– Chapter Fifteen  –

An Ugly Game of Quidditch

   Harry's eyes snapped open, but there was nothing to see. Nothing but a beautiful white mist and it was all around him. He couldn't see anything else. He couldn't even see the ground beneath his feet as he realized he was standing. It almost looked like he was standing on air.

   He walked forward slowly, scanning the area with his eyes. Someone or something was here. He could feel it. He wasn't sure what it was but something inside him wanted badly to find it…whatever it was.

   "Hello!" Harry called out into the mist but he received no answer. "Hello!" he called again but still he didn't receive a response.

   He sighed. He should have known. There was nothing out there. Well, besides him but what he wanted to know was where 'there' was. He hadn't the faintest idea as to where he could be. The last thing he could remember was…

   Harry shook his head. That was the last thing he wanted to think about, but now that he had thought of it the images wouldn't go away.

   "Come on, Harry. Don't think about that now," he told himself firmly but his mind wouldn't listen. The images continued to flash before his eyes: Voldemort, the green light, his anger, and his powers, Voldemort exploding into blue dust…

   "No!" Harry screamed out as he collapsed to his knees. He gripped the sides of his head as everything came crashing down on him: The tournament, the attack at Privet Drive, the attack by the Dementors, his visions with Voldemort, his new powers, all the deaths he has caused…It kept coming and coming. Never stopping, never ending, just wave after wave of horrible memories followed by more and more and more and-

   "Harry?!" a voice said forcefully, breaking through the memories. The tidal wave of memories finally started to subside.

   Harry breathed hard and deep, trying to control himself. That's when he noticed that someone was knelling in front of him and holding his shoulders.

   Harry slowly lowered his hands from the sides of his head and looked up to meet a startling pair of hazel eyes. Harry's eyes opened wide with shock. How could…what?

   The man seemed to sense Harry's conflict and eased back. He then smiled slightly. "Well, nice to see you too."

   Harry opened his mouth to say something but couldn't think of anything intelligent to say so he closed it again. He didn't understand this. How could it be possible? He finally tired to speak again, "D-dad?"

   James Potter smile brightened at his son though concern still shone through his eyes. "Yes, Harry. It's me."

 Harry's brow frowned. "But how-"

   "This is just a dream world, Harry. That's all it is," James said. "I came here because you needed me."

   Harry's eyes tear up and he smiled brightly. His Dad. His father was right in front of him. He could hardly believe his eyes.

   Then Harry did something he had always wanted to do. He leaned forward and hugged James. James wrapped his arms around Harry and held him tightly, not ever wanting to let go.

   Harry cried softly into his father's shoulder. He couldn't believe that his dad was really here. Even if it was only a dream, Harry didn't really care. He was so happy to see his father, but he was also very upset because of everything that had been happening in his life.

   James sensed this and tried his best to comfort his son, "Sssh Harry. It's alright."

   Harry shook his head, "No. It'll never be alright."

   James leaned back slowly and forced Harry to look at him.

"Harry, listen to me," he began, "Everything is not as bad as it seems.  Know that your life isn't the best right now and I know that it really has never been very good, but it could be a lot worst and things will get better."

  Harry nodded softly, wiping his tears away. He wanted to believe his father, but with everything that had been happening he wasn't sure if he could. How could anything ever get any better when Voldemort was still out there and with the way all the students at school had been treating him? It just couldn't, could it?

   "How do you know about my life?" Harry asked softly, looking down. "I mean you've been…dead."

   James chuckled softly. "It doesn't matter whether I'm dead or not, Harry, I still watch you. You're capable of so many things and I know that things will turn out alright in the end."

   Harry shook his head once again. "How can it? I'm too dangerous."

   James frowned, "You're not dangerous, Harry. You're just untrained."

   "I don't think I can be trained," Harry said sadly, thinking back to how his powers had totally taken control of him back in the Great Hall. He hadn't liked what he had become nor did he understand it.

