A/N: Thank yooou, I've finally reached 100! This goes out to thenameisgermaine for crossing that milestone. Please continue supporting and reviewing, it really motivates me to write :)

Enjoy!

X

Izzo

Chapter 9 – Getting Reacquainted

"Kates." Katie felt a few light tugs on her hair.

"Neuuurgh."

"Bell. You're wasting a lovely Sunday morning, y'know." She received a gentle shove, followed by an experimental poke in the ribs.

"Snorknflagn." She batted the fingers away and scratched her head, thinking she'd just imagined the familiar brogue.

"Katie, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to wake up now," the voice rumbled with laughter. Katie felt her bed vibrate from the source, although her mind refused to register whom the voice belonged to. She turned over, but was immediately roused by a dull pain in her body. All over her body. Ah, lactic acid. Wonderful thing, that.

"Gah! Oh, Morgana!" she groaned, much to the amusement of the person in the room. Katie finally looked over her stiff shoulder, and nearly fell over at the sight of an amused Oliver sitting by her bedside.

"What are you doing here! In my room!" she nearly shouted. "Bloody bollocks, that hurts."

"I figured as much," Oliver chuckled affectionately. "And it's ten in the morning. I'd been waiting downstairs for almost an hour when your mother just told me to come get you myself."

"She did what? Oh, that woman." Katie was more than aware of her mother's wish for them to go out. Katie also knew that had her mother been their age, she probably would have been all over Oliver Wood herself. Not that she wasn't already all over Oliver. Katie shuddered at the thought. "Wait. An hour? Ol, I'm sorry!"

"Well, your mum insisted on feeding me your breakfast," Oliver placated her. "And she did try to wake you, maybe twice. But you were dead asleep. Like a rock, she said. Don't you want to know what your surprise is?"

"I feel like a rock, Ollie. Don't laugh, you prat! I am in serious pain!"

Despite his amused chuckles, Oliver handed her a flask. From its spout wafted a very strong, minty odor. "I'm not entirely heartless. I brought you this." Katie eyed it suspiciously. "Well? Drink up. Merlin knows I needed it when I started out. I keep some in stock in case of a particularly gruesome game."

Holding her breath at the smell, Katie obeyed anyway. Relief surged through her muscles as she felt the potion take effect. She lay on her bed with a blissfully goofy grin on her face, and let her eyes roll to the back of her head. "A solution for muscle pain and morning breath. Ol, you're the best."

They stared at each other for a moment before the Keeper grinned and made to pull her up. "Come on, you. We've wasted enough of the morning. Up! Up you go!"

She complied with a sigh, allowing him to take her hands and hoist her out of bed. He examined her full appearance and cleared his throat slightly. "You might want to get changed, Kates. I'll er, I'll wait downstairs."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Katie grinned as Oliver closed the door to give her some privacy. This grin faded quickly, however, when she turned and beheld her appearance in her full-length mirror. "Oh, boy."

Her hair was a rat's nest, and she'd forgotten she was still wearing her rumpled pajamas from the night before. To make things worse, atop her baggy T-shirt (most embarrassingly) was Oliver's blue training sweater. She must have put it on sometime during the night. Katie sniffed it, and it regrettably smelled more like her than like Oliver.

But Oliver had undoubtedly seen her in his sweater! Katie let out a long groan. "Nice one, Bell. It was okay when he lent it, but two days later is just weird. It's different!" Katie didn't know how – it just was, okay? She wondered why he hadn't said anything. Perhaps it was to spare her the embarrassment. She stared at her reflection glumly, wondering how to conduct herself once she finished changing.

Downstairs, Oliver was struggling.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, he resisted the urge to do a happy dance. Oliver Wood did not dance. But when he had woken Katie up, the last thing he'd expected was to see her snoozing in his training jumper.

He tried to rationalize. After all, she'd worn it before. And now, Katie still had a reason to wear it. She'd never been great at Cooling Charms, and as a result her room was rather chilly. She needed to stay warm, right? She'd get ill otherwise, right? Oliver pursed his lips, trying to be satisfied with this explanation. But his traitorous heart thudded in his chest and he knew that trying to quash his hope would be fruitless.

