Hey guys...before I forget: THANK YOU to everyone who read this and who commented and put me as favorite/alert for something. you guys literally made my day half the time. Also, i realized that justin's name became john for a chapter or two...oops. Also also, i fixed chapter 11 so that it makes more sense now -- realized i forgot like, 3 pages...nother oops. erm, anything else that you guys notice, just chalk it up to "oops". But yes, the long awaited (some longer waited than for others) end chapter...enjoy.

Disclaimer: only the story line

Chapter 12: I Should Tell You

Katie appeared in the kitchen of the small flat and paused. She listened to the silence for a moment, knowing that it was about to either be shattered horribly, or kept icily in tact. "C'mon Katie," she muttered to herself, "buck up. It's now or never. Throw big or go home. Keep alert and keep your eyes on the prize." She stopped suddenly, realizing she had said that last sentence in a remarkably good imitation of Oliver's Scottish accent. She rubbed her face, took a deep breath, and walked to Oliver's bedroom door.

She knocked once, and heard the deep voice growl from the other side "Come in." She opened the door a crack and looked in on Oliver at his desk, carefully copying another play into the book she had made. Katie smiled a little just as he looked up. "I didn't expect you here so early," he remarked quietly, glancing at the clock by his bed. It's glowing display showed it was only 8:27.

"Yea, my uhm…my mum gets up early. She thinks getting up after five is sleeping in," Katie said quietly.

Oliver nodded and turned back to the play book. Katie stood in the doorway, watching Oliver's quill scratching away. The heavy curtains were still drawn against the morning light and the only light in the room came from a small lamp sitting on the desk. Ten minutes passed in which neither moved drastically, and then Oliver looked up again. "Practice starts in twenty minutes. If you're going, you can use the bathroom to change. I showered last night," he said, standing and walking to his dresser. He stripped off the same t-shirt he had been wearing last night and Katie saw a slightly swollen fist sized bruise on the left side of his otherwise flat stomach.

"Did I do that?" she asked quietly.

He glanced down at the mark and then back to her. "Yes," he said tersely, tossing his shirt into the hamper.

Katie exhaled and slumped against the door-frame. "I'm sorry, Ollie," she whispered.

"Better get changed, Bell. If you're coming with me, we're leaving soon." He grabbed another shirt out of the dresser and yanked it over his head. He pulled sweats out of another drawer and stared at Katie. She remained motionless, matching his stare with a pleading look. "I only let people I'm on good terms with see me without pants, Bell." She blushed and spun around. He pushed passed her a minute later and walked into the kitchen. Katie followed him, still looking miserable.

Oliver went about preparing a cup of tea for himself, at the last minute getting another thermos down from the cupboard. "If you keep standing there, you'll make us both late, Bell," he warned, spooning sugar into the cups.

"Can you call me Katie first?" Katie asked, her voice quavering. "You only call me Bell when you're really angry with me."

He shrugged as the kettle began to scream.

"Oliver, please," she begged.

"Fine, B—Katie. Go get changed. We'll talk about all of this after practice." He turned the heat off and poured the water into the waiting thermoses.

"Thank you," she whispered and he heard her walk to her trunk in the living room.

She padded towards the bathroom and when Oliver heard the door click shut, he sagged against the counter, gasping in pain. He seriously suspected that the apple had broken one of his ribs, but didn't know enough about healing magic to fix it himself. Despite being cranky at the fact that she had finally managed to cause him serious injury -- somehow around the hours of three or four in the morning he had managed to forgive her for actually throwing the objects -- he didn't want her to worry about something that the team healer could easily fix. He heard the bathroom door open and straightened up again, wincing as he did so. Katie entered the kitchen again and took her thermos from Oliver's outstretched hand.

"Your pads and gloves are over there," he said, indicating the corner of the kitchen where she normally dumped her duffel bag. She picked it up, and handed his to him. He swung it around his shoulders habitually, but then doubled over, gasping as the strap settled against his stomach.

"Oliver?" Katie asked worriedly, putting her hand on his back and bending over to look at his face.

