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"This isn't fair! You should've got more than an Exceeds Expectations in that Potions test. In only the first question he lost you three marks. Saying that you wrote luxweed instead of fluxweed as the 'f' and 'l' were so close together." Fred was ranting as he felt himself getting angry on Gwen's behalf even though the whole ordeal had occurred a few hours prior.
The group of Gryffindors were walking towards the quidditch pitch as practice was about to begin. The quidditch game was next Saturday, the Saturday right after easter holidays ended.
Gwen sighed. "It was a bit biased but at least I know that. So, I know that I technically did better. Besides, even if I didn't, in less than a year I managed to go from dreadful to exceeds expectations."
"And we're proud of you for it," Angelina admitted, shoving her slightly with a smile. "And you got an Acceptable in Herbology. Lee even told us that Professor Sprout said that you were only a few marks away from getting an E." Alicia added.
Gwen couldn't help the smile growing on her face. "But somehow, despite all that, we're forgetting what really matters. Getting a well done from Oliver." The rest of the players groaned.
"The guy has been killing us and all he does is scowl in return," Alicia said, her voice conveying the annoyance that she was feeling. "Relax guys!" George interrupted. "We only have one match left and we're most likely to win. Then we'll have a happy Oliver and can say bye to the grumpy one."
"Merlin's beard." Gwen suddenly murmured as she came towards a realisation. "We only have a few months before we say goodbye to him forever." The others snorted at that.
"He's not dying, Gwen." George reminded Gwen with a grin. Fred laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "She's only being this dramatic because of the crush she has on him."
Gwen shoved him in annoyance at that statement. "Had, that's the keyword. I have a boyfriend now, after all." Gwen stated. "Yeah, we noticed. Pretty Boy is cool, by the way." Fred stated, grabbing the attention of the others who all gaped at him.
"I think that's the first time you complimented him," Gwen replied, feeling as if a weight lifted off of her chest. "I just said that he was cool. It's no big deal."
"You've also called him Pretty Boy and try all you might but calling a guy pretty is not an insult." Angelina added which received a 'preach' from Alicia. Fred turned red at that comment.
"She's telling the truth," George interjected as he agreed with the girls. "I mean, he's quite handsome. I'd bang him." George admitted causing the others to laugh once again in disbelief.
"So would Gwen."
"Shut up, Angelina!"
Needless to say, all the talking caused them to arrive at practice three minutes late which was more than enough to set off the bomb called Oliver Wood.
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"This always was my favourite part. People clapping for me." Angelina said as she and Gwen neared the Great Hall the morning of the final match between them and Slytherin.
"Do they by any chance help you inflate your ego as well?" Gwen asked curiously.
That's when Angelina began swatting her with her broom.
"Hey! Stop it! What are you trying to do?" Gwen asked between laughs. Angelina's grin grew bigger but her swatting didn't stop. "Brooms are used to clear out the rubbish, right?" Gwen faked a gasp at that.
Angelina and Gwen met with the rest of the team right outside the hall. They all decided to meet there, it was Lee's idea actually. He suggested that walking in together and hearing the applause could boost their confidence.
"Are your brooms good? Did you trim the ends and polish the wood?" Oliver asked the pair as soon as he saw them. He didn't wait for an answer, instead, he took Gwen's broom from her hands and began examining it.
"Oliver. We took good care of them, you don't need to worry." George reassured. "We'll go in soon. Just give-" Oliver said referring to the Great Hall.
Fred didn't let him finish the sentence and opened the doors, ready to get things over with. Just as expected the whole Great Hall erupted in applause excluding the Slytherins who just hissed at them.
"Everyone eat. Not too much though, I don't want any of you to throw up." Oliver warned as he walked towards an empty spot which seemed to be reserved just for them that day.
"Yes, sir." They all chorused together.
This time, the Gryffindor Quidditch team were much more confident than in their previous matches (excluding Oliver who was a wreck).
