Chapter Ten- Hard Hit

The game was on! All the students were in their seats high up in the air where they could see the action. There was loud cheering and booing as the rival teams were fighting for a win. One of the Gryffindor beaters had fallen from his broom and was out of the game. Thankfully, he hadn't been horribly injured, but he wasn't in a fit state to play.

The Slytherin team was guarding their goal area heavily, and the Gryffindors were having trouble getting the quaffle into their hoops. However, one of the Slytherin players was hogging the ball, which made it that much easier to get the quaffle from him. They started racking up points within a few minutes. The announcer in the stands was busy yelling out the names of the Gryffindor team. Several of the players even started performing tricks as they were playing.

Kitty loved the excitement of watching Quidditch live. Before coming to Hogwarts, she had only seen the game on TV. The whole crowd buzzed with excitement, stirring her nerves higher and higher. She hung from the front row, hanging onto the rail, cheering for her team with the twins right beside her.

It wasn't long before the Slytherin beaters developed a nasty habit of purposely aiming the bludgers for the other players' heads. They were specifically aiming for the keeper. The trio had been lucky enough to get seats directly behind the Gryffindor goal post, allowing them to watch the bludger action.

Some boy in the row behind them was giving his own commentary besides that of the actual student announcer. He was rather fun to listen to as he went on about how Slytherin was wasting an opportunity to win in a fair fight and how that refusal to win fairly was what proved their inferiority as a team.

Someone called out Kitty's name in the middle of the action, and she turned to see who it was. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain to the back of her head, and she dropped to the ground. The pain of falling didn't really register in comparison to the splitting pain in her head. Now the Gryffindors were screaming about foul play and Kitty could hear the Slytherins screaming in return. Her vision began to blur, slowly fading.

Someone had their arms around her and she tried to stagger to a seat, instead she fell to the floor in a heap all over again. She fought to keep consciousness, but everything went black. There were no more sounds from the stands or any excitement from the game.

He was stroking her hair, his arm wrapped around her. She was lying on his chest tilting her head upwards to meet the gaze of the boy she loved. Fred Weasley smiled down at her, the smile spreading deep into his eyes.

He started softly calling her name, "Kitty, Kitty, wake up," his voice was soft, as if it were far away, but it grew closer and closer.

"But, I am awake, silly," she reached up to touch his face but he started fading away, unreachable in the distance growing quickly between them.

The next thing Kitty knew, the dream was gone. She opened one eye, then the other, to a familiar face. The back of her head was pounding and it was as if she could feel the blood rushing through her head. She heard a strange ringing noise and gently touched her fingers to the throbbing. Kitty quickly removed her hand, but the stinging pain remained.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, you're up," Fred smiled.

"Don't mess with me right now, Fred. I think my head's going to explode, then there's these stupid dreams and visions," she grumbled but, noticing the confused on Fred's face, quickly changed the topic, "Where's George?"

The ringing had stopped now, but the throbbing pain refused to go away. Kitty chanced a look at her fingers there was some dried and wet blood there, bright red on her pale fingertips. Fred, sensing her growing panic, continued speaking to her, gently taking her hand and wiping it with a nearby towel. There was already some blood staining the white fabric, and Kitty assumed it had been used as a cushion for her head.

"Sorry, he's coming back with Madam Pomfrey. She's treating that guy in the infirmary right now, the one that fell from his broom. You sure I can't mess with you? That makes my day awful boring."

Kitty smiled and rolled her eyes, despite the pain, she could still find Fred funny, "Sometimes I can't stand you."

"Eh, you know you love me," he mumbled and gently ran a hand through her hair.

"What're you doing?" she looked at him curiously.

"I'm just feeling for the bump," he smiled with his usual charm.

Kitty looked around the room. The grey walls, lockers, and doors to changing rooms told her she was in the team locker room. She was on a bench across from the broom rack. Kitty tried to remain focused on her surroundings, noting the Gryffindor robes hung on the wall and objects strewn on the floor to keep her mind off the throbbing pain in her skull.

Then a thought struck her, "Is the game over?"

"Not yet, but the snitch has been sighted, so anytime now. Gryffindor is winning so don't worry about that," he soothed just as the nurse entered the room with George.

Kitty had only seen this woman at dinner but knew she was a fussy old witch. From the set of her mouth Kitty could also see that the woman was incredibly strict. It seemed to her that almost all witches were incredibly strict. Madam Pomfrey removed her wand from her apron and turned her attention to Kitty, her blue eyes staring the young witch down.

"What seems to be the damage?" the witch murmured, quickly inspecting Kitty. Madam Pomfrey's wand began to glow and she moved the wand slowly back and forth over and around Kitty, "I see then," she mumbled.

"Well then, don't worry that's a quick fix. You'll feel better in no time. I'll just fix up the bump for you. You might still have a small headache afterwards, but it'll disappear before too long," satisfied with her examination, the Madam now had a wide smile and seemed less frightening.

The nurse muttered a spell and pointed her wand at Kitty. A yellow glow flowed from the tip like smoke, slowly surrounding the patient. Kitty could feel the pain drifting away. There was a strange feeling of warmth flowing through her, and the pounding in her head became a slight headache. She nervously reached back up to touch the back of her head and this time the bump was gone.

"Thanks, Madam Pomfrey!"

"No problem, but you won't be watching anymore of the game today," at her word, Kitty and the twins' faces fell. "Well don't be so upset, I'm sure you'll hear the outcome soon. Such a nasty barbaric game, all the injuries, exactly why I don't watch the sport. I simply wait for the inevitable patients in the Hospital Wing," the nurse griped, placing her wand back in her apron and bidding them good day, "I'll soon have other students in the infirmary to deal with," she huffed before exiting the Gryffindor Quidditch hut.

"If you hope to get on the team next year, you'll have to do better than getting hit with bludgers when distracted," Fred teased.

"You weren't even playing!" George agreed.

"Oh shut up, my expertise can't be tested as a spectator," Kitty laughed, kicking the two playfully, her good mood returning with the lessening of her pain.

"Exactly."

Fred patted his brother's back, standing up from the bench. Kitty tried to do the same, but stumbled slightly. Fred offered her his hand, and she took it gratefully; he gave her a gentle squeeze along with a small smile. Kitty smiled back sheepishly, a blush spreading over her face, and they walked out of the locker room just in time to hear the end of the game.

"Slytherin catches the snitch; the game is over! Gryffindor didn't rack up nearly enough points with the final score at 170 to 140. The game is won!" the announcer called out excitedly.

"You have got to be kidding me…" all three grumbled, Slytherin would be winning the House Cup after all.