"Er.Terry. We didn't see you there."
"Funny, I didn't see you either."
"If you want an explanation, well, we-"
"We can't give you one."
"I thought as much," he said dryly.
"Great job in that Quiditch game today."
"Uh-huh. I'm going to bed, I'll talk to the two of you in the morning."
Harry and Ron went to their beds. As Harry lie down he realized that Malfoy wasn't in the room. Troubled, he fell asleep.
In the morning Harry woke up and it took a minute for him to remember about the fish the day before and what it had said. He groaned. Today he would have to talk to Renata. Hopefully, between how many times she'd been stunned and the fact that she'd been given a strong dose of a sleeping solution, Renata might not remember as long as none of them brought it up.
Harry got to the breakfast table and found that he had no such luck. Ron whispered, "You're going to have to talk to her right after breakfast."
"Renata, is Rory going to be in the Quiditch match tomorrow?"
"Maybe. She might be the surprise Keeper that Tim and Dan wouldn't tell me about."
"I thought she was a Beater."
"Yesterday yes, tomorrow, maybe, maybe not."
"Then what was the point of the game yesterday?"
"To have fun. It's great to try and play different positions. What's the fun if you just do the same thing over again? I'm going to tell her that today you should be.a Chaser. You need to learn to be a team player."
"Well why don't we go find the others and set up a game?"
"Not now."
"Why not?"
"I don't feel like it."
"Come on, aren't you going to give me a chance at a rematch?"
"Fine, I'll give you a chance to save face. Go get everyone."
Twenty minutes later the fifteen of them were on the field; the fourteen who'd played the day before and Hermione there to keep score. The teams held quick meetings. Rory led the red meeting.
"Ron, you're the Keeper. Harry, Chaser."
"No."
"Have you talked to Ren yet?"
"No."
"Then you're a Chaser, so sit down." She finished assigning positions. "Nobody in the same spot as yesterday? Good. Let's move."
They were soon in the air. As if by reflex Harry started searching for the Snitch, that is, until Rory hit him in the stomach with the Quaffle, "Throw it!"
Harry took the Quaffle in one hand and tried to throw it in the hoop, but missed.
"Time out! Harry, you didn't have a clear shot. Why did you throw it?"
"You told me to!"
"You should have thrown it to him," she jerked her head at the third Chaser. "He was open, he had a clear shot. Up everybody!"
It took Harry a bit but eventually Harry got the hang of knowing when to shoot and when to pass. He went down briefly and asked Hermione, "What's the score?"
"Blue fifty. Red sixty."
"Thanks."
The game soon ended as Terry and Renata were neck in neck trying to catch the Snitch and Terry got it.
As the game ended Renata stormed away. Everyone supposed she was just being a bad loser, almost everyone anyway. Rory and Hermione poked Harry in the back. "Go to talk to her! Now!" they hissed.
Harry went after her. "Wait, Renata."
"No."
"Just come back over to the field."
"No. I was wrong. You don't understand."
"That's just it, though. I do. I've seen him and don't want him to hurt anyone else."
"If you believed that you would just let me go and tell them you couldn't find me."
"Renata, you've got to listen! It's his fault your mum had to rebuild her whole life. It's his fault you don't have a dad. It's his fault I don't have a mum or dad. Voldemort's the reason Sirius spent twelve years in Azkaban. It's Voldemort's fault that I've been stuck with the Dursleys. It's his fault the Diggorys lost their son. It's his fault for everything Neville's family went through. And Bertha Jorkins and that Muggle."
"And the worst part is he doesn't care!" she wailed.
"He does care. If he didn't care he couldn't feel anything about it; and trust me he feels something. It's not remorse or guilt, he feels glee and amusement."
"I am going to get him. He will pay."
"You can't go by yourself."
"I'm going and I don't care if anyone comes. You should want to come to, but you don't have to."
"You can't walk a hundred and forty miles."
"I'll fly."
"You've got to go back for your broom. You left it on the field," in spite of himself, Harry grinned.
"I'm going back for my broom and then I'm leaving."
"Think this through. You can't go," told her desperately.
"Watch me."
Harry shouted a curse out her and she fell over.
"Ugh! Not jelly legs." Unsteadily she got to her feet and started wobbling over to the field, nearly falling with every step.
"Er.Stupefy!" He went over to where she fell. "I really hope this is not causing brain damage."
