Disclaimer: All characters and settings belong to JK Rowling. I do not profit from this in any way. It's all in fun.
THWACK! The sickening sound of a Bludger hitting a skull would stay etched in her mind forever. Quidditch players knew the risks they faced each and every time they entered the pitch. Those were risks they were willing to take.
It had been a high scoring game, the chasers flying almost as though choreographed, each side determined to best the other. The game had reached a fever pitch as the seekers danced and dived in wild pursuit of the elusive snitch, spotted numerous times but remaining always just out of reach.
Out of nowhere, a Bludger connected; she saw a look of shock frozen on his face before he disappeared from view. Horror overtook her, a feeling of dread and regret for words never spoken, kisses never given and a chance at love never taken.
Tears welled in her eyes as they always did during the visits at St. Mungo's. It was the only place she ever saw him now. She cried tears for a future at his side that would never be. Inwardly, she cursed herself for lacking the courage to tell him of her feelings earlier when it might have led to something more than this, a few shared moments of silence in a ward housing those with irreversible damage. A Healer entered the room.
"Has there been no change? No improvement? Is there no hope?" The voice, choked with emotion, held both pleading and dread as if already knowing the answer.
"It will never be more than this," the Healer shook her head sadly.
Years passed, but the question and the answer never changed. Such devotion did not go unnoticed. The Healer watched in silence from the door a few moments before closing it to allow a small degree of privacy.
"I should have told you how I felt. I don't know why I didn't, lacked the courage, I guess." A bitter laugh echoed softly in the sterile room.
"It's strange to hear me say that, isn't it? Who would have ever thought I could have feelings for you? But I did!"
Once the words began, they flowed freely. "Oh yes, for years I fancied you and not only on the Quidditch pitch either." A laugh tinged with happiness filled the room, a laugh triggered by memories of the games in which they'd played on opposing teams.
"I followed you in Hogsmeade, watched you from a distance, always surrounded by your friends. There was never a moment for me to step into your life and so I watched from the side, waiting for the chance that never came." A gentle sob echoed in the otherwise silent room.
The visiting time over, a small tear flowed down her face as it did every time she saw him.
"She cries only when you leave." The Healer spoke from the doorway.
Marcus looked at the healer, his own eyes damp with the tears he would not allow to fall. "Does she?" He whispered, wondering if his words were understood.
"What do you think about when I visit you, Katie Bell?" He asked the silent girl at her bedside as his large fingers brushed away the tear before he walked away. He knew he would return the next day and the days thereafter. It would never be more than this