A/N: I love my reviewers, thank all of you so much! So, no flashbacks this time, but there is a turning point (well it's tiny and hidden so it's more of an inflection point). I know what happens next so it looks to me like a flashing neon sign but I don't know if anyone else will notice. So I challenge all of you to pick what you think it is and let me know! Even if you haven't a clue or don't want to try, still review please!

Disclaimer: If I owned anything, I wouldn't have to worry about moving from my lovely office (with a door) to cubeville.

Rumor Mill

Oliver lied.

When he said he'd go soon he really meant he'd leave at the last possible minute so he could make practice. He did, in fact, make it to practice, looking like the walking dead when he did. It was the only morning in the history of Quidditch the entire Puddlemere squad was silent while gearing up. Everyone had seen the note. Oliver looked so awful this morning, no one was brave enough to ask what had transpired. None of his teammates wanted to be responsible for setting him off.

The coach pulled Oliver aside.

"Was she alright?"

"Cursed object sent her into a coma. No one knows when she'll wake up" he said in a completely dead voice.

"If you need personal days, take 'em." Kevin Pryce, head coach for Puddlemere United, did not usually approve of his athletes taking any time off during the season. However, his star keeper looked like hell warmed over and if anyone should take time off, it was that boy. Last thing the team needs is that boy doing something foolish because he's too tired to think straight. He was hoping Katie, whoever she was, would get out of that damn hospital soon, so he could get his team back to his idea of normal.

Oliver just nodded and flew off to do laps. No one would admit it out loud, but Oliver was not in top form. He was a robot, saving and catching without any real thought. Only the muscle memory from years of playing Quidditch kept him from looking foolish. Any move that required more than pure instinct was beyond what he could handle.

After practice he went to his flat, showered, and headed for St. Mungos. This became a routine. Quidditch, bath, Katie, sometimes food, sometimes sleep. Cards and gifts accumulated for Katie. Oliver made sure she had fresh flowers. He brought them at least once a week; it wouldn't do for her to wake up and not have beautiful flowers.

Angelina and Alicia made sure she looked beautiful; just because she was in the hospital doesn't mean she has to look like it. Angelina brushed and styled, and restyled Katie's hair. Alicia liked to paint Katie's fingernails and toenails. The twins made sure she had colorful decorations for when she woke up. They even brought over a few of the 'safer' items from their store.

Her parents were there as often as possible. It was hard for them to spend so much time in the wizarding world, but Katie was their only child and they felt the need to be with her. They were also able to meet many of the visitors that stopped by, and it was comforting to know so many thought highly of their daughter.

All of the rituals allowed the people who loved Katie feel like they were being useful in some small way; it combated the feeling of helplessness.

The assistant healers, and a few of the junior healers, had watched all this over the weeks. But they all began to wonder, why is she special? A Quidditch star consistently visits a girl who was only eighteen. According to Witch Weekly, otherwise known by some of the sillier ones as the Bible, he had much more interesting things to do than spend most of his time in a hospital ward. Bound by the healer's code not to divulge information to the press, they cranked up their own rumor mill.

Secret romance in shades of Romeo and Juliet was by far the most popular theory. Another was that he had killed a rival lover in a duel and she swore to never see him again. He visited because it was the only time he was allowed to see her. There were a few more far fetched, like his amnesia only lifting when she went into the coma, but they were as likely as the Cannons winning the League.

Most were just in awe of the heartbreaking pilgrimage that Oliver made almost daily to Katie's side.

The day the entirety of Puddlemere United walked into the room of the sleeping girl was a shocker to everyone.

After practice on a designated day, everyone met at the hospital to visit Katie. Senior members of the team decided that this would replace one of the practice-sucked-so-let's-go-get-drunk outings, the best kind of teambuilding in most opinions. None of them had been able to make their young Keeper any more human than he had been that first day. Visiting the hospital had been the only thing that they could think of to show support and solidarity for their teammate.

The team mulled about the room, picking up, poking, and otherwise examining the various gifts and cards that had been left for Katie. Thankfully none of them happened so set off any of the 'gifts' the Weasley's had invented. Each member of the team remembered to offer kind words about Katie and assurances she'll wake soon.

"Your girl is beautiful mate, I know why you want her back now" one of the reserve beaters, James Arron piped up. Someone whacked him in the back of the head.

Oliver turned on his heel and crossed to the window to avoid responding to the beater's remark.

"He never has known when to shut up mate," one of the starting beaters, Tony, stated plainly to Oliver as they stared out the window. "You know he'd be a nightmare at the press conferences if he was a starter."

"I'm fairly certain that I would not want to be there when he has multiple press venues to impress" Oliver remarked in disgust. Arron's remark bothered him more than he cared to admit and he couldn't discern why.

"Tact has never been a requirement for playing professional sports" Cliff observed as he looked around the room at his team.

His eyes found a small group staring blatantly at the doorway, as if it contained one-way glass. The young assistant healers not-so-discretely peered back into the room and stared at the team full of Quidditch-hotties while pretending to make their designated rounds. About the time they had worked up the courage to flirt with the single ones, the players began to drift out. Cliff watched them go to make sure no one accidently left with an assistant healer or two on his arm.

"We just need you to know that while you're here for her, we're here for you" Cliff stated as he ushered out what was left of the team a couple of hours later. Oliver nodded in acknowledgment of the statement and returned to his chair beside Katie's bed.

That night, a single assistant healer listened to a Scottish-tinged monologue, just outside the door and learned a story the hospital rumor mill would be hard-pressed invent.