A/N: Once again, big thanks to each and every one of my readers and a special one to my reviewers:

*Londonrules*: glad you like it! Here's the next chapter! And yes, London does rule ;) Kathy: good to know you liked Oliver been uncomfortable with the "female adoration" *lol* Jayne: Oh wow! Your review really made my day! I was very insecure about that chapter, but knowing you liked it so much made me a whole lot more confident! Freebs: Aaaw, my first reviewer, you're still faithful to me! ;D Bumblebee: Yaaay, you still love my story, yippee! But, my favourite story… ouch, that's hard to choose! Hmmm… 'Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Wood' is absolutely GREAT! I also LOVE 'Right in Front of Your Eyes'… it's still on the beginning, but it has lots of potential. 'New Dreams for Old' is brilliant and 'Relating Relations' is also wonderful (shame it's not updated too often, but it's sure worth a reading) oh and also 'Riding the Line Between Love and Hate' and 'Something About Katie' that are the same fic, but in different point of views. There's probably more, but these are the ones I can remember right now! :) pokElilpupE, your reviews are the BEST! Always so long… I love it! Oh I couldn't agree with you more, the trousers-no-shirt-and-towel-on-the-shoulders look is just drop-dead sexy! Now, OLIVER like that is just… beyond-words sexy!! Beth, your English wasn't bad at all, probably much better than my French was Je parle français un peu *lol* Kit: yep! They're starting to notice each other in a different way, now! Spexy: Yes!! Katie and Oliver all the way… you too, keep up the good work with your fic! And last but not least, Woody'sRockerWitch, thank you! I am planning to speed things up a bit more from now on. I just want to make sure I develop the characters and the 'background' well enough!

Phew I think that covers everyone and everything… It's starting to get hard thanking everyone individually, but I'm thrilled with the response I'm receiving! So, now what you've all been waiting for: Chapter 5!

***

As November drew nearer, the weather got progressively worse. I didn't mind the cold, in fact, I loved it! The rain, though it could be a bugger sometimes, I could handle as well, but there was one thing I couldn't handle: thunderstorms! One night in mid October, during a particularly heavy one, though I was exhausted from all the quidditch practice we were having, I couldn't fall asleep.

"Jenny?" – I whispered, trying not to wake our other dorm mates.

"Jenny, are you up?" – I asked getting up from my four-poster bed and walking quietly to hers.

"Jen…"

"Hmmm…" – through the darkness I could see Jennifer's figure shifting slightly in her bed.

"Are you sleeping?" – I asked sitting by her side.

"Well… clearly not anymore! What do you want, Katie?" – she whispered through a yawn.

"Sorry to wake you up" - I had totally forgotten about her nasty mood whenever someone wakes her up – "but I couldn't sleep…"

"So you decided to take it out on those who could?" – she said bitterly as she moved into a somewhat sitting position, rubbing her eyes.

 "I… come on, Jen don't be mean! You know how I hate thunderstorms."

"Yes, I do! But I have nothing against them, so I don't see why I should suffer…"

"Goodness, you can be an awful friend when you're moody, did you know that?"

"Sorry, Kates! But I was having such a good dream before you woke me up…"

"Oh really?" – now that was getting interesting – "And did that dream involve a certain quidditch captain?"

"Maybe it did…" – and, though I couldn't see it through the darkness, I was sure Jenny was smiling.

"Hm… and does he happen to play for… I don't know, RAVENCLAW?"

"Perhaps…"

"DO tell!"

"Listen, Kates, I'll make you a deal" – Jennifer started through another yawn – "I'll tell you everything in the morning if you just let me go back to sleep now."

"But, the storm…"

"Just put a pillow over your head, it will muffle the sound."

"You know it doesn't work like that…"

"So go after you precious 'Ollie-Wood', then! I'm sure HE wouldn't mind staying up a whole week if you asked him to!"

"Now what's THAT supposed to mean?"

"Nothing…" Jen said sounding perhaps a bit too innocent – "He's your best friend, isn't he? That's what best friends do! Now, PLEASE Katie, let me just get back to my Roger… I mean, my sleep!"

"Oh, fine, then! But I WILL want to hear all about it in the morning"

"Ok…" – she said already laying down again.

