Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone in this story. The cover also happens to be not mine.
For Mel! Congrats on second place! I hope you love it :)
A/N: So I positively love this pairing, but I haven't written them yet! I really hope it comes out awesome for you guys. Some pre-relationship romance for you all :) In the spirit of the holidays... Written for: (skippable)
partner comp: rnd 1: caught, blurry, "behind you!", it wasn't the best way to start a day..., green with envy, cold, insect, "i didn't really want to.", terror, swam; disney character comp: piglet: write about someone's fear; hp chps comp: quidditch: write about oliver wood;
Icecapades
The first thing Oliver Wood felt as he woke on that late November morning was the cold seeping through the glass of his dormitory window. His early morning vision was blurry, and he blinked a few times to wake himself up.
Outside, beyond that infuriating insect that kept travelling back to their dorm, was the first whirling snowstorm of unofficial winter, despite the freezing temperatures that had existed through the last month, and everything that came with it at Hogwarts — snowball fights, bundled up couples, fresh footprints in the shiny snow, Professors emerging to keep the snow battles civil, snowmen, and - Oliver cringed - ice skaters on the Black Lake.
Oliver Wood was a man of many talents. Ice skating was not one of them. As a naive first year, he was very open to the idea; disaster stuck that year. It wasn't the best way to start a day. It was a classic - step on the ice, attempt to push off, fall on your face. His classmates wouldn't let him live it down for months, and every year, someone has to bring it up, completely ignoring the fact that he wasn't the first one to fall, and certainly not the last.
"Behind you!"
Oliver rapidly spun around to find the voice, narrowly missing the snowball as it whizzed past his face. Fred Weasley was running across the snow toward him, already a new snow ball in his hand, his eyes trained on a sight beyond Oliver. To his endless amusement, Angelina Johnson had skillfully caught the snowball that Fred had aimed at a first year, who was shaking with terror, to get her attention. Angelina sped off in his direction, and Fred just dodged and ran away in the other direction, turning around simultaneously to whip the snowball at her. She ducked and sent hers flying.
It hit him in the face, and Oliver doubled over in laughter. "Don't mess with Chasers, Fred!"
As if to echo his statement, Oliver felt a blast of cold snow hit him in the back of the head. He turned to see a laughing Alicia Spinnet, beside a victorious looking Katie Bell. "Look at the hole you dug us in, Ollie," a voice said, coming up beside him. George Weasley had a competitive look in his eyes, and Lee Jordan just couldn't stop laughing. "Oi! Ange!" Angelina looked up, and George fired a snowball at her. He looked triumphant for a moment, until a snowball smashed into his stomach, courtesy of Alicia.
Fred gathered Lee, the limping George, and Oliver in a tight circle. "Battle plan, boys. There's four of us, Angie needs two. We'll handle her. Lee, you go after Alicia. And Oliver, Katie's your job." Oliver rolled his eyes; though competitive by nature, even he had to admit this was taking it a little far.
His opinion rapidly changed, though, when the four boys looked up, and all of them were simultaneously pelted with snowballs. "Let's get 'em, boys," he rallied.
"That's the spirit, Ollie!"
"For Gryffindor!"
"For Gryffindor!" they cried.
Both sides charged.
Despite the plan, it was very much free for all. Snowballs were flying this way and that, and with the number of girls and boys that continued to join each side, it seemed like half of Gryffindor had shown up to fight. They confronted Hermione about fifteen minutes ago, asking if she wanted to join.
"No, I didn't really want to," she had replied.
And then Ron threw a snowball at her, and she joined in real fast.
Oliver had successfully pegged his female Quidditch mates about three times each, but the battle waged on.
Out of nowhere, another snowball came flying at his back. Turning, he saw Katie Bell flying past him. "Beat that, Ollie!" she called from her spot ahead of him.
He took off.
Oliver had been chasing and snowball fighting only with Katie for what seemed like hours. Every time he would catch up to her, she would laugh and push him away or something and Oliver couldn't figure out what was wrong with him today, but every time she sighs or laughs, or looks up at him with those eyes of hers (he never knew they were green), he goes blank, and there's snow in his face and she's off in another direction.
(And despite the cold, he felt unbelievably warm.)
And he's caught up thinking about her - her eyes and her laugh and how much she loves the snow and her competitive edge that made him pick her for the team in the first place - when she pelts him again, and takes off straight toward the Black Lake.
Straight onto the ice.
He can't help but go green with envy as she slides gracefully across the ice, transfiguring her boots into skates in a flash. She draws circles and dances around as if she was born with the skill, and he's staring in awe at her, just as he does in every Quidditch practice. He has three amazing Chasers, and the team wouldn't be the same without her.
On a field, across the ice, in the air, it didn't matter — Katie Bell was born to fly.
And that's what drove Oliver to take two very, very tentative steps onto the frozen lake. He looked down and tried to gather his Gryffindor courage - he hadn't fallen yet right? - and a fish swam by beneath his feet.
Just as he looked back up, Katie lost her footing, and he ran.
He's never been the best runner but for some unknown reason he's going insanely fast, and he points his wand to cast a cushioning charm in case he can't get there, and it helps lessen the blow because only his arm, outstretched in front of him, makes it as she falls to the ground.
She laughed at him for five minutes, while he looked on bemused. "I thought you hated ice skating?"
"You skated. I ran."
She giggled again. "True. How Gryffindor of you." Katie tilted her head and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you."
Suddenly, his entire body is warm again.
(It's like magic.)
It would be awesome to get some feedback!