Quidditch (And Other Distractions)

Penny caught them as they slipped in the side door of the manor, dripping wet and shivering with cold. She clucked and shook her head, hands on her hips. "Didn't have the sense to realise you'd be wanted this evening, eh? Couldn't have told me where you'd run off to, could you? Half the house elves out looking for you, I had, and none could tell me where you'd gone! What have you to say for yourself, master Oliver? Eh? Anything?"

Wood opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say a word Penny had turned away and started unbuttoning Ellison's coat. "Hurry!" she said. "Her ladyship's giving a grand banquet tonight, and you'll be sorely missed if you don't get up there!"

Alicia felt just like another manor child as Penny quickly manhandled her out of her coat, and she laughed as Ellison was handed over to three house-elves who started leading her up to her room.

"Clean up, both of you, and climb into appropriate clothing," Penny said, pointing to a back staircase that led upwards. "Scoot!"

Wood caught Alicia's hand, cold and slippery, and they scooted. Holding in their laughter, they ran breathlessly up the staircase, where it opened onto a long hallway Alicia was sure she had seen before.

Countless corridors and staircases later, they arrived back at Wood's room. Once the door was securely locked behind them, they collapsed in a heap on a wide, soft chair and laughed until they couldn't laugh any more.

"Come on," Wood finally groaned, releasing Alicia, "you can take the first shower if you hurry."

"But..." Alicia caught her lower lip between her teeth, which Wood thought was absolutely fetching, and he leaned forward to kiss her. She pushed him back, and the insecurity in her eyes made him stop for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Wood asked.

"Your mother...a big banquet..."

Wood groaned and reached forward, covering her damp hair with his hands and bringing her head down to rest against his shoulder as he sprawled against the arm of the chair. "You're not still on about that, are you?" he asked. "Because you'll do fine, Allie. I'm crazy about you. And if my mother's just plum crazy...well, that's not your fault." He nuzzled her damp hair gently.

Alicia let out a huge sigh. "I suppose it would be out of the question to hole up here tonight?"

"Completely." Wood grinned. "Tomorrow morning, however..."

Alicia laughed again as his hands tried to find a way under her shirt, and she pushed away from him, her good humour restored. "Tomorrow, then, we have a deal?"

"Definitely," Wood said, leaning close to her. Their mouths touched briefly, sweetly, before Alicia rose to shower.

Wood shook his head a little to clear it, then heaved himself out of the chair. He paced the room for a moment as he heard the sound of running water from the washroom. He went to his wardrobe, pulled out his Gryffindor dress robes, and set them out on his bed. The contents of Alicia's pack had also been hung in the wardrobe, so he extracted her dress robes as well and set them next to his. He grinned at his own cleverness. Alicia would have to step out of the washroom and cross his bedroom in order to reach her clothes.

His grin faded a little as he heard footsteps patter by outside his door. If what his mother had said was true, the manor was full of guests. That meant there had to be close to two hundred people here, possibly more if they brought children with them, and undoubtedly more would show up tomorrow for the wedding. He knew Alicia didn't feel comfortable at all around these people, and he was beginning to understand just what it was about them that put her off. He hadn't realised before, when he was merely one of them, just how hollow a life of privilege could be. Alicia had showed him--with the help of the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team--what friendship was. And now that their friendship had deepened to something resembling real commitment... Wood heaved a gigantic sigh. He didn't want to do anything that could upset this strange peaceful stage of his confusing relationship with Alicia. And he figured that being around his mother and her friends was enough to upset anyone, as it was obviously upsetting Alicia.

"Damn," he said with feeling as he paced the room. He ran a careful hand over the handles of his brooms, and he fingered the object hiding in the pocket of his shirtfront. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't hear the shower stop, or the washroom door open. Silent feet paced toward him across the thick carpet.

"Knut for your thoughts?"

Oliver whirled around, and found himself nose-to-nose with a dripping Alicia. She laughed, put a warm hand on his cheek, and stepped away. "You were a thousand miles away. Where were you?"

