THIS IS LATE AND I'M NOT SORRY. I have a friend staying with me from Germany and so we've been out and about a lot shopping or just sight seeing and it has really cut in on my writing time severely! I thought I was gonna have a good hour to two hours to finish editing and polishing with this chapter but then we got invited to a party at my friend's house whom I never get to see and WHOOSH- just like that, I lost all my writing time. Opportunity cost I suppose. (HEY GUESS WHO CRUSHED HER ECON TEST- This girllll!) Anyways, you'll have to forgive me for the tardy update and gigantic cliffhanger, I can't write the next chapter if you kill me out of frustration.
BYE
-Kat
PS: What are your thoughts on the new cover? I got tired of the old one... I am still experimenting with this website I found called Pixlr. It is really fun and relatively easy to use, especially for Wattpad book covers... cough cough. ( I used the dimensions 350x550 for Wattpad covers but you might get away with bigger) I don't know if i'm satisfied with the new cover quite yet. Maybe I'll host a cover making contest again? Decisions, decisions...
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I barely had time to dwell on Flint, however. Heck, I barely had time to dwell on anything much at all.
'All the teachers must have had really crappy holidays or something,' groaned Alicia as we stumbled out of potions days later. It had been a particularly bad lesson - Snape was worse than usual, which is saying something, and he had added another essay to the pile of work that we already had to do. And the game was tomorrow. We stumbled towards the Great Hall for lunch.
Then out of nowhere, Oliver came bouncing over to our table. Yes, bouncing. We all looked up in surprise. I blinked rapidly. Maybe I had inhaled too much fumes in potions...
Oliver practically jumped over the bench.
'Harry got the Firebolt back!' he whispered, barely able to contain his excitement.
'What!' Angelina yelled.
'Yeah, it's fantastic, so practise is on tonight. We need to see what this broom can do,' said Oliver, as he got up. 'And so be on time!' he called as he walked off. Angelina groaned and dropped her head to the table.
'How are we going to pass anything with that quidditch obsessed maniac wanting to practise every spare hour we have,' she grumbled. But we were all excited - the Firebolt was going to be fantastic, I knew it.
Sure enough, the whole team was there for practise on time - a first, and all waiting for Madam Hooch to finish talking to Harry.
Finally she walked off and sat with Ron, and we all gathered around Oliver, who rubbed his hands together excitedly.
'Harry, I've just found out who Ravenclaw are playing as Seeker. It's Cho Chang. She's a fourth year, and she's pretty good..I really hoped she wouldn't be fit, she's had some problems with injuries. On the other hand, she rides a Comet Two Sixty, which is going to look like a joke next to the Firebolt.' His eyes swept Harry's broom.
'Ok everyone, let's go,' he said. we all mounted our brooms and took off. I was surprised that no one crashed in to each other - everyone was watching Harry, not where we were going. But then we spread out.
'Harry, I'm letting the snitch out!' Oliver called from the ground, flipping open the compartment of the trunk that held the winged gold ball.
I didn't see the snitch, but suddenly Harry streaked towards the goalposts. He paused, then shot towards Oliver, who had just got in the air. I saw him emerge from behind Oliver with the snitch fluttering helplessly in his hand. We all cheered like crazy - he had caught it so fast!
I saw Harry let go of the snitch again, and it darted off. Harry squeezed his eyes shut. I could almost see him counting the seconds in his head. He was obviously giving the snitch a head start. Then suddenly, Harry turned and shot straight past me, turned again sharply, and grabbed the snitch, which had just come to hover near my knee. That was one speedy broom.
Clearly due to the presence of Harry's magnificent new acquisition, the whole team turned in a faultless practise. I even managed to get two shots past Oliver, but I wasn't sure if he was letting them pass or not.
After about half an hour, we all landed. I was ready for a shower, and headed straight for the locker room.
'Do you reckon we'll win tomorrow?' called Alicia from the shower across from mine.
'Of course we will!' yelled back Angelina and I at the same time.
I stepped out of the shower, wringing my hair out as I reached for my towel. I was dressed and sitting on the bench outside when Oliver walked up from the boys side, his hair dripping.
'Don't you ever bother to dry your hair?' I said grinning at him. He still hadn't said anything about what had happened to me yet. Maybe it was time to owl Emma. I didn't want to act anymore. It was hurting a little bit more each time.
'Nah, it will dry eventually anyway.' He replied. I rolled my eyes at him.
'Come for a walk with me?' he said quietly. My breath caught and I swallowed. This could be it.