   "Harry-"

   "You saw what I did!" Harry yelled, looking up at James now, "You saw what I'm capable of! Sooner or later someone's going to get hurt." Harry stared back down at his knees.

   James sighed. He took his hand and placed it under Harry's chin forcing him to meet his eyes, "You're far too hard on yourself, Harry. You're not dangerous and I would know because…because I went through the same thing. Well, almost the same thing."

   Harry frowned deeply, "What?"

   James just smiled and moved to sit down properly on the ground. "Do you remember that night you were talking to Sirius and he said that when I got mad, sometimes you couldn't even recognize the room I was in."

   Harry nodded

   "Well, what do you think that was?" James asked.

   "But you were angry," said Harry.

   "Weren't you?" James answered, raising an eyebrow.

   Harry sighed, "Okay, I guess I was angry, but what about after the sorting-"

   "You were trying to help someone," James interrupted. "I used to do that tons of times. Marauders, remember. There were many times I would end up bailing us out of trouble, especially Sirius. That man has never been able to keep himself out of trouble. Even now that he's supposedly a adult."

   Harry chuckled, knowing exactly how right his father was, thinking back to how McGonagall had chased Sirius around the school. But then something crossed his mind. "But dad, if you have the same powers I have, why didn't you use them when Voldemort attacked us?"

   James frowned and his eyes darkened. Harry instantly regretted bringing it up. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

   "No, it's okay. You deserve to hear this," James answered sadly.

   He sighed deeply. "First off Harry, my powers aren't exactly like yours. Yours are slightly different and much more powerful, but then again you had Lily and I as parents so that would make sense."

   Harry watched his father closely. He wished he hadn't brought the subject up. James was having a really hard time trying to get the words out.

   James continued, "When Lily became…pregnant with you, Harry, something happened to me. My powers somehow became linked to you so that if anything happened to you, my powers would somehow protect you. It protected Lily from many small things when she was pregnant.

   "We only really found out what was going on after you were born," James said. "Little funny thing would happen to you. I remember one time Pet…" He paused for a second to control his anger, "P-peter dropped you and instead of falling to the ground you just slowly floated down. Lily almost had a heart-attack from that one."

   "Well, how did you find out it was your powers? It could have been mine," Harry said.

   James shook his head, "No, they were mine. I could tell. I used to get very tired fairly quickly and I almost always felt drained," he sighed, "Anyway, the night Voldemort came, I knew something was wrong. My powers had been running high all day because of how tense I was. When I realized what was happening, I told Lily to take you and go, but I had a feeling she wasn't going to make it out," he chuckled sadly, "And I was right, wasn't I?"

   Harry stayed silent, not knowing what he could say or do to make his father feel better. He had seen what had happened in his vision, but more then that, he really knew nothing.

   A few more moments passed and James continued, his voice much heavier and darker, "Voldemort entered the house. I had watched Lily try to get out the back then run up the stairs with you when she couldn't get out so I stood guard at the bottom of the stairwell." He looked up at Harry sadly. "I wasn't able to use my powers to stop Voldemort, Harry, because they were all focused on you."

  Harry sat in stunned silence for a few moments thinking over what his father had told him. James' powers had been focused around him. Did that mean that his father's death had been his fault? If James hadn't had his powers focused around him then maybe his father could have lived.

   James seemed to sense what Harry was thinking about and frowned deeply. "Don't start blaming yourself for what happened to me and your mother, Harry, because it was not your fault. You understand me?"

   Harry nodded. His father was right, but he still felt horrible able the whole thing.

   Harry looked back down at the ground and sighed sadly, "You blame yourself for mum's death, don't you?"

   James was taken aback by the question, but he then sighed. "Yes," he said softly. "I do."

   Harry looked up at James, "But you still get to be with her, right? I mean you're both…dead."

   Something flickered within James' eyes. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking away from Harry for a moment. "It's…complicated, Harry."