"Not so very far, actually," he said, carefully taking his hand out of his pocket without giving a hint as to what was inside. Alicia was wrapped in a crimson towel, her hair dripping down her back, and he grinned again. His little plan had worked perfectly. "A few kilometres south."

"Back at school already?" Alicia cocked her head to the side and regarded him fondly. "Not many young wizards I know would choose school as a daydream."

"I'm not like most wizards."

"I know." She smiled and reached out, mussing his hair gently with her knuckles. "What do you think I'm doing here?"

At that, Wood grinned broadly, and he reached for her. Alicia backed away and raised an eyebrow. "We're late," she said, "or have you forgotten? Go shower--go on."

He put on a disappointed look. "But I wanted to watch you dress."

"Some other time," she said. "Go on now."

Wood sighed, then reached forward and kissed her gently before disappearing into the washroom. Alicia shook her head fondly, then unwrapped her towel and reached for her dress robes.

Unlike the simple name, dress robes for witches were anything but a simple ensemble. Alicia wrapped her towel around her dripping hair and then reached for her clothing. She realised, riffling through the pieces of cloth Wood had laid out on the bed, that he had forgotten a great deal of it. All he had brought out was her dress and the actual robe. Alicia shook her head and went to the wardrobe, which he had left wide open, and dug on a low shelf until she found the rest of her clothing.

First she slipped on her underwear, and then a thin silk slip made specially to go with her dress robes. Then she pulled on black hose, and only then did she slip the underdress over her head. It was deep blue silk, light and airy, and it shone in the lamplight. She tucked the straps of her slip under the wider straps of the dress, zipped up the back, and reached for her robe.

Unlike a wizard's dress robes, witches' dress robes were designed to show what the wearer had on under them. The deep blue robe, made of thin velvet, slid over her shoulders and fastened once loosely just below her breasts. The long skirt of the dress was visible under the clasp, and the bodice of the dress was visible above it, along with a few inches of smooth brown skin. Alicia fastened a silver chain around her throat, a peace offering from the Weasley twins a few years back. Dangling from it was a tiny silver Quaffle, its indented sides sparkling dully in the lamplight.

Wood stepped out of the shower just as she unwound her hair from the towel and shook it out.

"Wow," he said, as she stood before the mirror in his bedroom and combed out the long, dark mass.

"What?" she said from under the waterfall of hair. "Surprised the Quidditch player can clean up?"

"No," he said, stepping over to her and tracing one fingertip down a lock of brown-black hair. "You keep your hair up so often that I forget how long it really is."

She laughed and shook it away from her face. Dry now, it obeyed her hands as she pulled part of it away from her face in a half-ponytail. With her wand she curled two long tendrils to hang on either side of her face, and let the rest hang shining down her back to touch her shoulder blades.

Wood turned around from where he'd been dressing, and as she turned to face him, they both smiled. The dark Gryffindor scarlet put some colour in Wood's pale skin, and the flowing robes made him look burlier than he actually was.

Wood's eyes opened wide when he saw her. "Beautiful," he whispered.

"Enough to placate your mother?"

"Enough to placate the Minister of Magic himself," Wood said, and a small smile curved the corners of his mouth. Alicia flushed, and Wood laughed. Then he reached forward and touched her necklace, holding the tiny Quaffle in his hand. "Who gave you this?"

She laughed and pulled his hand away. "Fred and George. It was a peace offering, you might say."

"What for?" Wood glanced at the clock by his bed. "On time if you get your arse in gear," it read. He took Alicia's hand gently and they left the room.

"Everything," she said, rolling her eyes.

Wood kissed her temple, sleek hair sliding against his cheek. "I bet."

She flicked at him as she would flick a fly. "Away! Unless you want every single person here to know we're shagging behind closed doors."

Wood stopped. "Does it matter so much to you?" he asked. "Does it bother you what they think?"

"I thought it bothered you," she said, continuing down the stairs. "You're the one who didn't tell your mother."

"Because I didn't want her at your throat!" Wood protested. "You've seen how she is when she suspects something. You can't imagine how she gets when she knows something's going on that she doesn't like."