Mostly because they knew that they were good as they had gotten so far and because of Harry's new firebolt. "Pass me the pie, will you?" Gwen asked Harry, motioning towards the blueberry pie. As Harry was handing it to Gwen, Oliver interrupted and took it from his hands. Gwen quickly began protesting at that.
"Eat something healthier. Take some toast, it'll give you energy." Oliver said tossing a piece of bread at her face. Gwen caught it and then scowled at the captain. "Sugar also provides energy. It's not like it's going to cost us the match." Gwen complained.
"I think it's best to just let her take the pie. There'll be a higher chance of losing if she's pissed at you." Harry defended Gwen. He didn't give Oliver time to respond but took the pie back and handed it to Gwen. "Thank you, Harry," Gwen said as she smiled at him. She happily dug into the pie, almost moaning at the taste of its sweetness.
"I think Cedric is coming, Gwen. Or should I send him away so that we won't risk you being distracted?" Angelina stated, making fun of Oliver who almost hissed back at her.
Gwen smiled fondly when she felt Cedric hugging her from behind. "Why is it that you always come to interrupt me when I'm having breakfast?" Gwen asked, tilting her head slightly so that she can look up at him. "I wouldn't have to so often if you come to my table instead," Cedric replied.
"But it's so far away." Gwen groaned, causing Fred in front of her to laugh lightly. "Gwen it's right beside ours. Maybe you wouldn't fall if you used your legs more often and not forget what walking is." Fred continued. Gwen pouted and waved her fork at him in retaliation, staining Fred's freckled nose with crushed blueberries.
"I'm not going to spend long here, I know that you would prefer if it were just you seven. I just wanted to wish you luck." Cedric said as he smiled at the team. Then he leaned down and kissed Gwen's cheek, not before whispering a quiet good luck into her ear.
"Tell your pretty boyfriend thanks for disgusting me," Oliver said in a half-joking tone. "Oh, trust me. You didn't see anything. I had to, unfortunately, witness much worse." Harry said to which the others either responded with laughs or looks of disgust.
They soon left after they all finished except for Oliver who didn't have the appetite to eat anything. They arrived towards the pitch and Oliver began analysing the grounds. He even at some point sat on the grass and started knocking on the ground to see how it was. It ended up with the others erupting into fits of giggles when saying that it was 'fairly hard'.
The locker rooms were silent, everyone felt nervous as hell, Oliver most of all. "You are a strong, powerful woman. You can do this Angie." Angelina said as she drew two black lines on her cheek.
Angelina noticed Harry staring at her with raised eyebrows. "Got something to say!" Angelina said with a glare causing Harry to take a few steps back.
Gwen pulled her friend back. "If you're going to hit someone, let that someone not be in your team." Gwen warned as he placed her hands on Angelina's shoulders. "Now, in and out. In and out." Gwen said taking a deep breath and letting it out. Angelina nodded and repeated Gwen's actions.
"Okay, it's time, let's go-" Oliver said as he hoisted his broom over his shoulder. The team copied his action and walked out to the field to an enormous chorus of applause.
"And here we have the Gryffindors. Potter, Johnson, Hamilton, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley and Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years-" Lee said in his box only to be stopped by the Slytherins booing.
Tensions were very high. The Slytherins sent hard glares towards the Gryffindors. Most of the team like Oliver were too focused and chose to ignore them. Angelina being Angelina decided to stick her tongue in their direction.
Gwen could feel her hands sweat against the broom handle as she watched Oliver and Flint almost break each other's fingers while shaking hands. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and both teams immediately rose into the air with no hesitation.
Searching for the Quaffle, Gwen almost immediately laid eyes on it and flew towards the ball. She caught it after dodging Warrington and made her way towards the Slytherin goal posts. When she saw the Slytherin beater aiming the Bludger in her direction, Gwen caught Alicia's attention and threw it towards her. Free of the Quaffle, she acted fast and quickly ducked to avoid the Bludger.
Alicia then scored the first goal in the game. A few moments after that the first fowls occurred when Flint nearly shoved Angelina off her broom, causing Fred to hit the back of Flint's head in anger.
