This chapter will have to hold you for at least three weeks. I'm going to New York today, and have a plane to catch in an hour. After I get back in a week, band camp starts and that lasts for two weeks. You're probably thinking, Band camp??
Yes, band camp. I'm in marching band, if you haven't read my bio, and it's a lot of hard work. But I'll try to post again as soon as I can. I'll probably write the next chapter into my notebook while I'm in New York. All this plus the fact that I still have a Lord of the Rings fic to finish up.
** The first person to tell me the name of the song the title of this chapter came from and the name of the person who sings it will get...something. I'm not quite sure yet, but I wanna see who like the music I listen to. Maybe I'll draw you a picture? =) And Jessica, since you probably already know, you don't count. ^_~
I know that there are probably some terrible grammar and spelling mistakes, but I'll repost this chapter once I get back. I just wanted ya'll to have something to read. =P
Katie opened her eyes. Sun was streaming through the large windows in the far wall, showering her with morning light. She sat up slowly, noticing happily that she felt quite normal again.
"Good morning," a cheerful voice said. Madam Pomfrey walked over to her and felt her head. "No fever! Wonderful! How do you feel, sweetie?"
"I feel fine," Katie stated. "Almost as though I wasn't ever sick!"
"My goodness," Pomfrey mused, "This is nothing short of a miracle. I don't even know what caused the illness to begin with." She shook her head. "But at least you feel better." She smiled warmly. "Why don't you go down and get some breakfast? I'll call for you later today, just to make sure you are fully recovered."
"Okay," Katie stood and walk to the door. She was still dressed from the day before, and didn't have to worry about finding clothes.
"And Miss. Bell," She turned to Madam Pomfrey. "I hope you know what a good friend you have in Oliver. He was distraught when he brought you up here, and insisted on staying with you. Minerva didn't want him to, but she gave in due to his persistence. Be sure to thank him, dear. Don't let that one go," She winked and went back to stripping the sheets off the bed.
Katie left, a bit confused. She pushed it from her mind, though, when she entered the Great Hall. Almost instantly, she was engulfed in a hug.
"Oh, Katie!" Angelina nearly sobbed, "I was so worried about you!"
Another pair of arms wrapped around her from the other side.
"So was I!" Alicia cried, "We wanted to go see you as soon as Wood told us, but Snape caught us before we were even halfway there! I'm sorry!"
Katie laughed at her friends' reactions. "Guys, I'm fine!" she said, "Except for the fact that I can't breathe!"
Angelina and Alicia released her. "What happened? How did you get sick?" one of them asked.
"Wood didn't tell you last night?" Katie's brow furrowed.
"No, he came right up to the common room after he left you and sat, staring into the fire. He didn't say a word all night." Alicia said.
"Yeah," Angelina added, "When we came down this morning, he was still asleep in the same chair. He's probably still there."
Katie shook her head as her friends led her to the table. Fred and George looked up as they approached.
"Katie!" they both said.
"How are ya?" George asked.
"I'm fine,"
"That's good," Fred said as he started filling a plate for her. He handed her the dish when she sat down across from him.
"Thanks," Katie said, picking up her fork and taking a bite of the eggs.
Conversations swarmed around her as she ate. She listened as the twins argued about something and while the other two chasers talked about a Ravenclaw boy. After a few minutes, she had cleared her plate.
"I'm going to go find Wood," she said as she stood.
The others looked at her and nodded, resuming their conversations after waving her off.
Katie left the Hall, feeling eyes following her. How many people saw me fall? she wondered. The thought left her mind as she glanced up - and saw Marcus Flint staring at her. She quickly turned her back to him and fled to the common room.
The portrait swung open and she went inside. The room seemed empty, the only sign of life a light snore coming from one of the chairs facing the fireplace. Katie walked over to the chair and sat on the floor in front of it, watching the sleeping Oliver.
*
The corridor was dark, candles on the walls giving no light. The air was wet and cold, freezing his very bones. He could hear running footfalls behind him. He turned; no one was there. A bloodcurdling scream echoed down the hall, followed by maniacal laughter.
He bolted down the hall, wanting to get away from the terrible sound. His bare feet splashed into something warm and thick; it was too murky to see what it was. He looked up and wanted to cry out in shock. A pale, lifeless body was slumped on the ground, blood seeping through the skin from a large cut on her neck to stain her blond hair. Katie. And she was dead...
