Don't Break My Heart
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter world, except Ava Wood (who is Oliver's little sister).
Chapter Three : The Match and the Hospital Wing
"It's the first match of the season, Gryffindor verses Hufflepuff, and you're telling me that you have a 'monthly ache'? What the hell is a 'monthly ache?'" shouted Oliver.
"Oliver," began Angelina, as she crossed her arms across her chest, "how dense can you get? A 'monthly ache' is...well...when a woman...has a type of...tummy ache..."
"Oh for crying out loud! Oliver, you idiot, it's a period cramp!" Ava yelled.
Oliver looked bewildered, and took a step back from Katie, who was lying on the couch, groaning.
"That means I'm a chaser short! What a great way to start the season Team!"
"It's not our fault! We're men!" hollered the twins.
"Is it contagious?" asked Harry.
Ava gave him a look of disbelief. "No," she said slowly.
"Oohh...I feel like I'm going into labor..."
"You've gave birth before, huh Katie?" joked Angelina. "Bad girl!"
"Let's go, I'll find a chaser replacement..." Ava uttered, and began to leave, when Oliver grabbed her arm.
"It's the day of the match Av! How on earth are you going to find a replacement? Only 20 minutes before..."
"Then hope for a miracle or something Ol! I'll find one," she snapped, and yanked her arm out of Oliver's grasp and left the common room.
Ava grumbled to herself as she raced through Hogwarts trying to find Alicia Spinnet. "Oh please, please Alicia, let me find you!" Alicia was a really decent chaser, but they unfortunately had to make cuts.
Thinking someone had called her name, she turned her head, and when she didn't see anyone, she faced foward again, and skidded to a stop. Draco Malfoy was standing in front of her, cast on his arm.
"Hey Wood," he said.
"What do you want?" she complained. "And why are you being so...nice?"
"My arm is making me, I guess you could say," he said, shrugging.
"So, you got your voice back," she said akwardly, glaring at him.
He just looked into her eyes.
"Don't expect me to ask you if your arm hurts, you idiot. It's total fake, and thanks to you, we're playing Hufflepuff!" she randomly retorted.
Malfoy frowned and whispered, "Sorry. Flint can be an idiot."
"Flint is an idiot. I've gotta go." Ava waved and left.
"Alicia!" she cried, when she finally found her, talking to a painting.
"Yes?"
"We need a replacement for Katie!"
"Really?" she squealed, eyes sparkling with a similar glint as Oliver.
"Yes, now come on!"
"What's the score?"
"We're fifty points up," said Oliver, "but unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night."
"I've got no chances with these on," Harry said exasperatedly, waving his glasses.
At that very moment, Hermione appeared at his shoulder; she was holding her cloak over her head and was, inexplicably, beaming.
"I've had an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!"
He handed them to her, and as the team watched in amazement, Hermione tapped them with her wand and said, "Impervius!"
"There!" she said, handing them back to Harry. "They'll repel water!"
Oliver looked as though he could have kissed her.
"Don't forget about Bellemare," added Ava, smiling.
He collected himself and said hoarsely, "Brilliant!"
The team went back up and continued the match. Minutes later, Ava saw the dementors, and looked at Harry, who was beginning to fall.
She zoomed toward the falling body, Quaffle still in her right arm.
"Ava what the flyin' flip do you think you're doing?" screamed Oliver.
Alicia flew by her side and gestured for possession, and Ava tried handing her the Quaffle as she tried to grab Harry. But just as soon as Alicia took the Quaffle and Ava had her fingertips on Harry's shirt, a Bludger rammed into the back of her head, and blood began to pour out from the back of her head and her mouth. She became unconscious, and fell the rest of the way down.
As she hit the ground, Diggory snatched the Snitch, and all the Hufflepuffs began to roar in triumph. Cedric looked down, and saw Harry lying on a mat, dementors trying to reach him, Dumbledore repelling them, and another body crumpled on the ground in a puddle of blood. As he lowered himself, he saw that the limp body was Ava, and he started to scream.
"That was the scariest thing I've ever seen."
Harry opened his eyes.
"Harry!" said Fred, who looked extremely white underneath the mud. "How are you feeling?"
"What happened?"
"You fell. Must've been—what—fifty feet?"
"We'd thought you'd died," said Alicia, who was shaking.
Hermione made a small, squeaky sound. Her eyes were extremely bloodshot.
"But the match," Harry said, "what happened? Are we doing a replay?"
