A/N: Hey guys! Sorry that I've taken literally forever to update! Please don't hate me too much for my little cliffy from the last chapter and for this chapter. Also, this chapter, my dear readers, is one of the reasons that this fic is rated M.

Chapter Twenty-One: Mistakes

"Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is to not make the same mistake twice."

― Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door

Oliver watched Dani fall toward him. The thought of not catching her never crossed into his mind. His hands clenched hers. He put all his strength into catching her – or at the very least slowing her fall.

His body, however, had other plans. It is generally understood that when water meets with a non-porous solid object, the two mix to form a new, slippery object. Oliver's feet, already being wet from the shower, were unable to grip at the wet tile beneath them. Unable to stop himself from crashing onto the tiled flooring at the same time he was trying to keep Dani from falling onto the same tiled flooring of death, he simply went down with her.

Danica Brooks was now sprawled in a most unladylike fashion upon Oliver Wood. (Later on, they both would laugh at the absurdity of the predicament they found themselves in. But that would be many years yet down the road.)

Dani's cheeks burned bright red as she attempted to push herself off of him. In doing so, she was not very careful or mindful of where she put her hands. Dani released her grip on Oliver's hands and put them onto his chest in order to roll herself off of him, or so Oliver had assumed. Her hands seemed to have a mind of their own as her fingers spread open across his chest, feeling the tightened muscle beneath.

Oliver did not think it possible, but in that moment, the coloring of her cheeks darkened even further. And damn him, it was the most attractive thing he had ever seen in his entire life. He had always enjoyed seeing her flustered. But this was different. Until now, his tormenting her had been innocent. Their back and forth about shagging had never been anything but playful banter. Of course he'd mildly entertained the thought of what she looked like naked. Okay, so it wasn't always so mild.

Dani couldn't even look at him. She kept her eyes averted from his and anything that was his. (That alone was driving him crazy with lust.)

Despite her flaming cheeks, complete embarrassment, and inability to look at him, Dani's hands had no shame. Her fingers ran down the sides of his torso, crossing the corded muscle below his ribs, finally ending at his hips.

He envisioned where else her hands might wander. He was only wearing a towel – a towel that had slipped significantly in his accompanied fall. Inside, he was begging with his entire being for her hands to keep moving along his body. Her cold fingers felt like fire against his wet skin.

Her movement had caused her chest to press harder into his stomach. He could feel every breath she took. Feel it pressing against his, beginning to form a rhythm with each of his own breaths.

Oliver would by lying if he said he had never been in this position with a girl before. He had. A couple times, and one that didn't exactly count… but he still counted it.

Her fingers hesitated and stopped, drawing his thoughts back to the present moment.

His hand moved to hers on his hip. Then continued to travel lightly up the back of her arm. Goose flesh rose along the wake of his fingers. Her body shook with the shiver that overcame her, but their eyes never parted. It was thrilling, he thought, that he had so much power over her. That her body responded to his.

Oliver trailed his fingers further up her body. Skimming along her arm, up over her shoulder, before stopping at the juncture of her neck and jaw. Applying slight pressure where his fingers rested, he guided her head down to meet his.

Their lips touched. The sensation was unlike the one he'd had before. The kiss they had shared in her bedroom several months ago was vastly different than the one they shared on the tiled floor of the shower stall.

That one had been a challenge. It had been quick. This one was tentative. Unsure. Almost as if neither were sure what was happening, only that they were powerless to stop the gravitational pull between their bodies.

He pulled away to look in her eyes and search what he'd been looking for. He thought he saw a glimpse, but it was all taken away from him with one word.

"Oliver?"

Oliver's body froze. Ice filled his veins at the feminine voice echoing through the locker room. Dani looked down at him as he looked up at her. He tried to keep the alarm from showing on his face, but he was pretty damn sure she could tell. The wheels turned in her head, trying to place a name and face to the voice coming from the door on the opposite end of the locker room. He hoped above all else that she didn't decide to venture into the boys' locker room as Dani had.

"Oliver? Are you still in here?" she calls again.

He sighed heavily, shutting his eyes to block out the cluster fuck he had gotten himself into.

"I'll be out in a minute," he calls against his better judgment.

Dani pushed herself off of him. Her face hardened as she said, "Are you serious right now?"

She was already on her feet and moving toward the pitch exit before he could even register what was happening. She refused to look at him as he scrambled to his feet to go after her.

"Dani, wait!" Oliver called quietly as he tried to follow.

He caught her as she tried to push open the door to leave. "Let me explain," he begged.

She didn't turn around. Just kept her hand on the door knob. "There isn't anything to explain. We wouldn't work, Oliver. Don't follow me."

She pushed open the door and walked out into the storm that still engulfed the pitch. Oliver let the door shut. He was frozen to where he stood. Girls always said not to go after them, when they meant the complete opposite. He wanted to go after her. Every muscle in his body ached to do so.

But she was right.

Oliver and Dani wouldn't work. No matter how much he wanted them to; they just couldn't. While she had been helping him with Quidditch prep every evening, he'd been flirting with Sarah during the day.

No. He wasn't going to go after her. His feet moved, though each step felt like a step in the wrong direction. Deep down he knew he would regret this moment.

"You made your bed, Wood," he told himself. "Now lie in it."

Oliver changed into dry clothes that would only stay that way for as long as he was in the Gryffindor part of the pitch. He opened the door that led out of the locker room to see Sarah leaning against the wall, waiting for him.

"I waited," she said with a smile. "Just like you asked."