"Stop obsessing," he reminded himself. If there was anything Oliver was good at, that was it. He'd obsessed over the patterns their friendship had taken over the years – he was good at noticing patterns, too. And the last thing he wanted was a repeat of their awkward times at Hogwarts – it was a constant cycle of getting along perfectly well, and then something strange happening, and then the weird little games they played to get over it. They'd outgrown that, hadn't they? And they were friends, for crying out loud!

Katie finally emerged from her room, looking fresh albeit bashful. Oliver stood up and looked at her expectantly. He'd been on the couch, trying his best to look calm while pretending to read an old Quidditch magazine. (It had been upside down, but Oliver didn't notice.)

"Er," Katie shuffled her feet.

"Here we go," Oliver thought dejectedly. She stuck out her arm and handed Oliver his newly Scourgified sweater. He stared at it, feeling disappointed.

"You might want this back," Katie mumbled finally.

"It's alright," Oliver replied, trying to sound nonchalant. "You can keep it. I have maybe five more?"

"Oh. Uh, okay then." She placed the thing down. "It mustn't have been anything special, how silly of me."

Oliver stuck his tongue in his cheek and nodded slowly. It didn't need to be said that they were feeling awkward for the same reason – they just got it. In Katie-and-Oliver World, that meant they wouldn't discuss it any more. "Let's go, then, shall we?" It would be normal in a second, Oliver knew. Well, their brand of normal.

He made quick work of grabbing Katie by the hand, hollering goodbye to her mum, and Apparating them away. They landed right outside the magical entrance of Diagon Alley.

"Good aim, Captain," Katie complimented him, grinning. See? Normal.

"Thanks," replied Oliver affably, feeling the tension melt for the moment. "Care to tap us in, then?"

"Sure." It was only then that they realized they'd still been holding hands comfortably, and the tension crept back into their arms quicker than a horde of baby Acromantulas could crawl. Katie blushed and pulled away quickly. She felt Oliver watching her intently as she rummaged, flustered, for her wand. Upon clumsily tapping her wand on the right bricks – three up, two across – she barged in through what used to be the wall, far ahead of Oliver.

"Kates! Wait up!" He easily caught up with her.

"Stupid, confusing, six-footer Captain," she panicked as she wove her way through the Leaky Cauldron crowd. It was a Sunday, so Katie was thankful for the throng. She'd been loopy since the second she'd woken up, and it seemed that being close to Oliver was not helping matters in the slightest. She put on a cheery face as they stepped into Diagon Alley proper. "Where to, Oliver?"

Oliver's expression was a little tight as he searched her face. Finally he replied, "This way, Kates," and ducked into a corner. Before she could question him as to their location, he took out an Extendable Ear wrapped in cloth. "It's a Portkey," he said sheepishly, "I can't use it outside of Diagon Alley. But it's just a precaution, really, with the paparazzi and all."

"Oh." Katie strung the info together, still unable to look at her former captain in the eye. She couldn't actually see any photographers. "But where are we goi– " Oliver tapped the Portkey onto her hand and his before she could object. One short, tummy-turning vortex later, they lay in a heap in what looked to be a dim storage room.

"Sodding short-distance Portkeys," Oliver grumbled, getting up. He made to help Katie up, as well, but the latter seemed determined to get by on her own. Instead, he fumbled around for his wand. "Lumos."

The two examined their surroundings and confirmed that, yes, they were in a storage room. Unopened products lined the shelves and the smell of burnt rubber permeated the air. Realization creeped onto Katie's features as she opened her mouth to scream, but she was beaten to it by voices outside.

"Oi! I sense a rude intrusion!" came one.

"No doubt caused by your own insensibility," drawled another.

Katie busted out of the closet, right into the arms of – "GEORGE! ANGELINA!"

"KATIE!" They screamed back with equal vigor, hugging Katie tight.

Oliver, too, stepped out of the supply room and said, "What, no hugs for me?"

"No," said Angelina matter-of-factly. "We only just saw you yesterday."

"Right prat you were, too," said George with a huff. "We were expecting you to return."

"That wasn't my fault. This one," Oliver cocked his head at Katie, "had an appointment."

"Shut up, Oliver," Katie said, pulling herself out of the hug. "They kind of just barged in."

