A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for the wonderful reviews I received over the last couple weeks, as well as the many PMs I got to exchange with you guys :) I love hearing your feedback and discussing stuff with you all, so keep it coming!
Also, I suddenly have a LOT of free time, so expect regular updates! :)
CHAPTER 3 – Morning Matters
Katie and Oliver had called it a night at around 11:30, but they probably did not anticipate that they'd spend the remainder of the evening chatting. After they had dessert (fresh fruits, thanks to Oliver's preseason diet), they wound up lying side by side on Oliver's bed. Katie teased him some more over his Gryffindor duvet ("Hey! It has sentimental value!"); Oliver ribbed her for her odd new hair color ("What is this, anyway? Why does your hair have to have two different colors?" "Never you mind, Oliver Wood. This was just for a shoot, okay? And they're strawberry blonde highlights." "Ooh, sounds serious." "I hate them, too."). Before they knew it, it was 2 in the morning and they'd both fallen asleep on Oliver's bed.
Katie woke up disoriented. What happened last night again? What was she doing in Oliver's room? With a gasp, Katie pulled the sheets off her body. Merlin be thanked, she was still fully clothed. Feeling a little foolish for even considering it, she mused that Oliver would never take advantage of her that way. She didn't even remember him doing anything remotely untoward, and they weren't even that drunk.
"He doesn't even think of me that way anymore…" she thought wistfully. She then looked at the alarm clock beside the bed – 7:00 a.m. Pulling the sheets back over herself, she snuggled deeper into Oliver's pillows and reveled in their smell.
Katie had to admit that she never did get over how good Oliver smelled. He was, without contest, the best-smelling boy – no, person – she'd ever had the privilege of knowing. She drifted back to sleep, imagining (or so she thought) the sound of someone taking a shower nearby – behind the door she was facing, perhaps. "Mmmmmmm."
Sure enough, Oliver was that someone showering in the next room. He had gotten up half an hour before Katie did, and after prepping some breakfast had hopped into the shower. He was a stickler for hygiene: it was a habit for him to shower both before and after practice. "To keep the sweat fresh," he'd always explained, although very few people really noticed.
Oliver was bending over the sink, shaving. His five-o'-clock shadow had gotten too… well, shadowy for his liking, and shaving to him was a sacred ritual only second in importance to his pre-practice showers. He did it the Muggle way, and thought of it as an opportunity to meditate and clear his mind for the day to come. Only today, he seemed incapable of doing either.
"Katie Bell is in my bed," he breathed, heart pounding with realization. "Katie Bell is asleep in my bed."
Although he was in love with the game of Quidditch, Oliver himself was not one for games of any other sort. So the thought of Katie being so close to him sent him reeling. He had always liked Katie as more than a friend, but lately he felt no such reciprocation on her part. It was as if their little interlude back at Hogwarts never happened.
"Nothing even really happened," Oliver chided himself. "It was a few kisses and then nothing. And that was four years ago."
A voice in the back of his head said, "But isn't that the reason you're so anal about showering all the time? Look at yourself. You spent an extra five minutes in the shower."
"Shut up," Oliver said out loud, startling himself. "Ow! Damn."
He had nicked himself with a sharp flick of the razor. Oliver sighed heavily and cleaned it up. Looking into the mirror, he mumbled, "This is like starting all over again. Friends. Friend zone. Friends." He'd have a chance eventually, right? Maybe?
Towel slung low on his hips, he cautiously poked his head through the door and into his bedroom. Katie appeared to be sound asleep, just as he'd left her.
"Katie?" he checked. No response. "Safe." Readjusting his towel for good measure, he opened the door and tiptoed towards his dresser.
Of course, Katie chose that moment to get up for real. She sat up, rubbed her face and opened her eyes to the sight of Oliver just beginning to pull his towel off.
"CAPTAIN!" she gasped, causing Oliver to jump around.
"K-KATIE! ERM, G-GOOD MORNING!" he staggered backwards, clutching his towel fast.
Mortified, Katie covered up in Oliver's Gryffindor duvet, clamping her eyes shut just to be sure. "But you called my name!" she screamed.