'Sure,' I agreed, standing up. Oliver walked over to the door and held it open for me. I stepped out into the corridor and he followed. We walked in silence for a minute before he finally spoke.
'Katie, I've put off telling you this for a while,' he said quietly. I stopped walking and turned to face him.
'What is it Oliver?' I said, trying to keep my voice steady. This had to be it. Now I just had to keep my emotions in check. He stood there for a moment, then cleared his throat. He had gone extremely pale.
'There - I ' he stopped, breathing harshly. Then he bit down on his bottom lip.
'Oliver?' I whispered. I had to hear him say it, it felt like my chest was slowly being crushed by a giant hand.
He squeezed his eyes shut. 'Somebody kissed me.'
'What?' I said. Not 'I kissed this girl,' or 'there's someone else,' or any other clichéd phrase. Somebody kissed me?
'Somebody kissed you?' I repeated. He opened his eyes and gave me this desperate look. It felt like a knife had just been plunged into my chest. It looked like he was lost.
'It was when you sent me the letter, saying to meet you in that classroom? Well, I went there, sat down on a table and waited. Then I heard the door open. I turned around, and the next thing I knew, this girl was on top of me. I tried to push her off, but she was like a leech or something, trying to suck my face off. It was disgusting,' he said in a rush.
Then I started to feel angry. It was small in proportion to the pain I was feeling, but it was still there.
'I never sent any letter Oliver,' I said, feeling the anger grow. 'If you wanted to be with someone else, then all you had to do was say so. It was a nice try though,' I managed through gritted teeth, whirling away and beginning to walk off as my eyes started to water.
'It's not like that at all,' he said quietly. If he had screamed it at me I could have just kept walking. But his voice turned me around. I met his eyes. Then it felt like my heart was going to explode.
Oliver was just standing there, staring at me. His eyes were full of tears.
'Please believe me Katie.' He said in a cracked whisper. 'You mean so much to me - I care - I think I feel more than like, more than just caring.'
No no no no no no..
'I want to believe you Oliver, but I can't - I'm sorry,' I said, turning away from him and running around the corner, tears now soaking my face.
I think I feel more than like, more than just caring.
I reached the portrait, sobbed out the password and ran straight up to my empty dorm, slamming the door behind me and leaning against it, choking out tears and biting down on my lip. I couldn't get his last words out of my head. I tasted salt in my mouth, and stopped my teeth from digging into my lip any deeper. I stepped away from the door and sank to the floor, leaning against my bed and tucking my knees under my chin.
Suddenly the door swung open, and Angelina and Alicia rushed through. They saw me and instantly were either side of me. I felt two sets of arms wrap around me.
'Oh Katie,' whispered Alicia.
We sat there for about five minutes. They didn't ask me any questions, but then Angelina spoke up.
'You should go to bed Katie, sleep would be better for you than being awake now,' she said.
I didn't know if I would be able to go to sleep, but then they both helped me to my feet. I smiled at them and climbed between the sheets. Angelina nodded to Alicia, who disappeared, and came back holding a cup. She handed it to me, and I took it, swallowing its contents and not even caring that I could taste a sleeping draught. I felt my lids go heavy, and remembered that the quidditch match against Ravenclaw was tomorrow..
'Katie?' I opened my eyes. My eyelids felt like cardboard, and my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth.
'Remind me never to take drinks from strangers, if they are as bad as brewing sleeping draughts as Alicia,' I muttered up at the fuzzy outline of what I hoped was Angelina.
'I'll remember that Bell!' called Alicia from across the room. I laughed, and the room came into clearer focus. Angelina smiled at me.
'Ok?' she asked. I wasn't, and we both knew that.
'Yeah, I'll be ok,' I replied.
'Well, in that case, get dressed and we'll go to breakfast.' She said.
'Aye aye Captain,' I said as I climbed out of bed.
We were half way through the toast when a mass of boys, all in Gryffindor colours, marched into the hall. They moved like a swarm of bees towards the table, and then parted. I saw Harry sit down and put the Firebolt on the table. Then I realised that it was a guard of honour.
'Well, it looks like all you need to do around here to get some protection is acquire an international standard broom,' quipped Alicia. I was on the second piece of toast when I saw Malfoy making his way over to our table.
'Here comes trouble,' I said. We all picked up our plates and moved down to where Harry and the rest of the team were sitting. I was careful not to look in Oliver's direction.
'Sure you can manage that broom Potter?' drawled Malfoy. But Harry kept his cool.
'Yeah, reckon so,' he replied lightly.
'Got lots of special features, hasn't it,' Malfoy shot back instantly. 'Shame it doesn't come with a parachute - in case you get too near a Dementor,'
Harry smirked slightly.
'Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy. Then it could catch the Snitch for you.' The whole team burst out laughing. I saw Fred spray out bits of egg, and Alicia ducked as they flew past her. Malfoy stalked back over to the Slytherin table, Crabbe and Goyle following. I saw him whisper something to Flint, who abruptly turned and looked over at the Gryffindor table. Even from across the hall, we made eye contact and he smiled at me. I shuddered and looked away, not liking the look I saw in his eyes.
The rest of the time flew, as it usually does before a match. Then the team assembled, ready to go onto the pitch. I, however, didn't feel like listening to Oliver's prematch talk. So I stepped outside.
'Where are you going?' said Alicia.
'To wait over here,' I replied, calmer than I felt. They could stay if they wanted too - I was outside the door, and I knew I could be seen by anyone in the room.
Then they were both with me. I saw them grinning in what could only be described as an unstably happy way.
'If we're going to be evil, we might as well do it together,' said Angelina. I started to giggle, managing to get it under control as the rest of the team walked out and joined us. Then we all walked out onto the pitch, the crowd going ballistic. The Ravenclaw team were already assembled and ready. Hooch made Oliver and Davies shake hands, and then we were airborne.
Lee, as usual, was providing an entertaining commentary. Not that I had much of a chance to listen to it- I had to focus on the game. I caught the quaffle early on, and Alicia, Angelina and I instantly fell into the close working team we had become. McGonagall had even commented after one win that we appeared to be psychically connected.
'JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!' McGonagall's reprimand slammed into my focused little world, and I suddenly stopped. This move had a rather unexpected result. The Ravenclaw chaser in pursuit of me shot past, and I was free to throw the quaffle to Angelina, who shot ahead and put one past their keeper.
Five minutes later, and Ravenclaw had managed to score three in a row, due to what I have to admit was some clever bludger work. But Alicia now had possession of the quaffle, and was streaking towards the ravenclaw end when Madam hooch's whistle suddenly sounded.
We had won!
I turned my broom, finding Harry and racing toward him. The whole team converged on him at once. Alicia, Angelina and I all kissed him on the cheek, which made him blush, and I saw that Fred had him in a tight one- armed hug. I blindly threw my arms around Angelina, then Alicia, laughing so much I could barely see. As the team touched down in one big bundle, my arms wrapped around someone else. As I felt their arms wrap around me, I knew exactly who it was. I pulled back, feeling Oliver's arms slide away from me. He looked down at me, his smile fading. I didn't say anything, only turned around and pushed my way through the crowd. Alicia and Angelina joined me, and I started grinning again, the mood was so contagious. We stumbled back to the locker room, giggling.
'There's going to be a massive party tonight!' called Alicia from her shower.
'I can't believe it! We're in the final!' shrieked Angelina.
It was the quickest shower ever. Not wanting to miss any of the party, we were out and dressed in record time. We practically skipped out into the hall.
'Oh hang on guys,' I said as I plunged my hand into my jeans pocket. 'I've left my hair tie in the lockers. I'll meet you in the common room.'
'Sure Katie?' said Alicia, still grinning like an idiot.
'Yeah, don't miss any of the party because of me!' I said, turning around and heading back into the change rooms. I opened up my locker and pulled out my bag. Nope. I looked on the shelf. Nope again. I checked the showers, then realised that it was in the pocket of my tracksuit that was inside my bag. I opened the locker and pulled out the bag, hearing the door open behind me.
'I said you didn't have to wait for me guys,' I called. The door shut.
Suddenly I was whirled around and slammed up against the locker, coming face to face with a pair of cold black eyes. Flint.
'That's good, because I'm not the patient sort,' he hissed. I felt his breath all over my face, and I twisted my head to the side as my stomach turned over, churning with fear. Then I shuddered as I felt him draw a finger slowly down my neck, unable to get away - his whole body had pinned me against the lockers.
Then I heard him laugh.
'You know Katie,' he paused. I heard him laugh again, 'I really am a decent sort. You aren't seeing anyone, thanks to that blonde I had so convincingly in the right place at exactly the right time.'
I stopped breathing. Did he mean what I thought he did? Oh god, had Oliver been telling me the truth?
'Yes, and you believed it. I was so sorry to use her like that, but I don't think she minded too much. I knew there wouldn't be any other way to separate you.' It was like he couldn't stop talking, like he was proud of what he had done. I blinked away the tears.
Then I froze as I felt Flint roughly shove his hand along my stomach, finding the top button of my jeans.
Oliver, what have I done?