Drawing Places (Oliver Wood x reader)

Quattourdecim

Christmas had finally come. And oddly enough, I had never spent it in Scotland before, despite the fact that the school was in the highlands.
The first thing about Oliver's family I had learnt, was that they were loud. Oliver's dad had called me 'lass' about four times, before I'd even managed to get my boots off, and had smacked me on the shoulder with the force of someone who definitely played Quidditch. His mum had fussed over my bag, and coat, and hair, worried that I would be uncomfortable if she didn't.
Oliver introduced me to two of his sisters. Sophie, the younger one, had firey red hair, and stood dramatically taller than me. She kissed Ramone on the head, holding him close to her. And the middle one, Ella had brown hair and was shorter. The whole family was made up of huggers. I quickly understood why Oliver felt that he had to have constant physical contact.
They had set up the spare bedroom for me, though I spent a lot of time in Oliver's room.

I had woken Oliver up, by creeping my way into his room on Christmas Eve. It was about six in the morning, and the windows were plastered with ice.
"Hello," he mumbled, rubbing his face with the back of his hand. "What are you doing here?"
"Saying 'hi'," I said, climbing into his bed. He laughed, warping his arms around me and pulling me closer.
"This is a nice way to wake up."
I agreed with him, as I pushed his hair out of his eyes and placed a soft kiss in his lips. He squeezed me tighter, pulling me on top of him, and trailing his hands up my sides. He stopped at my ribs and gave me a look. I shook my head, and he frowned a bit, but moved away. "Sorry."
"No, it's fine. I'm just not-" He nodded.
"Yeah, I shouldn't have assumed."

At breakfast, Oliver helped prepare toast. His mum had almost banished me from the kitchen because I kept trying to help out.
"Y/N dear, you're our guest, you don't have to do anything," She said, taking the butter out of my hands. She was muggle-born, which I think greatly explained the family dynamic. She quickly dismissed her only son, so that he could keep me out of the kitchen.
"Come on. I wanna show you something anyway." He ushered me back up the stairs and into his room.

"What do you wanna show me?" I asked, sitting on his bed. As far as I was concerned, he'd showed me just about everything in his room.
He grinned, pulling open the drawer of his overcrowded desk. He pulled out a book. A really old book.
"My nan found this." He handed it to me, and I read off the title.
"The Kwidditch handbook, first edition. When's this from?"
"1650" he said, incredibly proud of himself. I flipped it in my hands, not daring to open it.
"Oliver, this is fantastic!" I looked up at him. "Protect that with your life!"
I put it back in his drawer, and turned to him. He looked me up and down and stepped closer.
"Hey, kisses only, Oliver."
"I wasn't planning anything, don't worry." I hit his shoulder.
He leaned down, capturing me in another kiss. I pulled away, "Better head back downstairs."
"Not yet," He mumbled, pulling me closer to him.
"Yes yet," I replied, slipping out of his grip, and heading towards the door. "I know you well enough to realise I shouldn't be alone with you all to much."
He laughed, stopping me before I could leave. "Come on, one more kiss!"
I rolled my eyes, but let him.

~

On Christmas day, Oliver's dad walked down the stairs wearing a kilt and claiming that the weather was perfect for a game of Quidditch. His eldest sister, Heather, had arrived that morning. She'd been quick to welcome me into the same friendly 'Wood' hug as the rest, and when her father had suggested the game of Quidditch, she had called dips on me. Oliver had wanted to dispute this, but didn't say anything. 

So, after lunch, we went outside to play a game of simplified Quidditch. Teams were split, Heather, their dad and I, versus Sophie, Ella and Oliver. Their mum did not want to join in.
We played for about an hour, which ended when I pushed Oliver off his broom. We were quickly called inside by Mrs Wood.
"Oliver! You're tracking mud everywhere. All of you, shoes off," she fussed. I knelt down to untie my boots, before I walked onto the carpet.

Oliver was made to go have a shower, and I found myself in his sister's room, talking about a many number of things. Ella had somehow fallen into the spell of my charm, and was more than happy to have long and winding conversations with me.
She perched herself in the yellow chair in the corner, while I looked out the window. "So, My brother..."
I glanced at her, and shrugged. I had already decided that there wasn't much to say on the matter. Oliver was still just Oliver, whether I had a crush on him, or not. It didn't matter that we were making out in the shadows, when come day time, he was always going to be Oliver.
She laughed, "come on, don't just shrug. When he's not talking about Quidditch, he's talking about you."
I huffed, "Didn't realise he could talk about anything other than Quidditch."

Oliver's mum offered to show me baby photos of him, and I most definitely couldn't miss out on that. He'd had very fair hair as a kid, that had gotten darker over time.
Kid Oliver had worn a lot of Puddlemere United merch, and aim could tell by the photos of him and his dad, that passion had been transferred from him.

"Oh look, here he is in the bath!" Mrs Wood cheered, pulling out a photograph to show me. Perfect timing really, as Oliver walked down the stairs in just a towel.
"What! Mum!" I laughed, eyes flicking between the pair of them.
"I'm sorry, but naked boys don't get input in the conversation," she said, "go out some clothes on."
He grabbed a pair of pants and a jumper from a hamper on the floor, then trudged back upstairs. "Anyway, this is him in the bath. He used to hate bathtime so much-"

~

On New Year's Eve, Heather and Sophie wrestled Oliver into a chair in the bathroom, and his mum cut his hair. I leant against the door frame, Ella hovering over my shoulder, squeezing Ramone to her chest. Every few moments, Oliver's eyes would flick to the mirror, where he could see me watching him. His mum noticed every time, and kept snacking his shoulder. I think the whole family could tell that he had feelings for me, but reversed, they were a little unsure.

"Is there a moral argument against the Transfiguration of animals yet?" I found myself asking, to no one in particular.
Oliver adjusted in his chair, trying to get a better look at me, and immediately being scolded by his mother. ("Oliver, I will send you to school with a wonky haircut!")
"No," said Heather. "Provided that you change them back."
"But there's gotta be people that don't?" I pressed. "That can't be fair."

Sophie said that I could write to the Ministry about it. There was a likelihood a topic like that could even get me an internship in the Department of Magical Law enforcement, which was, funnily enough, where Heather worked. While writing to the department sounded like something that would pique my interest, working for the Ministry wasn't such. And apparently, the scowl on my face was evident of that.

"Well, you can still write. I think it's a brilliant topic," the red head said, looking up at me from her seat on the floor.
"I'll even help you, if you'd like," Heather suggested. "With the laws and things."
I politely declined. I was more just asking a question, than thinking about essay writing. Transfiguration was not where my passions lay, after all.

"Ok done. But I can't guarantee it's very straight." Oliver's mum backed away from the chair. "That's what happens when you keep trying to look around..."
Everyone knew what she meant. I watched Oliver take one last glance at me in the mirror, before he stood up.

After the girls' had swept away all the hair, Oliver and I slipped back into his room. I took a seat at his desk chair.
"Ok, so I've got a plan against Hufflepuff in May."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah-" and he very simply laid out a plan of using force against the team. I guess, force was something we had a lot of, and, not to stereotype, but Hufflepuff were pretty gentle.
I told him that it could work, but there was no use just telling me, and not the rest of the team. What use was I alone against all of Hufflepuff?