The Future Will Be Better Tomorrow

The Future Will Be Better Tomorrow: Chapter One

Percy woke with a start.

Feeling rather disorientated, he put on his glasses and lit his wand. It was 2a.m. in the morning. Then he looked over at this calendar, and the square for 29^th June glowed. It was the last day of school. The last day of his schooling life. Or actually, his last day at Hogwarts. The lessons ended after their NEWTs, where they were then put through lecture after lecture on future career options. It wasn't that he wasn't interested; he had already set his mind on working in the ministry.

The thought of leaving Hogwarts saddened him, really. He had spent seven years in this place after all, and his best achievements so far were all made here. He then realised that throughout his seven years in Hogwarts, he never had many friends. They were mostly prefects, and although he was on good terms with many people, they were just acquaintances. He poked his head out of the bed curtains, hoping to take a good look at his housemates, the ones that he spent seven years with, seven years and not one of them was close to him. He wanted to keep their faces in his memory, just in case he saw them next time, but when he looked out he found all their beds empty.

This made him feel very panicked, and he thought that his calendar was wrong. Or maybe the professors came by and told everyone that there was a change in schedule and the Hogwarts Express was leaving in the middle of the night. Or maybe sometime in the night You-Know-Who came and killed everyone and missed him by some unfortunate mistake. Or maybe... Percy didn't quite know, really. He hated not being in control. So he looked around the room and noticed that the other student's trunks were still around. Which meant that theory number one wasn't true. He pulled his robes over his blue-and-white-striped pyjamas, and went out to confirm his other theories.

While walking down the stairs to the Common Room, the man in a portrait started to talk to him.

"Aha! A seventh year, eh? Go out and turn left. The other paintings will lead the way."

Percy was, quite frankly, puzzled. He was clueless to what was going on, and everyone was conveniently away. So he decided to trust the pudgy man in the portrait, mostly for a lack of better things to do.

He found himself in front of a stone wall somewhere in Hogwarts. He realised that he hadn't been noticing where he was going, and so he felt rather lost. And he was starting to have a bad feeling about the whole thing. And then he was felt irritated at himself for handling the situation so irresponsibly.

"Quid pro quo!" The woman in the painting of a tea party exclaimed.

Percy raised an eyebrow, and was about to say something when a door appeared and opened. Percy raised the other eyebrow. Admittedly, he didn't know how to react. Was he supposed to be amused, or scared, or normal, he couldn't decide. Upon entering, he realised it was the Slytherin Common Room. It was eerily quiet, though not deserted. There was a bunch of students in a corner, and a group of girls on a sofa, and they were all in their pyjamas. Percy felt rather disapproving. These students were still awake in the middle of the night. He felt a need to assert his authority then, and cleared his throat.

And a student looked up. He was wearing pyjamas with fine stripes of alternating shades of green, and fluffy white bedroom slippers. Percy recognised him as Adrian Pucey, a Slytherin fifth-year who happened to be a prefect. Actually, that was how Percy recognised him. Pucey smiled at him and told him to "turn left, walk down the corridor and go in the first door on the right". Percy put on a cynical expression. Adrian then suggested "Seventh-year end-of-year party?" with a rather amused look on his face.

Seventh-year end-of-year party? Percy thought to himself. He was shocked at the news. And promptly decided that it was time for him to step in and bring some order to what was going on.

The directions led him to a room full of familiar faces, faces belonging to people he studied with for the past seven years. There was a table in the corner where a Slytherin seventh year was handing out mugs of Butterbeer and Firewhisky to a disorganised queue of people. There was a large gramophone in the corner, and couples littered the room, moving to the beat.

Percy didn't know what to feel. He'd always hated feeling because feelings were too complicated. And thus chose not to feel in this situation. He cleared his throat, feeling important because he was Head Boy, and opened his mouth to speak when something caught his eye.

Penelope Clearwater was gyrating away with some unknown (to Percy) Hufflepuff boy. But since Percy hates situations where he's forced to feel, he ignored it and slunk away, attempting to blend in with the surroundings. It was something he felt he had a natural aptitude for, being able to achieve instant invisibility on command.

