Lily never managed to get her hands on that article that was so well-known around the school, but she did manage to get the gist of it from Lavender, who borrowed it from an older Gryffindor. Supposedly, it claimed that she was under heavy suspicion of being behind the attacks on Muggleborn students around the school. Lily thought that was clear malarkey, but the rest of the school didn't seem to agree. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs that shared her classes were now all sitting much further away than they had before, and she was pretty sure she could hear them whispering about her every so often. Lily blamed Lockhart for the harsh treatment; Lavender said he gave the interview that incriminated her (despite Dumbledore's orders for nobody to talk to the press), although she also said he clearly didn't mean it to be taken in that way. Lily believed that part, at least. Lockhart was enough of an idiot to accidentally make her the most hated person in school.

Even Penelope was acting a bit coldly during their weekly practice sessions, but that could just be the Percy thing. Lily felt like she was equally as embarrassed and flustered when she spent time around the girl. Sometimes she felt like she was more flustered, to be honest, and some of their meetings ended very early because of it. She could hardly focus during them.

Turns out, though, that Lily was suddenly a lot more popular with one specific section of the school: the Slytherins. As the month neared the first Quidditch match, they seemed to be trying to injure every member of the Gryffindor team except for her, which was a vast improvement over the previous year. The weirdest of all was Pansy Parkinson, who baked Lily a cake of all things. It was a bright green, with a silver serpent streaking through the frosting, and Pansy stood there, in the Dining Hall, for ten uncomfortable minutes, waiting for Lily to take a bite. She didn't eat it. It could have been poisoned.

The Quidditch team was on her side, although they definitely felt the loss of Angelina. Alicia was a bit grumpier around her, but she was always a grumpy person. Lily was pretty sure she just missed her friend. Katie clearly missed her, too, but she coped by being very talkative. Lily hardly ever had a moment to herself anymore, even outside of classes, and she found herself walking back to the castle with the Chaser girl instead of Ron more often than not. Ron didn't seem to mind, though; he was also very grumpy, although for very different reasons. Now that Angelina was gone, he had to take up her starting position, and the stress was clearly getting to him. Wood kept trying to bolster all their spirits, as well as give Ron solid advice, but the second-year boy only ever seemed to play worse when he knew other people thought he was doing poorly. Fred and George's taunts weren't helping, either. They kept trying to make the same kind of jokes they would have before, but they were clearly hurting Ron's feelings, whether they meant it to or not.

The Friday before the game, Lily found herself attending a History of Magic lesson with Neville. They both thought they really couldn't afford to skip the class anymore, but Ron clearly disagreed; his seat, right next to her, was empty. His loss, really. He missed an incredible lecture about bathrooms of all things.

"The modern pipe, as we know it today," Binns droned on, pacing straight through his podium with his ghostly body, "Was invented in 897 by Phineas the Brown. Phineas devised a series of magical glyphs and charms that could not only propel water upwards through tubes of bronze, but could also warm or cool it as desired. This research was borrowed by Salazar Slytherin during the construction of Hogwarts, which is the first known practical application of plumbing. Prior to the usage, the research was entirely theoretical. Phineas was notably pleased by the outcome, however, and he later proposed to Rowena Ravenclaw after exchanging a series of letters with the lady, having mistakenly believed that she was the one responsible. He was refused."

Lily couldn't possibly imagine why.

"Ravenclaw was impressed with the invention, however, and worked together with Slytherin afterwards to upgrade the piping from bronze to iron, and even developed an enchantment to prevent rusting or flaking. Muggles eventually figured out their own way of copying pipes and plumbing, albeit centuries later. To this day, it is unknown how they managed this without magic. Our own systems were modernized in the 1900s to help Muggleborn students acclimate. Installation was extremely easy; it required virtually no serious renovation work, as most of the facilities were already in place. All that had to be done was to replace the rudimentary items with modern toilets and showers."

Lily wondered how wizards ever could have gotten along without toilets of all things. She couldn't help but imagine them soiling themselves wherever they stood and then vanishing it away as if it never happened. That was, quite frankly, absurd and completely unbelievable, even if the idea did bring a smile to her face. She spent the rest of that lesson trying to sketch what it would look like, sniggering to herself in amusement.

Saturday rolled around, unfortunately for Ron. Lily woke up bright and early, feeling much better about her prospects than she had this time last year. She was better at flying now, had a significantly faster broom, and the Slytherins weren't even trying to murder her. And without He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wandering the castle, she was pretty sure nobody else would be after her. At the very least, her head wasn't hurting. It'd been doing that at least once every day now, although never as bad as during the attack.

Lily dressed in silence, not wanting to wake the slumbering Hermione laying in the bed closest to the window. That was abnormal; she was supposed to be the first one up. She'd been sleeping a lot more this year. Lily assumed it had to do with her health; she'd been looking sickly and pale for weeks now. Lily was pretty sure she'd accidentally spread the flu she was wracked with earlier; Lavender and Parvati each spent a single day sick, while Hermione ignored all of Lily's suggestions to go to Madame Pomfrey.