"Fine. I'm fine, Bell. We have…let's go..." he gasped, straightening up fragilely. Katie still looked worried though, and stood stationary when Oliver began to walk towards the fireplace to floo. He turned in the doorway when he didn't hear her following.

"That wasn't fine. What's wrong?" she asked.

He shook his head, but didn't say anything, afraid that his voice would betray him. Katie's nostrils flared and she set her chin more firmly, crossing her arms. "Katie, I'm fine," Oliver assured her, forcing his voice to be stronger than he actually felt.

"Troll dung, Oliver," Katie said simply.

"We have practice, Bell. Let's go," he said, walking to the living room where he picked up a handful of floo powder.

"Oliver!" Katie said, following him. "Can you not lie to me?"

Oliver did not respond, but instead flooed to the Quidditch field. Katie fumed, and then followed angrily behind him.

&&&&&

"No, guys!" Amelia screeched, "I honestly thought that they said right!"

Matt, Leo, Daniel and Justin quieted their laughing for a moment before Leo caught Justin's eye and they dissolved into laughter again. The team was in the process of strapping pads on underneath robes. They were waiting for Oliver to arrive before practice started, and somehow, a story that Amelia had rather been forgotten had resurfaced, courtesy of Daniel's memory.

"I'm sorry, Meels," Matt choked out. "It's just, the thought of you flying into the wall because someone said 'left' and you went right…" he dissolved into another fit of giggles.

"Justin!" Amelia protested as the chaser pretended to fly into a wall. "You're not supposed to laugh at your fiancé!"

"I'm sorry, I really am, sweetie," he said, coming over to her and giving her a hug. She tried to pry herself away from him, but he hugged her tighter. "I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with them!" He smiled down at her as she pouted.

"You are too laughing at me," she said.

"Give it up, Justin. Amelia, we are most certainly laughing at you. It's just…" Leo said, and then trailed off when his fellow beater turned her glare to him.

"I was twelve years old!" Amelia basically shouted as first Oliver stormed out of the fireplace and then Katie. Oliver's face held a look that greatly resembled a mother being harassed by her children; Katie's meanwhile was that of pure stubbornness. The teammates froze, knowing that whatever the flatmates were angry about now was ten times more interesting than any embarrassing Amelia stories.

"You can't just floo away from me like that! I know how to follow you!" Katie yelled, throwing her stuff down in front of her locker and crossing her arms. Oliver ignored her and opened his locker.

"We are not having this conversation right now, okay, Bell? Get your pads and robes on," he said quietly, easing the bag off his shoulder and down to the bench.

"Not until you tell me why you're not fine!"

Oliver grabbed his pads out of his bag and began to strap them onto his forearms and legs. "But I am fine," he insisted.

"No, you're not!"

Oliver gingerly straightened and cocked his head. "Funny," he quipped. "I didn't know that you could feel my emotions and physical pain..."

"I can't, but --"

"So then why do you keep insisting that I'm not fine?"

"Because you're most obviously not!" Katie said, her voice rising a little with intensity.

"If I tell you I'm fine, then I'm fine!"Oliver calmly bent to his shin pads again. "Pads, Katherine," he reminded.

"But fine is code for 'I'm actually doing terrible!'" Katie insisted, unzipping her duffel and taking out her arms guards. She ignored Matt's whispered "it is?" to Amelia, who responded by shushing him.

"Okay, well then, how's this? I'm doing so super well that in fact, I feel like I'm twelve again!" He smirked at her and Katie stamped her foot.

"You big fat liar!" she practically shouted.

A small laugh escaped Oliver's lips. "Seems I've gotten you mad enough to resort to juvenile sayings," he remarked, standing and grabbing his practice robe out of the locker.

"I'll resort to other juvenile things if you don't tell me what's wrong!" Katie threatened, bringing her wand out.

Oliver raised an eyebrow, and chuckled internally when he sensed the rest of the team tense with anticipation. "If you spell me, then it'll just be overkill, Katie." She grumbled something and put her wand away.

"Then tell me what's wrong with you!" she said louder and finished strapping on her protective pads.

