Madame Pomfrey seized me the moment I had appeared, berating me for not coming up to the hospital wing straight away after the dangerous stunt I had just pulled. "Honestly, jumping from your broom! Now I've seen it all. Come, come, let's get a good look at you Miss Black." She dried out my clothes instantly, gave me a potion to warm me up from the inside and checked me over for any signs of concussion before eventually having to admit that I was fine.

"Are those…?" Ron trailed off as he stared at the broomsticks in my hand and I nodded sadly.

"Both of them, mine and Harry's. The Whomping Willow got to them before I did." Separating the broken pieces so that one pile was Harry's and the other was mine, I rubbed my face tiredly. "How is he?" Harry was lying on the hospital bed, still completely out of it but otherwise he didn't look to be in too bad a condition. I'm guessing those dementors got to him more than anything.

"He was lucky, he's not hurt but it could have been a disaster." Hermione said solemnly as the rest of the team all crowded around him.

"Lucky the ground was so soft." Fred said as he and George both put their arms around me, knowing I was now mourning for my broom. I'd had that broom since second year, just as long as Harry had had his nimbus. Of course it wasn't my first broom, but you do get attached to this things.

"I thought he was dead for sure."

"But he didn't even break his glasses." Katie and Angelina whispered together before saying that it had been the scariest thing they'd ever witnessed before looking at me. "I can't believe you actually dove after him. What were you thinking Mia?"

"That Harry's the best damn seeker we've got and it would be a real shame for him to get smushed?" I provided dryly, not in the mood to really talk. Thankfully I was saved from further interrogation by Harry waking up, a slight groan emitting from him as he jerked suddenly as if becoming fully aware all at once. After a moment of staring he then looked at each of us in turn and I had to admit we must have looked a right sight, covered in mud and soaking wet. Well, all except me that is.

"Harry! How're you feeling?" But Harry didn't answer that, shifting carefully and wincing like he was hurting all over as he asked us what had happened. "You fell off." Fred supplied simply, cutting straight to the chase. "Must've been, what, fifty feet?" This didn't seem to matter one bit to Harry, however, wanting to know the results of the match first and foremost.

"But the match. What happened? Are we having a replay?" No one could bring themselves to tell him, and our silence seemed to speak louder than words as his face dropped with a horrified expression. "We didn't…lose!"

"Diggory got the snitch." George promptly began to explain, wrinkling his nose slightly at the mention of the Hufflepuff seeker. "Just after you fell. He didn't realise what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch, but they won fair and square, even Wood admits it." Crestfallen and looking deeply ashamed, Harry meekly asked where Wood was now. That's a good question, where is our glorified captain?

"Still in the showers. We think he's trying to drown himself." I punched Fred in the arm. Now completely defeated, Harry curled up into a ball and buried his face into his knees, probably thinking that the whole thing was his fault so I nudged Fred again and gestured at Harry, urging him to do something and he quickly caught on. "Come on Harry, you've never missed the snitch before." He said whilst giving Harry a friendly shake of his shoulder.

"There had to be one time you didn't get it." George added with Katie and Angelina agreeing quickly before Fred launched into an explanation of how we still had a chance to win the Cup, it just depended on how everyone else's matches went, but when the twins started to argue slightly over the chances, I clapped them both over the head to make them shut up as it clearly wasn't making Harry feel any better. Tentatively touching his shoulder, Katie spoke very kindly to Harry.

"It's not your fault, Harry. This happens sometimes, you can't expect to win all the time. Just take it as a lesson and we'll try again next time." She said to him. I could have kissed the girl for finally saying something sensible. I knew I shouldn't have relied on the twins to try make Harry feel better. "Also Harry, there's something you should know. When you fell, Mia tried to catch you but she missed, so she jumped off her broom and dove right after you." Now Harry looked up, looking around at me with alarm as I gave a weak laugh.

"You're joking!"

"Funnily enough, this time it's not a joke." I admitted, rubbing my head awkwardly as Harry continued to stare at me. "I panicked, alright? I saw you falling so I just went for it, completely forgetting that there were a bunch of teachers watching the match. We all know I'm impulsive." But now Harry, who had started to get some colour back in his cheeks, was ashen faced again so I decided not to mention it again. Thankfully Madame Pomfrey ordered us all to leave in order to give Harry space to rest, so we promised to see him soon before heading off for the showers in order to get clean.