Ron was already sitting on a couch as she arrived, staring solemnly into the fireplace, wearing his Quidditch robes sloppily. He hardly looked like he slept at all. Lily took the seat next to him, stretching to get rid of the stiffness in her back.

"Morning," she said.

Ron grunted in response, eyes not leaving the flames.

"Did you sleep at all?" Lily asked. He really did look absolutely dreadful. His face was pale and clammy, his hair was uncombed and a bit greasy, and he had dark bags under his eyes.

"No," Ron answered. "Neville kept me up with his snoring, and Seamus with his mumbling, and Dean with his- with his-"

"Do you want to get some breakfast?" Lily asked, standing and stretching once more. She didn't feel like sitting around moping. She might even go for a walk before the game; it was rather nice out. First non-rainy day they had in a full week. "Good conditions for playing," she could hear Oliver say in her head.

"No," Ron grumbled, standing up to follow regardless.

"We'll be fine, Ron," Lily said reassuringly as they left the common room. The Fat Lady called out words of encouragement, and Lily waved back at her to acknowledge it. Violet was sitting with her again; they made up a few days ago. They'd both be drunk by the time the Gryffindors returned from the game. Lily just hoped they'd remember what the password was. Neville got locked out two nights ago when they told him he was wrong. He only got in because Lily happened to be watching the map that night, and she saw him curling up in the corner right near the entrance.

"You will be," Ron said glumly, staring at the ground as he dragged his feet behind her. "The Slytherins haven't been threatening to string you up between classes, have they?"

"Not this year," Lily said, "But they did last year, remember? I was fine."

"You spent a week in the Hospital Wing," Ron pointed out. "Your skull was cracked open."

"It wasn't that long," Lily corrected. "And I almost won the game, didn't I?"

"How come you aren't nervous anymore?"

"Dunno!" Lily answered cheerily.

That didn't seem to satisfy Ron, and he sunk back into a sullen silence. Lily hummed as they reached the staircase downwards. She was in an unusually good mood lately, all things considered, and she intended to make the most of it, grumpy Ronald or no.

Ron didn't answer any of Lily's other prompts as they descended, nor any of her hooks during breakfast itself. Lily tried to put on an air of optimism, even though the boy was starting to get inside her head as well. She was now worrying that Slytherin was planning to kill her during the game, and they'd just been pretending to be friendly before it as some sort of ruse. That seems like them, she thought.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Lily asked once she finished her plate of food. She wanted more, truth be told, but she learned the hard way not to eat too much before flying around at high speeds. She spent a half hour vomiting in the bushes last time, Katie holding her hair back and patting her on the shoulder.

"No," Ron answered coldly, not leaving his seat this time. Lily didn't push; if she forced him to come, it would only make him worse. She left him there, pushing a cold sausage around on his plate.

Despite how nice it was outside, Lily barely spent any time out there. It was far too cold for that at this time of year. It'd be snowing, soon enough. She was back inside five minutes later, shivering and rubbing her arms against her chest for warmth. She didn't know how she was going to make it through the winter months, let alone today's game. At the very least, she didn't have to live in the dungeons like the Slytherins did. No wonder they were so miserable to be around.

She poked her head into the Great Hall, but Ron was gone by that point. The general student body was making their way down at this point, and she still needed to grab her things from the tower. She stopped at the second floor for a brief chat with Katie, who quickly invited her to breakfast (and seemed sad when Lily said no), then continued on her way.

Hermione was still laying in bed when Lily pushed the door open, although she was rubbing her eyes sleepily at this point.

"Morning," Lily hummed in an attempt to spread her good cheer. Merlin knew Hermione could use some.

"Morning," Hermione grumbled, not sounding anywhere near as enthusiastic. She didn't even bother opening her eyes to see who she was talking to. Lily was pretty sure she wouldn't have gotten a response if she had. Hermione was still refusing to talk to her under most circumstances.

Lily grabbed her broom and set it on the mattress. Then, she tossed the trunk next to it and threw open the lid. She had to dig a bit to reach her Quidditch robes; they'd somehow ended up near the bottom, crammed under her assortment of textbooks. One of her quills was broken; she'd need to get that replaced.

"How are you feeling?" Lily asked. "You've been looking under the weather, lately."

Hermione didn't answer, but Lily didn't mind. She was still trying to stay positive. It wouldn't do to listen to the tiny voice that was screaming at the very back of her mind. Happy thoughts only, please.

"You coming to the game?" Lily asked, trying again. She had to move her books out one by one so she could reach the robes.

"I didn't leave the dorm last night, did I?" Hermione asked instead.

