New Dreams for Old
Chapter 3
From My Friends
Defend me from my friends; I can defend myself from my enemies.
-Attributed to Maréchal Villars
upon taking leave of Louis XIV
Katie
pushed one of her chips over the plate with her fork, then rolled it back with
her fork, then pushed it forward again… with her fork.
She was only half-listening to what had turned into a rather animated
discussion between Angelina and Alicia, and only looked up occasionally, when
she heard her name or when she felt the eyes of one (or both) of her friends
boring into her thoughts.
"…She owled me this morning, actually. Ron isn't in on it yet, but she's told Ginny and Percy, and Bill knew already, so…."
And Charlie?"
"He's not entirely certain that he's going to be able to get away, but he's sure going to give it a try. He's trying to make it over for the World Cup, anyway, so hopefully it will all work out. But it's not an easy trip, even by Floo. There are about a dozen stops between here and there, and…."
"Well, couldn't he Apparate?"
Angelina let out a snorting sort of laugh. "Apparate? From Romania?"
Alicia's voice gained a note of petulance that made Katie smile even through her sluggishness. "Well, he could, couldn't he?"
Katie laughed under her breath and looked up from under dark lashes, barely arching her eyebrows as she glanced between her friends.
Angelina was shaking her head and reaching for her butterbeer. "Not likely."
"It's been done before, hasn't it?"
Angelina frowned thoughtfully, letting the bottle hover a few inches from her mouth. Then she shook her head again. "I don't think so." She took a long drink and set her bottle back down. She thought for another moment, shook her head and began tracing her finger over the bottle's paper label. "I don't even think it's possible."
"Are you sure?"
"Fairly sure."
There was a long pause. Katie looked back down at her plate, giving the chip another half-hearted roll across the surface. After a moment, Alicia sat back in her chair, taking a long drink.
"It won't be the same if he's not there."
"Well, he said he'd try."
"Right."
There was an even longer pause. Katie stabbed the chip with her fork, then raised it up to eye level, turning the fork this way and that and staring not quite at the chip, but not quite through it, either. Angelina and Alicia went on.
"So do you think they suspect?"
"They're Fred and George. Of course they're suspecting something. They're always suspecting something. I expect it comes of always being suspected of something by others…."
Katie smiled and made a little snuffling noise, but didn't look up. Angelina and Alicia had been planning Fred and George Weasley's birthday party for weeks. The whole Weasley clan was in on the planning, including Harry Potter, who, although he was technically not a Weasley, was included in everything that included the Weasleys.
Katie yawned and turned her fork around again. The chip had gone cold and soggy some time ago, and she found if she shook the fork ever so slightly in a vertical fashion, the ends of the potato would bob up and down in a most amusing way.
After a few moments of this, Katie blinked slowly, looking around at nothing in particular. Something had changed. She couldn't say exactly what had changed at first, but after a long moment of drowsy reflection, she realized that the conversation had stopped. Entirely.
She lifted her eyes. Angelina and Alicia were staring at her with identical expressions of confusion and amusement. Katie looked first at Alicia, then at Angelina, then back at Alicia, raising both eyebrows in an unspoken question.
Alicia was snickering under her breath. Angelina let out a short laugh and nodded toward Katie's hand. "So… were you planning on eating that?"
Katie looked back at the fork in her hand. The chip had nearly fallen off, and was clinging tenaciously to one tine with only by a bit of skin and batter. She laughed a little self-consciously, then sat up in her chair and dropped the fork to her plate with a clatter.
"Sorry." Katie ran both hands through her hair, stifling another yawn. "I guess I'm still a bit knackered. I haven't had much sleep the last few nights, and I think it's beginning to catch up with me."
Alicia just grinned and shook her head without a word. Angelina sat back in her chair with her bottle of butterbeer and looked at Katie with a decidedly mischievous expression.
"Yeah, you said something about that this morning. Something about a nightmare, wasn't it? Pirates, or some silly thing."
