Chapter 19
"Is Katie awake?" Oliver stood up and gave Angelina and Alicia eager looks. They giggled at his expression.
"Yeah, she just got out of the shower." Angelina said, giving Alicia a sly smile.
"Why don't you go up and see her?" Alicia winked inconspicuously at Angelina as Oliver nodded and ran up the girls' dormitory stairs. He reached Katie's dormitory and took a deep breath. He knocked as he simultaneously pushed the door open.
With his hand over his eyes, he peaked his head in and asked, "Are you decent?" He heard a laugh.
"Yes, Ol', come on in." Oliver smiled and put his hand down as he walked into the room and closed the door behind him. Katie was sitting cross-legged on her bed. Her hair was still wet from her shower and she was wearing Oliver's blue plaid pajama pants and an oversized white t-shirt. It said Pudlemere United across the front in big, gold letters. She smiled warmly at him and he smiled back, crossing the room and sitting down next to her on her bed.
"So about last night –" Oliver was cut off by Katie leaning forward and kissing him. He moaned as she deepened the kiss, running her hands through his hair. His hands slipped easily underneath her big t-shirt and started to trace circles on her back. Oliver chuckled and shook his head as Katie pulled out of the kiss. She smiled and slung her legs over his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Mmm, you have no idea how much I wanted to come find you and snog you senseless last night," Katie said with a grin.
"Then why didn't you?" Katie faked shock and smacked Oliver on the arm playfully.
"It would've ruined the moment!"
"Speaking of which," Oliver leaned close and whispered in Katie's ear, sending shivers up her spine, "you looked so gorgeous."
"Really now?"
"Mm-hm. When I saw you walk in, it took me a moment to realize it was you ... Katie, my Katie." He smiled and kissed her neck. "So does this mean that you're ready to tell people about our relationship?"
"No, Ol', I just kissed you in front of the whole school like that because I wanted to be interrogated by all your fainting admirers." Oliver stared at her, confused. She smiled at how his brow wrinkled when he concentrated; it was really quite cute. "Oh Oliver, you're so adorable! Of course I want to tell people!"
Oliver let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god! Don't scare me like that Kate." Katie smiled and shrugged. She pulled him closer and kissed him passionately. Just as their snogging session was getting underway, the Weasley twins burst through the dormitory door.
"Oy! Oliver! Think you can pry your lips off Katie's for a moment?" Katie and Oliver pulled away reluctantly, giving the twins annoyed glares.
"What d'you want Fred?"
"Don't worry, Oliver, you'll have plenty of time to snog Katie over the holidays." George smiled cheekily as Oliver rolled his eyes.
"But honestly, we did have a purpose, other than making sure you two remembered to breath."
"And that is?" Katie said exasperatedly, although she was still smiling.
"We wanted to spend the day with our friends –"
"And girlfriends," George supplied, blushing slightly.
Fred smirked and continued, "And girlfriends before we all left for the holidays. So we decided that we'd go to Hogsmeade and stay the night there before catching the train in the morning."
"Our Mum's cleared it with your Mum, Katie. So if you two can manage to keep your hands off each other for a little while," George started.
"We'll be leaving in an hour," Fred finished. They both flashed their friends cheeky smiles before turning and leaving the dormitory.
"Those two are really something else." Katie smiled as she snuggled comfortably against Oliver's warm body. He bent down and started to trail kisses along her neck. He smiled against her neck as she started to run her fingers through his hair, but he groaned unhappily as she pushed him away slightly. "Come on, you, we're going to Hogsmeade remember?"
"I'd rather stay here," he replied with a mischievous smile as he leaned in and started to kiss her neck again.
"Ol-iv-er! Don't make this any harder than it already is! I want to spend the day with my girls before we go away for Christmas. You have me for the entire, three week Christmas break." Oliver sighed and sat back against the headboard, as the warm feeling he felt when holding Katie started to evaporate. He glanced around the room moodily, not meeting Katie's eyes. She looked at him with a pout expression, but to no avail. Smiling mischievously, Katie crawled over to him on the bed. She leant her mouth close to his ear and, as she ran her hand up his thigh grazing restricted territory, she whispered, "I'll make it up to you, I promise."
