Time Out from the World

Oliver had been away a lot recently. Playing quidditch for Puddlemere United always seemed to keep him away from home more than Katie would have liked. It was becoming increasingly lonely without him. Without his loud laugh. Without his terrible jokes. Without his warmth.

Their flat felt cold and dark without him. They had been together for two years now and just moved in together six months prior. And they only shared the flat for two months out of the six before he was off to play.

Katie loved that Oliver got to do what he loved for a living, but not the fact that he was gone for months at a time. Of course he sent her letters and fire-called her when he could.

Katie kept herself busy as much as she could. She took over for Madam Hooch after she retired. It kept her mind off of her boyfriend being in another country week after week. By being the flying instructor and quidditch referee reminded her of the days she used to be so young—only six years had passed since she was playing on the Gryffindor team—out of the field with her team. She had a crush on Oliver even then. She knew then that he'd go places.

And he did. They hadn't seen each other after he graduated, not until the war broke out fully three years later. They fought side-by-side. They made an incredible team. He watched her back and she watched his. After Voldermort was defeated, they spent a year getting to know each other before he finally asked her to be his girlfriend. He went back to playing professionally and Katie got offered Madam Hooch's job.

Things went smoothly until Oliver got moved up to first string and was told he would be away for several months during the season. That conversation was long and tearful. Katie would never begrudge him because he got to play internationally. She was happy that he was happy. Yes, it made her terribly sad that she wouldn't see him for months at a time, but she couldn't deny him anything he wanted. He asked her that night to move in with him and she accepted.

It had been a long day of teaching first years how to handle their brooms. It was almost disastrous. Two boys, Williams and Sage, almost collided head on. Thank Merlin Katie stopped them before either one could hit the other. Katie felt mentally and physically exhausted. She kicked off her trainers and let her blond hair out of its bun to trail down her back. She took off her robes and threw them on the couch.

When they didn't make the familiar whoosh, she looked up and saw Oliver Wood sitting on the couch with her black robe in his hands. Katie wasn't expecting him back yet. She stood completely still, her brown eyes trained on him. She felt if she moved, blinked, or even breathed he would disappear. So she didn't do all three, until her lungs and eyes burned from the disuse. She blinked quickly and let out a breath.

Oliver placed her robe down softly on the cushion next to him and stood up gracefully—Katie had no idea how a man of his stature could pull something like that off. He walked purposely over to her until they were a foot apart. They continued to stare at each other, brown eyes looking into brown eyes. Katie wanted to reach out touch his face, but her arm wouldn't move.

"I've missed you," he said in his familiar Scottish lilt.

"I've missed you, too," Katie said with longing. Her limbs finally seemed to unglue themselves and she reached out a shaking hand to cup his right cheek with her hand. "You need to shave."

He chuckled. "I do, but I figured that could wait. I wanted to see you."

Katie felt herself smile. "Merlin I've missed you," she said again as she closed the distance between them. She placed her face in the crook of his neck and inhaled his tangy scent. She missed the feel of his skin on hers. She missed his scent. She just missed everything about him.

His hands came up to rest on her ribs and started to lightly stroke them with his finger tips. Katie placed her arms around his neck and kept her face buried there. She didn't want to leave this spot for the world. Oliver wound his arms around her waist and drew her to him.

He slowly started rocking them from side to side. Katie wrapped her arms tighter around his neck and looked up at his face. He was looking at her, his brown eyes bright. She smiled at him before she captured his lips in a sweet kiss. When she went to pull away, he took one hand off of her waist and held her head in place as he continued to kiss her, deepening the kiss. Katie could feel all the love and longing in that one kiss. She sighed into his mouth she felt herself relax.

He continued to sway them around the room as he placed kisses all over her face and mouth.

"Are we dancing?" Katie asked after another passionate kiss.

"I suppose we are," he laughed.

Katie had missed the sound. It made the flat seem more alive.

"There isn't any music though," she said as she joined in his laughter.

"It doesn't matter. If I want to dance with the love of my life with or without music, it doesn't matter. We make the rules," he told her as he gave her a smile. The one she missed. The one that always gave her butterflies.

Katie placed her head on his chest. She closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat. It was strong and a bit fast, but otherwise relaxing.

"How long are you staying?" Katie asked hesitantly. She had to know how long this peace would last.

"I've taken a lot of time off. I won't be leaving you any time soon. Being away from you for the last four months killed me."

Katie smiled and squeezed him tighter. She'd have him a lot longer than she expected. She looked up at him again. "I love you and I'm glad you're home."

"I love you too and I'm happy I got to come home to you," he said as he captured her lips again.

Feeling him pressed completely against her warmed her considerably. The flat felt like it did before he had to leave. It felt like home again.

Author's Note: One of my (many) OTPs. So under appreciated. Hope you enjoyed it. :)