In the last chapter, I meant to say Maya was in the Slytherin stand, not Gryffindor. Brainfuck smh.
When Emily woke up, there were around a dozen faces peering over her. She could make out the entirety of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, plus Spencer, Aria, Hanna, Sean Ackard, Caleb Rivers, Madame Pomfrey, and Maya. She was in the hospital wing.
"What happened?" she asked, rubbing her forehead and realizing she had been in a position similar to this just over two months ago.
"You're in the hospital wing" Hanna explained. Emily rolled her eyes.
"I figured that much, Han" she snapped, but immediately regretted it.
"We won the game!" Ezra Fitz told her proudly. Emily sat up excitedly, but was immediately urged to lay back down again by Madame Pomfrey.
"I caught the snitch?" she asked eagerly. Ezra pulled something out of his pocket that looked like the golden snitch. Emily beamed excitely.
"You hit your head on one of the beams" Spencer explained. Ah, that explained the throbbing that she could feel on her forehead.
"But you caught the snitch just as you were falling!" Aria told her.
"You had a pretty bad fall" Jasmine Saunders said "Around 9 feet drop. Not the worst thing that could've happened, but pretty bad nonetheless"
"And we got a new Hogwarts record!" Lyndon James added "Match was over in a minute flat.
"Honestly Fields, I barely moved from my position" Ezra laughed, patting Emily lightly on the head.
"It was a pretty amazing win" Sean added, holding out his hand for Emily to shake "Even if it was against us, there's no denying that you deserved that more than we did" Emily shook his hand.
"Here, drink this" Madame Pomfrey handed her a glass of a milky looking substance. Emily took it reluctantly and took a large gulp. She instantly regretted this, and dribbled it back into the cup.
"It's medicine, for goodness sake, not hot chocolate" she scoffed, encouraging Emily to drink more of the disgusting drink.
"It's grim" Emily told her.
"Emily, Emily!"
A voice came hurrying into the hospital wing, and Emily could just about make it out to that of Holden Strauss.
"Hey Hol-"
"Emily-"
But he didn't need to say anymore. Emily saw why he had came rushing in here looking so upset. In Holden's hands were the remains of what looked to be a broom. And there was only one broom that could be- hers.
"What happened?" Hanna asked, gently taking the remains of the broom in her own hands.
"McGonagall asked me to stay behind and clean up" Holden was panting "A-and I found this by the beam that Emily hit her head a-and-"
Emily could barely say anything. That broom had been the most important thing to her. She had only had it for a couple of months, but it held a special place in her heart. Her dad had given it to her at Easter when he found out that she was part of the team. It was Firebolt 2.0, a broom that hadn't yet been released in stores. Her dad had connections to the company manager, and Emily felt as though it was the most special gift anyone could ever give her.
"Em, I'm so sorry-"
"It's alright" she interrupted, not even knowing who had said it "It's no ones fault". She could feel herself becoming a little choked up, but was determined not to let it show. No one likes an emotional wreck.
"What are you gonna do, you don't have a broom!" Hanna shouted. Emily laughed a little, but you could here the pain coming through her chuckles.
"Nice one, Han. Don't try making it worse or anything" Spencer rolled her eyes.
"It's fine" Emily repeated "It is what it is. I guess I can manage with the school's Comets, although they won't be the same"
No one knew what to say, so everyone awkwardly bowed their heads a little.
"You were brilliant out there, Em" Maya said, smiling.
Yeah, she thought. She had been brilliant. But she wasn't even the one who had spotted the snitch- Alison had. If it weren't for Alison, she probably wouldn't have won that game. She probably wouldn't have caught the snitch, and she definitely wouldn't have caught it that quickly. But she also would still have a broom. A Firebolt 2.0.
"Thanks" Emily replied with a gentle smile. The kind of smile she always did when she was around Maya.
"The Hufflepuffs were practically sobbing!" Toby Cavanaugh told her excitedly.
"Yeah" Ezra agreed "You should've seen Reynolds. Threw a hissy fit right in the middle of the pitch. Hooch had to escort him off!" Emily laughed at this.
"Yeah, whatever" Hanna rolled her eyes and folded her arms.
Emily looked around, and suddenly realised who was missing. Alison wasn't there. Not that she expected her to be there, apart from she kinda did. Part of her hoped that Alison still gave a shit about her and wanted to be friends, but looking around and not seeing her face confirmed that she was wrong.
"Did any of you guys see Ali?" she bravely decided to ask. No one said anything for a while, as if there was some sort of elephant in the room that Emily knew nothing of.
"She tried to come in and see you" Aria said eventually. Everyone glared at her and gave her a look of 'You weren't supposed to say that'
"Then where is she now?" Emily asked, slightly confused.
"We told her that you wouldn't want to see her" Hanna explained. Emily bit her lip, slightly frustrated. But she couldn't say anything, however. Her and Alison weren't even talking.
"Oh" she managed to say.
"Visiting hours are over" Madame Pomfrey suddenly said, almost as if she was trying to break the awkward silence. Emily felt slightly relieved. She loved her friends, but couldn't help but feel a little intimidated when they were all peering down at her at once like some undiscovered species.
"Do we have to leave?" Hanna wined. Pomfrey threw her hands on her hips.
"Is my name Poppy Pomfrey? Yes, you have to leave!" she shouted. Once she'd turned away, Hanna flipped her the finger.
