-Two hours later, 12:05am-

"Sshhhh!"

Oliver shook his head lightly and smirked. "I'm not quite sure if you've noticed, Kates, but you're the only one that's been making any noise."

"It's not nice lying, Olls. I'ave been quiet as a mouse this whole time." The two of us were standing in the middle of the third floor hallway on our way to the kitchens. I was being quiet but Oliver was making a complete racket. "Why did you stop, by the way?"

"You're the one that stopped." I was pretty sure I could sense amusement in his tone but my head was already swirling as it was and I didn't want to focus on anything other than the kitchens.

"Well, cut it out!" I whispered loudly. I grabbed his hand and eagerly pulled him along, already tasting the warm, flaky, gooey, scrumptious, delicious apple pie. I stopped abruptly and turned to Oliver again. "Can you taste it?"

He chuckled, though I'm not sure what was humorous about a serious question. "Taste what?"

"The apple pie!"

"I don't know what you're-" He paused when my eyes widened and I opened my mouth. He cut me off before I could speak. "Oh, that apple pie! Of course, yeah, the apple pie."

"Excellent," I smiled, moving once more. I think I rambled about pie the entire way but I'm not entirely sure. I forgot about everything else until we stopped by a painting on the first level below the ground floor, so great was my excitement.

My hands were covering my mouth but I managed to whisper, "Tickle it!" through my fingers.

Oliver complied by reaching out to tickle the pear in the painting, which caused it to giggle and transform into a door handle. The sound of the giggles made me laugh every single time I had ever heard it, but this time I nearly cried from the fit of laughter.

Though I'd been in the kitchens numerous times in the past, I was so far gone that I couldn't help but gape at the sight of every kind of food imaginable piled on the long table that ran the length of the massive room. With the mouthwatering sight came a smell so delicious that I nearly fainted. Bouncing on my heels, I turned to Oliver and grinned. "Close your eyes," I demanded. When he gave me a questioning look, I repeated my order and he finally complied. I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me.

It was strange… I felt like something was different. Normally I wasn't so comfortable around Oliver. Well, he was my good friend so of course I felt comfortable around him, but at the same time I always felt nervous. But now his hand was in mine and I wasn't anxious at all. I ignored the thought and focused on the hunt.

I gathered a few things and finally sat him down on the bench, working quickly. "Alright," I said excitedly after a moment. "Openzies!"

Again, Oliver obeyed and once he beheld the scrumptious, if I do say so myself, sight in front of him, a goofy smile tugged at his lips. "How did you remember?"

He had confessed his favorite dessert sometime last year and somehow in my drunkenness I had remembered. In a large bowl I had scooped a large heap of mint-flavored ice cream complete with hot chocolate syrup, rainbow sprinkles and a cherry on top. "Eat it while the chocolate is still hot!" I handed him a spoon and sat next to him with my own vision of perfection- apple pie so fresh that it was still steaming, topped with a nice heap of whipped cream.

It smelt so painfully delicious that if Oliver wasn't in the room, I would have just shoved the entire slice in my face.

We dug in immediately and by the time he finished, I was laying on the bench, patting my full stomach. I squeaked when his head was suddenly hovering over mine. "Eat too much, Kates?"

I nodded, pouting slightly. "I want sleeps."

He looked at the clock that hung on the far wall. "It's already a quarter to one. We should be heading back. We'll be skinned alive if we get caught out at this hour."

Hearing this, I shot upright, forgetting that he was so close. We banged our heads and I fell back down. I grabbed my forehead and groaned in pain.

"Are you alright?" Oliver asked, clutching his own head.

"I don't wanna be skinned alive!" I cried.

Oliver inspected my forehead to make sure I was fine, and pulled me up. "Don't worry, I'll make sure they don't touch you."

I stood up slowly, patting my food-baby stomach and skipped to the four house elves who were still cleaning from dinner. "You four are THE BEST house elves," I said slowly to emphasize my point, "to ever exist. If I ever get rich, I will buy you from Hogwarts and you can live with me and I'll free you and everything... all you would have to do is make that Heavenly apple pie every night until I EXPLODE!"

"Come on," Oliver said, grabbing my hand and pulling me away.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH!" I nearly choked, holding back a tear, so great was my appreciation.

