Disclaimer; not my characters. Didn't make them. They all belong to the illustrious JKR. If you don't recognize them, they're mine. As is the story.

Quidditch

Sirius chanced a backwards glance and saw Jen racing across the water at him. Damn, she was gaining. How did she get out here so fast? Who taught her to fly like that? Why wasn't she on the Quidditch team? Checking over his shoulder she was even closer. She'd catch him in a few minutes. He leaned onto his broom and angled back towards the school. He couldn't loose her; he'd have to out fly her. Where did she get a broom so quickly?

Standing beside each other, she barely reached his chin. They were both fit, but he was athletic. Putting his height with his mass, his broom carried considerable more weight. And she was fast. Too fast.

Another glance and she was close enough for him to see the fury on her face. It was an accident! He thought as he sped around the Quidditch stadium. I should've had James Check the potions, he thought. Pulling hard right he dashed through the tunnel and onto the pitch, where Ravenclaw were having an evening practice. He pulled up to slow, not wanting to run into a player and felt a tug at his robes.

Jen had grabbed the back of his robes and was trying to pull him off his broom, while holding onto hers. Instinctively, he jerked the robe from her grasp and flew into the Pitch-darting around the bludgers and players who immediately threw nasty comments and looks.

Looking behind him he realized why Jen was not on the Quidditch team. She was fast, but had very little control.

"The field is booked for Ravenclaw tonight, black!" Jared Jones, the Ravenclaw captain bellowed, then looked at Jen as she screeched, covering her head with an arm, dodging a bludger. He looked back at Sirius, "You've got to be kidding me!"

He smiled back and looked at Jen, shrugging a shoulder. The potions were starting to wear off; he could see her hair darkening. She swung her broom around to avoid a chaser.

"Never mind, Black." He turned back to his practice almost giggling. "We can work around her."

Sirius shook his head with laughter and flew higher into the pitch. Watching Jen dodge in and out of the Quidditch team ducking bludgers and getting very frustrated. Every time she saw Sirius, he would move just as a ball or broom would take her attention away from him.

Ravenclaw had continued with their practice as though Jen was nothing more than another bludger to be avoided, tossing an occasional "Learn to fly!" "Your hair is awful!", "Your supposed to wash those masks off!", "sod off!".

Sirius had just moved again and was looking down at Jen smiling. She just dodged another bludger with a yelp and was snapping her head around. Sirius mused this must be how a snitch feels, and then snickered at the thought of Jen ever being a seeker. When she looked at him next, he could see tears streaking her face. Suddenly it didn't seem so funny. She was just a little more than halfway down the pitch. She looked at him defiant, and then made to charge him when a bludger hit the side of her head.

She'd been taken completely unawares and was spinning sideways off her broom, barely keeping one tense hand on the handle.

Sirius saw her panicked face as she tried to get a better grip. He couldn't hear the words, but saw he mouth moving as she tried to swing her other arm up.

He was more than halfway to her before he realized her was flying. Panic turned to terror when the force of her swinging body snapped her slipping fingers from the broom.

The terrified scream echoed through the pitch. Sirius vaguely saw a few blue streaks heading for Jen but knew he was by far the closest, and the only one to stand a chance of catching her. He couldn't remember his broom ever moving so slowly. How far was she falling? Two hundred meters? Two fifty? She could die from a fall like that. She was falling to her death because he'd been taunting her. Move stupid broom! Move! When she first flew onto the pitch it took only seconds for him to realize she'd never catch him with so many obstacles. But he had to tease her.

He was close, ten meters. Taking a hand from the broom he reached out, five meters swept under her and caught her around the waist.

Her elbow caught his temple when he pulled her in front of him on the broom. She threw an arm around his waist and grabbed his shoulder so hard he lost control of the broom. He jerked forward trying to grab the broom with both hands and slammed his front teeth into her forehead, splitting his lip. Her head snapped back and her almost lost her. The collision of their heads left his vision blurred.

Out of nowhere, a third hand grabbed Sirius still fast moving broom and tried to pull it up "Black! Slow down!"

He shook his head, trying to clear the stars from his eyes and began to slow. The ground was coming up on them fast.

