Prompts used: Word: shimmering; Word: Loud; Dialogue: "I hope I didn't get you in trouble."; Dialogue: "Have you heard the news?"; Color: Tan

Bonus prompts used: Item: lipstick; Dialogue: "Just relax."; Color: Pastel pink; Emotion: calm

Friendship, Love, and Trust

"Have you heard the news?" Angelina asked as she slid into the table across from Katie. With their busy schedules, it had become a tradition to meet at the Three Broomsticks every Saturday evening to catch up with each other and try to maintain a sense of normalcy in the wake of the upcoming war.

"What news?" Katie asked hesitantly, fearing the worst.

"For once, it's something good! But if you haven't heard it yet, I'll let Alicia tell you once she gets here," Angelina replied with a smirk.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Some things never change, do they? You still enjoy being able to tease people about things they don't know yet."

Angelina grinned, "Well, what can I say? It is quite enjoyable," she paused and glanced towards the door, "Oliver! Over here!" She called, waving her arm towards him to indicate where they were sitting.

It still amazed Katie that seeing Oliver still took her breath away. They had been together for over 2 years, but there was something about him that didn't cease to amaze her. He grinned at them both as he headed to the table, wearing jeans, a plaid shirt and a tan jacket. He was still the most handsome man she knew, and she was still in disbelief that they were together.

Oliver reached the table and slid into the booth next to Katie. "Hey Ange, hey Kates," he smiled as he leaned in to give Katie a kiss. He wrapped his arm around her as he sat down, allowing her to lean into him.

"How was practice?" Angelina asked.

He shrugged, "Same as always. But that's a good thing. And I won't bore you with all the details since I know Katie will slap me if I start rambling about Quidditch plays."

"Hey!"

"Well, you do know it's true, love."

"But that doesn't mean we need to talk about it right now… Oh look, it's Alicia and the twins! Hey guys!" They waved as they pushed through the crowd that was surrounding the table.

"M'lady, how are you?" Fred asked as he bent to kiss Angelina's hand.

She raised an eyebrow, "Really Fred?" Shaking her head she interlaced their hands together as she pulled him down next to her. George and Alicia sat down next to them as Fred and George began launching into a discussion about their newest product for the joke shop.

Katie smiled as she listened to her friends talking as though none of them had a care in the world. It was always a relief to her to have their Saturday nights together to decompress from the week and make things seem as though they were still back at Hogwarts. Looking at their group of friends now, it was fascinating to think back to eight years ago when most of them started at Hogwarts. Katie, Angelina, and Alicia had formed a fast friendship as they were roommates, but Angelina and Alicia couldn't stand to be around Fred and George for long periods of time.

Of course it didn't help that the twins liked to pull pranks on the two girls relentlessly, but Katie had always enjoyed the pranks. There were a few years that Katie would help the twins and Lee with some pranks before Quidditch and OWLs had taken over her life. It had taken the twins up to their fifth year to weasel their way into finally befriending Angelina and Alicia. That was helped in part by Angelina and Fred's on and off again relationships. For two people who argued constantly for the previous four years and then see them all of a sudden begin dating, it was a little bizarre. But it allowed for a wonderful friendship to grow between the five of them.

And Oliver.

How on earth did she even begin to describe the relationship that she had with him.

They grew up together, but Oliver was three years older than her and he had primarily been friends with Katie's older brother, Luke. That didn't change anything though, the three of them had still been really good friends throughout their childhood. The Woods lived a few houses away, and the three of them would gather some of the other kids in the neighborhood and hold Quidditch matches. Katie, Oliver, and Luke normally wound up on the same team, wreaking havoc against anyone who tried to play against them.

How did it happen that almost ten years later, Oliver and Katie began dating? Jokingly their parents had always teased them that they would somehow end up together. But when she was younger she definitely did not see Oliver in that way.

Until three years ago. The year they finally won the Quidditch Cup. That was the year that she finally realized her feelings for him, and he confessed his feelings for her. Since he was graduating in a few months, they just got to know each other better. She had been worried about them growing apart after he left Hogwarts, but he convinced her that they had been friends for so many years that it would be close to impossible for them to grow apart.