"Fred!" Gwen scolded in exasperation and received a frustrated hand gesture from Fred himself.
Madam Hooch handed Gwen the Quaffle to take the penalty. She ignored the hopeful stares of her fellow students and Lee's shouts of encouragement which filled the silent crowd.
Flying towards the goalposts, she faked going for the left one and shot into the middle one instead. The Slytherin keeper who wasn't fast enough failed to catch the Quaffle. Gwen felt herself grin when she heard the deafening applause coming from everyone apart from the Slytherins.
When the Slytherin team went for their penalty, they failed into scoring as Wood was too fast and good.
After that the game continued as normal, only filled with a bunch of foul play from the Slytherins which the Gryffindor team responded aggressively. Alicia, Angelina and Gwen had to continue scoring more goals as Harry could only catch it once they were fifty points up to win the cup.
At the moment, the Gryffindor chasers were the ones receiving the worst treatment by the Slytherins. At one point, Alicia was hit in the head with a bat while Gwen, who was trying to out fly Montague, had her head shoved forward so hard that she hit the broom handle and heard a loud crack.
Gwen knew that she most likely broke her nose but since the adrenaline was still in her system, she could barely feel it and decided to ignore the problem until the match was done.
Gwen scored another goal, Angelina two more and Alicia three, making them in the lead by sixty points. Gryffindor received another penalty after Draco Malfoy kept pulling Harry's Firebolt by the tail, much to the annoyance to pretty much everyone in the stalls.
Gwen was once again given the Quaffle for the penalty. But with the frustration and dizziness, after Bole had hit her right ear with the bat, she missed much to her chagrin.
Angelina was the one who grabbed the Quaffle after Gwen's failed attempt, causing her to get surrounded by almost the entirety of the Slytherins. Despite all the intrusions, Angelina managed to score the goal, the score then eight to twenty.
Gwen, despite her eyes blurring slightly, could see the commotion coming from the two seekers near the bottom of the pitch. She could also see a gold shimmering and Harry only a few seconds away from catching it.
It appeared as if everyone noticed, as Lee was shouting into the microphone and everyone was holding in their breath. Then they heard a shout from Lee and loud applause from the stands when they realized that Harry had caught the Snitch and that the Gryffindors won.
Gwen sighed in relief and quickly landed onto the pitch were she found Oliver already weeping into Harry's shoulder. Fred and George patted Harry on the back and when he was finally free from Oliver's clutches, Gwen went up to him, kissing his cheeks and hugging him as she ignited the pain.
The entire Gryffindor team got tangled together in a many-armed hug as they chanted and sang together. The rest of the Gryffindor house ran into the field including some of the teachers, most notably McGonagall who was somehow crying hander than Oliver. Even Percy was no longer his usual well-composed self as he started jumping up and down.
Gwen started hugging everyone on the team. Moments later they somehow ended up being hoisted up into the air by the crowd much to their amusement. Oliver was only dropped down when Dumbledore walked from the stands with the gigantic Quidditch Cup in his hands and an enormous grin on his face.
The Quidditch team captain held the cup and elevated it up into the air, causing the crowd and the team itself to erupt in shouts, applause and tears of happiness.
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Hey, everybody.
It's been a while, I'm sorry. It was a very hectic Summer which I'm sure a lot of you can relate. I had a bunch of things going on like an exam that I did one year early, two piano exams, my very first job and a project to do.
Anyway, I didn't come here for pity. I spent sometime working on this chapter because I felt as if I had forgotten my own writing style, (which I'm not sure that I found yet but that's a whole other story). I hope you guys enjoyed it because honestly, I felt as if I did a shitty job.
Apart from that, now that the Summer is over I might update more as I'm used to work more during the scholastic year. At least until the A-levels come creeping closer.
I thank you for your patience, I know that not all of you are Hufflepuffs (like me, even though I don't particularly think that patience is one of my strong suits).
Love,
E. F.