Hermione and Ron came over. "No luck?"
"None."
"She's going to be mad when she wakes up."
"I wouldn't blame her if she started jinxing every one of us."
"So what can we do?"
"We just can't leave her by herself. If she flies off we've got to be there to follow her. I'd love to get a piece of Voldemort myself but I'm not stupid enough to go after him alone."
"I wouldn't be to sure of that. But, Harry, what do we do with her until she wakes up?"
"How am I supposed to know? I stunned her because I couldn't think of anything else."
"We've got to leash her. And take away her wand."
"Who volunteers to stay by her all day?" asked Ron.
"Not me." Hermione and Ron said in unison. They looked at Harry.
He started to back away. "I can't be around when she wakes up, she'll curse me for knocking her out again!" Renata was down right terrifying when she was mad.
"We'll take away her wand."
Harry grimaced. "I'll do it, but you know what, she is going to hit me and twist my arm off."
"Not our problem."
"Yeah, thanks for making it my problem."
"Harry, I'll do the spell. Five feet?"
"You joking? Give me some room to breathe."
"Ten feet, fifteen feet, or twenty feet?"
"Fifteen."
Hermione took out her wand and said the spell. "There. Now where's her wand? Here," she saw it sticking out of Renata's pocket and grabbed the end. "I'll put this in the room. Harry, we'll stay with you so she doesn't get suspicious."
"So now what do we do?" asked Ron. "We've got to spend the day babysitting this girl because we can't leave her alone?"
"Unless you've got a better idea, that's right."
Ron shook his head.
"Hide her broom. That's the reason she was going back to the Quiditch stadium."
"Right."
"So what are we going to do?"
"Library?"
"She might look for curses to use against us."
"Good point."
"Tree-house?"
"No."
"We need something to keep her attention."
"What would you say to getting her detention?"
"How?"
"We'll think of something."
"Think fast, she's waking up."
"Ugh! Why do you keep doing that! I'm going get you. Rabbit ears! Jelly legs! Buckteeth! The whole 9 yards! Everything I can throw at you! Where did I put my wand?" She reached in her pocket for her wand and found it gone. "Okay that's it. Who's the wise guy who stole my wand? When I find 'im he is in deep trouble." They allowed her to rant a few minutes more until she was breathless, then she got her second wind and started off again.
"How dare someone take my wand? And no one can stop me from going where I want to!" She continued on.
Then Hermione whispered to Ron, "Go get Dan, Tim, and Joey. we may need some help."
Finally Renata ran out of breath again.
Hermione spoke gently, but firmly. "When someone is upset they shouldn't handle weapons. In this case your wand is a weapon. Remember that day when there was the big fight between all four of us? Harry really lost it so we took his wand away until he calmed down. This is the same thing."
"There's nothing wrong with me!"
"Renata, just take a deep breath."
"What? No!"
Harry and Hermione watched as Ron came up with the three tall youths he'd been sent to find. The first one said, "Ren.relax. Look you've got two choices: you can calm down on your own or we will bodily pick you up and drag you to the hospital where we will tie you to a bed and leave you at the mercy of the nurse. The choice is yours."
"I'll stop."
"Good girl. Come on now let's go back inside, I think it's time for some lunch."
"Okay." She took a few steps then turned and punched the boy who had been speaking. "Ow! Ren, you got my jaw!"
But she was running in the other direction, she only got fifteen feet before she stopped dead, she couldn't go any further. "Okay! Who used the leashing spell? Tell me!"
Ron came up behind her and pointed his wand at her, and she was bound with ropes and gagged. He turned back to Dan, "I think we've got it now, thanks."
Tim, Dan, and Joey didn't move. "Are you sure you don't want any help? We've known Ren for years. We know how to deal with her."
"We're fine. The three of us can handle this."
"Okay, call us if you need us."
"We will." He turned back to Hermione and Harry. "So now what do we do about her? She's furious, she's tied up, she's gagged, and we're all still here for today and four more days! We can't go through this everyday."
"I know, I know, let me think," Hermione put her head in her hand. "The hospital. We'll tell the nurse that we think she might have a fever. With any luck the nurse will keep her overnight and she'll come back in the morning."
"So how do we get her there?"
"I say we tell the nurse she fainted."
"Sounds good to me."
"How do we get her there?"
"By conjuring a magical stretcher." They stunned her and untied her. Then they undid the leashing spell. Hermione conjured a magical stretcher to float beside them and carry Renata.
