Disclaimer: I don't own it. That's why it's called fanfiction in the first place.

Oliver Wood woke up one dull and rainy Saturday morning and looked out the window. Rain would have gotten anyone else down, but not Oliver.

"Perfect conditions for quidditch training" he thought to himself. "If only it were a little windier..."

Oliver was keeper for the Scottish quidditch team. He had been noticed when he was a student at Hogwarts, especially when Gryffindor team won the House quidditch cup. He quickly showered, dressed in his red and yellow quidditch robes, and apparated to the quidditch pitch for practice. He was one of the first ones to arrive for practice. His other teammates began to apparate one by one. When they had all arrived their team captain, Leslie, gave them a pep talk.

"Now team, as you know, we have made it into the semifinals. We stand a decent shot of getting into the World Cup match this year. We did well in the match against France, but there are some things that we need to improve on. Ian and Kenneth, as chasers all three of us need to be more aggressive. Do whatever you have to in order to score. Janet and Doug, I can't stress enough how important it is to try to hit the other team with the bludgers. Logan, just try to find the snitch as quickly as you can. And Oliver, keep up the good job and don't let the other team score. Now as you know, our next match is against the American team and they have a very strong offense. You are going to have your work cut out for you, Wood."

The team trained hard for several hours that day. Leslie put them through all sorts of drills trying to make sure that they were prepared to face the Americans. At the end of practice she reminded them, "Don't forget, all we have to do is get past the Americans and we're in the quidditch world cup match!"

Oliver went home soaking wet, covered with mud and tired, but also very content. He was sure that he would be able to hold off the Americans and that his team would be going to the Final match for the world cup. The next day, Sunday, Oliver was sitting in his living room listening to the Weird Sisters on the wizards' radio station when his owl, Lightning, flew through the window. Lightning was carrying two letters.

The first was a letter from Fred and George Weasley. It read:

"Hey Wood! We heard you made it to the semifinals, congrats! We just opened up our joke shop on Diagon Alley, and business is booming already! You should come down here and visit us. We might even throw in some canary cremes for free! Hope to see ya soon!"

"I haven't seen them in ages! Maybe I'll go see how they're doing later today," thought Oliver.

The second envelope caught his eye. He picked it up and looked at it closely. It looked oddly like the envelopes he used to receive before the start of a new term at Hogwarts. Oliver broke the seal on the back of the envelope and carefully removed the letter. It was written in green and said:

Dear Mr. Wood,

We have quite the situation here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and I would like to ask for your help. You see, Madam Hooch agreed to be the referee for the Semifinal match between Spain and Austria earlier this week. All went well until she made a call that Austria did not agree with, and suddenly Madam Hooch vanished! We expect that she will turn up in the Sahara desert in a month or two, and the Ministry of Magic has people looking for her at this very moment. In the meantime, however, we will need someone here to coach quidditch and teach flying lessons. I could think of no finer candidate for the job than you, Mr. Wood. Please reply with an owl as to whether or not you will accept this position.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Oliver looked at the note in disbelief. "They want me to teach at Hogwarts... don't they know that the quidditch world cup tournament is coming up??? Surely they don't expect me to give that up!"

He got up and looked at his calendar. There were 3 weeks until the start of the new term. The timing couldn't be more perfect. There would be just enough time to beat the Americans and go on to the quidditch world cup tournament before the start of the new term on September 1st. Now that he knew that teaching wouldn't interfere with quidditch, Oliver realized that teaching might be a good move for him right now. After the world cup was over quidditch would slow down, and besides that he needed to find a real job. He took out a new sheet of parchment, picked up his eagle feather quill and wrote a quick reply.

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

I would be honored to accept the position that you've offered me. It will be a privilege to help the first years on their way to becoming great quidditch players. See you on September 1st!

Oliver Wood

He gave the note to Lightning to deliver. Then he put on his cloak and apparated to Diagon Alley. Oliver arrived in front of a store that looked new. The sign above the door read Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The outside of the store didn't look any different from the others that lined Diagon Alley. However, knowing Fred and George, the inside would be unlike anything he had ever seen before. Just as he was about to pull the door open, someone inside pushed it open and stepped out onto the street.

"Oliver Wood! How are you? What have you been up to? It has been forever since I saw you last!"

