For the dozenth time, Katie peered over at Kiera, opened her mouth to say something, then promptly closed it. Instead, she picked up random potion ingredients from the shelves, barrels and drawers surrounding the two sisters. The apothecary was eerily quiet, as it always was, the only sound were their footsteps and the grinding of Katie's jaw.
"For the love of all that is holy, Katie, just spit out what you have to say!" Kiera finally snapped as Katie's head snapped away from Kiera's side gaze once again.
"I think you may have been right about Roger," Katie mumbled after a moment of shock.
"Obviously, I am right," Kiera replied with a sly smile that Katie hated. "I always am. So what brought the turn around?"
"He came over last night."
"Did he really?" Kiera replied, dropping the dandelion roots she was holding. Her eyes were bright, but not surprised.
"Yes. He did." Katie gave her a stony glare.
"I was just helping things along…" At least she had given Katie the courtesy of looking embarrassed.
"Well, it wasn't like that, you silly girl."
"Then, what was it?"
"Well, you knew how I was sick. Then, someone told him where I live, and he showed up at my door last night to make me soup."
Kiera grinned, any pretense of shame gone on her girlish face. "Soup."
"Yes. And nothing else, you dirty minded little thing."
"Was it good soup?"
"Kiera, soup is not a euphemism for sex."
She rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright, then what made you come to this stunning realization?"
"Mostly after the 'Oliver Incident'. Then last night, I was watching him cook, and I realized how attractive he is. How utterly competent he is. And those hands..." Katie shook herself back to reality. "And then I came to the conclusion that he might be there because he felt something more than friendship, and that thought made me start to feel something more. Especially when his eyes turned the colour of a storm cloud. And the way he kissed my cheek last night."
"Wait, what?"
It was Katie's turn to give a sly smile.
"Do not try to hold back on me," Kiera nearly yelled and smacked Katie's shoulder roughly.
Katie told Kiera what had happened.
"Did you tell him that you want his babies?"
"No. Jeez, Kiera." Katie's face burnt red.
"Why ever not?" Kiera asked, clearly exasperated with the whole situation.
"I just feel so shy around him, and he seems shy around me too."
"You're being ridiculous. Someone has to tell someone, or else this will go nowhere. Why won't you just make the first move? Is this about Oliver?"
"Not at all." Katie voice was deadly.
"What's stopping you then?"
"I just get the feeling like maybe he doesn't feel the same way. It's like he's distracted or holding something back. He's not being very direct either. I feel like maybe there is someone else he isn't telling me about. Or that he just isn't that into me..."
Kiera stopped Katie in the middle of the apothecary. Grabbing her shoulders, she turned Katie to face her.
"Let's make a list of what's happened, shall we? One, he gave you a stupidly expensive broom, not expecting anything in return. Two, he makes every effort to touch you when you two are in the same room. Don't think I haven't noticed that, or the fact that he's constantly turning up places and talking to you. Three, he told you to follow your dreams and got you back flying. Four, he made an extra effort to come to you while you were ill. He asked me for your address. I wouldn't have gone that far, and I'm your sister. And Oliver most certainly wouldn't have done that. Do I need to continue?"
"No! Now will you keep it down? People are starting to stare," Katie hissed and motioned to a small group of women that had collected at the end of the aisle. "Why does Oliver have to come into this?"
Kiera shrugged and made a nasty hand gesture to the gaggle of women, who promptly walked off. Katie scoffed with disapproval, but Kiera didn't seem to notice. "Because you two haven't talked about what happened yet. Even if you're not going to talk about it, you still need to make it clear that you don't want anything to do with him besides what happened that night. And because you're clinging to the hatred of him and what happened, you're completely hung up on it! Let it go! It's done! Also, I'm sure Oliver has mentioned it once or twice in the locker room."
"Argh, don't remind me! I was drunk. He may or may not have been drunk. I don't really remember. Not too much to discuss. One and done."
Kiera laughed. "What is the worst that is going to happen?"
"Do you seriously want me to answer that? Or can I write an essay for you for the end of the day?
"You have nothing to lose."
"Only my pride and dignity."
"Stop. I'm not saying you need to run off right now and tell both of them what is going on inside your convoluted little mind, but instead you need to pick a path and stick with it."
And with that, Kiera picked the dandelion roots up off the floor, brushed them off and continued down the aisle.
Several days passed, with Katie not any closer to knowing what to do with herself. She continued on as she always did, pointedly obsessing with work.
