A/N: So, this is my first attempt at writing Oliver/Katie. I'm pretty nervous about whether it turned out okay but I had so much fun writing it :)

This story is dedicated to Future Madam Pomfrey as part of the September Oneshot Exchange, and to Lara1221 as a prize for winning a competition of mine.

Also written for the 'You Picked Me' Competition on HPFC. (prompts and word count listed at the end).

I hope you enjoy reading it, my lovelies. And remember, I own nothing you recognise :)

Always A Chaser

It was second year, just after her first Quidditch match as part of her house team. She'd been sent to the Hospital Wing following a Bludger hit to the head half an hour into the game, and had been informed by Madam Pomfrey that her Captain was there to see her.

She remembered panicking, knowing how passionate and competitive he was about Quidditch. She thought he'd be disappointed in her not being evasive enough, and even half-convinced herself that he was here to tell her she was off the team.

What Oliver Wood did say to her that day was quite different. He commended her on continuing to play despite her injury, and admired her resilience, citing the time he was also hit with a Bludger in his first game but was knocked unconscious. He'd laughed at that, though she sensed some underlying annoyance there too.

"You really are a great Chaser, Katie," he'd said before departing. "Now rest up well; I want you back in action for practice next week."

"Aye aye, Captain," she giggled in reply, a faint blush tinting her cheeks.

He'd smiled too, and welcomed her back to the pitch a week later.

That was the beginning of their friendship.

As Katie grew older, she and Oliver grew closer. Angelina and Alicia were convinced there was something more to it; they weren't blind to the way Katie stole glances at him during practice, and the way his intense strategic lectures never seemed to make her as moody as everyone else, but she always shrugged it off with one excuse after another. They guessed it had something to do with the time Katie overheard Oliver telling Lee Jordan that he only saw her "in a little sister kind of way". That was almost two years ago, and although it crushed her, it was obvious that Katie's feelings were unwavering.

It pained Angelina and Alicia to see their friend in a situation like that, but Katie was a Chaser through and through, and it appeared that Oliver Wood was the goal hoop to her real life Quidditch Pitch...

Unfortunately, he seemed to be the Keeper guarding the hoops too. Or at least, he did at first.

When Katie turned fourteen, her fellow Chasers noticed a change in Oliver's behaviour. He would still brush off or ignore any signs of interest Katie cast his way, continually relegating her to the infamous 'friend zone', but Alicia definitely spotted him reciprocate her on occasion with stolen glances of his own. Despite the denial of both parties, Angelina and Alicia never missed an opportunity to push Katie and Oliver closer together, and it wasn't until Katie's fourth year that their efforts bore fruit.

"Good practice today, everyone." Oliver said in what he hoped was a cheery tone. His team was not convinced though; his expression completely contradicted his words.

"Merlin if that's a 'good practice' face, I dread to think what a 'bad practice' face is," Fred whispered to George.

"We probably wouldn't be alive to see it knowing what Wood's like," George whispered back.

"You two could benefit from putting a little more effort in," Oliver told the twins, his expression still cold. "Chasers: you were superb, though. Harry just keep doing what you're doing and we should be fine in our first match."

"More effort?!" The twins exchanged incredulous looks.

"Do you have any idea how long we were practicing for?" Fred said. "My bum's so sore, I -"

Oliver turned to him. "Gryffindor hasn't won the house cup in -"

"- Seven years." the rest of the team chorused tiredly.

"Exactly." Oliver said. "So we'll be practicing more often this year."

A groan rippled through the group, and on that note, everyone began traipsing towards the changing rooms. Angelina and Alicia were quick to offer to take back the ball box, and hurried off, leaving Katie and Oliver alone.

"Hey," Katie said gently, walking over to him. "It's great that you're so passionate and everything, but do you really need to be so intense?"

"Oh, so I'm the only one who cares about winning?" Oliver asked shortly, his jaw still set.

