Contentment

Through the three days leading up to Sunday, Oliver's presence had been everywhere.

Much to Madeline's dislike, they hadn't gotten much of a chance to talk when Professor Sinistra proceeded to teach them the class that they had been late to from the begging during their detention, but that had been okay when Oliver was present everywhere else.

He sat with her, Eli, Percy and Ginny during meals, walked with her to class, and always came up the stairs when she went to her dorm, calling out her name and simply giving her a kiss on the cheek before telling her good night.

It was strange, and wonderful, and Madeline didn't know how to feel.

Her ex never did this, the sweet little actions like kissing her cheek before telling her goodnight. Hell, he'd never so much as smiled across the hall at her, much less made sure to walk her to her next class. Every class.

Oliver even managed to get Eli to talk to him, who had been super shy around him on Thursday morning when he first sat with them. He was kind and Madeline couldn't help the feelings that were growing.

Coralina didn't say anything as she sat with some of the others further down the table, and glared daggers at Madeline.

Checking her reflection one more time in her bathroom mirror, Madeline smiled to herself. She opted out for tight black jeans, with a red sweater, the color of her house. Despite it still being September, although close to the end of it, it was still getting a bit chilly outside, and Madeline didn't want to get a cold.

Brushing through her small curls with her fingers, she went downstairs to find Percy being the only occupant in the common room.  He was reading a book in one of the armchairs by the fire.

Oliver had told her to be ready at seven thirty in the morning for their date, and Madeline was surprised when he wasn't anywhere in sight. 

Percy looked up from the book when Madeline sat on the arm of his chair. "Morning." Percy sounded tired and Madeline wondered if he'd gone to bed at all.

"Morning."

Percy adjusted in his seat, eyes roaming the room like he just realized he was here alone. "Ready for your date?" Madeline didn't miss the teasing in his tone.

"Mhm, more like ready for breakfast." She told him, feeling a bit sheepish that she skipped dinner last night. Nerves and all. Not that she'd admit that to anyone.

Madeline looked at the book in Percys hand and grimaced. Ancient Runes? Who read that on a lovely Sunday morning? Percy noticed the grimace and smirked, cocking his head. 

"Just doing homework. The bloody thing takes hours to read, and to be honest, I must have dozed off last night because I woke up maybe ten minutes before you came down." She chuckled at that, her eyes going over to the clock by the fireplace. Seven forty two, and no Oliver. 

"Where is everyone?" Felix was usually around Percy whenever their Head Boy was in the common room. 

Percy looked in thought for a moment. "Quidditch pitch I think? Felix said something about a practice run at the crack of dawn yesterday, but..." He trailed off and Madeline nudged him on his shoulder, dread settling in her stomach.

"But what?"

"Nothing, I just thought they'd be back by now. They usually are by seven if they ever go on early morning runs." He told her and Madeline looked at the grandfather clock on the other side of the fireplace and sighed. Seven forty eight.

"You think everything is okay?" The look that crossed his face made her even more nervous. What is someone got hurt?

"I hope so. They usually don't play on Sunday mornings, well maybe just Wood by himself, the rest of the team takes that time to rest, but some like Wood go on runs."

"Strange." Madeline said after a moment.  She looked back at the book in his hands, the feeling of dislike settling in. She always struggled with completely understanding the subject, but had learned enough to be able to make out a third of what a text would say. Enough to get a passing score on her exam last year.

"Your distaste for Ancient Runes grows by the second on your face when you're looking at it." Percy told her and Madeline chuckled, running her fingers across the gold lettered book cover. 

 "You're fluent in their language?"

"Not per say, I can just about make out third of the words, but that's enough to put a paragraph together one by one. What about you?"

Shaking her head, she took the book from him, opening to page one. "This says Ancient Runes of the Forgotten Language, and this says who wrote it, but that's about it. I'm better with numbers then I am with languages."

It was Percy's turn to chuckle when she placed the book back into his hands. "And charms. You're a natural when it comes to casting." He told her and she tried not to blush at the kindness in his voice and the compliment. "Oh hey, I've been meaning to ask. Has everyone always called you Madeline, or was there a nickname that you liked?"

"Most of my friends called me M." She told him, her eyes checking the clock. Seven fifty six. "You can if you'd like."

"You sure? I don't want to make you uncomfortable if that makes you miss home more." Madeline smiled at him, suddenly glad that he was here.

"It would actually be nice, I think. Like a warm reminder of home." She told him, smiling when he tested it out, giving her a cheeky smile. 

Students started to file through the common room, mostly younger years heading to breakfast or outside. Eli and Ginny descended the stairs, Ginny grumpily telling Eli that it was simply too early to start breakfast at eight in the morning on a Sunday. Neither of the girls noticed Madeline or Percy, and Madeline had to suppress a laugh when the two of them made their way through the portrait, Eli saying something like the early bird gets the deed done. Her muggle reference was slightly off, and even Percy seemed to notice when he chuckled. 

