Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise, except for the plot and my OCs.

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Nearly two weeks had passed since my, life shattering, conversation with my sister, Melody and ever since then I had been training hard and pushing myself to my limits getting ready for tomorrow's Quidditch match against Hufflepuff.

Although my main focus was Quidditch, I'd also been having weekly lessons with Professor Greggory, in which I learned how to keep in control of my Seer abilities. I was also still getting used the fact that I was a Seer.

It still baffled me.

And the work that came with being a Seer was more than I'd expected.

Seriously, I had to do all these meditating things, in order to make sure my strong emotions, like anger, fear, anything negative basically, don't trigger any more visions. But I have to admit, the dreamless sleep potion that I have to take every night before bed was actually a good thing, I'd been getting some amazing night sleeps. Professor Greggory had been a great help too, her wife is a Seer, so she knows all tips and tricks in case I do see things.

However, ever since the 'incident', which is what I call it, and by that I mean when I was knocked unconscious by an unknown spell, I haven't been feeling like myself. But it wasn't in a bad way, it was more like I was lighter on my feet and more aware of things. I was currently in the library, reading up on the many ways to keep calm during a vision, when I heard soft footsteps, which gradually got louder, but I could clearly see who it was before they announced themselves.

Albus cleared his throat, grabbing my attention away from the old, dusty book that I was concentrating on, pretending as if I hadn't recognised his steps or his scent. Which smelt strongly of fresh soil, mint and cologne, and it just so happened that it was the cologne I had given him one year on his birthday, as I had joked that he smelt bad. I had to focus my mind, calm my breathing, because otherwise I would've drowned in that smell.

I turned in the rickety old chair that I had acquired from a nearby table, the legs groaned in protest, and faced the giant before me, who was smirking, as usual, at me and the pile of books behind me.

"I didn't know you could read, Jones." He drawled, his eyes fixed on me, a challenge.

"There's a lot of things I can do that you don't know about, Potter." I replied, my face as equally coy.

"Well, I look forward to learning what those are, then," He paused. "But I was sent here to get you, Scorpius wants to talk tactics."

For tomorrow's game, I suspected. He'd want to discuss how we can beat Hufflepuff and skill-fully gain points that will put us ahead on the leader board.

"The team is gathered on the pitch." He stated, turning on his heal, knowing that I'd follow him.

I closed the book in front of me, placing it in my bag and throwing it over my shoulder before trudging along behind him. Despite the fact that I was tall, I still struggled to keep up with Albus, my legs might be long, but his were longer.

Eventually, I caught up with him, slightly out of breath, my physical strength still not as good as it had been.

"You took your time, didn't you." Albus spoke, looking at me through the corner of his eyes as he sped up.

"Shut up, Slender man."

That retort had him stopping in the middle of the corridor, the passing students merely waltzed straight by, having been used to obstacles being in their pathway.

"What did you just call me?" He asked, genuine confusion oh his face.

I'd forgotten that he didn't know much about the muggle world and seeing that I'd confounded Albus Potter brought a slither of pride to the surface.

"Slender man. I called you Slender man." I repeated, watching as he tried to understand.

I decided that I rather liked being the one that confused him, it was funny seeing him furrow his brows and narrow his eyes as he tried to work out if he knew what Slender man meant. One thing I knew Albus hated the most, was not knowing things, he disliked when something he encountered didn't make sense, so he always tried to make it make sense.

Just to be even more annoying, I started walking again, looking back over my shoulder to see Albus trying to catch up with me, the frustration evident on his handsome features.

He started to jog, so I broke into a run, my footsteps echoing, bouncing off the walls. I legged it outside, passed the black lake and towards the Quidditch pitch, all the while I could here Albus getting closer. My Seer abilities had, unintentionally, kicked in a few yards back, so I didn't need to turn around to see the determination on Albus's face. He desperately wanted to know what Slender man was.

Just as I had reached the entrance to the pitch, where I could see everybody gathered in a group, talking amongst themselves as they waited, my feet were removed from the ground, by a pair of big, strong arms.

"Albus Severus Potter! Put. Me. Down." I shouted, drawing the attention of the team towards us as I was dangled, fire man style, over Albus's shoulder.

"Not until you explain your insult." He said smoothly, walking over to Scorpius, who looked cross that we were both late and not in the right mindset.