Lily frowned, looking over at the other girl. She was sitting up now, and her bushy-hair was even more of an untamed mess than usual. She was staring intently at Lily, and that made her breakfast tumble uncomfortably in her stomach, for whatever reason.

"Leave the room?" Lily repeated.

"Lavender and Parvati said I've been sleepwalking," Hermione grumbled, forcing herself out of bed.

"Haven't seen anything," Lily answered, shaking her head as she got back to work. "Lav and Parvati said they'd throw me a party if we won. Do you want to join us?"

"Lav?" Hermione asked sleepily.

"Lav," Lily repeated. She finally got her robes out. She sniffed them; they were a bit unwashed, but they'd do. Not like anybody would be able to smell her, anyway, since she'd be a hundred feet in the air. "You know, she lives with us?"

"Lavender?"

"That's the one," Lily confirmed, shutting her trunk shut again. She'd leave it on the mattress, for now. She had a brief moment of panic as she put down her school robes, but then she remembered that Neville had the map during the last night, and he'd still have it now, during the morning.

Lily turned, intending to leave the room. She stopped when she saw the strange look Hermione was giving her.

"Since when do you call her Lav?" Hermione asked.

"Since she told me to," Lily answered, returning the strange look.

"I didn't realize you were friends," Hermione said nervously.

"Yeah, well, somebody has to like me, don't they?" Lily answered, giving a fake smile. She proceeded towards the door, mad that she'd let the positive mindset leave, if only for a second.

"That's not-" Hermione started, leaning forward slightly and stretching out a hand. She stopped before making contact, snapping her own hand back in shame. "I'm sorry, Lily, I'm just tired."

"Best get up, then," Lily said, raising her eyebrows and opening the door. "Want to walk downstairs with me? I'll wait for you in the common room."

"I-" Hermione started again, face lighting up for a second. Her eyes fluttered over to her trunk, and she looked slightly ashamed of herself. "No, you go on ahead, I'll come down later."

"If you're sure, then," Lily said, closing the door gently behind her. She almost expected Hermione to say yes there for a moment. Now she found herself feeling slightly disappointed. Her scar tingled just a tad as he made her way back through the common room, but she paid it no mind. It was nothing out of the ordinary, these days.

"Keep your head down, Lily," Wood said sternly once the team was gathered and clothed in the changing rooms. "Slytherin hasn't been after you, lately, but they'll still want you out of the game. You're our only real chance of winning this thing."

"Thanks, Wood," Katie grumbled.

Wood pointed a finger sharply at the Chaser. "Sorry, Katie, but it's true. You're all good, but we just can't compete with their brooms. Lily and Ron are the only ones that have a chance, but two out of seven means bad odds. Just remember, Lily, you're the best Seeker at Hogwarts. If you hadn't been benched, we would have won the cup last year."

"She wasn't even on the bench," Fred said. "She was kicked off the team, Oliver."

Wood chose to ignore that, running a hand through his short hair nervously. "Ron, you stay near Alicia and Katie, run the Quaffle and pass to them for shots. You're a good flyer, but you tend to let the ball slip. The Slytherins are too fast not to take advantage of that. They can catch it off of you, pass it back, just like they did in practice."

Ron nodded wordlessly, his eyes gazing into the void, not seeing a thing around him. Lily hoped he'd perk up on the field.

"Fred, George," Oliver continued.

"Oliver," Fred and George said together, perking up and saluting their captain.

"You know what to do," Oliver finished lamely. "We're better players than they are. They might have the better brooms, but we can take advantage of our own strengths. Look out for one another, and let's get out there and win this thing."

Oliver led the way, his team still feeling miserable about their chances. Even Lily was a bit down, now, since Oliver pinned all his hopes on her. She didn't like that one bit.

They entered the field to mixed cheers. Half the crowd was crying for Slytherin, the other half Gryffindor. The stands had a clear split between the red and gold and the green and silver. There were shades of blue and yellow mixed in with the halves as well, but they mostly waved banners for the team they were currently supporting.

"Captains, shake hands," Madame Hooch, the yellow-eyed Quidditch referee, demanded as the two teams lined up from across each other. Malfoy smirked over at Lily, eyes flickering briefly to her broom as the smirk turned into a scowl. That put a smile back on Lily's face; Malfoy must have thought she was lying about the broom.

Wood walked back to their line, flexing his right hand. He wore a scowl on his face. Hooch strode forward, unlatching a large, thick box. There were four slots, each with a different sized ball. Hooch released the two medium-sized bludgers first, and they soared off into the air, trying to find a target to knock off a broom. Lily was briefly worried that one was flying faster than the other, but she tried to push the idea out of her mind. Hooch released the small Golden Snitch next. It briefly flickered in front of Lily, and she took a step back in surprise. She blinked, and it was gone.

