A/N: I don't own Harry Potter. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. Oh, and I realized earlier today that Charlie probably would be about four years older than I have him in this story but oh well…

Kara: A special thank you to you! I'm pleased to have someone from Switzerland reviewing my story and I'm glad you like it.

This story is told from Oliver's POV.

Chapter Two: But Katie, It's Only March!

March 21, 1988: 8:13 PM in the Gryfinndor Common Room

I ran down the stairs into the common room. I rushed over to the table where Katie was sitting pouring over a pile of books. I plopped down in the chair next to her. "What are you doing, Kates?" I asked. "Surely you can't have this much homework tonight. You're in all of my classes and you've done all your homework faithfully all year. What on earth are you doing?"

"I'm studying for exams," she said pouring over the Transfiguration textbook. "They're less than three months away. I need to get good grades. If I fail, Mother and Dad will kill me. You know that Mary, Greg, Mark, and Joe are all at the top of their classes. If I mess up the family tradition, they'll murder me."

Oliver said, "But I want to play Exploding Snap."

"Go ask Charlie," she said.

"He's busy. He has Quidditch practice and then a prefects meeting. And don't even suggest Eva; she has practice and then she'll be at her books. She's a bookworm, just like you."

"I want to get good grades; Oliver, unlike you I don't plan on merely floating through school. I want to get good grades. I want good enough grades to become a Healer. I know you just want to play professional Quidditch, but I have plans that require me to get good grades."

Oliver glared at her. "I have ambitions beyond professional Quidditch. I want to play for a while but I want to do something else when I get too old to play anymore."

"What do you want to do?"

Oliver shrugged. "I don't know. But I'll know when I need to."

"Well, then you should get to studying too," Katie barked. "If you want to do something besides Quidditch with your life, you need to start studying."

"Now?" he asked, confused. "But Katie, it's only March."

"All the more reason to start studying now," Katie replied quickly. "We're going to get the best marks in the entire class!"

Oliver smiled at her excitement. "All right, then, I'm in on this with you. I'll study with you."

April 27, 2000: 1:58 AM St. Mungo's (Third Person POV)

"And so your mother and I studied together for over five hours every day," Oliver said, talking to his wife's belly. "Thanks to your mother, I aced all my exams, even potions. Snape did everything in his power to make me fail."

"But when there's genuine talent around," Katie said. "There is nothing he can do. There is absolutely nothing he can do to stop genuine talent."

Oliver smiled. "I'm glad that you appreciate my talents. Professor Snape certainly didn't."

June 7, 1988: 8:34 AM in the Potions dungeon Hogwarts (POV back to His Supreme Gorgeousness Oliver Wood)

Being as evil as he is, Snape gave us our final in reverse alphabetical order. That meant I was fourth. I knew exactly how to make the required potion but still Snape was doing everything in his power to unnerve me. Although I was nervous and Snape was being annoying, I managed to make the potion perfectly. I didn't make a single mistake, much to Snape's chagrin. I smiled snidely at him as he said, "Well, I didn't believe it was possible for a Gryfinndor to do such a thing, but you have managed to make this potion perfectly, Mr. Wood. I do congratulate you, however regretful my congratulations may be."

I smiled with pride and went back to his seat as Snape called, "Mr. Weasley, it's your time. And I suggest you refrain from any ass kissing you might be tempted to attempt. I firmly intend to keep my hindquarters free from the lips of crazy Gryfinndors."

I gave Katie a secret smile. She tried to smile back but her eyes were full of nervous fear. She was at the beginning of the alphabet so she had a long wait ahead of her. The only exam I had left was Transfiguration and so I took out my book to study. I knew that anything else I could do would annoy Kates too much. I really didn't want that girl mad at me. Her temper was something entirely else. I was scared of her when she mad. I had learned about the Bell Family Temper on the Hogwarts Express at Christmas time. Katie was so much like Mary in so many ways that she didn't even know about.

Finally, it was Katie's turn. She was so nervous that she was shaking, but she smiled faintly at me before walking to where she had to make the Potion Snape asked her to make. She did very well, making only two mistakes. Snape sneered at her and said in his usual condescending tone, "Good job, Miss Bell, now go back to your seat."

Katie sat down next to me and sighed, relieved. "I did it."

After class we were walking towards Transfiguration when Mary came up to us. Mary looked at me. "Oliver, McGonagall needs to talk to you about something in private," she said. "She asked me to take you to your office."

