Chapter 3

Oliver's POV

"Oy, Oliver!" I yawned as I saw Fred wave me over to the Gryffindor table. He and George were already half done with their breakfast as I sat down.

"Morning!" George smiled cheerfully and I grunted in response; I am not a morning person. "You seen the girls?"

"Hmm? No, they're not in their Dormitories." I picked up a piece of toast and shoveled some hash browns onto my plate. "Prolly off chasing some guy." Okay, I admit, it was a little cruel. Besides the fact that none of them are like that, George and Fred are head over heels for Alicia and Angelina, respectively. Just then a shocking thought entered my head; it seemed that the Spectacular Six were soon to become the Terriffic Three ... the Terriffic Three couples! Fred and Angelina, George and Alicia, and Katie and ... me. I shook my head fiercely, trying to get that thought out of it.

"Okay, there Oliver?"

"What? Oh, yeah fine, just tired is all."

"I don't think he's gonna tell us, George."

"Hmm, we'll just have to bring out the big guns Fred." I looked up at them with a confused, shocked expression. What in the bloody hell were they talking about? They didn't know about me and Katie ... they couldn't ... bloody hell I was barely admitting it to myself, let alone anyone else!

"Why don't we go practice a little? The weather's perfect for Quidditch." I attempted a smile as I looked out the window.

"Sure, haven't been on a proper pitch all summer!" George grinned as he cleaned the remaining scrambled eggs off his plate. We stood up and headed out to the pitch. As we got closer, we heard the distinct voices of Katie, Alicia, and Angelina. They were laughing at something.

"What's so funny, ladies?" Fred raised an eyebrow at them and they started towards the ground.

"Nothing."

"How come you didn't tell us you were coming out to play, Katie?" Okay, so it sounded incredibly childish ... I know, but I was a little hurt. They didn't even bother to ask us if we wanted to play.

"Aww, your ego a little bit bruised there, Ol'?" Katie smiled at me; I knew she was provoking the game.

"Well when someone else's ego takes up the entire room, its hard not to get your own bruised." I winked at her, smirking.

"If you think you're so great, then why don't we play a little game? Three on three, guys against girls. No Bludgers, just the Quaffle." Katie raised an eyebrow at me, smirking.

"Fine, but don't be sad when you lose." Katie flipped her ponytail as she turned around and walked back to Alicia and Angelina. They whispered for a second and she turned back to me.

"Alicia's gonna be keeper, Angelina and I will be chasers. Let's go!" She smiled evilly and kicked off. Fred, George, and I did the same.

I nonchalantly flew over to the hoops; Katie was a great chaser, I admit, but not quite good enough that I needed to worry about blocking her. As I reached the hoops, I heard Katie yelp, presumably out of joy, and turned my broom to watch them down in the middle of the field. Katie had gotten the Quaffle and was flying straight for me. Fred tailed her, catching up to her within seconds, but George on the other hand wasn't yet even with Angelina. Katie threw the Quaffle to Angelina who flew upward, catching George off guard. Katie continued to fly straight for me, staring at me intently. What's she doing? She hasn't got the Quaffle. Just before she reached me, the Quaffle dropped out of the sky into her waiting hands. She faked a left and threw it squarely in the right hoop.

"Oh yeah!" Katie held out her hand as Angelina flew past and slapped it with her own. I just stared ... since when did Katie fly like ... well that? The rest of our impromptu game continued mostly the same. Katie was flying like ... I don't know what! I blocked one; one of her 20 or so shots ... one! The natural order was that she got one in out of 20! This damn girl was messing up the natural order! "Ready to call it a day, Ol'?" I looked at the sun; it was starting to set.

"Woah! We've been playing for hours! Bloody hell!" Fred flew to the ground and dismounted his broom.

"No wonder I'm so hungry." George followed Fred and they both sat down on the soft grass. They lay down on their backs simultaneously and I just shook my head, lazy arses.

"So much for us being sad, Oliver!" Alicia smirked as she sat down next to George, who shifted to rest his head in her lap. I laughed; she really didn't seem to mind all that much, about time anyways. Those two have fancied each other for ages.

I realized that I hadn't said a word, except for a few colorful ones under my breath about missing shots, since we started our game. "What I wanna know is who is this world-class Chaser and what did she do with Katie Bell?" Katie smacked me on the arm and sat down on the grass.

"I'm still the same old Katie Bell, Oliver! I just did a lot of training over the summer." She shrugged and, grabbing my trouser leg, tugged on it, signaling that I should sit down with her.

