A.N. – I am so sorry guys. Things have been hectic, I lost my motivation for writing, and my college artwork was going downhill which was causing the lack of motivation, so it was a vicious circle. My computers being a dick coz I apparently do not have permission to see my own files.

Any way I hope y'all had a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year and I hope you like this chapter x

Chapter 15 – Quidditch, Yay or Nay?

Draco's sickly complection and light breathing were doing nothing to convince his mate that he'd survive the night. Madam Pomphrey had come in hours after the house had decided to give Ginevra Weasley a trial period, that would only start if she could see their house door.

The nurse had poured a thick liquid down his throat, that should ease the pain, but frowned grimly when Draco began to choke on it.

Hermione was still curled into his side but she wasn't talking, just smoothing his hair out of his closed eyes. His eyes were flickering underneath his eyelids and his muscles clenched as if under attack.

A whimper was heard in the room and they all looked at each other to see who had let it out.

"'Mione." Draco whispered, in his sleep.

Andy's brow furrowed in confusion; Draco shouldn't be able to dream with the amount of sedative that had been administered to him.

"No! Don't hurt her." He groaned in pain.

"'Mione, you have to convince him that you're ok before he hurts himself." Alerion said forcefully.

She began murmuring into his ear and the gathered looked on to see him slowly relax back into his sleep.

Andy sighed and rubbed his face in exhaustion; the emotions in the room were clearly taking it's toll on him and unfortunately the unconditional love from his mate wasn't making a dent in all the negative ones circling around him.

Snape wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders and Orion shakily accepted the comfort. Grief smothered the room, suffocating Andy. He gasped at the feelings and buried his head in Ron's neck.

The nurse clicked her fingers and a house elf appeared.

"Bring us ten hot chocolates."

The elf disappeared and then reappeared in a flash baring a tray full of cream topped marshmallow covered mugs of liquid chocolate. The nurse grabbed the tray and began handing them out to those gathered.

A second crack of sound made them jump as Dobby apparated into the room holding a large plate of chocolate chip cookies.

Dobby wailed at the sight of his old master on the hospital bed, surrounded by all his friends, almost dropping the biscuits. The sound pierced through the silence and everybody jumped.

Draco visibly winced at the noise and groaned. The house elf stopped his noise and jumped on the foot end of the bed to take a closer look.

"Shut up Dobby." He murmured as he slowly opened his eyes.

Hermione squealed and wrapped her arms around Draco as he woke up.

He chuckled and looked over her shoulder at the rest of the gathered.

Orion's gaze made him flinch and wish that he was still dead to the world.

"Don't ever do that to me again." His twin glared at him.

The room froze and Sophia tried to dispel the growing tension.

"He is so articulate. What he meant was that you scared him and he's glad your back." She hit her mate at the back of the head.

Hagrid shuffled awkwardly at the end of the hospital bed.

"I have the potion ingredients you wanted Severus." He announced as he swiftly, for his size, made his way out of the Infirmary.

Snape rose from his seat in the corner and followed the half-giant's retreating form slow enough to make it seem like he wasn't trying to escape from the suffocating atmosphere.

Draco spoke up for the first time, not looking at his brother, "Do you guys want to show Ginny to her new dorm?"

It was clearly an order and Ginny, Ron, Andy and Alerion rushed out of the room. Sophia stayed next to Orion aware that something was going to happen between the angelic twins.

Draco turned his attention to Hermione, "Darlin' could I speak to my brother alone please?"

She nodded and slowly slid off the bed after Draco placed a kiss on her cheek. Hermione grabbed Sophia's hand and attempted to pull her out of the door but she stood her ground. She looked into Draco's eyes for a second.

"It's alright, I'll be fine." Orion said, squeezing her shoulder.

Sophia began to leave and her mate watched her leave, not noticing his brother getting out of his bed. One second he was standing by the bed, the next he was pressed against a wall with a hand around his throat. Orion was only a little surprised to find that he couldn't move

"Don't you fucking dare this only affected you," Draco growled, his eyes black, "This is the pain I felt all the time I was unconscious."

He pushed all the agony he had felt into Orion.

He gritted his teeth at the onslaught and attempted to find the right words instead of the hash he had come up with earlier.

