Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Katie Bell has been alone for the last four years. After the wedding of her best friend, she heads to the Leaky Cauldron. After she gets drunk, will she make some mistakes that she'll regret later? Oliver Wood/Katie Bell

Disclaimer: Me no J.K. Rowling, you no sue. (Mr. Giggles says hi by the way)

Responses to Reviews: First and foremost, THANKS FOR REVIEWING!!!

Quidditch ~ My first reviewer, thanks!! The only reason the first three chapters were up so fast, was 1) b/c I'm on Spring Break (no hw!) and I had already written them days ago. It might take me longer. (sorry sorry!! *ducks the rotten vegetables)
Isabella Jynx ~ You're one of those reviews that tries to inflate my ego! But thanks anyways!
Allie-Marina Lacross ~ Heh...only reason that Oliver did 'take advantage' of Katie is b/c, well she was kind of hitting on him. Like majorly. Like I would probably would if I was to ever get drunk... (Yes, I have never had enough alcohol to get drunk thank you. I've decided that I don't want to screw my life over before I'm twenty.)

Chapter Four: New Job, New Friends

I woke up the next morning by an owl pecking at my nose. "Ow, ow, ow, I'm up, I'm up!" I said, flapping my arms at the creatures. "What do you want?" I asked curtly. I saw it was the Daily Prophet owl, holding it's leg out so I could pay it. "Ok, hold up." I went to go look for my purse so I could pay it its five Knuts.

It took some doing, because my purse decided to hide in the closet from me, behind a coat. The owl gave me a very annoyed look after I gave it the money and flew out the open window. "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." I muttered under my breath. I grabbed the paper and went to go sit at the kitchen table in the vain quest of finding a job.

I was still trying desperately an hour later. I still hadn't brushed my hair, or taken a shower, so I was feeling really grimy. All the jobs were lousy, and I wasn't really feeling up for charming chocolate frogs for hours on end. I stood up and yawned, telling myself to take a shower, and see if I could beg Alicia for a job at her father's accounting firm when she got back from her honeymoon. Muggle job or not, it paid the bills.

I didn't even realize there was an Great Horned owl at my window until it hooted loudly at me. "Whoa!" I yelled, throwing my hands up and stubbling. I looked at it. It didn't look familiar, so it couldn't be Alicia's owl, Rhiannon. "Hey there." I cooed at it.

It hooted rather loudly at me. It flew up towards the ceiling, and dropped a letter on my head. It flew out the window screeching.

"Yeah, see if I give you any treats." I muttered under my breath as I opened the letter. I gasped at its contents.

Dear Ms. Katherine Bell,
It has come to our attention that you are a qualified witcht to work at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Mr. Oliver Wood has made several recommendations on your behalf, and we are willing to give you a trial job. Be warned, this is a trial job only, and you will not receive the traditional pay given to regular employees. If your work is up to our standards , then you will have the option of staying at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. If you are interested in our offer, please show up at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at nine-thirty Monday morning.

Sincerely,
Keven Formere
Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Pull some strings my arse! I stared at the letter with utmost amazement. Oliver must have twisted and broken arms to get me even a chance at Magical Law Enforcement!! I had applied for a job there months ago, and they had rejected me, saying I didn't have the qualifications. I squealed and jumped around the kitchen, laughing my head off and singing random songs.

I re-read the letter several times, shaking. I couldn't believe it!! Katie Bell, Ministry official! Okay, so I wasn't a Ministry official yet...but it still sounded good! My phone rang. I picked up and I was grinning so hard I was half afraid my jaw muscles would cramp up. "Hello?" I asked.

"Hey Kates." Oliver's deep voice came over the phone lines.

"Oliver!" I exclaimed. "I told you not to go on a crusade for me!" I was laughing at the same time I was scolding him.

Oliver chuckled. "Judging by your obvious amusement, you're glad aren't you?"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I said, nearly gushing over the phone in the cradle of my neck. Both of my hands clutched at the letter, half-afraid that it would dissolve out of existence. Tears coursed down my face in watery excitement. "This is more than my wildest dreams. I didn't expect that I'd get into the Ministry until years from now."

Oliver sounded amused. "Are you alright Katie?"

"Yeah, I'm so happy, thank you Oliver!" I said, blubbering. "What did you do?"

I could actually hear him smiling over the phone. "Let's just say, being a famous Quidditch player helps when so many teenage girls are in love with me."

I was confused by his cryptic answer. "Sorry Katie, but I'm using a Muggle pay phone, and it's telling me that I have to pay for more minutes, and I don't have the money."

