Summer was fun, but Katie found herself counting down the days until she could return to Hogwarts, and when that fateful day finally arrived, she could not have been more excited. She was jittery the whole way to the castle, and she greeted all of her friends enthusiastically. She was especially excited to see Leanne. She was just wandering into the great hall and chatting excitedly with Leanne when she got the odd feeling that perhaps she was forgetting something. She pushed the feeling aside and instead focused all of her attention on Leanne. Unfortunately, Leanne was not giving her the same courtesy. She kept glancing at something out of the corner of her eye and smiling. Katie questioned her on it a few times, but Leanne always shook her head and insisted it was nothing. Soon it no longer mattered, as everyone had to quiet themselves for the sorting. Then, a murmur broke out amongst the students after a particularly chilling announcement regarding the Azkaban dementors. However, once the feast began, both the students and Leanne seemed to have forgotten about whatever might have distracted them before, and she and Katie resumed their normal conversation. Soon, Katie forgot about the distraction as well.
However, just as they were exiting the great hall, Leanne glanced away and smiled again. This time, she even giggled slightly. Katie was exasperated, "What are you looking at?" she turned in the direction Leanne was facing and her eyes scanned the crowd. It took barely a second for her to realize what had distracted Leanne. There, making his way through the crowd was Oliver Wood.
He stopped awkwardly in front of her and beamed. For a moment, his arms twitched like he was going to hug her, but then he simply smiled wider and waved. "Hi." He breathed.
"Hi." Katie's voice was equally breathless. This surprised her, since when was she nervous around Oliver? Also, when did she start holding her breath?
"I uh . . . I tried to get your attention earlier across the table but you didn't see me." Oliver explained awkwardly. Katie was suddenly embarrassed, and also slightly annoyed. Why hadn't Leanne just told her?
"O-oh . . . I'm sorry, I didn't know." She shrugged and smiled nervously. She could feel her cheeks burning and cursed her misbehaving face. She and Oliver stood there awkwardly smiling at each other for another moment or so before Katie heard another giggle escape from Leanne. "Well-uh, we'd better get back to the dormitory." This statement seemed to snap Oliver out of his oddly dazed expression. Suddenly, wistful smile turned playful, and the manic glint in his eyes returned. "Of course! On the way there I can tell you about the strategies I came up with over the summer. I think I've got some pretty good ideas for what our game plan this season should be." Katie and Leanne rolled their eyes and exchanged amused looks. "Of course you did." Katie sighed. "You bet. I spent a good part of my summer hacking it all out. Oh-which reminds me, how was your summer, Katie?" Katie shrugged, "Pretty good." Oliver waited politely for her to elaborate, although Katie knew he was just dying to delve right into his strategies. Usually, Katie would have allowed him to just carry on about it by now, just to appease him. But she found herself suddenly feeling a little inclined to make him wait. Maybe she didn't want his attention to break away from her just yet. She also found herself thinking back to that strange moment between them which had just occurred. But soon she realized that she hadn't said anything for a good couple of minutes and decided to just let Oliver off the hook. "So," Katie sighed, oddly disappointed, "what were these strategies you mentioned?" Oliver beamed.
Perhaps it was because of the two years previous in which the quidditch cup had slipped through their fingers, or perhaps it was because this year was his last, but Katie couldn't help but notice that Oliver Wood's practice sessions this year were more brutal than ever. In fact, it was pretty hard for the entire team not to notice.
"I'm gonna kill him." Alicia gasped. The team stood on the grassy field, kneeling over and breathing heavily. They were dirt smeared, dripping in sweat, and moments from collapsing in complete exhaustion. This is when Oliver Wood chose to land beside them. "Well don't just stand there! We've plenty more to do." He announced, gesturing to the hoops. "Oliver!" Angelina rounded on him with an unprecedented ferocity which surprised the entire team, Oliver in particular. "This is too much! I can't take it anymore! You are INSANE! And if you don't believe me-just ask the rest of the team," she gestured quickly to the team, who shifted awkwardly, "If I have to run one more stupid drill, I'm going to SNAP!" Fred leaned towards his brother, "I think she already has."
"SHUT UP FRED!" Angelina screeched. Oliver was staring at his enraged chaser with a look of pure shock plastered across his features. After a few moments of silence, he ran his eyes over his exhausted team. Suddenly he wilted. The team exchanged worried looks, even Angelina seemed suddenly off put. Oliver let out a sigh as he cast his eyes downwards. Shifting his feet back and forth, he murmured, "Well…I-um…I suppose that's enough. For today." He looked up suddenly, "I'll round up the gear, shall I? You all hit the showers." And with that he turned on his heel and walked away. An awkward silence passed over the team. But the second Oliver was out of earshot, George piped up, "Way to go Angelina."
