Chapter 4

The next two days before the quidditch quarter final passed much as the previous one had; Oliver's play improved greatly and his ability to fit in with the team was astounding, Oliver continued to wink at and flirt with Katie, and Katie pretended not to enjoy it. The waitress did, of course, remember Oliver's order at the pancake house, which greatly annoyed Katie.

The Quiddtich game was scheduled for 10 in the morning, so that morning Katie woke up at 7 and headed straight for the shower. Katie was surprised that her usually pregame nerves were nowhere in sight; she didn't even feel like she was going to throw up her breakfast. Before she felt, she noticed a note taped to the fridge.

Hey Katie Baby,

I hate to do this, but with the new season about to air, I have more PR stuff to take care of. I really wish I could be at your game—I know you'll do great. I'll see you at Alchemy tonight, although I might be a bit late.

Love, Eric

Funny, Katie thought, I don't remember Quidditch finals conflicting with pre-season promoting last year.

But for some unknown reason, this news didn't seem to bother Katie as much as it should have either. Katie shrugged her shoulders and apparated to the Quidditch pitch. As Katie appeared outside the stadium, she landed on something uneven and the tumbled into what she thought was wall.

"Bell, are you trying to take out another keeper?" said Oliver from underneath Katie.

Katie groaned. "What are you doing underneath me?"

"I know—it's ridiculous. I should be on top," said Oliver, pushing Katie to her feet and then standing up himself.

"You should both be in the locker room mentally preparing for the game," said Crystal Shacklebolt, who had just appeared behind them.

"Was Bell this difficult with you, Shacklebolt? She was a handful back in school, but I thought with time she might become less difficult," said Oliver.

"Oh she's easy…to coach," winked Shacklebolt, causing Katie to snort loudly. "And extremely well mannered and lady like too!"

"Quite the charmer," added Wood. "I'm told some liken her to a Veela!"

"Remind me again why I bother having friends?" asked Katie as she led the way into the locker room.

In the past the Chudley Cannons were not a team one worried about beating, but this year the Cannons were having a Cinderella season. They had been beating big teams like the Kenmare Kestrels and Puddlemere United handily. Given their momentum, the Cannons were even favored to win today's match, but Katie still had faith because no one was aware of how well Oliver had settled in with the team. The critics were expecting a disorganized team with no chemistry considering that the keeper was the playmaker of the team. Luckily for the Sphinxes, they were the opposite of what the critics expected.

Shacklebolt stood up, head still bandaged, to address her team. "Being considered the underdog in a match against the Cannons is a position I'd never thought we'd be in, but here we are. We've had three days to adjust to having a brand new keeper and when we win today's match everyone will see what I've seen all season—that we the team to beat this year and that nothing is going to stand in our way!"

"Here, here," said Oliver.

"Here, here," chorused the rest of the team.

"Now get out there and kick some ass!" said Coach Eagle Eye.

As they mounted their brooms, Katie looked over at Oliver and he winked back at her. Just like old times, thought Katie. The crowd roared as they flew out onto the pitch and the announcer called out names of the players, but Katie didn't really hear anything. She was too focused on how good Oliver looked between the goal posts in the Sphinxes dark green and gold uniforms. Oliver noticed Katie gazing at him, so he smirked and pointed in the direction of the referees, who were getting ready to start the game. Katie blushed and spun around on her broom quickly. Maybe it's a good thing Eric isn't here, thought Katie.

With Oliver at the posts calling the plays, the chasers were flying through the air, easily dodging the Cannon's players. The Cannon's keeper was quite good, but he was not able block all the shots the Sphinxes were firing at him. The Sphinx beaters were playing superbly and between their great play and Oliver's legendary skill between the posts, the Cannons were having a hard time keeping up with Sphinxes' chasers. After 45 minutes, the Sphinxes were up 100 to 40 and within the next 15 minutes Katie saw Donlon shooting up between the Cannon's goal posts. He turned back toward the center of the pitch with his fist raised in triumph. Katie felt her spirits soar, with the Cannons out of the way their biggest challenge in their quest for the championship was over.

The chasers gathered in the center of the pitch in a big hug. Donlon flew in from the other end of the pitch with the beaters not far behind him. A few moments later, Katie felt a pair of well muscled arms encircle her waist as Oliver flew up behind her and joined the team.

"And you thought I was rusty," Oliver whispered in her ear. His voice was so close to her ear, that Katie felt her stomach do a back flip.