"Who's 'they'?" asked Angelina. She sniffed, "Wood says you've got quite a lot to tell us. I wouldn't know, I haven't seen you in months."

"But I have some clue," grinned George, a shadow of his former mischief on his face.

Katie felt bad for a moment, but then retaliated with, "Oy. The post works both ways, Angelina Johnson! You've been holding back on me, too!"

"True, that. Let's kiss and make up." They laughed it off lightly, and Angelina and George exchanged soft looks.

The gesture did not escape Katie. It was no secret that George and Angelina had gotten involved somehow after the war… and Fred's death. The loss of a twin and a boyfriend bore heavily on them both, so much so that George couldn't bear to be around anyone for a while, and the only one that seemed to make things any better was, surprisingly, Angelina. Where that left Alicia, George's now-ex-girlfriend, and the girls' other best friend, was a mystery to Katie. If only she hadn't gone AWOL for the past few months.

"So, uh, where's 'Licia?" asked Katie before she could think the question through. She could have slapped herself as the mood in the room palpably dampened, and the looks George and Angelina were giving each other turned worried, strained. Even Oliver, who was innocently inspecting not-so-innocent-looking sweets on the counter, looked up with concern.

After some silence, George murmured, "A lot of things have changed since Fred…" he stopped to correct himself, "Since you moved away, Katie."

And it was true – as he spoke, the formerly girls-don't-cry Angelina turned her head away, eyes getting a little watery. Oliver stared, unhelpful, and Katie tried to save the situation. "Well… We've all changed, I guess," she replied with false cheer. Facing her fellow Chaser, she asked, "So, Ange, maybe you wanna show me around?"

Angelina gladly took the branch she offered. "Only if you'll taste anything I give you without question," she smirked.

"Uh oh," Katie paled.

"Uh oh, indeed," huffed George. "Angie here was the test subject for many of the new ones! Would you doubt the quality of our… my merchandise?"

"They're all deliciously traumatizing, I'm sure."

"Well you birds go on, then, I have a few things to gossip about with Master Wood here. We've started a collection, you see, Ange and I." George winked at Ange knowingly, while the latter merely rolled her eyes. Katie thought nothing more of it, and let Angelina drag her to the shelf lined with colorful, explosive stuffed animals. It was labeled "Hug-A-Bombear". Not George's most creative name, to be sure.

"Oliver says you've got some news," Angelina started warily. She obviously didn't want to talk about herself first.

"Oh, did he? Um," Katie began, "Don't be angry."

"Why would I be angry? Oh Godric, don't tell me. It's happened!"

Katie was clueless. "What on earth are you on about?"

"You're pregnant, aren't you!"

"WHAT!"

"That's why Oliver came here… You're pregnant with Oliver's baby! You guys are finally together!"

Katie was utterly affronted. "WHAT, NO!" she cried, causing Oliver and George to look up from whatever they were inspecting on the counter. Oliver, for one, looked a little pink in the ears, although he couldn't have heard the girls' conversation. "That's preposterous! Ange, we're not even dating!" she shout-whispered through clenched teeth. What had gotten into Angelina? She used to tease Katie about Oliver, sure, but nothing to that extent before.

Angelina gave a laugh, although it sounded a little forced. "It was worth a shot. Obviously you wouldn't be pregnant, but I honestly thought you were going to tell me you were at least going out by now."

The younger girl realized that distracting her was Angelina's way of steering the conversation away from herself. She decided to oblige her for the moment. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint. My news might not be anywhere as monumental to you – the Harpies signed me!"

"What!" Angelina gave a genuine whoop, jostling Katie and jumping up and down. "Tell me everything! That is so great!"

"Better than me getting together with that Quidditch Nazi?"

"So much better, for now, anyway! Although I should have known it had something to do with Quidditch. That Oliver is bloody incorrigible."

"Tell me about it."

"And why would I be angry?" Angelina revisited Katie's earlier request. "You got signed by, oh, just the best damn team on the planet!"

"I don't know, I thought you'd be mad that I didn't think to tell you first. I wanted to be sure, first, and we haven't exactly been talking since…" she threw a pointed look at George.

Angelina sighed, looking resigned to talking. "I'd hardly know what to tell you if you asked," she admitted, "George… He and I have barely figured anything out ourselves."

