[This was supposed to be part of Chapter 5, but the chapter was too long.]
Chapter 6: Slytherin
"How many drinks did you get?" Wood asked jokingly.
"Oh. I was talking to one of your dad's coworkers."
"Why?" Cedar asked.
"She got my attention right away," I said.
"How?"
"Oh… just heard her talking to herself," I said before taking a sip of the pre-dyed punch.
"You caught on quickly to the dance. It took Adam hours," Tara said, smiling at him.
"She had a better teacher," Adam said, grinning back.
"He's had more practice," Tara countered.
"You've taught a lot of people to dance?" I asked.
"A few," Wood said, shrugging.
"He taught all of us girls to dance," Joan said. "The three of us only took about an hour in total to learn. Now, Mark and Adam were a different story."
"You taught Mark and Adam how to slow dance?" I asked, laughing.
"It would have gone a lot faster if he had," Joan said, also laughing.
"We had to learn how to lead. That's harder," Mark said.
"You learned. That's what's important," Tara said.
"How many other people have you taught?" I asked Wood.
"A few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. A few cousins."
"A year," Cedar said, smiling. "He's good at it."
I nodded. "Were you serious about the five Knuts—"
"No," Wood interrupted.
"OK. I thought you were kidding, but it seems like you're running a business, so… has anyone ever owed you a Knut for that bet?" I asked.
"A Knut?" Cedar asked. "He bet me a Sickle."
"I was positive that you didn't know how to dance," Wood said, smirking.
"And you weren't positive I couldn't? You only bet me a Knut," Adam said, laughing.
"You made that bet with Adam, too?" I asked.
"Don't take it personally," Wood said.
"I wasn't."
"I was only kidding," Adam said.
"Oh. I knew that. Um… who taught you how to dance?"
"Mum," Wood said simply. "When I was twelve."
"He taught us when we were thirteen. Wood and I would be stuck dancing together because Adam and Tara and Joan and Mark would choose each other," Cedar said, laughing.
I shrugged. "You could have danced with other people."
"We did. Oliver taught lots of girls how to dance. Probably most of the Seventh Years and a fair amount of the Sixth Years."
"Ah." I forced a little laugh, hoping that it sounded natural enough. "Well, I was a little late, but I got my lesson, hum?"
No one said anything. I was wondering if I had sounded offended when I realized why they weren't talking. No one was. Then I wondered how many people had heard what I said. Was everyone waiting to see how Wood reacted? I hadn't seemed that hurt. I wasn't that hurt.
"What?" I whispered as quietly as I could.
Wood put a finger to his lips, then pointed to his watch.
I pulled his arm across the table so I could see the time. There was a little less than a minute until midnight. I looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
Wood just put his finger to his mouth again.
I sat in silence, more confused than any time that night. About twenty seconds later, a bang went off. I jumped and almost screamed. Not that it would have mattered if I would have screamed. Everyone in the room had started cheering. Another bang went off and everyone looked up.
At the top of the room, miniature fireworks were going off. I watched the five minute show with awe for the designs the fireworks were making. They spelled things. They formed pictures. They stayed lit longer than any Muggle fireworks. They were magnificent.
"There's a minute of silence at the end of the year, to signify the year's passing and those that passed with it," Wood explained after the short show.
"Oh. Another thing that I could have been warned about," I said, much more coldly than I planned on.
"Are you OK?" Cedar asked.
I looked over at her. "Yes."
"You seem… upset," she said.
"No. I'm still just a little confused. Most things tonight have been different than I'm used to."
"We understand," Joan said.
"Time for my favorite time of the night!" Adam said.
"What?" I asked.
"Games," they all said, standing up.
I stood up with them. "Games? What sort of games?"
"Wizards and Warlocks!" Adam said, almost jumping up and down out of happiness.
"Adam's team always wins," Tara said, smiling at him.
"How's it work?" I asked.
"Wait and listen to the directions," Wood said. We were gathering in the middle of the room with most of the other people there who were under fifty years old.
Mr. Wood was in the middle of the room with two flags. One was black with fire coming out from behind a dark figure. The other was blue with two wands crossing, forming an X, with sparks surrounding them.
