I woke up the morning and Alicia was gone. Good, I wasn't sure I wanted to talk to her. Sure, she was a good friend and all, but after what she had said yesterday, I wasn't so sure anymore.

I got dressed and went to my door. I went down to breakfast without a second thought to anything. Why did I need a second thought?

I was still thinking about Oliver. I mean, was it a good idea to go out with him when two of your friends say something about it? Fred mentioned something about Oliver breaking my heart and him kicking his ass. Alicia just said what she said. They both had something practically against him, should I still go out with him?

Answer: Yes. Fred was just protective of me, that was all, and Alicia just had issues. I was wondering how long it would be until Oliver faced things like this. Everything was just so uneasy, but hey, that's life. And, after all, we are just teenagers.

Okay, back to original thought: Breakfast. I got to the Hall and everyone was eating. I didn't see Alicia or George for that matter. They had probably run off and were snogging somewhere. Gross. I actually had to tale a double look at Fred to make sure it was him.

I saw Fred and Oliver talking. I can't explain it, but every time that I see Oliver, I get butterflies in my stomach and they don't go away. I still feel like I'm trying to win him over to get that first kiss. I didn't even take him for granted.

I walked towards them and their backs were to me. I heard some of their conversation:

Fred: "Sorry what I said yesterday, Wood. I'm just protective of her. She needs someone to look out for her, to watch her back. That includes things about her boyfriends. Her dad's been asking me to keep an eye on her for him. Especially now that he's going off to Ireland."

Oliver: "Yeah, no offense taken. It's good that she always has someone she can go to."

Fred: "I just wanted to make sure you knew that I didn't have anything against you or was mad at you for going out with her."

Oliver: "I mean, I'm glad that you understand what I'm feeling here. You've known her for so long. She's the type of girl that a guy can fall in love with. She IS the girl I'm in love with. She's different than other girls. "

Fred, sounding surprised: "Wow, this coming from Oliver Wood. And what do you mean 'she's the type of girl a guy can fall in love with'??"

Oliver: "What is there to explain?"

Fred, testing Oliver: "What type of girl is she?"

Oliver: "Well, you know. When you're with her you just feel like it's worth it to love her, that you're not doing anything wrong. And that it's worth everything to make her happy. Like your whole world should be dedicated to her and at the same time you don't even feel like she doesn't deserve it. She does deserve a guy who can give her everything."

Fred: "So, you think you can give her everything?"

Oliver, unsure: "It's worth it to try. And if I cant, I cant. I just want her to be happy."

Fred, satisfied: "Good. That's the Oliver Wood I thought you were."

Fred looked over his shoulder at me and smiled.

"Come, Katie, sit with us," he said. Oliver looked over his shoulder. Oliver looked up at me affectionately. The look in his eyes made it seem like he hadn't seen me for months, years maybe.

I sat down beside Oliver and his arm went around my shoulder, pulling me against him in a one-armed hug. I smiled and scooted closer to him. Fred looked over at me and winked. His sign of approval. It meant a lot to me that Fred approved.

I ate some toast and listened to Oliver and Fred's conversation about Quidditch. I stayed out of it. They kept talking and I was quickly getting bored. I got up and went off to my room without much breakfast.

I noticed the notice on the Gryffindor bulletin board.

"1 DAY TILL CHRISTMAS!! HAPPY CHRISTMAS!"

It was signed: "The Twins". 1 Day till Christmas?! Holy Moly!!! You've got to be joking?! Wow!! Good thing I had bought everyone's presents beforehand. They were under my bed with the magical donuts. I also needed a dress for tomorrow.

I bounded up the stairs and opened my door without a second thought. I opened my door to see Alicia and George snogging on her bed.

It was almost unnerving because, well, it was my best friend, and also, George was the absolute twin of Fred. I had to look closely, because when first seeing, I thought it was Fred. That would have taken months of explaining to get himself out of that one.

I shook my head and went over to Alicia's closet.

"'Licia, I need a dress for tomorrow," I said, thumbing through the racks in her closet.

