I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

Note: This is the first of the chapters I alluded to before, something I've been very eager to share with all of you. When I first started this project, there were moments I knew I wanted to highlight and this was one. I've changed my ideas on some, scrapped others, but this one had been unchanged since I first thought of it. I really hope it comes across well because this is the most ambitious chapter I have ever attempted. Plausibility is something very important to me for writing fanfic, as in, does this make sense in relation to the setting. I spent a lot of time on this chapter and I hope you all like it.

Thank you for the views, the follows, the favorites, and the reviews. I am always happy to see feedback. I hope all have a lovely day!

The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 54 – Teamwork

The crash of thunder made Alicia flinch and she glared balefully at the ceiling of the locker room. "Remind me why we are playing in the middle of a storm?"

"Quidditch cares not for the weather," Fred said airily.

"No matter how much the players do," George said.

"We're going to be soaked to the bone," Alicia grumbled. "We'll be lucky if we do not get hit by lightning."

"Does that happen?" Harry asked, eyes wide.

"Not often," Oliver admitted. "But there have been cases." He reddened at Angelina and Katie's glares. "What? I'm not lying to Harry. There've been cases of players being hit by lightning."

"Don't worry Rabbit," Angelina said. "Brooms have a Grounding Charm on them. If you're hit, it usually bleeds off and you usually make it through with just some tingling and some crazy hair."

"That's not as reassuring as you think it sounds," Harry said with a nervous smile.

"I did not mean to alarm you Harry," Alicia said soothingly. "The last time a Hogwarts student got hit by lightning during a Quidditch game was over a hundred years ago. I was just being grouchy." She opened her arms and Harry stepped in for a hug.

There was the tiniest spark of blue light when they made contact and Harry yelped, feeling a jolt go through him. When he pulled away, he saw Alicia's grinning face and noticed she had her wand in hand.

"Really? A Shocking Jinx?" Katie asked. Her eyes were narrowed but she was fighting a smile.

"Just preparing him," Alicia said giggling. "See? Didn't even affect his mess of hair." She squealed in protest when Angelina lifted her up and tried to stuff her into a locker.

George shook his head sorrowfully. "Why didn't we think of that?"

"What, shoving Alicia into a locker? She'd murder us," Fred snorted.

"No, the shocking thing. That'd be really funny."

Oliver laughed. "Alright, don't shove her into the locker Angelina, we need her to play." He looked at Harry. "Normally I'd say take your time and fly a bit to enjoy the game, but if you catch the Snitch fast today, I'd appreciate it."

"If you catch it fast today, we'll let you shock Alicia," Angelina said as she let Alicia go.

"Hey! I didn't consent to that!"

"I don't know the jinx though," Harry said with mock sorrow.

"Harry!"

"We'll teach you Rabbit."

"Angelina!"

-0-

This was the hardest game Harry had ever played. The team had practiced in tough conditions before. Oliver wanted them to get used to playing when it was not sunny and perfect. They had practiced in all sorts of rain and when the wind was very hard. They had done night practices too to get used to dark conditions even though school games were always during the day.

This game was a combination of the worst of conditions. The rain was freezing and pounded down, falling in thick sheets that obscured everything. Visibility was bought with bolts of lightning that flashed at intervals, throwing sharp shadows of eerie light. The wind pushed them all over the place, seeming coming at all angles to throw them off course. If it was not for Hermione's idea of charming his glasses to be impervious, he would not have been able to see anything at all.

Harry looked around. His usual trick of looking for strange movement would not help with the falling rain and flickering lightning. He shuddered when thunder rolled again, feeling the sound rattle his entire body. As much as he wanted to, it did not seem the game would be ending any time soon. He did not even know what the score was, much less what the other players were doing.

He saw something flicker and he looked up. He squinted, trying to be certain.

A flash of gold.

He flew straight up and he noticed the Hufflepuff Seeker, Cedric Diggory, doing the same. They flew up at similar angles, both having seen the Snitch. Cedric was broader in shoulder and heavier than Harry, and though he was not as fast as the lighter Harry, he could stay on course better against the wind.

Harry leaned down on the broom to lower his profile and tried to use his smaller stature as an advantage. He was staying in front of the other boy, but not by much.

He felt himself growing colder. At first he thought the wind and the rain was getting to him even more. Then he noticed movement around them. All around them.

