Hey guys, I'm really sorry for the delay between updates. My husband and son were involved in a rather serious car accident earlier this year, and getting them back up and on their feet has taken all of my time and energy. I can't even promise regular updates now, as I work in retail and we are fast approaching Christmas, (yikes!) but I wanted you to all know that I haven't abandoned this fic. I just haven't had the time to do any writing. I'm hoping I can keep plotting this out and getting some done, but please continue to be patient with me. I hope you're all well, and that you enjoy the offering. xxx
7.
Practice was a long, grueling two hours of cold rain and unforgiving wind. Of fingers becoming numb within leather gloves, and water streaming down under her cloak and along her spine like icy fingers. The weather matched Oliver's mood like peas in a pod; he was raging and tearing at his players, much like the wind had. His voice rose and fell with each pacing turn he made in the changing rooms. If the Dementors hadn't knocked Harry out of the game, it would have been an extremely tight win against Slytherin. It had been seventy to one hundred and thirty in Slytherins favor when Malfoy had caught the Snitch, and now, two days later, the Gryffindor team was paying for it. Katie shivered within her Quidditch robes as Oliver raged on about winning the House Cup this year, and how he expected better of his players. In the end, she closed her eyes in sheer exhaustion and slid down the wall. Katie lowered her head to her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs for balance as she tried to find some hidden reserve of energy; she blocked Oliver out, his voice becoming a slightly annoying, droning noise in the background.
Oliver turned around, and saw that Angelina's and the twin's attention wasn't on him. He near screamed in frustration, his hands rising to fist his own hair. Taking several steps towards them, he pulled up short when he saw Katie and a peculiar look crossed his face at the bedraggled picture that she made. Her hair was a long braid of soaking wet weight, and the ends were dripping water onto the floor in a steady fashion. Her eyes were closed, her face pale and pinched with both cold and fatigue. And as he stared down at her, he was reminded that Angelina had threatened him with not playing for the Gryffindor team over his attitude. And as Katie started shivering within her wet robes, Oliver swallowed hard and finally stopped shouting.
"Look... great game. Really," he tried, and then he sighed. "Let's hit the showers, and get some rest, all right?"
He turned for the showers, and tried to ignore the muttering that broke out behind him as he entered the boys section of the changing rooms.
"Bugger this," Angelina muttered from above her, and Katie lifted her head when a hand gently shook her shoulder.
She looked up at Angelina, who sighed and crouched down in front of Katie. Smoothing her hand over Katie's head, Angelina smiled slightly.
"Come on, Katie. With Alicia in detention, we might as well use the baths back at the castle; it'll give you a chance to soak, and for the oil to work on that bruise," Angelina murmured, and Katie nodded slowly as Angelina helped her to numb feet.
They walked through soaking rain and near darkness, and by the time they made it to the fourth floor bathroom, Katie's lips were almost blue. It took Angelina three times to bite out the password to the portrait that guarded the doors satisfaction, and the two girls slipped inside the bathroom and they dropped their Quidditch bags to the floor with a thud. Katie's slender frame was wracked with shudders as she wrapped her arms around her body in a vain attempt to warm herself, and when a bathroom elf appeared, the tiny creature shook its little head at the sight the girls made. But it banished the girl's bags back to the Gryffindor tower with a snap of its fingers, and the water in the opulent bath filled instantly.
Angelina mumbled the locking password through chattering teeth and numb lips as she systematically began to undress. Wet leather hit the tiles with a dull thudding sound and vanished into the laundry room. And when the heavy whisper of fabric slapped against the tiles, that too vanished as both girls methodically stripped off soaked Quidditch uniforms. A pile of clean, dry clothes appeared on the bench that lined the room, and there, sitting on top of Angelina's pile, was a bottle. Angelina fumbled for it, and when the girls slipped into the steaming water a moment later, sensation returned to their numb limbs in a painful tingle. Angelina managed to work the stopper out of the bottle, and under the running water from one of the faucets, she let four drops escape the bottle, before she firmly corked it and then settled down as the oil began to spread and work its magic.
