REVISED 1/7/13.
Kirsten Carlisle's eyes snapped open as a loud thunder clap echoed throughout the girls' dormitory. The grey eyed witch rolled over in her bed to glance at her clock to see that it was only fifteen minutes past four. Her eyes lifted toward the curtain drawn window to see light streak across the sky. The dark sky was filled with dark grey clouds, heavy rain pelting against the window. Pushing her covers away, Kirsten was about to slide off her bed, but paused in her tracks as she spotted an orange blob lying at the foot of her bed.
"Hey there, Crookshanks," the young witch whispered to the cat, gently stroking the cat's ginger fur. The orange cat hopped off her bed and made his way to the door. A sigh escaped Kirsten's lips as she got up from her bed and opened the door with enough space for Crookshanks to slide through. The cat left through the cracked door, and Kirsten shut it as soon as his tail was out of sight. Not wasting another minute, Kirsten decided to get ready for the long day ahead of her. By the time she left her dormitory for the common room, it was four thirty.
She settled herself down on the rug, in front of the roaring fire in the fireplace, and curled into a ball staring at it. The loud claps of thunder piercing the night air became nothing more than a soothing song for the witch. It was odd to think that just months ago she had no idea of the Wizarding world. And now here she was, settled in front of a fire, comforted by the thought of being surrounded by others just as odd as her. Her friends. She never thought she would see the day where more than small handful of people actually liked her for who she was, no less tolerate her.
Her mind drifted to others who were in her life before she came to Hogwarts. She thought about Dan, Alec, and Aaric. A small smile made way onto her lips. They would never believe where she was now.
"You know, I reckon Ron was right about you," a voice disturbed her thoughts. "There are plenty of mice around this place—go and chase them. Go on."
Kirsten turned her head to see Crookshanks slink into her sight, and the cat nestled against her leg. Appearing after Crookshanks was Harry, a broomstick in hand.
"Hey, Kia," Harry greeted her. The witch eyed the broom in his hand warily before she smiled at her friend. He set his Nimbus Two Thousand on the rug and took a seat next to her on the floor. "What're you doing up so early?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Just not tired, you know? A bit restless actually…"
"I can see that...You're usually the last one to get up," Harry said, grinning at her. But Kirsten knew better and could see the concern in Harry's eyes.
"Excited for the game?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Kinda."
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
The sound pounded against Kirsten's skull all too suddenly. The multiple beats echoed through her ears and pounded against her temples. Shutting her eyes, Kirsten tried to take even breaths, clenching her fists tight. Not handling the severe pain, she made to grab her head with the desire to stop the pounding by pulling her hair. Her breath hitched at the abrupt halt of the heartbeats. She could feel her head against the soft rug she was sitting on. Opening her eyes, Kirsten caught sight of a pair of emerald green eyes staring down at her. An arm wrapped around Kirsten's waist, lifting her up in a sitting position once again.
"Kirsten, what just happened?" Harry asked his face serious.
"I – I'm still hearing things in my head, Harry," she told him. Memories from the first time this happened flooded her mind and she pushed herself away from Harry. This one lasted longer than the usual ones she had been having recently.
She looked up to meet Harry's eyes piercing hers and he shook his head, concerned etched on his face. "You aren't hearing voices are you?"
Kirsten gave him a small smile, remembering what he said about his second year. "I'm not being possessed or anything. I told you, it's just the heartbeats." She briefly remembered the conversation with Lupin Halloween night about his promise to help her.
"Just – we'll talk about it later," Kirsten told him sternly. Her voice was completely serious and Harry knew that was the end of that conversation. No matter how much he wanted to continue it. Instead, Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "So…guess who is commentating the match with Lee?"
"Seriously? Why didn't you tell me yesterday?" he asked, looking down at the grey eyed witch.
"Forgot to. Snape seriously pissed me off yesterday. Well, Hermione knows."
A moment of silence passed between the two friends until Harry decided to break the silence.
"The way Snape looks at you, Kia," he said, "it's the same way he looks at me."
"I've been thinking about that," she admitted. "I don't understand. I just came to this school. Maybe it's because I'm friends with you."
"No, I don't think it's that," he said, shaking his head. "I think the look is worse is mine. He docks off more points than he does for me. It's really odd actually."
"Hmm…that is weird," Kirsten mumbled, leaning her head on her friend's shoulder and letting Crookshanks into her lap.
