Rebecca was release by Madame Pompfrey on Saturday right before the
Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor match. She walked out of the hospital wing knowing
that Charlie, Greg and Catherine were already down in the locker room
listen to Aaron give his pep talk and trying to beat a few more pointers in
their heads.
Rebecca had it figure that she would have to walk to the stands by herself, but as soon as the door closed behind her Bill appeared in front of her and said, "Hey Rebecca, can I walk you to the match?"
"Um, yeah," Rebecca said quite relieved to see him. She now didn't have to worry about how she was going to dodge Ryan and his friends. With that off of her mind she remembered what she had wanted to know from Bill the morning she made the 'truce' with Russel, so she quickly added, "But first you have to tell me about that bet you and Lennon have going."
"Oh, you don't want to hear about that," Bill slyly said.
"Yeah, I do. I was going ask you about it when I first found out but you changed the subject," Rebecca responded. "Don't go trying to do that again."
Bill gave out an exasperated sigh and then whispered, "Okay, fine. Lennon and I bet that the other couldn't keep us dating a secret until this match."
"Yeah, I got that already." Rebecca whispered back. "You had to keep it from Charlie and Lennon from someone else. I want to know why the bet and what is at stake for both of you."
"Well, the bet came from us talking about how it is always that the people closest to you know when something is different about you and how it would be cool to rebel a little against that. You know getting to sneak around to see each other and trying to make plausible excuse to be around the other. It was great fun, but I have to admit that I will be glad when it is over so that everyone knows. And as for what the stakes were there were actually two things. One was that the one that let the cat out of the bag had to root for other's team at the match."
"And the other?"
"The loser has to sing a love song in front of the whole school."
"Oh! . Wait a minute, since the match is today and it seems that neither person knows, does that mean that the bet is over?"
"Um, sort of the cheering for the other team is over with as soon as the match starts, but the singing part isn't quite that soon. There is sort of another part to it."
"And that is?" Rebecca was starting to get really excited.
"Well, if neither of us told our person, then we decide that it would come down to who's team won the match on who would sing and then we would be done with the bet and no longer hiding our relationship to those closest to us."
"Well this is going to be an interesting match isn't it."
Bill was about to say something when James walked up and stated, "Rebecca it is great to see you up and about."
"Thanks!" Rebecca responded with a sweet little smile.
"Are you too going to the stadium now?"
"Yep," Bill answered as he turned to start walking in that direction.
"Great, I'll go with you. Sara and Jacquelyn said that they would be coming in a bit so we needed to save them seats. ... So, what were you two talking about?"
"The match," Bill said as he, James and Rebecca walked towards the stands. "It should be a really interesting game with Cathrine going up against her little sister, Kris."
"Okay, I am lost," Rebecca admitted thinking that there had been a change on the Ravenclaw team while she was in the hospital wing.
"What didn't you know that Kris Tyson was on the Ravenclaw team as a chaser?" asked James.
Rebecca thought for a moment and then said, "Oh, no I just got myself confused. I must have been in the infirmary too long. I was thinking all the girls on the team were blondes."
"Nope," interrupted James, "Kris is the brunette chaser and Miranda is the other female chaser. I think you call her hair color 'dirty' blonde, because it isn't exactly blonde but it isn't exactly brown either."
"Yeah, it all depends who she is standing next to. Up against their seeker, Audrey's blonde hair she looks like she has brown hair, but against Kris's hair she is a blonde," observed Bill.
Rebecca started to smile and playfully said, "And up against the dark brown hair of Lennon Mc."
Bill put his hand over Rebecca's mouth before she could get another word at.
James looked at both them strangely, but before he could ask what was going on Bill changed the subject. "You know the captain for Ravenclaw, Kurt James."
"Yeah, the chaser with the sandy brown hair," Rebecca sarcastically said moving Bill's hand from over her mouth so she could talk. After she was done talking she moved it back and tried to stifle her laughter.
"Funny, Becca," Bill said rolling his eyes as James started to laugh.
Rebecca took a sit between Bill and James and hoped that the Slytherin team wouldn't sit behind them this time. She really didn't want to talk to Ryan right at the moment and felt that even if the next time she saw Russel was in a hundred years it would be too soon.
Unfortunately, a few minutes later Ryan lead his team to the seats behind them. The three looked at each other and Rebecca let out a sigh. Bill started to chat with Rebecca and James hoping that they could ignore the group until after the game. Both Rebecca and James knew exactly what Bill was doing and so they either made him elaborate on topics or they did.
It was almost the start of the match when Rebecca heard Russel whisper, "Well, I better watch him like a hawk and learn all of his moves so that I win when we face off. Though I have to say he did say when Gryffindor and Slytherin have their match, so if he falls off his broom and can't compete at our match its no skin off my nose I can beat any seeker they get to replace him."
Rebecca flinched causing Bill and James to look at her funny.
"What's the matter?" Bill asked.
Though Rebecca wanted to tell him that she just was stopping herself from turning around and giving Russel a fresh black eye, she didn't. Instead she spotted Sara and Jacquelyn heading up to them and she said, "Sara and Jacquelyn are coming."
The boys turned and waved to the other girls. The two girls headed up to their friends.
"Hey Rebecca, glad to see that you are up and out of the infirmary. . Um, where are our seats?" Sara asked as they approached.
Rebecca, Bill, and James looked around and there were no seats around them any more.
"Oops," Jams said. "I guess you could seat on our laps."
