As soon as the new year began, Oliver's sights were on Puddlemere United's next match against the Holyhead Harpies. Puddlemere was currently second in the league standings, just two points behind Holyhead. Not only was the match one of the most anticipated of the season, it would likely be a preview of the league championship match if both teams held strong.

Oliver called it an early night the evening before the match, leaving Katie to have dinner with Alicia and Angelina on Friday night.

"Honestly, we don't even have to be at the stadium until three," Angelina said with an eye roll. "The match isn't until 7 p.m. Wood's so extreme."

"He's been obsessing over this match," Katie said with a shrug."It's all he's talked about this week. He's nervous."

"Even if we lose, which we won't, there's still an eight-point gap between us and Falmouth in third," Angelina said. "It's not the end of the world. Wood's all worked up over nothing."

"Wood, worked up over nothing? You don't say," Alicia laughed sarcastically.

"Speaking of being worked up," Angelina said, eyeing Katie with a pointed look, "Trent Healy asked about you after training yesterday."

"Huh? Me?" Katie said stupidly.

"Yes, you. Did something happen at his party?"

"No!" Katie insisted. Angelina blinked at her. "I swear, nothing happened. Trent and I just had a casual chat."

"He seemed awfully keen on learning more about you," Angelina noted. "But if he knows you're with Wood, why is he interested in you? Are you sure you didn't give him a reason to think you're available?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Katie said. "All we did was talk about books and how Oliver and I ended up together. It's not my fault if Trent interpreted that some other way. Don't blame me."

"Okay, fine," Angelina sighed. "I was just making sure. Healy's awfully fit, but I don't want him causing any problems."

"He's not causing any problems," Katie said assuredly. "Because I'm not interested in him anyway."

Katie sent Oliver a brief note to wish him good luck the following morning. It was an away match for Puddlemere, meaning Katie waited on George to take a portkey to a secure space in Holyhead. Once they arrived, they found their way to a reception for friends and family to wait before their seats opened in the stadium.

Katie helped herself to a glass of champagne, unsure why she felt nervous. Perhaps Oliver's nerves had rubbed off on her. She knew how important the match was, and how tough the Harpies would be. As she mulled over the tactics Oliver had discussed with her in preparation for the match, she failed to notice Trent, who had entered the room to greet his brother.

"Katie," Trent said on his way toward the door. He had seemed to wait until George had left Katie alone to refill his plate at the buffet line.

"Trent, hi," Katie said, doing her best not to appear caught off guard. "Good luck today." She noticed Trent was eyeing her with a funny expression, so she couldn't help but narrow her eyes at him. "Everything all right?"

Trent nodded and paused for a moment, as if he were trying to decide on something.

"Listen, Katie, maybe now's not the best time to say anything about it, but I figure I might as well." Trent glanced around the room to ensure no one was within earshot. "I overheard you and Wood talking at my party," he continued. Katie couldn't decide if he looked guilty or pleased. "About you… you know, about the state of your relationship, or lack thereof, I guess."

Katie swallowed. "Oh, you did?"

"Yeah. But listen, I'm not going to say anything, all right? I mean it. I'm not even going to say anything to Wood. He doesn't need that on his mind. Poor bloke's a headcase now as it is."

"Oh," was all Katie could manage. If Trent truly wasn't going to tell anyone, why was he bothering to tell her that he knew in the first place?

"I guess I just felt like I should tell you for some stupid reason," Trent continued. "You know, so that if you and Wood call it off, that I could be the first to know."

Though Katie understood what Trent was implying, she couldn't help but pretend to look dumbfounded. She wasn't sure if she should appreciate Trent's honesty, or if she should be concerned. Sure, Trent wasn't technically trying to steal his teammate's girlfriend considering he knew their relationship wasn't real. He also wasn't threatening to blackmail her or Oliver, nor had he run to The Daily Prophet to reveal their secret. But Katie felt hesitant to trust that he was merely telling her this because he was interested in her.

