The Last of the Mhyrriad

CHAPTER THE THIRD

Trials and Triumphs

It was nine-thirty, Oliver's first class. The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw seventh years filed into the room, Fred and George Weasley first. He noticed the two twins take seats in the front row, and Oliver knew there was going to be trouble. It was common knowledge that those two particular Weasley boys lived for havoc and disorder, and Oliver knew it better than most. He had been their Quidditch captain two years ago, and he couldn't count the pranks they'd played on him on his two hands and feet. Their devilish grins confirmed his suspicions, in addition to their choice in seating.

"Alright. I'm Oliver Wood, as you know, and you can call me Oliver. This is Defense against the Dark Arts. So. Today we're going to begin learning about how to fight Dark Beings like hags, vampires etc. You've learned about them, But just not how to fight them. Right, O.K. So. We can start today with Banshees. Characteristics of a banshee? Anyone?" Fred's hand shot up into the air. Regretting it even as he did it, Oliver called on him.

"Well, its cry drives people mad. Ollie, that sort of reminds me of you in the shower after a good Quidditch match. Your singing in the shower drove George here nutters. Hasn't been the same since. Nor have I, come to that." George confirmed his brother's statement with a 'possessed' face. Oliver could tell it was going to be a long class.

"Hello." Cerise looked up to see Oliver wood sitting down next to her at the Staff Table for lunch. She smiled back. Massaging his temples, he continued, "That was awful."

"Oh, it couldn't have been that bad."

"Oh, trust me, it was."

"What was so horrible, then?"

"It. Them. Mostly them." Pointing down at the Gryffindor table he said, "See those two?" he was gesturing at the Weasley twins. "They're more trouble then you can imagine. I've known those two forever and I think they went out of their way to disrupt the class. Not badly, mind, just making the class and I laugh every three seconds, innocent stuff like that. They'll save the dungbombs and hexes for Potions I believe." Cerise grimaced.

"Don't tell me that."

"Why not?"

" I have my first class today. I just got the list. Over one hundred students and they're two of them. Eurgh, I hate British food. What is this?"

"Bangers and Mash. Not bad. Hmm. Wonder why they're joining. Probably looking for a way to plot during class, mentally, you know? Or maybe they wouldn't be taking it if say, McGonagell was teaching it." He smirked and raised his eyebrow. With mock indignation, Cerise smacked him with her napkin.

"Shut up."

"All right then. Who's on your list?"

"Let's see... Gryffindor, we have Weasley, Weasley, Weasley and Weasley, all related I assume. Granger, Patil, Brown, Thomas, Longbottom, Jordan, Creevey and Creevey, and Potter."

"Potter? I heard he's been my successor as Quidditch Captain."

"You play Quidditch?" The glassy stare that covered Oliver's face whenever he thought about Quidditch appeared. Since he was six years old, Oliver Wood had been obsessed with the wizarding sport of Quidditch. It was his life. If it wasn't for an extremely bad muscle tear, he would be playing now with the Puddlemere United team.

"Of course I play Quidditch! I went professional last year, but I ripped a muscle in my arm, and the hospital said I had to take a break. So here I am. You play?"

"Well, not Quidditch. The American sport, Quodpot. But I also race brooms, and I follow Quidditch in the papers. I've always wanted to play."

"Umm... I have an idea. I'll come to your class tonight, that's around three, right? And then afterwards, we can go down to the pitch and I'll teach you how to play Quidditch."

"Sounds like a plan. What broom should I bring?"

"What do you have?"

"Pretty much all of them. I always liked to collect brooms."

"What? Well whatever you prefer." The news that she had basically every broom on the market was a bit much to handle.

"Well, I'm off to prepare for my class. Good luck in your next one. No Weasley twins, right?"

"No. But I've got a bunch of Slytherins. Twice as bad. Well I'll see you in a few hours then."

CHAPTER THE FOURTH

A Hidden Target

On one particularly crisp, sunny October day, the first school Quidditch match took place. It was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, and the entire school had assembled to watch. The Quidditch cup had been cancelled last year due to the disastrous Triwizard Tournament. The year before that, the Captain, and Keeper, Oliver Wood, had graduated. This year, Professor McGonagell herself had selected Harry Potter as Captain, and he had conducted a mandatory evaluation of the entire house to make sure this team was as good as before, if not better. Fred and George Weasley, veterans of the Wood days, retained their positions as beaters, as did Katie and Angelina as Chasers, and Harry as Seeker. However, to everyone's surprise, the new Keeper was Hermione Granger, who had put to use Muggle physics to predict the movement of the balls with this knowledge, and was enormously effective. Just as surprising was Colin Creevey, a Muggle-born fourth year, who worshipped the ground Harry walked on. Though last year's chaser, Alicia Spinnet, was held in such high esteem by Oliver, Harry had decided that due to a few injuries, she didn't quite make the cut, and so Colin was brought in.