"He tried getting into my dormitory."
"And he wanted to snuggle up with Scabbers?" she asked, grinning at the cat. The animal purred and nestled his head against her stomach. The green eyed boy couldn't help the smile on his face.
"That's one way to put it," he agreed. While petting the orange fur ball in her lap, Kirsten's eyes were glued onto the fire in front of her. Hours passed with the two friends talking until they both got up and decided to head to the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Stand and fight, you mangy cur!" Sir Cadogan yelled from his portrait at the jet black haired wizard.
"Oh, shut up," Harry yawned. When the pair got to the Great Hall, Kirsten settled down in a seat across from Harry, putting all sorts of food on her plate. Minutes passed until the Gryffindor Quidditch team arrived.
"Hey, Kia," a voice said from behind the black haired witch. Turning around, Kirsten is met with the handsome face of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team captain, sitting at the Hufflepuff table. A smile broke out onto her face and she gave him a wave.
"Hey, Cedric," she greeted. "Good luck!"
"Thanks!"
Turning back around, Kirsten was met with the glares of Fred, George, and Oliver. She threw a big smile in their direction, before continuing to eat.
"What about us?" Fred asked indignantly, causing Kirsten to raise an eyebrow.
"Oh shut it, Fred," she said, rolling her eyes. Looking back at the Hufflepuff table, she added in a low voice, "You're going to win anyway."
That got her a smile from the twin.
"It's going to be a tough one," Oliver said, sitting diagonally from her. The young man didn't even grab anything to eat.
"Stop worrying, Oliver," Alicia Spinnet said soothingly, "we don't mind a bit of rain."
"A bit of rain my ass, Alicia," Kirsten muttered. The match started a sometime ago and she could care less of what came out of her mouth. Nobody could hear her anyway unless she was yelling into the microphone with Lee because of the ridiculous amount of rain pounding with the claps of thunder here and there. Large drops of water beat down heavily against the umbrella above Kirsten and Lee Jordan's head. She peered through the intense rainfall to spot Harry among the blurry figures hovering in the air.
Identifying Gryffindor Seeker in the field, Kirsten watched as the Harry froze as he came towards the middle of the field. A flash of gold zoomed through the rain and she saw canary yellow robes flash past Harry to go after the tiny golden flash. The soaking Seeker looked wildly at where the Hufflepuff Seeker went, and he sent himself spiraling after Cedric.
"Come on, Harry. Grab the damn thing," she muttered under her breath.
It was then that everything became quiet around Kirsten. The entire world around her seemed to be put on mute. Lee shouting into the megaphone next to her was now deaf to her ears, as well as the claps of thunder and the pelting rain.
Dread filled Kirsten as a cold sensation pierced Kirsten's body in a familiar fashion that she had experienced not too long ago. She shuddered as the coldness squirmed its way inside of her and spread throughout. Her eyes cast down and they immediately widened as she saw at least a hundred dementors staring up at her. Several dementors swooped up towards the box the professors, Kirsten, and Lee were occupying. One of the cloaked figures drew nearer to the grey eyed witch and she could sense something within her stir. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. Since the day she turned thirteen. Anger.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
The heartbeats pounded against her head. Multiple heartbeats pierced her skull. That was all she could hear. Anger pulsed through her. Kirsten had never felt this angry since that day. She wanted to rip, tear, and shred the damn creature apart. She could feel the cold, clammy hands make way to her throat. Her hand snatched out to grip the one on her neck. She could feel something rising within in her and up her throat. Kirsten could feel her grip on the dementor's hand tighten. Something pulled in her mind, away from the anger. Away from the dementor.
It was Harry. Through all the searing pain building up in her head because of the continuous heartbeats and the rage she felt, Kirsten was able to remember what happened to Harry when there was a dementor nearby. He fainted.
And now there were at least a hundred.
A blinding flash of white diverted her attention away and she saw the dementors around her disappear as a pearl white bird flew past. Now she was able to concentrate clearly on who she was looking for even with the increasing heartbeats pounding against her skull.
Harry.
It was odd how sharp her vision was at the moment. She was able to see past the rain and see her best friend's figure falling through the sky.
Oh. My. God.
The pain in her head multiplied and seemed to spread through her entire body. A burning sensation sparked through her body. She felt as if her body was being torn, ripped in two, and dipped in molten lava. It felt as if her body was on fire.
