Credits: All the references to Harry Potter, the world
of Hogwarts and the magical community are J.K. Rowling's. All the rest
are mine.
Author's Note: Sorry I haven't written much on this story, peoples... I've got exams, a huge swim meet coming up, gotta buy presents and stuff... you know how it is... don't you? Thank you so much for the review! I live on reviews! Please review this one? And you have to, because I made it longer, just for you peeps... enjoy!
Chapter 11
Harry woke up at about 7:30, the latest he'd ever woken up
on a Quidditch match day. It was Saturday and they were playing against
Slytherin, first match of the year.
"Harry!" The loud whisper made him start in
surprise and blink at the morning sun that was now streaming through the gap in
his curtains. Harry creaked out of bed to find not only Ron but Hermione
and Nirry there as well. They all had identical expressions of impatience
on their faces. The other beds were empty, and no doubt the other guys
were at the breakfast table, looking forward to the first game of Quidditch
this year.
"What are you waiting for?" Nirry asked
impatiently. "Hurry up, we're going to be in the Great Hall for
breakfast. Your match starts in an hour!"
She had been disappointed to know that she would not be
needed for this particular game, but she'd soon gotten over it, saying loftily
that, after all, it was her very first Quidditch game she'd ever been
to, and she was going to enjoy every single minute of it, no matter if she was
playing or just watching. All the Quidditch players had been in fine
health, and, as Ron pointed out, it was the first year in which Harry had not yet
visited the hospital wing before the first Quidditch match of the year.
Once Harry'd had a glass of orange juice at the table, he'd
woken up fully to feel snakes dancing around in his stomach. As always,
Hermione was pressuring him to eat a piece of toast.
"Hermione, I fine, I fine, I really don't need
that..." Harry said nervously. He glanced around and saw that his
fellow Quidditch players were gone, and shaking slightly, he got up as well,
clutching his Firebolt.
His friends chorused a "good luck", and with that
encouragement, he left the table.
"Well," said Nirry, getting up as well,
"let's go get good seats, okay?"
* * *
"And welcome to the first
Quidditch match of the year, Gryffindor against Slytherin!" yelled Lee,
who, as always, was sitting in his seat and holding the large megaphone he used
during matches. Professor McGonagall sat right next to him, presumably to
ward off any offensive words that might come out of Lee's mouth.
Nirry squinted and found Harry, looking uncannily calm and
surrounded with an air of deep confidence. The team Captains were glowering at
each other.
PHWEET! Madam Hooch's whistle blasted through the air
and the players took off.
"There all looking good this year… and our game starts
off with Alicia Spinnet, Gryffindor, with the ball, still got the ball, passes
it to Angelina also Gryffindor, fastest yet, I'm thinking, you know, intensive
training peri- oh, no, Halfredo Hutchins' has got the ball, Halfredo with
Slytherin...and it's back to Gryffindor, Katie Bell of Gryffindor, takes the
ball, whoa, nice loop around the Keeper, Katie- and- YES! SHE SCORES!!!!!"
Gryffindor cheers mingled with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff
cheers, plus quite a few Slytherin boos. The game progressed onwards and
Nirry sat at the edge of her seat, eyes sparkling. She was unconsiously
leaning first this way and that way as if she was on a broom while Harry moved
this way and that through the crowd of Bludgers and Beaters. Ron and
Hermione were too engrossed in the game to notice.
"Haffaway's showing off his moves there, nice broom
sweep around Tredsuch, Haffaway captures the ball and passes it down to
Angelina- watch out, Angie!- oh, good, there she goes, and- no! Intercepted by
the Bludger coming her way! Quaffle is taken by Hutchins' once more, and-
oh, no, Slytherin scores, dam-"
Professor quickly reached out and blocked the rest of Lee's
word's into the megaphone. The majority of the crowd booed through the
fanatical cheering of the Slytherins.