"Anyway, I've got to run, but I just thought I'd let you know," Trent finally said. "Again, I promise I won't say anything. I guess I just wanted you to know in case, you know, you and Wood call it quits."

He offered Katie a brief smile before he scurried from the room. It wasn't until she watched him leave that Katie realized Oliver had been standing with George, chatting near the buffet table.

Once they made eye contact, Oliver made a beeline to Katie and she couldn't help but notice he looked tense.

"Hey," she said as steadily as she could manage. "All right?"

"What did Trent want?"

"Oh, we were just talking about the Harpies," Katie said casually. "You know, because I played with Ginny for a bit at Hogwarts."

"Oh."

Oliver pretended to be unbothered by Katie and Trent, but his play during the match wasn't fooling anyone. By his standards, Oliver played terribly, allowing six goals within the first hour of the match.

"What's wrong with him?" George said in Katie's ear after Ginny scored her third goal.

"I have no idea," Katie answered worriedly. "Something's off."

"It wouldn't have anything to do with whatever your conversation was earlier, would it?"

"Of course not," Katie said, though she wasn't entirely sure. There was no reason for Oliver to be upset that she was talking to Trent. Katie had already assured Oliver that she wasn't interested in Trent, and even if she were, Oliver had said he wouldn't mind.

Still, Puddlemere ended up losing, 220-50, and Katie's anxiety increased tenfold as she and George made their way to the waiting area outside the visitor locker rooms. It had suddenly dawned on Katie that she hadn't yet had to deal with Oliver following a loss and based on the experience during their Hogwarts days, it wouldn't go over well.

Angelina emerged from the locker room first, looking tired and irritated. She grimaced when she saw Katie and heaved a sigh.

"Wood might be a while," she warned. "He's pretty upset with himself. Not sure why. Our offense was rubbish and I'll be the first to take the blame for it."

"No, we all know Oliver had an off day," Katie said. "Anyone who's seen him play before could tell. Do you know what was wrong?"

"I was hoping you knew," Angelina said. "He didn't say anything. He snapped at Healy for missing that final shot, but I think that was just his frustration boiling ov-"

Angelina stopped as Oliver trudged from the locker room. Katie found his expression difficult to read, but as he approached, George cleared his throat.

"We're, ah, going to head home," George said. "Catch you two later." Katie and Oliver watched in silence as Angelina and George disappeared by the portkey that sent them back to Puddlemere Stadium in London.

"Hey," Katie said softly, taking note of Oliver's poor body language. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his gaze looked vacant.

"Hey."

"Ready to head home?"

"Yeah."

They walked in silence toward the portkey and when they landed back at Puddlemere Stadium, Oliver began walking toward the exit without acknowledging Katie.

Katie scurried after him, struggling to remain in step with him. She knew better than to ask Oliver if he was all right, but this was also the first loss he'd faced since they started dating. She wasn't sure if she should comfort him or give him space.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Katie finally asked softly.

Oliver shook his head.

"It wasn't your fault," Katie continued, unsure if she was making the situation worse for herself. "Ginny was just unstoppable today and their Beaters were tough-"

"Katie, please don't," Oliver said tersely.

"Okay." They remained in silence until they reached Katie's flat. The air was bitterly cold and Katie felt bad that Oliver would have to walk another fifteen minutes to get home. "Do you want to come in and warm up for a bit?" she asked as they approached her building.

"No, thanks."

"Oliver, come on," Katie sighed. "You can't let this loss weigh on you."

"That's easy for you to say," Oliver said harshly. "Maybe if you didn't spend the afternoon flirting with Trent Healy, the team could've focused."

Katie blanched. "You're not really blaming this on me, are you?"

"Of course not. Not fully anyway. I'm just saying, I played like rubbish and so did Healy. We were fine and focused until you decided to flirt with him before the match."

"You're joking, right? Oliver, we were just having a chat. I already told you I'm not interested in him. This has nothing to do with me."

"It has everything to do with you," Oliver snapped. "Katie, we made this arrangement so that I could avoid distractions. Now you've become one for both me and my teammate."