Katie threw her friend an exasperated look. "No, not nightmares, exactly." She let the image of the dashing Captain Oliver flash very briefly through her thoughts, then she pushed him away and reached for her drink. "Just very… odd dreams."
Alicia perked up immediately. (Her interest in dreams and the Divination thereof was legendary.) "Hang on… You've been having dreams about pirates?" She grinned and raised both blonde eyebrows. "You finished Pauline, didn't you? What did you think? Wasn't it fabulous?"
Katie groaned through her laughter. "I finished it, yes. After midnight, thank you very much, which is one of the reasons I haven't had much sleep. I have it back at the shop. You can have back it after lunch, if you'd like."
Alicia waved a dismissive hand. "Yes, after lunch, fine…." She leaned forward with an almost predatory grin. "Now, tell me about these dreams…."
Katie let out a sigh and threw Angelina an accusatory glance. Her friend just shrugged with a smile.
"Well, I had to get it out of you somehow, didn't I? And Alicia doesn't give up as easily as I do."
Alicia reached over the table and grabbed Katie's arm. "It's true, but… Ignore her. She'll only cloud your mind with disbelief and…"
"Reality." Angelina laughed. "It's called reality."
Alicia groaned. "It's called denial. Everyone knows that dreams are a window into the subconscious. If Katie's having dreams that she can't stop thinking about, there's something going on." She turned back to Katie. "Okay, now this dream. It had pirates in it? Oh, that could mean all sorts of things...."
Katie pulled her arm away and shook her head. "Forget it Al. I'm not getting dragged into another one of your Diviniation… things. I don't need an interpretation, a journey through my subconscious, or anything else. It was a dream, it's over, end of story."
Alicia looked doubtful. Katie yawned again. "I'm just very… very tired."
Alicia let out a sigh and sat back in her chair. "Oh, all right, then. You're absolutely no fun at all. You do realize that, don't you?"
Katie looked up. "Oh, now just a minute…."
Alicia waved her hand again, a smile just tugging at the corners of her mouth. "No, no… You don't believe in the wonders of Divination, there's nothing I can do to help you."
Katie laughed. "Well, that settles it then, doesn't it?"
Alicia grinned and shook her head, then picked up her drink and looked at Katie more seriously. "I meant what I said, though. If you really are having dreams that you can't stop thinking about, there's probably some reason. Something going on in your mind that won't let you forget whatever it is that you're dreaming about."
Angelina looked at Katie and shrugged. "As much as I hate to admit it, she might have something there."
Katie groaned. She knew her friends, and she knew that they were not going to leave her alone until they had some answers. Of course, she wouldn't either, were the situations reversed. If only the whole situation didn't involve Oliver…. It was going to make the whole thing much more difficult.
Katie made a face, then let out a sigh and sat back up. "All right, all right! You can ask me three questions." Alicia opened her mouth to protest, but Katie put up her hand. "Three. That's all I'm going to answer, and you're lucky to get those."
Angelina nodded and looked back at Alicia. "It's true. She wouldn't tell me a ruddy thing."
Alicia's smile widened into a grin of triumph, and she sat forward in her chair, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Three questions. Okay." She looked at the table thoughtfully for a long moment. Katie threw another frustrated glance at Angelina, who was quite obviously pretending not to notice.
Alicia suddenly looked up at Katie and nodded. "All right. Question Number One. These dreams that keep bothering you. Do they all include the same man?"
"What makes you think they're about a man?"
"You said you would answer three questions. That's Question Number One.
Katie shrugged her shoulders, looking back down at her bottle. Oliver? "Well, I don't know that you could call him a man, exactly…."
"Katie…."
Katie sighed and looked up. "Oh, all right! Yes."
Alicia grinned. "Excellent." She spent another quick moment in thought. "Question Two…." She nodded again and looked up. "All right. Question Number Two. Is it someone from your past?"
Katie turned her bottle in her fingers, wiping away little drops of condensation. "Well… What do you mean exactly, 'from my past?'"