No one said anything. The horrible truth sank into Harry like a stone.
"We didn't — lose?"
"Diggory got the Snitch," said George. "Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you...and Ava...on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square...even Oliver admits it."
"Where is Wood?"
"Still in the showers. We think he's trying to drown himself," said Fred.
"And Ava...?"
Everyone backed away from the bed to give Harry a clear view of the bed to his right. What he saw shocked him.
Ava was covered in dried blood, mud, rain and bruises. Madame Pomfrey came up and whispered, "Broken her entire right side of her body, and there might be some brain damage. Lots of bleeding, it might have broken her major cerebral artery, and cracked her skull."
"What...what happened to her?" Harry quakily asked, fearing the worst.
"She saw the dementors. She...sniff...had the Quaffle. So she dove for you as you were falling. And Alicia flew by her to grab the Quaffle. So she tried...sniff...handing it to Ali and grabbing you at the same..." George started to sob, along with Angelina and Alicia.
Harry's sinking feeling just sank deeper.
"And she took a Bludger to the back of her head...sniff...and fell the rest of the way..." finished Fred silently.
Hermione started to wail, and Ron silently cried, as they all looked at Ava.
"Don't beat yourself up Harry, you're still the best Seeker we've had," said Fred, who's eyes had become blurry, and Harry didn't think Fred was about to cry for him. They team left, leaving Ron and Hermione by Harry.
"Dumbledore was really angry," Hermione said, her fierce sobbing reducing to sniffles, as she collected herself. "I've never seen him like that before. He ran onto the field as you fell, waved his wand, and you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground..."
"Ava...?" he asked hoarsely.
"Didn't have time, mate, the dementors were getting closer," Ron sadly said.
Harry banged his fist on his bed.
"Did someone get my Nimbus?"
Ron and Hermione looked quickly at each other.
"Er—"
"What?"
"Well...when you fell off, it got blown away," Hermione said hesitantly.
"And?"
"And it hit—it hit—oh, Harry,—it hit the Whomping Willow."
"And?" he said, dreading the answer.
"Well, you know the Whomping Willow," said Ron. "It—it doesn't like being it."
"Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came around," said Hermione in a very small voice.
Slowly, she reached down for a bag at her feet, turned it upside down, and tipped a dozen bits of splintered wood and twig onto the bed, the only remains of Harry's faithful, finally beaten broomstick.
Suddenly Cedric Diggory and Lee Jordan burst into the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey gave them a disapproving glare. They saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione, then Ava, and went white. Cedric raced to her bedside, and Lee trudged slowly, open-mouthed in shock.
"Ava?"
Harry grimly said, "She broke her right side of her body. A Bludger banged her up real bad on the back of her head. Maybe fractured her skull."
Lee's already hanging out mouth dropped even lower, and Cedric stared at the still unconscious girl lying there, and held her hand.
"Ava...why? Why did you do that?"
"You mean try and save Harry's life?" snapped Ron.
"Is she...going to..." Lee gulped, "die?"
Madame Pomfrey gave a solemn stare and uttered a faint, "We don't know. I...might have to move her to St. Mungo's."
Everyone ogled at her.
"I...sniff...better go tell Oliver. And Fred and George," Ron quivered, and left the Hospital Wing.
"She'll get better. She has to. She's a Wood!" Harry said vigorously.
"You need rest. Don't worry about Ava..."
"How can I not flippin' worry about someone I've known so well and is lying unconscious in a bed right next to me!" he retaliated.
"Rest." Hermione demanded, and left the Hospital Wing.
"Oliver, Fred, George!" screamed Ron, as he ran towards the Fat Lady. "Oliver Fred George Oliver Fred George Oliver Fred George Oli–"
"Password?"
Ron took in a deep breath of air, his face the color of a tomato. "Fortuna...Major," he gasped, and the Fat Lady let him in.
He continued his chant, when Fred looked up from his Potions book and yelled, "What Ronnikins?"
Ron was too much in a hurry to accept the insult, and choked, "It's about Ava."
Oliver, who was sitting in an armchair staring at the fire, suddenly turned around and frantically asked, "What?"
"She might have to be removed to St. Mungo's," answered Hermione, from what appeared to be out of nowhere.
They all stared at her, standing just inside the entrance.
"How'd you...get...here...so flippin'...fast?" Ron asked.
"I ran?"
"So...I...did...wait, so did...I!" he exclaimed.
"Whatever."