He groaned, realizing he was reacting to the Dementors' Aura. He could make out their shapes in the gloom, getting closer. He could feel them getting closer, the buzzing in his head was getting louder. He tried to speed up, outrace them, grab the Snitch, and flee from them.

Cedric faltered. A pair of Dementors had flown close to him and he was starting to shake. He could feel himself losing control as the wave of despair overtook him.

Harry crossed his path and the Dementors changed prey. They tasted something more intense, more traumatic.

More delicious.

They chased after Harry.

Harry flew erratically, trying to get them off his tail. He flew like he did when he was being chased by the rogue Bludger last year, loops and dives, sharp turns, anything to confuse the Dementors.

They were not fooled. They were not deterred.

Harry flew up higher into the rolling sky. He was panicking a little, trying to escape them. He could hear the voices of Lily and Voldemort growing louder. He bit his lip so hard that it bled. His hands were white from gripping the broom so tight. He tried to fly as fast as he could.

It was not enough.

He was herded by the pursuing Dementors and flew into a pack of them. One Dementor's aura was enough to send Harry into his nightmare place.

Five waited for him, not counting the two that pursued him.

The combined auras drowned him. Their desire to feed on him overwhelmed him. He felt their touch and in an instant he lost strength and warmth.

He lost consciousness.

His broom slipped from nerveless fingers. He did not hold onto his broom with his legs.

He fell.

The ground was far, far below.

-0-

Katie barely dodged the Bludger that flew at her. The rain was both friend and enemy. It lowered her visibility so she had almost missed the magical missile. However, the rain and wind had slowed it considerably, giving her time to dodge.

She stopped flying for a moment, trying to take her bearings. She barely saw the other players, only recognizing colors of their Quidditch robes. Her body was soaked like Alicia said they would be, and she shivered.

The rain lessened and she sighed with relief. She could see more now, even with the wind whipping things about strongly. Her shivers increased and she figured the wind could push harder without the rain in the way.

Then she realized that she was shivering from something else. Something more insidious and terrifying.

A scream cut through the air, startling her. She looked over to the source and she saw the screamer looking up. Her eyes followed the path and she almost screamed herself, seeing Dementors flying about far above. Then her eyes widened as she realized two players were up there: one in yellow, one in red.

The one in yellow flew down at an angle, hunched over a broom.

The one in red fell, limply, uncontrolled, without a broom.

She knew who it was.

She flew straight up and towards the falling figure. She resisted the urge to scream, saving her energy. The wind pushed and pulled her, knocked her off course, but she flew gamely on.

The angle was bad and when she reached out with her hand to grab Harry, the wind tore them apart, her frozen fingers found no purchase in his sodden robes. She twisted the broom around, trying to grab him again but the speed of his fall ripped him away again.

She tried to fly at an angle, to intercept him, to catch him with her arms instead of just grabbing him with her hands. The impact nearly knocked her off her broom, his limp body hitting her hard. She tried to grapple him, and tried to pull him onto her broom. He was slipping off and she screamed in frustration and fear as he fell from her.

A desperate lunge had her wrap one arm around his body but she was dangerously overbalanced. She could feel herself slipping from her broom. She knew she had to let go or else fall.

She let go of her broom.

She wrapped her legs around Harry's midriff and tried to open her robes wide, to do anything to slow them down.

The ground was still far away.

The ground was rapidly approaching.

-0-

Angelina wanted to vomit.

She saw Harry fall from so very high up and she had flown up at first to try and catch him. She watched horrified as he fell but her horror had turned into relief as she saw Katie fly fast, intercepting him in air.

She screamed when she saw Katie's broom go flying away and the girl clinging to Harry.

She bit the scream off and flew down towards the ground. As she approached, she turned as sharp as she could, nearly flinging herself off the broom from the force. Facing upwards she felt her legs hit the ground hard and bit back a curse before kicking off harder than she ever had before.

The force of the kick off plus the energy the broom still had sent her flying up at high speed. She would have never done this in optimum conditions.

Desperation was a strong motivator.

She flew at her two friends with the aim of a missile. She leaned low over the broom so she could avoid the drag of the wind. She stared at them without blinking, calculating the distance between them. At the last moment before impact, she sat up and opened her arms wide.

