Life Down at the Quidditch Pitch

Chapter Eleven

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Oliver only knew the boy that Ginny was with by sight. He was a he was a fifth or sixth year Gryffindor, that much he knew. He'd seen him with Potter a couple of times. He shook his head, what was the boy's name?

"The two of you," he said, "What are you doing out of your dorm?"

Ginny was blushing bright red at this point and the boy she was with didn't look very happy to be caught either.

"Sorry Mr. Wood," the boy mumbled in what sounded like a very distinct Irish accent.

"You won't tell my brothers will you?" Ginny asked looking up at him. Oliver sighed.

"I won't say anything to them, but if I catch you again, than yes I will. Now off to the Tower," Oliver watched the two of them run up the stairs, and he silently hoped that they wouldn't stop along the way. He grudgingly made his way back to the Staff Room. All the teachers were there, he slipped into the only empty seat, between Professors Trelawney and Sinistra. He gave Dumbledore a quick smile, and readied himself for yet another boring meeting.

"Nice of you to join us Wood," Snape said snidely. Oliver looked over to see the man glaring at him, almost scared that he was about to take points from Gryffindor.

"Well, shall we begin?" Flitwick interrupted. Oliver silently thanked the man, and began to listen to the other professors like he actually cared whether or not the Slytherins could keep their silk sheets or if it was wise to switch to flannel for winter months. Then there was Flitwick's long winded rant about the conditions of the Ravenclaw common room, there seemed to be not nearly enough books in there. Then Sprout went on about the Hufflepuff Quidditch team needing more hours than the other houses down at the Pitch. Oilver sighed. Didn't they have anything important to talk about, like perhaps anything that would matter in the long run?

"Well now that we have the house trifles...er out in the open," Dumbledore began. "There have been more attacks...Scotland area." Oliver looked up from the spot on his desk that he'd been staring at. "We think that he's aiming for Hogsmeade, however there are wards up. There was an attack last night, in the highlands, approximately fifty kilometers from Hogsmeade."

"Yes, but the students aren't allowed into Hogsmeade," Madame Pince said.

"Hogsmeade, my dear Madame, would be a huge victory for Voldemort," Dumbledore said sagely. "Need I remind any of you of the great Takeover of 1977. Severus was a student here at the time." Dumbledore sighed. "Hogsmeade was taken then and Hogwart's was almost taken. That must never happen again." Oliver didn't have much to say actually. He'd been born in 1976; he'd barely been one when it had occurred.

"There will be a Prefect's meeting tomorrow; I have an appointment with the Head Boy and Girl in the morning. Are there any more items of business?"

To Oliver's glee no one said anything.

He stood up to leave the Staff room, hoping that he could make a quick exit, but he was stopped by McGonagall on his way out. He wanted to get back to his quarters so that he could shower and then go to bed. He was rather tired.

"Wood," she said.

"Yes," he replied, trying to not sound too impatient.

"Would you mind stopping by Gryffindor Tower this evening? I want to make sure that everyone is showing proper behavior," she said. "But I have a rather large load of Transfiguration essays to mark."

"Yes," Oliver replied, forgetting that he was still smeared with mud as he made his way up to the Tower.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

"C'mon Katie, its time to be one with your inner Gryffindor," Fred teased as she tried to make her way out of the tower and to the toilet.

"Since when does the Sorting Hat talk about Gryffindors loving to party, I thought that we were just supposed to be brave, " Katie replied.

"C'mon don't be a bloody wet blanket," Fred replied.

"My pants are going to be wet if you don't let me go," Katie replied. "I've got to use the loo."

Fred tried to argue again, but Katie slipped out of the Portrait Hole before he could get too out of hand. She headed towards the downstairs toilet, when she was nearly knocked over by someone coming up the steps. It was Oliver and he was still dirty.

"Sorry Kate," he said, when he looked into her eyes, she felt herself blush, and his cheeks were turning pink as well.

"It's okay," she replied, feeling her heart rate speed up. She swallowed hard, deciding that it would be best to go to the toilet now. She wasn't too trusting of the hormones that had been released by Oliver's kiss. She swept passed him, deciding that running, although? it was a good option, might make her look a bit mad.

"Where are you going?" Oliver asked.

"To the loos," Katie replied, confused. "Were you planning on joining me perhaps?"

"Actually, yes," he replied.

"Oliver, I'm going to a girl's toilet," Katie told him like he was mad.

"You're not supposed to be out on your own," Oliver replied. "I better come with you that is unless you want to run into Snape alone."

Katie sulked. She really didn't want to be alone with Oliver, not this soon after the kiss. She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about him, and she didn't want whatever she felt to be exploited by his proximity?. He was giving her a look. She wanted to hit her head on the staircase banister, she knew he was coming with whether she liked it or not.

"Fine, fine, let's go to the toilet."

They were silent until they reached the fifth floor. Then Oliver said something that surprised her.

"Kate, I'm sorry for kissing you."

