Title: When We Were Little
Author name: Allie-Marina
Category: Romance
Sub Category: Humor/Angst
Keywords: Oliver Katie friendship
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: All Books
Summary: Katie has some bad news. Actual FLUFF.
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. May included lines from Friends, Dawson's Creek, Everwood, Smallville, As Told by Ginger, the Great Gatsby, The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson, Love Story to name just a few.
Author notes: Sorry about the wait…I don't really feel like explaining myself. This Chapter was un-beta-ed so….if you care about errors, then don't read it. ENJOY

Wood returned to the dorm unusually early the night of their win again Ravenclaw. He celebrated too much, and too early and was feeling drowsy from all the butterbeer.

He started pulling back the curtains to his four-poster bed, when Rhys came into the room, yawning.

"What're you doin' here so early for?" Wood asked his friend stifling a yawn of his own.

Rhys frowned crossing his arms. "I should ask you the same thing."

"Long day. Winning the match and all."

"Long day, tell me about it…" Rhys said, moving over to his own bed.

"What's up with you?" Wood asked curiously, sitting down on his trunk at the foot of the bed.

"It's over, Wood," his friend answered blankly.

"Hmm?" Wood asked, feeling slightly confused. "What's over?"

"Bell and I. It's over," Rhys said letting his back fall against the bed sheets to stare at the curtains of his bed.

Involuntarily, something inside Wood jumped excitedly. Did he just hear correctly? "When, why, how, where?" he asked, suddenly sitting up. He hoped to Merlin that he wasn't smiling outright.

"Just now in the common room."

"Yes, and that leaves why and how, O'Bryan," Wood reminded him, impatiently.

Rhys laughed in spite of himself, rubbing at his blue eyes. "I knew you didn't like Katie, but I didn't expect you to be this happy Wood, honestly."

Wood didn't answer, he didn't trust his mind to speak at the moment. He bit his lip, scowling at himself for almost blowing his cover.

"Well, anyway…I think we were at the point whether it is…or it isn't, you know? And it wasn't. I didn't want to…you know, be stuck in a relationship just for the heck of it."

Again, Wood didn't answer.

"Don't get me wrong. I thought that Katie was great…I still do. She is. Great, really great-"

"Then if she's great why did you end it?" Wood interrupted in a harsh tone that he usually saved for practice. Why was he getting mad at Rhys? He knew the answer, but hated to admit it to himself. "You don't ditch someone who you think is that great!"

"Why do you care, Wood? I thought you hated her!" Rhys sat up and scowled at Wood. "Looking at us in disgust whenever you saw together and all? Bickering everyday with her?"

"I do not hate Katie Bell," Wood murmured, glaring at his best friend. He could feel a hot flush rise up the back of his neck.

Rhys made a snickering noise, "Of course you do."

"I don't," he said again, hoarsely, feeling the heat creep up his ears. He could tell exactly where this was going and he was powerless to stop it. He never should have opened his mouth.

Rhys stared, more confused than anything. "You don't?"

"I don't hate a thing about that girl," he said truthfully, letting out a hollow laugh, though, he couldn't think of what was so funny.

Rhys continued to stare. "So…what are you trying to say, Wood?"

Wood threw him a knowing glance, and looking away. "Figure that out for yourself."

It dawned on Rhys. "You've got a crush on Katie Bell?"

Groaning, Wood turned down the covers to his bed and climbed in, his back to Rhys. "It's not a crush," he said huffily.

"It's not? Then what the bloody hell is it?"

Wood shifted in his bed again. "I don't bloody know, but it pisses me off, I can tell you that much."

Rhys laughed again, finding the whole situation highly ironic, yet amusing. "That's great! I always thought you liked her before I even asked her out! And you always, always denied it! You still do?"

Wood turned his head on the pillow just enough to send Rhys a sideways glare. "Don't even start on it."

"Are you…dare I say it? …In -" Rhys asked dramatically.

"SHOVE OFF!!!" Wood roared. He turned around for a brief second to violently close the curtain.

Rhys continued chuckling to himself, but that it was better not to bother the poor boy anymore. After all, Wood's broom was leaned up against his nightstand and Rhys had no idea where his foil had gotten to.

"Boy, that's irony for you," he said climbing into his own bed.

Wood slept through Sirius Black's break in, but found out about it in the following morning. [Skipped that part]

On Monday he sat in Ancient Runes, bored as usual except that whenever he looked over to Katie he would see that she wasn't her usual self. Leaning on her desk, she cushioned her head with her arms, a pensive frown on her face. He hadn't seen her since the match.

What exactly did Rhys say to her? She actually looked…somewhat pained. That just made him angrier at Rhys, the fact that he didn't even seem to care.

And Katie wasn't any better at practice that afternoon. She kept letting her attention drift, and continually clutched her forehead.

When Wood heard her whimper faintly as she passed him in the air, he called a time out.

"Bell," he called. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she lied simply.

"Are not. You've been holding your head all day. What's wrong with you?"

"It's just a headache, Wood. Nothing important."

"You were whimpering, Bell."

"I was not!"

"Were too"

"I'm fine, Wood. I've just got a headache," she said, once again rubbing her forehead.