"Hi Angelina! What a nice surprise! What are you doing here?" he asked, a bit startled.

"Oh, I just stopped by to say hi to Fred during my lunch break and make sure that my plans with him for tonight are still on."

"Your plans?" Yes, he and I are dating by the way," she said, and a big smile lit up her face. "Have been for a while actually. He's taking me out somewhere nice tonight, but he won't tell me where. Just told me to wear my dress robes."

"That sounds great. So this is your lunch break... where do you work?"

"At the Ministry of Magic, in the Department for the Recovery of Lost Quidditch Officials."

"Oh, so then I guess you know about Madam Hooch's disappearance?"

"Yes I am one of the people working on her case. Not a trace of her yet, but not to worry. They always turn up eventually... Oh my, look at the time! I'll be late getting back to work if I don't leave now! Well it was good seeing you Oliver. Make sure you check out Fred and George's new stuff, they have really come up with some clever ideas since they got out of school." And with that, Angelina disapparated.

Oliver pulled the door open and stepped inside the Weasleys' joke shop. It reminded him of Zonko's, only the Weasleys had about twice as many different items for sale. He walked up to one shelf stacked with boxes labeled Gred and Forge's Mixed Up Potion. In small print it said "switch bodies with a friend (or enemy) for a day. Sure to mix everyone up!" Another shelf was filled with Canary Cremes and Ton Tongue Taffy. And of course there was the usual assortment of Dung Bombs, Wizard's Crackers, etc. He was looking at a key shrinking kit when he heard some familiar voices behind him. He turned around and there were Fred, George, Ron and Harry.

"Why'd you stay away so long?" asked George.

"Yea, we knew quidditch was your life but we didn't know you would completely forget about everything else after you graduated," said Fred.

"Sorry guys, I just got caught up in everything... It's a big honor and responsibility to be on your country's quidditch team, you know," he replied.

"Well Harry here is on England's quidditch team and he still has time to come around every once in a while," said Ron.

"Really? Well done Harry! Maybe we will end up playing each other for the quidditch world cup," said Oliver. "What are you guys doing here anyhow?"

"Just helping Fred and George out with the shop," said Ron. "Harry's been staying with us for the whole summer. He was going to get an apartment but mum didn't want him staying all by himself for the summer."

"You guys graduated at the end of school term this year, right?" Oliver asked Harry and Ron.

"Yea we did," said Harry.

"Congratulations," said Oliver. "Do you have any plans now?"

"Not really," Harry and Ron said in unison.

Oliver laughed and turned to Fred. "So what's this I hear about you and Angelina?"

Fred's face suddenly turned red, but luckily he was spared having to answer by a group of kids that came in the door.

"Hey Wood, how about we all meet at the Leaky Cauldron for a bite to eat after we close the shop around 5?" George shouted over the loud chatter of the kids that had just come in.

"Alright, see you later!" he yelled back.

As it turned out, only George was able to meet Oliver at the Leaky Cauldron. Fred had to go get ready for his date with Angelina, Harry had quidditch practice, and Mrs. Weasley needed Ron to de-gnome the garden.

After they had placed their order Oliver asked George, "How serious is it between Fred and Angelina?"

"Pretty serious," said George. "Actually, I think the reason Fred is taking her to a nice restaurant tonight is because he wants to propose to her. You didn't hear that from me though," George said with a wink.

"Wow really? Have they been going out ever since that Yule Ball that Hogwarts had the year after I graduated?"

"Yea."

"So is there a girl in your life, George?"

"No, and I would ask you the same but I already know the answer. Quidditch is the love of your life," George said with a chuckle.

On Monday through Thursday, the Scottish quidditch team trained like there was no tomorrow. Leslie was obsessively drilling her team and putting them through maneuvers that they had already done a million times. Winning was all that mattered to her, no matter what the cost. She was especially on Logan's case because since he was the seeker, it was pretty much up to him whether they won or lost. She reminded Oliver of himself when he had been captain of Gryffindor's quidditch team at Hogwarts. Oliver felt like he barely had time to eat or sleep between quidditch practices.