We exited the kitchens and headed back to the common room. Skipping sounded like fun so I did so until I nearly tripped on one of the massive rugs in the halls. I made a strange sound but Oliver grabbed my hand before I fell too far. "Be careful, silly. I don't want to explain to Pomphrey why we're out so late and you have bruises all over you."

"YOU'RE the silly one!" I giggled. "I just wanna fly!" My eyes widened as I realized something. "Ollie. We need to get our brooms. NOW! Let's fly!"

"Oh, no no no no no..." he said quickly. "There's no way we're getting detentions a week before the game!"

I stopped in my tracks. "You're saying no to a race?" I pouted and even stuck my bottom lip out for good measure. "Please?"

"Merlin..." he breathed. "You're gonna kill me..." he whispered.

I almost didn't hear him so I looked at him curiously, silently asking him to repeat himself.

"I was just... How about we race a few nights from now?"

"Fineeeeee..." I said. I made him pinky promise before I continued moving.

It was particularly dark on the fourth floor so I instinctively reached into my pocket, searching for my wand… but it was empty. I panicked for a moment but then calmed myself, remembering that Oliver still had it.

"Ollie, I'm scared," I whispered. "I don't like dark hallways. What if someone sneaks up on us?"

"I don't think there's anyone else out so late," he said confidently, though he reached for my hand to placate me. "And you don't have to worry about anyone skinning you. I was kidding, Kates."

"What was that?" I squeaked, latching onto him tightly.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"That sound!" I leaned closely against him, my hands wrapped around him and I put my head on his chest. An army of butterflies swarmed in my tummy but I was more focused on how nice his warm, toned body felt against mine. I loved his cologne to begin with but up close it smelt a trillion times better. I could have sworn his heartbeat sped up rapidly but I'm pretty sure my intoxicated mind just made it up. I swore I would remember this moment forever.

"I didn't hear anything, Kates," he said after a moment. I wondered why he sounded so out of breath but I figured I had just scared him.

My hands moved again, this time resting on either side of his waist. I leaned up on my tippy-toes close to his face. With a grin, I whispered in his ear, "The sound of my victory!" My fingers closed around their target and I wrenched my wand from his waistband.

He stood dumbstruck as I ran off, giggling like a madwoman and waving my wand proudly. My triumph was short-lived, however, because I had forgotten, again, about the reason I was stuck with Oliver for a whole day in the first place. I flew backwards, yet again, but this time right into his awaiting arms.

Dazed, I looked up slowly to behold a grinning face, and my mirth faded almost instantaneously. "You really shouldn't have done that, Kates. I'm afraid you're going to have to pay…"

Before I could ask why, he had scooped me up and was on the move once more.

"Umm, Ollie?" I asked after I was able to slow my panicked breathing well enough for my voice to sound like my heart wasn't about to leap out of my chest.

"Hmm?"

"You know I can walk properly, right?"

"Actually, you've been stumbling all over the halls. And I believe that's the third time you've forgotten about our little predicament. Since we can't risk you falling and marring that gorgeous face of yours, I've concluded that this is the safest way for us to go," he said matter-of-factly.

"I'll remember from now on, I swear."

"Sorry, Kates. This is for your own good," he finished smugly.

I knew it was pointless to argue with him; I swore I had never in my life met someone as stubborn as Oliver. I decided to make the best of the situation by leaning my head against his chest again and memorizing exactly how his body felt and for the next five minutes he held me, I pretended that he was holding me because he genuinely cared for me, and not because he felt I was a liability.

But then I heard something and I tried to sit up straighter. "Did you hear that?" I cried.

"I'm not falling for that again, Kates."

"No, seriously," I whispered, trying to peek around his shoulder. I was sure I heard something from behind him…

Right then, a bright beam of light soared past us from behind, centimeters from Oliver's arm. It flew straight into the wall at the end of the corridor and exploded in a large flash, completely blinding the both of us.

I squeaked and stared wide-eyed at the wall, then at Oliver, who looked just as frightened as I was, and finally cautiously over his shoulder again. And the moment I did, I saw George's face literally centimeters from mine.

I let out quite possibly the biggest shriek of my life and instinctively tried to scramble away, which in turn startled poor Oliver so that he couldn't hold on to me. I fell on my rump so hard that I was sure my tooshie would be bruised for the next month.

Many things happened at once.

George began laughing hysterically to the point where he was bent over and literally in tears.

