Loser, Whatever!
Dinner
The night before was a late one, but I couldn't sleep anyways. So I did something I don't usually do: I took cough medications that caused drowsiness. I was out in minutes.
Weirdly enough, I didn't wake up until noon the next day. By now, the full excitement of the evening ahead of me had come. the prospect of having Oliver all to myself for a few hours at last was unbelieveable.
I deliberately wasted my time getting up and ready. I took about five minutes longer than I usually did to brush my teeth and I pulled out the make-up my mother had gotten me for my thirteenth birthday out of it's bag and read the full instructions on how to apply it. Then I spent another half hour trying to figure out how to put it on.
I spent the day in my pyjamas, and even though I was of age, I didn't use my wand for simple tasks like I had been trying to get in the habit of ever since my birthday, because it took longer when I didn't. Finally, it was 6:00, the time I promised myself I would start getting ready.
I headed for the bathroom, brushed my teeth again until I was satisfied with the way they looked and my breath smelled. I pulled the make-up again, gave it a dirty look, then fixed my face up again.
When I was finished in the bathroom, I pulled the dress out of the closet, where it had been since that Sunday that seemed like so long ago. I pulled it out of it's bag, undressed, then put it on. I admired my reflection in my tiny mirror. I didn't particularily like the way it dipped in the front and showed my cleavage. I hated cleavage. I rummaged through my dresser and pulled out my thin white scarf and wrapped it around my neck. Much better.
I heard the doorbell ring, I would have run to get it, but I heard footsteps from the living room which meant my dad had already beat me to it. I sighed, grabbed my black jacket, turned off the light and headed for the front room.
My dad didn't seem to be giving him a hard time. In fact, he was smiling. Oliver had charm alright. I hoped it stuck with my dad.
"There she is!" My dad called when he saw me in the hall.
"You ready to go?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah, see you later dad." I replied and stepped outside with Oliver. It was a little chilly, so I put my jacket on. It contrasted nicely with the green dress and white scarf.
"Are you wearing make-up?" Oliver asked with mock-surprise as soon as the door closed behind us. He was wearing a very nice set of midnight black dress robes.
"Yes." I mumbled.
"You should wear it more often." He stated. I looked up, he was smiling! "I'm serious! It looks good!"
"Really? It's too much of a hassle to put on every morning." I replied.
"Oh, well I'm glad you wore it tonight. Nice scarf." He twirled the end of it, "Where did it come from?"
"I hated the cleavage I was getting with just the dress." I explained. Surprisingly, it wasn't awkward talking to him about these things. He laughed.
"Really? Nothing wrong with a little cleavage." He retorted.
"Oh yes there is. But I took care of it." I corrected him.
"But I like your cleavage." He smiled.
"Um, I think we need to stop talking about my cleavage." I said, this was getting umcomfortable.
"Okay," He laughed, "We should apparate now."
He took my hand and on his count, we apparated at the same time. We were in a white vestibule with a high ceiling and gold carpeted floors. There was an arch at the end of it leading to another room. Oliver kept a hold of my hand and we walked through the arch and into the place we would inevitably be eating dinner. This room was much bigger, still white with much higher ceilings. There were abstract carvings on the walls and ceiling. There were three elaborate golden chandeliers and four large windows on each wall with long golden drapes drawn so the moon was peeking through. People were also scattered around the floor, some sitting down and others wandering and talking with others. All the men were in black dress robes similar to Oliver's and the women all had different coloured dresses on. There were little circular tables scattered across the floor, with a wide space empty for dancing. There was also one long rectangular table at the head of the room. There were placecards at every seat.
"Where are we sitting?" I asked, though I already had a clue.
"Hold on a second! I realized yesterday that I had totally forgotten to give you your birthday present! I'm really sorry about that." He apologized.
"That's okay, Oliver. You really didn't need to get me anything."I reminded him.
"No, I really want you to have it." He pulled a small square, flat package from his dress robes and handed it to me. I pulled the green wrapping paper off and a black velvet box was revealed. I opened it to find a beautiful bracelet of rhinestone peridots and diamonds. It matched the dress perfectly and I wondered if he even had this the day we went to the village.
"It's beautiful, Oliver!" I tried to put it on one-handed, "Can you help me with it?"
"Sure." He stepped in and very professionally attached the clasp, "And to answer your previous question, we're sitting up there."
He pointed to the big rectangular table. I realized now that it was on a slightly higher level than the main floor.
"Hey, Oliver! So this is Bridgette?" A man of maybe twenty came up and shook his hand. There was a pretty girl with long blonde hair standing next to him wearing a floor-length dress of deep purple.