   "What do you mean?" Harry asked.

   "That's just it," James answered. "I don't know."

   Harry frowned in confusion. "But…you're still with her, right?"

   James shook his head sadly, "No Harry, I'm not and before you go asking why, I don't know. The situation is far too complicated and you have your own problems to worry about so please just don't ask."

   Harry nodded. He wished he had never brought it up. It seemed to pain his father greatly just thinking about his mother. Harry wished he could have known her, but life was full of unfulfilled wishes and dreams.

   James shook his head to clear his thoughts, "Harry, there's something I need to tell you. Dumbledore isn't sure if you're ready to hear this, but I think you are and you have a right to know."

   Harry nodded and waited patiently.

   "There was a few reasons why Voldemort wanted you and me dead. Some reasons I'm not allowed to say, but the one I need to tell you is this: Voldemort, as you know, is the heir of Slytherin. Now for thousands of years, Slytherin and Gryffindor have always fought. Voldemort attacked us because he was trying to end that conflict once and for all."

  Harry's eyes opened wide and understanding. "What?"

   James smiled, "You are the last remaining heir of Gryffindor Harry."

   "But how-"

   "Remember in your second year when you pulled Godric's sword out of the sorting-hat and Dumbledore said that it would take a true Gryffindor to pull that out of the hat?" James said.

   "Yes."

   "Well, what he meant was it would take a true heir of Gryffindor to pull that out of the hat."

   Harry sat in silence for a moment trying to digest everything he had heard. He was the last remaining heir of Gryffindor. It was too unbelievable to believe. Out of all the Gryffindors that have gone through Hogwarts, he was the heir.

   Who else knew? Harry knew Dumbledore knew and that was just one more thing to be mad at the old wizard for. Dumbledore hardly ever told him anything anymore it seemed, but who else besides Dumbledore knew? Professor McGonagall? Remus? Sirius even?

   James watched his son trying to handle this. It was hard to just watch, but else could he do.

"Harry," he began, "You have to go back now. There are a lot of people who are worried about you."

   Harry looked up at his father sharply, "But I don't want to leave."

   James sighed and pulled Harry into a hug, "I know Harry, but you have too. Your friends are worried about you and so is Remus and Sirius."

   Harry pulled back, "Will I ever see you again?"

   James smiled, "I think it's a safe bet to say that you can count on it."

   Harry smiled brightly then as his father began to disappear.

   Harry slowly opened his eyes. Everything was dark and blurry, but he didn't need his eyes to tell him where he was. The lumpy bed and the smell of medicine gave it away. He was in the hospital wing.

   "Harry?" said a voice that Harry's mind registered as being Remus. Harry turned his head to see the blurry outline of his History of Magic Professor leaning over him.

   Remus handed Harry his glasses, which he put on and the world came into focus. Looking out the windows, Harry noticed that it was nighttime. He slowly pulled himself into a sitting position and turned to face Remus.

   "What happened?" Harry asked.

   Remus sighed, "A lots happened, Harry. Do your remember?"

   Harry stared down at the sheets sadly, "Yes."

   Remus nodded, "Quite a few things have happened since then, Harry. You've been unconscious for nearly two weeks."

   "Figures," Harry mumbled. He slowly looked around the room again until his eyes landed on the slumped form of Sirius, who was currently asleep in a chair beside Harry's bed.

   Harry smiled slightly at the sight, "How long has he been here?"

   Remus glanced over at Sirius and chuckled, "Oh, he's barely left your side. The first few days you were in here, he was away at the Ministry, but since he's been back he's only left your side to teach."

   Harry looked over at Remus sharply, "Why did Sirius have to go to the Ministry?"

   "To rely Dumbledore's message. Sirius has a good way of frightening people into listen to him so, of course, he was the best for the job," Remus smiled.

   Harry laughed slightly, imagining Sirius towering over Fudge, "Did it work?"

