A/N: Soo it's been a while since I updated. Making excuses won't do any good, but you do have my apologies. Between work and personal life, my world has be upside down, backwards, and forwards all at once. I'm sure that someone out there can relate. I would like to send a special shout-out to EpsilonTheta, who not only has a cool s/n, but was kind enough to make sure that I was alright. This chapter is slightly longer than normal, although I'm not sure that anyone minds. Please leave reviews, I want to know how everyone likes this one, I feel like it has more dialogue than normal.

Disclaimer: If I owned anything useful, they hours that I chose to be awake and asleep would be of no consequence.

A Sea of Lime

"She what?" Oliver almost yelled.

"I conjured…" Katie's eyes got huge. "Oliver I didn't think, What if I screwed something up?"

"What's wrong Auntie Kate? Did I do something?" Anna looked frightened seeing her two favorite adults so visibly upset.

"Oh honey, no, not you. It'll be alright, come here." Katie folded the almost crying three year old into her chest. Her panic reappeared as soon as Anna could not see her face.

"I'm going to go and get a healer. Don't conjure anything else, don't move, just don't do anything." He started out of the room when an owl landed on his head. "What in the bloody hell?"

The owl began to peck on his head as he was trying to shoo it off. Oliver flailing at the animal and its annoyed clucks was enough to bring Anna to tears. Ophelia snatched the offending bird off of his head and extracted the letter from its leg.

"This is mother's new owl, he's quite demanding." Ophelia began to read the letter while Oliver was still in enough shock to be still. She kept the owl clamped firmly under one arm. "Mother is DEMANDING that you go and see her so she knows that you are not dead."

"Phee, I need to go get Katie a healer, I can't deal with Mother. Could you write her back and tell her I'm alright or something?" Oliver then turned and went down the hall toward the Healer's station.

Ophelia stared after him, wondering why on earth he needed a healer so immediately. He had ignored her suggestion of notifying them earlier. This line of thought was forgotten however when she heard her daughters cries.

"Anna it's alright it'll be fine." She tried to pry her daughter off of Katie, but Anna was stuck like glue. Katie didn't look so good herself; she was incredibly pale and looked as if she was on a fast track to complete panic. Instead, she rubbed Anna's back and spoke to Katie.

"I'm sure he'll be back in a minute." Katie's wide eyes turned onto the older woman. "What happened?"

"I'm not supposed to do magic until my legs work" Katie whispered. "What if I don't get any better?"

"Don't think on that Katie, let the healer's do their job first. Don't worry about it until it becomes necessary."

"Okay."

Katie's always high-strung healer and a pair of assistant healers swept into the room, Oliver trailing behind. The company made a bee-line for the bed, Ophelia quietly and unsuccessfully to remove her still sniffling daughter from the patient. The healer immediately began waving his wand over Katie, with the assistant healers taking furious notes.

Another wave of healers rushed in. "These results are preposterous!" the first healer said to the recent arrivals. "This is impossible. Why is there a second set of vitals?"

"Because she's holding what I assume is her daughter" the recent arrival replied.

"She's a student! She has no children!" the flustered healer exclaimed as he looked down. "Could someone please remove this, this, child?"

Oliver managed success where his sister had not. He was able to lift Anna from Katie so the healers could do their work. The healer immediately started shooing the family from the room.

From Katie's perspective, she was being drowned by lime green robes, swishing wands and unfamiliar faces. Even though she knew she was in a hospital, she was frightened. The only people she recognized were disappearing; she was going to be left alone. She was going to suffocate in the strangeness. "NO!"

All of the motion froze, including the group now at the door. "I… He… don't…" Katie shook herself. "I want him to stay."

"Miss Bell, as he is not a blood relative I cannot allow this."

"I can't be alone." She looked panicked. The wildness in her eyes was breaking Oliver's heart, but he didn't know how to make himself a blood relative in the next thirty seconds. Ophelia was unfazed and turned to the healer.

"Sir, I can see this one of two ways. You can have a slight breach of protocol and a patient who is in a state of mind to be helpful in her diagnosis, or you can have a scared young woman who might injure someone, including herself. Making her comfortable would be in your best interest." Her blue eyes leveled a malevolent glare onto the shaken healer.

"If that does not appeal to you, perhaps you might want to think twice before you forcibly remove a world-famous Quidditch player from this room, considering the little mishap that occurred in your lobby only yesterday. So, Healer, what do you think best for your patient and yourself?"

The healer stepped aside for Oliver to re-enter the room. He smoothly handed Anna into her mother's arm and kissed both of their heads. "Phee, only you could be that scary while still holding an owl. Thank you." Oliver whispered in his sister's ear before walking over to take Katie's hand.

"Come on Anna darling, let us go and visit your Grandmum."

After what seemed like hours, the healers stopped crowding around Katie and retreated to analyze the data. They could make no immediate conclusions, but set up a monitoring schedule to take Katie's readings in 10 minute intervals.

"Are you going to be alright now Kate?" Oliver had a Quidditch practice, and be didn't think it would be a good thing to miss it considering what has been in the tabloids this morning.

"I thought, I thought they were going to drown me in those horrible green robes. I was going to die, suffocated by brightness." Katie was staring at her knees.

