Glorious Victory

Glorious Victory
By ArrA.

He had finally done it! After seven years at Hogwarts, he had finally achieved his ultimate goal, one he had strived for since... well since he could remember.

The stands filled with cheers the moment Harry caught the snitch. Oliver almost fell off his broom with joy. Gryffindor finally won the Quidditch Cup under his leadership. The early mornings of practice and strict diets paid off.

Oliver landed on the ground and joined the hordes of people congratulating Harry. People were pouring down onto the quidditch pitch, more by each passing minute. Members of the Slytherin team were sulking at the far end of the pitch, glaring at their Seeker, Draco Malfoy.

Harry finally noticed Oliver and punched him in the arm.

"We finally did it Oliver! We finally did it!" Harry cried happily.

George and Fred Weasley came up behind Harry and swept him off his feet and on to their shoulders. They carried Harry through the crowd as people congratulated him.

That was when the sinking feeling hit Oliver. Something was missing, something was not right. A small frown crossed his face, which he wiped away immediately. Today was meant to be a day for partying. He would have to figure out what was not right tomorrow. Turning around, he went to hug Katie Bell who was just a few feet away.

"You must be proud Oliver!" she said to him, "Harry finally won you the cup."

Oliver stopped in his tracks. Harry had won him the cup? Oliver couldn't keep from glaring.

"It was a team effort," he snapped at Katie. "A team effort. Never think any differently."

Katie looked at the ground and back to Oliver. "I know Olly. But the team are the only people who think that."

"Well at least we know," Oliver told her firmly, smiling faintly. She seemed to read his mind.

Just then, a voice boomed over the microphone from the commentary box. It wasn't Lee Jordan.

Looking towards the box, Oliver saw that Professor Dumbledore was about to give a speech. 'He's never done this before,' Oliver thought. 'He must want to rub it in that the Boy Who Lived is also the Boy Who Won Gryffindor the Quidditch Cup.' The thought was bitter and Oliver felt more bitter by the second.

"Congratulations, Gryffindor," Albus Dumbledore began, smiling down at Harry, who was now flanked by his two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. "It has been a hard battle for you, year after year, but finally you have earned yourselves the honour of sporting the Quidditch Cup!" There was from the Gryffindor bleachers and Oliver moved his hands above his head and started to clap as well. Katie looked at him from side of her eyes and smiled. "Now, for the first time at Hogwarts, we are introducing the Most Valuable Player award!"

There was more cheering and Oliver could see Hermione and Ron pat Harry on the back. 'Great,' Oliver thought, 'another way thing for Harry to win.'

"First, let us introduce the Slytherin MVP... Draco Malfoy, Seeker!!"

There were cheers from the Slytherin side, along with the boos from the Gryffindors. Malfoy made his way up to the commentator's box.

"Now, now. Mr. Malfoy did a wonderful job as Seeker. He deserves this award. The Gryffindor MVP is..."

Dumbledore took a breath to savour the moment and said, "Oliver Wood, Keeper!"

There was a hush through out the crowd. Hermione and Ron stared at Harry.

Katie, who was still standing next to Oliver, suddenly threw her arms around him in a hug and whispered in his ear, "I guess Dumbledore knew that Harry is nothing without you as well, Oliver."

She kissed him lightly his lips and pulled away before Oliver could kiss her back. When Oliver got a look at her face, he saw red in her cheeks. Seconds after, she was gone before he could say anything.

Oliver tried to go after her, but the Quidditch pitch brought him back to reality.

Harry screamed out, "Congratulations, Oliver! You deserved it!"

The continuous slaps on the back Harry recieved before were now directed in Oliver's direction.

Oliver stumbled up towards the box to join Dumbledore, in a haze. People were commending and hugging him. Suddenly, Harry was in front of him.

"You deserved it Oliver! We would've never been able to do it without you," Harry said.

The sinking feeling in the pit of stomach reduced and he felt like everything was great again.

"Well, Potter," he replied. "We could of never done it without your phenomenal seeking!"

Harry laughed and disapeared back into the crowd.

Oliver climbed the stairs into the box and joined Draco Malfoy, who was standing there very quietly, ignoring all the cries and boos. Dumbledore was trying to strike up some conversation with him but Malfoy flat out ignored him. Dumbledore turned on hearing Oliver enter and patted him on the back.

"Congratulations, Mr. Wood!" he said.