His camouflaging skills failed him then, as Oliver Wood spotted him. Wood greeted him jovially and attempted some manly form of a hug. Percy felt incredibly awkward and emotionally handicapped right then, and attempted some form of amused laughter.

Wood seemed as if he would burst out laughing, and Percy felt an overwhelming need to run. Wood then attempted to make some conversation, and asked him his plans for the future. Percy made the obligatory reply, and Wood enthusiastically proclaimed that he would be playing for Puddlemere United (he hadn't made it into the team, but from the way he spoke about it, you'd never know). The irony of the situation suddenly hit Percy, and he commented to Wood on how, ever since they stepped in as first years, have had already decided on their future careers, and they were still asking each other about it now.

Just when Percy decided to let the conversation progress, the Slytherins rudely interrupted them. Actually, just the Marcus Flint and Co. part of 'Slytherins'.

"Well, well, well. What have we got here?" Flint sneered. The rest of the gang laughed trollishly.

Percy thought that they looked positively revolting. And you thought humans couldn't get any more repulsive. He cleared his throat, and straightened his posture.

"I believe it is your fortune that I have not yet reported this illegal assemblage to the professors, Mr. Flint," he said authoritatively.

Apparently Wood must have been gloating away behind him because he heard Flint's remark.

"And look at him! Fawning all over his boyfriend. Some people really don't know how to control themselves." And the Slytherins all flashed their trademark smirk.

This vaguely reminded Percy of the 'Wood likes his boys Weasley' incident, but that was another thing altogether.

"If you will excuse me," Percy started, but did not finish.

Because right at that moment Wood stepped forward and punched Flint squarely in the jaw.

Flint shook his head. "Really. I think my teeth are bad enough as they are." And returned the punch. "With love", he added, smirked, and stalked off, gang in tow, with idiotic smiles on their faces.

"Well, let's see who's playing for the League five years from now," Wood called out after him.

A laugh escaped Percy's throat before he could stop it, and Wood smiled knowingly.

*

It was something Oliver could not help. It was just the way he smiled. He did try to change his smile all the way back when was a second year, when everyone thought he was a jobby jabber. It wasn't as if he could help being attractive. He suddenly remembered his overzealous fan club consisting of girls and some boys and the time they were chased down the corridors hoping to pry personal information about him. Having a fan club did have its uses; he had charmed several of them into spying on the other Houses' Quidditch teams.

Oliver didn't understand the concept of love at all. He couldn't see the point in investing in something so disadvantageous as humans. Sure, he did like some people, but only as friends. It was Quidditch that was his one true love.

Ever since he was born he was meant for Quidditch. His grandfather actually played professional Quidditch for a while, and found it necessary to extol upon his newborn grandson the greatness of Quidditch.

Oliver made things worse, of course. He actually expressed interest in his grandfather's tales of when he played Quidditch professionally. He looked forward to visits from his grandfather and as soon as he was able to make sounds his grandfather attempted to make him say "Snitch" and "Quaffle" and other such Quidditch related terms. And was overjoyed the day he said "Koffle".

After falling in love with Quidditch, Oliver had to pick a favourite team, or the game would lose its sparkle. And Oliver decided to support Puddlemere United, for he quite liked the long history of the team, and the best Keeper ever played for Puddlemere. Damon Lyndon he was, and he played for Puddlemere from 1933 to 1937, when he mysteriously disappeared.

It also meant that Wood decided to be a Keeper early on, as his grandfather recommended him to. His grandfather was a good Quidditch player, but in his old age he became a little eccentric and overly fanatical over Quidditch. It was a trait Oliver seemed to have inherited from his grandfather, and his family soon tired of his endless requests for them to make lists of the greatest Quidditch players in history just so that he could laugh at their choices.

So when his grandfather died, Oliver sank into a state of depression but snapped out of it when he remembered what his grandfather told him. He looked on the bright side and felt glad to have known such a man well in his life. And he went back to playing Quidditch. His family was quite eager to get rid of the brooms and balls his grandfather left behind, but Oliver found out about their sinister plan and salvaged the Quidditch paraphernalia.

