Early Summer, 1997

Oliver glanced dubiously at the tiny muggle café before him and then back down at the piece of parchment clutched in his hand once more. The addresses matched but…Katie really wanted to meet him here?

With a sigh that was equal parts defeat and acceptance, Oliver pocketed the day old note from Katie and walked up to the entrance. Pushing the door open, he tensed as he entered the unfamiliar muggle atmosphere. It was currently mid-afternoon and the place was dead; there didn't appear to be a single soul in sight. Then a small smile spread across Oliver's face.

Correction: the small booth in the farthest corner from the counter was occupied by one strikingly familiar brunette.

Abandoning his hesitation, he quickly made his way over to the booth and slid into the seat across from the girl. Katie looked up from the menu she had been examining with a smile.

"So I take it you've finally decided that you're in the correct place?" She asked him. "You've only been standing out there for a good ten minutes."

"It can't have been more than five," Oliver argued easily, leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before relaxing back into his seat again. "I was definitely still in the locker room ten minutes ago, attempting to escape my dear old captain's pre-match speech."

"Oh, you have a Quidditch captain who likes to give long, winding speeches about how well-equipped you are to defeat your opponents days before you actually play the match?" Katie questioned ironically. "I had one of those once…"

"He sounds like a horrible bloke," Oliver informed her in a consoling manner.

"I don't know," Katie pretended to mull it over, "I rather liked him." She grinned then, "It's why I keep him around."

"I knew there had to be a reason you wanted to see me today!" Oliver declared.

"Well obviously it wasn't because I missed you or anything," Katie replied. "That would be preposterous."

"Completely," Oliver agreed with a nod, his gaze drawn down to the menu. "And it's a shame about that, too, because clearly the only reason I agreed to meet you is because I missed you."

A small smile crept across Katie's face as she resumed studying the menu. It was nice to be around Oliver again. Being with him was just so…easy, there really was no other way to describe it. They'd always gotten along well as friends and, now that they were actually together, that hadn't changed, which Katie had initially feared it might.

"So," Oliver began, drawing the single syllable out as he closed his menu decisively. "How have things been? It's been…what? Thirty-two hours since we last saw each other?"

"Thirty-three," Katie corrected absentmindedly, still perusing her menu. "I've been alright. I saw Leanne yesterday," She sighed here, finally looking up. "She isn't sure if her parents will let her go back to Hogwarts to finish her last year…now that Dumbledore is…gone."

Now it was Oliver's turn to sigh. "I still can't believe he's dead. It just doesn't seem…right, somehow. But McGonagall is in charge now, isn't she? She'll make sure the school stays open."

A sly grin spread across Katie's face at this. "Although I'm inclined to agree with you, I'm also pretty sure you're only saying that because you've been in love with her since you were eleven."

"Hardly," Oliver scoffed, appearing offended before continuing, "Only since I was twelve, thank you very much. When I was eleven she refused to let me try out for the Gryffindor team." He shook his head sadly, "Worst year of my life."

"You're completely ridiculous, Oliver," Katie said with a laugh. "But now that you've managed to bring up Quidditch twice in less than five minutes, I suppose I should tell you why I wanted you to meet me here."

"So it wasn't because you didn't miss me?" Oliver clarified.

"Hardly," Katie said, attempting and failing to imitate his accent.

"So you did miss me, then?" Oliver questioned.

"Of course I did," Katie told him. "You're much better company than my parents. Mum is still on edge about letting me out of her sight…unless I'm with you, of course. I swear, that woman worships the ground you walk on. Being named Rookie of the Year didn't help matters much."

"Maybe I should convince you to run off with me," Oliver mused. "That might get her to stop liking me…and you'd be able to escape her."

Katie could not immediately respond because, at that precise moment, the waitress finally appeared to take their order.

"First of all," Katie began with a strange expression on her face, once the waitress had disappeared behind the counter again. "It's not really as if I mind spending time with my mum. It's just a bit annoying that she seems to think I can't take care of myself. And secondly, did you just attempt to propose to me?"

"W-What?" Oliver, who had just taken a sip of water, choked out, his eyes wide.

"You've thought about convincing me to run off with you," Katie reminded him.

"I…er…just to escape your mum!" Oliver finally managed to say.

Katie merely rose her eyebrows at him.