"Kate, look at me." She looked up at the face of the figure sitting on the edge of her bed. "Are you going to be alright now?"

"I think so, yeah."

"I have a Quidditch practice. Will you be alright if I go?"

"Of course, yeah, sure."

"I can stay if you'd rather I did so." Katie had resumed looking at her knees. "Would it be better if I stayed?"

"Oh no, go, you're a pro player now. I'm not going to keep you. Go ahead."

"Kate" Oliver put on his your-captain-is-disappointed-in-you tone, "do you want me to stay?"

"No, go. I'll be," Katie let out a breath and the tension in her body relaxed. "Yeah, could you?"

Oliver smiled, "Yeah. I need to owl Coach, but yeah."

"Alright then," Katie smiled in return.

"You know Kate," Oliver replied as he searched around the drawer of the nightstand. "I should make you write me a note, Like Madam Pomfery did when we couldn't make it to class; since you're the cause of all this trouble after all."

"If you need to go, I think I'll be okay." Katie's wide eyes and worried expression informed Oliver this particular joke had been in poor taste.

Oliver sighed. "Kate that was a joke, I'm not going anywhere today."

Coach,

You told me if I need a personal day or two, I could have them. I need one today. I know considering all of the press, it would be better if I was at practice so some paparazzi could snap my photo entering the dressing room. I'm sorry about that aspect, but I need to be somewhere else today. If you send an immediate response, please don't send a Howler; feel free to send me as many you want this evening.

Thanks,

Oliver

Katie read the letter over Oliver's shoulder. He folded it and wrote Kevin Pryce, Head Coach, Puddlemere United, on the front. After a minute a healer came in to take Katie's information. Oliver very politely asked her to owl the letter to his coach and one award-winning smile from the professional Quidditch player later, the young woman readily agreed.

"You didn't have to do that you know." Katie stated as if she was commenting on the state of the weather.

"What? Owl my coach? You bet your ass I did. He's completely mad; makes me look like a saint." Katie patted the edge of the bed, stopping Oliver's movement toward 'his' chair.

"No you daft Scotsman." Oliver sat down on the edge of her bed. Katie tried to slip to one side, so he would have more room. Her upper body slid easily, her legs were a different matter. "Just shove those useless things over so you have some room." Oliver very delicately complied. "Anyway, I meant you didn't have to stay if you really needed to be at practice for a press conference."

"Press conference?" Oliver's eyebrows knitted together in concentration.

"Yeah, you mentioned it in your letter."

"OH!" Oliver chuckled. "That wasn't about a press conference Katie. Let's just say that I've made the tabloids again." He leaned over to get the magazine, and stretched a bit to far. Oliver promptly fell out of the bed onto the tiled floor.

Katie began to giggle. "Shut up. I was trying to get this for you, you ungrateful chaser." He flung the magazine into her chest, while remaining on the floor.

"Oh, get up here you big baby." She patted the bed next to her again. "And this time sit in it properly, so you don't fall out." Oliver got wearily off the floor and slid into bed to sit next to Katie.

"Shoes off!" Katie scolded while flipping through the Isles of Quidditch. She proceeded in a completely bored tone, "It seems as if you've been killed by a hippogriff again, you really should stop that."

"I'm working on it," was the answer as the second shoe hit the floor. They talked about the ridiculous press stories that had been concocted about Oliver in the past three years, especially in the past 10 months, when he had become the starting Keeper.

Three more vital sign checks found Oliver with a response from his coach.

Wood,

It is completely irresponsible to ask for a day off, for something other than being on your death bed, on the day that you want off. I got your letter an HOUR before we were to start practice. This is not to be tolerated! You are aware that we have our next match in less than 72 hours! It's at home, but still, your ass better be here and well rested when you get on that blasted broomstick. We cannot afford to take a game against Hollyhead lightly, ever. So you had best be in top form when you show up here, or I promise your life will be a living hell.

I hope that everything is going alright with your Katie and that the reason you are not here does not indicate that she has had a turn for the worse. She seems to be a lovely girl and I do envy you spending a day with her, even if it is at the expense of your team. All jesting aside, I am sure that she needs you today. I understand. Take care of her Oliver.

I will see you before the match,

Kevin Pryce

"Well that was unexpected. I thought that he would be much more…" Oliver trailed off, looking for an adjective somewhere between livid and vulgar.

Katie perused the letter. "He doesn't seem bad at all Oliver. I thought he was a tyrant."

Oliver looked up from fetching a new piece of parchment. "He is."

"Mind if I write the reply?" Oliver thought that this was rather odd but handed her the parchment and quill.

Coach,

Thank you.

Katie

"That's it?"

"Yeah, is it alright?"

"I think it probably is. If not, I'll catch hell for it later. Actually, I'm likely to catch hell anyway so I don't think it's an issue, do you?"

Katie looped her arm through Oliver's and put her head on the outside of his shoulder. After a moment's pause, she said in a quiet voice, "Oliver?"

"Yeah Kate?"

"Thank you."

"You needed me. I have no where else to be."

Katie began again, this time in a bright voice, which almost sounded sincere. "Tell me about the Harpies this year." With that, the conversation turned back to Oliver's favorite topic and Katie didn't have to think about her prognosis for a while.