A/N-Guys, I'm the worst. It's not fictionally correct, but in this fanfiction Katie Bell is a fifth year in Oliver's seventh year. That's all, kay?
XOXO
Keep On Chasing
Holiday Horrible
Chapter 1
Katie's POV
His dark brown commanding eyes stared deeply into my own unthreatened hazel gaze. The moment was heated and it was just getting started. The others watched slow and carefully; not wanting to miss a moment of the intense encounter that was taking place before them. This would go down in the history books. Oh yes—it would.
One seventh year Oliver Andrew Alexander Wood would regret the day he challenged one fifth year Katherine Marie Bell to a one on one match of Quidditch. I would make him eat his words; I promised myself. "I bet you a million galleons you can't get one past me, Bell." He spoke in his musky Scottish brogue before he gave me that cocky; yet charming, little boy smirk.
"A million galleons?" I asked him. "Let's be realistic here. If I get it passed you, I get a week off of morning practices."
He thought it over for a moment with an obnoxious tint in his eye. I thought for sure he wouldn't agree to it, but Oliver seemed to think he was unmatchable.
"You've got yourself a deal. One chance, Bell. You've only got one chance."
I narrowed my eyes at him; cutthroat and ready to prove him wrong. Never underestimate a Bell. Never.
Especially with a week free of morning practices on the line.
I held the quaffle in my hands, balancing perfectly on my broom.
"3…2…1" I heard Fred and George yell in unison from the ground below us.
Wood tried to throw off my game by winking at me right before I started to move. That arrogant little Scotsman would soon feel the wrath of one frenzied chaser.
I started in towards him steadily on my broom before taking a sudden turn in the other direction. I flew around; getting my mojo flowing. I held the quaffle tightly under my right arm as I swooped around in a circular motion.
I would wait for the perfect time to sneak the quaffle through the hoops. I had three hoops and there was only one Oliver.
But, that was the problem. It was Oliver. He was the best Keeper I had ever seen. It was no question that he would be drafted by Puddlemere United after Hogwarts. He was incredible and would show the world how a true thick blooded game of quidditch was to be played.
I saw my target. I had a clean sweep straight through the far left hoop and I was going for it.
I flew straight for the right hoop; tricking Oliver, before I harshly turned and released the quaffle towards my desired goal.
I had eagerness written on my face and hopefulness gleaming in my eye.
I was kicking myself inside when I saw Oliver instinctively stop the quaffle in one swift charismatic move that impressed me more than it killed me.
He made it look so effortless and unproblematic that I was immediately impressed by his mechanics. He had not a bead of sweat on his face, not a glimmer of doubt when he went for it.
He had whipped his broom around in a full circle and had smacked the quaffle with such force that it went flying far into the sunset. The expert move wasn't what shocked me though. What shocked me was the acute awareness that hit him in a second flat that caused him to react with such precision.
"Game over, Katie." The words were finite and chaste. Oliver smiled graciously at me and I couldn't help but return the expression.
When we reached the ground, Oliver extended his hand out to me and we shook dignifiedly like we did every time we bet each other.
"Don't forget to set your alarm." Wood said to me with an obvious smirk as all of us started heading towards the changing rooms.
"I almost had you." I argued with him. Oliver turned his head down and gave me a disbelieved look.
"Oh, you think so?" he asked incredulously. "If you really had me you would have noticed that I was favoring the left side from the very beginning. I was sitting closer to the left hoop whilst facing the right. You should know by now that I mark the angle I want you to send the quaffle. You never had a chance."
I grimaced as I thought about the play. Yeah…I never had a chance.
"You could be nice sometimes and purposely let me win, you know?" I asked looking up at him with innocent eyes.
"You mean cheat?" he asked like the word was poison itself. "Katie, you know that kills me inside."
"Katie, you know Wood would have a hernia if he ever purposely lost a game of Quidditch." Fred said.
"Yeah, imagine how far his head would pop off." George agreed as the twins gave each other high five's at the thought.
"Hey!" Wood defended pushing the twins. "My head likes being where it is, thank you."
Everyone laughed as the twins started rough-housing with one another. Angelina and Alicia got in on the action; being chased around by their boyfriends.
Watching them made me jealous. I wanted that. I wanted to feel what it was like to have someone care about me and love me for who I was inside; good and bad. Don't get me wrong, I have loving family and friends, but I just…couldn't see myself achieving that life goal of growing old with the perfect person for me. It seemed like a farfetched fantasy that came true for everyone but me.
I shuttered slightly as a sudden shift in the air made me want to curl up in a ball in front of a fire. Not sure if it was the weather or the chill in my heart that made me shiver. At that exact moment, Oliver and I looked up in the sky and saw little white flakes falling down upon us.
"First snow of the season." he said with much enjoyment.
"I've been dreading it." I told him and he smiled.
"Don't." he told me. "Only a short time till you and I are stuck together on holiday." His bright smile made me smile.
Oliver was speaking of the upcoming ski trip our families were taking this holiday season. For Christmas, our parents decided to rent a luxurious cabin in Switzerland for a few weeks. It was an idea they had been working on for awhile now and it was finally going to happen.
Our families had been friends for years. My mother and Oliver's mother had grown up together here in England. They'd gone to Hogwarts together and after they left, Oliver's mother left for Scotland with her school sweetie; Oliver's father and they married and started a family there.
My mother had the same idea when she met my father in a Diagon Alley shop only a short while after school. They hit it off perfectly.
I didn't meet Oliver until I was nine years old at a Puddlemere United game. I was so young, but I remember how I first felt when I met him.
He was charming and alluring and there was something about him that made me feel instantly comfortable and accepted. He had the simple touch of home in human form that just drew me in and kept me in.
