Yay for reviews! I hope you like.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
Chapter 1: Blubbery Bell
Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion.
Paul Carvel
"Wood! Hey Wood!" Katie yelled down the corridor at the brawny figure walking a few feet in front of her. He seemed, however, not to hear her as he continued walking.
"OLIVER!" Katie bellowed so loudly that several nearby third-years stopped and stared at her in alarm. She did, however, succeed in attracting Oliver's attention. He whipped around and glared at her.
"Merlin, Bell! You think you could keep it down?"
"Sorry," Katie said grinning sheepishly. "You were having a hard time hearing me, though. In any case, I wanted to ask…how do you feel?" She gazed up at his face anxiously trying to discern whether there was anything strange about it. Apart from looking slightly tired, he seemed normal.
"Bit concerned about the upcoming match," Oliver replied gruffly, "and you should be too," he added with a glare in her direction.
"I am! We all are and we've been practicing very hard." Katie thought it was a good idea to add that last part for Oliver's sake.
"Well, that's good," Oliver replied uncertainly.
Katie looked down at her feet, observing the two strides she had to make to keep up with each of Oliver's. "But I meant, how do you feel after your--er--your panic attack?" Katie inquired, deciding against being subtle.
This was a bad decision however, as Oliver jumped a few feet in the air before turning to her and placing a large hand on her mouth. He shushed her in an exaggerated manner and then began turning his head wildly to see if anyone had heard. If she weren't so concerned that she had just triggered another anxiety attack, Katie would have found the whole episode rather comical.
"Are you mad, Bell! This corridor is packed with Slytherins! They'll go straight to Flint with any information on our team!" Katie thought this was a bit of an overstatement considering the only occupants of the hallway, besides herself and Wood, were two tiny first year Slytherins who didn't look to be much of a threat. "Wouldn't he like to know about any advantages he might have? No, no, we mustn't give them any sort of confidence! Keep your mouth shut, Bell!"
Katie was about to protest against his unfounded hysteria but decided that upsetting Oliver anymore might cause problems. She would just do what she had intended to do in the first place.
"No problem, Wood. Er--By the way, do you have any plans for the next Hogsmeade visit?" She blushed as she realized that it must seem like she was asking him on a date.
Luckily, Wood must not have been accustomed to being asked on dates because he did not seem to notice. He frowned and replied, "Well, I hadn't planned on going. You know we're getting closer and closer to the match and I've got a lot of strategizing to do."
"Well, you can take a break from strategizing," Katie said grinning happily. "We're going to have a team lunch! You know to boost morale before the big game and all. Be at The Three Broomsticks around twelve! Don't be late!"
And with that she ran off before Oliver could protest.
"I don't think he's coming," Alicia sighed as she glanced up at the clock. It was nearly twelve thirty and there was still no sign of Oliver.
"Seven galleons says he's spying on the Slytherin practice and totally forgot," Angelina groaned.
"I think we got to him just in time," Katie whispered worriedly to the rest of team as they sat around a table at The Three Broomsticks drinking their butterbeers.
"Why do you say that?" Harry asked, frowning.
"I don't know how to explain it," Katie answered. "You should have seen him in the corridor when I talked to him about coming here. He went completely mad! He thought we were being spied on for Merlin's sake!"
"If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, you can't get hit in the head eight times by a Quaffle and not be affected," sighed George with mock exasperation. "Poor Oliver has just lost it. He's loony and now we'll just have to accept that he's a crack--"
Oliver chose that exact moment to enter. His cheeks were red from the cold and he looked around confusedly. Katie had never seen him look so out of place.
"Ollie, old friend!" Fred hastily called out. "Over here! What took you so long?"
"Er--Sorry, I got a bit lost. I've never been here before."
Harry blanched, "You've never been to The Three Broomsticks? Where do you go when you come to Hogsmeade, then?"
"Well, I've never been to Hogsmeade before. I mean to say, I never really got around to coming here."
There was a stunned silence.
"Never been to Hogsmeade!" Harry asked incredulously.
Madame Rosmerta arrived to take Oliver's drink order before he could give any explanation. She smiled at him merrily and to Katie's surprise he did not seem to notice the pretty, older witch.
"Fred! You haven't introduced me to your new friend. I haven't seen him around here before," Madame Rosmerta said grinning cheerfully.
"Please accept my apologies," Fred replied puffing up with great importance. "Allow me the pleasure of introducing you to Gryffindor's very own Quidditch Maestro, Oliver Wood. Oh and Oliver, this is Madame Rosmerta, owner of The Three Broomsticks, or Witch Extraordinaire, as I prefer to call her."
