(PoA) CHAPTER SIXTEEN: The Match in the Rain

In the days leading up to the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game, Ellie got the sense that Harry wanted to confront her about the lyrics to her song, and about all the secrets she obviously was keeping from him. But in a way, there was nothing left for him to say; she'd admitted she was keeping things from him, and now the ball was in her court.

Ellie visited Hagrid several times, which helped to lift her spirits. She liked seeing him and Buckbeak, and even went out for a few rides on Buckbeak with Hagrid's permission.

The day before the match, Ellie was surprised to find that Lupin was nowhere to be found for Defense class. Snape was subbing in, and to Ellie's horror, he skipped to the end of their textbook to teach a lesson about werewolves.

Ellie sat seething as she listened to him drone on about them. How dare he? Was he actually hoping someone would figure out the truth about Lupin and report him? Was he that desperate for Lupin's job?

Ellie still hadn't forgiven Sirius for nearly killing Snape when he was in school, but she was starting to have some degree of sympathy for him having had the urge to do so.

The morning of the game, Oliver took Ellie aside for a little one-on-one chat just outside of the Quidditch pitch. The weather was terrible, but Oliver seemed completely oblivious to the pelting rain around them.

"Something's going on between you and the Golden Boy," he said, eyeing her carefully. "Normally I'd be ecstatic, but given that this is my last—"

"—chance to win the Cup, I know," she interrupted, rolling her eyes as she attempted to mop the rain from them. "Nothing's going on between me and Harry, Ollie. We're fine."

He didn't look convinced, but he did change his tone a bit. "And you? That song was pretty emotional, Ellie. Is there something going on with you?"

She tried not to laugh at that question. How could she even begin to answer it? "I'm fine—really. I'll play my hardest—swear. Even with the downpour."

Oliver nodded at that. He looked like he wanted to say more, but was too focused on winning the game to do so; instead, he led them back to the others. "Chasers, chase as hard as you always do. Beaters, beat as tough as you always do. And Harry…"

"Catch the Snitch as fast as I always do," Harry finished for him. "Got it."

They mounted their brooms, waited for Madam Hooch to blow the whistle, and were off in a swarm of rain and Hufflepuffs.

Thanks to the goggles Ron had gotten Ellie for her birthday, Ellie was just barely able to make out who caught the ball—Angelina—and subsequently catch it from her. She narrowly avoided a Bludger cast towards her from one of the Hufflepuff Beaters, zoomed over to the Hufflepuff goal, and threw the ball as hard as she could—trying to make up for her lack of visibility with speed.

Somehow, it worked; she actually managed to score.

The rest of the Quaffle throws and defends were about the same—mostly chance and luck, based on whomever could see better in the pouring rain. The Quaffle even fell to the ground several times and had to be thrown back into the air, something the crowd actually laughed at.

The first time it fell, Ellie seized the opportunity to glance at Harry. He and Cedric were both circling the field, but not seeing much of anything. She turned her attention back to the game, not worrying about him until it was too late.

All anyone heard was the sharp, frightened yell coming from Harry right before he fell from his broom. Ellie gasped as she saw the streak of his body falling through the air. She tried to zoom over to catch him, but she was too late. Something seemed to slow his fall at the end, but it still looked frightfully painful.

What had happened? She could barely make out anything amidst the storm around them, but she could feel something—something that, as soon as she realized it, had her stomach in knots.

Dementors. That was what had caused Harry to fall.

Were they here for Sirius?

She looked frantically into the stands and grounds for a sign of a dog, but she could barely see more than three feet in front of her; there was no way she was going to see him. And how long would it be before she herself started feeling the draining effects of the Dementors' presence?

To her immense relief, a great, silvery light shot out of a wand below her, and all the Dementors scattered like a flock of pigeons.

They hadn't succeeded. If Sirius was nearby, they hadn't found him. She would know. Right?

"Worry about your boyfriend later!" Katie shouted at Ellie as she grabbed her arm and yanked her back into the fray. It was the first time Katie had ever yelled at Ellie, but she knew it was with good reason; Diggory was seconds away from closing in on the Snitch.

She had no choice but to focus on the game again.

Ellie had never considered herself in love with Oliver—not by a long shot. But she did care about him. He'd been her Quidditch captain and her friend for three years, and he deserved to win the Cup he cared so much about in his last year.

She racked her brain to recall the legal and non-legal plays she'd read about in the books Oliver had given her over the years. She wasn't supposed to physically knock into him, but she could obstruct his path, right? And with her Nimbus 2001, she was undoubtedly faster than him…

She bit her lip, leaned flat against her broom, and streaked over to Cedric Diggory.

"I don't believe it," said Lee Jordan as she crossed directly in front of Diggory's path and kicked the Snitch away as hard as she could. "Prince has actually kicked the Snitch out of Diggory's grasp…."

Ellie glanced up at Cedric, who was searching frantically for the Snitch. But the rain was still pouring down around them, and he couldn't find it.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Lee. "The Gryffindor team may not have a Seeker of their own to catch the Snitch, but they seem determined to win the game, in spite of that!"

Taking that as her cue, Ellie zoomed back over to the action. She half-expected Madam Hooch to blow her whistle and call a penalty, but the whistle never sounded.

On and on she zoomed, catching and passing and intercepting the Quaffle at every opportunity. Fifty points—then sixty—then seventy. The Hufflepuffs were growing weary, and Cedric didn't seem to have any idea where the Snitch had gone.

"This is it!" Angelina shouted as she caught the Quaffle and tossed it to Ellie. "Make this, and it won't matter if he catches it!"

