Disclaimer: I obviously do not own any of these characters or settings; they are all J.K. Rowling's.

A Pleasant Distraction

The Gryffindor common room was nearly empty that night, except for the few groups of students who, for various reasons, had not gone into Hogsmeade that day. All of the Gryffindor quidditch players had been restricted from the trip; due to the multiple Slytherin quidditch players being sent to the hospital wing that week for "mysterious" causes. The majority of the Gryffindor team now sat clustered around the cackling fireplace, minus their keeper and seeker. The latter was in a distant corner, heavily surrounded by books, and sitting next to an angered Hermione who was repeatedly rapping his and Ron's fingers with her quill every time they stopped paying attention. The only others in the room were three second year girls giggling quietly in the other corner, and a small first year boy frantically finishing a charms essay.

None of the team was bothering with their homework however, but instead were sitting in amicable quietness. Alicia Spinnet was sitting cross legged on the couch while reading a cheesy witch's magazine. She apparently didn't think very highly of the girlish magazine, and was laughing out loud while giving George Weasley a quiz on "which season best suits your personality". Apparently he was a spring, while Alicia was much more of an autumn. George's twin brother, Fred, was stretched out comfortably in one of the large armchairs, recording the day's income from the numerous items they had sold to some first year Hufflepuffs earlier that morning. Angelina Johnson was scribbling a letter of some sort at Fred's feet, and sucking occasionally on the end of her sugarquill. Lastly, Katie Bell was curled up in the armchair opposite Fred, deeply engrossed in her book. All too soon though, the comfortable stillness was broken; by the sudden swinging open of the portrait hole and the emergence of the final member of the quidditch team; Oliver Wood.

Harry saw him come in first, and instantly bolted up the boy's staircase, leaving a disgruntled Hermione glaring after him. But the rest of the team didn't seem to have an escape route from their persistent captain, who undoubtedly wanted another practice that evening. Oliver stepped in with an armful of papers and glanced quickly around the room. Alicia jolted up from her magazine and exchanged horrified looks with her teammates, except for Katie who seemed to being trying exceptionally hard to not notice, and was still hidden behind her book.

"Nooo…" whispered Angelina in disbelief.

"…not again, I do NOT want to go back to practice".

Alicia was biting her bottom lip, deep in thought. "We need something to distract him." She said slowly, and a mischievous grin began to curl at the sides of her mouth.

"Distract him?" questioned George. "Like how?"

A smile spread across Angelina's face as she seemed to come to the same conclusion as Alicia. "Like a person, who would get him to forget practice."

"Now let's think, who is the one person guaranteed to make Oliver forget quidditch; the only one who can ever get him to actually not think of the team 24/7?" Alicia said, tapping her chin and gazing up in mock thought. All eyes slowly revolved to rest upon Katie.

"What?" she whispered in annoyance when she caught all of their eyes fixed upon her.

"Damn, he's coming over" Angelina said nervously. Alicia looked over her shoulder, and upon seeing the advancing captain, quickly turned her head back and pointed her wand behind her. Suddenly all the papers flew from Oliver's hands; he reached angrily for his wand, but in a moment that shot across the room as well. He looked around in a rage, but all the team members quickly assumed positions of innocence and carefully averted their eyes. George practically threw himself towards Alicia so he could see her magazine and wouldn't look un-occupied, Fred returned to his note taking, Angelina to her letter, and Katie obligingly hid behind her book once again. Oliver couldn't seem to figure out who was the culprit, and then slowly started to gather his papers by hand.

"C'mon Katie, you have to do it, for us!" cried Fred quietly.

"No, I don't have to do anything!" she said angrily, her cheeks turning a gentle rosy shade of pink.

"Kates, we all know he's got a thing for you, and I happen to know you at least did fancy him as well, and I'm willing to bet you still do." stated Angelina testily, arching one eyebrow and staring intently at Katie.

"I simply do not know what you are talking about" Katie said dryly before returning behind her book.

"Ugh!" growled Alicia, "If you won't do anything, then I will!" she called out, just before sending Katie's book shooting across the room and slamming into the window.

"ALICIA" cried out Katie, only to get a satisfied smirk in response.