"Katie…."
Katie let out a sigh of frustration and looked up at her friends. "I never should have agreed to this! Why do I let the two of you talk me into these things?"
Angelina smirked. "Because we're your best mates, that's why. Now just answer the question."
Katie looked at her bottle and sighed again. "Fine. Yes."
Angelina and Alicia glanced at each other quickly. Apparently Alicia didn't even have to think about the third Question, because she immediately asked,
"Was it Oliver?"
Katie looked up sharply. "What?"
Alicia gave a little shrug, her eyes strangely serious. "Was it Oliver?"
Katie looked at Angelina for help, but found a very similar expression on her face as well. There was no getting out of this one. Katie looked back at Alicia, who raised both eyebrows as she waited for an answer that Katie just couldn't give.
"What are you talking about?"
Angelina sat forward, setting her bottle down on the table. "You know. Oliver. Oliver Wood. Tall, dark hair. Not bad-looking, really. Quidditch fanatic…."
Katie let out a frustrated snort. "I know who Oliver is."
Alicia let out a short laugh. "I should hope so. After Hogwarts, the two of you were practically joined at the lip… Oops!" She grinned, obviously completely aware of her "slip." "I meant 'hip.'"
Katie threw Alicia a withering glance. "Of course you did."
The truth of the matter was, she and Oliver had been inseparable. Friends since she joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team in her third year at Hogwarts, their relationship had become friendlier every year. Even after Oliver left Hogwarts to play Quidditch for Puddlemere United, the owls came every week without fail. He was in London this week, he missed her, the weather was terrible, he missed her, he actually got to play a few minutes in the last match, he missed her, he couldn't wait to see her at the match in Wimbourne. He missed her…. And when Katie stepped off of the Hogwarts Express for the last time, Oliver was standing instead of her parents on Platform 9 ¾, waiting for her. The boyish grin was on his face, and in his fingers he was twisting a single red rose whose stem had already been worn to shreds.
Katie swallowed the tightness in her throat and looked back at her bottle. Angelina and Alicia looked at each other again, and Angelina cleared her throat. "So… you never answered Question Number Three."
Katie shook her head, not looking up. "No, and I'm not going to."
Alicia frowned. "Katie, you said…."
Katie looked up, cutting her off. "I know what I said. But I'm not answering that."
Angelina frowned and opened her mouth to say something, but at that exact moment a familiar shout rose from somewhere down Diagon Alley.
"Oy, Angie! Angie!"
Angelina and Katie looked quickly toward the noise, and Katie closed her eyes, slumping slightly in her chair as she let out a quiet sigh of relief. She had never been so happy to hear Fred Weasley's voice in her life. The Weasley twins had always had an impeccable sense of timing (one had to have an impeccable sense of timing to be the widely-acknowledged Monarchs of Misbehavior), and this was certainly no exception. She resolved to thank Fred later. And George, too, since each was rarely without the other.
When Katie opened her eyes again, she could see Fred, along with George, weaving his way through shoppers, Quidditch fans and the first of the brightly painted tables outside of Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor (Which sold a great deal more than ice cream, though Fortescue's Fish Palace probably wouldn't have had the same appeal) toward where the three girls were sitting.
Angelina's face brightened immediately, and she waved. Alicia, on the other hand, was quickly checking her reflection in a spoon, straightening her hair and brushing nonexistent smudges from her cheek. The prominent flirtation between Alicia and George Weasley had been going on for months, each side waiting for the other to make the first move. Fred said that George was just being shy (Angelina called it scheming), and Angelina claimed that Alicia was simply waiting for George to be a gentleman. (At which Fred just laughed and muttered that she was going to be waiting a good long time.)
Upon reaching the girls' table, Fred slid into the last empty chair (which conveniently happened to be located next to Angelina's) with a cheerful "Hullo, beautiful!" and an even more cheerful "Fancy meeting you here!" He promptly threw an arm around Angelina's shoulder and leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek that was so quick that one would have missed it if one had blinked. Still, the faintest hint of a flush crept over Angelina's dark cheeks, and she smiled a little wider as she leaned back into his arm.