"Thank you so much Oliver, I can't think of any way to repay you."

"How 'bout dinner?"

"What?" I asked, taken aback.

"I'm asking you to dinner." He said. "Just hurry with the answer, I'm running out of time."

"Yes!" I blurted out.

"Owl me..." I heard before the line cut off.

I looked at the phone as if it had a life of its own. That was odd...to say the very least, and knowing myself (which I hope I do...) I could say a lot more.

*+*

Monday morning, I woke up at around six. I showered, washing my hair several times, making it smell lemony fresh. I put on a pair of light blue jeans and a white long-sleeve blouse and my suede boots. (I love boots, even if I am tall.) I tied my hair back in a bun at the base of my neck. I applied minimal make-up, since I believe that people that cake their face with make-up to disguise their features are insecure.

I didn't trust my stomach enough to eat anything, so a piece of toast was the only thing that made it past my taste buds, besides a cup of tea. I don't like coffee. I never liked the taste, unlike Alicia. That's one of our few (very few) differences. She loves the 'buzz' it gives her. I told her that's the caffeine, and she could get it from Coca-Cola. She just rolled her eyes at me and sighed. So I ended up pacing for two hours until nine-fifteen when I couldn't stand it any longer, so I Apparated to the front doors of the Ministry of Magic.

It was a huge building. I mean massive. It stretched for several stories into the sky, and I marveled how Muggles couldn't see it. Its white marble walls reminded me of Gringotts bank. I took a deep breath and walked in.

It was filled to the brim with witches and wizards, hustling and bustling everywhere. My eyes seemed to bug out of their sockets as I stared. There were robes of different colors and designs, and people Apparating with a pop, inside and out of the building. A woman at a desk was talking to someone else's head in the fire. "Yes, Mr. Nalester will be out of the office today." She said calmly. Her silver-gray hair was up in a ponytail, and she didn't look any older than thirty. She sighed, and turned to look at me as I walked up to her.

"Hi, what can I do for you honey?" She asked. She was chewing on a large piece of gum, and had a bright smile on her face. But it wasn't fake, surprisingly. She seemed to genially want to be there.

"Hi, I'm looking for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?" I asked timidly. I felt small in the big world of Ministry members, my silly daydream of 'Katie Bell: Ministry Official' gone into the distance. And running faster each second.

She grinned at my tiny voice. "You must be Katherine Bell. Kevin told me that you'd be in today. Your guide should be...oh there she is! Mya!"

I turned around to see a average sized woman coming towards us. She was wearing a dark purple robes, and her dark brown wavy hair back in a French Braid. It was a darker color than my hair, almost like a polished wood color. Her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing rather hard. "Hey Erica." She said brightly to the woman at the desk. "How was your date last night?"

Erica made a face. "Idiot Muggle. Tried to get to second base on the first date. Got a burned hand and modified memory." Erica and the dark-haired woman laughed.

The dark-haired woman turned to me. "You must be Katherine." She stuck her hand out to shake mine.

I did so, firmly. "It's Katie." I said, feeling more at ease.

She smiled. "Katie then, I'm Hermione Granger." She said, gesturing for me to follow her. "Everyone calls me Mya though."

Realization dawned on me. "You're Harry Potter's friend!" I exclaimed. I remembered her from years ago, at the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, when it was pouring buckets of rain, and she had charmed Harry's glasses to repel water. The really smart third year that was able to ace everything.

"Yeah, that's me." Hermione said, giving a small smile, and ducking her head. I could see the pink tinge cross her features. "I'm supposed to take you to Kevin's office. Come on, this way." She said, showing me to the stairs. As we walked up we continued to talk.

"Kevin?"

"Oh, that's Mr. Fogmere." Hermione said. "He insists on a first name basis in our office. He wanted to see you."

"Okay." I said slowly. "So what do you do here?"

"Oh, I'm a Junior Obliviator for Magical mishaps. I don't get much work, but that'll change once I get a promotion." Hermione said. "Shouldn't be long. I would've gotten a promotion long ago, but since I'm so young they just have to make sure people don't get angry at me for rising through the ranks too fast."

It became to hard to talk after climbing all those stairs. I was losing my breath really fast. I probably didn't need to go the gym after this every day.

"Here's his office." Hermione said as we reached a landing on the seventh floor. She pointed to a red door that said boldly "Kevin Formere". I hesitated. Hermione giggled. "Don't worry, he doesn't bite. He'll bark on occasion, but usually to someone that's being an idiot."

