Forgetting about Oliver went mediocre for Erin. She wasn't angry at him anymore and had accepted the fact that he wasn't in her life anymore, but it did make her sad. She knew it was for the best and since he hadn't tried talking to her ever since that one disastrous time, he probably felt the same, but she missed him. She missed their talks and she missed teasing him. She missed the butterflies she felt in her stomach every time he smiled at her.

Anthony did a good job at keeping her distracted, though and Erin started to like him more and more. Contrary to Oliver, Anthony noticed immediately when Erin felt a little down and he knew exactly how to act on it. He frequently brought hot chocolate to the common room, lent her his notes and helped younger Hufflepuffs with school tasks. He was a perfect Hufflepuff example and would probably be a perfect boyfriend. But why didn't she feel the same attraction?

So when Anthony nervously asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him before Christmas break, she agreed. Maybe a different setting would help.

December had started before Oliver reached out to Erin. It was something very simple, but Oliver needed to take baby steps as he didn't want to mess things up yet again. He was going to do it right this time.

Erin was in the library, looking for a book to use for her Herbology assignment. It was one on a pretty high shelf, but Erin was convinced she could reach it without her wand, which wasn't the case. She was about to turn back before someone else grabbed the book for her. At first she thought it was Anthony, but as she looked up, she looked straight into Oliver's eyes. He looked at her apologetically, sad even, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

For a split second she wanted to say something mean, like she didn't need his help, but the moment she looked into his eyes, she couldn't.

"Thank you", she said, looking away. Oliver wanted to ask her to talk, or just apologize again, but he lost the ability to speak when her blue eyes connected with his. She was already walking away and he was still debating whether to ask her to talk about what happened last year or not. He wanted to know, but would she listen to him? She was a Hufflepuff after all and they had a rather forgiving nature, but she was really angry. He cursed at himself for taking so long. He needed to show her that he cared, so he had to ask her again and again until she agreed.

Erin had already sat down at one of the tables in the back, her nose in the book he'd handed to it. Oliver walked over to her before he could change his mind.

"Hey", he said awkwardly, causing her to look up. "D'you reckon we could talk for a bit?"

Erin was torn. Her initial reaction was to say yes, just to hang out with Oliver, but for her own good, it was best if she didn't. But she did want to close things off properly without any bad blood. Oliver was still waiting for an answer, Erin just staring into space.

"Erin?" he asked.

"Can I get back to you on that?" she asked. Oliver seemed to be caught off guard for a moment, but quickly nodded.

"I'll be waiting on the quidditch pitch at 10 PM tonight. If you're not up for it that's okay too", Oliver said and left. There was nothing in the world that Erin hated more than that pained look on Oliver's face. He really seemed to regret it, which was something Erin hadn't seen often. She wanted to go, she wanted to forgive him, but she needed to talk to Beatrice too. She needed a realistic look on the situation.

Beatrice was in the common room, devouring some bright blue Sugar Quills, Oliver's favourite .

"What's up, E?" she asked, licking her lips.

"Oliver wants to talk. What d'you reckon I should do?" Beatrice put away her sweets and put on her serious face.

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

"Honestly? I want to go and forgive and forget, but I know I shouldn't", Erin said, rubbing her face.

"Can I tell you something?" Beatrice asked. "He came to talk to me a couple days ago." Erin frowned. Oliver had never talked to Beatrice before.

"I think he genuinely doesn't remember what happened last year, as he seemed really confused about it." Erin looked down. She had a feeling that it hadn't seemed important to him, but to completely forget about it? That was harsh.

"He asked me about it and I told him to talk to you, so I suppose that's what he wants to talk about."

"Great, painful", Erin sighed. She suddenly wasn't as convinced of going to the quidditch pitch tonight anymore.

"Maybe if he knows that you see something in him other than friendship, he'll see you differently?" Beatrice suggested hesitantly.

"Or he'll be weirded out by it and never talk to me again." Erin laid down on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Why were boys so complicated?

"Either way is good, right? Either there's potential, or you can finally forget about him and move on with your life." Erin chuckled bitterly. Moving on, that's something she should have done last year, but she couldn't even if she tried.

"So you think I should go?" Erin didn't feel like talking about last year at all, but she also didn't like the situation they were in now.

"That's up to you, E. Just remember that there's another guy who's willing to go a lot further for you with a lot less heartache", Beatrice said, her eyes showing compassion. She made a good point. Even if she went to talk to Oliver tonight, the odds of him ever liking her back the way she wanted to, were very slim. Anthony on the other hand was a very different case. Erin was pretty sure he liked her romantically and he always treated her well and would never purposely hurt her. Love was difficult.

