Chapter Two:
"He likes you doesn't he?" Alicia asked, as we got ready for bed that night.
I stared at her, confused. "What?"
"Cedric likes you." Alicia stated, matter-of-factly.
I could tell that she was fighting off tears but knew that lying would do nothing but make the situation worse for both of us. I nodded.
"I thought so." Alicia replied, quietly. "I think I sort of knew all a long." She turned to head to the bathroom.
"Alicia," I said, before she closed the door, "He likes you too."
She quickly turned around, her eyes wide. "Seriously Kate?"
"Yeah." I said, trying to convince myself that I had done the right thing, "Yeah, he does."
Ahuge smile broke out over Alicia's face as she ran to envelope me in a hug. "You are the best friend ever!"
"Thanks," I said, patting her awkwardly on the back. Good thing she didn't know that I had been seriously considering not telling her the truth. "Why don't you go finish getting ready for bed so you're not in the halls after curfew. Oliver would throw a hissy fit if you got detention and missed practice."
Alicia smiled in reply as she exited the room. She paused a second to hold the door open for Angelina and squeal, "Cedric likes me!"
"So, you took the high road?" Angelina asked, as soon as she closed the door.
"Leave me alone." I muttered crossly. "I just fucked over my chances with a really great guy."
"Stop wallowing in your damn self-pity." Angelina stated, looking amused. "Telling Alicia that Cedric likes her doesn't make him like you any less. All you did was even the playing field a little bit."
Angelina did have a point. I still had a chance with Cedric. I still wanted a chance with Cedric. "I do still have a chance!" I exclaimed.
"Still have a chance with what?" Alicia asked, walking back into our dormitory.
"Well…" I stuttered, pausing for time, "I still have a chance at finishing my Potions homework before class tomorrow."
"Katie, we didn't Potions homework and… we don't have class tomorrow." Alicia said, cautiously, casting me a confused look.
"I have some make up work to do tomorrow morning." I replied, quickly,
Alicia looked at me like I was deranged. Which, I possibly (probably?) was. "Night…" she said, crawling into bed and drawing her curtains.
"Good-night." Angelina and I chorused.
"WAKE UP, MY BEAUTIFUL CHASERS, IT'S TIME FOR PRACTICE!" yelled a Scottish voice, very loudly, very early.
"Fuck you, Oliver!" Alicia cried back, throwing her pillow at him.
"Get out of bed, you lazy girls!" he bellowed back grabbing Angelina's blankets and yanking them off her bed.
"Damn it, Oliver, it's cold out there," she yelled, attempting to hit him.
"Time for practice, Spinnet. It's already six o'clock and we're starting practice in fifteen minutes." He reached for her blankets and ripped them off of her bed.
I could see Oliver heading for the foot of my bed and there was no way that I was getting woken up in such a rude fashion. "I'm up, I'm up!" I cried, throwing my hands up in surrender.
"At least I have one dedicated girl on this team." Oliver mumbled as he exited the room. "I had no trouble getting Harry up this morning." He shut the door and yelled, "PITCH, FIFTEEN MINUTES, OR WE'RE PRACTICING AN EXTRA HOUR!"
"Shut, the fuck up Oliver." I heard a fifth-year yell.
"Bloody Oliver. Bloody six o'clock practice. Bloody Quidditch. Bloody cold. Bloody brooms. Bloody tournament." Angelina had been muttering incoherently in this fashion for the last twenty minutes.
We had arrived at the pitch at 6:20 to find Oliver and Harry flying in warm-up circles, while Fred and George tried to sleep on the wet grass, using bludgers as pillows. "Pretty early in the bloody morning." Fred observed, as he saw us approaching. Angelina just growled in response.
"It's bloody Saturday." She cried, throwing her hands up in disgust. "Saturday!"
"All right, team." Oliver said, landing. "Let's get started."
Practice went pretty well once everyone got their blood flowing again. The twins were feeling particularly rambunctious, and were hitting the bludgers with all their might. Alicia, Angelina and I felt like we were playing the muggle game dodge ball with especially high stakes.
"Katie!" Alicia yelled, dropping me the ball. I caught it and sped towards the goal. Like always, when going for a score, I focused on one thing: scoring. When heading toward the goal the only important things are watching the hoops and being aware of the keeper.
I knew that I could psyche Oliver out. I swerved left, and faked right, throwing Oliver off. I tossed the ball and…
"Oliver?" I asked, looking around. I was lying on the ground, starring up at my team mate's faces. "What the fuck just happened?"
"You were hit by a bludger, Kate." George said, sheepishly.
"You think you can sit up?" Angelina asked, concerned.
I tried tentatively and was met by a splitting head ache. Sadly, on my way down I caught a glance at my leg. "Where exactly did that bludger hit me?"
"Right in the head." Oliver said. "But when you fell…" he paused, "Well, you fucked up your leg pretty badly. Come on, I'll carry you to the infirmary."
Oliver scooped me up in his arms, allowing me to rest my head on his shoulder, while he put his other arm under my butt. "I guess I'm not that heavy after all." I mumbled, sleepily.
"Katie, you can not fall asleep." Oliver said. "You might have really hurt your head… again." I did have a history of concussions, this would be my sixth. "Hey team," Oliver yelled back, "Can you put all the equipment away?"
"You know how many girls would trade anything to be in my place?" I muttered, as Oliver walked up the steps to Pomfrey's tower.
"Even if it involved permanent brain damage?" he asked.
"Most of those girls don't really have brains to begin with." I replied, smartly.
"Shut up, Bell." He replied, grinning. He placed me in a bed and I grimaced when my leg hit the mattress. Madame Pomfrey was out of her office before Oliver had a chance to ring the bell.
"Kathleen Bell, what did you do now?" she asked, crisply.
"She was knocked unconscious by a bludger during practice." Oliver answered for me, "And came down pretty hard on her leg."
Pomfrey tutted. "This does not look good. It would definitely require one of my stronger potions."
"Well, I'll take it, we have a big game against Ravenclaw soon and I need to be in top form." I said, eagerly.
"There's a problem, though." Pomfrey said, slowly, watching Oliver. "The potion makes its recipient very tired, and since Kathleen is suffering from her sixth concussion we can take no chances with putting her to sleep. She'll just have to recover the muggle way."
"You have to spend the next four weeks in a cast!" Alicia exclaimed. "How barbaric."
"You're telling me." I groaned. "Muggles always look so graceful and cool on the tele with crutches but, bloody hell, these things hurt your arms." I had just finished telling Angelina and Alicia what Pomfrey had said and they were admiring my cast like good friends should.
"Quidditch?" Angelina asked, cautiously.
"I'm out until my leg heals. No practice, no games, nothing…" I sighed. I had been trying not to think about this fact. "I'm going to have a lot of free time on my hands."