Chapter 23

"Hey, where are you going?" Katie looked confused; she was just stumbling into the kitchen, as Oliver and Patrick were about to leave, broomsticks in hand. Oliver chuckled as he took in her appearance; she was wearing a pair of boxer pajama pants (his pants, to be exact) and a white camisole, accompanied by a blue silk robe, which came down to her hips. Her hair was up in a messy bun on top of her head and she looked rather confused, not to mention only half awake. The only word he could think of to describe her in that moment was adorable.

"We're just off to practice a little and then I have some last minute shopping to do and I'm dragging Oliver along so we can wallow in self pity that we have to go shopping, together." Patrick smiled cheekily as his mother rolled her eyes.

"Don't you usually make Mum or I do all of your Christmas shopping?" Katie asked blearily.

"Well that won't exactly work considering you can't very well buy your own presents, Katie dear."

"Oh," came the only response as Katie sat down at the table and started to nibble on some toast that her mother had handed her.

"So we'll be back later." Oliver chuckled before continuing, "I'll be back at 5:30 to pick you up, Kate." He winked at her before he and Patrick stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in a flash of green flames.

"Oh, I'm going to kill him!"

"Katherine! That was uncalled for!"

"Mum! He invited me out tonight and has told me absolutely nothing about where we are going or what I'm supposed to wear. He just said, 'I promise that you will be caused no undue anxiety concerning your wardrobe.' Come on now! What in Merlin's beard am I supposed to do with that?!" Katie sighed exasperatedly as her mother just chuckled and shrugged.

"Perhaps you ought to go take a look in your room," Aimee said in a tone that so clearly implied 'I know something you don't know!' Katie rolled her eyes as she finished off her toast.

"I'm sure that's just a completely innocent suggestion, right Mother?"

"Of course it is, dear," Aimee replied as she gave her daughter an extremely over the top, mock-innocent smile.

"Where's Dad?"

"He went for a run, should be back within the hour. Why?"

Katie shrugged as she stood up and started out of the kitchen. "I thought he and I might do a little father daughter bonding, seeing as I haven't spent time with him since this summer. Ask him to come find me when he gets back, yeah?"

"Alright, dear."

Katie practically sprinted up to her room and, reaching it, threw open the door. She was extremely surprised to see that it was relatively clean. Well okay, that was a lie. But the bed was made, which she had most certainly not done herself.

But the most surprising thing, the thing that Katie almost fell over at seeing was a beautiful dress, laid out elegantly on her bed. It was the color of dark red wine, floor length, and strapless with tiny sequins around the bodice. Also on the bed was a matching shawl, a pair of silver-colored heels, a single red rose, and a card.

After the initial shock had worn off, Katie picked up the card and ripped it open, while simultaneously picking up the rose and burying her nose in it, welcoming the wonderful scent. Her eyes widened even more as she read the card:

Kate,

I told you that you didn't need to worry about what to wear.

It's your size, thanks to some help from your Mum.

I'm sure you'll look just as beautiful as you always do.

I'll see you at 5:30.

Love,

Oliver

Katie almost said 'aww' out loud, but instead decided to squeal and jump up and down excitedly. Within seconds, she had her ear pressed to the phone and was dialing Angelina's number.

Diagon Alley

"So do I really need to go through the entire over protective big brother speech? Or will it suffice to give you the abbreviated version?" Paddy asked calmly.

"I'm sure that I'll get the picture if you give me the abbreviated version."

"Okay, sounds good to me. So hurt her in any way, cheat on her, make her cry, in short, do anything morally wrong (and that includes sleeping with her or getting her pregnant, unless of course you're married)," at this, Oliver turned a lovely shade of red, "and not only will you never be able to have children, but they'll never find your body, let alone be able to identify it." Patrick seemed to be trying to remember something for a moment before continuing, "I think that's all. Did I make my self explicitly clear?"

"Crystal." Oliver chuckled nervously and breathed a sigh of relief as they entered the Quidditch store and the awkward moment melted away.

"So has Katie dropped any 'oh-so-subtle' hints about what she wants for Christmas?"

"You haven't gotten her anything yet?" Oliver asked incredulously as he examined a pair of dragon hide gloves.

Paddy smiled sheepishly and replied, "No, not yet. Well it's been hard because I've been on the road so much, you know? Wait a second, is she still using that old Cleansweep?"

Oliver shuddered involuntarily; the old broom had seen way too many games and he was always afraid it was going to chuck Katie off. "Yes, unfortunately."

"Well its decided then. But do you think she'd rather have a Firebolt 2 or a Nimbus 2003? She always used to be partial to Firebolts, likes the manufacturers better, but the Nimbus has better handling capabilities." Patrick and Oliver crossed to the other side of the store and began examining the brooms thoughtfully.

