Oliver Wood and the Heritage Curse

"Man, it sounds like someone is bombing us!" Emma yelled over the violent thunder. A week after she and Oliver had been working on the miniature baseball field they stood in the hallway by the front door, listening to the explosive storm that had been raging all day.

"Bombing?" Oliver asked, confused by the muggle word.

"It's like . . . oh, never mind. Anyway, are you ready to get out there? This is the weather we've been waiting for." Emma tugged on Oliver's arm trying to pull him out the door. She was bundled up tightly in her cloak, her hood pulled down over half her face.

Oliver pushed her hood back and touched the end of her nose. "Don't hide that cute nose."

Emma narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "What are you talking about? Cute nose? You are goofy. Now let's go!" She pulled her hood back over her head. She had noticed that Oliver was touching her a lot more in the past few weeks and it made her nervous.

Oliver winced. He knew he wasn't being fair but he had to tell her. "Emma, I'm sorry but I only came here to tell you that I can't practice with you today. This is perfect weather to get the team out in and we're playing Slytherin in only two weeks . . ."

"But I need your help!" Emma interrupted. "You've been telling me for weeks that once I practice in some bad weather I'll be ready for a game. I can't believe you're doing this!" Emma started to walk away but Oliver grabbed her arm.

"Emma wait! I have to put the team first, you know that. Ravenclaw doesn't play for a month and I'm sure we'll have time to practice. . ."

"I knew I should have listened to Davies. He said you were only doing this to give Gryffindor an advantage." She pulled her arm out of his grasp angrily.

"Since when do you listen to Davies?" Oliver demanded.

"Since you turned into a back-stabbing . . ."

"You aren't even being reasonable! C'mon Emma, please." Oliver turned her around to face him but she shook him off.

"No. I don't need you. I'll just go out there by myself." She began to run but Oliver chased her.

"Emma! Don't be crazy! You'll get yourself killed!"

Emma halted abruptly and spun around. "I can take care of myself. I don't need you, I don't want you, so please leave me alone."

"Fine, whatever!" Oliver yelled as she marched away from him. She had broken something inside him with that last dismissal. He was hurt that she could be so unfair after he dedicated so much time to her and he thought they were becoming good friends. Feeling dejected and confused he slowly began to walk back to Gryffindor.

Emma slammed the door to her dormitory, grabbed her broom and slammed the door again on the way out.

"Emma?" Penelope called after her, but Emma ignored her. She stormed through the common room, scaring all the students doing homework. She purposely fueled her anger, hoping that as long as she was furious she wouldn't be able to think about how stupid she had been. The more affection Oliver showed her the more skittish she felt. In the back of her mind she knew that she wasn't angry with him, but was starting to care about him more and more. That thought was so petrifying that it had erupted in anger.

Outside thunder exploded and lightning sliced the sky almost simultaneously. Within seconds Emma felt the cold rain biting through her robe. Wind tore her hood off her head but she mounted her broom anyway. If Oliver thought she needed to practice in this weather she would do it. Over and over the powerful wind beat her down as she tried to rise into the air but finally she was flying. Her broom plunged and snapped back up, twisting upside-down and dangling her precariously. Plunge, snap, twist, shake, plunge, snap, twist, shake. . . Emma gripped the handle so tightly that it cut into her shaking hands. Her head spun - the world a blinding blur broken only by searing flashes of lightning. Then suddenly it was black.

"Are you crazy?" Angelina demanded. "You shouldn't even walk outside in this weather, let alone fly. We are not practicing!"

Oliver started to protest but Angelina wouldn't let him. "No! I am taking charge today! I am not going to let your self-absorbed need to win get one of the team members killed!"

"Okay, you're right." Oliver sank into a chair by the fire, too weak and worried about Emma to argue. Angelina glared at him and walked over to where Alicia sat. Oliver jumped up and began to pace in front of the fire. For twenty minutes he kept sitting then standing and pacing then sitting again, unable to relax.

"I have to go get her," he said to himself just as Katie burst through the door. She ran over to Oliver, her face pale and her eyes wide. "You have to come now," she said, her voice shaking. "It's Emma."

"Davies!" Katie jumped, startled by the hulking figure that emerged from the shadows just outside of Gryffidor. She had run with a panicked Oliver to the hospital wing and then, at his insistence, returned to Gryffindor to change her soaked clothes.