He had just turned eleven years old only a few days before and hadn't even started Hogwarts yet, but he already had his mind set on becoming the best Quidditch Captain the school had ever seen.
I guess it wouldn't be fair to tell you that my quidditch career began just from pure love of the game. To tell you the truth, I wanted to know everything there was about quidditch because…Oliver loved it.
I saw the way his eyes would glow when he talked plays to me. He had such enthusiasm when he told me his repetitive dreams of winning the quidditch cup. He made the game more than just a game. He made it a passion, a necessity. He made it magical and interesting and something I wanted to be a part of; a part with him.
I fancied Oliver then…and I do now. Nothing's changed except for the fact that we're older and…still just friends.
Best friends to be exact.
We met too late in life for me to see him as a brother figure and I pray every day that he doesn't see me as a little sister. That's the dreadful feeling I get whenever he talks to me like I'm a child.
"Make sure you pack a coat for the trip, Katie." Oliver reminded me in his overprotective tone as he put an arm around me to try to keep me warm. "I know how quickly you get cold."
See? I didn't want to be his little sister.
"If I recall correctly, you were the one who forgot your trunk in your dormitory last Christmas so don't be reminding me of things, Oliver." I evoked and he smiled.
"That's because you were distracting me. You were yelling at me to hurry for the train." he argued back. "So I blame you."
"You managed to remember your quidditch trunk, but not the one with all of your personal belongings?" I smiled.
Oliver lifted his eyebrow at me.
"That's because quidditch is more important than material items, Katie."
He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world and I scowled.
"I knew you were going to say that." I replied shaking my head with a small smile. Oliver pulled me tighter into his arms good-naturedly as we continued to walk.
XO
When I got back to my bedroom, Angelina and Alicia were "studying" with Fred and George which meant…
A smile appeared on my face as I uncovered my painting easel; which was in the corner. I would be able to work at peace; to be alone with just my imagination; the scariest and safest place all in the same.
I poured my heart into my work. Most of it looked like a maze, confusing with no point or direction. But I knew if the right person looked at it, they would see it as clearly as I do.
As the brush hit the canvas, I let it come naturally. My brush left a smear of dark brown in the picture I was imagining. His eyes flashed in my mind as I attempted to do their justice with oil paints. Like I could even come close? Oliver's eyes were one in a million and I was lucky enough to look at them every day and have them looking back at me.
I sighed because I knew what a lost cause I was. I was a little girl with a school crush on one of the most popular boys in the entire school. How cliché. I didn't know where I fit in this story. I had many roles.
I was his best friend. His little sister. His chaser. His classmate. I was everything you could be in a love story. And that broke my heart because the fact of the matter was…he wasn't mine.
XO
"It's about time it's snowed." Angelina said putting a roll on her plate at supper that night. "I mean its two bloody weeks to Christmas."
"And only another three days of classes and we're free." Fred said before he and George high fived.
"You two are so lucky." Alicia said to Oliver and I who sat across from one another. "You get to go away on holiday together. Skiing and relaxing and doing absolutely nothing. All I get to do is spend Christmas with my aunt Mildred in Wales surrounded by her homemade wax candle collection and stamp albums."
"Doing absolutely nothing?" George asked. "Oliver is incapable of doing "nothing."
"Watch out, Katie." Fred resumed. "Oliver's going to be making you get up at four in the morning for quidditch practice. Holiday or not, he's captain."
"You better not!" I gave him a harsh serious look.
Oliver smiled mischievously; the idea intriguing him.
"I have a rule on holiday, Oliver. I never break this rule either."
"And what's that?" He put his elbows on the table and entwined his fingers with each other, awaiting my answer with a daunting half-smile
"I'm not allowed to get out of bed till at least the crack of noon."
Everyone at the table laughed at my comment.
"Yeah, well this holiday you're stuck with me and I promise you things are going to change." He told me with fortitude.
I put my elbows on the table and leant in towards him with the same challenging attitude.
"I promise you, you're right."
His smile was devilish and lasted for just a few seconds, but it was one that I would remember for forever.
Oh, how I wished it was holiday already. Three more days and it would be Oliver and I; alone, in the snowy mountains of Switzerland.
I know. It sounded too good to be real.
XOXO
The train whistle blew and everyone scrambled to get aboard. I planted myself next to the window on the train; excited and eager to see my family.
Angie plopped down next to me with Alicia taking a seat across from us.
"I would rather stay at Hogwarts." Alicia groaned out.
"Would a bogey flavored Bertie Bott bean make you feel better?" George asked holding one out on his palm as he and George came out of nowhere.
Alicia looked down at his hand and then up at him.
"You always know the right thing to say!" Alicia announced hugging George.
Fred looked at Angelina and then at the box of Bertie Botts and got an idea.
"Dirty Sock, Angelina?" Fred asked extending his hand.
Angelina rolled her eyes and gave him an unimpressed look. She crossed her arms and smiled at Fred anyway after he wiggled his eyebrows at her.
"George and I have a hidden stash of sweets in the storage trolley." Fred said. "You girls in?"
"I am!" Alicia exclaimed.
"Let's do it." Angelina agreed. Fred grabbed Angelina's hand and pulled her up and behind him before the four of them dashed out of the compartment, nearly taking out Oliver as he went to step through the threshold.
"Sorry, Oliver." Fred yelled.
"Where are they off to in such a hurry?"
"Wherever they are I'm sure it'll consist of shenanigans and injury."
Oliver took the seat across from me as the train whistle blew one last time.
"Looks like it's just the two of us." he said with a warm smile. I glowed at that moment.
Just the two of us? How horrible…
A/N-Alright. Chapter 2 will be up as soon as possible. Thanks for reading! This story will be (hopefully) a mixture of all things good. BTW, some steam is to ensue.
