Water

Katie stood at the door, her hand raised for knocking, feeling several things at once – disappointment, anger, concern, surprise, embarrassment, confusion, awe. She needed a moment to compose herself, to put all these emotions on hold, and concentrate on the task awaiting her. This "mission" had been assigned to her by her team-mates Fred and George Weasley, who had somehow convinced her that she was the only one capable of successfully completing this task, which had led to her standing at the bathroom door, the other side of which their captain was currently trying to drown himself, according to the twins.

Thence came the surprise, confusion, anger, and awe, for she couldn't quite believe that they had managed to gain her participation in the plan or made her believe such nonsense in the first place. But it was her concern that kept her there, in case they were right, while embarrassment made her hesitate before knocking on the door.

She didn't mind staying back in the changing rooms, Gryffindor tower was not a fun place to be after losing a Quidditch game. But she couldn't remain here forever – sooner or later Oliver would come out of the bathroom, and getting caught at such a place in such a position by him, would make her current embarrassment be nothing in comparison. The best, most reasonable plan was to turn around and leave at once. If Wood wanted to drown his misery in water, then who was she to disapprove of his way of dealing with it, or intrude upon his private moments.

She was his Chaser, but she would never chase after him. Katie blushed dark red, suddenly very grateful that there was this door here, between herself and Oliver Wood, who was currently taking a shower and therefore— but she managed to stop there, and instead of berating herself she laid all the blame on Fred and George, who probably well-deserved it. She really should turn around and go away. And she did not, let it be clear, have any feelings for her team captain, other than due respect. If there had been a time, and she didn't say that there was, when her silly girlish mind had been confused with silly girlish feelings – that time was long past now, and their relationship purely professional.

Oliver took his Quidditch very seriously. Things like inter-team romances would surely mess up the dynamics of it, and therefore were not to be tolerated, or at the very least, encouraged. She remembered quite well his sour mood at finding out about Fred and Alicia. But none of this mattered to her, because she didn't have feelings for him, or for any other boy on their team. Well, she did have certain feelings for Fred and George right now, but these very different from the ones that she didn't have for Oliver.

She glared at the door. Her hand was still raised, ready to do the knocking, but she was not sure how to proceed from there. If he answered to her knocking, what would she say next?

Hi, it's me, Katie. I just wanted to make sure that you were fine. I was a bit worried, that is, we are all a bit worried since we just lost a game and you do have a reputation of taking losses hard, and we just wanted to make sure that you were fine. You are a very good captain, you know, and this was none of your fault, and we are a good team, and we will go on training to become better, even if we have to wake up six o'clock each morning – but we shouldn't do that, because we are already pretty good and today was just a stroke of bad luck and our school work would suffer if we didn't get enough sleep, we would fall asleep in class and get detention for it, and that would be a great waste of time, which is why we should not have practice six o'clock in the morning, but we will train, and we will get better, and one day, we will win the Quidditch Cup. And you should come out of the bathroom, and walk proud, because we wouldn't be what we are without you. Because you are a good captain, and everyone on the team knows that. We all respect you and admire your devotion.

Well, she could say that. With a few minor edits, it might not be a bad speech. It had managed to make her feel better, and if she said it with the door still closed, she might blush all that she wanted, and he would witness none of it. Not that she would blush, there was no reason for her to blush.

But what if he didn't answer? What if he really was in trouble? She couldn't just barge in and drag him out of there, could she? Not even to save his life?

That's what Fred and George had told her – she had to go and save Oliver Wood. She was the best, she was the only one capable of doing it. And she had believed it? Because certainly the twins themselves would have been a better option, because they were good at making people laugh, and if their jokes wouldn't work on Oliver, they could simply annoy him into a confrontation, and if all else failed, they could barge into the bathroom and drag him out, or at least make sure that he was fine. Putting it like that, she was the worst person to save Oliver, and surely the twins had known it. It was probably just one big joke for them.

She hoped that it was like that, just a joke, just for fun, no hidden agenda or anything of the kind. She hoped they had picked her for their prank simply because she had been there at the opportune moment. She hoped they hadn't chosen her on purpose, because of those feelings that she definitely did not have towards her team captain. Probably not, but one could never be sure when it came to Fred and George. They were deceptively perceptive, or something like that.

