Chapter 12
"Alright dear, looks good to me. You've still got a little bit of a bruise, so I'd hold off on any wrestling with Oliver." Madame Pomfrey smirked as she began sorting through some papers on her desk. In second year, Katie and Oliver had gotten in a fight and decided to wrestle it out. It ended with the both of them lying on their backs laughing their hearts out and more than a few detentions. Now, it was a big joke with all the teachers that two of the best students of the year had been caught wrestling on the Quidditch Field.
"I'll make sure and avoid that." Katie shook her head, laughing, as she left the Hospital Wing; she was so grateful to be walking on her own again. Even though Madame Pomfrey said that she could walk when she was released from the Hospital Wing, that hadn't been good enough for Fred, George, or Oliver.
"Hey!" Katie smiled as Oliver came running up to her. "How'd it go?"
"Everything's great! I'm still kind of bruised, but that should go away within a few days." Oliver smiled widely and Katie returned it.
"Heading to the Great Hall then?"
"What? Oh, no. I want to enjoy a little bit of freedom; this is the first time since the accident that I've been ... alone for any length of time. Thanks to Angelina and Alicia for having the twins so whipped." Katie and Oliver laughed as they headed to the Gryffindor Tower. They walked in contented silence; Katie was lost in her own thoughts and Oliver, recognizing the pensive expression, had decided to let her stay there.
When they reached the Common Room, Katie, still lost in her own world, headed up to her Dormitory. Oliver sighed, a little hurt at being ignored, and went up to his own Dormitory. He flopped down on his bed and started to read a book on keeping techniques (surprise, surprise). A few lines into Chapter 3, and someone threw open his door.
"What are you doing?!"
"Umm ... I'm reading."
"You know that's not what I mean, Oliver!"
"Well you were kind of zoned out, and you said before that you got no time alone since the accident ..." Oliver swallowed, why was this bothering him so much? Everyone wanted to be alone once in a while. "So I thought I'd give you some time alone."
"Good god, Ol'. I wasn't talking about you! I was talking about the twins being entirely too over protective!"
"Oh." Oliver looked back down at his book; he heard Katie sigh exasperatedly and the next thing he knew she was sitting on the bed next to him. She tugged at his sleeve.
"Come on, Ol'! Let's go fly! Please?" She stuck out her bottom lip and batted her big, brown eyes. Oliver leaned forward and put his forehead against hers.
"I hate it when you do that."
"What?" she asked innocently.
"You shouldn't be flying, not yet at least, but that face is so hard to turn down." Katie smiled and, grabbing Oliver's hand, dragged him off the bed. He fell onto the floor with a loud 'thump'. "Kate!"
"Oh, I'm sorry Oliver!" She giggled as she helped him up and they started out of the Dormitory. The halls were relatively deserted as everyone was at lunch. They headed to the Quidditch Pitch; Oliver felt happier than he had felt since the accident. Katie had been conscious for the past week, but he hadn't got to spend any real time with her.
"Your umm ... your brother was here. He and I kind of had a row, I thought you had a right to know about it." Katie cocked an eyebrow at her best friend as they continued to walk. Oliver avoided her gaze.
"What about?"
"Well ... it was less of a row and more of me cowering while he yelled at me in French." Katie's eyes widened; Patrick had a tendency to speak broken French when he was very angry.
"Oliver, what happened?" Katie put her finger under Oliver's chin and forced him to meet her eyes.
"He was angry ... because he said it was my fault you got hurt ... and he was, or rather is, right." Katie stopped walking and, catching Oliver's arm, forced him to stop as well. They were halfway down the first marble staircase that started in the entrance hall.
"Oliver, it is in no way your fault that I got hurt. It was no one's fault. Just because my idiot of a brother said some stupid things doesn't make it your fault." Katie took a deep breath then realized something. "This is what he was talking about! When I owled Paddy he told me to tell you he was sorry, but he wouldn't tell me what for!" Oliver looked at the ground. "Oliver sodding hell! Please can you stop blaming yourself for this?! I'm fine, everything's fine." Oliver slowly raised his head and looked at Katie.
"Okay, I guess."
"No 'I guess' Ol'! You're my best friend; I know you would never do anything to hurt me. So please, don't blame yourself for some silly accident." Oliver forced a smile.
"Alright, Kate. Let's go fly." Katie smiled widely and they started walking towards the pitch again.
Quidditch Pitch
"So what exactly are we going to do?"
"I thought we'd play some one on one." Katie smiled as they walked to the middle of the Quidditch Field. "I can't keep and you can't chase, so it should be interesting if not fair." Oliver laughed as Katie mounted her broom and kicked off. He smiled to himself as he watched her for a moment; she looked so natural. As if flying was what she had been born to do; hell it probably was. "Oliver, grab the Quaffle and get your arse up here!" He smirked and grabbed the Quaffle off the ground before kicking off.
