Chapter 9 I'm Moving
"Oof," Katie puffed as she handed me her trunk to put on the luggage rack at the front of the train. "Thanks, Ollie," she smiled and kissed my cheek. I lifted the trunk up and put it on the top of the pile, then hitched my bag up my shoulder and took off after Katie as she made her way down the train.
"Hey guys," Katie said as she slid the door open to our compartment – containing Alicia, Angelina and the twins.
No one answered, obviously because they were all attached at the mouth to each other (Fred and Ange, and George and Alicia). Katie sighed and sat down away from both couples. I sat down across from her, and she looked at me weirdly.
"Why are you sitting over there?" she asked.
"Do you want me to sit over there?" I asked with a smirk.
She smiled and then grabbed my hand and dragged me off the seat. I sat on the floor in front of her, looking up with a bigger smirk.
"You want me down here?"
"Oh, grow up, Oliver …"
"I have. I'm a big boy," I winked, and I knew she knew exactly what I meant from the slap on the back of the head I received.
"Shut up. Right now. Or else."
"Or else …?" I grinned.
"Argh! Or else you get stood up next week!"
"But then you'd miss me … and then you'd die from being without me for so long … and … and …!"
She glared, and I shut up. "Sit next to me now, or I'll stand you up every time you ask me out this summer," she growled.
"I quite like down here … okay, okay!" I said standing up quickly under her fierce gaze.
I sat down next to her, and she hugged me. "There's a good Ollie," she cooed.
I grumbled slightly and she laughed. I hugged her tightly back, and fell into a silence that lasted until the lunch trolley and come and gone.
"So," Fred sighed as he finished his pumpkin pasty. "What's going on in Ollie-Katie world these days?"
"'Ollie-Katie world'?" I asked slowly.
"Yes, what's going on with you two?"
Katie and I just looked at each other, and when we finally looked back at Fred, we saw everyone else looking at us. "The usual …" Katie said slowly.
"We're still going out …" I said.
Fred was still staring at us. "What?" I asked tetchily.
"Eh … Katie, you haven't said anything yet, have you?"
"About what?" I asked quickly, looking at Katie.
She glared at Angelina, then turned to me. "Ol', can I talk to you in private please?" she said, standing up. I nodded, standing up slowly and left the room behind her.
She stopped a little way away from the compartment they were in and turned to face me, leaning against the wall.
"Ol', I'm moving. This was my last year here," she said with tears in her eyes. I stared at her. I was, in a word, shocked.
"What!" I asked incredulously.
"I'm moving … to France …"
"France!"
"Yes, Oliver, France."
"Katie, you can't …!"
"Ol', I have to. I wouldn't. I really don't want to, but I have to."
"Katie, no!"
"Oliver, I'm sorry. My dad got a new job in the French Ministry," she said, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"When? When did you find out?"
"Two weeks ago," she sighed and covered her face with her hands.
"Oh, Katie," I said, hugging her tightly. "I don't want you to go. Don't go …"
She sobbed and hugged me back, and buried her face in my shoulder.
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We arrived at Kings Cross at five pm. Katie and I walked off the train together and went to get our trunks, and dragged them over to our parents, who were talking near the benches.
"…Oliver says he's dating Katie now …" my mum was saying to Katie's.
"Yes, Katie writes about him all the time in her letters home … ah, Katie, Oliver," Katie's mum said upon seeing us.
"Hi mum, Mrs Wood," Katie said.
"Hey mum, Mrs Bell," I said after her.
"Nice term, dears?" mum asked knowingly.
"Yeah …" I answered.
"Did Katie tell you about our news, Oliver dear?" Mrs Bell asked, and I nodded mutely, not wanting to get Katie upset again.
"Are you excited, Veronica? When are you leaving?" mum asked Mrs Bell.
"August twentieth, and I can't wait!" she grinned.
"Does Katie have to move school, Mrs Bell?" I asked.
Mrs Bell looked at me. "Oliver, dear, we're moving to France. She couldn't travel all the way back home for holidays otherwise," she told me sympathetically.
"Mrs Bell, I really don't want Katie to leave …"
"Come along, Oliver," mum said, starting to walk away.