"Hullo, Fred."
George quickly seized an empty chair from a nearby table and swung it around, slipping into the narrow space between Angelina and Alicia, who quickly moved aside to make more room. George flopped down onto the backwards chair with an exaggerated sigh, folding his arms on the back and looking around at the three faces.
"So…."
Fred nodded, as if George had said something truly profound.
"So…."
George nodded, as well. "So…."
Angelina laughed. "So?"
"So, how are the plans coming, then?"
The three girls glanced at each other quickly. Angelina widened her eyes in "surprise" and looked at Fred.
"Plans?"
George nodded, looking around at the girls again with an expectant air. "Yeah, the plans for our birthday party."
Alicia frowned slightly, shaking her head. "What birthday party?
Fred waggled his eyebrows mischievously. "The one you three have been planning for weeks. We know all about it, of course."
Alicia rolled her eyes quite convincingly, Katie thought, and Angelina started laughing. "Birthday party? Is it your birthday?"
Fred adopted a hurt expression and removed his arm. "You wound me, Angie. Really."
Angelina gave him a quick shove with her shoulder. "Oh, stop it. And what makes you think we're planning anything?"
Fred and George looked at each other quickly, then George looked back at Alicia. "Well, you see, Ron's never been one for keeping secrets, and he told us…."
Alicia laughed and shook her head. "Nope, no good." She looked at George with a grin and said, "Do you honestly think if we were planning anything, that we would tell Ron?"
"But he said…."
Angelina shook her head. "Nope, sorry. We learned a long time ago never to tell Ron anything important. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love your brother, but…."
Fred slipped his arm back around Angelina's shoulders and grinned. "I understand completely, luv. Telling Ron anything is the surest way to let everyone know in a very short time."
"Exactly."
George looked thoughtful for a moment, then laughed and shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "Bugger. Well, you can't blame a bloke for trying, can you?"
Alicia smirked and picked up her bottle of butterbeer again. "Well, I could…."
George grinned and moved his chair a little closer to Alicia. "But you wouldn't."
Alicia raised one eyebrow playfully. "I might."
George leaned a little closer and whispered loudly, "Even if I had tickets to the Weird Sisters concert this weekend?"
Alicia's eyes grew large, and she backed away just enough to look up into George's face. "The… what? That concert's been sold out for over a month! You can't possibly have tickets!"
George sat back and folded his arms over his chest casually. "Well, I'm an important man in the business world now, you know. I have connections…."
Fred rolled his eyes, looked at Katie and mouthed the word "Dad." Apparently there were advantages to having the Deputy Minister of Magic for a father.
George was inspecting his fingernails closely. "Of course, I have two tickets, and I don't suppose you would want to…."
"Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!"
Katie laughed to herself. It was about ruddy time.
George let out a sigh (of relief, Katie thought) and grinned. "Well make it a thousand and one, and you can go with me."
Alicia arched a single golden eyebrow. "George Weasley, your social skills are completely lacking. If you think for an instant that asking me like that is going to make me want to...."
George sat up quickly and looked at Alicia with a pleading expression that Katie could almost believe was a pretense.
"Go with me, Alicia? Please?"
Alicia paused for a moment, then scooted her chair closer (if it were possible) to George's, an almost bashful smiling spreading over her lips. "A thousand and one, then."
"Done."
Katie grinned and shook her head without saying a word. Fred was grinning, as well, but suddenly he sat straight up in his chair, making a face as if he had just remembered something important and had mentally smacked himself in the forehead for forgetting it in the first place. Angelina, of course, was thrown forward by the sudden motion and threw Fred a glare that couldn't quite hide her laughter. Fred, being completely oblivious at the moment, didn't see it.
"Tickets! Bugger, I almost forgot!" He spun around to face Angelina. "Angie, about those tickets…."
