Chapter 4 Cedric.

Okay, I have seriously, seriously decided that I need to stop thinking about Katie … in that way. I am so behind on schoolwork, and I haven't thought up a good enough play to use in matches in about a week! This is so bad.

I'm now sitting here, at my little desk, especially for Quidditch plays thinking, and I'm stumped. I'm never stumped when it comes to Quidditch! That woman is destroying my Quidditch brain! ... The team will be happy though. No more controlling Mr Captain, or 'the keeper we wouldn't like to keep' was last weeks nickname they had for me. How bad is that? It's a rubbish name! Stupid Weasley twins. Speaking of …

"Hello, Wood, dearest!" the both chimed.

"Fred, George," I greeted as they sat on the floor beside me.

"Thinking about Quidditch plays, then?" George asked.

"Can't. Mind block at the moment." Fred faked a heart attack and lay twitching on the floor, and George pretended to faint. "Shut up, guys."

"Sorry, Wood, but we thought you said that you couldn't think up any plays!" Fred laughed, looking at me warily.

"You heard right..."

"Okay, who is she?" they both asked.

"What?" Oh, my, god.

"It's obviously a girl, man, I mean, you can always think up stuff for Quidditch!"

"Yeah, so, who is she?"

"It isn't a girl!"

"Is it a boy then? I knew it…!"

"No! No."

"Well, it's something, Ollie dearest-"

"It's a girl. I can tell," George butted in to Fred's sentence.

"Yeah, so, c'mon Oliver, tell us who she is. Do we know her?"

"… Um …"

"We do! Is she in your year?"

"…Uh…"

"Ours?"

"Okay, fine, yes."

"Is she on the Quiddich team?"

I glared at hem both. Unfair question. It's down to three girls now. Katie, Angelina, and Alicia; my chasers.

"Oooooh! We're close, dear brother!" George chirped.

"Which girl is it?"

"I'm not going to tell you," I stated firmly.

"Just tell us, cap'n!"

"No."

"It's Katie, isn't it?" I didn't look at them, and I could feel my face burn.

"It is!" they both yelled.

"Will you two shut up?" I snapped at the grinning brothers.

"Why don't you tell her?"

"Because," I said quietly.

"C'mon, Wood, you can tell us …"

"No. I can't. Sorry, guys."

… Why can't I tell her? I mean, yeah, okay, our friendship is quite close, but what, except that, have I got to lose? I don't want to lose her, though. She's my best girl friend.

"Wood, come on. We know you. You won't perform as well in Quidditch if you have something on your mind … is that what happened last week?" Fred's voice showed an obvious dawning of understanding.

"What do you mean?" George asked of his sibling.

"Oliver let in four goals in a row last game, and his eyes were all glazed over when we won. And you weren't as happy as you usually are after a win …"

"So, what you're saying is, we could've won better if he wasn't thinking about the Bell of the team?"

"I wouldn't say she was the bell of the team. I'd say Angel is pretty damn hot … sorry …" Fred stopped after he saw the look the other two were giving him.

"Alicia is nicer than Ange, though. She's hit you countless times, bro"

"Alicia has hit you a lot too ..."

"They both hit you two a lot. And you deserve it every time," I concluded.

"Hey!" the both yelled with scowls.

"Katie hits you too, though, man," Fred grinned.

"Not as much as Angelina hits you, Fred"

"I suppose…" he agreed.

"So anyway, Ohlover, want to get away for a bit? Hogsmeade weekend, remember," George said.

"Oh, that was this weekend?" I asked, puzzled

"Yep, ole buddy, ole pal."

"Right" I said, closing my book of 'Fantastically Fantastic Quidditch Plays for Fantastic Matches where we Play Fantastically'. I named it. Could you guess? "Let's go."

We made our way down the stairs to the common room. Angelina, Alicia and Katie were in armchairs beside the fire, and when they saw us, they stood up.

"Where's Michael?" I asked after my seeker.

"On a date with Kiera Henderson," George answered, smirking.

"Why?" I asked incredulously. Kiera Henderson wasn't the nicest of people, especially to Michael.

"Seems they had a misunderstanding, and really, they both like each other a hell of a lot. I walked in on them, and … whew, it was hot in there …" George laughed. "Anyway, are we going?"

"Yep!" Alicia chimed and linked arms with George, who grinned at her.

"Well that was subtle," I heard Katie whisper to Angelina, and Ange smiled at Alicia, shaking her head. Alicia smiled back and shrugged.

We all left the castle happily chatting.

"Katie, are you okay?" Angelina asked of one of her best friends.

"Yeah, Ange, I'm fine."

"You don't seem yourself, though," she said, nudging her slightly in the side.

"Ouch. Ange, I'm fine."

"Excited about your date today, Kates?" Alicia asked.

"Umm … yeah …" she said, taking a subtle glance at me.

"I wish someone would ask me out. I mean, Cedric just walked up to you asked! No warning!"

Cedric. Diggory. Cedric Diggory? Cedric Diggory.

George shifted uncomfortably at Alicia's words, but when he realised what she had said about Katie, he watched me for my reaction, as did Fred.

"I know. And he was so … open about everything. It was quite unsettling, but a good unsettling," Katie smiled, looking at the ground.

We reached the gates to Hogsmeade.

"Where are you meeting him?" Fred asked.

"The Three Broomsticks in ten minutes," she said, checking her watch.

"Okay, so, for ten minutes, what do you want to do?" Angelina asked.

"We could go to Honeydukes …" Alicia suggested, and we all nodded in agreement.

We made our way across the street and into the sweet smelling, cosy shop. "I need to stock up on Sugar Quills. I ran out last week and I had to survive with no sugar!" Katie laughed.

