"Long story short: you fell off your broom."
The black-haired boy sat up on his bed, wincing from the pain, and gaped at the annoyingly good-looking blond who sitting on a stool next to his bed in the hospital wing. "What?"
The blond shrugged as he stood, smoothing out his Hufflepuff robes. "You asked me what happened. You fell off your broom during the Quidditch game. Or, if you want the specific version, Ravenclaw Beater Ramirez-Arellano slammed the Bludger into your arm, causing you to almost fall to your death." He extended his right hand, then noticing the Seeker's right arm in a cast, quickly withdrew and offered his left instead. "It's Nico, right? Nico di Angelo, the legendary Slytherin Seeker? I'm Will Solace, seventh year, and I work voluntarily here in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey at times. Don't worry, my healing skills do heal." He smirked, sky-blue eyes shining mischievously.
Nico nodded as he begrudgingly extended his good hand and awkwardly shook Will's. "What did I miss?"
Will tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Lets see… the Gryffindor Keeper Percy Jackson finally had the nerve to ask out the Chaser Annabeth Chase; some newbies put stink bombs in Filch's office again; McGonagall walked in on Ravenclaw Prefect Frank Zhang making out with Hazel Levesque yesterday—"
"Yesterday?" Nico spluttered.
Will nodded serenely. "You were out for three days. Broken arm, two broken ribs, concussion. You'll be staying here for quite a while. Now, let me finish—McGonagall walked in on… yeah. Oh right, you won."
Nico looked up, stunned. "We won? The Slytherin versus Ravenclaw match?"
Will nodded, smiling one of his trademark sunshine-y smiles. "I was the first to get to you. I had to pry the Snitch from your fingers."
Nico couldn't help but blush slightly, thinking about the blond sprinting through the crowds, frantically shouting Please let me through and I'm a Healer, his brow scrunched up cutely out of worry. He wished he were awake to see that.
Will brushed his cool fingertips across Nico's slightly feverish skin. Despite his hate for human contact, Nico longed for more.
"Enough for now. You need rest. Holler when you need me." Will trailed his fingers down to Nico's un-bandaged hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'll be checking on other people."
Nico eased himself onto his pillow and realized how tired he was. With a sigh, he closed his eyes.
-oOo-
"So, Nico, you're in… your fifth year?"
Will resided on the foot of Nico's bed, a hand on his ankle, his sapphire blue gaze fixed on Nico.
Nico nodded. Not knowing how to keep up with the conversation, he drily added: "Yeah, I am."
Will gave a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, that's when you've gotta start busying yourself with your O.W.L.s and realize the stress of life. I did struggle in my fifth, but hey, it turned out just fine. Of course, you'll do better. You're smarter than me."
Nico found himself mesmerized in Will's knowing smile and soft gaze. These days, he had been allowed visitors, and plenty had visited: his sister Bianca, his Quidditch team, his friends from Gryffindor, and many others. But they were only able to stay for a maximum of ten minutes before Madam Pomfrey would shuffle over and scold them for bothering her patients, and Will would follow in, smile apologetically at Nico's friends, thank them for visiting, and sit by the foot of the younger boy and give him a smile reserved just for him. It was one with shining blue eyes and curved lips, one that let him see the sunshine but feel safe in an embrace at the same time. So Nico would beg him to stay awhile, and he would, making himself cozy on the edge of his white sheets, chat, and smile his smile.
"William?" Madam Pomfrey's voice called out. "There's a girl with a broken arm. Help her settle down, will you?"
Will hopped to his feet and gave Nico an embarrassed smile. "I'd better help her. She insists on calling me William, although it's Will already on by birth certificate."
Nico returned the smile. "Go ahead. Sorry for taking up your time." But he didn't mean it.
Will gave a reassuring smile and rushed off, leaving Nico alone again.
Hospital wings, Nico decided with a sigh, were made to be lonely.
-oOo-
"You're all up and good to go, mister!" Will announced brightly, adjusting Nico's Slytherin tie with his cool fingers.
Nico blushed at the intimate move and allowed Will to straighten his collar one last time. "Thanks for everything, Will." He murmured, looking into the boy's sky-blue gaze for the last time.