"You were," teased Katie, turning a little to face him. "The Oliver I knew at Hogwarts would have saved that third goal."

"And the Bell I knew at Hogwarts, would have converted the first time we ran the Hail Mary play," said Oliver, his voice still too close for Katie's liking (or perhaps comfort, because she definitely was enjoying his breathe tickling her ear).

The team made its way to the ground and back into the locker room where their celebration was joined by Crystal Shacklebolt and Coach Eagle Eye.

"Wood!" Eagle Eye boomed, "That was spectacular!"

"I couldn't have done any better myself," said Shacklebolt, patting Oliver on the back.

"Tonight, we celebrate. We can worry about facing the Falmouth Falcons in the semi-finals tomorrow!" said Coach Eagle Eye.

"We have a table reserved at the club Alchemy as always," announced chaser Lexi Thruston. "See you all there at 10," she added as she left the lockerroom.

"And I'm seeing you before that, right?" asked Oliver leaning causally against the locker next to Katie's.

"What are you talking about?" asked Katie raising her eyebrows at him.

"You promised me we could pre-game with butterbeer and chocolate frogs," said Oliver pouting at her.

Katie rolled her eyes at him and continued to put her gear away in her locker.

"I'm serious," Oliver said. "You promised."

"Fineeeeeeeee," said Katie. "See you at your place at 8?"

"Great. So I'll get butterbeers for three?"

"No just two. Eric told me he'd be late to the club, so I doubt he'd make it to your place," explained Katie.

"Great, you don't want to be hanging out with any extremely good looking guys," said Oliver grinning.

"Nope," said Katie. "I'm so thankful there won't be any of those at your place."

Katie found herself smiling again—she seemed to be smiling a lot more now that she had Oliver back in her life. She closed her locker and found Oliver looking down at her smiling.

"Well—I—errr better be going," said Oliver, appearing flustered for the first time Katie had ever seen.

"Yep, me too," said Katie as she walked out of the locker room and waved to Oliver as she apparated back to her home.

Katie walked into her empty flat and quickly grabbed two pieces of paper, addressing one to Angelina and one to Alicia, and wrote:

S.O.S. Going to a club with Oliver tonight. No idea what to wear.

She quickly tied the messages to foot of her owl, Artemis, and sent her out the window. Katie paced around her living room wondering why she was suddenly feeling like she was a teenager again and why all these old feelings for Oliver were coming back, especially since she was supposed to be in love with Eric. Katie's thoughts were interrupted by two loud pops, as her two best friends appeared in her living room.

"Why are we stressing over Oliver when we are dating the hottest wizard on network television?" asked Alicia.

"Because we've always had a crush on him, but been too scared to tell him," said Angelina, hugging Katie.

"You veelas are in love with Eric too?" said Katie, hugging Alicia. "And I wish I could explain to you why I'm feeling this way. He's just so charming…"

"Oh we are all too familiar with Oliver's charm. You're the only one of us that it's ever worked on," said Alicia.

"It's good that you called us here. We've always been much more put together than you," said Angelina squeezing Katie's shoulders and leading her up to the bedroom. "Let's see what we have to work with…"

Alicia and Angelina raided Katie's closet for quite some time until they found something they liked: a sky blue one shouldered dress that Katie had always felt was too tight, but her friends insisted it fit perfectly and made her look hot. Once Katie was dressed, Alicia sat her down at the vanity and pulled out her wand.

"Now for your hair," she said distractedly. She pulled Katie's straight blonde hair into a high ponytail with a small bump in the front. She heavily applied mascara and smoky eye shadow. "You have such great eyes Katie," Alicia murmured as she applied the finishing touch of some light lipstick.

"You are such a knockout," said Angelina.

"Oliver is going to die on the spot," said Alicia.

Katie tugged at the hem of her dress, which suddenly seemed too short. "Are you sure I look okay?" she asked touching her hair self consciously.

"You look amazing!" her friends said in unison.

"Okay if you say so. I'm going to his place at 8 and then we are heading over to the club at 10."

"Ohmygosh Katie, you did not mention that you were meeting up with him beforehand! Ohmygosh he's totally into you," said Alicia.

"Katie that is major. We expect a full report tomorrow!"

"I'm sure there will be nothing to report," Katie muttered.

"If we did our job right, there will be," said Angelina. With that they all apparated out of her apartment.