Soaring Above the Pitch

The next morning Oliver woke early and headed out to the pitch. By carefully bewitching the Quaffle to fly toward him, he practiced drills over and over again. Even though he wasn't playing in the game that night, he needed something to work off some of his frustration from the night before. He stayed there all morning and most of the afternoon working out the anger that had built during the sleepless night. He was beginning feel the drain of the work out, but he couldn't stop himself. The insults from his father just ran through his mind like a record player.

"OLIVER!" shouted a voice angrily. It was Dayla. She was standing in the section that rose up next to the goal posts. Her arms were folded in front of her. There was no smile on her face as she watched him.

He threw the Quaffle into the air. It stopped and came back to him. He did this a few more times before she yelled his name again.

"OLIVER! You have been gone half the day...please stop this." Her voice was filled with anger and concern as he tucked the Quaffle under his arm and flew to where she was standing. "We need to talk!" she said sharply as he hovered in front of her.

He dismounted the broom by hopping over the edge of the box. "Fine," he said flopping down on the seat nearest him.

Dayla joined him, biting her lip nervously. "Will you please explain what's going on here? You left the apartment this morning with out saying a word, you've been gone practically all day, and last night you barely spoke to anyone. You can't tell me something isn't wrong!"

Oliver shook his head. "You wouldn't understand..."

Her eyes narrowed and she glared at him. This wasn't her normal playful glare, it was genuine. She was really upset with him. "You're absolutely right, I wouldn't understand. I don't know much of what's going on so how am I supposed to even begin to understand."

Oliver looked down at his hands. "It's Quidditch..."

"Of course it is. It's always about Quidditch with you! I don't even know if you ever think about anything else. How can one thing consume so much of you?"

This is it, Oliver thought, it's always the same. It's been the usual amount of time too, three weeks, this'll be it. It's over. He stared at his hands, afraid that if he looked at her he wouldn't be able to control his emotions. This would just add to everything.

"Don't get me wrong, these past few weeks have been really brilliant. I've had an excellent time with you. I really love watching you play...but." She paused for a moment trying to catch his eye.

It just exploded from him before he could stop it. Raving like a lunatic he took his frustration out on her. "Let me guess. It's just too hard on you, because I don't spend enough time with you and you're not happy. I get it...I've heard it all before. You said you knew what you were getting yourself into. That you knew I had a commitment to Quidditch. But of course it always comes down to the fact that I don't have enough time for our relationship. I always try, but it never seems to be enough. Here I actually thought it was going well, suppose I was wrong."

"Like to put words in people's mouths do you?" she said looking slightly befuddled. Her eyebrows rose as she moved closer to him, taking his hand in hers. "It's not like that at all. I have never been happier actually, well expect for that time I dated Zacharias Smith and...okay not the point," she said with half a smile, her anger seemed to be fading. "I just want you to tell me what's bothering you, something obviously is. But I guess if you don't want to then I'll have to except that. I just don't want you to get hurt flying around like that."

He finally looked at her. She was biting her lip, like she always did when she was under pressure. Now, he felt like a complete idiot for having jumped to conclusions. He looked down at her hands which were holding one of his. His eyes traveled back to hers; letting out a small sigh he apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take everything out on you. It's just I've been feeling a lot pressure lately and its usually around this time that girls get a bit annoyed with our relationship for one reason or another," he said quietly, then made the decision to tell her about his father. "If you want me to tell you what happened last night, I will."

She nodded her head slowly as if it would make it less difficult for him to explain.

"Well, you heard my father, what he said about my game last night. Well, at least you heard the beginning of it. After you left, he lectured me about how poorly I played and that my concentration wasn't where it should have been. He also didn't like the fact that I was seeing you. He feels girls are a distraction and they try to take me away from the game. He said some pretty harsh things. Afterward I couldn't get his criticism out of my head. I knew I played terrible, but I didn't need him to tell me that. You are right, it is always about Quidditch. It's really the only thing I am good at."