"Katie, you look terrible," he replied. His buff frame towered over Katie who had never been considered short. Davies intimidated everyone - the rippling arm and chest muscles accented by tight-fitting sweaters, the thick dark hair framing chiseled facial features, the one deep brown eye and one glimmering green eye, the shimmering gold hoop in each ear lobe were features too overwhelming to deal with at close range.

Katie took an involuntary step backwards, ignoring his comment about her appearance. "Roger, what are you doing here?"

"I heard about Emma. I came to see if she was okay." Roger Davies sank to the floor, sighing deeply.

Katie loomed above him. "Since when do you care? And if you really wanted to know why didn't you go to the hospital wing? I know that you're not so stupid that you wouldn't realize that's where she'd be."

Davies ran his strong fingers through his thick hair and then rested his forehead on his knees. "Katie, c'mon. You know I can't just walk in there. Emma's not going to want to see me," he said, beating his head against his knees.

"You're her captain! You should be there! Now what is going on?" Katie knelt down in front of him and pulled his head up so he would look at her.

Davies turned away from her imploring eyes. "I can't tell you."

Katie sighed. "Fine, be impossible. But I am not going to sit out here if you're going to be like this." She got up and whispered the Gryffindor password to the Fat Lady.

"Please, is Emma okay?" Davies asked again as the Gryffindor door creaked open.

"I don't know. Why don't you go find out for yourself." Katie disappeared quickly and a sullen Davies lumbered away down the hall.

What on earth was he doing? Katie wondered to herself as she peeled off the damp clothes still plastered to her body. Katie didn't know Davies very well, but she knew him better than most Hogwarts students. For second and third year he had been her "secondary" crush - a kind of dormant attraction that arose any time she felt particularly discouraged about Oliver. Despite his frightening nature it was not atypical for Hogwarts girls to have crushes on him. In a way he was a more sophisticated crush and a lot of girls faded from Oliver and Cedric obsessions into a secret and self-satisfying desire for Davies. Fifth and sixth years with Davies crushes always had a snooty air about them. Katie, however, had given up on Davies in her full dedication to Oliver. Somewhere along the line, however, they had established a shaky friendship that seemed prone to moments of unsettling conversation in dark corridors.

Katie shook her head violently, trying to forget about Davies' strange behavior. She wanted only to be wearing dry clothes, curled up in front of the fire, not forced to wonder about Oliver, worry about Emma, and puzzle over Davies. The first part she accomplished in five minutes, the second would not be possible for months.

Oliver paced in front of the hospital wing. Katie's words kept pounding in his head: "Penelope knew something was wrong . . . ran to get Madam Hooch . . . I happened to be there too . . . we ran outside . . . Emma's broom threw her off straight into a tree . . . she looks horrible . . ."

Oliver felt numb. How could I have let her go out there by herself? he demanded, resting his face and hands against a freezing wall. The dull feeling in his stomach began to spread, awakening his body to a deep aching. He was too terrified and ashamed to go in and see Emma. What if she doesn't make it? He tried to push the question back but it slammed against his mind again and again like a homicidal bludger.

"Oliver?" a calm voice said suddenly.

"Professor Lupin," he replied quietly without looking.

"Why are you still out here? Emma is unconscious but I'm sure you would still like to see her." The kindly professor rested a hand on Oliver's shoulder and he slowly turned around. "Sit down, you look like you're going to collapse." Professor Lupin helped Oliver settle into one of the wooden chairs outside of the hospital wing.

"I just can't go in there," Oliver said, burrowing his ashen face in his lap. "This is completely my fault and she is never going to want to see me again," he lamented, his voice muffled.

"Oh I doubt that." Professor Lupin lowered himself into a chair next to Oliver. "I can't imagine that you told her to go out there."

"I may as well have."

Professor Lupin sighed. "Whatever the case may be, you should still go in there. Emma is not a child, she will listen to you. And it will do you good to see that she is still breathing."

Oliver nodded and hesitantly got to his feet. "I will be here when you return," Professor Lupin called quietly after him as he disappeared into the hospital wing.

"Wood, I'm glad you're here!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed. "Perhaps you can tell me what kind of nonsense led to this horrible accident." She glared at Oliver and he felt the tiny bit of confidence bleed out through his tired eyes.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Poor boy, I should have known this would be hard on you. Here, come see Ms. Watson."