Erin kept thinking about it at supper and she couldn't help but glance at the Gryffindor table once in a while. She had no idea what to do. Should she go talk to him tonight, bringing up that awkward memory from last year again, or should she stand him up? It would serve him right.

"How d'you feel about a Wizard's Chess rematch after practice?" Anthony asked Erin, who tore her eyes off the red table.

"You want to get your arse kicked again?" Erin smirked.

"I have been practicing, you know. Bet you don't stand a chance."

"Oh, what are we betting on?" Erin asked. She knew she was slightly flirting with him, but that was good, right? It felt natural for the first time, so maybe that was progress.

"The loser buys Butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade?" Anthony asked and Erin gladly shook his hand. She used to play Wizard's Chess with her father all the time, years ago. She tried not to think about it too much as her smile was fading.

After supper, Hufflepuff had a late night training session. Erin normally always booked the pitch on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 4 PM, but Slytherin had the audacity to ask special permission from Snape again, pushing Hufflepuff's practice to after supper. It was already really dark out, which made it a lot more difficult to play, but they managed. They did some drills and then a little match. Heidi was seriously improving, which Erin was pleased with. Tamsin would graduate at the end of the year, so Heidi was a great substitute.

After practice, they quickly hit the showers and Erin changed into some joggers and her house sweater. It was only half past nine, but she was already exhausted.

When she came down to the common room, Anthony was already laying out his chess set.

"So, you're not going to go?" Beatrice asked Erin on the way down. Erin swallowed. She hadn't forgotten about it at all, but tried to delay the decision as much as possible. She had other plans tonight, containing an exciting chess match against a very handsome young man.

"No", Erin said. It was for her own good.

"Well, if he really cares, he'll try again, right? It's a good test", Beatrice said but Erin could hear the doubt in her voice. It was Oliver Wood, the bloke who had absolutely no knowledge of girls and would probably give up after tonight. Erin felt uneasy, but she had to. She had to forget about him and move on.

"Ready to lose?" she asked Anthony, who smirked.

"You're on, Captain", he said. Captain ...

Erin couldn't focus at all. Every minute that passed, she felt worse. Oliver would arrive soon, waiting for her and she just wouldn't show up. She would stand him up and that was completely against her nature.

"Erin, you're up", Anthony said, shaking Erin from her thoughts again.

"Oh right", she said and moved a random pawn.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, a concerned look in his eyes;

"Yeah, of course, just tired", she lied, trying to get her mind back into the game.

It's never going to happen anyway, best make it stop right away. She kept on repeating in her head and she had pretty much convinced herself, until the clock in the Hufflepuff common room sounded loudly, indicating 10 PM. She was supposed to be there now, but she wasn't.

"Erin, are you sure you're okay? You seem anxious", Anthony asked carefully. Erin was anxious. Right at that moment she was throwing away every shot at any relationship with Oliver. She wasn't even thinking of possible romantic relationships, but the friendship she had with him. The friendship that had died a couple weeks ago was now being buried for good and Erin couldn't handle it.

She didn't want it. She didn't want it to be over. She wanted to give him a second chance, a third one technically, because she missed him, she really did. Erin kept trying to convince herself that they could never be friends, but they had been friends for over a month and Erin had never been so happy. He had no clue about her feeling for him and it had been fine. She missed that time.

"I'm sorry, I have to go", Erin said and stood up, sprinting out of the common room.

Erin ran down to the quidditch pitch as fast as she could. The cold wind and small snowflakes blowing in her face. She wore a thin jumper as it had been quite warm in the common room, but she couldn't feel the cold. She just needed to get to the quidditch pitch.

She hadn't taken her usual window-route, so it took her a lot longer than normal to get to the pitch. She needed to sneak out of the dungeons without being seen by a Slytherin of Snape, then she needed to slip through the hallways without being caught and then there was the fifteen minute run to the quidditch pitch. She was late, way too late, but she was on her way.

And when she got there, it was empty.

She stood in the middle of the pitch, looking around desperately, but there was nothing there. Oliver had left and she couldn't even blame him. She wouldn't have waited twenty minutes either in this freezing weather.. She sat down in the cold, wet grass and rested her head on her knees. This night had been absolutely terrible. Not only had she spent half an hour in pure anxiety, not knowing what to do, but when she finally made her decision, she was too late. He was gone.