"Bloody Oliver!" Katie Bell muttered as she walked to the Quidditch Pitch. He'd rejected her last week because he was 'too busy with Quidditch to have a girlfriend or even think about them'. And what did he do? He told her today that he had a girlfriend, who he'd out the day before. Talk about rubbing it in. "The Bloody nerve of that boy", she growled angrily to herself as she stomped to the changing rooms.

It then all escalated to a full blown yelling match between the two - in front of the whole Gryffindor house. She was so embarrassed and humiliated. She couldn't believe he'd chosen a skinny, leggy blonde who didn't know a thing about his beloved Quidditch. She'd always thought he'd go for the sporty kind of girl and recently she'd hoped it would be her.

And she thought she fitted what would've been a good girlfriend for him: she loved Quidditch, she was enthusiastic (but not obsessive like he could be), she was sporty…

'Am I really that bad?' she thought sadly. Honestly, Katie was beautiful. But it wasn't the obvious, right-in-your-face beauty. Only if you looked close enough could you see her true beauty. She was about 5ft4 with golden blonde hair and green eyes. She had a more than ample chest, hips and a waist. She wasn't unhealthily skinny, which seemed to be the fashion at the moment, something she detested. No, she was a naturally gorgeous girl but she didn't like to flaunt it.

She grabbed her broom for her locker, took the quaffle from the box and headed out to the pitch to let her anger out in the best way she knew how. She flew many laps around the pitch, doing some flips and a few complicated twists and turns.

After a while, she got bored of it and instead threw the quaffle through the hoops, practicing the plays they'd been working on in training that week. She desperately wanted to feel numb and the cold air hitting her face was doing exactly that. It was a welcome change from the harshness that feeling could bring. She wished it could always be like this, the world in her hand as she flew through the skies.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a bludger hit her hard in the stomach. Winded, she tried to grasp the handle of her broom but the pain had clouded her senses and she couldn't get hold of it again. Panicking, she tried again and weakly smiles as she felt the wood between her fingers. She never saw the bludger come towards her for a second time.

She flew off her broom with her weak, one-handed grip and went hurtling towards the ground. Her scream was lost in the vicious, Scottish winds as all that went through her mind was that she was going to die, and all because of bloody Oliver Wood.

*****

Adrian Pucey, Marcus Flint and Terence Higgs were all heading towards the Quidditch Pitch for a bit of late night practice.

"Yeah, Wood won't have his team there. I heard he got himself some ditz of a girl so he's abandoned it for the night," Marcus told the two boys gleefully.

"Who's the girl?" Terence asked.

"Chloe Harris," Adrian said, grinning at him. He grinned back.

"Ah, little Chloe eh? Hope he has fun with her. There's nothing up there," he said, tapping his head.

"What about that blonde chaser?: Marcus asked, smirking at Adrian.

"Bell."

"Yeah, he thought those two were shacking up," Terence teased, winding Adrian up.

"He was too thick to notice her. Stupid git," he said angrily. It was common knowledge to his two friends that Adrian had had a thing for Katie for over a year.

They sped up as they arrived at the stadium. They headed straight for their locker room and changed into their training gear. They were all laughing as they walked out onto the pitch but it died down as they spotted a lone figure flying near the hoops.

"It's Bell," Marcus said, narrowing his eyes to see who it was.

"You still wanna practice?" Terence asked, glancing at Adrian.

"Yeah, we've already changed so there's no point in completely wasting our time." Marcus and Terence grinned at each other. They both knew that wasn't the reason but were clever enough not to mention it.

They looked up, getting ready to mount their brooms, when they saw a bludger flying into the girl up above them. Unknowingly they all let out a sigh of relief when she finally managed to take control of the broom again. But that soon turned into horror as she was hit once more and went flying off her broom to the ground.

"Katie!" Adrian jumped onto his broom and took off, flying as fast as he possibly could to get to her in time.

*****

She closed her eyes, so she couldn't see how far she was from the ground…from death. She couldn't believe that at the age of 17, she was going to die. It was Oliver's fault. Pain in her stomach made her unwillingly open her eyes. She couldn't breathe as she saw the ground getting closer and closer.

And then someone was holding her tightly to them. She clung to them, desperately trying to get some air into her lungs. She whimpered at the stabbing pains in her stomach and chest. Someone gently lifted her off the broom with them and set her on the ground. She looked up into the face of Adrian Pucey.