"I know I'm not the only one effected; just by looking at the funeral like turn out is enough to understand that. What I meant was that you can not die. If you die then Hermione and I'd die through heartbreak. Then Ron, Snape and Sophia would die, which means Andy would die, then Alerion and then some where on the planet Alerion's mate would die. If you die then the Dark side wins." Orion choked out around the hand on his throat.

Draco flinched away from him and let go. Orion slumped to the floor, breathing heavily.

"Ow."

Draco started to walk out of the room.

"You almost died, I'm pretty sure that means you are bed bound for about a week, Pomphrey's gunna be pissed when she see's that you aren't here."

He ignored Orion and slipped out of the door.

Draco soon found himself in the Astronomy Tower, his favourite place in the castle, staring out into the star filled sky. He sat on the open wall and looked up to his name sake, contemplating the events that had already happened this year.

He could hear footsteps coming towards him and he quickly heaved himself through the archway and onto the roof, so that he wasn't seen.

"Draco are you up here?" A familiar voice said from the top of the stairs.

He sighed and answered, "Yeah. I'm on the roof 'Mione."

She leaned over where he had been sitting and groaned.

"What are you doing out there?"

"Hiding."

She looked confused as she peered over the ledge, "Then why did you tell me where you were?"

Draco stood up and helped her on to the roof, "You are my mate, why wouldn't I?"

Hermione smiled and placed a cautious kiss on his temple.

They sat in silence watching the sun rise from behind the Forbidden Forest.

"I'm a horrible person." Draco said breaking the calm.

Hermione jumped, startled awake, "How so?"

"I almost killed Orion."

His mate looked back confused so he explained what had just happened.

"You are not a horrible person. You stopped when you realised what you were doing, which is against your angelic instincts. Therefore, you rebelled against every fibre of your being to not hurt your blood. Orion should have known that you would have been sensitive; to be honest, you both reacted badly but nothing came of it. Thinking 'what if I had gone a little bit further?' is not going to help."

Draco smiled, "You should take some of your own advice because nothing you do will ever change the way I feel about you."

A tiny smile graced Hermione's face and he grinned. Pulling his mate closer to him, they returned to listening to the birds and other creatures waking up in the Forbidden Forest.

An hour later, the duo returned to their Common Room to see Ron upside down on the sofa, his legs kicked over the back and his head resting in his mates lap. Alerion was sat on the floor behind his brother who was sat cross-legged on the settee, whilst Ginny perched on the arm. Sophia and Alerion were attempting to waltz to Chiodos – 'Hey Zeus! the Dungeon'. Draco cleared his throat, drawing the attention.

"Finally!" Ron exclaimed loudly, "I'm not sure about you guys but I really want to win the Quidditch Cup this year, so let's go."

For a moment, he struggled to get up out of his awkward position but he was soon running out of the Common Room door, leaving everyone else gazing in wonder at his retreating form.

They begrudgingly got up and followed the mad man out into the brisk morning air. From the castle doors, you could see Ron on his Cleansweep Eleven darting about in the sky. They soon made it to the pitch and Ron landed beside them.

Andy tutted at the state of his mates broom and conjured eight brooms; all personalised Firebolts. They were mostly made from black ebony that was polished to a pristine sheen. The broom head was a mixture of red and orange, which looked as though it were on fire. The shaft had blood red lettering carved into it; each had the En Lucem coat of arms, and a different name for each member of the house.

Ron gazed lovingly at his, before kissing Andy and taking off into the sky.

Then Draco asked the question they were all wondering about, "Are we even competing for the Quidditch Cup?"

They all looked at each other in question.

Ginny's timid voice was the first to answer, "I'd like to but if you don't want me on the team I understand."

She started to walk off dejectedly but was stopped when Andy grabbed her wrist.

"If we didn't want you on the team why is there a Firebolt with your name permanently engraved into it?"

Hermione held the broomstick out towards her old friend and a tiny smile graced her face. The smallest of Weasley's, launched herself at the girl and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She repeated into Hermione's shoulder.

The group chuckled.

"You're a good player, why wouldn't we want you on our team?" Draco said smiling.

Ginevra refrained from giving him a tight squeeze too and instead grabbed her broom and took off into the sky closely followed by her brother.

Hermione looked hesitantly at the Firebolt in front of her; Draco noticed her discomfort and pulled her away from the group slightly. Once they were out of earshot, he placed his hand on her cheek and looked in her eyes.

