Notes: The next chapter in the story. I really don't know how long this is going to go on. It all depends on how long the characters want to stick around. We'll see.

Disclaimer: If you think that I own anything that would make me money by now, you're seriously disturbed.

Chapter Three: Near Death Experiences and Confessions

Oliver was in shock. What was going on? Puddlemere was losing a game, for the first time in the season. His team was always in good shape. Why was it that now they were falling apart? This game would determine who would continue on to the semi-finals in the journey for the League Cup. What was going on?

"The Reynolds twins seem to be having a hard time keeping control over those Bludgers!" the commentator told the fans in the stands. "It seems that the Kenmare Kestrels are giving Puddlemere a run for their money. The Kenmare team wasn't supposed to be this good coming into the match against the undefeated Puddlemere team. But if the score of 160:100 is any indication of how hard they've trained, Captain Johnson must be inexplicably proud."

Oliver couldn't believe the words coming out of the commentator's mouth. He still held out hope that the Snitch would show up soon and Harry would be able to catch it. There would be no way that his Seeker would fail him now. Oliver watched as his female Beater and a male Chaser from Kenmare collided with a sickening crunch. Skyler had been hit from behind as she tried to deflect a Bludger from going after one of Puddlemere's Chasers. Now she was falling, and falling fast. The Chaser from Kenmare was trailing her in the air, without his broom. Oliver hollered at Chris Warrington to move from his Chaser position to cover the goals. Once Chris was halfway to the posts, Oliver shot off toward the falling Beater.

Skyler Reynolds couldn't believe it. She was falling from what must have been sixty feet. She was preparing herself for the hard hit on the ground when she was hit from behind again and began traveling in a different direction. She was falling sideways, with something wrapped around her. How do you fall sideways? When she opened her eyes she saw her captain flying with her in his arms. He slowed them down and they gently toppled to the ground, landing on the cool grass. Oliver called a time out and the rest of the team joined them. Soon Oliver was being held by a very grateful Skyler. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. Oliver returned the embrace and both held onto each other tightly. The team found their captain and one of their Beaters, kneeling on the grass and just holding onto each other.

"You were so close to the ground," Oliver whispered to Skyler. "So close."

"As the Puddlemere team takes a time out after that death-defying save, let's take a look at it one more time," the commentator said as the scene was replayed on the large screen in the middle of the stands. Skyler and Oliver separated and watched the event they had just been through, unfold before their eyes. Skyler gasped and covered her mouth with her hands when she saw just how far she had been off the ground when she started to fall and how little she had to go before she hit the ground when Oliver caught her. The hem of her robes had just brushed the ground when Oliver scooped her out of the air.

"Are you okay?" Oliver asked Skyler, breaking her out of her shock at the event still being replayed for the fans.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she told him, still obviously shaken… and shaking.

"Ready to go back up?" he asked. Skyler looked around for something.

"My broom? And my bat?" she asked, looking for them. Alex walked up to her and handed her both.

"Here," he said in a quiet voice. "I got them for you."

"Thanks," she said before giving her brother a very tight hug. Alex hugged her back. They separated, turned to their captain and nodded. Oliver signaled to the other members of the team and they took off into the air.

"They're back! Puddlemere must be a little shaken after that fall and save. Let's see how it affects the game."

Oliver, who should have been worried after such a fall, was in the best of moods. The near death experience seemed to have rejuvenated the team. They were on fire now. Chris, Lucinda and Juliet scored four more goals in the span of two minutes, bring the score to 160:140, Kenmare. Oliver blocked every shot since the time out and the Beaters were flying around like nothing had happened. They were faster than Oliver had ever seen them.

"The Snitch has been spotted!"

The players turned their attention to the Seekers streaking straight up to the sky, chasing the elusive Snitch. Alex and Skyler both hit Bludgers directly toward the Kenmare Seeker. They knocked him off course and left the path open for Harry to grab the Snitch.

"Puddlemere has come from behind to win the game! Seeker Harry Potter catches the Snitch!"

The team cheered once more as they entered the locker room. With all the hype surrounding the events in the game, they decided to allow the media in before they changed out of their Quidditch uniforms. The players had been divested of their outer robes and were left in their sweater, pants, boots, guards and gloves. The team sat on the benches in the locker room and waited for the media to come in.

