JKR owns the people and the places, I own Karista and the dream
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Chapter 26: Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor
How long Harry was in the ward, he didn't know. He was unconscious most of the time, but when he did come to long enough to say nonsense things, he would see Karista by his side. When he finally came around for good, Dumbledore and McGonagall along with Karista were there, waiting for him.
"Hello, Potter," Karista chuckled, giving him a weak smile. "Just a little tired, aren't we?"
Harry laughed a little. He noticed she looked a bit paler and thinner with dark circles under her eyes.
"Hello yourself. You look terrible," Harry murmured, reaching out and touching her face. She smiled again at his statement. "What day is it?"
"Well, surprisingly enough," McGonagall said, sounding older that she really was. "It was only a few hours ago that this all happened. It's 1:30 in the morning, by the way."
Harry lifted himself up a little more in the bed and the dream came back before him, nearly terrifying him.
"It's true, isn't it," Harry muttered, a tear forming in his eye. "Voldemort is immortal."
Dumbledore, who looked unnaturally grave, nodded his head. "But we will never give up."
"Harry, I think you should get some rest," McGonagall said quietly, standing up to leave. "Besides, look at the bright side, you have a quidditch game in a few days."
Harry smiled as Madame Pomfrey came from behind the curtain with a goblet filled with a purplish steam.
"Drink it all, Potter," Madame Pomfrey said briskly, holding the goblet for him to drink. As soon as it touched his lips, he could feel his eyelids becoming heavy as he drifted off once again in a dreamless sleep.
***
"Harry, we were so worried about you!" Hermione squealed her face also pale. She ran towards him and gave him a big hug.
"Jeez, we came to see you in the afternoon, but Pomfrey kicked us out," Ron said gruffly. He too looked almost as though he had been crying.
"Thanks guys," Harry said happily.
"Well, I have some work to catch up on," Karista said weakly. She had stayed with Harry all night and some of the early morning. "Please excuse me."
She wandered up to her dormitory and laid on her bed, her transfiguration book propped open in front of her. Too tired, she muttered to herself as she got her long awaited sleep.
***
"Now, you all know that our next quidditch match is on Saturday," Harry said, clutching the firebolt in his hands. It was last week that this all happened, and now he would have to make up for some lost time. It was a Thursday; therefore, Karista was waiting to leave for her potion study. "Therefore, we are going to do great."
Fred and George Weasley cheered, while Angelina, Alicia and Karista whooped. Ron was whistling like crazy.
"That cup is ours this year!" Harry yelled, stepping away from the bench and smiling. Everyone stood up and walked out of the locker rooms, sweaty and desperate for a shower.
"Nice speech, cowboy," Karista laughed, kissing Harry gently on the cheek. "I have to go and clean up for my potions lesson."
"Okay," Harry cried, throwing his arms around Karista. "I'll see you at 10."
"Bye."
***
"Dissolving solutions," Karista muttered, pulling on her dragon hide gloves. It was nearly 9 o'clock, and she was already tired. The rigorous practice they had didn't help.
"You look just a little tired," Malfoy said, the same strained look on his face.
"Well, considering the most sleep I've had in the past few weeks as been less than twenty four hours, I find it not surprising at all," Karista said sarcastically, adding boomslang skin to the boiling solution in her cauldron. It fizzled an ugly yellow, then went back to being red.
"Funny," Draco muttered sheepishly, continuing to stir his potion.
"Your father is a death eater?" Karista asked, catching Malfoy completely off guard. He almost fell of his chair.
"If I said yes, do you promise not to strangle me?" Malfoy said quietly, fumbling with his gloves.
"Depends," Karista said casually, still slicing up the mandrake leaves.
"Then its yes," Malfoy said, his voice trembling.
"Don't worry, I couldn't jinx you even if I wanted to. My wand…er…chooses not to work," Karista said, throwing the leaves in the cauldron.
"Is that so?" came Snape's voice from behind her. He was taller that her and Malfoy, and Malfoy was and inch taller than her, making her nearly cower against the table.