"What?" Katie asked. She stopped in her tracks and cocked her head so that she could look at him.

"You're sorry?" Katie wasn't sure if she was upset, confused, or happy with him apologizing. The kiss had felt so...Get with it Bell, Katie scolded herself. It was just a heat of the moment thing, nothing more.

"I'm a teacher here, and kissing you was wrong, I'm sorry, very sorry." 'Notice he didn't say that he didn't mean to kiss you her mind noted?. She told it to shut up.

"Can you forgive me?"

She looked up at him. "I can't."

Oliver looked crestfallen.

" Because I'm not sure exactly how I felt about it." Oliver didn't say anything; he looked down at the ground.

"Can I ask you a question?" Oliver looked up at her and nodded; Katie wasn't sure when she'd seen his eyes so honest.

"Why did you kiss me?" She didn't need him to say anything for her to know the answer. His eyes were so candid?, so readable, it scared her. She stepped back, clutching the rail.

"Because I wanted to." She looked at him again. There was so much more that he wasn't saying.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Katie slipped into her flannel pajamas. She had lied to everyone in the common room, telling them that she wasn't feeling well. She crawled into bed and curled up, pulling her linens up almost all the way up to her chin. She closed her eyes, remembering the kiss from that afternoon. She remembered how for such a surprising kiss, it was a little shy at the same time, the way he kissed her it was almost like he wasn't sure of himself. She remembered his fingers against her face, moving the unruly strands from her face.

Then she remembered the way that he looked earlier. So vulnerable, a look she would have least expected from him. When they'd played Quidditch, he'd looked anything but vulnerable. He looked determined, strong, and capable. Everything she'd seen in his eyes today was the opposite.

She rolled over, punching her pillow. Why did things have to be so complicated? First she lost her mum, then her dad attempted to steal the twins from them, then she and Oliver became friends, and now she knew that Oliver felt more than friendship towards her. What exactly he felt, she wasn't sure, but there were more than platonic feelings there.

She was surprised that it scared her like this. When she'd been with George the year before, she'd never felt scared when he looked at her. But his eyes had never been quite as... real as Oliver's had been for those few brief moments.

She moved to her stomach. This was so frustrating. She hated being frustrated. She hated Oliver for making her like this. She hated herself for letting him make her this way. She punched her pillow again and flipped to her back.

Sleep is what she needed, sleep and Quidditch. Both made sense right now in a world that didn't. Her mum was dead, You-Know-Who was back, and Oliver Wood felt something towards her. Could life be any worse?

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Oliver threw his pants to the other side of the room. He was angry with himself. His jumper was next, leaving him only in a white t-shirt and boxers. He flung himself onto his bed, ready for sleep. Sleep would make the thoughts of Katie disappear. He untangled his blankets and pulled them over him.

He took a deep breath. Why did he have to show his emotions the way he did today? It was stupid and unfair, not to mention a really bad idea. Even though there was only two years age difference, there was that annoying fact that he was a teacher and she was a student. This was just another thing for him to mess up.

He remembered the way she felt, the way that she had opened her mouth so eagerly, like she had wanted to kiss him. There was no moment during the kiss where he'd felt her pushing away from him. Even when they'd stared at each other afterwards, there had been no animosity. Confusion, but no bad feelings between the two of them.

Then there was the odd scene on the staircase. He'd revealed too much to Katie, that he knew. She had looked scared; surely he didn't scare her?. Had his emotions been so strong?

He yawned, tired. He needed sleep. He wanted to go someplace where real life didn't get in the way. Where if he was lucky enough, there would be only one thing there, he wanted to dream. And he wanted to dream about Quidditch, nice safe comfortable Quidditch.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

"Think she's asleep?" Alicia asked.

"She's snoring," Angelina said. "That's usually a pretty big clue."

"What did the two of you talk about up here earlier?"

"Not much," Angelina replied. "Katie was just telling me about her stumble into the lake, nothing too important."

"That's why she ran up here in rush?"

"There was a water snake in her robes."

Alicia knew that Angelina was lying; she just wanted to know why. What was so important that the two of them couldn't trust Alicia? She was their best friend. She rolled over and closed her eyes; all she wanted was to be trusted. The three of them had shared everything until Alicia was made a Prefect their fifth year. Katie had once explained to her that because she was a Prefect she would feel bad about hiding something from Dumbledore. Basically they thought that she was the Roger Davies or Percy Weasley type Prefect. How wrong they were...

She still? shagged her boyfriend, copied direct quotes from her books on essays, and made fun of Snape just like the rest of them. Just because she had a stupid silver badge that said 'Prefect' didn't mean that she was Miss High and Mighty. In fact the only reason that she'd been made Prefect was not because of her grades, but because she'd had less detentions than Angelina and Katie. Her grades were on par with theirs, well maybe a bit better, but not enough to make a huge difference.

She was getting worried again, something that was not good. The next thing she'd be wondering about You-Know-Who, Harry, and whether or not Lee was in love with her.

She made herself be quiet and feel into a fitful sleep.

