Chapter 10 – The First

December 22, 1997

Katie pulled her hair into a ponytail and smoothed her uniform robes. She was in the visitor's locker room at Puddlemere United's Quidditch pitch. It was the fourth match of the season for Pride of Portree, two of which her team had won. As a reserve, Katie had not yet played in a League game. Still, she knew it was important to stay prepared and maintain her focus in case she was needed. In the first match of the season, the Bludgers had proven particularly vicious; both first-team Beaters had been knocked off their brooms early and needed medical attention, requiring both reserves to play most of the match.

More than just regular pre-match nerves, Katie was feeling an extra layer of energy knowing that Oliver was in the same stadium right now, and that she would soon be watching him play. Katie hadn't yet had a chance to see him play since he'd joined Puddlemere, and she had to admit she was excited to see him in action. Even if it was against her own team.

The Prides were announced first, and they marched onto the field. The home team was announced next. Katie couldn't help but notice the cheers were fainter, the crowd thinner than even the last match. She looked around and saw the seats were nearly empty. As he walked out on the pitch, Oliver caught Katie's eye and gave her a small smile. Then both teams kicked off; Katie and the other reserves flew to the bench.

The match was incredible. The Portree Chasers were relentless in their attack, but Oliver was unstoppable, blocking nearly every attempt. Katie had to remind herself to stay focused and not just watch his performance. Merlin, he looked sexy on his broom. Two hours into play, the Snitch was caught by Puddlemere's Seeker. The match was over, and Puddlemere was victorious.

After the teams had exchanged handshakes with one another (and Oliver had slipped Katie a quick wink), Katie followed her teammates through the tunnel that led under the stadium. From there they would shower, change clothes, and take the Floo or Apparate home. Typically, the team would require that they stay in a nearby hotel for the night after away matches before returning home, but an exception was made on account of how close it was to Christmas.

Katie was nearly back to the locker room door when she heard her name whispered from a side corridor. Looking to her right, she saw Oliver peering out of a doorway that was slightly ajar. Looking around to make sure her teammates weren't looking, Katie slipped down the corridor and into the doorway.

Oliver was standing in a darkened hallway. He was still wearing his uniform, but he had removed his pads and helmet.

"What are you doing?" Katie whispered with a smile. Merlin, if she were to be caught…

"I had to see you," he answered as he wrapped arms around Katie's waist. He nuzzled his face against hers and began kissing her neck.

"Mmmm," Katie sighed as she tried to keep her thoughts coherent. "You played brilliantly today," she told him.

"Mm, well I knew my girl was watching me," he told her between kisses.

"Congratulations on your win," Katie told him, "But you won't be so lucky once I make first team," she said teasingly.

"Is that so?" Oliver asked her. "Think you can score on me, do you Bell?" His kisses moved down her throat as his hand slid under her jumper.

Katie sucked in a breath and her whole body burned with desire.

"I know I can score on you, Wood," she said as she pressed into him.

"Katie?" echoed a voice from down the corridor.

Katie gave Oliver a wide-eyed look as she pulled away and smoothed her clothes. She stepped hurriedly out into the corridor. Heidi, her fellow reserve Chaser, was standing there looking at her.

"Where did you go?" she asked Katie, looking concerned.

"This place is a bloody maze," Katie fibbed, "I got lost." She smiled to herself.

xxxxxx

Katie returned to her flat and put away her Quidditch bag in the hallway closet. She shook out her hair, which was still damp from the shower she had taken in the locker room. She had changed out of her uniform and put on an oversized gray jumper and a pair of navy blue leggings. The flat was quiet, as Alicia was already at her parents' home for the holiday. Katie nervously straightened the post that was scattered across the counter, looking toward the front door. Oliver was coming over soon. He had visited her at her flat several times before, and she at his, but this was the first time they were in no danger of being interrupted by a roommate. Butterflies fluttered in Katie's stomach.

Just then, there was a crack followed by a knock on the door. Katie opened it to see Oliver standing there. He had changed clothes as well; he was wearing a blue t-shirt that was tight across his muscular chest and a pair of jeans. He was holding a pizza box. They briefly exchanged security questions and a quick peck on the lips.

"I brought some dinner," he said as he walked in and set the pizza on the counter.

"Cheers," Katie replied as she Summoned two plates from the cabinet. They each took their slices from the pizza box and sat down on the couch to eat it.

"Merlin, I could eat a hippogriff," Oliver said as he began his second slice.