"Well if you call that 'a little training over the summer' then I can't wait to see what's going to happen when we start practicing for real." I laughed at Katie's failed attempt at a glare.

"Let's go up to the locker rooms and shower ... they smell!" Angelina held her nose and pointed to Fred, George, and I laughing.

"S'not like you smell like a rose yourself, dearie." Fred smirked as Angelina smacked his arm. Nonetheless, we all trudged up to the locker rooms. We all went to our respective lockers which had already been stocked with everything we would need.

"Oh, Katie, these are yours I believe." George grinned from ear to ear as he held up a pair of black knickers on the end of his wand. I tried my best to stifle a laugh, but wasn't completely successful.

"Why you little! Give me those!" Katie snatched the knickers and threw them into her locker. Everyone burst out laughing as Katie jumped onto George's back and rubbed her knuckles into his head.

"Ow! Ow! Katie!"

"Ha! Serves you right you little perve! How'd you get them anyways?" Katie jumped off and peeled off her teeshirt, revealing her tan tummy and a gray bra. I blinked several times; this wasn't supposed to affect me remember?

"Well I didn't actually-" I cut him off ... couldn't have Katie knowing what actually happened, she'd kill me!

"Our first games against Ravenclaw, according to McGonagall. We should be plenty ready for them ... especially with all those new plays our three beautiful Chasers have invented." I smiled a cheeky Scottish smile and started rifling through my stuff for a clean shirt, pulling off the one I currently had on.

"Hey, look it's raining!" Alicia shrieked pointing to the window. Sure enough it was raining outside.

"Oh my gosh! I love rain, let's go dance in it!" Katie grinned and the five of them started for the door. I shook my head, chuckling, and continued looking for a clean robe. "Oliver!"

"No thanks, I'll see you all later." I smiled and turned to take a shower. I had barely started walking when I felt Katie's hands stop me and turn me around.

"Oliver Wood, I'm not going to let you stay in here while it is pouring rain out there! I wouldn't be a good friend if I allowed you to miss this perfect opportunity to dance in the rain." Despite her serious tone, she was smiling.

"Kate, d'you remember what happened last time we 'danced in the rain'?" I was referring to last Halloween when she and I left the Halloween feast to dance in the rain.

"Yeah, we had a bloody brilliant time!"

"No, we got sick and had to get better the muggle way. You were sick for like two weeks!" I glared at her; not only did she miss a game, but she was completely miserable for those two weeks.

"Oh Oliver! Don't be such a spoil sport, for once in your life don't do the mature thing!" Katie gave me a puppy dogface; damn that face is so hard to turn down. "Please Ol'?" That had sealed it; between the face and the nickname no one would have been able to say no.

"Oh fine! But if you get sick –"

"I know I know Oliver!" Katie smiled and grabbed my hands, dragging me towards the door. We ran out onto the field; Katie let go of my hand and twirled around, getting soaked within seconds. I smiled subconsciously; she was so independent and spirited. "You're not going to just stand there, are you?" I shrugged, not trusting myself to say anything. There was Katie Bell, my best friend for 6 years, wearing nothing but a bra and shorts (looking fabulous, I might add) dancing in the rain. "Oh Oliver, some time I don't know what to do with you!" I raised an eyebrow as she started towards me. She grabbed my hands in hers and started to spin, but stopped abruptly. "Wait! We need music! Angelina, you have the honor!" she said in a loud, mock ceremonial voice.

Angelina took out her wand (I'm not quite sure where she had been keeping it as she was dressed, similarly to Katie, in a bra and pair of short shorts, but I decided not to ponder that for too long). She muttered something inaudible over the sound of the rain and a stereo appeared, levitating in mid-air.

The music started to play, I'm assuming, but I didn't hear it. The only thing I was paying any attention to was Katie, something about her in that moment just caught me. She walked towards me and grabbed my hands, starting to sway to the music. The rain was soaking us both to the bone; I saw her shiver involuntarily.

"Come here, your feet will freeze!" Katie smiled, taking my meaning, and walked over to me. She jumped up on my back and whispered a thank you in my ear, sending shivers up and down my spine. We danced for who knows how long ... in the rain ... I danced with Katie Bell, my best friend, but maybe there was something else there too.

A/N: How did you all like that? These are purely Oliver's thoughts on the events; a more objective view of the rain scene will appear in the next chapter! Haha, and I may eventually decide to tell you how George got her black knickers!

MasterHarper Menolly: Yay! Glad you liked the knickers! How was this one?