They stayed like that for a bit more, Percy trying to read his text book while Madeline fought the urge to keep looking at the clock. 

Oliver wouldn't have stood her up. At least she didn't think so. 

Giving in to her urge, Madeline looked at the clock again, sighing when it read eight thirty seven. Percy noticed and gave her a sad smile.

"I'm sure their run just ran late." He told her, noticing her longing gaze towards the clock. "You hungry?" He asked her, sounding sad for his friend.

"Starving." Percy stood up at that, pulling her to her feet. "Give me a sec to go change and we'll head to the dinning hall." He told her and disappeared up the stairs.

Madeline sat in his chair, grabbing the book that he forgot and started flipping through the text. It was strange, how beautiful the text written in it looked, drawing the reader in and she thought that if had the gift for tongues, she would have loved to learn just to be able to understand with ease. 

Madeline heard the portrait opening and turned her head towards it to only suck in a deep breath. Oliver walked in, followed by Coralina who was giggling like a stupid schoolgirl at something that Oliver had said.

Oliver didn't notice Madeline in the chair when he walked in, and she was glad for it. It was hard enough to be stood up, but for Coralina? She didn't want him to see her flushed cheeks.

She stayed silent, pushing herself further into the chair and praying that they wouldn't linger in the common room.

"Ollie, you should have seen moms face when father told her that he wanted to add to the family. I mean, can you imagine? Having a child after forty? Mom almost killed him with the disbelieve in her eyes." Madeline heard Coralina's voice carry through the room and swallowed thickly at the unbelievingly annoying girly sound the other girl was making.

"Sounds mental, if you ask me." Came Oliver's response and Madeline's heart stopped beating for a few seconds at the sound of his voice. Sure, he'd kissed her back a few days ago, even went after her and had spent every day since sitting with her and talking to her, but, suddenly Madeline felt sick with unwanted thoughts.

No.

She was stronger than this. She wasn't going to be upset about a fucking boy ditching her for their obnoxious Head Girl. Even if it was Oliver.

Cursing in her head, she stopped fidgeting with the book in her hands when she heard Percy's voice cut through the room.

"Wood, how nice of you to show up." Madeline blinked at the hostility in Percy's voice and fought the urge to look over the chair to see what was going on.

"What do you mean?" That was it. When those words left Oliver's mouth, Madeline felt bile rise up her throat.

Percy chuckled unkindly, and Madeline forgot her attempts at not turning around, and did just that, lifting her head above the chair to see Percy standing on the stairs, head tiled to the side and an incredulous look on his face before his eyes caught hers, face growing softer before hardening in determination and looking back at Oliver and Coralina.

"Nothing mate. I'm off to Hogsmead with M. Hope you two had fun on your morning run." His words came out thin, and Madeline smiled at him in gratefulness, despite feeling stupid. She could have kissed Percy, respectively, on the cheek, at his words.

Madeline stood up, running her hands down her sweater, and smiled again when Percy approached her, extending his elbow to her.

Oliver's eyes widened, realization kicking in, but it was too late. He cursed under his breath when he watched Madeline walk away with Percy, hand through his mates elbow.

He had completely forgot about their date to Hogsmead, and felt like a complete idiot for it. When he had left for the run with some of his teammates, he had been taken off guard when Lina had told him that her father had really liked the games they played last year and was looking forward to scouting their games this year, especially scouting Oliver, for his national Quidditch league team, Oliver had been overjoyed.

Mr. Sweltze was head of the Black Harcheads, one of the leading teams in World Cup in the last couple of years, and it was an honest to god honor to be considered for their team.

"Ollie, what's wrong?" Oliver slowly turned his head towards Lina, eyes setting into a thin line as he considered her. She couldn't have. Why would she? She knew he didn't like her like that.

"You knew." He told her, tone accusing. She knew how he got when Quidditch was mentioned. 

"What are you on abo-"

"Don't." Oliver warned her, taking a step back. "You knew I had a date with Madeline to Hogsmead at seven thirty. I told everyone that was with us this morning."

Lina looked slightly shocked, but he didn't by it. She had it out for Madeline since the second she heard they had a new student. And for years he always stood by her side, by her bullshit, but enough. He couldn't even look at her now. "I swear I-"

"Don't Lina. Just, please. You know how I get when I talk about Quidditch and you used it against me." He told her, shaking his head. "I'll admit, this was my fault entirely when I didn't listen to Felix asking me if I was already supposed to be gone from the pitch an hour ago. But fuck. Fuck." He said again, all sorts of scenarios going through his head.

