Dedicated to my lovely reviewers: rhetorically yours, guest, vilite246, and Joyfire! I adore you all (:

Oliver hurried down the hallway, fighting the urge to reach up and grab hold of his neck again. It was a ridiculous nervous habit, one he desperately needed to break—

—but that really was not his main concern at the moment.

When Oliver had accepted Katie to the Gryffindor quidditch team, he did so because she was quick and agile, fiery but controlled, and in possession of one hell of a shot. She was a brilliant chaser, and Oliver respected that, even if she was only a second year at the time. Now, two years later, he had come to like Katie for far more than her quidditch prowess alone. She was the best of friends to her fellow chasers, even though they were both a year ahead of her, and the three seemed practically inseparable. She had grown up a lot, and at the age of fifteen (Oliver had asked once before… apparently Katie was a little older than most of the fourth years) Katie was the perfect balance between mischievous, fun-loving kid and responsible chaser. She always had good comments about their team's progress, and he had never once heard her utter a bad thing about a team mate. Her eyes were bright blue, and she had tiny little freckles on the bridge of her nose, and her hair always smelled faintly of something sweet that he could never place an exact name to.

It was too late when Oliver finally realized what was happening to him. For the first time since his crush on Delia Briggan in second year, Oliver Alban Wood liked a girl. Not just liked, but liked a girl. And that girl was his center chaser, Katie Wood-You-Suck-For-Making-Us-Do-Eighty-Bleacher-Sprints Bell. Only two words could sum up Oliver's feelings on the matter:

Bloody hell.

Oliver finally succumbed to the urge to grip his neck in both hands, somehow finding relief in the action. It was like his hands were programed to be catching and throwing constantly, and whenever he wasn't on the pitch he had to hold something to feel calm. His neck did perfectly well, solid and always handy.

"Hey, Cap'n!" a familiar voice shouted behind him. Oliver turned automatically, searching for the voice's owner.

"George, Fred," he replied, raising an eyebrow at the ominously grinning twins. "You look in much better health than earlier, Fred," Oliver remarked pointedly.

"It was just a quick bug," Fred dismissed, brown eyes wide and innocent. "I'm over it now."

"So you'll be able to make it to practice then," Oliver concluded, staring him down. He lowered his hands from his neck, feeling suspicious. There was no way one of his beaters was skipping practice for a date, and Fred better be aware of that— or else.

"Actually, no," Fred answered, still grinning wickedly. "You know why?"

A frown tugged at Oliver's mouth. He didn't think the excitement in Fred's voice was a very good sign. He was suddenly hyper aware of the fact that the whole corridor was deserted. What if the twins tried to knock him out to cancel practice? Frankly, Oliver didn't put it past them. His hand shot for the wand hidden in his robes pocket.

Before his fingers had even made contact with the wood, George had whipped out his own wand and was yelling, "Petrificus totalus!"

Instantly, Oliver's arms snapped to his sides, and he fell painfully, stiffly backwards onto the hard flagstones. Anger rolled through his mind. How dare the twins be so impudent as to attack their captain! Ooh, they were running extra bleacher sprints for this one…

"Sorry there, Oliver," George apologized cheerfully, bending over and peering down at his prone captain. "You see, Freddiekins here really needs to go on this date, so I'm sure you understand our motive here."

Oliver's mind flashed to Katie briefly, and he couldn't almost picture her giggling at his predicament. Katie always thought the twins' antics were entertaining, sometimes even when she was the victim of their experiments. That was just how she was.

"So," Fred cut into Oliver's thoughts, "we need you to cancel practice tonight."

If Oliver could move, he would have laughed, long and hard. Cancel practice for Fred's date? Over his cold, dead body.

"Oh, we know it's inconvenient," George continued, smirking slightly. "But we also know you'll be happy to do this for us, Oliver! Especially after this!"

Fred pointed his wand at Oliver's chest. "Pareo involtario!" he ordered.

Oliver stiffened, feeling the magic hit him and take over. He fought valiantly for a moment, struggling to keep control of himself. In the end, however, the spell won out, and Oliver felt his mind go blank.

The twins watched as Oliver's eyes went glassy, grinning triumphantly to themselves. "I think it's working," George remarked proudly. "I'm so brilliant."

"If this works, I'll agree with you," Fred replied, his eyes locked on the prone quidditch captain. "I have to say his full name first, right?"

"Righto," George confirmed. "And don't waste any orders— there's only three commands per cast, and then he journeys back to the land of the free willed."

Fred nodded. "Right," he agreed. "I think we should use one of the orders to test it out, just make sure it's working properly." Fred eyed their motionless friend warily. Oliver looked positively eerie, lying completely straight on the flagstones with a blank expression on his face.

"Good idea," George replied. Turning to face Oliver, he didn't even skip a beat. "Oliver Wood, I order you to stand up and proclaim true love for Marcus Flint," George decided, a mischievous smirk spreading over his face.

The two boys watched interestedly as Oliver sat up, got to his feet, and proclaimed with a glassy-eyed, straight-faced expression: "Marcus Flint is my true love."