"We'll we back tomorrow Em, promise" she called, angrily glaring at Madame Pomfrey.
"I'll be there too!" Aria added. Hanna nudged her in the ribs slightly, followed by Aria nudging Hanna back, and by the time they had left the hospital they were bickering.
"Try not to die in here" Spencer said darkly. Emily looked baffled, but knew Spencer wasn't being serious.
"See ya later, little sis" Ezra flashed a smile at her, and gave her a slight wave. He was getting more and more handsome every time he entered a room.
"Heal up, Fields" Caleb winked at her, as the last of the crowd had left the hospital wing.
"Come on now, there we go" Madame Pomfrey started laying Emily's head back onto the pillow, and almost the second she had hit it, she was asleep.
"Pssssssst"
Emily's eyes fluttered open. She was sure that she had just heard some sort of hissing noise, but surely not.
"Pssssssssst, Emillllyyyy"
There it was again. Emily slowly decided to sit up, and tried to focus her eyes to the darkness. There was nothing there-maybe she had just been imagining things. After a brief second, she was just about to lay down again and rest her head on the pillow when-
"BOO!"
Emily sat bolt upright, and could now hear the sound of uncontrollable laughter coming from the side of her bed. She diverted her eyes to the left, and found Maya standing there giggling like an idiot.
"What the hell, Maya?" Emily couldn't help but laugh along with her.
"I almost didn't wake you" Maya told her "You look so cute when you're sleeping" Emily blushed, although it was not noticeable in this darkness.
"No I mean, why are you even here in the first place?" Emily whispered. She didn't want to wake any of the other patients up.
"I came to see you silly" she gently nudged her in the shoulder. Emily winced slightly, as this part of her body was still hurting from the fall.
"Oh sorry did I-"
"Nope, it's fine" Emily cut her off "Just a little bruised from the fall is all" Maya breathed a sigh of relief.
"If anyone catches you here-"
"Then I'll just run" Maya interrupted "What are they gonna do, run after me? I'd like to see Pomfrey do a hundred meter dash out this hospital wing" This made Emily laugh. Then again, most things Maya said made Emily laugh.
"What time is it anyway?" she asked. Maya sat herself down on the edge of the bed.
"Hang on, let me just whip out my clock from my back pocket" she joked. Emily laughed again.
"I'm sorry I asked" she rolled her eyes. Maya's face suddenly fell into a frown that Emily was not used to seeing on her face.
"I'm sorry about your broom" she whispered. Emily's sighed and diverted her eyes.
"It's okay, no ones fault" she repeated for the second time today.
"It was a pretty awesome broom" Maya told her. Emily scoffed. Yeah, like she didn't know that already.
"My dad got it for me" she explained. Maya shuffled up towards the middle of the bed and was now crossing her legs. She was fiddling with her hands in her lap, and looked almost as though she was about to cry.
"Everything okay?" Emily asked, leaning over to touch Maya's hand gently.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Maya smiled. But it wasn't a genuine smile, Emily could tell. "That broom was pretty special to you, huh?" Emily nodded.
"My dad's always away" she started explaining "He works for the ministry, and he's always away doing important missions and going to important meetings"
"Sounds cool" Maya murmured. Emily shrugged her shoulders.
"For him, yeah" she said "But not for me and my mum. We hardly ever get to see him, and it sucks"
Maya held tightly onto Emily's hand, and circled her thumb with her own.
"You're brave, Em" she told her "Like, really brave"
Emily couldn't help but blush again, although it wasn't visible in this darkness.
"I'm not" she argued. Maya threw her arms up dramatically.
"Are you shitting me, Emily Fields?" she laughed "You're the bravest person I know!"
"Then you clearly don't know enough people" Emily fired back. Maya rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. You're too modest for your own good, that's your problem"
Both girls smiled at each other, and found themselves looking deeply into one another's eyes. Neither of them said anything, but neither of them needed to say anything. Maya knew that Emily's thoughts were genuine, and Emily could tell that she knew this.
"You're a good friend, Maya" Emily eventually broke the silence. Maya smirked back, a smirk that was almost as if she was trying to hide the fact that she was blushing.
"You're a good friend too, Emily" she replied. Emily smiled. Again.
"Shouldn't you be getting back to the dungeons?" Emily asked. Maya rolled her eyes.
"I hate those dungeons!" she admitted "They're dark and cold and smelly, but then again so are most the Slytherins" This made them both laugh.
"You can't just not go to sleep because you don't like your common room" Emily told her.
"Who said I wasn't going to sleep?"
Maya scooched up closer towards the pillow Emily was laying on, and laid down next to Emily.
"What are you doing?" Emily asked her. She wasn't protesting or anything. Having Maya pressed up against her like this was one of the best feelings she had felt in a long time.
"You didn't think I was gonna leave you all alone tonight, did you?" she simply responded. Emily smiled lightly.
"You can't sleep here" she insisted "Madame Pomfrey will catch you in the morning, then the teachers were know you were out after hours and-"
"Then let them" Maya interrupted. She buried her head into Emily's chest, and limply swung her arm around Emily's torso. Emily gulped, not quite sure what to do with herself.
"Goodnight, hot stuff" Maya yawned. Emily fiddled with her hands a little, before bravely resting one of them on Maya's hand.
"Goodnight, Maya"
