Chapter 11
"Fred! Put me down!"
"No, your not walking until your ankle is, as you so eloquently put it, 'not fucked up anymore'!" Katie let out a cry of frustration; she was being levitated behind Fred. She had just been released from the Hospital Wing and would return to classes tomorrow; Monday. Everyone laughed as Katie glared daggers at the back of Fred's head.
"I can't believe she's actually complaining!"
"Oh please, Angelina, you would hate it to! Having you friends levitate you everywhere, besides the strange looks everyone is giving me, I hate to feel like a burden." Katie sighed as Angelina laughed and shook her head.
"You're not a burden, Katie dear, this is as fun for us as it should be for you," George said with a cheeky smile.
"Oh shove it!"
"Shove it where exactly, Kate?" Oliver gave her a suggestive smirk.
"Up your fat ass!"
"I'm appalled that you think my ass is fat, especially since yours is so much fatter." Everyone raised their eyebrows and turned to Katie, waiting for your response.
"I'm sure that's why you needed a cold shower when you saw me dancing in my bra and knickers, right?" Oliver blushed a color that would rival the twins' hair.
"How did you know that?!"
"Ooh! Score one for Katie Bell!" Katie licked her finger and made a mark in the air. "Katie one, Oliver zippo!" She, Angelina, and Alicia laughed heartily while Oliver, Fred, and George blushed sheepishly, staring at the ground. "By the way, I didn't know, exactly. But I've known the three of you long enough to put two and two together." Oliver's mouth formed a nice "O" shape and he blushed even darker.
Gryffindor Common Room
"That was a nasty trick before." Oliver flopped down next to Katie on the couch, making the couch bounce. She bit her lip and took a deep breath as pain coursed through her side.
"Oliver, a little gentler next time, okay?"
"Merlin, I'm sorry Kate, I didn't mean to." She put a finger to his lips before he could continue apologized for the next 10 minutes.
"It's okay, just try and be a little more careful." Katie was silently cheering for Oliver; he hadn't let their conversation about his feelings get in the way of their friendship. This was exactly what she needed while she attempted to figure out her own feelings.
"Okay, I'm really sorry. It was still a dirty trick."
"Apparently, it's not the only thing that's dirty around here," Katie said calmly as she scanned the Potions chapter that had been assigned last week.
"What are you implying, Ms. Bell?"
"I'm not implying anything, I'm telling you that you have a very dirty mind." She smirked as she saw Oliver's expression of mock outrage out of the corner of her eye. They sat in comfortable silence for a while and Oliver took the opportunity to get a good look at Katie, something he hadn't really done since she had changed so much over the summer. Her long, brown, almost black hair, was up in a messy bun, most of which was either threatening to fall out or had already done so. Her large, chocolate colored eyes were sweeping back and forth across the page. She was wearing her glasses, which she only used to read. They were black, making her eyes stand out amazingly. Oliver cocked his eyebrow as he realized she was wearing a pair of his plaid pajama pants.
"Kate?"
"Mm hm?"
"Why are you wearing my pants?" Katie smiled widely and turned her eyes to him. She pulled her glasses off and continued to smile at him.
"Well I figured I deserved some payback for you stealing my knickers!" Oliver's mouth fell open; how did she know? Katie laughed heartily at Oliver's expression, wincing at the pain in her side.
"How did you ...?"
"I have my ways, Ol'. Anywho, these are super comfortable!" Oliver rolled his eyes as Katie shrugged innocently. He looked down at the pants again; they were plaid, with 4 different shades of blue. She was also wearing an oversized t-shirt that he recognized as Fred's. It had the Chudley Cannon's emblem on it.
"What is it with you and stealing people's clothes?!"
"What?! Oh! The shirt! See Fred left it in our room, for reasons that I don't really want to know, and so we washed it. But since you all neglected my laundry the past week, I didn't have anything clean that was suitable for sleep wear. So I decided this was a better option than strictly a bra." Oliver snickered at the last part, although he wasn't exactly opposed to seeing her in a bra, truth be told.
"Well we're sorry that we were more worried about your health than your laundry," he retorted. Katie rolled her eyes and went back to her book.