"Please, please don't make her leave. If she leaves Britain, she leaves me," I stated and walked off. I heard running footsteps behind me. I didn't turn around until a hand was placed on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Katie, slightly out of breath.
"What did that mean?" she asked, panting slightly.
"Don't go to France, Kate. Do everything in your power to stay here. Stay here with me …" I said, and kissed her lightly, before following mum again, out of the station, and home to Scotland via Floo.
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Epilogue (Pt1)
July 14th
Dear Oliver,
I still have to move. Father has taken the post, and he won't give it in. I'm sorry Oliver. I love you still.
Love, Katie xxx
July 22nd
Dear Oliver,
I don't want to go. I love you so much. I want to go back to Hogwarts, even if I don't see my parents for a year. I've kept trying to make mum change her mind, but she won't budge. She's syked for it. Don't let them take me, Ol', don't let them …
Love, Kates xxx
July 30th
Dear Oliver,
We started packing yesterday. I've lived in this house my whole life. I can't believe they're making me move. I love my village … my house … my room (no matter how pink it is) …
I want to stay with you, Oliver. I love you too much to leave you here in Britain, when I'm across the English Channel. Don't let them take me, Ol'.
I found pictures of my first year while I was clearing out the attic. You are in almost all of them. In your little new Quidditch robes … showing off on your broomstick in some … just looking to cute in others. You've changed so much since then. You were such a nasty little bugger back then, making fun of me because I was a girl … although, you did do that this year too … you always said Quidditch was a guy's game, because you were on the team, and I wasn't, when I was only in first year. That was unfair grin.
I love you, so, so much, Oliver. I don't want to leave. Please, find a way to help me stay.
Love, Kat xxx
August 5th
Dear Oliver,
Almost all of my room is packed up. It looks so strange, all bare and no mess. I hate this. I hate them for making me do this. I hate everything about France too.
I saw my new house today. I'll admit, it's nice, way bigger than this place. In fact, compared to this place, it's huge. Seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, three living rooms … quite a big place, but I still want to stay here.
It's funny. We had all those plans for this summer … going out twice a week, not just writing to each other, but seeing each other too. Since I told you about moving, all of that just went up in smoke, didn't it? I would like to see you again, Oliver. I miss you.
Love, Katie xxx
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Epilogue (Pt2)
I flooed to Katie's house, almost dreading what I would see. According to Katie's regular letters, it was totally different. After all, it was twelve days until they moved. Technically, I should've been to see Katie loads of times during the summer holidays, but I thought, if I distanced myself, it wouldn't be so difficult to say goodbye when the twentieth reared its ugly head. That theory didn't work too well. All it resulted in was me going insane with … withdrawal symptoms? I knocked the door of the Bell household.
"Ah, hello Oliver." Katie's dad had answered the door. I smiled, but I felt like screaming at him for tearing me up inside.
"Hello Mr Bell. Is Katie ready?" I asked politely, almost gritting my teeth so I wouldn't say anything stupid.
"Yes, I'll just go get her," he said, and turned towards the living room. I waited in the doorway for her.
Five minutes later, Katie and I were on the way down her garden path. She looked beautiful tonight. Especially tonight, because she was wearing the most beautiful dress that made her look even more amazing than she already did.
"You look beautiful, Kates," I told her and took her hand.
She turned to me and smiled. "Thanks Oliver. You look good too," she said sweetly. "Where are we going?"
"Around," I said secretively.
"Around where?"
"Just around."
She smirked.
Then I smirked.
We walked through the woods that were close to Katie's home. We walked and walked through them, until I came to a stop. I pulled her towards a clump of trees and walked straight through. At the other side was a part of beach. Very secluded, and very peaceful. Katie gasped.
"When did you find this?" she asked as we walked down one of the low dunes.
"Last summer. Pretty, isn't it?"
"It's gorgeous," she smiled.
We sat on the sand, the cool breeze sweeping over the sand, the water sparkling in the evening sun. I hear Katie sigh, and I turned to her.
"Everything okay?" I asked, putting an arm around her shoulders. She gave me a glance, then turned back to look out at the sea.
"I never want to leave here. Being with you … in this place … it's so peaceful, Oliver. It's not fair."