Bill and James started to laugh slightly as Sara rolled her eyes and Jacquelyn said, "Yeah, I'll sit on yours and Sara on Bill's and then when something exciting we'll land on the floor, because you guys will forget that we are there and stand up to cheer or yell."
Rebecca busted up laughing as Bill and James looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders in a 'we offered and they didn't take it up' manner. Really, they couldn't protest it because they knew that that is what would end up happening.
Still laughing, Rebecca scanned the stands to see if there were any available seats. After a moment she said, "Hey, why don't we move down there." Everyone looked at where she was pointing as she continued to say, "It looks like there is plenty of room for all of us."
"Good eye, Becca! You might have to go against Charlie for Gryffindor's seeker position. I think he might be the only other person to have caught that spot," Bill laughed as they all got up and walked down to the empty seats.
Rebecca turned around and was about to say something smart-alecky, but caught a glance of Russel glaring at in her direction. Not at one of the boys but at her.
She quickly looked at Bill and just rolled her eyes. Bill laughed and they continued down the steps with the rest of the group.
After they got settled into their new seats, Colin's voice came over the PA system to start the game. All the Gryffindor's stood up and cheer as their team took off for a warm up flight around the field. Charlie paused for a moment as he passed where Rebecca was sitting and gave her a wink to tell her he was glad she was out of the hospital wing to watch the match. Rebecca smiled and winked back to tell him good luck. He then left to join his teammates on the ground.
Madame Hooch went over the rules and then made the captains shake hands. After she released the snitch and the bludgers, Madame Hooch tossed up the quaffle. Anna was able to grab it first and she, Greg, and Cathrine went streaking down the field with Ravenclaw's chasers, Kurt James, Kris Tyson, and Miranda Clearwater pursued them. On approaching the Ravenclaw goals, Anna passed the quaffle back to Cathrine who in turn passed it to Greg who was free of the defenders and able to score.
"Greg Bell scores. Ten to zero Gryffindor," Colin announced as his fellow housemates erupted in cheers. Miranda got the quaffle and headed to the other side of the field with her fellow Ravenclaw chasers.
They almost scored, but Wood had a brilliant save and was able to send the quaffle towards Greg who caught it and threw it down the field at Cathrine. She was able to dodge a bludger, fake out her own sister, Kris, and beat Alise Belvidere, the Ravenclaw keeper for another ten points.
"Spectacular move by Gryffindor's Tyson. Twenty to zero, Gryffindor!!!!" announced Colin and then he added, "That's my girl!"
Rebecca, Sara, and Jacquelyn looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
"Sounds like someone wanted to claim his turf in case anybody was thinking about trying to steal Cathrine away," Rebecca laughed.
Jacquelyn looked that them and said, "Well, I hear that Kurt James is sort of sweet on her."
"Isn't he dating Jenna?" Sara asked.
Jacquelyn shook her head yes as Rebecca asked, "Jenna?"
"Yeah, you know her. Jenna Moliby? She is one of the Prefects for Ravenclaw. We have History of Magic with her," explained Jacquelyn.
"You know I walk in that class sit down and pretty much fall asleep; it's so soporific. You could say that Dumbledore is taking the class with us and I wouldn't know the difference," Rebecca stated.
The other girls laughed at Rebecca's statement.
Jacquelyn scanned the crowd and through her laughter said, "Well she is right there sitting next to Lennon McCartney. Take a good look, maybe she will at least look familiar to you."
Rebecca looked at who Jacquelyn was pointing to. The girl had really light brown hair that many would call a dirty blonde color and was about 5'2" from Rebecca's best guess.
"Oh I recognize her. She is in our class. I also think I saw Charlie dancing with her at the Ball, before..."
Rebecca stopped, partly because she didn't want to relive what happened after she saw Jenna and Charlie and partly because Colin announced, "Nice effort by Wood. He had his hands full there with a bludger coming at him right before Ravenclaw's Captain, James, shot the quaffle. Goal for Ravenclaw. The score is now Twenty to ten, Gryffindor as Bell takes control of the quaffle. He streaks down the field. Dark sends a bludger towards Ravenclaw's Tyson to stop her from intercepting Bell. Bell swerves around the Keeper Belvidere shoots and scores. Thirty to ten, Gryffindor."
The match continued much the same way. Gryffindor never lost their lead, but everyone on and off the field knew that only the seekers would be the ones to decide who won the game. The fans sat on the edge of their seats waiting to see which seeker would see the snitch first, that is until something strange happened.
Cathrine was flying straight towards Charlie in hopes that he would block Kris who was following her. A.J had just hit a bludger towards James, who was also in pursuit of Cathrine. The bludger however looped around and headed straight towards Cathrine. Dark saw it but couldn't get there in time to stop it so it hit Cathrine right in the back. She dropped the quaffle, which Greg managed to catch before Miranda could grab it, and then fell, off her broom. She was about fifty feet from the ground and luckily, A.J. was able to grab hold of her quidditch robe before she fell too far.
As A.J. swung the unconscious Cathrine up onto his broom so that he could safely get her to the ground to be looked at, Heath smacked the bludger that hit Cathrine keeping it from heading towards Charlie. The Bludger once again stopped in mid air and head back towards Charlie, who had just seen the snitch. The Bludger followed Charlie as he swerved around the field in pursuit of the snitch. A.J. came up and knocked the Bludger off of its path after he put Cathrine down. His efforts did no good, the bludger went right back on Charlie's tail before anyone could blink. Shea came up and gave the rogue bludger his best shot to keep it away from Charlie and the other players that might get in its way as Cathrine had been, but one again the bludger was not to be deterred.