"Oh! Oliver Wood!" exclaimed Madame Rosmerta, "I've heard of you. Word around here is that you're going to be the captain who leads Gryffindor to the Quidditch Cup. If you can promise me that, your butterbeer is on the house!"
It was clear, Katie noticed, as Oliver's face reddened and he was unable to respond intelligibly that perhaps Oliver Wood was not entirely immune to the charms of a pretty, older witch.
"He promises," George interjected with a grin, "and he'll take the butterbeer."
Katie wrung her napkin anxiously. They had been sitting at the table for a full five minutes and no one had spoken a word since Oliver's arrival.
Harry, bless his heart, seemed to have noticed and he made an attempt to take the initiative of befriending Oliver.
"So, Woo-er--Oliver, what do you plan on doing after you finish school?"
Katie rolled her eyes. Now if he'd just try to sound less like somebody's father.
Oliver stared at Harry blankly. "Play Quidditch," he responded as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. Katie groaned inwardly. This was not going well.
She decided to take a stab at it. "So, Wood…is there anything going on in your life that you'd like to talk about?"
Wood looked at her for moment before starting, "Well, there are a few defensive strategies I'd like to go over with you all. And Harry, we really have to talk about Malfoy and his play. I watched a couple of Slytherin practices--from afar of course-- and he's definitely developing some tale-"
"Wood!" Katie interrupted. "I said talk about what's going on with your life not with Quidditch."
Oliver stared at her blankly clearly not understanding the difference between "his life" and "Quidditch".
"Well, I'm a bit worried." Finally, Katie sighed, we're getting somewhere!
"The thing is Bell, you're game has been a bit off lately. You've been a bit sluggish. I think you may have gotten sloppy in the off-season. Those extra pounds you've put on haven't helped, either."
Fred choked on his butterbeer, spraying Alicia in the face.
"Wood! Will you stop talking about Quidditch!" Katie screamed. But then she stopped. Did he just say what she thought he said?
"Did Oliver really just call Katie porky?" George whispered to Fred.
"I think 'corpulent Katie' has a nice ring to it," Fred responded snickering.
"Or how about 'Blubbery Bell'" Harry said grinning. Angelina threw him a shocked, dirty look and he quickly apologized, "Er--Sorry, I have an evil, overweight cousin. Fat jokes are a bit of a personal hobby."
Katie, for her part, had never been so offended in her life. "What do you MEAN my game is off? I'm playing fine! I don't think I've ever played better in my life! SLUGGISH? And how dare you say I've put on pounds?"
Alicia nodded fervently in agreement, "Oliver, Katie's body has just gone through a natural transition over the past couple of months. You can't fault her for being a late bloomer."
Katie gaped at Alicia.
George snorted, "Yes, Oliver. Katie has simply blossomed from a girl into a woman."
"It's a very important time in every girl's life, the day she becomes a woman" Fred added knowledgably.
"Look, I'm not saying it's a bad thing that Bell's become a woman or whatever it is," Oliver said, clearly frustrated. "I just think we have to take into account that Bell isn't going to be as fast as she used to be and that she's got to compensate for it in other areas."
Katie couldn't believe how wrong this was going. She had planned to help Oliver become less obsessive about Quidditch so they would have a better chance at winning, as ironic as it sounded. And now he had turned this into a critique of her body and playing skill. She was infuriated, to say the least.
"Er--sorry to leave early, but I promised Ron and Hermione I'd meet them at Zonko's." Harry said apologetically as he quickly stood to exit, obviously unnerved by the tension.
"We were just heading there," Fred said. "We hate to bow out when things are just getting exciting, but I'm afraid that's exactly what we are going to do."
George grinned, "It's been a pleasure." He stopped and nodded to Oliver. "Oh and Ollie, old boy, do watch out for those quaffles."
Alicia shrugged and turned to Katie and Angelina, "I told you we should have just left it alone," she said referring to Oliver.
Angelina nodded in agreement, "I guess we should get going, too. You'll want to meet up with Roger Davies soon, Alicia. And I think you should cool off a little, Katie."
"No, no, I'm fine Angelina," Katie responded in a voice that clearly indicated she wasn't. "You two go on ahead. I just want to have a little chat with our dear captain."
Wood, obtuse little bugger that he was, did not seem to notice that anything was wrong. Katie glowered at him as he ate his sandwich contentedly.
Alicia looked at her nervously, "Katie, you know I didn't mean any harm by what I said about you. I was just trying to explain it to Wood."
Katie sighed, "I know you meant well." That was thing with Alicia, her intentions were always good, but her actions didn't often result that way.