A figure appeared behind her, laughing. "It was worth the wait to see the look on your face," it said cruelly.
*
Wood jerked awake, gasping. He jumped when he felt someone touch his arm.
"Oliver?" Katie gazed at him, worried. He had suddenly started to whimper in his sleep, probably the result of a nasty nightmare.
Relief filled him as his eyes met hers. "Katie? What are you doing here?"
"This is my house, too, you know. It's not like I've forgotten the password." She smiled. "Pomfrey let me go, said I was fine. I told you so!"
Oliver leapt from the chair and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. His dream had seemed very real, and he couldn't shake the image of the dead and bloodied Katie from his mind.
Katie's eyes widened in shock. "Oliver, are you okay?"
Wood didn't reply. His hand lifted from it's place on her back and rested it against her neck, feeling her steady pulse. She was alive and well, which was a comforting thought. But he didn't release her, instead pulled her even closer and buried his face in her sweet-smelling hair.
Katie, meanwhile, was quite confused. What in the world just happened? And why isn't he letting go of me?! He hugged her all the time, and she didn't mind, but at the moment he was cutting off her air supply with his crushing embrace.
"Uh, Wood," she stammered, "Is something wrong?" She had wanted him to lean back and answer her, but he did just the opposite. His grip tightened and he mumbled something into her neck. She only caught an occasional word: nightmare, Flint, hurt, you.
Grasping the meaning of his few coherent words, Katie whispered, "It was just a dream, Oliver. I'm right here."
Again he didn't say anything. But after a moment, he pulled away and finally spoke. "I'll listen to your advice, but that bloody Slytherin had better get what he deserves."
"I'm sure he will," Katie reached out and entwined her fingers her with Oliver's. "But what happened in that dream to make you seem so frightened? I've never seen you this scared before, and nothing actually happened!"
"I..." He paused, "I don't want to tell you."
She frowned. "Okay, but if you need to talk, I'll be here."
"I know," He looked down, trying to hide his watering eyes as the image flooded his mind.
"Well," Katie lifted Oliver's chin with her fingertips, "I'm going to go shower and change, okay? Maybe we could meet on the Quidditch pitch later?"
"Sure," He watched as she stood, dropping her hand from his face.
"I'll see you later, then?"
"Yeah,"
Katie was half way up the stair leading to the girls dormitories when she stopped and turned around. "Hey, Wood?" she called out, staying on the stair, "Thanks for being there for me yesterday."
Oliver smiled up at her. "Any time,"
"And Wood?"
"Hmm?"
"Go get some breakfast. I'll see you on the pitch at noon, all right?"
"Of course,"
**
Katie stepped into the steaming shower and sighed. She may not feel sick, but her back was aching from sleeping on the unfamiliar hospital bed. As she lathered shampoo into her hair, thoughts filled her mind.
From what she could gather, Oliver had had a nightmare about her...and Flint. She wanted to know just what his subconscious had made him dream about, but if he didn't wish to say, she wouldn't make him.
After rinsing the shampoo from her blond locks, Katie turned off the water and got out of the shower. She pulled her wand out of the pocket of the pants she had dropped on the floor and waved it towards the main room of her dormitory. Music drifted over from her bed as her little CD player turned on.
It was the one Muggle thing she could not live without. When she was younger, she had always dreamed of becoming a famous conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, or composing her own music. This was, of course, still possible, but now that she was attending Hogwarts, it was very unlikely she'd get the musical experience needed for either career. Five years of oboe lessons didn't count. It was funny...all those five years, Oliver took oboe lessons with her even though he'd never do anything Muggle-related otherwise. She knew for a fact that he enjoyed every minute just as much as she did.
Then they found Quidditch, and the oboe was lost for Oliver. Katie kept up her practices, but soon gave up as well when given the chance to fly on a broom. But that didn't mean she'd given up completely. She even still had her oboe...in her trunk.
The loud music of John Williams sounded throughout the dorm room. She hummed along to Summon the Heroes as she pulled on her clothes and plaited her hair.
Once finished, Katie plopped down on her bed and closed her eyes. The music surrounded her, letting her mind drift. Suddenly, she sat up. Something was wrong...
She jumped from the bed and ran out of the room. She vaguely heard the music stop as she dashed from the common room and down the hallway, her feet bringing her to the Great Hall. A large crowd had gathered near the entrance. Over the many heads, she could see Oliver's brown hair.