"It just occurred to me. Where is the hospital?"
They asked the first person they saw, "Excuse me, where is the hospital?"
"I'll show you." Their escort was probably no older than twelve, but he knew his way around the school with ease. "Here it is," he pointed to the door and left.
They opened the door and went in. "Hello? Our friend here could use some help."
A woman came sweeping across the room, "What may I do for you?"
"Er.she fainted. She was acting a little strange so she might have had a fever or something. We think it would be a good idea if she stays here tonight."
"Who is it?" She looked at the stretcher and sighed. "I should have known."
"Why?"
"She did used to go to school here and she was in here often enough; almost as often as she sent people in here. I'll take care of her."
"She'll be allowed to go to the game tomorrow though, right?"
"Of course, but she may just want to watch it from here."
"But she's supposed to play in the game tomorrow."
"Oh. Well I don't see any problem with that as long as she doesn't wake up with a fever."
"Goodbye. Thank you."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron left as quickly as they could without seeming suspicious; they were amazed that they had gotten away with it.
They relaxed the rest of the day but by nightfall Harry was beginning to have doubts. "Did we do the right thing?"
"You know she would have left the school otherwise and then she'd get hurt."
"Or worse." ******************************************
In the morning Harry woke, eager for the Quiditch game he knew would soon take place. His mood was only slightly dimmed as he saw Draco snoring on the other side of the room. He picked up his broom, and in case he needed it, his wand, and went to breakfast. He looked up as he heard the statues whispering to the portraits.
He reached the table and found Renata sitting there. "Hi, Renata," he said. She didn't reply.
As was usual before a Quiditch match Harry could hardly make himself eat anything. The teams soon left and went to the locker rooms to put on their Quiditch robes and talk before the game.
"We've been training hard and we know what we've got to do. All that's left is to get out there and win this game! I know you can do it, and you know you can do it. So get out there and win!"
The team marched on to field hearing the applause and the roar of the crowd. The commenter began the introductions. "The home team is the HOUSE. We have our Chasers: Daniel Vasquez, Timothy Monaghan, and Joseph Marshall. Our Beaters are Kirk Warner and Kurt Murdock. Elizabeth Holm is the Seeker and last but certainly not least is the Keeper and Team Captain Aurora Daria!" The crowd burst into applause again.
"Visiting us all the way from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the Hogwarts Gryffindor team: the Chasers are these three lovely ladies, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell. Fred and George Weasly, twins, as you can see, are the Beaters for Hogwarts. The Keeper is our very own Renata Delano, who only just this year transferred to Hogwarts. And the final member of the team is the Seeker and Captain.Harry Potter." The crowd roared again. "Refereeing today is none other than our head of sports: Coach Foster."
"Mount your brooms. On my whistle everyone up. Three.two.one." She blew her whistle and flew straight into the air.
Harry kicked off from the ground trying to spot the Snitch. He rose higher until he could see most of the field.
"Dan has the Quaffle, he passes it over Tim's head to Joe and.Joey throws it to Tim but the pass is intercepted by Katie Bell. Katie passes it to Angelina. Angelina tosses the Quaffle through the hoop and.Gryffindor scores! The Quaffle is heading toward Dan.but oh! A Bludger gets him first and he does not catch it. Gryffindor in possession again."
Harry watched as Fred hit a Bludger at Tim and George hit one at Ellie.
"Ooh! That has got to hurt, folks! These guys don't mess around. Where's Kirk?" Suddenly the wizard running the commentary spotted him, "There he is! Whoa, that's a mean swing as Kirk hits the Bludger at Alicia and it hits her in the shoulder. Looks like she could have a little trouble throwing now."
Harry saw the glint of gold that was the Snitch. He tried not to look too conspicuous as he swooped downward. Ellie saw him nonetheless and went and cut him off from the Snitch. In those few seconds, when Harry had to turn to keep from crashing in to her, Ellie had caused Harry to lose track of the Snitch.
But he noticed something else. There was a rat on the ground. He couldn't take a chance about it, he flew as near as he could without seeming too obvious and he stunned it. He went back to searching for the Snitch.