Katie, on the other hand, picked at her first slice. She was thinking of being all alone in her flat with Oliver, and her nerves were too jittery to allow her to eat much.

"So you're still planning to come 'round on Boxing Day, yea?" Oliver asked her as he began on a third slice. Oliver had asked Katie to come to his parents' home with him for Christmas. He had explained that his family had taken to celebrating the Christmas holiday a day late so that Sean and Claire could attend dinner on Christmas Day with Claire's family, and to ensure that Kinna had time to make it home.

"I'll be there," Katie said, giving Oliver an anxious look. She was uneasy at the idea of meeting Oliver's family, but she figured that since Oliver had been such a good sport coming to Ryan's game and enduring his antics at the pub, the least she could do was return the favor.

"Don't be worried, they'll love you," Oliver assured her. Katie gave him a small smile.

"So, where's Alicia?" Oliver asked her, looking around. He had finished eating and was sitting back against the couch, his arm resting on the back cushion behind Katie.

"She's gone home for Christmas," Katie said. She looked up and gave Oliver a coy look. "We're alone tonight."

"Is that so?" Oliver asked, raising an eyebrow at her. He leaned in to her. "I seem to remember I was somewhere around here when we were interrupted." He kissed her once on the lips, then worked his way down her jaw and neck. Katie bit her lip as her head fell backward. She felt her body pulse with anticipation. She had given the subject a lot of thought, and she had decided the time was right. Time to summon some of that Gryffindor courage, she thought to herself. She grabbed at the bottom of her jumper and pulled it over her head.

xxxxxx

Oliver gazed at Katie's body with desire. Godric, she was gorgeous. She was wearing a lacy blue bralette, one of the straps falling from her shoulder. Oliver's kisses dropped lower until his mouth was grazing the top of Katie's breast. He felt her tugging at his shirt. He sat up and pulled it off, casting it in the floor. He lowered himself back down and braced himself above her as he continued to kiss her chest and slowly worked his way to her flat stomach.

"Mmm," Katie sighed as she ran her fingers through his hair. As he was kissing her hip, he noticed a black mark on her skin that he'd never noticed before peeking over the top of her leggings. He sat back to look at, hooking one finger in her waistband to pull it away from her skin.

Katie saw his gaze and laughed. "It's a tattoo," she told him. "Would you like to see?" She gave him a teasing look.

"Aye," Oliver answered, desire burning in him to see another inch of Katie's exposed skin.

To Oliver's surprise, Katie did not just pull down the waistband of her leggings. Instead, she pulled them off completely, exposing a lacy pair of blue boy shorts that matched her bra.

The tattoo was a simple black line drawing. Oliver looked at it and tried very hard to not be obvious about his eyes trailing across all of Katie's exposed skin.

"It's a bell," she explained. "Ryan and I got them to match last summer. It was a drunken dare from Thomas." She laughed at the thought.

Oliver doubted very much that Katie's brother would approve of the lusting way he was looking at his sister's tattoo, or the body it was drawn on.

"It's bonny," Oliver told her, his voice husky, "just like you."

He leaned in and began to kiss her again, this time on her mouth. As he lightly sucked on her bottom lip, Oliver felt Katie undoing the belt on his trousers, and his body responded to her proximity.

"Lass," he cautioned as he kissed her. Merlin, if this were to go much further…

"I want to," Katie said in a whisper. She was still fumbling with his belt.

Oliver pulled away from her slightly, wanting to be sure he had heard her right.

"Are you sure, Katie?" He asked her. The desire he had forced himself to suppress was beginning to build.

"I want this, Oliver," Katie said fervently as she looked up at him. "I want you."

Oliver kissed her deeply as Katie pressed her hips against his pelvis. He sat up and grabbed his wand from the coffee table where it lay.

"May I?" he asked.

"Please," Katie responded as she pushed herself up to a sitting position.

Oliver pointed his wand at Katie's stomach and murmured a contraceptive charm, then laid the wand back down.

"Where were we?" he asked as he kissed her again. He could feel anticipation building rapidly in his body.

Katie giggled.

"Perhaps in the bedroom?" she asked him.

"Right you are, lass," he responded with a smile. He stood and picked Katie up so that her legs wrapped around his hips, her breasts just under his face. She leaned her head down to kiss him as he walked to her bedroom and he closed the door behind them.

xxxxxx

Katie awoke the next morning to the sound of footsteps in her kitchen. The sun was just beginning to peek through her curtains, so she knew it was still early. She sleepily opened one eye open and saw Oliver treading quietly back into her room holding two mugs.