"Yes," She said simply, although being unable to control the nervousness.
"Hmm…Ollivanders?" Snape asked. It was unusual for Snape to be like this.
"Yeah…I just think its me though," Karista muttered, gently fingering the wand in her pocket.
"Interesting," Snape said with a tinge of finality to his voice. "Now, I say that we test these."
"On what?" Malfoy drawled, a strange curtness in his voice.
"Wood, plastic, glass, anything, really, except your cauldrons," Snape answered icily, ladling come of the solution into a goblet that was made out of iron.
(A/N: Don't ask the relevance of that section…I don't even know)
***
"Alright people," Harry mumbled, strangling himself in his own thoughts. "Tonight, we win…later, we celebrate the Quidditch cup."
Fred and George, who were sitting rather quiet, now jumped up and danced around the room, their new Nimbus2001's dangling off their shoulders. But suddenly, they stopped cheering and turned around, pulling out three large boxes from behind them.
"Sorry…they just came in this morning," Fred muttered sheepishly, handing the boxes to Ron, Angelina and Alicia. "I hope that Hooch will let us have a test run."
Angelina jumped up and kissed Fred on the cheek, making him turn bright red. Alicia grinned shyly at George as he twiddled his thumbs, turning redder than Fred. Ron was jumping with joy and hugging his brothers.
"LET'S GO!" Harry boomed, positively ecstatic. They all ran out of the locker room to a deafening boom from the stands. Lee Jordan (a/n: I couldn't believe I said Jordan Lee…sorry) announced the players that came running onto the field. Harry weaseled his way to the front of the Gryffindor team and stood in front of the Ravenclaw captain and shook hands, preparing for battle. Then, a whistle pierced the air.
"And it's Flannigan of Gryffindor in possession, followed by Spinnet, Johnson, back to Flannigan, and she scores!"
The Ravenclaw keeper muttered their disappointment while Karista picked the quaffle up again and began another attack.
"Karista! Look out!" Harry yelled, helping her duck in enough time to realize a bludger was speeding towards her head. Cho Chang was following his closely. He didn't dare pull a Wronski Feint on her, like he did on Malfoy. Karista chucked the quaffle again at the keeper, making the score 30-0.
"And now, a time out has been called because of a mis-laid bludger on the Gryffindor Keeper," Lee yelled, jumping up on his seat. Harry didn't even see it until he saw Ron flutter to the ground.
"RON!" Harry yelped, putting a grand amount of speed on his broom and falling to the ground with a thump. "What happened?"
"One of the Ravenclaws mislaid a bludger, I can't play," Ron said gingerly, pulling his arm closer to himself. Seamus was no doubt willing to do it. He called Seamus over.
"Hey man, would you…" Harry began, yet stopped, when Seamus held up his hand.
"I don't want to and I can't anyways," Seamus muttered, looking back up at the field. Harry couldn't believe this. Harry knew he was slightly bitter about being showed up by Ron, by why like this?
"What's going on?" Karista yelled from the other end of the field.
"We have no keeper!" Harry muttered, kicking the floor.
"Call Dean to be chaser, I'll be keeper," Karista said simply.
"Are you sure?" Harry asked, losing himself.
"Yeah…he would love it," Karista said, patting Harry on the back. He headed back over to the stands and stood in front of Dean.
"Please? We need you Dean," Harry murmured, putting on a sad face and getting on his knees. Dean smiled and hopped over the guardrail and ran up the field.
"Alright, Karista, you are the keeper…Dean, you are a chaser. Let's get to work," Harry yelled, kicking off from the ground. Karista flew up to the goal posts, and zoomed around, testing her ability to get from one post to another. Remember, Flannigan, keep your eye on the ball she could remember her softball coach saying as she trained to be a catcher at the age of eight. She remembered crouching in front of the pitching machine, poised for action. She was the best catcher in New York. She always held on to the ball when the other team slid into home. She wouldn't let them score, not one point.