She lowered her arm and turned to go, thinking for a moment on how to deal with the twins upon her return, but she didn't make it very far. Oliver had been an abnormally long time in the bathroom. What if there really was something wrong with him? She couldn't just leave him here, could she, without knowing that he was all right? Her insides twisted at the thought of it – what if he had slipped or something, and was now lying unconscious, with water pouring down on him? What if he was hurt, and she was standing here like an utter moron, blushing with the feelings that she kept on denying? Or even if he wasn't hurt, could she really leave him here to wallow in misery and disappointment? Could she leave him here all alone, instead of trying to comfort him, if cheering him up was too much to ask.

Determined, she went back to the door, raised her hand, and knocked loudly against it. The pause that followed seemed so long that she had already started to form her resolution of actually barging in, when she finally heard his voice reply, and her relief then was so immense that she almost put it into words.

Thank Merlin you are all right. I was so worried.

"Err… It's me, Katie," she said, "I just wanted to make sure you're fine. You've been there for a really long time.

"Not that it's any of my business," she added quickly, "but I was just… I just wanted to tell you that… Oliver Wood, you are a good captain and we are a good team, thanks to you, and what happened today was not your fault, and next time, next time we will beat them, we'll beat them all!"

"There's much room for improvement still. We've got a lot of work to do," the voice replied from inside. It sounded fine; it was the kind of tone he would use for explaining them why they had to wake up half past five in the morning, not the kind belonging to someone that tried to drown themselves. He sounded all right. But she didn't want to leave him yet.

"We will do that," she promised. "We will train really hard from now on."

"You are fine, right?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Why shouldn't I be fine?"

"Well, Fred and George said that you are trying to drown yourself in there," she replied matter-of-factly. "They sent me here to make sure that everything was well."

"Did they?" he asked, and there was now a touch of feeling in his tone. She understood it well – it betrayed annoyance towards the twins and she hoped he would make them train extra-hard because of it. But he wasn't like that; he wasn't revengeful, and he wouldn't do anything to mess up their team dynamics.

"They did."

"Then you better come in and make sure that I'm alive."

"What?" Katie exclaimed, jumping away from the door as if it could somehow pull her in. "I'm not coming in there! I do not barge in on people in the shower! Especially boys!"

She blushed dark red again, glaring at the door, and wishing… nothing at all. Nothing whatsoever.

"I'm not taking a shower."

Very carefully, Katie took a small step towards the door.

"I can hear the water running," she called in accusation.

"I like the sound of water," he replied. "It soothes me."

"Oh. What are you doing in there, then?"

"Training schedules. Game tactics. Next time, Bell, we'll beat them. But it will take a lot of hard work."

Katie signed, and leaned against the doorframe, "Do we have a six o'clock practice tomorrow morning?"

"Perhaps not tomorrow," he replied, and she knew he would have given a different answer, had he thought he could get away with it. But the rest of the team, including Katie herself, had made it very clear to him what they thought of such things.

"Will you come in, Bell? It feels strange, talking through the door."

"Stranger than doing training schedules in the shower?" Katie returned, happy to remain where she was. She really liked the door between them, her freedom to blush without care, not that there was anything to blush about.

"You know, Wood," she said, "Or perhaps you don't know, but there's more in life than Quidditch."

Saying this, she echoed what had been said to their captain countless of times before, usually when six o'clock practice had been mentioned, but she realized that she was speaking these words for the first time ever.

"Like what?"

His reply came as a surprise to her, for she hadn't expected anything more than a grunt of some sorts, and therefore could not answer right away.

"Friends. Good books, and music, and just spending time with your friends, talking and laughing together. Travelling. Seeing new places and trying out new things. People around you. People who care about you. People whom you care about. Relationships of all sorts. Good sorts."

"Bell," he said, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Yes. No. I don't know. You go first.

"Like what?" she asked, careful to sound indifferent.

"Are you… are you having a relationship of some sorts with someone on the team?"

"You think I came to tell you this?" she cried in surprise. "Merlin, Oliver, I just wanted to make sure that you're fine. Do you really think I would pick a night like this to tell you more bad news? That would be cruel."

"Sorry. But I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me."

"Good."

And no, I'm not having a relationship of that sort with anyone on the team, and I have no intention of staring one in the future. None whatsoever.

"I'll be going now, then," she said after a long while. "See you tomorrow."

"Wait, Bell. Katie. Thank you. For caring."

She smiled at the door. "Don't mention it."

She waited for a little while longer before leaving. She was feeling closer to him now than ever before, with a door between them. And it was all thanks to Fred and George. But when she finally did leave, and reflected upon her mission of saving Oliver Wood, she realised, that this was as close as she would ever be to him, and all those feelings that she stubbornly kept denying didn't seem to be going away any time soon. Such things did she realise, and it was all thanks to Fred and George.

She might just mention them something about six o'clock practice upon her return.