Chapter 8

Rose was officially avoiding me.

When I tried to sit next to her at breakfast, she promptly got up (with her plate of bacon) and walked over to the Ravenclaw table without even glancing back. I heard her talking to Albus and Clarice and sighed.

"Y'know, Allie, I don't think she's really mad at you anymore," said James. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously! She's a Weasley, and not to stereotype or anything, but Weasleys hold grudges. Ask anyone."

"So if she's not mad at me anymore then why won't she even sit next to me?"

"Who knows? It's Rose; I gave up trying to understand her years ago. Say, Allie, you got any plans for today?"

"Nope, except homework. Why?"

"Homework? On a Saturday? You're such a goody two shoes! You're giving my Aunt Hermione a run for her money."

"Oh, stuff it. Why did you want to know?"

"I was gonna take my broom out for a spin and was wondering if you wanted to come along."

"Sure, why not? It beats homework."

He smiled. "Excellent. Have you got a broom?"

"Nope. Muggle-born first-year-would-be, remember?"

"Right. Will, mate, can she borrow yours?"

Will pretended to look horrified. "My baby Nova 500?"

"That's the one." I said cheerfully.

"Sure. It's in the Gryffindor broom shed."

James turned to me. "So I'll meet you at the broom shed at 9:30?"

Fred wolf whistled. I hadn't even noticed he was there. "Merlin, James, another one? You sure are going through them fast… What happened to Anna?" James smacked him upside the head. "Ow! Only joking!"

At 9:20 I started towards the broom shed. I wasn't precisely sure about where it was but knew that it had to be near the Quidditch pitch, which you couldn't miss, so I found it all right. James was standing outside it, holding a Firebolt 20 and running his hand through his hair. I absentmindedly wondered if he did it on purpose to make his hair messy, like he had just gotten off of his broom or something.

"Hey, Allie," he said.

"James." I opened the door and quickly spotted my brother's broom. I grabbed it and closed the shed. "Ready?"

"Whenever you are." We started towards the pitch. "So, do you know how to fly?"

"I know how, but I've never actually done it. We live in London, see, so it'd be rather difficult to fly a broom without the Muggles noticing."

"Right," he said. "Well, I know Will's an excellent flier, so I'm sure you will be too. Are you-" He stopped walking, and I bumped into him.

"James, what..?" Looking up ahead, I got my answer. Scorpius and some other guy were headed our way. "James, don't do anything stupid…" I said, getting ready to restrain him if I had to.

"Hey, Allie," said Scorpius politely. "Potter." He nodded at James, who didn't say anything.

"Hi Scorpius," I said.

"So I see you're going flying?"

"Yes, I'm borrowing my brother's broom. First time," I said, smiling a little.

"Nice." His friend coughed. "Oh, yeah. Allie, this is my friend Dimitri Ivanov. He's a student from Durmstrang. Dimitri, this is Allie Lancaster." Perhaps this was the Dimitri that Rose had told me about.

"Pleased to meet you," said Dimitri. His voice was fairly deep, with a hint of an accent.

"And you," I said. I sneaked a glance at James to see how he was doing. His face was blank, but I could see that he was very tense, his fists balled up. "Well, it's been nice talking, but we've really got to go. I'll see you later."

"Bye," they said simultaneously. I gave James's arm a little tug and started walking. He stalked after me.

"That stupid little git!" James burst out as soon as they were out of earshot. Only he didn't say stupid.

"Calm down, James. He didn't do anything to you."

"Whatever. I still hate his guts. And that Dimitri- I don't like the way he looks at you."

I blushed, and to cover it up, I said, "Who are you turning into, Will?"

A smile. "Sorry. You probably hear enough of that with him." He shook his head, as if by doing that he could clear all thoughts of Scorpius and Dimitri from his head. "Come on, let's fly." We had reached the center of the pitch. "Now, do you know how to mount?"

I rolled my eyes. "Like I said, I know how. Just never done it before."

He smiled. "Just checking. Come on, follow me." He mounted his broom and kicked off, soaring into the cloudless sky. I followed suit, albeit a bit more cautiously. The words from Quidditch through the Ages came back to me. Lean forward to go forward, pull back to brake. Angle the broom left to turn left and vice versa. Quite straightforward, really. I was now hovering at about twenty feet in the air, nearly parallel to the lowest goal.

"C'mon, Lancaster! Is that the highest you can go?"

There was no way I was letting James Potter outfly me. Even though he most definitely would. Well, I would put up a good fight, at least. I leaned forward hard and tilted my broom upward. I felt my stomach drop as I shot into the air, cruising to a stop across from James.

"Going to let a first time flier beat you, James?" I teased.

"Now," he said, beaming widely, "you catch me." And he zoomed away towards the goals.