The media entered the room in an onslaught. There were at least twice as many people in the room than after their first game.

"The team has been gracious enough to allow you in early. I hope you would show them the same respect and keep your questions to a minimum and to a certain degree of respect," Simon Baker, the team manager said. "The questioning may begin."

The team laughed off Simon's protectiveness of them and awaited the questions.

"Oliver! What a spectacular catch! How did it feel to watch a teammate fall like that?" the reporter from Quidditch Weekly asked.

"I don't think I've been more worried in my life," Oliver said truthfully. "I've never seen anyone take that kind of a fall. Luckily we were able to think fast and work quickly. I daresay that I don't want to think about what would have happened if she had hit the ground."

"And how do you feel, Skyler?" the reporter asked.

"Lucky," she said simply. The team smiled at one another and waited for another question.

"That's all?" a reporter asked.

"I'm very grateful that Oliver was there to catch me. I can't express that enough. I don't know how he got over to me so fast from the goals," Skyler said. "That's why I feel so lucky."

After a few more questions, the team was left to change back into their street clothes. Oliver was the last one to change; making sure that Skyler was okay and was changing fine.

"Are you okay?" he asked her again. She looked up from where she was tying her shoes and looked at his worried face.

"I'm fine," she told him. "Get dressed. We're going to the Leaky Cauldron. Tom's finished renovating it. It's supposed to be more… hip."

"Is that right?" Oliver asked with a laugh.

"Yeah," Skyler said, smiling. "Hurry up so we can go." Skyler waited as Oliver changed, watching him so she made sure he didn't dawdle. At least that's what she told him when he asked her why she was watching.

The team was gathered around a table in the brightly lit Leaky Cauldron, a far cry from the gloomy place it had been. The crowd in the pub was merry and a lot younger than the previous clientele. The team was constantly being bought more rounds of various drinks.

Soon the only two members of the team left in the pub were the fallen Beater and her savior. Oliver and Skyler sat at the nearly empty table around a stack of Butterbeer bottles, shot glasses and tumblers. Contrary to their surroundings, the two team members left were the only ones that hadn't gotten drunk. Both were still sober, but both were very tired. They were resting their heads on their arms that rested on the table.

"I've been thinking," Oliver started.

"And we all know how dangerous that is," Skyler quipped, smiling. Oliver made a face at her then smiled with her.

"Ha ha. Do you remember the Falcons game?" Oliver asked.

"How could I forget?"

"Right. Anyway, after the game, in the locker room," he started, tripping over his words. Skyler looked at him quizzically. "When you kissed me, what did you mean by it?"

"I kissed you?" Skyler asked, racking her memory. "Oh! That! I'd forgotten about that." Skyler missed the fallen look on Oliver's face as she picked her head up off the table. "That was nothing."

"Okay," Oliver said, wondering why he was so crestfallen and wondering what had made him ask the question in the first place. "I was just wondering."

On the way up the stairs to Alex and Skyler's flat, an awkward silence passed between Oliver and his female Beater. They didn't talk all the way to Skyler's building and hadn't spoken a word since they entered, except for Skyler's quiet word of thanks to Oliver when he held the door open for her. They reached the door of the flat and stood in awkward silence.

"Where'd Alex go tonight?" Oliver asked, trying to start some sort of conversation.

"He went over to Chris'. He's crashing there tonight. Something about picking up girls or something," Skyler said. "I think it was Chris' idea."

"Sounds like something Warrington would do," Oliver agreed. "The first England meeting is tomorrow night at the pitch."

"Right," Skyler said. "I remember now. Thanks."

"No problem," Oliver said. He sighed and looked at Skyler. "I should be going." Skyler nodded and watched Oliver turn back toward the stairs.

"I lied," she blurted out. Oliver turned back to look at her.

"In the pub," she explained. "I lied. I hadn't forgotten." Oliver was looking at her with an expression on his face that she couldn't read. Skyler sighed to herself and opened the door to her flat. She walked in, took one last look at Oliver and closed the door.