He fucked up. Percy bloody Weasley, his best mate, was taking the girl he liked to Hogsmead. Percy, who already knew her better the Oliver, was going to be alone with her. Fucking Percy-

Oliver shook his head, swearing under his breath. He was a complete idiot who forgot about everything and anything when it came to the sport, and it made him sick. This was completely his fault. 

Percy was sweet when he wanted to be, Oliver thought. And the kiss that he shared with Madeline, it looked bloody heated that night.

Lina laughed then, pulling him back from his head. "Fucking look at you. You're swatted with her, and you don't even know her." She told him, face heating. "She's a nobody Ollie. A fucking orphan. That's right, did you know that? Her parents died when she was little, leaving her with her grandmother. Sure, she has a powerful aunty, but one who didn't care to get to get to know her even once in all of her sixteen years. She had a boyfriend back home, but couldn't even keep him around long enough. He got bored of her, honestly, what do you even see in her? Besides having a temper for being the better fucking person, she's nothing but a useless-"

"What the hell are you on about?" Oliver cut her off, heat rushing up his neck. She was being cruel, and how the fuck did she know about her parents? No one knew anything about her safe for who she was related too.

"I'm saying that you need to pull yourself together Ollie. She's not worth your trouble, and you wont do well to-"

Oliver's eyes went wide and he shook his head. Madeline was smart. Kind and caring and she wasn't a waste. She was beautiful, on the outside, and he had a feeling that she was just beautiful on the inside.

She had taken Eli under her wing and managed to bring Percy's nice side out in all but a day. And Oliver was smitten with her.

"What I won't do well with is continue talking to you Lina. What the hell has gotten into you?" Oliver all but yelled at her, turning on his heal and taking two steps at a time to his dorm.

Burying his head into his pillow, Oliver swore over and over, thinking of the best way to fix this. Madeline intrigued the hell out of him, and he wanted to get to know her. And he wasn't sure that he'd take kindly if she came back head over heals for his mate.

Hours must have passed when Oliver heard the dorm room open and close.

"What the hell you still doing here mate?" Felix asked when he saw Oliver on the bed.

"Feeling sorry for my sorry ass Brunt, what does it bloody look like I'm doing?" Oliver's voice shook.

Felix made a face, walking over to him and taking a seat on the foot of the bed. "What happened?"

"I forgot." Oliver grunted out, lifting his head to look at his mate. "About the date. And now Percy is out in Hogsmead with her." To his surprise, Felix chuckled at that, eyes softening when he cocked his head.

"Lina?" Oliver nodded his head.

"She's got it in for you this year mate."

Oliver grunted again, bringing his head into his covers again. "She knows that I don't like her like that." He told Felix, feeling defeated. Oliver had spent the past six years of his school life telling the girl that he had no feelings for her, safe for the ones where he appreciated her skills in Quidditch and the devotion she had for her friends.

Now though, he wasn't sure how he felt about said devotion. She seems to be outright obsessed with being the only girl in the group, and with Oliver.

"Oliver." Felix said his name in a tone that suggested the boy should listen to him so Oliver raised his head a bit. "Pull yourself together mate. She might think that you stood her up, but I promise if you go to her and just tell her what happened, she'll understand."

Oliver grunted at that. He didn't like to think of how he'd feel if she didn't understand. "But she's with-"

"Don't worry about Percy mate, actually, no, do worry about Percy, but not in the sense that he's going to steel a girl that you fancy." Oliver raised a brow, not understanding what Felix was getting at. "Come on Oliver, you're not a wuss, are you? Didn't think so." Felix told him smugly, watching Oliver stand up.

"What if she doesn't want to see me after today." The hardest thing for Oliver was not the fact that he wanted to get to know her so badly, and to feel her lips on his, but the fact that he'd never thought about a girl so much before. Especially one that he didn't know. "What if she-"

"What if she is out there, pretending to have fun with Percy, while her mind is running a marathon in that pretty head of hers." Felix sounded annoyed. "Wondering why in the hell you didn't come after her and Percy. What if she is hopping that you show up and you're just here, skulking, and wasting precious minutes that you could be spending with her?"

Oliver glared at Felix, understanding what he was getting at, and cursing him silently for making him feel even more like a bloody git.

"What if she's out there, feeling more alone then-" Oliver grabbed a book from his nightstand and threw it at Felix who caught it with practiced hands.  

"I get the point." He mumbled, grabbing his wand.

"Do you really now? Glad I could be of service, if there is ever a need to make you feel more like the bloody git that you are, then always feel free to-"

Oliver shot his friend an irritated look over his shoulder but smiled to himself when he closed the door behind him.

Felix was something else, Oliver thought, walking down the stairs. He was perhaps the only person who could talk anyone into doing or saying anything, all while making them feel better about a foul situation, and worse about themselves all at the same time.

Picking up his strides, Oliver just hoped that he could turn this day around for the better.