"Hogwarts has 80 points, the home team has 70 points but depending on which side gets the Snitch and how the rest of the game goes it could go either way. Katie has the Quaffle again, she attempts a pass to Alicia and Tim has got the Quaffle, he attempts to score and Renata stops it and throws the Quaffle to the other end of the field. What an arm! That girl needs to be on a softball team. Angelina catches the Quaffle."
At last Harry saw it again, the Golden Snitch. He looked to check that the other Seeker was distracted, Fred and George had both just hit Bludgers in her direction and it was all she could do to keep from being hit. Harry raced past on his broom and soon felt the walnut-sized Snitch grasped in his palm the silver wings struggled against his fingers but he yelled, "Hogwarts wins! I've got the Snitch! I got it!"
All seven of the Gryffindors who had just spent their morning hurtling around on broomsticks collapsed to the ground in a large group hug. Harry, Fred, and George smacked each other on the backs. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie hugged and squealed with delight.
"Great job, Harry!" Fred and George told him.
"You two were awesome," he replied.
They all stood around congratulating each other, then Harry got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't see Renata anywhere. He tore himself away from the group to go find her.
How could he have been so stupid? Now was the perfect time for her to run away. She had her broom and people would be everywhere at once so now one would notice if she slipped off. As Harry went off in search of Hermione and Ron he remembered Hermione still had Renata's wand. Maybe she didn't run off yet without it. Harry found Ron and Hermione coming toward him.
"Harry, great game!"
"Amazing job!"
They saw his face. "What's the matter? You just won!"
"Have you seen Renata? She was here when we all landed but I can't find her anywhere."
"I haven't seen her."
"Me neither."
"I'm going to go see if I can catch up with her, can you see if she's around here?"
"Sure thing."
Harry got on his broom and took off. He soon spotted her sitting by the part in the stream where they had found that strange fish. He landed a little ways away and walked over. "Renata, I figured you would have been gone by now."
"I may be as stubborn but I'm not stupid, you know," she retorted.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"You know well enough, Hermione still has my wand."
"Come on back. There's supposed to be a big celebration tonight, a feast and an award ceremony for winning the match."
"I'm not going back."
"Why's that?"
"Because if I do all three of you will keep using the leashing spell on me to keep me from running off, or the petrifying spell to freeze me, or the stunning spell so I'm unconscious. I know you guys, I'm not going back."
"Look," he stood up. He took out his wand and put it in his belt. "I'm not armed, now. Are you going to go back?"
"No, you aren't armed now but you could still pull out your wand and curse me. Swear. Swear you won't use any of those curses on me."
"Fine, I won't."
"Come on, I said swear. Repeat after me: I swear I will not use a leashing spell, petrifying spell, or stunning spell against Renata. Say it."
" 'I swear I will not use a leashing spell, petrifying spell, or stunning spell against Renata.' Happy now?"
"Much better, come on." She straddled her Phoenix Flyer 340.
"No, you are not flying back. We're walking."
She made a face. "Okay."
Harry and Renata found Ron and Hermione waiting just outside the Quiditch stadium.
"Got her? Let's go back in then."
"Stay a minute. During the match I saw a rat on the ground. I stunned it but I forgot to go back and see if he was familiar." Harry turned and went back in the stadium to find that the rat was gone. "I waited to long and the spell wore off."
"Come on, let's go back inside the school."
They went inside and washed up for dinner. Harry changed out of his Quiditch robes and into his Hogwarts ones.
That night at the feast Harry saw Malfoy for the first time since morning, he was talking in hushed tones to Pansy and Crabbe. They were sitting too far away for Harry to hear what they were plotting. But Harry ignored him and had a good time anyway. They all laughed and talked about the Quiditch game.
At the end of the feast the Headmistress of the school stood, "It is now time for us to award the winners. Will both teams please come to the front of the room to receive their medals?" Chairs scraped against the floor as the fourteen members of the two teams went up to the front of the hall. Each of the Gryffindors was given a small gold medallion and each of the HOUSE was given a silver one. "I just want to say that was an excellent match this morning, and we are proud of all of you." They returned to their seats and Professor Dumbledore stood up.
"I couldn't have said it better myself!" he beamed. "Now I have a few words to say. Those here from Hogwarts must be in the hall here no later than eight-thirty, tomorrow morning. We are going on a trip! Be forewarned. Friday night we have a big surprise planned for you all!"
The feast soon ended and they all went to their rooms. He had one comforting thought: if they were likely to visit the surrounding area, Renata was not likely to want to miss the chance and hopefully she wouldn't leave.