I followed Mary to Professor McGonagall's office. Professor McGonagall was sitting there with Eva. "Thank you, Mary, you may leave now," the Scottish professor said. "Oliver, please sit down."

As I sat down, I realized that this was the first time I'd ever heard McGonagall call me by my given name. "What's going on?" I said slowly. Something was wrong but I couldn't figure out what.

Professor McGonagall looked Eva and me each in the eye and then said, "I have some very bad news for the two of you. Your father died last night. He fell ill very suddenly and your mother took him to St. Mungo's but it was too late. He died very suddenly. I'm very sorry."

Eva's eyes immediately filled with tears. "Can we go home?" she said with a quivering lower lip.

Our Head of House nodded. "You'll be leaving as soon as you're ready to leave."

To this day, I don't know why I asked this but I did, "What about our exams? We have to finish our exams. Are we going to fail them now?"

McGonagall smiled half-heartedly at me. "No, Mr. Wood, you will not. Seeing as your only remaining exam is in my class I will merely give you your current grade as your final grade. I'm sure you would have done very well on the final. I know you and Miss Bell have been studying very hard. Now, you two may return to your dormitories."

Eva and I ran from the office to the dormitory. She was crying and I was in shock. Dad was dead. Our dead, Michael Wood, was dead. He was only forty-one years old. We went through the portrait hole and ran to our rooms. I packed quickly. One thought was pervading my thoughts; I was only twelve years old and I was the man of the house. I was the oldest man in our family. As I packed I thought of my dad. He was an amazing man. I loved him deeply and he was dead. Dead, it seemed like the last word in the universe you'd use to describe my dad.

When I was done packing, I dragged my trunk down to the common room. When I got there, Eva was standing there with Charlie who was drying her tears and promising to be home as soon as possible. "I'll do anything I can for you and your family. I'll be home in two days; I go to the funeral with you. Whatever you need me for, I'll be there."

She nodded as tears poured down her cheeks and she clung to him. Mary was standing next to her with her hand on Eva's shoulder for moral support. Eva was clinging to Charlie and Mary at the same time. It seemed as if she thought that if she let go of them she would die.

Then Katie came running in. "Oliver, what's going on? What's your trunk doing here? Why weren't you in Transfigurations?" Then she saw Eva. "What's going on? Oliver, what's wrong?"

Mary went over to her sister. "Katie, Eva and Oliver's dad died last night. They're going home for the funeral. They didn't have to take their final exam. They needed to get ready to go home."

Katie came over to me. "I'm so sorry," she said, hugging me. "I really am."

I suddenly wrapped my arms around her and began clinging to her. My dad had once said to me, "Oliver, most people in the world will tell you that real men don't cry, but I'm going to tell you something now. Crying is an expression of emotion and real men have emotions. It's all right to cry as long as you don't cry too much or at the wrong times." That doesn't mean I started crying then or anything but it meant that I could cry if I needed to. Right now I needed to hang on to my best friend. I needed to real something real and alive.

I looked at her. I realized for the first time that I was as tall as she was. Then I said, "Katie, you'll come to the funeral, won't you? Please?"

She nodded. "Of course. Mary, Mark, and Greg will come and I'll come with them. I'll be there; I promise."

"Thanks," I said sadly.

June 9, 1988: 5:08 PM The Wood Family Residence in Scotland

I walked into the living room of his parents' house carrying my ten-month-old sister, Anna. My mother had called a family meeting. Once all eight children were settled in the living room, Maura Wood looked around and said, "I think you all have a right to know the truth. Raising eight children and keeping up this house is very expensive. Your father made a fair bit of money playing Quidditch and his job did bring in a good salary, but your father wanted some of our money put away to pay for Hogwarts. We won't be able to keep this house after the end of the month. We have two options; neither of them is very good. The first option is that we can move to a three-bedroom, one-bathroom flat near here or we can split you children up among the relatives. Aunt Elise and Uncle John have offered to take Anna and Oliver and Aunt Jayne and Uncle Peter have offered to take Eva, Maggie, and Marion. What do you kids want to do? I really don't care."

