The rematch was brutal- rain came down in billowing clouds and thunder rumbled angrily.

"Make sure you have your wands" Alexander told us as I joined the boys in the locker rooms, "If the Slytherins decide to hex us, this weather will give them perfect cover."

Thunder cracked like a violent snap and we all jumped.

"Bloody hell" Hayden grumbled, always the pessimistic one on the team, "How are we going to be able to see anything?"

"What's wrong, afraid of a little rain?" Sirius joked tauntingly.

"Let's go" Alexander said, "Slytherin's drawn out their loss long enough, now it's time we stop teasing them and just get it over with."

"Hear, hear" Benjamin said cheerfully and we all put our hands together.

"GRYFFINDOR!"


I couldn't see two feet in front of me through the sheet of rain and blistering wing. This was absolutely insane.

I was soaked to the bone, my hair plastered to my cheek as I impatiently tried to brush it away.

Madam Helens called a time-out to hand out goggles and though they helped a little bit, they fogged up as I elevated into the air to search for the Snitch.

I distantly heard Mary yelling out the score, "Gryffindor- 40 points, Slytherin – 20 points."

Come on, snitch, I thought to myself.

And then I saw it- an inch from the stands- people were already pointing to it.

"GO!" I yelled at my broom, urging it on as I battled the wind towards the Snitch.

Suddenly, Regulus hurtled out of the sky from nowhere, having also spotted the Snitch.

We raced towards the Snitch from opposite sides of the fields- a green streak and a red streak hurtling towards each other at maximum speed.

I growled, the wind was helping him and against me; he was gaining ground on me.

I heard Mary shout, "And Slytherin scores again! Gryffindor is only ten up now-!"

My goggles were fogging up again and I swore. I ripped it off my face, letting it fall to wherever it would go- three feet from the Snitch- two-!

Regulus suddenly spun himself sideways so that he slammed straight into me, deflecting me from my path to the Snitch. He made a snatch for the Snitch himself but I rammed the front of his broomstick, spinning him in a random direction.

He snarled and we both slammed into each other again- no mercy given as we both struggled to climb up into the air where the Snitch was headed. A Bludger nailed Regulus in the small of his back and though he shouted in pain, he kept going, no hesitation in his path to the Snitch. He kicked the end of my broomstick, but I grabbed his broom so that we spun together and when he straightened himself out, I was right there with him, back on track.

Lightning flashed but we barely noticed it. The rain was so thick I could barely breathe as it pelted my face but we kept spiraling up into the air- and somehow I felt it… this Snitch is going to fall back down, it's going to nose dive…

It was just a gut feeling… but I didn't even question it.

I disentangled myself from Regulus with a quick duck-swerve and leaned myself backwards. I heard the crowd gasp as I backspun in the air, now heading straight for the ground headfirst- but sure enough- the Snitch abruptly nosedived.

I had to reach my hand out to grab it… that was all… but I was sure I was going to fall headfirst all the way down to the pitch if I let go of the broomstick handle by more than a finger.

But Regulus was hurtling down now, determination etched in his face, his hand outstretched.

I took as deep a breath as I could and let go of the broom, stretching my hand out, that feeling of ice cold metal and wings…- My fingers closed. The Snitch was caught!

The whistle blew- and I closed my eyes as I felt myself slipping off my broom- falling, falling.

I hit the ground with a loud thud! And all the wind was knocked out of me. I saw red and couldn't breathe… The rain kept pouring down on us and lightning was flashing like crazy.

"Raylynx! RAYLYNX!" James practically tripped off his broom as he raced towards me.

"Ray…" he got on his knees besides me, "Are you all right?"

Suddenly, his eyebrows furrowed, "Are you… laughing?"

It took me a moment to realize I was.

"I caught it, James" I whispered breathlessly, but victoriously, "I caught it, you see?" I showed him the Snitch, still struggling in my grasp.

I laughed louder, merrily, this time feeling the laugh rumble through me as rain continued to drench us, "James, I did it!"

"I know" I heard James say. I looked up at him, and for the first time, I was not embarrassed about how ugly I looked. I gazed straight at him, with confidence in who I was.

"Don't cry" I heard him say, as seriously and warmly as I'd ever heard him speak.

"I'm not crying" I replied reflexively, though that was not true, "It's just the rain."

And then the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team surrounded us, cheering and yelling, and yet again, I was accompanied to the Hospital Wing.


I was by now so well-acquainted with Madam Pomfrey that I had taken to calling her "Poppy". She had been indignant the first few times but had slowly accepted come to accept it. Her new nickname for me was 'reckless idiot'. I wasn't there for long, just a few days. But on the night before the morning I was to be released, I woke up to a whimpering sound. Confused, I looked around me for a few seconds before I realized that Remus Lupin was a few beds down from me. He seemed to be asleep, but he was shouting as though in pain.

"Re-Remus?" I called hesitantly, not wanting to invade his privacy.

He groaned again, louder. It seemed like he was in some sort of terrible nightmare.

"Remus!" I whisper-yelled.

His eyes opened suddenly and he turned towards me. I could see beads of sweat running down his face and his eyes looked haunted.

"Raylynx?" he called hoarsely.

"Yeah, I… you were…well, I thought…bad dream, so…" I mumbled, not wanting to admit he had been almost yelling in pain.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" Remus asked me, seeming to regain himself as he sat up and wiped his face with the towel on his bed stand.

"No, you didn't" I tried to lie, "I was already up."

Remus glanced at the clock on the wall, which showed that it was two in the morning.

"At two in the morning?" Remus half-smiled at me, clearly aware that I was lying.

I shrugged, "The potion completely threw off my sleeping schedule, I guess."

"What happened, Remus? Why are you in here? Did someone injure you?" I asked him.

Remus half-smiled again, though this time, something about his smile seemed extremely forced and bitter, "No, I just… feel like I've got the flu. Fever, fatigue…

"Oh, well, if it's just the flu, you'll be better in no time, right?" I asked, trying to cheer him up.

Remus' smile shifted from bitter to weary. Suddenly he seemed far, far older than a third year student and far, far different from the usually laughing and gentle prankster he was during school.

"Yeah", he muttered, "I suppose so."

"We should probably go back to sleep" he added quickly before I could say anything else, "before we get in trouble with Madam Pomfrey."

Realizing that he didn't want to talk to me anymore, I nodded and simply replied, "Yeah."

For a moment there, I'd forgotten that I was someone unimportant and burdensome. But with his reminder, I remembered I needed to remember my place and just shut up.

He turned over in his bed and soon, soft breathing could be heard from his side. He must be exhausted, to fall asleep so quickly. His breaths gently lulled me to sleep.


"Hey", Zayne greeted me in Transfiguration that morning, "I was worried you weren't going to be here today."

"Don't worry", I laughed, "I'm here to stamp out the flames."

I swore I heard Professor McGonagall murmur out of the corner of her mouth, "Thank Merlin" as she passed us to the head of the classroom, "Now, I will hand back your essays and we will begin today's lesson…"