"Ah, star-crossed lovers of rival quidditch teams," George sighed dreamily, snickering delightedly at Oliver's expense.

"Well, it works," Fred concluded, grinning at his twin. "Oliver would rather eat his broomstick than say that voluntarily."

"And that's the beauty of the Involuntary Curse! I'd like to say this is one of our finer inventions, my dear brother," George replied. "So let's get down to business here. Oliver Wood, I order you to cancel quidditch practice for tonight. Be a good chap and go tell our team mates about it," he continued.

Oliver nodded vaguely, blinking in slow motion as his magic-addled mind processed the command. "Quidditch practice is canceled," he repeated. "I'll go tell Harry and the girls." And with that, the older boy shuffled along down the hallway, his expression rather empty and arms swinging senselessly by his sides.

"And that is why the Involuntary Curse will never be used for evil," Fred remarked, watching Oliver walk away. "It's painfully obvious he's not acting normally, and we've only got three orders before he snaps back to consciousness and kills us for doing this."

"Well, you were the one who wanted to go on that date so badly," George pointed out. "You'll survive Oliver's fury if you're on cloud nine from snogging your little crush."

Fred's ears burned, and he scowled at his grinning twin. "Shut up, George," he muttered. "Let's go and find a nice hiding spot for when Oliver's spell runs out and he starts rampaging, shall we?"

"Good idea," George agreed. The twins set off down the corridor, each racking their brilliant minds for a good hiding place they hadn't already used before when trying to escape the wrath of any member of the quidditch team. "Hey Fred," George said suddenly, pausing almost midstep.

Fred halted, looking at his brother in mild surprise. "Yes?" he prompted.

"What are we going to do about that third order?" George asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "Oliver needs a round three commands to break out of the spell, and we've only given him two."

"Oh," Fred realized, a little belatedly. His thoughts were all focused on his date, and that particular detail had not occurred to him beforehand. "Well, I'm sure that someone around here will be able to give Oliver Wood a decent order. And if they don't, we have more time to spare for ourselves before freeing him to unleash his fury on us. It should be fine."

"Yeah, I suppose," George admitted, shrugging in agreement. "Have we used the hiding spot behind the statue of Wimbulkus the Wizened yet?"

"Third year, the Angelina Johnson and the Charmed Spoons Incident," Fred reminded him.

"Oh yeah," Fred chortled, grinning broadly at the memory. "Good times. We'll just have to keep thinking then."

And the pair wandered off down the corridor, blissfully unaware of the consequences their spell would present.

-

Angelina and Alicia were lounging around on the couches of the common room, idly tossing a spare quaffle back and forth between them. Harry lay sprawled in an armchair nearby, fiddling with the tail twigs of his broom and chatting with the older girls about the Ravenclaw team. None of the quidditch players were prepared to see Oliver step mechanically in through the portrait hole and start bee lining for them, nor were they prepared to hear his monotone declaration as he approached.

"Practice tonight is canceled," Oliver announced, fixing his attention on each of his players one by one. "Where's Katie? I have to tell the whole team," he added, his eyes glazed and his voice sounding oddly distracted.

Harry stared suspiciously up at Oliver, wondering what was prompting his strange behavior. "You're canceling practice?" he asked doubtfully. "Are you joking?"

"You were just telling us how nobody was getting out of coming tonight less than an hour ago!" Angelina added incredulously. "Now you've just changed your mind?"

"Practice is canceled tonight," Oliver repeated. "I have to tell the whole team."

Alicia rolled her eyes, exasperated by Oliver's weird mood swings. "We'll tell her if she comes back here, and she'll figure it out anyway when nobody shows up, Oliver. It's ok," she assures him, tossing the quaffle back to Angelina.

"No, I have to tell her," Oliver insisted, still sounding oddly distracted. "I have to tell the whole team."

The girls and Harry exchanged knowing glances. "Oh, you want to tell Katie yourself? Get her alone?" Alicia teased, her eyes twinkling.

"I think Oliver's hoping for a make-up make out from their little tiff earlier," Angelina added knowingly.

"Is that it, Wood?" Harry asked impishly.

Oliver just stared at them, straight faced and calm. "I have to tell the whole team about canceling practice," he repeated again.

"Geez, we know, we heard you the first time. You're like a broken record," Angelina complained, rolling her eyes at their captain.

"Yeah, Katie's heading down to the pitch early like usual. Go tell her about the cancellation if you're so concerned," Alicia informed him. She twirled the quaffle at her fingertips. "And while you're there, Oliver Wood, kiss her senseless, mmkay?"

Harry and Angelina snickered, but Oliver only stared blankly at Alicia. "You're telling me to kiss Katie?" he clarified, his voice a monotone.

"Yeah, and that's an order," Alicia retorted, grinning teasingly at her captain. "C'mon Captain, I'm waiting."

"It's an order," Oliver murmured, almost to himself. Abruptly he turned on his heels and walked away, heading straight back through the portrait hole and disappearing.

