The back of my head is pounding. Mer must have hit me harder than usual. Wait… she's not talking to me.

My chest feels constricted. Merlin, I'm sore everywhere.

I can hear voices far off, but getting closer. And louder. Too loud.

"I don't understand why no one is freaking out about this! Knocked out and Merlin knows when they'll regain consciousness!"

"Rose," someone says softly. "Stop yelling, you'll wake them up!"

Bloody hell. Rose really knows how to wake someone up.

"Isn't that kind of what we're hoping for, Reid? If you haven't noticed-" but the other voice, Reid apparently, cuts her off before she can continue in her usually amplified, but now also hysterical voice.

"Rose, the quieter it is the easier it will be for them when they wake up," he responded soothingly.

"Yeah," I manage to croak. I can hardly get the words out as the pain in my chest intensifies. "Then I won't have bloody headache every time I open my eyes."

I open my eyes to see Reid and Rose looking down on me, obviously relieved, before my vision blurs and I have to close my eyes again. "Ugh, my head." The small amount of time my eyes were open were enough to cause the pain in the back of my head to pound with a newfound ferocity.

"James!" Rose whisper-shouts. Rose launches herself on me, hugging me tightly. Pain sears over my body and I let out a grunt, causing Rose to jump back quickly. "Oh, James! I'm so sorry. I-"

"Where am I?" I grunt as I try to open my eyes again.

"The Hospital Wing," Reid replies.

"What?" I ask, confused. "What happened?" This must have been a doozy of a duel or…

The memory of Quidditch practice comes rushing back to me. We were having a fantastic practice then…

Bludger to the head.

Oh yeah. That happened.

I finally manage to pry open my eyes without my head feeling like it's going to explode. "Where is everyone? I thought everyone would want to be by my side to gloat after my first Quidditch accident."

I'm really just wondering about Mer.

Not that I would deserve for her to be here gloating, let alone weeping over my damaged body.

"Everyone had homework and a necessity to eat and sleep."

"They couldn't hold off until I woke up?" I wonder, half-joking.

But only half. Why wouldn't anyone be here?

"You've been out about a day, mate," Reid offers.

"Are you serious?" I sit up and quickly regret my actions as my chest feels as if it's on fire. He nods and I fall back onto my bed, gasping. "Wow," is all I manage as the pain subsides slowly.

"That is an understatement," Rose says tearfully. "We started shifts after you didn't wake up last night. We're set to stay here until Madam Pomfrey kicks us out for the night."

I raise my arm to rub my face, and the pain explodes across my chest again. "I really am a mess, aren't I?" I ask to no one in particular.

"Well, you're better off than Meredith," Rose says as she searches for something on my nightstand. My eyes widen at her revelation and she puts her hand over her mouth as she realizes what she said. "I mean… well…" Rose looks to me nervously and sets a small flask of potion on the bed near my hand. "You should take this. I'm going to tell Madam Pomfrey you're awake."

A feeling of intense dread starts to form in my stomach. I'm in better shape than Meredith? What the hell happened at practice?

"Where is she?" I yell after Rose's retreating form. I sit up again, fighting through the pain, and try to climb out of my bed, but Reid pushes me back down with more force than I thought he could do. I look at him, surprised.

He cracks a slight smile. "Just because I don't play Quidditch doesn't mean I'm a wimp."

"Is she alright?" I ask desperately. "What the hell happened?" Reid looks at me grimly and glances over his shoulder. I follow his gaze to the hospital bed to my right where Meredith lay unconscious.

She's bruised all over and her head is heavily bandaged. It's a small relief to see the shallow rise and fall of her chest, but I feel infuriatingly helpless as I watch her lay there.

"Oh, Merlin," I sighed helplessly. Tears prick at my eyes and I try to hold them back unsuccessfully. As the drops fall down my cheeks, I try to reach out my arm to her, even though I know the bed is too far away. I can barely lift my arm above my chest.

Reid carefully leans over me and hands me the bottle Rose had set beside me. "You really should take this. Madam Pomfrey said to give it to you immediately when you wake up." He uncorks the bottle and holds it out. I try to take it, but my arm isn't functioning any better than it was a minute ago. With a look of pity, Reid holds the uncorked bottle up to my lips and allows me to drink it.