She was cleaning up and filing folders when something came to her, something from the night she went home from Oliver. She was unsure how or why it even came up in her mind, as she remembered it in a fuzzy way, as if she couldn't be sure it actually happened. Yet it was nagging her subconsciously.
Who had he listened to? The thought finally announced itself loud and clear.
It suddenly seemed imperative for her to find out. Abandoning the filing, she briskly walked through the halls, her shoes and nails clicking frantically. She stomped towards the change rooms - it was the most likely place to find someone after a practice.
"Where's the fire?" he asked, popping out of the locker room that she had just flew by.
She stopped and spun quickly, enough that she had to press her palm into the wall to stabilize herself. She stared at him blankly, hardly believing she found him so quickly.
"W..what?"
"Are you ok? You look strange. And your shoes were ringing down the hall, hence, 'where's the fire?'."
"Who did you listen to?" she asked, choking on her words.
"What? What are you tal..." Oliver stopped dead when he realized what she was talking about and took in the look on her face.
Their eyes met, green fire to blue ice. His lips went thin.
"You need to tell me," she commanded.
"It happened a long time ago, Katie. I thought you were letting it go."
She felt as though she were about to snap. She felt on edge, although she had no reason to do so.
"I was. I am. But I want to know."
"Katie, I was drunk, I don't even know what I was saying."
"Don't patronize me!"
Her eyes blazed hotter, and Oliver looked away, picking at a spot on the wall.
"Roger," he said quietly, after a minute.
"What?"
"That's who I listened to. He knew I was getting signed. Captain to Captain, we talked. He told me stories about the fame, the fortune, all that it would bring."
"I still don't understand," Katie sputtered, her confusion getting heavier.
"I broke up with you, partially because he filled my head with what my talents would bring. I fell for it - hook, line and sinker. I made a mistake because I listened to him." He said this in a way that suggested he was speaking to someone slow.
She felt like she'd been doused in very cold water. "No, you didn't want me anymore."
"I always wanted you. I loved you. Did I think we were going to work at that age? No. But I should have had more tact. I should have left it more open, for us, Katie."
A lump caught in Katie's throat as Oliver's voice caught on her name. We are never getting back together, under any circumstance, she thought meanly. She knew this was the best time to tell him this (albeit in a nicer way), but the words would not move off her tongue.
"Why... why would he do that?" She asked instead, sounding childish.
Oliver sniggered, then laughed loudly and cruelly. "Katie, if you have to ask that, you're stupid."
She glared up at him defiantly, rage starting to cloud her thinking. "I am not stupid."
"I know, but you're acting like it." He gazed at her softly.
"Is that why you two don't get along? Because of me? Because he played a mean trick on you in school?"
"That, and the way I got my revenge. Plus I just dislike him. I've never liked him. I've had grudging respect for him, but I've never liked him. He's arrogant, stubborn and haughty."
Katie laughed without humour.
"So you two are the same person?"
He shrugged.
"What did you do to him?"
"Enough for him to get the message."
"What, Oliver?"
"An eye for an eye."
"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Roger caught her as she rushed by him. He held her shoulders firmly, preventing her from going the precious few meters to the solace of her office.
She stared up at him, not really seeing him. Tears were in her eyes, and her thoughts were so frantic, she was sure that this was what insanity felt like.
"Katie..."
"Why did you tell that to Oliver?" she blurted out.
He looked genuinely confused. "I don't understand."
"Why did you tell that to him to make him break-up with me?"
The confusion slowly turned to realization.
"Back...back in school?"
She nodded tightly.
"I never told him to do that."
"But you planted ideas in his head, made him doubt!"
"Katie, it was so many years ago..."
"I loved him," she sputtered, and hit Roger's chest with an open palm.
His jaw clenched and he couldn't quite meet her eyes, instead staring at her chin.
"What did he ever do to you?" she asked coldly.
"He had what I wanted, and was very unworthy of it." Roger's voice was tight and restrained with some emotion she couldn't figure out, as he wouldn't look her in the eyes. She could see the muscles in his jaw clenching and unclenching, and she got the sense that there was more to say, but at the moment, she didn't care to press it.
She didn't quite understand what was happening or what he was saying (or not saying) to her, but was too frantic to care. She assumed it had something to do with Quidditch. Old dams broke inside her, and emotion flooded out. Her cheeks flared up with heat, her breathing became erratic, her words tumbling out unchecked.
"This is all your fault! All this rage, this anger, I've held onto for years - because of you!"