Alicia, Angelina, and Harry looked at each other quizzically. "Is he actually going to do it just because I told him to?" Alicia asked, breaking the short silence that had settled.

"It looked like he was," Harry observed, his eyebrows furrowing.

"To me he looked off," Angelina said slowly, staring out in the direction Oliver had gone. "More than a little unnatural behavior, dontcha think?"

"He bloody canceled practice," Harry replied frankly. "That in itself is unnatural. When has he ever canceled practice before?"

"Never," the girls replied in unison, furrowing their eyebrows in consternation.

"You don't think the twins actually forced him at wand point to cancel practice?" Angelina asked slowly, remembering their earlier conversation with the redheaded devils.

"Oliver would probably rather die at wand point before he canceled practice for Fred's date," Alicia replied reasonably. "What could they have possibly done to convince him to cancel?"

"Whatever it was, Oliver obviously hasn't yet recovered," Harry remarked. The girls nodded in agreement, somewhat worried. What in the world was wrong with Oliver?

The Scottish boy in question was busily heading down the many staircases that wound their way to the quidditch pitch. He ignored every call of his name, every pat of the back he received as he marched by. Everyone laughed and shrugged it off, calling to each other how the Quidditch Nazi was on a mission, and no one was going to separate him from his pitch now.

Katie was blissfully oblivious to the twins' mischief making, listening to the Weird Sisters full blast and rocking her head to the beat as she got dressed slowly in the girls' side of the Gryffindor locker room. Katie liked flying around the pitch by herself, and it wasn't uncommon for her to get dressed early and fly solo before practice. Katie flashed a quick glance at the closed door before stripping off her regular clothing and tossing the articles in her gym bag. They all landed perfectly inside, proof of her flawless aim. Singing along loudly to the music, Katie slipped into her sports underclothes. She was extremely fond of bright colors, and as a result was decked out in neon green compression shorts and a hot pink zebra striped sports bra. Most people would've been shocked to discover what Katie Bell wore under her quidditch robes, but she personally loved knowing that she was brightly colored under her standard scarlet. It was a personal little indulgence of hers, similar to her chocolate frog addiction or preference for treacle tart. Not many people knew about it, but it made her happy.

I know it's wrong, oh I know I shouldn't,

but baby go ahead and hold me tight.

Under the stars, in your arms,

You gotta know that our magic's right

Katie belted out the words as she crawled around on the locker room floor, searching for her left armguard. It was hard to put them on while her robe sleeves were flapping in the way, so Katie always laced on her guards before donning her robes.

And maybe we shouldn't, maybe it's wrong,

but I just can't hold back. It's like you've charmed my mind,

You've taken hold, and baby I'm under your control

You got me spellbound, spellbound

Upon discovering the missing arm guard in Alicia's locker, Katie rolled her eyes and sat cross legged as she started strapping it on. Alicia really had to start keeping track of her own equipment instead of stealing Katie's constantly.

Ooh, you got me spellbound, spellbound

As she finished, Katie pulled her practice robes from her bag and slipped them over her shoulders, sticking her arms through the sleeves. She was reaching down to button them up when the door suddenly swung wide open and hit the wall.

Katie leaped to her feet, reaching instinctively for a wand that wasn't yet stowed in her robes. "Bloody hell, Oliver, you scared me!" she swore, glaring at her captain as she started reaching to grab her wand from her school robes. "Don't you know better than to barge in like that? I could've been naked!" Katie continued to complain. "In fact, I was naked like two minutes ago!"

Her fingers had just slipped around the handle of her wand when she was jerked back, effectively making her lose her grip on the wood and fly smack into a different Wood instead. "What's wrong with you?" Katie demanded, pushing herself away from Oliver and carefully scrutinizing his face. She tried to calm her racing heartbeat from the full on contact they had just had, trying to convince herself she didn't love the way Oliver's strong hands felt gripping her torso.

"Practice is canceled tonight," Oliver informed get, voice devoid of emotion. Katie's eyes widened in shock, but before she could open her mouth to demand when the bloody hell he had decided that, he was kissing her.

That's right. Oliver Alban Wood was snogging her right there in the middle of the girls' lockers.

And suddenly you're right here,

I know this can't be right,

But hey, do I look like I care?

I won't put up a fight

You got me spellbound

Her robes were still unbuttoned, and the treacherous clothing chose this time to gap wide open, exposing her neon underclothes and subtracting a layer from the space separating their bodies. Katie's eyes closed of their own accord as she reached up and placed her hands hesitantly on Oliver's shoulders. He simply continued to kiss her, seemingly unaware of the change. Katie was of course ecstatic about this turn of events, but for some reason… something nagged at her mind, telling her something was wrong. Call her crazy, but something just didn't feel right.

With a surge of inner willpower, Katie reluctantly pulled away from Oliver, opening her eyes wide and staring at him closely. "Oliver?" she whispered, her voice slightly raspy. "What was that?"

