I knocked on the Weasely's door tentatively, afraid of how the twins might greet me. I was pleasantly surprised, however, when the door was thrown open, revealing a grinning Katie.
The first thing I noticed was, of course, that she had opened the Weasely's door. It was, however, a close second, that she had really, er, filled out, over the summer.
Although still thoroughly opposed to ogling girls in bathing suits, I could now definitely see how they could want to see in a bathing suit.
Bad thoughts Oliver, I scolded myself. She's like your little sister!
She hugged me, and I heard a wolf whistle from behind her.
"Oi!" Fred called. "Get your hands off my woman!" He snaked his arm around her waist and she rolled her eyes but didn't attempt to remove it. I wondered briefly what that meant.
"Oliver!" Alicia called, running into the room, throwing her arms around me.
"Hi Alicia!? I said happily.
"Hey Wood!" Bill's familiar voice called. Huh, I hadn't expected him to be here.
After saying hello to everyone, we all went outside to play. When we got out there, the teams were like this: Me, Alicia, Fred, Harry, and Katie against George, Bill, Ron, and Angelina.
"That's not fair!" George complained. "You've got more people than us!"
"I'll play!" a loud, very annoyed voice called from the ground. I looked down to see Ginny waving her arms madly, carrying a battered broomstick. Fred, George, and Ron attempted to argue, but to no avail.
Once on a broomstick, Ginny was pretty good at Quidditch. She surprised her brothers, who appeared to know nothing of her hidden talent.
All in all it was a good game. As we had Katie and Harry, however, we whipped them pretty good.
*****
There was much noise as everyone sat down to dinner that night. To this day I think Molly Weasely must have enchanted those food bowls to be bottomless, as she managed to make sure that Me, Katie, Angelina, Alicia, Mr. Weasely, Fred, George, Percy, Bill, Ron, herself, Harry, and Ginny were all very well fed.
After that, We all fell asleep in the living room, piled on top of one another. In the middle of the night, however, I woke up in need of the loo. I stood up carefully, so as not to wake Ron or Harry, who were right next to me, and crawled over the pile of humans.
Suddenly, without warning, someone grabbed my arm, holding it tightly. I turned to see Katie holding my arm and apparently using it as a pillow, still fast asleep. I attempted to pull away, but damn, that girl has a grip of steel!
I sighed, attempting to get comfortable. That was, however, impossible, as I was now squished between Fred and Katie (for some reason it bothered me that he'd squished himself so close to her), and I still needed to use the restroom.
"Stupid Oliver," Katie muttered, and I poked her in the head to be sure she was still asleep. She was. That was rude!
"Stupid crush on Oliver," she mumbled, squeezing my arm tighter. "Stupid little kid crush."
I smiled and the aggravated look on her face, knowing it was just a childhood crush and she'd grow out of it.
*****
I was supposed to go home the next day, but I found it extremely hard to leave. Finally, the twins convinced me to stay and go with them until we all left for Hogwarts.
Alicia and Angelina left, saying they had things to do before the Summer was over, and Bill said he had to get back to his flat. Other than that, it was still a full house at The Burrow, which Harry and I agreed was the greatest house either of us had ever been in.
It was funny how Ginny looked at Harry. I wondered briefly if Katie looked at me like that when I wasn't looked, but dismissed the thought quickly. I knew she didn't, or Fred and George would make even more crude jokes than they already do.
"Oliver," Katie said one evening when the two of us were taking a walk. "Did you mean what you said. About me being like your little sister, I mean?"
"Of course," I said, feigning ignorance in the hope that it would ease the awkwardness. "Why?"
"Oh, just curious," she said. "And because the whole team's kind of like my family, it would be strange if you didn't feel the same way."
The end of her statement had a strange twist to it I was sure I wasn't supposed to hear, but I did.
Suddenly, she squealed, looking at the sky. I looked up to see a bright shooting star. She squealed again and began running in the same direction as the star. I laughed.
"You know you won't catch it, right?" I call, running after her.
"Maybe I will!" she calls back stubbornly. Damn, that girl can run!
When the star disappears from sight, she collapses on the ground, laughing. I follow suit.
"What're you laughing at?" she asks, grinning.
"Irony," I answer. She gives me a quizzical look, so I explain. "Well, you're my star chaser, because you're the best chaser on the team, and now you're my star chaser, because you chase stars."
She laughs, and whispers so that I'm sure I wasn't supposed to hear, " As long as I'm your star chaser."
We fall asleep like that, laying on the ground under the stars.
"Oi!" a voice calls the next morning, though having just woken up, I can't tell who it is.
"You had mum all kinds of scared this morning when we told her you two weren't in the house, and hadn't been all night," a second voice called. The Weasely twins.
"And here you are sleeping with my girl!" Must be Fred speaking. I open my eyes to see that I guessed right, and Fred is now pulling Katie up by the arms. It kind of annoys me. I guess it's just me being overprotective. I wouldn't exactly want my little sister going out with Fred Weasely.
She rolls her eyes and removes his arm from her waist as she stands up. I push myself off the ground and the four of us make our way back to The Burrow.