   Remus sighed, "Unfortunately, no. Fudge still doesn't want to believe you or Dumbledore. I guess he didn't really listen to Dumbledore's warning."

   "So, what's Dumbledore going to do about it?" Harry asked.

   Remus chuckled, "He's going to do what Fudge should be doing, which is inform the magical community of Voldemort's return."

   Harry nodded. He hoped that people would be bettered prepared if they knew. He was sick and tired of watching people die.

   'Everything's not as bad as it seems. Things will get better,' The voice rang through Harry's head. 'Dad,' he thought sadly.

   "So," Harry began slowly, decided that he wouldn't say that he has seen his father, "Is that all I missed?"

   Remus just laughed.

   It was another week before Harry was let out of the Hospital wing and was he ever glad to get out. He didn't think he could stand another minute of the place.

   People were all treating him much differently now, even the professors, save the ones who knew about his new powers. Most people seemed afraid of him, even some of the Gryffindors, but the Gryffindors who knew Harry better were amazed and after congratulating him on kicking Voldemort's butt went back to treating him as they normally would.

   Harry had missed more then he had thought. The Gryffindor team had had their tryouts already just to get them done and out of the way, but had decided not to make a final decision on the choices until Harry had come back. He was the captain after all. So instead they had just written down the results for him to review and Ron had magically taped the whole thing for Harry to view later.

   "I've missed way too much," Harry muttered, scribbling down some more notes on the effects of the Conglaburous potion as he munched on some toast.

   It was Friday morning, the day before the first Quidditch match of the season and Harry was attempting to finish his potions homework; Snape was going to kill him.

   Since he had gotten let out of the Hospital wing, Harry had been juggling his homework, classes and Quidditch practice. The new team had been practicing every day since Harry had been detained so late and he still wasn't sure whether they were ready or not. Not only that but he had a mountain worth of homework to do and he was having a lot of trouble trying to get it all done and caught up.

   "Don't worry about it too much, Harry. I'm sure it won't take you too long to get caught up," said Hermione, looking over one of her books.

   "It's not as easy as it seems, Hermione. Not only do I have work from my normal classes, but I also have work from my extra courses. The work I've been given from those classes is harder then this stuff," Harry said, holding up his potion's book, "And it takes a lot longer to get done."

   Ron took a bite out of his apple, "Do you think we'll win tomorrow?"

   Harry laughed at Ron's abrupt change in topic, "Ron, you'll do fine. Stop worrying about it."

   He shook his head. After looking over the results from the Quidditch tryout, the team had decided that Ron was the best choice for keeper and, much to Harry's and few others's dismay, Colin Creevy was chosen for chaser. To bad Ron wouldn't stop worrying about tomorrow's match.

   "You really think so?" Ron asked.

   Both Hermione and Harry rolled their eyes at him.

"Yes!" they chimed.

Ron smiled sheepishly.

   "Oh," Hermione suddenly said, waving her hands around in excitement as she let her book flop on the table, "We forgot to tell you. Sirius found a better reference of the patronus so he had us do our essays over, including the new information. We have to hand them in today."

   "Also we've been practicing the patronus and Sirius has been testing us on it. A few of us still have to go. I didn't do so well," said Ron sadly.

   "Oh come one," Hermione whined. "You were at least able to make a mist, which is better then most people."

   Harry smiled, "Have you gone yet, Hermione?"

   Hermione shook her head. "No. I'll be going today for sure though," she then glanced down at her magical watch. "We better get going."

   Harry sighed, "Well, at least we have Defence before Potions."

   After Harry had packed away all his books, the trio left for Sirius' class. 

   "Could everyone please have their essays out on their desks, then I'll come round and collect them," Sirius said as he entered the classroom.

   Everyone immediately pulled out their essays, even Harry who had luckily finished his when he had been stuck in the Hospital wing. Most people's essays were about two rolls of parchment, except for Hermione and Harry's. Hermione's was nearly five rolls long but Harry beat her with eight.