"Come on, that's 10-10!" muttered Nirry,
excitement coursing through her with every second of the game. She
glanced over to where Harry hovered, high up, in the game. While she watched,
he seemed to suddenly turn and then be moving in slow motion, until Nirry
realized he was going into a dive. Across the field, Malfoy had seen the
Snitch as well, and they moved rapidly towards a single point, the Snitch,
which could be seen glittering near the tops of the Forbidden Forest trees.
"They've spotted the Snitch! Seekers Harry Potter
and Draco Malfoy are racing toward the ball..." roared Lee, nearly jumping
out of his seat in excitement. McGonagall was on her feet as well,
yelling her throat out at Harry to hurry up.
"Come on, now, Harry, go!" yelled Nirry, oblivious
to the shouting going on around her. She could just make out Harry's hand
reach out, saw Malfoy's hand reach out as well... "He's going to catch
it!" she shouted, voice reaching a peak.
Beneath them, she saw a a Slytherin Beater reach out and
send large black ball racing towards them.
"Wathc out!" she yelled hoarsely, only slightly
worried. Harry almost had it, they were going to win... She
could see Harry's fingers brush the Snitch, nearly grasping it, when the
Bludger hit home.
With a sickening crack, the heavy black Bludger plowed into
the two enemies and hurled them to the ground. The Snitch had
disappeared. Everyone around them jumped straight up into the
air, yelling out.
"Harry!" yelled three voices, panicking, and they
plowed through the mass of concerned people gathering round the injured party.
Harry sat up just as they got to him, and stared around in a
state of shock. There was no sign of blood, Nirry noted with
relief. He smiled slightly and opened his closed hand, where a glitter of
gold was seen.
"We won!" cried someone next to Nirry, Hermione,
and Ron, and the chant was carried through the crowd. "We won!
Gryffindor won!"
A moan stirred through Nirry's senses, and she looked
around. Her gaze fell on Malfoy, lying crumpled and limp next to
Harry. His head was covered in sickening, brightly-colored, red blood
which was already seeping wetly into his long green Quidditch robes.
"Excuse me, excuse me," came the voice of Albus
Dumbledore. He took one look at Draco lying nearly unconscious on the
ground, then conjured up flying stretchers that whisked him and Harry away
within seconds. Madam Pomfrey was already running up the slope, leading
McGonagall and Snape.
Nirry looked at her friends. "Well, what are we
waiting for?" she asked, then launched into a sprint that followed the
teachers up to Hogwarts.
* * *
"Why can't we get in?" wailed Hermione.
The rest of the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams, Nirry, and Ron stood next to
her.
"Hospital regulations," said Madam Pomfrey in a
busy, irritable voice. "These boys have just gotten hit by a
Bludger, of all things! And they say they've put dragons at the school
entrances..."
Through the window, they could see that Harry was sitting
upright with a violently orange liquid standing in a glass next to him, waiting
to be drunk.
"He's awake!" they protested, and moved into the
room, flanked by a very annoyed Madam Pomfrey who was nearly levitating.
"Oh, all right, but only for five minutes, you
understand? Five minutes! And make sure he drinks his potion!"
And, grumbling, she went off to tend to Draco, who lay in the bed adjacent to
Harry and still unconscious. The Slytherin team made their way towards
Draco.
"Harry!" cried the remaining people. Harry
tried to smile at them all but it was clear he was still shaky. Not even
the Weasley twins could find anything funny in this situation.
"I'm fine," Harry kept insisting,
"Malfoy was the one who got hit by the Bludger, not me..."
Russ Haffaway's eyes shone. "I'm sorry about what
happened, of course, Harry, but- that was great! Wonderful! I can't
believe you caught it, we won..."
Harry grinned faintly. "Yeah, we won..."
There was a knock at the door, and Albus Dumbledore marched
inside, accompanied by Professors McGonagall and Snape who were sweating and
looked very worried indeed.