Hooch unlatched the large, red Quaffle last, tucking it under her arm. She mounted her broom, rising into the air, the Quidditch players following soon after. Lily was last into the air; one of the bludgers swerved after her while she was still on the ground, and she only narrowly managed to avoid it in time.

Both teams lined up in front of each other, red facing green. The crowd started to chant, excitement rising to a boil, as Lily tried to wipe her sweaty palms off on her robe. She didn't even realize she'd forgotten her gloves until this moment, but she was sure missing them now.

"GO GO GRYFFINDOR, GO GO!"

"WIN WIN, SLYTHERIN!"

"I want a good, clean game," Hooch said loudly. "From each of you. On the count of three, the game will begin."

"One."

Lily glanced around, trying to spot the Snitch. If she could do that, she could end it quickly, and she wouldn't even have to worry about Ron screwing up.

"Two."

A bludger hissed past Lily's ear, and she rolled to avoid it just in the nick of time. She righted herself quickly, blushing as the Slytherins laughed.

"Three," Hooch said, blowing the whistle and tossing the Quaffle into the air.

"The Quaffle has been released," Lee Jordan, friend of Fred and George and fellow Gryffindor, said from the commentator's box, his voice magically amplified so the entire stadium could hear.

Lily's eyes flicked around quickly, searching again. She had to roll in place again to avoid another bludger, and the upside-down view didn't make it any easier.

The Quaffle reached its peak, slowed, and fell back down. Katie flew forward quickly, being the starter, followed immediately after by Montague.

"AND THE GAME BEGINS!" Lee shouted. Lily flew off, swerving straight towards their side of the field as another bludger whizzed past her, a hiss sounding off in her ear as she narrowly avoided it.

"Montague grabs the Quaffle, snatching it right out of Katie's hand," Jordan announced. Lily spared a moment to glance behind her, spotting the green blur flying close behind her. She was sure Katie moved first, but the Gryffindor Chasers were trailing behind.

"Montague approaches Wood, HE SHOOTS, 10-0, Slytherin," Jordan grumbled.

Lily rose into the air, missing another bludger, checking the sky above for the snitch. If it wasn't above, she could at least get a better vantage point.

"Pucey scores, 20-0 Slytherin," Jordan announced again. Lily glanced back down to the field. The game was barely 30 seconds in at this point, how did they score twice?

She turned back to her task, desperately searching around for the snitch. She saw Malfoy taking the opposite approach far below, taking the low areas and turning his head skywards to watch above. Lily thought that was far less efficient. It was almost noon, the sun would be bearing directly into his eyes. She doubted he could even see her.

"Katie passes to Alicia, to Ron, back to Katie SHE SHOOTS, Bletchley blocks, passes it back to Montague."

"WIN WIN, SLYTHERIN!"

Lily drummed her fingers on her broom, turning aside to avoid another bludger, then dove into a feint, hoping to grab Malfoy's attention away from his own search. She heard Gryffindor roar as she did so, and then spotted Malfoy swerve in her direction, eyes wildly shooting around.

"30-0, Slytherin," Lee said. "Katie takes possession of the Quaffle, avoids a bludger with a rather graceful spin, good on that, Katie, passes to Alicia."

She swiveled her head around, noticing Malfoy following her close behind. She faced forward just in time to narrowly duck as a bludger soared past her.

"Malfoy takes a bludger to the arm," Lee announced more excitedly. "Too bad he didn't fall off his broom, that would have been-"

"Jordan!" McGonagall interrupted.

"Sorry, Professor. Montague scores again, 40-0, Slytherin."

Lily could hear loud boos from the Gryffindors, and she refocused. Although, she had to admit, knowing Malfoy took that bludger for following her made her feel much better. She ducked to avoid another one.

"WIN WIN, SLYTHERIN!"

"Pucey scores, 50-0, Slytherin, come on, Gryffindor, shape up! Can't let those-"

"Mr. Jordan!"

Lily dove again, spotting gold near the Slytherin goalposts. The crowd roared again, and she could hear Montague shout something.

"POTTER HAS SPOTTED THE SNITCH, GO POTTER GO!"

Lily stretched her hand out quickly, trying to grasp at the darting ball. She could feel her fingertips connecting with metal.

"GO GO, GRYFFINDOR, GO GO!"

Lily heard a woosh from behind, followed by a large crack as something collided with her lower back. She whirled, legs slipping over her broom. She grasped at it with her hands, caught it with one, then slipped off, tumbling towards the ground.

"NOOOOO!" Jordan shouted, along with a collective groan from the Gryffindor stands.

Lily fell the few metres between her and the ground, landing roughly on her already sore back.

"Excellent bludger from the Slytherin Beaters," Jordan admitted. "Almost had you, there. Come on, Lily, back at it, now."

Lily opened her eyes, satisfied to see Malfoy hovering where the snitch had been, looking about wildly for it. At the very least, he didn't grab it. He sneered at her as he looked down.