Waking up the next morning she was annoyed to see Katie and Angelina awake and alert. They were giggling about something, Katie was pulling her hair back, and Angelina was yawning, stretched out on her bed.

Alicia looked down at her feet. Maybe she was just being insecure, like Lee could be at times. She looked at her friends, smiling. What were they hiding?

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

"Excellent Quidditch practice," Angelina said walking back to the castle with Katie and Alicia.

"Yes, too bad I'll be sore tomorrow," Katie replied smiling. Angelina was glad to see Katie smiling for the first time in quite a few days, though Angelina also noticed that she hadn't said more than two words to Oliver and the same went for him.

"Do you guys hear that?" Alicia asked, following from behind. Alicia had been unnaturally quiet for the last few days.

"Hear what?" Angelina, realizing then what Alicia was talking about. There seemed to be giggling coming from the Quidditch Pitch.

"That," Alicia replied.

"Should we go see?" Katie asked, looking behind them at what was supposed to be an empty pitch; Oliver had left before them, Fred, George, Dean, and Harry before that.

"If there's someone out there, they'll be in trouble with Oliver," Alicia said.

"Not to mention Dumbledore," Katie added. They turned around and began walking back towards the pitch. All Angelina could make out was high-pitched laughing. Once they entered the pitch, Angelina was speechless. They had just walked into Katie's worst nightmare. Apparently Oliver's fan club was having a little meeting. As they walked towards the group, Angelina began making out conversation.

"...the Flying With series came out with Flying With Puddlemere..." a Ravenclaw girl said. She was sitting between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor girl, Angelina recognized the Gryffindor girl as being a sixth year.

"There are pictures of Oliver too!" the Gryffindor girl was squealing.

"I know, they are bloody brilliant," said the Slytherin. Angelina looked spotted more girls, a lot of Slytherins and Gryffindors with a few Ravenclaw and Hufflepuffs mixed in.

"Ooo, look!" the Gryffindor girl was smacking another Gryffindor on the arm. "Look at that picture! Oliver is so..."

"I know!" the other Gryffindor girl replied, squealing.

"Excuse me," Angelina said, interrupting the conversation. They weren't paying attention. "EXCUSE ME!" The girls stopped talking and glared daggers at her.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. The Gryffindor Chasers," the Slytherin girl said snidely.

"Wow, they've graced us with their presence," the Ravenclaw girl added, rather snottily.

"You girls aren't supposed to be out here unsupervised, your house Prefects should have made you aware of that," Alicia said, with her hands on her hips. "I know that in Gryffindor we've made that quite clear." Alicia was glaring at the Gryffindor girls now, who wouldn't quite look her in the eye.

"One would think that with everything that happened at the end of last term," Katie began, sounding more like Alicia than her normal self. "That it would be wise for them to exercise caution."

"Well, I highly doubt that mad Death Eaters are coming after us if that's what you're getting at," the Slytherin replied.

"Aww, look Callie, the big bad Chasers are trying to protect us." The Ravenclaw made a face. The girls giggled, with the exception of the Gryffindors who looked quite uncomfortable with the turn that the conversation had taken. Angelina rolled her eyes. Alicia tutted. Katie looked like she was ready to throw a punch; she hated the fan club more than anyone.

"Look, you guys just need to clear off the Pitch," Angelina said, feeling rather annoyed by this time. "Can't you go to the Astronomy Tower?"

"No Seamus Finnigan kicked us out," said the first Gryffindor. "He said that he had some mad red head to snog. I'm hoping it wasn't a Weasley boy."

"Ew," said the second Gryffindor. A third Gryffindor made a face.

Angelina was exasperated. "Can't you go to the Great Hall? You need to be off the pitch, it's beginning to get dark and it's a full moon."

"Check the lunar charts, full moon's next week," the Slytherin girl said.

"Besides it's not like Lupin's out here on the grounds, or Callie's be all over him," the third Gryffindor said, grinning.

"Well I think that I've heard a bit too much," Katie muttered.

Katie had tried to speak softly but apparently the girl heard her. "Look here Katie Bell, I don't know who you think you are, but I do know something." Callie the Slytherin, stood up, Angelina noticed the Prefect's badge that she was wearing now. "You're not Merlin's gift to everything, so just let us be. Besides we were just hanging around the Quidditch Pitch, not cursing Muggles."

Katie screwed up a face. Angelina waited for Hurricane Katie to explode and it did in memorable fashion.

"There was a real bloody good reason I didn't want you lot hanging around during practices! You distracted Oliver and you distracted the team! We had enough problems that year without you coming around and making it harder on us!" Katie's jaw was clenched. "Besides in case you hadn't noticed, Oliver wouldn't notice a girl unless she was holding a Quaffle."

'Or she's thrown it at his head,' Angelina mused.

There's a bit of a problem with him wanting to dream of Katie when moments before he thought that sleep would make the thoughts of her disappear. Maybe he should dream about Quidditch? Nice, safe, comfortable Quidditch...