Chapter 18

"Katie?! Come on! We're going to be late!" Angelina's jaw dropped as Katie walked out of the bathroom. She had a towel wrapped around her hair and was still wearing her bathrobe. "Katie! The Ball starts in like 15 minutes!"

"I know, have fun. I'll see you in about an hour or so." Katie smiled sweetly and gently nudged Angelina out the dormitory door. "Tell Oliver I'll meet him there." Katie winked as she shut the door behind Angelina. Angelina walked down the stairs a little way. Straightened her dress, and started down the stairs to meet Fred.

The Great Hall

"Don't look so down Oliver. She'll be here." George clapped Oliver on the back before Alicia dragged him onto the dance floor. Alicia looked brilliant, as did Angelina. Alicia was wearing a royal purple, spaghetti-strap, flowing dress. It fell just short enough so that she wouldn't trip on it, revealing matching purple, strappy sandals. She had her hair up in a loose bun, with several tendrils hanging down, framing her face. A single white rose was tucked into her bun; it matched the white rose on George's lapel.

Angelina, on the other hand, was dressed in a traditional black ball gown. It was full length and strapless; there were black sequins around the bodice. It complemented her lean frame extremely well. Her hair was partially down, in long spiral curls, and partially tucked back by a black clip, in which rested a pink rose. Fred had a matching pink rose on his lapel.

Fred, George, and Oliver were all in black, dress robes with white dress shirts. The girls had picked out their ties so they would match; George's was a royal purple and Fred's was black. Oliver had returned from lunch that day to find a blood-red tie lying on his bed, along with a rose of the same color.

Oliver sighed as he watched his friends dance; where in the hell was Katie? He sat down at one of the tables and sipped his drink. This wasn't like Katie to be mysterious; she was usually so blunt and forward. Fred and Angelina came over to Oliver a few minutes later.

"I don't know here she could be. It's not like her to –"

"Bloody sodding hell!" Fred blinked a few times, staring at the door of the Great Hall. Oliver stood up and followed his gaze. It was Katie.

She had just walked in and was looking around for Oliver. When she saw him, she smiled and started walking over. She was dressed in a red and black cocktail dress that came just above her knee, showing off her fabulous legs. She was wearing a pair of jet-black stiletto heels, giving her legs an even longer, leaner appearance. The dress was a silky material; it was black with a red dragon snaking around her tiny waist. At the bottom, flames flared out in a tasteful way and the edge of the dress flipped out a bit. It was a halter dress, and Katie was wearing a silver necklace with a single black pearl on it. Her hair was half pulled back with a black clip, the rest of it hung around her shoulders in long, spiral curls. Tucked inside the clip was a rose that matched Oliver's. She was wearing a pair of elbow-length black, silk gloves. She was also wearing quite a bit of makeup in comparison to her normal routine of none at all, but it was extremely tasteful and accentuated her features very nicely.

Angelina put a finger under both Fred and Oliver's chins, closing their mouths, before running up to Katie. Oliver didn't catch what they said to each other, he was too busy staring at Katie. He'd never seen her look so beautiful. Angelina smiled at Oliver before hurrying away, dragging a very shocked Fred with her.

"Hi, Ol'." Katie smiled and looked at the ground, blushing at the fact that Oliver was still staring at her. He put a finger under her chin, raising her head to look her in the eyes.

"Katie you ... you look mesmerizing!"

"Thanks Oliver." Katie smiled and sat down. Oliver sat down next to her, still in shock. "Remember when we went to the Masquerade Ball they had during second year?" Katie asked with a little laugh, and Oliver nodded with wistful smile on his content face. "And we danced tango. You had that crazy rose." Oliver laughed, and failed to notice the mischievous glint in Katie's eyes.

After a few moments of silence, Oliver took Katie's hand and kissed it affectionately. She looked up, rather surprised, at Oliver's wide grin. "What?" Oliver shook his head and just continued to smile as he looked back at the dance floor. "Sickle for your thoughts?"

Oliver chuckled and whispered, "Just thinking about how lucky I am that I'm here with the most beautiful woman in the world ... and what's more; she's mine." Katie blushed a deep shade of crimson and looked at the floor. "It's true, Katie."

"Not half-bad yourself, Oliver." He smiled and cupped her face in his hands, making her look him in the eyes. Katie smiled as he rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs.

"It appears you definitely have more than one element, Miss Bell." Oliver almost leaned in to kiss her, but remembering that they were only here as friends, he just smiled and turned back to watch people dance. He let his hands drop back into his lap, feeling a twinge of sadness.