And he had been right. A year after he graduated they finally decided to give a relationship a try. And two years later they were still together. She sighed with happiness as she thought back over the two years that they had been together. It had its ups and downs, like any relationship, but they always managed to work through things.

Though things were getting a lot more hectic for all of them. With Voldemort rising to power and the Order of the Phoenix taking a stand against him, they lived in constant fear of what could happen. She shivered, worried that this could be the last weekend they all were able to spend together.

But she couldn't think like that. She just couldn't.

"Hey Kates, what's wrong?" Oliver whispered in her ear. "I can tell something's bothering you. And you've been spacing out for well over ten minutes and that's not like you."

She shrugged. "I'm fine Ollie. Or at least I will be, I was just thinking. What are they talking about?" She tried to deflect the question, as she hated when she started to think along these lines. She wanted to enjoy the moments she had, not worry about ones that might not come.

They were suddenly interrupted by loud laughter coming from the twins. Alicia was leaning close to George, closer than she normally did. She was also shooting him a death glare as she was now sporting pastel pink hair.

"George, you have got to be kidding me right now," she told him angrily. "Is this what I'm going to have to put up with from now on?"

Angelina nodded, "I'm so sorry 'Leesh, but yes. Yes it is."

Alicia let out a sigh as she turned to glare at George again. He raised his hands up in surrender, "I didn't do anything! It was all Fred!"

"In this case," Alicia began, "It's never all Fred. You always have a hand in these things. What am I going to have to do to revert my poor hair color?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you really want me to say that here?" She shoved him, blushing furiously.

Katie's eyes widened. "Wait. Wait just one minute. Are you two finally dating? Is that what you were implying earlier Ange? And why Alicia, did you not tell me sooner?"

Alicia and George blushed. It was a rare sight seeing George blush and Alicia's blush was clashing terribly with her currently pink hair. It almost looked as though her hair was shimmering, but that must be part of the spell he used to change her hair color.

"Um… well… we were going to tell you. We just haven't seen you since it happened," Alicia responded guiltily.

Katie raised an eyebrow, "So when exactly did this finally start?"

"Well, I mean, we've been seeing each other as friends for years as you know. But officially it started this past Tuesday."

Katie stared at them in disbelief. "You guys managed to keep this from me for five whole days?"

Alicia and George stammered, they didn't know how best to explain.

"But you guys do realize I'm insanely happy for you both, right? I mean, this has needed to happen for years. I'm just more shocked you managed to keep it from me."

"Well, we did want to tell you in person," George began, "The fact that Oliver even managed to keep it from you amazes me."

"Now that," she started, looking pointedly at Oliver, "is impressive. I'm going to need to have a word with him later tonight…"

"Oh man Oliver, I'm sorry. I hope I didn't get you in trouble with your girlfriend. All I can say is good luck, we all know how much of a spitfire she can be."

"Shut up George," Katie teased, knowing how much truth he was speaking. "So Ange, is that the news you were referring to earlier?"

Angelina nodded, she and Fred were being terrifyingly quiet. That normally could mean only one thing-that Fred was planning some sort of prank and God help that poor soul he decided to prank.

The group spent the rest of the night talking, laughing, and trying to forget about the problems surrounding them in the world. After a few hours, Katie could feel herself getting tired and she was leaning her head onto Oliver's shoulder, eyes periodically drifting closed. Oliver glanced down to see her beginning to fall asleep and turned to the rest of the group, "I think we're going to need to call it a night. I don't know how much longer Katie will be able to stay awake for."

The group said goodbye, promising to see each other next Saturday if not sooner, as Oliver and Katie left the Three Broomsticks.

Katie was rummaging through her purse looking for her keys; lipstick, lotion, a magazine, her wallet, and everything else she needed except her keys. "Ollie, do you have your keys with you? I can't find mine anywhere. I must have left them at home…" she trailed off, turning to look at Oliver.

Splat. Katie felt something wet trickling down her neck. She closed her eyes, maintaining a sense of calm that would best help her plot out her attack. She no longer felt as sleepy as she did before they left the pub; but then again a wet snowball on your neck could definitely help someone wake up.

Bending down, Katie quickly formed a snowball. She glanced around to see where Oliver was and quickly Apparated to the spot next to him. Taking the snowball, she shoved it down his shirt, allowing it to melt against his skin.