"That Bludger is bewitched," shouted Colin over the crowds' murmurs about what is going on.
All of the sudden Rebecca had a strong urge to look back at the Slytherins. She turned to see them all with smiles on their face and Ryan and Dan seemed to muttering something. She watched them for a second more and noticed that they seemed to be saying the same thing and that they weren't blinking.
"ERRRRRRR!!" was all Rebecca said.
Bill looked over and saw that she was mad about something so he asked, "What's the matter?"
"I'll be right back," Rebecca responded moving out to the aisle.
She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she had to do something before the bludger got Charlie.
Rebecca reached the row where Dan and Ryan were standing, stepped up on the row in front of them, and walked so that she was standing there.
The two guys paid no attention to her. Hans, Russel, and Sam noticed her but were in the row above Ryan and Dan and so couldn't stop her when they saw her ball up her fist. Rebecca hit Ryan first sending him backwards into Hans and Sam.
As they all scrambled trying to get up, Rebecca turned to find Russel had moved down a row and was looking right at her. Before she knew what she was doing she pushed Russel over onto Dan and then turned to head back to her seat. Russel grabbed the sleeve of her robe causing the seam in the shoulder to rip.
"What did you do that for?" He roared at her.
Struggling to get her robes free from his grip, Rebecca shouted back, "Your friends were bewitching that Bludger."
Ryan made it to his feet and was about to grab Rebecca around her middle to stop her when Rebecca pulled, but her wand and pointed it at him.
"Don't you dare," she said.
Ryan took a step back and Russel let go of her robe not sure what she was going to do.
"You wouldn't," Ryan said.
"Wouldn't I? You could have killed Cathrine out there. If you ever even think about trying something like that again you better hope I don't have a wand."
Rebecca backed out of the row and headed down to her friends with all of the Slytherins staring at her.
"She wasn't going to perform an Unforgivable curse, was she?" Sam asked as the guys in a timid voice.
"No she wouldn't have gone that far. I am sure she knows them and how to defend against them, but she wouldn't ever use them. She was probably going to use a charm on us," Ryan responded but there was an unmistakable tone in his voice that let everyone know that he was uncertain about the truth of his statement for Rebecca was rather mad at him.
Rebecca made it back down to her friends.
"What happened?" she asked before anyone could question her on where she went.
Bill quickly explained, "A.J. and Heath managed to keep Charlie safe, but Charlie lost sight of the snitch. Luckily, Valvadian didn't get it and the bludger seemed to stop whatever what up with it."
"Good. Where is Cathrine at?" Rebecca responded looking for her friend on the field.
"She still is lying on the field. It looks like the she is out for the count. Luckily, Greg and Anna have been able to keep a hold the quaffle when they had it, but you can tell that they miss having Cathrine up there with them," said Bill as he looked at her and noticed the rip in her robe. "What happened to you?" he asked touching her sleeve.
Rebecca looked at him and then at her sleeve.
"Oh, I had to take care of a problem."
"Did it have to do with the bludger situation?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Did it have to do with some students who don't care for my brother?"
Rebecca nodded again.
"Rebecca, why did you go up there by yourself? You could have gotten hurt."
"I know but I saw red and it would have taken me longer to explain what I figured out and Charlie could have gotten hit."
Bill was about to say something else, when he noticed Charlie streaking across the field with the Audrey in close pursuit.
Everyone in the stands feel silent watching the two seekers chase the snitch around the field. Charlie went into a dive and stretched out his hand. There was a second where everyone held their breath, and then Charlie pulled out of the dive and landed.
There were cheers as he showed everyone that he had the snitch, put it back into the box where it was kept between matches, and then walked over to check on Cathrine.
The rest of the team landed next to Cathrine as Bill, James, Jacquelyn, Sara, and Rebecca made there way on to the field to see whether their unconscious friend was going to be okay. The whole Ravenclaw team walked over with Jenna and Lennon looking very concerned for Cathrine's welfare.
"Is she okay?" Colin asked in a shaky voice as he walked through the group and approached Cathrine.
Everyone looked at each other not sure what to say. Kris looked as though she was about to start to cry as she uttered, "Why won't she wake up?"
Jenna left Kurt's side and gave Kris a hug as McGonagall came rushing towards them.
"Ravenclaws please return to the castle. I will send word about Miss Tyson's condition after Madame Pompfrey examines her," McGonagall stated as she took out her wand to levitate Cathrine into the castle.
"But she's my sister," Kris protested and immediately started to cry on Jenna's shoulder and finally ended up on the ground with both Jenna and Lennon trying to comfort her.
"I think it would be best to get her back to her room rather than wait around for the diagnosis," McGonagall stated to all of the Ravenclaws.
They all seemed unable to move. Finally, Bill walked over and picked up Kris as he said, "I'll carry her up and then go see how Cathrine is doing and be back up to let her know."
As the students from Ravenclaw reluctantly left with Bill carrying the still crying Kris all the way, McGonagall turned towards her students and was about to give the same order, but the looks on their faces made her change her mind. "I suppose that you all want to wait around the hospital wing for diagnosis."
Everyone silently shook their heads to let her know that she was correct.
"Very well," McGonagall said and then started towards the castle.
Cathrine was taken straight to the hospital wing by Professor McGonagall. Everyone else followed, but they were not permitted in until Madame Pomfrey finished examining their friend. As they waited outside the hall, Colin paced up in down. There was nothing anyone could do to stop him.
"What was up with that Bludger?" A.J. asked Heath to break the silence.
