A/N: I know this is unexpected, but this idea is bothering me as I'm riding through Texas. For now it is a one-shot, but I likely will come back to this later, as in once I get further in Over a Galleon. Now, onto the story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter, apart from a copy of each of the books and movies. Unfortunately, that doesn't legally award me anything in terms of ownership, and as such, I make no money off the Harry Potter franchise.
Harry groaned as he once again lost the glint of gold in the rain. Really, his captain was insane. Their next game wasn't for a month and a half, but Oliver Wood had the Gryffindor Quidditch Team out and practicing at ungodly hours of the morning, every day, regardless of the weather. Harry could understand being prepared for any sort of situation during a game, but this seemed to be just a bit overboard. If the sounds of frustration coming from the rest of the team were any indication, they seemed to agree.
Harry decided to let the practice snitch be, and have some fun with the rest of the team. Feigning chasing after the snitch, Harry turned towards Wood's position. Due to the rain, Wood barely noticed his seeker flying at him at full speed until Harry was just about to crash into him. Swearing, Wood ducked out of the way, and Harry flew away, laughing.
"Very funny, Potter! Keep it up, and you'll be running laps after practice!" Wood yelled at Harry.
"I didn't do it on purpose. I was so tired, I barely noticed you were there. It wouldn't have happened if you didn't wake us up so early!" Harry responded. Part of his response was true, but of course he knew Wood was there.
Harry fought with the rain to find the practice snitch again. Seeing something flash below him, he turned towards it, only to find out, with dismay, that it was a beater's bat, though he wasn't sure which twin it was. Sighing, Harry decided to have some more fun. Looking to see who currently had the quaffle, he found that Alicia was currently in possession. He flew towards the trio of chasers, right above Alicia. Due to the rain, the other chasers couldn't see him very well, and assumed that he was searching for the snitch.
As the bludger they were using for practice came at Alicia, she passed the quaffle to Katie to be able to avoid it. Harry decided to have his fun then. Gaining speed, he angled his broom towards the youngest chaser. As he came closer to the unaware chaser, Alicia, who was slightly behind them, yelled "Watch out, Katie!"
Turning around, Katie stopped her momentum, which caused Harry to plow into her. Unfortunately, the impact caused Katie to fall off her broom, and start screaming. Recovering quickly, Harry dove straight down, trying to at least break her fall. Fortunately, Harry was able to get under her, and catch her bridal style. Unfortunately, her momentum caused them to hit the ground hard. Luckily, they hadn't been more than ten feet off the ground when Harry caught Katie, so they were only stunned, their protective gear taking most of the damage. That didn't stop Wood from flying down and chewing Harry out, though.
"Of all my time playing Quidditch, I don't think I've ever seen anything so irresponsible…" Despite the situation, Harry couldn't help but smile at how similar Wood sounded to McGonagall when he made the team during his first year.
"What's so funny Potter? You can do 5 laps after practice!" Wood exploded. Despite his usual intensity, no one on the team had ever seen him this mad.
"Calm down, Ollie," Katie intervened. "It sort of was my fault. I don't think he was going to run into me until I stopped. It isn't fair to punish him so severely for a calculated move when I messed it up. Plus, he saved me," she said, looking at Harry, causing him to blush slightly.
"You wouldn't have needed to been saved if it weren't for me, though," said Harry, trying to shake it off. While Katie probably wouldn't have died, a fall from that distance still probably would have broken a bone or something, and Harry really didn't want to be responsible for that.
"Fine, just 2 laps, Potter," said Wood, calming down a bit. "I think finishing practice would be pointless at this point, anyway." Harry set down his broom and ran his two laps as quickly as he could while the rest of the team went to go get dry in the locker room.
When Harry finally got into the locker room, most of the team had left, with Katie hanging around, and Wood finishing getting changed on the guys side. Wood left while Harry was still getting changed, glancing at Katie curiously as he did.
"Why are you still here, Bell? You can leave you know," Wood asked his youngest chaser.
"I need to have a word with Harry, when he's done," said Katie. Harry, hearing that, just gulped.