"Well," Katie replied, "It might help to talk about it."

Angelina Johnson was by no means an unsure person, or so Katie used to think. But insecurity permeated her tone when she said, "I'm… I'm not ready to understand anything. About him. Or us. I just feel really lost, you know? And it's so hard not having anyone to talk to about it."

Katie could have cried. "I'm here now," she said, voice trembling.

"And I wish I'd Floo-d you sooner. I just don't know what I'd say. It's like… A lot of the time, George is the only one who's anchoring me here, otherwise I'd go crazy with sadness. But at the same time, he's… I'm… That was a three-year relationship. With Fred. And it's so soon. It's all just really messed up, and I hardly know what people will think… But I think I'm starting to have… feelings? For… for…" Ange looked on the verge of tears herself.

"Shh, shh," Katie pulled her friend into an embrace. Angelina took one breath, two, and finally calmed herself. Katie never felt like the older person between the two of them, perhaps because quite literally, she wasn't. But while hugging one of her best friends behind a shelf of explosive stuffed toys, she never felt older. She could only imagine how Alicia felt, and how Fred's death would affect their friendship. She resolved to visit the other girl soon, but for now she had to make things better. Oliver had probably meant the day to be a happy surprise, so she wouldn't burst another bubble.

"A lot of the time, I'm okay. Because of him, I mean. I feel normal. But I also feel terrible. And George has it far, far worse," Angelina added despondently. "And Alicia… I miss her, and –"

"We'll figure it out soon, Ange," Katie said kindly, "when it's just us girls." She couldn't bear to see Angelina cry and bring the boys into it, too.

Angelina took a couple of breaths. "Okay." Just like that, Angelina pushed all the doubt from her expression and plastered on a cool smile. It almost unnerved Katie how easily Ange could mask her feelings. That would explain her seeming normalcy when Katie and Oliver first arrived. She was only thankful that they were so close, and that Angelina could lower her defenses around her.

"So," she shrugged, "What's new around here?"

With a smile, Angelina led her to a row of glass jars, each containing shiny candy. Surrounding the jars, however, was an aura that glowed much like the Age Line that Dumbledore drew around the Triwizard Cup four years back. True enough, the sign above the row read, Naughty Nougats. Legal Aged Wizards and Witches Only, Please! And in finer print: WWW will not be held liable for any bodily transfiguration caused by the crossing of this Age Line.

"It was something of a joke between the Twins," Ange said with a little distaste. "George decided to see it to fruition. Nothing too kinky, of course, but it's all a bit raunchy."

Katie quirked a brow. "What happens if you're under seventeen?"

"And you try to cross the line? Oh, it's nasty. They get repelled, and then their pubes begin to grow impossibly fast. To the floor!"

"Merlin! But that's not very original," Katie giggled. It was a strange homage to the time George and Fred got repelled by the Age Line and began growing beards. She threw a glance at George and Oliver, the latter of whom was still looking uncomfortable.

"No, but it's highly embarrassing. I've witnessed many a teen run off in panic… Without asking for the antidote, mind you!" They laughed some more. "Here," Angelina handed her an innocent-looking blue nougat. Katie knew, however, that it was anything but.

"What does this do?" she asked, suddenly very nervous. She checked if anyone was looking.

Angelina inconveniently flipped the labels over with a flick of her wand, and said, "No questions, just eat it."

Katie bit into it. "Blueberry?" she said thoughtfully. The taste of the candy was good enough to distract her, and she swallowed it before getting to clarify what its effects would be.

"Busty Blueberry," Ange almost cackled.

"What!" cried Katie, her hands flying to her chest.

"It's a hit with the people who run the, uh, gentlemen's magazines. They order bagfuls every month!"

"Ange, I swear, I am not walking out of this store looking like a bimbo."

"Relax. George tested this several times on his brothers, even on Ginny. It only increases your cup size by one, two sizes at most? Ginny likes them."

Katie looked in horror as she felt her breasts expand ever so slightly. "You are so lucky my shirt has some room, Angelina Johnson! How long before this wears off?"

"I'd give it an hour or two. These are really a bestseller, you know," she said conversationally, before her nose wrinkled even more. "Especially on the weekends. All kinds of women come in and just snatch them up!"