"HARRY!"
It was at that very moment when Harry's falling body vanished in a whirling motion of flames. She didn't panic like she heard many of the people screaming around the stadium. Something told her not to panic with Harry's sudden disappearance. That he was safe and it was at that moment, the heartbeats stopped beating in her mind. The pain dulled to a throb that Kirsten was unfortunately used to, and the girl ran down the stairs of the box and towards the field. Through the rain, Kirsten could hardly spot the figure of the Gryffindor Seeker on the ground and she ran towards his motionless body. As she got closer, she slid across the mud into a kneeling position next to him, placing her head above his chest.
He's still alive.
The rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and the Hufflepuff team landed around Harry and Kirsten, who were joined by Ron and Hermione. They all rushed around the pair, their eyes wide with horror at the sight.
"Kirsten, if you could please," the grey eyed witch heard a calm voice say behind her. Peeling her eyes off of Harry's body, Kirsten turned to meet blue eyes pierce hers. The elderly headmaster looked furious. As she moved away from Harry's body, Dumbledore waved his wand and a stretcher magically appeared underneath the Seeker, magically levitating him.
"Would you mind accompanying me to the hospital wing, Kirsten?"
Her grey eyes connected with his blue orbs and she felt the same sensation coursing through her body when their eyes locked the night Sirius Black tried to break into the common room. Nodding her head, Kirsten stood up and followed the headmaster to the castle in silence. As soon as they entered the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey furiously charged towards Harry's motionless body, muttering angrily, "Quidditch will be the death of this boy."
Dumbledore explained the incident with the nurse, whose attitude changed drastically as soon as she heard dementors in his sentence. Whipping out her wand, Madame Pomfrey muttered a spell to lift Harry off the stretcher onto one of the beds and she began checking him for any serious injuries.
"Will he be alright?" Kirsten asked, watching Harry's unconscious form. She needed to hear that he was going to be all right before she would relax.
"Yes he will, Kirsten," the elderly man replied, his eyes on the black haired witch next to him.
A sigh of relief escaped Kirsten's lips at the headmaster's confirmation and she suddenly became aware of how tired she really was. All she wanted to do at the moment was curl into a ball and sleep in her bed. Her eyelids drooped but she shook her head to keep herself awake.
"Why'd you ask me to accompany you?" she asked curiously, finally looking at the man. She had tried avoiding his gaze after she caught his furious expression and was surprised to see him smiling at her.
"Have you been hearing anything strange lately?"
"You know," Kirsten breathed out, surprised by the man's question. He nodded his head. "How?"
"I have met others with similar conditions such as yours," he replied calmly. "You saved Harry from a serious injury."
Confusion was written across Kirsten's features as she turned her head to face Harry's unconscious form. I couldn't have done that. A certain memory from her past pushed to the front of her mind. A memory that she tried her hardest never to recall.
But she remembered. The memories of the dark haired boy entered her mind. The words that left his mouth as well as the other children's taunting. Her body falling down towards the jagged rocks. Her body felt as if she were on fire.
And she disappeared.
Kirsten's heart was racing as she quickly glanced up at the headmaster. She hadn't felt this anxious in a while. Since Patrick.
"Nobody else saw, did they?" she whispered. A concerned expression crossed Dumbledore's face as he observed the girl before him. He could clearly see that she was suffering from anxiety. And by the slight dazed expression on her face, he surmised that she must be reliving some sort of memory. Kirsten knew that her condition was not normal among wizards. Especially after her chat with Harry in the morning. "They'll think I'm some sort of – "
"It is nothing you should worry about, Kirsten," he said. At his words, Kirsten felt an odd sort of comfort. It took some time for her to trust people, however, she didn't have to know the man for long in order to trust in his words.
"Did anybody else see…?"
"Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape," he told her. "And I'll assure you that I trust them with my life."
The grey eyed witch nodded her head and before she could utter another word, the pair heard footsteps approaching. Muddy figures trudged inside the hospital wing.
"Have a good day, Kirsten."
And with that the headmaster walked over to Madame Pomfrey.
"Kia!"
The Gryffindor turned her head to see Fred Weasley bounding up to her and throw his arms around her. His actions were soon followed by his twin. Kirsten mentally groaned as she felt fresh mud smudging onto her sweater and jeans, and pushed the two boys off of her. Her eyes swept across the room for any sign of the headmaster, but he was gone.
