Quidditch League: Round 9

Holyhead Harpies, Chaser 1

WC: 3,280

Focus on a passion of your character/pairing. (Katie/Oliver, Quidditch)

Optional Prompts:

10. (quote) "The secret of happiness is not doing what one loves, but loving what one does" – J.M. Barrie

13. (restriction) No using the word 'Hogwarts'

14. (word) Blind

Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp: 49. Childhood Sweethearts

Het-Pairing Boot Camp: 3. accept

there may be more added on but for now I'm posting this.

Katie Bell bounced into the locker rooms of the Harpies' Pitch, laughing as her team mates followed her in. "'Alright, Gwen?" she called, smirking at her stocky blonde Captain.

Gwen rolled her eyes, strapping on her grip gloves and grabbing her bat. "Settle, down, Bell. You're going to need that energy. Puddlemere plays a hard and fast game," she commented, and the team quieted down as they remembered why they were there. The girls were more like family than friends, but they all knew that when it came to Puddlemere, they couldn't afford to make a single mistake.

Katie dressed in silence. She was more nervous for this game than any others she had played. Not only would it be her first time playing Puddlemere while on A-string, but it would also be the first time she had played against her old Captain, Oliver Wood. She remembered how ruthless he had been against the Slytherins, and she had to admit she was a bit nervous about playing him. She still had a drive to prove herself to him ingrained in her mind.

"Oi, Kit-Kat, cat got your tongue? You haven't said a word since you got in here," Angelina Johnson asked, coming to sit on the bench beside her.

"I'm fine. Just nervous is all."

"Katie, you've played multiple A-string games now! You're a smashing Chaser; the Puddles would do more good worrying about you than you worrying about them. You know we can beat them. It'll be tough, but you know we can," she said confidently.

Katie smiled, weakly. "You're right, Ange. I'm just being silly. Wood had better watch out - I might put him in infirmary this time! Then he'll regret all those morning practices." She grinned with a new fervor, laughing with her friend. They'd beat the hell out of their old Captain.


The Harpies lined up across the tunnel from their opponents in blue. Katie looked over the team, recalling their names and stats. Their names and faces blurred together as she scanned down the line, looking for Oliver.

There he was. She caught his eye, smiling slightly and blushing, her heart beginning to pound. He'd gotten so much taller. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been carrying Colin Creevey's body into the Great Hall, dirt and blood smeared across his cheeks and tears staining his face. He looked a sight better now. His hair was ruffled in that sexy way of his, and he was grinning that wolfish grin at her, the one he reserved for those he was trying to intimidate. Not to be outdone, she smirked and cocked a hip.

"Alright there, Wood?" she called over, grinning at her former Captain. "Ready to lose?"

He smirked right back, falling easily into their familiar banter of old. "I didn't need to prepare myself to lose."

"Oh? That so? You're so certain you can handle me and my team?" she teased, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

He scoffed. "I think I can handle you, Bell. I trained you, remember? As much as you'd love me to break, I don't think I will." He sounded confident, smug even, and Katie decided it was time to scare him a bit.

"Right, like you handled me in practice? I seem to recall all those times you yelled at me for improvising plays... at least until you realized the other team had no clue what I was doing. 'Sides, remember that little habit of yours, the one of giving me sugar, before each game?" She grinned as he paled, then climbed on her broom as the manager ushered both teams into place, ready for the game to start. Just before they began to call the names, she turned and winked, blowing him a kiss. "See you on the pitch, Captain," she teased, then pushed out into the sunlight as the roar of the crowds began.


Katie was growling in frustration as she sped down the pitch, chasing after the Quaffle. Brooke and Wilkins were passing it between them, just ahead of Katie. She urged her broom forward, reaching as far as she could to grab the red ball.

With a swipe, she managed to intercept it in midair, turning on a dime and shooting back towards the Puddlemere hoops. She saw Oliver at the end, grinning with excitement, ready for anything she would throw at him. The thought infuriated her, and the fact that he had blocked all her attempts so far only worsened that fact. He had trained her well, and he hadn't forgotten her style.