"FINE, I'LL GO" she shot behind her angrily, as she went to retrieve her book, and attempt to get Oliver's attention away from practice, although she had no idea how to do that. Angelina had been right, she did fancy him quite a bit, but why on earth should he like her? After all, she was three years younger, and in her opinion there wasn't anything all that special about her. Little did she know that that was nearly the exact opposite of what the boy in question thought of her.

Katie crouched down to pick up her book, and found herself face to face with the keeper, who had gone to collect his wand. They caught each other's eyes for a moment, but both nervously looked away and quickly rose up to their feet.

"Hey..."

"Um, hi…"

They looked stupidly down at their feet, before Katie finally broke the awkward silence.

"So, I was thinking I might go out for a walk..." she said, biting her lip in attempt to control her nerves. He just nodded, and looked steadily at the wall behind her.

"Maybe, you'd like to come?"

"Sure!" he said just a bit too quickly. She smiled at his eagerness, maybe there was hope…She led the way out of the portrait hole, trying to ignore the blatant stares and thumbs up signs coming from the fireplace area…

They walked in silence all throughout the corridors, neither daring to speak until they finally stepped outside, then Oliver finally could stand the silence no longer.

"Katie, while we're here, I guess there's something I kind of wanted to tell you" he said with sudden boldness.

"Okay, shoot" she said with equal braveness, she decided that being nervous would get her nowhere and was attempting to look as if she didn't feel like she couldn't breathe.

"Well…erm, Kates you see, I…" his voice slowly trailed off and he became silent again.

"C'mon Oliver, you've known me for years, you can tell me" she said, fixing her dark green eyes steadily on his, but her face cracked into a grin, "besides it's not fair for you to tempt me with information, and then refuse!". He smiled weakly, but shook his head in a "never mind" sort of way.

"Well, then show me" she said quite seriously. He looked at her imploringly and she continued.

"Oh I don't care how, do an interpretive dance for all I care, I just want to know!" she practically shouted, and laughingly threw her arms up in the air as if to show him how. He grinned broadly, but tore is eyes away from her gaze.

He just couldn't, couldn't possibly tell her the thoughts running through his mind. How he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her since he saw her back in his fourth year. Now he was in his final year at school; and Katie in her fourth. Although she was not even quite fifteen, he found himself constantly thinking of her. She did act a lot older than her age though, and had he not known her grade he would have assumed she was at least a fifth year. She always was able to make him laugh, and he found that in his seriousness, he was dependant on her smile to bring him back to earth. He loved the fact that she was on his quidditch team, and that she indulged in one of his greatest loves in life. Not to mention how radiant she looked that night, he was having trouble keeping his mind clear at all. The moonlight played with her silky chestnut colored hair; which was loosely hanging nearly ¾ of the way down her back, the lighting made it sparkle and seem nearly luminous. She had bright eyes colored like jade that made him feel like she was the only one who could really see inside of him. They were standing close now, and he realized that she was quite a bit shorter, nearly seven or eight inches. How could he tell her all that, or, what had she said, show her? The idea suddenly donned on him, he could show her. Suddenly he turned around and grabbed onto her forearms, and without giving himself enough time to reconsider, he kissed her swiftly on the lips. He expected it to be quick, just a peck on the lips and then he would probably run for it, but it didn't go quite as planned. As he was pulling away, readying himself for rejection, he felt her rise up onto her toes and lean deeper into the kiss. He drew her into him, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling her body even closer to him. The kiss slowly grew deeper and more intense, and soon enough they forgot all prior worries, all insecurities and lost themselves in each other. Finally, Katie reluctantly sank back down to her feet, and pulled slowly away from the kiss. Their arms remained tightly embracing each other, and Katie's eyes stayed shut. She gently curled her fingers against the nape of his neck, sending tingles down his spine. He slowly opened his eyes, and fixed them upon her closed lids. She finally opened hers and met his gaze, then started to smile widely.

"So, that's what you wanted to show me, huh?" Katie said teasingly.

"Yeah, well I think you got the gist of it…" he replied with a grin. They remained outside for a long while, not wanting to go and see the smirking faces of the rest of their team when they returned. Instead they remained entwined in each other, holding on to the moment of perfection.