Dumbledore forced a strained smile, directed at both Harry
and Draco. "Very, very unfortunate, Harry. Hit by a Bludger...
And Mr. Malfoy, is he all right?"
Professor Snape walked to Draco's bed where his teammates
were huddled around with difficulty in the small space. Dumbledore wore a
highly concerned look as he examined Draco, which was heightened by the fact
that his robes were still covered in blood.
"Poppy?" he asked, and Madam Pomfrey came out of
the accompanying room, carrying another bottle of another potion, this time
purple.
"He'll be all right, Professor," she said, only
slightly more civil to Dumbledore than the rest. "Very bad
concussion, now, he'll probably have to stay here for another day or two."
Her gaze travelled around the hospital wing, and Nirry could
almost swear she saw smoke coming out of her ears.
"Didn't I say five minutes?" she suddenly
gasped, shooing them all away with a wave of her hand. "Yes, I did,
now, Miss Dumbledore, Miss Granger... and you! Out! My patients
need rest, this has been a very very painful ordeal for them!"
Nirry felt a wave of annoyance at the buzzing nurse, but then
caught a glimpse of Harry's face through the horde of people in her way.
He was fast asleep. They could see Professor Dumbledore inside, talking
quietly with Madam Pomfrey.
Quietly and subdued, the group went outside to wait for the
full recovery of their friends.
* * *
Back in the common room, everyone wore an air of
worriedness. When Nirry and the others had gotten back, the rest of the
Gryffindors had bombarded them with questions on Harry's health.
Now Nirry, Ron and Hermione sat in armchairs by the
fireplace. Outside, the sun was shining faintly, which seemed very
ironic, concerning what had just happened. The entire atmosphere was
glum. Nirry, Ron and Hermione were moaning about Harry and Draco.
"Do you think he'll be all right?," asked Nirry
for the hundredth time, "I hope he's okay."
"Oh, come on, Nirry. Harry'll be all right, he
has to be." Ron said exasperatedly yet worried at the same time.
"And, well, what about Malfoy?" she continued.
Ron and Hermione seemed a little taken aback.
"Malfoy?" they said together, as if they couldn't
imagine why Nirry was feeling sorry for him.
"Yeah, Malfoy. Harry said he was the one who was
hit, not him... I bet he's feeling crappy..."
Without warning and before Ron could comment, the portrait
door swung open. There was total silence for a moment as they all looked
with bated breath- was it Harry?
Professor McGonagall stepped into the room with a grim
expression on her face. Ron and Hermione and every other person in the
room other than Nirry felt a flash of foreboding. They remembered visibly
all the times McGonagall had entered with bad news.
"I need not inform you of Mr. Potter's condition, as
you probably already know about it.." and here she coughed a bit, looking
in Nirry's direction. Rather than feeling embarrassed, Nirry felt another
rush of annoyance. "In any case, I came here today to announce that
today Professor Dumbledore has decided to let Hogwarts students go to Hogsmeade
today. That is, Hogwarts students above third-years."
There was an intake of relieved breath.
"Our Headmaster feels it will be as safe as possible
under the circumstances. We have posted dragons at all school
entrances," ("Hagrid's doing, probably," whispered Hermione to
the others) ,"and there will be a number of qualified and trained adults
from the Ministry supervising you."
The three exchanged meaningful glances. Professor was
talking about the Allies, obviously. However, Nirry was slightly
confused.
"Hogsmeade?" she asked. The rest of the
common room had perked up considerably with this announcement. There was
even faint laughter as people headed toward their dormitories to grab cloaks
and money bags. McGonagall left hastily.
"What are we waiting for? We'll be able to see if
Honeyduke's has got any new candies..." Ron said, pleased. The
others got up as well and followed, within all the rising auras around them.
* * *
"Oh, this is soooo COOL!," said Nirry in
awe. "Yummy."