Katie looked between the two of them in confused interest. She had no idea what he was talking about, but apparently Angelina did, because she sat just as straight just as suddenly and looked at Fred with an eager expression.
"Did you…?"
Fred grinned at her. "I did."
"And he…?
"He did."
"And we…?"
"Yup."
Angelina let out a delighted squeal and threw her arms around Fred's neck. Katie and Alicia looked at each other in complete bewilderment. George, on the other hand, was casually leaning back toward the nearest table, at which a middle-aged wizard was slowing poring over the latest copy of the Daily Prophet and nursing a cup of tea that had to have gone cold ages ago. George casually stretched his arm behind him, reaching for the pages of the paper that had been left on the table.
The wizard looked up with a snort. George stayed his hand, looking at the gentleman with an expression that on anyone else's face could have been mistaken for innocence. The wizard didn't say anything, however, and after a moment, George nodded toward the pile of discarded papers, clearing his throat in a businesslike way.
"Excuse me, but have you finished with the sports pages? And if you have, could I borrow them for just a tic? And if you haven't, could you finish them, and then I'll borrow them for just a tic?"
Fred snickered, Angelina groaned, and Alicia shook her head. The wizard simply narrowed his eyes for a moment at George, then shrugged and went back to his paper without a word. George grinned and pulled the rest of the papers from the table (with a rather cheeky "thanks ever so much"), then sat up and started flipping through the pages.
Fred looked at Katie and shook his head. "I can't do a thing with him, honestly!"
Katie laughed. "So what's all this about tickets, then?"
The look of excitement leapt back to Fred's face. "Oh! Didn't Angie tell you? I'm sure she had. Well, George and I have been using our… connections to try and get tickets to the World Cup."
Katie shook her head. "We've already got tickets. You know that. The Ireland-America match on Saturday."
Fred grinned. "Ah… But do you have tickets to the Final Match?"
Katie raised her eyebrows in disbelief. It couldn't be. "Fred, those tickets are impossible to get. You either have to be very rich, or very important."
Fred reached over and grabbed a cold chip from Katie's place. "Both of which apply to a certain Minister Dumbledore. And the second of which now applies to a certain Deputy Minister Weasley, whom George and I happen to know quite intimately." He took a bite of the chip, made a sour face, and dropped it unceremoniously back onto her plate. "Nice chap, that Deputy Minister Weasley. Always willing to help… well, another Weasley. Which, oddly enough, George and I just happen to be."
Katie could feel her mouth dropping open. "You got the tickets?"
Angelina let out another elated squeal and Fred grinned, waggling his eyebrows proudly. "I got the tickets."
George didn't look up from the paper. "We got the tickets."
Fred nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "We got the tickets."
Katie laughed and shook her head, saying to Fred, "Fred Weasley, you lucky son-of-a…."
George did look up at that. "Hey, now. Watch where you're going with that, Bell. That's my mum you're talking about."
Katie flashed George her most ingratiating smile. "of a beautiful, marvelous, infinitely kind and gracious woman who is also an excellent cook, makes beautiful sweaters, and…."
George made a face and looked back at his paper. "Merlin, Bell! Watch where you're going with that, too. I think I'm going to be ill."
Katie snickered and looked back at Fred, who was obviously more than eager to go on.
"Apparently, Dumbledore had a few extra tickets for the Minister's Box at the Final Match, and asked Dad if he knew anyone who could use them. It took a fair amount of talking, and George and I had to swear on our graves to leave the fireworks at home, but we got them."
"How many?"
Fred smirked and sat back in his chair. "Six of them."
Katie's mouth dropped again, but she shut it quickly, smiled, batted her eyelashes and said in her most fawning tone, "You know, Fred, I've always liked you…."
Fred's smirk widened into a grin, but before he could say anything else, George let out an incredibly loud sort of laughing shout.
"Oy, Fred! You'll never guess who they've signed to play Keeper for the English Team!"