Hermione diverted her gaze to the floor and mumbled a reply, shuffling uncomfortably.

"What darlin'?"

She grumbled before saying, "You'll laugh."

Draco smiled as he shook his head.

"I am scared of heights." Hermione said quietly.

He chuckled and kissed her forehead, "I used to hate heights, but then Lucius would push me out of the window with the broom to force me to fly, so I had to get over it pretty quick."

"That's not instilling me with confidence."

"Come on, I'll show you what's so special about flying. I promise I won't go fast or let you fall." Draco exclaimed, excitement clear in his voice.

"Ok, but if I don't like it I'm going back down immediately." Hermione growled at him.

"Accio Firebolt."

The broom zoomed towards them and stopped in front of the pair. Draco swung his leg over the handle and gestured for his mate to sit in front of him. Cautiously she joined him and they were soon in the air. Hermione had screwed her eyes shut the moment her feet had left the ground.

"Darlin' open your eyes. We are steady now, we aren't going anywhere."

She shook her head violently before realising that the movement may make her fall off the broom.

"Come on darling, I won't let go of you." He said wrapping an arm around her waist, tightly.

Slowly Hermione opened her eyes.

"Wow that's beautiful," She whispered, looking at the incredible view of the surrounding countryside, before making the mistake of looking down, "Jesus Christ Draco, we are on Hogwarts' roof!"

The screech Hermione made, caught him off guard and he jumped.

"Calm down 'Mione, I'm standing on the roof, we are safe. You are too short for your feet to touch the tiles. I wanted to give you the illusion of being in the air, whilst also feeling safe because you only have a two-inch drop."

She smiled and relaxed, "Thank you Draco."

He nodded his acknowledgement.

After a while, an impatient Ron called them down. This time Hermione kept her eyes open as they descended.

Draco landed on the Quidditch stands near where Sophia was practising her balance and let his mate back on to solid ground, before taking off again to coach the practice.

"How is he?" Sophia asked, mid-pose on the barrier that the front row of the crowd tended to lean on.

Hermione shrugged, "If he is still in pain, he keeps it hidden well."

"Isn't that what he's done all of his life though?" She had meant it as an innocent question, but Hermione closed up and fell into her thoughts.

Sighing Sophia hopped off the bar and sat next to the girl on the bench.

"You need him to open up a little bit more and you need to ask. How are you?"

She smiled but it did not meet her eyes, "I just am. I cannot sleep because when I close my eyes I can feel him on me. If Draco had died, I would not have anything to live for."

Sophia smiled sadly and wrapped her arms around Hermione.

"Do you want to learn relaxing techniques, they could help with everything?"

Hermione nodded and stood, following Sophia. The Auror retook her place balancing precariously on the barrier as she began to coach Hermione in breathing techniques.

A loud creak behind them made them turn their attention towards the top of the stands. Sally-Anne Perks, the blonde girl who had attempted to get with Orion at the beginning of the year, advanced towards them glaring at them.

"You aren't good enough for him. He deserves better than some old slag; some one pretty and with brains. You've stolen him from me."

Sophia jumped down from the fence.

"Who are you talking to?" She asked as Hermione looked on stunned.

"You, bitch." Sally growled, shoving her hard.

The barrier broke behind Sophia, not used to that kind of force, and she began falling. Her screams pierced the calm.

"No!" Andy yelled from the ground.

Draco and Orion raced after her on their brooms but they weren't fast enough. The Tuck brothers both shot spells at her falling form but the charms wouldn't stick.

"No not today, for the love of god not today." Alerion murmured horrified.

Her body hit the floor hard with a sickening crack made everyone feel sick.

Ten meters from the ground Orion swung his leg over his broom and jumped off. His mouth was open in a silent scream as blood pooled from under his shirt before it tore off of him. A pair of bloodied wings broke his fall and he landed beside his mate, wings flared warning off any potential attackers.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and Sophia's limbs were contorted into angles that they should never be at.

Draco landed beside his mate who had gone pale and was looking at Sophia's attacker in disbelief. He slipped his hand into hers, which gave her the strength she needed to pull back her fist and slam it straight into the girls perfect nose.

"You fucking bitch...What the hell?" Sally screamed, cradling her now broken nose in her hand.

