Written for the QLFC Season 5, Round 1 – Wigtown Wanderers vs Falmouth Falcons

Position: Keeper

Prompt: Write for your Seeker's NOTP

Word Count: 1,780

Beta(s): Kage Kitsune; RawMaterial; VanillaAshes; Aelys Althea (Thank you guys so much!)

Muggle!AU

I hope you guys enjoy it, I'm looking forward to your opinions, and, oh: GO WANDERERS!

The Battle Of New York

"I still can't believe you're leaving me alone today, Angelina," Katie Bell said with a sigh, her voice lacking the accusation she'd intended to put into it as she clutched her phone to her ear. She was moving with the stream of people entering the ice hockey arena, her eyes wandering along the numbers of the rows, searching for her seat as she spoke to her best friend. "You know how much I hate going to big events on my own. I feel ridiculous."

She adjusted her New York Rangers jersey, which she'd knotted at the front to keep her slim frame from disappearing in the oversized piece of clothing, and slipped through a gap in the sea of people when she spotted her row.

"I'm sorry, Katie, but my boss is being a dick about this report. I don't want to risk him firing me."

Angelina truly sounded apologetic, and Katie knew that she was under a lot of pressure. She couldn't bring herself to be truly pissed with her best friend. It was just that they'd been really looking forward to seeing the play-offs together, having managed to get tickets for the first time. Additionally, while Katie was generally a confident person – with a cop as a dad she'd learnt to stand her ground from an early age – she didn't exactly feel comfortable in a crowd consisting mainly of men at least one head taller than her without any back up.

"Yeah, I know, Ange. Don't work too much today. I'll be okay," she replied as she moved along the row, looking for her seat.

"I'll be watching it on TV when I take a break, so maybe I'll spot you. Call me when you're on your way home, Kat." There was the familiar undertone of worry audible in Angelina's voice, and when Katie reached her seat and her gaze fell on the person occupying the one right next to hers, she briefly caught herself thinking that the concern was absolutely justified.

It was a man; one and a half heads taller than her, his broad, muscular frame was dressed in jeans and a New York Islanders jersey – which was bad enough in her opinion. However, he also looked a lot like a brute, his face appearing darker because of his short, black hair and the slightly grim expression he made when he saw her. In Katie's opinion he definitely wasn't the kind of guy she wanted to come across in a dark alley.

He scoffed slightly when she stopped right next to him, and she decided that she wouldn't let him intimidate her just because he looked like the Hulk. "Ange, bad luck. My seat is right next to an Islander buffoon."

"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry for you. I hope you still enjoy the game. Talk to you later."

Katie ended the call and effortlessly held the glare the man was giving her; in the same moment a few Islanders started chanting and the guy joined in, still staring at her as he clapped and sang in a low, slightly raspy voice: "If you know the Rangers suck, clap your hands."

She grimaced at him and turned her attention towards the ice rink, contemplating whether she felt confident enough today to cheer loudly without someone cheering with her by her side.

"Too bad you're a Rangers fan. You're actually kind of hot," the man suddenly said and she raised an eyebrow at him. He was giving her a slightly smug grin and his gaze jumped down to her ass briefly.

On second glance, he wasn't exactly ugly, despite him looking like he'd been in one pub brawl too many. He had high, nearly aristocratic cheekbones and green, expressive eyes. He'd probably be good-looking if he didn't sneer down at her, but Katie told herself that she couldn't care less. He was probably an asshole anyway, if his current behaviour was any indication.

Crossing her arms in front of her chest she looked up at him and replied. "Yeah, must be a hard life for you when all the females that would be willing to breed with you still aren't evolved enough to live on land unassisted."

"I'm not into women with sharp tongues anyway." He shrugged dismissively, as if he hadn't been the one trying to hit on her in a weird way, and looked down at the players getting onto the ice to warm up.

Katie was more than glad when he didn't bother her anymore in the pre-game phase, and during the first period he only directed his attention towards her when he joined fan chants mocking the Rangers. She wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing, but thanks to that she somehow found herself encouraged to cheer louder than she normally would have in such a situation. Regardless, she had to admit that she was enjoying herself greatly, and she grinned smugly at the Islanders buffoon when the Rangers scored their first goal a few seconds before the end of the first period.