"Funny, I didn't see you either."
"If you want an explanation, well, we-"
"We can't give you one."
"I thought as much," he said dryly.
"Great job in that Quiditch game today."
"Uh-huh. I'm going to bed, I'll talk to the two of you in the morning."
Harry and Ron went to their beds. As Harry lie down he realized that Malfoy wasn't in the room. Troubled, he fell asleep.
In the morning Harry woke up and it took a minute for him to remember about the fish the day before and what it had said. He groaned. Today he would have to talk to Renata. Hopefully, between how many times she'd been stunned and the fact that she'd been given a strong dose of a sleeping solution, Renata might not remember as long as none of them brought it up.
Harry got to the breakfast table and found that he had no such luck. Ron whispered, "You're going to have to talk to her right after breakfast."
"Renata, is Rory going to be in the Quiditch match tomorrow?"
"Maybe. She might be the surprise Keeper that Tim and Dan wouldn't tell me about."
"I thought she was a Beater."
"Yesterday yes, tomorrow, maybe, maybe not."
"Then what was the point of the game yesterday?"
"To have fun. It's great to try and play different positions. What's the fun if you just do the same thing over again? I'm going to tell her that today you should be.a Chaser. You need to learn to be a team player."
"Well why don't we go find the others and set up a game?"
"Not now."
"Why not?"
"I don't feel like it."
"Come on, aren't you going to give me a chance at a rematch?"
"Fine, I'll give you a chance to save face. Go get everyone."
Twenty minutes later the fifteen of them were on the field; the fourteen who'd played the day before and Hermione there to keep score. The teams held quick meetings. Rory led the red meeting.
"Ron, you're the Keeper. Harry, Chaser."
"No."
"Have you talked to Ren yet?"
"No."
"Then you're a Chaser, so sit down." She finished assigning positions. "Nobody in the same spot as yesterday? Good. Let's move."
They were soon in the air. As if by reflex Harry started searching for the Snitch, that is, until Rory hit him in the stomach with the Quaffle, "Throw it!"
Harry took the Quaffle in one hand and tried to throw it in the hoop, but missed.
"Time out! Harry, you didn't have a clear shot. Why did you throw it?"
"You told me to!"
"You should have thrown it to him," she jerked her head at the third Chaser. "He was open, he had a clear shot. Up everybody!"
It took Harry a bit but eventually Harry got the hang of knowing when to shoot and when to pass. He went down briefly and asked Hermione, "What's the score?"
"Blue fifty. Red sixty."
"Thanks."
The game soon ended as Terry and Renata were neck in neck trying to catch the Snitch and Terry got it.
As the game ended Renata stormed away. Everyone supposed she was just being a bad loser, almost everyone anyway. Rory and Hermione poked Harry in the back. "Go to talk to her! Now!" they hissed.
Harry went after her. "Wait, Renata."
"No."
"Just come back over to the field."
"No. I was wrong. You don't understand."
"That's just it, though. I do. I've seen him and don't want him to hurt anyone else."
"If you believed that you would just let me go and tell them you couldn't find me."
"Renata, you've got to listen! It's his fault your mum had to rebuild her whole life. It's his fault you don't have a dad. It's his fault I don't have a mum or dad. Voldemort's the reason Sirius spent twelve years in Azkaban. It's Voldemort's fault that I've been stuck with the Dursleys. It's his fault the Diggorys lost their son. It's his fault for everything Neville's family went through. And Bertha Jorkins and that Muggle."
"And the worst part is he doesn't care!" she wailed.
"He does care. If he didn't care he couldn't feel anything about it; and trust me he feels something. It's not remorse or guilt, he feels glee and amusement."
"I am going to get him. He will pay."
"You can't go by yourself."
"I'm going and I don't care if anyone comes. You should want to come to, but you don't have to."
"You can't walk a hundred and forty miles."
"I'll fly."
"You've got to go back for your broom. You left it on the field," in spite of himself, Harry grinned.
"I'm going back for my broom and then I'm leaving."
"Think this through. You can't go," told her desperately.
"Watch me."
Harry shouted a curse out her and she fell over.
"Ugh! Not jelly legs." Unsteadily she got to her feet and started wobbling over to the field, nearly falling with every step.
"Er.Stupefy!" He went over to where she fell. "I really hope this is not causing brain damage."
Hermione and Ron came over. "No luck?"
