Sylvia nearly doubled over from the pressure. She gasped as the huge, pulsating feeling throbbed like a heart beat throughout her body. Breathe. Breathe. She thought to herself. She took a long deep breath, focusing on getting oxygen to her body.
'Sylvia?' A voice asked cautiously.
'Go away.' she moaned
'Are you okay?' The voice continued. Sylvia glanced at the speaker. It was Albus Potter. He was pushing his hair nervously out of his face as he watched.
'I said go away.' She told him again. Albus tugged at the sleeve of his Quidditch clothes. The Gryffindor symbol, a lion, was stitched like a badge onto the chest of the scarlet and gold uniform.
'Edward was wondering if you were feeling sick or something. And if you could fly…'
'I'm not going to ditch! I'll be fine. Just leave me alone!' She snapped, fighting furiously to ignore the pressure.
'O…Err…Sure.' He retreated. Sylvia sighed. She hadn't meant to get mad at him. It wasn't his fault.
A voice suddenly echoed through the castle grounds, 'Good morning and welcome to Hogwarts' 2024 Quidditch Game!'
Deafening cheers. Sylvia's body convulsed sharply. She gritted her teeth and focused as best as she could on trying to listen to the announcer.
'This year we have a few new players on both teams. Starting with Slytherin, we have the captain and Keeper Conner Powell.' - cheers erupted from the audience - 'Beaters Peter Markson and Walter Goyle. Chasers Riker Shannon, Travis Walker, and Ian Dravu. And Seeker Scorpius Malfoy.'
Cheers were echoing everywhere, and Sylvia's body was very near convulsing again. She curled her hands fists and tried to breathe steadily.
'On the Gryffindor team, we have Captain and Chaser Edward Frost along with the other chasers, Oliver Frost and Albus Potter. Gryffindor Beaters consists of Teddy Lupin and James Potter. And the Seeker of this team is the infamous Sylvia Lioness.'
Sylvia smirked at the word 'infamous.' She got on the broom, and flew out slowly. Her broom looked a whole lot worse than it was, and she figured if she looked horrible, no one would worry about her. She made her way into the air, purposely swerving as she went.
'Blimey! Who ever thought to put her on a broomstick?' The announcer called out. Sylvia looked at him. It was Ethan Creen, a popular Ravenclaw boy in his 6th year. Sylvia smirked and allowed her broom to spin slightly, looking like it was completely out of her control.
'Anybody got a stretcher?' Ethan called out. Laughter floated to Sylvia's ears.
Then, a whistle blew and the game began. Sylvia saw the Snitch being released. It sped off in a blink of an eye, but instead of following it, Sylvia watched Scorpius. He was looking around, watching the game below at times. And at other times smirking at herself, his green and silver outfit flashing in the sunlight.
One time, he flew up to her, 'Think you can manage to stay on?'
'Oh. I suppose so. I did tell them I was horrible at flying…'
Scorpius smirked and flew off. Idiot, Sylvia thought..
'…Frost has the Quaffle, avoid that Bludger! And Quaffle's off to Potter. There we go! And Albus Potter scores! 60 to 40, Gryffindor in the lead!…'
Roars from the audience. Everyone except Slytherin seemed to be applauding and cheering. Sylvia was much more comfortable high above the crowd, where the immense pressure was not close and immediate. It was like feeling it through glass, now. Much easier to focus on finding the Snitch… the Snitch!
'There goes Malfoy! Looks like he's after the Snitch!' She heard Ethan call out. And yes, there was Scorpius speeding away on his Nimbus 2000-something, trying to catch the snitch.
Luckily, Sylvia had an advantage. Since she was so high up, she could see the Snitch was arching to the left. So if she went straight down…. She plummeted.
Sylvia spiral-dived like she had at the try outs, going as fast as she possibly could.
'Bloody hell-look at her go.. Ow!' Ethan cried out, getting smacked on the cheek for his language.
The whole crowd had gone silent, holding its breath as one. were silently cheering Scorpius; all the others were hoping Sylvia would make it. The nervousness vibrated through Sylvia's skull as she got closer and closer to the Snitch.
'Try and stay on, Scorpius….' She whispered as she grabbed the darting Snitch, and jerked the broom upward, spinning back into the sky.
Scorpius wasn't able to. The surprise of Sylvia's flying abilities nearly had him paralysed and he went straight into the crowd.
'Gryiffindor gets the Snitch! Gryfindor wins 215 points to 60!' Ethan called out, his voice just barely heard over the pandemonium..
It was too much. Sylvia could feel it so strong it was agony. She flew down and stumbled off the broomstick. Her body convulsed like crazy, her lungs dragged in oxygen, not able to get enough.
It was like her father's experiments all over again. It hurt like fire. It burned. It stung…. She screamed. She fell, thrashing and screaming and sobbing at the top of her lungs.
'Let me go! It hurts! Help! Don't! Stop, please!' She screamed, as the electrical shocks coursed through her. She thrashed in the embrace of the metal machine. Tears stained her young cheeks….
'Stop! Just stop it!" Her voice reached a high pitch of screams and sobs.
'Shut up! Will you? It's over. Shut up!' Hands grasped her shoulders and shook her roughly.
Sylvia started. Her eyes flew open. She was in a room with beds. Lots of beds, each with a nightstand next to it. But these beds were different. They weren't a comforting type. Instead, they were steel-framed, with pale green sheets. The hospital room.
'Young man. Visiting hours are over. She will be release tomorrow if all is well. You may see her then.' A thin, soft-faced woman in her late forties came in. Sylvia looked up at the person touching her. She sucked in a sharp breath.
'Caleb.!' She hissed, and thrashed to release his hold on her.
'See you tomorrow…' He said, his dark red eyes fixed on her hazel ones. He released her and exited the room.