"You lived without sugar? It's a miracle!" Fred gasped.

"Shut up," she said, grinning, picking up twenty of the candies and looking around the rest of the shop with us. Angelina started squealing when she saw Chocolate Covered Piglets that really moved (but obviously, were like Chocolate Frogs and weren't real piglets). She bought fifteen of them, and they kept squirming out of the bag. I bought three bars of some Super Hot Fudge Chocolate, which steams, but the chocolate doesn't melt. Amazing stuff. Fred and George bought some Cockroach Clusters to trick some people into eating. And Alicia bought some Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, because she claimed no one ever buys her any, and they're her favourite sweet. I could see George taking mental notes.

"Oh! I have to go, guys. See you in the common room tonight."

"Or the morning," Alicia grinned at her.

"Ergh! 'Licia! Nooooo!" she squealed and ran off out of the shop with her bag of paid-for Sugar Quills. I felt an empty feeling in my stomach. Katie was on a date with Diggory. Nice of her to tell me. She is, after all, one of my best friends. And she usually tells me when she's dating someone … what's so different about her dating Diggory … apart from the fact I hate the guy … quite a lot. He's on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and he's next in line for captaincy. He's a pretty-boy with no brains, to sum up. And I hate people like that, no matter how good they are at Quidditch. And he is a good Seeker, but he wastes that by being as thick as shit.

"Ollie loverrr!" Fred yelled at me and I snapped out of my Diggory bashing.

"What?" I asked as we all stepped out of the shop.

"Are you okay, Oliver?" Alicia asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine … why?"

"You look upset," Angelina said just as quietly as Alicia.

"I'm … not …"

"Don't lie man," George said.

"I'm not lying."

"Oliver, you like her, don't you?" Alicia asked.

"Of course I like her! She's my friend!"

"You knew that wasn't what I meant."

"What, like, like her?" I glanced at the twins and they both showed evident scowls on their faces, letting me blatantly to tell them. "I … oh, alright! Yes! There! Yes, I like her! Now can you all drop it?"

"No we cannot! This is huge, Oliver!" Angelina squealed and hugged me. I pushed her away.

"It isn't huge," I stated.

"It is!" Alicia grinned. "Can't you work it out, Ollie? Katie likes you too!"

"No she doesn't," I said, not believing them one bit.

"She does, Oliver. She's liked you since last year! When did this happen?" Angelina exclaimed.

"Last game …" I muttered incoherently.

"Last game? Is that what was wrong with you?" Alicia yelled, grinning madly.

"Nothing was wrong with me!" I hissed.

"Except the whole 'glazed' look, eh?" Fred smiled. "C'mon, Ol, just admit it. You were thinking about her last match, a lot, and that's what caused you to let those goals in."

"I was thinking about how wrong it is of me to like her this way. I was thinking about how much disruption my discovery would be if I told her. I was thinking about how easy it is to get lost in her eyes. Yes, I was thinking about her, okay?"

" … Oliver, do you love her?" Alicia whispered.

I stared at her for a moment. I shook my head 'no', but really, I don't know if I love her. I mean, yes, I like her loads, but, so far as saying you love someone … I just never thought I'd be the one to come out and say it to a girl. All my past relationships, I've said I loved the girl after she said it to me, because that's what they want, isn't it? If I hadn't said it, they would dump me. It's horrible when you're put in that position. I mean, the girl has her talons into you then, and she won't let go without a fight. I did fight them off though: with another girl. Yep, that's how all my relationships end: with another girl. This year it hasn't been so bad, but third year was awful. I guess that's why Katie didn't say anything, because I had so many girls, one after the other last year. I hated that.

"Oliver, think about it. You know you, deep down, love Katie Bell," Angelina smiled. I looked over her shoulder to see Katie and Diggory walking towards us, and Diggory's arm was around her waist. I looked back at Angelina, asking her with my eyes what I should do. I could feel my eyes burning, trying to get the message to her. 'I love her. I do love her. Help me, please…' She looked back at me, and it looked as if she was trying not to cry. I'm guessing I looked pretty pathetic, standing there, looking all pout-y. She shook her head in a helpless way, saying 'I don't know what to do'. I looked at her approaching, and Alicia put her hand in mine for a second, reassuring me it will be okay.

"Hey guys," Katie said brightly, looking around at us all.

"Hey," everyone but me muttered back.

"Ol?"

"Hey Katie," I replied grudgingly.

"Can I talk to you for a second? In private?" I nodded, looking at her curiously. "You're mad at me?" she asked once we'd walked out of everyone's ear-shot.

"No …"

"Don't lie, Ollie, you've been doing that a lot lately. Tell me what I've done. Is it Cedric?"

"N- …"

"It is. I can tell."

"I …"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about him asking me out, but I know how you are with him, the dislike, even hatred sometimes …"

"I … I like him …."

"Quit the lying, Oliver Wood," she growled and took my hand. "I know you don't like him. What's wrong with you? It doesn't bother me if you don't like him. In fact," she said, taking a look back at our friends and Diggory, "I don't like him all that much either, but he's asked me a couple of times … I thought I'd say yes to the thick hot guy at least once," she finishes quietly, flashing me a grin. That deceitful little …

"You are evil, Katie Bell," I whispered softly, smirking.

"I know," she grinned brighter, gave me a quick hug, and trotted off to Diggory again. I walked back over to the others, and Katie and Diggory walked off, Katie winking at me as they passed.

Devil …

Okay, another chapter finished. Sorry for the wait. I cut this one short because I ran out of things to write, but never mind. I hope it's okay … XD

Black Flaming Heart xxXxx