Rival // Oliver Wood

Stress

Ivy:

"I can't fucking do this," I complained, letting out a groan.

"Yes you can," Oliver replied calmly. He'd offered to help me study and I'd obliged, feeling immensly guilty at how little time I'd been spending with him lately.

"Why is it so hard to turn water into wine? I'm not Jesus," I groaned, burying my face in my hands out of frustration. 

"Hey," he said gently, taking my hands off my face. "You can do it, ok? And it's not the end of the world if you don't manage to do it tonight, there's always tomorrow."

"Yeah, easy for you to say," I scoffed. He frowned slightly at my comment. "Sorry I'm just really frustrated right now," I sighed, "I don't mean to take it out on you."

"It's ok," he nodded, "Now try it again." I took a deep breath and aimed my wand at the goblet.

"Acertum Converte" I muttered. The water flashed a shade of pink before turning back to its normal state. I groaned. 

"Iv, maybe you should just take a break and try again tomorrow."

"No I can't," I shook my head. "I need to get this spell down. Flitwick won't give me an O in the class if I can't pass the practical part of the test."

"I understand," he said gently, "But it's not going to make a difference if you get it tonight or tomorrow."

"It does for me, Oliver," I said. He was silent for a moment. "I think I need to do it alone," I said quietly.

"What?"

"I need to try it by myself," I clarified, looking back down at the book to reread the hand motion. "I feel like I'm taking my anger out on you."

"Iv, I really don't mind," he said gently with a small smile,

"Well I do," I glanced up at him. "Plus it might make a difference if I try it alone, I dunno."

"Ok," he sighed, "Just try not to beat yourself up if you can't get it, alright?" I nodded my head. "I love you."

"I love you," I replied softly. He opened his mouth as if to say something else but closed it and got up from the table to leave the library. 

I re-read the page again, hoping I'd have a breakthrough of some sort. No such luck. 

I let out another frustrated sigh, rubbing my temples. 

"Do you need help?" A small second-year girl with puffy hair emerged from behind a nearby bookshelf.

"What?" I asked tiredly, looking up at her. I examined her a bit closer to realize it was one of Harry Potter's friends, the same girl who'd managed to get the bludger under control a couple of weeks ago.

"Do you need help with the spell?" She clarified. 

"Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but you're a second-year aren't you?" I asked cooly, "It's a N.E.W.T-level charm."

"I do extra reading," she replied simply. I gave her another skeptical look. If I wasn't so frustrated and tired, I would've told her to scram. Instead, I just leaned back in my chair and pushed the goblet towards her slightly.

"Go ahead," I shrugged. "The water's stubborn as fuck." I watched her take the seat across from me. Sitting up straight, she muttered the incantation. To my amazement, the clear liquid turned a deep crimson shade. "How'd you do that?" I asked instantly.

"It's simple really," she replied, "Put emphasis on the last syllable of Converte." She turned the wine back into water effortlessly. She pushed the goblet back to me. "Now you try." I gave her another skeptical look before trying the charm myself. I took the girl's advice, and sure enough the water turned into red wine.

"What's your name?" I asked, studying the girl curiously. 

"Hermione, Hermione Granger."

"Hermione, you don't by any chance know anything about transfiguring teacups, do you?"

Oliver:

I felt disappointed, deflated, and just tired overall when leaving the library. I hated seeing Ivy frustrated, I hated that she was being so hard on herself, and I hated that she'd asked me to leave.

Of course, I wanted her to succeed, and I know it was selfish to be mad at her for asking me to leave the library. Still, it felt shitty. I didn't want her to feel like she had to push me away. 

I walked back to the common room to find it in chaos. 

"What's happening?" I asked Lee.

"You know Colin Creevy, that little first-year who's obsessed with Harry?"

"Yeah I had to shoo him out of one of our practices for taking pictures," I said, giving a small laugh as I recounted the memory. "Why?"

"He got petrified," Lee said with wide eyes.

"What?" I asked. 

"Petrified. Like Filch's cat," Lee said before turning to Fred and George. Almost all of Gryffindor house was crowded in the room, talking frantically amongst themselves.

x x x

Over the next couple of days, the school was weary. Everyone was anxious about the attack on Collin.  

I'd also tried to help Ivy again, but she'd just gotten frustrated like the last time and I'd offered to leave before she asked me. 

Something felt off between us.