"All right. For those of you who have never played Wizards and Warlocks, or for those of you who have forgotten, here are the rules:
"First: the two teams may only have two people guarding the flag. An unlimited number of others may guard the territory, but may not come within twenty feet of the flag itself.
"Second: at any time you may cross into the other team's side, but when you do, they may capture you, and you must walk back to the jail, which is this house, at the front door. A teammate must come to the door, which is considered neutral territory, to retrieve you. You may leave only after you've spent five minutes at the door. You are obligated to come immediately here once being tagged by a member of the opposing team. A person can free as many teammates from the jail as they wish simply by touching them.
"Third: once a team has gotten possession of the flag, they must get it onto their side before they have won.
"And last of all… any strategy may be used as long as you remain on the ground. Magic may be used if you have graduated from Hogwarts or another wizarding school. Magic may not be used on a person, only objects. These objects may be anything as long as they will not harm a person. Also, the flags themselves cannot be tampered with in any way and must be within plain sight.
"That's it. First team to get the other team's flag on their side of the field wins," Mr. Wood concluded.
"Are there any boundaries?" someone asked.
"Oh, yes. I almost forgot, thank you. The field is a square mile, the center of which is the front door. The house is out of bounds. You have to go around it. The boundaries are marked by a red light. You can't mistake them if you come across them. A team's flag may be anywhere on their team's side. One team, the Wizards, will have the south side… towards town. The division between the two sides is marked by a yellow line along the ground that won't interfere with running."
"This is Capture the Flag," I said, relieved.
"Except there's magic," Joan said, quietly. "Don't underestimate that fact."
"OK. Choosing teams," Mr. Wood said. "Each side will have an even amount of students and people who can use magic."
Mr. Wood chose two men to choose teams. The adults were chosen first, then the students. Adam was the first student chosen. I ended up on his team, with Joan and Wood. Tara, Mark, Cedar and Dave were on the Wizards' team.
"OK. Go outside. Hide your flag and strategize. The game will begin in fifteen minutes. Wherever your flag is at that time, it will stay until a member of the other team touches it. And, yes, the flag will know.
"Ready… set… GO!" Mr. Wood yelled.
All of us ran out of the house from different exits. I followed the people on my team to the north side of the house. We were all wearing black armbands that were charmed to make sure we didn't cheat. We all stopped about halfway into our area, according to other Warlocks. They decided to hang our flag out of a tree. It was visible, but not horribly so.
"OK, Adam. What's the plan?" I asked as all of us gathered together.
"Hey, I don't plan. I just always win," he said, shrugging.
"We've got to find the other team's flag, first. We should split up into small groups and look around, leaving about a third of us over here to watch our own flag and set traps," Wood said.
Everyone nodded. There were about forty of us.
"OK. How about half of the adults stay here, since you can use magic. You can set a few traps or decoys. You guys figure out who's going to watch the flag. The rest of us should sneak over. Once someone sees it, they should come back quickly and clear the jail out. Then we can strategize more," Wood continued.
"What if the other team finds our flag and doesn't delay an attempt at getting it?" I asked.
"They won't get very far," a young man said. "Strategy and teamwork is the only way to win this game. The games usually last at least an hour. You'll catch on quickly, especially if you stick with Wood, here."
"OK," I said. I was only asking. I didn't really know what I was talking about.
"OK. Let's split up," Adam said, clapping his hands once.
We all cheered, although not too loudly, since we didn't want to tip the other team off to our position.
"Remember, we can't cross the yellow line until the siren sounds," Wood said loudly, as we all started jogging in different directions.
Adam, Joan, Wood and I all went together. Wood decided we should head towards one of the boundaries first. While we didn't want to follow one of them, we also didn't want to go straight down the middle of the field.
"Any ideas where they'll hid it?" I asked.
"Nope. That's what makes this game fun," Adam said.
"What makes this game fun for you is that you always win," Joan said, laughing.
"That doesn't hurt."
We kept walking. The siren went off before we even could see the yellow line, so that wasn't an issue anymore. When we did get within sight of it, we could hear some people coming.