"And now its Ravenclaw's possession, to Murthed, ramble, she's at the Gryffindor posts," Lee bellowed, holding his hat. Ramble was swerving. Think curveball, Karista muttered, not letting her eyes waver from the ball. She saw Ramble's arm shoot back, and the ball headed towards a far goal post. She shot low on her broom. It was hard and fast and she was sure that she probably wouldn't make it. She practically lay on her broom, making it go faster, yet the ball started dropping. She clawed her hand and reached out to stop it. Then, she wrapped her legs around her broom and hung in midair, catching the quaffle neatly in her arms.
"FLANNIGAN SAVES IT!" Lee bellowed, jumping up in down. McGonagall even looked impressed. She threw the quaffle at Dean, who shot nervously up the field. Harry smiled at her, while the Weasley twins dive-bombed her, then they proceeded up the field, only to find Ravenclaw back in possession.
"Damn it," Karista cursed, sitting in the middle of the goal posts. She watched as the ball bounced to Murthed, and he threw it. Fastball, Karista muttered, reaching out with her left hand and catching it. Not hard at all, actually, she laughed, passing the quaffle to Alicia. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry spiraling to the ground, a magnificent golden snitch clasped in his hand. The Gryffindors in the stands were screaming their delight as the score was 200-0.
"GRYFFINDOR WINS! 200-0!" Lee bellowed, McGonagall shaking professor Flitwick's hand for a good match. Karista remained in the air for a little while until she realized she was alone.
"I miss softball," she whispered, her eyes welling with tears. She slowly made her way down the field, to where Harry was, looking for her.
"Spectacular! Karista, why didn't you tell me you were a Keeper also?" Harry said, stunned yet smiling.
"Oh…I dunno…I just kinda picked it up, I guess," Karista said as Harry wrapped his arms around her. She didn't have the heart to tell him where she learned those tricks, She just couldn't.
"I'm proud of you, Kar," Harry murmured in her ear, as her eyes sparkled with delight. No one, not even her father, had said that to her. "You really showed em all, including me."
"Thanks Harry," she said, slinging her firebolt over her shoulder and walking arm in arm with Harry up to the school.
******************************************
Chapter 26: Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor
How long Harry was in the ward, he didn't know. He was unconscious most of the time, but when he did come to long enough to say nonsense things, he would see Karista by his side. When he finally came around for good, Dumbledore and McGonagall along with Karista were there, waiting for him.
"Hello, Potter," Karista chuckled, giving him a weak smile. "Just a little tired, aren't we?"
Harry laughed a little. He noticed she looked a bit paler and thinner with dark circles under her eyes.
"Hello yourself. You look terrible," Harry murmured, reaching out and touching her face. She smiled again at his statement. "What day is it?"
"Well, surprisingly enough," McGonagall said, sounding older that she really was. "It was only a few hours ago that this all happened. It's 1:30 in the morning, by the way."
Harry lifted himself up a little more in the bed and the dream came back before him, nearly terrifying him.
"It's true, isn't it," Harry muttered, a tear forming in his eye. "Voldemort is immortal."
Dumbledore, who looked unnaturally grave, nodded his head. "But we will never give up."
"Harry, I think you should get some rest," McGonagall said quietly, standing up to leave. "Besides, look at the bright side, you have a quidditch game in a few days."
Harry smiled as Madame Pomfrey came from behind the curtain with a goblet filled with a purplish steam.
"Drink it all, Potter," Madame Pomfrey said briskly, holding the goblet for him to drink. As soon as it touched his lips, he could feel his eyelids becoming heavy as he drifted off once again in a dreamless sleep.
***
"Harry, we were so worried about you!" Hermione squealed her face also pale. She ran towards him and gave him a big hug.
"Jeez, we came to see you in the afternoon, but Pomfrey kicked us out," Ron said gruffly. He too looked almost as though he had been crying.
"Thanks guys," Harry said happily.
"Well, I have some work to catch up on," Karista said weakly. She had stayed with Harry all night and some of the early morning. "Please excuse me."
She wandered up to her dormitory and laid on her bed, her transfiguration book propped open in front of her. Too tired, she muttered to herself as she got her long awaited sleep.