   Ron and Hermione stared at Harry's essay in shock. Not only was his essay eight rolls of parchment long, but also the writing was very small and neat.

   "Harry. How on Earth did you write all that?" Ron asked.

   Harry just stared down at his essay and shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I don't really know. I just started writing. It was original twelve rolls long, but I was able to cut it down.'

   Both Hermione and Ron stared at Harry dumfounded, but didn't say anything more about it as Sirius came round to collect the essays. He didn't even bat an eye at the length of Harry's essay. He just picked it up and went on.

   After all the essays had been collected, Sirius placed them neatly on his desk and then pulled up the box, which held the Bogart.

   "Okay," Sirius began, "I'd like to get this patronus out of the way so that we can continue on with the Grizzlyfide, that three horns creature we were discussing the other day, but I will be testing you all periodically on the patronus throughout the year."

   He then moved behind the box, "So, those of you that haven't gone, line up in front of my desk and I want the rest of you to stand back."

    It's didn't take the class long to do as they had been told. Sirius motioned for Harry to come stand by him and when Harry gave him a questioning look, Sirius merely said, "It's a lot easier to keep the Bogart in the form of a Dementor when you're helping."

   Hermione stood ready in front of the box.

   "Is everyone ready?" Sirius asked. The class nodded, "Okay, Hermione. Go!"

   He grasped the lid and pulled it straight off.

   The light's flickered and died as a wave of cold swept through the room. Harry held his breath as the Dementor rose out of the box and turned to face Hermione. Luckily she was far enough away so that the Bogart wouldn't change shape.

   "Expecto Patronum!"  Hermione shouted and a silver mist appeared in front of her. The Dementor couldn't pass it.

   It stayed like that for a few moments. Harry noticed that Hermione was having trouble holding the mist in place. Finally Sirius jumped forward and shouted, "Riddikulus!"

   Once the Bogart was back in the box, Sirius made sure everyone was all right. Harry leaned heavy against the desk. He hated Dementors.

   It was another fifty minutes before everyone finished and by then, everyone was exhausted. The best anyone had been able to do against the Dementor was to make a little mist.

   "Great," said Sirius, closing the lid on the box again, "Most of you are now able to make at least an indistinct patronus. With time and practice, you'll be able to make a distinct one.

   "Now, as most of you are now dead on your feet," Sirius chuckled a bit as he gazed around the class to see everyone sprawled against their desks for support, "I'll let you go a few minutes early, but don't go disturbing the other classes. Dismissed."

   The class slowly trudged their way out of the class.

   "Coming Harry?" Hermione said, when she saw that Harry hadn't moved.

   "No, I get to have one of my extra classes now," Harry answered. He had his head down on top of his folded arms, which were resting on his desk.

   "Oh, so that's why you're always twenty minutes late for Potions and Snape never yells at you," Ron said.

   Harry playfully gave Ron a swat as he and Hermione headed out of the class. After they had left, Harry dragged his butt out of his chair and joined Sirius at the front of the class. His Godfather was currently storing the Bogart box under his desk and cleaning some papers away.

   "Need any help?" Harry asked.

   "No, I'm fine, but you could push some of those desks back a bit. We're going to need a lot of room for you to perform that charm," Sirius said, opening one of his drawers and shoving some papers into it.

   Harry sighed as he turned towards the desks "Great. First you exhausted me, then you get me to push furniture around and then you expect me to perform that charm which drains my energy enough as it is, might I add."

   Sirius merely looked at him and laughed, "Hey, you offered to help. It's not my fault that you decided to tier yourself out even more. I was going to let you just sit at your desk and rest, but hey, it's your fault and you can't back out of it now," he added at the end when Harry turned around and opened his mouth to say something.