Katie pushed her way through the many people and came face-to-face with Flint, who was standing off to Wood. He sneered at her.
"Ah, the very topic of our discussion has arrived," the Slytherin scoffed.
She ignored him and turned her attention to Wood, whose fists were clenched at his side.
"Oliver!" she screeched at him, furious.
"Get outta here, Katie," he growled at her.
"Just what do you think you are doing?" She came to stand between the two captains and frowned at her own. "Come on, let's get out to the field," She was trying her best to keep calm, and it was quite difficult.
"What's the matter, Bell? Afraid I'd hurt your friend?" Flint grinned, showing his ugly teeth. Katie kept ignoring him.
"Go, Wood." She took his arm and tried to lead him from the crowd.
"Katie!" someone screamed.
She and Oliver whirled around. Flit had his wand raised, a malicious smile on his face. But before he could say a word, Katie took out her wand and bellowed, "Accio wand!"
Flint's wand flew from his hand and landed in Katie's. His eyes widened in shock.
"Never mess with an angry female," she said, her voice wickedly soft. "Especially not one who wishes to wring your neck."
"Give me my wand, Bell!" he shouted.
"You want it back?" Katie raised an eyebrow. "Fine," She threw it far across the room, where it clattered distantly against the wall in the shadows. "Go fetch,"
There were gasps around the room and everything fell silent, tension building. Flint took a menacing step forward, but Katie stood her ground, eyes narrowed. She raised her wand again. The opposing captain rethought his decision and paused. He growled before turning and storming from the Hall, leaving his wand. The rest of the Slytherins, disgusted by what had just happened, fled after him.
Katie turned to leave as well, but was stopped when the crowd began clapping, soon cheering. She looked at the smiling faces around her.
Calls of "Go Bell!" filled her ears and she blushed. It was Wood's turn to save her so he grabbed her arm and pulled her away.
Once they were inside the locker rooms, he turned and stared at her. "Katie," he whispered, shaking his head as a smile crossed his lips, "I didn't know you had in ya to do that!"
"Neither did I," she said, grinning frivolously. "That felt good!"
"Did you see Flint? He was scared out of his mind!" He laughed. "Now that is what he deserved!"
*~*~*~*
The rest of the day passed without event, although every now and then someone would stop Katie in the hall to congratulate her on making such a fool out of Flint. That night at dinner, the main discussion was about this as well.
When Katie was finally able to relax in her room after curfew, Alyssia, one of her other roommates, was still going on about it.
"I just can't believe you said that to him!" A large smile was plastered on her face.
Katie just shook her head and buried her face in her book. She was quite proud of herself, but all this talk about it was getting annoying! She was glad when Alyssia finally fell asleep.
"Hey, Katie?" Angelina called out softly through the now dark room.
"Hmm?"
"Why did you act that way this morning?" Her friend sounded concerned.
"I don't know," Katie answered truthfully. "I was just so mad...I acted on an impulse, just like I told Oliver not to do."
"But why were you mad? What did he do to you?" Angelina sounded very curious. "I saw the whole thing, but I didn't catch the reason for it all."
"Do you really want to know, Ange?" the blond asked quietly, "'Cause you're not going to like the answer."
"Yes, I really want to know."
"All right then. Last night, when Oliver was bringing me my book, he overheard Flint talking to some of his teammates in the hall..." she paused.
"And...?" Angelina prodded.
"According to Wood, he poisoned me."
"What?!" the black girl had to fight to keep her voice down.
"He had someone put some kind of potion in my water bottle while we were at practice either Thursday night or Friday morning."
Angelina gasped angrily. "That dirty, cheating -"
"Shush!" Katie scolded. "Do you want to wake the entire house?"
"I just can't believe he would do something that...that low!" She sounded disgusted..
"Wood and I are going to tell McGonagall, tomorrow hopefully."
"Well, good!" She paused and Katie could practically hear her smile. "Now...about you and Wood..."
"Angelina!" Katie said. "What are you doing talking abut my love life when you've told me nothing of your own? What's this I hear about a certain Lee Jordan?"
Angelina giggled softly. "Fine, fine...I like Lee. Happy?"
"I knew it!" Katie laughed in return. "I can get you two together, if you'd like." She smiled devilishly. "But of course you don't mind the age gap?"
Angelina sighed. "He's only two years younger than I am...plus he's adorable! And he likes Quidditch. At least we'd be able to have a nice conversation, unlike others I've dated."