Alicia sighed and raised a hand to her head as if it hurt. "Let's just leave it for now, all right?" she said. "Right now, I just want to get through tonight. We can talk later; we're going to be late."

"The hell with being late," Wood said, and he took her shoulders in his hands. "Alicia, I lo--"

She clapped a hand over his mouth. "Now is not the time, Oliver." But then her tone gentled and she shook her head ruefully. "Who knew you'd be so high maintenance as a lover?"

"I don't mean to be," he said, taken aback a little by her words.

She stepped up to him and kissed his cheek, then nipped his ear gently. "Later," she said firmly. "I don't want to argue right now."

"All right." He squeezed her hand as she released him. "I've got your back, Allie. No matter what."

"I know."

~*~*~

They wound up and down staircases and through brightly-lit corridors until they emerged in the entrance hall once again. From there it was easy to follow the waves of light and sound to the banquet hall, where at least two hundred people were milling around and talking. Though individual voices were low and demure, the room was buzzing with talk from two hundred mouths. Light cascaded from several glittering chandeliers and ornate wall sconces, and a velvet corner was sectioned off for the musicians. At the moment, four witches in red were playing stringed instruments that Alicia couldn't place.

"Real Muggle instruments," Wood whispered in her ear when he saw which way she was looking. "It's called a string quartet."

"Oh." There were so many witches and wizards, all in jewel-bright colours, that she didn't know which way to look first. A very few were already seated at the great tables along the walls, but most were still milling about and talking. "It appears that we're fashionably late."

"Looks that way," Wood said. His eyes darted through the crowd, and finally they lit upon his mother. "We're going to have to pay our respects," he said quietly in Alicia's ear. "Then we can hide in a corner until the banquet begins."

Alicia nodded, and she slipped her arm in the crook of Wood's elbow. He squeezed her hand comfortingly, then released it as they walked across the room towards the small circle of admirers hanging around his mother.

"I thought the host and hostess of grand parties were supposed to greet guests at the door," Alicia said.

"That's Muggle tradition," Wood replied as they ducked between several guests. Nobody seemed to have noted their entrance as anything special, and they were being fully ignored. "You've been reading too many of Katie's Muggle romances, haven't you?"

Alicia shrugged. "Beats studying."

"Well, in magical high society, it works the other way 'round. We have to find and greet our host or hostess."

"Ah." Alicia swallowed as they neared Marjorie Wood for the second time that day. The caterpillars in her stomach had turned into full-fledged butterflies, and they were threatening to erupt from her mouth. She felt monstrously sick, and was glad she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast that morning. So much had happened since leaving Hogwarts that morning, she couldn't quite believe that had been the same week, let alone the same day. As she looked around her at all the jewel-bright people, she devoutly wished that this were all a dream, and she would wake up in the seventh-year boys' dormitory next to Wood, warm and comfortable in bed, their brooms propped up against the opposite wall.

The walk across the gigantic room took far too little time for Alicia's liking, and they reached Marjorie Wood's circle quickly. Wood released her arm, and bowed stiffly to his mother.

"Mother," he said. "May I present Alicia Spinnet, and wish you all happiness on this occasion?"

"Thank you, my dear boy," she said, smiling. Her face looked impossibly tight when she did that, as if she were not entirely accustomed to it. "And your little friend from school." She turned to the wizard standing next to her. "Child of that painter, you know. Russell, isn't it? Russell Spinnet? No matter." She waved her hand. "I don't believe, Oliver, you have met my intended yet."

"No, mother."

"Well, here he is. He tells me he used to play Quidditch--that might interest you." She tapped the back of a man wearing butter-yellow robes, and he turned around. "Oliver, darling, meet your future stepfather. Ludo Bagman."

Wood's mouth dropped open as the yellow man turned around. It was, indeed, Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Games and Sports.

"Splendid to finally meet you," he said in his loud voice. He grabbed for Wood's hand and wrung it for a moment. "Margie has told me so much about you!"

I bet, Wood wanted to say, but he held his tongue.