"Better luck next time, Potter," he said snidely, flying away to resume his search elsewhere.

"You all right, Lily?" George called from above, pulling to a stop nearby.

"M'fine," Lily grumbled as she sat up, rubbing her back. She had to stumble over to where her broom fell, but it at least wasn't damaged. Another bludger whizzed past her head as she bent over to pick it up, and she heard a whistle come from Hooch.

"Penalty shot for Gryffindor," Jordan said. "Don't think nobody saw that bludger, Arbuckle. You might look like a troll, but there's no need to act like one."

"Mr. Jordan!"

"Sorry, Professor, won't happen again. Bell to take penalty for Gryffindor. Let's hope her aim is as good as her looks."

"Jordan!"

Lily took that chance to kick back off into the air, spotting Arbuckle, one of the Slytherin beaters, arguing madly with Madame Hooch. Hooch shook her head, then blew her whistle again, pointing over towards the Gryffindors. Katie flew forward to take the penalty shot.

"Katie flies forward, Quaffle in hand, SHE SHOOTS, SHE SCORES! 50-10, SLYTHERIN!"

"GO GO, GRYFFINDOR!"

"WIN WIN, SLYTHERIN!"

There, Lily thought, flying towards another flash of gold. She barely made it a metre before she had to duck under another bludger. When her head came back up, the gold was gone.

Another bludger came by, but Fred happened to be close, and he intercepted it, knocking it off towards Montague with a loud smack of his bat.

"You all right, Lily?" he asked.

"60-10, Slytherin," Lee announced.

Lily turned her head to answer Fred just in time to spot the bludger he smacked away swerve in midair, coming straight back towards her.

"Fred!" she shouted, pointing. Fred turned, raising his bat in defiance. He swung, but the bludger sped up and knocked straight through the thing, hitting Fred's arm with a sickening crunch. Fred started to slip, clutching his limb to his chest. The bludger kept moving forward, crashing into Lily's chest. She fell from her broom again, falling ten metres to the ground below, as she struggled to breathe. She could hear Gryffindor screaming above her.

"POTTER AND WEASLEY ARE BOTH DOWN!"

"WIN WIN, SLYTHERIN!"

She let out a loud grunt as she crumpled onto the ground. She heard a set of brief whistles blowing, signifying a time out being called. She rolled over to stare at the sky, wondering if she had it in her to stand up. Her legs were already shaking uncontrollably, and she didn't even have any weight on them. Fred landed carefully next to her, still cradling his arm. His face was torn up in pain, his bone jutting in a strange direction. It was almost enough to make Lily puke.

"Gryffindor calls a time out," Lee said. "We'll take a short break, and then we'll be right back, folks, so don't go anywhere."

"You all right, Fred?" Lily asked, still laying on her back, staring up at the sky. Everything still hurt.

"No, I don't bloody think so," Fred groaned, kneeling down onto the ground.

"Fred!" George called out, landing next to his brother and putting an arm around him. "You all right, mate? Reckon I should go get Montague for you?"

"No," Fred grumbled. "Well, yes, but not for this."

"Nobody hit that bludger," Lily said as the rest of the team landed around them. "It just turned, coming back for me."

"You?" Wood asked. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure," Fred answered. "Damn thing nearly took my hand off to get to her. It's faster than the other one, Wood, somethings wrong with it. Shouldn't have been able to push through my bat."

"I saw it," Lily confirmed from the ground. "It sped up right before he swung at it. Someone's tampered with it." She left her fears of assassination unsaid.

Hooch landed nearby, interrupting their group session. She strode over to Fred, gingerly taking his arm into her hands.

"Broken," she said, tsking. "You'll have to head up to the Hospital Wing, I'm taking you out of the match."

"You can't!" Fred argued. "We'll be a player down!"

"Call is already made," Hooch said, blowing on her whistle twice shortly, then one long.

"Fred Weasley is taken out of the game," Lee said, not at all happy about it. "Gryffindor will be playing one man down."

"WIN WIN, SLYTHERIN!"

"Lousy snakes," Lee mumbled into the mic. Slytherin answered with loud jeers and hisses.

"Jordan!"

"How about you, Potter?" Hooch asked. George was walking his brother off the field. Ron finally found his way over to the meeting, looking as if he wished he was the one with the broken arm as he stared at his brothers.

"I can stand," Lily said. She took in a sharp breath as she made the attempt, leaning onto the nearby shoulder of Katie for assistance. Hooch narrowed her eyes, inspecting Lily's stance. Lily tried to stand very still, and even took her arm off of Katie to seem more confident. She was pretty sure her ankle was twisted from the fall, and she could feel hot tears forming behind her eyes.

"Very well," Hooch said at last, mounting her broom once more. "You may resume your meeting. You have five minutes." She pushed off, leaving the Gryffindors alone. Lily sat back on the grass in relief.