***
"Now, you all know that our next quidditch match is on Saturday," Harry said, clutching the firebolt in his hands. It was last week that this all happened, and now he would have to make up for some lost time. It was a Thursday; therefore, Karista was waiting to leave for her potion study. "Therefore, we are going to do great."
Fred and George Weasley cheered, while Angelina, Alicia and Karista whooped. Ron was whistling like crazy.
"That cup is ours this year!" Harry yelled, stepping away from the bench and smiling. Everyone stood up and walked out of the locker rooms, sweaty and desperate for a shower.
"Nice speech, cowboy," Karista laughed, kissing Harry gently on the cheek. "I have to go and clean up for my potions lesson."
"Okay," Harry cried, throwing his arms around Karista. "I'll see you at 10."
"Bye."
***
"Dissolving solutions," Karista muttered, pulling on her dragon hide gloves. It was nearly 9 o'clock, and she was already tired. The rigorous practice they had didn't help.
"You look just a little tired," Malfoy said, the same strained look on his face.
"Well, considering the most sleep I've had in the past few weeks as been less than twenty four hours, I find it not surprising at all," Karista said sarcastically, adding boomslang skin to the boiling solution in her cauldron. It fizzled an ugly yellow, then went back to being red.
"Funny," Draco muttered sheepishly, continuing to stir his potion.
"Your father is a death eater?" Karista asked, catching Malfoy completely off guard. He almost fell of his chair.
"If I said yes, do you promise not to strangle me?" Malfoy said quietly, fumbling with his gloves.
"Depends," Karista said casually, still slicing up the mandrake leaves.
"Then its yes," Malfoy said, his voice trembling.
"Don't worry, I couldn't jinx you even if I wanted to. My wand…er…chooses not to work," Karista said, throwing the leaves in the cauldron.
"Is that so?" came Snape's voice from behind her. He was taller that her and Malfoy, and Malfoy was and inch taller than her, making her nearly cower against the table.
"Yes," She said simply, although being unable to control the nervousness.
"Hmm…Ollivanders?" Snape asked. It was unusual for Snape to be like this.
"Yeah…I just think its me though," Karista muttered, gently fingering the wand in her pocket.
"Interesting," Snape said with a tinge of finality to his voice. "Now, I say that we test these."
"On what?" Malfoy drawled, a strange curtness in his voice.
"Wood, plastic, glass, anything, really, except your cauldrons," Snape answered icily, ladling come of the solution into a goblet that was made out of iron.
(A/N: Don't ask the relevance of that section…I don't even know)
***
"Alright people," Harry mumbled, strangling himself in his own thoughts. "Tonight, we win…later, we celebrate the Quidditch cup."
Fred and George, who were sitting rather quiet, now jumped up and danced around the room, their new Nimbus2001's dangling off their shoulders. But suddenly, they stopped cheering and turned around, pulling out three large boxes from behind them.
"Sorry…they just came in this morning," Fred muttered sheepishly, handing the boxes to Ron, Angelina and Alicia. "I hope that Hooch will let us have a test run."
Angelina jumped up and kissed Fred on the cheek, making him turn bright red. Alicia grinned shyly at George as he twiddled his thumbs, turning redder than Fred. Ron was jumping with joy and hugging his brothers.
"LET'S GO!" Harry boomed, positively ecstatic. They all ran out of the locker room to a deafening boom from the stands. Lee Jordan (a/n: I couldn't believe I said Jordan Lee…sorry) announced the players that came running onto the field. Harry weaseled his way to the front of the Gryffindor team and stood in front of the Ravenclaw captain and shook hands, preparing for battle. Then, a whistle pierced the air.
"And it's Flannigan of Gryffindor in possession, followed by Spinnet, Johnson, back to Flannigan, and she scores!"
The Ravenclaw keeper muttered their disappointment while Karista picked the quaffle up again and began another attack.
