On Top of It All

A/N: Thanks again to all of my reviewers!! I hope you like this chapter. The whole Cedric part of the plot is going to start next chapter. Anyway, enjoy. Please R&R.

Chapter Three: Lost

We lost to Hufflepuff. Diggory had caught the Snitch before he realized that Harry had fallen, and, although he tried to call a rematch, the Hufflepuffs had been claimed the winners. People fell off their brooms all of the time in Quidditch, and, according to Madam Hooch, this wasn't any different.

The team (all except Wood) went to visit Harry before we even cleaned up. We were all soaked to the core and covered in mud, but that wasn't important. Harry looked surprisingly unharmed as he lay unconscious in the hospital bed.

"Lucky the ground was so soft," George mumbled as he looked down at Harry.

"I thought he was dead for sure," Angelina said. Her face was unnaturally pale and she kept pacing by the door of the infirmary.

"But he didn't even break his glasses," Fred picked up the glasses off the bedside table.

"That was the scariest thing I've ever seen," I muttered as I looked up from my hands for the first time. They had been ringing in my lap ever since I sat down.

Harry's eyes opened quickly and he looked from the team and me to Ron and Hermione who were standing on the other side of the bed.

"Harry! How are you feeling?" Fred looked completely un-Fred-like. His face was pale and contorted with worry as he looked at Harry lying in the bed.



"What happened?" Harry shot up in the bed and I gasped at his sudden movement.

"You fell off," said Fred. "Must've been - what - fifty feet?"

"We thought you'd died," Alicia shivered.

I heard a squeak from across the room and looked over to see a very bloodshot Hermione.

"But the match? What happened? Are we doing a rematch?" Harry looked over the faces of all of us eagerly, but none of us spoke. "We didn't - lose?"

Harry looked so distraught at the thought of losing. If possible, I think he was more upset than Wood.

"Diggory got the Snitch," George sighed. "Just after you fell. He didn't realize what happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square. . . even Wood admits it."

"Where is Wood?"

"Still in the showers," Fred explained. "We think he's trying to drown himself."

Harry pulled his knees to his face and tugged at his hair.

"C'mon, Harry," Fred shook Harry's shoulders. "You've never missed the Snitch before."

"There had to be one time you didn't get it," George tried to console him.

"It's not over yet. We lost be a hundred points, right?" Fred thought aloud. "So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin. . ."

"Hufflepuff'll have to lose by at least two hundred points," George sighed.

"But if they beat Ravenclaw. . ."

"No way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff. . ."

"It all depends on the points - a margin of a hundred either way - "

I watched the twins debate out the issue of how we could possibly win the Cup as Harry sat there completely still. He was obviously in shock that we had lost. Since he had joined the team, we hadn't lost a game.

Ten minutes later, madam Pomfrey hustled into the room and started pushing us out of the doors claiming that Harry needed his rest.

"We'll come see you later," Fred called over the short nurse's head. "Don't beat yourself up, Harry, you're still the best Seeker we've ever had."

The five of us left the infirmary. I excused myself as Fred, George, Alicia, and Angelina started up to the Gryffindor common room. They all nodded and I started outside and off towards the locker rooms.

The rain pelted down on my face and robes as I stepped outside and sprinted to the Quidditch field. The locker room door was opened and there was a puddle inside the door. I hopped over it and pulled my robes over my head before dropping them on the floor. I felt thirty pounds lighter without the mud-covered, at one time scarlet robes.

Oliver was sitting on the bench in front of his locker, his head hanging down in his hands.

"Wood?" I walked over the bench and sat down next to him. He was sitting there in a pair of pants and no shirt, his hair still wet from the game and showers, and an extremely unhappy look on his face from what I could see between his fingers.

"Hi, Katie," he mumbled without looking up.

"You okay?" I place my hand on his bare shoulder and squeezed gently. Oliver had never been one to get depressed easily. I had never seen him as upset as he had been after the game today.

"I'll live," he looked up and smiled weakly.

"We played great today. It's in no way your fault that this happened."

"I know, but it still ruined our chance for the Cup," he sighed. "Kate, you know better than anyone that all I've wanted since I got to Hogwarts was to win the Quidditch Cup and this was my last chance. It feels even worse since there was nothing I could do about it. It makes me feel like my chance was stolen away from me, you know?"

"I know, Oliver, but there still is a small chance that we could win. If Hufflepuff loses by two hundred points and we beat -"

"Yeah, Katie," Oliver interrupted me. "I guess all we can do now is sat back and wait. How's Harry?"

"He's fine, almost as disappointed as you, but he's alive and well." I looked back over at him. "You've done a great job, Ollie. We have the best team in the school and you know it. You don't need a trophy to show that, even though it would be cool," I laughed.

Oliver chuckled and I realized how his muscles rippled underneath my hand. "You haven't called me Ollie since second year."

"You haven't needed me to since second year."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Er-" I paused before deciding to simply tell him the truth. "In first and second year, we were really good friends. Now, we're just not. Therefore, I have no need to call you by nicknames and you have no need to talk to me outside of Quidditch."

"What are you talking about, Kate? We're still friends," Oliver looked up and I saw the confusion written clearly across his adorable face.

"Really?" I raised my eyebrows questioningly. "When was the last time you did talk to me outside of Quidditch and classes?"



"Uh---"

"Yeah, like I said" I laughed. "So are you going to be okay? I know you're disappointed about the game, but all we can do is hope for the best and work harder so when we play Ravenclaw we win."

"Thanks," he stood up and pulled me into a tight hug. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Of course I'm right," I gasped. "Oliver, I can't breathe."

He laughed and let his arms loosen around my waist. His right hand moved up to my neck and cradled my face. I felt my heartbeat quicken and my hand on his should start to go clammy.

"I missed you, Kate, and I'm sorry I haven't had time to be your friend. It was definitely my loss."

"You're probably right," I grinned and his finger slowly started caressing my cheek. I forced my eyes to stay open despite the sudden urge to close them and lean against his hand.

The door to the locker room flew open and I heard it crash against the wall. Oliver jumped backward and I tried to compose myself as Fred entered the locker room.

"Oh, good. You're alive," Fred smiled. "What? Katie turned off the water before you could stop breathing?"

"Nah, she just managed to talk me out of it," Oliver grinned at me. "I'm going up to the common room."

"Wait," Fred called and Oliver turned around. "Won't you need to put a shirt on before you go walking around the castle?"

"Yeah, that might be a good idea," Oliver laughed as he caught the shirt Fred threw to him. Then he left, walking out into the rain. I suddenly felt really cold. I don't know whether it was because his arms had left me or the sudden gust of wind that had come through the door, but I didn't like the feeling.

"See ya, Fred," I called before slowly following Oliver's path out of the room.