You Get Me

"No way," Lottie said, her eyes wide after Oliver had apparated them from her flat. She couldn't help as a bright smile came over her face while she looked around the park, now understanding why he had told her to wear something comfortable and bring her broom. It had been years since she had last been there, but it looked remarkably the same as it did back then.

She looked over at him, a bag slung over her shoulder, realizing that she was still holding on to his arm. A flush came over her cheeks as she let go and took a step away from him.

"You don't even know if this is a date, Lottie," she mentally chided herself. "Stop being such a pansy."

"When was the last time we were all here together?" she asked as she looked back out at the park, fighting to regain control of the color painting her cheeks. Perhaps Oliver would think that it was just the breeze that had her cheeks flushed.

"Ehm… think the last time was when we all met up for a match just before you left for the US with your dad," he said, putting his bag down. "Hope you don't mind… Katie mentioned that you used to play on the weekends with your friends in New York and I thought you might like to come here…"

"This is actually perfect," Lottie said, looking over at him. "Really need to play after the busy week I've had. I think that was the reason we played so much when we got a free day… good stress relief…" Oliver seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, finally relaxing a bit.

"Good to hear… though now that I think about it, I should have invited the others so we could get a proper match going," he said, looking slightly stricken again.

"It's fine," Lottie said as she dropped her bag to the ground, happy that it was just the two of them. Merlin, teenage Lottie would likely be screaming her head off at the moment. Adult Lottie was currently reminding herself to play it cool. "Sure we can still get a decent match going with just the two of us."

"That we can," Oliver replied, dropping his own bag to the ground and crouching down to open it up. "Though, left the bludgers at home. Didn't want to risk giving you a head injury. Or myself..."

"Shame. Bludgers make things so much more interesting," Lottie quipped, though she kind of surprised herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him look up at her with an amused look. "Though, probably a good idea. It'll be hard enough for me playing against one of the top keepers in the League…"

"Don't start up with that. You always could keep up with the rest of us," he said as he pulled out six small hoops and then waved his wand, suspending them in the air. Lottie watched as he then enlarged them and then sent them to opposite sides of the field. "Even if you were the only one that wasn't on a house team. And don't think that I didn't know that you were the one coming up with the plays when we were on opposing teams."

Lottie blushed slightly. She never thought herself all that great at quidditch though she loved it and certainly didn't think herself horrible. While part of her thought perhaps Oliver was just being kind, another part remembered that he was never the sort to hand out empty compliments.

"Just promise to take it easy on me," she said. He chuckled and flashed her a grin that made her stomach do a flip-flop. Merlin, he could still do that to her after all these years.

"Don't think I'll need to go that easy," he said. "Still think you should have tried out for the Ravenclaw team." Lottie could feel her cheeks heat up, but she tried to push it aside as she pulled her broom out of her bag.

"Knew I'd never get on it," she said. Oliver shot her a look. "Seriously, Wood. There were too many other talented players who wanted on the team. And some who actually did stand a chance at going pro and wanted to. And were far better than me."

Oliver studied her a moment, considering her answer. He then nodded.

"Still think you would have had a chance if you tried, but… suppose it makes sense why you didn't. Not everyone wants to play professionally," he said. Lottie chuckled and shook her head.

"Of course, I make sense," she scoffed as she swung her leg over her broom and then kicked off the ground, easily soaring up into the air. Her long ponytail flew behind her and she resisted the urge to squeal, thrilled at the feeling of flying through the air again. She hadn't had a chance to play at all since she moved back.

"You're holding out on me, Bell," Oliver shouted before joining her up in the air, the quaffle tucked under his arm. Lottie came to a stop and hovered, taking in a deep breath of the early fall air and smiling. She loved coming here when she was younger – it truly was one of her favorite places outside of the Hogwarts library and her reading nook at home. Oh, and her mother's garden. Just hovering, she couldn't help as a flood of happy memories came rushing back.

