Saturday came, and even Hermione and Dawn were leaping around with hyperactive excitement. Ron constantly seemed about to be sick, and Harry was alternating from taking the piss to telling him it would be fine. Draco had consented to come along, even though it meant sitting at the Gryffindor end. (The match was against Hufflepuff) So he and the girls said goodbye and good luck to Harry and Ron ('you're gonna need it' Draco added.) and went into the stadium. Dawn watched in awe as the two teams rose into the air, and Harry shot up above them to watch for the snitch. Hermione looked sideways at Dawn with an eyebrow raised. The American girl was squeezing her hand so tight it was turning purple.
"Er, Dawn? I'm gonna need that hand."
"Oh! Sorry!" Dawn squeaked. "I'm a little nervous." Draco quickly avoided her hand, (knowing he'd get the same treatment) and put a comforting arm around her instead. Dawn snuggled against him, loving his scent, and the warmth he gave her on the clod November morning. They heard a commotion down the line, and looked to see Faith ploughing her way through startled first years to reach the group of fifth years.
"Budge up." She ordered, and squashed onto the crowded bench between Hermione and Dawn.
"Hi." Dawn said with a raised eyebrow. Faith looked at her, and cracked up. "What!?" Dawn demanded.
"Sorry, sorry, you just looked so much like Buffy just then. Sorry." She controlled her laughter as Dawn pouted and turned away. Hermione smiled too, she knew just what Faith meant, and she'd only met Buffy a couple of times.
"So… what the hell's goin' on?" Faith asked her. She'd never had quidditch explained to her, and was watching the speeding players with a plainly baffled look. Hermione took a deep breath,
"You see Harry up there?" Faith nodded, "Well, he's the Gryffindor seeker, and he has to look for and catch the snitch…." She explained the whole game, with the help of Draco, who couldn't help butting in now and then. Eventually Faith understood, by which time the score was 60-20 to Gryffindor. So they went back to watching properly, even though Faith kept asking more questions. After a while she quieted down, and just watched.
When the score was 90-60, people were getting worried- Ron wasn't doing extremely well. Sure, they were winning, but not by far. Faith was watching intently, finding herself truly interested. Her slayer senses picked up the tiniest buzzing, and she noticed something about a foot form Dawn's face, and moving very fast. Her hand shot out, almost punching Dawn in the face, but instead closing her fingers around the speeding object. Dawn's eyes went wide, and she yelped.
"What the hell was that for!" she cried. But Faith was looking down at her hand, where the thing was struggling.
"What the f…" She said.
"Faith!" Hermione laughed, "Apparently slayers would be good seekers, that's the snitch!!"
"Oh." Faith said, a little shocked. Dawn, getting over her shock, looked closer,
"Huh." She said. "Erm… shouldn't we let it go?"
"Oh yeah." Faith said. She held out her hand, and released the small golden ball. It hovered for a few moments before darting away. But a few moments was enough. A larger object was racing towards them- Harry. He yelled,
"Hiya!" As he passed them in a blur, following the snitch. The small group leant quickly over the edge to watch him go as he headed towards the ground. As happened so often in Harry's matches, the whole game had stopped to watch him. He was in a vertical dive, the Hufflepuff seeker miles behind. Suddenly, he veered upwards as the snitch changed direction, and started on a terrifying chase around the stadium. But Harry had flown against a dragon. He was not giving up. Now the snitch was going up. And up. And up, until the people in the raised seats could barely even see him. But they heard the whoop of joy, and he was soon speeding down again, the snitch clasped in his hand. As the Gryffindor team headed up towards him, there was a flash, and when the bright light was gone, so was Harry.
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Hmmm… should I finish the chapter there? I think I might….
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Ha ha, no I'm not THAT mean… actually, yeh I am, but it's not long enough to bother posting yet. Dammit. ;)
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All four cried out, along with the rest of the stadium.
"What the f*ck was that!?" Faith exclaimed, not bothering to mind her language.
"I don't know." Hermione gasped, still starring at the place Harry had been. "Maybe someone apparating and disapparating again?"
"That doesn't work with more than one person, they couldn't've taken him with." Draco replied, "You know that Granger. "Anyway, it was inside Hogwarts."
"Maybe they were above the dome of spells?"
"I don't think so." Dawn said thoughtfully. "I've seen something like that before." They all looked at her expectantly. "That wasn't someone apparating, you all know it doesn't look like that, and we've established it's not possible. But none of you have seen a wiccan teleportation spell, have you?" They all frowned, and in any other situation Dawn would have laughed at those expressions. "That's what that flash was. That was wiccan." While Hermione and Draco looked up, wondering what that really meant, Faith continued to frown.
"Wait a minute. Flash?" She said, "Singular?"
"Yeah." Dawn replied, "Flash. That great big, bright flash…"
"But… you guys didn't see the other ones?" They all swung to face the slayer.
"What do you mean?" Dawn asked slowly.
"Well, there was the bright one, but at almost exactly the same time, two green… kinda bolts… like wand jets… oh shit…" She realised what it had been. "Two Avada Kedavra shots."
"You're sure?" Hermione asked.
"Positive."
"So… if Dawn thinks that the big flash was a teleportation, and someone tried to kill Harry too… then did they kill him and take the body, or did the teleport save him?"
"The green was just after, he was already gone." Faith said.
"But if someone was shooting at Potter… they must still be near." Draco stated. They turned to look out across the pitch again, to see the end of a struggle between Ron and his twin brothers. Ron broke away from their grip, powered by pure fury and fear, and sped off into the sky, heading desperately towards the point where Harry had been. In a second, Hermione realised that he was heading into the line of sight of Harry's attackers. She screamed with every ounce of breath she had,
"RON!! NOOO!!!" He didn't even glance around. However, a few seconds later, he jerked to a stop, nearly falling off his broom. This gave the twins time to reach him, and wrestle him back down. Hermione didn't understand. She knew Ron had not stopped voluntarily. When she turned around, she saw a wide-eyed Faith supporting Dawn's limp form. Faith was looking down at one of her own hands, which had a red handprint wrapped around it.
"What happened?" Draco was asking. Hermione repeated it, and Faith stuttered,
"I don't know. He flew off, she grabbed my hand, he stopped, she collapsed." Faith stumbled backwards into a chair, but not from Dawn's weight.
"Are you ok?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah… I… just a bit drained… busy day I guess…" Faith truly didn't know what had just happened, but she did have some ideas. "We have to get her Madame Pomfrey. Go see if Ron is ok- tell him what we know. Then go to Dumbledore- I'll meet you in his office. Don't let him dismiss you." Faith rapped out. Hermione nodded, and looked to Draco.
"I'm staying with Dawn." He insisted. Faith nodded acquiescence. Then she picked Dawn up, cradling her body, which seemed so small now, and started towards the exit.