She grunted in pain and effort when Katie and Harry hit her hard. She wrapped her arms around them but the force of the blow turned her around. With her legs clamped tightly around the broom, they spun around and around uncontrolled. She had hoped flying at them from the other direction as fast as possible would stop their momentum, and it did, but they were spiraling out of control.

Angelina tried to get her broom under control. She tried to keep holding on to Katie and Harry. She felt the wind trying to stretch them apart, break their holds on each other. She too was faced with a decision, to decide on what to hold onto and what to let go.

She decided.

She kicked off the broom as hard as she could in another desperate ploy to break their momentum to the ground. She ignored Katie's horrified shout and bundled the two younger teammates to her body and turned so she was the one closer to the ground.

They fell towards the ground. Not as fast as before. But they gained speed.

The ground was much closer now.

-0-

George felt his stomach curl up on itself as he saw the first Harry fall, then Katie. He was about to fly towards them when Fred grabbed his arm.

"We won't get there in time!" Fred shouted over the rain and wind.

"What do we do then?" George shouted back.

Fred pointed at one of the long flags that draped from the stands. George nodded and the two flew straight to it. Fred flew down and grabbed one end while George flew to where it was attached to the stands. With furious desperation, he tore the flag from the attachment points, using his teeth to rip the cord to pieces.

The wind grabbed the loose fabric and Fred was pulled along the ground. He dug his feet in and rolled the flag up into a large ungainly bundle, one that would not be caught by the wind. He turned and kicked off, flying towards George. He stopped his brother from grabbing one end. "Not yet! If you grab it now, we'll get carried away with the wind. We need to try and intercept at the right moment and catch them with it."

George nodded and took position in front of Fred. "I'll break trail!"

The twins flew with Fred following closely behind his twin. The bundle made flying difficult before the wind was a factor, and he kept slipping side to side despite George taking the brunt of the wind in front of them.

They cheered when they saw Angelina collide with Harry and Katie, thinking the girl had caught them.

They cried out in terror when they saw her ripped away from her broom and now their three friends were falling again.

George tried to speed up. He did not think they were going to make it.

The ground was getting closer and closer.

-0-

Oliver stared in horror at seeing Harry fall. This was the worst possible scenario and he felt dread bubble up from within, threatening to consume him.

He swallowed hard and waved at Alicia who was close by. "We need to get down and get our wands!" he bellowed.

She looked like she was about to fly up too but nodded understanding. The pair flew down to the ground, jumping off their brooms at the last moment. Alicia stumbled when she landed but she managed to stay up-right, slipping over the wet grass as she ran to the locker rooms.

Oliver ran to where he thought Harry would fall, standing there and looking up as his horror grew.

Alicia ran up to him and thrusted his wand at him. She looked up and shrieked, seeing Angelina and Katie now tumbling in freefall with Harry. Her face went deathly pale.

"Slowing charms?" Oliver asked.

"No, they're too far away. And if we only hit one and not all of them that would tear them apart. We can't soften the ground because what if they miss? We can't catch them with levitation charms either." She chewed her lip and stared up without blinking. "This damn wind is going to get in the way no matter what!"

Oliver saw the twins approaching, saw the large bundle Fred held. It gave him an idea. "Wind! Wind Blast Charms! We stop them from freefall and give the other two a chance to catch them with the flag."

Alicia stared at him. "With all this other wind in play?"

"We both do it at the same time. Pour all our power into it and hopefully our spells will mesh and amplify."

"Combined magic?! That's hard to do under ideal conditions and this sure as hell isn't!"

"Got a better idea?" Oliver felt his blood drain as he saw how fast his three friends were falling.

"No, but we need to have perfect timing."

"I got that, on my word." They stood with their wands at the ready. "Remember, cast at Maxima, pour it all in. Round sweep of the arm and up to do a concentrated blast."

"Got it," Alicia said, her expression determined but her voice wobbled. She felt her heart pound as their friends fell closer. "Oliver."

"Not yet, we need to do it within the limits of the spell for it to work. They have to be closer."

They fell.

"Oliver…" Her voice was rising in pitch. Her panic was devouring her.

"Not. Yet."

She began to cry, her wand came up. Oliver reached out with his free hand and grabbed hers, squeezing it tight.

"Not yet! Trust me."

She squeezed his hand hard, feeling him do the same.

They fell closer.

"OLIVER!" she shrieked.

"NOW!"