Playing matches with her friends and then having a picnic afterwards. The rush of the wind through her hair. Oliver cheering for her whenever she scored, whether or not they were playing on the same team. She hoped that perhaps they could get back to those times. Though it seemed that most everyone had moved on from the war, she could still see shadows of it in their eyes.

Yes, getting back into weekends at the park sounded like a lovely idea. She'd bring it up with Katie. Or Oliver...

"Alright… so… first to 50 points?" Oliver asked, tossing the quaffle up and down a few times.

"Make it 100," Lottie said before shooting forward and managing to swipe the quaffle from the air before he could catch it again. Oliver sat there a bit stunned for a moment before he finally took off after her.

By the time he caught up, she had just launched it through the air. Speeding up, Oliver moved past her and just barely batted the quaffle from the hoop. Lottie laughed as she flew after it, attempting to get it before he could.

"You sure you want me to take it easy?" Oliver shouted as she grabbed the quaffle and flew back halfway down the field before coming to a stop and studying the hoops. He settled in front of the middle hoop, waiting for her to make a move.

Lottie just grinned as she hovered a bit before flying forward, zigzagging down the field, Oliver watching her closely. She went back and forth a few times over which hoop she would shoot for, but intentionally waited until the last second to make a decision, knowing he was looking for any sort of tell.

She zagged left but managed to shoot the ball to the right. Oliver started left at first, a look of surprise coming over his face before he quickly shot towards the right. But it was too late as the quaffle flew just passed his outstretched fingertips and through the hoop. Lottie couldn't help the shout of triumph that left her lips as she threw her hands up in the air. She honestly wasn't expecting to make that one and reckoned he had figured out which direction she was going to shoot before she had even done so.

The celebration was short lived, however. Once Oliver had retrieved the ball, he was streaking down the pitch towards the other hoops, with Lottie trailing behind. She flattened herself against her broomstick, willing herself to go faster so that she could get up ahead of him and guard the hoops. But with Oliver's skill (and high-end broom that was far faster than her own Comet Two Ninety) she couldn't quite get there and ended up flying just at his side.

It was then that Lottie got the idea. She would never get ahead of him, so perhaps she could bring him back to her. Reaching out, Lottie grabbed onto the tail of his t-shirt, yanking back with all her might. Though he had loads more muscle on her, Oliver still jerked slightly, slowing his speed as a look of surprise came over his face and he nearly dropped the quaffle.

Lottie grinned before ramming into his side, reaching for the ball at the same time.

"That's a foul" Oliver shouted with a laugh.

Lottie didn't respond, just tried again to knock the quaffle out of his hands, but once again failed. Oliver slowed down and launched the ball forward. Lottie continued flying, trying to catch up to it, but it sailed through the center hoop just before she did.

"Nice try!" Oliver shouted after her as she chased the quaffle down.

"Oh, just you wait…"

"Okay… truce," Oliver shouted. Lottie could only nod in response before the two flew to the ground and hopped off their brooms. She then promptly fell down to the ground on her back , still trying to catch her breath as she stared up at the blue sky.

She wouldn't say this out loud, but she was grateful that Oliver had ended the match there. They had been playing for two hours and even with all her auror training, going into the gym often and playing regularly in New York, she was far more winded than she expected she'd be. Merlin, how the hell did anyone make it through a full-fledged, 3 to 6-hour professional match without collapsing in exhaustion?

The score had been dead even at 60-60 for the last 45 minutes and she wasn't sure if she had it in her to even attempt another goal, considering how she had to fight just to get those first ones.

"Seems you've still got your skill," Oliver said, falling back on the ground next to her. Lottie looked over at him, meeting his warm brown eyes.

"Did keep up with playing while I was away," she said.

"So Kates tells me," he replied.

"Truth now - how easy were you going on me?" she asked. Oliver scrunched up his face in concentration as he looked up at the sky.

"Not that easy," he said. Lottie chuckled and looked up, not really believing him. As it was, he seemed barely winded. There was no way he had played at his fullest capacity.

"Liar," she replied, turning her head to him again. He chuckled and for a moment, Lottie found herself getting lost in his eyes. But then she mentally slapped herself and forced her focus. This wasn't a date.