Fred, Angelina, Alicia, Katie, and the middle-aged wizard at the next table all looked up in surprise. George's eyes were still moving quickly over the paper. After several moments of George's not saying anything further, Fred leaned forward and snatched the paper out of his brother's hands. He started reading.
"'The Department of Games and Sports held a press conference this morning to announce the signing of a last-minute replacement Keeper for the English World Cup Quidditch Team. 24-year-old Oliver Wood, of….'"
Katie's stomach did a funny sort of lurch. She had almost been expecting it, the way her day had been going, but it was still quite a shock. Oliver? Playing in the World Cup? They had talked about it for years, but the conversations had nearly always started with a "wouldn't it be great if…." And now the "wouldn't it be" had become "isn't it great that…." Katie was immeasurably thrilled for Oliver and the incredible opportunity he had been given, but at the same time, she was incredibly depressed at the thought that it had finally happened, and he would be sharing his excitement with someone else.
No, she didn't care… did she?
"'… has been having a remarkable season for Puddlemere United after the medical suspension of Andrew Radcliffe, whom Puddlemere officials say will be returning to play at the start of the regular season. Wood begins training with the rest of the English team tomorrow morning, which is none too early, considering that the beginning of the tournament in a mere three days away….'" Fred laughed and looked up, shaking his head in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me! Wood, playing for England? It's ruddy brilliant!"
Alicia was staring at her fork, thoughtfully turning it over in her fingers. "Shouldn't he be playing for Scotland?"
No one seemed to hear. They were all too busy trying to grab the paper out of Fred's hands. He was holding it just out of reach, still trying to read. "When asked… about the… signing…. Wood was said to remark…. Hey!"
The middle-aged wizard at the next table had rather nimbly reclaimed his paper, scanning the page quickly until he found the article in question. When Fred realized what had happened, he quickly quieted his protests and flashed the man a final smile before turning back to his friends.
"Who would have thought it? All right, we may all have thought it, but still… Wood in the World Cup!" He looked at Angelina. "Did he say anything to you when you saw him last week? He must have said something…."
Katie looked quickly at Angelina. When she saw him? Angelina glanced at her with a guilty expression, then looked back at Fred, saying quickly. "Fred, this really isn't the best…."
"I'll bet he came in to sign the contract! That's it, isn't it? I wonder if he knew, and just didn't say anything. Blasted bugger! It would be just like him to…."
"Fred…."
"But he should have at least said something on the way out. He would have know by then. I… ow!"
Katie looked away from Angelina toward Fred, who was rubbing his arm and looking at Angelina with a wounded expression.
"What the… what was that for?"
Angelina spoke very quietly through clenched teeth. "Fred, this probably isn't the best time to talk about that."
"Well, why in blazes not? I mean...."
Angelina glanced quickly at Katie, and Fred followed her gaze. His voice trailed off, and understanding dawned in his eyes. "Oh. That."
Angelina flashing him a warning glance. "Yes, that."
"But…."
Angelina shook her head, then looked at Alicia with an earnest, pleading expression. A silent conversation passed between them, and Alicia nodded without a word. She looked at George, who was looking between Fred, Angelina and Katie with a sort of morbid (if somewhat amused) curiosity. Alicia smiled sweetly, took his elbow and stood, trying to pull him with her.
"George, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind walking me over to Gambol and Japes? There are a few things Id like to look at, and I need an expert opinion."
George blinked once, then looked up, completely flabbergasted. "What? Gambol and Japes? You've never gone in there in your life, Alicia." He raised an eyebrow, gazing at Alicia with suddenly greater interest. "Have you?"
Alicia looked over at Fred. "I think you should come too, Fred. I mean, if we're going to be at the World Cup Quidditch Final, well… don't you think we should be prepared?"
Fred tore his gaze away from Katie and Angelina to raise an eyebrow at Alicia. "My dear Alicia, George and I promised Deputy Minister Weasley that we would leave the fireworks at home. We may be scoundrels, but we are of the most honorable sort."