It was like a spell was broken. The glaze left Oliver's eyes, and he stumbled abruptly backwards, crashing loudly into the bank of lockers. "Katie?" he muttered, rubbing his face dazedly. It was as if he had just woken up. "How did I get here?"

"What?" Katie asked, confused. She stared at Oliver quizzically as he visibly tried to collect himself. "You just walked in here."

"But I was just in the corridor with Fred and George, and then suddenly I was here," Oliver replied, rubbing his head. "How did that happen?"

Katie inhaled sharply, a stab of hurt cutting through her chest before she could stop it. The twins had obviously magicked Oliver into canceling practice, and for some sick reason decided to also toy with her emotions and make him waltz in and kiss her. Did they know how she felt about him? How could they do this to her?

She tried to stop the tears pricking at her eyes.

"Katie? Are you all right?" Oliver asked, a wave of concern hitting him as he realized Katie's suddenly pale face and tensing muscles.

"No, Oliver, I'm not," she snapped suddenly, tears filling her eyes before she could stop them. "Because you just damn kissed me because the twins forced you to with magic. And bloody hell, for a moment there I thought you actually might've liked me too! But no, turns out the only reason you'd kiss me is if you were under magical order to!"

"What?" Oliver sputtered, shocked more at the water running down Katie's cheeks than anything else. "I did… what?"

That was too much for Katie. Without another word she shoved forcefully past Oliver and fled the lockers. Oliver only stood there, shocked into immobility. He had kissed Katie?

Damn! He didn't remember a single thing. The twins had cast a spell on him, eh? Probably in revenge for ruining Fred's date. Well, they could mess with Oliver all they wanted and he could take their crap, but now they had just crossed the line messing with Katie's emotions as well as his. There was going to be hell to pay.

But first he had to find Katie. What the hell was he supposed to say to her now?

Yeah, you got me spellbound.

••••••••••••••••••••••••

Katie sprinted up through the grounds, trying in vain to stifle her tears as the wind beat against her face. The combination of air and water blinded her to the point where she didn't even notice the large, hulking shapes tracking her movements. It was a huge mistake on Katie's part, but she was completely unaware of it at the present.

It was impossible to know how much time she had before Oliver came charging after her and demanded her eternal silence about the occurrence. Maybe he was too disgusted and shell-shocked to even bother. Maybe Oliver wanted nothing more than to never see her face again. Maybe she would be forced to resign from the quidditch team!

Katie started having even more difficulty choking back tears. The twins had really gone too far this time, endangering the safety of two of the things she valued most in the world: her spot on the team and her relationship with Oliver. What the bloody hell was their problem?

Katie turned to storm angrily around a corner, but before she could go very far was halted by a large, bony hand on her shoulder. The hand spun Katie backwards into his arms, and she instantly started trying to squirm away, letting out a panicked yelp.

Someone smacked her in the gut, and the arms around her tightened to effectively cut off her air supply and steadily rising scream. Katie struggled in her captor's arms, looking wide-eyed up at five of the other Slytherin quidditch team members. Only the small blonde Seeker was absent from the gathering, but Katie honestly couldn't have cared less about his presence. The main problem she was focusing on was that Marcus Flint currently had his arms wrapped around her.

And Katie wanted out. Now.

"Kathleen…" Flint purred, securing his grip around her struggling arms. Katie squirmed and tilted her chin up to glare at her captor, only to let out a silent shriek of surprise a moment later. All of the Slytherins had faces (and whole bodies in fact) full of enormous, angry scarlet boils. It was positively gruesome.

"Oh, I know I don't look that pretty right now," Flint acknowledged airily, tightening his grip around Katie's struggling body. "That's all your bloody overprotective captain's fault. There I was, simply walking with me mates and talking bout how pretty you are…" Flint trailed off suggestively for a moment, running one finger down her arm. Katie tried to struggle for her wand, only to realize that she had yet to put it in the pocket of her practice robes before Oliver had appeared. She was defenseless against this great, hulking boil of a teenager and his equally horrendously disfigured quidditch team.

Flint didn't seem to notice Katie's mental foreboding. "Then he goes and hexes us, knocks us out, and locks us in a closet," Flint went on. He scowled, the expression contorting his hugely pimpled face to new heights of horror. "We woke up ten minutes ago, broke out of the damn closet, and headed straight for the pitch. I knew I'd find you here, love," Flint purred.

Katie shuddered in disgust, fighting even harder to break free of his hold. Unfortunately, doing so was akin to struggling against a Full Body Bind- utterly useless.

"What's this?" One of Flint's particularly horrifyingly disfigured team mates called, jeering as he caught sight of Katie's brightly colored compression shorts. "Nice underwear, Bell!" Katie was passed by Flint into the thick arms of one of the chasers, struggling uselessly to break free. Flint and the beater stepped up to take a closer look at her from the front.

Unabashedly, the Slytherin beater pulled open the front of her robe to get a better look at Katie's green spandex and vibrant, pink zebra striped sports bra. She jerked violently at his touch, trying to kick out at his knees. The beater barely dodged her attack, swearing loudly when her foot clipped the top of his shin.