"Stop Black! Slow down!" The Ravenclaw tried again to pull up on the broom, but only lost his grip on it.

With all his strength Sirius pulled up and managed to focus on the field, less than five meters away. They were going to hit. He knew it. They'd have to roll with it. He wrapped an arm around Jen, "Hold on!" Barely two meters from the ground he released the broom and forced her head into his shoulder and slammed his eyes shut. This was going to hurt.

The force with which they hit knocked the wind out of them both and Sirius heard something go snap. He tried to keep hold on Jen but between the speed and impact she literally bounced out of his arms. The two tumbled, skidded, and bounded over each other violently. Hitting and bruising each other without prejudice. It seemed they tumbled for hours before Sirius rolled to a stop in his back, thinking if Hogwarts express sped over him repeatedly it would be less painful. Jen was a few feet away on her side. He rolled over and crawled to her, surprised nothing felt broken.

He heard Ravenclaws landing around them as he pushed her still orangish hair away from her face. Her eyes lulled half open with blood streaming across her forehead, and her body was still.

"We need to get her to the hospital wing." Jared knelt beside Sirius. "She looks pretty bad."

"I'll fetch Madam Pomfrey." And anonymous voice said. And then he heard the familiar flapping of a cloak on a broom. He wrapped his arms beneath her, scooping her to his chest.

"Sirius, you can't."

"I'm fine." He firmly dismissed, then took a deep breath and tried to stand. "I've suffered worse than this in Quidditch."

"At least let me help."

Madam Pomfrey met then in the hallway with the Ravenclaw seeker in tow. She tilted Jens head back, examining her face-looking horrified "What happened here?"

"She fell of her broom." Jared said pushing the door open.

"Yes, yes, Alison told me." She ushered them to a bed and pushed Sirius onto a chair. "But this is the first time a student turned green and orange falling off a broom." She pushed Sirius head back and looked at his eye, that he just now felt swelling, then his lip that was still bleeding. "Never mind. You can wait."

Turning, the Ravenclaws has gotten Jens robes off and were pressing cloths to anywhere that seemed to be bleeding. Madam Pomfrey shooed them back to their practice, then sat next to Jen. Sirius tried to look around her, over her shoulder, under her arm, anywhere to see what she was doing. But only saw her briefly pull open an eyelid. Then with a sound something like Harrumph, she stood and disappeared into her office.

She reappeared a few moments later with her arms full. "Here." She said as she laid everything on the bedtable. "Put this here," she pressed a pack to his temple, and then wiped his lip and chin. "Now." She sighed and reached for a chunk of chocolate and a small dish with an odd smelling paste. "Eat this and rub that to your lips every few hours. This is all mostly superficial, so I'm going to let you suffer with it. If you still ache tomorrow come back and I'll se what I can do. And stay away from you broom. Now, unless you have any other injuries?"

Sirius shook his head, "Just a few bruises and such. Nothing I've haven't felt after a Quidditch match."

"Good, good. Then go to your dorm and rest. I'll excuse you from classes tomorrow and then you'll have the weekend. By Monday most of those bumps and bruises should be manageable." She handed him a forth item. "It's a Muggle salve that should help with any aches." She smiled.

"Is she going to be okay?" He asked, taking the salve.

Surprised, she smiled. She tried not to get attached to the students, but this one and three of his friends she adored. Sirius and James had both spent by far too much time in the hospital wing. They were all too arrogant for their age and could charm just about anyone into anything. They held themselves above most everyone and this Sirius was the worst of the lot. But she couldn't help but find them both charming and amusing. His obvious concern had taken her aback, "Yes dear, she'll be back in her dorm tomorrow."

"But she's." he looked at the girl, still concerned.

"Just knocked out. When you two hit the ground she probably whacked her head good." She pulled him to his feet. "She's lucky you caught her. Alison tells me it was quite a fall."

"She never should have been there." He mumbled to the floor.

Madam Pomfrey smiled in spite of herself. What happened to that conceited heart breaker? "All right now." She opened the door. "You need your rest, and I can't fix up your girl with you underfoot." Then pushed him out and closed the door.