"She says you play Quidditch for Gryffindor," Ludo continued. People, attracted by the booming voice of Bagman, started to take notice of Wood. Alicia watched as several nearby groups stopped chatting and started to pay attention to what their host and hostess were saying.

"Of course, I played for Hogwarts in my day," Bagman was saying. "Not Gryffindor, though--certainly not. I was captain for Hufflepuff. We had a good team going there for a while--almost won the Cup three years running!"

"I captain Gryffindor," Wood said, obviously relaxing some when discussing Quidditch. "I play Keeper. Alicia here is my best Chaser."

"Really?" Bagman glanced at Alicia with some interest, and she inclined her head as she had seen Wood do. "In my day we didn't have witches on the teams. Ravenclaw had a witch on their reserve lineup, but I never saw her play. They used to say witches couldn't hold a candle to wizards on a broom."

"All my Chasers are witches," Wood said stiffly. "And we've won nearly every match these past three seasons. Had to forfeit the Cup year before last because of injuries, and last year the games were called off. But this year the Cup is in the bag."

"Injuries?" Bagman inquired. "Not your female Chasers, I hope?"

"No," Wood said, and Alicia could hear his anger at the insult to his team. "My wizard Seeker. Harry Potter."

The name rippled through the crowd of listeners, as they repeated it to each other. Harry Potter. "You don't say!" Bagman smiled. "How's the tyke fly? Any good?"

"Faster than Alicia here," Wood said, "and I never thought I'd be able to say that about anyone. He took to the sport like a fish to water, despite being raised by Muggles."

A murmur rippled through the crowd, and whispers of, "Poor dear," and, "Disadvantaged boy," that Alicia rolled her eyes at. If anybody was disadvantaged, it wasn't Harry Potter. He may have been raised by Muggles, but he had plenty of friends and every one of the teachers except Snape liked him, and Snape didn't like anybody except Slytherins.

"Well well. Perhaps we'll have the pleasure of meeting the lad someday," Ludo said absently. He turned back to the man he had been speaking with before Mrs. Wood interrupted with, and slowly the knot of listeners began to dissipate.

Alicia was about to begin breathing normally again when Wood's mother spoke. "Wood, dear, you and your little friend will be on my left at the table." She smiled. "Naturally, dear Ludo will be on my right. And his brother Otto next to him. Run along now--I shall call for places in a moment."

Alicia knew a dismissal when she heard one, and she was glad when she and Wood slipped away from the cold eyes of Marjorie Wood. She heaved a sigh of relief, though she noticed that now people were watching her and Wood. They hadn't been doing that before.

"Why is everyone staring?" she hissed at him.

"Probably because they know who we are now," he whispered back. "Do you want to sit down? There will be a rush in a moment."

She nodded, and they made their way to their seats, which were labelled with their names. Alicia noted that both her first and last names were misspelled on the little placard announcing her seat.

A funny feeling was growing in the pit of her stomach, and it didn't have anything to do with the noise of the crowds or the clashing scents of expensive perfume. It was entirely different, and she didn't like it one bit. She linked fingers with Wood under the table where they couldn't be seen, and she scanned the crowd. A few famous faces popped out at her--the Minister of Magic himself, and several heads of offices. Some old Quidditch players, and a smattering of well-known magical singers and artists. The rest of the guests all looked terrifyingly similar, despite their different clothing and hairstyles. She couldn't quite put her finger on it...

And then, it dawned on her. Distantly she heard her hostess clapping for attention and then waving for everyone to take their seats. Distantly she saw, as Wood had predicted, a rush for the tables and exclamations of happiness and disappointment when everyone saw his or her seatmate and how far he or she was placed from the guests of honour.

Alicia realised what it was that made her feel so uncomfortable. As she looked down the arching tables at the people noisily taking their seats, she saw on all sides of her people who looked like natives to this northern territory. Every one was as pale as Wood, and as she clutched at his fingers, she saw that the person closest to her in colouring was Ludo Bagman himself, with his ruddy complexion that made him look like an overgrown schoolboy.

This in itself was a disquieting experience, but it made her feel no more than uncomfortable. But she realised, as her hostess stood and began to make a speech, that the glances she and Wood had been getting were not because he was Marjorie Wood's son.