"The guys are really going to take the mickey out of me for that one," I say after swallowing the last drop.

Reid sniffs a laugh. "I won't tell them anything."

I turn my head back to Meredith. "Is she going to be okay?"

"She should be. It's just a waiting game, now."

I can feel the potion starting to take effect. The pain over my body eases and my eyes become heavy and I close my eyes into a dreamless sleep.

"Mr. Potter," I hear someone say over me. I'm so tired. It can't be time to wake up, yet. My alarm hasn't gone off.

I try to roll onto my side, away from the light I can tell is on. A sharp stab in my ribs jars me completely awake and I open my eyes to Madam Pomfrey standing over me looking firm. "Come now, Mr. Potter. You shouldn't move quite yet. I needed to wait until you woke up to finish mending your ribs, but it is getting quite late."

The nurse starts prodding at my chest lightly, but not light enough that it doesn't hurt. I take in a sharp breath through my teeth as she probes the worst area. "Hmm… I need to fix several broken ribs, here." Madam Pomfrey pulls out her wand and points it at my chest. "Episkey."

A warm feeling covers my chest, and the pain which was quickly becoming overwhelming again eased and I start breathing easier. I take a deep breath, thankful for the ability to do so, and I lift my arms without issue to rub my eyes. My stiff muscles object, but there is no shooting pain. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."

"I'm not finished, yet. Sit up, please."

With her help, I heave myself into a sitting position. "The potion you took should have taken care of your internal injuries and concussion while you slept. You are very fortunate, Mr. Potter. If your fall hadn't been broken, I think you might have had it much worse." The nurse looks sideways at Meredith for a moment before continuing my examination.

She still hasn't moved. Is she going to be alright?

What the hell happened?

"I'm going to need to keep you in here at least another day, Mr. Potter, just to make sure your concussion has been fully attended to."

"What? But the match this weekend…!"

"None of that, young man. You don't want to be stuck in here for more time than that do you?" Madam Pomfrey places another pillow behind me and gives me a stern look." Don't leave your bed, either," she adds warningly and walks off tutting at me.

Groaning, I lie back on my pillows and put my hands over my face. I have to stay in here another whole day when the first Quidditch match is looming so close. This isn't fair! I just got back my Quidditch privileges!

I look at my left wrist and see only bare skin, hair, and a pretty severe tan line, but my watch isn't there. Frantically I look around the bed for it. I lift of the sheets desperately as, out of the corner of my eye, I see a glint of gold to my left. I turn my head sharply and see it lying on the nightstand next to the empty bottle of potion I took earlier and I hang my head in embarrassed realization. Now that I think about it, it would make the most sense that Madam Pomfrey had removed it when I arrived.

And why would it be under the sheets anyway? I didn't even sleep with my arm under the sheets.

Shaking my head, I grab my watch and look at the time on the face. It's a little before two in the morning. I guess that would make it Monday. I strap it carefully over my wrist and examine the other items on and around the nightstand.

My school bag is on the floor and (in my opinion) an unnecessarily large stack of parchment on the table. My guess would be Rose brought these wonderful gifts to me to fill my down time. I grimace at the thought of homework. I have a ton of it, considering I didn't, and honestly couldn't, do anything this past week. I notice a small folded note on top of the stack of parchment. James, finish your work or I'll owl Aunt Ginny and tell her about your week's worth of detentions for not turning it in. -Rose

I smirk at the threat. What is she, in first year or something?

Of course she would bring me my work. I wonder if she brought it when she came in with Reid. When did they get on a first-name basis, anyway? Well, they are both prefects, so I'm sure that has something to do with it.

I look to my right to glance at Meredith, again, and as I do, I notice something sitting on the ground between our beds that I had missed before. My guitar is sitting there with another note attached to it, this one from Reid. Since we both know that you're probably looking around desperately for something other than homework to ease your boredom, I thought this might help. - Reid

I smile broadly at the note and image the look Rose gave Reid when he brought the guitar. It was probably a Rose specialty reserved for the acts that are exceptionally idiotic in her eyes.

I get that look quite a bit.