"You said you wouldn't care if I were interested in him! You said we could call it off if I wanted!"

"Yeah, but I didn't think you were going to flirt with him right away!"

"We weren't flirting!" Katie was grateful that no one else was in the street, because her voice was reaching a borderline shout. "Oliver, we were just chatting. I know you're upset about the loss but don't blame me."

Katie was in disbelief. She knew Oliver never took defeat well, but he'd never been this irrational and he'd never blamed someone else when he didn't play well.

"I just wish you'd considered the consequences," Oliver snapped. "These matches mean everything right now. My team can't afford any distractions."

"Well excuse me. I guess I won't come around to distract any of you anymore," Katie said as she shot Oliver one last glare before storming inside.

Three days passed and Katie and Oliver hadn't bothered to reach out to one another. The loss to Holyhead left Oliver training harder than ever while Katie immersed herself in work. Though the league championship wasn't until May, her department was already busy at work on the marketing plans for it.

On the Tuesday following Puddlemere's loss, Oliver found himself walking through the Ministry of Magic, anxiously scanning the various signs pointing guests in every direction.

He felt terrible about how he'd lashed out at Katie after the match. He knew it wasn't her fault and blaming her was silly and immature. He also knew that being upset over Katie talking to Trent was possessive and unfair, and that he didn't want to break off their arrangement just yet.

Realizing he was empty-handed, Oliver quickly fished out his wand and muttered, "Orchideous" to conjure a bouquet of flowers.

Katie was reviewing a stack of documents at her desk when Marjorie Cline, the department's administrative assistant, tentatively poked her head into Katie's office.

"Miss Bell?" Marjorie squeaked.

Katie looked up from the pile of paperwork. "Marjorie. Hi, what is it?"

"You have a visitor. I mean, there's, erm, someone here to see you."

"Oh! I'm not expecting any visitors but sure, send them in."

"Okay." Marjorie disappeared and Katie sighed as she returned to reading until a pair of heavier footsteps stopped in the doorway.

"Hey."

Katie looked up and blinked. "Oliver? Hey."

"Can I come in?"

"Of course." Katie hastily shuffled the papers on her desk and stood. Oliver lingered awkwardly in the middle of the office, as Katie peeked around him. "Thanks, Marjorie," she called as she realized Marjorie was still lurking in the doorway. Marjorie, who had been gawking at Oliver, scurried off and Katie suddenly became very aware that several of her coworkers were staring at them through her office windows. She waved her wand to shut the door, though they were still visible to everyone.

Oliver cleared his throat to interrupt the silence as Katie returned to hover near her desk. Oliver sighed and offered the bouquet to Katie, who took the flowers gently.

"Thanks."

"Look, I'm sorry," Oliver finally said. "I was completely out of line and it was completely unfair to you. You didn't deserve that. I was just upset about losing and I guess I took it out on the easiest target."

Katie heaved a sigh that seemed to echo Oliver's. "It's okay," she said, her eyes meeting his. "Really. I understand."

Oliver looked relieved. "It won't happen again," he promised. "I'm going to work on how I deal with stuff like this. I won't let my emotions get the best of me like that."

"It's okay, really," Katie repeated. "I know you were just upset and I know how much that match meant to you. I just… I just wish you would've felt like you could've talked to me about it instead of lashing out."

"I know. And it won't happen again."

Katie smiled. "You're right, it won't. Because you won't be losing again."

Oliver heaved a sigh and shrugged. "I hope you're right." He turned as he noticed the numerous sets of eyes that were watching them curiously and Katie snorted.

"We get a fair share of pro quidditch players through here," she explained. "But none of them usually show up to see their girlfriends. And none of them look like you."

"Ah, yeah, well, I guess you can consider yourself lucky then."

Katie shot him a look and Oliver laughed. "Right, I'm the lucky one here."

"Right you are," Katie said, reaching for her coat. "And I know how you can make it all up to me."

"You do?"

"Yep. You can give me a good snog right here to appease my coworkers, and then you can take me to lunch."