A/N: Hermione has the Time-Turner, went back in time to when the team left and walked to the common room.
"St. Mungo's?" whispered Oliver in awe.
Ron and Hermione nodded vigorously.
Oliver started to cry. "I...should...I should've done something..."
George stood up and patted Oliver on the back. "There was nothing you could've done, mate, no time..."
Hermione nervously looked away.
"I...shouldn't have let her play...what if she dies?"
"No one's died in years!" acclaimed Fred. He then silenced and thought.
Flashback
"I...I can't believe it, I'm on the team!" shouted Ava.
It was the FAGs second year, and they were walking back from the Quidditch pitch, tryouts over.
"I can. Oliver's on the team..." grumbled George.
Suddenly Ava's eyes drooped. "What if I'm not good enough? Oliver will kill me...what if something happens?"
"No one's died in years..." reassured Fred, then winked at George. "But some have disappeared on the occasion."
She stared at him.
"But, don't worry. They'll turn up eventually," finished George. Ava turned her head and gaped at him.
End of Flashback
Fred looked at George, and could tell that he had been thinking the same exact thing.
For the rest of the weekend, Harry and Ava were kept in the Hospital Wing, and had a stream of visitors.
On Sunday morning, the whole team, including Wood, came to visit. "You tried your best, Harry, and I don't blame you the slightest," quietly said Oliver.
Ginny was sitting next to Ava with a stone face, staring at the still unconscious girl.
"How's Ava been?" asked Angelina kindly.
Oliver whipped around and gaped at the limp figure lying on the bed who was supposed to be his little sister. "Ava..."
"Poor dear, she woke up for just a bit, a nightmare. Yelled out a scream, and fell back asleep. If she doesn't improve, I think I'll need to send her to St. Mungo's tomorrow..." responded Madame Pomfrey.
"That's the only time...?" trailed off Hermione.
"Mmm..." nodded Pomfrey gravely. "Now behave, I have to visit Professor Lupin. I'll be back in 10 minutes," she said and ran off.
"I'm...I'm so sorry, Oliver," Ron said in a low voice.
Ava stirred, and mumbled, "Happy...Birthday..."
"Happy Birthday? Who's birthday is it?" asked George.
"Mine," Oliver quietly answered. They all stared at him.
"Oh, Oliver..." said Harry in awe.
"I...I would've thought it was hers..." Katie said.
"No...her birthday...is March 17," Fred muttered.
Author's Note: March 17 is Saint Patrick's Day (pinching people...hahahahahaha ugh...)
Suddenly, Ava sat up abruptly and screamed bloody hell. Everyone jumped and turned to see her. Her eyes, which were now opened, gave off a glazed and blank stare.
"Ava?" Wood uncertainly questioned.
"Thy's heart has a core of a dark past," she mumbled, and then snapped back to reality. "Hmm?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
Harry mulled over what she had said in her trance-like awakening, along with Ron and Hermione.
'Thy's heart has a core of a dark past?' What is that supposed to mean?
Oliver shouted happily, "You're alive! You're awake!" And he hugged her so tightly he might have squeezed the daylights out of her.
"Oh my god Oliver! Are you trying to kill me!" she shrieked, and Oliver suddenly remembered all her bruises, and immediately let go.
"Sorry."
"Hmmph. What did I miss?"
The entire team, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron started to jabber about the game.
"...Diggory caught it..."
"...Wood almost drowned himself afterwards..."
"...and the Whomping Willow..."
"...and those dementors..."
"...so scary..."
"...thought you two were dead..."
"...stupid Slytherin, if they didn't whimp out..."
"...and Diggory and Jordan came to visit..."
"...it was bogus, they cheated..."
"...I thought we should've had a rematch..."
"...unbelievablely unfair..."
"STOP!" she yelled. Everyone stopped in mid-sentence. "Now," Ava said pleasantly, "we shall start with Wood, you talk for 30 seconds, and go in a counter-clockwise pattern."
Lee was pacing back and forth in front of the Hospital Wing.
"Why, hello Ava. Just felt like checking up on you..." Lee started, then bonked himself on the head. "No no no!"
He continued to practice his opening for when he saw Ava when Hagrid walked up to him and asked, "What cha' doing Jordan?"
Lee blushed. "Um...just thinking, to myself."
"Well, I was just on me way to visit Harry and Ava. Would you like to join me?"
"Sh–sh–sure..." stuttered Lee, and the two of them walked in.
