02

AWKWARD ENCOUNTERS

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Oliver continued to glance at June, his dark eyes eyeing her up and down and he wasn't secretive about it either. He too realised how she had changed over the few weeks since he last set eyes on her as they departed on the Hogwarts Express. Her blonde curls now reached an inch lower, her cheeks more chiselled than ever but her emerald eyes appeared to be a shade or two darker if that was even possible.

"I'll see you in the common room?" Ebony, the girl who had managed to free herself from under the Quidditch player's arm, asked before turning and making her way towards the Fat Lady painting with a group of her fellow house mates.

Oliver nodded her way before all his attention was back on the Slytherin. "You just couldn't wait to see me on the field and decided to seek me out? I thought you were a Chaser and not a Seeker."

"And you're obviously not a Keeper," she smirked. Oh how she smirked. It was such a peculiar thing to see, how someone with such venomous eyes could look so much more vindictive with just a tug of her lips.

"Touche," he remarked and neared her, "I would ask how your summer break was but I got enough from Rita Skeeter's article. 'The Hawks flee their nest'."

Oliver waved his arms dramatically above him as he recited the name of the article that she had tried so hard to forget about, she hoped everyone else had too. It was a good possibility that most people had forgotten seeing as it had been published within the second week of their break and she hadn't received more than two or three worried looks from parents in Diagon Alley.

"Ha, ha," June gave little indication that she wished to carry on the conversation, or at least the topic of her summer. She had no desire to even think about her parents and what she had endured at their expense, "How about your little team of Gryffindorks, finally found out how to properly play Quidditch?"

"Ooh, don't let Percy hear you use that language before he takes ten house points from Slytherin for 'foul language'," Wood remarked and went back to leaning against the walls, "Well, with our new Captain I am sure that you lot will be toast."

Sometimes the best way to retaliate or get on someone's nerves was without words but through subtle actions. So she did just that, a small grin jumping around on her lips

"Didn't you get the heads up? I'm the new Gryffindor Captain," the words left his lips in the form of a knife in her back. Just the statement alone was enough to ensure that her year was going to be ruined and her hope was burned out. A Quidditch glove tightened around the Golden Snitch in her heart to stop the fluttering of the wings.

It hurt. It hurt to hear that somebody had managed to achieve what she had spent years dreaming about. Hell, she knew that Oliver was just as good of a player as she was but he had never had to fight to be seen as an equal on his team. It was constantly one step forward and two steps back for the girl, but it seemed that Oliver had the whole path layed out of him.

"Didn't you get the heads up? I don't give a-" once again she was caught by something - a noise this time, more specifically a cough. Closing her eyes and assuming the worst, that being that a Professor was standing behind her and ready to give her a weeks worth of detention on the first day of the school year, she turned.

Louisa O'Lance stood still with her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face, "Wood, of course it's you causing this commotion in the hallway and harassing my dear friend Juniper Hawk."

Both Oliver and Juniper peered around the corridor and noticed how it was practically empty save for a two Hufflepuff students that were just leaving the Great Hall hand in hand.

"Don't make me take points from Gryffindor for distracting your fellow students, especially during the sorting ceremony feast! Tut tut. What a shame it would be to have to take away points when you don't have any at all, maybe a weeks worth of detention would suffice."

Oliver let his eyebrow raise with whatever remained of his smirk now falling off his lips. "O'Lance, we meet again."

"Get back to the feast, Wood. You aren't my favourite person today," she almost growled as if to scare him off, but she should have known that Oliver Wood was not one to back down.

June just rolled her eyes and pushed off from the wall to stand between the two with an unfazed look on her face.

"I'm never your favourite person," he stated simply.

"You aren't wrong," Louisa responded and offered her hand out to Sam, "Come on, let's give the new 'Gryffindor Captain' time to get his team together. He's gonna need it."

Louisa took June's hand before she could comprehend what was going, dragging the younger girl through the halls of Hogwarts and leaving Oliver to stare at the blonde with intent.

It wasn't even a few seconds before the words started to spill from her mouth in a loud tone, nearly taking the Prefect by surprise. "Who in the right mind named him Captain? Really? Pft, bloody ridiculous. I have every right to inform McGonagall that Wood is the wrong choice for that team. He is too focused on winning the game and not playing the part."

"Isn't that the point of Quidditch?"

All Louisa got was a warning glare from June as they entered the Slytherin Common Room to see the Quidditch team circled around the fire on the serpent green futons with a magnitude of books spread out infront of them - Quidditch Through the Ages, Flying with the Cannons, The Noble Sport of Warlocks and many more. Juniper pulled her eyes away from the sight of them.

"Wait, why do you hate Wood?"