"Yeah, Peter, this is Bridgette. Bridgette, this is Peter Habgoode, he's a Chaser on the team." Oliver introduced us. Peter in turn took my hand and shook it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." I said. I couldn't believe I was meeting a member, other then Oliver, of England's national Quidditch team!
"The pleasure's all mine, Oliver talks of little else but you. This is Eliza, my fiancee." He winked and let go of my hand.
"How do you do, Bridgette?" Eliza held her left hand out and the light caught on a gigantic diamond on her third finger. I took the hand and shook it.
"Very well, thank you Eliza." I replied.
"Well, we'd better sit down, it's starting late as it is." Oliver said, wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me to the head table. There wasa seat marked 'Bridgette Eisenberg', thankfully, the spelling was correct and it was to the right of one marked 'Oliver Wood'. Oliver, again, pulled my chair out for me and I sat down.
"Hello, I'm Frank Doff, Beater. And this is my wife, Mona." The man to my right held his hand out. I took it and he shook hard. The woman sitting next to him has a hair a similar length to mind, but it was orange. She wore a shortblackdress and I noticed she wasn't afraid to show a little cleavage.
"I'm Bridgette Eisenberg." I replied. I couldn't believe my luck! I never dreamed before I met Oliver Wood that I would get to meet all these famous Quidditch players!
"Ah! So you're the famous Bridgette! I've heard so much about you!" He exclaimed, "Hey, Oliver!" He waved to Oliver who smiled and waved back.
"Now I know why you never stop taking about her." He stated and I felt my cheeks burn, Oliver just laughed.
"Bridgette, this is Jered Hassle. He's the Seeker. This is his girlfriend, Janna." Oliver introduced me to the mantwo seats tohis left. Of course, I already knew who all the people were (just not the dates), but it was incredibly amazing to meet them all. To Oliver left and Jered's right there was another woman with long, curly brown hair. She wore a sparklingbaby blue dress a similar length to mine.I shook hands with Jered, who had short cropped blonde hair and a muscular build like all the other Quidditch players I had met so far tonight.
"It's great to finally meet you, Bridgette." He said as we shook hands.
"Hi, I'm Bridgette." I introduced myself to Janna.
"Hi, Bridgette, I'm Janna." She shook my hand enthousiastically and smiled a genuine smile, not like the ones I had been gaetting from other women tonight. I had a feeling Janna and I were going to get along.
"Ah! There's Ludo! Let's get this started at last, we're already fifteen minutes late."
Weirdly enough, I didn't wake up until noon the next day. By now, the full excitement of the evening ahead of me had come. the prospect of having Oliver all to myself for a few hours at last was unbelieveable.
I deliberately wasted my time getting up and ready. I took about five minutes longer than I usually did to brush my teeth and I pulled out the make-up my mother had gotten me for my thirteenth birthday out of it's bag and read the full instructions on how to apply it. Then I spent another half hour trying to figure out how to put it on.
I spent the day in my pyjamas, and even though I was of age, I didn't use my wand for simple tasks like I had been trying to get in the habit of ever since my birthday, because it took longer when I didn't. Finally, it was 6:00, the time I promised myself I would start getting ready.
I headed for the bathroom, brushed my teeth again until I was satisfied with the way they looked and my breath smelled. I pulled the make-up again, gave it a dirty look, then fixed my face up again.
When I was finished in the bathroom, I pulled the dress out of the closet, where it had been since that Sunday that seemed like so long ago. I pulled it out of it's bag, undressed, then put it on. I admired my reflection in my tiny mirror. I didn't particularily like the way it dipped in the front and showed my cleavage. I hated cleavage. I rummaged through my dresser and pulled out my thin white scarf and wrapped it around my neck. Much better.
I heard the doorbell ring, I would have run to get it, but I heard footsteps from the living room which meant my dad had already beat me to it. I sighed, grabbed my black jacket, turned off the light and headed for the front room.
My dad didn't seem to be giving him a hard time. In fact, he was smiling. Oliver had charm alright. I hoped it stuck with my dad.
"There she is!" My dad called when he saw me in the hall.
"You ready to go?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah, see you later dad." I replied and stepped outside with Oliver. It was a little chilly, so I put my jacket on. It contrasted nicely with the green dress and white scarf.
"Are you wearing make-up?" Oliver asked with mock-surprise as soon as the door closed behind us. He was wearing a very nice set of midnight black dress robes.
"Yes." I mumbled.
"You should wear it more often." He stated. I looked up, he was smiling! "I'm serious! It looks good!"
"Really? It's too much of a hassle to put on every morning." I replied.
"Oh, well I'm glad you wore it tonight. Nice scarf." He twirled the end of it, "Where did it come from?"