"I'd say the Firebolt; she would rather have speed than handling."

"As you say, Mr. Wood." Paddy smiled as he picked up a Firebolt 2 and carried it to the counter. Oliver grabbed the two beater's bats that he hand set on the ground while looking at the brooms and followed Paddy to the counter to pay for them. They were Fred and George's Christmas presents, but they were no ordinary bats. After two uses, they exploded into a string of fireworks, most likely right in the face of the user. Oliver was quite proud of himself for having come up with such a gift. In reality, he had known what he was going to buy them for weeks now, but hadn't been in any Quidditch stores long enough without Fred and George.

The two made their purchases and then left the Quidditch store; Oliver started to lead them towards a clothing store. "Where, exactly, are we going, Wood?"

"Well, I forgot to buy a tie to go with my suit and the ones I have don't match Katie's dress. So I have to buy a new one. You don't mind, do you?" Paddy chuckled and shook his head 'no'.

"You're not good enough for my sister, but you sure are good to her," he stated with a half-smile. Oliver stared at him, confused as to what he should think, for a moment, before turning away with a slightly dejected look on his face. "Relax, Wood. In my opinion, no one's good enough for Katie. She's leagues away from everyone else. So don't be too depressed that I don't think she's in your league. You're a lot better than some of the guys she's brought home."

"Like who, exactly?" Paddy smirked at the jealous tone that was extremely clear in Oliver's voice.

"Well you know she and Fred had a go for a while, but decided it was just too weird, seeing as they're too good of friends. She told me about that Diggory bloke; didn't much care for him when I was at Hogwarts. Shifty lad, if you ask me. Then there was Roger Davies; she stayed with him the longest. He was all right, I guess. She seemed pretty happy with him but after like 6 months decided she didn't want a relationship. She said it was getting in the way of her friendships, not to mention Quidditch. That was back in fourth year … no, that was last year."

Oliver's jealousy ebbed slightly when he remembered the night Katie had broken up with Roger.

Flashback

"Hey, Kates!" Angelina smiled brightly as Katie flopped down on the Common Room couch between her and Alicia. Oliver, Fred, and George were sitting on the floor in front of them, with their backs to the fire, playing a game of Exploding Snap.

"What's with the long face Miss Bell?" Fred asked after seeing Katie's sad expression.

"Its not important." The boys simultaneously put down their cards, pushed them out of the way, and scooted up to the couch so they were sitting right in front of it. Katie gave her friends a worried glance; she was now completely surrounded. She suddenly had a strange feeling that she would be explaining everything.

"If it's bothering our Kates, then its important," George said with a serious expression.
Katie sighed and ran her hands through her hair.

"Don't you get it?! I don't deserve you guys! I've been neglecting you all for the longest time to see Roger and shit like that. I'm such a horrible friend. You should all just disown me."

"Kate, stop talking nonsense. You're not a horrible friend you've just been … slightly distracted lately." Oliver reached up and tucked a piece of brown hair, which had fallen out of Katie's ponytail, behind her ear. She gave him an 'oh please' look. "Okay, so you've been neglecting us more than any of us would like to admit. But it's not like we all haven't done that. And besides, I'm sure that now that you've realized it you'll make an effort not to do it any more."

"Oliver's right, Katie. But you shutting us out hurts a lot more than you skiving on us for Roger once in a while," Alicia said, giving Katie a look that could only be described as motherly. But then, Alicia kind of was the motherly figure of the group, just like Katie was the persuasive one, Fred was the perverted one, George was the most reserved (strange, I know!), Oliver was the Quidditch one, and Angelina was really the one who held it all together. All those things combined were what made their friendship work so well.

"Okay … well I … broke up with Roger."

"What?! Why?!" Angelina yelled.

"Hey, the calmness love, be one with it. Why did you break up with Roger, Kate?" Oliver asked in a soft, soothing tone.

"You mean besides the fact that he was getting in the way of my friendships?" She shrugged and sighed. "I dunno … it was just getting so … stale. I don't even really like him that much any more."

Back to the Present

Oliver was shaken out of his reverie rather violently as a thought entered his mind. What if things started to get "stale" between he and Katie? What if she wasn't in love with him like he was in love with her? There was a cold feeling in the pit of Oliver's stomach that he didn't particularly want to acknowledge.

Little did he know that if their relationship ended, like he was afraid it would, it would have nothing to do with things getting "stale". Oh no, it would go out with a much bigger bang.

A/N: Here we are everyone! Sorry for that nasty bit of foreshadowy-ness at the end, but its necessary! Don't pummel me please! Please review!