imalloverit: Yippee!!!
The Mex: and more adventures we shall see
BarkingdogBARK: Thank you!!! When you save your story on MS Word, save it as a webpage
Trinityelf: I'm mad at the Blue Flame, too, but don't worry.
Holly: I just couldn't stand to have George depressed forever.
Disclaimer: JK Rowling is rich and famous. I'm poor and unknown. Could it be because she owns Harry Potter and I don't?
An Important Decision
Two weeks had the ability to feel like an eternity.
It had been exactly two weeks since Oliver had seen Katie. It had been exactly two weeks since he had kissed her. It had been exactly two weeks since she had told him to leave and every day he found himself thinking of what she had said that day when she had cleaned his wounds so carefully.
Dating is prohibited…
The phrase seemed to be mocking him, reminding him of what he couldn't have.
He wanted to take the kiss back. It didn't matter how good it had felt to feel her lips on his. Nor did it matter, that for that brief moment, all his problems disappeared. He didn't care that his life would be put in danger if he was with her. All he cared about was that it could ruin her life. If only he had been able to settle for friendship. Now, he had nothing.
A letter from Dumbledore, informing him of his next mission, set on his table. He would leave in a week. He had one week to set things right. He could say that it had been a mistake, that they had both just been feeling overly emotional from the war. It was a lie on his part, but that didn't matter.
He picked up an empty piece of parchment and a nearby quill.
Dear Katie,
What happened last time was a mistake.
He frowned and scribbled the sentence out. It was too harsh. He tried again.
I shouldn't have taken advantage of you.
Again, the sentence seemed wrong.
I'm sorry I kissed you, but I don't care what those damned Ministry officials think.
He sighed. He couldn't express himself properly in writing. He would have to bite the bullet and say everything in person.
********************************
Katie stared blankly at the Germany report. It was a fruitless effort to take her mind off her problems and focus her attention elsewhere.
Life, she had decided, was unfair. It was unfair that Voldemort should resurrect and start another war. It was unfair that so many young people would have to get involved. It was unfair that she should have to give up her life when she did so much for the war effort.
Fawkes chose this moment to fly in through her fireplace and drop a letter in her lap. She pulled out a note from Dumbledore.
Talks with Germany have been postponed indefinitely.
Dumbledore
She let out a cry of frustration and kicked the leg of the coffee table. The only time she got out of her flat was for negotiations with another country, and now she would be cooped up for an indefinite period of time. She was tempted to write Dumbledore and let him know exactly where Germany could stick itself. Unfortunately, that would have been considered highly un-diplomatic.
Life would have been so much easier if she could have just quit the Blue Flame, but once a member always a member. They added that rule just before she joined when Blue Flame members were quitting as quickly as people could be hired to replace them. If she had known what events were going to transpire in her life, she never would have signed the contract.
Sometimes it felt as though the hopes of the free Wizarding world rested solely on her shoulders instead of Harry Potter's and she was sick of it. She was sick of everything.
"Damn it!" she screamed, kicking the coffee table onto its side, "This isn't fair! I didn't want this!"
Hot, angry tears fell from her eyes and her head was beginning to ache.
"Fuck it! Fuck you all! I don't want to do this anymore!"
She buried her face in the couch cushions, fervently wishing that the world would swallow her whole and make all her problems disappear. If the war went on for much longer she would lose her mind.
"Katie?"
She froze, recognizing the distinct accent immediately. It was one she thought she would never hear again. She had hoped she would not for the sake of not giving in to her wants and putting someone in danger.
"Shit," she muttered, looking up into Oliver's face.
"Are you all right?"
Her last nerve finally snapped.
"All right?!" she yelled, "I'll never be all right! It's not fair! No one told me my life was going to be this way, stuck in some flat almost 24/7 unable to have something as simple as a relationship because it could get the person killed! I fucking hate it!"
He looked down at his hands. Somehow, everything he had wanted to say earlier seemed wrong.
"What if that person was willing to risk their life for it?" he said, "What if that person didn't care if it put them in danger?"
A sob caught in her throat as she realized what he was saying.
"I don't want to put you in danger, Oliver. I don't want to lose anyone else. I couldn't take it."
"Damn it, Katie, I don't care about that! I want this."
Once again, his lips were pressed against hers, only this time she didn't care that she was breaking the rules. This time, she deepened the kiss herself, gently biting his lower lip. Nothing mattered anymore except for them. It was the happiest she had felt in a long time.
"We can't tell anyone," she whispered as they broke apart for a moment.
"I know."
"If the Blue Flame finds out…"
She didn't finish before his lips were pressed against hers once more.
"Then we won't let them find out."