Heath shrugged and said, "I don't know. It was acting normal one minute and the next it was after Weasley. Then it all of the sudden went back to normal. Strangest thing I ever saw."
"That's because it was bewitched," Rebecca interjected.
Colin stopped his pacing and looked into Rebecca's sober face and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Ryan and Dan were casting a spell when the bludger was acting strange. I looked up in the crowd after you said something about it being bewitched. I saw them muttering and not blinking..."
"Becca, why is your robe ripped?" Charlie interrupted. He had a bed feeling that it had to do with the next part of her story.
Rebecca timidly turned towards Charlie, looked him in the eyes, and said, "Because when I realized what was going on, I ran up to where they were and stopped them."
"How did you stop them?" Greg urgently asked.
Rebecca looked around the group and started to explain the confrontation. After she finished, the whole group stared at her in awe of what she did.
"You didn't get hurt did you?" asked Charlie as he looked at her from head to tow concerned that she might be hiding something.
"No, Russel just grabbed my sleeve. Ryan might have got me but I didn't give him a chance," responded Rebecca.
As she took Charlie's hand to let him know that she really was okay, Colin resumed his pacing but started to mutter, "I am going to get them for this. If they ever try to do that again, I'll ... I'll ... I'll..." Colin stopped his pacing turned towards Rebecca and asked, "Becca, what were you going to do to them when you threaten them?"
"You weren't going to do an Unforgivable Curse, were you?" Anna asked.
Rebecca thought for a moment and said, "No, I don't think I would have gone that far. ... A.J. was able to save Cathrine from hitting the ground and it appeared that she would live when you set her down, so I don't think that I would have been that blinded to use one. They probably would have gotten a Memory charm performed on them. Of course with me performing it in the state I was in, the results might have been just as bad as one of those curses."
The group laughed a little which was Rebecca's intent, but she still couldn't help but think to herself, 'What would I have really done?'
She leaned over and put her head on Charlie's shoulder and pondered the thought.
A moment later Professor McGonagall walked out the door and looked at all of them. They all held their breath waiting for her to say something.
"She will be fine. She is still unconscious, but there were no major injuries that can't be mended," the professor stated.
"Can we go see her?" Sara asked.
Colin turned towards McGonagall and waited anxiously for her response.
"Well, she won't know that you were here," McGonagall start with every intention to refuse to grant the request, but when she looked at Colin's face, she changed her mind and said, "but there is no harm in you going in to check on her. Just leave when Madame Pompfrey tells you too and you can go in and see her."
Colin looked as though he could have kissed the teacher, but he restrained himself, said, "Thank you so much, Professor," and practically ran into the room to see his girl.
The rest of the group filed in telling McGonagall thanks as well. Colin sat down on the Cathrine's bed and the rest of the group stood around it. They all just looked at their friend not knowing what to say. Wood walked away for a bit, but came back a short time later.
"I just talked to Madame Pompfrey," he started. "She doesn't think that Cathrine will be able to play in the last match even if she wakes up right now."
"Why is that?" James asked.
"She wouldn't tell me. All she said was that I should go find another Chaser to replace her."
"How are you going to replace her?" Sara pondered out loud.
"Yeah, do you know how much guts it would take for some one to try to step into her shoes on the team?" Rebecca stated looking at Cathrine.
Everyone else turned their gaze off of Cathrine and on to Rebecca. Rebecca noticed everyone staring at her.
"What?" she asked.
"You could do it," Jacquelyn stated.
"What?!" Rebecca once again asked.
"Oh come, Becca, you just finished telling us out there how you beat up Ryan and Russel with all of their friends around when you could have easily gotten Bill to go up there and stop them," James pointed out.
"I wouldn't call that a brave thing to do. Besides, I have never played. Wood, you don't want to train me for one match," Rebecca protested.
Anna stepped in and said, "Maybe only one game this year, but next year I am gone and the new captain is going to have to find a replacement. If you are any good, that person won't have to look for one."
Wood nodded his head and then looked at Charlie and asked, "What do you think?"
Charlie looked at Rebecca for a moment.
"I think if she wants to do it, she'll be great at it," he finally said. Before Rebecca could protest, Charlie added, "I say we make her practice with us and if she or you don't think she is a good fit, we'll look for someone else."
"Sounds like a good idea," Wood commented.
"What do you think about it, Becca?" Charlie asked.
Rebecca thought for a moment and then answered, "Um... yeah let's try a couple of practices."
Greg patted her on the back as Charlie gave her a hug. A.J., Anna, and Heath smiled at her. Wood was about to say something when Madame Pompfrey came in and told them it was time for them to leave. They all said good bye to Cathrine and walked towards the door.
Colin was the last one to leave. He really didn't want to go, but he knew he had to.
As Colin stepped out into the hallway, the other guys walked up beside him. Anna, Sara, Jacquelyn and Rebecca had already left.
"Don't go doing anything stupid," James said as they started to walk.
"How did you know?" Colin grimly asked.
"I'm your best guy friend, mate; I can guess what you are thinking. ... And if it were my girl that got hurt, I would want to get the people responsible for it." James muttered the last statement, but all the guys knew what he said, because they felt the same way.
"Yeah, besides, my girl took care of it. Those two aren't stupid enough to say that she beat them up or threatened them, because they would have to explain why she had did it. That would cause everything to come out. If you do something with your record, they would just have to say you did and not give the reason why you got them," Charlie said.
Colin nodded his head and then said, "Well, they better not make any snide remarks about what happened..."
