Even though Benjamin would probably not be playing, as he was a reserve, he did tell Erin that they'd beat her every chance he got. He seriously got a little cocky, challenging his sister, telling her how much better his team was. Erin never really got into it, as she knew it was an overconfident 14-year-old talking.

But three weeks before their match against one another, he lost that attitude for a bit. It was in the morning at breakfast when the post arrived. Erin had completely forgotten about her brother's gift, until a huge package flew into the Great Hall. It was wrapped in layers and layers of brown paper, but the broom-shape was unmistakable.

The two owls who brought it in dropped it straight into Benjamin's porridge bowl and although his table wasn't too pleased with the porridge fountain that followed, Benjamin couldn't care less. His eyes turned the size of Bludgers as he noticed the package. He ripped the paper off and admired his new Nimbus 2000. Even though the model was already three years old, it was still better than the broom of the average Hogwarts student.

Erin gave him plenty of time to show off his new broom to the rest of his house before she approached him. It was right before lunch, when she spotted him in the hallway, without his broom for the first time that day.

"Erin, Erin!" he called out for her. "Erin, did you see the broom mum got me? It's a Nimbus 2000!"

"I did, I picked it out", Erin smiled.

"Really? Thank you!" Benjamin said and hugged his sister in excitement. He quickly pulled back as he realised they were in the middle of a crowded hallway.

"Can I see it?" Erin asked. They still had about fifteen minutes left before lunch.

"Sure, come on." Benjamin took her all the way to the seventh floor, where the Gryffindor Tower was.

"I'll bring it out, but you have to stay here. Only Gryffindors are allowed", Benjamin said proudly, running up the staircase. Erin shrugged, leaning against the banister, inspecting her nails. She had always suspected her brother would be a Gryffindor, but it was so very clear now.

"What are you doing here? Spotting birds again?"

Erin looked up to see Oliver coming up the stairs as well, followed by his friend Percy. Erin chuckled at the thought of her little joke.

"Nah, terrible atmosphere here", she said. Percy walked on, but Oliver stopped for a chat.

"Benji is showing me his new broom."

"Ah, right. You're not going to be able to keep up with him on that thing", he said.

"Is he playing against us?" Erin asked confused.

"No, probably not, hope you don't mind."

"Of course not, I didn't expect you to give him a spot so soon. And either way, you're the captain." It had become Erin's regular nickname for Oliver and he didn't seem to mind it very much.

"Well, I'll see you around", Oliver said and walked up the stairs again, just as Benjamin was running down.

"I've got it!" he yelled.

"Oi, Erin!" Oliver turned around. "I've got something to show you tonight. Be in your common room at ten." Without any other words, Oliver entered his common room. What?

Erin was soon distracted from Oliver's offer when Benjamin shoved his gift in her face.

"It's super fast! I get to try it out during practice tomorrow", he said, his eyes sparkling with excitement. It was a really pretty broom, completely streamlined and polished.

"Well, you're still not going to be better than me, little brother", Erin said, messing up his hair.

"We'll see about that. I bet you don't stand a chance!" He went back to the common room to put the broom away, so Erin made her way over to the Great Hall for lunch, where she looked for Beatrice. She surprisingly didn't spot her at the Hufflepuff table, but at the Ravenclaw one, opposite of Meredith Johanson, which was interesting to say the least.

"Where's Beatrice?" Anthony asked Erin as she sat down at the Hufflepuff table by herself.

"With Meredith from Ravenclaw", she said, spotting the two on the other side of the hall. The smile on Beatrice's face told her all she needed to know.

"Didn't know they were friends", Anthony shrugged. Sure, friends.

It didn't take long for Erin to get distracted by Oliver's request again. He wanted her to be in the common room tonight to show her something? How? He could not get into the common room.

"What are you thinking about?" Beatrice asked cheerfully as she joined the Hufflepuff table. Lunch had already ended. Erin wanted Beatrice's opinion and she wanted to ask her out about the Ravenclaw girl, but neither could be discussed in the presence of all the others, so she grabbed her best friend's wrist and dragged her out. She waited to open her mouth until they had reached their dormitory.

