DISCLAIMER: Anything you recognise was invented by JK Rowling
Hope you enjoy!!
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"I thought we were stronger than this, Oliver, I thought you would be able to…"
"That's the problem, Katie," he breathes into my ear, "We, we can do it together. But on my own… I-Katie, I'm nothing without you."
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-Katie-
I hold his hand as we walk through the gates into Puddlemere's second ground. The first is still closed until further noticed, their second largest place is here, Woodbyrne Forest, and today, it's absolutely packed.
The place is hardly The Mere, though here, the players and pitch are far more accessible. As Oliver isn't playing today, excused for this match and the next while he looks after me, he is hunted down at every corner, people attempting to get his autograph. He signs them jovially, smiling all the time, but every girl who requests his signature gives me an evil glare. It genuinely horrifying after a while, considering I'm not used to people sending me looks that say 'I'm going to kill you in your sleep'.
I tell Oliver when I'm sitting beside him in the Woodbyrne pavilion, holding a cup of coffee and Oliver with a whistle. Against the Bats, Oliver knows that Cullen Scott will be put to the test, but, as he says to me about ten minutes in;
"If he can't take the battle, get off the field." He smiles down at me, hugging me to his side as the commentator roars the names of the Puddlemere players, then the Ballycastle Bats swoop onto the pitch to an incredibly quiet, and rather vague 'woo' from the away stands. Within two minutes, Puddlemere are 10-0 down and flagging horrifically.
"See, if they're playing this badly, I'm not surprised Wood would rather be off with his girlfriend." I hear from the row behind us. Oliver turns around before me.
"Excuse me?" He says. I pull on his sleeve and he looks at me, his tenseness calming slightly. "Do you think you could keep your opinions to yourself?" The bloke looks terrified but at the same time joyous.
"You're Oliver Wood!" He yelps.
"Well, yeah, I woke up as him this morning." He says with a frustrated grimace. A roar goes up as Puddlemere score, I direct my gaze up to the players and listen to Oliver happily signing an autograph so he can return to watching the game.
Puddlemere are now 10-10. We roar and cheer as is generally expected as Puddlemere go 50-10 up, thinking that we'll definitely win this match, but our joy is marred slightly when, after a scuffle where a lot of elbow action is involved, Ballycastle's seeker grabs the snitch from under Finn Green's outstretched hand.
Oliver pulls me down to the team changing rooms after the match, I'm reluctant to go, but in my head I know it's for the best, and it's on our way out of the pavilion any way. He takes my hand and waits patiently as the team go into the changing rooms, waits for them all to be left alone by the press and for more than enough questions about Oliver and I to be asked to the poor players. I'm going to send them all chocolate when I get home.
"You want some answers, Willoughby?" Oliver waits until only she is standing there, waiting hopefully for the players to return for one last question, before emerging from the shadows and accosting her.
"Love some, Wood." She replies smarmily, her face lighting up with the threat of a fantastic story. "You want me to come over to your place?"
"I don't think so, Ms. Willoughby." I say, knowing it came out more angrily than I thought it would.
Oliver smiles and offers to buy us a drink at the local pub. I look at him and give him a look that says 'If you drink, I'm going to slap you' but smile at the raven haired journalist.
"Alright, Wood." She mutters, "Have it your way."
-Marion Willoughby-
I've got a list of questions waiting in my handbag for him, her… the pair of them, but, sensible them, they refuse to let me use the Quick-Quotes-Quill. I'm reduced to muggle biros. Bloody hell.
"So, Oliver, how long have you known Katie?" I hate talking like other people aren't there, but I think part of my job is to make people feel uncomfortable. She looks away from me and down into her glass. He's nursing a Firewhiskey, and every time he sips it, she looks furious. Has something gone on with them? She's drinking Frothing Chocolate, the thick white foam on the top sticking on her nose.
"Kat," He says as he catches me looking at her, "You've got…" He laughs and shakes his head, reaches to wipe it off her nose and she ducks out of the way, laughing and sticking out her tongue. "Fine," He winks, "You get it."
I have the desire to yell that he's not answering my question, but he turns to me and smiles.
"I've known Katie for…" He adds it up on his fingers, "Fifteen years."
"Is it fifteen?" She says softly, "Didn't I meet you in first year…"
"But you're twenty six. You were eleven. That adds up to fifteen, love." She nods and smiles at me.
"It was only my birthday last week - I'm still getting used to being Old…" He pouts.
"Are you saying I'm Old, Kat?"
"Hey… you're only twenty seven. It's alright." There's a small moment where I feel I'm definitely intruding, then they look at me and wait for the next question. I sigh and reel off three or four which don't yield fascinating replies, I must admit, but then I ask the biggest question.
"How did you cope with being apart for that year when you were still in seventh year, Katie, and the months you were in hospital - directly after the war and just recently?"
"Haha…" She starts awkwardly, "Well, when I was in seventh year, when, you know, I was cursed with that Opal necklace, I was taken out of school, and… I basically spent six months in St. Mungo's and… well, I know someone that was there practically every day." She pauses, "And Oliver came every few days too."
He smiles at her and for a second I think I see tears in her eyes.
"And pretty much the same thing happened after the war - I was living with Oliver at the time - you'd just got the flat, hadn't you, and you couldn't afford the rent on your own…" She looks at me, "He was on, like, less than I was - he was only in the reserves," I love this kid. She's a story in herself. "And he said 'I need someone to flat share with, it'll only be for a while… you need a place to stay, right…' and here we are about what, nine years later, and we…"
"We fell for each other." Oliver supplies to cut her rambling.
-Katie-
We leave Willoughby at nine, an hour and a half after the game has finished.
"This is going to be good," Oliver grins as we get home, "The magazine comes out… when?"
"Wednesday." I say, holding out my hand to him, and realising my hands are shaking like the legs of a newborn Unicorn.
"Oh, Merlin, Kat, you're shaking…" He pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head, "I'll make you a hot chocolate and we can get to bed, alright?" I feel myself nod and he takes my hand to kiss it. My laughter rings through the flat, and he curls his fingers through my hair as he kisses me into submission.
I pull back as he pulls the cover up over me half an hour later.
"I…" He laughs at my silence.
"In all my life, I've known you be dumbstruck… twice." He grins, "First time when I kissed you, and… now. And for once, I don't know why."
"You." I smile back, he leans over and kisses my neck, his lips marking me as his own.
I curl up in his arms and sigh, yawning and feeling my eyes close heavily. The last thing I hear as I let sleep take over is his voice, telling me the thing I want to hear every night for the rest of my life.
"I love you, Katie."
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A/N: AAAAARRRGGGHHHHH!! That's about all I can say about it, really…
I hope you enjoyed it…
Please R&R
xxxxx