Until she said, "I really don't care" I wanted us to stay together as a family. Who cares how small the flat is? As long as we were together, who cared where we were? But if she didn't care, then I wasn't sure that she cared about the family. And Aunt Elise and Uncle John were nice people. They had a dog and a big backyard; Uncle John is Dad's brother; he was a coach for the Chudley Cannons. I looked at Eva, hoping she would answer first. And she did. "I don't know, Mum. I'd hate to split up the family but I think it might be for the best. The children would have advantages that you simply couldn't give them."

Mum's eyes were filled with pain. "Oliver, what do you think?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. Mum, I love you and I want what's best for the family. I want what's best for the children. You decide; I'm too young to make this kind of decision."

Mum nodded. She then turned to Will. "What do you think? And you, Robbie, what do you want? Jamie, do you want to stay with me or do you want to live with someone else?"

Will looked scared. He stared at the rug. "I don't know, Mother," he mumbled. "I just don't know."

"Robbie," Mum said sharply. "What do you want?"

"Mum, stop it!" Eva yelled. "Stop it! They're too young. You don't ask your six-year-old son a question like that! Just shut up for five minutes about this. It's your decision, not ours."

Mum stared at Eva for what seemed like an eternity. Then she said, "Eva Alexandra Wood, don't talk to me like that. I am your mother. You cannot tell me what to do. Don't say things like 'shut up' to me. I am your mother; you must respect me."

Then Mum did something shocking. She stood up and slapped Eva across the face. Eva grabbed Mum's wrist and slapped her across the face. I just sat there watching them. I couldn't believe it. Then the doorbell rang. I ran to the door and opened it. Charlie Weasley was standing there with Mary, Greg, Mark, Joe, and Katie. "Come in," I said knowing I sounded eager. "Mum and Eva are trying to kill each other."

"Where?" Charlie asked running in as I opened the door.

"Living room," I said, stepping back as he rushed by. Greg followed him. Mary, Mark, Joe, Katie, and I followed at a slower pace. When we got there, Greg was holding my mum by the shoulders and Charlie had a firm grip on Eva's shoulders.

"Let me go," Mum yelled. "I'm old enough to be your mother. You can't do this to me. Let me go!"

"No!" Greg barked. "I am not letting you go. You need some self-control. You were attacking one of my best friends; I'm not going to stand for that."

Mum finally calmed down and let Greg force her into a chair. "Mum," I said softly. "I want to go live with Uncle John and Aunt Elise. I can't stand the way you're acting now and if you're going to keep acting like this, I don't want to here."

Mum looked so sad and so hurt at my words but I didn't care. I couldn't handle this. She and Eva had been trying to kill each other since Dad died and I wanted out of the house. Mom spoke coldly and harshly. "Fine, if you want to go live with John and Elise, you can. In fact, go pack your things and the Bells can drop you off with John and Elise on their way home. After all, the Bells live right next door to them. Mary, you wouldn't mind would you?"

Mary looked at me sympathetically. "Sure, Mrs. Wood, we'll take him with us. We wouldn't mind at all. We really enjoy his company."

"We do," Mark said. "He's the nicest kid we've ever met." Mark was the opposite of his twin in looks. While Greg was tall and muscular, Mark was almost a foot shorter and skinny as a twig. But they both had dark brown hair and eyes. Mary and Joe had sandy blonde hair and gray eyes and Katie had light brown hair and blue eyes. They were a family of people who definitely didn't look related.

Then Mum said, "Well, while you're at it, why don't you take Anna with you too? After all, Elise and John want her more than I do."

"Mum," Eva said. "Stop saying that sort of thing."

But Mum wouldn't and I left with the Bells a few minutes later. I had dinner there and then went over to Uncle John and Aunt Elise's house. Dad's funeral was two days later and I haven't seen Mum since the funeral.

April 27, 2000: 2:12 AM St. Mungo's (Third Person)

Oliver looked at his wife. "And then we lived next door to each other until we finished Hogwarts."

Katie nodded. "Your aunt and uncle adopted you the summer after second year."

"But it was the summer after second year that I remember the best," Oliver said.

A/N: And they'll talk about that in the next chapter. Okay, Oliver and Katie are going to have a baby. But I haven't decided on a gender or a name for this delightful child. So, I decided to hold a contest. You lovely readers get to name (and choose the gender for) this lovely kid. So, either in your review or email me ) with what you think the baby's name, gender, hair color, eye color, and birth weight should be. Then you, the readers, will vote on the name, gender, hair and eye colors, and birth weight before the last chapter. (And the person who wins will be recognized in the final chapter, the one with the baby's birth.)