A/N: Again, if you're enjoying any of this fic, please go check out Katie_Bell_ and 0liverWood on Twitter and the wonderful Hira-chii here. We'd love to know what you think!

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It was a clear, crisp afternoon. Perfect flying conditions – visibility would be 100 percent. Oliver Wood soaked it all in, memorising, calculating in his head, before coming to the conclusion that it was absolute rubbish. Honestly, how often did Gryffindor ever actually play a match where the weather – or anything else, for that matter – was perfect?

The arrival of his team-mates quickly brought him out of his lamentations. "'Right there, Potter?" Oliver asked, retrieving a piece of parchment from his pocket and tapping his wand along it as he read out the rest of their names. "Weasley, Weasley. Thank you, Miss Johnson and Miss Spinnet. And, err, Miss Bell…" He tried to push the thoughts of their earlier exchange out of his head.

"And Wood." He concluded, not noticing how his team collectively rolled their eyes. "Looks like we're all here and on time for Quidditch practise – for once." He gave Fred and George a pointed look. "Good. That means 5 points to Gryffindor."

While the twins jostled around, arguing over whose halo was the largest and the brightest, Oliver crouched down before the trunk that housed the Quidditch balls. He tapped his wand on the lock, whispering a few words until it magically vanished.

"Right, well." Oliver sprang the box open and, suddenly very businesslike, beckoned to Harry and emphatically plunked the fidgeting Snitch into his Seeker's hand. "Harry, I want you to practise all those diversionary tactics we talked about. Professor McGonagall's lifted pitch restrictions, so you can cast anything you need to give you some kind of opposition to work against."

Oliver wrested the Bludgers out of the box one at a time, hustling them into the care of the twins. "Fred, George, I want –" They gave Oliver a pointed look. "Sorry – George, Fred – I want you to see just how close you can keep to those Bludgers." Oliver instructed, adding, "Without knocking yourselves out. And no skiving off." The twins nodded and took off on their brooms, cradling the Bludgers like demonic hell-spawn.

Oliver relaxed just a bit as he took the Quaffle out. "Right." He said, turning to Katie, Angelina, and Alicia. "There's no one can match you three on speed and team work…" He tossed the ball to Angelina, and continued, "So, let's work on scoring throws."

Angelina gave Katie and Alicia a silent look of mock seriousness, parroting Oliver's authoritative nod before kicking off into the air on her broom, abandoning the other two girls to suppress their fits of laughter wholly on their own.

Oliver looked up sharply, having missed the full exchange during a concentrated effort to cast a duplication spell inscribed within the trunk. Alicia smiled at him a bit too innocently as she took off, nearly launching herself into the spectator stands. Oliver shook his head and glanced at Katie, tilting his head in Alicia's direction.

"Aye, aye, Capt'n," Katie mumbled, soaring up after Alicia to help her get into position.

After quickly inspecting the second Quaffle he had impeccably conjured, Oliver joined the three girls aloft, speaking loudly over the rush of the air, whilst leading them to the goal posts. "Harry was telling me about this muggle game, Baskets'n'balls, that I thought we could learn from…"

Katie laughed, "It's 'basketball' – not Baskets'n'balls, Oliver…"

The four of them stopped in a huddle near the centre hoop, and Oliver continued, "Now, it'll be a bit more risky for attacks from other players – especially when we're playing Slytherin – but a lot more accurate and more powerful, if you 'shoot' the ball with both hands."

Oliver demonstrated, a bit wobbily, what the two-handed throw would look like, without actually letting go of the Quaffle. "That is – if you can keep your brooms steady, and do it quick."

Katie spontaneously grabbed the ball out of his hands, explaining, "Basically, you want to shoot from the top, like this…"

She flew up, a few meters above the centre goal, and popped the Quaffle down through the hoop at a sharp angle. Oliver flew to catch the ball in the air as it fell, then rejoined his three Chasers.

"Err, yeah, that's basically it." He faltered for a moment, nonplussed, before regaining his train of thought. "Alicia, Angelina, practice that. Going in from a higher angle; shooting with both hands. Switch between being Keeper and Chaser." They looked at each other briefly, then at Katie, then Oliver. "And I'll, err, practice with Katie."

As the girls attempted to stifle their tittering, Oliver glided over to Katie and gestured to the goals down the field. "We'll take the other end of the pitch, so we won't run into the others."

Katie glanced at Angelina and Alicia, then gave him a mock salute before speeding off, making a beeline toward the other end of the pitch, other than dodging a stray Bludger. Oliver followed her, though much less nimbly, and shot Fred and George a warning look on his way past.

"What else do you know about this 'basketsball' game that we could use?" He asked as he caught up to where she was hovering, waiting for him.

"Well…" Katie pondered, picking thoughtfully at a small splinter of wood on her broom. "In the game, there's a time limit to bring the ball to the other end…" She shrugged at him. "Maybe we could try different ways of travelling from each end?"

The idea processed through his Quidditch-addled brain. "Hm. Maybe have a practise where you Chasers don't hold onto the Quaffle longer than 5 seconds – keep it moving."

Oliver reflexively began passing the ball back and forth with her, glancing toward Angelina and Alicia to gauge their progress. "Quite a… a bit of giggling going on today." He raised an eyebrow at Katie questioningly. "Something I missed?"

"Hmm?" She said quietly, shaking her head and hooking the ball back to him. "Nothing, nothing."

He tossed the ball back to her. "In my experience, girls don't giggle over nothing."

"Oh really?"

Oliver repositioned himself defiantly in front of the centre hoop. "Try that shot you did earlier."

Katie zoomed up higher than she had before, quickly faking a throw to the centre before thrusting the ball at the right-hand hoop.

Oliver sped towards it, his fingers barely brushing the Quaffle as it sailed through the goal.

"Not bad, Katie." He called out, circling around to catch the ball, then flying up next to her. "And even if you miss a shot like that, you stand a good chance of hitting the other team's keeper in the head…" He grinned. "Not that I'm condoning that sort of behaviour."

Katie instinctively placed her hand on his forehead. "Are you sure you're alright today?" She said, raising her eyebrows.

Oliver suddenly found himself staring into her eyes. "I'm, uh…" He cleared his throat and turned away hurriedly, calling out to the rest of the team, "Alright – Fred, George, everyone – let's call it a day. Just some thoughts to keep in mind for next time."

Katie shook her head and flew over to join Angelina and Alicia.

Oliver touched down to the ground beside the equipment trunk where the twins and Harry were waiting. He readily replaced the Bludgers and the Snitch to their proper compartments, then set about vanishing the extra Quaffle and redoing the lock, trying not to be obvious as he stole furtive glances at Katie while she interacted with the other girls. He nodded to Harry, Fred and George as they exited the locker room and headed back toward the castle.

And then he noticed the Hufflepuff Quidditch team arriving onto the pitch.