I looked over my shoulder and she had gotten up, leaving George to lounge on her bed. Nonchalantly, Alicia walked over to me. She pushed past me to her closet. She dug through her closet for a second.

"What color are you thinking?" she asked me.

I shrugged.

"Colors I have that would look good on you: Red…blue…green…. black…"

Ger, the color green. This issues bugged me especially. My favorite color, despite being a Gryffindor (having official colors of burgundy and gold), was green. I guess sometimes I should've been a Slytherin for that color. I covered up my color obsession, by starting to develop an ardor for blue.

Alicia pulled out two black dresses, two red, and one blue. She looked at George and he smiled, getting more comfortable.

"Don't mind me," he said with a devilish grin. Alicia looked at me and at the same time we shouted: "OUT! NOW!"

George got up, shrugging. "Can't blame a guy for trying."

Alicia mumbled under her breath, "Oliver Wood could."

George gave Alicia a quick peck on the lips and left.

"Well," Alicia said, "What do you think?"

I looked at the dresses. The blue one was too elegant. One of the red ones was way too short. I was left with two black ones and the red.

Alicia looked at them and held them up to me. When she did that with one of the black ones, she shook her head, tossing it on her bed.

"It has no seams, making you look completely figureless, not like you need to flaunt your figure any more than normal! And besides, the scoop neck on it makes it look like you're twelve when you wear it," she explained to me.

She held up the remaining dresses and motioned for me to try them on. Alicia put the other dresses back in her closet, taking longer than needed so that I could change.

I put on the red one first. It had a swooshy skirt with many layers and thin spaghetti straps. The bottom of the dress came to a point at my left ?DeptID597&CatID14579&CatTypDEP&ItemTypG&GrpTypPRD&ItemID0a93fbc&ProdSeq6&Catjuniors&Depwomen27s&PCatdresses26suits&PCatID652&RefPageProductList&Sale&ProdCount11&RecPtr&ShowMenu&TTYP&ShopBy0 the dress I used to look at).

Alicia walked behind me and pulled out my hair tie, letting my hair fall about my shoulders.

"Perfect," she said, "But try on the other one just to make sure."

I tried on the black dress and it was just as nice. It was a halter-top and the skirt was longer.

"I like the red one better," Alicia said, "You look wonderful."

I smiled and looked at myself in the mirror.

Alicia grinned. "I wonder what Wood will say…"

I smiled nervously. Yes, I wonder what he WILL say.

I looked at myself again. I actually looked pretty good. I turned to the side. I looked slim. YES! The hem of the dress came to about the middle of my calf. My black high heels would look good with that dress.

I took the dress off and hung it back on the hanger. After I got dressed, I handed it back to Alicia until tomorrow. She picked up the red one.

"You know, Katie, this dress looks a lot better on you than it ever did on me," she said, "And I know how much you love it, and I have too many dresses anyways…. You know what, Happy Christmas."

Alicia handed it to me. I smiled and took it.

"Alicia, is this just because Christmas is tomorrow and you didn't get my anything?" I asked with a smile.

Alicia grinned innocently, "That and the fact that you look gorgeous in it."

"Well, thank you," I said. I hung the dress in my closet and she left, saying something about George.

I went over to my bed and got down on my hands and knees. I dug out a large paper sac from under my bed and set it on my quilt. I choked on some dust and stood up.

I opened the bad and dumped all the presents onto my bed. Most of them were wrapped already. Fred and George's presents were always different; I liked being one of the few people who treated them like individuals. Fred would be getting a new Quidditch robe, and George is getting breath mints (and Quidditch gloves). For Alicia I got a Muggle Road sign saying: "Warning! Snogging Xing!" I knew she would love it.

For Angie I got a few boxes of donuts. I had already sent Mum and Dad their presents.

I thought long and hard about what I should get for Oliver. Anything Quidditch related. I already got George the gloves and Fred a new robe; I didn't know what to get Oliver. I wasn't really sure what a guy like him would want beside Quidditch stuff.

I found a Quidditch book that was almost like a horoscope one. It gave helpful tips and what days of the year are best for, you personally, to play Quidditch. It also gave a day-by-day horoscope revolving around Quidditch. How quaint?