Quidditch Pitch
"Oy! Angelina! Watch out for the Bludgers on your sides, you can't let your peripheral vision get lost in your concentration!" Angelina rolled her eyes and flew off towards the other end of the pitch to try the drill again. Fred and George smirked at her angry expression and waved to Katie, who waved back. Katie turned and waved to Angelina who raised her middle finger and continued the drill. Katie laughed heartily and sat back down on the bench. She wasn't supposed to be playing yet, but they still needed to have practices. She chuckled as she remembered the fight she and Oliver had had over the matter.
Flashback
"Oliver don't be such a bloody prat! I'm going to practice and that's final!"
"NO, you're not and that's final! You can play again when you are completely and totally healed and not before!"
"Oliver, I'm fine! I can play! Arg!" Oliver pulled Katie out of the Common Room and into the empty hallway, or rather levitated her out since she was still not walking.
"Kate, please don't do this. I'm just worried is all ..." Katie continued to glare at him indignantly. "Katherine Anne Bell, I am begging you not to practice until you have a clean bill of health." Katie sighed dramatically; it was so hard to turn Oliver down when he used that tone of voice.
"Fine, but I am going to practice. I'll take notes or something, but I'm not missing it all together." Oliver smiled.
"As long as you are far, far away from a broom, I'm happy." Katie rolled her eyes as Oliver wrapped his arm around her waist and they walked back into the Common Room. She was hovering so that her head was even with his, even though she was really a few inches shorter. He kissed her temple as they sat down.
Back to the Present
"Alicia! You did that drill wrong! Try it again! Don't falter when you fly at the keeper, get his eye contact if possible!" Katie laughed as Alicia and Angelina let out a simultaneous cry of frustration. An hour later, practice was finally over and they were all gathered in the locker rooms.
"You had better get well soon, that was sodding hell!" Katie stuck out her tongue at Angelina.
"Be nice to Kate, I think she did fabulously." Oliver smiled cheekily and Katie returned it.
"No flirting now."
"We'd like to take this opportunity to remind you," Fred and George were doing the 'we share one brain, so we speak like we're the same person' thing again.
"That the rest of us would like to remain"
"Emotionally unscarred"
"For as long as is humanly possible"
"So if you would take care"
"To remember this"
"It would be greatly appreciated"
"By all!" They finished with a cheeky grin and a bow. Oliver and Katie glared daggers at them. Angelina and Alicia were shaking with silent laughter, but went, fortunately, unnoticed.
Gryffindor Common
Room
Alicia jumped as someone put their hands over her eyes. She was sitting on the couch in the Gryffindor Common Room, supposedly alone. It was almost midnight; no one should have been up that late.
"Guess who?" Alicia smiled and relaxed at hearing the voice; she knew it very well.
"Hello George, but what are you doing up so late?" George removed his hands from her eyes and walked around the couch to sit next to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his head in her shoulder, taking in the smell of her hair.
"I could ask you the same thing, but I couldn't sleep. I was thinking about you ... with all this confusion and everything over the accident, I feel like I haven't spent any time with you." Alicia smiled and kissed his forehead.
"Me too ... I wanted to thank you, George." George picked up his head and cocked an eyebrow at his girlfriend.
"What for?"
"When Katie was hurt ... I don't think I would have made it through that without you. You were so strong," Alicia leaned over, wrapped her arms around George's middle, and rested her head comfortably on his chest, "and you didn't even think about yourself, like at all. So ... thanks."
"You don't have to thank me; you're a pretty strong person yourself." Alicia smiled and shook her head.
"From damsel in distress to knight in shining armor, thank you." George smiled as Alicia sat up and kissed him passionately.
A/N: Okay, so this chapter contained lots of cotton ... I'm sorry! But there will be more ... interesting things happening soon. How did you all like it? I'm sort of tired and I just had my braces tightened, so if it sucks, I'm terribly sorry! Please review!
HarryPotterFan670: Thanks! I hope you continue to love it! Haha, yeah, Katie's okay, despite my friend's attempts to get me to let her die. How'd you like this one?
MasterHarperMenolly: Thanks a bunch! Yes, poor Oliver ... it will continue to be 'poor Oliver' for a while, so consider yourself warned. The part with Katie and Oliver was different, but I changed it so I'm glad you liked it! How was this one?
DarkRose: that person is the one that wanted me to kill Katie! Gasp! Glad it was "squishy", was this one "squishy" as well? I'm assuming its not the same kind of "squishy" as you or Lauri! Ha!
Disclaimer: There are many things I own ... my clothes, my books, my plots, several souls other than my own ... but do notice that Harry Potter is not on that list!
