A/N: I realize the last chapter was very confusing. I was confused while writing it. I had this image in my head that didn't translate very well when trying to write in the first-person. This chapter explains what happened, don't worry!

Sorry for the confusion! And please keep reading!

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

I woke up with a pounding head and the feeling that I had had too much to drink the night before. I groaned and tried to roll over. Hands immediately stopped me. "No, Lin, you have to stay on your stomach."

I blinked rapidly as I tried to take in my surroundings. "How much did I drink last night?"

"Lin." My mother sounded scandalized as I heard my dad chuckle.

"Where am I?" I couldn't remember anything of the previous night.

"She can sit up, but she mustn't let her back touch anything," a voice I recognized as Madam Pomfrey's announced.

Hands were suddenly on my shoulders and I was being swung around. A small tray table was thrust in front of me and I propped my elbows up on it so I wasn't tempted to lie back down. My vision cleared and I glanced around the Hospital Wing. "Can someone tell me something?"

"In a minute," Pomfrey said briskly as she began tapping along the skin of my back. "This may hurt."

I hissed every time the tip of her wand met my skin. It ached as if I had been ripped of my skin. Vaguely I began to remember the quidditch match. Sally had been hurt.

I jerked, interrupting Pomfrey's exam. "Where's Sally?"

"In a minute, I said." She began tapping my back again.

"No!" I struggled to stand up.

My mother was instantly by my side, holding me down. "Darling, just let Madam Pomfrey finish. It'll be over soon."

My eyes filled with tears. "No, Mom, you don't understand, Sally was really badly hurt yesterday. I don't remember much after that, but I do know that much."

"Ms. McLaggen is at St. Mungo's, but she's recovering very quickly. She should be back at school within the week." Madam Pomfrey sighed as she turned away from me to the table by my bed. "We'll need to turn you onto your stomach again. It's time to apply the ointment." She gently helped me back onto my stomach.

I sighed and buried my face into my pillow. "Something happened during the quidditch match, didn't it?"

"Yes." She handed me a shot glass full of potion with a straw. "Drink that. We'll need to silence you, too. Perhaps, Mr. and Mrs. Benedetto , it would be better if you didn't look."

My back felt like it was lit on fire. I screamed soundlessly, clutching at the bed. My mother knelt by my face and stroked my hair. "Little Linny, it'll be over soon. You're so brave. I love you, sweetie. Take deep breaths."

A few moments later it was over, and I was handed another shot glass of the icy potion. It numbed my body. I sighed with relief as I was unsilenced once more and helped to a sitting position. I groaned and clutched my stomach. "Will you explain what's going on now?"

Pomfrey sighed and sat in a chair by my bed. "Yesterday, during the match, you were winning, and behaving spectacularly. Some very silly and stupid Slytherins decided you should be stopped. They cursed you with minor hexes and jinxes, but, what they failed to take into consideration was the effect these spells would have once combined. As a result, your stomach, head, and sensory organs were affected quite nastily."

"And my back?" I prompted.

She frowned. "One of the students got his hands on an old textbook and found a spell written in it. They decided to try it on you, and, as a result, the skin on your back splits open in various places every few hours. I've made an ointment that helps, but the only cure is time." She sighed heavily. "I've only seen this spell preformed twice before, and, thankfully, this student botched it up enough that I was able to stop it. You are very lucky, Ms. Benedetto."

I nodded and leaned forward onto the tray table in front of me. "So, what happened with the match?"

My dad burst into laughter. "That's my girl."

Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes. "I have work to do, so you can talk to Professor McGonagall about that when she comes by later."

And with that she left. My mom eyed her warily. "She's very… efficient."

I nodded and turned to my parents. "What're you guys doing here?"

"We thought we'd surprise you by appearing at your last match, Linny." My mom smiled sadly as she stroked my hair. "Can I brush it?"

"Yeah. Can you tell me about the match, though? I remember parts of it, like I remember diving for the snitch, talking to McGonagall, and then I remember coming here…" I trailed off, remembering the pain of having to down those potions and the first time my back had been cleaned. Did James really say that?

"Well, to tell you the truth, it was kind of boring for the first 3 hours. But then the keeper, Sally, did you say?" I nodded, and my mom continued. "Sally took a bludger to her head at a very small distance. You caught her and carried her to the referee, but the game resumed, and then you, well…"

"I tried to play keeper and seeker." The corner of my mouth twitched. "I'm a dolt."