"You hungry?" he asked.

"Famished," Lottie replied.

"Good thing I thought to bring some food then," he said, grinning.

Oliver sat up and then pushed up off the ground before turning and holding his hand out to her. Lottie grabbed it and he pulled her up, though she stumbled slightly once upright.

"Careful," he replied, placing his hands on her waist to steady her. If her face weren't already red from the match, she was sure that she'd be blushing all over again. Oliver smiled down at her and then bashfully turned away, leading her back to their bags as he took her hand in his.

Oh. Perhaps this was a date… He had certainly never held her hand before. For a moment, Lottie felt like she was 16 again, her stomach a basket of butterflies because her crush was holding her hand. She found there was a warm comfort in the callouses and the way his large hand surrounded her smaller one. It was far different from the feel of Marcus holding it.

Lottie then shook her head. No. She was not going to think about that right now.

Once they got back to their bags, he let go and bent down, pulling out first a blanket and then lying it down on the ground. He then returned to his bag and pulled a large picnic basket out and sat it on the blanket. Lottie couldn't help but be a bit impressed as she sat down and Oliver joined her, pulling an array of food out of the basket and laying it out. It was far more sophisticated than what they managed to put together for their picnics back in school.

He finally pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses, then poured one for each of them.

"Some spread," Lottie said, smiling as she held her glass out to him. He blushed as he clinked his glass against hers. Merlin, he was adorable when he blushed. Lottie couldn't believe that she – shy, Little Lottie – was making the Oliver Wood – her crush to end all crushes in Hogwarts – blush. Was she in some sort of alternate universe?

"Just a bit of something I put together…"

Oliver was very glad that he had already worked up a bit of a sweat during the game because he was sure that he would be sweating profusely as they sat down for the picnic with Lottie sitting close to his side. He had enlisted his older sister's help in getting the picnic together as the only thing he really knew how to make was a ham sandwich.

He did actually make those, but Clara insisted he needed more food and ended up dragging him to the shops. By the time they were finished, he had a selection of fruit and veggies along with the ingredients to make a few salads and dips. She then forced him to help her make everything, that way he technically wouldn't be lying if he said that he made it. But he still felt odd about taking all the credit.

In fact, he wasn't sure he could even take credit for the entire date. After spending two days rejecting every idea that came into his head, he begged Katie for help. When she suggested taking Lottie to the park where they used to play quidditch, he thought it brilliant and wondered just why he hadn't considered it. She had always had fun there in school and from what he remembered of her back then, he felt she might prefer to be somewhere that she knew. That made her comfortable.

Katie then mentioned that Lottie was still every bit into quidditch as she was before, and he had decided perhaps she might like a small one-on-one match.

He had been a bit worried at first, but so far it appeared things were going smoothly. If he could just get himself to speak correctly. And get his heart to stop speeding up every time she smiled at him.

He was starting to better understand just why he hadn't managed to have a proper girlfriend in years.

"It's just… bit of something," he stuttered before taking a sip of his wine. Lottie continued to watch him, an eyebrow raised. "Well… Clara helped…"

"Nothing wrong with that. Certainly a large amount of food. Large enough you might need help," Lottie said.

"Ehm, well actually, she did most of it and I helped," Oliver confessed, causing Lottie to laugh loudly. Merlin, why couldn't he have just kept his mouth shut? Now she would think that he was helpless.

"And the truth comes out," she proclaimed, though she didn't seem to be mocking him. "Relax, Wood. I'm no whizz in the kitchen either. Doubt I'd be able to pull of something like this on my own as well." Oliver breathed a bit easier. "How is your sister? Been years since I've seen her... I saw she's still at Witch Weekly."

"Yea, she loves it there," he replied, thankful that they were focusing on that and not his complete lack in ability to cook. "She's been good. Got married several years back and has a little boy."

"So you're an uncle now?" Lottie asked. Oliver nodded. "Welcome to the club."

"Michael's a lively bugger. Clara nearly killed me when I got him a toy broom for his last birthday," he said. Lottie laughed loudly.