"What do we do, Oliver?" Katie asked, kneeling and placing an arm protectively around Lily's shoulders. "Fred is gone, Lily can barely stand, and someone's trying to kill her again!"

"Lily doesn't need to stand to fly," Wood said, crossing his arms as he thought. "And I don't think anyone is trying to kill her. The Bludgers have Cushioning Charms on them to-"

"So, you're just going to ignore what she said?" Katie said hotly. "Wood, didn't you hear them? It sped up and broke Fred's bat. Those aren't supposed to snap, are they?"

"No," Wood admitted, "But it happens, occasionally, if you catch a bludger at the wrong angle. Right, George?"

"Right," George said breathlessly as he leaned over to catch his breath. "But that wasn't what happened, Wood, I saw the whole thing. It did speed up, right before he swung."

Wood grimaced and swore under his breath. "Can you keep an eye on Lily? If she gets taken out, we can't win."

"Can't," George said sadly. "My broom isn't fast enough, she'd have to slow down for me to keep up."

"I'll switch brooms with you," Ron muttered.

"No," Wood said firmly. "We need you playing Chaser, you'll do us no good with George's broom."

"What do we do, then?" Katie repeated, pulling Lily closer into her chest. Lily felt strangely flustered by the action.

"Lily," Wood said after a long pause. "It's up to you."

"Pardon?" Lily asked, staring up at all of them. Katie swore next to her.

"Either you catch the Snitch quickly, or we lose," Wood explained. "No pressure."

"Right," Lily agreed, trying to lie to herself. "No pressure. Got it."

"Ron," Wood said. "I'm putting you in center. Katie and Alicia fly better than you do, but you have the faster broom. Katie, Alicia, pass to him as often as you can. He's our best chance of getting the Quaffle past Bletchley. Katie, you'll keep taking the penalty shots, you haven't missed one yet, but we'll let Ron lead for now."

"But-" Katie started to argue.

"I can't-" Ron started to argue.

Wood held up his hand to cut them both off.

"If Angelina was here, it'd be different," he said, "but we have to make do with what we have. Focus on keeping the Quaffle away from Slytherin as much as you can while Lily finds the Snitch. Do that, and we can win. That's our path to the cup."

"I don't know if I can avoid that bludger forever, Oliver," Lily said, biting at her lip. She felt like she hadn't done that in a while. "I'm only one bad hit away from Hooch sending me off, too."

"All the more reason to hurry," Wood said, staring up at Hooch and giving her a thumbs up. "Try to find some way to lose it, if you can. Maybe you can use it to our advantage. On the bright side, the rest of us have less to worry about with only one bludger on the field."

Hooch blew her whistle, signaling for the teams to line up in the centerfield again. Lily wanted to argue about the "only one bludger" thing, but she was too busy trying to stand up before Hooch could notice how hurt she was. Katie offered her a hand, at least, and she took it gladly. Katie squeezed on it ever so briefly before letting go. Lily lingered way too long on the touch.

"Good luck, team. I know you can do it." Wood saluted them all, then mounted his broom, the rest of Gryffindor following his lead.

Wood kicked off, flying back to his goal posts. Lily kicked off last, grumbling to herself. Her entire body was aching, and she was pretty sure that bludger cracked at least one rib, based off the rattling sensation and pain every time she took a breath. She joined the center last, taking a position at the end. Malfoy lined up across from her, sneering at her in contempt.

"I thought you were supposed to be good at flying, Potter," he said. "You've fallen twice now."

"And I've seen the Snitch twice, too," Lily said, smiling at him. "Have to take risks to win. Not that you'll ever know."

Malfoy smirked at her again, and she had to agree with his confidence. If she couldn't end it quickly, Slytherin wouldn't even need him to catch the Snitch for them to win the game. No pressure, she thought to herself as she shot a glare down at Wood.

"Keep that up, and you'll be joining your boyfriend in the Hospital Wing in no time. Maybe Pomfrey will give you side-by-side beds. You can have your wedding in there, too, if you want. Then you can sleep in his pigsty back at home."

Lily was taken aback, and could feel her face getting hot.

"What are you-"

Hooch blew her whistle, tossed the Quaffle, and the game began anew. Malfoy flew off first, leaving Lily floating there, feeling silly and embarrassed.

"Colin," she grumbled to herself. It always came back to him, didn't it? She'd need to have a talk with her number one fan once he was finally unpetrified.

"Ron has the Quaffle," Lee announced as Lily finally flew off, beginning her search. "He passes it to Katie, passes to Alicia, she avoids a tackle from Montague, OH, bludger to the arm, Quaffle grabbed by Ron."

Lily spun, avoiding her own bludger. She turned her head, watching it turn around behind her to give chase again.

"Who's doing it?" she muttered to herself, spinning again to avoid it. She didn't have the time to scan the crowd.