"No, Lin, you were trying to help your team out. It was really noble," my mom cooed.

"It makes no sense!" I rubbed my temples.

My dad cleared his throat. "Actually, if you think about it, it does. The snitch hadn't been spotted in three hours, and you were buying your team enough time to let them get so far ahead that you could win even if Slytherin caught the snitch."

I frowned. "But still."

"Do you want to hear about the rest of the match or what?" my dad demanded. I nodded. He took the story over. "You were doing what had to be done and keeping most of the shots from scoring, but your mother nearly fainted when you head-butted that quaffle." He chuckled. "That's when the Slytherins got really annoyed and decided to charge you, but you stood up and did that broom-surfing thing that Lon taught you back when you went to G.C.A and flicked it back into the chaser's face." My dad was laughing hard now. "You broke his nose, I heard."

I grinned, but my dad soon sobered up. "And then you went after the snitch, and then you fell, and that horrible brat threw her bat at you after she had already hit you with a bludger. You weren't screaming, though, so I was only focusing on the fact that you were falling, but James caught you. I thought then you would be okay, but James took you over to Headmistress McGonagall, so we rushed down. At the same time, the whistle was blown, and it had looked like the Slytherins had caught the snitch and won-"

My mom elbowed him. "But we were more concerned with you, dear, and we rushed over to you. At that moment, McGonagall forced you to throw up, because it looked like you were choking. And you were, but there was something else wrong to, so she and James brought you to the locker room. That nice teacher, Professor Longbottom, told us to wait while she checked you over, but your dad was really mad, so he started yelling-"

"I did not!" My dad huffed indignantly. "Things just got a little heated. But while we were talking to Longbottom, the referee started shouting at the Slytherin team. It turns out they had conjured a fake snitch so that the game would be over. Then everyone started worrying about where the real snitch was, and…" he trailed off and shot me a grin.

"Well?" I demanded.

"You know that thing you were choking on?" he asked excitedly.

I gaped at him. "I swallowed the snitch?"

He nodded proudly. "Professor Longbottom had a hunch and ended picking through the pile of barf." My mom made a weird noise and her face scrunched up in distaste, but my dad just went on. "So, while that was all getting sorted out, we finally convinced someone to take us to the Hospital Wing. When we got here, you were asleep and that Pomfrey woman was shooing everyone away, saying you needed your sleep. We managed to convince her to let us stay here, though, so we've been here the whole time."

My mom beamed at me and set the brush down. "James stopped by this morning to see if you had woken up yet, and tried to convince us that he should skip classes to stay here, but we made him go on." She clapped her hands together. "He's so cute, Linny."

My dad scowled and I blushed. "Thanks, Mom." I laid my head on the table, enjoying the cool feeling against my cheek. I sighed. "Well, I guess it's time to start looking at other jobs."

"What are you talking about?" My dad patted me on the back. "Don't you want to play quidditch anymore?"

I nodded. Tears sprung up to my eyes. "But no one will want me after what happened yesterday."

My dad scoffed and picked up a large envelope from the floor. He plopped it next to me on the bed. "Inside that," he pointed to it, "are a bunch of letters that came in with the owl mail this morning."

"Maybe it's for the best if she doesn't play quidditch, though, Robert." My mom tried to sneak the folder away from me.

I snatched it out of the way and immediately opened it and fished out its contents. "Oh, my God!" I squealed as I flipped through the letters. "Did you see these?"

"Your mother peeked," my dad said accusatorily.

"I did not!" she protested, but a tell-tale pink was staining her cheeks.

I laughed as I spread the letters out in front of me. Puddlemere, the Harpies, the Arrows, the Tutshill Tornadoes, the Cannons, and the Wasps had all sent letters stating pretty much the same things. They would love to have me, some as a reserve, and some as a first player, they were willing to negotiate terms of contracts and that they were eager to meet me as soon as possible.

I exhaled loudly as I handed the letters to my dad. "When the hell did I get so desirable?"

"Lin!" my mother scolded.

"Sorry," I muttered under my breath. My dad winked at me.

Soon after that, and after eating a little bit of food Madam Pomfrey had insisted upon, I fell asleep.

I was tormented by nightmares, however. Scenes of war and battle and blood and dead bodies, things I had never seen but only ever heard of, haunted my dreams. I kept seeing everyone I ever loved cruelly tortured and killed before my eyes.