"Yeah," Fred added, "You broke him." The twins turned and headed off towards the locker room. Angelina turned back to her team, looking embarrassed and guilty. After another moment of silence, Harry glanced up, "That was…a bit harsh maybe?" he said gently. When Angelina didn't respond, he too walked off to the locker room. Alicia sighed and walked over to Angelina, encouraging her gently and leading her off to the lockers as well. Katie watched them go, but stayed behind. She desperately wanted to return to the lockers to take a shower and change out of her sweaty gear, but was unsure if she was ready to face the tension surrounding her teammates. But after about five minutes of watching Oliver scurrying after a bludger, Katie sighed and retired to the lockers.
When the team finally exited, Oliver was still rounding up the gear. Katie considered helping him, but upon noticing his downcast expression, she felt that doing so might be awkward. Figuring that he would prefer to be left alone, she followed her silent teammates off of the pitch.
But as she climbed under her bed covers that night, she mused to herself that it must have taken Oliver a long time to round up all the gear on his own, especially the elusive snitch. As she drifted off, she wondered if he would be alright come next practice.
Since Oliver had opened his tyrannical reign this year with a whopping three practices a week, the next practice was not far off. And throughout the practice, Katie noticed, to her discomfort, that Oliver was indeed, off. The rest of her teammates seemed to notice as well, as they were oddly silent and complained little during the practice. However, this may also have been because Oliver nagged them less this practice.
His differences were subtle. For the most part, he was the same old Oliver Wood, shouting out orders and offering up suggestions. But he seemed to be letting more slide this particular day, and his commands, once strong and final, were now slightly more tentative.
After Oliver said nothing following a particularly awful shot at the hoops by Alicia, Katie sighed. "I can't take this anymore."
After practice had ended, the gear had been put away, and the team had showered and changed, Katie approached him. She waited until the team was exiting the pitch before grabbing Oliver by the sleeve and calling out his name. "I need to talk to you." She said. Oliver glanced back at the exiting team before turning back to his youngest chaser, "Uh . . . alright, sure. What is it Bell?"
'Bell.' She hated it. "What's wrong with you today?" she hadn't meant it to come out so harsh, but she'd already said it and she was more than a little annoyed by this point. "What do you mean?" he looked so genuinely confused that Katie almost believed him.
"You know." She insisted, "You've been acting weird all practice. Is this about what Angelina said? Because she was just exhausted-she didn't really mean it."
"It's not about that." He said quickly, "I mean-I'm fine." Katie's eyes searched his face for clues, but found none. Finally, she sighed. "Look Oliver, you drive everyone crazy you know. What with your early morning extended practices, the sheer number of sessions we have, and your crazy nagging all the time . . ." Oliver's brow furrowed and he opened his mouth to object, but Katie cut him off, "All I mean is, you work us pretty hard, and you can't blame us for getting a little annoyed every once in a while." She shrugged. Oliver paused, looking down slightly as he thought over her words. Seeming to understand, he nodded slightly. "But . . ." she began. He glanced up, "We know why you do it, and we wouldn't ever want you to change." She smiled shyly. Oliver looked slightly confused again. But before he could respond, Katie leaned forward on her tip toes and pecked him on the cheek. She wasn't sure why she did it exactly, to be honest she didn't give it much thought. "You're fine the way you are." And with one final smile, she turned and headed off the quidditch pitch. She didn't see the surprised look on Oliver's face. She didn't see the slow blush that spread across his face, or the way he shifted his feet slightly. She didn't see him watching her leave.
The next practice that rolled around saw Oliver Wood returning to his formerly fired up self, much to the relief of his entire team. Katie was particularly pleased, feeling like perhaps her little chat with Oliver may have helped, even just a little. But regardless, she was glad that everything had returned to normal. Except, maybe this was her imagination, but she felt like Oliver might have been watching her during practice. But then again, he was the captain. He was supposed to watch.
After the horrible incident of the first game, Oliver was in shambles. And Katie couldn't say she blamed him, not this time. After a last minute switch up, which had them facing Hufflepuff instead of the intended Slytherin, a group of dementors had ambushed Harry, eliminating him from the game as well as almost killing him. Without their seeker, they had suffered a humiliating defeat at Hufflepuff's hands. And while Katie was pleased to hear that Harry would be alright, she couldn't help but be disappointed at their circumstantial loss.
To be fair, Cedric Diggory had offered them a rematch, but Oliver had politely turned him down. Katie was partially disappointed that her captain had rejected such a generous offer, but couldn't really blame him. A rematch win was hardly a win, and Oliver, despite his obsessive behavior, was all about fairness. That was part of what made him such a great captain.