"You can't play like that. Go to the hospital wing, alright?" Wood told her when he had pulled his broom up next to her.

"Why does it matter?"

"What if you lost control of your broom and fell off? Look, you just can't play like that. It's dangerous," he told her softly.

Alicia pulled up on the other side of Katie. "You know he's right Katie. Just go get something from Madam Pomfrey. Not a big deal, right? I'll go with you."

"Will not," Wood commanded. "You need to stay here and practice your catching, Spinnet. I'll go."

Katie groaned. "I'm perfectly capable of making it to the hospital wing on my own alright? You guys are just making it worse!"

With that she glided down to the ground and began walking up to the school.

Alicia nudged Wood on the arm, with a knowing glance. "Follow her…" she said and flew away.

When Wood did catch up with Katie, she was holding an arm across her chest and the other hand was holding her head.

"Bell, how long have you been like that?" he asked from behind her.

She stopped and turned around. She watched him shift his weight, curiously for a moment. "Since…this morning."

"Bad one, then?" he asked as normally as possible, when they were getting closer to the hospital wing.

Katie just nodded, and Wood took it as a cue to continue in silence to the hospital wing where Katie drank a purple potion and walked back to the pitch with Wood in awkward silence.

When practice was finished, Wood went back out on to the pitch for a little alone time, to fly by himself. It was always a good bit of therapy for him.

He never got to the pitch, because just as he left the changing room door, he saw Katie out of the corner of his eye. She was sitting against the stone wall of the castle, staring at the newly overcast sky.

"Bell?" he asked, making Katie jump from her reverie. She looked up at Wood with wide, startled eyes, before burying her face in her arms that were propped up on her knees.

In that split second of eye contact, Wood's insides froze. Her usually bright, expressive emerald eyes were blood shot, and glimmering streams of tears were running down her cheeks. He never her saw her like that before. He hated to think, but she was awfully pretty when she cried.

He was frozen in place, his feet wouldn't move from the spot and all he could do was stare at her. She picked her head up and gently wiped at her eyes. "What is it you want, Wood?"

"I thought you were feeling better, is all," he said in such a sincere tone that Katie stared at his concerned face.

She looked out to the dark and cloudy sky again. "Well, I'm not."

He couldn't just walk away, not now. "Is there something I can do to help?"

She let out a laugh and even smiled, but that just pushed more tears through, which she hastily wiped away. "Like what?"

Surprised at his boldness, Wood kneeled down in front of Katie. "I picked a little something up in Advance Wandless Magic…"

Katie smiled lightly, trying to ignore the tears. "Ooh, Advanced," she mocked him. He grinned back.

"I can help if you like." Katie nodded. "Okay, now close your eyes," he told her, but this only caused her to widen her eyes. "I promise, I won't lay a finger on you. Not one."

Katie relented and closed her eyes. Wood raised his hands so they were close to her head, but not touching her. He began concentrating, but the only thing that his hands were sensing was coldness. She wasn't letting him help, apparently. He sighed, letting his hands drop to his thighs. "Katie," he said. "You're not letting me in. I'm just trying to help, Katie."

She opened her eyes, and her lips subconsciously parted when she looked up to Wood. She had never noticed the gentle ring of green surrounding the brownness of his eyes.

They stared at each other for a moment, before Katie closed her eyes again, and Wood raised his hands to her head. This time his hands sensed warmth in place of the coldness. As he moved his hands over the top of her head, he found a cold spot in the air over this area. It was a knot of pain, he found. It wasn't like the other knots he found, though. The other ones had become dull with time and were no longer prominent.

They were Quidditch injuries and there were a lot of them. They were physical. Whereas, the one he had just found was emotional. He moved his hands away from her head, wondering if the knot of pain had anything to do with her recent breakup.

"Don't open your eyes. You have a knot over the top of your head. Is that where the pain is?" he asked. Katie nodded silently.

"…it's emotional pain, turned physical. I can't undo it if you don't tell me what the problem is," he whispered. He didn't need to whisper, but it felt fitting for the occasion.

"It's not Rhys," Katie answered automatically, not opening her eyes.

"Well, let's start from the beginning. When did this pain start?" he asked, moving his fingers over the cold knot.

"When I woke up."

"Did you have a dream last night?"

Katie hesitated. It was more like a flashback. One that she wasn't sure she wanted to relive again that day. "I can't do this, Wood. I can't tell you my dream," she said hurriedly, opening her eyes again to see his.

"It won't go away, you know," he said, lowering his hands again. "The pain."

They stared in silence again. She closed her eyes tightly this time. "Fine, I'll tell."

"Whenever, you're ready," he encouraged her.

Katie began in a small, whisper of a voice, as Wood listened to every word. "We used to live in Godric's Hollow until I was about three. It was a beautiful neighborhood. We lived three houses down from the Potter's…  I remember when they went into hiding. They even made us look after their garden for them. Not me of course, I was too young. On Shadow Fest, that last year… Someone…Sirius Black broke the Potter's Fidelius Charm. Death Eater's everywhere. All around the neighborhood..."