"I was just checking that you were asleep!" Oliver screamed back in panic.
"I didn't see anything! I swear it!" she cried.
"N-no, I believe you, Kates, it's - it's my fault!" he stammered.
"Just… just your abs!"
"I'm… sorry?"
They paused for a breath before dissolving into laughter – Katie's body shook from underneath the sheets and Oliver clutched his dresser (and his towel, of course) for dear life.
"I'm really sorry, Oliver," Katie laughed in a muffled tone, trying to divert from her obvious verbal diarrhea. "I had no idea. I am so embarrassed!" And she was very much embarrassed – from beneath the duvet, she thanked Merlin that Oliver couldn't see her flushed face.
"No, I'm sorry. I should have brought a change of clothes with me to the bathroom." Oliver graciously overlooked the glaring fact that she'd mentioned his torso, but allowed himself a satisfied little grin. Though he honestly hadn't meant for her to see anything, he couldn't help but feel a bit giddy that she'd noticed. (After all, he did put a lot of hard work into his body, by necessity and commitment to his sport.) Bless him, his ears went a little pink.
"Could you just hurry a little? It's getting pretty stuffy under here, what with me hyperventilating and all that good stuff."
"Uh, sure. Anyway you can come out in a second, I'm kind of decent."
"Oka– whoa!" Katie pulled her head out from beneath the duvet, only to be greeted by Oliver's boxer brief-covered bum.
"I said in a second! Are you that excited to see me naked, Bell?" Oliver laughed, trying to hide his embarrassment. He was in the midst of pulling his khaki training breeches on.
"Well, Wood, you also said you were decent! And no, you put those buns away!" Katie felt herself blushing harder, although she knew that behind Oliver's bravado he was actually quite embarrassed.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore," he said, effectively ending any argument. Silently he pulled a crisp blue training sweater over his torso. Katie pretended as if she weren't watching from the corner of her eye.
"…This is kinda awkward," Katie eventually concluded.
"Let's just have breakfast, shall we?"
Before Katie could nod her head, she was hit in the face by something soft – another one of Oliver's training sweaters. "Mornings are kind of chilly here, so you might want to pull that over your head."
"O-okay… Thanks, Ollie." she slipped it on, nearly swooning over its smell. As she poked her head through it, she put on her best poker face and followed Oliver out to the kitchen.
"You look like a right ponce," she proclaimed jauntily. "Look at you in your uniform. You could pass for a Muggle horse jockey, if you weren't so built."
"A what?" He asked. And then, "So I'm built, now, hmm?"
"Never mind. I'd best get going, anyway."
"Not until you've had breakfast," Oliver insisted. Of course, his idea of breakfast was impossibly different from Katie's. He served up porridge, muesli and fresh fruits, together with skim milk and some coffee.
"Where's the bacon? I thought I smelled bacon." Katie pouted, pretending to be upset.
"Sorry, Kates. Gotta eat well to play well."
"This from the guy who suggested sneak-out sessions?"
"I'm kidding. Here, we need a bit of fat to burn anyway." Oliver took a plate of bacon out from behind his impeccable kitchen counter, placing it in front of Katie's gleaming eyes. "Crispy, just the way you like it."
"You're the best!"
"I do try."
They finished breakfast in a bit of a hurry, what with Oliver's practice at 8 and Katie's lunch appointment. Rushing to the Apparating alley, they hastily bid each other goodbye.
"Let me know how everything goes," Oliver smiled encouragingly, and surprised both himself and Katie by grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently. "I'm sure you'll kill it!"
"Fingers crossed!" Katie said giddily, her heart suddenly in her throat. "Have a good practice. Ol!" Hesitantly pulling her hand away, she gave him one last smile. With a loud CRACK!, she was gone.
A/N: Weeeeell? How's that for a happy morning? Hahaha please leave a review if you liked it! Or, you know, if you hated it. Orrr if you want more of Oliver's abs ;) All constructive feedback is appreciated :) Until the next update! x Izobel