"I hated the cleavage I was getting with just the dress." I explained. Surprisingly, it wasn't awkward talking to him about these things. He laughed.
"Really? Nothing wrong with a little cleavage." He retorted.
"Oh yes there is. But I took care of it." I corrected him.
"But I like your cleavage." He smiled.
"Um, I think we need to stop talking about my cleavage." I said, this was getting umcomfortable.
"Okay," He laughed, "We should apparate now."
He took my hand and on his count, we apparated at the same time. We were in a white vestibule with a high ceiling and gold carpeted floors. There was an arch at the end of it leading to another room. Oliver kept a hold of my hand and we walked through the arch and into the place we would inevitably be eating dinner. This room was much bigger, still white with much higher ceilings. There were abstract carvings on the walls and ceiling. There were three elaborate golden chandeliers and four large windows on each wall with long golden drapes drawn so the moon was peeking through. People were also scattered around the floor, some sitting down and others wandering and talking with others. All the men were in black dress robes similar to Oliver's and the women all had different coloured dresses on. There were little circular tables scattered across the floor, with a wide space empty for dancing. There was also one long rectangular table at the head of the room. There were placecards at every seat.
"Where are we sitting?" I asked, though I already had a clue.
"Hold on a second! I realized yesterday that I had totally forgotten to give you your birthday present! I'm really sorry about that." He apologized.
"That's okay, Oliver. You really didn't need to get me anything."I reminded him.
"No, I really want you to have it." He pulled a small square, flat package from his dress robes and handed it to me. I pulled the green wrapping paper off and a black velvet box was revealed. I opened it to find a beautiful bracelet of rhinestone peridots and diamonds. It matched the dress perfectly and I wondered if he even had this the day we went to the village.
"It's beautiful, Oliver!" I tried to put it on one-handed, "Can you help me with it?"
"Sure." He stepped in and very professionally attached the clasp, "And to answer your previous question, we're sitting up there."
He pointed to the big rectangular table. I realized now that it was on a slightly higher level than the main floor.
"Hey, Oliver! So this is Bridgette?" A man of maybe twenty came up and shook his hand. There was a pretty girl with long blonde hair standing next to him wearing a floor-length dress of deep purple.
"Yeah, Peter, this is Bridgette. Bridgette, this is Peter Habgoode, he's a Chaser on the team." Oliver introduced us. Peter in turn took my hand and shook it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." I said. I couldn't believe I was meeting a member, other then Oliver, of England's national Quidditch team!
"The pleasure's all mine, Oliver talks of little else but you. This is Eliza, my fiancee." He winked and let go of my hand.
"How do you do, Bridgette?" Eliza held her left hand out and the light caught on a gigantic diamond on her third finger. I took the hand and shook it.
"Very well, thank you Eliza." I replied.
"Well, we'd better sit down, it's starting late as it is." Oliver said, wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me to the head table. There wasa seat marked 'Bridgette Eisenberg', thankfully, the spelling was correct and it was to the right of one marked 'Oliver Wood'. Oliver, again, pulled my chair out for me and I sat down.
"Hello, I'm Frank Doff, Beater. And this is my wife, Mona." The man to my right held his hand out. I took it and he shook hard. The woman sitting next to him has a hair a similar length to mind, but it was orange. She wore a shortblackdress and I noticed she wasn't afraid to show a little cleavage.
"I'm Bridgette Eisenberg." I replied. I couldn't believe my luck! I never dreamed before I met Oliver Wood that I would get to meet all these famous Quidditch players!
"Ah! So you're the famous Bridgette! I've heard so much about you!" He exclaimed, "Hey, Oliver!" He waved to Oliver who smiled and waved back.
"Now I know why you never stop taking about her." He stated and I felt my cheeks burn, Oliver just laughed.
"Bridgette, this is Jered Hassle. He's the Seeker. This is his girlfriend, Janna." Oliver introduced me to the mantwo seats tohis left. Of course, I already knew who all the people were (just not the dates), but it was incredibly amazing to meet them all. To Oliver left and Jered's right there was another woman with long, curly brown hair. She wore a sparklingbaby blue dress a similar length to mine.I shook hands with Jered, who had short cropped blonde hair and a muscular build like all the other Quidditch players I had met so far tonight.
"It's great to finally meet you, Bridgette." He said as we shook hands.
"Hi, I'm Bridgette." I introduced myself to Janna.
"Hi, Bridgette, I'm Janna." She shook my hand enthousiastically and smiled a genuine smile, not like the ones I had been gaetting from other women tonight. I had a feeling Janna and I were going to get along.
"Ah! There's Ludo! Let's get this started at last, we're already fifteen minutes late."