Oliver stared at her door for what seemed like hours. He stood still and just stared. What the hell did she mean by that? What was he supposed to do with that kind of an answer? He snapped out of it a few moments later and turned back to the stairs, walking down them slowly.

The next evening, the England team met at the Puddlemere United pitch. Oliver watched the mix of player gather and group together. Skyler, Chris and Harry stood together and watched as Andrew Brown of the Appleby Arrows and Sean Beymer of the Montrose Magpies approached them. The two outsiders introduced themselves to the Puddlemere representatives. Skyler, Chris and Harry complied by shaking their hands and following in the introductions.

"That game against Kenmare was insane," Andrew said to the group. "You should have heard the gasp in the stands when Wood caught you. No one was expecting that."

"I wasn't even expecting that," Skyler said to the Chaser. "I'm just glad he caught me."

"Aren't we all?" Chris said. Harry nodded and the Puddlemere players looked at the ground.

"Still, that was a spectacular catch," Andrew said.

"Can we not talk about it anymore? It happened, it's done," Skyler said. The Chasers, Chris and Harry were taken aback. "Sorry, it's just I don't like reliving near death experiences." Skyler chanced a look at her captain and saw that he was watching them, and possibly listening. She was turned back to the group when Chris put an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. Oliver turned his attention away from the group and tensed his jaw.

"Alright, everyone over here," he said. The group gathered around Oliver and awaited instructions. "I'm sure everyone knows each other by now. If you don't, you can do introductions later. We're here to practice. We need to be in top form when we start playing for the Cup. All personal grudges need to be put aside. You can hate each other off the pitch. Leave everything at the door to the locker room. We're here to work."

Skyler saw Oliver look pointedly between herself and James Hart, her fellow Beater.

"Get in the air. A lap around the pitch and then we'll start," he ordered before flying into the air, his team following.

After about an hour of practice, Oliver landed on the ground, sincerely surprised at how well the team worked together. Skyler and Hart worked quite well together, despite their differences at the Falmouth game earlier in the season. They were nearly as seamless as Skyler and Alex. There were some miscommunications but they were laughed off and taken in stride. Oliver was surprised to hear the two Beaters joking and laughing as they practiced. This didn't alleviate Oliver's worries about having Hart on the team. He was a good Beater, there was no denying that. But there was something about him that Oliver wasn't able to overlook.

The two Beaters landed next to Oliver and continued to joke about the dynamics of being a Beater. Chris, Andrew, Sean and Harry landed next and helped the Beaters put the equipment away.

"Hey!" Skyler yelled at Oliver. "Just because you're the captain doesn't mean that you get out of putting stuff away." Oliver smiled and joined the team in getting everything back in the equipment box. When the team walked back to the locker room in good spirits and with Oliver and Hart carrying the equipment box between them, Oliver's worries seemed to disappear. He looked over at the Beater he had punched in the face a few weeks ago and laughed at a joke he had made.

Maybe things wouldn't be as bad as they seemed.

As Chris, Harry and Skyler changed they discussed the practice they had just endured.

"What'd you make of the little speech before practice?" Chris asked with raised eyebrows.

"Reminded me of when we were in school," Harry said. "Some of the old Oliver came back."

"Can you blame him?" Chris asked. "He finds out that not only does the guy he punched make it onto the National team, he also has to captain him. If I were Oliver, I'd do the same thing."

"Kind of makes you respect him though," Harry said. "I'd've punched him again."

Chris and Harry smirked and Skyler shook her head at them.

"It's a good thing you two are getting along now, eh, Sky?" Chris said.

"Yeah," Skyler said. "I'd hate it if we were fighting all the time. We'd never get anything done."

"How did all this come about?" Harry asked. "How'd you start getting along?" Skyler shifted nervously before answering.

"I asked him to join me for lunch today," Skyler admitted. "Since we're going to be on the same team I wanted to be able to get along with him, especially since he's going to be my other half out on the pitch. I swallowed my pride and asked him to join me for food so we could get to know one another outside of the game. Needless to say, it worked. We're not the best of friends, but we're getting along. Oliver doesn't need the added stress of two Beaters who are at each other's throats."