He's always try to get the other boys living near him to play Quidditch, but they all seemed to lose interest in the game after a while. It was something Oliver couldn't comprehend, and he found out that it was better to play by himself, with the enchanted Quaffle that would keep trying to score by itself, and with a goalpost made out of unused broomsticks.

It was rather lonely, and Oliver invented a friend. He found this method rather effective, as David was a Quidditch enthusiast too. And they would talk all day about playing in the league when they grew up, and the best team ever in history and they would even go on hiking trips. Oliver's parents were of the very busy businesspeople sort, and so they did not notice the abnormal behaviour in their son.

David went into hiding the moment Oliver went to school, because David was something only naïve little children indulged in, and Oliver was not a naïve little child. Or rather, he did not want to be one.

The Quidditch fanaticism did not cease though, and in his first year Oliver went for the Gryffindor team tryouts. Charlie Weasley, then the captain of the Gryffindor team, politely told him that the rule could not be bent. But he was nice enough, and allowed Oliver to watch them practice.

It wasn't enough to satisfy Oliver's need for Quidditch, so he decided to spy on the Slytherin team tryouts. The Slytherin team had established itself as a formidable team, executing well-thought out strategies with ease. The team had been winning the Quidditch Cup for ma years running already, and they were not about to relinquish the honour. He hid behind the stands, peeking through the gaps in the benches.

Marcus Flint went for those tryouts, and he was the only second-year to make it into the team. Oliver burned with jealousy, that he was not put in Slytherin where he believed the rules would be bent specially for him. He also disregarded the Gryffindor Quidditch team, with their few and far between practice sessions and their playing philosophy. They believed that the only thing that mattered was that one had fun while playing Quidditch, and winning was probably of the least importance to them.

In his second year Oliver made it to the team, mostly because they found him so dedicated to the sport that they let him in immediately. They also had gaps to fill, and Oliver seemed so enthusiastic about it. The moment he made it into the team he tried to convince the new captain (for Charlie Weasley had left) to increase the frequency of practice sessions, to limited success.

In his first ever proper and official Quidditch match, a Bludger knocked out Oliver five minutes into the game. It was a match against Slytherin, and they had realised the potential of their new Keeper, and sought to eliminate him as soon as possible.

He was unconscious in the hospital wing for a week, and the moment he was discharged he was hit by insults sent his way by the Slytherin Quidditch team. They were laughing at how blind he had to be to not dodge that Bludger, and Oliver was deeply humiliated. At the bottom of it all, Oliver hated Marcus Flint with a passion, only because Flint was the player whose age was the closest to his.

In his third year Flint picked up quickly, and they became official rivals. But only on the Quidditch field, because academically, they were in different levels. Games became fiercer and more intense, particularly because one was a Keeper and the other a Chaser, and their part of the game was more physical than say, between Seekers.

In his third year the Weasley twins also arrived, and the moment they set foot in Hogwarts Oliver gave them the spot of Beaters. The problem with that was that he was not the Captain, and the Weasley twins were too young. Fred and George were the antithesis of Percy, and everything they did made a lasting impact on people. Widespread recognition came when the twins managed to let off some Dungbombs in Professor Snape's office.

In his fourth year what was to be his best ever team began to take shape. His team now included Fred, George and Angelina, although still he was not yet Captain. But somewhere amidst all that fanaticism and furious strategy planning, he started to miss David. He would not return to him though, and he wished that David had always been corporeal. Also, the Slytherin team had to replace itself, and as luck would have it, the new members possessed only a fraction of the calibre of the senior members.

In his fifth year he was named Captain. In his fifth year Marcus Flint became captain too. The Slytherin team was still fairly consistent, but the Gryffindor team received a blessing from the heavens. Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, went to Hogwarts and was placed in Gryffindor. The part where Harry was the boy-who-lived didn't matter as much as the part where he was the son of James Potter, whose exceptional Seeking skills were legendary in Hogwarts. So when he was allowed on the team Oliver felt as if his dream had come true. He had managed to find new Chasers with ease but not so for a Seeker, so when a Seeker had chosen to be in Gryffindor everything started to go on an ascendant.