"Katie Cat likes to scratch, now does she?" Flint sneered, leering in Katie's face. She spat viciously in reply, succeeding in landing a gob of spittle directly on the bridge of his flat nose. "Oi! Cut it out, bitch," he snarled, grabbing Katie's chin and forcing her to look up at him. "That's no way to treat your boyfriend, now is it, pet?"

Katie glared defiantly up at him, unable to reply because of the large hand clamped firmly around her jaws. Flint smiled silkily back in response. "Yes, you're not just going to be another annoying Gryffindor bitch, Katie," he murmured. The rough tone of his voice sent instant, involuntary panic shooting through Katie's gut. "You're going to be my Gryffindor bitch. And you're going to like it." Flint laughed, moving Katie's open robes away from her body and eyeing her figure. "Not bad," he remarked calmly. "What do you think boys? Was I right that the damned Gryffindor center chaser would be the sexiest?"

The team laughed in unison, a harsh monotone grating on Katie's ears. Horrifically Furnunculused or not, the Slytherin quidditch team was a hulking, unpleasant lot that gave a bad name to their generally sophisticated house.

When Flint grabbed her by her bare waist and forced his mouth on hers, Katie suddenly felt all the anger drain out of her. It was instantly replaced with revulsion, fear, and a sharp sense of self preservation.

It was the last one that sent her knee flying hard and true, straight up into Flint's crotch.

When the team captain collapsed on the floor, several things seemed to happen at once. An almost inhuman roar of pure, unadulterated rage rang through the air, and there was suddenly a blinding flash of purple light. Several of the Slytherins screamed, simultaneously beginning to spout charcoal-colored smoke from their ears and noses, sprout mottled chartreuse fur, and cough up hyacinth and blood red salamanders. The chaser holding Katie instantly let go, and Katie bounded away, brushing a hacked up bright blue critter off of her shoulder in disgust.

A blur flew into the fray, going straight for Flint still curled up on the ground and flinging himself recklessly at him. "I told you before Flint, stay the bloody hell away from my chaser!" Oliver roared, throwing a crushing punch at Flint's face. A dull cracking sound and immediate howling from the Slytherin indicated that Oliver had inflicted some sort of intense injury.

"Oliver!" Katie yelled, leaping across a Slytherin chaser writhing on the ground and latching onto her captain's shoulders. She tried in vain to pull him off of Flint, but Oliver wouldn't budge a centimeter. "Oliver Wood! You're going to kill him!"

"That's the plan!" Oliver growled back, shoving another fist into Flint's gut. Flint groaned, then sent a series of sharp jabs in retaliation at Oliver's ribs.

"Your plan is going to get you expelled!" Katie tried to reason with him.

Oliver was immovable. "Do I look like I fucking care?" he growled. "Don't even look at Katie ever again, you dirty asshole," he spat at Flint.

Flint somehow managed a mocking grin. "I'm gonna do a lot more than just look, and she's going to love it, Wood, so back off," Flint spat back. Blood flew with saliva from his split lips, a couple droplets hitting Oliver's face.

This only served to enrage Oliver more. Before he had a chance to commit murder and be sent to Azkaban though, Katie spotted the handle of her wand poking from the pocket of Oliver's robe right beside his own. The older boy had obviously forgotten his wand in favor of resorting to coldblooded, hand-to-hand combat, and both of the magical tools now lay unused in his pocket.

Katie lunged forward, snaking her arm around Oliver's waist from behind and snatching the wands from his robes. "Petrificus Totalus!" she yelled, her voice cracking shrilly.

Both boys froze, their arms snapping to their sides and their legs gluing straight together in the full body bind. The rest of the Slytherins continued to groan and yell as they writhed about spewing smoke and salamanders and covered in furry boils. "Shut the bloody hell up!" Katie screamed, brandishing her wand at all of the boys in general.

The fearsome Slytherin quidditch team (plus Oliver) fell silent, quavering under the wrath of the half-dressed Gryffindor.

"That's better," Katie breathed, closing her eyes and attempting to regain some semblance of calm. "Now. To start. Flint, don't ever bloody touch me again or the only screams you'll be hearing will be your own as I hex your limbs off piece by piece," she informed him coolly. "Understood?"

Still paralyzed, Flint just lay there blinking at her in shock.

"And Oliver, I don't need you to go and attack Flint every damn time he so much as whispers my name," Katie continued, glaring sharply at her captain. "I'm not a glass doll, and I can damn well take care of myself. It's sweet of you in a screwed up way, but back off. You're going to get caught and in trouble for it eventually, and the team can't afford that. You're the one who's so obsessed with winning the Cup, you should be more careful!"

Oliver locked eyes with her, the fury in his expression dying down a bit as her logic sank in.

Katie turned sharply to the other Slytherins, her wand leveled to their chests. "And the rest of you!" she barked suddenly. "Scram! If you so much as glance at me ever again you'll have much worse than furry pimples, smoke, and salamanders to worry about!" Katie glared at the lot of them, gesturing with her wand. "And take your damn captain with you!" she added, stepping back from Flint. "Now!"

