"Katie Ann Bell!" Oliver screamed at me after I was nailed in the back of the head by a Bludger, "Get your head in the game!"
"Ollie!" I screamed back, "Some of us don't have eyes in our arses!"
"BELL!" was all that Oliver managed to get out before I stole the Quaffle from the Slytherins and passed it easily to Alicia.
I decided the best thing to do was to ignore him, after all what is he going to do to me at the moment? We're several hundred feet above ground, on broomsticks, in the middle of a Quidditch game.
"Wait, was that the snitch?" Lee Jordan, who was announcing the game, asked.
"FOUL!" the Gryffindor supporters roared as Harry's broom was knocked by the Slytherin Seeker.
We were awarded a penalty shot which Alicia easily scored. Soon I heard strange sounds coming from the crowd, ones of fear and confusion. I tossed the Quaffle to Angelina and glanced around quickly only to see Harry, who was dangling from a bucking broom with Fred and George circling below him and trying to pull him onto their brooms. The whole pitch turned their attention to Harry and nobody even noticed that Flint scored multiple times.
All of a sudden Harry's broom just stopped. Harry dropped to the ground when he suddenly looked like he was going to be sick. He clamped a hand to his mouth and pulled out…
"Harry has the snitch! GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Lee shouted in his magnified voice.
"Sorry about yelling at you, Katie," Oliver apologized as I left the locker rooms after the match.
"No problem Ollie," I replied good-naturedly, I had trouble being mad at Oliver, especially since we just won the match.
"You don't have a knot or anything on the back of your head, do you? He hit that Bludger pretty bloody hard," Oliver's accent seemed more pronounced when he was acting worried.
"I don't think it left any permanent damage," I replied honestly, "It may be a bit sore, but that's it."
"Good, then we've got practice tomorrow from 4-9," Oliver informed me happily.
"In that case," I started, "I'll definitely be fine."
"I could have sworn that you would say you thought it had scrambled your brains or something," Oliver gave me a half pleased half confused look.
"Nope, Quidditch has become my life, Ollie," I said as we climbed through the Portrait Hole, "I want to practice, to get better, and to win that freaking Quidditch Cup!"
Oliver just laughed and we joined the rest of Gryffindor House in celebrating our victory.
"Katie, this practice is entirely your fault!" Fred muttered to me as he jogged beside me at Quidditch practice the next week.
"If you hadn't have hit me with both Bludgers at once during that scrimmage then we wouldn't be running right now!" I retorted snappishly.
"And we definitely wouldn't be here if it weren't for that devilishly handsome Captain of ours," Oliver added as he caught up to us, "Keep jogging, only five more laps to go!"
"You're calling Oliver devilishly handsome!" I remarked pretending to not realize who I was talking to.
"That's an extra three laps, Bell!" Oliver said in his I'm-the-Captain-joke-and-die voice; I think he was joking about the laps but I put on an extra burst of speed and finished my extra laps at the same time everyone else finished their normal laps.
"Okay team, we beat Slytherin but that does NOT mean we have the Quidditch Cup, yet," Oliver was giving us his pre killer-practice pep talk, "This is the best team Gryffindor has seen in years, so lets get out there and show them that we mean business!"
"We're going to blow them all away," I continued.
"They won't know what hit them," George took over.
"Just think of that Cup resting in McGonagall's office instead of Snape's office," Fred finished.
"We get the point Ollie," I said sighing, "You've given us the same pep talk every practice for weeks. You really should write a new on, I'll help if you like."
"Just for that little show of cheek all three of you run another lap," Oliver said, quite seriously this time, "And Katie, I think I would like your help writing a new pep talk."
"Ollie, you just feel bad because that Bludger blow to the head last match and then the two yesterday could give me severe headaches for the rest of my life," I muttered as I jogged around the pitch. I, of course, had not told anyone that Madame Pomprey informed me of this little detail.
"What's that, Katie?" Oliver called as I rounded the final turn, "Do you want another lap?"
"Not particularly!" I called back, "And would you stop spinning in circles? Ollie, why are there two of you?"
I fell on the ground, completely unconscious.
"I can't believe it! I think I ran Katie to death," Oliver said despairingly from somewhere far away, or so it seemed.
"She wasn't supposed to go to practice for a week!" Madame Pomprey exclaimed, "There may have been complications from her head injuries the past week."
"She's not going to die, is she?"
This last voice could only be Alicia, and her voice sounded pretty bloody loud and close, in fact it made my head throb. I opened my eyes slowly.
"No dear, but she may not play Quidditch for a long time," Madame Pomprey replied, "Come and get me if she wakes up and is in a lot of pain."
"Yes, ma'am!" George saluted.
"I can't believe you killed her Oliver!" Alicia smacked Oliver in the head.
"Whoa," I said, grabbing Alicia's wrist, "I don't think that we want two players with head injuries."
"Katie!" Alicia wailed as she smothered me in an enormous hug, "I thought you were dead!"
"Alicia!" Angelina cut in, "You're smothering her!"
"Sorry, Katie," Alicia said, still grinning as she released me from her grip.
I soon had received a hug from everyone but Oliver. I folded my arms across my chest knowing that there was no way Oliver would give me a hug.
"You okay?" Oliver asked, unsure of what to say.
"I'd be much better if my head wasn't splitting in two and you would all stop screaming," I replied honestly.
I'll get Madame Pomprey and you guys go on to dinner," Oliver offered, "Hopefully Katie and I can come in a minute."
"Miss Bell is not going anywhere, Mr. Wood," Madame Pomprey said from behind his right shoulder, "but you should all be getting to dinner."
"I'm going to stay for a little longer," Oliver said, "You guys go ahead and eat."
And with that Oliver sat in the chair next to my bed and watched Madame Pomprey expectantly. Madame Pomprey started to examine my head for any signs of permanent damage or anything life threatening. Finding nothing she gave me a bottle of potion and sent me on my way.
"Well then, no running at Quidditch for a week," Oliver commented conversationally on the way to dinner.
"Yeah right," I snorted, "And how's she going to know if I run or not?"
"I'm not letting you run Kat, you really scared me today," Oliver said taking me by the shoulders.
"How are you going to stop me? I'm not going to sit out and watch the rest of the team run, it's not fair," I protested.
"Yes, you are because we can't afford to lose you and I couldn't stand to lose you," Oliver replied softly.
I wasn't exactly sure what to say here so I took a leaf out of the Fred and George's book and made a joke, "Yeah, Kent would probably kill you if you ran me to death."
"That's not… yeah he probably would," Oliver said realizing that I knew that wasn't what he meant. "I'd rather not die, so please, for both of our lives, don't run at practice."
"Only if you don't make anyone else run either," I retorted stubbornly.
"Why are you so damn stubborn?" Oliver asked. "Fine, I won't make anyone else run either."
"Thanks Ollie," I replied, barely catching the tiny smile on his face at the sound of my nickname for him.
"Anything for my favorite Chaser," Oliver remarked as we walked into the Great Hall and sat down.
"You'd better thank me," I whispered to George, "I just got the whole team out of running for a week."
"Katie, you're an angel!" George replied, not too quietly either, as he planted a huge friendly kiss on my cheek.
"Yeah, I know."
AN/ You guys have the foul weather to thank for getting this chapter today, we had a two-hour delay so... I probably should have spent the extra time studying for the exams that I have to take today but whatever. So if I fail the exams it's all the fault of my wonderful reviewers who inspire me to no ends, thanks guys!
Love From,
MotherCrumpet