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Because! I don't like to see –" Katie stopped herself quickly and blushed. "I don't like to see my teammates injured," she finished lamely a moment later.

"Hmm," Oliver mused, sliding the heavy robe over his head. "Funny. Seems to me that you were the one who injured me. Pretty hypocritical, don't you think?"

"I know I gave you the bruise, but it shouldn't have made you almost pass out when something touched it! Bruises don't do that! You're seriously hurt and you won't tell me what's wrong, which with my imagination is making me think the worst, and I couldn't live with myself if you died because I threw a paperweight at your stomach!" Katie said in a rush, and yanked her robe down around her shoulders.

A murmur of surprise went around the room and Oliver turned to the team. "I think it would be best if you all went out and warmed up. We're already a few minutes late, and we have a very important game this weekend. Daniel, you will be in charge until I get back from the healer. Katie, go with the team."

"No."

"Katherine Bell, don't do this. Go warm up and I will be out there soon," Oliver said stonily. "Now." The team sprung to attention and grabbed their brooms. They filed out of the locker room, Katie looked balefully behind her at Oliver. Slamming the door to the field behind them, Oliver went in search of the person who could fix his broken rib.

Katie sulked onto the field behind the rest of the team and caught the quaffle that Daniel drop passed to her as they ascended.

"So, Puppy," he said as she flew within hearing range. "What happened last night that made you throw a paper weight at Genghis?"

"Nothing," she said, tossing the funny shaped ball to Justin.

"Methinks the puppy has learned to lie," Leo sing-songed from where he and Amelia were beginning to bat a bludger back and forth between the two of them a few yards above the three chasers.

"Mmm, I dunno," Matt added, flying vertically through the circle of chasers and dodging the bludger as he crossed its flight path. "Methinks she just doesn't want to tell us what happened because she-thinks it's embarrassing!"

"I thinks you should all just mind your own business and let me alone!" Katie said crossly.

The quaffle flew from Justin to Daniel, landing in his hands with a smack just as he said, "We just want to know why Genghis Wood made you so angry that he deserved a paper weight to the tummy."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Katie changed tactics, and rolling left on her broom to catch the wide throw. "Aim next time, Daniel!"

"Now Puppy is lying outright!" Matt added from where he floated and stretched. "Although, I do have to agree with her on the aiming bit, Dan."

"I concur...on uhm, both bits," Leo said, then added "Heads!" as he accidentally knocked a bludger towards earth instead of towards Amelia.

Amelia groaned but after some quick maneuvers had the dangerous black ball back safely contained in her sky-high tennis match with Leo. The three chasers below them moved as a triangle out from underneath the overzealous beater.

"Concentrate guys!" Daniel reminded them as Katie fumbled a catch from Justin.

She responded by chucking the quaffle at his head, and was slightly disappointed when he caught it. Katie stuck her tongue out when he smirked at her, and Justin snorted. "Knew there was another reason that we called her Puppy," he joked and laughed again when Katie glared at him.

"No, but honestly, Kates. What happened?" Amelia said with a grunt, knocking the bludger back the way it had come.

"Nothing happened!" Katie said angrily.

"You can tell me! I'm one of your best friends!" Amelia insisted, grinning.

"Yes, but we're surrounded by boys and I don't want to talk about this right now. I'm already feeling bad enough as it is and if I tell all of you then you'll just make me feel worse."

"I'm guessing," Justin mused, catching and then throwing the quaffle to Katie, "That Oliver said something Oliver-ish and it put you over the line and so you resorted to throwing inanimate objects at him, and not just the paperweight."

"Yea! Did you notice the cuts on his neck and cheek? She had to have been throwing other things as well, since when we left him last night, he was fine. Drenched and stressed, but otherwise fine," Matt added.

Katie said nothing, but when her teammates turned to look at her, her dark expression told them they were right.

"And now," Leo said with a whack of his bat, "you're feeling guilty about throwing all of those things because you think that you've seriously hurt the only man who ever cared enough about you to follow you into a thunderstorm."

"But you feel like you can't say sorry to him because that'll look weak and you're still a little bit angry at him for being a prat yesterday," Daniel added.