The four of us hid behind trees, quietly, and waited until the people were passing before jumping out and tagging all of them quickly. They all muttered their disappointment, but they were only about twelve or thirteen, and no one really expected anything different from them.
"Maybe we're in too big of a group," Wood said. "We'll be heard just as easily as they were."
"Not if we don't talk. I'd rather stick together," Joan said.
"I agree," I said.
"Scared of the dark?" Adam asked us.
"A little," I admitted.
The guys laughed. Joan pointed to herself and nodded, mouthing, "Me, too."
"We'll just have to rely on you men, then, won't we?" she said aloud, sarcastically.
"Damn straight," Adam said, hiking up his pants.
We kept walking and about fifteen minutes later, we were tagged by people on the other team. We walked back to the front door as quickly as we could, laughing and not worrying about making noise or not. We figured it would only help our teammates who were trying to go quietly.
We found the front door not liberated, which was good. We'd get to learn where the flag was with everyone else. About ten minutes later, the man who'd explained about the game lasting a long time came with whom I assumed was his wife. They tagged all of the people who'd been there five minutes, and we followed the pair into our territory a little farther.
"The flag is about halfway into their area, on the west side, almost right on the boundary. I'd say it's probably about twenty feet from it, in fact," the man said. "So, the best strategy would probably be to split into pairs and half of the pairs go around and come in from the back, and the others take their time and come in from our direction. Hopefully, we'll all come in at around the same time."
"Sounds good to me," Adam said. "I'll go with you, Wood."
"Let the girl go with him. Then she'll be able to participate in the next two games, if it comes down to that," the man's partner said.
"Next two games?" I asked.
"We play best two out of three. If one team wins in two games, we'll play another game instead of this one again," Wood said.
"And each of these games last at least an hour?" I asked.
"That's why you're coming home with me," Joan said, laughing.
Wood and I ended up in the half that was going to come in from the front. We had no problems not talking, so that ended up being a plus for us. Of course, that was about the only plus.
We were doing pretty well until Wood led us into a trap. One moment we're walking carefully and pretty quietly towards the other side's flag. The next thing I know, we're up in the air in a net.
I screamed a little late. It was a delayed reaction, I guess. Anyway, I screamed after the net was done ensnaring the two of us. It wasn't a small net but was still intended for only one person. I ended up sitting on Wood's legs, with my back up against part of the net.
"You were following way too close," Wood snapped.
"Obviously. You led me right into this."
"You think I did on purpose or something?"
"No. Can they do this? This has got to be breaking some rule," I said, trying to find a more comfortable position.
"Stop moving," Oliver said. "We're lucky we ended up in a halfway reasonable position. I don't think you have to use your imagination to understand what I mean."
I blushed, which didn't really matter because it was so dark. I could barely see his silhouette.
"How far up are we?" I asked.
"You're in a better position to judge that," he said. He was angled so that he was looking more up than anything.
"I'll have to move, then," I said, leaning to see the ground better. "I'd say we're about five feet up."
"Five feet? Well, it wouldn't kill us to fall that distance."
"No, but it'd hurt," I answered. I sighed and leaned up against the netting the best that I could in my position. "So we just wait for someone to magic us out of this thing?"
"Yes. They'll come check the trap sometime. That's an unwritten rule to this game, luckily. Traps, however, are perfectly legal."
"You weren't looking for them?"
"It's hard to see them in the dark. A light would be a dead giveaway, though, so people get caught in these things every year."
"So much for learning from you," I muttered.
"I did teach you how to dance."
"You know what I meant."
He didn't answer right away. "Well, at least you learned what it's like to get trapped."
I laughed. What else could I do?
"You're sitting on my legs," he said.
"I'll try to slide down so I'm only leaning against them, then," I said, and, surprisingly, I succeeded.
"So…."
"I guess there's no point in being quiet now, huh?" I asked.
"It'd probably serve us better to talk."
I nodded, pointlessly. "Have a nice Christmas?"
"Yes. You?"
"Yes."
"Get your homework done?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Yeah, me too."
There was a pause.
"How's Percy?" he asked.
"Not funny, Wood."