"Why do I have to explain my insult?" I asked.

"Because I like to know what awful monster I'm being compared to."

That struck a cord in me. He wasn't an awful monster. Did I really insult him that often?

"Albus," Scorpius intervened. "Put Melissa down."

Thankfully, Albus knew not to mess with Scorpius when he was in Quidditch Captain mode, so he dropped me and I landed, unceremoniously, on my arse.

"Foul git." I spat at him as I got up from the ground and stood next to Katya, who had an amused smile on her face.

The matter was quickly moved onto tomorrow's game and I was grateful for the distraction, as I wanted rip Albus's head off and probably would've done so had I not been focused on Scorpius, who was carefully mapping out how exactly we were to beat Hufflepuff.

We didn't end the meeting until the sun had started setting and we were all complaining at our Captain that our stomachs needed sustenance. I, however, didn't feel like eating, so I stayed behind, accioing my broom with my wand that was tucked into the waistband of my leggings, which I'd paired with a grey hoodie this morning, as it was a Saturday and I had no need for uniform.

My broom appeared in my right hand, but before I mounted a voice floated in from my left.

"Haven't you practised enough."

I didn't need to turn around or use my gifts to determine the owner of the voice.

"There is no such thing as too much practice." I retorted, turning to face Albus.

"You could hurt yourself." He said softy, walking closer form where he was standing, leaning against one of the stands.

"Why do you care?" I questioned and I could've sworn I saw him flinch.

He didn't bother dignifying me with an answer as he turned and left, shaking his head as he went, but I hadn't missed the flash of hurt and anger in his eyes.

Of course he cared.

Why did I say that? If he didn't care then why did he save me all those months ago, when I was vulnerable and helpless.

As much as he irritated me, I felt the guilt of what I'd said and the weight of the news Melody spilled and the new found powers I had build up inside me as I collapsed onto my knees. The tears that I had refused to spill now flowed freely down my cheeks as I sobbed, my head in my hands. I was breaking, bit by bit, into nothing but shards of myself and there was nobody to help me, because I'd been to stubborn to ask for help.

The next morning, I woke up, after having the worst night sleep in months. I made my way to the bathroom, hopping in the shower before any of the girls would wake up and question my red rimmed eyes.

Last night, I had been a mess, the minute the first tear fell, that was it, they just kept coming. I was out on the Quidditch pitch until past midnight and when I got back to my dorm I slipped into bed, without bothering to change, placing a silencing charm on my curtains and cried myself to sleep.

Today was the match against Hufflepuff, I realized as I stepped out of the shower, making sure that the remnants of last night's disaster had been washed away, along with my happiness and sanity.

I grabbed a towel, wrapping tightly around myself and opened the door, striding towards my trunk to get my Quidditch kit out.

Lyra had awoken and now sat on the end of her bed, surprised to see me awake so early, but after spying my Quidditch gear, she understood, nodding at me as she went to the bathroom. I slipped on my gear as quick as possible, though it was still rather slow, my energy drained from having missed dinner last night. Speaking of which, my stomach growled at it's emptiness and I huffed, grabbing my broom and leaving the dorm, making my way towards the Great Hall, pulling my big hair into a ponytail as I did.

Yesterday, at our team meeting, Scorpius had instructed us to meet for breakfast early, but I was so early that it was only myself and a few other students from other houses that sat at the long, wooden tables.

I still didn't really have an appetite, though I tried to eat some toast, knowing that I'd need the fuel, but after last night, I couldn't stomach much without wanting to empty my guts all over the table.

Soon enough, Scorpius appeared, dragging a dishevelled, exhausted looking Albus behind him, a gleeful yet nervous smile on his face.

"Good morning, Lissa." Scorpius greeted as he sat down opposite me and Albus plonked himself next to him.

"Morning, Scorp." I said, sending a weary look in Albus's direction. "What's up with him?"

"He's grumpy that I woke him up so early." Scorpius stated, taking a large helping of scrambled eggs and dumping them on his plate.

I almost threw up at the sight.

And Albus seemed just as disgusted by his friend's portion. Normally, it was I who ate lots and it was them who were disgusted, but today was different.

I looked at Albus again and this time he caught my eye, but all he did was glare and shove a piece of bread in his mouth, ignoring me completely.

