a/n: Anonymous asked for a fic inspired by a song. For this, I used an acoustic version of All About Us by Owl City and some old fanart by burdge.

If you also want to request something, check out the 'writing' tag on my blog for prompts and tell me what you want.

Disclaimer: Ha, ha, no.

Title: do you hear that, love?

Word Count: 711

Summary: Even stubborn Quidditch captains get injured. [tumblr prompt, Gender AU – F/M]

Halley was undoing the clasp on one of her arm-guards with her teeth by the time Gideon returned to the locker rooms. He blinked at the sight of her, unruly black hair escaping from a haphazard bun, crooked glasses low on her nose, rainwater still dripping from the practice gear that she looked like she had drowned at some point in the evening.

Right, Gideon thought, recalling some of the rumours going around the school. She's a danger to herself and to safety gear everywhere. No wonder practices often ended with her bruised from the bludgers.

"Not a word," she mumbled, releasing the clasp with a soft click. Satisfied she dropped it in a growing pile by one of the benches. "Shouldn't you be at your OWLs study session by now?"

"I thought you didn't want me to say a word?"

Halley fixed him a shrewd look.

"I can miss it," Gideon said, lying cheerfully. "I thought you would prefer my help with fixing our strategy for the next match, or maybe saving you a trip to the infirmary…" He let the words trail off and he gestured to the arm she was favouring.

She made an annoyed noise. "It's not that bad."

"It was a ten-foot drop!"

Halley pushed her glasses up her nose. "If I can handle Giant Spiders and Dementors, then I can handle a Quidditch injury."

Gideon pulled a purple tin from his pocket. It was one of the few things he'd bought from the twins' shop. He presented it to her with a slight bow. "See, it's the same stuff used to fix the black eye Hector got in the summer."

Halley took the tin with her good hand and gave it back to him. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because you're my captain." Gideon shook his head. "Because we're a team." He sat down on the bench and patted the spot next to him. "And it looks bad when we have to bring our captain out on a stretcher for every game."

Reluctant, Halley sat down and pulled at the neckline of her robes, pushing it down to reveal a large bruise that covered most of her shoulder. Gideon wasn't sure if he should be impressed that Halley hadn't broken a bone or honoured that she was allowing him to help her.

He unscrewed the lid and went to work. Halley flinched when he pressed two of his fingers at the edge of the bruise. She hissed in pain after he apologized for touching a particularly painful spot. Eventually, she was sitting between Gideon's legs, grumbling slightly as the herbal-scented ointment covered most of the bruise. It was almost nice with the sound of the rain outside. The scent of broom polish around them. Her warm skin against his. The soft sigh of relief she made when the pain started to fade away.

"Was that so difficult?" Gideon asked after he was done. He tugged at a strand of black hair, causing her to turn her head to face him. He wasn't sure what she was going to say because she twisted her whole body around on the bench that they were face-to-face. He was struck suddenly by the way her fringe covered her green eyes, the tilt of her head and how small space was between them.

For a moment he was eleven again and hopelessly in love with the idea of Halley. But the real version before him was much better, mulish personality, bruises and all. He liked the Quidditch captain who gave him orders, the brooding girl with the crooked smile.

That was when Halley leaned forward and kissed him.

Surprised, Gideon made a startled motion. One of his hands flew up to the back of her head, his fingers tangled in the rough silk of her hair, and the other came around to steady himself on the bench. He never thought Halley's mouth would feel so soft. That she tasted sweet when her lips parted briefly before pulling back.

Her voice was unexpectedly rough. "Thanks for... the, uh, helping..." She stumbled up to feet and fixed her robes. Gideon stared at her, wordless as she stared back. He could feel himself blushing.

"I can miss another study session," he offered.