"None."
"She's going to be mad when she wakes up."
"I wouldn't blame her if she started jinxing every one of us."
"So what can we do?"
"We just can't leave her by herself. If she flies off we've got to be there to follow her. I'd love to get a piece of Voldemort myself but I'm not stupid enough to go after him alone."
"I wouldn't be to sure of that. But, Harry, what do we do with her until she wakes up?"
"How am I supposed to know? I stunned her because I couldn't think of anything else."
"We've got to leash her. And take away her wand."
"Who volunteers to stay by her all day?" asked Ron.
"Not me." Hermione and Ron said in unison. They looked at Harry.
He started to back away. "I can't be around when she wakes up, she'll curse me for knocking her out again!" Renata was down right terrifying when she was mad.
"We'll take away her wand."
Harry grimaced. "I'll do it, but you know what, she is going to hit me and twist my arm off."
"Not our problem."
"Yeah, thanks for making it my problem."
"Harry, I'll do the spell. Five feet?"
"You joking? Give me some room to breathe."
"Ten feet, fifteen feet, or twenty feet?"
"Fifteen."
Hermione took out her wand and said the spell. "There. Now where's her wand? Here," she saw it sticking out of Renata's pocket and grabbed the end. "I'll put this in the room. Harry, we'll stay with you so she doesn't get suspicious."
"So now what do we do?" asked Ron. "We've got to spend the day babysitting this girl because we can't leave her alone?"
"Unless you've got a better idea, that's right."
Ron shook his head.
"Hide her broom. That's the reason she was going back to the Quiditch stadium."
"Right."
"So what are we going to do?"
"Library?"
"She might look for curses to use against us."
"Good point."
"Tree-house?"
"No."
"We need something to keep her attention."
"What would you say to getting her detention?"
"How?"
"We'll think of something."
"Think fast, she's waking up."
"Ugh! Why do you keep doing that! I'm going get you. Rabbit ears! Jelly legs! Buckteeth! The whole 9 yards! Everything I can throw at you! Where did I put my wand?" She reached in her pocket for her wand and found it gone. "Okay that's it. Who's the wise guy who stole my wand? When I find 'im he is in deep trouble." They allowed her to rant a few minutes more until she was breathless, then she got her second wind and started off again.
"How dare someone take my wand? And no one can stop me from going where I want to!" She continued on.
Then Hermione whispered to Ron, "Go get Dan, Tim, and Joey. we may need some help."
Finally Renata ran out of breath again.
Hermione spoke gently, but firmly. "When someone is upset they shouldn't handle weapons. In this case your wand is a weapon. Remember that day when there was the big fight between all four of us? Harry really lost it so we took his wand away until he calmed down. This is the same thing."
"There's nothing wrong with me!"
"Renata, just take a deep breath."
"What? No!"
Harry and Hermione watched as Ron came up with the three tall youths he'd been sent to find. The first one said, "Ren.relax. Look you've got two choices: you can calm down on your own or we will bodily pick you up and drag you to the hospital where we will tie you to a bed and leave you at the mercy of the nurse. The choice is yours."
"I'll stop."
"Good girl. Come on now let's go back inside, I think it's time for some lunch."
"Okay." She took a few steps then turned and punched the boy who had been speaking. "Ow! Ren, you got my jaw!"
But she was running in the other direction, she only got fifteen feet before she stopped dead, she couldn't go any further. "Okay! Who used the leashing spell? Tell me!"
Ron came up behind her and pointed his wand at her, and she was bound with ropes and gagged. He turned back to Dan, "I think we've got it now, thanks."
Tim, Dan, and Joey didn't move. "Are you sure you don't want any help? We've known Ren for years. We know how to deal with her."
"We're fine. The three of us can handle this."
"Okay, call us if you need us."
"We will." He turned back to Hermione and Harry. "So now what do we do about her? She's furious, she's tied up, she's gagged, and we're all still here for today and four more days! We can't go through this everyday."
"I know, I know, let me think," Hermione put her head in her hand. "The hospital. We'll tell the nurse that we think she might have a fever. With any luck the nurse will keep her overnight and she'll come back in the morning."
"So how do we get her there?"
"I say we tell the nurse she fainted."
"Sounds good to me."
"How do we get her there?"
"By conjuring a magical stretcher." They stunned her and untied her. Then they undid the leashing spell. Hermione conjured a magical stretcher to float beside them and carry Renata.