They were in Honeydukes with about fifty other Hogwarts
students, all milling about and choosing sweets. Nirry was circling round
and round, grabbing stuff off of counters, examining them in delight, then
stacking them on the counter for the cashier to ring up her order.
"This is even better than the mall-" she
breathed. She ran over to where Ron and Hermione stood, arguing between a
new kind of fudge (whipped cream and rasberry flavoring) or a kind of candy
cane which blew up in a sparkle of warm fireworks when you broke it in half
(Periwinkle Flames) for Harry with difficulty.
"I love this shop! It's just so- cool!" she
gasped. Her face was flushed with excitement. Ron shook his head
mockingly, still motioning his hand toward the handmade fudge.
"Cool?" -although he pronounced it as ke-you-ll-
"Honestly, Nirry, sometimes you sound so- American." he continued in
an overly English accent. Nirry made a face at him.
"Foine then, beay that way, wount you? And I'm Canadian,
not American, thank you very much." she said, mockingly imitating Ron. She
gave a shake of her head and then steered them both to the counter.
"Get both things for Harry, I know he'll love them. I'm going to
finish buying my stuff and then- whoa! Look!"
Everyone within range of her voice turned to where she was
pointing at. Outside the window, they could see the Weasley twins setting up
their temporary booth in the shelter of the Three Broomsticks. There was
a rush as people crowded to finish buying their sweets and run outside in the
wind. Nirry, Hermione and Ron joined them.
The Weasleys were selling much the same things as their
booth in Diagon Alley, and Nirry and Ron bought everything in sight.
Hermione refrained buying as much as they and even looked guilty about the
single small Water-Quill (squirts water at the person using it) she bought.
"I don't know even why I bought it It's not not
as if I'm going to be using it- imagine the points I'd lose for
Gryffindor!" She muttered, berating herself when the wind brought a chill
through their thick cloaks. They headed inside the Three Broomsticks for a
quick butterbeer. Nirry and Ron paid no attention to Hermione and instead
compared their newly- bought items. Nirry's bag was now so heavy it was
all she could do to haul it along into the bar. Ron had maybe half of
Nirry's stuff worth in his bag, but he still had difficulty carrying it.
Once they'd ordered their butterbeers, the three looked
around the cosy, warm room. Quite a few Hogwarts students and teachers
took up most of the booths in the room. Nirry gazed curiously around fore
a while, then gasped.
"Is- wait a sec- this is really good!- that a
hag? Mmmm!" she asked, pointing to a huddled figure at the bar and
guzzling the rest of her beer at the same time. Hermione and Ron looked
briefly and nodded absently. They were discussing the dragons they'd seen
at the entrance to Hogsmeade.
"Did you see the one with white sparks shooting out of
its back?" said Ron, taking a swig of his butterbeer. "Looked even
worse than Harry's Horntail last year..."
"Harry's what?" interrupted Nirry.
"That was a Sumarian Springer," replied Hermione,
then turned to Nirry. "Last year, Harry was in the Triwizard Tournament,
didn't you- oh, right..."
Nirry felt frustrated as she always felt when her friends
would start talking about their previous years at Hogwarts. "Well,
no, I don't know. Tell me," she demanded, draining the glass
with a contented sigh.
Ron and Hermione exchanged a stricken look, but before
either of them could say a word, there came a terrified scream from outside the
bar. After a moment, others soon joined it, growing even louder and more
terrified, and Nirry, Hermione and Ron glanced out the window to see what the
commotion was all about. They could see people screaming wildly and
running around.
As far as Nirry could see, there was nothing on the ground,
but Hermione suddenly gasped and said,
"Oh, no... Ron- Nirry, look up..."
They looked up. The silhouette of a huge skull with a
snake protuding out of its mouth stared down at them, clearly visible in the
deepening dusk.
Ron turned sheer white and said, for the first time in his
life, "Voldemort!"
Nirry felt the fear grip her. She set her lips in a firm
line.
Voldemort was here.