Oliver roughly wiped away the fledgling tears as Madame Pomfrey led him to Emma's bedside. Oliver gasped when he saw Emma. Her face was drained of life, her eyes, though closed, seemed sunken and hollow, her hair tangled and careless. Oliver bent down to push back the limp strands from her face and was shocked by her frigid skin.

"She caught a bad case of pneumonia, which is even worse than the broken bones she suffered from hitting that tree. The bones I can easily heal, but the pneumonia will fade into a cold that will cling to her for weeks. Nothing more dangerous than a cold. Anyway, not to worry. She'll be alright eventually. I'll let you stay for a few minutes but then you should leave her to rest." Madame Pomfrey left Oliver alone in the hospital wing.

"I don't know why you have to be left alone to rest," Oliver said, sitting on the edge of Emma's bed. "You're not even conscious." Just then a violent coughing fit seized Emma's weakened body. Oliver jumped up, ready to get Madame Pomfrey, when it ended as quickly as it had started. He sank down again next to her, noticing that she was still unconscious. "Well if it happens again I am going to get Madame Pomfrey. It's very scary when you do that."

He sat staring at her for a few minutes, calmed by the sound of the weak amounts of air entering and leaving her lungs. "I wasn't sure I was going to be able to here you breathe again. I don't think I can even tell you how happy I am to hear it. I am so sorry that I ever even gave you the idea to go out to practice in bad weather. And I'm even more sorry that I wasn't fair to you today. If I had been with you maybe I could have prevented this." He watched her for several minutes, stroking her hair and listening to her breathe. "Please forgive me," he finally said. "I know you can't hear me but I am sorry. Please forgive me. I promise I will never let you down again."

Oliver fell silent, wondering if she ever would forgive him. He glanced around the room and noticed her broom, battered but still in one piece and leaning against the wall. "The broom!" Oliver exclaimed. "How could I have forgotten about it?" He jumped up, grabbed the broom and ran into the hallway. Professor Lupin, still sitting in the wooden chair, jolted awake.

Oliver thrust the broom into the startled professor's hands. "Professor, I need you to examine this for me. I think it might be cursed."

Emma remained unconscious for another two days. For the first time is his years at Hogwarts Oliver was too worried to hold quidditch practice. He spent all of his spare time at Emma's bedside, and during classes he stared blankly at the professor, unable to focus or write anything down. After he unknowingly gnawed apart his quill during Transfiguration Professor McGonagall ordered him to get some sleep. The deep guilt and anxiousness, however, would not even allow him rest. While he was pacing around his room that day that Emma woke up.

Katie happened to be visiting Emma at the time. For half and hour she had sat next to Emma's bed, talking as if Emma were awake. "I guess it must seem strange to you that I'm here. It's not as if you and I know each other that well. But after you see someone get thrown off their broom into a tree it's hard not to worry about them." Katie smiled to herself and released a deep breath. "I can't really find it in my heart to dislike you. Some horrible part of me wants to, but it's not like you tried to make Oliver like you. And it's not like you knew that I like him." Katie stopped, shocked that she'd let the words come out of her mouth so freely. "Crushes are crazy, aren't they? I wish you were awake so I could ask you if you like him back. I wonder if you even realize that he likes you. Probably not. It's all over his face though. And he's never canceled quidditch practice before. That was the giveaway. Well, enough of this talk. If we're lucky we still have awhile before any of this really starts to matter." She giggled. "Oliver is so unaware of these things that it could take him months to realize that he likes you. I hope so. As long as he doesn't know things will be normal."

Katie moved over to the table at the end of Emma's bed and examined the cards and gifts piled on top of it. "Maybe if I start talking about something less confusing and more fun you will regain consciousness. Let's see . . . I think the Weasley twins brought you all of the candy at Honeyduke's, and here's a funny card from Cho, and Penelope and Percy made you a photo album although it looks like it's mostly pictures of them. Hmm . . . what is this? Oh my word it's from Davies."

Katie picked up a single red rose with a tiny tag that read "Get well soon, Emma. The team needs you." Katie set it back down carefully. "Well, I don't know what to make of that. He's a strange one." She thought for a minute but couldn't decide if it was something Davies would likely do or not. He obviously had done it, even if it didn't make sense. "Well, whatever," she finally said. "What else is here . . . this other bunch of flowers is from the Ravenclaw quidditch team, and . . ."

"Is there anything from Wood?"