"I think we'll all get them if they do," Aaron stated as he lead them up to their common room.
All of the guys nodded their heads in agreement.
Rebecca had it figure that she would have to walk to the stands by herself, but as soon as the door closed behind her Bill appeared in front of her and said, "Hey Rebecca, can I walk you to the match?"
"Um, yeah," Rebecca said quite relieved to see him. She now didn't have to worry about how she was going to dodge Ryan and his friends. With that off of her mind she remembered what she had wanted to know from Bill the morning she made the 'truce' with Russel, so she quickly added, "But first you have to tell me about that bet you and Lennon have going."
"Oh, you don't want to hear about that," Bill slyly said.
"Yeah, I do. I was going ask you about it when I first found out but you changed the subject," Rebecca responded. "Don't go trying to do that again."
Bill gave out an exasperated sigh and then whispered, "Okay, fine. Lennon and I bet that the other couldn't keep us dating a secret until this match."
"Yeah, I got that already." Rebecca whispered back. "You had to keep it from Charlie and Lennon from someone else. I want to know why the bet and what is at stake for both of you."
"Well, the bet came from us talking about how it is always that the people closest to you know when something is different about you and how it would be cool to rebel a little against that. You know getting to sneak around to see each other and trying to make plausible excuse to be around the other. It was great fun, but I have to admit that I will be glad when it is over so that everyone knows. And as for what the stakes were there were actually two things. One was that the one that let the cat out of the bag had to root for other's team at the match."
"And the other?"
"The loser has to sing a love song in front of the whole school."
"Oh! . Wait a minute, since the match is today and it seems that neither person knows, does that mean that the bet is over?"
"Um, sort of the cheering for the other team is over with as soon as the match starts, but the singing part isn't quite that soon. There is sort of another part to it."
"And that is?" Rebecca was starting to get really excited.
"Well, if neither of us told our person, then we decide that it would come down to who's team won the match on who would sing and then we would be done with the bet and no longer hiding our relationship to those closest to us."
"Well this is going to be an interesting match isn't it."
Bill was about to say something when James walked up and stated, "Rebecca it is great to see you up and about."
"Thanks!" Rebecca responded with a sweet little smile.
"Are you too going to the stadium now?"
"Yep," Bill answered as he turned to start walking in that direction.
"Great, I'll go with you. Sara and Jacquelyn said that they would be coming in a bit so we needed to save them seats. ... So, what were you two talking about?"
"The match," Bill said as he, James and Rebecca walked towards the stands. "It should be a really interesting game with Cathrine going up against her little sister, Kris."
"Okay, I am lost," Rebecca admitted thinking that there had been a change on the Ravenclaw team while she was in the hospital wing.
"What didn't you know that Kris Tyson was on the Ravenclaw team as a chaser?" asked James.
Rebecca thought for a moment and then said, "Oh, no I just got myself confused. I must have been in the infirmary too long. I was thinking all the girls on the team were blondes."
"Nope," interrupted James, "Kris is the brunette chaser and Miranda is the other female chaser. I think you call her hair color 'dirty' blonde, because it isn't exactly blonde but it isn't exactly brown either."
"Yeah, it all depends who she is standing next to. Up against their seeker, Audrey's blonde hair she looks like she has brown hair, but against Kris's hair she is a blonde," observed Bill.
Rebecca started to smile and playfully said, "And up against the dark brown hair of Lennon Mc."
Bill put his hand over Rebecca's mouth before she could get another word at.
James looked at both them strangely, but before he could ask what was going on Bill changed the subject. "You know the captain for Ravenclaw, Kurt James."
"Yeah, the chaser with the sandy brown hair," Rebecca sarcastically said moving Bill's hand from over her mouth so she could talk. After she was done talking she moved it back and tried to stifle her laughter.
"Funny, Becca," Bill said rolling his eyes as James started to laugh.
Rebecca took a sit between Bill and James and hoped that the Slytherin team wouldn't sit behind them this time. She really didn't want to talk to Ryan right at the moment and felt that even if the next time she saw Russel was in a hundred years it would be too soon.
Unfortunately, a few minutes later Ryan lead his team to the seats behind them. The three looked at each other and Rebecca let out a sigh. Bill started to chat with Rebecca and James hoping that they could ignore the group until after the game. Both Rebecca and James knew exactly what Bill was doing and so they either made him elaborate on topics or they did.
It was almost the start of the match when Rebecca heard Russel whisper, "Well, I better watch him like a hawk and learn all of his moves so that I win when we face off. Though I have to say he did say when Gryffindor and Slytherin have their match, so if he falls off his broom and can't compete at our match its no skin off my nose I can beat any seeker they get to replace him."
Rebecca flinched causing Bill and James to look at her funny.
"What's the matter?" Bill asked.
Though Rebecca wanted to tell him that she just was stopping herself from turning around and giving Russel a fresh black eye, she didn't. Instead she spotted Sara and Jacquelyn heading up to them and she said, "Sara and Jacquelyn are coming."
The boys turned and waved to the other girls. The two girls headed up to their friends.
"Hey Rebecca, glad to see that you are up and out of the infirmary. . Um, where are our seats?" Sara asked as they approached.
Rebecca, Bill, and James looked around and there were no seats around them any more.
"Oops," Jams said. "I guess you could seat on our laps."
Bill and James started to laugh slightly as Sara rolled her eyes and Jacquelyn said, "Yeah, I'll sit on yours and Sara on Bill's and then when something exciting we'll land on the floor, because you guys will forget that we are there and stand up to cheer or yell."