"Promise?"

"Pinkie-swear"

"Right! Good night, then."

"Night" – she replied and immediately fell back to sleep.

I, then, walked to my trunk and grabbed my potions book - "If this doesn't make me sleepy, I don't know what will" – I thought to myself as I walked out of my room and closed the door carefully behind me.

I headed down to what I thought would be an empty common room. Instead, when I stepped out of the stairs, I found a common room with a certain Scot sitting by the fire between a huge pile of books and numerous rolls of parchment. He didn't even notice my arrival, so concentrated he was.

"Oliver…? What are you doing down here?" – I asked walking towards the spot where he was.

"Oh, Kats, hi!" – he said looking very surprised to see me there. "I'm just doing some homework… with all the time that I've been spending with quidditch I ended up being a bit… ok, FAR behind!"

"And why didn't you say something? I could have helped you…"

"No, then you'd be behind. It's all right… And anyway, I'm nearly finished with it now. But thank you! Now what are YOU doing down here? It's nearly two in the morning!"

"Well… thunderstorm." – I said looking down. I thought it was a bit embarrassing being seventeen and still scared by thunderstorms.

"Of course, I might have known…"

"Yeah, I just couldn't sleep!"

"Scaued of thunders ickle Katiekins?" – he teased with a baby voice and a mocking grin.

"Oh, shut it Wood! Anyway, I thought I'd come down and do some Potions work, 'cause if that doesn't make me sleepy, I don't know what will!"

"Potions? Are you mental? Then you'll have dreams… scratch that, NIGHTMARES of Snape" – Oliver said with a disgusted face.

"Well, do you have a better idea?"

"As a matter of fact, I do!" – he replied standing up and pulling me by the hand.

"What? Where are we going?" – I asked as he started pulling me towards the portrait hole.

"To the Kitchens!"

"And WHY are we going there?"

"To fetch you some milk, of course…" – he answered as if it was too obvious as we stepped out of the common room.

"Ollie, dear, I STILL didn't get the point."

"Warm milk, Kats! It's said that warm milk helps falling asleep…"

"Oh, really? I never heard that!"

"It's a common muggle-knowledge. See, I've always told you Muggle Studies could be useful sometimes."

"Oh, this coming from the person that spent every other lesson planning quidditch strategies?"

"Well… maybe… but I obviously did learn some things." – and to that I simply stuck my tongue out at him.

"How do you know the way to the Kitchens, anyway?"

"I went there with the twins once… now stop asking questions, if Filch find us wandering about the halls at two in the morning, he'll give us more nights worth of detention than we have left at Hogwarts!"

"Yes, Captain!" – I said jokingly and continued to follow him.

After roughly ten minutes walking, we found ourselves standing on a hall I'd never been to before, facing a painting with loads of fruits.

"Right… what exactly are we doing?" – I asked Oliver, looking at him slightly puzzled.

"I'm not sure of what to do next."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't recall if I have to poke the banana or tickle the pear."

"Try both, then!"

"Ok…" – he said and then started poking the banana. "Nothing."

"So tickle the pear, genius!" – I teased poking him lightly.

 "This feels so stupid." – he complained while tickling the pear.

I watched amazed, as all of a sudden a doorknob appeared just where the pear had been moments ago.

"Ok, how did the twins find THAT out?"

"I didn't ask… not sure if I want to know" – Wood said with a smile, opening the door.

As soon as we stepped in the Kitchens a dozen house elves came running in our directions, bowing and asking what they could do to serve us.

"Uh… do you think you could get us some warm milk?"

"Please?" – I added.

In less than a second two more elves came to us holding a silver platter with a jar filled with milk and two cups on it.

"Anything else you would like, young master?" – a funny looking, particularly small, green elf asked him, bowing once again.

"Well, those cookies at dinner…" – he began, taking the silver platter and, before he could finish his sentence, another elf was already handing me a basket full of warm cookies of all sorts.

"Is there something else we could do for Master and Mistress?"

"No, that will be all, thank you!"

"It's our greatest pleasure to serve you, Master…"

"Er… thanks! Good night" – I said stepping out of the kitchen and closing the door behind me. I watched curiously as the doorknob turned back into a pear. - "I never knew house elves were so… enthusiastic about serving."

