"What? No, of course not. You're joking right?"
That's what Oliver Wood told Erin Evans when she had finally gathered the courage to ask him out on a date. He had stepped on her heart and didn't even seem to notice it. But this year Erin is going f...
"Well there are plenty of snacks on the Hufflepuff team", Tamsin said. "Michael, Anthony, even the new kid Jonathan." They were indeed not bad-looking, but Erin didn't know them very well. She sighed. A good team captain had to know all their players, that was lesson one Oliver had taught her. She wasn't there yet.
"Anyway, I have to get going. See you guys around." Erin stood up and took the magazine with her. She couldn't see Oliver at the Gryffindor table anymore, so she presumed he was already waiting for her in the Courtyard.
"There you are." Oliver was waiting right outside the door of the Great Hall, which Erin hadn't expected. She was so shocked that a scream left her throat.
"Oi, calm down, it's just me", Oliver laughed.
"Don't ever bloody do that again!" she said, trying to regain a normal heartbeat. "You scared the living hell out of me." She gave him back his magazine and they made their way over to the Courtyard.
"So what do you think?" he asked her when they sat down. She crossed her legs and took the magazine again.
"Well, he definitely needs a fast broom, that's for sure. The Nimbus 2001 would be best, but they're really expensive." They never really struggled badly at home because their mother worked loads, but she couldn't afford a 700 galleon broomstick.
"Well, the 2000 version severely dropped in price after the 2001 release. It's a little slower, but still really fast, though. Or you could choose the broom you have, a Comet Two Sixty is not bad, but a joke next to the new Firebolt."
Erin gnawed on her lip. The Nimbus 2000 was around 400 galleons now. Her mum had never really given her a budget. Maybe she should ask her about it first.
"I'll send my mum a letter, asking for the budget, but the Nimbus 2000 would be my first choice. Maybe a Comet if a Nimbus is too expensive." Oliver nodded.
"So what's this Firebolt I keep hearing about?" she said.
"You haven't seen it? It's out of this world." He turned the pages of the magazine until he had found what he was looking for. On the page was a picture of a fine looking broom, but it looked more average than it was.
"Every twig is hand-picked", Oliver said. "It's the fastest broom yet and has superb balance and precision."
"And how much does it cost?" Erin laughed. Olivier rubbed his neck awkwardly.
"About a couple thousand galleons. I'm afraid we'll never see one at Hogwarts."
They talked for a bit longer about broomsticks and then said goodnight. They'd see each other tomorrow again for their next session of Team Captain 101.
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Erin was always in a good mood, or at least most of the time, but she hadn't had one bad day in all of September. She had taken Oliver's tips to heart and had really gotten to know all of her quidditch team mates. She especially got along very well with Anthony Rickett, one of the Beaters, as he was absolutely hilarious. She also taught Heidi most of the moves they did as Chasers and Jonathan, their new Keeper, was making great progress. She already knew Cedric, Michael and Tamsin pretty well, and of course there was Beatrice, but she felt like she had really made some progress in the past few weeks.
