The students and teachers in the stands were leaning over to see if he was all right, a grimace on three house's faces.
Harry kept staring at the sky, ignoring the ongoing game. Getting hit by a Bludger was legal in the game of Quidditch, and there would be no pause for his injury this time. The sky was a deep purple again, not quite black, but nowhere near blue.
"Move aside, move aside! Potter, look at me!"
Madam Pomfrey was leaning above him. Harry stared at her blankly. She was a nasty shade of green.
"I think you're sick," Harry said quietly. "Do you need to see a Healer?"
Madam Pomfrey didn't say anything, only checked him over, peering deep into his eyes and feeling around the rest of him for anything broken.
"Potter, what do you see?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"A purple sky and a green Madam Pomfrey." Harry blinked. She was still green.
"Monendias!" Madam Pomfrey had her wand pointing at his eyes as she said the spell twice, both times a swift, red light appearing from her wand and hitting him square in the eyes, though Harry felt nothing.
"Give him a moment," Madam Pomfrey ordered.
"He'll be all right, though, won't he?" It was Hermione.
"Give him a moment!"
Harry blinked several times. It was progress. Madam Pomfrey now looked a mucky orange and the sky had turned pink.
"What's wrong with him? Will he be able to play?"
"WAIT A MOMENT!"
Harry blinked some more. Madam Pomfrey was slowly turning her natural shade and the sky was slightly darker than usual, but definitely blue. Harry sat up and looked around. He could make out everyone staring at him with bated breath.
"I'm okay," Harry said, blinking a little more to make everything it's proper color. He stood and searched around for his broom.
"Just a minute now!" Madam Pomfrey said shrilly. "I don't think you should be playing again just yet!"
"I'm fine," Harry repeated. He located his broom and picked it up, turning to give Madam Pomfrey a stubborn stare.
Madam Pomfrey gave him a scowl, but stood up and headed back to her seat in the stands. Harry immediately hopped on his broom and met the air. He had new vigor to find the Snitch, and gave contemptuous glares to Zacharias whenever he came within sight. Zacharias made sure they never made eye contact.
Harry kept a close eye on Hartford, who seemed out of luck for finding the Snitch. Harry had a sudden idea, and flew down toward the ground right when Hartford would have looked at him to make sure he hadn't found anything.
Harry's plan worked, he realized as he sped toward the ground. Hartford was in moments right by his side, desperately searching for a Snitch that wasn't there.
At the last moment, just as the Snitch had done to them before, Harry pulled up out of the dive, leaving Hartford to make another lovely dent in the ground.
"Ooh, the Wronski Feint! Potter got him on that one! Graham back with the Quaffle, throws it to Sparks, throws it to Macmillan, throws it back to Sparks, shoots—c'mon, Ron, stop that Quaffle!" Dean reluctantly added another ten points to Hufflepuff. "The game is tied, forty to forty."
Hartford flew near Harry and gave him a competitive smile. "We'll see if that happens again!"
Harry smiled back and resumed to searching for the Snitch.
It was hiding behind Ron's goalpost.
Harry raced after it again, a hesitant Hartford vaguely behind. Harry flew faster, urging his broom to go on even harder. If Hartford saw the Snitch, he would stop his reluctance and would race Harry head-on for it. The wind whistled ceaselessly and pricked at Harry's ears. Hartford suddenly sped up as he caught sight of the Snitch, too. Now it was simply Harry against Hartford, and who would arrive first.
Harry was almost there, Hartford now close enough to touch Harry if he wished. The Snitch moved away from the goalpost, and Harry made a desperate swerve to stay with it. Hartford came on the inside of the turn and was level with Harry.
The game above was now totally useless as all players were cheering their Seeker on, the tension building with every passing second. If one of the Seekers lost sight of the Snitch, and the other didn't, it would mean an almost certain victory.
The Snitch stayed just in front of Harry's grasp, twisting and turning, though neither Harry nor Hartford lost track of it. The Snitch dived down and brushed the grass as it attempted to get away, Harry and Hartford still on its tail. It flew to the opposite end of the field, then dashed up and nearly hit Freemont, Harry and Hartford consequently almost doing the same. The Snitch moved more, up into the clouds above the vision of the people in the stands, and then made a straight dive down again. Harry and Hartford followed.
The Snitch was going straight down to the ground, in an obvious attempt to make them crash. Harry sped his broom faster, faster. If he could only reach it before that opportunity arrived….
Hartford reached out his hand and they both grasped about for the Snitch that was only inches out of their reach. The ground was approaching them fast; they were soon going to crash—
Just before collision was inevitable, Harry swerved away and became level with the ground, Hartford crashing once more. This was it; it was Harry's chance! Harry reached out again once more to grasp it.
A Bludger came crashing into his outstretched arm. Harry quickly brought it back with a yell of pain, but refused to let the Snitch out of his sight. Harry quickly reached his other hand out, reaching profusely for the still-moving Snitch.
Hartford was by his side again, both level once more. Someone had to catch it!
The Snitch made a sudden stop and attempted to race back past them, but it flew straight into Harry's hand. Harry closed his hand around the cold Snitch and raised it high above him, slowing his Firebolt down. He did it.
Cheers came from the Gryffindor side of the stadium, the Quidditch team ready to pile down on Harry for the close catch. The Hufflepuffs were dejectedly leaving the stands, the Slytherins now bored and following.