"That asshole was trying to show off during summer break when I had taken my mother to Hogsmead and darn near scared her to death as he flew above her. She nearly threatened to not enrol me this year. Bless her heart, she tries so hard to be tolerant and open minded of my magic, but every time I try to make an effort, she barely leaves her room for a week," O'Lance sighed as she tugged on a strand of loose hair, "This summer, she barely said two words for me. I'm not exaggerating. I think they were 'Happy Birthday' and that was it."

Louisa's eyes were duller than normal if possible, all the life draining from her features as she complained about her situation. She tried to cover up her frown with a whimsical expression as she glanced over towards the Quidditch members, "Whats got them so stressed?"

"The First Tuesday is also the day that the first round of Quidditch tryouts take place. We usually get through the second years because there are more of them, and to avoid another incident like last year where they injured some of the other, older potential recruits. I heard on the train that we managed to score the second slot, after the Gryffindorks."

The two girls raised their brows and set down towards the girls dormitories, both of whom were relieved to see the fourth year room empty of witches but full of their bags and animal cages. 

"Dawn," she smiled as she rushed to open the cage, letting the owl stretch its wings as much as she wanted before she perched on her shoulder. She reached into her cloak pocket and pulled out a small bag of homemade treats to pass to Louisa. "Here, hold this out and she'll come over. These are her favourite."

The girl did as instructed and Dawn was quick in pursuit as she happily nibbled on the treats. 

"She'll love you forever now."

"I am honoured."

Louisa pet the owl as they both watched Juniper unpack all her belongings with beady eyes. Juniper pulled out piles of clothes and robes to pack away in her draws, bags of toiletries and a few sparse pieces of unopened make up gifted by her sister Rosemary and a single picture frame that was neatly placed on her nightstand. 

"Is that your mum?" Louisa asked from the sage arm chair.

"No, this is my sister Rosemary. I guess you could call her my mum in all aspects of life besides the biological sense. You two would get on very well I think, you're both determined and hard working," a ghost of a smile brushed onto her lips. It was gone as quick as it arrived. Louisa barely noticed it.

They sat in silence for a few seconds before a group of giggling girls walked past the open door and into their fifth year dormitory. The two Slytherin girls remembered their borrowed time and Louisa moved forward to sit opposite her on the bed.

"We need a plan for your promotion through the ranks of the Quidditch team, I'm being serious. If hexing, jinxing and bribing aren't your thing then I am open to your thoughts." She nudged June with her boot, "I can't be the brains, brawns and beauty of the duo. You need to pull your weight here too."

Juniper fell back onto her pillows with a sigh. "I can't be caught jinxing or hexing my fellow team members or members of the other team for that matter. I also can't use my family's money to buy everyone the new Nimbus'. I refuse to be nice and treat them all to a round of butter beer because that drink is vile and I do not condone it's consumption. So that leaves one thing."

There was an awkward silence.

"Well, do go ahead. The suspense is quite literally killing me here," Louisa nudged her again with her boot.

June sat up with yet another sigh, "I just have to put extra work into my training and participation and hope that they begin to accept that I am a member of the team."

"Are we talking about the same misogynistic goblins?"

"Unfortunately." She grumbled as the fourth years entered the dorm and gave both June and Louisa glares whilst hushing their laughter into whispers, "But I do value my dignity and this is the best way. What could go wrong?"

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That night was filled with cold sweats and restless nightmares. Juniper was left tossing and turning in her bedsheets for hours as her mind dived into the darkest depths with the darkest of memories and the darkest of fears. 

She was running through the forbidden forest with nothing but her nightgown on her body and a pair of socks on her feet. She stood of thorns and twigs that cut her soles; ran through bushes that left scratches on her thighs and arms; and fell over so many times that blood began to trickle down her shins in messy lines.

Voices began to shout at her from all directions of the forest. Words and threats swarming around her running figure with might.

'You did this to yourself.'

'You're a disgrace, Juniper.'

'All you had to do was pass those exams.'

'You aren't a Hawk at all.'

And suddenly she wasn't running through the forest at all. Suddenly she was sat upon her broom, dressed in her green and silver uniform and in front of the whole Hogwarts population in the middle of the Quidditch pitch.

There wasn't another player in sight nor a single cheer in the air.

The atmosphere was empty.

And then it wasn't.

A small figure was flying straight towards her with such a speed that she couldn't make out what it was. It could have been another player but those hadn't been there before. It could have been a dementor but they were too busy guarding distant relatives in Azkaban. For all she knew, this was a just a figment of her imagination.

But it couldn't have been. It collided with such a force that the air was knocked from her lungs - silencing her screams - just as easily as she was knocked from her broom and sent plummeting towards the pitch.

Down.

Down. 

Down.