Word vomit oneshot. KBOW.

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine... duh.

I knew it was her at first because of how she stood, sliding back behind the other girls with that extra effort to go unnoticed. But how anyone could miss her was a mystery to me. She was beautiful in that scarlet dress. The way her endless blue eyes flicked around the Great Hall, missing nothing.

She was every bit as Katie Bell as ever, even in a skirt. Especially in a skirt. I struggled to breathe, I was frozen as if I was under a full-body bind. And then her gaze rested on me. I gave her a half-grin and she rolled those eyes at me.

"Ollie!" a voice brought me back to earth. George Weasley elbowed me in the neck as he squeezed between tables, "You cheeky bastard! I wondered where you ran off to."

"Probably spiking the punch," Fred winked at me, pulling an empty bottle of firewhiskey from his dress robe pocket.

As they sauntered off I let out a gruff warning, "Don't do anything too stupid! Nothing that could ban you from playing!"

Of course they didn't hear me. I sighed and sank onto a red-cushioned chair, wrapped in solitude.

"Tired already?"

I sat up quickly, banging my knee against the leg of the table and swearing.

Katie Bell stood before me. She let out a quiet laugh, "Don't worry, Captain, I won't tell."

"Hey Kates," I said casually, but my heart was clenching uncomfortably in my chest, "How are you?"

She shrugged, "I'm not the biggest fan of large social gatherings."

I nodded in understanding. I tried not to stare at the way her hair tumbled effortlessly over her exposed shoulders.

"Are you going through your training plans, Oliver?" She grinned at me, the tiny crinkles at the edge of her eyes making my breath catch.

"Yeah," I let out at last. Merlin, I felt warm, "Yeah that's it."

She raised an eyebrow in question.

"Do you want to dance?" I asked, the question tumbling out of my mouth before I could remember that she was my star chaser, that I was two years older than she was. That she was out of my league.

But she grinned brilliantly, taking my hand in hers, "Yes, Captain, I'd like that."

And then she was in my arms, a flutter of scarlet, all agile grace and strong against my chest. My heart was everywhere she touched me, from where our chests grazed to where our fingers entwined. We swayed to the lilting music.

And she looked down again, a secret smile tugging on her lips. Merlin.

"What?" She glanced up quickly.

"Merlin," I repeated, "Merlin, you're beautiful."

She rolled her eyes, "Captain, you've gone soft." But her eyes radiated with warmth, and she gave my fingers a gentle squeeze of thanks.

The song was ending. I could feel it wind down like a muggle toy. She didn't step away, even as the last chords resolved.

"Katie," I started, but I didn't have anything to say.

She looked up at me in that quiet way of hers, a knowing glint in her sapphire eyes. Then she stood on her tiptoes and rested her cool rosepetal lips on my cheek.

I stood there, frozen on the dancefloor as she floated away in that scarlet dress, cheek aflame.

Merlin, she was beautiful.

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