His fifth-year also happened to be the year of the 'Wood likes his boys Weasley' incident, when Percy was tutoring him in the self-study room. Oliver's pretty-boy looks subjected him to much torture from the Slytherins (although it managed to garner the admiration of girls and the occasional boy from the other Houses). Oliver had asked Percy to tutor him because no matter how he tried he couldn't achieve more than mediocre grades in every subject, and he was under pressure from his parents, who were hoping he could continue their business in the trade of wizarding goods. Somehow Flint observed that Oliver and Percy had been spending a lot of time studying with each other of late, and commented on that fact. Fred and George immediately jumped to his defence, which delighted the Slytherins even more. Flint went, "So I guess Wood likes his boys Weasley, eh?" to the gloating, smirking Slytherin side of the room, which replied with a rousing "Aye aye, Captain". Fred and George then immediately stood up all ready to fight, but Wood forced them down, as he knew it would be impossible for them to face that many Slytherins head on.

A week later the Slytherin Common Room suffered from a Dungbomb attack.

In his sixth year Flint ditched Higgs for Malfoy. It puzzled him greatly, for he had always thought that Flint and Higgs were something along the lines of friends. Also, Malfoy's seeking skills were inferior compared to Higgs'. It was a blessing to Oliver's team, really.

Then again, Higgs was Head Boy for that year, so maybe he quit Quidditch to take on the responsibilities of a Head Boy. This sounded more reasonable to Oliver, because one day in the study room, Lee Jordan made a speech on how the Slytherins "should all be chucked out of Hogwarts" and the Slytherins noticed and Lee Jordan was faced with the prospect of having to fight with Flint.

To save Lee Jordan from grievous bodily harm other Gryffindors joined the match, sparking an inter-house war stopped only when Terence interfered and took five points off every Gryffindor involved. Taking into account the loyalty-to-friends trait of the Gryffindors, their points were close to going sub-zero.

It didn't quite make sense to Oliver why Terence would want to help Flint when he so ruthlessly dumped him from the Quidditch team, and since Oliver was unable to uncover the mystery he gave up on it.

The good-luck trajectory of his Quidditch team continued, as one day Oliver discovered a private notebook in the drawer of the table he sat at for Charms belonging to a certain Marcus Flint. It was private because the pages were invisible. Flint obviously wasn't too advanced in spells, because the content of the notebook was easily revealed through a Revealer.

At the end of the lesson Flint entered the classroom to look for his notebook. Oliver was always prepared to leave a classroom as soon as he could, and this proved to be useful in his current situation, as he quickly slipped out of the door before Flint could notice anything.

Finders Keepers, he thought.

The notebook was the best gift Oliver could ever receive. It contained Flint's Quidditch strategies, as well as detailed observations on his opponents. The observations included the weaknesses of the players from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, and the possession of so much knowledge on the opposing team made him feel very superior indeed, until he realised that the Quidditch season had ended and Flint wouldn't be around next year. Still, he comforted himself; the information it contained would still be useful.

The luck of Oliver Wood, y, was mx + c, with m being positive. The Weasley twins announced that Flint had been caught cheating in his NEWTs and was thus retained for another year. This was good news to Oliver, as he now possessed the secret weapon that would lead them to victory.

In his seventh year Oliver was confident of winning the Quidditch Cup, but then they lost their first match into the season.

Things did pick up, as the Slytherins resorted to stupid tricks, with what Oliver assumed was due to the loss of the precious strategy book.

And they did win the Quidditch Cup fair and square, the highest point in Oliver's schooling life.

And back to the present. It was his last day of school. They would be leaving at eight in the morning. In about three hours' time the professors would be rushing about getting them all ready to go home.

Oliver looked back on his memories of school, and was glad to find that they were pleasant ones, on the whole. Looking at the people in his year, he saw that many of had the potential to become successful in whatever they did, and he felt happy for them.

Auld lang syne, he thought.