Harry was kept in the hospital wing all weekend, so Sunday morning the entire team showed up, Wood accompanying this time where he assured Harry that he didn't blame him for what happened, though he could have put more effort into making it sound believable. Harry had since learned that my broom had also been broken by the Whomping Willow so after everyone else left, Ron and Hermione going down to lunch, I stayed with him to keep him company and talk for a while. "I'm sorry, if I hadn't fallen, your broom…"

"Brooms break, Harry, it happens." I told him quickly, giving him an easy smile. "My mum's already written to tell me that she'd find me a replacement for Christmas, so it's no big deal. One thing though, do you still have your broom pieces here?" Nodding his head, Harry turned over and tugged the bag that now held the broken bits of his Nimbus two thousand, handing them over to me as I tipped them out onto the bed, down to the last splinter. I saw him wince, as if seeing the broom broken like that caused him physical pain so I gave him a sympathetic look. "It won't fly ever again, that part of the magic is broken, but I might be able to do something with how it looks…"

Watching me closely, I raised my wand over the broom and waved it, making the entire thing lift up into the air before I started poking at it, finding the places where it was supposed to fit as I concentrated, holding the entire thing levelly over Harry's bed as I moved my wand tip up and down, guiding the smaller bits of wood splinters back into place before then murmuring softly under my breath. "Reparo." With a sharp snapping sound, the broomstick magically fixed itself, the wood melding back together as my wand rather forcefully gave a surge of direction, as if angrily telling the broomstick that it had no choice but to be fixed.

Once it was done I lifted it up and the levitation magic dispelled, allowing me to test the weight before then handing the now whole broom back to Harry who looked utterly thrilled. "You can't fly it, but it's better than keeping broken pieces in a bag. It's all I can do I'm afraid, I wish there was more…"

"It's brilliant. Thank you Mia." Giving me the first real smile I'd seen from him since he'd been brought in here, I sat back down again as Harry rather lovingly ran his hand over the broom before putting it down at his side, keeping it close to him. "It's my fault we lost, isn't it?"

"Of course not Harry. Those dementors shouldn't have been anywhere near the pitch. It's not your fault they affect you so badly. Besides you're not the only one. They come after me as well. Last time I went to Hogsmeade, they tried attacking me even with Professor McGonagall right there. No one else, just me, and they did the same on the way back." I told him, making Harry frown thoughtfully.

"Back on the train, Lupin made some kind of silvery thing which sent the dementor away. Do you know what that is?"

"A patronus charm." Turning around in my seat, I lifted my wand and produced one for Harry to see, and when the large lioness appeared with a roar, he jerked sharply in surprise as it prowled closer to him at my direction, coming right up to him in order to stare. "This is a full patronus, they always take the form of animals and they're different for everyone. They act as a shield against dementors, keeps them from feeding off you but it's exceedingly difficult to make one." Dispelling the patronus, Harry then turned to me.

"Could you teach me?"

"Well…I guess I could, but I just sort of picked it up on my own. I'd suggest talking to Professor Lupin about it, he'd be better at teaching and maybe he'll know exactly why they go after you so much. If he agrees, he can teach and I'll help you practice." I promised him and this made Harry appear a little better. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say his mood was more uplifted now. He even managed to sleep for a while so I remained beside him, deciding to take out and finish reading my mother's letter. Orion had brought it this morning and, as I expected, she had already heard about what I'd done at the match.

She went on for a while about how I was reckless and impulsive, that I was going to kill her with a heartache one day with all I got up to but told me she was glad I was alright, and although praised me for trying to save a fellow team member, reminded me bluntly that I was a witch capable of magic, which would do just as well next time someone was plummeting to their death. I had to chuckle a little at that, it was definitely my mother. Now I focused on the next part of the letter, which seemed a little more terse than usual, since it addressed the question I'd asked her about Sirius Black.

And for the last time, there is absolutely no connection between you and that murderer. Stop worrying about it and make sure not to cause any more trouble. Stay inside when possible and do not even think about leaving the castle after dark. If it's true he's nearby, I dread to think what he's capable of if he caught you – or any student for that matter – on their own.

Well that was unlikely to happen, considering I was practically magically glued to the hip to Fred and George. It was rare I wasn't in their company, right now being one of those cases. Still I couldn't help but feel continually unsettled about it all. Mum was trying to deflect answering the actual question, since I'd wanted to know the exactly blood relation I had to Sirius Black but still, I had no answer. It was probably because she'd then have to talk about my real father, and she was adamant to take that secret to the grave, but that just made me think the worst. What if…what if Sirius Black was my real father, and mum was just trying to hide it from me?

At the very least she could just lie and say he was my father's, cousin's great uncle or something. That way I could prove it, and then the school would stop talking about me being related to him. There were still rumours going around and some rather nasty ones at that. A couple of Slytherins had outright asked me how I'd smuggled Black into the castle, to which Fred and George had punched them and got detention from Snape. He was acting more peculiarly around me too, giving me suspicious glares, sneering and generally being viler than usual. Maybe he suspects me too. According to Ron who'd let slip he'd overheard Dumbledore talking to him and Percy, Snape had warned Dumbledore at the start of the year that he had suspicions that someone would help Black into the castle. We just didn't know who.

Sighing softly, I tucked mum's letter away and returned to watching over Harry, thinking my thoughts with dread in the rather frigid silence of the hospital wing, hoping that Christmas would be here soon. The season always put people in a better mood, and right now I think everyone could do with being in better spirits.