"Stop being smart!" Katie moaned.

"Sorry, it comes in short bursts. We need to take advantage of it before it goes away!" Matt laughed, flying in dizzyingly small figure eights.

"Well that's no surprise when you do that on a regular basis," Amelia said, pausing to watch him.

Matt stopped suddenly and held his hands out to catch the quaffle. Katie threw it, knowing that he wouldn't miss it, but still hoping he would. He caught it deftly and fluidly threw it to Daniel.

"Keeps me on my toes," Matt remarked, then did it again so that Daniel could throw it to him. The exercise was aimed at making sure that no matter how Matt flew, he wouldn't become too dizzy and motion sick to catch the snitch.

"Good, Matt!" they heard Oliver yell from the end of the field. He was ascending towards them quickly, seemingly all healed.

Daniel leaned closer to Katie and said in a voice that made her feel like his little sister, "Don't be afraid of showing weakness, Katie. Especially not in front of Oliver."

"Feeling better, Genghis?" Justin called, catching the quaffle Matt threw to him.

Oliver nodded and with his usual gruffness began practice.

&&&&&

A few hours later, the sun high in the sky and the team snapping at each other in their hunger, Oliver called practice over. As the team hurried inside to change, looking forward to lunch, Oliver called Katie back. She turned to face him and was surprised to see him holding out a bag of Bertie Bott's Beans as a peace treaty.

"Come on. Let's talk this out, okay?" he said quietly. She nodded and followed him to the goal hoops, where he settled onto the giant ring and rested his feet on his floating broom. Katie followed suit and then waited for him to begin speaking.

"I'm just going to say what comes to mind first, because I don't want to waste time trying to be eloquent. I'm sick of this fighting and I just want to go back to happy-Katie-happy-Oliver-land. Okay?"

"Okay."

"I didn't want to tell you that I was seriously hurt because I didn't want you to worry. I know you're probably still mad at me for being a prat, although how you could still be after throwing all of that stuff at me, I find hard to believe…" he trailed off, looking into the distance and then carefully picking out a red colored bean.

"I'm not still mad at you," Katie whispered.

Oliver glanced at her and twitched a smile. "Good. Because I don't know if I could handle more objects being launched at me."

"I really am sorry I did that, Ollie."

"It's understandable. I was out of line. Here, have a bean," he said, holding the bag out to her.

She picked out a small handful and fingered through them, mentally attempting to guess the flavors.

"I understand why you stomped out of the apartment and why you threw the stuff at me. What I don't understand though is why you went to my mum's house…" he picked out another bean and hesitantly bit into it. Smiling, he popped the rest into his mouth.

"Because I like your mum…and she's one of the few women besides me who, when she bosses you around, you actually listen to."

"I listened to McGonagall!"

"When it suited you," Katie bit into a bean and then winced. "Pepper," she explained.

Oliver chuckled and tried another of the colorful little candies. "Mmm…toffee. No, but honestly. That's why you showed up at my mother's?"

"Well, that and the fact that if I had gone to my own mother, she would have said exactly what she told me last night, and I didn't really want to hear that right then."

"What did your mum say last night?"

Katie blushed. "Oh...nothing," She picked up another bean and popped it into her mouth, hoping it was a nasty flavor so she could divert the conversation. It was apple. "Dammit," she muttered and tried again…chocolate cake.

"I know what you're doing," Oliver said.

"I'm just trying to finish these beans."

"You're trying to avoid answering me. What did your mum say, Katie?" He leaned over and tried to catch her eyes. She squeezed them shut and put another bean in her mouth.

Third time's the charm! She thought ruefully as she gagged on the charcoal tasting bean. Oliver chuckled at the expression on her face and Katie opened her eyes to glare at him. "It's not funny!"

"Your mum said you loved me, didn't she?" Oliver asked tentatively.

"No," Katie said, rather like a child.