"Very true," Katie rolled over and pulled the curtains away from her bed. "I can't sleep. I'm gonna go down to the common room to read for a while,"
"Okay," her friend replied as she turned and closed her eyes.
Katie picked up her book and quietly opened the door. She descended the stairs and walked toward the fire. She was surprised to see someone already there.
Wood looked up as she approached. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"I can't sleep, so I decided to read." Katie came to stand before his lage chair.
Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her down onto his lap. She laughed and leaned against him, enjoying the warmth from both him and the fire.
"What are you doing down here?"
"I was just thinking..." He stopped talking and looked at her. His deep brown eyes were wide and innocent. Katie had never seen eyes that color...or that expressive. "Are we gonna talk to McGonagall tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I think we should." She nodded before started laughing softly.
"What is so funny?"
"Oh, nothing," She paused, "Did you know that Ange likes Lee Jordan?"
"Lee? The Wealsey's friend?" He smiled.
"That's the one." Katie shook her head.
"Isn't he a bit...young?"
"Ange says she doesn't mind. She thinks he's adorable." A large grin spread across her face. "You've got to help me get them together."
"You mean play matchmaker?" Wood startled.
"But of course!" She grinned innocuously up at him.
"You are mean, ya know that?" He shook his head.
"I don't scare you, do I?" she answered his question with a question.
"Of course not," he whispered. Unexpectedly he began to tickle her. A giggle escaped her lips, followed by loud snickers, as she tried to move away from him.
"Stop," she said breathlessly. She was very, very ticklish.
Oliver's fingers slid under the bottom of her tank top to tickle her sides mercilessly. Katie howled with laughter. He laughed with her, amused.
"Stop," she tried again. "We'll...wake up....all...of Gryff....indor..." she gasped out between laughs.
He stopped, leaving Katie gasping for breath, still giggling.
"What did you do that for?" she asked, amused.
"I dunno," Oliver shrugged.
"You haven't tickled me since we were eight." She struggled to right herself in his lap.
"I didn't know that," He wrapped his arms around her waist, stopping her movement, and gently pulled her against him. He practically lived for little moments like these.
Katie looked up at him, blue eyes shining with her smile. All of a sudden, something in her mind clicked. Here was Oliver Wood, the boy almost every girl in Hogwarts wanted, holding her, Katie Bell. He was staring at her and when their eyes met, goosebumps came up on Katie arms and a strange warmth filled her. They had been friends for as long as she could remember, but at that moment, she realized that he was more than that to her. She was in love with her best friend. Not just some crush, but in love with the guy! But you can't fall in love with your best friend! Could you?
She jumped up, confused. "I'm going back up," she stuttered.
"Katie?" Oliver's brow furrowed. "Did I do something wrong?"
She shook her head. "No,"
He reached out and grabbed her hand before she could leave. "Katie, I..." He stopped, blushing furiously. "Sleep well,"
He released her hand and watched and she all but ran up the stairs and into her dorm. What had he done?
Katie opened and closed the door as quietly as she could. The other four girls were asleep, and she didn't want to wake them.
She fell onto her bed. What just happened? she asked herself. Surely not what I think just happened. I can't be in love with him...I just can't be...
She fell into a troubled sleep with Oliver filled dreams, which put an end to her denying thoughts.
________________________________________________________________________
Thanks to my reviewers!
swimgirl ~ Yes, I did want to write this story. =D Thank you so much for your compliments. .::blush::.
elvencherry07 ~ I'm glad you don't mind...I was worried about that...
aubiecat ~ .::Blush::. True talent?? Thank you so much! .::Face turns red::.
Ash Carroll ~ Once again...Thank you so much for your nice compliments! Did you like what Flit got? Don't worry...there's more to come... =P
Tara ~ Good Flit "punishment"? Hehe...
Elbereth ~ Thank you sooooooooo much! Without your recommendation, I wouldn't have half as many reviews! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Anne ~ You really think this is good? I've read just about every Oliver/Katie story out there, and I don't know where to place mine among those. Thanks! =D And I would have had Oliver punch Flint, I mean, he deserves it, but I didn't want to get poor Ollie in trouble. ^_~
Jessica ~ I'll call ya later. See you soon!
Kat86 ~ I've already talked to you! ^_~ Thanks again.
I'm sorry if I've forgotten someone. If I have, tell me and I'll add you in. =)
Thank to all of my readers, even if you're not reviewing.
See you guys in three weeks!