"Of course not. We all want to win, Oliver, and we all work hard, but Quidditch is supposed to be fun, too. You've gotta loosen up a little; you're putting way too much pressure on yourself. And us for that matter." Katie laughed. She didn't expect him to back down, knowing how stubborn he was, but there was no harm in giving him a little food for thought.

Oliver's expression softened, though it remained sombre. "Right, I'll keep that in mind," he said. "Come on; it's getting late."

He gave Katie a brief smile before walking away, but something made her pull him back.

"It won't do you any good if you go to bed all moody and broody like that," she said. "You know," she leaned in and dropped her voice to a whisper. "I reckon we could get away with staying out here a little while longer." A mischievous grin formed on her face as she said this.

"We?" Oliver asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Of course," Katie said. "I need an excuse to put off Snape's essay a bit longer."

"What are we going to do exactly?" asked Oliver, seemingly doing anything to avoid staying on the pitch. "Angelina and Alicia have taken the balls -"

"We still have our brooms," Katie interrupted. "Honestly, when's the last time you flew just for the sake of it?"

Oliver's brow furrowed as he thought about this, before finally answering, "I honestly can't remember."

Katie couldn't help but laugh at that. "Wow, everything really is a competition to you isn't it?" She shook her head. "I'll give you a race, how about that?"

"A race?" Oliver's expression was dubious.

"What's the matter, Wood?" Katie grinned, taking a couple of steps closer to him. "Scared of being out-flown by one of your 'superb' Chasers?"

"Not at all," Oliver said, drawing himself up tall. "Bell."

"You're on, then," Katie said, mounting her broom and flying vertically into the air until she was level with the middle goal hoop. She was soon joined by Oliver, who wasted no time in clocking her with an over-confident smirk.

"Three laps of the pitch?" he asked, eyebrow arched.

"On the count of three," Katie smiled, turning her head forwards. "One… two…"

She and Oliver took off immediately on her last count, and both of them wasted no time in cranking up the acceleration to the point where turning the first corner felt like their brooms were slicing the cold night air. It stung Katie's skin and made her eyes water, but she remained focused.

She managed to cross Oliver on the inside on the first three turns, comfortably staying ahead of him for most of the race, but somewhere near the end of the second lap, he overtook her.

Should they be there, Angelina and Alicia would've been convinced Katie purposefully slowed down just to let him win to cheer him up, but as far as she was concerned, a sudden gush of wind had blown her off track.

Oliver let out a 'woop!' of triumph as he completed his third circuit, and punched the air.

"Ha-ha!" he called, genuinely smiling for the first time that evening. "Good effort, Bell."

"This isn't over you know, Wood," Katie called back as she slowed down and sat up on her broom. "I demand a re-match!"

"Is that so?" Oliver shot her a sideways smile and gripped his broom again. "Well, that's not going to happen."

"And why not?" Katie asked as she drifted towards the hoops.

"You haven't caught up to me yet," Oliver grinned, taking off once again.

"Hey!" Katie yelled, "Who said anything about this being a chase?"

She only heard Oliver's laugher as his response, and found herself zooming off after him. It felt like she'd already been chasing this boy for years; doing so literally just felt like second nature to her.

Oliver apparently hadn't been expecting Katie to actually chase him, for he slowed down at the end of the straight and looked over his shoulder, where he saw the girl zooming towards him. His eyes widened and he hastened to dodge out the way, but Katie was going so fast that she ended up colliding into him anyway.

Oliver instinctively grabbed onto her to prevent her from falling off her broom, and she did the same to him.

"Whoa," Katie said as she steadied herself. "Sorry about that."

"No harm done," Oliver said. He was slightly winded from the impact, but laughed nonetheless.

Silence soon took hold of them, the atmosphere changing with it, and they both hovered there, their awareness of the fact that they were wrapped in each other's arms slowly increasing. Oliver had ended up pulling Katie's body against his when he grabbed her, and she couldn't stop thinking about the fact that they just fit together perfectly. Her heart was fluttering madly in her chest, confirming once and for all that this was far from a simple, childish crush.