"I think Wood might actually off himself this time around." George remarked. "It wouldn't be a surprise." Fred agreed. They turned to each other and said in unison, "He is a lunatic after all." Currently, their almighty captain was lying on his back on the couch in the Gryffindor common room, his hands covering his face. "Oh lay off." Angelina sighed, "I think we're all pretty upset about this one."
"No kidding," Alicia chimed, "dementors on the field, it's insane." She muttered. "He'll be fine." Katie said, "He just needs a day or two to get over it."
"Well of course he does." The twins chimed, grinning at her. Angelina and Alicia giggled, exchanging knowing smiles. Katie rolled her eyes. She knew what was coming, and she didn't want to hear it. "I'm going to bed now." She announced. She climbed the stairs listening to the laughter of her teammates along with Angelina's half joking outcry of, "Sorry Katie!"
She was relieved upon entering the fourth years' dorm room to find Leanne in there alone reading a book. "Hey, Leanne." Katie smiled and plopped down on the bed beside her friend. "Hello." Leanne said, not looking up from her book. Katie sighed and allowed herself to fall back onto the mattress. Leanne glanced at her, "Upset about the loss now, are we?" Katie sighed again. "I can't help it." Leanne nodded, "I know."
Oliver did recover, as he always did, and in no time at all the team was back to their brutal practices. Now increased to five times a week. But despite all of the work and all of the complaining, the practices seemed to be well worth the effort, as the team emerged victorious from their next match against Ravenclaw. Katie was so pleased with the results, that she even gave Harry a kiss on the cheek, something which made Oliver twist his face into an unrecognizable expression. But Katie didn't care, she was far too giddy.
By the time she left the locker room, most of the team was gone. She could just barely see Angeline and Alicia chatting as the exited the pitch together as she exited the lockers. But just as she headed towards the field exit, she heard a voice call out her name. "Katie!" she turned to see Oliver rushing after her. She slowed her pace, allowing him to catch up, and he soon fell into step beside her. "Excellent game today!" he announced, beaming. Despite the fact that Katie was already overjoyed, she found Oliver's delight contagious, and she smiled. Oliver launched into an extraordinarily complimentary recount of the game's highlights, and Katie soon found herself joining in. They had quite a pleasant conversation, and after they had exhausted their excitement over the game itself, Oliver began to carefully compliment Katie's performance. She blushed slightly and tried to add in her own compliments of Oliver here and there, but there was no doubt that he dominated the conversation. They were nearing the school when Katie finally piped up, "Oliver, please, you're embarrassing me."
He stopped so suddenly that it took Katie a few seconds to realize he was no longer beside her. When she did, she paused and turned back to face him. He was watching her with a sort of elated expression on his face. "You were brilliant though." He said softly. Katie blushed again, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Oliver . . ." she muttered. He took a hesitant step forward. "Katie, do you ever think, that maybe . . ." she looked up. 'Katie,' he had said. For some reason, she could feel her heart hammering in her chest, and she was having trouble breathing. Oliver's eyes shifted back and forth between Katie's face and the ground, but Katie's eyes were locked on his. He seemed to struggle within himself for a moment, before finally he looked up at her again. ". . . never mind." His smile seemed halfhearted, and Katie found herself oddly disappointed.
They finished their walk with bits and pieces of conversation about the game, but they were far less enthusiastic than before. When they parted in the Gryffindor common room to head off to bed, Katie felt strangely nostalgic. Upon entering the dorm, Katie collapsed on her bed with a large sigh, drawing Leanne's attention. She perched herself on the end of Katie's bed, "What's wrong?" she whispered, so as not to awake the other girls. Katie propped herself up on her elbows. ". . . I don't know really." She said quietly. It was hard to see in the dark, but Katie thought she saw Leanne's brow furrow in confusion. "What do you mean?" Katie sighed and sat up, "Just that . . . lately I've been feeling a little weird around Oliver." To Leanne's credit, she listened quietly and seemed to consider Katie's statement, rather than immediately insist that Katie had fallen in love with her captain. Katie was suddenly grateful for Leanne's non-judgmental ways. Finally, Leanne whispered, "Why do you think that is?" Katie thought it over, and couldn't come up with a proper answer. Well, not one she agreed with anyways. ". . . I don't know." She said softly. They sat in silence for a while, eventually they both retired to bed. As she lay there, wide awake, Katie wondered if it was in any way possible that she had developed feelings for Oliver Wood.