Alicia smiled conspiratorially. "Yes. You promised to leave the fireworks at home. But did you promise not to bring anything else?"
Fred blinked, then looked at his brother. A long look passed between Fred and George. After a moment Fred said to George, "Oh, I like her."
George nodded in complete seriousness and said to Fred, "Oh, I like her more."
In an instant both twins had stood and were pulling Alicia away from the table in the direction of Gambol and Japes Joke Shop. As they disappeared into the steady, if not flooded, stream of shoppers, Katie looked back at Angelina.
"You saw Oliver?"
Angelina paused, then nodded slightly. "He came into the Office last week. We talked for a bit."
Katie let out a breathless laugh. "You saw Oliver. And you didn't tell me."
Angelina sat forward in her chair. "Katie, I work in the Department of Games and Sports Oliver plays for a professional Quidditch team. He was bound to come in eventually, wasn't he?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Angelina looked at Katie seriously. "Would you have wanted me to?"
Would she? After a long moment of staring at her friend, Katie had to admit to herself that she just didn't know. It was just easier to leave that part of her life behind. Talking about Oliver would have just reopened old wounds. Like it was doing now. Katie nodded and let her gaze fall to the table, and the napkin lying wadded up next to her plate. She picked it up and started twisting the corner distractedly.
"How is he?"
Angelina nodded again, still looking at Katie with an unreadable expression. "He looks good. He's filled out a little. Not that he was ever scrawny before, but professional Quidditch has been very good to him." She smiled faintly. "And he's grown out his hair. Like you always said he should."
Katie nodded. "I know. I've seen pictures."
"It looks good."
Katie had no answer to that.
"He asked after you."
Katie's grip tightened on the napkin, but she had no answer to that, either.
A long moment of silence passed between them. Angelina took a breath as if to speak, but let it out again without saying a word. A moment later, she took another breath and said quietly, "That bloke that's been in your dreams. It is Oliver, isn't it?"
Katie's fingers stopped moving on the napkin. She didn't look up, but nodded almost imperceptibly. There was no use trying to hide it anymore. Not from Angie.
There was another quiet space, and then Angelina spoke again. "How long?"
Katie shrugged her shoulders. "A couple of weeks. I don't know why. I honestly thought… Well, I had moved on. I have a good job, I'm almost done with my studies…." She looked up at Angelina, sighing heavily. "But he won't leave me alone."
"Maybe he never did."
Katie looked back down at her hands, then threw her napkin away with a curse that made Angelina flinch and the wizard at the next table look at her with a single raised eyebrow. Katie looked back down, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. "He always was mulish, wasn't he?"
Angelina nodded with a smile. "He's as stubborn as you are. And his temper's almost as hot."
Katie shook her head, looking at the discarded napkin. "I'm over him, Angie."
"Are you?"
Katie looked up at Angelina. Again, silence reigned until at last Angelina sat forward, leaning her elbows on the table. "Maybe Alicia was right. Maybe you're trying to tell yourself something. Maybe…."
Katie scowled and looked up at Angelina. "Blast it, Angie, don't you start…."
Angelina sighed and sat back up. "Katie, I know it was hard for you. Merlin, I know it was hard. I watched you cry for weeks. But it's been over a year. You haven't even talked to him in over a year. Merlin knows he's tried to talk to you. Maybe you should…."
"Maybe nothing."
"Katie, he may have been telling the truth. Have you ever considered that?"
Katie let out a disbelieving laugh. "Telling me the truth? That he didn't know how she got there? That he couldn't remember what had happened? He just woke up one morning and found himself half-naked in bed with a redhead whose name he didn't even know? Give me a little credit, Angie."
"It's happened, Katie. Maybe it was a Memory Charm…."
"Memory Charms aren't that selective."
"You don't know what happ…."