Rebecca busted up laughing as Bill and James looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders in a 'we offered and they didn't take it up' manner. Really, they couldn't protest it because they knew that that is what would end up happening.
Still laughing, Rebecca scanned the stands to see if there were any available seats. After a moment she said, "Hey, why don't we move down there." Everyone looked at where she was pointing as she continued to say, "It looks like there is plenty of room for all of us."
"Good eye, Becca! You might have to go against Charlie for Gryffindor's seeker position. I think he might be the only other person to have caught that spot," Bill laughed as they all got up and walked down to the empty seats.
Rebecca turned around and was about to say something smart-alecky, but caught a glance of Russel glaring at in her direction. Not at one of the boys but at her.
She quickly looked at Bill and just rolled her eyes. Bill laughed and they continued down the steps with the rest of the group.
After they got settled into their new seats, Colin's voice came over the PA system to start the game. All the Gryffindor's stood up and cheer as their team took off for a warm up flight around the field. Charlie paused for a moment as he passed where Rebecca was sitting and gave her a wink to tell her he was glad she was out of the hospital wing to watch the match. Rebecca smiled and winked back to tell him good luck. He then left to join his teammates on the ground.
Madame Hooch went over the rules and then made the captains shake hands. After she released the snitch and the bludgers, Madame Hooch tossed up the quaffle. Anna was able to grab it first and she, Greg, and Cathrine went streaking down the field with Ravenclaw's chasers, Kurt James, Kris Tyson, and Miranda Clearwater pursued them. On approaching the Ravenclaw goals, Anna passed the quaffle back to Cathrine who in turn passed it to Greg who was free of the defenders and able to score.
"Greg Bell scores. Ten to zero Gryffindor," Colin announced as his fellow housemates erupted in cheers. Miranda got the quaffle and headed to the other side of the field with her fellow Ravenclaw chasers.
They almost scored, but Wood had a brilliant save and was able to send the quaffle towards Greg who caught it and threw it down the field at Cathrine. She was able to dodge a bludger, fake out her own sister, Kris, and beat Alise Belvidere, the Ravenclaw keeper for another ten points.
"Spectacular move by Gryffindor's Tyson. Twenty to zero, Gryffindor!!!!" announced Colin and then he added, "That's my girl!"
Rebecca, Sara, and Jacquelyn looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
"Sounds like someone wanted to claim his turf in case anybody was thinking about trying to steal Cathrine away," Rebecca laughed.
Jacquelyn looked that them and said, "Well, I hear that Kurt James is sort of sweet on her."
"Isn't he dating Jenna?" Sara asked.
Jacquelyn shook her head yes as Rebecca asked, "Jenna?"
"Yeah, you know her. Jenna Moliby? She is one of the Prefects for Ravenclaw. We have History of Magic with her," explained Jacquelyn.
"You know I walk in that class sit down and pretty much fall asleep; it's so soporific. You could say that Dumbledore is taking the class with us and I wouldn't know the difference," Rebecca stated.
The other girls laughed at Rebecca's statement.
Jacquelyn scanned the crowd and through her laughter said, "Well she is right there sitting next to Lennon McCartney. Take a good look, maybe she will at least look familiar to you."
Rebecca looked at who Jacquelyn was pointing to. The girl had really light brown hair that many would call a dirty blonde color and was about 5'2" from Rebecca's best guess.
"Oh I recognize her. She is in our class. I also think I saw Charlie dancing with her at the Ball, before..."
Rebecca stopped, partly because she didn't want to relive what happened after she saw Jenna and Charlie and partly because Colin announced, "Nice effort by Wood. He had his hands full there with a bludger coming at him right before Ravenclaw's Captain, James, shot the quaffle. Goal for Ravenclaw. The score is now Twenty to ten, Gryffindor as Bell takes control of the quaffle. He streaks down the field. Dark sends a bludger towards Ravenclaw's Tyson to stop her from intercepting Bell. Bell swerves around the Keeper Belvidere shoots and scores. Thirty to ten, Gryffindor."
The match continued much the same way. Gryffindor never lost their lead, but everyone on and off the field knew that only the seekers would be the ones to decide who won the game. The fans sat on the edge of their seats waiting to see which seeker would see the snitch first, that is until something strange happened.
Cathrine was flying straight towards Charlie in hopes that he would block Kris who was following her. A.J had just hit a bludger towards James, who was also in pursuit of Cathrine. The bludger however looped around and headed straight towards Cathrine. Dark saw it but couldn't get there in time to stop it so it hit Cathrine right in the back. She dropped the quaffle, which Greg managed to catch before Miranda could grab it, and then fell, off her broom. She was about fifty feet from the ground and luckily, A.J. was able to grab hold of her quidditch robe before she fell too far.
As A.J. swung the unconscious Cathrine up onto his broom so that he could safely get her to the ground to be looked at, Heath smacked the bludger that hit Cathrine keeping it from heading towards Charlie. The Bludger once again stopped in mid air and head back towards Charlie, who had just seen the snitch. The Bludger followed Charlie as he swerved around the field in pursuit of the snitch. A.J. came up and knocked the Bludger off of its path after he put Cathrine down. His efforts did no good, the bludger went right back on Charlie's tail before anyone could blink. Shea came up and gave the rogue bludger his best shot to keep it away from Charlie and the other players that might get in its way as Cathrine had been, but one again the bludger was not to be deterred.
"That Bludger is bewitched," shouted Colin over the crowds' murmurs about what is going on.