Chris and Harry shared a look before turning back to Skyler.

"Good for you, Sky," Chris said. "You'd make a wonderful Hufflepuff."

"Shut up!" was what Chris heard over Harry's laughter as he dodged the boot thrown at him.

"Does Oliver know?" Harry asked once he had stopped laughing.

"Thanks," Skyler told Chris when he returned her shoe. "No, he doesn't."

"I don't know if that's going to go over well with Cap'n," Chris said. "He might get a little jealous."

"He doesn't have to know. We're getting along and that's all that matters," Skyler said. "I have no idea why he'd be jealous anyway."

"Suit yourself," Chris said. "But when Cap'n finds out, I don't want to be around. On second thought, I'd love to see that conversation."

Harry shook his head and ushered the finished changing Chris out of the locker room.

"If you don't get a move on, that girl you're dating will think you're cheating on her," Harry told him as he pushed him out of the locker room. Skyler gave Harry a thankful look and got a grin in return.

"But I already am," Chris could be heard saying.

"I know, but we don't need her to find out."

"Good point."

Skyler half-watched and half-listened to Harry and Chris leave the locker room. She didn't notice when Oliver sat down next to her, freshly showered and changed.

"You and Hart had lunch?" he asked her. She nearly jumped out of her skin and turned around to face him, not able to look him in the eye.

"Yeah, we did," she explained. "For the sake of the team and your sanity."

"I won't throw a conniption as Chris alluded to," Oliver said. "Thanks for doing that. Merlin knows I wouldn't have been able to."

"Which is why you weren't invited," Skyler said with a smile, glad to still be in the captain's good graces.

"Good thing too," Oliver agreed.

"But you two seem to be getting along well," Skyler observed. "You haven't fought or punched each other yet. That's good progress."

"Thanks. You ready for the Ballycastle game?" Oliver asked. Skyler nodded.

"Mmmhmm. I should be," she said. "You ready?"

"Always."

The Ballycastle game happened on a surprisingly cold day. Oliver told his team to prepare for the cold by wearing layers. The team, dressed to Oliver's orders, stepped foot onto the pitch ready for the cold. Ballycastle looked calm and collected as they faced the Puddlemere team.

"We're here on a chilly day, witches and wizards! Puddlemere United is here to take on the Ballycastle Bats! As you all know if you've been following the League, Puddlemere's been having quite a season. They've had an eventful one. Skyler Reynolds, the team's female Beater was nearly killed in a fall when Captain and Keeper Oliver Wood shot away from his post at the goals to catch her. The England National team is represented by four members of the Puddlemere team, Wood, Reynolds, Chris Warrington and Harry Potter," the commentator said to the stands as the teams shook hands all around and waited for the match to start. The referee kicked open the equipment box and the balls shot out. He picked up the Quaffle and signaled for the teams to get in the air. Once everyone was in the air, the referee tossed the Quaffle to the waiting players.

"And Warrington comes up with the Quaffle!"

The teams played for about three hours before the Ballycastle captain called for a time out. The teams shot to the ground and they huddled together. Oliver and his team stood very close together in order to stay warm. They were brought hot cocoa and sipped it quickly to warm up their freezing bodies.

"Is it just me, or is it getting colder by the minute?" Chris Warrington asked the team. Several players shook their heads.

"It's not just you," Skyler said, shivering to no end. Oliver noticed and walked over to her. He took her hands in his and rubbed them to warm them. The referee walked over and found Oliver tending to his Beater.

"You ready?" he asked. Oliver looked to Skyler and she nodded.

"I'm fine."

"Yeah," Oliver said, turning to the referee and dropping Skyler's hands. "We're ready." The referee nodded to him and took off. The teams were in the air once more.

The game continued in the cold, with Puddlemere leading but only by just.

"And Warrington puts another goal past the Keeper. Puddlemere leads 130 to 100."

Finally twenty minutes later Harry dove for the Snitch and caught it with the Ballycastle Seeker too far behind to even move. The teams hit the ground and jogged into the locker room with equipment managers throwing cloaks over them.