"It's true!" Oliver insisted. "I only just thought of it right now. And I only meant to escape your mum and how she'd be upset with me for taking you away from her and…and…I never said anything about us getting married!"

"Oh, calm down, Oliver," Katie said calmly, a humorous expression on her face. "I know that. It's far too soon for us to think about getting married; give it a few months. Besides, I'm clearly just too excited about being signed on by the Harpies to think straight…which would probably explain why I enjoyed watching you squirm so much just now…" She finished thoughtfully.

Oliver was silent for about two seconds after Katie finished speaking before, "You got signed by the Harpies? You never told me they were scouting you!"

"That's because they weren't," Katie stated. "They came to the final match to see Ravenclaw's seeker, or so I'm told. You remember Cho Chang? Anyway, I guess they were impressed with my playing."

"Well I don't see how they couldn't be," Oliver commented in an offhand manner. "You were brilliant in that game."

"And how would you know that?" Katie asked him, slightly bemused. She continued as the waitress reappeared with their food, "Or are you just assuming based on past performances?"

"I saw it firsthand," Oliver said with a slight shrug, accepting his plate from the incredibly bored-looking waitress. "I was going to surprise you, but then I got cornered by McGonagall in the stands and…well, it really is quite nice to talk about Quidditch with her, even if it took forever to escape her. I would have told you that I was there, but I didn't want to take you away from your celebration with Gryffindor, no matter how much I wanted to see you. And then it just sort of slipped my mind to mention that I'd been there at all. But now it doesn't matter, because I'll just be sure to attend as many Harpies games as possible to make up for it and then we can celebrate together after all of your wins."

"I've only been offered a position as a reserve," Katie pointed out, choosing to be amused by Oliver's take on everything over disappointment at the long-since-missed opportunity to see him while at school.

"The management over in Holyhead is bound to rectify that mistake within a couple of practices," Oliver said optimistically.

Katie bit her lip then, her expression becoming guarded. "Oliver…" She began slowly, "Speaking of the management, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"Yes?" Oliver questioned, noting her suddenly serious tone.

"I feel like we've been avoiding the subject for the past two months," She continued, still slightly hesitant. "But clearly we have a bit of an unspoken agreement about…well, about our relationship."

Oliver merely looked at her quizzically.

"And the publicity we've given it, or lack thereof, as it so happens," Katie clarified.

"Because I'm a famous Quidditch player," Oliver stated, finally catching on. He stated it as a matter of fact, not trying to sound conceited about it at all.

"Exactly," Katie said. "And even though I'm only going to be a reserve—for now, of course—I'm still going to be playing professionally, and in the same league as you. You know people are going to talk, and they're going to assume that our relationship is going to affect how we play. I just…I don't think we should tell anyone that we're dating. Or rather, not make it publicly known. Obviously our friends already know and our families. But I don't plan on sharing it with anyone remotely involved with the Harpies."

"I think that makes sense," Oliver agreed easily. "Actually, I haven't mentioned you to anyone at Puddlemere. Not because I'm trying to hide our relationship, but because it doesn't have anything to do with Quidditch. My personal life shouldn't interfere with my career."

"Except for that one time in Luxembourg," Katie contradicted with a small grin.

"I'll have you know that that ridiculously long match pretty much guaranteed that I'd be named Rookie of the Year," Oliver informed her, faking a pompous air. "Or so the Daily Prophet claims. Clearly that means I played excellently and wasn't distracted by anything at all for two straight weeks."

Katie let out a giggle. "Well, anyway, as long as we're agreed about how to handle our relationship."

"We won't tell a single soul," Oliver said decisively.

"Even when we get engaged in a few months," Katie agreed.

"What?!"

"I'm kidding, Oliver," Katie said, breaking into full-out laughter now. "Good grief, you really are distracted by all things Quidditch."

"Hmm…that's right," Oliver said, taking the time now to be thoughtful. "You did mention something about giving it a few months before talking about marriage right before you finally decided to tell me we're going to be rivals this season, didn't you?"

"And it took you this long to notice," Katie observed. "Maybe I will be able to distract you and score a few goals when the Harpies play Puddlemere."

"I look forward to seeing you try."

Yes, being with Oliver was easy. And Katie enjoyed every second of their time together. Even with the recent events of her final year at Hogwarts still fresh in her memory, she couldn't help but feel that things really were looking up.