"Sounds about like the Clara I remember," she mused.

"I'm sure she'd like to see you again," Oliver said, looking over at her.

"Oh, I'm sure she's too busy," Lottie said, blushing slightly. "And she probably doesn't remember me-"

"Course she does," Oliver said, cutting her off. "Always liked you. Said you and Kates were the best Bells in the bunch." Lottie snorted.

"Probably because Adam and Bernie wouldn't leave her alone at Hogwarts," she replied dryly. "Merlin, you don't know how many fights those two got into over Clara."

"I have a fair idea from the ones I saw in the common room," Oliver said with a snort. "Never really understood why my sister… always thought her annoying…"

"I think that's a universal youngest sibling trait. We all are infuriated by our older siblings," Lottie said with a smile. Oliver chuckled.

"You more so than most, I should think. Even I felt embarrassed with how Adam and Bernie were a few times," he said. "They ever grow out of it?"

"Still waiting," Lottie quipped.

"Though, they were always the life of the party..." Oliver mused.

"I'm sure they were," Lottie said, rolling her eyes. "Try growing up with them… and Charlie. Constantly on my case about this or that. The only time we managed to get along was when we talked quidditch, though even then we had some epic rows…"

Oliver chuckled as Lottie continued on talking about her brothers, remembering a couple of those arguments. Lottie had always been a Puddlemere fan - another reason Oliver thought of her fondly - while her two oldest brothers were Wasps fans. They would often team up against her, though from what he remembered, Lottie had held her own fairly well.

It was one of the few times that he had ever seen her fearless, he realized. A small pipsqueak of a thing, glaring up at the giants that were her brothers with her hands on her hips and a smart retort on her lips. He had always been a bit in awe of her transformation during those rows.

"What made you want to go to the US?" he asked suddenly. "Just to get away from your brothers?" Lottie chuckled.

"Partially," she admitted. "I just… wanted something new. And preferably something away from the whole lot of them. Something… challenging…" She tilted her head to the side. "Didn't realize just how much I would love being an auror…"

"I'll admit, I was a bit surprised when I heard that's what you went into," he confessed. "Figured you'd go into research or something." Lottie nodded slowly.

"Fairly sure my entire family thought so as well. And… everyone who knew me...," she said. "I didn't really know what I wanted to do after we left Hogwarts. That's another reason why I went to the US. Wanted to figure that out, I suppose… Then forge ahead on my own without anyone breathing down my neck."

Oliver was silent a bit, really studying her. Lottie had changed so much over the years. She was no longer nervous or skittish. She looked comfortable in her skin. Constantly happy. She looked people in the eyes rather than glance around nervously or look at her feet. And her hands were still, not playing with her hair, her bag or anything within grabbing reach. It really was like she was a completely different person.

"Why come back?" he then asked. She glanced at him and then down at her glass of wine.

"Wanted to come back sooner," she said, her voice going softer. "Thought I could do something to help, but it was hard to get over here…"

"No one blames you," Oliver said quickly, sensing her guilt. "In fact, I'm glad that you were far away during it all…" Lottie raised her eyebrows as she met his gaze. "It was… I know that you're an auror and you probably have seen some difficult things, but… I pray no one has to see a war."

"How bad was it? For you?" she asked. "Charlie would tell me things, but Bernie and Adam… I think they don't want me to know…"

"For me personally… it didn't get so bad until the very end. Just before the battle… Had a few friends and teammates that I helped into hiding. And then got word about the battle," he stopped speaking, looking down at his lap. Two years later and he still struggled with talking about everything that he saw and experienced that day.

Lottie reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. He looked back up, seeing a soft look in her eyes.

"We don't have to talk about it if it's too hard," she said quietly. He smiled.

"Thanks…"

Lottie leaned back on her sofa that night, a warm smile on her face. She and Oliver had sat in the park until nearly dusk, reliving various old memories and stories from school, then talking about their current jobs.

She was surprised at just how much he had noticed about her back then. How much he noticed about her now.