"But why would George make such a thing?"

"The whole range was supposed to be a bunch of practical jokes for guys – it still works on them by the way – but women have really taken a shine to the stuff for more seductive purposes, I think. Apparently it was in the works even before… you know, the Battle. George says he just owed it to Fred to finish it. Plus he gets a laugh over the others. Merlin, you should have seen Percy's face when these things were in the trial phase! Honestly, I'd never seen his face go so puce. You'd think a bloke would enjoy getting to fondle breasts, even if they were attached to his chest."

"Ange, this is horrible." Katie turned to a nearby mirror, where she was greeted by her new C-cup breasts. Her heart raced in her (slightly larger) chest.

Angelina took a peek. "I think they look great! They hardly look that much bigger. Plus if you hated them, you'd be screaming your head off, don't deny it."

"I don't want anyone to actually notice." Katie hissed, cocking her head to where George seemed to be playfully forcing something on an extremely embarrassed Oliver. She inspected the rest of the rack with a frown. "I don't even want to know what the rest of those do."

"You don't have to know," said Ange with a considerate pat. "And would it be such a bad thing if Oliver noticed? You've only been staring at him, oh, every ten seconds."

Katie blushed. "That obvious?" She looked down at her feet, puzzled as to why the view was different. Oh yeah. Her stupid boobs were in the way. She rolled her eyes.

"You're not very difficult to read, Bell. You and Wood both. Why do you think we keep pushing for you two to just go out already?"

"Oh, shut it, you!"

"What! You two have been hanging for, what, five years now? It's pathetic!" Yup, Ange just had to bring that up. Katie and Oliver liked each other back at Hogwarts, sure, but it was a vague little thing. Although things between them had escalated oddly so that they were forced to talk about their feelings, it's not like a relationship was a realistic, or even possible option back then. At the time, he was leaving school, and she had three years to go. So they decided to be friends. And they were friends – great friends, at that. No one had to mess with that.

"Come on, that was ages ago. It's different now. So shut it already!"

Ange refused to listen. "I don't see how it's different. Except maybe that you're both grown up now, so your little 'we'll be too far apart' thing isn't gonna work anymore! Stop looking for excuses, Katie! Your situation's a walk in the park compared to… well."

Katie huffed, "Well, I beg to differ. If you're so right, why hasn't he asked me out already, hmm?"

"Who ever said he had to do the asking?" The smirk Ange rewarded her was downright roguish. Katie didn't bother bursting her bubble of contentment, considering it was the first time she actually believed Ange was genuinely happy about something since Katie arrived.

"Whatever," she finally decided to say. Angelina threw her a smug grin. "Let's just go see what they're up to, shall we?"

The girls walked up to the counter, where George greeted them with much enthusiasm. Oliver, on the other hand, took one look at Katie and went red before looking away. His lips were pursed, his arms crossed. His expression could only be described as torn – Katie couldn't read whether he was pleased about something or completely mortified.

Turns out, it was both.

"Well, well!" George slung an arm around Katie jovially. He sounded normal, although Katie could detect that his enthusiasm wasn't what it used to be. "Have a good talk?"

"Hmm?" Katie said.

"Come on, Angie ought to have shown you some of our more interesting merchandise. I hope you liked it! You're looking rather… Perky."

It took Katie a while to understand what George had said, but his blatantly smug expression and Oliver's entirely ruffled demeanor said it all. She found a nearby mirror and elicited a loud gasp. She'd forgotten about the nougat's effect on her anatomy. "GEORGE WEASLEY! YOU UNDO THIS RIGHT NOW!" She hastily folded her arms across her now-ample chest, looking just embarrassed as Oliver.

"What's that, now? Speak into my good ear, love!"

"GEORGE!"

"Okay, okay," he chuckled. "Merlin. For the record, I tried feeding Ol' Woodie here one of those, too. But it seems I've been beaten to the punch – did you know Davies was a patron of my humble shop? It seems he's a particular fan of these."

"That's enough, now," Angelina interrupted nicely. "Katie, you only ate half, so it'll only last maybe fifteen more minutes, tops? Can you handle that?"

Katie tugged her shirt up self-consciously. Her bra felt a little tight. "I… I guess?"