   Harry grumbled as he started shoving desks back. "Just don't hurt me too much," Harry grunted. "I've already seen far too much of the Hospital wing this year then I would have liked and I'd prefer not to have to go back there for a while yet."

   Sirius chuckled. "I promise I won't hurt you…too much."

   Harry rolled his eyes, "Since when have I ever been able to trust 'that' voice?"

   After a few more minutes of pushing around desks and bickering, both Sirius and Harry were ready. They faced each other in the middle of the class, their wands ready.

   "Ready?" Sirius asked, a smile spreading across his face.

   Harry grumbled, "As ready as I can be with you having that look."

   Sirius laughed slightly then he turned serious, "Now, remember what I said. If you can't block the curse, I'm taking it off right away. I don't want you getting hurt," Sirius warned.

   Harry nodded, "I know. Besides, since you don't want to hurt me, shouldn't it maybe only give me a nose bleed?"

   Sirius shrugged, "Maybe, but you never now. I'm just warning you."

   Harry sighed, "Alright then."

   Sirius nodded, "Okay, Crutio!"

   "Adripere Cretio!" Harry shouted and a silver shield appeared in front of him. The curse hit it and the shield rippled then shattered. Harry only felt the pain from the curse for a split second before Sirius pulled it off, but it hadn't even hurt nearly as much as when Voldemort had done it one him.

   "You alright Harry?" Sirius asked.

   "Ya, I'm fine," Harry answered, whipping his forehead with the sleeve of his robe.

   Sirius looked doubtful. "Okay, we're only going to try this one more time today before we call it quits. I don't want to expose you to that curse too much and you're exhausted."

   Harry nodded.

   "Okay, get ready," Sirius said, "Crutio!"

   "Adripere Cretio!!!" 

   Harry woke up earlier then he would have liked the next morning though he wasn't at all surprised. He was excited about the Quidditch match and had a hard time falling asleep in the first place. The only thing that had him disappointed was what had happened yesterday with his Cretia.

   It hadn't gone the way he would have liked. He still couldn't get it. Sirius had said that it would take practice and he understood that, but it was just frustrating him to no end. It reminded him of what it had been like when Remus had been trying to teach him the patronus in his third year.

   Harry sighed, rolled over and tried to fall back asleep but it was difficult now that he was already wide-awake.

    "Dammit!" Harry muttered in frustration, finally giving up on sleep all together. So he just got up quietly, dressed, picked up his Lightenbolt and walked silently out of dormitory.

   It was a little on the cool side in the common room since the fire had long since gone out. Not that Harry minded too much. He was use to the cold having lived with the Dursleys all those years in a cupboard with very little clothing or blankets. 

   Not wanting to dwell too much on those memories, Harry slowly made his way through the portrait hole and headed for the Great Hall. It was early in the morning, but he did pass a few teachers and students along the way, some nodding in greeting at him and others giving him curious stares. He ignored those ones and continued on his way.

   By the time the Great Hall really started to begin to fill with people, Harry had already eaten a full plate of pancakes and was just starting on some bacon.

   "Oh, I've never been this nervous for anything before," said Ron as he took a seat beside Harry.

   Harry just turned to him a smiled as he swallowed some bacon, "Ron, you just need to relax. Just play like you did in the practices and you'll do fine."

   "Oh, is little Ronnykins scared?" Fred teased as he a George sat down near them.

   "Don't worry too much about it, bro. You'll do fine," George added, "Course we can't always vouch that the Slytherins will go easy on you. They could decided that you need a new face and send a Bludger your way-"

   "And you'll stop it," Harry said, giving both Fred and George a stern look as he did so. Ron was nervous enough as it was; he really didn't need him getting frightened to top it off.

   "I'll bet it'll be raining and there'll be thunder and lighten and stuff," Ron said slowly, taking a bit out of his toast but Harry noticed his hand was shacking slightly.