At the sound of Emma's weak voice Katie dropped the card she had been holding.

"Emma!" Katie ran to the front of the bed and knelt down. Emma struggled to turn her head to face Katie.

"You are very fuzzy," Emma said slowly.

"I better get Madam Pomfrey. I'll be right back." Katie started to get up, but Emma limply caught her right hand. Katie shivered at Emma's clammy touch.

"Before you go, has Oliver been here?" Everything Emma said seemed to take great effort.

Katie sat on the edge of the bed by Emma's head. Emma's eyelids were flickering as she struggled to keep them open. "Just close your eyes," Katie said gently. "I'll tell you about him." Emma's eyes drifted shut. "He has been here every moment Madam Pomfrey would let him stay. Although he didn't tell me I know that he's sorry. He hasn't even had quidditch practice."

Emma smiled dimly before slipping back into unconsciousness. Katie carefully tucked the blankets in around Emma and went to find Madam Pomfrey.

"You do realize that we haven't had practice in four days and our game with Slytherin is coming up very soon," Angelina, her eyes narrowed slightly, questioned Oliver.

"Yes," Oliver replied in an equally superior voice. "But right now I don't care." Two days after Emma's brief awakening Oliver, Katie, and Angelina were sitting at a table in the Great Hall. The miniature quidditch field and half-finished baseball field sat side by side on the table. Some of the tiny Gryffindor and Ravenclaw players interacted with the model Sammy Sosa, playing a combination of their two sports. Emma, Katie, Oliver, Cho, or one of the Weasley twins would throw the miniscule baseball to Sammy Sosa who would hit it with a beater and then run the bases. While he ran the quidditch players tried to catch the ball and then to pass it or dive to tag the famous baseball player. Sammy usually lost because third base hadn't been made yet and the stretch from second base to home plate was too long.

The real Angelina, Oliver, and Katie watched Emma catch the baseball, tag Sammy and then fly over to Davies who was sitting in the stands with the extra quidditch players. She pulled a wool stocking cap off Davies head and zoomed away with it. Davies folded his arms and leaned casually against the wall of the incomplete model baseball field.

"That boy needs to get over himself," Angelina commented, rolling her eyes. "What is it about quidditch captains?" she asked, turning to Oliver again. "I don't understand any of you."

"Maybe we want it that way," Oliver replied casually. Angelina snorted and returned to her History of Magic homework.

"So what do you need my help with?" Katie asked. She had been watching the model Davies confidently surveying the quidditch field and missed most of Oliver and Angelina's conversation.

Oliver pulled a parchment, quill, and bottle of ink out of his bag. "Well, remember how I told you that I thought Emma's broom was cursed?" Katie nodded and Oliver continued.

"I haven't heard anything about it yet from Professor Lupin so I want to try to figure it out on my own." Madam Pomfrey had not allowed anyone to see Emma since Katie's visit and Oliver was restless.

"Bloody hell, Oliver!" Angelina exclaimed, startling both Oliver and Katie. "Her broom is not cursed. Get over it."

"Angelina! What's bothering you today?" Katie stared intently at her friend until she looked up. Angelina gave Katie a look that Katie correctly interpreted as meaning "You should know but we'll talk about it later."

Suddenly a new voice broke into their conversation. "Well I hope you're proud of yourself." The three Gryffindor quidditch players turned abruptly to see Davies looming over them. His shimmering green eye winked at Katie while his deep brown eye burned into Oliver.

"Excuse me?" Oliver asked, peering up into Davies glowering face.

"You heard what I said," Davies shot back, taking a menacing step toward Oliver.

Oliver stood up, his head even with Davies chin. "I think what I heard is that you're a . . ."

"Oi! Both of you knock it off!" Katie gripped Oliver's arm and scowled at Davies who was reaching for his wand.

Davies glanced at Katie and gently pushed the loose strands of hair back from her face.

"This isn't over yet," he said calmly to Oliver and sauntered away.

"What was that?" Oliver demanded, sinking back down on the bench.

"Quidditch captains!" Angelina exclaimed, slamming her book closed and gathering several papers. "They're all crazy! I'm going back to the common room where there are no quidditch captains." She precariously balanced her ink and quill on top of the book and papers in her arms.

Oliver and Katie laughed as Angelina huffily walked away. "Forget about Davies," Katie counseled, sitting next to Oliver and resting her head on the table.

"He doesn't make himself easy to forget," Oliver remarked.