In less than thirty seconds, the salamander-and-smoke spewing Slytherins had skedaddled away with Flint, probably off to the hospital wing for counter jinxes. Katie sighed, then flicked her wand and released Oliver from the body bind. He was instantly on his feet and in front of Katie, a serious expression on his face. "Are you all right?" he asked, his voice uncharacteristically gentle. "I saw Flint… forcing himself…" Oliver struggled with words, obviously trying to keep his anger from overpowering common sense and reverting back to his murder plans for the Slytherin.

"I'm fine Oliver," Katie sighed, setting her hands on her hips. "I was kneeing him in the crotch and preparing to beat the crap out of him when you showed up."

"You expected me to stand there and wait while he had his hands on you and forced you to kiss him?" Oliver demanded, obviously outraged by the idea.

"Careful, you almost sound like you care about me," Katie warned him sarcastically. She avoided his eyes so he wouldn't see the bitterness behind her teasing.

"I do care about you," Oliver growled, his eyes narrowing as he glared at his stubborn chaser. "Katie Bell, why the hell do you think I've been repeatedly hexing an entire quidditch team today? For a laugh?"

"That's your captain duties to protect your team," she replied evenly, staring past his shoulder out towards the quidditch pitch. "You're obligated to care about my rep and my health. But you don't care about me personally."

Katie suddenly found herself crushed against the castle wall. Rough stone scratched through her robes, but Katie's attention was more occupied with the furious Scottish boy pinning her to it by the shoulders than the wall itself. "Shut up," Oliver growled, leaning in close to Katie's face. "You think I don't care about you, Katie? I just walked in on you being sexually assaulted while only wearing underwear and an unbuttoned robe, and my first reaction was to beat the crap out of six guys for you. If I didn't care, wouldn't I have just walked away?" Oliver glared down at his chaser, wincing slightly. "It would've been a lot easier not to care. My ribs wouldn't be fractured then."

"Fractured ribs?" Katie demanded, her attention suddenly caught by Oliver's last, offhand words. "Your ribs are fractured?"

Oliver groaned in frustration, releasing his hold on Katie and reaching down to grip his side carefully. "Well yeah, it feels like it. Flint's a stupid ass, but he can punch pretty well and he landed a few good hits to me ribs. But that's not the point," he said dismissively.

"Where does it hurt?" Katie asked, lifting her arms and probing with her fingertips along Oliver's upper torso. "Are you sure they're broken?"

Oliver shivered as Katie's fingers prodded lightly across his stomach. "Are you okay?" Oliver asked determinedly.

"I'm fine," Katie replied distractedly, trying to feel for any irregularities on Oliver's ribcage. "Some emotional scarring, yeah, but I'll survive."

Oliver's expression darkened ominously. "If Flint thinks he's going to get away with this-" he started, his fists clenching.

"Oliver, just hold still," Katie interrupted. "It's not that big of a dea-"

Before the end of her sentence was even remotely near, Katie found herself once more pressed up against a stone wall. Oliver's body was intimidatingly close, Katie's hands still splayed over his torso and unable to move. "He kissed you," Oliver growled, "without your consent. That's sick. He can't just walk away thinking he can try it again sometime."

"Well about ten minutes ago you did the same thing!" Katie shot back, her cracking voice betraying the hurt she was feeling. Oliver's eyes flashed with shock for an instant, then quickly masked the emotion. He tried to back away, but Katie curled her fists around the material of his shirt and kept him right in front of her. She wasn't done yet.

Eyes bright, Katie continued talking: "But I guess you have an excuse. Fred and George forced you to… you don't even remember doing it…" She let out a bitter laugh, looking away from Oliver and gazing out towards the quidditch pitch. "Ironically, all Fred wanted was to get out of practice so he could finally snog his little crush."

"Katie… I'm sorry," Oliver sighed, reaching up and gripping the back of his neck with one hand. "I didn't mean to-"

"So I was snog-attacked by two-fourths of the Hogwarts quidditch captains in the space of fifteen minutes," Katie mused aloud, still gazing past Oliver's shoulders. "You think I should watch out for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff captains, just in case?"

"No need, because if the pricks so much as breathe in your direction I'll hex them to oblivion and back," Oliver replied immediately.

Katie's gaze jerked back to Oliver's face, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Why?" she demanded. "Why would you bother?"

"Because," Oliver answered, his voice low and intense as he stared back at Katie, "in the locker rooms you said to me that for a minute you thought I might have liked you too."

"So? You came up and kissed me out of the blue, what was I supposed to think?" Katie snapped, trying to hide her rising nervousness. Oliver was standing awfully close, and his tone of voice was doing odd things to her stomach.

"That I might have liked you too," Oliver repeated, his eyes boring into Katie's. "Liked you TOO. As in, you like me and thought I returned the feelings when I kissed you."