Katie began sniffling into her sleeve, tears streaming steadily. "And…and they were all looking for Harry Potter. To kill him, but you knew that of course…"

Wood moved from his kneeling position and sat with his back on the wall next to Katie. She continued in a wavering voice. "And they broke into out house when we were having our supper…they took out their wands and said the Killing Curse…"

Not even thinking, Wood moved a hand around Katie's shoulders and guided her head to his own shoulder. She didn't even put up a fight. He stroked the hair on her head gently as she gathered her courage to tell the rest.

"Any of us…would have died to save him. We were just too late to get between them…" She starting sobbing heavily and Wood just held her tighter, closing his own eyes.

"It's not fair! They thought he was Harry Potter! Green eyes and dark hair! He was only three! And they killed him!"

Wood could feel her pain radiating into him. A cold ache settled through his body and into his very heart. He would not have felt it so much, if it weren't for the connection he felt.

As he ran his fingers over the top of her head, the cold knot in the air was throbbing. Katie was sobbing so hard now that it seemed impossible to finish the rest.

In an attempt to calm her down he gently ran a hand down her arm, and whispered, "It's okay," repeatedly. He was holding her so close now, that he could see the tears mingling with her long eyelashes.

It was odd to know that Katie needed him now. That her head was on his shoulder, and she didn't seem to mind at all. It was almost like they were still the best of friends and they hadn't lost years arguing and hating each other. Even though he was uncomfortable from the cold ache in his bones, he wouldn't let go until Katie wanted him to.

Her head rose from his shoulder as he let go and she looked into his eyes again. She was startled to see such concern in them. "The Death Eaters killed Damien. My twin," she murmured.

All Wood could do was stare. Katie had him tongue-tied and sputtering mad on more than one occasion, but he had never been at complete loss for thought, let alone words.

Katie looked out to the graying sky again. It looked as though it might shower soon. She bit her lip, thinking to herself. "I've never told anyone that, ever," she said.

"Oh," was all he could say. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. Maybe he should feel honored, he didn't know.

For a while they sat in silence. "Check my head?" She asked, breaking the silence, surprising Wood by placing her head on his shoulder again.

His sensitive hand found that the knot had not disappeared yet. He moved his fingers as if to untie it, but the only way it would come loose was if Katie told him what it was that was really paining her, albeit that losing her brother would always hurt.

"It's not loose enough. There's something else. Just keep talking," he told her.

"Merlin, I hate this!" Katie growled unexpectedly. "How can you see through me like that? Can everyone see like that?"

"Just keeping talking," he said, avoiding the questions.

"Well, I'm a Sensor. I can sometimes feel things around me from people and I can always feel strong emotions from my family. But I haven't gotten a hold on my ability yet."

"I know what a Sensor does. I'm one as well," he spoke calmly, although his insides were all shook up at finding that he and Katie were a lot more alike than either of them knew.

"Honestly? It's really rare…"

"I was doing Extrasensory Magic on you," he told her. "I could sense something wasn't right."

Katie looked down to her hands folded in her lap. Her voice had gone quiet again. "Well, I can sense something isn't right at home. As soon as I even had that dream, I knew it."

"What do you think it is?"

The knot came loose as she swallowed hard and whispered, almost inaudibly, "I just felt Gram die."

The knot dissolved into the air.

She looked up at Wood for just a moment, before she put her head on his shoulder again. He wrapped an arm over her shoulders again, and let her cry until she had run out of tears.

It began to drizzle. "We should go in, now," Wood told after a few minutes. "You'll get sick if you stay out here."

"I don't care," came Katie's resolute answer, her head still on his shoulder. "I don't want to go back to my dorm."

"Why, Katie?"

"Because," she began. "As soon as I get there Gregori is going to be there with a letter from Mum telling me what I already know."

Just then, Alicia came out of the door a few feet away from them. She stopped when she saw Oliver and Katie. Wood looked up to her, begging Alicia with his eyes not to say anything about the situation.

"Oh, there you are," she said. "I was looking all over for you! Come in out of the rain!"

Katie stood up, followed by Wood. He picked up his broom and followed them inside the locker room.

***Katie came down from her dorm that afternoon with a letter clutched tightly in her hands. The first person she would tell was Wood. Because he already knew.

She handed it to Wood, when she sat down next to him on the couch, while he was doing his NEWTs level Charms work. After quickly reading it, he folded the parchment up carefully, and handed it back to Katie. "I'm really sorry, Katie," he told her, and he really was.

She just nodded and gazed into the fire. After a while she curled herself up in the opposite corner of the couch and continued staring at the flames, and eventually dozed off.

When Wood closed his book he looked up to see Katie sleeping silently and was immediately reminded of nights when the moon was full and Katie would climb through his window. She just looked so young tonight.

Katie stirred and woke and hour or so later. She sat up and took her ponytail out from her hair and Wood watched as her hair cascaded down her shoulders.

"I'm going to go now," she said, standing. "I'm really, really tired. Extrasensory Magic can take a lot from you, huh."

"Yeah."

"But you know what, Wood?"

"What?" he asked.

"You're not all that bad. In fact, you're pretty okay," she said, offering a grin.

"You're alright, too, Bell."