Alicia was laughing nearly as hard but also trying (though unsuccessfully) to ask if I was alright.

Oliver was whispering angrily at George asking what the bleeding hell he thought he was doing, trying to help me up, and looking up and down the hallway for any professors.

All I could do was sit on the ground where I had fallen, unable to get over the shock of being scared out of my mind. Oliver finally got me up and dragged me quickly until I realized what was going on. When my mind cleared, I realized we were running, quite possibly for our lives, because my scream had surely alerted the roaming professors to our whereabouts.

Somehow we made it into the common room without being caught but George was far from safety because Oliver rounded on him and berated him for two whole minutes. He kept repeating that if we had all gotten detention Quidditch practice would certainly have been canceled and we would never have been able to book another slot before the next game.

I finally decided to intervene and save George from another ten minutes of ruthless Scottish anger. "Ollie, it's alright. We're all safe and none of us have detention."

"Are you really defending him, Kates? I thought you fell because of him. You were waddling all the way back here!" He turned again to George, surely to shout about this as well but I stopped him once more.

"I didn't say I wasn't angry at him," I faced the man in question. "Let's make a deal, alright?"

George looked intrigued. "Go on..."

"I'll get Oliver to back off," I began, knowing how much George hated when the famous 'Quidditch Nazi' was yelling. "But in turn I want you to let us take proper loo breaks. Deal?"

George seemed to find the treaty to be reasonable and finally nodded. He pulled out his wand and shot a spell at the invisible chain. "Done. Just say 'George is amazing and handsome' whenever you have to use the loo. It only lasts for five minutes, though."

"Marvelous!" I grinned and turned to Oliver. "Does that work for you?"

Oliver grumbled a bit, clearly wanting to yell at the deviant more but nodded his head.

"Brilliant."

The four of us got comfortable on the couches and talked for a half hour until George stood up and stretched. "Well, kids, I do believe it's time for us to retire." He grabbed Alicia's hand and led her to the girl's staircase. Having a feeling that I was about to be scarred by witnessing a heavy snogging-session, I looked back at the embers in the fireplace.

"You look tired, too, Kates," Oliver noted.

"Don't be ridi-" I failed to stifle a yawn, "-culous…" He looked doubtful. "Really. I could stay up for days…" There was no way I was going to sleep in the same room as Oliver, unless it was in class. What if I snored or drooled? What if I sleepwalked and kicked him or something? I might have a hangover in the morning and Merlin knows I wouldn't want him to see me like that.

"Kates…" he said, brushing a loose strand from my eye. "You know you can trust me, right?"

"Um," I stuttered, drowning in his eyes again. "Yeah."

"That was incredibly convincing, you know?"

"Look… I really don't mind being a test subject," I said, suddenly rambling on quickly. "I mean, who knows? The twins might come up with something fun like a draught that makes you float or something that turns your hair bright red or a new version of Puking Pastilles. I mean… the Puking Pastilles wouldn't be the best but I might even get to skip class a few times and that in itself is worth it. Or if they-"

"You really shouldn't be nervous," Oliver interrupted.

"I'm not nervous," I said stubbornly, looking away. "I'm simply saying that it's been fun and all but I think it's time to call this off and go to our respective beds and call it a night because it really has been a long day and-"

He shifted his position and scooted closer to me, our legs touching. "And?" he prompted politely.

"… and I think it would be a smashing idea if we went to our respective beds-"

He smirked and leaned even closer. "I do believe you've already mentioned that." I tried to scoot away I realized that I was frozen because of how close he suddenly was.

"Right. Well-" My words died in my throat as he put his hands on the couch on either side of me. His cheeky smile should have irritated me but I only found him more attractive. I swallowed forcefully. "Well, you're attract- I mean actually right. I'm suddenly really tired and I'd like to sleep in my own- OLIVER WOOD!" I cried as he stole my wand from my pocket AGAIN and stowed it away for good. "For Merlin's sake! Give me my wand!"

He actually laughed jovially, this time successfully irritating me. How could I have let my guard down? "I told you that you'd pay! And not a chance. You're not a quitter and I refuse to let the twins touch you. Would you prefer your room or mine?"

I glared daggers. "Give me my wand, Oliver Wood."

"Don't be like that, Kates…"

"Please?" I hoped politeness would do the trick, though I couldn't mask the frustration in my tone.