He was still gripping her tightly, so much so that she could practically feel their hearts beating directly against each other, and for the first time, Katie felt like she had escaped his friend-zone: It was magical; breath-taking in fact. And Katie knew that if they weren't currently hovering thirty feet in the air, she'd feel like she was flying right now.

"Oliver?" she lifted her head from the crook of his neck.

He smiled down at her to begin with, a dreamy look in his eyes, but snapped out of whatever reverie he'd been in in a flash. His gaze turned sharp, his expression conflicted, and the next thing Katie knew she was being pushed away at arm's length. It was a gentle and almost reluctant touch, but it felt as forceful and blunt as the impact of that Bludger that hit her on the head two years ago.

"Katie," Oliver gulped when he saw her wounded expression. "We - I can't do this... not right now. I'm sorry."

He flew back down to the ground without another word, leaving Katie hovering there to watch him walk away.

She didn't chase him this time.

"No Oliver," she sniffed as a tear escaped her eye. "I don't think I can do this. Not anymore."

"'Can't do this'?" Angelina scoffed.

"That's right." Oliver said flatly. He rather wouldn't have talked to Katie's friends about this, but both Angelina and Alicia had collared him in a corridor wanting to know what had kept him down at the pitch, and frankly, his mind was too jumbled to think up a lie.

"Honestly, Wood, you really are a complete donut sometimes," Alicia sighed, shaking her head.

"Seriously, what's your excuse now?" Angelina asked. "You just had the perfect opportunity to kiss her, or at least tell her how you feel, and you blew it!"

"Excuse me, but 'tell her how I feel'?" Oliver shook his head dismissively. "There's nothing to tell."

The two girls folded their arms and exchanged a look. "We see how you look at her during practice," said Alicia.

"Face it; you've stopped thinking of her 'in a little sister way'." Angelina added.

"Look," Oliver said, trying not to react to what they were saying. "Even if I did like Katie, I can't afford any distractions from Quidditch this season. None of us can!"

Angelina groaned. "Quidditch, Quidditch, Quidditch."

"Honestly Oliver, is that the best you can come up with?" Alicia sighed.

Oliver bristled. "It's not an excuse."

"Have it your way," said Angelina. "You can tell yourself that all you want, but she's not going to keep chasing you forever, Wood. Especially after you blatantly rejected her like that."

Before Oliver could say another word, the girls turned on their heels and strode away; their loud footsteps a clear indication of how frustrated they were about the whole situation.

"Great!" he exclaimed, his voice echoing through the empty corridor. "Now two people are mad at me...two of my teammates are mad at me." He slammed the sides of his fists against the nearest wall in agitation, groaning when he realised that counting Katie, that number would undoubtedly rise to three.

It pained Oliver that the new Quidditch season had started on such a rocky note, but he was shocked to discover that the thought of potentially losing Katie for good hurt him even more. He'd become increasingly aware of these new feelings he had for her over the past few months, but he'd been completely oblivious to the magnitude of them until he'd held her in his arms earlier that night. In that moment he'd realised how perfectly they fit together; how right it felt; how happy he'd felt...

And he'd blown it.

"She'll never forgive me after this." Oliver sighed.

With a heavy heart, he was forced to accept that what was done was done, conceding that he may as well follow through with making Quidditch his top priority now if his actions tonight were to be at least somewhat worthwhile.

In the weeks that followed, Katie noticeably distanced herself from Oliver, and he had grown increasingly determined to win their first match. Both developments factored into the team's morale being lower than usual by the time that day came, and it certainly didn't help Oliver's concentration to see the girls - Katie included - giggling and swooning over Cedric Diggory during their last practices leading up to the game against Hufflepuff.