Moments drifted past unnoticed as they slowly stopped shivering in the heated water. The heady scent of sandalwood slowly filled the air, and just under that warm scent, the spicier scent of black pepper. The ingredients for the oil were a trade secret between the three Gryffindor Chasers. Being female meant being targeted by the bigger male chasers, and the Slytherins were the worst; matches could leave you aching for days. Which was why Alicia's talent at Herbology was so appreciated – the chaser had had an epiphany one day in Herbology class, listening to Professor Sprout lecture about Piper Nigrum. Piper Nigrum - more commonly known as black pepper - wasn't only just used to make food taste better; it also had many medicinal properties. The most common uses included stimulating the circulation and muscle aches and pains. The girls also applied it directly to the worst of their bruises and it didn't hurt that it smelled nice.
Alicia had missed this practice due to a detention with Professor Snape. The fiery Chaser had hexed Graham Montague for what he had done not only to her, but for also what he had done to Katie during the game… only to be caught doing so. Katie smiled at the reason why Alicia had been caught – the memory of Montague being hit with the Bat Bogey Hex was one she would treasure. He had shrieked, shattering that cool Slytherin facade, and Katie had leaned against Lee as she laughed helplessly at the Slytherin boy while his bogey's had attacked his face. Even some of the other Slytherin' had been fighting back laughter as Montague fled.
Still, Katie would have cheerfully traded places with Alicia, if it meant not feeling the colorful bruise Graham-bloody-Montague had given her during the rough and tumble game they had played. But then again, lobbing the Quaffle at him and breaking his nose went a long way towards payment for the bruising that covered the lower half of her ribcage from where he had kicked her and almost re-broken one of her ribs.
"I swear, Oliver's going too far," Angelina muttered, breaking Katie out of her daydream, and Katie rolled her head along the lip of the bath so she could see her friend.
"Do you want me to remind you of this conversation when you become Captain next year?" Katie asked dryly, and then giggled when Angelina splashed water at her.
"We won't get to play Quidditch next year anyway," Angelina grumbled, and when Katie frowned, Angelina sat up and motioned for Katie to turn around.
"The Tri-Wizard tournament?" she prompted as she began to unravel Katie's braid Handing Katie the tie that held her hair together, Angelina combed her fingers through Katie's long hair. Katie sighed as she rested her arms against the lip of the bath, and rested her chin on her crossed arms.
"That's right. The other schools are coming here, aren't they?" she asked, and when Angelina nodded, Katie shrugged. "We can probably still play, Angie. Has Professor Dumbledore said anything about it?"
Angelina shook her head, and turning away from Katie, she drew her hand up her arm as she began to wash.
"Only that we are hosting the tournament, and that two other schools will be coming here. I think that it's Durmstrang and Beauxbatons respectively that are coming. Should be interesting." Glancing at Katie, Angelina smiled when she saw that Katie's eyes were closed.
"Come on... let's get back up to Gryffindor so you can go to bed. You look tired," Angelina said affectionately.
"In a minute," Katie said as she waved her hand slightly.
Her eyes remained closed as Angelina climbed out the water and padded behind the lattice screens that circled the sides of the bath. The bath was quiet, the silence of the room broken by the whisper of fabric as Angelina dried and dressed, and the occasional soft splash as Katie shifted within the heated water. The comfortable silence was maintained between the girls, until the sound of the Portrait opening had Katie sitting up in fright and Angelina swearing softly. And when Marcus Flint walked in a moment later, he stopped short at the sight of her. They stared at each other for a long moment, during which Katie tightened her crossed arms over her chest, and Marcus tilted his head to the side. Katie sank deeper into the water as she curled her shoulders forwards, and she blushed furiously as Marcus took a step towards the bath. Before he could speak, however, the sharp tip of a wand dug into his lower back, causing him to swear softly.
"I locked that door, Flint," Angelina hissed from behind him, and Marcus raised his hands slightly.
"It opened for me," he muttered as Angelina slipped around him, and rested her wand tip an inch above his crotch.
"I locked that door," she repeated, and Marcus scowled down at her.