Oliver smiled. "You have no idea how many people have said that to me today."

Dumbledore laughed and handed Oliver a plaque with "Gryffindor MVP" engraved on it. Underneath was the name, "Oliver Wood."

Looking over at Malfoy, Oliver saw he had recieved the same thing but didn't really care. He hugged Dumbledore and lifted the plaque up over his head and gave a loud yell. All eyes were on him and the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws cheered for the champion while the Slytherins looked angry.

Malfoy glared at him and smirked, "Wood, you have to take your fifteen minutes of fame when you get it, don't you?"

"Thanks, Malfoy. I'll remember that when I get those minutes, since I definitely haven't used them up yet," Oliver replied, replicating Malfoy's smirk, and left.

Oliver ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time and sprinted through the crowd to the changerooms. He was looking for a certain Chaser who seemed to read his mind.

He looked around the changeroom but didn't see her in the co-ed part. 'She must have already joined the girls in the female half of the changerooms,' he thought.

He sighed and decided to take a quick shower. He would have to talk to her later.

* * *

That night Gryffindor partied like never before. They were practically jumping off the ceiling in glorious victory. Oliver felt glad he had been able to get the prefects to ward the Tower with silencing spells, otherwise McGonagall would be there in a second, telling them to go to sleep.

He scanned the room, looking for Katie and finally found her, sitting with Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, and the Weasley twins in a corner. Katie seemed to be the odd man out... or woman, since George was going out with Alicia and Fred was seeing Angelina.

Making his way across the room, Oliver plopped down in the only avaliable chair, thankfully next to Katie. Looking at her, she appeared to be turning bright red again.

"Hey Katie," he said seductively, "don't I get another kiss?"

Katie blushed even more red this time, turning her face to talk to Angelina and Alicia.

"Aw, Katie, are you ignoring me?" Oliver joked.

She turned back to him and said, "Well Oliver, you've always ignore me, so..."

"I did not. I just never knew you were interested."

Angelina decided it was time to join in the conversation. "That means you've always ignored her, because it was pretty obvious she was interested. I mean, what kind of person offers to go and get your lunch for you when you're stupid and keep insisting on practicing an hour after the orignal practice is over? What kind of person helps you with your homework, even though they're years below you and they have to learn it themselves, so that they can help you? You've ignored her... or maybe you're just plain blind!" Angelina yelled.

Now Katie was an even darker shade. Oliver had no idea a person could be that red. It wasn't natural.

Fred and George glared at him. He didn't want to make those Weasley mad. He knew what they were capable in doing.

"Katie, can we just go and talk about this somewhere private? he asked.

She looked him up and down, got up, and started to walk away. Oliver sat there, looking confused until Katie turned around and said, "I thought you wanted to talk in private? Well come on!"

Oliver quickly followed her away from the others and up the stairs towards the girls' dormitories. Halfway up, they stopped and Katie walked over to a painting on the wall of a young girl in Gryffindor robes.

"Katie!" the girl screamed. "Now, boys!"

"Don't worry, Tash. We'll be fine. Catch the snitch," Katie replied.

The wall behind Tash slid open and Katie motioned Oliver to follow her into the room with her.

Once inside the door, it quickly slid shut. Katie said the command "lumos" and the room suddenly lit up. It consisted of two big sofas and a table in between them.

Katie sat down on the closest sofa and motioned for him to sit as well. Wordlessly, he sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry, Kate," he said quietly, looking at the ground. "I should've noticed."

Katie sighed and answered, "No, it's ok. I would've been so embarrassed if I thought you knew... although I'm sort of glad you know now."

"Ya, so is anything going to happen?" he asked.

"Do you want something to happen?"

Oliver looked up from the ground and into her eyes. They were a beautiful shade of blue. Studying the rest of her face, he realized how pretty she was. He always thought of Katie, Angelina, and Alicia as part of the team. He never looked at them in any other light and now he wished he hadn't.

"Ya, I want more to happen," Oliver told her and smiled.

Katie smiled back at him and threw her arms around him, hugging him harm.

"Thank you, Oliver."

"No, thank you, Katie. And if I'm ever so blind again, please tell me."

Katie laughed and pulled away from him, studying him as she had done a few minutes ago.

"Of course, Oliver," she replied, leaned foward, and kissed him.

This time, he kissed her back and for the second time that day, Oliver felt like he had achieved glorious victory.