Strategy { Oliver Wood}

Chapter Twenty Five

"Okay let's go over the basics," Ace said as he sat beside Oliver with Andy on the other side of the Gryffindor boy.

"Right...the basics." Oliver repeated. "What are the basics again?"

"You can't be this stupid." Andy said. "The basics, what do you like about Melanie so we can focus on your strengths rather than your weaknesses."

"What I like about Melanie?"

Andy flopped back onto the floor of the abandoned classroom. "How does your quidditch team put up with you? How do people put up with you on a daily basis?"

"Hey!" Oliver made a face.

"Ignore her, she gets rather grumpy." Ace told him. "Look, we want to know what you like about Melanie so that the next time you see her, instead of calling her rubbish, you can give the girl a compliment."

"Okay." Oliver nodded his head.

"So tell us what you like about her?"

"Well," Oliver looked to the floor and then to his hands and then everywhere else besides the two Ravenclaws.

Andy looked at Ace before turning back to Oliver. "You do actually like her, don't you?"

"What? Yes I do."

"Then it shouldn't be this hard." Andy said. "It's as simple as saying you like you like it when she wears her hair up versus down."

"Oh..."

Another couple of minutes passed and Oliver still hadn't given his answer.

"He's killing me. I'm done. I'm dead." Andy told them returning back to her position on the floor.

"Give the boy a moment, Andy." Ace scolded her. " Just ignore her, she's impatient too."

"I've noticed." Oliver said glancing the blonde over for a second before turning back to Ace. "I know this shouldn't be as hard but I literally can't think of anything right now."

"That's alright-"

"Not it's not," Andy said sitting up. "It's simple. Watch. Ace what do you like about Melanie?"

"I don't think-"

"Answer the question!" the little blonde threatened. "We're doing this as an example. Now, what do you like about Melanie?"

"Well," Ace cleared his throat after awkwardly pulling at the collar of his shirt. "Um...I like her sense of humor, how she normally has a comeback for everything, I like that her diet consists of pie most days, I like that she uses her head when she's out on the quidditch pitch rather just relying on skill...and...I like how Mel never really cares what people think about her. She's a free spirit."

Ace fell silent before averting his gaze.

"That is what we need to hear coming from you, Oliver." Andy told him.  Oliver watched him as Ace didn't respond before Andy waved her hand in Oliver's face.

"Hi, welcome back. Now it's your turn."

"Okay, so I like that she's funny...when she's not calling me names. I think she's clever though with the nicknames that she comes up with, even though I don't like being called them. I think she's pretty."

Ace and Andy waited for him to continue but Oliver went quiet.

"That's it, you find her pretty and funny?" Andy said.

"And clever." Oliver reminded her. "I did say she was clever."

"Oh this is going to be a long night." Andy groaned.

Around midnight, Melanie awoke with a stomachache after her delicious apple pie returned to haunt her. After throwing up the pie, she didn't want to return to her bed as she felt wide awake. Instead, she left down the stairs to the common room to find someone still awake.

She tiptoed over to the sofa quietly, ready to launch a sneak attack. She neared the sofa, inch by inch, finally reaching her target. She lifted her arms...

"Hey Mel."

"Dammit." her arms dropped. "How did you know it was me?"

"I watched you tiptoe over here out of the corner of my eye." Ace told her.

"Oh..well...damn. I thought I had you." she laughed before climbing over the back of the sofa and sitting beside him.

"What are you doing awake right now?" Ace asked her.

"I threw up." she responded.

'I love how casual you were about that sentence. Why did you throw up?"

"Because I ate an entire apple pie by myself for dinner."

"Of course you did, but I already know you don't regret it."

"Of course I don't. And do you know why?"

"Because pie!" the two said together.

Ace chuckled.

"But seriously, that was rough, I might have to hold off on eating an entire pie for awhile."

"You mean wait until Christmas break?" Ace said.

"Yes. Which gives me about a week to let my stomach settle. Then it's pies for days."

"When did your addiction with pies start, Miss Anderson?"

"Oh I don't know, Doc. Probably when I was little girl and my dad left the house." she said leaning against him and placing her feet on the sofa.

Ace frowned. 'Is that really when you started?"

"Nah, I was eating pie out of the womb. I freakin' love that stuff."

"Of course you do, you're addicted."

"Am not!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes really, I can quit anytime I please."

"So quit eating pie right here right now."

"I said I can quit anytime, I didn't say I was going to actually do it, Ace. Gosh."

"Well, unless you want to wake up during the middle of the night to throw it all back up, perhaps you should only limit yourself to a couple of slices rather than the whole pie?"

"But why only have a couple of slices when you can have a whole pie?"

"So you're not waking up this late throwing up." Ace reminded her.

"I regret nothing."

"Oh Mel, sometimes I just want to..." He wrapped his arm her head playfully to give her a powerful squeeze.

"No. No!" She laughed trying to escape. "Mercy! Hey, let me go unless you want to see the rest of that apple pie!"

Ace quickly let her go.

"That's what I thought!" she huffed fixing her hair.

Suddenly, she was tickled before she tried to escape climbing over the back of the sofa once more. Only to fall over onto the ground.

Ace grimaced before looking over. "Are you okay?"

"Brilliant. Just brilliant."