"Oh no, you did not just do that," he groaned and turned to chase her down the street. He chased her for a few minutes, pelting snowballs at her that she dodged quickly using her Quidditch skills. Being taller than her definitely was at his advantage as it allowed him to catch up to her within a few minutes. He wrapped his arms around her and dragged her to the ground.

Playfully she shoved him, trying to get him off of her. "Ollie! You're squishing me!" She laughed as he moved his weight onto his arms and off of her. "Just relax," he said as he leaned down to kiss her.

Kissing him back was like the stars had aligned. There was something calming about being in his presence. They broke apart and she smiled at him.

"Kates, I do want you to know I am sorry about not telling you about George and Alicia. I knew they wanted to tell you themselves and I didn't want to spoil that surprise for them. I know the difficulty you have with trusting other people that aren't me, Luke, the twins, or Angelina and Alicia so I know how much that must have hurt you to hear. I just wanted you to know that you can still trust me."

"I know Oliver, I understand why you didn't tell me, and it actually didn't bother me nearly as much as it used to. I think having you there throughout my life has truly helped and I cannot thank you enough. You pulled me out of that deep, dark hole that only Luke could get to, and I still don't know how you did it." She smiled shyly at him, overcome with love and gratitude towards him. She reached towards his hand and interlaced their fingers and began walking to their normal Apparition point.

"It must be because of my natural charm and good looks," Oliver grinned.

"You mean your Quidditch charms and Quidditch knowledge? Because in school that was all you ever focused on. Quidditch this, Quidditch that. Oh we have a test? That's not nearly as important as Quidditch. Oh Harry's injured? As long as he gets the snitch first that's all that matters."

Oliver gaped as she was detailing this. "Was I really that bad?"

"I think that was being nice. What about all of those 5AM practices? The ones that none of us could stay awake during?"

"Those were important! It was the only way we could prepare to win the Quidditch Cup!"

"3 hour practices at 5AM when we were studying for our OWLs? Oliver, none of us could stay awake. I think I was the only one who actually tried. Don't you remember seeing the others sleeping? You never even tried to wake them up!"

Oliver raised his hands in his defense, "That was their own fault for not going to bed early enough. I gave you guys a good time to plan to go to bed but if you didn't listen to that it was your own problem."

"Ollie. Think about what you just said." Katie smirked, wondering how long it would take for him to realize what he had been like.

He paused, thinking, "Oh. Oh. Was I really acting like a mother hen?"

"Now you realize it. How many years later?" Katie teased him, loving the look on his face.

"But you still put up with me."

"And I somehow fell in love with you along the way. And I'm still putting up with your Quidditch craziness. I don't know how I do it."

"With a lot of patience. And trust."

"You're right. You got underneath my skin Oliver Wood. And I'm never letting you go. We each have our flaws, but we balance each other out. Thank you for putting up with my craziness, my stress, and my worries, especially about each of you. I love you."

"I love you too Kates. I couldn't imagine anything else right now. I'm so thankful for our life together, despite the war surrounding us." They had reached their Apparition spot, and a light snow had begun falling. He turned to look at her, a light wind was brushing her hair across her face and her eyes were glowing with the love they shared.

"Katie," he began and took her hand in his, "I've loved you since I first met you. I didn't realize it at first, but as we grew older the only thing I could realize was that it was true love. You've put up with me throughout the craziness of Quidditch seasons, school, and now with the impending war. You've done it all in stride, with no anger or frustrations, even when I know I did something stupid. I just-you've become my world Katie and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Katie paused, unsure of where he was headed with this. She opened her mouth to say something only to be stopped by him bending down on one knee.

"Katie Bell, my love and world, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Her eyes widened in shock. They had talked about marriage before, but never as something they could see happening in the near future. Since she was a little girl she had always wanted that dream wedding, but she never dreamed it would be with the perfect man. A tear slipped down her cheek as a smile spread over her face. "Of course I would Oliver! I love you too." He slipped the ring onto her finger, and with a huge grin on his face he picked her up and spun her around. Setting her down he kissed her lips, drawing her close to him.

She smiled into the kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck, knowing that no matter what the future held, she and Oliver would face it together.

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