"Why? I meant it." He sounded serious.
"Fred and George said that he broke up with Penelope. Can't say I'm heartbroken over that, but… I don't know."
"Well, you won't have to hang around me anymore, then," he said.
"What if I wanted to?" I asked, looking in his approximate direction.
"You want to?"
"Yes, all of you. I've had a good time around you all. Seems stupid to give it up just because I don't need it anymore. Unless you would object to that," I said, getting a little defensive.
"No. Do whatever you like."
"I will, then." I paused. "Thank you."
"For saying that you could hang around us? You never needed my permission for that, even when you wouldn't have gotten it. There's nothing I could have done about you being there."
"I meant thank you for making me feel welcome with you in the first place."
"Oh." There were a few seconds before he said, "You're welcome, Laura."
"Thanks, Wood."
"Why do you call me Wood and not Oliver?"
I looked over at him. "Everyone calls you Wood."
"Not girls."
I laughed. "That's not true. Anyway, what does it matter?"
"You called me Oliver when we were younger."
"I'm still missing the point. And I still call you Oliver, sometimes."
"When you mean something."
"Yes. Isn't that good? You know when I mean something."
"I'd rather think you always meant what you said."
"I do. I just mean some things more. And you haven't always called me Laura."
"Yes, I have."
"No, you haven't. In our second year after that whole fight, you didn't call me anything at all. In our third and fourth years, you called me You. In our fifth year, I was promoted to Hey You, and then in our sixth year, you didn't call me anything at all, again."
Wood laughed. "How do you remember that?"
"I just do. I remember a lot about people. Things that don't matter."
"Why do you call me Wood instead of Oliver?" he asked again.
I sighed. "You aren't going to drop this, are you?"
"No."
"If you tell me why it matters, then maybe I'll think of why I don't call you Oliver."
"Fair enough," he said. "It matters because how you address someone tells a little about what you think about them, and I want to know why you only call me Wood."
I looked down (well, down a little bit) into my lap. "I never really thought about it. Not really. I guess, Oliver is just a more personal way of addressing you, and I still… being civil with each other still seems strange sometimes."
"OK."
"I didn't mean that in a mean way or—"
"I know."
"OK. Oliver?"
"Call me Wood or Oliver. It doesn't really matter."
I started to roll my eyes but stopped myself. "There's no reason why I shouldn't call you Oliver. Even if I'm not used to you being my friend, you are, and if calling you Oliver is important to you, then Oliver you are."
"It's not important."
"If it weren't then I don't think you would have asked."
"Or I could have just been trying to get a rise out of you."
"You've had enough practice with that to find better ways of doing it."
"True," he said, seriously. "By Merlin's beard, it is taking a long time for someone to come to our rescue."
"Someone should have come by now, right?"
"Not necessarily. If the game is going strong, then the other team'll probably purposely stay clear of here because we're two people they don't have to worry about. Even if they think we're only one person."
"But what about our team?"
"It's a square mile of land. Chance would be the only to bring them here."
"Unless we yell."
"Which would bring both sides here."
"Good. They'll get us down."
"But our side would get tagged, and that would do more harm than good. There are two more games. We'll play then."
"If we get down by then," I muttered.
"Right," he said, seriously.
"It's too bad you didn't go with Adam," I said.
"You still may have ended up in this trap, just with Joan. They'd have sent Adam and I the long way, just to keep Adam out of the way. His team always wins, but not thanks to him."
I laughed. "That wasn't very nice."
"Hey, I'm a Quidditch captain. Strategy matters more than people's feelings to me."
"Maybe in Quidditch it does, but I don't believe that applies in every day life."
"No?"
"No."
"Then you may end up unpleasantly surprised one day," Oliver said.
I shook my head. "I don't think you've changed that much since we started Hogwarts."
"I've changed a lot. So have you."
"I've had to, I guess. To keep up with everything."
"I have, too."
"To the point where you don't care about others' feelings?"
"That isn't what I said. I don't care to the point where others' feelings will get in the way."
"In the way of what?"
"What I want," he said simply and unapologetically.
"You sound like a Slytherin," I said.
