The coughing fit continued well into the afternoon, past the after-game dressing down in the locker room, and even into the dorms afterward. It wasn't until the sky was pink with the colors of the setting sun that the coughing finally stopped.
"You okay?" Erika Martin, another second-year Slytherin, asked.
Kylee nodded. "Little tired. The dampness down here isn't helping much, but I'm lots better now."
Erika bit her lip. "If you need to go to the infirmary, I can walk you there."
Kylee pointed to the books sprawled out on the table in front of her. "I missed History of Magic today after the game. I kinda have to finish the reading. And the essay." She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about me."
A moment passed, and Erika looked unsure. After a while, though, she headed up the stairs to the second-year dorm.
Kylee wasn't exactly alone in the common room, though there was enough carpeting and other such padding to dim the noise down to a dull murmur. The Slytherin living space was in the Hogwarts dungeon, which meant that sound, at one time, easily reflected off the damp, stony walls. Someone had at one point, through either enchantment or simple decorating finesse, actually made the common room quite quiet and comfortable. The crest of the house hung on the walls at various intervals, and those were interspersed between elaborate tapestries and paintings of landscapes where the flora and fauna actually moved. Though it was dark for the lack of windows (Except, of course, in the sixth and seventh year dormitories, where the living space actually extended into the first floor) there were many enchanted lamps that kept things lit. Plus, there was nearly always a steadily burning blaze in the fireplace.
Kylee was sitting on a huge Oriental rug at one of the tables, just in front of a large sofa. She wasn't too near the fire, as the scent of it occasionally triggered another attack of coughing, or sneezing, or both. Still, she could feel the warmth from it, and was comfortable. Idly, she paged through her book; the prospect of writing a history essay wasn't as bad as the memory that she'd actually cost her house the match.
"Shoulda waited a little longer. Shouldn't have overextended myself. I could have had it…" She kept talking to herself, and while her eyes were skimming the text in front of her, she wasn't actually registering what she was reading. After a while of this frustration, she closed her book. All she'd written on her parchment so far was, "A Brief History of the Hows and Whys of the Great Fairy Revolt."
The Great Fairy Revolt, which had only lasted six hours, had a full thirty pages of text dedicated to it.
"Hey. How you doin'?"
Kylee turned around. Alexia was leaning against the back of the giant sofa, still in her Quidditch robes and looking as if she'd just run a few miles.
"Brad kept you for practice," Kylee observed.
Alexia looked away. "Yeah. He thought you seemed a little to sick to stay… I can't say I disagree." She paused so she could hop over the back of the couch and sink down into the fluffy cushions. "Brad was pretty upset."
"He wouldn't even look at me," Kylee noted.
Alexia remained wisely silent for a while. The only sound was the crackle of the magical fire, and the once-in-a-while drip of water from somewhere in the dungeon. After a few moments passed, Kylee re-opened her book, and began trying to read the topic about Fairy Military Organization, in which the leaders of the Revolt attempted to tame riding beasts. Unfortunately, it turned out that rats enjoyed the occasional Fairy as a snack.
"It wasn't just you," Alexia said. "I wasn't doing a great job out there, either. He just really wanted to pull off a win."
"We were doing fine right up until the end," Kylee retorted. She set the quill down over a paragraph about the Unfortunate Troll Stomping Incident of 1334. "I mean, I know I can do better, Lex. I just hope he gives me another chance."
Alexia laughed. "You really think he's gonna pull you after just one game?"
"You mean, he's not?"
"No. He was actually concerned about your health." She smiled. "Didn't say so, but when I was on my way out, he asked me to check on you. Make sure you were alright." She slid onto the floor, idly grabbing the history book and flipping through it. It was well-known that Alexia hated history… At least, the Quidditch team did, and had endured her complaints about it for the entire season. She was also one of the only known students in the decade to try to try and play a prank on Professor Binns. Smiling, she commented offhandedly in a fake American accent: "Sir! The Fairies are revolting!"
Taking the book back, Kylee rolled her eyes. She knew what was coming next; the joke was old. "We already knew they were revolting. Now they're rebelling."
Laughing, Alexia stood up and headed off toward the dorms. "Ah, a comedy classic," she chuckled as she disappeared up the stairs. "I'll be studying if anyone needs me."
---
By the time Kylee was allowed to resume regular Quidditch practice, there was already light snow falling. Granted, it was only four weeks after the ill-fated game against Gryffindor, but the temperature dropped dramatically in that time. The usually present autumnal bridge between summer and fall never really happened.