"It just occurred to me. Where is the hospital?"
They asked the first person they saw, "Excuse me, where is the hospital?"
"I'll show you." Their escort was probably no older than twelve, but he knew his way around the school with ease. "Here it is," he pointed to the door and left.
They opened the door and went in. "Hello? Our friend here could use some help."
A woman came sweeping across the room, "What may I do for you?"
"Er.she fainted. She was acting a little strange so she might have had a fever or something. We think it would be a good idea if she stays here tonight."
"Who is it?" She looked at the stretcher and sighed. "I should have known."
"Why?"
"She did used to go to school here and she was in here often enough; almost as often as she sent people in here. I'll take care of her."
"She'll be allowed to go to the game tomorrow though, right?"
"Of course, but she may just want to watch it from here."
"But she's supposed to play in the game tomorrow."
"Oh. Well I don't see any problem with that as long as she doesn't wake up with a fever."
"Goodbye. Thank you."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron left as quickly as they could without seeming suspicious; they were amazed that they had gotten away with it.
They relaxed the rest of the day but by nightfall Harry was beginning to have doubts. "Did we do the right thing?"
"You know she would have left the school otherwise and then she'd get hurt."
"Or worse." ******************************************
In the morning Harry woke, eager for the Quiditch game he knew would soon take place. His mood was only slightly dimmed as he saw Draco snoring on the other side of the room. He picked up his broom, and in case he needed it, his wand, and went to breakfast. He looked up as he heard the statues whispering to the portraits.
He reached the table and found Renata sitting there. "Hi, Renata," he said. She didn't reply.
As was usual before a Quiditch match Harry could hardly make himself eat anything. The teams soon left and went to the locker rooms to put on their Quiditch robes and talk before the game.
"We've been training hard and we know what we've got to do. All that's left is to get out there and win this game! I know you can do it, and you know you can do it. So get out there and win!"
The team marched on to field hearing the applause and the roar of the crowd. The commenter began the introductions. "The home team is the HOUSE. We have our Chasers: Daniel Vasquez, Timothy Monaghan, and Joseph Marshall. Our Beaters are Kirk Warner and Kurt Murdock. Elizabeth Holm is the Seeker and last but certainly not least is the Keeper and Team Captain Aurora Daria!" The crowd burst into applause again.
"Visiting us all the way from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the Hogwarts Gryffindor team: the Chasers are these three lovely ladies, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell. Fred and George Weasly, twins, as you can see, are the Beaters for Hogwarts. The Keeper is our very own Renata Delano, who only just this year transferred to Hogwarts. And the final member of the team is the Seeker and Captain.Harry Potter." The crowd roared again. "Refereeing today is none other than our head of sports: Coach Foster."
"Mount your brooms. On my whistle everyone up. Three.two.one." She blew her whistle and flew straight into the air.
Harry kicked off from the ground trying to spot the Snitch. He rose higher until he could see most of the field.
"Dan has the Quaffle, he passes it over Tim's head to Joe and.Joey throws it to Tim but the pass is intercepted by Katie Bell. Katie passes it to Angelina. Angelina tosses the Quaffle through the hoop and.Gryffindor scores! The Quaffle is heading toward Dan.but oh! A Bludger gets him first and he does not catch it. Gryffindor in possession again."
Harry watched as Fred hit a Bludger at Tim and George hit one at Ellie.
"Ooh! That has got to hurt, folks! These guys don't mess around. Where's Kirk?" Suddenly the wizard running the commentary spotted him, "There he is! Whoa, that's a mean swing as Kirk hits the Bludger at Alicia and it hits her in the shoulder. Looks like she could have a little trouble throwing now."
Harry saw the glint of gold that was the Snitch. He tried not to look too conspicuous as he swooped downward. Ellie saw him nonetheless and went and cut him off from the Snitch. In those few seconds, when Harry had to turn to keep from crashing in to her, Ellie had caused Harry to lose track of the Snitch.
But he noticed something else. There was a rat on the ground. He couldn't take a chance about it, he flew as near as he could without seeming too obvious and he stunned it. He went back to searching for the Snitch.
"Hogwarts has 80 points, the home team has 70 points but depending on which side gets the Snitch and how the rest of the game goes it could go either way. Katie has the Quaffle again, she attempts a pass to Alicia and Tim has got the Quaffle, he attempts to score and Renata stops it and throws the Quaffle to the other end of the field. What an arm! That girl needs to be on a softball team. Angelina catches the Quaffle."