So I had hurt his feelings yesterday.

I didn't have time to dwell too much on that fact as the rest of the team started to arrive. Katya sat to my right and Christopher had positioned himself on my left, giving me a reassuring glance as he began to eat. Kacy and Myles appeared, looking very much nervous, but Christopher and I assured the girl that it would be alright as Katya told Myles to, and I quote, 'suck it up and grow a pair'.

Scorpius had just about enough time to go over our strategy for the hundredth time, before we had to make our way to the pitch. Dom and Rose had come over briefly to wish us luck, their faces painted in green and silver stripes.

Scorpius went over the strategy again when we were all gathered in the changing rooms, readying ourselves for our first game of the season. We were all jittery with nervous anticipation, so much so that Myles couldn't stop talking and Katya looked about ready to bite his head off.

Just in time, the horn sounded and the commentator, Fred Weasley Jr, announced the Hufflepuff team. We breathed collectively and I looked at Scorpius, who was teeming with nerves, it was his first game as Captain, and then at Albus who looked like he was ready to face anything, I wish I had some of that confidence.

I was worried not only because of my diminished stamina, but also about my powers. What if I lost control? Or worse, what if I had a vision?

Almost as if he'd heard me, Albus looked me dead in the eye and the intense, searing warmth was back and I could smell him, that intoxicating scent, as he silently reassured me that we'd win and that I'd be okay and that he was there.

I don't know why, or how, that had happened and the shock on his features must have mirrored my own. He turned away, the feeling going with him, before I could say anything.

I just shook my head, telling myself that I'd worry about it later and just as I did, Fred Weasley Jr announced the Slytherin team.

"AND HERE THEY ARE, FIRST IS CAPTAIN AND KEEPER...SCORPIUS MALFOY!"

Scorpius stepped out of the changing rooms, the crowd roared and I guessed that Dom and Rose were screaming their lungs out.

"NEXT ARE THE CHASERS...CHRISTOPHER LAKE, KACY HARPER AND MELISSA JONES!"

I took a deep breath as all three of us emerged, the crowd screaming, and we took our place up in the sky, where the Hufflepuff team and Scorpius were waiting.

"HERE COME THE BEATERS...KATYA FORD AND MYLES PARKER!"

They too came and hovered in the sky whilst we waited for our last teammate to be introduced.

"AND FINALLY THE SEEKER...ALBUS POTTER!"

The crowd went mental as he flew to Scorpius's side, plenty of giggles could be heard emanating from every stand, from every one of his fangirls.

But before I knew it, the crowd had gone utterly silent as Madame Hooch blew her whistle, sending the quaffle flying into the air.

I dived for it, snatching it up and throwing it to Christopher.

He chucked it at Kacy, who saw the goal posts, too far away for her to make a shot, and threw it back to me, as I swerved a poorly aimed bludger.

I caught it and immediately aimed for the middle, tallest goal post, punching my arms in the air and shouting in delight as it sailed through the air and straight through the hoop.

Everyone except the Hufflepuffs cheered.

From then on, the match was a breeze. After the first goal, we just kept scoring and the look on Kacy's face when she'd put it through the left hoop was so heart warming that the chill of the December winds did not effect me.

We were 100-40 to us when Albus spotted the snitch.

Unfortunately, the Hufflepuff seeker wasn't too far behind, but Albus was smart, he knew what he was doing and everyone in our team trusted him to do it his job, and I knew he'd do it well.

Because he was, as much as I hate to admit it, Slytherin's star seeker.

Just as both seekers were about to touch the ground, Albus reared upwards, towards a small fleck of gold.

He'd tricked the other seeker, using a feint.

And as he reached out his hand, the entire students population and all the staff held their breath. We had long since stopped playing and hovered in the air, the anticipation was almost too much to bear.

But then Albus held up his hand.

And in it was the golden snitch.

AN:

Hey guys, sorry for the long wait on this chapter but life has been a bit hectic recently and I've had a lot to do and hadn't had the time to write. But here is the big Quidditch chapter, I have been so excited to write this and I'm so happy with how it turned out. I hope you enjoyed this and remember to R&R! Stay safe and sane!

Until next time, happy reading!

Sincerely,

Purpleslytherin xx