"I don't not care that much," he said.
"Is there much of a difference between how much you don't care and that much?"
"What are you lecturing me? How many times have you put your wants or needs on hold for others' feelings?"
"More than you'll ever know."
"Oh? Name one."
"Every time Percy needed me!"
"Every time Percy needed you?"
I took a deep breath. "Look. We've been doing well. We're stuck in a net together and we haven't fought yet, but we're right on the brink of doing so."
"I want to know how you've helped Percy—"
"But it isn't any of your business, is it?" I interrupted, a little more harsly than I'd wanted to. I took another breath. "I'm sorry."
"No. You're right. It isn't any of my business."
I smiled into the darkness. "I think we just solved a… disagreement without many harsh words."
"God help us, we're actually learning to get along," Oliver said, laughing.
A horn sounded a little ways off.
"We won," he said.
"How can you tell?"
"The tone was the Warlocks' tone. It's lower than the Wizards'. Someone should be coming along soon."
And he was right. About five minutes later, without any conversations, a member of the other side did come to check her trap.
"Oliver?" she asked.
"Hey, Aunt Celeste."
She laughed in a sort of sing-song laugh. "Well, I certainly didn't expect to catch you here, Oliver. And it's even more of a shock to find another person with you. Mind introducing me?"
"Mind getting us down first?" Oliver asked, although good-naturedly.
The woman magicked us out of her trap, and the two of us painfully straightened our backs. She looked kind of young to be Oliver's aunt. She was maybe thirty.
"I'm Laura Debman," I said, offering the woman my hand.
"Nice to meet you, Laura. I'm Celeste Wood," she said, shaking my hand firmly. "How do you know Oliver?"
"Hogwarts," he said. "We're both in Gryffindor. Seventh Years."
"Are you a Seventh Year, now? Why, I can't believe it. It seems like you were just a First Year days ago."
"No, it doesn't," Wood said, laughing.
"It doesn't now, but as you get older, the faster the years will seem to go for you. We watched you teach Laura how to dance. It was more interesting to watch than most years," Celeste said, looking at me and smiling kindly.
Oliver laughed. "You all still watch me dance?"
"It's why your mother still has these parties."
"I thought you danced outside," I said.
"He did."
"And my family would come out and try to look inconspicuous."
"And failed miserably, obviously," Celeste said, laughing.
I couldn't help smiling when she laughed. She was just that kind of person. She could spread cheer easily. I easily got over the fact that I had just hung out of a tree in a net for the past half an hour.
"I think you're getting better at dancing, Oliver," Celeste said, looking him in the eyes. They were almost exactly the same height.
"Thank you," he said.
"My lack of coordination must make you look good," I said.
"No, that wasn't it," she said. She laughed. "We should get back to the house for the next round. Broomsticks are allowed in the next match."
The two Woods started for the house with me close behind, although with more of a distance than the last time I'd followed Oliver.
Our team lost the next game, but won the last one, further proving Adam to be a good luck charm. I had fun acting as a decoy with Joan, so others could sneak in and take the flag while the Wizards' attention was diverted.
We went back into the main room to find the older couples dancing. All of us watched them for a few songs. Mr. Wood came up on my left near the end of the second song.
"When I was a boy, this is how all of the dancing was. The dances were more complex, and there were more dances than just the one you learned tonight."
I nodded, still watching the people on the floor. It wasn't only individual couples moving along to the beat of their own drums. Everything was synchronized. The man nearest to me was dancing just as much with the woman on the farthest side of the floor as he was with his dancing partner.
"Children don't learn the old dances anymore. I only know one or two," Mr. Wood continued.
"Have Oliver learn them so he can teach them to all of us," I said, smiling and looking at Mr. Wood briefly.
"He has no desire to learn them. And I don't blame him. It's a new time. It's not these people's age anymore," he said, motioning towards the older couples.
"I always think of the wizarding world as having no ages. It seems old-fashioned to me, although we can do things I only dreamed were possible when I was little. Some things magic can do I couldn't even dream of now."
"No. Things change just as quickly in the magical world as they do in the Muggle one." He paused. "But that isn't what I wanted to speak with you about."