"Answer me honestly- do you trust me?"

"Yes, but-"

"Brilliant. Then I'll meet you back here in five minutes." He stopped for a moment, a look of disgust suddenly crossing his features. "…George is amazing and handsome…"

The warm link between us immediately faded and left my wrist feeling cool. I was surprised to find that I actually missed the feeling. I stared at my skin but Oliver snapped me out of it. "You might want to hurry, Kates. I don't want this thing to yank you down the stairs if you're late."

I jumped over the back of the couch instantly and scrambled up the girls' stair faster than I ever had before. "Angie! 'Licia!" I cried, running through the room, though I didn't stop until I got into the bathroom. I used the loo, brushed my teeth, and washed up a bit before rushing back out. I bounced nervously as I looked at my two best friends. "I have, like, a minute! What should I wear?" I normally just slept in a huge t-shirt and panties but there was no way I was going to let Oliver see me like that.

Clearly, Alicia had already alerted Angelina of the situation and together they had prepared for my hurried rush. Grinning, Angelina held up some clothes.

"No." I said immediately, eyes widening. Was she really proposing for me to wear skimpy sleep shorts and a tank top that tiny? I mean, sure, they were cute. I wore it all the time in the summer but I refused to wear it in front of Oliver. "There's no way-"

Alicia cut me off smugly. "There's no time to argue. Just put it on. Trust us- we're experts."

"Because experts have major meltdowns like you did earlier…" Angelina muttered under her breath.

"It's January!" I reminded them. "I'll freeze!"

"Well, then you better hope that either he has thick covers or that he'll keep you warm…"

"This isn't funny! I can't-" but I froze as I felt my wrist get slightly warmer. "Oh, for the love of Godric!" I screeched, snatching the clothes from Angelina and pulling them on at a record speed. "You're SO going to pay for this!" I was already half-way down the stairs by the time I pulled the tank top over my head. I adjusted my hair just as I rounded the last of the spiral and nearly skipped the last step in my rush.

I arrived with not a second to spare. Luckily, Oliver was waiting closely at the bottom so that the second my foot hit the ground, the rings that were forming around our wrists were linked without having to yank either of us... or rather me, as I was lighter.

I panted slightly and as I caught my breath, I was able to survey the man in front of me.

He was wearing, unsurprisingly, Quidditch boxers that had quaffles, bludgers, and I didn't want to look long enough to find the snitch. I was already blushing as it was. His shirt, I realized, was a deep blue one that I had given him years ago for Christmas. My blush deepened as I realized that it was slightly faded. He must wear it often.

I looked at his face finally, and realized he was looking me up and down as well. I squirmed and tried to pull my top down more to cover my midriff. His eyes met mine and after a moment I found my voice. "Soo… can I have my wand back, please?"

"You said you trust me, right?" he made sure for the third time.

"Yeah, but-"

"Katie, say the word and I'll break the bond right now."

Well, that's not very fair at all! I'd sacrifice myself but I'd never put Oliver through a year of dealing with the twins' pranks specifically directed at him. Merlin knew he already had it with their pranks as it was. I honestly did trust the man to not do anything stupid and it seemed that he had no problem putting up with me for the night. The only thing holding me back was the fear of making a fool of myself somehow. However, I supposed that I had already done a smashing job of that anyway so since the damage had been done, there was nothing else to lose.

"It has to be your room because the girls would be incredibly obnoxious. And Alicia snores. Loudly."

Oliver smiled and grabbed my hand lightly, pulling me towards the boys' staircase. "You don't have to worry about my dorm mates. Percy passes out at ten every night and doesn't wake up even when the twins throw Exploding Snaps on me at three am. And Richard stays with his Ravenclaw girlfriend half the time; he hasn't been back in a week."

We arrived in his room just as he fell silent. Percy's bed was the furthest one from everything, his curtains closed tightly. There was an unoccupied bed next to him, which was next to a slightly disorganized bed, which I assumed was Richard's. Another free spot was between his and Oliver's bed, which was closest to the window.

A candle was lit on Oliver's nightstand, its soft glow illuminating a picture of the whole team taken after a winning game, a Scottish flag hanging on the wall to the side, and the infamous book of Quidditch plays was sitting atop his trunk.