"You all better be quiet," she heard Madam Pomfrey threaten them. The woman strode towards Kirsten with a large chunk of chocolate. "On Professor Dumbledore's orders, dear."
Kirsten gladly accepted the offering and took a large bite after standing next to Harry. Another pair of footsteps caught the black haired witch's attention, and she glanced up at the door to see Hermione and Ron walk in the hospital wing. She threw the two a small smile before looking back at Harry.
"Lucky the ground was soft," Angelina muttered, looking at him.
"I thought he was dead for sure."
"But he didn't even break his glasses."
Everyone was whispering their thoughts to one another as they looked at the unconscious Gryffindor Seeker.
"But there was something…I thought I saw Harry disappear…." Hermione said to Ron and Kirsten. The grey eyed witch whirled around to face her friend.
"It was raining pretty damn hard, Hermione," Kirsten told the bushy haired witch. Ron nodded his head in agreement but Hermione's brow was still furrowed. It was a matter of seconds when Harry's eyes snapped open.
"Harry!" Fred said. "How're you feeling?"
Harry's eyes were locked onto Kirsten, but it was as if his mind wasn't with them; as if he was in another world. The dazed look in his eyes vanished and he was suddenly aware of his surroundings.
"What happened?" he asked, sitting up suddenly and everybody around Kirsten and Harry gasped.
"You fell off," Fred replied. "Must've been — what — fifty feet?"
"We thought you died," Alicia told him, still shaking. A small squeaky noise rang in Kirsten's ears, and she caught sight of Hermione's bloodshot eyes.
"But the match," Harry said. "What happened? Are we doing a replay?"
No one said a thing.
"We didn't—lose?"
"Diggory got the Snitch," George said. "Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square… even Wood admits it."
"Where is Wood?" Harry asked. Kirsten scanned the Quidditch team to see the captain was absent.
"Still in the showers," Fred said. "We think he's trying to drown himself."
Harry put his face against his knees, his hands gripping his hair. Fred grabbed Harry's shoulder and shook him rather roughly.
"C'mon, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before."
"There had to be one time you didn't get it," George said.
"It's not over yet," Fred continued. "We lost by a hundred points, right? So Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and Slytherin…"
"Hufflepuff'll have to lose by at least two hundred points," George said.
"But if they beat Ravenclaw…"
"No way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff…"
"It all depends on the points—a margin of hundred either way—"
Kirsten watched the green eyed wizard not utter a single word. This is the first time he's never caught the Snitch…
Ten minutes passed and Madame Pomfrey told the Quidditch team to leave Harry in peace, leaving Hermione, Ron, and Kirsten with him.
"Dumbledore was really angry," Hermione said in a quaking voice. "I've never seen him like that before. He ran onto the field behind Kia and you were already on the ground. But there was some weird silver bird making the dementors go away. It came from the box where the teachers were sitting, before Kia or Dumbledore even raced onto the field…he was furious they'd come on the grounds. We heard him—"
"Then he magicked you onto a stretcher," Ron said. "And both he and Kia walked up to the school with you floating on it. Everyone thought you were…" Ron trailed off, but the look on Harry's face made Kirsten realize that he was not paying attention anymore.
"Did someone get my Nimbus?"
There was a pause between Ron and Hermione that caused Kirsten to look at the two. The red headed wizard and the bushy haired witch looked at each other, and then looked at Kirsten. It was obvious something happened to his broom, just by the nerves those two were expressing.
"Er—"
"What?" Harry asked, looking at Ron and Hermione.
"Well…when you fell off, it go blown away," Hermione said hesitantly.
"And?"
"And it hit—it hit—oh, Harry—it hit the Whomping Willow."
Kirsten remembered Harry telling her about the Whomping Willow and Mr. Weasley's Ford and she quickly turned to Harry to see his face turn white.
"And?" he asked.
"Well, you know the Whomping Willow," Ron continued. "It—it doesn't like being hit."
"Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came around," Hermione said in a very small voice. Slowly, Hermione reached down for a bag that Kirsten didn't notice was there. A dozen bits of splintered wood and twig fell onto the bed as she turned the bag upside down.
Kirsten's jaw dropped at the sight and only one word escaped her lips.
"Damn."