Under One Roof
A story about Oliver Wood and Katie Bell
I don't own Harry Potter
"I'm just suggesting Katherine" her mother looked up from the book she had been reading, her dark green eyes staring into her daughter's.
"That instead of going and wasting, what is it Roger, two years now....at that worthless Ministry job, you could just come work for your father- as a secretary, maybe.."
Amanda looked over to her husband for support, but Roger merely nodded at certain points of his wife's rants from behind his paper. He, like the rest of the Bell household had learnt to tune Amanda out at times like these.
"But Mother," Katherine began, only to interuptted by her mother.
"Katherine, I know you feel like you have to go to this place to please us, after all you did waste five years at Hogwarts playing Quidditch.."
"Mother.." Katherine had begun to grow tried of this same speech almost every day since she had graduated from Hogwarts, it had grown to be a routine now.
"Katherine" Mrs. Bell arose from her velvet lined sofa and walked over to where Katherine had been sitting.
"It's just that, I don't want you to end up like me, forty and regretting your life, spending each day worrying about the things you didn't do, just please Katherine, Katherine please"
Katherine sighed.
"Are you done now mother?"
"Pardon me?"
"Are you done your speech now?"
"Katherine I don't think I appreciate the tone of voice that you're using.."
"Oh God mother, could you just please stop trying to change my life for one day?"
"Katherine I..."
"No, mother this isn't about you anymore mother, you see I don't know if you've realised it yet mother, but this is my life, mine, not yours"
"Katherine I just want you to be happy.."
"Then stop trying to change my life!"
Katherine was standing now, her cheeks slightly pinker than usual, her hands clenched tightly together at her sides, but still appearing to have perfect composure.
"Katherine I was just suggesting that.."
"Oh God mother you've been suggesting for seven years!"
Roger tore his glance from the paper he had been reading to see his wife and daughter in a row, again. He had grown quite accoustumed to it now, for it happened almost everyday now, you could almost set your watch by it, mind you sometimes Roger did.
"Well I'm sorry that I cared enough about my daughter to.."
"You can stop lying now Mother, none of your friends are here"
For a moment a flash of hurt appeared across Amanda's face, but it was soon replaced by a look of anger.
"Katherine how dare you, you're my daughter god dammit of course I love you!"
"Yeah well sometimes I forget"
Katherine stood there staring her mother into those indentical green eyes that they both shared, as if she was daring her to speak again.
Amanda looked at her daughter, her flesh, her blood, her creation. Staring at her with a look of pure loathing. Amanda knew how much Katherine hated her talking to her about her career choice, but couldn't she understand that she just wanted what was best for her daughter, why couldn't she?
Amanda took a deep breath and ran a hand through her blonde hair.
"Katherine, I just don't see why you're wasting your time studying for a worthless ministry job, that's it"
Katherine sighed and rolled her eyes. She just didn't understand. How could she? She was her mother.
"I'm just saying Katherine that you could do so much better if you just took the job that your father was offering you, that's all don't you understand that?"
"Mother you just don't get it do you?"
Amanda looked at her daughter,a confused look on her face.
"Yes mother, I understand, I've understood for a very long time what you've been telling me, but don't you get it?"
"Katherine.."
"I know mother okay, I know that if I go take that job with Dad that I'll probably get through a lot better than if I do it on my own, but mother-"
Katherine sighed, then fixed her gaze on her mother, staring straight into her eyes.
"When I make it I want it to be because I worked hard, not because my daddy made a few owls"
Amanda looked away from her daughter, avoiding her gaze.
"I'm leaving mother"
Katherine turned and stomped out of the living room and went into the coat closet, searching for her coat.
"Katherine where are you going?"
"Why you seem to know me so well you tell me"
"Katherine, I do know you, but"
"Shows how much you know me mother" Katherine snapped.
"My name's Katie"
Katie apparated moments later in front of the Three Broomsticks. Her second home. Although it was probably more of a home to her than her first home was.
"Good morning Andrew" Katie chirped, positioning herself in her normal seat.
"The usual?" the brunnette man asked.
"Of course" she smiled back.
"You know I've never seen someone get drunk from butterbeer before I met you Katie" Andrew voice came from beneath the table.
"Try drinking fifty then" came Katie's remark. Andrew laughed.
"There you go" he said positioning the bubbling liquid in front of the teen.
"Drink up"
"Hey"
Katie spun around to see Oliver standing behind her grinning.
"Hey"
"Going back to old habits I see" he pointed at the glass of butterbeer.
"Ahh Oliver you know me so well" Katie turned her attention back to the foaming glass. Positioning it to her lips.
"What will it be Oliver pumpkin juice again?"
Katie snorted into her glass.
"Pumpkin juice?"
"What can I say? I live hard"
"Obviously" Katie said still laughing.
"So what's going on today with the fabulous Katie Bell?"
"Nothing, nothing at all"
"Then she just stomped out of here just like that, I swear Margaret, I don't know what's wrong with that girl"
Mrs.Bell paced around her living room, occasionally pulling loose threads from the lace tablecloth which lay crumpled on the coffee table.
Her friend Margaret nodded gently. "You know Amanda, I was reading a column in Witches' Weekly, it said that children are shaped by the people that they associate with, you know their friends"
She put a special emphasis on the word "friends" and then looked Amanda striaght in the eye.
"Who does Katherine hang around?"