"RON SCORES, 60-20!" Lee yelled out. Lily turned to watch Ron pump his fist in the air, barely turning around in time to dodge the bludger again. She could feel it graze her face, and her fingers nearly slipped as she went upside down, turning too far on accident. She righted herself quickly, feeling silly again as she noticed Malfoy pointing at her from across the field, laughing at her.

That gave her an idea. She dove towards the center of the field, hoping Malfoy would meet her in the center.

"POTTER DIVES!" Lee shouted. "GO, LILY, GO!"

"GO GO GRYFFINDOR, GO GO!"

Lily levelled, glancing up, spotting Malfoy flying straight towards her, eyes wide, desperately searching around for the Snitch. Lily smiled.

Then she flew up, rising at a sharp angle, flying straight over Malfoy. She locked eyes with him briefly, spotting his terror filled pupils. Then the bludger, following closely behind Lily, collided squarely into the center of his face.

Malfoy crumpled, hands flying towards his head, as he fell from his broom. Lily roared with laughter, clutching at her sides in satisfaction. The Slytherins jeered, the Gryffindors cheered, and Lee joined into her mirth.

"Excellent feint by Potter, well done, well done, serves that rotter right!"

"Jordan!"

"Sorry, Professor, but I see that smile on your face. Hooch makes the call as Montague walks Malfoy off the field. Looks like he's out of the game, too."

Lily glanced down, wiping a tear from her eye as she watched Malfoy's huddled form walk of the field, Montague lazily pushing him along. Malfoy was still cradling his face. She supposed that was going to ruin any positive attention she was getting from the Slytherins, based off the way they were now jeering at her. Ah, well. It creeped her out, anyway.

"Well done, Lily," Ron said, flying up alongside her, and throwing an arm around the girl. "Really, that was great, I needed that."

"Thanks, Ron," Lily agreed, feeling very satisfied. "Now I just have to find that Snitch."

"Did you see my goal?" Ron asked excitedly. "Bletchley sure didn't, sailed right past him."

"Wood blocks the shot," Lee announced. "Excellent job, Oliver, I knew there was a reason we let you keep that badge. Now just do that again, but for every shot."

Lily swerved over towards Pucey, who was carrying the Quaffle once more after intercepting a pass to Ron. She swerved at the last minute, running the bludger straight into Pucey's broom. She heard a snap from above, followed by a scream from Pucey as he fell to the field below.

"And Potter takes out another one!" Lee shouted, followed by cheers from Gryffindor. "Pucey walks off the field, with no way to play. Shouldn't make a difference, honestly, way he plays, Slytherin might be better off without him."

"Jordan!"

"Sorry, Professor, but I just don't see any teams scouting Pucey anytime soon. The only thing carrying him was his broom, and now that's-"

"The game, Jordan."

"Sorry, Professor."

Slytherin booed, jeered, and screamed insults at Lily. She flew by the green and silver stands, smiling sweetly at them as she rolled to avoid the bludger again. One of them threw a pair of binoculars at her, but she avoided that, too. She was pretty sure it came from Pansy Parkinson. Still must be upset over the cake thing.

Lily wondered why Hooch never said anything, although this new information certainly caused a lot more questions than it answered. Were players allowed to jinx bludgers ahead of time, so long as they didn't do it midgame? Was this why the Slytherins were so nice to her lately?

Lily focused on trying to run her bludger into the Slytherin players, testing the limits of her new strategy, instead of focusing on the Snitch. It seemed to scare most of them; they were more distracted by keeping an eye out for her than they were anything else. George managed to capitalize on their distraction, knocking one of the Slytherin beaters silly with the only functioning bludger. That brought both teams down a Beater, but Gryffindor still had all Chasers and their Seeker.

Montague tried to tackle into Lily, but he only got a bludger to his shoulder for the attempt. Hooch blew her whistle anyway, causing yet another halt to the match. Lily was worried she'd get blamed for that one, even though it wasn't her fault like the last two.

"Penalty to Slytherin for interference," Lee announced, Slytherin hissing in the background. Lily breathed out a sigh of relief, swerving to avoid her personal attacker again. "Katie takes the shot, come on, Katie, COME ON, SHE SCORES! 60-30, GRYFFINDOR!"

With the match clearly leaning into Gryffindor's favour now, they scored three times in a row, two by Ron and one by Katie, bringing the score up to 60-60. Lily saw the Snitch twice more during this time but couldn't focus on it. The bludger was moving much faster now, if that was even possible, and she had to divert almost all her attention to avoiding it. She thought she much look rather silly, flying like this, but she could stand the teasing that would come later, so long as she was still alive.

"Weasley flies ahead again, go go, Weasley, and- OH- knocked off his seat by Montague, that eel, took the bat off his Beater again. Should be hearing that penalty whistle any moment now."

Lily swerved to the right, still searching for gold, trying to listen in on how the game was going.

"Guess Madame Hooch went blind for a moment, but that's all right, Montague scores, 70-60, Slytherin."

