So, here's the Oliver POV story that I promised. It originally started out as a oneshot, but it kind of grew. A lot. I just found him so interesting to write and I had to continue. It deals with Oliver and Katie's relationship starting from the day they meet in a series of drabbles. Enjoy.

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"Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within." –James Baldwin

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NEVER STOOD A CHANCE

Fifth Year

Mother of Merlin, save me!

How is it even possible that all of the talent Gryffindor House formerly possessed graduated with Charlie Weasley?

In some ways I was prepared for this—Charlie was an amazing Seeker and I didn't expect to be able to replace him adequately. But isn't there someone out there with at least half of his talent?

As Bobby Liepsing follows the snitch straight into a goal post, I get my answer. I clench my teeth in frustration and ignore the snickers of my teammates as I fly over to the group of assembled Seeker prospects.

I land lightly on my feet in front of them, Angelina and Alicia close behind. They probably think I'm about to strangle Liepsing. Sadly, they know me too well.

I resist the urge to yell and instead dismiss the remaining Gryffindors with a curt, "We'll let you know." As they file off the field in one direction, I head in the other.

"My first year as Captain and this is what I get," I mutter to myself. "How the hell did Charlie do this?"

"Aw, it's not that bad, Oliver," Alicia says from behind me. Angelina's laughter, however, cancels out her friend's previous statement.

"That's it!" I cry, aggravated. "I can't do this—I'm leaving!"

"No, no, Oliver, come back!" Angelina cries, calming her laughter to run after me. "You've still got to look at the Chasers. We need one of them too, remember?"

Of course I bloody well remember! How could I not remember us losing our Seeker and our best Chaser? Why me? Why this year?

"I can't do this tonight, Ange. Just send them back and I'll reschedule. We need to have a team meeting and it's getting late, anyway."

My two Chasers groan, but rush off to relay the news. As for me, I collapse on the ground right there where I'm standing. I guess we're just going to have the team meeting here, because I definitely don't have the energy to get up.

I watch in silence as the Chaser prospects drift off of the pitch. Although I didn't examine them thoroughly, just watching in warm-ups was enough. None of them is what I'm looking for. Maybe I'm just being too picky…

It's going to be a long year.

Angelina and Alicia make their way back over to me, but the Weasley twins are not with them. Resigning myself to be their permanent caretaker, I scan the pitch for my Beaters.

It doesn't take me long to spot them, flirting heavily with some girl on the sidelines. And she's clutching a broom. Great. They've already managed to eliminate one possible teammate. No way are there going to be any romantic interactions on my Quidditch team.

"FRED! GEORGE!" I yell. They turn to look at me but, obviously finding me unimportant, they turn back to the girl.

I can already tell that they are going to cause me some problems this year. They respected Charlie as Captain because he was their brother and they had to. In their eyes, I have no authority over them.

"What the hell do those two think they're doing?" I groan as Angelina and Alicia arrive next to me. Alicia just shrugs, but Angelina looks over curiously.

"Oh, that's just Katie," she answers. "I told her to meet us here after tryouts to throw the quaffle around a little, but I guess she came early. Fred can spot her from a mile away."

"That's not disturbing at all," I mutter as Angelina calls the girl over. Like lost puppies, the twins follow.

When she gets nearer I recognize her as a Gryffindor second year, although I've never had much contact with her. While she's much too young for me, I can see why Fred and George are entranced. Her wavy blonde hair hangs past her shoulders and I can see her vibrant green eyes even from a distance. She's undeniably going to break some poor bloke's heart one day.

But why the hell does she have to be on my pitch? Now?

"Oliver, mate, can we hurry this up, please?" Fred asks as soon as he's close enough. "I have a date with Katie, here."

"You do not!" the girl defends herself. "Sorry," she says to me. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

Although I want to get mad, I can't. "It's fine," I mutter. "This isn't important anyway. I'll reschedule the tryouts and we'll do this again next week."

Angelina, Alicia, Fred, and George look at me with wide eyes.

"What?" I demand.

"That's it?" Fred asks after a brief pause. "No long spiel about how this Seeker-thing is somehow our fault?"

"You're not even going to yell at us for inviting Katie?" George adds.

"You didn't invite Katie—I did!" Angelina retorts.

"So you weren't planning on trying out?" I ask, turning to the girl.

"Oh, no," she says, doing a double take when she realizes I'm talking to her. "I'm not really into organized sports. I just play for fun."

"Well, are you any good?" I ask. I see all four of my teammates roll their eyes.

"Oliver, she's just here to have some fun," Alicia says, exasperated.

"You're welcome to stay if you want," George adds. "It'll make the teams even." Although my typical answer would be no, something keeps me there.

"Fine. I'll play." The shocked looks on my teammate's faces don't escape my notice, but I choose to ignore them as I kick off the ground. Katie's the first to follow me into the air and the others follow suit. "So, how are we splitting up the teams?" I ask joyfully as the wind whips my face. Nothing is better than this.

"Girls against guys," Alicia says immediately.

"Uh…that's not fair," I argue. "You and Angelina both play Chaser. We need to even out the talent."

"Well then how do you propose we do this, O Captain, My Captain," Fred laughs.

Completely comfortable with taking control, I split us into two teams: Fred, Alicia, and Katie against Angelina, George, and me. Fred and I take the goal posts as the other four move to the center of the pitch.

In my opinion, there's no way we can't win. Fred doesn't know how to play Keeper and Katie's not even on the team. Plus, Angelina's our best Chaser. Although I made it seem like the talent was evenly distributed, I gave my own team the advantage.

I'm not going to lie. I like winning. Even if it is "just for fun."

Within seconds of the quaffle being released, I realize my mistake. I'd underestimated the talent of Katie Bell—the teams were better matched than I anticipated.

As I'd expected, Fred was hopeless in the goal. This hardly seemed to matter, however, because Katie and Alicia worked so well together that Angelina's attempts to score were easily evaded. George was no help at all.

Although Alicia's a good Chaser, I'm slightly better as a Keeper. Plus, since I'm her Captain I've been watching her play for weeks. It's become relatively easy to anticipate her every move. Katie, however, is unpredictable. They soon realize my disadvantage and begin passing the quaffle to her more and more often.

I never stood a chance.

The six of us land several hours later, the score embarrassingly favored towards Katie's team. And the thing it that I don't really mind. Because I've found my Chaser and I'm not taking no for an answer.

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I'll try to update this story every few days. It shouldn't be too hard since I already have it written. I've just got to find the time to type it up. For those of you who have read Love and Quidditch/Love and War, it isn't compatible with those stories. Sorry. But I still like it.

Next chapter:

"Hey, I've got an idea! What if you were my first kiss?" -Katie to Oliver

Review, please :D