"Oh, it's on," I muttered, a grin spreading across my face despite my attempt to, as Will would put it, "put on a game face". I leaned forward and flew after him.

James was an excellent flier. He wove between the goalposts, into the stands, (I waited for him at the other end, not trusting my flying skills to not crash me) and even through the goals a few times. I was never even close to catching him; his broom was far better and he was much more experienced.

"Give up, Allie!"

I might be hopeless, but I definitely wasn't weak. "You wish!" I leaned further, matching his steep dive.

The ground loomed nearer and nearer. Shouldn't he be pulling up by now? Ten feet closer. Okay, he either had lost control of the broom or was trying to show off. I had a feeling it was the latter. Well, I for one wasn't going to turn myself into a human pancake. I jerked my broom up hard, pulling out of the dive. James kept going, and as I looked over my shoulder I saw him start to pull up. But it was too late. The handle of his broom caught on the ground, and it flipped, tossing him through the air like a weightless rag doll. He hit the ground with a thud, and I gasped, whipping around and making a crash landing. I rolled once and landed on my hands and knees, winded but unhurt. Crawling over to where James lay, I saw that his nose was leaking blood onto his face. It stood out against his pale cheeks, a trail of scarlet. His arm was bent at an odd angle and I was pretty sure I had never seen a leg look like that. I was also sure that I had never been so scared in my life.

"James, please, no," I whispered, feeling frantically for a pulse. Thank Merlin, I found it. "Godric, James, wake up. Please…" I was afraid to move him, but not sure how else to get him awake. Help, that's what I needed. Maybe Scorpius was still around? I scrambled to my feet. "SCORPIUS! DIMITRI!"

There was no response, so I figured they must have left, but I saw silhouettes moving in the greenhouse up the hill. Taking one last look at James lying on the ground, I grabbed my broom and kicked off.

I had never flown so fast, not even while James was taunting me, and I realized that if I hadn't been panicked about James dying or something, it would have been enjoyable. I made a sharp turn and jumped off the broom at the greenhouse door. Yanking it open, I yelled, "HELP! JAMES FELL OFF HIS- Rose?"

She whirled around, and I saw Albus and Clarice look up behind her. "What are you doing here?"

"James-" I gasped for air. "He fell off his broom, and he's bleeding, and I know something's broken… I can't get him to wake up… Please, you've got to help me…" Before I could finish, Albus was already out the door. I ran after him, yelling over my shoulder, "Come on!" I heard their footsteps behind me, slapping on the greenhouse floor.

"Allie, get on behind me," said Albus, hopping on Will's broom. I obeyed, wrapping my arms around his waist to stay on. "Rose, Clarice!" he yelled towards them. "Just run after us!" They started sprinting as we took off.

As we flew over the pitch, I saw two figures leaning over James. Who could that be?

We landed about five feet from James, and we both tumbled off. Albus reached him first, and I realized that the two figures were Scorpius and Dimitri. So they had heard me.

I ran over, leaning over James next to Dimitri and Albus. "I found a pulse last time, but I can't get him to wake up. How do we get him back to the castle?"

"Wingardium Leviosa?" suggested Dimitri.

"No, it'll jostle him too much," muttered Albus. "But we can do something for him." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few candies. He took a purple one and broke off a small piece, sticking it in James's mouth. He did again once James seemed to have swallowed the first piece.

"Albus, what are you doing?"

"Nosebleed Nougats," he said, not taking his eyes off his brother. "Nosebleed Nougats. Uncle George's invention."

"Oh," I said, not understanding at all.

Just then, Rose and Clarice came running towards us. "Oh Merlin," said Rose, holding a stitch in her side with one hand and putting her other hand over her mouth. "We need help."

"One of us should go back to the castle on the broom," said Scorpius, speaking for the first time since we had arrived.

"Right," I said. "But which one of us?"

"Not Al," said Rose quickly. "He actually knows how to do something for James."

"I'll go."

Everyone, even Albus and Scorpius, looked up in shock at Dimitri's offer.

"I'd better go with him; we can find a teacher faster if we split up," I said.

Albus nodded. "Okay." We didn't move for a moment. "GO!" Dimitri grabbed the broom and mounted it. I climbed on behind him, and we took off.

Dimitri was an excellent flier. Not as good as James, of course, but definitely good enough to be on the team. I made a mental note to mention this to him later. For the umpteenth time that day, the broom jerked to a stop and I tumbled off.

"Are you alright?" asked Dimitri.

"Fine," I said, brushing off my jeans. "Come on, we've gotta get going. You get a teacher, any teacher. I'll get Madame Pomfrey." We split up, and I raced off in the direction I was pretty sure the infirmary was in.

