When Katie arrived back at George and Angelina's she saw a note on the table saying that George was out at the shop and Angelina was at work.
Katie sighed as she dropped her Quidditch bag on the floor in the guest bedroom where she was staying. It had been a while since Katie had seen many people from her days at Hogwarts- before she made chaser for the Holyhead Harpies Katie had spent all her time working for George at the joke shop when Oliver wasn't home and when he was, she spent every minute with him- even if all he did was go straight to bed.
But now-tonight Katie was spending her time with someone different- Marcus Flint. Someone who during her time at Hogwarts she spent dodging in the halls for fear of getting hexed, someone who illegally knocked her off her broom during Quidditch matches, someone who she naturally hated because the team hated-because Oliver hated.
Because of that Marcus made the perfect distraction.
***
Katie was sitting on the edge of the bed wrapped in just a red fluffy towel- from the shower she stepped out of nearly twenty minutes ago. Katie was trying to decide what to wear, and for the first time in a long time Katie found herself very self-conscious of her wardrobe. Katie had never felt the need to splurge on fancy dresses or designer labels – why would she when Oliver loved her anyways? But when the image of Marcus surfaced in her mind- Marcus with the crisp black dress robes... that clung to his toned body, well Katie couldn't help but want to dress to impress, and that thought alone scared and excited Katie.
Since Katie spent the better part of her life with Oliver she had never felt the need to dress up, but now she couldn't help but feel guilt that she was sitting on the bed contemplating for the past twenty minutes on which dress to wear to dinner with Marcus Flint, and that thought alone was enough to make Katie's eyes water.
In the end Katie chose the strapless black dress with her black high heels she magically straightened her long brown hair. As Katie walked down the stairs to wait in the kitchen for Marcus's arrival she reminded herself- like she had when she had nearly started crying that she was dressing up to make an impression, that she Katie Bell deserved to be on the team.
"As the team manager and sponsor I had to come out to see the new edition to the team and offer to take her out to dinner."
She was going to dinner with him because she had to- not because she wanted to.
This is a business dinner-and as it's business she has to dress up.
This dinner wasn't about Oliver or Marcus this dinner was about her and Quidditch, her and her spot on the Holyhead Harpies.
For the first time since Katie left Oliver, he found himself faced with a dilemma that wasn't based on Katie.
He had run out of alcohol.
So for the first time since arriving back at his and Katie's flat since his visit with George and Angelina's Oliver put on his cloak and apparated out of the flat.