If You Only Knew

Chapter 1

Katie Bell and Oliver Wood had always been friends. Always. Ever since Katie, or Kats as Oliver liked to call her, moved next door to "Ollie" they had been almost inseparable.

*Flashback*

It was an amazing sight. When the Woods told Oliver (or Ollie, a name he hated even at 2 years old) that they would be going next door to visit the newest addition to the neighborhood, the Bell family, little Ollie couldn't stay still. This unnerved his parents; even in the wizarding world telling a 2-year-old boy he was going to have to behave and not run around and play would, not cause him to resemble a Mexican jumping bean. Mentioning there was a girl he had to be nice to would multiply this effect tenfold.

"Ollie, baby, why are you so excited?" his mother asked tentatively.

Oliver stopped his crazy movements for a moment to answer almost automatically, "Don't call me Ollie!" He paused, contemplating his answer. "It's her!" he said decisively. "Itsheritsheritsheritsheritsher..."

"It's who hunny?"

All she got in reply was a never-ending chorus of, "Itsheritsheritsher.."

"Oh just perfect," said Oliver's father. "Now he'll never settle down."

"Ollie, baby, you have to calm down. We all have to be really quiet and good so we make a good impression." His mother watched and waited to see his reaction.

Oliver immediately stopped everything, walked calmly out of the house to the Bell's front door, and waited for his parents to catch up. When his father reached for the doorbell he cried out, "NO!"

"What's wrong baby?"

"The doorbell's loud! That would be rude!" Oliver looked distressed. He went to the door and knocked gently, almost inaudibly.

"Hello! Come on . . ." Mrs. Bell trailed off as she watched Oliver shoot through the house like a rocket, searching for the girl he had heard all about.

As soon as Oliver hit the threshold of Katie's room, he stopped running, walked calmly(again), and just looked at her.

She was playing tea party with her dollies, like an angel, but looked up just seconds after Oliver's arrival.

When the adults arrived just moments later, they saw something that shocked and awes them. Katie and Oliver had stepped closer together, so close that Katie's nose was a scant inch away from Oliver's. They were staring at each other, not as if they were trying to discern who this new person in their lives was, but as if they were reading each other's souls. They were staring into each other's eyes, staring so deeply they couldn't possibly still be in that room.

(a/n : Evil ol' me wanted to end the chapter here, but one of my beta's convinced me to keep goin. All hail the great and mighty Sara. Hehe *author hands Sara a picture of James Marsters (still frame from Angel Season 5 Episode 4) while carefully hiding her copy of Sean Biggerstaff* O:-P )

"Oliver . . . Oliver . . ."

"Katie . . . Katie . . ."

Both sets of parents tried in vain to recapture the attention of their children. Promises of candy, special trips, nothing could shake the intensity of that stare. You could almost feel the magic flowing between the toddlers. In fact the air held a shimmer, and colors danced around the room. Fed up, and a little bit frightened, Oliver's dad spun him around so that he faced away from Katie. The air instantly quieted, but Katie did just the opposite. She screamed like you wouldn't believe, LOUD and long.

Oliver blinked rapidly a few times and rubbed his eyes, acting like he had just awoken from a deep sleep. He shook his head and looked dazedly around the room before registering the distressed cries.

"LEMME SEE HER!" he screamed.

"Hush Oliver," his mother half comforted, half scolded. "Let her mum take care of her." She blocked him from seeing Katie, stepping between them like a human shield, keeping them from looking at the stranger they had just "met."

But no amount of consoling could quiet Katie. "LEMME SEE HER!!! LEMMESEEHERLEMMESEEHERLEMMESEEHER. . ." Oliver's never-ending chorus combined with Katie's constant wails slowly grated on Katie's father's nerves.

"Just let him see her! What harm could it do?"

Slowly, tentatively, against the loud protests of Oliver's parents, Oliver's mom stepped away from the toddlers, watching intently to see what would happen next.