At the end of practice on Thursday, Leslie shocked her team by announcing that there would be no quidditch practice on Friday. "I want you all to rest up tomorrow and take it easy before our match against the Americans," she said. "It won't do to have you all falling asleep on your broomsticks while the snitch and the quaffle fly by. I expect to see you all in your quidditch robes and ready to go on Saturday morning. We will meet in the locker room before we go onto the pitch. Well, see you Saturday!"

Oliver apparated to his house, made a quick bite to eat for dinner and then collapsed in his bed, totally exhausted.

On Friday, Oliver woke up at 10:30. He yawned and stretched, then dragged himself out of bed and stumbled toward the kitchen for some breakfast. Lightning was perched on the windowsill looking at him expectantly, and on the table was a letter. He used "accio" to summon all of the ingredients for pancakes, and then put a charm on them so that the pancakes would make themselves while he read his mail.

The letter was from Fred. It said:

Wood,

I've got some wonderful and exciting news for you! I proposed to Angelina last night and she said yes! We haven't really thought about a wedding date yet but of course I will let you know when we decide.

Oliver smiled to himself and put the letter back in the envelope. He was truly happy for his friends.

He was about to tell Lightning that he wouldn't replying and she was free to go when he decided to write a letter to Alicia Spinnet. Alicia had been his best friend and teammate while he was a student at Hogwarts. Since he had graduated, he had neglected all of his friendships because of quidditch and now he wanted to get in touch with people again. He took out some parchment, picked up his quill and began to write:

Dear Alicia,

Hello! Hope everything is going well for you. I am so sorry that I haven't written to you in awhile. Actually I haven't written to anyone in a while. I just wanted to find out how you are and what you've been up to. If you are following quidditch then you probably know that my team is going to play the United States tomorrow for a spot in the world cup tournament. We have today off though, so maybe if you aren't busy later today we could meet somewhere and chat. If not, just send an owl when you get a chance.

Oliver

By this time, his pancakes had made themselves, the spatula had flipped them onto a plate and the syrup was pouring itself over the stack. He handed the letter to Lightning, then picked up his plate and sat down to breakfast.

Later that day, Oliver was playing solitaire with his self-shuffling deck of cards when there was a knock on his door. He opened it up, and there was Alicia Spinnet on his doorstep. "Hiya Oliver! I thought rather than sending an owl I would just stop by and talk to you in person. I'm not imposing, am I?"

"No, not at all!" he said with a hint of surprise in his voice. "Please, come in," and he held the door open for her.

"Oh wow, you have a really nice house!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks," he said lamely. He wasn't sure what to say to that, as nobody had ever complimented his house before. Then again, he didn't have many visitors. "Have a seat," he said, motioning to the plaid sofa in the living room.

"So tomorrow is your semifinal match. If you beat the US you are going to play for the cup," said Alicia.

"Yea, you mean when we beat the US, not if."

"Be careful, Oliver. Overconfidence can get you into trouble. You're not invincible, you know," she warned him. "Who else is playing for a spot in the world cup match?"

"England is playing Spain today. Everyone expects that England will win. Spain is good, but they're no match for England. Especially with Harry on their team."

"Is there anything else going on besides quidditch?"

"Believe it or not, yes. I have been asked to fill in for Madam Hooch as the flying instructor and quidditch coach."

"Oh that's awesome! I bet you'll be a brilliant teacher."

"What's going on with you? Do you have a job?"

"Yea, I'm a writer for the Daily Prophet."

"Wow, that's pretty impressive. Do you like it?"

"Yes, I am an international correspondent so I get to do a lot of traveling."

Oliver felt very shy about asking the next question, but decided to ask anyway. "Are you... ummm... seeing anyone?"

"Actually, no. I prefer it that way. I am free to enjoy my job and I don't have to worry about rushing home to someone every couple of days. How about you?"

"No, as I said in my letter, I let quidditch take over my life. I haven't had much time for anything else."

They continued to chat for a little while. Finally, Alicia glanced at her watch. "Wow, I've been here for nearly 3 hours! I need to go home and pack, the Daily Prophet is sending me off on another assignment. I don't know where yet, I'll find out by owl later this evening." They both stood up. "It's been great seeing you, Oliver. Try to keep in touch this time."

They gave each other a quick hug, and then he opened the door for her. She walked outside, checked that no one was looking and then disapparated.