A/N:

Written as part of an assignment and for the January Event over on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)

Pairing: Oliver Wood/Katie Bell

Task: Write about the beginning of the relationship

Prompt: (Creature) Hippogriff

Chocolate Frog: Bronze – Lachlan the Lanky – Prompts – Tall, Tease, Captain, Hide

From Jealousy to the start of something new

Oliver watched the giggling girls, trying to figure out why they had turned to mush as soon as he mentioned the name Cedric Diggory.

"What?" he questioned, looking between the three simpering Chasers, his eyes lingering affectionately on Katie for a beat longer than necessary.

"He's that tall good looking one, isn't he?" Angelina asked.

Katie nodded her head fiercely, casting her eyes across to the nearby Oliver Wood.

"Strong and silent," she sighed, placing extra emphasis on each word for the older Gryffindor's benefit, hoping to see some kind of reaction from him

Oliver clenched his jaw as he heard the two girls continue to talk about Cedric Diggory. "Alright that's enough swooning over the pretty boy with sawdust for brains," he said, trying to hide the jealous edge to his voice.

So what if the muppet has great hair, a tall, muscular build and 'captivating' grey eyes that seem to drive all the girls crazy, he thought bitterly. He's not that awesome and quite frankly he cannot play Quidditch to save his life. Oliver couldn't quite fathom how and why the numpty had been made captain.

So why does Katie notice him and not me? Oliver asked himself as he fought to ignore the three giggling girl's comments about the Hufflepuff.

Oliver began to compare himself to the younger Hufflepuff as he flew up to his goalposts.

He was just as good looking, if not more so than Cedric. Oliver had got more than enough compliments from several girls in his year to know this for a fact, but not one single one of them could hold a candle to Katie Bell.

Plus it was clear to see that he surpassed the Hufflepuff in both brains and brawn, wasn't it?

Throughout the whole of Quidditch practice he was distracted by thoughts of how he could prove these facts to Katie.

Just as he called time on practice for the afternoon, he saw a large winged beast spreading its wings out of the corner of his eye, and Oliver had a brain wave. Within mere minutes he had a foolproof plan of action that would capture Katie's attention.

In the changing rooms, Oliver quizzed Harry about his experience with the winged beast, which only a few weeks ago had been the talk of Hogwarts. If his plan was to succeed then he needed to ensure that he was fully prepared for the small challenge ahead of him.

He bid goodbye to Harry as they exited to changing rooms, and made his way down towards the Hippogriff's pen, and kept one eye on the exit of the girl's changing rooms.

As he waited for the gorgeous forth year, he explained his plan to the hippogriff and pleaded with the beast to play nicely.

His eyes flickered over to the changing rooms again, and he noticed that Katie was just leaving them with Alicia and Angelia.

"Hey Bell," he yelled, and as soon as he saw that her head had turned towards him he commenced his plan.

As soon had he reached his hand out to touch the hippogriff, Buckbeak reared onto his hind legs and screeched loudly. The shock sent Oliver flying backwards, and his head smacked against a small rock.

The observing Katie came rushing towards Oliver to see if he was alright. Her heart had pretty much jumped into her mouth when she had seen him tumble.

"You foolish boy!" she exclaimed as she reached the older boy, who was now dusting himself off with one hand, and rubbing the back of his head with the other. "You could have got hurt! What on earth were you thinking? I'll tell you what you were thinking; you weren't thinking at all. Do you know how upset I would've been if you had got injured?"

Oliver, who had been looking at the ground the entire time Katie had been berating him, lifted his head sharply as he sensed the distress in her voice when she asked her question.

"No, how much?" he asked hopefully.

"Very, Oli. You're not just my captain, you're my friend, and - I really care about you," Katie answered, lowering her eyes to the ground.

Oliver didn't miss the slight blush that crept onto her face.

Could she, does she? he wondered. There's only one way to find out, and if she rejected him then at least he wouldn't have any regrets; there was no way he was going to hide his feelings from Katie anymore.

He took one of Katie's hands in his, and placed the other under her chin, lifting it upwards until she was looking him directly in the eye.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

As he searched her eyes, Oliver became surer than ever that his next move would be the best course of action. He snaked his arms around Katie, and pulled her closer before slowly lowering his head, and placing his lips against hers.

He took it as a good sign when she didn't push him away, and as he was about to deepen the kiss, Katie turned he head to left.

"You tease," he laughed, as a wry smile crept onto Katie's face.

"This is only the start of something new Oli," she smiled. "There's plenty of time for more. But right now we have to get that bump checked out by Madam Pomfrey."

A/N:

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