"Yeah, just mock me," Islanders buffoon grumbled, grimacing at her as the zamboni break started. "There's still plenty of time to wipe that smirk off your face."

"I highly doubt that." Katie pulled her phone from her pocket, not paying much attention to her surroundings; people were coming and leaving to get snacks or take a bathroom break before the second period would start. "Your defense looks like they learnt how to skate last week!"

Suddenly her phone buzzed and she looked up with a puzzled expression as she read the message Angelina had sent her.

'OMG Kat you're on the cam!'

Her eyes widened when she gazed up at the big video cube hanging from the ceiling and saw herself and Islanders buffoon, both staring upwards with dumbfounded expressions, and a pink heart was framing the live video of them. The words 'Kiss me!' were flashing repeatedly over the screen and Katie could feel her cheeks starting to flush. She was convinced she looked like a tomato.

"Now, let's see who kisses better?! Rangers versus Islanders!" The voice of the commentator echoed through the rink and Katie hoped that she was imagining this.

Some people around them cheered. Others grimaced – probably out of pity for their fellow fans – but luckily most people weren't paying any attention to the screen.

Katie heard Islanders buffoon clear his throat awkwardly and when she whipped her head around his face was far closer to hers than she would have anticipated. She stumbled against her seat in surprise and only a strong hand on her waist kept her from falling. A second later she felt him peck her cheek softly and as his face came back into her field of vision she couldn't help but stare up at him. She'd expected a lot of things, but this definitely hadn't been on her list.

She'd truly thought that he would just grab and kiss her for the cheers and for his ego, seeing his opportunity after she beat down his attempt of - well, of flirting earlier. Or that he would ignore the kiss cam altogether, perhaps. But this? Did the big Islanders buffoon have consideration to respect that this was a very uncomfortable, or at least very weird, situation for her?

A part of her was truly glad that he hadn't crossed any of her boundaries, but the passionate competitor inside of her rolled her eyes. "Is that all that you got?" she asked him, starting to smirk when the commentator asked the same a moment later, as if he was daring her. So what? she thought to herself. A tiny bit of recklessness wasn't wrong, and to catch him off guard would definitely be worth it.

Before she could have second thoughts about kissing a complete stranger in the middle of a big sports event that was shown on national television, Katie grabbed him by the front of his jersey and pulled him towards her. She rose onto the tips of her toes and a second later her lips collided with his.

They were warm and a lot softer than she would have thought. For a moment he seemed completely taken aback by her actions, but when she let her tongue run over his bottom lip cockily he suddenly shook his temporary paralysis off. His arm wrapped tighter around her waist, his other hand threading into her brown hair, and he dipped his head down so she didn't have to stretch so much to reach him. His lips parted, granting her access.

Katie didn't even register that the people all around them were whistling and cheering, everything seemed to fade into the background; the kiss woke more feelings inside of her than she would have anticipated. Pleasant shivers ran down her spine as his tongue duelled for dominance with hers, neither of them willing to back off, and the heat that she'd felt in her cheeks earlier was slowly spreading throughout her whole body. Hell, this man could kiss... She nearly mewled in protest when he slowly pulled away. She had no idea how long they'd been kissing, and she blinked a bit in confusion when he let go of her. The audience around them weren't paying any attention to them anymore – for which she was truly grateful – and she and Islanders buffoon both chuckled slightly breathlessly as their gazes met after a moment of awkward silence.

"Well... I guess you win. This time," he said, rubbing the back of his neck before extending his hand. "Hi. Marcus, professional buffoon."

Katie bit her bottom lip, regretting it a bit to have called him that. Then she returned the grin he was giving her before taking his hand and shaking it. "Katie. No cool title."

They shared a short laugh and Katie licked her lips, trying to think of anything else to say to him. From the corner of her eye, she saw that the players got back onto the ice. When she'd come to the game she definitely hadn't expected something like this to happen.

"Hey, uh... how about we get a drink together after the game is over?"

Marcus almost sounded sheepish as he cocked his head to the side, burying his hands in the pockets of his jeans. A crooked smile made his eyes sparkle slightly and Katie supposed that after kissing him like this a drink wouldn't hurt.

"Yeah, sure. The loser pays."

"Great. You're buying."

"You wish, buffoon."