"No, he certainly doesn't," Katie muttered, but Oliver didn't notice. Tiny Fred and George had escaped from the baseball field and were attempting death-defying leaps off the table.

"I think it's time we get these guys put away for the night." Oliver beckoned Percy who was headed for the door of the Great Hall with Penelope and asked him to take the two fields back to Gryffindor. Percy agreed and after about five minutes of jabbering finally left.

"Are we ready to get to work now?" Katie asked.

"Yes. Now, let me tell you what I know first." Oliver made notes on his parchment as he talked to Katie. "First of all, that broom has been in Emma's family for years. The weird thing is that she said all of her family before her that used it were brilliant fliers. Several of them were even on winning Quidditch Cup teams." He paused for a moment, a distant, longing look in his eyes. Then, shaking his head slowly he began speaking again.

"Emma is the first to have any difficulty flying. So it seems that if the broom is cursed it must have been cursed specifically for her."

Katie nodded slowly. "She's never been able to fly well?"

"Yeah, from her first day at Hogwarts. So I have been trying to figure out if she has any enemies at Hogwarts. The only person I can think of is Davies."

"Why do you say that?" Katie asked, her eyes narrowing at the edges. "Davies is just a difficult guy. He's not particularly good with anyone on his team."

"Emma told me herself that Davies doesn't like her because she comes from a partly muggle family and she's never played serious quidditch and she's a girl," Oliver explained, making more careful notes on his parchment.

"What!" Katie exclaimed and Oliver, startled, smeared a long line across the parchment.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to yell, but that's just crazy."

Oliver raised his eyes in surprise and Katie felt a stirring in her stomach. She took a deep breath, suppressed the feeling and continued. "First of all, Davies comes from a partly muggle family too. I've never heard him say anything against someone that had muggle parents. Secondly, do you know why he likes Cho Chang so much? Because she's a girl who had never played serious quidditch before trying out for the team and she's a brilliant seeker. Davies was really impressed with her. I am absolutely certain that none of those things would make him dislike Emma. She must have been mistaken."

Oliver looked into Katie's serious eyes. "I guess she does have a tendency to jump to conclusions. But why would she say all that?"

"Well, my guess is that other people have bothered her about those things so she just assumed that they were the same reasons that Davies doesn't appear to like her. Since he has no good reason that anyone can see, it makes sense that Emma would think it was for those reasons."

Oliver nodded slowly. "How do you know so much about Davies anyway?"

Katie's face flushed. "No particular reason. Stuff gets around. You know."

Oliver seemed to accept this explanation and looked at his parchment again. "So if it's not him than who can it be?"

"I don't know. I think you're just going to have to wait and see what Professor Lupin says."

Oliver sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Suddenly the Great Hall was noticeably quiet. Oliver and Katie looked up to see what was going on. Emma stood in the door, wrapped tightly in a blanket. She walked slowly over to Oliver and Katie, coughing several times along the way.

"Hi guys." Emma tried to smile but coughed again. When the spasm passed, Katie stood up and gave Emma quick hug.

"It's good to see you up and about. We'll talk later but right now I should get to bed."

"Thanks, Katie," Emma replied as Katie briskly walked away.

Oliver and Emma stared at each other, Emma toying with the fraying ends of her blanket and Oliver fiddling with his fingers. "I am so glad you're okay," Oliver finally said. "I was so worried. I'm really sorry that I let you go out there alone . . ."

Emma carefully lowered her body to the bench beside him and pressed a finger to his lips. "Shh, it's over now. We both made mistakes, but it's over."

Oliver smiled at her. He felt like a snitch had been let loose in his stomach. They sat in happy but awkward silence for a moment and then Professor Lupin appeared before them.

"Good to see you back on your feet, Emma. You're just in time. I have a report on your unique broom. If both of you will follow me to my office I can tell you what I've found out."

"You again!"

"Don't sound so excited." Davies jumped to his feet and smirked at an exasperated Katie. She leaned back against the wall in the nameless corridor - disoriented after the short walk she had taken since leaving Emma and Oliver. She didn't want Davies to know that she was completely lost as she always was when she walked around Hogwarts alone in the dark.

"What were you trying to do tonight anyway?" Katie demanded. "Approaching Oliver like that. You do not need to be starting fights."