It was because she, Alicia, did not belong here.

Alicia pretended to watch her hostess, but out of the corner of her eye she continued to look at all the guests. And she knew she was right, when she saw them snatching covert glances at her and Wood, side by side next to his mother. She wasn't sure exactly how those glances made her feel. Like some exotic animal at the zoo, yes, but there was something else there too. She wasn't quite sure if it was anger or not.

Looks like that were something entirely new to Alicia. Her mother's family had come from somewhere the sun shone brighter and hotter than England, she knew that much. Where, she was not sure; they were British now and Alicia thought that was that. Now she wasn't so sure. At Hogwarts she was simply another student, and her brown skin was lighter than some and darker than some. At home she was Russell Spinnet's daughter, and because he was as pale as anyone sitting in this room, there were no problems. She wondered why those glances bothered her. She wondered why they had to happen. And she wondered, though she did not want to, if Wood had ever cast such glances on her or others at Hogwarts. She shifted uneasily in her chair. Her thoughts did not leave her during the entire banquet.

~*~*~

Several hours later found Alicia sitting on Wood's mattress in her pyjamas, her elbows resting on her upturned knees. She vaguely listened to the sound of running water from the washroom as she dwelled on that night's revelations. She wondered if she could have imagined the looks from the people in attendance, if she were simply getting wound up over nothing. Second-guessing herself was giving her a headache, and she didn't think she'd be able to sleep.

Wood stepped out of the washroom and swatted the door shut behind him. The noise woke Alicia from her thoughts, and she watched him as he discarded his shirt and climbed onto the high bed.

"You're a million miles away," he said, his intense eyes watching her. He did not try to touch her. "I--the banquet wasn't as bad as I imagined." He sounded vaguely hopeful, as if wishing she might agree with him.

Alicia regarded his candid eyes, framed with those impossibly long lashes, for a long moment. "Oliver?"

"Yeah?"

She paused, not knowing exactly what she wanted to say but knowing it had to be said. "When you look at me, what do you see?"

Wood looked surprised, and Alicia couldn't blame him. It hadn't come out quite the way she had intended, but the essence was there.

"What's this all about?" he asked, raising a hand as if to touch her cheek. He changed his mind halfway there and let his fingers drop again.

"Just tell me, please."

He heaved a sigh. "All right. I see my good friend and teammate, Alicia Spinnet. I see a girl who is funny, sweet, smarter than me, and bloody good on a broom." His tone gentled. "I see...I see someone who is gorgeous, and sexy, and I'm amazed that I can call my lover."

Alicia flushed at that, and reached up to touch his cheek with one fingertip. She saw the distinction even there, his pale cheek and her brown finger. "But why...earlier you said..."

Wood's brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to follow her, but he had no idea what she was trying to say. "Just tell me, Allie," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Just tell me what you want to say."

She heaved a frustrated sigh. "Everyone at that bloody banquet was staring at us, Oliver. At me. And it wasn't because I'm Russell Spinnet's daughter, or because they wondered if we were shagging in private." She grasped his hand in hers, entwined their fingers. "Look at us, Oliver!"

He stared down at their laced fingers, at their arms laid side by side against each other. "Oh," he said finally. There was a long silence, and Wood knew Alicia wasn't going to speak first. She was waiting to hear what he would say. He knew the words had to be good ones, and heartfelt, and she wouldn't accept anything less. Not on something this important.

"Alicia," he said slowly, using her full name, "the people my mother fills her life with are of the old school of thought. This is the old wizarding aristocracy and the political nouveau riche. I'm not condoning anything they do, but I am telling you that their traditions go back a millennium. You can't just change the way they think overnight."

"I shouldn't have to," she said blankly, and Wood sighed.

"No," he agreed, "you shouldn't. And I should have warned you better, but I didn't think." He took her other hand and linked their fingers, then kissed the back of her hand very gently. "When I look at you, I don't just see someone with skin darker than mine. I see Alicia Spinnet...and you happen to be browner than me." He lifted one corner of his mouth in an attempt at a smile. "I personally find it sexy."

