Everything- Oliver Wood

𝟙𝟚. ℂ𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕪 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕖

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cw: major gaslighting

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The next morning, I get up earlier than everyone else so none of them my bruise. 

I don't want anyone asking questions. 

I grab my shower bag and hurry to the prefects bathroom. The sun is just starting to rise through the stained glass window when I get there. 

I hang my towel and place my bag on the bench in the middle of the room before getting in a shower stall and turning the water on. 

The bruise on my eye is tender. It's ugly, too. Deep purple and red. It didn't seem like I got hit that hard, but I guess I bruise easily. 

I'll have to ask for concealer from Candace (she's the only friend I have in my skintone). I don't know what I'll tell her. That's all I think about in the shower. The thought of my friends finding out makes me nervous. 

About halfway through my shower, I hear someone come into the bathroom. The water turns on in a different shower stall. 

I take a deep breath and brainstorm. Maybe I'll just cover it with my hair. I've got to get actual concealer. I don't have any heavy makeup. 

About ten minutes later, I turn the water off and squeeze my hair out. The other shower turns off, too. 

I wrap my towel around my body and leave the shower to get my bag. Standing in front of a mirror, I squeeze a bit of lotion on my fingers and start rubbing it into my skin.

The other person gets out of their shower, towel wrapped around their waist. It's Oliver Wood. His eyes linger on the bruise on my face. 

I clear my throat and go back to putting lotion on my nose. 

"Did Flint do that?" he asks, breaking the silence. 

"What?" 

"Your eye- Everyone saw you get into a fight with him at the match yesterday." 

Bingo! That's my perfect excuse. "Oh- yeah. He punched me." 

"It's pretty nasty," he nods, looking around in his bag. "You're cool for standing up to him like that." 

"Well, when someone insults your blood status every other week, you're bound to fire back sometime." 

"Yeah... You know, he's just jealous that he's played for ten years longer than you and you're still better than him." 

"Well, he did beat us," I say, glumly. 

"Well, yeah, but that's just 'cause you lost your seeker." 

"Speaking of seekers-" I turn around. "The Potter kid is really good."

"He is!" Wood's face lights up. "Did you see him catch it in his mouth?" 

I nod, remembering our match against them in April. "Yeah, that was really good." 

He tilts his head. "Are you alright?" 

"What?" 

"You're being nicer than usual." 

I laugh. "You know what: how about we have this conversation when we're not half-naked?" 

He chuckles. "Might be a good idea." 

I grab my clothes and go back to my shower stall to change. I get into my outfit as quickly as possible and leave before Oliver can catch me.

After I deposit my shower bag in my common room, I go down to the Great Hall to hopefully get some makeup from Candace. Or I could just go to Madame Pomfrey. 

Just before I get into the Great Hall, Marcus Flint comes out of the blue and shoves me. His face is littered with bruises from our fight yesterday.

"Where'd you get that bruise?" he sneers. "I'd like to know; I want to send them a thank you note." 

"Flint- you punched me, remember- or are you too thick?"

"No, I strictly recall your little boyfriend taking the only punch I threw," he says through gritted teeth. 

"You should go to Madame Pomfrey; loss of memory is no joke," I frown in fake sympathy before hurrying away. "Get better soon!" I call as I walk into the Great Hall. 

Candace and Ambria sit together at the Hufflepuff table. I run up to them and sit down. 

"Laurie!" Ambria smiles, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Are you doing okay?" 

"Yeah; I got up for an early morning shower and I feel fine," I lie. 

"Your bruise-" Ambria frowns. 

"Marcus Flint-" I start. 

"I'm going to kill him," Candace says, incredulous. "I'm not joking! He's dead!" 

I laugh. "It's fine; you should see his face." 

Candace sighs. "You've gotta report him to someone." 

"Snape's the only one who can really punish him," I glumly spear a sausage on my fork. After we finish eating, I stand up. "Can you guys come with me to the hospital wing to get this healed?" 

They agree, so we set off towards the hospital wing, chatting about where Penelope is. It's Sunday morning, so she's probably just sleeping in. 

Madame Pomfrey heals my bruise in a second, disapprovingly muttering under her breath the whole time. 

We thank her and leave, heading towards Ravenclaw tower to find Penelope. I let Candace and Ambria come in; nobody ever checks to see if students are illegally inside other dormitories. 

Penelope is sitting on her bed, reading something, when we walk in. Eleanor and Patty are probably down at breakfast. 

"Why haven't you eaten breakfast yet, Pen?" asks Ambria. 

"Oh-" she looks up at us. "I'm just not hungry yet." 

"Well, we'll just hang out up here until you're ready." Candace sits on the floor and leans back. I take a seat on my bed, gingerly pressing the newly healed skin on my face. It feels fine. 

A couple minutes later, Eleanor and Patty come up. They say hi to Candace and Ambria. Patty looks at me, "Russell wanted me to tell you he's waiting in the common room for you," she smiles, wiggling her eyebrows. 

I laugh and get up. "Okay- bye guys!" 

"Go get it, love!" Candace calls after me. I laugh as I descend the staircase. 

Russell stands against the wall, tapping his foot nervously. I smile when we make eye contact. He pulls me in for a kiss. 

"Hey- you look great," he says, rubbing his thumb across the place where I got hit last night. 

"Yeah, I had Madame Pomfrey fix it." 

"You didn't tell her, did you?" He grips my arms. It kind of hurts. 

"No- everyone who saw it thinks it was Marcus Flint." 

He laughs and lets go of my arms, grabbing my hand. "I mean, maybe it was." 

"Marcus didn't hit me-" 

"You might be remembering it wrong," Russell shrugs. 

I just nod, not wanting to argue with him again so soon after last night. "I might be," I admit. 

He grins and hugs me tightly. "That's my girl." 

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