I stopped smiling and looked over at the man standing beside me. It took less than the tone of this voice to know that I wouldn't enjoy what was coming.
"All right," I said, "but if you're going to talk about what happened five years ago—"
"No," Mr. Wood interrupted. "Just one thing."
"OK," I said, cautiously.
"Leave him alone," Mr. Wood said. He walked away without even looking at me.
My mouth was hanging open a little as I watched him leave. I was confused. I continued to look in the same direction even a few minutes after Mr. Wood's retreating back had disappeared in the crowd.
"Something wrong?"
I turned to see Oliver and shook my head, more to say I didn't know than to say no, but Wood took it as a no.
"Well, then… it's kind of an off year as far as teaching people to dance goes—"
"Thanks, a lot," I said.
"No, I mean, there's no one to teach."
"I'm going to assume that didn't come out right, either," I said, laughing.
"It didn't," Oliver said. He laughed. "The party will end soon, now that Wizards and Warlocks is over. The rest of the time people will just spend dancing and talking, and, well… we both need someone to dance with."
I raised an eyebrow. "You're asking me to dance?"
"Yes."
"Did hell freeze over? Because I told Percy to notify me immediately if it did."
Oliver laughed a little under his breath. "You danced with me before, and it wasn't a big deal."
"You made me."
"Oh, I see. I just have to guilt you into it again, then, right?"
I laughed. "No, I don't think my pride can take that twice in one night."
"Good," Wood said, motioning towards the dance floor.
"Well… I was going to ask that cute Ravenclaw over there if he'd like to dance, but then what kind of friend would I be?"
"Who? Maybe I can introduce you to him," Oliver said, turning towards where the Ravenclaws were sitting.
"I was kidding," I said, walking onto the floor.
"Oh," Wood said, following.
I had fun dancing with him. We didn't argue, even when I stepped on his foot after about thirty minutes.
"See? How could you not look like a good dancer in comparison to me?" I asked, smiling.
"Don't look down at the floor. You looked down."
"Yeah. Sorry."
"You admit it?"
"Admit it? What? Looking down at the floor? Sure, I admit it. I did it."
"But there was a time when you'd have never admitted it."
"And during that time, I never would've been dancing with you," I said, laughing.
"You're right."
"See? I never thought you'd say that to me, either."
Oliver only nodded, looking over my shoulder.
"Should I dare to turn around and see what you're looking at?"
"No. There's nothing to see. My dad was looking strangely over here for a minute."
"Oh," I said, forgetting to dance for a few beats, causing Wood to step on my foot.
"Sorry," he said, getting us back on the beat. "Why'd you stop?"
"Your dad doesn't like me."
"He knows about you," Wood said, seriously.
I laughed because it was the first reaction to come to me. "Ouch."
"I only told him the truth."
"Including recently?"
"I tell him everything."
"Even that you don't hate me anymore," I asked, carefully.
"And how do you know I don't?"
"I'm serious, Oliver."
"Yes, I told him that I don't hate you."
"And he doesn't believe you?"
"He believes me. He just doesn't… agree with me."
I nodded, trying to keep myself from getting angry. "I can understand. I guess."
Joan tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned around, away from Wood. She was smiling to herself.
"Ready to go?" I asked, putting my hands down at my sides.
"Yes," she said, still smiling. "Thank you for inviting us, Oliver."
He nodded. "I'm glad you could come. I'll walk you to the fireplace."
We thanked Oliver's parents. Mr. Wood didn't show any signs of not trusting me. Mrs. Wood hugged Joan and then me. I smiled broadly back at her after she let go.
"You kids keep growing up so quickly," she said, looking at us. "I have pictures of you all when you were eleven. It's amazing how much you change in those seven years at Hogwarts, isn't it?"
I agreed, trying to remember any pictures being taken of me when I was eleven. It was possible, but I didn't remember ever meeting Oliver's parents until that night.
We thanks Mr. and Mrs. Wood again before following Oliver into the hallway.
"There will always be these parties, won't there?" Joan asked.
"What do you mean?" Wood asked.