Katie was silent for a moment. Then she started fighting, trying to break free of Oliver's grip. "I don't know what you're talking about," she muttered, turning her face to avoid his piercing gaze. "You must have misheard-"

"You were wrong."

Katie stopped dead, her eyes flying up to meet Oliver's steady gaze. "What?" she demanded, feeling her heart tear a bit. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

"I didn't kiss you in the locker rooms because I liked you," Oliver clarified, his face serious. "I was purely under a spell and was only following orders. I don't remember anything I did while under that damned spell."

"Okay Oliver, I understand!" Katie choked out shrilly, struggling to break free. She was still sandwiched between a very immobile Scottish boy and the wall, and couldn't budge more than a centimeter. "Let me go already!"

It was a very bad place to be when said boy was causing her heart to slowly rip in two.

"But," Oliver continued determinedly, "when I kiss you in a moment, it will be because I fancy you more than you can possibly imagine, Katie Bell, and there's no damned way in hell I'm letting the blasted Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw captains get a chance at kissing you. I hate sharing, and especially so when it comes to my girl."

Time seemed to stop as Katie stared, uncomprehending, at the boy in front of her. "You… Your girl…?" she croaked out. Her heartbeat seemed to slow down and race faster at the same time.

"Just t'let you know, Kates, you are my girl, and definitely not Marcus Flint's," Oliver replied, his eyes boring relentlessly into hers. "And I intend to keep you that way." He spoke in a conversational tone that completely clashed with the heated, intense look on his face. "Mine," he murmured, angling his head to the side and pressing closer to Katie.

"You aren't under a spell that drains your willpower this time?" Katie asked, her voice little more than a whisper. Her hands had somehow crept up around his neck without her asking them to, curling over his shoulders like they were made to do so. She ached to close her eyes and just kiss him already, but she had to make sure this was real first.

"I am, actually," Oliver whispered, his lips ghosting over hers as he pulled her close against him. "It's called Katie Bell." His hands rested on her waist, long fingers curled around her hips. "And it's impossible to break free of." Katie's eyes stayed wide open as Oliver's brown ones stared her down. "But that's okay, because I don't really want to break free."

Their mouths pressed together at last, eyes falling shut as they leaned against the castle wall and relaxed in each other's embrace. Katie couldn't help but smile as Oliver's mouth moved against hers. The warmth, the emotion, the reality of this kiss wasn't something that could be faked by the act of an obedience spell. This kiss was completely different from the one in the locker room, brimming with excited, nervous energy and calm, relieved contentment at the same time. Oliver's fingers stroked her waist as he slowly moved his lips with hers, sending warmth shooting through her body. Katie didn't want this to stop.

"BE CAREFUL KATES, OR YOU'LL BE STUCK WITH THE SIDE EFFECT OF A PERMENANT SCOTTISH ACCENT!"

Katie and Oliver jerked apart instantly, but Katie didn't manage to stray far from her captain. Oliver's hands were firmly gripping her waist, holding her close to him even as he glared at the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team minus Fred, who stood catcalling and cheering enthusiastically from the entrance of the castle.

"Screw you George! Maybe I like Scottish accents!" Katie yelled back, tightening her grip around Oliver's neck. He laughed, pressing her closer to him.

"Do you like Scottish accents Kates?" Oliver murmured, bending his head to speak next to her ear. He smirked as he felt a shiver run through her body.

"Your accent's the only thing I pay attention to when you lecture the team," Katie chirped back flippantly, pulling back slightly to grin at Oliver.

"Don't think that just 'cause I like you means you can get away with pulling crap like that in practice," Oliver warned her, only half-joking. "After all, it's never saved you before in the past year or so."

Katie felt her jaw drop in shock. "You've liked me for a year?" she squeaked.

Oliver lifted her chin to shut her mouth, grinning. "Did I say that?" he mused, pretending to think about it.

"I hope so," Katie replied, tightening her arms around his neck. "Or else you're not going to like what I'm about to do next."

It turned out that Oliver did not have any problem whatsoever with Katie reaching up and kissing him again. His hands slid back down to their previous grip on her waist, and he felt complete. Forget gripping his neck for comfort— Oliver could easily get used to holding Katie instead. His keeper hands were very happy with catching her waist and not letting go, and his heart was even happier with the outcome of his lips moving over hers. She tasted sweet, but maybe that was just his head-over-broomstick-in-love-with-her side talking.

The remainder of the Gryffindor quidditch team watched unabashedly as their fellow team mates continued to snog each other in plain view of anyone who happened to step out of the castle. "I still don't approve of you casting that horrid spell on Oliver," Angelina remarked to her boyfriend, "but it sure did the trick to push him and Katie together."

"Hey!" George protested. "You were the one who gave him the third order! You participated in 'that horrid spell!'"

"Unknowingly," Alicia retorted, defending her friend. "I can't believe you went through all that trouble so Fred could go on one damn date. Hermione's a reasonable girl, I'm sure she would've agreed to change the time if Fred had told her he had practice tonight."