He looked hurt as his eyes finally met hers. The hurt seemed old, as if it had been there a very long time. It aged him in a way, made his face fall. Something about that haunted look snapped out of her outburst.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what's come over me."
"Don't be," he replied, now looking contrite. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, Katie, I made that one without thinking of the consequences, not thinking of how it would affect anyone but me. I've paid for it a thousand times over, trust me. I will never try to mess with Oliver Wood again. You still have every right to be mad at me."
The tears in her eyes fell down her cheeks, and now it was her turn to look away. The pain in his voice made her believe him. She exhaled loudly, tiredness replacing the mania. She wiped the tears off her face, unsure of what to do next.
"Hey," he said softly, gently touching her face. She looked up to him. His eyes had grown very gentle, the grey as soft as a kitten. "I am sorry."
She nodded, too tired to argue anymore.
"What did he do to you?" she asked quietly.
His face immediately hardened and his nostrils flared. He moved away from her, withdrawing to a place that Katie could feel was frightening. "You don't want to know."
She was startled by his reaction. "Roger..." She reached out to touch his shoulder, but he grabbed her wrist and pushed her hand down.
"Katie, just know that Oliver is not a good person. Nothing is sacred when it comes to his vindictiveness, and he will hold on to something longer and more forcefully than is natural for any one person."
Realization, cold and painful, ran through her. "Three years ago. It was all over the tabloids... Your engagement, is that why..."
Roger looked away, his face blank and stony.
Katie's hand flew to her mouth. "No."
His head dropped, giving Katie confirmation.
"I'm..."
"Don't," he cut her off sharply. "It's in the past. He can charm the pants off anyone, when he's really trying." The look Roger gave her was penetrating, and Katie couldn't stop the rush of blood to her face, and the horrible, sinking feeling in her stomach.
She squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze, feeling ashamed and unable to meet his stone-grey eyes.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
She nodded quickly, swallowing the bile in the back of her throat.
"Good." He walked away briskly, not once turning back to look at her.
Katie floated absentmindedly in mid-air, trying not to think about the night previous. So much information revealed...
"Mind some company?"
She clamped her thighs on the broom and fell flat in shock, pushing the broom a few meters forward. She looked back and saw Oliver staring at her. She stared back, she hadn't expected anyone to be out at this hour. Dawn was approaching rapidly, the clouds changing colours. He laughed at her heartily and she didn't blame him. She must look like a startled deer.
"What are you doing up?" Katie asked indignantly.
"I usually come up at this time of morning to run drills."
"Oh." This admission seemed so innocent. She felt it was very unexpected.
"Yes, I do have a work ethic."
"I didn't mean..."
He laughed again. "I know. What are you doing up?"
"I needed to think."
"About?"
"Everything."
"Hmm. Anything you'd like to talk about?"
"Not particularly."
He shrugged, not pressing the matter further. "Want to help me run drills?"
"Sure."
For an hour, they ran drills - practicing throwing, catching, flying. Katie even managed to get a few shots by him, making her arrogant and teasing. By the end, they were both laughing, at ease with one another. They landed eventually, and Katie chucked the Quaffle at him as they gathered the balls and other equipment. Theatrically, Oliver fell to the ground.
"Oh, come on. I've seen better falls from the Cannons."
Oliver didn't move.
"Oliver? Get up. Now."
Katie walked over, and prodded him with her foot. He snatched her foot, and put her off balance. She collapsed next to him, and he pulled her on top of him.
"Don't you..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Oliver's lips were on hers. He was so warm after the chill of the morning. It felt pleasant, being kissed like this. His fingers caught up in her hair, his lips pressing with the perfect amount of pressure, his warm body making her shiver. Oliver pulled away, and gazed up at her. He twirled a chunk of hair and tucked it behind her ear.
"I'd really like to go out again. Maybe leave you sober," he said softly, with a hint of laughter in his eyes.
She looked away, speechless. He seemed so genuine, so sincere, that it hurt to say no. But she needed to.
"I'm not sure, Oliver. I..."
"I get it," he said quietly.
"You do?" she asked skeptically.
He nodded. "It's been a long time, I treated you horribly. I have to make up for a lot. Prove myself."
That's not it at all! she screamed in her head. She opened her mouth to say as such, but Oliver put his finger up to her mouth.
"Just let me try."
"Don't..."
She rolled off him, stood quickly and walked as fast as she could without running back to her office.