   But Ron was definitely wrong. When everyone started heading down towards the pitch, the weather was a bit chilly and it was certainly windy and overcast, but there wasn't any lightning and there wasn't any rain. Harry didn't think they'd have too much problem in this weather as he entered the change rooms.

   The team changed into their scarlet robes and waited for Harry to start his pre-match pep talk.

   "Okay guys," Harry began. "I'm not Wood-"

   "Thank heavens for that!" Fred shouted.

   "But I still know that we can win this. We've trained hard and have some great new players so we deserve to win. Now lets get on out there and show those nasty Slytherins what it means to be a Gryffindor!" Harry finished.   

   "Yeah!!!" they all shouted and headed out of the change rooms.

   They walked out onto the pitch to the sound of ¾ of the school cheering for them. The Slytherin team, dressed in their ugly green and silver robes, were standing smugly in the middle of the pitch. They looked as mean as ever.

   A cloaked figure stood in the back of the stands high above the pitch and watched cheerfully as Harry shook hands with the Slytherin captain and took flight. He couldn't wait to see Harry in action.

   "And they're off, Gryffindor in possession, Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor heading for the goal…"

   Harry watched the game from high above, keeping an eye out for the snitch. He could already tell that this game was going to get really ugly. The Slytherins were really bashing it up. They were hitting the Gryffindor team hard and in any way that they could. Soon they were in the lead.

   "Oh, another miss for Gryffindor. Slytherin leads forty to thirty!"

   'Great, just what we need,' Harry thought to himself grimly.

The massive crowds below him screamed and cheered as the match went on, making it hard for Harry to make out the commentary. Bludgers were whipping past him, just barely missing him sometimes, but still he kept his eyes out for the snitch. If only it would appear. The players below him were all moving so quickly that Harry could hardly see what was happening anymore. All he saw now were blurs of green and red.

   Finally, Harry spotted it. The little speck of gold that was hovering over by the Slytherin goal post as though it had been trying to hid.

   Harry then spared a glance over towards Malfoy, making sure the weasel hadn't seen it yet. Malfoy was just a few feet below him, watching his every move ready to make a move if Harry saw the snitch.

   Harry laughed to himself. 'If that's the way you want to do it Malfoy, then prepare yourself for the consequences.'

   Harry sped off, away from the snitch, towards the Gryffindor side of the pitch. Malfoy quickly followed. The players whipped past Harry, but he was able to avoid then easy with his new Lightenbolt. He glanced quickly back at Malfoy to see that he was having a hard time keeping up and was frantically searching around for the snitch. 'Better lose him before he realizes that I'm not chasing it.'

   With a slight movement, Harry started to plummet down to the ground, Malfoy close at his heel.

   Malfoy came up beside Harry and started shoving him. Then he grinned at Harry. "Having fun, Scarhead?"

   Harry threw a nasty look Malfoy's way then concentrated on the ground that was quickly coming up towards them. Malfoy wasn't paying all that much attention to it.

   The cloaked figure held his breath as Harry and Malfoy plummet towards the ground. He had seen Harry pull this move on Sirius, but Sirius hadn't been trying to knock Harry off his broom. 'Come on, Harry, Come on.'

   The ground was so close now. 'Three…Two…ONE!!!' Harry pulled out of the dive and bolted his way towards the Slytherin end of the pitch, glad to see that the snitch was still there. He lay flat on his stomach to gain speed, not bothering to see whether or not Malfoy had been able to pull out of the dive safely. He really did not care.

   Harry could faintly hear the crowds screaming in the background, but the wind drowned most of it out as he whipped past. His scarlet robes whipped around behind him and clung to his body tightly as he went, but he ignored it. His eyes stayed focused on the snitch.

   The snitch seemed to sense that it was being chased and sped off quickly, trying to avoid him but to no avail. Harry was just far too fast on his Lightenbolt for it to out run him.