"Because I meant what I said last night, Katie. I do love you. Even though you drive me completely insane when you disappear for hours and hours and miss practice and leave your stuff all over my bathroom – including your underwear – I still can't live without you. I know this sounds really cheesy, and you hate cheesy things…well, except for chips." Katie smiled. "But I need to be cheesy right now. I love you, Katherine Bell. I don't know why I just realized this last night, but I'm sorry I was a jerk and a prat and I'm sorry I was gruff this morning. It hurt to breath, let alone speak."

"What was wrong?"

"Broken rib. I still have the bruise though, but the swelling's gone down, and the bone's all healed."

"That's good," Katie said quietly and shifted more towards Oliver. He took this as a minor victory but didn't push it. "I'm really sorry," she said again.

"It's fine. Gives me a good story to tell my grandchildren."

Katie smiled. "Can I tell you something?" she asked.

"Yeah," Oliver said nodding.

"You're the only man in the history of the world who would get cranky that someone had cleaned the house for them. You're also the only man in the world that would be angry at touching bras and underwear belonging to Katie Bell,one of Witch Weekly's Dangerous Damsels."

"I know. Although, to be fair, you're probably one of the only women in the world who would hurl things at Oliver Wood after he traipsed around in a thunder storm for her."

"We're a pair aren't we?" she asked, nudging his shoulder with her own.

"Yea."

"Hey, Oliver…" Katie said a few moments later.

"Mmm?"

Don't be afraid of being weak, Katie reminded herself. She braced herself for saying 'I love you too', but when her mouth opened to speak, it asked "Can I move back in?" instead. She mentally cursed herself for being a chicken and ate another bean in frustration.

"I wasn't under the impression that you were actually planning on moving out," Oliver said, glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes.

"Oh…well then uhm…"

Oliver chuckled and placed his arm around her shoulders, hoping she wouldn't pull away. "We've been through a lot, huh, Kates?"

She nodded and said "Yea…we have... Do you remember the first practice we ever had together?"

"And you knocked me out, yea, of course I remember that…or, hearing about it anyway. I didn't expect someone of your size to throw that hard…"

Katie blushed as she laughed quietly. "Sorry about that."

"Oh, that's okay. The time I'm still angry about is when Fred and George taught you how to use the beaters bat, and then you all decided to use that in a game!"

Katie laughed outright and leaned against Oliver. "We won, though!" she said.

"Yea, but you also all gave me a panic attack when George tossed you his bat."

"Ravenclaw was so confused," she remembered.

"As was Hooch. She couldn't decide whether or not it was a penalty!"

The two teammates settled into silence, remembering the first game Katie had ever played in at Hogwarts. Angelina had collided with one of the Ravenclaw chasers fairly early in the game, and with her left eye was swollen shut, she was only capable of short interval passes, not trusting her depth perception to hold up enough to try and score. Katie's talent for throwing was discovered almost as early in the game, and to combat that, the Ravenclaw beaters had been instructed to aim the bludgers at her whenever she got the quaffle. The team was struggling to hold onto their lead with two chasers practically out of the game.

The fact that Alicia was an amazing tactician on the field, and that she could make split second plans was something that most of the other Hogwarts teams didn't realize until the next year, and so, using that to her advantage, while flying down the field, she had called a flurry of orders that came out sounding like "I have a craving for scrambled eggs right now!" but really meant "George, give Katie your bat and I'm going to pass to you and you're going to score!" And that's what they did. Angelina passed the quaffle to Katie, who held onto the quaffle until she heard the whack of a Ravenclaw beater's bat, and then drop passed to Alicia, caught the bat George tossed her and deflected the bludger right back at the Ravenclaw beater. The beater froze in surprise, and the small dark ball collided with his stomach just as Alicia handed off to George who tossed the quaffle lightly through the goal. Madame Hooch had called a time out to deliberate with the teachers about whether or not that play was a penalty, and Oliver had yelled so loudly that he lost his voice.

"That was such a fun season," Katie reminisced, breaking the silence a few moments later and bringing the long time teammates back to the present.

"For you guys. All of you girls' hair-brained schemes almost made me die of hyperventilating."

"They were only hair-brained from your vantage point. From mid-field they were amazing feats of brilliance."