Oliver sat in the stands, ready to watch rather than play in the first Hogwarts Quidditch match in seven years. Biting his nails, he wondered if Potter had chosen the best team, but abruptly stopped as he felt a warm, hard body slide down beside him.

"Nervous?" Cerise's long black hair was pulled into a messy bun, and she was wearing a much less revealing outfit than when they usually played Quidditch; Tightly around the neck of her short leather cloak was a read wool scarf, and her hands were concealed in a matching wool muff. It almost made up for the short sweater dress she wore underneath, as well as the matching leather boots.

The captains came together to shake hands. Cerise noticed that Harry's and the Ravenclaw captain's, Cho Chang, hands stayed together unusually long, as well as Harry opening his lips and flicking his tongue through his teeth in a suggestive way. Plus Cho's affectionate stroking of his hand with a gleam in her eye. By the disapproving look on Oliver's face, she could tell that he had noticed this exchange as well. Sliding her right hand along his thigh, she leaned over and whispered,

"What's wrong Ollie?"

Wood took in a sharp breath of surprise. Then again, since he'd me Cerise, his life had been full of surprises. She was now rubbing his thigh with her thumb, and while it relaxed his mind, it awoke other feelings inside him - feelings he wasn't sure he wanted the teacher's box to be aware of. He tried to ignore it, but as her thumb inched up and into his inner thigh...

"Cerise..." she looked up at him, feigning innocence through long eyelashes. He sighed and took her hand in his. She smiled, sidled up to him and said,

"Watch the game."

While he'd been otherwise distracted, Angelina and Colin had scored forty points, and Hermione had blocked three attempts to score. Harry and Cho were whizzing around the pitch. It was the fastest game of Quidditch that Oliver had ever seen at Hogwarts, and he was frankly a bit jealous. Harry was an exceptionally apt captain and seeker, and his team's skill reflected that. In the middle of a loop-de-loop, however, Harry held up his right hand and Oliver could see the beating wings of the Golden Snitch.

"They did it! They did it!" Oliver jumped out of his seat and shot his arms into the air, pulling a very surprised Cerise along with him. After a short, awkward victory dance that caused Sprout to collapse into giggles, Oliver sprinted onto the field to congratulate Harry, on the fastest capture of the snitch yet.

Cerise smiled as Oliver raced down the pitch and embraced Harry in a bear hug, then she outrightly laughed at the impatient look Cho was giving Harry as he and Oliver discussed game tactics. She wrapped her cloak around herself and buried her chin into the warm cashmere around her neck. The previously joyful atmosphere had disappeared, and out of the corner of her eye, she sensed six tall cloaked figures. Dementors. But no one else noticed them; they seemed to be under a large invisibility cloak. But they were moving towards the pitch, and they were not alone. A man was with them, and from his thoughts, Cerise could tell he was not rushing forth to congratulate the teams.

Racing down the steps, she stepped through the curtains, hoping it wasn't too late. Hidden from them behind an oak tree, she could read their thoughts clearly now. Her eyebrows shot up in alarm as the figures neared the pitch towards Dumbledore.

A low, sweet note rang from her lips. A cloud of silver dust encased her body, making her more invisible than a cloak could have made her. For a few brief moments, she was little more than a cloud of silver dust, emotions scattered so that the dementors could not detect them. As she paused for a breath, a strong arm clasped around her now solid waist. A shrill harsh cry broke from her and in a breath the dementors and her assailant disappeared, along with however many others there may have been. Panting, she swept a strand of hair off her sweating face. Not what she had expected from her reaction. They should have been petrified for further inspection. Dumbledore's blue eye caught hers, and by the cold, wary look, she knew he was aware of what she had discovered. Running, she took off towards the Forbidden Forest. If Dumbledore was the next target, time was running low.

Oliver had just enough time to congratulate Harry on a spectacular victory before the man of the moment had been lead off the field by Cho for a private celebration. Noticing his best friend's absence, Ron grabbed Hermione's hand, attempting to lead her off to the grove by the lake for a similar purpose, but at a glare, slipped his arms around her waist and sighed. Subconsciously, Oliver looked around for Cerise, but she had disappeared entirely. Shrugging, Oliver thought 'All for the best,' and headed back towards the castle. He needed to figure a few things out.