"What do you need to ask them?" Cedric asked curiously.
"I was hoping to get more practice in before our next game but since Hufflepuff doesn't 
have enough slots to do it together, and I was wondering if they could help." I shrugged. Maybe that way I have less of a chance of dying, I thought quietly to myself.
How fun would that sound? Cause of death: hit by a blunger. Hilarious.
"Well I can help you with that." Cedric suggested nonchalantly. "If you want to, of course."
Heat quickly rose to my cheeks as I awkwardly fiddled with the sleeve of my jumper. "Uh yeah... that would be fun. Thanks." I made sure to smile.
Lee and Lynn gave eachother a knowing glances, smirking slightly. "Don't even think about it you two!" I said, pointing a finger at the accusingly as I noticed the all too familiar looks on their faces. But they just laughed, walking away to surely whisper more about us.
I rolled my eyes, staking up my borrowed books and shoved them into my bag. I turned back to Cedric. "Is tomorrow ok? At 4?"
He nodded, smiling. "Yup, see you then."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Walking to my next class, head in the clouds, my mind had begun to wonder along with me. And it was so unbelievably stupid, but I could seem to be thinking about, of all people... was Oliver.
I hadn't seen him in a while now, only ever really in Charms - which we had the unpleasantry of sharing together. And even after what happened between us towards the end of first year, not even then was he this distant. It was possible that he was still mad about what I'd said, but it didn't make any of it any less true. For the past four years, he'd gone out of his way to constantly tease me, annoy me and just in general be an inconsiderate, rude asshole. He'd never been downright mean to me per say, but he'd never honestly cared either. Not once. So what was with his sudden mood changes? Was he getting his period or something? 
I shook my head, along with it shaking away the thoughts that couldn't seem to leave my mind. Get a grip, Y/n. Focus on your Potions exam and stop thinking about- him.
But as I continued to walk down the corridor, I suddenly felt someone grab my shoulders to spin me around. And so, in a moment of brilliant reactions, I turned around and punched the person straight in the nose. 
They doubled back in pain, a small amount of blood trickling down their face before I even had time to fully process what I had just done. "Holy spirits- oh Merlin I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hit y-" I paused, staring back at the person infront of me who I might have just severely injured.
I bit back a laugh. "Oh it's you, well that's fine then." 
Oliver glared at me, the look of utter surprise he had shown previously no longer etched onto his face. "Thanks. Nice to know you care." He groaned.
I smiled in fake sweetness. "Aww you know me so well." But despite him definitely deserving that punch for scaring me like that, I pulled out a tissue and handed it to him anyway. 
"Tell anyone it was me and I'll actually break your nose." I threatened.
He quickly took the tissue out of my hand, placing it under his nose. "I don't doubt it." He groaned again.
I rolled my eyes. "Let's go."
"Go where?"
"To the Hospital Wing, where else?" I asked. And he didn't even bother to question it, just simply right following behind me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hello, Madame Pomfrey?" I called out across the room. Which was, thankfully, almost completely cleared out of Ravenclaws by now.
An old woman with wild curly hair and a nurses hat pinned to it shuffled over to us. "Oh dears, what happened?" She asked, taking a look at Oliver hunched over by my side, still groaning dramatically. 
Well it's not like I broke his nose, I thought. Drama king.
"Uh..." I trailed off, trying to desperately come up with an excuse, and hopefully one that didn't make me come across as a rude bitch.
"I accidentally bumped into a wall, Y/n helped bring me here." Oliver interjected, answering for me. Oh thank Merlin.
"Oh ok, sit down Oliver. I'll go grab some ice." Madame Pomfrey ushered him to a bed nearby, then shuffled away again.
"Here." I handed him another tissue to help with the bleeding, making sure none of it dripped down on his shirt as he sat down.
"Why are you helping me?" He asked, placing the other tissue underneath the other one.
"Because even though you definitely deserved that punch, you didn't tell Madame Pomfrey it was me." I said, shrugging, helping myself to some of the tea Madame Pomfrey always left in the corner of the room.
Making him one to, I sat down and handed it to him. Slowly blowing on it to cool it down, he took a sip, not even bothering to thank me. "It's fine, It really doesn't matter. You can leave now, I can tell you want to." He said.
"To hell I am." 
He raised an eyebrow at me teasingly. 
"Not like that I mean- just ugh..." I sighed. I was definitely going to regret saying this. 
"I was the one who injured you in the first place. And whether you deserve or not, I'm going to help you. Plus, it helps that I now have a valid excuse to skip out on D.A.D.A."
"Nice save, Álainn." He teased me with his classic, annoying smirk. 
I rolled my eyes at him again and handed him another tissue. "You need to stop calling me that."
He had a mischievous glint in his eyes as he mouthed to me, "Never." 
I bit the inside of my cheek, sparing myself of a nother eyeroll as I finished up my tea. I quickly stood up. "Well, now I've actually get to go to class, unless I want my mum will kill me."
"Still a bit overprotective of you?" He asked.
I snorted. "You could say that."
He couldn't help but let out a laugh, leaving me with my jaw practically on the floor. I hadn't seen him laugh like this in a long time - seen the way his dimples appeared when he did, the way his eyes almost squinted shut, how his cheeks flushed a little and how his lips curved up into a small smile soon afterwards. 
And I couldn't help but stare when he did. 
"Did you just... laugh? Are my eyes playing tricks on me or something?" I asked, half jokingly.
"No I wasn't!" He denied, biting on the inside of his cheek to hide another small smile. My heart warmed as I saw it, saw him. 
The way he joked and played around with me like he used to, before... well, before everything. 
I felt my stomach drop at the memories. 
Us sharing our Quidditch magazines with eachother when the tiger had run out of new ones to read, us hiding behind a desk after we had accidentally we set Snape's desk on fire, us on the Quidditch pitch every other day after we'd snuck out of lunch and watched the other teams practice. Us going from best friends to enemies within days.
I gulped, swallowing back the lump in my throat as I took the very last sip of my heavily sweetened tea.
"I've uh... actually got to go now so, I'll see you later." I mumbled to him quickly, placing the empty the mug on his bedside table before rushing off. 
I would not allow myself to let my guard down around him, not again. Not ever again. Never again. 
Never again.
A/n: Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while, but I'm glad to be back and writing. This is definitely my longest chapter here, so I hope you enjoy xx
Hope you all have you all have a great week/weekend <33