"That door's tricky, Johnson," he spat. "If you don't say the password correctly the first time, it won't lock while you are in here."
They locked eyes, and then Marcus smirked slightly as he deliberately looked down to where her wand was resting.
"Kinky, Johnson; I didn't know you were one for that type of thing," he murmured, and then winced when Angelina muttered a small stinging hex that bordered on painful.
"Turn around, and close your bloody eyes!" Angelina spat, and Marcus licked his bottom lip carefully as he stared at the tiled wall in front of him. And when her wand tip dug into his lower back again, Marcus stayed still.
"Katie. Go," Angelina said sharply, and Marcus squeezed his eyes shut and cursed himself silently when he heard the water in the bath slosh as Katie hoisted herself out of the bath, followed by the slap of wet feet on the tiles. His hands clenched into fists when he heard the hastily muttered drying spell followed by the rustle of fabric. He remained motionless when the sharp tip of Angelina's wand dug further into his lower back and her voice whispered near his ear.
"If people suddenly start talking about Katie and me, and how we were involved in some sick sort of Ménage à trois, Flint, I will hex your cock off. Are we clear?" Angelina asked with deadly sincerity, and Marcus swallowed hard as he nodded.
"Crystal," he murmured.
Angelina's wand dropped away from his back, and her footsteps echoed as the door opened. Unable to help himself, Marcus looked towards the door just in time to see Angelina walk through it. His attention wasn't on the older Gryffindor, however, and Katie looked back at him. She managed a tiny smile, but it trembled as he stared at her, and she slipped away without a word. His breath whooshed out of his lungs as the door swung shut and Marcus sagged. It took him a few moments to remember to clearly speak the password, and finally undress. Slipping into the hot water, Marcus ducked under and then slicked his hair back as he sat up and leaned against the lip of the bath.
Breathing in deeply, he winced when the scent of the water filled his nostrils, leaving him wondering what bath oil they had been using. It was a scent that he had come to recognize on Katie. Closing his eyes, he prepared to relax, only to curse when what he'd seen filled his mind. Her hair had streamed down over her back and shoulders in a thick wave of blonde so dark, it had appeared brown. Her skin was the color of creamed honey, with a light spattering of freckles across her left shoulder. Smooth and creamy, an image that clashed with the black bruising that spread across her right side.
He'd seen the way she had crossed her arms over her chest, in a vain attempt to conceal her modesty. Only problem with that was the fact he had been able to see straight through the water, and being at the height advantage, he'd seen quite a bit. Her curves were subtle and her legs went on forever. And try as he might, the image of her standing there with water sluicing down her sides wasn't one he was going to forget any time soon. And those bloody eyes! Tired, and when she had seen him, filled with anxiety. The innocence in them, as she had looked back at him before slipping away. She'd worn a pale purple dressing gown, and her hair had been hastily tugged free of the collar, leaving it to tumble around her face and shoulders in a damp mass of tangled confusion
Shaking his head, Marcus willed the images out of his mind. He tried to will away what the creamy skin of her shoulders and back looked like. He already knew that if he laid his hands on that creamy skin, the contrast between his skin and hers would be a stark one. And as that picture formed in his mind, he desperately tried not to wonder what it would be like to feel her skin under his lips as he ran his hands down her sides.
The thought, however, wouldn't leave his mind. He tried not to wonder what her skin would taste like, as she stretched out naked before him. He tried not to think about how her hair would feel, tangled around his fingers as he nipped at the nape of her neck. He tried not to think about those long legs, or how soft the skin of her inner thighs would be as she wrapped them around his waist. Rubbing his hands briskly over his face with a groan, Marcus swore eloquently when he found out just what her skin would taste like, when he licked the bath water off his lips. Spicy. Warm. And as the taste of it settled on his tongue, Marcus swallowed hard. Opening his eyes, he sat up and took a deep breath to calm himself. She was fifteen years old. Innocent. Untouched. And when that thought entered his mind and tangled with the image of her standing naked and shaking before him, he rubbed his hands across his face and groaned again. Staring off into the distance, he came to the realization that thinking about her was far more dangerous than what Angelina had threatened him with.