With that, Katie got up and quickly walked to the bathroom without a backwards glance. Oliver blinked a few times and, hearing the shower turn on, decided he needed a shower himself ... only he suspected his shower would be a great deal colder than Katie's.
Hogsmeade
"So where're we off to first, my love?" Fred smiled warmly at Angelina, who was on his arm.
"Honeydukes, of course!" Angelina replied with a giggle. She glanced behind her at the other two couples that were walking with them. George was wrapping his scarf around Alicia's neck as she tried to push him away, insisting that she wasn't cold. But George had decided that she was cold and was, under no circumstances, going to let her go another step without putting on his scarf. Oliver and Katie were holding hands contentedly, talking softly to each other. Angelina smiled as Oliver kissed Katie's temple lovingly; he was perfect for her in every way.
"You're beautiful." Angelina was startled to feel Fred's warm breath on her ear. She blushed and smiled sheepishly. "It's true."
"I'm not as beautiful as you are handsome, Fred Weasley." Now it was Fred's turn to blush; his ears turned a color that could rival his hair. He cleared his throat, trying to fight down a blush, as they ducked inside Honeydukes. George, Alicia, Oliver, and Katie followed a few moments later, George having successfully gotten his scarf around Alicia's neck.
"Well, I think its time we regroup, my dears." Katie laughed at her own tone of voice, but dismissed it nonetheless. "Lina, Licia, let's go to Madame Malkins, while I'm sure those three," she jerked her thumb in the direction of the guys, "want to spend some quality time in Zonko's." Everyone nodded in agreement and went their separate ways after buying a few pieces of candy.
Zonko's Joke Shop
"So what'd you get Katie for Christmas, Ollie?" Oliver cringed at the childhood nickname that George had just brought out of the proverbial attic.
"Well, I've had a hard time deciding. D'you think she'd want something romantic? Or something practical?"
"Hmm, tough call there mate. I mean, Katie obviously loves the whole romantic thing," Fred said as he looked over a pack of Exploding Snap cards thoughtfully.
"But she'd probably be happy with something practical as well." George smirked at a bag of wet start fireworks and added them to the pile in his arms.
"I don't want to make her angry by getting her the wrong thing. Bloody hell, when did buying Katie a Christmas present get so sodding complicated?!"
"When you asked her to be your girlfriend," George replied, quite sagely.
"But, luckily for you, mate, there is a solution."
"And what, pray tell, would that be Fred?"
"Get her the romantic gift. The way I see it, if you get her a practical one she may be a little disappointed. But if you get her the romantic one, she'll be totally overwhelmed and throw herself on you ... and eww, I'm gonna stop because this is grossing me out." Fred screwed up his face before continuing to look through the many pranking supplies.
"What if she gets me something practical and feels bad when I get her something romantic?" Fred and George exchanged confused looks and then seemed oddly pensive for a moment, before George replied.
"You're still okay, because then she will feel so lucky that she has such a great boyfriend. And she'll start to talk about how she doesn't deserve you," George stopped, knowing that his twin would finish his thought.
"And then you tell her that it's you that doesn't deserve her. She'll be all the happier with you and won't even know the difference." Fred and George smiled triumphantly as Oliver chuckled. The twins could be rather smart when they wanted to be.
"I guess we've got to visit the jewelry store then, mates."
Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions
"I thought you hated buying clothes," Alicia yelled to Katie, who was inside a changing room.
"I do! But ..."
"But what Katie?"
"Well, 'Lina, it's kind of a long story." Katie pushed the curtain aside to reveal her dressing in a set of stunning emerald green dress robes.
"Woah, Kates that looks bloody brilliant on you!" Katie blushed but smiled as she did a little twirl.
"You really think so Alicia?"
"Uh, Yeah!" Katie laughed, half-expecting Alicia to add a 'girlfriend!' to the end of her sentence.
"So what's this long story?" Angelina asked, nonchalantly as she examined her nails.