Despite his best efforts, he eventually was fully dressed. He went out to the common area of the locker room, prepared to face Katie's wrath. He didn't have to wait long.
"What the hell, Potter! You're stupid stunt almost got me seriously hurt!" Katie yelled at him. He honestly ignored most of the lecture; he instead focused on her close proximity to him. He didn't know exactly when it started, but sometime during his second year, he realized that he truly liked Katie. He didn't know what it was. He did note that she was cute when she was angry.
"-fish, uncaring JERK!" Katie finished her tirade.
"Look, Katie. I'm truly sorry about what happened. I wasn't expecting you to stop," Harry apologized, for what felt like the hundredth time. He knew he made a mistake; why did everyone need to make such a big deal of it?
"But see, Harry. That is the problem!" said Katie.
"What's the problem?" asked Harry, totally confused.
"Oh my god, Harry! You are impossible!" exclaimed Katie, storming away, leaving Harry in a stunned, confused silence. He felt the old saying was true; girls were impossible to figure out.
Harry didn't see Katie for the rest of the, making the Gryffindor Quidditch practice the next morning an awkward affair. The twins and Wood didn't seem to realize it, because Katie had defended Harry yesterday, and they figured that all was okay between the two youngest players on the team. However, Katie must have talked to Angelina and Alicia, because they shot him dirty looks throughout practice, whenever he flew within twenty feet of Katie.
After practice, Harry changed as quickly as he could to corner Katie outside the locker rooms. She tried to push past him, but Harry stood his ground.
"Look, Katie, I know I upset you yesterday. But I have said I'm sorry, and I don't know what else to do. But you ignoring me and glaring at me throughout practice isn't going to make things better." While he had been speaking, Katie was looking over his shoulder and making a hand motion. Turning around, he saw Angelina and Alicia looking conflicted on whether they should intervene.
Finally looking at him in the eye, Katie said, "I know Harry. I wasn't exactly fair yesterday, either. It's just…well it's not important, but it has got me confused on how to…uh…react," she finished, looking for the right word to describe whatever her issue was.
"Does this mean you aren't mad at me anymore?" asked Harry, almost too hopefully.
"No, if anything I'm even more upset at you because you are the cause of my problem," Katie scowled, looking at the ground.
"What did I do?" asked Harry, once again confused, and hoping Katie didn't storm off this time.
"That's just it. I don't know what you did to make feel the way I do," said Katie.
Even Harry, who was quite slow when it came to girls, slowly seemed to be getting what she was saying.
"Wow, Katie. Am I really that bad?" Harry asked, feigning hurt.
"I-I just don't know anymore, Harry," said Katie, looking completely lost. "I don't know when or why, but I-I sort of…uh…like you," she said, struggling to say the words that Harry had kind of been hoping he would be hearing from her at some point, since he had realized that he liked her.
"Oh, uh, that's great Katie, uh, because I kind of like you, too," Harry admitted.
"Really?" Katie asked, looking up, sharply. "I swear to Merlin, Harry! If you are leading me on…" she left the threat hanging in the air.
"What? No! I really do like you Katie," Harry said quickly. "Uh, I really don't know what to do now," he admitted sheepishly.
"Ask her out!" the voice from behind him surprised him. He had forgotten that Angelina and Alicia were still behind him. Harry blushed.
"Don't listen to them, Harry," Katie said. "Just ask me to be your girlfriend."
Harry's mouth went dry. "Uh, Katie, uh, will you, uh, be my, er, be my girlfriend?" Harry asked, barely able to get his question out.
"Well, of course I will, Harry," said Katie. She then surprised Harry by leaning in and kissing him. Harry didn't react at first, but he slowly regained his senses and returned the kiss. They broke apart to cat calls from not only Angelina and Alicia, but also the twins, who had exited the locker room. They blushed, but both held their heads high. For the rest of the day, the two just enjoyed being in the presence of each other.
A/N: And that concludes this oneshot. I may or may not come back to this after Over a Galleon, but with tow other stories on hold, it isn't likely to happen right away. I'm in the middle of the next chapter of OaG, but I'm having trouble deciding on just how much I should change the first task.
TheDarkMind10