The Puddlemere team gathered in the locker room and Skyler headed to the showers, with her uniform still on, but her outer robes discarded. She turned on the water and ducked under it, letting the spray hit her and warm her up. She stayed under the water and didn't care when Simon came to the shower.

"I'm going to need your uniform soon," Simon told her. She opened her eyes and looked at him. She stepped out from under the spray and took off her sweater, throwing it to him. Simon could see where only part of the massive bruise that she had received from the Falcons game remained. She took off her pants and threw those to Simon as well, leaving her in her underwear.

"Can you bring me a towel?" she asked him. Simon nodded and left with her wet clothes leaving a trail of water behind him. He walked into the main room of the locker room where the rest of the team was changing and getting towels out to go into the shower. Chris looked at Simon and the wet clothes he was holding.

"Did she just strip in the shower?" Chris asked Simon incredulously. Simon shrugged.

"I told her I needed her uniform soon and she just gave it to me," Simon said.

"Why wasn't I there for it?" Chris asked. Alex elbowed Chris in the side. "Ow!"

"That's my sister you're talking about!"

"I know, mate. I was just kidding," Chris said. Oliver chuckled at the two quarrelling players. He shook his head as he walked, clad only in a towel, to the showers.

"Oliver! Are you going to the showers?" Simon asked. Oliver nodded. "Can you bring Skyler a towel?" Simon tossed Oliver a large towel once he had nodded again. Oliver took the towel into the showers and passed by the women's shower where the water was running.

"Sky!" Oliver yelled over the spray.

"Yeah, Cap'n?" was the reply he heard. He smiled in spite of himself.

"I've got a towel for you," he said.

"You can bring it in," she said. "I'm not naked." Oliver chuckled as he walked into the shower. He saw Skyler standing under the spray just in her underwear, completely soaked through. Her auburn hair was dark and very straight as it hung down her back, different from when it was pulled up and back during the games. Skyler turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She allowed Oliver to wrap her in the large towel before she wrung out her hair into the shower drain.

"Feel better?" Oliver asked. Skyler smiled.

"Much," she said. "Thanks." Oliver smiled and they walked out of the shower. Oliver walked into the men's shower as Skyler walked in the opposite direction toward the locker room. Oliver turned on the shower spray before putting his towel on the rack just outside of the shower. He walked under the spray and felt the warm water loosen sore and tight muscles. He could hear Chris giving Skyler a hard time about going in the shower with her uniform on and not "stripping" for him. He laughed as he heard a thump and an "Ow!" from Chris.

"Look, just because you prefer the captain doesn't mean that you need to go beating me up," Chris could be heard saying from the shower Oliver was in. Oliver ducked his head out from under the spray to hear more of the conversation.

"I don't know what you're going on about, Warrington," he heard Skyler say.

Chris responded with, "Last names now? That's not nice, Sky. Why are you blushing? Thinking about him in the shower?"

"Stop it," she said before noisily opening her locker. Oliver tuned out the rest of the conversation and concentrated on finishing up his shower.

When Oliver stepped out of the shower, he stepped into a quieter locker room. He barely heard Chris and Harry's voices leaving the locker room. It seemed that Alex was just in front of them on the way out. He stepped into the row of lockers and saw Skyler sitting on the bench across from his locker, reading a book. This was a common occurrence and did not faze Oliver in the slightest. Oliver opened his locker and took out his clothes.

"How much did you hear?" he heard Skyler ask. He turned around and looked at her.

"What are you talking about?"

"How much of the conversation did you hear?" she asked again. "I know you heard part of it. You wouldn't look at me when you came out of the shower."

"I stopped listening when you said 'Stop it.'" Oliver admitted. Skyler laughed a little and stood up.

"That's all I needed to hear," she told him before walking to the locker room door.

"Hold on!" Oliver stopped her. "What the bloody hell was all that about?" Skyler looked at him, speechless. "I'm tired of skirting around the issue. Something is obviously going on and I want to know how you feel," he said gesturing between the two of them.

"What do you want me to say?" Skyler asked. "That I'm falling for you? That I don't know what to do without you? I don't know what you want me to say."

"Just tell me the truth."