Lily frowned, noticing Madame Hooch scratching at her head in confusion. Wood signaled for a time out, but she didn't seem to notice that either, and play resumed, Montague quickly sinking in another goal, bringing the game to 80-60.

"120-70, Slytherin's favour," Lee grumbled ten minutes later.

Montague kept making odd plays, running blatant interference, and otherwise being a Neanderthal, but Hooch never called a penalty on him. She did once call a penalty on George trying to do the same, letting Montague bring the score up to 130-70.

Lily started biting her lip again, forcing herself to stop as she rolled again. She'd bite it clean off if that bludger hit her while she was doing it. She needed something to change, she just needed to find that Snitch, but she hadn't seen it in-

"Katie snatches the Quaffle from Montague, throws it towards BLETCHLEY, COME ON, SHE SCORES!"

Lily dove, twirling as she did so, barely hanging on to her broom. The bludger rushed past her, and then turned, causing her to swerve again. She halted in midair, ducking to let it soar past her, then reversed, turning to fly the other direction.

"GRYFFINDOR SCORES!" Lee roared. "KATIE BELL SCORES AGAIN, FOLKS, LOVE THAT GIRL!"

"KATIE! KATIE! KATIE!" the Gryffindors cheered. Lily cheered with them under her breath. She rolled, turning into a somersault, flying towards Wood on the other end of the field. She swerved past him. She heard Wood swear loudly as he avoided her bludger, but there was really nowhere else for her to go at that particular moment. She hoped he'd be able to forgive her later.

"UNBELIEVABLE! RON SCORES AGAIN! 130-100!"

"RON! RON! RON!"

Lily turned to watch her friend soak in the cheer, raising her own fist into the air to cheer along with them, smiling-

She dove quickly, spotting gold near the Slytherin posts. She could hear the bludger whizzing behind her, and she prayed again, this time for her broom to out speed the thing for just a little longer.

"MONTAGUE SCORES, BUT WHO CARES, POTTER HAS FOUND THE SNITCH, GO POTTER, GO GO GO!"

"LILY! LILY! LILY!"

Lily rolled to avoid the bludger, swerved, stretched out her hand, grasped, grasped, and then touched metal. She lurched forward, almost sliding off her broom, hand closing around the cool metal.

"LOVELY LILY HAS THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS, 250-130!"

"LILY! LILY!"

Lily rose her fist, grinning broadly. She did it, she won-

Crunch!

Lily spun off her broom, falling 15 metres, collided with the pole, then slid to the ground, crowd screaming in her agony. Lily landed face first with a sharp intake of breath.

Lily tried to lift her head up, tried to push off the ground, but she found she couldn't move. Her neck was searing in pain, but she couldn't feel anything below that.

"Lily!" Ron shouted as he landed next to her. He jammed his fingers on her neck, trying to feel for a pulse.

"Don't!" Lily moaned out, causing the ginger boy to flinch from surprise. "Broke. Neck."

"Oh, Merlin," she heard Katie say from nearby. "Oh, sweet Merlin, what do we do?"

"Somebody get Pomfrey!" Wood called out. "Don't touch her, don't move her."

"POMFREY," McGonagall called from the stands, voice amplified to carry to the castle. It almost hurt Lily's ears, and she could feel the ground shake beneath her. "YOU ARE NEEDED AT THE QUIDDITCH PITCH IMMEDIATELY!"

"Should we roll her over?" Ron asked nervously, still crouching down next to Lily's prone form.

"No," Wood said quickly, "We're not supposed to move her at all, I'm in Pomfrey's Healer elective, we're not supposed to move a neck or back injury until a professional arrives."

"Not to fear," Lily heard a voice say. "Not to fear, I can fix it in a jiffy."

"No," Lily croaked out as the smiling, handsome visage of Gilderoy Lockhart came into her view. "No. Pomfrey."

"Poor girl," Lockhart said, flashing a smile to the bystanders. "Doesn't know what she's talking about. Don't worry, Lily, I'll have you fixed up in a second, no need to wait."
"LOCKHART," McGonagall shouted from the stands, "YOU GET AWAY FROM THAT GIRL THIS INSTANT!"

Lockhart cleared his throat, wand aimed at Lily's neck. Lily closed her eyes, fearing the worst. She started muttering another prayer, hoping that somebody out there was listening to her.

"Brackium Emendo," Lockhart chanted.

Lily felt her throat collapse, cutting off her words. Her eyes shot open, and she tried to breathe, but it only came in ragged gasps. Her eyes widened in fear, shooting rapidly at those standing around her. Ron was staring in equal parts horror and disgust, while Katie had her hands clamped around her mouth in terror.

"Merlin," Ron said in a high-pitched voice, "You've killed her."

"Hmmm," Lockhart hummed thoughtfully as Lily's vision turned to black.