"Well ... I came up here that day we all ditched practice. I was with Oliver and I needed to buy some new robes. I tried these on and ... well let's just say his jaw dropped to the floor. But I told him there was no chance of my ever wearing them; he seemed a tad disappointed to say the least. So I thought I'd surprise him on Christmas Eve when we go to my Grandmother's for dinner and wear these." Katie smiled at her reflection; even she had to admit that the robes looked good on her. Alicia and Angelina burst into a fit of giggles. "What?!"
"Well if we had told you a year ago that you'd be in here, buying robes to impress Oliver, what would you have said?" Alicia asked, having composed herself a little.
"I would've told you I wasn't interested in donating money to the Asylum but to try back at a later date." Katie laughed, finding the humor in the situation, as she gave herself the once over in the mirror again.
The Hogwarts Express
"Hello!" Katie popped her head inside the compartment with a cheerful smile. She then proceeded to open the door properly and drag Oliver in after her. They flopped down on opposite ends of the compartment; Katie sitting between Alicia and Angelina and Oliver sitting between George and the window.
"Excited about Christmas there, Katie?" Fred asked with a chuckle.
"You know how much I love Christmas! Although, I would love it a lot more if I could have you four there." Katie wrapped her arms around Alicia and Angelina's shoulders.
"Aww, Katie we're touched," George said, wiping away a fake tear and putting his hand on his heart. Katie sent him a mock glare.
"I do have I question though. Are you all more or less free the day after Christmas?" Her friends nodded silently. "Then floo to my house and we're going to exchange presents, okay?"
"Why your house?" Fred asked in a childish tone.
"Because I suggested it, besides your Mum's got enough to worry about with the whole family coming home that she doesn't need 4 more rowdy people in her house. So my house at 3 o'clock then? I'm assuming you all know the address."
"3 o'clock." Everyone nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh yeah, but exchange boyfriend/girlfriend gifts before. We don't want all that mushy stuff." Katie screwed up her face for a moment before everyone burst out laughing. Half an hour later, Angelina and Fred had gone for a "walk", Alicia and George were cuddled up on one side of the compartment sleeping soundly, and Katie had her head in Oliver's lap as he ran his fingers through her hair. "What's bothering you, Ol'?" Oliver sighed as his brow furrowed.
"I'm nervous."
"Why on earth are you nervous?"
"Meeting your family," Oliver said with a sheepish look as Katie giggled, stroking his cheek.
"You've met my family before, Ol'."
"No, I've met your family in a 'this is Oliver my best best friend, but we have a completely platonic relationship' sense, but not in a 'this is Oliver my boyfriend whom I have admittedly snogged' sense." Katie smiled warmly at Oliver; she started to say something but Oliver continued, "And after ... the accident, I can't honestly say I would be happy with me. I don't see why they should be. Frankly, I'm half afraid that your brother's going to start screaming at me in French to distract me while your father goes to get a shotgun." At this Katie burst out laughing; she shook her head. "And your Mum ... oh god, I don't even want to think about that one."
"Oh, Oliver, you're so melodramatic. My dad loves you; he has ever since the first time he met you. As for my brother, he was just confused. Everyone was, so I've heard. He really is sorry and I'm sure he'll keep his foreign obscenities in check." Katie closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Oliver's hands in her hair for a moment before continuing, "In regards to my Mum ... she loves you just as much as my dad does. Mum already knows about us and she thinks it's absolutely brilliant. If Mum is happy about it, then the whole family will be happy about it. Trust me."
"Yeah ... but that doesn't make me any less nervous." Katie shook her head, smiling. Soon Katie was contentedly drifting off to sleep, with Oliver's warm lap as her pillow.
A/N: Hello all, here we are again! I hope you all liked this chapter and, again, I'm sorry for the wait. No one's suffocating from all the fluff, I hope! Chapter 20 is well on its way to being finished, but it does need to go through my very busy beta. Ergo, I'll try and post it ASAP! Special thanks goes out to my beta, who continues to beta even though she is super super busy! Please, please review! I'm hoping to get to 100 reviews in the very near future here!
Disclaimer: Damn cat scratched me ... but it back in the bag. Or maybe a cage? (Yeah, yeah, I don't own Harry Potter.)