"Well," Mrs.Bell paused. "There's Alicia mostly..but yesterday she metioned something about an Oliver..something, oh what was his name?"
"Have you ever met him?" Margaret's eyes narrowed at her friend.
"Well no, but..."
"Well then there's your problem Amanda, that Oliver boy obviously has a bad effect on Katherine" Margaret stood up. " You know Patrick would have a better influence on her, tell you what Amanda, how about you and Katie come to dinner at my house to night?" She paused to straighten her robes. "Around five?"
"Okay Oliver, my turn" Katie tossed her brown hair back off her shoulders. "What's the worst thing you ever did?"
"Easy, slept with you"
"Really, Oliver I'm hurt" Katie placed a hand over her heart.
"You're too young for me" He defended.
"I am not!" Katie snapped. "Oliver you know fully well that it's just three years"
"Three years is plenty"
"Whatever, your turn"
"Okay, how many guys have you slept with?"
"In all?"
"In all"
"Not a clue"
"You don't know?" Oliver asked incredulously.
"It's not that I don't know, I've just, lost count"
Oliver scowled. "Never mind Katie, I shouldn't have asked"
"Damn straight"
"My turn, what the hell is your obsession with Quidditch"
"It's not an obsession Katie..."
"Oh sorry I just probably mistook your constant ramblings on the game as.."
"Ok fine maybe I was a little more into it than normal.."
"A little" Katie laughed. "Wood you practically lived on the Quidditch pitch..and those theories..."
Oliver made a face."Not funny anymore".
"Sorry" Katie stopped."So really Oliver why?"
"Just like the game" he stated while ordering another glass of Pumpkin juice.
"That's it?"
"That's it, see Katie unlike yours my life isn't complicated"
Katie responded by sticking her tounge out a him.
"Mature too I see"
"Whatever Wood, it's your turn"
"Okay, Katie why are you here?"
"Where?"
"Here, at a bar, why are you here, I mean you're nineteen shouldn't you be off partying or something?"
"Well first thing Wood, I'm almost twenty, second thing, it's one and parties don't start until five and finally, I don't want to talk about it"
"That's not how the game works Katie" Olive teased.
"Well too bad, and besides, you just asked me three questions" Katie grinned
"So you're endepted to me" she took a swing from her glass."Now my question, was I good?"
"Go home Katie" Oliver got up from the barstool.
"That's not an answer" Katie laughed.
"Are you drunk?" Oliver stared at her.
Katie laughed again. "Andrew is she drunk?" Oliver asked the bartender. He shrugged "She always is, I can never tell if she's sober or not"
"I'm not drunk" Katie stood up from her stool and faced Oliver. "See" she stated.
"Now if you don't mind" she threw some coins on the bar and turned towards the door, "I'm going home" and with that she apparated away.
"Are you sure you should let her go like that" Oliver was still staring at the spot where Katie had been.
Andrew sighed "She does it everyday, comes in here and drinks until she can't remember why she came in the first place"
"Why?" Oliver asked.
Andrew shrugged. "Just part of the mystery of Katie Bell"
"Can I come in?" Amanda peered into her eldest daughter's room. "Why do you ask if you don't care what the answer is?" Katie responded, looking up from the book she had been reading.
Mrs.Bell frowned at the state of her daughter's room, once she remembered she had painted it pink, now it resembled a more greenish color. "Katerine, I came to ask you a favor"
Katie's eyebrows knitted together at the words, confusion written clearly on her face. "What?" the girl asked.
Her mother paused for a moment and then removed a dirty robed from a spot on a chair, where she then sat down. "Do you remember Patrick"
"Patrick" Katie wrenched up her face in disgust, "You mean that buck toothed, greasy haired, lanky..."
"Katherine" her mother scolded. "He's a fine young man"
"Compared to who, Sirius Black?"
Her mother's frown deepened, now it had begun to etch itself into her face. "Katherine, his mother and I thought, well more decided that you and him would get along so well"
Katie rolled her eyes."And how did the two of you figure that out?"
"Katherine just give the boy a chance you might just like him"
"And then two of us will get married and live happilly ever after, right" her voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"Katherine just, come to dinner, please, I've already promised them that..."
"That's right mother you, you, you, you decided you promised...Mother when are you going to let me live my own life?"
"Why can't you understand that I'm just trying to help?" her mother's voice had risen again, and she sounded quite hysterical.
Katie paused. "Because it isn't true"
She had enough. She was sick and tired of being told how to live her own life just so fed up with it all. She needed to get away. Katie rummaged through her wardrobe, occasionally finding something and bringing it back to her trunk. She was leaving, leaving home, leaving her god forsaken family. Wasn't as if they would miss her, her mother would just start to rule Samantha's life instead.
With a final look behind her at her poster covered room, she waved good bye to the Chudley Cannons, and apparated away.
"Damn door bell" Oliver staggered out of shower with nothing but his towel on.(A/N this is mostly for me)
"Yeah" Oliver swung the door open, expecting to see some door to door broom stick salesman, but instead found...
"Katie?" Oliver found himself staring at the girl. "What are you..."
"Tell me Wood, is the room mate vacancy still open?"
A lot of people have been AIMing me about the lack of romance in my stories, and to tell you the truth you've got to wait until chapter seven for any... I'd like to thank my reviwers Pokelupie (I think that's it) especially she been really nice to me and my bad writing skills. Review thanks.