I hugged her. "I know … I know, it's not fair. It's not fair …"
"I love you," she whispered, and hugged back.
"I love you too, Katie," I replied softly.
"I leave in twelve days," she said, emitting a dry sob.
"We'll think of something, Katie."
"What, Oliver? What can I do? I need to go with my parents. I'm only fourteen!" She had started to cry.
"Stay with me," I said softly. "Live with me."
Katie looked at me with tearful eyes. "You know I can't do that to your parents."
"They love you, Kate."
She took some sand in her hand and let it go slowly, like a sand-timer. "What about my parents, Oliver? They'll never let me stay here if they're in France."
"Let me talk to them."
"Oliver, it won't make any difference. I've been trying to get them to change their minds all holiday. They've only yelled at me."
"Let me try," I said, kissing her hair.
She sobbed slightly, and I hugged her closer to me. It'll be alright. I promise."
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Epilogue (Pt3)
"Oliver, we can't just leave Katie here -." Katie's dad was saying.
"I can't leave my baby girl in a different country!" Katie's mum was shrieking at me.
"It'll be so much easier to let her continue with her schooling here, Mr and Mrs Bell. And all her friends will miss her so much -."
"Mum, dad, I don't want to leave!" Katie was screaming.
"Her friends can see her in the holidays, Oliver -." Katie's dad said.
"Beauxbatons is a very good school!" Katie's mum said.
"Hogwarts is better, and she knows everyone there -."
"I can't leave here! I love Oliver! I can't leave him!" Katie screamed at the top of her lungs. Everyone stopped and turned to Katie.
"What?" Katie's dad asked calmly.
"Don't make me leave, dad, please. I don't want to leave Oliver. I love him," she sobbed. I hid a smile.
"And I love her," I said seriously, after I'd stopped smiling.
Katie's mum sobbed, and flung herself at me, hugging me. "You two are so cute!"
"I … um … thanks?" I said, trying to stay up. (After all, Katie's mum was still putting most of her weight on me).
"Oliver, you're almost sixteen." Katie's dad was saying seriously. "I know what boys your age think about -." Katie's mum stood up.
"Just because you did, sir, doesn't mean I do," I said as politely as I could.
Katie sniggered at her dad's slightly pink face.
"We're not leaving her with you in your house, Oliver, and that's that."
"Because you don't trust me, sir? Or is it because you don't trust her?"
Mr Bell struggled with himself. "I don't trust either of you. You're both at an age -."
"That you should trust us at," I snarled. "I love Katie. This isn't just … I'm not like most guys my age, Mr Bell. Katie's been my friend since she tried out for the Quidditch team. Why would I do something stupid like whatever you're thinking, and lose my best friend?"
"Because you're just a boy, Wood. Just a boy who doesn't think before he does things!"
"I do think before I do things, Mr Bell. I've thought about losing Katie non-stop since she told me you were making her leave the house she loves, the school she loves -"
"The person I love," Katie wept and looked at her Father. "Don't make me leave him, god damnit!" she screamed.
Katie's dad looked at her long and hard, Katie still glaring. After about a minute, he looked away and sighed. "Okay."
"What?" both Katie and I asked at the same time.
"I won't make you leave him, Katie. We'll stay. If it makes you happy, we'll stay." And with that said, he turned, took his wife's hand and pulled her away, into the kitchen. I stared after them in shock.
"Did he just say -." I turned to look at Katie. She nodded slowly, and a smile gradually grew on her face.
"I'm staying, Oliver! You're my god, you're a saint!" she yelled and flung herself at me, just as her mother had done.
I hugged her back. "I love you, Katie," I whispered so her parents wouldn't hear. I heard her laugh slightly.
"I love you, Oliver," she said loudly enough so her parents could definitely hear her. I gave a bark of laughter and kissed her sweetly.
"Love you too, Katie," I grinned, matching her volume this time.
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FIN
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Well, there you go. I'm done :'(. Hope all of you liked the story. As I said before, it was just a kind of interlude fic. I've now finished my new fic (it's another Oliver/Katie), and the first chapter will be posted soon. Hope you all read it!
Best Writing Wishes,
Black Flaming Heart xXx