"Karista! Look out!" Harry yelled, helping her duck in enough time to realize a bludger was speeding towards her head. Cho Chang was following his closely. He didn't dare pull a Wronski Feint on her, like he did on Malfoy. Karista chucked the quaffle again at the keeper, making the score 30-0.
"And now, a time out has been called because of a mis-laid bludger on the Gryffindor Keeper," Lee yelled, jumping up on his seat. Harry didn't even see it until he saw Ron flutter to the ground.
"RON!" Harry yelped, putting a grand amount of speed on his broom and falling to the ground with a thump. "What happened?"
"One of the Ravenclaws mislaid a bludger, I can't play," Ron said gingerly, pulling his arm closer to himself. Seamus was no doubt willing to do it. He called Seamus over.
"Hey man, would you…" Harry began, yet stopped, when Seamus held up his hand.
"I don't want to and I can't anyways," Seamus muttered, looking back up at the field. Harry couldn't believe this. Harry knew he was slightly bitter about being showed up by Ron, by why like this?
"What's going on?" Karista yelled from the other end of the field.
"We have no keeper!" Harry muttered, kicking the floor.
"Call Dean to be chaser, I'll be keeper," Karista said simply.
"Are you sure?" Harry asked, losing himself.
"Yeah…he would love it," Karista said, patting Harry on the back. He headed back over to the stands and stood in front of Dean.
"Please? We need you Dean," Harry murmured, putting on a sad face and getting on his knees. Dean smiled and hopped over the guardrail and ran up the field.
"Alright, Karista, you are the keeper…Dean, you are a chaser. Let's get to work," Harry yelled, kicking off from the ground. Karista flew up to the goal posts, and zoomed around, testing her ability to get from one post to another. Remember, Flannigan, keep your eye on the ball she could remember her softball coach saying as she trained to be a catcher at the age of eight. She remembered crouching in front of the pitching machine, poised for action. She was the best catcher in New York. She always held on to the ball when the other team slid into home. She wouldn't let them score, not one point.
"And now its Ravenclaw's possession, to Murthed, ramble, she's at the Gryffindor posts," Lee bellowed, holding his hat. Ramble was swerving. Think curveball, Karista muttered, not letting her eyes waver from the ball. She saw Ramble's arm shoot back, and the ball headed towards a far goal post. She shot low on her broom. It was hard and fast and she was sure that she probably wouldn't make it. She practically lay on her broom, making it go faster, yet the ball started dropping. She clawed her hand and reached out to stop it. Then, she wrapped her legs around her broom and hung in midair, catching the quaffle neatly in her arms.
"FLANNIGAN SAVES IT!" Lee bellowed, jumping up in down. McGonagall even looked impressed. She threw the quaffle at Dean, who shot nervously up the field. Harry smiled at her, while the Weasley twins dive-bombed her, then they proceeded up the field, only to find Ravenclaw back in possession.
"Damn it," Karista cursed, sitting in the middle of the goal posts. She watched as the ball bounced to Murthed, and he threw it. Fastball, Karista muttered, reaching out with her left hand and catching it. Not hard at all, actually, she laughed, passing the quaffle to Alicia. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry spiraling to the ground, a magnificent golden snitch clasped in his hand. The Gryffindors in the stands were screaming their delight as the score was 200-0.
"GRYFFINDOR WINS! 200-0!" Lee bellowed, McGonagall shaking professor Flitwick's hand for a good match. Karista remained in the air for a little while until she realized she was alone.
"I miss softball," she whispered, her eyes welling with tears. She slowly made her way down the field, to where Harry was, looking for her.
"Spectacular! Karista, why didn't you tell me you were a Keeper also?" Harry said, stunned yet smiling.
"Oh…I dunno…I just kinda picked it up, I guess," Karista said as Harry wrapped his arms around her. She didn't have the heart to tell him where she learned those tricks, She just couldn't.
"I'm proud of you, Kar," Harry murmured in her ear, as her eyes sparkled with delight. No one, not even her father, had said that to her. "You really showed em all, including me."
"Thanks Harry," she said, slinging her firebolt over her shoulder and walking arm in arm with Harry up to the school.