She bit back a laugh at that, and Wood's smile turned real. He drew her down in his arms and, pliant now, Alicia curled against him. She leaned against his chest, his arms around her waist, as they stared out the darkened windows. The soft lamplight in the room was too bright to sleep, but soft enough to be soothing after the brilliant chandeliers of the banquet hall below.

"You know what I think their problem is," Wood went on, playing with Alicia's fingers as he spoke. "You confuse them."

"Confuse them?" Alicia craned her neck around so she could glance at his face. "Why the bloody hell should I confuse them? They confuse me."

"Then maybe it's mutual confusion, lover, but I really do think you confuse them." He nuzzled the soft skin behind her ear. "You are a lot of things that the old aristocracy doesn't understand."

"Stuffed shirts, the lot of them," Alicia said sulkily.

"I know, but hear me out, Allie." He tugged on a lock of her hair. "You are a girl who plays Quidditch with the boys--"

"Half of our team is female, Oliver."

"--and speaks your mind freely, and has a lot of close friends--not just acquaintances," he went on, ignoring her outburst. "Your skin is darker than theirs, yes. And to top it all off, you're beautiful and likeable. They don't know what to make of you. You are everything they profess to disdain, and yet, you're successful and happy."

Alicia placed a hand over his as it rested against her waist. After a moment she spoke. "You're amazing, Oliver. Just when I think I have you figured out, you surprise me again."

"How so?" he asked, stifling a yawn and pulling her more securely against his chest as they leaned against the headboard of his bed.

"You're your own person," she said, hiding a smile in his shoulder. "I'd have taken you--no offence meant--for a mama's boy."

She felt rather than heard his chuckle. "No..." he said. "No."

"Do you love her?"

"Certainly," Wood said easily. "But sometimes I'll admit that I don't like her so very much."

"Understandable." Alicia turned in his arms and looked at him. "Oliver?"

"Mm?"

"You're not falling asleep, are you?"

"Why?"

"Because we're still sitting up."

"And?" He dropped his head to her shoulder, and she cradled it gently in her arms for a moment before kissing his forehead and manoeuvring him down onto the pillows. He watched her through lazy eyes as she reached for her wand on the bedside table and flicked it at the lamps in the room. They dimmed and then went out, and Wood smiled. He heard the gentle click of her wand being set down again, and then she slid like water into his arms. He closed his eyes, not wanting to do anything but drift into sleep with Alicia next to him.

"Oliver?" Her voice was no more than a low murmur in his ear.

"Mm."

"I just wanted to say...I think that was a brave thing to tell me. About your mother, I mean."

He laughed sleepily and tightened his arms, slipping one under her camisole and resting it against the curve of her hip. "You're the brave one, Allie. This is my home," he yawned, "and I...I'm accustomed to it. But you're still here, still with me, even after everything that's happened. I think that's far braver."

Alicia opened her mouth to say something, then bit her lip on the words that threatened to slip from her mouth. She felt her cheeks burning in the darkness as Wood's breathing eased into the pattern of sleep. She had almost told him...she had almost... For the first time, she had felt like telling him that she loved him. She shivered, suddenly cold, and pressed closer to his sleeping form. Yes, she loved him. But she didn't want to take a second of this for granted. Because at the end of the term Wood would be leaving to play on a professional team--she was sure of that--and she would remain at Hogwarts. Things would invariably change, and she didn't Wood to feel like she was holding him back.

"I'm only sixteen," she breathed into the silence. And barely that, she added silently. She touched Wood's bare, smooth shoulder. Her eyes, now adjusted to the darkness, saw the outline of his head resting upon his pillow, his hair shining dully in the patchy moonlight.

But she loved him. And though she had not yet told him, she knew this was an irrevocable step that could not be taken back. What would come would come, and some part of her would always love Oliver Wood, no matter what happened to them now.

Wood mumbled in his sleep and shifted, sliding onto his stomach, and Alicia unconsciously moved with him, slipping to her back. His arm rested across her belly, a heavy, warm reminder of his presence. Alicia closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.