"That idiot almost got my best player killed! And where do you get off defending him? I saw the way you fell all over him. It's sick, Katie. Honestly, you should be over it by now." Davies stood directly in front of Katie, trapping her against the wall.

"You're crazy. I was not falling all over him. I was simply trying to stop both of you from acting like barbarians!"

Davies braced his arm against the wall above Katie's head, bringing them even closer together. Katie winced but held her ground. "I was a perfect gentleman," Davies said in a low voice. "Wood started the fight."

Katie felt heat radiating from his body as his chest heaved with barely controlled anger. Davies smelled amazing - a combination of fresh soap and sophisticated cologne and mint. He took better care of himself physically than any other guy at Hogwarts and up close it was alarmingly obvious. His well-toned muscles strained against his shirt, his smooth, just-shaven chin rested right above Katie's head, and his soft but wild hair fell teasingly over his sparkling green eye. Katie, overwhelmed by his closeness, took a deep breath and whispered, "You are no gentlemen. I don't know what you have against Emma but you should just leave her alone. And you should leave Oliver alone too."

"Katie, Katie, Katie," Davies repeated her name softly and tapped the end of her nose. "I think I'm going to have to kiss you again."

"I will rip those hoops right out of your ears . . ." she threatened but his lips broke her off mid-sentence. Katie froze, forcing herself not to breathe, move, or respond in any way to his delicate kiss. After a brief moment he pulled away, taking a step backwards. "Are you done?" Katie asked.

"Yes," Davies replied.

"That was not necessary." Katie breathed in and out steadily, trying to calm her frenzied heartbeat and shaking legs.

"Oh I think it was necessary. Now maybe you'll remember who I really am." With that Davies left and Katie, bewildered and even more disoriented, tried to find her way back to Gryffindor. As she walked her pulse rate gradually slowed and she began to feel like herself again. Davies drove her to a defensive and outspoken nature that completely contrasted her normal personality. After their encounters it always took her a full night's sleep before she felt normal again.

When she finally found Gryffindor the common room was empty except for Angelina sitting in front of the fire. "Where have you been?" Angelina interrogated her. "Oh my, you look like you just saw a dragon. What happened?"

Katie flopped down on the couch next to Angelina. "I did see a dragon - tall, very fit, hungry look in his eyes . . ."

"You ran into Davies again? What is it about that guy? Oh wait, he's a quidditch captain!" Angelina scowled.

"I don't know why I constantly run into him. He's so weird. But anyway, it doesn't matter." She stared into the fire thinking about the kiss. There was no need to mention it to Angelina, she decided, since it was only Davies. "What were you so mad about earlier tonight anyway?"

"Oh just Oliver. He's so clueless. If you're not going to get over him than I wish he would fancy you and put you out of your misery."

"Oh brilliant! That makes me feel good, Angelina."

"I'm sorry," Angelina said, hugging her friend. "But it's not fun to see you like this all the time."

Katie sighed. "You know I'm trying to stop, I really am."

"Yes, I know. And you're doing a good job. Even being nice to Emma which is more than I would be able to do."

Katie shrugged. "I really don't mind Emma. She's nice. And she isn't trying to make all of this happen. Anyway, enough of this. I'm never going to stay awake in Potions tomorrow if we don't go to sleep."

Late into the night, however, Katie was still thinking about Davies. "Now maybe you'll remember who I really am," she whispered to herself just before she finally drifted off to sleep.

While Katie bantered with Davies, Professor Lupin discussed Emma's broom with Oliver and Emma.

"This is a very interesting broom you have," Professor Lupin said, laying the mysterious object across Emma and Oliver's legs. They sat on a couch in the professor's office, and he paced while he talked with them. "It must have been handmade at least one hundred years ago."

"Longer," Emma replied. She traced her fingers along the chipped and cracked handle, a dazed expression on her face. Oliver rested one arm protectively on the back of the sofa and his hand drifted to her back every time she coughed.

Professor Lupin pressed the palms of his hands together and thoughtfully tapped his index fingers against his mouth. "I am sorry to say that Oliver was right. This broom has been cursed."

Emma broke into a particularly violent coughing fit, her body crippling over. Oliver held her shoulders, supporting her and Professor Lupin knelt in front of them. He muttered a spell and Emma stopped coughing.

"Are you alright?" Oliver asked as Emma slowly sat up.

Emma, her face red and her eyes watering, nodded. "I was just so shocked. How could it be cursed?"