Katie had been right; she couldn't keep and Oliver couldn't chase. It was rather pathetic, but when the tables were turned and it was Oliver keeping and Katie chasing, it was a pretty good game.
"You really did get a lot better over the summer. I mean, you were good before, but now you're like ... brilliant." Katie laughed at Oliver's comment as they flew around randomly, having finished their game.
"You're not half bad yourself," Katie joked.
A half an hour or so later, they found themselves lying on the grass in the middle of the Quidditch Field. Oliver's head was lying on Katie's stomach; he was playing with her hand absentmindedly, a contented smile on his face. Katie ran her free hand through his hair occasionally, making shivers run down his spine.
"So I've been thinking about everything ... what you said in the Hospital Wing."
"Look, Kate, I'm not going to pretend that I don't want you to feel the same way. But I'd rather have you as only a friend than not have you at all. Furthermore, I'd rather you be happy with someone else than just content with me." Katie smiled at the bittersweetness of the whole situation; she was really happy that she and Oliver could be honest with each other, but she also knew how much this was hurting him.
"I know ... and I'm sorry to make you wait like this. But I'm just really ... confused." Oliver rolled over and sat up, Katie did the same. Their eyes locked; Katie gazed into Oliver's deep green eyes and Oliver gazed into Katie's chocolate brown ones. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul.
Oliver inhaled sharply, desperately wanting to pull his eyes away from hers, but he couldn't. He knew that every time he looked into her gorgeous brown eyes, he fell for her all over again. He saw worry in her eyes, but also, love. Did she love him? Of course she loved him, but did she, could she ever, love him like that? In truth, Oliver wasn't that optimistic about the situation. He, himself, didn't know how he had come to love her, like that. It seemed like it was just yesterday that they were wrestling on the Quidditch Field and would have recoiled in disgust at the thought of being anything more than friends, best friends.
Katie saw so much love in Oliver's eyes, which she had never realized was there. But, there was also hurt ... she knew she was the cause of that hurt. She loved him, yes, but did she love him like that? That was the million-galleon question. Then, something shocked her; in all her plans and hopes for the future, despite how different some of them were, there was always one constant. Oliver. He was always there; she knew she would spend forever with him, always being his friend. So why not spend forever with him as something more? But she didn't want to just settle; she wanted to be in love. What if she already was?
Oliver cupped Katie's face in his hands and smiled. He leaned forward and kissed her gently and quickly on the lips, sending shock waves through Katie's entire body. She blinked several times; of all the times she had been kissed, it had never, ever felt like that. Kisses ten times more passionate didn't even feel like that; it was a good feeling.
"You take as long as you want, Kate." Oliver smiled and Katie was absolutely melting. "I'm prepared to wait as long as it takes." Katie smiled again as Oliver got up and walked off the field. Katie knew exactly what she had to do; she headed to the broom closet to put her broom away and then back towards the school.
All this time, neither Oliver nor Katie had noticed four people sitting in the stands, grinning like idiots.
A/N: Kudo points to anyone who can guess what Katie is going to do! How was this? Sorry for the wait, I wasn't home long enough yesterday to write anything and I didn't get home until 5 today. Hope I made up for it though, hehe. How was this? We're not even nearing the end so don't get that idea in your head! Please review!
CTM: Haha, should I be afraid? whimpers Thank you so much!
HarryPotterFan670: Yay! That makes me happy! You're totally welcome, I'm really sorry I haven't read it all yet. I've had so much to do these past few weeks and I barely have time to think! Writer's Block sucks ass, but don't let it get you down. Keep RP'ing and something will come to you!
Skybluepink: Grar! Well I'm glad you were concerned when she almost died, I was worried I didn't make it dramatic enough! Glad you're up to date. So here was more, you demanding cow (LOL jk), how did you like it? Did you ever find out who sent the roses? Romantic ... sigh
MasterHarperMenolly: Well they are rumored to share a brain. But in coming chapters there's going to be a lot of separation between their personalities ... if that makes sense, whoopee! If not, just ignore it. Lots of 'poor Oliver' to come!
DarkRose: You have issues ... so many issues! Snogging ... hehe yes, that was great.
Note to All: Okay, cotton pertains to something that doesn't directly influence the plot of the story. It needs to be there because you can't just have huge things happen every chapter, but what actually happens in a cotton chapter doesn't really matter that much. So the last chapter was cottony. It's sort of like Limbo, but more frivolous than Limbo. Hope that clears up a few things!
Disclaimer: I'd love to own Harry Potter, yes, but since I don't and we're on the subject of wishing ... I'd love to be Katie Bell and have Oliver all to myself!