"I mean… after we graduate, we'll always be able to see each other on New Year's?"
"For many years, yes," he said, smiling kindly at Joan.
"How long have there been New Year's parties here?" I asked.
"Since my grandfather was young."
"Wow," I said.
"It's tradition. That's why Dad keeps having these parties."
"Will you?" Joan asked.
Wood looked at her questioningly.
"I mean, if you inherit the house, years from now, will there still be New Year's parties here?"
Oliver shrugged. "I've never really thought about it. I guess, as long as people keep coming, there will be parties here."
"Good," Joan said, as we reached the room we would leave from. "Thanks for inviting us, Oliver," she said, reaching up to hug him.
He returned her hug without seeming uncomfortable at all. Was there ever someone I could hug like that, that I wasn't related to? Percy? Yes. I used to be able to hug Percy like that. Just a friendly hug that didn't mean anything except everything.
"Something wrong?" Oliver asked.
I snapped back into the real world and forced myself to smile quickly. "No," I lied. "I was just thinking about Percy."
"Oh," Wood said plainly.
Joan slapped him playfully.
"If you two could only be friends again…" I said.
He looked a little irritated but forced himself to smile, too. "We would both have to give up too much," he said.
"Too much what?" Joan asked.
"Pride," Oliver said. He laughed a little under his breath. "Thanks for coming, girls. See you in a couple of days."
I spent a few hours at Joan's house, sleeping, before getting ready to go back to Oliver's aunt's house to get my car and drive home. After saying goodbye to Joan's family, who treated me like an honored guest during breakfast, I walked with Joan into the living room, where their fireplace was.
"You're glad you came, aren't you?" Joan asked.
I nodded. "Yeah. Thank you very much for letting me stay here until after curfew was over."
"It was no problem. Our pleasure."
"The pleasure was mine."
Joan laughed. "Now that the necessary polite comments are over…."
"I meant it."
"I know you did. But you had fun last night?"
"Of course."
"You looked like you were but… I wasn't sure."
"Why not?"
"Because it looked like you were having fun with Oliver Wood."
It was my turn to laugh.
"It was kind of reassuring. Like when we were younger. We've all tried to be his friends and we succeeded, Laura, don't get me wrong. We've just never been able to be his best friends."
I shrugged. "Quidditch it Oliver's best friend," I said plainly.
"Now it is. Anyways, it's nice to see you two as friends again."
"Yes," I agreed. "Why didn't he invite Percy and me to the party when we were first years?"
"Percy was there. His parents invited people when Oliver was younger. His parents didn't know your parents, so they didn't invite them."
"Oh." I looked at the clock. "I'm late. Thanks again for letting me stay."
"Anytime. I'll see you tomorrow."
I groaned. "Ugh. Back to school work."
She smiled. "And Hogwarts."
I took a small amount of Floo Powder and went to Mrs. Lanolin's house.
She was sitting in one of the chairs, which I thought was rather brave of her. When she saw me, she stood up, smiling broadly.
"Hello," she said loudly.
"Hello. Sorry I'm late."
"It's OK. It was a late night. You probably overslept by a few minutes, right?"
I smiled. Let her assume what she wanted.
"Have a nice time?"
"Yes," I said, kindly, following her through the living room, still making an attempt to stay away from the furniture.
"Good."
"Thank you for letting me keep the car here overnight and use your fireplace, Mrs. Lanolin," I said once we'd reached the front door.
"Oh, anything for Oliver's friends." She opened the door slightly. "Let me know if you ever need to borrow the fireplace again, OK?" she asked.
I nodded. "Thank you. Happy New Year," I said, placing a hand on the door.
"You, too."
I left the house quickly, knowing this time what it was that the neighbors weren't supposed to see. I drove home and slept most of the day. That evening I got my stuff together for school.
[Author's Note I didn't want to cut the Christmas vacation into pieces, but it ended up being necessary. Chapter 5 was too long to be posted in its entirety. I hope you liked the chapter despite the awkward break. In the next chapter: many secrets revealed! What enigma is the Quidditch stadium holding? What is up with that Ford Anglia? And what happened to Daniel Weasley? How exciting!]