Will laughed. "Just doing my job, di Angelo. Off you go to your normal life!"
Nico shouldered his bag and hesitantly stepped out of the infirmary and the doors creaked to a close behind him, before slowly cracking open behind him again. He risked a glance back. The tall blond boy was standing over a brunette girl in striped hospital clothes, blue eyes shining, lips curved upwards into his warmest smile.
Nico turned, fighting tears, and strode down the hall.
Little did he know that would be the last time he saw Will Solace in five years.
-oOo-
"Captains, shake hands!"
Nico reluctantly stepped forward and offered his hand to the buff Keeper of the Montrose Magpies. Cloaked in black Quidditch robes with a red bat on him, he looked quite intimidating as the captain of the Ballycastle Bats; but not quite as intimidating as the gray-clad man two feet taller than him who was crushing Nico's hand in his.
The referee held the quaffle above his head. With a sharp whistle, he tossed the red ball into the air and the players took off.
"Magpies Chaser Castellan has the Quaffle!" Ludo Bagman's voice boomed. "He flies high—Bats keeper Jackson saves—and passes to Gardner! Gardner dodges—she scores!"
The crowd erupted in cheers down below, and Nico suppressed a smile, still circling high over the commotion, trying to spot the Golden Snitch.
"Magpies Chaser Nakamura has the Quaffle—passed to Tanaka—she scores! Ten to ten!"
Nico squinted as a flash of gold streaked through the players, fading out of sight, then shimmering higher up again—closer to him than to the Magpies seeker. He dove into a nosedive, determined to keep the Snitch in sight.
"Bats Seeker di Angelo sees the Snitch! He dives—he's right behind the Snitch!" Ludo Bagman bellowed.
"And… Oh, pity. Castellan cut him off!" Nico silently cursed in Italian as the blond boy smirked at him in midair. He peeked desperately through the chaos of brooms, limbs and balls, trying to catch sight of the golden speck again. Unfortunately, it had already blinked out of sight. Sighing, Nico rose again, circling over the crowd.
"…and Nakamura scores again!" Bagman boomed, "20 to 10!"
Nico bit his lip and circled around faster, hoping to see the Snitch zooming through. But no luck.
The Magpies scored again, and Nico bit his lip. He would have to think about this later. Right now, the Snitch mattered more to him.
Suddenly, a shimmer of gold across the field glinted. Nico cautiously descended, trying not to catch the other Seeker's—or worse, Ludo Bagman's—eye. The moment he blended in with his teammates, he bent over his broom, zigzagging through the crowd, darting with agility.
"di Angelo sees the Snitch!" Bagman hollered. Oh, joy, Nico thought, focusing on his goal, attempting to go faster. Unfortunately, his Nimbus Two Thousand seemed quite taxed, and an opponent Beater was gaining on him on a Firebolt.
Whack. A Bludger flew his way, and he dodged, the Bludger scraping him on the sleeve as it went past. He was getting closer to the Snitch, and nothing else mattered.
The Beater did not give up. He tagged behind Nico, bat in hand, and waited for Bludgers to come his way.
Nico ignored him. The Snitch was just a few feet away—if he could just reach a little further—
Snap. Pain shot up Nico's left arm as he closed a gloved hand on the fluttering ball. He lurched to the right and teetered on the edge, unable to balance, and clutched the cool metal ball to his heart as he began to fall.
-oOo-
Nico woke to the smell of disinfectant and cool fingers on his forehead. An annoyingly good-looking blond boy was standing over him, sky-blue eyes shining, pale lips curved into his warmest smile.
"Long story short: you fell off your broom."
Hey world. I'm in Greece!
Currently it's 12:30 in Santorini. I just left Athens and I'll be going to Zakynthos in a few days. I felt like celebrating for a vacation, so this is *surprise, surprise* my first non-tragedy! *pantomimes wild applause*
I've been wanting to write a Hogwarts AU Solangelo for a while. So here it is!
About the thing that the title has nothing to do with the content: I wanted to add a chapter between the five-year gap, but there was literally nothing to write. If I have time I'll think about it, probably.
Enjoy, and please R&R! Criticism welcome!
-Ctenophore. D