Completely winded (have I mentioned that Hogwarts really needs to invest in elevators?), I burst into the infirmary. A first year boy looked up from his bed. Scanning the room, I saw that Madame Pomfrey was in her office. Forcing my tired legs to move, I yanked her door open.

"Madame Pomfrey!" She was sitting at her desk, clipping a picture from what appeared to be a catalogue for robes.

"Allie?"

"Ma-Madame Pomfrey," I said, struggling to catch my breath. "James Potter, he- he fell off his broom, and he's bleeding, and something's broken, and please, we need your help!"

Before I had finished, she had already jumped out of her chair. "Winky!" I briefly wondered whether she was quite sane. Then, with a little POP!, a little bat-eared creature with big, tennis-ball like eyes appeared next to her, and I knew she was insane.

"What is Madame Pomfrey needing from Winky?" she said in a squeaky little voice, bowing.

"Winky, can you Apparate us to-" she turned to me. "Where did you say he was?"

"Quidditch pitch."

"Yes. Can you Apparate us to the Quidditch pitch, please?"

"Of course, Madame Pomfrey," she squeaked. Oh. So maybe she wasn't insane. "Is you needing me to take the young mistress as well?"

"Yes, please, Winky." The little creature took Madame Pomfrey's hand and extended her other one to me. I looked at Madame Pomfrey questioningly. She nodded, so I took it. There was another POP!, an uncomfortable rushing sensation, and we found ourselves on the pitch where Albus seemed to have stopped the bleeding, and Rose and Clarice hovered around him trying to help. Scorpius stood a few feet away, looking awkward. I stood doubled over for a moment, fighting off a wave of nausea that I was pretty sure was from the Apparating.

"Out of my way," said Madame Pomfrey, her voice becoming the bossy, professional tone that I remembered from my visit to the hospital wing. Al, Rose, and Clarice backed up to where Scorpius was. I felt distinctly out of place: Rose was probably still mad at me, I really didn't know Albus or Clarice that well, and Scorpius- well, he was really more of a nice acquaintance than a friend, making Dimitri an acquaintance of an acquaintance. So I just stood there, watching Madame Pomfrey nod approvingly at James's no longer bleeding nose, frown at his arm and leg, and run a quick diagnostic spell over him. "Oh dear," she said.

"What? Is he okay? What's wrong?" everyone said all at once (except Scorpius, but he at least looked appropriately worried).

"Mr. Potter seems to have cracked his skull when he fell, and he is also concussed. Miss Lancaster, how long ago did this happen?"

"I don't really know; maybe a half hour? I had to run for help first because we were alone."

"Well, we're going to need to get him back to the castle immediately so I can treat him properly."

"But Madame Pomfrey, he'll be okay, right?" said Albus, sounding so scared and innocent it was almost heartbreaking.

Her face softened. "I'm sure he will, Albus." Then, in a more brisk way, she said, "If he's anything like your father, he'll be out of the hospital wing in no time. Goodness knows that boy was in my care so much he should have had a frequent visitor card!" Everyone attempted to smile at her joke.

Just then, Dimitri and Professor Potter came streaking down the hill towards us. Madame Pomfrey muttered something that sounded like "and now here he is, a hysterical parent" and began casting a charm to lift James.

They reached us. Professor Potter, panting, said, "Madame Pomfrey-"

"How many times have I told you? You are not my student anymore, you may call me Poppy as the rest of the staff does."

"Poppy," he corrected exasperatedly, "is James okay? Dimitri here told me he fell off his broom!"

"Yes, he did, but he will be perfectly fine if you will move out of the way and let me get him back to the hospital wing! Wouldn't be too worried if I were you, not half as bad as when those dementors made you fall."

Professor Potter looked sheepish, stepping aside. "Sorry, Mad- Poppy."

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, you and your friend can leave. Miss Longbottom, Miss Lancaster-"

"Nuh-uh. I'm staying; I'm a family friend, and so is Allie." I shot Clarice a grateful look.

"Oh, very well, then. All of you head back to the castle, and I will bring Mr. Potter here back to the hospital wing. You may visit him, but no more than five students at a time!" We all nodded and started back towards the castle.

After about a hundred meters of silence, Rose pulled my arm back lightly. I fell behind, and we waited for the others to get out of earshot.

"Allie, I'm sorry I've been such a git to you. I really forgave you last night, I was just being stubborn. Will you forgive me?"

I felt a grin spreading slowly across my face. "Of course, Rose. And I'm sorry for yelling at you at dinner. I know me being nice to Scorpius kinda seemed like betraying you."

"No, it's okay. As long as you don't make me talk to him, I'm fine with you being friends. Actually, it might turn out okay. Maybe you can introduce me to Dimitri," she said, winking.

I hugged her. "Whenever you want." Heck, I could have introduced her then and there if she wanted. I had my friend back.