With the end of the year approaching, Katie had much to worry about. Finals were coming up, and with the quidditch cup within their grasp, Oliver was as fired up as ever. Scheduling practices, devising strategies, and nagging his teammates with as much vigor as possible, Oliver seemed unstoppable. And yet, despite the fact that he was now more annoying than ever, Katie found herself paying more attention to him during practice, admiring the skills she had been drawn to upon first meeting him. When speaking with him, Katie re-evaluated his features. She had always found Oliver rather plain, and not particularly attractive, but lately she was wondering why she had ever thought that. Upon closer inspection, she found him rather charming, perhaps even a bit handsome. And as the end of the year crept closer and closer, she found herself increasingly alarmed as his inevitable graduation. She attempted to push these growing concerns from her mind, but it seemed an impossible task. She began to worry that these thoughts might interfere with her performance during the final quidditch match.
However, when the match finally rolled around, she discovered with pleasure that her dedication to quidditch overwhelmed her concerns regarding Oliver, and she was able to focus completely on the matter at hand.
When they won, she could not have been more elated. The team gathered in an enthusiastic dog pile, hugging and screaming and whooping. Katie could hardly tell whose limbs were whose, and she didn't particularly care. The team was ecstatic, and she could not have been more jubilant. Oliver was so happy, that Katie suspected she saw tears in his eyes. It wouldn't surprise her, he had worked hard the past three years for this moment.
Katie also found that the residual joy from the team finally winning the quidditch cup had seeped into her everyday life. With the end of the year just around the corner, Katie found herself feeling far more pleasant, and she was far more confident in her studies. The felt good about how final exams had gone, and with the dementors leaving Hogwarts, she could think of nothing else that could make her life better. Well, almost nothing else.
With the end of the year came graduation, meaning the departure of their captain. The whole team stopped to say goodbye to Oliver Wood, some stayed longer than others. Katie hung back the longest. They stood on the shores of the lake as other graduates finished their goodbyes and began to board the boats.
"So," Katie sighed, "I guess . . . I won't be seeing you next year." Oliver chuckled slightly, "I suppose not."
"Quidditch practice won't be the same." She smiled back. "Oh, you'll be fine. It's like I've been saying for the past three years-best quidditch team that Hogwarts has seen in years." He shrugged. Katie dipped her head and nodded. It was so strange to think of him not being there next year, not nagging them with his constant orders and advice. Why on earth did she feel like she was about to start crying?
"Where uh . . . what will you do?" she looked up at him. Oliver glanced back at the boats, "Probably try to go pro. I hear Puddlemere United is looking for a reserve keeper." Katie couldn't help it, she smiled, "You'll make it for sure." Oliver raised his eyebrows skeptically, "Well, we'll see. You never know, maybe they'll have a low turnout." Katie rolled her eyes, "Don't be ridiculous, you're an amazing keeper and they'd be lucky to have you." Oliver stared at her, suddenly she felt awkward and dipped her head again. ". . . you really think so don't you?" he said quietly, his eyes locked on her face. Katie looked up again, feeling slightly confused, "Well . . . of course, why else would I say it?" Oliver shook his head and looked down, shuffling his feet. "Nothing. No reason." He shook his head again. Katie looked back and forth, utterly confused. "Oi! Wood! The boats are leaving!" a voice called out. Oliver and Katie both turned towards the boats, Katie felt suddenly panicked. "Be right there!" Oliver shouted. He turned back to Katie, who looked up at him, her heart beating against her ribcage. "Well." He sighed. "Well." She repeated, forcing a smile. He smiled back, and they stood in silence for another moment, just staring at each other. Suddenly, Oliver's smile dropped and he glanced down. "Bye, Katie." He murmured, and he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, trapping her in his embrace. Katie's breath caught, and she slowly wrapped her arms around his torso. "Bye, Oliver." She whispered. They stood there for a time that seemed all too short, until finally Oliver had to pull away. He offered her one last smile, and then boarded the boats.
As the boats pulled away, Katie felt her nose burning, and her eyes blurred. The farther away the boats got, the harder it became for Katie to hold back her tears, until finally she had to turn away. She ran frantically to the carriages, and managed to hold it back until she found Leanne. She quickly climbed in and slammed the door behind her before collapsing into tears. Leanne was immediately alarmed, and she wrapped her arms around Katie.
"Katie! What's wrong?" she asked, concern evident in her voice. But Katie couldn't find the words to speak right now. As if understanding her friend's predicament, Leanne didn't pry, she merely sat there, holding Katie and rubbing her back. And Katie didn't stop crying until they had to exit the carriages. Feeling numb, she barely tried to hide her puffy eyes, but stuck close to Leanne, who again, didn't question her. As they boarded the train, Katie felt grateful for Leanne's wordless acceptance of her despair, but couldn't work up the energy to tell her just what had been bothering her just yet. But as the train pulled away, she knew she could hardly deny it anymore. She liked Oliver Wood.