Discalmer: The Harry Potter world belongs to JKR, only the plot is mine

The music in the common room was loud, and the millions of Gryffindor packed together and screaming made all the noise even louder. And yet I should be there with them all, screaming and cheering, drinking butter beer and eating sweets. And still I'm putting so much of my energy into keeping this stupid smile pasted on my face. Because, even though we just won the Quidditch match against Slytherin, and I played fantastically, scoring all but two of the goals. Oliver Wood still doesn't know I exist. I mean sure he stops to talk to me in the hall, he walks me back to the common room after Quidditch. But only because he wants to give me more advice about how I play on the field.

"I notice you tend to lean left on your broom Katie, you know you can fix that by…"
Or
"Bell we have practise tomorrow, don't be late again, or I'll give you extra laps."

I played the best I ever had, and played a big part in crushing Slytherin. And still Oliver was so absorbed in hugging every girl that threw themselves at him that he paid no attention to me. Although sure I was getting hugged and complimented by countless of faceless people. And yet the whole time my eyes were on one person. The one person that they, along with my heart have been glued to since my second year. The same person who will never see me as more than his chaser.

I had only ever told Angelina and Alicia about my "crush" on Oliver. And after about a year of what they called "wasting my time," they started setting me up with friends. And I went along with it until I felt horrible and broke it off. Because what good is dating a girl if she'll never be fully interested in you? And when I expressed this concern with Angelina and Alicia they opted for setting me up with Quidditch players from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff in the hopes that Oliver would take notice of me. And still that didn't work. Oliver went on dating other girls, and being obsessed with Quiddtich. And I went on being in love with him.

After a few minutes when people had stopped congratulating me, and moved on to the rest of the team Fred and George stood on the table to show the eager crowd something, and I took the opportunity when all of Gryffindor tower had focused their attention on the twins to quietly slip out of the common room and into the hall. The hall was chilly compared to the common room which was packed with warm bodies. I tucked my hands into my sweater pockets and looked down the hall to make sure it was deserted.

"You of all people should be in there celebrating, from what I heard." The fat Lady's voice rang through the quiet hall.

"Yeah, well I don't really feel like celebrating." I mumbled back.

The fat lady raised an eyebrow but said nothing as I walked down the hall. I had no idea where I was going, just that I wasn't staying to celebrate. I was upset about Oliver being able to notice and flirt with all those adoring fans that flung themselves at him. And yet he couldn't notice me.

Sure there had been times when I was dating boys that I thought might be able to finally make me forget all about Oliver, but in the end I couldn't settle for second best. There had been times though, when I was in Hogsmeade hand in hand with a boy when I thought I felt Oliver's eyes on me. But then I'd turn around and he would be admiring a new pair of keeps gloves on display in the window of one of the shops. And there had been times when I had the dreadful task of telling one of my boyfriends that we had to break up, and Oliver would walk by and chuckle softly and smile. And yet as soon as I would glance his way I would feel like the whole thing was in my head.

I was so absorbed in questioning my sanity that I hadn't been paying much attention to where it was that I was walking when I looked up to see that I was on the Quidditch pitch. I sighed; the Quidditch pitch reminded me of Oliver, it seemed even my unconscious mind was leading me to him. I took a seat on one of the bleachers and relived the game in my mind, drawing my knees up close to my chest to protect my small body from the wind.

"You should be happy, you won the game."
I froze and my heart started to beat widely. Was I still day-dreaming? Could I really have heard Oliver's voice?

"Want some company?" Olive asked as he strode over and sat down beside me on the bleachers.

I shivered as the cold air shifted to accommodate his body.

"Are you cold?" Olive asked as he moved closer.

I didn't say anything, I couldn't say anything, I was tongue tied and nervous.

"You played really well tonight Katie, you're flying was..." Oliver began

And then suddenly my perfect image of Oliver wrapping his arms around me and confessing his love for me popped. He came down here to compliment my flying! Was that all he would ever see me as? Just his chaser? Well I had enough of it!
"Shut up" I said

Oliver stopped talking suddenly and turned to look at me with a surprised look on his face.

"Gosh, I'm so sick of you Oliver Wood! All you ever talk to me about is Quidditch! I don't know why I've been wasting my time chasing someone who doesn't eve-"I began

"Because you're a chaser." Oliver said calmly.

I groaned "Are you that blind? I've been in love with you since my second year, and you don't even know I exist!" I said looking at him, daring him to say something. But instead he leaned down and kissed me. It wasn't the first time I had kissed a boy, but it was the most incredible, maybe the other boys didn't know how to kiss or maybe it was just the one doing the kissing, all I knew was that I had never been kissed like this before.

When Oliver pulled away I wanted to yank him back down, but I resisted. He cupped my face in his hands and looked me in the eyes before he spoke

"Since second year?" He said smirking.

I tilted my head to the side and bit my lip.

Oliver started laughing, a deep chested, booming laugh that filled the stadium. I said nothing but watched him as my face slowly turned red with embarrassment.

"Well if it's so funny than why did you kiss me?" I asked, turning away from him and fighting back tears.

"Because Katie, I've been in love with you since my third year." Oliver whispered quietly.

My heart was beating so loud I was sure Oliver could hear it, but I didn't care, I had waited-dreamed of hearing Oliver say that he loved me. But never had I imagined hearing it like this. I was speechless, and in shock. But at least now I knew he wasn't laughing at my kissing skills.

"Really?" I managed to choke out, still in complete disbelief.

Oliver nodded slowly, not taking his gaze off mine.

"You have no idea how long I've pictured telling you that." Oliver said with a shy smile.

It was my turn to laugh, as I thought of how ironic it seemed that we both felt the same for so many years, and were both to afraid to say it. We sat there for a few moments in a comfortable silence and Oliver wrapped his arms around me to protect me from the wind, and I rested my head on his chest.

When we broke apart and walked back up to the castle hand in hand and walked through the portrait hole and back to the party, nobody gave us surprised looks, instead they all gave us the look that seemed to say 'it was about time.' It turns out our feelings towards each other were obvious to everyone but the one that mattered most.

So I joined the party, happy, talking, eating sweets and drinking butter beer, but this time it was different than the past, this time I knew that it wouldn't matter if we won the Qudditch cup next week, or that we beat Slytherin, because right now my small hand was slipped into Oliver's muscular and soft one, and it felt so perfect that I would never let go.