More Than Friends

It was 10:30, and Lilly had not yet returned from her date with Oliver. Katie had almost given up and was going to bed when someone knocked quietly on her door.

"Come in," Katie said. Entering the messy room was her good mate and fellow Quidditch star, Angelina Johnson. She carefully picked her way across the mess and sat down on Lilly's bed.

"Hey!" Katie greeted her cheerfully, glad of some company.

"Hey Katie," Angelina greeted.

"How's it going?"

"Katie, I need to ask you something about Oliver."

"Oh. Right." Katie wasn't keen on pursuing this subject at that very moment, and her expression showed it.

"Is...there, um, something, ah--"

"Go on, ask!" Katie was quite annoyed at this point.

"Is... is something wrong... between you and Oliver?" Angelina sputtered, surprised at Katie's anxiety.

"I don't know," Katie whispered, on the verge of tears, "it's confusing, really. Some moments he's smiles and butterflies and thenext he's dodgy as ever."

"Oh,"said Angelina. "Well if you want my take, I'd say that Lilly is telling lies about you. I mean, we BOTH know that she's one of the biggest prats at Hogwarts, and that she doesn't really deserve Oliver." Angelina sighed, hoping Katie wouldn't cry. She hated it when Katie cried, for she not only cried when it was justifiable, she cried with such an intense passion that was actually quite frightening.

"What? Why? Why would Lilly do that? I know she's not very nice to me or anyone else really, but why would she lie to Oliver about me? She... she knows we're just good mates!" Katie said angrily.

"Katie? Lilly sees you as a threat. You and Oliver are so close and she thinks you'll steal him from her. You wouldn't, though, I know, because you don't fancy Oliver, he's just your mate! Right?" Silence.

"Right?" Angelina knew things were worse than she had expected.

"Angelina? I've been meaning to tell you this, but, oh... I'm so stupid... well, I, um, fancy Oliver... much more than a mate!" Now it was Angelina's turn to be silent.

"Oh, oh... Katie," she said quietly, "you know what it's like with Oliver! Only almost every girl in Hogwarts fancies him at one time or another. It'll pass soon enough." Angelina watched Katie closely, to see if she was crying silently.

"No, Angelina! It won't pass! It won't pass because, because I fancy him! I... I lovehim! I AM IN LOVE WITH MY BEST MATE!" Katie yelled, tears streaming down her face.

She lay down on her bed and pulled the covers over her head. Angelina could hear her sobbing and decided to leave, quietly shutting the door behind her. After a little while, Katie looked at the clock. It read 11:30 PM. Lilly still wasn't back and Katie couldn't sleep. Sighing she rolled over and outof bed. She went over to her wardrobe and pulled her running shorts and a top out. Pulling them on, she decided to go for a run around the grounds, which was what she did when she couldn't sleep.

Katie liked the Hogwarts grounds at night, because they were so still, and there was no one to bother her. It was after lights out, but Professor McGonagall was on watch tonight, and in Katie's first week at Hogwarts, she had explained her dilemma. There was now an unspoken agreement between the teacher and the student, that on Monday and Thursday nights, if Katie couldn't sleep, she would be allowed to go for a jog on the grounds, without being punished if she was caught. Katie laced up her runners and headedoff.

~*~

It was near one in the morningwhen Katie returned from her run. In the Gryffindor common room, she found Oliver, gazing at the fire, alone.

"Oliver Wood! Awake at this hour? You do get up early, don't you?" Katie asked.

"I'm still awake from a tiresome day, silly," came Oliver's glum reply.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Lilly got hacked off at me and ran off. Curious, don't you think? I think she's gone to bed now."

"Aw, Poor Oliver," Katie said, walking over and standing behind the chair he sat in. She put her hands on his shoulders and began to rub them.

"Good Heavens, Oliver! You're as tense as a rock!"

"I'm always tense, Katie," came the steady reply

Katie sighed and sat down in the chair across from Oliver. Taking his hand and looking calmly into his eyes she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Everything." Katie raised her eyebrows. "Everything?"

"Well, almost everything."

The kettle finished boiling and Katie dropped Oliver's hand and stood up. She ruffled his hair. "Don'tworry, everything will look better in the morning"

"We'll see," came the sad reply. Though tired, Katie sat with Oliver, and watched with him. She wasn't going to desert her best mate when he was down. She would never leave him.