"Great catch!" Hartford yelled.
Harry smiled. "Great match!"
Hartford smiled back and went to land with the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.
Ron gave Harry a monstrous hug, nearly throwing Harry out of the air and to the ground. Kirke and Sloper chanted Harry's name through the deafening cheers of the Gryffindors still celebrating in the stands. Kelly, Ginny, and Parvati screamed in delight and dog-piled him, making them fall the three feet they had left to the ground, screaming, "WE WON! WE WON!"
The Quidditch team left ten minutes later, still in moods to celebrate their narrow victory. Dean already had a party in mind, but McGonagall declared that they would go straight to dinner and there would be no party that night. Dean shrugged and made do with a feast in the Great Hall as their celebration.
Harry noticed little during his time of festivity. He noted that McGonagall and Diane left, and then she came back absolutely furious with Kelly a few minutes later. Harry assumed she wasn't ecstatic about the fifty-point loss and month of detention she had gained so early in the school year. Kelly wasn't seen again until they were back in the common room an hour later, where she trudged through the portrait looking woebegone.
"Man, that woman has lungs."
Harry couldn't help but grin. "Don't we know it."
"Have you ever gotten yelled at like that?"
"No, but close enough to it."
"Like when?"
Harry started naming off the times they'd gotten on McGonagall's bad side. Harry relived many memories, including Norbert and the Sorcerer's Stone. The Sorcerer's Stone memory led to the many adventures the three had had at Hogwarts, and Kelly was bolt upright in her seat, eyes wide, and being a perfect audience by gasping in all the right places. When she heard about Voldemort's rebirthing party, her jaw dropped and she let out a silent scream.
Harry finished his most recent encounter with the Dark Lord, and Kelly let out a long, slow, "Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooow…"
"You're telling us," Ron said. "That chess game was hard!"
"I was so worried the library would fail me in the second task!" Hermione exclaimed.
Harry was quiet, then whispered, "I really miss Sirius."
Ron, Hermione, and Kelly looked at him painfully.
"I knew him," Kelly said quietly. "He was a really good friend of mine, but I lost contact with him. I know what a great guy he was."
There was silence as Harry tried to blink back tears.
"Harry," Hermione asked quietly, her voice shaking. "Harry, there's something I have to know. And I know you know."
Harry had been waiting for Ron to ask this question all summer, for Hermione to owl it to him. The question was finally being sprung upon him.
"Harry, what was in that prophecy thing the Death Eaters wanted back at the Department of Mysteries?"
Harry sighed. He glanced at Kelly, but decided he could trust her. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"We can handle it, Harry," Ron said encouragingly. "Whatever it is, we can handle it."
Harry opened his mouth once more without success before the words he was searching for came out. "The prophecy… well, I could recite it to you. I've been thinking about it so much ever since…. The prophecy we fought for was made seventeen years ago by Professor Trelawney. It was about a boy. This boy, me, would be the only person able to defeat Voldemort. Someday the time will come when Voldemort and me will duel or something. I'll either kill or be killed by Voldemort."
Harry wanted to close his eyes so as not to see the looks on their faces, but he didn't.
Hermione gasped and such a terrified look came upon her face that Harry turned to Ron. Ron's mouth was hanging slightly, and the fear was present all over him. Harry winced at his friend and looked at Kelly. Tears were rolling down her cheeks and the fear was seen behind her eyes.
"Harry, I…" Hermione began.
"Don't," Harry said quietly. "Don't. I just want to forget it for now."
"Harry," Kelly said hoarsely. She cleared her throat and continued. "Harry, you can't just forget. Not about the prophecy or Voldemort or Sirius."
Harry shrugged slightly, and then wiped his eyes on his shirt. He slowly got up and looked at the clock in the common room.
"Come on, it's near midnight," he said quietly. They were the only ones left in the common room. He stopped when Kelly whispered, "Harry…"
"I'm fine. I came to terms with this over the summer," Harry said.
"Harry…" Hermione started. "I know—"
"Really, I'm fine," Harry said. "I came to terms with everything."
Kelly walked over to him, taking a deep breath. "Everything? Harry, even I'm not over Sirius, and he was much closer to you than he ever would've been to me."
Harry stood there, tears threatening again. Kelly hugged him, and he hugged her back, tears starting to fall. "It's okay, Harry," Kelly whispered. "It's okay…. Well all miss him. It's okay…."
Harry let go of Kelly after a long much-needed hug. Harry barely noted that Ron and Hermione were holding hands until they split ways to go to their separate dorms. Harry and Ron changed into their pajamas and lay down on their beds. It was a few minutes, when Harry knew everyone was asleep, until he allowed himself the hours of tears he'd been needing to get out ever since Sirius fell beyond the veil.
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A/N:
Yay, another chapter. Blah. I'm not very happy at the moment. My mum blocked me from chat rooms, and then my step-dad came in and gave me this huge lecture about "all the bad things that could happen in chat rooms". "Don't give your phone number or address out, because there are some real sicko's out there." Blah blah blah. AS IF I DON'T KNOW! Baka parents, they act like I don't know anything.
Next chapter a dance is announced and they go about getting dates. It is much Kelly Mary-Sueness. It's a VERY short chapter, so I'll probably update it soon. Sorry for taking so long to update this one!
Thanks, and don't forget to review!
Riles