"How do you feel?" Skyler asked. It was an odd sight, to say the least. A fully dressed young woman was standing at the entrance to the locker room of a professional Quidditch team across the room from her scantily clad team captain, still slightly wet from the shower he just took. If Skyler were not involved in the situation she would have thought it was a scene from a Muggle teen movie.

"I care about you a lot. I don't think I could ever feel anything bad toward you," Oliver said, letting his feelings out. "I don't know what I'm really feeling but I know that I want to be with you. I know that I would love to be with you. I haven't really felt this way about anyone in a long time."

Skyler stood in silence for a moment before breaking into a grin.

"Really?" she asked, looking up at Oliver.

"Really."

"Skyler!" Oliver and Skyler turned toward the doors of the locker room, having heard Alex yell from outside. They heard footsteps coming down the hall outside of the locker room. The locker room door burst open and in stepped Alex followed by Chris.

"Whoa," Alex said. "Did we interrupt something?" he asked, looked between Oliver, still in only a towel, and Skyler standing on the opposite of the room, facing each other.

"No," Oliver said, looking at Skyler. Alex looked between his captain and his sister again.

"You sure?" he asked Skyler.

"Yeah, we're sure," she responded, looking at Oliver with an appraising look.

"Alright then," Alex said. "Let's go, we've been waiting for a while, Sky." Skyler nodded and began to follow her twin out of the room.

"I never got my answer," Oliver said to Skyler as she walked to the door. She turned and gave him an incredulous look, as if to say "Do you know what you're doing right now?"

"I got mine," she told him before turning and following her brother out of the locker room.

"What was that about?" Chris asked once the Reynolds twins had left the room and were out of ear shot in the hallway.

"Nothing," Oliver said, finally getting the chance to change into the jeans and shirt he had pulled from his locker.

"That wasn't 'nothing'," Chris told Oliver. "That was something." Oliver took the opportunity to stall by putting on his jeans and pulling the shirt over his head.

"That is our business," Oliver said, putting on his "Captain" face. Chris just laughed at him.

"That's bullshit," Chris told him, still laughing. "From the looks of it, someone had just confessed something and was waiting for the other person to respond, or confess something equally shocking."

"I hate you," Oliver said, pulling on his shoes and picking up his towel to dry his hair. Chris smiled.

"Love you too, mate," Chris said. "Who said what?"

"I told her," Oliver said. Chris stared at him for a while. "Anytime, Chris."

"Wow," Chris finally responded. "I don't know what to say. What did she say?"

"I just finished telling her and she asked 'Really?' That's when you guys busted in," Oliver told him.

"Hmm. Alex is probably interrogating her right now. I better leave them at it for a while," Chris said. "Too bad you didn't get your answer. Do you think she'll ever tell you?"

"She was about to."

"Bad luck, mate."

"No thanks to you."

"I know, I know," Chris conceded. "You coming to dinner with us?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Oliver said, throwing his towel into the laundry basket at the end of the row of lockers. "Especially after what just happened. I'm just going to go home and hang out there, let things mull over."

"Alright, mate," Chris said. "See you around." Chris got up and opened the door leading into the hall, allowing the "About time!" from Alex to leak through into the locker room.

Oliver was home for a couple of hours before he heard a knock on the door of his flat. He looked up at the door in confusion before standing up and walking over to the door. Looking down at his appearance, he guessed he was dressed enough to open the door. He had on a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a small old Gryffindor Quidditch t-shirt on with a couple small holes around the collar. He opened the door and was surprised to see Skyler standing on the other side.

"Hi," she started, playing with her hands in front of her.

"Hullo," he said.

"You never got your answer," she told him.

"Are you going to tell me?" he asked, holding onto the door.

"Yes," she said before pausing. "I feel everything that you do. I feel the same way. I've talked to Alex and he said that he knew that I did, but I didn't know. He said that I knew deep down - "

And she was cut off. Oliver had put a hand to the back of her neck and tilted her head up towards him. He brought his mouth down to hers and kissed her.

Sweet Merlin…

And…

Another one out of the way! It took a while but we finally got there. It's about damn time with those two skirting around each other. There were several times that they could have finally kissed but it didn't seem right for them.

Thanks for reading! And remember… reviewing is awesome!