"Okay, then, that's settled."

Oliver remained quiet, and began fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Katie didn't know if she should be more insecure that he noticed, or that he noticed and didn't want to look.

"I have something to distract you with, Katie," George proudly announced. "I was showing Oliver my new collection. You've really been holding out on us, love!"

George proffered a makeshift album for Katie to inspect. Inside were photos – Muggle photos of none other than Katie herself in her (not-too-many) magazine shoots. What George was doing with a collection of her photographs was beyond her, but he was kind enough to shed some light on the situation. "Ange and I were feeling particularly bummed out one day – what was it, Angie, two months ago? – that we decided to go on a Muggle field trip. I bought all sorts of weird things that day, and decided to pick up some random rag. And what else would I find but the glamorous Katherine Bell modeling - what was it? The best picks for summer?"

Katie groaned. That was her first shoot, and she'd decided that day that she was far too awkward for this… modeling thing. Even thinking of her previous occupation made her cringe – she was so uncomfortable with being a… neurgh… model. "I didn't bother telling you guys because, ugh, look at that! Actually, don't. I look so weird. It's unnatural."

"I think you look quite pretty in them," Oliver interrupted suddenly, and three heads turned in his direction. One bore a devilish grin (George, naturally), while the other two looked on, shocked. "Er, except… Except you're, er, not moving? This is Muggle stuff, right?"

It was a poor save, at best. Nobody replied for a good few seconds. He ran his fingers through his hair and pursed his lips again, feeling uneasy. Katie was the first to come to her senses, however, and meekly replied, "Thanks, Ol." He smiled in relief.

"Well!" George gave the Keeper a stout clap on the bottom. "This morning has been most eventful. Once the lady's bosoms have calmed," he bowed to a scowling Katie, "We shall go to brunch! Where to, my people?"

They decided on a quaint restaurant just down the street, where Oliver had a lower chance of getting ambushed by fan girls or the press. They got by reasonably well, with only a few children asking for autographs, and just a handful of girls lingering a little too long to scowl at Katie and Angelina. The friends caught up some more without any more mention of Fred or the War – it was all good Quidditch talk, with a fair amount of heckling and bets thrown in. The food was on Oliver, of course. Angelina and George had no qualms about it, while Katie made a fuss about wanting to pay for herself. Oliver had none of it, of course.

"I'm sure you'll do great, Katie," Ange hugged her best friend as the time came for them to part ways. George had to go back to open the shop, and Angelina had work. Oliver, too, had promised to visit his mum, and Katie had to finish packing. "Make sure you Floo me every detail!"

"Okay. Actually, Ange?" Katie interjected, "If you're free this week, wanna help me move into my new place?"

Angelina couldn't have been gladder to oblige. "I'd love to!" she squealed, grabbing Katie's hands. "But food's on you. And I want some autographs!" She loved Gwenog Jones as much as (if not more than) Katie did.

"Deal and deal."

"My best friend's a professional Quidditch playeeeeeer!"

"Oh, shut it!"

Oliver waited patiently for Katie to finish saying her goodbyes, his hands in his pockets. It had been an eventful, Katie-filled morning, from the sweater, to the portfolio of photos, to the nougat. He was glad he'd thought of spending his day off with Katie and their friends. When Katie had told him at their dinner date – er, appointment – how lonesome she was feeling, he nearly slapped himself. He could play Quidditch and almost forget about having friends, but it was Katie who constantly reminded him of how important they were. Katie herself hardly knew how important she was to him. Oh! She hardly knew what she was to him at all, and while he paled at the prospect of actually telling her how he felt ("What's that? I'm from the House of Gryffindor? Really?"), he resolved to make her understand his feelings. "Baby steps," he psyched himself up as Katie skipped towards him and grabbed his arm.

"Home then, Captain?"

"Yes, ma'am," he grinned, and Apparated them away.

A/N: No Alicia here, sorry :( But she's coming real soon! I told you I'd bring back the old gang, and here they are! I hope this didn't disappoint. Review if you're beautiful (which I'm sure you all are)!

P.S. If you haven't already, go check out my first KBOW, Freshly Showered. It explains the backstory to this chapter a little, although I think this could have stood on its own.