Disclaimer: However much I might wish I did, unfortunately I do not own any of these characters… They all belong to JKR… (mutters darkly under breath)

Red – The Senses

Touch Monday

"Why red?" Oliver was sitting at the Gryffindor table trying to eat his increasingly growing cold toast. As you may have guessed, he wasn't getting very far. The Weasley twins were impeding his progress. He had called them over to remind them that Gryffindor was having an extra quidditch practise on Wednesday in preparation for the match against Slytherin on Thursday.

"If you two forget or turn up late, I shall see red!" Oliver had glared at them.

Fred's eyebrows sprung up, "Why red?" he asked with an expression of utmost innocence on his face.

George leaned inwards with a smirk, "Is it your favourite colour?"

Oliver had rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. Abandoning his toast, he stood up to tower over the twins, "It means I'll be very angry." The twins feigned shock as Oliver stalked out the hall, muttering himself. As he made his way to the Gryffindor common room to collect his books, he smelled Dungbombs, passed Professor Binns' classroom. He chucked to himself, now understanding why Fred and George seemed pleased with themselves. His smile faded as he realised that seventh years had History of Magic next.

Coming back out the portrait hole, Oliver was nearly squashed by a gaggle of first years following three students, two of them, the youngest Weasley and a brunette, bickering forcefully with each other as the third was trying unsuccessfully to instil peace. It seemed the novelty of having Harry Potter at Hogwarts had not yet worn off. Oliver pushed his way through the crowd and caught up with the three first years.

"Hey Harry!" They halted and the front of the group behind Oliver nearly crashed into him. Oliver shooed the fan club away and they reluctantly left to go to their own lessons. "Ready for the first match of the year?" He turned back to Harry. The boy nodded and swallowed a bit nervously. "Excellent. There's an extra practise on Wednesday at seven, so steer clear of detention."

"Sorry I'm late, Professor." Oliver shut the door hastily and sat in his usual seat. Professor Binns merely looked startled and then nodded, flicking over the page of his book and continuing his lecture on the Goblin War of 1339. Oliver took his books, parchment, quill and ink out in order to look as if he was doing something constructive, when in reality he was staring out the window at the falling leaves. It was still autumn, and the leaves tumbled from the trees in the breeze, landing on the ground in a collage of reds, pale yellows, a multitude of golds, their colours all magnified by the small drops of morning dew that still stuck at the tips.

While staring out the window, he noticed two blondes walk arm in arm across the window. Leanne pointed out a small robin pecking something on the windowsill. Following the trail of her friend's finger, Katie saw Oliver Wood, Gryffindor's sexy Scottish Quidditch Captain with his own fan club. Then she noticed the robin. It had a beautiful red breast that contrasted with its tiny beak and bobbed up and down as it continued its search on the windowsill.

He raised his hand and they both smiled at him. Leanne whispered something in Katie's ear and went to sit on the bench in plain view, but not exactly opposite him. As the robin flew off, Katie followed her friend and sat on the bench. She had a quill out, and it looked as if they were doing a quiz in a magazine.

The sight of one of his chasers, as he liked to call them, brought his mind back to quidditch. Not that he was possessive, you understand, he knew that the girls were human and he did not own them, but, well, they were his team after all. If he just tilted the window a little bit, he might be able to hear a snatch of their conversation. Unbeknownst to Oliver, Leanne had just shot him and then Katie a sly glance, before looking to the leaves scattered around on the ground. Before Oliver had poked the window subtly open enough to listen to them – his mind skirted around why he wanted to eavesdrop – Leanne had made a soft suggestion to Katie, then they had their wands out and were piling the leaves up in a heap before them.

Oliver groaned inwardly as to what he knew they were going to do. They were outside in a free period, the slight breeze making Katie's cheeks flush a bit, while he was stuck inside in a warm, stuffy classroom "listening" to Professor Binns as he droned on and on about the effects the Goblin War had on the wizarding society. He watched as Katie hurtled herself at the mound of colour and landed with a gleeful cry of mirth as the leaves rose up and floated back down on top of her. Leanne walked over to offer her a hand up, but that mischievous smile played around Katie's lips. He recognised it as the look she wore when she would fly up to the hoops behind him, the quaffle in her hands and feint right as she tossed the ball underneath him straight through the left hoop. As she clasped hands with her best friend, Katie grinned and she pulled Leanne down into the pile of leaves. The girls squealed with laughter as they played about in the leaves as though they were still in primary school. Oliver sighed enviously and closed the window after noticing the girls at the desk in front of him shiver slightly. His gaze went back to Katie and Leanne now and then as he began to draw up plans for tactics to win the Cup.