Quickly, she glanced around for something she could use. If he knew how she played, she'd have to rely on something else - her impulsiveness. He wouldn't expect anything she threw at him if she didn't expect it either. She made eye contact with Gwen, nodding her head towards Wood, and grinned as an evil thought crossed her mind.

"We'll see how you can handle a Sophie's Choice, Wood," she muttered to herself. "Save yourself, or save the Quaffle?"


Wood was watching the game intently, enjoying every moment of it. His team was playing amazingly; they were up by 20 points, despite the wind that was picking up, making it harder to shoot. Bell had been trying to get a shot by him all game, but he managed to block them all. She was good, but he was determined to make it harder for her.

She was coming at him again, an evil grin on her face and Gwenog Jones on her heels. He tensed up, ready to move at a moment's notice. He may know Bell's tactics, but he also knew that face. It meant trouble. With a big, capitol T.

"NOW!" She yelled, launching the ball towards his centre hoop. For a moment, he marveled in her stupidity. Had she really just told him she was shooting? But then, as he dove for the ball, he noticed the Bludger shooting right at him.

Damn her, he thought, cursing silently. She had timed it just right with Jones, and he quickly saw what would happen. If he dodged the Bludger, he would miss the Quaffle. If he caught the Quaffle, he would get slammed by a Bludger. It was going to hurt. But he couldn't let a shot in.

He dove for the Quaffle, spiraling downwards in an attempt to avoid the Bludger. He reached for the Quaffle. It was going to be close. Almost too close.

Just as he felt the soft leather of the ball in his hands, a gust of wind blew through the stadium, knocking him upwards a tad. The Bludger that had been about to hit his upside-down stomach dropped a slight bit, and the angle was perfect.

With a loud crack, Gwenog's Bludger smashed right into Oliver Wood's skull and the pain exploded. He struggled to stay awake for a few seconds, desperate to finish the game, but only heard a voice screaming his name as he immediately sunk into unconsciousness.


"OLIVER!" Katie screamed, shooting towards her friend. The announcer was yelling, the game had paused, and medi-witches were racing towards his impact zone. But no one got there as fast as Katie, who grasped her friend tight around the chest and hauled him half-way onto the broom. His head was bleeding profusely, and his eyes were closed. His face looked deathly pale. Even after the entire war she had been through, Katie couldn't recall ever being this scared for someone.

Suddenly Angie was there, helping her friend bring Oliver back to earth. The Healers swarmed around the fallen Quidditch player, shoving Katie and Angelina aside to attend to their patient.

"No! Let me near him! Please, he needs someone there," she pleaded with one of the Healers, desperate to be by her friend's side again, but the Healer simply pushed her back towards the game and hurried after the levitating stretcher.

"Come on, Katie," Angie said, guiding her friend back to her broom. "Let's finish this game."


By the time Katie was able to escape the press and get to St. Mungo's to visit her friend, it was getting dark. She had played the rest of the game mechanically; fortunately, it didn't last long. Puddlemere's reserve Keeper may've been decent, but he was no Oliver. Even without concentrating Katie had scored against him. Maisy Lee, their Seeker, had finally ended it by catching the Snitch. The Harpies had won 340 to 110. She didn't even care.

Now she sat by her friend's bedside, her hand entwined with his. It was so rough and calloused, tanned with lines from his Keeper gloves. He had strong hands. Katie had always liked them.

"Miss Bell, I'm very sorry, but you're going to have to leave. Visiting hours are over." A timid looking intern stood in the doorway, fidgeting with her uniform.

"Please, Healer..."

"Tabby, miss. And I'm no Healer yet," she said, blushing red.

"Well, Tabby, I haven't been here long. I was with Oliver when he was injured, and I have no intention of leaving again. So don't try making me."

