get it whilst Erin did. She tried to help him as much as she could, but she couldn't help but find the situation amusing too.
Oliver and Erin had definitely become friends now. They often talked, mostly about quidditch, and exchanged all information they got about Slytherin, as they both severely disliked most of their team, especially Marcus Flint. Beatrice had given up her complaints, as Erin didn't really care anyway. She was happy.
The only thing that she worried about was the Captain's match - that's what she started calling it - which was tomorrow. Madame Hooch had been present at every training and although she had frequently asked Erin for her opinion on certain team matters, she seemed very fond of Cedric too. If she lost against Cedric tomorrow, she'd be done for. She'd never get the spot. She wanted it to be over as soon as possible, but she also felt like she needed an entire month extra to practice.
Now she had to stop thinking about that for a moment, though, because she was on her way to her apparition class and distractions and apparition were a very, very bad combination.
Oliver waved at her with his classic "Oliver-half-smile" from across the Great Hall. She walked up to him, trying to clear her head.
"And, how are you feeling about tomorrow?" he asked, which made it a little hard not to think about.
"Let's not get into that, I'm already nauseous", she sighed.
"Hey, it's going to be okay", he said. "You can do it, I know you can." She smiled at his encouragement. She really needed a comforting hug right now, but they weren't at that stage yet, so Beatrice would have to be her victim later today.
"You're telling me how it went straight after, okay?" he said and Erin nodded. "Now get your butt to the other side of the Great Hall", he smirked, pulling out his wand.
It was hard to focus on anything but the match tomorrow, especially because Oliver kept asking her questions about "What she would do if ...". Erin kept telling him to stop, because she had to focus, but he wanted his pupil to be prepared. She appreciated his help, though. It all went pretty well, and then it didn't.
Oliver was looking up, thinking of another question to ask and his enthusiasm when he found a good one was rather detrimental. He turned around, bumping into Erin, just when she was about to apparate. The look of terror on her face was something Oliver would not soon forget, and then she was gone. For a moment, Oliver thought everything had gone okay, but then he heard a scream from the other side of the Hall, and it wasn't Erin's. He knew what had happened and he was terrified. Erin got splinched.
Oliver panicked immediately, zig-zagging through the crowd, trying not to hurt anyone else. A large crowd had gathered around her and Oliver pushed through it, cold sweat forming on his forehead. He didn't know what to do when he saw her. She wasn't in pain, because she wasn't moving at all. A large puddle of blood had formed underneath her body and gashes ran all over her body. This was his fault. This was all his fault.
"Someone get the nurse, now!" the Ministry man yelled, pushing everyone aside. "Everyone, out!" he yelled, but Oliver was not leaving her side. He had been the cause of this. Someone had already gone to fetch Madame Pomfrey, because she was by her side in a matter of seconds, gasping at the scene.
"I need everyone out, now, someone get me Professor Dumbledore!"
Most students started to leave the Great Hall, trying to still catch a glimpse from what was happening. Madame Pomfrey got out her wand and started to close the gashes, but the panicky look in her eyes didn't calm Oliver down whatsoever.
"Come on boy, get out", the Ministry man said, pushing Oliver gently, but he didn't move.
"No, I need to stay, I-"
"You need to get out, right now! Let the woman do her job and do what she asked." The man pushed Oliver a bit more aggressively now, so Oliver gave up. He walked out of the Great Hall, not being able to process what had happened.
"Oliver!" he heard. Percy was running up to him, confused at what was going on.
"What happened? All head boys and girls were called here. What's going on?" Oliver couldn't respond. He had gotten Erin splinched. What if she died? What if she was already dead? Did he just murder someone? Did he just murder Erin?
"Oliver, Oliver calm down", he heard, but it all seemed to come from miles away. His vision got a little blurry, but he had to stay in the present. He needed to know if Erin would make it.
"I need some air", he said and ran out.