As they walked in, there was an entire group of people surrounding two beds.
Oh, the Quidditch team... Jordan groaned in his head.
"Hello Hagrid...Lee..." said Harry politely.
"Oy, glad to see you're awake 'arry. You too, Av'," responded Hagrid.
"Omigosh Ava, you're alright!" Lee said joyously.
"What's with you, you imbecile?" roared George.
"Yeah, you asshole!" Fred followed. Hermione gasped and Ron covered Ginny's ears.
"What's intu ya, Fred, George?" Hagrid said bewilderedly.
"He dumped her for some idiot, and now he's acting like it never happened!" Oliver exclaimed.
"Hey, can't I care for her?" protested Lee.
"NO!" yelled Ava.
The four of them stared at her.
"So...where's Veronica?" she snarled.
"In her Potions Class. You know, he's not going to let her come see you..."
"Actually, I don't know. And why would I want your dumb, inferior, loser, inept, idiot, worthless girlfriend to visit me? In fact, that's the last thing that anyone would want. To be visited by her. They might be affected by her cluelessness and arrogance and become stupid vegetables!" she spat out.
Lee gasped and stepped back. Every word she said felt like a kick in his stomach.
"You...you don't...you don't mean that..." he quivered.
"I mean every single word I said Jordan. Leave," she commanded, "or you won't live to see tomorrow, even if it kills me!"
Lee then woke up. The sun was beaming out of the window. He heaved heavily and looked at the bedside clock. It read, "8:43."
"Just a dream Lee...just a dream..." he muttered. Two first year Gryffindors were reading books together and stared at him.
"What the hell, it was a nightmare!" he said to himself. He got ready and prepared to see Ava.
"You make me feel like a helpless girl, a wingless bird!" whined Ava.
"You practically are helpless," responded Katie.
"I know...don't rub it in!"
"H...H...Hi Ava..." Lee mumbled.
Everyone turned to look at him. He looked a dork, in a suit, hair flat with gel and water, a crooked smile, and a limp flower in his hand.
Fred and George snorted.
"Hi...snork...hem hem...cough...Lee. Sorry, I'm a bit sick..." Ava choked, trying to hide her laughter. She glanced at the twins and sure enough, they had the most stupidest looks on their faces as they tried not to laugh, and were pinching each other.
"I'm glad to see you're...okay."
"Mmm...that's a...a...uh...really unique looking flower, Jordan," Alicia remarked.
"Yes...well, um...here, I brought you a vase too..." he said, whipping out a vase out of thin air and setting the flower in. He carried the vase to her bedside clumsily and set it down. The flower bobbed up and down, then sank.
"Oh..."
"It's fine, I'll...I'll do something about it...later..."
"Right...bye," he said nervously, as his eyes looked around frantically. He then started to leave when Draco burst in.
"Hey Jordan, that's a good look for you. And by good, I mean disgustingly ugly." Lee just stared at him for a while, then ran off.
"Draco...that was uncalled for!" roared Ava.
He shrugged. "How are you?"
"Why do you care?" snapped Hermione.
"Shut up, Mudblood."
The room gasped, and Ron took out his wand, but before he could attack Draco, Ava hollered, "Silencio!"
Not again...he grumbled in his head.
"You...you are so full of yourself. You are a little insecure brat, and get this through your thick head that just because you're a flippin pure-blood doesn't make you special! Unless you want to count special ed! You think you are sooo high up, with your idiot ass of a father, but just to clarify: NO BODY FLIPPIN' CARES!"
His eyes widened. He even attempted to talk.
"Accio Draco Malfoy!"
When he was by her bedside, she gave him a slap across the face. The sound echoed through the walls of the Hospital Wing and beyond. Everyone fell silent. Malfoy staggered back holding a hand to his cheek.
"There's a lot more where that came from!" she threatened. Ava attempted to get out of bed, but Oliver pushed her down.
"You're going to hurt yourself..."
"I don't care!" she hollered at him.
"I won't let you!" he said, gritting his teeth as he tried pushing her back down.
"I won't let you not let me!"
"You aren't wanted here Malfoy. Can't you see that?" said Harry coldly.
He looked at the disapproving and full of hatred faces, and left.
"That was quite harsh," Hermione squeaked.
"That sure was," responded George. "Even for him...Ava..."
"You've been quiet guys, are you okay?" asked Ron to Alicia, Angelina, and Katie.
"Mmm..." nodded Angelina and Katie.