At last Harry saw it again, the Golden Snitch. He looked to check that the other Seeker was distracted, Fred and George had both just hit Bludgers in her direction and it was all she could do to keep from being hit. Harry raced past on his broom and soon felt the walnut-sized Snitch grasped in his palm the silver wings struggled against his fingers but he yelled, "Hogwarts wins! I've got the Snitch! I got it!"
All seven of the Gryffindors who had just spent their morning hurtling around on broomsticks collapsed to the ground in a large group hug. Harry, Fred, and George smacked each other on the backs. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie hugged and squealed with delight.
"Great job, Harry!" Fred and George told him.
"You two were awesome," he replied.
They all stood around congratulating each other, then Harry got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't see Renata anywhere. He tore himself away from the group to go find her.
How could he have been so stupid? Now was the perfect time for her to run away. She had her broom and people would be everywhere at once so now one would notice if she slipped off. As Harry went off in search of Hermione and Ron he remembered Hermione still had Renata's wand. Maybe she didn't run off yet without it. Harry found Ron and Hermione coming toward him.
"Harry, great game!"
"Amazing job!"
They saw his face. "What's the matter? You just won!"
"Have you seen Renata? She was here when we all landed but I can't find her anywhere."
"I haven't seen her."
"Me neither."
"I'm going to go see if I can catch up with her, can you see if she's around here?"
"Sure thing."
Harry got on his broom and took off. He soon spotted her sitting by the part in the stream where they had found that strange fish. He landed a little ways away and walked over. "Renata, I figured you would have been gone by now."
"I may be as stubborn but I'm not stupid, you know," she retorted.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"You know well enough, Hermione still has my wand."
"Come on back. There's supposed to be a big celebration tonight, a feast and an award ceremony for winning the match."
"I'm not going back."
"Why's that?"
"Because if I do all three of you will keep using the leashing spell on me to keep me from running off, or the petrifying spell to freeze me, or the stunning spell so I'm unconscious. I know you guys, I'm not going back."
"Look," he stood up. He took out his wand and put it in his belt. "I'm not armed, now. Are you going to go back?"
"No, you aren't armed now but you could still pull out your wand and curse me. Swear. Swear you won't use any of those curses on me."
"Fine, I won't."
"Come on, I said swear. Repeat after me: I swear I will not use a leashing spell, petrifying spell, or stunning spell against Renata. Say it."
" 'I swear I will not use a leashing spell, petrifying spell, or stunning spell against Renata.' Happy now?"
"Much better, come on." She straddled her Phoenix Flyer 340.
"No, you are not flying back. We're walking."
She made a face. "Okay."
Harry and Renata found Ron and Hermione waiting just outside the Quiditch stadium.
"Got her? Let's go back in then."
"Stay a minute. During the match I saw a rat on the ground. I stunned it but I forgot to go back and see if he was familiar." Harry turned and went back in the stadium to find that the rat was gone. "I waited to long and the spell wore off."
"Come on, let's go back inside the school."
They went inside and washed up for dinner. Harry changed out of his Quiditch robes and into his Hogwarts ones.
That night at the feast Harry saw Malfoy for the first time since morning, he was talking in hushed tones to Pansy and Crabbe. They were sitting too far away for Harry to hear what they were plotting. But Harry ignored him and had a good time anyway. They all laughed and talked about the Quiditch game.
At the end of the feast the Headmistress of the school stood, "It is now time for us to award the winners. Will both teams please come to the front of the room to receive their medals?" Chairs scraped against the floor as the fourteen members of the two teams went up to the front of the hall. Each of the Gryffindors was given a small gold medallion and each of the HOUSE was given a silver one. "I just want to say that was an excellent match this morning, and we are proud of all of you." They returned to their seats and Professor Dumbledore stood up.
"I couldn't have said it better myself!" he beamed. "Now I have a few words to say. Those here from Hogwarts must be in the hall here no later than eight-thirty, tomorrow morning. We are going on a trip! Be forewarned. Friday night we have a big surprise planned for you all!"
The feast soon ended and they all went to their rooms. He had one comforting thought: if they were likely to visit the surrounding area, Renata was not likely to want to miss the chance and hopefully she wouldn't leave.