"Well, this is the interesting part," Professor Lupin said, standing up again. "It's a very weak curse - it would have to be reapplied at least once a month in order to be effective because it becomes ineffective rather quickly."

Emma pushed the broom forward and it tipped off the couch and clattered on the stone floor. "This is crazy! Someone's been cursing my broom every month since I came to Hogwarts? Who would do that?" Emma's face, still pale and drained from her accident, began to flush. Oliver rubbed her back and smoothed her hair and she took several rapid and rattling breaths.

"I'm sure we'll be able to figure out who's behind this," Oliver promised.

Professor Lupin crouched in front of Emma again and she looked into his caring eyes. "Emma, there is more that I need to tell you, but you're going to have to calm down.

Your emotions have been heightened by the potions Madam Pomfrey is giving you to fight that cold." He pulled a tiny clear bottle from the inside of his robes and handed it to Emma. "Take this first. It will help balance your emotions a little better."

Emma took the bottle and examined it suspiciously.

"Go ahead," Oliver encouraged her and she tipped the mouthful of greenish liquid down her throat.

"Sometimes it has odd side effects and will intensify one emotion . . ."

"Well it's too late to think about those things now," Emma said, interrupting the professor. "Please just tell me about the broom."

"Okay." Professor Lupin once again got to his feet. "It took me only about an hour to figure out the weak and temporary curse on the broom. I could sense, however, that there was another enchantment on the broom as well and it took me four days to determine what that was. Your broom, Emma, has the capability to make its rider the best flyer in the world. A weak curse might only dull the effects of the spell, but it might also cause the broom to go crazy."

Oliver's mouth hung open but Emma stared straight ahead, her eyes dull and her face blank. "Thank you Professor. I think I should go back to the hospital wing now." Emma got up, stepped over the miraculous broom, and casually walked out of the office.

Oliver, too stunned to move, simply watched her go.

"You'd better go after her, Oliver. I don't know what is happening with that potion," Professor Lupin said calmly.

Oliver shook his head rapidly and jumped up. "Right. Thanks Professor. I think." He bolted out the door after Emma.

Professor Lupin smiled to himself as he picked up the broom and rested it against his desk.

"Emma! Emma wait!" Oliver yelled as he tripped over the blanket Emma had discarded after she began to run. Oliver chased her through a series of empty corridors, finally catching up with her outside the History of Magic classroom. Emma was panting and coughing, gripping the doorframe for support. Oliver grasped her heaving shoulders but she shook him off.

"How could they do this?" she screamed, kicking the door of the classroom which flew open and crashed into the wall. Oliver stopped the door on its hazardous return trip and tried again to touch Emma. She yanked herself out of his grip and yelled, "For four generations that broom has helped win quidditch cups and it was all a fraud! How could my family do this?"

"Calm down, Emma," Oliver pleaded. "Maybe they didn't know about the enchantment."

Emma whipped around and Oliver saw tears pouring down her cheeks. "They must have known! How could they not? Is my own family cursing that broom and trying to hurt me? What is going on?" She shouted the last sentence so loudly that it echoed around the hallway.

Oliver wrestled the sobbing Emma to his chest and hugged her tightly. Once in his arms she collapsed against him, overwrought with tears, gasps, and coughs. For several minutes Oliver let Emma cry. Finally, aware that they were in a rather public spot, he said, "This is too much for you to deal with while you're still sick. I'll take you back to Madam Pomfrey and you can get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll talk about all this."

Emma nodded, rubbing her face against his sweater. Oliver picked her up, cradling her in his arms, and carried her back to the hospital wing. When Madam Pomfrey saw Emma she looked like she would explode, but she didn't ask what had happened. She did, however, refuse to let Oliver stay by Emma's bedside.

"I'll be back in the morning," Oliver promised, squeezing Emma's hand. She smiled weakly and snuggled down under her blankets.

The next morning Emma awoke feeling like all the sickness in her body had poured into her head in the form of a nagging mess of thoughts. The aching in her limbs was gone, the bruises and cuts all over her body had healed, and even her cold seemed to be in its final stages. Her head, however, was throbbing with the weight of the news about her broom, and, even more so, with questions about Oliver.

Emma braced her hands on either side of her pillow and pushed herself up onto her knees. Her bed appeared to tip sideways and she quickly squeezed her eyes shut and dropped her head in her hands. After effects of that potion from Professor Lupin, she determined. Afraid to open her eyes again, she remained crouched over, perfectly still.