All of the sudden Rebecca had a strong urge to look back at the Slytherins. She turned to see them all with smiles on their face and Ryan and Dan seemed to muttering something. She watched them for a second more and noticed that they seemed to be saying the same thing and that they weren't blinking.
"ERRRRRRR!!" was all Rebecca said.
Bill looked over and saw that she was mad about something so he asked, "What's the matter?"
"I'll be right back," Rebecca responded moving out to the aisle.
She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she had to do something before the bludger got Charlie.
Rebecca reached the row where Dan and Ryan were standing, stepped up on the row in front of them, and walked so that she was standing there.
The two guys paid no attention to her. Hans, Russel, and Sam noticed her but were in the row above Ryan and Dan and so couldn't stop her when they saw her ball up her fist. Rebecca hit Ryan first sending him backwards into Hans and Sam.
As they all scrambled trying to get up, Rebecca turned to find Russel had moved down a row and was looking right at her. Before she knew what she was doing she pushed Russel over onto Dan and then turned to head back to her seat. Russel grabbed the sleeve of her robe causing the seam in the shoulder to rip.
"What did you do that for?" He roared at her.
Struggling to get her robes free from his grip, Rebecca shouted back, "Your friends were bewitching that Bludger."
Ryan made it to his feet and was about to grab Rebecca around her middle to stop her when Rebecca pulled, but her wand and pointed it at him.
"Don't you dare," she said.
Ryan took a step back and Russel let go of her robe not sure what she was going to do.
"You wouldn't," Ryan said.
"Wouldn't I? You could have killed Cathrine out there. If you ever even think about trying something like that again you better hope I don't have a wand."
Rebecca backed out of the row and headed down to her friends with all of the Slytherins staring at her.
"She wasn't going to perform an Unforgivable curse, was she?" Sam asked as the guys in a timid voice.
"No she wouldn't have gone that far. I am sure she knows them and how to defend against them, but she wouldn't ever use them. She was probably going to use a charm on us," Ryan responded but there was an unmistakable tone in his voice that let everyone know that he was uncertain about the truth of his statement for Rebecca was rather mad at him.
Rebecca made it back down to her friends.
"What happened?" she asked before anyone could question her on where she went.
Bill quickly explained, "A.J. and Heath managed to keep Charlie safe, but Charlie lost sight of the snitch. Luckily, Valvadian didn't get it and the bludger seemed to stop whatever what up with it."
"Good. Where is Cathrine at?" Rebecca responded looking for her friend on the field.
"She still is lying on the field. It looks like the she is out for the count. Luckily, Greg and Anna have been able to keep a hold the quaffle when they had it, but you can tell that they miss having Cathrine up there with them," said Bill as he looked at her and noticed the rip in her robe. "What happened to you?" he asked touching her sleeve.
Rebecca looked at him and then at her sleeve.
"Oh, I had to take care of a problem."
"Did it have to do with the bludger situation?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Did it have to do with some students who don't care for my brother?"
Rebecca nodded again.
"Rebecca, why did you go up there by yourself? You could have gotten hurt."
"I know but I saw red and it would have taken me longer to explain what I figured out and Charlie could have gotten hit."
Bill was about to say something else, when he noticed Charlie streaking across the field with the Audrey in close pursuit.
Everyone in the stands feel silent watching the two seekers chase the snitch around the field. Charlie went into a dive and stretched out his hand. There was a second where everyone held their breath, and then Charlie pulled out of the dive and landed.
There were cheers as he showed everyone that he had the snitch, put it back into the box where it was kept between matches, and then walked over to check on Cathrine.
The rest of the team landed next to Cathrine as Bill, James, Jacquelyn, Sara, and Rebecca made there way on to the field to see whether their unconscious friend was going to be okay. The whole Ravenclaw team walked over with Jenna and Lennon looking very concerned for Cathrine's welfare.
"Is she okay?" Colin asked in a shaky voice as he walked through the group and approached Cathrine.
Everyone looked at each other not sure what to say. Kris looked as though she was about to start to cry as she uttered, "Why won't she wake up?"
Jenna left Kurt's side and gave Kris a hug as McGonagall came rushing towards them.
"Ravenclaws please return to the castle. I will send word about Miss Tyson's condition after Madame Pompfrey examines her," McGonagall stated as she took out her wand to levitate Cathrine into the castle.
"But she's my sister," Kris protested and immediately started to cry on Jenna's shoulder and finally ended up on the ground with both Jenna and Lennon trying to comfort her.
"I think it would be best to get her back to her room rather than wait around for the diagnosis," McGonagall stated to all of the Ravenclaws.
They all seemed unable to move. Finally, Bill walked over and picked up Kris as he said, "I'll carry her up and then go see how Cathrine is doing and be back up to let her know."
As the students from Ravenclaw reluctantly left with Bill carrying the still crying Kris all the way, McGonagall turned towards her students and was about to give the same order, but the looks on their faces made her change her mind. "I suppose that you all want to wait around the hospital wing for diagnosis."
Everyone silently shook their heads to let her know that she was correct.
"Very well," McGonagall said and then started towards the castle.
Cathrine was taken straight to the hospital wing by Professor McGonagall. Everyone else followed, but they were not permitted in until Madame Pomfrey finished examining their friend. As they waited outside the hall, Colin paced up in down. There was nothing anyone could do to stop him.
"What was up with that Bludger?" A.J. asked Heath to break the silence.
Heath shrugged and said, "I don't know. It was acting normal one minute and the next it was after Weasley. Then it all of the sudden went back to normal. Strangest thing I ever saw."