Ellie caught the Quaffle and allowed herself one, short glance in Cedric's direction. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw him; he was tearing after the Snitch again.

"Go, Ellie!" Oliver screamed at her from the Gryffindor goal. "You've got this, baby!"

Ellie couldn't help but let a small smile escape her lips at his entirely inappropriate use of the pet name as she streaked over to the Hufflepuff goal. For Oliver, she thought as she threw the Quaffle into the middle hoop.

It went through the hoop exactly one second before Cedric closed his fingers around the Snitch.

Gryffindor had won.


"I love you!" Oliver shouted gleefully at Ellie the second they touched the ground. He yanked her off her feet and spun her around. "Dump Harry—I want to marry you and have babies with you and—"

"For God's sakes, Ol—you already knew she was a kick-ass chaser," Angelina said to Oliver, laughing. "Shouldn't come as such a surprise. Great job, Ellie."

Ellie smiled and thanked her as Oliver set her down. To her surprise, Cedric approached them at that, looking no less handsome than usual despite the rain and dirt.

"That was quite a play," he said to Ellie.

"Sorry about that," she said, trying not to blush. "I don't know what came over me."

"A desire to win," he said easily. "I don't blame you. Besides, it wouldn't have felt right to win like that. They should have never let those Dementors onto the pitch."

She smiled at that, pleased not only by his kind words, but also by his fairness. But the mention of the Dementors reminded her what had happened to Harry, and she whirled toward Madam Hooch. "Do we know if he's okay? Harry?"

"He was taken to the hospital wing. Won't be feeling particularly peachy for the next few days, I reckon, but he'll be alright."

She nodded, relaxing. Harry was okay, and in all likelihood, Sirius was, too; if the Dementors had found him, surely the school would be in an uproar of excitement.

"That was too cool for school," George announced from behind her, putting an arm around her from one side as Fred did the same from the other.

"Seconded. What was Diggory saying to you?" asked Fred.

"He was actually saying he wouldn't have wanted to win that way—you know, with the Dementors and all. I can't believe they were on the field—poor Harry."

"Right," said Fred rather disinterestedly. "Is that where you're headed now?"

She wanted to go and see Sirius to make sure he was okay, but she would have to wait for nightfall; checking on Harry was a smarter call. "Yeah. Want to come?"

"I think we'll catch up with you in the common room. Give you a little alone time with your wounded man."


"Hey," Harry greeted Ellie twenty minutes later when she took a seat on the edge of his hospital bed. "Heard you won the game."

"It was more of a joint effort," she said diplomatically. "How are you feeling?"

"I've felt better." He glanced carefully around the hospital wing, then, seeing that they were alone, straightened up. "Ellie, we need to talk."

He was right about that, she mused grimly. "Okay. Go ahead."

"Remember that thing Trelawney said she saw in our tea leaves? The… Grim?"

This couldn't be good. "Yeah. Rubbish, though, right?"

"I thought so, too, at the time. But I've seen it since then—the dog. In real life."

She bit her lip. "My Animagus is a black dog. Are you sure you didn't—"

"I saw it today," he interrupted. "At the game. Just before the Dementors came."

Her heart gave a painful lurch at that. Sirius had been at the game, then. And the Dementors had seen him. She was overwhelmed with the urge to get up and leave to check on him, but she had to deal with Harry first.

"I think it's him, Ellie. I think it's Sirius."

She stiffened. "What makes you say that?"

"He made you an Animagus when you were a baby, right? A big, black dog? What if it's his Animagus, too?"

This was bad. This was really bad. "Don't you think you're reaching? Don't you think—"

"Maybe I am. But if he is an Animagus, and the authorities don't know, someone has to warn them. It could be how he slipped out of Azkaban—how he's evading the Dementors."

She was out of options. If she didn't tell him the truth, he was going to go to Dumbledore, or, worse, the Ministry. If she wanted to protect Sirius…

Harry wasn't going to forgive her for this.

"Harry," she whispered. "He isn't evil."

"I know you want to believe that, Ellie. I know he's your father. But if he had gotten to either of us on Halloween, or tonight, he could have killed us. We don't know what he wants. He's a danger to you, to me—"

"He isn't!" she nearly shouted. "I do know what he wants, Harry, and he's not going to hurt either of us!"

He stared at her in disbelief as the meaning behind her words sunk in. He stayed silent for several seconds, just… processing. Then, finally, in a slow, low voice, he asked her, "You've been talking to him?"

"None of it is true. He didn't betray your parents, Harry—he didn't hurt anyone. There are explanations—"

"How long?" he interrupted. His voice was cold and distant. "How long have you been talking to him?"

Was this what it felt like to have your heart broken, she wondered as she stared into his hurt, green eyes? Was breaking someone else's heart even worse than someone else breaking yours?

"Since the summer," she whispered.

The silence that radiated off those three words was deafening. The hurt in his eyes was indescribable. When he finally spoke, his words were icy and metallic. "You should go."

"Harry." Tears were streaming down her face at this point. "You can't tell anyone. You have to trust me."

"Trust you?" he nearly spit at her. "I can barely look at you!"

"I can explain it all. I can show you. We have proof—"

"Ellie, if you don't go, then I will."

She had no choice. She had done her begging; she had done her crying. All she could do now was pray that he didn't tell—that, and warn Sirius.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I love you, Harry."

But there was no love in the eyes that looked back at her.


Well, I hate to say it, but it was about time... they made a cute and sweet couple, but there were too many secrets between them! Do you agree? Or perhaps it isn't over yet? This is where the story gets juicier and juicier folks, so don't miss a second of it. And don't forget to REVIEW!