There had been a couple cooler days here and there, but for the most part, winter was already showing itself in full force. The leaves were the only indications that it was not quite past fall; they still clung to the trees in frost-covered shades of scarlet, yellow, and orange.
She clutched the note tightly in her gloved hand as she made her way from the castle to the pitch. There was a bit of a climb down on the way there, which winded her a little. Two weeks rest really had her out of shape. She'd have to make up for lost time.
As she mounted the low rise leading up to the field, Lucas, who was watching from the sidelines, and strapping his gloves around his wrists, noticed her first. He smiled, waving her up. "Alright, Kylee?" he asked. She nodded, looking upward to see that Brad was running a game of Quick-pass with the Chasers.
"Doing better," she answered.
"Next game's against Hufflepuff. Then Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor again. Last game's Ravenclaw this year. Brad just got the final schedule." He, too, turned his attention to the practice going on up above. Alexia passed to Green, who caught it and back-handed it toward Cory, who was guarding the rings. He was just able to tip it away. Brad retrieved the Quaffle, and passed it to Ryan and the process began again.
"We'll beat Hufflepuff," Kylee said.
"Most likely," Luc replied, shifting his weight as Alexia got a shot past Cory. "They don't have much in the way of a team… Green's been scouting 'em a bit while they practice."
"Is that such a good idea?"
Luc shrugged. "He says they saw him anyway. Didn't really seem to mind too much, so I guess there couldn't have been too much harm."
Kylee liked the Hufflepuffs. They alone were the most approachable of all the houses. They seemed to like everyone equally, and their Quidditch matches were solely for fun. Most of the Slytherins didn't appreciate the kindness for which the Hufflepuffs were famous; they only saw them as pushovers and muggle-borns not deserving of the title of witch or wizard. It was almost frustrating at times.
Then again, to most Slytherins, Slytherin was the only house worth being in.
Kylee crossed her arms, leaning back against the stands. She wasn't going to say too much on the topic herself. She knew Luc wasn't fond of the Hufflepuffs, and Green really hated them. Arguing about whether or not they were entitled to attend Hogwarts was just something that was taboo to discuss.
Brad finally seemed to notice that Kylee was on the field. After giving some midair instructions to the others, he touched down on the pitch. Lucas, who'd now put on both his gloves and his boots, offered a quick wave to them both before grabbing his broom and taking off.
"You look better," Brad said.
"I feel better," Kylee returned, still watching the sky. She paused, then said, "You never came to see me while I was out."
Brad made a big show of watching the others wheel about above the pitch. Kylee could tell he was thinking of some sort of excuse. Finally, he offered, "We've been learning a couple new moves. It's kept me busy."
They both watched as Alexia passed the Quaffle to Ryan before taking off toward the castle. There was still technically an hour left of practice, and Brad usually didn't let people just leave without reason. He seemed to pick up on what Kylee was thinking, and he turned back to her.
"She said something about O.W.L.s earlier," he explained. "Studying and such. She wants to be a Healer, you know, so I suppose it's okay…" He didn't sound too certain.
"But…?" Kylee prompted.
He looked toward the castle, then back at his Seeker. "…But she's been acting pretty strange lately. And I know you're different years, but… Is there any way you could keep an eye on her?"
Kylee rolled her eyes. "She's always weird."
It was true. She wasn't much of an outright practical joker like Ryan, but she did have a strange, dry sense of humor that not a lot of people could appreciate. She found her own jokes hysterical, though, and always became quite frustrated when people didn't laugh. The truth was, half the time she was so serious, it was hard to tell whether she was joking or not.
"Just… keep an eye on her. It's not like I'm asking you to spy or anything." Brad's face was quite severe. Worried, even. "The rest of the team's noticed, too. I mean, how could they not?"
After pondering this for a while, she said, "…I'll watch her. But I'm not guaranteeing I'm going to tell you what I see. I think you're just being paranoid."
"Right. Well, I'm going to let the Snitch go. You ready?"
---
Practice finished up about fifteen minutes later than intended, mostly due to the fact that Brad insisted on teaching Kylee a couple moves she could use to try more easily catching the Snitch. Staying above it and only diving when she was sure she could grab it would add a final burst of speed she could use to overtake the other Seeker. He'd given her a bunch of other tips, too; enough so that whatever she was learning was getting all jumbled around in her head, and she needed a while to sort it out.