If the severe weather wasn't enough, then the presence of Dementors certainly was to seal the team's fate on the pitch, and Oliver proceeded to drown his sorrows in the changing room showers afterwards. He'd lost Katie by prioritising Quidditch, and at what cost? To lose the first match of the season too. It was such a waste; in hindsight he could see Katie had liked him for a long time, and he'd been too stubborn and cowardly to admit his own feelings when he had the chance. And now she was all over Diggory...

"Diggory." Oliver scowled, standing motionless as the torrent of water poured over him, the droplets beating down onto his skin like tiny hailstones.

The match had long since ended, so he was surprised to hear a voice call out from the other side of the wall.

"Oliver? Are you still in here?"

Oliver's heart leapt into his throat. It was Katie.

He pretended he had not identified the voice, however, and called back, "Yeah! I'll be out in a couple of minutes."

"Okay!"

.:.

Oliver stepped out five minutes later, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, roughly rubbing a towel over his hair.

"Katie!" He'd known it was her earlier but seeing her just made his stomach tie itself in knots. "What are you doing here?"

"Just came to see if you were alright," she began in a nonchalant tone. "Fred and George kept saying you were probably trying to drown yourself -" She went pink, realising how silly that sounded, and hurried on, pretending she did not see the affectionate smile adorning Oliver's face. "I know what those two are like but...I just got a bit worried."

Oliver laughed, and slung the towel over his shoulders. "Well," he said, "I'm alright."

"Yeah," Katie said, giving him a tentative smile and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm glad."

A slightly awkward silence followed, which Oliver hastened to break, trying to pretend the blatant difference in her attitude towards him didn't exist.

"You're still wearing your robes," he frowned.

"Didn't bother changing earlier," Katie said. "I went straight up to the Hospital Wing to see if Harry was all right."

"Is he?" Oliver asked, feeling slightly guilty.

"Mm-hmm," she nodded. "Thank Merlin."

Katie's guard was well and truly up. Oliver could by no means blame her for it, but he began feeling uneasy all the same. "Look, you don't have a crush on Diggory, do you?" he blurted.

"Cedric?" Katie's eyebrows shot up. "What, are you jealous or something?"

"Yes." Oliver replied sincerely, despite her dry tone.

"I'm sorry, what?" Katie spluttered, looking at Oliver with wide eyes, her surprise melting away her resolve. Had she heard that right?

"Look Katie," Oliver said, closing the gap between them and taking her hands in his. "I really messed up by pushing you away. I do really like you, and have for a while now, but I honestly didn't think I could afford distractions from Quidditch this year - I was convinced it just wasn't the right time..."

"You and Quidditch," Katie said quietly, staring blankly at the wall.

"I know that must have sounded like another excuse," Oliver said, placing his finger beneath her chin and tilting it so she was looking at him, "but it's the truth, and you have to believe me when I tell you that I've been kicking myself for that decision for weeks." His face flushed; the adrenaline flowing through him right now could not even compare to any pre-match nerves.

"You have?" Katie asked, her beautiful brown eyes vulnerable and glossy with unshed tears.

"Yes," said Oliver. "And seeing you distance yourself so much, and say all this stuff about Diggory… I thought I'd lost you."

"Oh, Oliver," Katie whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You are infuriating sometimes... but you could never lose me."

"Really?" Oliver's voice softened.

"Really." Katie smiled.

It wasn't clear who moved first, but the next thing they knew, Katie was standing on her tiptoes, and Oliver was bending down. They moved closer and closer until finally, Katie's soft lips captured his in a tender but passionate kiss. And Oliver held her close, never wanting to let her go again.

Their bodies fit together perfectly, and Katie sighed in contentment, beyond relieved to know that her chase, at least off the pitch, was finally over.

:. The End .:

Thank you so much for reading; reviews are always appreciated :3

A/N: Word count for the story content (minus the title and A/Ns) - 2,998

Prompts used: September Exchange [Katie/Oliver ; Friendship/Romance ; "Now two people are mad at me"] "You Picked Me" Competition ["The two of us a perfect fit"]