"That's because it was bewitched," Rebecca interjected.
Colin stopped his pacing and looked into Rebecca's sober face and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Ryan and Dan were casting a spell when the bludger was acting strange. I looked up in the crowd after you said something about it being bewitched. I saw them muttering and not blinking..."
"Becca, why is your robe ripped?" Charlie interrupted. He had a bed feeling that it had to do with the next part of her story.
Rebecca timidly turned towards Charlie, looked him in the eyes, and said, "Because when I realized what was going on, I ran up to where they were and stopped them."
"How did you stop them?" Greg urgently asked.
Rebecca looked around the group and started to explain the confrontation. After she finished, the whole group stared at her in awe of what she did.
"You didn't get hurt did you?" asked Charlie as he looked at her from head to tow concerned that she might be hiding something.
"No, Russel just grabbed my sleeve. Ryan might have got me but I didn't give him a chance," responded Rebecca.
As she took Charlie's hand to let him know that she really was okay, Colin resumed his pacing but started to mutter, "I am going to get them for this. If they ever try to do that again, I'll ... I'll ... I'll..." Colin stopped his pacing turned towards Rebecca and asked, "Becca, what were you going to do to them when you threaten them?"
"You weren't going to do an Unforgivable Curse, were you?" Anna asked.
Rebecca thought for a moment and said, "No, I don't think I would have gone that far. ... A.J. was able to save Cathrine from hitting the ground and it appeared that she would live when you set her down, so I don't think that I would have been that blinded to use one. They probably would have gotten a Memory charm performed on them. Of course with me performing it in the state I was in, the results might have been just as bad as one of those curses."
The group laughed a little which was Rebecca's intent, but she still couldn't help but think to herself, 'What would I have really done?'
She leaned over and put her head on Charlie's shoulder and pondered the thought.
A moment later Professor McGonagall walked out the door and looked at all of them. They all held their breath waiting for her to say something.
"She will be fine. She is still unconscious, but there were no major injuries that can't be mended," the professor stated.
"Can we go see her?" Sara asked.
Colin turned towards McGonagall and waited anxiously for her response.
"Well, she won't know that you were here," McGonagall start with every intention to refuse to grant the request, but when she looked at Colin's face, she changed her mind and said, "but there is no harm in you going in to check on her. Just leave when Madame Pompfrey tells you too and you can go in and see her."
Colin looked as though he could have kissed the teacher, but he restrained himself, said, "Thank you so much, Professor," and practically ran into the room to see his girl.
The rest of the group filed in telling McGonagall thanks as well. Colin sat down on the Cathrine's bed and the rest of the group stood around it. They all just looked at their friend not knowing what to say. Wood walked away for a bit, but came back a short time later.
"I just talked to Madame Pompfrey," he started. "She doesn't think that Cathrine will be able to play in the last match even if she wakes up right now."
"Why is that?" James asked.
"She wouldn't tell me. All she said was that I should go find another Chaser to replace her."
"How are you going to replace her?" Sara pondered out loud.
"Yeah, do you know how much guts it would take for some one to try to step into her shoes on the team?" Rebecca stated looking at Cathrine.
Everyone else turned their gaze off of Cathrine and on to Rebecca. Rebecca noticed everyone staring at her.
"What?" she asked.
"You could do it," Jacquelyn stated.
"What?!" Rebecca once again asked.
"Oh come, Becca, you just finished telling us out there how you beat up Ryan and Russel with all of their friends around when you could have easily gotten Bill to go up there and stop them," James pointed out.
"I wouldn't call that a brave thing to do. Besides, I have never played. Wood, you don't want to train me for one match," Rebecca protested.
Anna stepped in and said, "Maybe only one game this year, but next year I am gone and the new captain is going to have to find a replacement. If you are any good, that person won't have to look for one."
Wood nodded his head and then looked at Charlie and asked, "What do you think?"
Charlie looked at Rebecca for a moment.
"I think if she wants to do it, she'll be great at it," he finally said. Before Rebecca could protest, Charlie added, "I say we make her practice with us and if she or you don't think she is a good fit, we'll look for someone else."
"Sounds like a good idea," Wood commented.
"What do you think about it, Becca?" Charlie asked.
Rebecca thought for a moment and then answered, "Um... yeah let's try a couple of practices."
Greg patted her on the back as Charlie gave her a hug. A.J., Anna, and Heath smiled at her. Wood was about to say something when Madame Pompfrey came in and told them it was time for them to leave. They all said good bye to Cathrine and walked towards the door.
Colin was the last one to leave. He really didn't want to go, but he knew he had to.
As Colin stepped out into the hallway, the other guys walked up beside him. Anna, Sara, Jacquelyn and Rebecca had already left.
"Don't go doing anything stupid," James said as they started to walk.
"How did you know?" Colin grimly asked.
"I'm your best guy friend, mate; I can guess what you are thinking. ... And if it were my girl that got hurt, I would want to get the people responsible for it." James muttered the last statement, but all the guys knew what he said, because they felt the same way.
"Yeah, besides, my girl took care of it. Those two aren't stupid enough to say that she beat them up or threatened them, because they would have to explain why she had did it. That would cause everything to come out. If you do something with your record, they would just have to say you did and not give the reason why you got them," Charlie said.
Colin nodded his head and then said, "Well, they better not make any snide remarks about what happened..."
"I think we'll all get them if they do," Aaron stated as he lead them up to their common room.
All of the guys nodded their heads in agreement.