"So, since when do you talk with Meredith?" Erin asked and made herself comfortable in her bed. Beatrice took her own blanket and joined Erin.

"Oh, we met in the library. She helped me find the books for a Potions essay. Why?" Erin knew that Beatrice never talked about her crushes, but she needed answers this time.

"Oh come on B, just tell me! You fancy her!" she exclaimed.

"What, no, of course not!" Beatrice said. Erin raised her brows and looked at her until her mask cracked.

"She's a girl", Beatrice said, looking uncomfortable.

"So? Why can't you fancy a girl? She's really pretty." Beatrice had never explicitly told Erin she was bisexual, but Erin knew that was the case and she had always been very supportive of it. She loved that about Beatrice.

"You don't think it's weird?" she eventually asked.

"Weird? Why would I think it's weird?"

"Well, because you're my best friend and you're a girl and I never told you I was into girls", Beatrice said very quickly, making it difficult for Erin to comprehend what she was saying.

"B, of course it's not weird! I love you either way, you loser. If you like boys, girls or trolls, I don't care. It doesn't matter." Erin pulled her friend into a hug, releasing all the uncomfortable tension that had built up in just a couple of seconds. Erin knew that this was a big moment to Beatrice, even though it didn't seem like it. She needed Beatrice to know that she'd never judge her for what gender she liked, because why would that even matter?

"Although I need to know if you could be into me, because I'd be offended if you couldn't", Erin joked.

"Sorry, E, you're not really my type."

"Rude, I'm an absolute snack!" Erin laughed and Beatrice quickly joined it.

"So Meredith is your type?" she asked after a while.

"Yeah, I guess, but I'm not sure if she's into girls, though and I don't know her that well."

"Well, you've got about eight more months to get to know her. Just take it slow and see where it goes. I'm really happy for you." She took Beatrice's hand and laid there for a while, both really grateful for the friendship that they had. It was silent for a good ten minutes, until Beatrice brought up another touchy subject.

"So I think we should finally have a proper talk about your crush on Oliver Wood", she said, sitting up again. Erin knew that this moment would arrive, but she didn't mind. If there was anyone she wanted to talk to about her confusion, it was Beatrice.

"What about it?" she asked.

"So you admit that you do fancy him?" Erin took a deep breath. She could deny it all she wanted, but she knew she was still fancying him massively. He had had a reserved spot in her brain ever since the year started.

"Yeah, I guess", she said eventually.

"And do you think he likes you too?" Beatrice asked. Erin nervously fiddled with her fingers. As good of a time as she had had with Oliver, the truth was still very painful. He didn't like her the way she liked him.

"I don't think so", Erin mumbled. "We talk quite a lot, but he never gives any hints that he does. We just talk about quidditch most of the time. Oh, and he called me his friend a while ago." Erin recalled their talk up on the Gryffindor stands. It had been really nice to open up about her father, but him ending with a "That's what friends are for" was a little less nice. She couldn't blame him for not liking her, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

"He's just all wrapped up in quidditch. Maybe after your match, when you never have to compete against each other, he'll start seeing you differently", Beatrice said. Oliver was a year ahead of her, so he'd be leaving after this year, which was another unpleasant thought.

"I thought you hated him."

"Of course I don't, I just don't want to see you hurt again. But you can't help who you catch feelings for."

"Thanks", Erin mumbled. She stared at the yellow drapes above her, thinking of what a hectic six weeks she had had this school year.

"He did say something weird today", Erin mentioned. "I had to be in the Hufflepuff common room at ten tonight because he needed to show me something." Erin said, still confused. What could he possibly show her when he couldn't get into her common room?

"Oh, weird", Beatrice said, not finding a solution either. "I guess him reaching out to you is a good thing though. We'll see."

Neither of them had class that afternoon and they honestly didn't feel like studying, so the girls got hot chocolate from the kitchen and spent the entire afternoon gossiping about their potential love lives.