"Me neither! When I came here with Fred and George I thought they were so helpful because they already knew them from long before." – I laughed as we got out of the hall that led to the Kitchens, making our way towards Gryffindor Tower.

After a few minutes, we were back to our common room, which was very dimly lit by the remaining light coming from the fireplace. Wood and I sat at a nice, squashy couch by the fire and placed the milk and cookies at the nearby table. Oliver poured us both some milk and handed me a cookie. I drank the milk slowly as a very comfortable, warm feeling spread through my body.

We were silent for some long minutes, enjoying our milk and cookies and just listening to the noise of the storm outside. Every once in a while I'd shiver slightly at the sound of the thunders. Realising this, Oliver moved closer to me, wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to him so that my head was resting on his shoulders. It felt way more comfortable than I thought it would.

"Kats, you're actually still scared of thunderstorms…" – he whispered softly.

"Well… yeah…"

"I thought it was just the noise that kept you from sleeping."

"Sort of… all the noise and lightning… it scares me!"

"Fear not my fair damsel, your Captain is here to protect you from all evil." – I chuckled lightly. – "So, did the warm milk help?"

"I think…" – I started but was "interrupted" by a yawn – "Pretty much, yeah!" – I finished laughing.

"Good!" – he said kissing the top of my head.

"Ollie… thank you!"

"For what? It was just some warm milk."

"No, not just the milk… everything!" – I explained looking up to face him.

"You're welcome Kit-Kat." – he replied looking down and smiling at me.

Oliver shifted in the couch, moving back a little and rested his back against the couch's arm. Then he pulled me back to him, so that this time I was half-lying down, leaning against him, with my head resting on his chest. As I felt sleepiness wash over me, I took a deep breath, inhaling Wood's scent. I had never realized how good he smelled. It was sweet, but yet fresh. Like… minty vanilla! He smelled as if he had just stepped out of the shower. I laughed lightly at myself for thinking so much of Oliver's scent. I was beginning to mentally ramble: clearly, I was so drowsy that I didn't have any control whatsoever over my thoughts anymore. Hearing Oliver's soft heartbeats and shallow breathing, I took another deep breath and closed my eyes, falling asleep in his arms.

The next morning, as I woke up, it took me a while to figure out where I was. When I realised I had fallen asleep in the common room, I got up abruptly, 'causing Oliver to wake up as well.

"Wh-what? What's wrong?" – he asked looking around, trying to understand what was going on.

"It's morning already, we fell asleep on the couch."

"Oh, that… for a moment there you scared me, Kats! I thought it was something serious."

"It is serious! Can you imagine what would have happened if Mr. Bighead Boy Percy had came down and found the two of us sleeping together?"

"Sleeping together?" – Oliver grinned cheekily.

"Oh, shut up! You know what I meant."

"Yeah, well… but luckily he didn't! No one did! It's still too early, everyone's probably still asleep, so you can calm down."

"What time is it by the way?"

"I don't know…" – Oliver said looking at the window – "The sun is rising, so I'd say… probably around 7:00"

"Good, that gives us enough time to go upstairs, shower and change before breakfast." – I said getting up and picking my Potions book from the table in front of us.

"Yep" – Wood said getting up as well, stretching and gathering his stuff. – "So, I'll meet you back here in… twenty minutes?"

"Hmm… make that thirty!" – I replied winking at him.

He laughed and sighed - "Women…" - as he finished gathering his stuff.

"Oh, and Ollie" - I called him, already at the bottom of the stairs that led to the dormitories.

"Hmm?!" – he answered looking over his shoulder at me.

"Thank you, again!" – I said smiling and he just smiled back as I turned and went upstairs.

***

A/N: So that's that for Chapter 5. Good enough?! I know it's a bit silly, there isn't much actually happening, but… it will happen soon enough! Just be patient and cope with me, ok?! I want to explore their friendship and I don't want things between them to happen all at once. I want it to go slowly, you know… bit by bit, 'cause that's the way I think it goes in situations like this. Anyway, sorry it took longer for me to post this chapter, but I've been very busy with University. The next chapter should be up in a week or so… what will come next? HALLOWEEN! :)