Name: Katie. I think.
Age: 16.
Hair: Uh. Bird's nest. Pillow hair.
Current Location: Hospital Wing, by the look of things.
Current Mood: I don't really have one at the moment.
I woke up to see the whole Quidditch team peering down at me. For a minute I thought we were still on the pitch and I'd only blacked out for a second, but it was too light outside for that to be true. Angelina and Alicia were looking at me concerned, Fred and George was murmuring in the corner, Harry looked relieved and Wood... Where was Wood? For some reason my eyes frantically scanned the room, my heart beating faster. Adrenaline – that's weird. This is how I feel before I step onto the pitch to play Quidditch. I don't know why my heart was racing now, when I was lying in a hospital bed looking for my Captain. It just must be a bit confused. And then there was this adrenaline let-down as I realised Wood wasn't there. That's right, he trials for Puddlemere today. He should be getting ready right about now. Then he appears in my line of vision, pacing back and forth on the far side of the room. He looks guilty for some reason. Agitated. He looks like he looked when we lost to Hufflepuff, when he was in the showers. He was beating himself up over something. But why was he here?
"What's the time?" I twist madly, trying to find a bedside clock. Angelina frowned lightly. "It's eight-fifty. In the morning. Why?"
I turn to look at Oliver. "Why are you here?"
Now it's his turn to look confused. "What?"
"Why aren't you at Puddlemere, trailing? You trial in ten minutes, for God's sake." Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him. Crazy boy; he's been wanting this for so long and now he's going to throw it away! For what? I have no idea what's running though his head. "What are you waiting for!" I scolded him. "Fly to the Forbidden Forest and Apparate, you daft child. Before you miss the chance of a life-time."
"But -"
"Oliver, we've trained all these hours for this, and if you don't leave now I'm going to throttle you, then kick you all the way to Puddlemere, cheer my heart out as you trial, and then strangle you some more. Now go." I throw off the bed-sheets and I'm just about to make good on my threat when he realises I'm dead serious. He gives me a brief but intense glare, as he checks I'm ok. Or alive, at the very least. I must have convinced him, because he turns away, satisfied I'm alright.
"Okay, okay, I'm going." He conceded, grabbing his broom for the corner of the room. Good thing he got going when he did, because my ribs won't let me move any further. "I was just doing the team-captain thing and making sure my Chaser was alright." He leant over to ruffle my hair in a sporting-coach kind of way, but he left it linger. I pushed it away in my impatience to make sure he got to his freaking trials.
"Like Hell you were, Wood. You were just procrastinating again and hiding from the world, like that time in the showers after Hufflepuff." He grinned as Fred and George pricked up their ears at my mention of 'shower.'
"What shower?" Fred asked.
"When?" Asked George.
"What happened?" This time it was Angelina's turn.
"This was a together-kind-of-shower, right?" Alicia stated bluntly.
"Well, yeah - but not in the way you think." I hurriedly pressed on, looking around for Wood to back me up. But that freaking Scottish kilt-wearing son of a Bludger had already snuck out and bailed on me.
The rest of them hadn't noticed Wood's sudden departure.
"Finally!" Alicia exclaimed, at the same time herding Fred, George and Harry out of the room with such speed it would make Madame Pomfrey proud. "Spill the details. I was wondering when you two would finally work it out."
"What! Wait! What? Work what out? When? Who?"
Angelina and Alicia shot each other Looks. It was a cross between she's-ill-maybe-we-shouldn't-bring-this-up-now, and she's-definitely-crazy-and-needs-to-be-told-this.
Angela sat down gently on the edge of my hospital bed. "Honey, we've been waiting for you guys to figure it out yourselves, but well, Wood's in his last year already, and by the time you guys work it out you'll be about 50."
"What are you trying to say?" I asked faintly. "And why did you let Oliver waste time here, when he should have been prepping for the trials?"
"Oliver refused to leave the hospital wing until you woke up." Angelina explained.
"Well that's just stupid. He almost missed his trials. How could you let him do that? Why would he do that?"
Angelina lost her poise and patience with trying to break me the news lightly. "Bloody Hell Katie, how daft can you get?" She cried in exasperation. She rarely raises her voice for anything, let alone swearing.
"No, I don't get it. Stop speaking in cryptic puzzles and just tell me, Ange."
"For fu--'s sake — Oliver bloody likes you!" Fred hollered through the closed door from the hallway. I think my heart missed a beat.
"And you like him." Alicia added bluntly.