Shivering from my lack of warm clothing, I walked towards the window, trying to take my mind off of the awkwardness of being in Oliver's room. I had been in his room before, but never at night and never alone with him. The swarming butterflies were strong indicators of the level of my nervousness. I took a deep breath and tried to shove the feeling away.

"How did you manage to get the window that overlooks the pitch?" I asked, but then thought about it. "You know what? Nevermind. I know that you're reminded daily but I feel the need to reiterate now- you're obsessed and we, the team as a whole, strongly feel that you should see a therapist."

He laughed good-naturedly, the sound somehow ebbing a bit of my nervousness. "I'm not obsessed."

I stared at him, incredulous. "You're still trying to deny it? This may come as a shock to you but trust me when I say this; what we've been trying to tell you for the past few years is that it is, in fact, not normal for anyone to be thrilled about five am practices."

"It's the best time of the day! From there the sunrise can get into people's eyes and by the time the angle of the light-"

I shook my head, blocking the rest out. How? How had he acquired so much love for a single thing in life, let alone it being a sport? I shivered again and tried to rub my arms to subdue the goose-flesh that had sprouted.

"-pretty dark, but still not as bad as the sunset. And if we start after dusk we won't have nearly enough time before curfew. So, logically, five am is the best time to get on the pitch. Plus, at that time it's way too early for the other captains to spy on us."

Incredulous, all I could do was stare. 'Logically'?

"Anyway… I should probably put up wards for when the twins decide to come pour flour all over us or something," Oliver said. He was smiling, though he seemed annoyed at the thought of the twins waking him up.

This alerted me to the reality of the situation. If the twins could find us, so could Oliver's roommates. Or other Gryffindor males… Or worse… professors. We would serve detention for the rest of the school year! We would be the biggest rumor of the semester and I'd be known as the school slut.

Awesome.

I rubbed my arms harder, still trying to warm them up, but it was no use. I couldn't have been standing there for longer than two minutes but I was so cold that I might as well have been standing outside without a cloak. Finally, I couldn't stand it any more and without entirely processing my motions, I flew to Oliver's bed and dove beneath his blankets.

I pulled the blanket over my head and curled up in a tight ball, shivering violently for a moment before my body finally registered the newly-acquired warmth. I calmed down significantly... and that's when I realized that I was literally surrounded by Oliver's scent and I inhaled as deeply as I could without making an audible sound. It was like Heaven. Not only was I finally warming up, but his sheets were soft and comfy and it smelt so. Ridiculously. Good.

Just as I was thinking this, I realized that he had just witnessed me dive at his bed and disappear within. I must have been under the covers for a full thirty seconds! I must have looked like a total creeper!

I peeked my head out, only to see his trademark lopsided grin. "Cozy?"

"I'm sorry, Ollie. This outfit was literally the only one I could get a hold of before the five minutes were up and it's really short and it's January so it's really cold and I was standing by the window so it was a lot colder and I just froze like an ice cube and-"

"Kates... It's ok," he said, stepping closer. He sat on the edge of the bed and smiled at me. "Are you ready to sleep? I'm exhausted."

I numbly nodded, too nervous about not only being in Oliver's room at this hour, but being in bed with him, as well. I'd never slept in any man's bed in my life. Merlin... if my mother knew, she would send me a bloody howler.

As he pulled the curtain shut, I moved as far as I could to the other side, but I could only go so far before I reached the edge. It was at that moment in time that I realized exactly why the beds were so small. Sharing beds was quite obviously discouraged.

"You know that won't help, right?" he asked, amused. "Come here before you fall off." Before I could register his words, he moved to lie down on his back and reached out to pull me close to him. One of his arms had snaked underneath me and his hand found its way to my shoulder while the other hand grabbed mine and held it securely just over his navel. My head had nowhere to rest but on his chest. "There," he whispered. "Now you won't go anywhere."

I was paralyzed. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, and I damn well couldn't think properly. I was finally warm and I was ridiculously comfortable. How could I not have been comfy, snuggled right up against the most attractive Scot in the school? My cheeks were so hot I was sure he could feel it.

I noticed that his heart began to pound. "Hey, Kates?" he whispered after a few moments.

"Yeah?"

His hand released mine and moved to stoke my cheek tenderly. "You're absolutely adorable," he breathed, and then kissed me on the top of my head. "Sweet dreams, my little sunflower."