I grab my guitar and do my best to pull it out of its case without getting out of bed. I somehow succeed. This would have been a lot easier with magic. Too bad I don't know where my wand is. Madam Pomfrey probably confiscated it.

I feel the frets under my fingers as I start to strum a few random chords. I sigh and look over at Meredith once more. Why hasn't she woken up yet? Reid and Rose didn't say anything about how she got hurt.

What will I say when she wakes up? Is everything going to be better or is she still angry with me?

I lean back on my now inclined bed and play whatever comes to my mind, humming along. Possible causes for Meredith's condition keep zipping through my head, each worse than the one before. I keep periodically glancing over to her bed, hoping I will see some sign of consciousness. Each time I look, a worse explanation forms.

…Meredith being pushed roughly into a wall.

…Meredith falling down several flights of stairs.

…Meredith being attacked in the bathroom by a shady figure.

I stop playing and squeeze my eyes shut and shudder as that last one enters my mind. I don't want to see these things, but there's no way for me to think of anything else while she's still out of it.

"James." A raspy voice from my right grabs my attention. My heart stops.

I whip my head towards Meredith's bed and see signs of her attempting to move. Ignoring the fact that I am not supposed to get out of my bed, put my guitar down and scramble over to Meredith's bed. I gently grab her hand not currently bandaged my eyes start to burn in relief as I realize that she is awake and is going to be okay.

Her eyes open slightly and I give her a gentle smile. Meredith manages a slight smile back, but I can tell she's in pain. She is definitely worse off than I was when I woke up, so I can't even imagine the discomfort she is in right now.

"Hold on, Mer," I tell her, softly. "I need to go tell Madam Pomfrey you're awake." I let go of Mer's had and walk as fast as I can to Madam Pomfrey's office. I knock firmly on the door and wait.

The door opens a minute later revealed Madam Pomfrey in her dressing gown glaring at me sharply. "Mr. Potter, you better have a good reason to be out of bed."

"Yes ma'am," I say quickly. "Meredith's awake." Madam Pomfrey's eyes widen and she jumps into action, grabbing flasks and bandages and her wand.

We make our way towards Meredith's bed, but as we reach it, Madam Pomfrey turns to me and says sharply, "That's enough. Thank you for letting me know Miss Blount has woken, but you need to be in your bed, Mr. Potter."

I open my mouth to object, but stop. There's no real reason for me not to do what she tells me, especially when she is threatening to keep me here longer. I sigh and climb into my own bed, carefully moving my guitar so I don't sit on it.

I wait nervously as Madam Pomfrey heals Meredith as much as possible at the moment, changing a few bandages and clearing off blood and dirt around Mer's face. "I need you to take this potion, dear," Madam Pomfrey tells Mer softly as she holds a flask up to her mouth. "This is going to knock you out of several hours, but you should feel much better when you wake up."

As Madam Pomfrey leaves, I sneak out of my bed and over to Mer's. Her eyes open as I grab her hand again and I watch a tear escape and run down her temple into her hair. I reach up and gently wipe the tear track with my thumb.

"James," she whispers with difficulty. "James, I'm… I'm…"

"Shh… I'm pretty sure talking's not a good idea right now." Another tear leaks out and hits my thumb. I wipe it away and Meredith leans into my touch. Her breathing becomes slower and then steadies as she drifts into her own dreamless sleep.

I watch her relaxed face, taking in every feature. She is so beautiful. I've been such an idiot not to notice before. Meredith breathes deeply in her sleep. My eyes wander to her lips and I lean towards her.

I freeze as my thoughts finally catch up to my actions. I was just about to kiss her when she was unconscious. She would hex me a good one if she found out that I had…if I had.

But I won't. I already did kiss her and she ran away from me.

But then she came back…

And flirted with me?

Is that right? That can't be right.

I'm so confused.

I stand up quickly and my vision immediately starts tunneling to black and I have to reach out and grab Meredith's bed frame to steady myself. I guess Madam Pomfrey knows a thing or two about healing to know I really should stay in bed.

I carefully put my guitar back in its case and lie back down in my bed once more. Exhaustion sweeps over me suddenly. My anxiety over Meredith's condition must have been keeping me awake all this time and now the relief of knowing she'll be okay is letting my body relax enough to realize that I've been through a terrible accident as well.