"Fred's fancied Hermione for years. He wasn't about to postpone the first date," George argued. "He would've died of worry that she was going to change her mind."

"I can't believe I couldn't guess that Hermione and Fred fancied each other," Harry remarked, sounding slightly put out. "Usually I'm great at matchmaking."

"Well Hermione was excellent at disguising her feelings, and Fred just never told anyone," Alicia reasoned. "Kinda like Katie and Oliver."

"It seems like everyone's got a happy resolution for their problems today," George sighed joyfully. He threw his arms around Harry's and Angelina's shoulders, swooning in exaggerated bliss. "All the loose ends tied up, the couples squared off, everyone's conten-"

A bolt of magic sizzled through the air right past George's nose, causing him to yelp and spring backwards in alarm. "Damn, I missed," Oliver said regretfully, his voice carrying towards the team. He still had one arm circled around Katie's waist, but his free one was pointing his wand in Fred's direction. "Don't think you're going to get away clean with cursing me, Weasley! I got me eye on you!" Oliver yelled. He fired another hex in George's direction, a chartreuse bolt that the redhead only just barely dodged. "I'll hex you twice as bad as Flint! No one cancels my practices!" Oliver continued, firing more and more curses.

George bolted, sprinting for the safety of indoors and away from his irate captain. "He's just lucky I can't run after him right now," Oliver muttered to Katie, pocketing his wand and snaking his arm back around her.

"I forgot about your ribs!" Katie exclaimed, suddenly remembering Oliver's injury. "We better get you to Madame Pomfrey so she can fix those breaks!" Katie tried to wriggle out of Oliver's hold in an attempt to lead him towards the hospital wing.

"I meant more of 'I'm busy snogging my chaser' I can't run after him," Oliver complained, reluctantly letting Katie out of his grip. "I'd forgotten about my ribs, frankly."

"Of course you did. In your first quidditch game of Hogwarts you were knocked out cold for a week, woke up, and went to practice, ten minutes later," Katie scoffed, pulling him towards the castle doors. The quidditch team had scattered, obviously not wanting to risk Oliver hexing any of them too. "But I'm not going to let you walk around with broken ribs, Oliver. You're daft enough to not visit the hospital wing just to avoid another trip to Pomfrey."

"Thanks, Kates," Oliver muttered sarcastically, probing his ribs with a wince.

"That's what friends are f-"

They both stopped dead in their tracks. Brown eyes met blue, and they stared each other down wordlessly in the middle of the corridor. "We're not friends anymore, are we," Katie stated slowly. It wasn't a question, it was an acknowledgement.

"Friends don't fancy and snog each other," Oliver agreed, looking somewhat uncomfortable with the conversation.

"So we're…?" Katie prompted, raising an eyebrow at the older boy. "C'mon, Oliver," she coaxed.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "It's ridiculous of you to force me to ask after all the crap we've dealt with today, but…" Oliver started, giving her a look, " be my girlfriend, Kates?"

"Of course," Katie replied, grinning as she wrapped her arms around Oliver again. "I just wanted to be asked. You're a step up from Flint, at least."

Oliver snorted, lacing an arm around Katie's waist. He kept it there as she let go of him and continued walking towards the hospital wing. "I'm worth twenty Marcus Flints," Oliver said dismissively.

Before Katie could reply, Oliver had snatched her up and whirled her against a wall, trapping her between him and the stone. "Oliver!" she yelped.

"And not only that," Oliver continued, ignoring her cry with a mischievous smirk, "but I kiss better too." He placed his lips at Katie's jaw, making her fall instantly still. "And I've got a Scottish accent."

"Well I suppose that's the decision maker," Katie replied, smiling up at her captain, her boyfriend, her Oliver. "So the rest of the team is convinced that if I snog you too much my voice will stick in your accent." She paused, tilting her head slightly in contemplation. "I don't think I'd mind that. I like your accent."

"Wanna test it out?" Oliver murmured, angling his mouth towards her.

"I'm not used to this onslaught of kisses," Katie giggled, smiling as his lips ghosted against her face.

"Well thanks to the twins I don't remember our first one," Oliver replied, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. "I've got to make up for that, lass."

"Even while you're suffering with broken ribs?" Katie asked, running a hand gently over his upper torso.

"Yes," Oliver agreed instantly, closing his eyes as he focused on the feeling of her fingers tracing across his ribs. They were really starting to ache, but he was too occupied at the moment to care very much.

"Even while we're supposed to be practicing in fifteen minutes?" Katie continued, darting a glance at Oliver's watch.

Oliver grinned, pulling Katie closer to him. "Didn't you hear?" he asked, his voice light and teasing. "Practice is canceled."

Awwww… I love KBOW. (: they're a little obscure, but I just adore the pairing. Athlete loveeeee (: aha

Now would be an excellent time to recc my favorite KBOW stories: She's a Liability by ultraviolet9 and Neurotically Obsessed by Fallen Mystery! They are freaking hilarious… (: (: (:

Anyway.. review? (:

~TMI~