   "HARRY, LOOKOUT!!!" Harry whipped his head around at Fred's voice, but it was too late. A Bludger crashed into Harry's shoulder, almost knocking him off his broom. He bit his lip as the pain hit him. The Bludger had successfully dislocated his shoulder. His arm now lay lifeless at his side. Pain shot up his arm as he grasped it and pulled it across his chest.

   He quickly scanned ahead of him, ignoring the pain to search for the snitch. He found it, a few meters ahead of him, moving away fast. He quickly sped off after it. It wasn't too hard for him to catch up.

   The snitch was directly in front of him now, moving around madly as though it knew it was about to be caught. Harry quickly stretched out his good arm, trying to get a hold of it without falling off his broom.

   'Just a bit closer…' and he head it. His fingers wrapped around the frantically moving snitch, it's wings beating fast against his hand.

   Madame Hooch blew the whistle and shouted, "Gryffindor Wins!!!"

  The cloaked figure smiled as Harry waved the snitch around and the crowd broke out into massive cheers. He was concerned about Harry's shoulder, but Madame Pomfrey would deal with that. 'Way to go, Harry,' he thought as he disappeared.

   Harry slowed the broom down and stopped in midair, sighing deeply but the winched in pain. Madame Pomfrey was not going to be very happy with him once she saw this.

   "Hey! Potter!" Harry whipped his head to the right just in time to see a greenish blur before it crashed headlong into him, knocking him clear off his broom.

   It felt like an eternity before Harry finally hit the ground, though he wished he hadn't for he had landed hard on his dislocated shoulder. He screamed out in pain and tried to see what was happening around him, but it hurt too much to do anything but stay still.

   Everything had happened so fast that he wasn't quite sure what had happened. He could just barely hear the sound of his own name being called frantically and he felt someone lift him gently from the ground but it hurt too much to pay attention. Not to mention that his head now felt like it was being split in half.

   He opened his eyes slowly just in time to see Sirius, Dumbledore and a few others crowded around him before he blanked out.

   "This boy can never seem to stay out of trouble, can he?"

   "It wasn't really his fault Madame Pomfrey-"

   "Malfoy hit him."

   "Well the Slytherins lost points for that and Malfoy is getting a few dozen detentions-"

   "Detentions! He should get EXSPELLED!!!"

   Harry could hear the voices, but his mind was still moving too slow for him to understand them. He didn't even know where he was or how he had gotten there? All he did know was that his arm felt like it was on fire and his head felt like it had tiny little knives being pushed slowly into it.

   "I still can't understand why Malfoy would do that. He's never hurt Harry this badly in a Quidditch match before and besides the game was already over-"

   "Hermione, this is Malfoy we're talking about. Why does that creep have a reason to do anything?"

   Quidditch…Malfoy…Harry's eyes snapped open.

   He was lying on a bed in the Hospital wing…again with the whole Gryffindor team, Hermione and Sirius standing around him.

   "Harry?" Sirius asked worryingly, having seen his Godson open his eyes.

   Harry slowly smiled at him, "Hi."

   Everyone breathed a sigh in relief.

   "Harry, you have really got to stop scaring us like that. We thought you had died," said Ron.

   "It'll take a bit more then falling off my broom to kill me, Ron, don't worry," said Harry as he slowly pulled himself into a sitting position with Sirius's help. His arm still ached but he knew someone had banged it back into place since he could move it now…painfully.

   Harry turned and watched everyone closely, "What was that about Malfoy?"

   "Oh, he's getting a few dozen detentions for knocking you clear off your broom after the game had already ended, but personally I think he should get kicked out of school," Ron answered glumly, crossing his arms across his chest and frowning.

   "But nobody asked you," Hermione added.

   Everyone snickered as Ron scowled even more.

   "Fine, be that way," he said as he turned and headed for the door.

   "Hey Ron?" Harry called after him. Ron turned back. "Great playing," Harry said with a smile.

   Ron smiled back and silently left the wing.