I better find out what happened tomorrow or I may jinx a few people.

When I find my wand, that is.

"Yes, that's much better." I start to wake to voices near me.

"Alright, then. I'll need to keep you another full day to make sure the potions have worked completely, but you should be just fine."

I open my eyes slowly, squinting against the light in the room. Madam Pomfrey is gathering her equipment from the table next to Mer's bed and Mer is quietly looking down at her hands sitting on her lap.

Madam Pomfrey turns to Meredith with her arms full and says, "I will be sending a few house elves with breakfast for both of you, soon."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Meredith says without much enthusiasm. With a final look of concern, Madam Pomfrey turns and leaves the two of us.

I shift and sit myself up, causing Meredith to jump. She looks at me and her eyes widen before she looks determinedly down at her hands once more.

Silence.

"Good morning," I try, hoping to break the tension.

Mer just nods.

We sit in silence once more and I watch as she rubs her eyes and sniffs, then leans her head back and blinks rapidly. She's crying and she's trying to hide it.

"I'm glad you're alright," I say. Meredith finally looks back in my direction. "You really had me worried, Mer. You were out for over a day and a half." Our eyes meet, but she lowers then and turns away from me again, dropping her gaze back to her hands.

"Mmm," is all I get in response.

A loud crack between our beds breaks the silence that seems to be determined to be between me and Mer. I look down and see a small House Elf bearing two trays of delicious looking food. My stomach grumbles loudly as the smell of pancake and bacon waft up to me. The House Elf hovers a loaded tray into each of our laps.

"Thank you," Meredith mutters. The House Elf gives a little bow and Disapparates.

I grab my fork and immediately dig in. Meredith picks up her own fork, but only shifts around the food on her plate.

"You should probably actually eat," I manage, my mouth half full of roasted potato.

Nothing.

This silence is killing me. I wish she would just say something. Even 'leave me alone' would at least tell me where we stand. I'm just so bloody lost right now.

I finish the last pieces of bacon on my plate and push the tray to the end of the bed. "Is this how it's going to be, now?" I finally ask. "You're not even going to talk to me?"

Meredith pushes her own tray to the end of the bed and hugs her knees into her chest. Why won't she just say something? This really can't be good. There's no way she doesn't hate me and absolutely no way she actually flirted with me. Thinking that she had has to just be an artifact of the accident.

"Look, Mer. I screwed up, big time. I know you're mad at me and I just really hope that, even though I've been a huge prat, we can still be friends. And even though I was nosing into your private business, I want you to know that I care for you and I don't want that to get between us and-"

"Are you alright?" she asks, cutting off what was turning into a rambling train wreck.

My brain stops and there is a pause as I try to gather my scrambled thoughts into something coherent. I really wasn't expecting her to say anything and hearing her voice brought everything in my mind to a screeching halt.

"I'm fine," I manage to say. "I'm supposed to be able to leave by then end of the day. I suspect Pomfrey will try to keep me here longer."

"That's good." Meredith takes a few deep breaths. I still don't know where we stand, but conversation is an improvement.

I wish I had a time turner so I could go back to Saturday morning and stop myself from being such an idiot. Or, at least, I wish that my memory Saturday morning's events had also been caused by head trauma. Mer has had a rough time, and I haven't been able to do anything about it. And I'm the one to cause that to be the case, too! I really am a failure, aren't I?

If she would only give me another chance, just to prove that there is more to me than the idiot that kissed her against her will while she was distressed. I don't deserve another chance, but I am more than the idiot that took advantage of her… just like that wanker, Corner. The fact that I just compared myself to Corner turns my stomach. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten all that food.

"Will I be able to play in the match?" Meredith's question snaps be back to the present. I reach up and muss my hair as I think about it.

"Pomfrey probably won't be able to make you do anything after you're released, but I don't know when that's going to be. I guess the answer is depending on when you are released."

"That's not exactly what I meant."

I cock an eyebrow and give her a questioning look. "What did you mean?"

Meredith drops her forehead onto her legs, hiding her face, and groans. "You are so bloody thick, sometimes, James."

"Thank you," I say cheekily.