She started to advance towards Hermione with her other hand out stretched ready to push her off as well, but Draco stepped in front of her.

"I don't think that's wise, do you?" He growled.

Perks shook her head quickly in agreement with him, trying to pacify him but Draco slipped his free hand under her chin and lifted her up over the edge of the Quidditch Stands. He pulled Hermione closer to him and lifted her onto his hip, before he jumped off the edge.

Sally-Anne screamed all the way to the bottom and swiftly passed out when they reached solid ground. He let his mate who was a little shaky after the descent down and advanced on the unconscious girl.

Andy followed him grinning aware of Draco's plan, he pointed his wand at her and she soon awakened.

He then placed his hand on Draco's shoulder, pushing the neck of his shirt out the way so that he could touch his skin. Draco shuddered as the pain and fear of falling and then hitting the ground invaded his senses.

Andy let go and stepped backwards away from Draco's reach.

He supressed the urge to kill the one who had inflicted the pain in to him and focused on his task.

"Do you know what it feels like to be pushed off the stands and them break every bone in your body?" Draco asked glaring at the shivering wreck on the grass pitch.

"No please, don't hurt me. She stole my beau."

"Is that so?," He grasped her wrist and released the agony of the fall into Perk's tiny body, "Did you know that me and my brother over there are Angels, so we mate for life. The girl you just tried to kill is Orion's mate and he will kill you."

The blond girl writhed on the floor as she felt the pain normally accompanied with bones splintering, only without the long term effects. She pleaded for him to stop and sighed in relief when he did.

Draco grinned at her niaveity.

"You think that's it? You couldn't be more wrong, for that is not the worst pain that someone felt when you pushed her. I can guarrenty you that Orion is feeling worse."

Once again Andy pressed his hand against Draco's skin and flooded him with what Orion was feeling. Draco gasped as he realised it was the same as what he had felt when he was in the hospital. He wasted no time and soon found himself passing on the agony. After a few seconds the girl passed out and Draco spat at her weakness.

"Your brother needs you." Hermione said as she placed a hand on his wand hand.

Draco knodded in agreement, "Andy, make sure she doesn't go anywhere and don't kill her."

The Tuck brother grinned at the command and made a 'shoo' motion with his hand.

Orion was crouched over his mates broken body, wings flared, ready to attack anyone who would put her in more danger. Sophia's breathing was laboured which worried all those gathered.

Alerion stepped forwards, "You need to touch her, see if she responds to your touch."

Orion began growling and he stepped back out of reach. Slowly Orion placed a hand on her cheek and flinched when nothing happened.

Heavy and fast falling footsteps could be heard coming in their direction. Neville and Luna were charging towards them with Dumbledore in tow, his long cloak flapping behind him.

"Everyone step back, let me see her." The headteached exclaimed, wading through the circle of people.

Orion's growls got louder and his wings opening up to their biggest. Alerion restrained Dumbledore and pulled him back out of reach.

"You have to blood her. If Sophia is to live then you have to blood her."

Draco placed a hand on his brother's shoulder in comfort.

Orion kissed her before biting softly between her neck and shoulder. Blood flowed over his tongue and down his throat. He acted on instinct so he knew when to stop, he licked at his mates wound and was only slightly surprised to find it healed instantly.

Ignoring everyone else, Orion bit into his wrist and placed it over her lips. The effect was instantaneous; Sophia's back arched off the floor as her bones healed and snapped to their original positions, making everyone flinch.

Orion swayed slightly under bloodloss and Draco supported him as his body seemed to sag. As Sophia relaxed and her breathing returned to normal, Orion moved his wrist and tore his shirt to wrap it.

Dumbledore ignored the restraining hand on his shoulder and stepped forward, "Sophia has to go to the Infirmary. Let go of her Mister Black."

Draco growled at his tone but then smiled as Orion swiped his legs out from under him and pressed a hand around the professor's throat.

"Don't ever attempt to take my mate from me Albus. Otherwise I will kill you." He growled, his voice deadly.

A scream from the side made everyone turn in that direction. Andy was sat on the ground grinning with the girl hanging upside down above him. The corners of Orion's mouth lifted into a slight smile as he heard the fear in his enemy's voice. That smile turned into an evil-looking smirk as he realised that he'd get his chance to make her scream very soon.

A.N. – Like I said…I am sooooo sorry for the long arse wait x