The entire day had been relaxed and she couldn't help but think he made her feel at ease. There were no airs or attempts to impress. No need to put on an act. Just happy, easy and natural conversation that left her cheeks and sides hurting from so much laughter. In a way, Lottie found that she felt at home with him. Comfortable. Granted, they had still spent a fair amount of time talking quidditch, going over the various teams and their prospects for the season. Penny would be happy that Lottie had found another outlet for that so she wouldn't constantly bring it up.

Lottie's thoughts then turned to the chaste kiss that Oliver had left on her cheek when he dropped her off. She was certain that she was still blushing from that.

"Take it the date went well," Penny said as she walked into the flat. Lottie sat up and looked over at her best friend, her eyes wide. Was she supposed to come over and she had forgotten? "Ah, yes… you are still blushing."

"Am not!" Lottie shouted. Penny just grinned smugly as she walked over and plopped down on the sofa, placing a bottle of wine on the coffee table.

"Yes, you are. How does it feel to have fulfilled your Hogwarts dream of dating Oliver Wood?" Penny asked. Lottie's blush deepened.

"One date. And I'm still not sure if that even was a date," she said, starting to play with her ponytail. "Took me to the old park where we'd hang out in school. Played quidditch."

"Why am I not surprised?" Penny asked, rolling her eyes slightly. "It's all I can do to get you to discuss anything but that damn sport. Or your job."

"I'm not that bad," Lottie replied. "But it was a really wonderful afternoon." She sighed happily. "We're planning to meet up again next weekend…"

"Just be sure that you don't double book," Penny sang, studying her nails. Lottie looked up, her eyes wide.

"Bloody hell, I forgot," she said, suddenly remembering that she had also agreed to meet up with Marcus next weekend as well. Penny's smug grin returned as she took in the slight look of terror on Lottie's face. "Maybe I shouldn't-"

"Charlotte Bell. Do not talk yourself out of this," Penny said firmly. "Unless… are you feeling more for Oliver than Marcus?"

Lottie was silent, thinking it over. True, Oliver had made her feel comfortable and relaxed. And she had enjoyed her day with him. But there was something exciting about Marcus. There was an air of danger and adventure when she was with him. As though she were stepping into uncharted territory that she finally was not afraid of.

"I don't know," Lottie finally said, turning to face Penny. "They're both so very different…"

"It's been one date. If you aren't sure about either of them, then I don't think that's unreasonable," Penny said calmly. "Did either ask you to be exclusive?"

"Well… no-"

"Then you don't have to worry. Though if it really bothers you, just be honest and tell them that you're seeing other people," Penny said. Lottie frowned slightly. "Do not give that look. Enjoy your life a bit more, Lottie!" She looked over at her best friend and sighed, a small smile appearing.

"Guess you're right," she said.

"Of course, I am. I'm always right. Now… tell me more about your day with Oliver…"

And for those of you who are already Team Wood, you get the first date!

Seriously, as I'm getting into later chapters, I am having WAY too much fun with this. So much fun that I ended up adding two more chapters to this one, bringing it up to 17 chapters total. Going to take a short nap, then work on writing chapter 12. If I finish that today, I may post another chapter later on to celebrate.

Feel free to let me know in the comments if you're Team Wood or Team Flint. Love hearing your feedback!

Aphrodite-Venus-u.k – They do! And that's something that I'm trying to keep in mind as I get into the story. I want to keep people guessing until the very end who she ends up choosing (if she ends up choosing) so making sure that she has a connection with both. And I will! I'm working from home and barely leaving my apartment, so my chances of getting it are very low at the moment.

babyks2 – Thanks so much! I really enjoy showing the softer side of Flint, though he's got some moments coming up where we get to see the Slytherin at work. And I hope you enjoy this chapter. ^_^ And I'm keeping safe. I only go out if I need something from the store and even then, I'm trying to limit those trips to once a day. Korea has been doing really good at keeping us informed of new cases and where they are located. So far none in my district and only two close to my office, but I'm working from home now so should be safe.

Thanks for reading and following!