Thoughts of Oliver settled out on top of the concoction of topics and questions in her mind. Emma sighed inwardly. I can't avoid thinking about him anymore, she decided. This is just so new and scary. I'm not even sure what's happening let alone what I want to happen. I need to figure this out now, that's the only fair thing to do. But how can I do that when I have to solve this mystery about my broom?

Keeping her eyes closed tightly, Emma sank onto her back and pulled the rough blanket up over her head. "I've always been suspicious of that broom," she said quietly to herself. She thought for a moment and then continued to babble out loud. "It was supposed to turn me into a great quidditch player like my ancestors. But did it do that? No, it turned me into a laughingstock! The question is, why? Did the curse come from someone at Hogwarts or my family? Did my family know about the enchantment? Do I come from a long line of liars and cheaters? I just can't imagine my dad being part of a big scam like that. As obsessive as he might be about quidditch he wouldn't try to win unfairly. Just like Oliver. Come to think of it, my dad and Oliver are a lot alike. I bet they would get along . . . I've completely lost my train of thought!" Emma sighed, frustrated - there was too much to sort through. She needed help.

Emma tried again to sit up and this time when she opened her eyes the room remained clear. Immediately, however, she wished she hadn't opened them -- Davies stood in the doorway.

"What do you want?" Emma demanded, struggling to get out of bed so she could stand up to face him. Her head began to spin again, forcing her to remain in her more vulnerable position sitting on the bed.

"I can't come to check on one of my beaters?" Davies stayed in the doorway in his usual pose - leaning casually against the wall with his arms folded.

"Well it might be okay if you actually cared about your team," Emma replied, determined to hold her ground despite the swirling and the torrent of thoughts in her mind.

Davies lips formed into a frightening grin. "Let me tell you something, princess. I care very much about my team. That's exactly why I want you off it. To think of the trouble you could cause - it makes me sick." Suddenly the strange smile faded and his face appeared normal again. "So get better, Emma."

He turned to leave and Emma could only stare at him, completely unsure of how to respond to his unusual behavior. Davies didn't usually attack her so directly or have such rapid mood swings.

"What are you doing here, Davies?" Oliver's uncharacteristically gruff voice broke Emma out of her state of shock. She couldn't see the two quidditch captains because they were outside the door.

"Just came to visit a fellow team member," Davies replied, his voice still calm.

"Well you've had your little visit, now go!" Emma winced at Oliver's angry voice, worried he would start a fight with the much larger Davies. But, she noted with relief, Davies didn't seem to want to fight.

"Whatever you want, Wood. But I would be careful if I were you. There's more at stake here than you realize." Emma heard steady retreating footsteps and hoped they belonged to Davies. Sure enough, a moment later Oliver appeared in the room.

"Emma!" he exclaimed, running to her bedside. "Did he hurt you?"

Emma had to smile at his face which was contorted with concern. "It's okay. He scared me a little but he didn't hurt me."

Oliver's facial features remained twisted as he sank down on the edge of Emma's bed. Emma pushed at his eyebrows until they regained their normal position.

"What are you doing?" Oliver asked.

"Making you look normal. Your face is much cuter when you don't look like the world is coming to an end."

Oliver blushed and smiled shyly. "Thanks. Anyway, what did Davies do that scared you?"

Emma shrugged and started to run her fingers through her tangled hair. She suddenly felt self-conscious about her battered appearance. Oliver looked perfect, as usual, and although she didn't want to admit it, Emma found that intimidating. "He was meaner than usual. And he had the oddest expression on his face - like he wasn't himself. I don't know."

"Well, I'll try to keep an eye on him. You look like you're ready to get out of here," he commented, smiling stunningly at Emma.

Emma squirmed as the tingling, an effect of his smile, began in her stomach and then spread throughout the rest of her body. "Yeah, I think I am," she replied, peering down at her hands. "As soon as Madam Pomfrey gets here I'm going to ask to leave. Maybe tonight we can talk about the broom."

"After quidditch practice. I have to get the team back out there. And then tomorrow we'll get you back out there too. You don't have much time to be ready and we still have a long ways to go. Of course I don't have much time to be ready either. I can't believe the game is so soon! What was I thinking, putting off practice . . ." Oliver rattled on about quidditch while Emma tried not to laugh. It was good to have a more normal Oliver back.