Dayla listened carefully to what he was telling her. She kissed him softly on the cheek. "First of all, I am not at all disappointed with our relationship. I do miss you like crazy when you're gone, but then you come back and we have so much fun. It's like you said I know what I signed up for. Second of all, don't put yourself down. You've got so many things going for you, you got a good amount of N.E.W.Ts at school, you're brilliant at Quidditch, you're good looking, and a lot of people are so fond of you. Besides don't say you're not good at anything, I know something else your good at," she said with a sly smirk, wiggling her eyebrows and giving his hand a little squeeze.

Oliver shook his head with a grin. "Never can stay serious can you?"

"Not usually...but in all seriousness," she said with a laugh. "You didn't play that bad last night. My dad was right, Portree has a tough team. Don't look at me like that!" she exclaimed, shoving him playfully. "You'd know if I thought you played horribly."

Oliver felt was wave of relief rush over him. All his anxiety suddenly was alleviated. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. She wrinkled her nose.

"You need to have a shower!"

He laughed and kissed her. "You know, I honestly thought you were going to break it off with me."

"Why would I want to do that? I like your fanatical Quidditch ways! Besides I absolutely adore being the most hated girl in Puddlemere!"

He laughed and they snogged in the stands for a bit before going back to the apartment.

***

A few weeks went by and the end of July was drawing near. After having a week off, the Puddlemere team was getting ready for the annual trip to Australia where they will be competing against teams from Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Japan, and possibly a few other Asian teams. It was a three and a half week stay in Sidney, with a few days off here and there for sightseeing.

Oliver was busy getting ready for the big trip. This was the second year he was invited. The first team always went. Then they picked a few select players who had proved themselves worthy in summer training. That was how Brysten had been allowed to go with them to Sidney. He wasn't even going to play on the reserve team because he had one more year of school to finish, but Coach Vance and the other Puddlemere officials wanted him to stick around a bit longer. He was definitely a prospect for the future.

Oliver found out two weeks ago that he had made the Puddlemere first team. There was much celebration and tears from him, his mother, and Dayla. His father congratulated him, but not in the way Oliver would have preferred. His father mentioned his relationship with Dayla again and suggested he rethink that bit of his life since his career was going to take off. Oliver paid no attention to this piece of advice, but instead he and Dayla went out that night and celebrated.

Dayla was lying on Oliver's bed flipping through one of his magazines as he packed for the trip. He was stuffing some extra equipment into his trunk. When he finished he threw himself on the bed next to her.

"Are you positive you can't come with me to Australia?" he asked for what had to be the hundredth time in the whiniest, most obnoxious voice he could muster.

Dayla sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. "I told you, my parents don't think it's a good idea since I leave for school in a month. They really aren't too pleased with Brysten coming home two days beforehand." She paused for a moment, considering her next thought. "Truthfully, how often are we going to see each other after tomorrow?" she asked with a distressed look on her face.

"Well I can visit before you go off to school; there is Christmas holiday, Easter holiday, and then all of next summer."

She nodded silently, seeming to think before she spoke. "I don't know, Oliver. Do you think it's going to be too hard, between you and me? If you think about it, you might have matches even during the holidays. They haven't even posted the season schedule yet."

Oliver didn't say anything for a long time. He didn't want to think about this, but he knew it was an issue since they were parting ways tomorrow. "Just stay with me tonight. I think you're right about it going to be hard." His voice sounded pained as he spoke. He couldn't believe the next words were coming from his mouth. "I think it would be best if we call it off for a while. I will still write to you. These few months have been wonderful. I wish it wasn't ending." He wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

A tear rolled down her cheek and her voice cracked as she spoke. "I'll miss you Oliver. Play well for me and don't let those Australian girls get to you." she chuckled through her sadness.

For the rest of the night they laid together, holding one another.

Early the next morning, Oliver and Brysten had to leave for the pitch to meet up with the rest of the team. They were all going to take a portkey to Sidney to insure the safety of the team.

Oliver held Dayla in his arms one last time. He stooped low and kissed her as silent tears were streaming down her face. He blinked back tears of his own as he kissed her cheek for the last time and whispered in her ear. "I love you." Then turning on the spot with a loud crack he was gone.