Katie cut her off sharply. "I know enough! And I don't want to have this conversation again!" She could feel her throat tightening, could feel the familiar sting of tears behind her eyes, but she pushed them both away. She wasn't going to do this. Not now.
"Katie, he… You need to talk to him…."
Katie sighed and looked away. "I don't want to hear anything he has to say!"
"After all this time, you're still that angry?"
Katie looked up. "Yes, Angie! Wouldn't you be?"
"Katie…."
Katie shook her head, interrupting again. "Angie, do you know what it's like? To walk in on… on someone you… you…." She frowned and shook her head, unable to say the word. "And see them… see them with someone else? Like that?"
Angelina looked down. "Katie, I know it must have hurt, but I don't think…."
Katie shook her head, interrupting. "No! No, Angie, you don't know. He was in bed. His bed. With a woman. And that woman wasn't me. Not… that it would have been anyway, but that's not the point!"
"He was asleep, Katie. Completely passed out."
"And?"
"And he says he doesn't remember anything. Not how he got home from the pub, not how she ended up in his flat, not anything that happened… Or didn't happen."
"But she did."
"But he didn't."
Katie laughed. "Angie, do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?"
Angelina shook her head emphatically. "Katie, Oliver had never lied to you before that day. Never."
Katie looked down, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Well, it only takes one lie to bring it all crashing down, doesn't it?"
Angelina fell silent. Katie looked up, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I loved him, Angie."
Angelina paused, then took a deep breath and nodded in defeat. "I know, Katie."
There was another long moment of silence. After what seemed an eternity, Katie sighed and pushed back her chair. "Anyway, thanks for lunch, but I've got to get back." She forced a smile to her face. "I'm sure Mr. Pendlesmythe's probably burned the shop down by now. Or maybe he's buried himself under a pile of man-eating textbooks."
Angelina smirked and shook her head. "One can always hope…."
Katie laughed quietly, but she made no move to get up. "Oh, he's not so bad. He's letting me have a day off on Saturday, after all."
Angelina laughed. "It's a good thing, or I'd have Fred come and snatch you out from under his nose. He's not above a little foul play when it comes to Quidditch, you know. It used to drive Oliver crazy…." Her voice trailed off, and she shook her head again. "Sorry."
Katie reached forward to squeeze her friend's hand. Her voice became serious. "Angie, you know I love you. And I appreciate what you're trying to do, really I do. But I'm all right. Truly. I'm just having… very peculiar dreams. They don't mean anything. Oliver's moved on, and so have I. Nothing will change that."
Angelina sighed and nodded slowly, smiling. "All right, Katie. If you say so."
Katie nodded. "Good. So I'll see you on Saturday, then?"
Angelina nodded, piling the empty plates on the table. "If not before. And I'll Floo you tonight, all right?"
Katie nodded with a smile. "Sure."
Angelina looked up. "Katie, you're sure you're all right…?"
Katie nodded and squeezed Angelina's hand again. "I'm fine, Angie, really. And I'm glad that Oliver's doing so well. Honestly. He deserves this chance."
She smiled. "I think it's just all the attention he's been getting in the Prophet. It's bound to drag up memories, isn't it?" Katie picked up her bag and stood.
Angelina nodded. "I suppose so."
"Besides," Katie said, smiling and slinging her bag over her shoulder, "what are the chances I'll ever see Oliver Wood again? It will all work out, I promise." Katie smiled and winked, tucked a stray curl behind her ear and turned in the direction of Flourish and Botts Bookstore.
Somewhere in Katie Bell's flat, the tiny picture of Oliver Wood winked again.
A/N: Well, and there you have it! This chapter is quite a bit longer than I had planned, but I promised that I would tell you what Oliver had done in this chapter, and by golly, I was going to do it! ^_^ If the pacing is terrible, please let me know... My stories have a tendency to get lost in the details. ^_^
(And Oliver will be making his first appearance soon, I hope!)
And again, thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! They made this chapter happen. ^_^
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter or the books by J.K. Rowling. I simply have a severe case of novel envy.