Instead of heading to the Common Room, she turned and headed upward to the library. At least it would be quiet in there. Even if there wasn't a lot of noise in her House, there was enough so that it would be distracting. There were only a couple hours left before her Astronomy, class, too, and the library was closer to the high tower. Kylee wasn't sure if she could deal with climbing more steps than she had to.
She was still a bit muddy from a couple of the dives she'd had to do right into the snowy ground. Well, she wasn't really supposed to fall off her broom, but she'd been moving fast enough so that when she pulled up to slow down, she'd been thrown off. It wasn't until the last bit of practice that she was finally able to devise a way of not falling off. The on-duty librarian wasn't too pleased to see the mud-caked girl flop down on one of the old wooden chairs, but she didn't say anything beyond the purposely-audible syllable of disgust.
Taking her notebook out of her bag, she began jotting down what she could remember about what Brad told her. Sorting out the details on paper actually helped, as she was able to recall more than she thought possible… It wasn't until she had just over four pages of various scribbled diagrams and messy writing that she actually looked up at the clock; she'd been sitting there for an hour.
And there was Alexia. Well, at least she'd been telling the truth about the fact that she was leaving practice early to study. Her arms were full of leather-bound books, including a copy of Quidditch through the Ages and the Quidditch Rule Book Minus Six-Hundred Eighteen Fouls. Brad would be happy to hear that she was studying the game as well as her O.W.L.s.
Interestingly enough, there was also a book that didn't seem to have any sort of title on the spine, though it was marked with the green 'Restricted' tag. This book was tucked under her arm as if she was trying to hide it. She obviously had permission to have it, however, as she hastily handed it to Madame Pince, who stamped it and handed it back. Last time Kylee checked, all the information for O.W.L.s could be found outside of the library's restricted section…
What was Alexia studying, then?
She slipped the book back under her arm, where it was mostly concealed by the folds of her sleeve. This did, at least, cover up the restricted tag. As Alexia hurried past, Kylee quickly ducked her head and pretended to write a little more. When she next looked up, Alexia was gone, and it was time to head to class. Packing up her things, she realized that even though she'd meant to have her mind on Quidditch for the remainder of the afternoon, she was suddenly thinking about what Brad had said.
By the time she made it up the stairs to the Astronomy tower, she was out of breath and somewhat dizzy. She wasn't coughing, at least… That was a plus. Hopefully it meant she was really getting better. For the past year, Kylee hadn't felt her best.
She was the only one on the tower in green robes, as she never bothered to change out of her Quidditch clothes. No one seemed to mind, though. Around Hogwarts, if you didn't play Quidditch, you followed it. A Quidditch robe was practically an acceptable alternative to the school uniform.
She leaned forward on the parapet to catch her breath. The crispness of the night sky was actually helping a bit. It was clear, too. The stars would really be visible, as there were no clouds to obscure them.
After a while, Kylee turned back around, and started setting up her telescope with the other students. Erika waved at her from across the tower, and as she looked up, Kylee caught a glimpse of the full orange moon just rising above the horizon.
It sure was a beautiful night.
---
It seemed to take forever for her class to end. The cold air eventually started to become irritating, and while she was able to plot the correct constellations on her Starchart, by the time she was done, she wasn't sure they were in exactly the right places.
The Slytherin Common Room was a very welcome sight. It was warm, and at this time of night, it was mostly empty. Trudging in, Kylee dropped her books and broom off in front of a large, ornate coffee table and flopped down on a cushy armchair. The heat from the fire was just reaching her face, and it felt good; she was so tired. Perhaps she could just spend the night down in the Common Room and no one would notice…
She'd just drifted off when she was shaken awake rather violently. Grudgingly, she opened her eyes to find herself face to face with Lucas. He didn't waste any time with formalities, and just cut straight to what was on his mind.
"…I just talked to Mellissa McCormik," he said. "Alexia's not in her room."
Mellissa was another Slytherin fifth yeah, who was quite well-known for her love of underhanded gossip and passion for spreading rumors.
Kylee rolled her eyes. "I was sleeping, Luc."
"Yeah, I know, but…"
"Brad already told me to watch her. Don't worry, she was studying today, just like she said she was gonna." She rolled over, trying to pull her robe in front of her face.
Luc kneeled down next to the chair. "Did you see the moon tonight?" he asked in a whisper.
Suddenly, Kylee was no longer sleepy. Not only had she seen the full moon in her class, but she'd earlier seen Alexia with the restricted book…