Upon further searching, I found a few other things but decided to settle on the book, a jar of broom grease, and socks. The socks were half price at the Quidditch store and said, in bright neon, flashing lights: "I'M OBSESSED ABOUT QUIDDITCH!"

Those socks screamed Oliver Wood. Everything was already wrapped, perfect.

I sat on my bed. Look at me. I bought socks for my boyfriend, I knew almost everything about him, and yet nothing at the same time. I was the classic example of a girlfriend. I bought Oliver socks. The only person I ever bought socks for before was Angie, but those toe socks were HILARIOUS!

I stood up. I sighed. I'm so pathetic. I bought socks... I took a deep breath and sat down on my bed again. I reminded myself that I was lucky to have Oliver.

I looked down at the presents. Christmas was tomorrow. Yay! That meant that tonight was Christmas Eve! YES! The day after Christmas Eve was, in fact, Christmas Day! YES! Presents galore!!! And FOOD! Yes, I almost forgot about the FOOD!

I left my room and went to the Common Room.

-----Later That Night

Alicia, George, Fred, Oliver, and I sat in the Common Room as it got darker and darker, the fire producing more light than electric lights ever could.

We weren't sure what to do. Alicia had suggested "Spin the Bottle," to which George agreed whole-heartedly but both Fred and Oliver looked at me protectively. Fred didn't want to end up with George having to kiss me or him kissing me. Oliver didn't want anyone but him kissing me. "Spin the Bottle" was out.

Alicia suggested another game. "Let's play truth or dare!" she said staring seductively at George. I groaned, as did the other boys; we all hated this game. Having nothing else to do, we agreed.

"All right, I'll go first," Alicia announced, grinning, hoping someone would dare her to snog George.

I smiled, I knew the perfect thing. "Alicia, truth or dare?" I asked her.

She seemed to think to herself for a moment. If she said dare and snogged George first, it would happen to quickly….

"Truth," she said smiling.

I grinned. "Now, actually how long have you been snogging George?"

Her smile fell. I knew the truth, but I just wanted her to say it in front of Fred. Alicia and George had been snogging for years, but up to this past month, they had been lying to Fred.

"Um…" she said, looking really nervous. Fred stared, preparing himself for the answer.

"A few years?" she said. George looked uninteresting. Fred's mouth dropped open, "By GOD!!!!!!!! George!! We're twins!! I'm supposed to know these things!!!"

Alicia blushed. After Fred settled down, Alicia was thinking of who to ask the next question to.

"Wood, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Alicia thought for a second. "When was the last time you practiced Quidditch?"

Oliver gulped. He hadn't practiced in a long time, almost a record for him. "A week or two?"

Everyone, but me, gasped. Alicia smiled. "And what have you been doing these last two weeks?"

Oliver glanced at me quickly. He was actually going to answer this question seriously. He swallowed, the tips of his ears turning pink. He said in a low voice, "Snogging Katie."

Alicia shrieked in laughter, George chuckled despite himself, and Fred, well, Fred just sat there, wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into.

"Fred, truth or dare?"

Fred hesitated. He really didn't want either. He crossed his arms in front of him. "Truth, I guess."

"Right, last summer when we went to London, tell everyone who you pretended to be when you introduced yourself to the new first years…"

Fred laughed, "I had totally forgotten all about that!"

"Well?"

"Professor Snape."

Now I was extremely grossed out. Actually, the idea was very funny. Oliver couldn't stop laughing. In between breaths he said, "It was so hilarious because all the new first year girls were walking around saying, 'Well, I think Professor Snape is very handsome, let's hope I can get him to give me a passing grade…not that I think it will be too much trouble..if you know what I mean..' It was PRICELESS!"

I wondered what the girls did when they met the real Professor Snape. Ewww.

"Katie, truth or dare?"

I looked around at everyone. Well, I was going to be an individual, "Dare."

Alicia grinned and leaned over, whispering something into Fred's ear. He pulled back from her. "No! They do that enough, we don't need to see that!"

I knew what Alicia had said and blushed.