"That wasn't a compliment." Meredith leans back and looks at me uneasily. "I thought that, because of what happened, you wouldn't want to let me play."

Wait, what?

"Why wouldn't I want to let you play? We'd be out of a Seeker and there would be no hope in beating those bloody Badgers without you."

Mer is looking at me with a look of utter confusion. "I thought… but, aren't you mad at me?"

It's my turn to be confused, now. "Mad at you? Mer, I couldn't be, let alone stay, mad at you if I tried." I have to be missing something important. I look up at the ceiling, thinking hard. "Why would I be mad at you anyway?

"Well, this," Mer tries, gesturing to both of us, "is all my fault."

"How do you figure that?" This conversation is becoming more and more confusing… apparently for both of us.

"If I hadn't-" Meredith stops, appearing to search for the right word while slight pink appears on her face. "-distracted you, then you would have dodged and you wouldn't be here."

"Distracted?" Mer's face has gone full-blown blush (Mum would be proud). Whatever she's talking about, it's obviously embarrassing.

I shut my eyes tight and will my mind to recreate the events of Saturday. My memories of practice are still a bit hazy. I remember everyone was in good spirits since Meredith seemed to be acting normal. I remember Fred laughing at me for something…

He had watched something…

Me… and Mer?

He was laughing at me and Mer because… my eyes shoot open.

…because she did flirt with me. I feel the blood start to rush to my own face as I fully recall the scene that took place just before I fell off my broom.

And she wasn't even flirting a little. This was all-out, make-the-thick-James-Potter-notice flirting.

My eyes dart back to Meredith. She has her hand on her forehead and she is looking intensely at the bed in front of her. There is a definite aura of awkward in this room right now.

The reality of all of this is starting to sink in and I can't help the smirk that spreads across my face. I watch Meredith rubbing her forehead and whispering quickly to herself. She isn't happy. She doesn't think this is funny. She regrets it.

Yeah. She regrets it.

My smirk drops and I clear my throat. "What happened after that?"

"What happened?" Meredith seems startled by my question and gives me a funny look. "No one told you?"

"When I woke up, Rose and Reid were here, but I wasn't awake long enough to ask many questions. I thought that maybe you could tell me."

Meredith releases her legs, folding them under herself and crosses her arms. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," I add quickly. She doesn't seem to want to be the one to break the news.

Meredith takes a breath and lets it out slowly. Without looking back at me, she says, "I can't. I'm sorry, James."

A creak near the entrance draws our attention to the front of the room. "James! Mer!"

Lorcan, Lysander, and Fred run to our beds and they pat me on the back (it's a good thing I'm better now… prats didn't even ask!) and give Meredith a hug. "Don't you have Potions to get to, Fred?" I ask with a laugh.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Fred responds with a grin. "Seeing my infirm mates is much more important than a Forgetfulness Potion."

"Isn't that a first year lesson?" Meredith inquires accusingly.

"Does that make my statement any less true?"

Meredith rolls her eyes. "You better hope that Roger and Phillip take notes today. I was counting on you since their listening abilities are rubbish."

"James," Lysander starts frantically, "I'm so sorry about the Bludger! I was going on with practice and Lorcan hits a Bludger at me suddenly and I swung to defend myself and it few in your direction and I was positive that you were going to be able to dodge it so I didn't say anything."

"So it was your Bludger that knocked me out?"

"No! It was really my fault, James!" Lorcan interjects. "If I hadn't hit it at Lysander in the first place… I'd been ragging on him all week about his backhand and thought I would try to prove my point."

"Well, then. I think Ly made you eat your words, Lor, considering he gave me a concussion and knocked me out for a day."

The two of them smile in relief. "I'm glad you're better, now, Captain," Lorcan says.

"But we still don't like to be called that," adds Lysander, and they turn their back on me to talk to Meredith.

"I guess I should just give up on it," I say to Fred as the twins start talking animatedly to Mer. "It hasn't stuck yet, and it's been six years."

Fred's usual grin is shockingly absent as I look to him for a response. "Has anyone told you what happened?"

"Well, I gathered that Lysander knocked me out with a stellar backhand."

"Not to you," he says quietly and his eyes flick over to Mer and then back to me.