As Angelina and Alicia left, Katie turned and gave Wood a hard glare.
"Wood, we need to talk." Katie decided it was time to take things into her own hands.
"Look, Bell," Oliver said, "the first step is admitting you have a problem. Now that we've recognized it, we have all the time in the world to plan what we are going to do about. Why don't you stay a little after next practice and we can figure out a manu-"
"WOOD! I don't want to talk about Quidditch," Katie bit out a little too loudly as a group of matronly witches turned around to glare at her. She got up, "Maybe, we should speak outside."
Wood nodded and stood, "I'm done eating. I suppose I should head back to the castle soon. I've got a lot of work to do."
As she exited, Katie heard one of the matronly witches say to the other, "But why is she yelling at such a good-looking fellow?"
It did nothing to improve her mood.
Katie walked furiously down High Street trying to gather her thoughts as Oliver hastily tried to keep up. The nerve he had to just throw all of his criticisms at her in front of everyone! Sluggish? That one hurt Katie's pride the most seeing as how she had always prided herself on her speed.
But it wasn't just that. Katie could take a constructive criticism, she really could. Oliver was her captain, after all. It was the fact that she had come here with every intention of helping Oliver Wood and he had thrown it back in her face, proving everyone right in the process: he really was just a two dimensional, Quidditch-obsessed freak. Who was he to insult her? Oliver Wood worked, ate, slept, and breathed Quidditch. He judged people's worth based on their Quidditch skill, which explained why he didn't have any friends. He didn't even talk to anyone who wasn't on the Quidditch team, for Merlin's sake!
Katie slowed with a start upon realizing that Oliver really didn't seem to have any friends aside from his Quidditch team members. But could you really call meeting up weekly for mandatory practice a friendship? He was generally alone in the Common Room and the Great Hall and even when Katie saw him in the corridors, he was by himself. Katie glanced at Oliver who was nervously watching her through the corner of his eye.
Katie sighed. Even if it was his own fault that he chose to obsess over Quidditch instead of making friends like normal boys his age, she supposed he must get pretty lonely at times. Katie cursed herself for being so sensible. As soon as she got good and mad at someone, she always managed to reason her way out of anger. She glanced at Oliver again who was still watching her intently.
He probably thinks I'm insane for dragging him out here to talk and then proceeding to walk in silence.
Katie stopped and turned around to face Oliver. "Wood," she started wearily, "I'm going to give you some advice."
"Er-okay," Oliver replied.
She sighed and began, "I know how much you love Quidditch, but I think you need to realize that--"
"Bell, if this is going to be another speech about how there is more to life than Quidditch, you can save it," Wood interjected indifferently. "I've heard it a million times from McGonagall and I've got a lot of planning to do before the next practice. So if that's all you had to say, I'd really rather be on my way. And remember what we talked about, you need to work on your game."
Once again Katie Bell was moved to speechlessness by Oliver Wood.
"NO!" Katie screamed at Oliver. He stopped, staring at her dumbfounded.
"No, what?"
"No that is not all I have to say. I have a lot more to say so you had better stop moving. Let's get one thing straight Wood, my play is far from the problem at hand. Do you want to know what the real problem is?" Before Wood had a chance to answer, Katie started again.
"It's that you don't have a life. That's right, Oliver Wood doesn't have a life," she shouted out at a group of third years who were standing nearby staring at the spectacle she was creating. But Katie didn't care. "Maybe, instead of critiquing my play you should take a look at yourself. You're so obsessed with goal keeping and strategizing that you fail to notice that you have absolutely no significant relationship to speak of at this school. Not one person who really knows you. Don't you ever feel bad? Or alone? No, of course not because you're Oliver Wood and you have more important things to worry about. You're so obsessed with winning that you miss the entire point of Quidditch."
Katie stopped to take a breath and realized why it was a good thing that she always managed to reason her way out of anger. It prevented her from turning into an illogical banshee who yelled at boys she didn't even know that well. Katie shook her head and was about to apologize when Oliver spoke.
"That's nice," he replied with a polite, faraway smile, as if he hadn't even heard her. "But I really must get back to planning our next practice. See you. And remember to work on your game." And with that Oliver turned to leave.
She was done with it. Katie had thought she and team might be able to help Wood but now she knew she was wrong. If Madame Pomfrey asked, Katie would kindly tell her that there was nothing short of psychiatric care that would break Oliver from his obsession with Quidditch.
I finished this faster than I expected. It's also a bit longer than I had orginally intended. I was a bit overexcited, I suppose. Anyhow, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