"Good morning, lass," he said lightly as he sat on the edge of the bed. "I made you coffee." He held out one of the mugs to her.

Katie groaned as she sat up and accepted the mug.

"Thank you," she said sleepily. "You mean to tell me that you wake up this early even when there's no Quidditch?"

Oliver laughed.

"I do," he answered. "Always have." He leaned over and kissed her tousled hair. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Sleepy," Katie answered with a yawn. She knew that wasn't what Oliver was asking about, though. "But good," she amended, with a small smile as she leaned over and rested against Oliver's chest.

Katie thought back to the previous night. She had been excited, but rather nervous to share her first time with Oliver. Though she trusted him entirely, she hadn't quite been sure what to expect. Her previous intimate experiences with Andrew had been awkward and a little uncomfortable, and Katie had felt like he was mostly focused on his own aims. Oliver, on the other hand, had been attentive to Katie, always checking to be sure she was ok. Rather than a rushed and insistent, he had been so tender and patient with her.

"Thank you," she said timidly, "for last night."

Oliver tipped her chin upward with one finger and kissed her gently.

"It was my pleasure, lass," he told her.

"Was it…was I ok?" Katie asked him with hesitation. She knew he had probably been with a lot of witches who knew a lot of…tricks. Or at least knew what they were doing a lot better than she had.

"Katie, you were perfect," he said, his voice full of warm reassurance. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

Katie smiled. Andrew had certainly never asked her that question.

"Definitely," she told him with a shy look.

Oliver returned her smile.

"Good," he said. He stood up from the bed and offered her his hand. "Now get up, I'll make you breakfast."

Katie groaned again.

"Do I have to get up?" she complained.

Oliver laughed.

"Come on, lass, time to start the day."

It looked like Katie would have to get used to early mornings if Oliver was going to stay over very often, she thought to herself. She blushed at the thought.

xxxxxx

Oliver held a pan in one hand as he walked toward Katie sitting at the kitchen table and set a delicious looking omelette on her plate. Katie raised her eyebrows at him.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you, Wood?" she asked playfully. "Professional Quidditch player, pleasing lover, and you cook?"

Oliver laughed at Katie's assessment of him.

"Aye, well, I know how to make a few things. Enough not to starve. Mum made sure of that. Now eat up," he commanded as he turned to prepare another omelette for himself.

"So are you heading home today?" Katie asked Oliver as she took a bite.

"Aye, I'll go back to my flat to collect my things and then I'll go on to see my parents," he answered as he flipped his omelette. "They'll have properly driven me mad by the time you come 'round." He laughed as he plated his food and sat down to join Katie. "When do you leave for Sheffield?"

"Tomorrow," she answered. Katie had told Oliver of her plans to visit her mother's family for Christmas when he had asked her to visit his on Boxing Day. "I'll go to Mum and Dad's today, then we'll collect Ryan in the morning and drive up to Nan's. You talk about going mad, I'll have to pretend to be a Muggle who's studying to be an accountant for two days," Katie said with a laugh.

Oliver was always fascinated when Katie spoke of her Muggle family. With a few exceptions, Oliver had never had to hide the fact that he was a wizard, and certainly not around people he knew. He wondered what it would be like to live with such duality. He did have to admit that a few of the Muggle items Katie used were quite handy; he would never admit it around his own Pureblood family, he thought the telephone was a rather good idea.

"It will be good to go, though," Katie said, her voice more serious. "Dad and I are planning to put some protective enchantments on Nan's home after everyone's gone to bed." She looked down at her plate as she cut up the last piece of omelette.

Oliver again found himself taken with how caring and thoughtful Katie was. He knew she worried about her Muggle family members greatly, and he wished he could do more to relieve her concern.

After a few silent moments, Katie stood and banished the plates to the sink. Oliver stood and faced her.

"I'll miss you while you're away," he told her as he wrapped his arms around her waist, a look of longing in his eyes.

Katie put her arms around Oliver and gave him a teasing grin.

"You know," she said playfully, "I do have just a bit of time before I have to go…"

Oliver immediately picked up on her implication. His right hand slid down from her waist and grabbed her arse.

"Say no more, lass," he said with a devilish smirk. Again he lifted her up and carried to the bedroom as she giggled.

xxxxxx

Author's Note: Thanks for reading along! Keep an eye out for next week's Chapter 11: Christmas. Have a great week!