"All right, Katie, I dare you to…..I dare you to call Wood 'Princess' for the rest of the week!"

"NEVER!" That came from Oliver. I laughed and nodded, agreeing. Oliver seemed outraged. That drew a giggle from me.

"I will not be called 'Princess'! That is degrading to me, your Quidditch Team Captain!"

"Yeah, sure, 'Princess'!" George said.

I guess everyone didn't hear Fred dare just me to do that, but, oh well, that's okay…it'll be fun with everyone calling him Princess.

I thought of whom to ask next.

"Hey, Weasley! Um..George! Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Oh good…. well, I dare you to…eat one of the Weasley's Famous Candies!!"

George looked frantically at Fred, for some sort of help. Fred produced one of the canides from his pocket.

"Good luck, George. Hopefully it isn't one of the exploding ones. Well, if it is, you deserve it for not telling me about you and Alicia!"

George took the candy from Fred, grumbling.

He stuck it into his mouth, looking like he was thinking. Suddenly, his face began to change and Fred gasped.

George's face turned a bright shade of fuchsia. Fred laughed, "I forgot about those ones!"

"What? What's it doing??" George asked, dumbfounded.

We all laughed and ignored him. George rolled his eyes and pretended like it wasn't bothering him.

"All right, Fred, truth or dare?"

Fred thought for a second. He sure didn't want to turn out like George, with a fuchsia face.

"Truth."

"Right, out of anyone in this room, who would you most likely date and snog?"

Fred sat there for a second, looking at Alicia and I. He looked at me and grinned widely. Huh?

"Well, George, it wouldn't be Alicia, because she's sort of slutty-"

"HEY!" Alicia yelled. Fred didn't stop.

"And it wouldn't be Katie, because, well, she's already taken…so, if I had to date and snog someone in this room, it would have to be Oliver."

Fred put his arm around Oliver's shoulders and Oliver looked at me desperately for a sign of help. I just sat there, laughing. Fred really wasn't gay, but it was hilarious seeing Oliver think that he was.

"Sorry, Katie, Princess is running off with Fred," George said.

"Hey!"

That was Oliver. "How come everything is revolving around me??"

"Because you're the Captain, Princess!" Alicia squealed.

For the rest of the night, we played Truth or Dare like idiots, not even thinking that tomorrow was Christmas. I knew that it was and I was anticipating it. Throughout the night, Oliver stole glances at me. Every now and then I'd see him out of the corner of my eyes. Sometimes, when I brushed the hair out of my eyes, I would see him watching me, thinking. I didn't know what he was thinking; I never did most of the time.

Something about the way he looked at me seemed to stop everything around me, giving me extra time to look at him. When he looked at me, it was like he was actually looking at me. Not past me, not through me, but me.

Anyways, Alicia got dared by George to do something that I won't even repeat. It was a crazy night. It ended with all five of us crashing on the Common Room floor. Oliver couldn't tease me about falling asleep in the Common Room now!

Finally! VACATION! YES! My reviewers, you guys rock! My Kelsey/Russian Spy/Loser is so freaking awesome!!! Flip and Kale of Gisney World will one day rule us! Right before the cockroaches!

Snerfshoe: MWAHAHA you are now…addicted!! You are under my power!

Lia06: Extra hard courses are NOT fun at all…. Ger

IhopeForAnarchy: Yes, they are a little unseasy and all, but hey, that's life. Fred and George are just sort of protective of her though. That unfortunate event is coming……soon….

Pia O'Leary: Yes, Alicia is a tad bit cold there, but some people are just like that. IB sucks a, too. Gosh it's so hard to write this after just finishing my To Kill A Mockingbird Journal for English. IB and school kills your creativity. I'm worried that my writing is getting worse as the school year progresses.

oliver-wood-lover: Yes, no doubt Oliver Wood is….sigh that…..

Kathy: Insecurities suck!

banana-princess93: Don't you just wish Oliver was like that, though?? Oh no! Don't sik Fred and George on me!! NOOOOOO!! Runs off trying to avoid you

Kelsey: Hehee, my Russian-spy. Oliver rocks my socks!