*****

Adrian carefully set her down on the ground, supporting her as she swayed. He was so relieved he'd caught her in time.

"Hey, you ok?" he asked softly.

She shook her head. "I…I can't breathe!" she gasped. She fell weakly to her knees, clutching her chest.

"Shit!" He quickly knelt down beside her. Marcus and Terence had reached them by now and were watching with concern as he gently took her face in his hands and softly caressed her cheek with his thumb, wiping her tears away.

"Come on, Katie. Just breather. Take deep breaths." His other hand was on her back, slowly rubbing it. "Please, Katie," he whispered, "don't leave me now."

Slowly, her breathing went back to normal and she was finally able to take in everything that had happened. She looked at Adrian and in that moment, she looked so innocent and vulnerable that his heart constricted. Underneath her tough exterior was still a person who was vulnerable and needed help and protection and comfort.

Tears fell steadily from her eyes as she realised that she could've died. He wrapped his arms around her in comfort and she buried her head in his shoulders as she cried. After a few minutes, she gently pulled away. He stood up, then helped her up as well but was extremely startled when she cried out in pain.

"What's wrong?" Marcus asked kindly.

"It just hurts, that's all. No biggie," she lied. They didn't fall for it.

"I don't believe that for one second Katie. Let me have a look."

"Pucey, I'm fine."

"You're obviously not."

"But-"

"No buts. Let me see."

She sighed heavily. "Fine, if you have to."

He stepped forward and carefully rolled her top up to just beneath her breasts. All three Slytherins winced at the amount of bruising that had already developed on her stomach.

"Is there any more?"

"Yeah, on my back from the second hit. That's why I couldn't breathe."

"Well, you need to go to the hospital wing." Adrian gently steered her towards the castle, with Terence and Marcus by his side.

"Why are you helping me?" Katie asked, confused at their, especially Adrian's, behaviour.

"You can barely stand, let alone walk to hospital wing by yourself," Adrian said.

"I thought you hated me," she said softly.

"No!" he cried out, "I mean, no I don't hate you."

"But you've always ignored me and treated like crap when we're playing Quidditch. I just don't get it."

"I'm sorry for all of that," he sighed. "It's just the way guys can be when…" He trailed off, unable to tell her how he felt.

"When what?" She was so confused. What was he getting at?

He stopped and turned towards her, looking straight into her beautiful eyes.

"When they really like a girl," he told her quietly, glad that Terence and Marcus were in front of them so they couldn't hear the rejection he was about to receive.

"You like me?" Katie whispered.

"Yes, so bloody much."

"But why?"

"What do you mean?"

"Because I'm me!" she cried. "I'm nothing like the girls you date. I'm not pretty, I'm not fussed about make-up and short skirts and gossip. I'm nothing compared to those girls!"

Adrian stood there, gob smacked. How could she think that? It was absurd.

"Don't you see Katie?"

"See what?" she demanded, angry at herself for letting her insecurities be heard by Adrian Pucey of all people.

He chuckled lightly. "You're beautiful. You're eyes are like the colour of a sea-green ocean which light up like stars whenever you smile. You don't need all that make-up because you're gorgeous without it. You don't flaunt what you have so whenever you do, it's simply amazing."

"Adrian?"

"Yeah?" He looked at his feet, embarrassed at his outburst.

"Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me."

He glanced up at her. She was looking at him, her eyes showing her every emotion, and he was overwhelmed by how amazing she really was.

"So do you wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?"

She grinned at him. "I'd love to."

With his cocky, adorable smile back on his face, he picked her up with ease, and began to walk back to the castle with her cradled in his arms.

"Let's get you better then since we're going on our first date tomorrow."

She laughed. "Shall I wear my make-up?" she joked.

"Nope, no make-up needed. But a mini-skirt wouldn't be too bad, maybe only a little punishment for the bad girl."

"Hmmm, I love being a naughty girl," she purred in his ear.

"Is this a secret personality that you have?" he grinned.

"You really have no idea what you've let yourself in for Adrian."

Yet again he grinned. "We really should get you to the infirmary fast. You're making me think very bad things."

"I've only just begun."

He smirked at her seductively. "Oh I hope so."

She smiled softly at him, then buried her head in his neck, happy being in his arms. She laughed at the irony of it all, because of one Quidditch Captain, she'd fallen into the arms of another. As Adrian kissed her forehead lovingly, she realised she had only Oliver to thank for this.