"But, Miss-"

"No. I happen to like it right here. I doubt you could force me out if you tried, but if you leave me alone now I can get you season passes to all the Harpies Games."

The girl gasped. "Really? You would do that?"

Katie squeezed Wood's hand, looking down at him. "Sure. I would do anything. Just let me stay with him. Please."

Tabby nodded, looking at the pair of them with a curious glance. Before she turned to go, she asked, "Do you love Mr. Wood, Miss Bell?"

Katie startled. "I... no, Tabby, he's just a very good friend of mine. He was my old Captain back when I played for Gryffindor. Oliver and I as a couple would be... odd," she finished awkwardly, but the girl just smiled.

"I don't think it would be odd. I think you'd be perfect together." With that, she turned and slipped out the door.

She stayed with him all that night, and much of the next morning, thinking over everything that had happened. The'd always been together, and she wasn't about to change that. She'd stay till he awoke.

He finally did, groaning, the next morning. She had fallen asleep in the chair beside his bed, her head resting on the side of it, when his sounds had awakened her.

"Oliver! You'e alive!" His eyes were open, but he gazed distractedly, wearing a confused look.

"Where... where am I? Katie?"

"You're in St. Mungos. You took a bludger to the head, but you'll be fine, I'm sure. I can-"

"Katie, why can't I see anything? Turn on the damn lights."

She froze, looking at her friend with fear. "Ollie? The lights are on..."

"Quit joking, Bell. The lights aren't on. It's too dark. It's like Fred and George's Peruvian Darkness Powder."

"Ollie, really, the lights are on. Please, you're scaring me!" There really was fear in her voice, a true terror that caused him to stop. He raised his hands to where his eyes were, realizing they were indeed open. He just couldn't see anything.

He was blind.

That was when he began to panic. His chest tightened, and he couldn't breathe. He could hear Katie yelling for a Healer to come and help, and then he felt her small hand in his large one.

"It's ok, Oliver, I'm here for you," she asked. "I'll always be there for you. No matter what. We'll get through this."

His brain couldn't process what was going on. He couldn't see, which meant... he couldn't play Quidditch.

What the hell had happened?

"Oliver, do you remember anything?" He heard Katie's timid voice next to his ear. It was disorienting, this ability to hear her but not see her.

"No. All I remember is I was playing in the game, and you were there, throwing the Quaffle at me, and after that, exploding pain."

"I'm sorry, Oliver!" She was starting to cry; he could hear it in her voice. "It's my fault. I was mad that I couldn't get anything past you, so I decided to try something new. Gwen hit the bludger right were I was aiming so you'd have to make a choice. It was either save the Quaffle and get hit or dodge the Bludger and miss. And you went for the shot, you stupid prat!" she cried, and he felt her head fall on his stomach in misery.

"Gwen purposefully hit a Bludger at my head? She wouldn't do something like that, Kates."

"Well, no, I mean, she aimed it at your stomach. But there was a gust of wind that blew you upwards a bit and it hit you in the head, instead. We didn't factor in the wind. I'm sorry, Oliver!"

"It was an accident, Katie," he said hollowly, but inside he was devastated. He hated the Harpies, he hated Qudditch, he hated his own stupid self. He hated the world for giving him what he loved most and then taking it away again in one fell blow.

"Oliver, I-"

"Kates, can you leave? I want to be alone right now," he said, abruptly, and she sat up, shocked.

"Oh, um, sure Oliver. I'll be outside, I guess."

"It's fine, Katie. I'm awake now. Go home and get some sleep. I don't think you've had much, have you?" He smiled to reassure her, squeezing the hand he still held gently. "Thanks for being here for me. I just... I need some time to process this."

"I understand, Ollie. Owl me if you need anything."

He simply nodded, and she walked out of the room before she could see him cry.


"Hey, Katie, have you seen Oliver recently?" It had been a week since the dreadful game, and Angie and Katie were just finishing up practice for the day.