"Whatever. I'm just happy that the next season you guys finally toned it down a little."

Katie pulled away and looked at him, confused. "We didn't ever tone it down…you just stopped yelling at us so much…"

Oliver shrugged, pulling her back to rest against him again. "Oh. Maybe I just got used to it."

"Well, I'm glad you did." She ate another of Bertie Bott's Beans and the grinned. "I like this," she announced.

"What? Eating Bertie Bott's two hundred feet in the air?" Oliver asked.

"No! Being here with you... Remembering things..." She trailed off and then something in her clicked. She realized how she could tell Oliver that she loved him without actually telling him. She just hoped that he would get the picture. "Do you want to know what my favorite game ever was?"

"Hide and seek?" Oliver guessed.

Katie shook her head. "No, I mean, my favorite Quidditch game!"

"Oh! Sure."

Katie straightened up and smiled. "The final game I played at Hogwarts," she announced.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Why?" he asked.

"Because you came back to watch," she said, hoping he would get the message.

"And…?" he asked, and something in her crumpled.

Trust men not to get subtle signals! She thought to herself, but said aloud: "It was my favorite game I played there because you didn't have to be there – you weren't supposed to be there – but you begged Dumbledore to come and see me play. I liked it because you were there supporting me when you didn't have to be and then afterwards you gave me a hug, critiqued me and stayed for the afterparty…where you uhm…didn't dance with any other girls besides me…" she finished lamely, and stared at him, pleading internally with him to get what she was trying to say.

Oliver stared back blankly at her for a moment, with a confused look on his face. "Still don't understand why it was your favorite," he said.

Katie scrunched up her face in frustration and then almost fell off the Quidditch goal hoop when she felt his lips against hers. His arm around her shoulders held her steady though, and when he pulled away she blinked in surprise.

"You played like crap and Gryffindor lost, but if you're trying to tell me you love me too, I'm getting your hints" he whispered after a moment.

Katie grinned and leaned against her keeper. "You're a butthead," she said finally.

Oliver smirked and asked, "Well, yes, but isn't that why you love me?"

"I don't know. Let's try that kissing thing again, and then maybe I'll tell you," Katie said.

Oliver kissed her again, this time holding her close for longer and only pulling away to breathe. As they grinned at each other, they suddenly realized there was cheering coming from the ground. They looked down and saw the team whistling and cat calling.

"Oi! Lovebirds!" Leo called up. "You couldn't have done this last week?"

Oliver leaned over to get a better look at his beater and shouted back, "What are you doing here?"

"Ignore him!" Justin responded loudly. "He's just angry because he's lost some money!"

"How big was the pot?" Katie asked, ignoring Oliver's indignant, 'What's he talking about?' to her.

"About seventy galleons!" Justin yelled.

Katie straightened and turned to Oliver. "They were betting on when we'd get together," she explained quietly.

"Oh," Oliver said to her, and then added so that the team could hear, "Well, who won then?"

"Katie's mum!" Amelia shouted up.

Oliver turned to face Katie, "Who else was in on this?" he asked.

She opened her mouth to respond, but was side tracked by Daniels shout of "By the way, did you guys want to come to the Donkey with us?"

"Ooh! Yea! Hold on, we'll be right down!" Katie yelled excitedly. She tucked her feet underneath her broom and pulled it closer to her.

Oliver followed suit but looked frustrated. "What's wrong?" Katie asked him.

"I wanted more kisses," he pouted, getting onto his broom. Katie laughed and assured him that that night he would be receiving all the kisses he could want. Grinning bigger than he had in a long time, the burly keeper followed his feisty chaser girlfriend down towards the rest of the team.

Fin

There you have it...12 chapters later, Katie and Oliver are a happy couple. I'll try to write an epilogue before school/theater/marching band all pick up again -- hopefully i'll have more time to sleep this year, but somehow i severely doubt it. Anyway, if I don't, I'll see all of next summer for another flirty round of romantic chapters in another story. (Probs Oliver and Katie again, but maybe not) I hope you enjoyed this.

Read and Review, please!

(Title from Rent's "I Should Tell You")