An Hour Later

"You two have barely danced at all!" Alicia sat down across from Katie at the table, followed a moment later by George. Katie and Oliver exchanged a small smile and shrugged simultaneously.

"Get your arse up and take the girl out there to dance." George whacked Oliver on the arm and gestured towards the dance floor, as Katie laughed.

"Okay we'll go, but I have to request a song first!" Katie winked at Oliver before running off towards the DJ's table, which was where the teacher's table normally was placed.

"That girl has something up her sleeves and I'm rather afraid to find out what it is."

"Oh George, stop being so dramatic!" Alicia laughed at George's expression of mock hurt.

Katie came back a few minutes later and, grabbing Oliver's hand dragged him onto the dance floor. She pushed him towards the middle and then disappeared. Oliver turned around several times to see where she had gone. She re-appeared a few seconds later, holding a long-stemmed red rose between her teeth. Oliver laughed as the music started to play. It was tango.

He offered his hand to her and she took it. Several people gasped as they realized that the stunning girl dancing with Oliver, was Katie Bell. He smiled as they took the first few steps in the dance; their bodies were pressed close. He closed his eyes and took in her fragrance; he wasn't sure if it was her smell or her mere presence, but something was extremely intoxicating.

Oliver twirled Katie and then brought her back to him, dipping her. When she was still in the dip, he grabbed the rose out of her mouth with his own teeth. He twirled her again when he pulled her out of the dip, before bringing her back to him.

By now, the only people dancing were Katie and Oliver. Not many other people knew the dance, as it was an old muggle one. Katie had made Oliver learn it the summer after fourth year; she had bee obsessed with ballroom dancing that summer and tango was the least extravagant dance he had been forced to learn. In addition, Katie and Oliver looked ... well perfect on the dance floor and no one wanted to interrupt the magical harmony of what they where witnessing. They looked like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers; the perfect couple, dancing impeccably to a beautiful song.

As Oliver dipped her a second time, she took the rose back. They continued to dance; Oliver would twirl, dip, and spin her at all the right times. And Katie let him lead; allowing herself to be twirled, dipped, and spun. She smiled in anticipation as the final chords of the song started to play.

Oliver pulled her out of the final dip as the music faded away. Katie was still clutching the rose between her teeth and both of them were breathing quite heavily. She plucked the rose from her mouth with her slender, gloved hand. Oliver vaguely noticed that everyone was still circling them, as if waiting to see what was going to happen.

Katie wrapped her arm around Oliver's neck and pulled him closer. She leaned in and kissed him extremely passionately. Oliver's arms wrapped, reflexively, around her waist as her tongue massaged his. This was accompanied by quite a few gasps from the students around them. She smiled mischievously as she pulled out of the kiss.

"Thanks for the dance Oliver." She broke out of his arms and sauntered out of the Great Hall, swinging the rose lazily in her hand. Oliver watched her leave, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Her hair gave a little flip as she turned the corner and disappeared out of sight.

A/N: Yay! Katie finally lets it all out in the open! Sorry this took so long ... I was contemplating adding more but then decided not to. Hope you all enjoyed this. Seeing as I have a terrible migraine and really don't feel well, it would make me so immensely happy if you would review! Thanks to all my reviewers ... 29 more and I'll be at 100! Yay!

HarryPotterFan670: Thanks! I'm flattered, how was this one?

Beckysue2: Sorry this took so long, but did you like it? Thanks!

Books4me: Thanks a bunch for all the reviews! How did you like this chapter?

Luvsdabook: I'm so flattered! LOL, I have to say that the part where Harry is all alone is one of my more brilliant scenes (or one of my only brilliant scenes). I know ... you will come to hate Marcus even more, just wait! Mwahahaha! I've sucked you in! But anywho, how was this?

Menolly: Haha, I'm glad! Sorry this took so long; hopefully it didn't cause you too much undue anxiety (highly doubtful, but hey). I'm flattered, as always. The plan will be a while ... the next few chapters are Christmassy goodness! How was this?

Pokethepenguin01: See! She changed her mind! Yay! No, I don't speak all of them. I'm okay in French and know a little Spanish, but my Mum knows German so that's how I got them. Thanks so much! Sorry this took so long, but how was it?

Disclaimer: The cat's out of the bag! Katie and Oliver are together and I don't own Harry Potter!

A/N2: Because I feel so bad for the long wait, I'm posting 19 at the same time as this one, so review for both please!