Sirius sat on the floor of the Griffindor common room leaning against the couch. His arms hung limply over his upraised knees and he stared into the fire.

James and Remus sat behind him on to sofa not really sure what to do. Serious had come back two hours ago looking defeated. At first they'd taken it as Jen exacting her revenge and tried to give him grief, but when he walked past them and dropped in front of the fire, they knew something was wrong. They followed him with Lily and Peter in tow. Sirius recounted the broom chase, the Ravenclaws, the fall and the visit to Madam Pomfrey. Peter volunteered to go search for the brooms and Lily offered to help. They still had not returned. With the exception of his breathing, Sirius hadn't moved. He stared into the fire with and angered face that rivaled the looks he'd give Snape or Malfoy.

James finally leaned onto his knees and tried to look as interested in the fire as his best friend. "This isn't your fault."

Sirius did not respond.

"I thought you said madam Pomfrey said she'd be okay?" Remus interjected with a hint of annoyance.

"I did."

Remus slid onto the floor. "Then what's with all the angst?"

Sirius slowly turned his head to Remus with pronounced anger "Because- " but was cut off when Lily and Peter burst into the room. They were out of breath and gripping their sides.

"We almost got caught." Lily explained when the three marauders looked over the couch at them.

"Caught?" James asked.

"Curfews 9:00 James," Peter panted, crossing to hand him his broom, "It's almost 10:30."

"Thanks." James noticed they were the only ones left in the common room. "What took you so long?"

"Your broom." Lily said. "It had blown into the stands on the Hufflepuff side. It took us forever. Especially when it got dark."

"Did you find Sirius's?"

"Er." she looked at Peter who was slowly shaking his head.

Sirius stood and looked at her "What?" Then noticed the pieced of broom she was holding.

She grimaced. "It was easy enough to find. The top was sticking straight up out the field and these two pieces were a few meters away." She handed them to Sirius with a consoling smile. She knew how much he loved to fly. "We made sure there were no smaller pieces, so you might be able to repair it, but this is all we could find."

"Well." He took the hilt in one hand and eyed it. "This-is-just- great." Then threw it into the fire.

"Hey!" James shouted and dove for the fire grabbing the hilt before it could catch flame. "We CAN fix this, you know!" He glared at his friend. "This isn't the first broom to break on the Quidditch pitch!"

"What's the matter with you?" Suddenly angry, Remus grabbed his arm and jerked him around to face him, "This 'oh its all my fault, I'm such an evil person' routine is getting old. Jenny gives just as good as she gets!"

"You didn't see her face!"

"She was about to fall, Padfoot," Peter said quietly. "We'd all have been scared."

"No, " he was shaking his head. "Before that."

Lily stepped close and touched his arm. "She was furious, Sirius. She cries when she gets mad. She tries not to, but she does. Add in the Ravenclaws taunting her." she trailed off, shaking her head.

James was blowing on the broom handle and wiping it. "If you don't think the minute she's out of that ward you won't have your feet glued together," he smiled.

"Oh, no." Lily smiled "It'll be much worse than that!"

"Should we have him sleep out here, Lily?" Remus grinned, "Until she's had her revenge?"

"That's a good Idea!" Peter smiled, thinking of her earlier threat to him. "Only to stay out of her line of fire."

Sirius was starting to feel better. "What if I hadn't caught her?"

James tossed the handle onto the couch. "You did, though. The what if's don't really matter, do they?

"I guess."

James rolled his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Just past 10:30." Said Lily. James nodded and ran upstairs, returning a few minutes later with his shimmering cloak and the Marauders Map.

"Go see her." He held them out to him.

"She'll hex me."

"So take your wand."

Padfoot looked at his friends, realizing he was probably overreacting, suddenly feeling stupid. "I'm being something of a prat."

There was a unanimous agreement.

"She'd be laughing at you right now if she were here." Said Lily, "Getting all weepy over a girl."

Appalled he looked at her, "I'm not weepy!"

"That's not what she'd be saying." Prongs pushed the cloak and map into his hands. "Go see her."

He took the map and threw the cloak over his shoulders with a wicked smile. "You win. Don't wait up."

"She is hurt, Sirius!" Lily called, but too late. He was already gone.