I smiled, too nervous to laugh.

I knocked, wondering why my legs felt like someone had transfigured my legs to water. I wondered if Hermione did is as a prank, but she didn't seem the type. Now if Fred was here...

"Come in." A deep voice thundered through the door.

I turned the golden knob and pushed the heavy thing open. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I expected. It was large and welcoming. There was a wide mahogany desk in the middle of the room, facing the door, with it's back to the window. The window took up the entire wall, showing London's streets. The sky was a beautiful baby blue with clouds that looked so fluffy and still that they didn't look like they were really there, only painted onto the sky. I could see some tall maple trees swaying slightly in the breeze, and cluster of birds could be heard chirping their little lungs out from the open pane of window.

The walls of the office were a sea green foam color. I never thought I'd see an office that color. The floor was a shaggy rug in a dark forest green color which offset the walls nicely. There was a friendly fire crackling on one side of the office. There were awards all over the walls, along with pictures of Mr. Fogmere's family. It looked like he had a large one. Mr. Fogmere...or Kevin was sitting at the desk, writing something on a form. He looked up when I walked in. "Ah, Katherine." He said, smiling and getting up from the leather chair. I swallowed the comment about killing poor defenseless animals for the sake of a nice chair.

"Hello Mr. Fogmere." I said stiffly. I wasn't really comfortable calling him Kevin. He looked thirty years my senior. He was overweight, but had a pleasant composure. His dark black hair was streaked with gray, and his honey eyes blazed with vigor. His eyes were protected by silver oval glasses. He was wearing a tie and dress shirt, but his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his jacket was thrown over one of the two wooden chairs in front of his messed up desk. It was overflowing with papers.

"Please, call me Kevin. Mr. Fogmere makes me feel old." He said, shaking my hand warmly. He seemed more like a father than a boss. "Do you have a nickname?" He asked, taking a seat at his desk. I decided to forgive him for killing a poor cow for his chair as long as I got a job.

"Yes, people call me Katie." I said. I sat down at the very edge of the chair, feeling awfully nervous.

Kevin laughed. "You look like a rabbit that's about to be shot. Breathe."

I smiled, feeling the tension ease slightly.

Kevin searched through the massive piles of papers on his desk. I had a very strong urge to clean it, but I fought it. I can't stand a big mess like that. Angelina and Alicia used to tease me of my compulsive cleanliness at Hogwarts. On occasion when the dormitory got to messy and cluttered, I'd clean it. Angelina and Alicia would comment in fake high voices about the "Clean Fairy" that so mysteriously cleaned their room. I got Fred and George to help me give them purple spots and large bulbous noses for school the next day.

"Oliver has said some fine things about you Katie." Kevin said, finding a large pack of papers and looking through them. "I've decided to put you on the Junior Task Division. You'll answer to any major Magical catastrophes, explosions and such. If you find it to your liking, you can stay. If you wish to be transferred to a different sub-department, owl me or my secretary." He looked at me sternly over his glasses. "Let me tell you Katie. I'm fair, and I pushed for having a very casual work environment because I believe if an employee lives in fear of his or her employer, then work goes down. But I find that people take advantage of that, they will suffer grave consequences. You work hard, you get paid. You lag behind or are disrespectful, it's possible you can get fired. I run a tight ship, but I am fair."

I nodded. I think I would like working here.

Kevin nodded as well. He lifted his mass out of his chair and pulled some powder out of his robes. He threw it into the fire, making it turn green. "Ron, I want to see you now!" He yelled into.

I gasped as it made a whoshing sound and a tall redhead stepped out with a winning smile. "Hey Kev." He said brightly. He dusted the ash and soot out of his hair and off his robes. "You rang?"

I recognized him as Fred and George's littlest brother, Ron. "Yes I did." Kevin said. "I want you to show Katie here the ropes. She's new here."

"No problem." Ron said with a reassuring grin at me, as if he knew that my insides were in knots. "Come on then!" He held out his hand and I took it. I caught sight of a picture on Kevin's desk. It was a pretty teenage girl with blonde hair.

"Whose that?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Kevin smiled proudly. "My eldest, Kristy. She's sixteen, a sixth year at Hogwarts. Major crush on your friend Oliver."

The reality of Oliver's statement, "Let's just say, being a famous Quidditch player helps when so many teenage girls are in love with me." finally caught up with me as Ron dragged me into the enchanted fire and we were transported to Magical Catastrophes Division.