"No, he won't respond to any of my owls. I sent him a self-writing quill to help him, and I also spelled my letters to read themselves out loud, like the ones from the Ministry. I'm worried about him, Ange. He's pushing me away, and I don't know why!" The two girls walked from the locker rooms and out into the sun.

"Well, maybe he just needs a little push. A reminder that someone loves him. It's a pity he doesn't have a girlfriend..." She looked at Katie with an eyebrow raised.

"Ange, I don't like Oliver like that! You and Licia are demented!"

"Remember that time in Harry's third year when Oliver tried to drown himself in the showers? No one could get him out of there. Except for you."

"So?"

"And remember that time in your seventh year when you ended up in St. Mungo's, cursed? He was there every day to visit you for those six months. Every day."

"Yea, so what? We're good friends! We kept in touch after he left school!"

"And you're saying you never had a crush on him? I don't believe that for an instant, Katherine Bell."

"Ange, I was in fourth year! Everyone had a crush on Oliver Wood at one point. Even you," she accused, crossing her arms.

"I'm not going to argue, the boy's always been a looker. But you and he were closer than anyone, and you never really dated anyone. You still don't. And he hasn't either. Even with all these girls who swarm him because he's a Quidditch god."

"Why does any of this matter, Ange? Who cares about his dating habits? Or mine? I just want to make sure he's ok!" she yelled, fully exasperated.

"Dammit, Katie, don't you see it? He's in love with you! Anyone can see it. He's been trying to win your heart for years, but he's too noble to ask you out because he's convinced himself he's not good enough for you. And now he's blind, so he's probably over there thinking you would never love him because he can't see. That's why he's pushing you away." Her best friend blinked in surprise at the outburst.

"He... Does he really like me?"

Ange laughed in disbelief. "Merlin, Katie, how could he not? You're the only person he's never been able to control. And you love Quidditch."

"Oh," Katie said in a small voice. Angelina watched as her eyes glazed over a bit and a small smile appeared on her face.

"Well? Do you love him too? Because if you do, you better go blast down his door and tell him that, before he does something stupid."

"I... I think I always have, Angie. I just wouldn't let myself admit it."

"Finally! Now go talk to him."


Oliver's house was silent when Katie approached it. When no one answered her knock, she waved her wand and unlocked it. To her surprise, there were no wards up to prevent her from doing so.

"Oliver?" Silence answered back. The entire house was dark, and Katie stumbled across shoes and clutter as she made her way towards the living room.

She clicked on the light. There, sitting in a chair and looking disheveled, sat Oliver. He hadn't shaved in days, and his eyes stared blankly in front of him. He didn't even blink at the brightness.

"Oh, Oliver..." She crossed the room quickly and knelt down in front of him. "Ollie, please. Say something."

"I can't play Quidditch anymore, Kates. I don't know what to do."

"Hey, we'll find something new for you. You can be happy without doing what you love if you love what you're doing. I'll help you through this. You and me, like it's always been."

He laughed softly, but it was entirely without joy. "I don't deserve you, Katie. I'm broken, useless. You shouldn't be stuck with me."

The stifling silence that had held onto the house for days was banished with the loud crack of her slap.

"Oliver Sean Wood! I don't care if you are blind, fat and ugly, I will still love you!" she yelled, furious.

He froze at her words. "You... you love me?"

"Of course I do, you idiot! I've loved you forever. I can't help it."

He grinned, his hands trying to find hers, and she grabbed them tightly, perching herself in his lap and placing his hands on her shoulders. She smoothed his shirt down, playing with the buttons. "I'm sorry I didn't see it before, Oliver. I should've told you I loved you a lot sooner."

"I should've done the same. I love you, too."

She smiled as she leaned in, kissing him soundly. "Maybe we're both a pair of idiots, then. But we've always got each other. Promise?"

He smiled back at her, his sightless eyes glowing with joy. "Yea, I promise," he whispered, before leaning in and kissing her again.