As he was finishing his new chaser formation, he felt he was being watched and looked up to find the girls tapping their toes at him and looking expectantly at him. He let out a laugh and turned it hastily into a cough.

"Is there a problem?" Professor Binns asked.

"No, Sir." He replied. Professor Binns sighed and returned to the lesson. Once, he thought, Just once, when I say that, somebody would have a problem. It's been such a long time since a student was paying attention enough to ask a proper question…

Oliver turned back to the girls and the corners of his mouth twitched. They had re-piled the leaves tauntingly and mock bowed at him offering the leaves behind them. He raised an eyebrow, his mouth turning into a full smile as he waved his quill at them as if threatening them. He watched as they laughed at him and then skipped back to the castle as the bell rang. He rose up from his seat and packed his books back into his bag, eyeing the leaves out the window. No you can't. He thought to himself, You're in seventh year, what if somebody saw you? His mind shifted uncomfortably back to the time when Percy Weasley had nearly caught him bouncing up and down on his bed after he had made it onto the Gryffindor quidditch team. Percy wouldn't have understood. He is not destined to be a professional quidditch player.

He sought out Angelina and Alicia during lunch to tell them about the extra practise. As he walked up to them, he hoped that Katie wasn't with them – he refused to admit this to himself as he didn't want to imagine why he hoped he could catch Katie on her own later. He saw Angelina next to Fred opposite Alicia next to George laughing about nearly falling off the benches. Even my team is having more fun than I am.

Throughout the rest of the day Oliver searched the crowds for a glimpse of his third chaser, the taunting mound of leaves nagging him at the back of his mind. By the end of the day he still hadn't seen her and was returning to the Gryffindor common room resigned to watching the Weasley twins juggle butterbeer bottles all night, when he crossed the courtyard. The leaves were miraculously still heaped together; the first years obviously hadn't found them yet. Oliver glanced upwards and around him. Most of the school was safely tucked away in their common rooms, and those in empty classrooms weren't going to be paying any attention to the view from the window. Why shouldn't he? With another quick check to see that no one was behind him, Oliver threw himself into the leaves, whooping with joy. He tossed around, forgetting himself for a moment as he absorbed the luxury of the wind-dried leaves that crunched and crackled beneath him as more flirtatious red leaves swooped and fluttered above him.

His attention was caught by another flash of red, propped up by the bench. He straightened himself up, still chuckling from the leaves and went over to pick up the lost item. It was a silky red shoulder bag that sparkled with fake diamonds around the rim. It sported a swirly black central pattern surrounded by black sequins that was almost oriental. Oh dear, I recognise this bag. Sure enough, when he checked for the name label inside the bag, there it was, in black swirly writing: Katie Bell.

When Oliver returned after dinner to the Gryffindor common room, he found, as he had predicted, Gred and Forge, No, wait I mean Fred and George, in the middle of the common room, juggling bottles with a fan club clustered around them. Katie was sitting round the fire, observing Angelina and Alicia as they were hoisted onto the table with Fred and George, with a half exasperated; half amused look on her face. He dashed up the stairs to his dormitory and returned a couple of minutes and found her just about to go up the girls' staircase.

"Katie!" She turned round and smiled at him, "I found your bag when I went to – uh – when I crossed the courtyard." He handed her bag to her and she smirked as she took it form him.

"What?" He asked slightly irritated - Professor McGonagall had also found something funny when he walked by her on his way to the common room.

"Did you have fun outside?" She pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle. He raised an eyebrow at her wondering how she could have seen him jumping in the leaves when he found her settled in the common room. Why does it matter to me that Katie might have seen me mucking about in a pile of leaves anyway? She reached up and presented him with a ruby leaf. "You had a leaf sticking up out of your hair." She smirked as she skipped up the stairs, trying not to laugh at him.

Later that night, Oliver lay in his bed contemplating the day, absentmindedly twirling a leaf through his fingers. Through the moonlight seeping between the gap in his hangings, the leaf looked as though it had a sliver of silver slinking across the red. He thought about red. How red felt: the smooth upper surface of the leaf, the trail of the vessels on the underside of the leaf contrasting with the silky softness of Katie's bag. He thought how he felt about red; how red was disposed to create anger, as he had demonstrated to the twins, while it had a softer, fun loving feel to it as well.

Yes, he murmured to himself as he fell asleep, red feels rather nice.

Hmm…Oliver Wood – Deep Thinker – the possibilities are endless.

Reviews would be appreciated xXx