Their wand hands went out, directing a large circle before they pointed up at the same time, flicking the wand left to right before pointing directly up. "VENTUS MAXIMA!" they cried out in tandem.

For one dreadful moment, she felt that the magic had failed, that she had incanted wrong, the wand movements were not precise enough. She could see in her mind her friends falling to their deaths.

The magic screamed out of her. She felt all her energy leave her body, collect at her wand tip, and explode out of her wand. The spell combined with Oliver's and the wind was under their control. It swirled into a brief cyclone before it roared straight up, the tip like a wall.

The blast of wind hit the three solidly and pushed them up, arresting their momentum. The impact almost jarred them apart but the two girls took the moment of weightlessness to grab onto each other tighter, sandwiching Harry between them.

The blast of wind flew all around them, the magically conjured air overriding the natural wind and for a brief moment, the pitch was calm and silent. But only for a moment.

It was all the twins needed.

The second the wind died Fred threw one end of the flag to George, already flying forward. George caught it and flew to catch up, twisting the fabric out and making it as broad as possible. Fred flew to the far side of their friends and George waited until the flag was taught before they both flew up at the same time.

By then Katie and Angelina and Harry had started to fall again but without nearly the same amount of momentum as before. They landed neatly in the middle of the flag, caught. Without their hands on their brooms, the twins were not able to stay steady but managed to fly slowly to the ground, hauling hard on the flag and keeping their friends in the middle. The wind came back with a vengeance, as if the storm was angry at being influenced by outside forces. It pushed down on them.

They landed on the pitch with a bone-jarring thump.

Alicia started to run to them but her feet would not move. The spell that she cast with all her strength, drained her. Oliver kept her from falling on her face, still holding her hand. Without saying anything, he pulled her up and hoisted her up with an arm around her midriff, carrying her along as he ran to the rest of the team.

Angelina looked dazed, shaking her head almost drunkenly. She clearly looked surprised to be on the ground and not as hurt as she should have been. The twins tumbled off their brooms, showing identical faces of pain and discomfort from the efforts of hauling on the flag and trying to keep their brooms level.

Katie ignored her bruises and pain, started to tear at Harry's Quidditch robes and padding. Oliver set Alicia down gently and ran to Harry's side, guessing at what Katie was trying to do. "Diffindo!" The Cutting Charm cut through Harry's padding and robes and he ripped them apart. Katie put her ear to his chest.

Alicia, shakingly, was able to cut a piece of the flag away and transfigured it into a mirror. Oliver took it from her and held it to Harry's mouth. Angelina swayed and blocked the wind from interfering.

"Come on Harry, give me a breath," Oliver muttered. "Give me something. Come on."

A faint mist appeared on the mirror, the sign of breathing. Once, twice, thrice.

"He's breathing!" Oliver said with relief.

Katie's head came up. "His heart's beating but it's weak. He needs to see Madam Pomfrey now!"

"Fred, George! Robes off, brooms down the sleeves. Make a stretcher!" Oliver yelled.

The twins did so. They tore their Quidditch robes off and slotted their broomstick down the sleeves to make a rough stretcher. They gently lifted Harry and set him on the stretcher.

"Wood!" Hooch came flying down, her eyes wide. "That spell casting was incredible! Is everyone okay?"

"No," he replied tersely. "Harry's still unconscious and we're taking him to the Medical Wing."

"If you wait a moment Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall will be here to help. They had to beat back the Dementors-"

"We're not sodding waiting!" Oliver bellowed. He ignored her look of astonishment. "We're going now." He looked at his team. "George, Fred, run as fast as you can with Harry. Katie, keep pace, keep him stable. Angelina, force everyone out of our way. No one stops us until we see Pomfrey."

Alicia threw her wand at Angelina who caught it. "Don't leave me here," she said, trying to crawl after them.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Oliver knelt and helped her on his back, holding her legs with his hands while her arms went around his neck.

"How fast can you run?" Fred asked his brother as he stood at the front of the stretcher.

"Just bloody run!" George yelled and set the pace, forcing Fred to scramble before he fell into step. Katie kept up with them, her hands holding Harry in the stretcher.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Angelina roared. She waved the borrowed wand and explosion of sound sent curious people scattering from her. She limped as she ran but she was able to stay in front of the stretcher.

"Run Oliver," Alicia gasped into his ear.

Oliver ran.