My face falls. "No. I asked Mer about it, but she was just telling me she couldn't tell me when you lot showed up." Fred's grim expression doesn't change. Actually, it seems to get grimmer. "Are you going to tell me, or make me start guessing? I came up with a few very disturbing scenarios while I was waiting for her to wake up."

"She broke your fall."

It takes a moment for me to comprehend what he just said. "She what?"

Fred nods and takes a breath. "I noticed that you were…" Fred seems to be looking for the right word, now smirking a bit. "You were distracted." I give him a get-on-with-it look and his smirk becomes more pronounced and he raises his eyebrows.

"Drop it, dumb arse," I hiss.

"Yessir, Captain." I flip him off for good measure.

Fred's expression becomes serious once more as he continues, "I saw everything from the rings. Lorcan hit the Bludger at Lysander who batted towards you. I kept waiting for you to move, but you were obviously in a completely different world."

"Alright, I get it. You caught me staring. The rest of the story, please?"

Fred rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. "Roger shouted at you, but by then it was too late. The Bludger hit the back of your head and you started hurtling towards the ground." He pauses and rubs his nose with the back of his hand. "Mer was incredible. The second you started falling she flew into this alarmingly aggressive dive towards you. She flew right to you and tried to grab you, but the combined momentum of you and her made it impossible to completely stop you and you two crashed. Thankfully, Mer was able to slow the fall enough that you both survived."

I don't know what to say. All I can do is watch Meredith as she and the twins are talking mere feet away. I say the one thing that my brain is echoing over and over, "Why? Why did she put her life at risk for me?"

"What do you mean?" Fred doesn't get it, but he also doesn't know what happened that morning.

"I really screwed up, Fred. Why would someone who hates me risk their life for me?"

"You honestly think she hates you?" I don't respond. "Blimey, James. Are you so dense that you would think that any of our friendships would be ruined because you did something stupid? Because, honestly, if that were the case, you wouldn't have any friends. Mer saved you because she's the best flier on this team next to you. Any of the rest of us would have done the same."

"But…"

"What? She's a girl?"

"No…"

"You fancy her?"

"No!" Meredith, Lorcan, and Lysander look over at us as I shout this loud and Fred turns around and waves at them with a dopey smile. Mer rolls her eyes at him again and the three of them continue to converse.

"Right… okay James. Just because you did something stupid, it doesn't matter how stupid it is, and somehow convinced yourself that you screwed things up beyond all repair and there is no hope, doesn't mean it's true." Fred leans closer to me and looks me in the eyes. "You deserve to be happy." He jerks his head in Mer's direction. "Don't ever convince yourself otherwise or I may have to knock some sense into you."

Fred stands up fully and starts walking away. "Bugger off. I'm not getting into your private affairs. I could start giving you unwarranted advice about…"

Fred looks over quickly and gives me a familiar death glare, but I was expecting that. "Don't-"

"Thank you," I say before he can retort. Fred's glare turns into a half-smile and he nods, heading towards the door once more.

"Where do you think you're going?" Mer calls after him from her bed.

"I've got lessons, Mer," Fred replies without turning around. "Or, do you want Phil and Roger's notes for the whole day."

"Smart arse," Mer mutters as he leaves.

"We should go, too, Mer," Lorcan says, standing up out of a chair he procured from somewhere.

"Yeah," Lysander says in agreement. "We had a free period this morning, but Professor Longbottom will have a fit if we skive off Herbology."

Mer and I watch the Scamanders leave. Their absence causes the previous silence between us to return. This time, I welcome it.

"I think I'm going to try to get some more sleep," Mer says after a minute. She lays back and pulls the covers over her face.

I think about what Fred said. I deserve to be happy? That's a nice thought, but it goes both ways. If I'm happy, but Meredith is miserable… What girl would want to be with a guy who took advantage of her when she was vulnerable?

You make it sound a lot worse than just a kiss, my mind scolds. I guess it's right. All the same, she didn't want me to do it.

I look over to Meredith who hasn't moved since she pulled the sheets up. Is Fred right about our friendship at least? I have my doubts. Any hope of maintaining friendship was shot when I kissed her.

I don't know if I could be 'just friends' in any case. That would probably be more than I could handle.