"I'm okay...just..." responded Alicia.
"Just what?" asked Fred.
Alicia bit her lip. Everyone stared at her. Finally she burst, "What kind of breakfast do you get Ava? Is it nutritional? Is it in enough portions? Because if you think you're suffering from malnutrition, I can bring you some extra protein, calcium, the works, from breakfast. Do you get enough to drink? Do you need more water?"
Katie rolled her eyes. They all knew that Alicia could be a health nut. Like now.
"She's fine, 'Leesha," she started.
"You never know!"
"She's staying in the Hospital Wing, under the care of Madame Pomfrey. You can't get more healthy than that here at Hogwarts," explained George monotonously.
"Okay..."
Fred laughed. "And I thought you were going to say something about Malfoy. Not about Ava's diet in the hospital."
"When's our next match?" asked Ava.
"It's against Ravencl..." started Fred, but got a jab in the ribs by Oliver.
"You shouldn't worry about that Ava..."
"I'm not worrying. Just curious. When are we gonna play?"
"You're not going to play Ava..."
"You cannot tell me what to do!" she cried out.
"Sure he can!" blabbered Ginny. Ava glared at her. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"I'm two years older, the captain of the team, and what I say goes!" he affirmed.
"Well, I'm two years younger, the little sister of the captain of the team, and when I say I play, that means I play!"
"You're not going to play!"
"That's what you think!" she retaliated.
"I forbid you!"
"That is so five..." started Ava, when Ron interjected.
"Minutes ago?"
"Mmm...more like five decades ago. I'm playing!"
"No you are not!"
"Yes I am!"
"NO YOU AREN'T!"
"THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK!"
"SHUSH!" shrieked Madame Pomfrey, who had returned. The room fell silent, and everyone stared at her.
"This may not be the library, but it's not the Quidditch pitch either!" she scolded.
"Sorry," apologized the Woods. They glared at each other.
Oliver sighed. "Fine, if you get better..."
"When I get better..." she interrupted.
"Whatever! You can play when you get better."
Ava gave a triumphant smile.
He shook his head at her, and gave a smile. "A Wood's a Wood," he admitted to the team.
"What about the match tomorrow?" asked Ron. "Who's going to take their places?" He waved his upturned hand at Ava and Harry.
"Yeah, I do have to agree with Ronnikins. We're in no state to play," she confessed.
"Ronnikins!" he bawled.
"Katie will take your spot Ava. But I don't know how we'll cope without Harry..." Wood drifted off.
Author's Note: Hahaha – Wood drifted off? Like driftwood? HAHA! Ugh...
"What do you mean you don't know how you'll cope without Harry?" Ava roared at her brother.
"What!" he said, confused.
"I, your very own flesh and blood, does not even compare close to your star seeker?" she cried indignantly. "No offense, Harry, I think you're a wonderful player, and a great asset to the team," she commented to Harry pleasantly.
"Um...thank you very much Ava," mumbled Harry, blushing as red as a rose.
"No...that's not what I meant!" Oliver denied.
She just grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest, scowling at him. The entire group watched her.
"You idiot, she's holding her breath!" shouted Katie, hitting Oliver.
"That's not going to work, Av," he said calmly. She just continued to refuse to take a breath.
As they observed her strange behavior, they saw her face turn a brilliant shade of electric blue, just like a pixie.
"Uh...Oliver...she's not gonna breathe," George informed Oliver.
"I don't care, she's acting immature."
Ava rolled her eyes, but carried on with her willfulness.
Madame Pomfrey and her clickity heels passed by, carrying a clipboard. She suddenly stopped and took a second glance. Seeing the state Ava was in, she shrieked, slapping her hands on her cheeks and dropping the clipboard.
"OmigoodnessgraciousAvastopthisinsaneactivitythisinstant!" she hurriedly ordered. When Ava refused, Madame Pomfrey turned towards Oliver and shouted increduously, "Whatever she wants just give it to her!"
Author's Note: Just in case you can't read the hurried sentence, or don't feel like deciphering it, or it makes you dizzy, here it is again – "Oh my goodness gracious Ava, stop this insane activity this instant!"
"Okay okay, geez!" he grumbled. "Ava, you are a very special and one-of-a-kind person and I love you dearly and there is no true replacement for you, so I will have to settle for the next best thing, Alicia," he blabbered tediously.
Ava smiled, let her breath out, took a deep one in, and fainted.
Hope you liked it! Please review!