Into the Stars

Oliver and I spend the rest of our “date” sitting on the sofa in the common room sharing stories and such. Surprisingly, Oliver let me in on lots of the details of his life not involving Quidditch. Even I got to share. It was easy to be myself around him. He was beginning to unlock doors to many emotions I had not felt in a very long time. For instance, he was a pro at making me laugh. I even started tearing up at one point. He was simply wonderful. Overall, the time I spent with Oliver that day was fantastic. It was the most fun I’ve had since I had arrived at Hogwarts.

“So your brother plays Quidditch you said?” He asked with a proud smile.

“Yes. I’m not sure which position he’s best at, but he took Quidditch up as a hobby about two years go.” Oliver beamed as I said this. “He’s only able to play a couple times a year, since there aren’t many pitches in Colorado.” He opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by two hushed, identical voices coming from the entrance. Without warning, one of the ones the voices belonged to leaned over the back of the sofa in between Oliver and I. Fred smiled as he eyed us both.

“How did it go?” He asked with a whimsical smile. There was barely a moment of silence before Oliver turned to lock his arm around Fred’s neck and bringing his other arm around to sock him in the face. With a yelp, Fred stumbled backward and held his now bleeding nose.

“Wood, what’s gotten into you? George asked defensively.

“You bloody gits! What were you thinking?” Oliver yelled before jumping over the back of the sofa and stalking toward them.

“Easy, Wood...” Fred said in a muffled voice as they both stepped backward.

“Run!” George said as the twins broke off in separate ways. I watched amused as Oliver went after George. As the three of them paraded around the common room, I realized that I was not the only one staring. Several students were laughing, trying not to laugh, or looking on disapprovingly.

As Oliver chased George near the area where the fire place was, I had to pull my feet up onto the sofa to keep them from being trampled on. It was a good thing I did, because just as George passed me, Oliver dove on him, tackling him to the ground. He harshly rolled George onto his back before straddling his waist and holding his fist up above him.

“Wait!” George yells. “Have mercy on me, for heaven’s sake, Wood!” Oliver paused. His face was bright red and his breathing heavy.

“Put it down, would you?” Fred said obviously irritated as he looked on at the scene. Oliver sighed and put his fist down.

“Show him the dart.” I added quickly and quietly. As if just remembering, his eyes widened as he dug in his hand in his pocket and pulls out the little arrow.

“Why don’t you two tell me what this is, hmm?” He said angrily as he dropped it in George’s hand. It didn’t take long for him and his brother to make little O shapes with their mouths.

“Is this the one we sold to Flint?” George asked as he looked up at Fred. “OUCH, GOD DAMN IT!!!” He shouted as Oliver finally brought a fist down on him.

“You sold it to Flint? What were you thinking?” He shouted right in his face.

“He did offer us an unbeatable price...”

“And what is it exactly?” Oliver demanded, still sitting on top of George.

“It’s a sleeping dart. It doesn’t hurt at all! You can use it to knock someone out...” Fred said.

“Or use it on yourself if you’re feeling wide awake in the middle of the night...”

“It’s completely safe.”

“You idiots, don’t you get it? He used it on Nikki!” He shouted.

“Ohhhh...” They said in unison.

“That’s really terrible and all, but could you please get off of me, Wood? I’m starting to get this weird feeling in my-”

“Oh, come off it! I’m going.” He replied as he lifted himself up and took his spot back on the sofa next to me. He huffed angrily.

“Honestly, if we’d known what he was going to use it for, we never would have sold it to him.” George admitted as he stood up and brushed himself off.

“Why did he do it in the first place? It’s not like it accomplished anything.” I wondered aloud.

“Besides ruining your picnic, you mean?” Fred said.

“Fred, go wipe the blood off your face, would you? You look hideous.” Oliver said agitated.

“And you might want to ice that black eye, George.” I added with a smirk.

“We’re sorry, alright! It could have been worse!” Fred whined.

“Yeah, he could have hit Oliver with the sleeping dart and kidnapped you while he was knocked out so he could have his way with you.” George said rather amused.

“Ugh!” I snarled. “That’s disgusting!”

“...And probably true.” Oliver said slowly as his eyes widened. There was a short silence. “That bloody bint...”

“Calm down, would you? Nothing happened!” Fred pleaded.

“Go wash the blood off your face, would you?” Oliver shouted back. I was slumped into the couch at this point, looking helplessly at the ceiling, hoping it would fall on us.

“Come on, Fred. Wood needs a little time to center himself.” George said with a smirk as he grabbed his brother’s arm and led him away. Oliver and I sat in silence as he gazed at the fireplace and I gazed at him. He was not a happy camper.

“Er, Oliver?” I asked quietly.

“Yes?” He looked at me and his face softened almost immediately.

“I’m going to head up to bed, if that’s alright.”

“Oh, of course, that would be best. It’s late, I suppose.” He said sounding a tad disappointed.

“Ok.” I said quietly with a smile. I made a motion to get up.

“And... I’m sorry. You know. About...”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s alright.” I stood up. “I had fun anyway.” I admitted before leaning in to peck him on the cheek. I didn’t stick around long enough for him to see my own cheeks burn up.
I climbed the stairs two at a time. I hoped Oliver wasn’t watching me, because I must have looked like a mad woman. When I finally got to my dorm, I found Allie lying across her bed reading. She beamed when she finally realized I was there.
“Well?” She stared at me with wide eyes. I gave her an uncertain smile as I sat down on my bed. “How did it go? Tell me everything!”