I woke up sobbing, clutching at the blankets that surrounded me. I struggled to right myself, trying to flip over so I could sit up and look at something, anything.

"Lin! Lin, please calm down," a warm voice tried to sooth me as arms gently helped me right myself. I sank my head between my knees and took several deep breaths. Hands I knew well rubbed my arms, afraid of touching my back.

"Where are my parents?" I asked quietly after my tears had slowed down.

James pushed the hair back from my eyes and face, which were now wet with tears and sweat. "They went to grab a bite to eat. They'll be back soon."

I took another deep breath and launched myself at him, landing in his lap and burying my face in the crook of his neck. "I was so scared," I mumbled, feeling like a child of six again.

He wrapped his arms rather awkwardly around my hips, careful not to touch the fresh wounds on my back. Madam Pomfrey had given me a gown with the back cut out of it to wear, but James seemed acutely aware of how little I was wearing. His breath hitched. "Maybe I should move."

"No," I pleaded, wrapping my arms around him. "Stay, please."

He sighed and rested his head atop mine. "How've you been?" he asked quietly. "I tried to stay with you today, but your parents made me go to classes."

I smiled at that. "I know. My parents told me. I want you to go to classes, James. We're so close to the NEWTs, I'd hate for you to fail because of me."

"With all the studying you forced me to do, I doubt I'll fail." He chuckled as he let his hand rest against my thigh. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," I said truthfully. "But I'm sure I'm not as bad as Sally. Have you had any word?"

"Albus got an owl this morning from her parents. She's recovering quickly, and she'll be back soon, don't worry. She's angry at you for trying to cover for her." He pressed a kiss to my head. "Silly Lin. You took too much on, didn't you?"

I sighed. "You're probably right, but whatever. What happened happened. And I feel better than I did last night."

He pulled back from me for a minute, so he could look into my eyes better. "Your parents told me- well, I wasn't sure if you remembered, but I- see, the thing is that I, I-"

I pressed my lips to his. "I love you, too."

He cradled my head between his hands with a small smile gracing his face. "Really?"

I smacked his arm lightly. "No, I'm lying," I said sarcastically. His smile grew wider and he kissed me passionately.

I wound my fingers in his hair and nipped at his bottom lip, and he groaned, allowing my tongue access to his mouth. Our tongues battled for a while, before he drew his lips away and pressed kisses up my jaw leading to my ear. "I was so afraid," he whispered, "so afraid I was going to lose you, Lin. You have no idea."

I moaned as he flicked my earlobe with his tongue. I placed a kiss on his shoulder. "We should stop, before Madam Pomfrey or my parents get back."

He pressed a kiss of his own to the spot behind my ear. "We really should," he agreed.

I hummed and brought his face to mine. I kissed his lips slowly and sweetly. "Tell me about your day." I grinned and met his gaze as my lips ghosted against his.

He shuddered, his eyes going dark with desire. "I couldn't think of anything but you all day," He confessed as he moved his lips down to my neck. "I'm pretty sure I failed a quiz in Care of Magical Creatures because of it."

"Oh my gosh, did you get me the assignments?" I jerked his head back up so I was looking at him. "What did I miss?"

He frowned. "Georgie got you your assignments. They'll be stopping by after dinner."

He moved to kiss my neck again, but I stopped him. "Why are you skipping dinner?"

He huffed. "To spend time with you, silly. Someone has to watch you at all times, and I volunteered. Aren't you glad I did?" He grinned roguishly.

"Maybe," I teased. "Hey, did you get any mail today?"

He smiled. "Yes. Did you?"

I nodded, pulling the envelope from the table by my bed. "Who from?"

"Puddlemere, the Tornadoes, the Cannons and the Wasps," he said proudly. "What about you?"

"Pretty much the same, except the Harpies and Arrows also sent stuff in," I admitted as I handed him the packet of letters. "What're you thinking?"

He rolled his eyes. "Haven't we already had this discussion? Puddlemere!"

"I hear they don't like players to date each other." I chewed on my lip nervously. "What'll we do?"

"All teams are like that, Lin." He smiled down at me. "But I think they'll hate players dating each other on different teams even more." He paused. "Besides, I'm a Potter, and you're, well, you, so they can't really refuse us now, can they?"

I sighed. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"