Ch 13

"EMILY!"

I jump so badly that I fall out of my bed. My butt collides with the floor, and I can feel the instant bruising occurring.

"What the hell Hanna?" I snap, massaging my bruised tailbone and dignity. She kneels down beside me and tilts her head to the side, smiling.

"You got in so late last night," she sings. I narrow my eyes at her and shake my head.

"When did you become my mother?"

"A long time ago," she deadpans. Nothing she says ever makes sense. "Anyways, you told me that you would tell me all about your date in the morning! And it's morning! So time to spill."

"Hanna, it's freaking 6:30am," I groan. She shrugs and stands up, extending her hand to help me up. I glance around the dormitory. "Where the hell is everyone?"

"They're at breakfast," she says simply. She watches me for a few moments before her eyes widen. "You know you have a Quidditch match in like an hour, right?"

"What?!"

I jump past her and sprint to the chest with all of my clothes in it. I rummage through, messily tossing random articles of clothing behind me. Finally, I find my uniform and pull it out of the chest.

"Em, what's this?" Hanna asks from somewhere to my right. I look up and my heart stops beating. She's holding out the sketchbook that Alison drew in for me.

"O-oh t-that? Please don't—" but it's too late. She opens it, and flips through the book. Her smile widens with every page that turns.

"This is the cutest thing ever," Hanna squeals. "Did Alison make this for you?"

I don't even have to answer. Hanna bounds towards me and envelopes me in a bone-crushing bear hug.

"I hope this doesn't mean that you're going to take it easy on her today, though," Hanna looks at me seriously when she finally releases her death grip. She places the sketchbook down very gently on top of my pillow.

"What?"

"Did she like erase your memory? What is wrong with you?" Hanna looks at me weirdly. "The match is against Slytherin today."

The top of the chest slams shut, the sound echoing through the room. I stare at it for a second; how the hell could I have forgotten?

I guess with all of the things going on around me with Alison, I haven't even had a second to think about anything else. I swallow painfully, and weakly shake my head.

I haven't even really practiced in weeks. Hanna watches me carefully as I slide off my pjs and put on my uniform. My phone buzzes from my bedside table, distracting Hanna.

"It's Alison," she says, but she doesn't sound disappointed. "Do you want me to answer for you? Oh, nevermind."

"What did she say?" I question, finally breaking my gaze with the floor and looking over at her.

Hanna clears her throat but remains silent. I furrow my eyebrows, but she still doesn't read it out loud. She hands the phone over to me.

Alison: Hey Em! Thanks so much for an awesome time last night. I can't wait to talk about it even more after the match today... I just wanted to warn you, though. I'm sure you can tell already, but it's really gross out. It's pouring. I've never seen so much lightning in my life. Please be careful, hon.

Alison: Sorry I had to send that prematurely. Cece walked into the locker room. Anyways, the storm isn't all that you need to be careful of. I overheard Noel and Cece in a conversation… I think that instead of hitting the bludgers at chasers, Noel is going to be aiming for you. It would kill me if you got hurt at all, so please just be careful and keep your eyes open for him. Well, that's all I wanted to tell you. Good luck today, Em. May the best girl win ;) xoxo

I lock my phone and slide it into my robes pocket. I probably should answer it, but I don't even know what I would say. How do I defend the quaffle from going into the hoops and defend myself from Noel?

Hanna seems to notice my confliction, because she puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. I know that you'll be fine," she tells me. "And you're going to kick Slytherin's ass. Alison said 'may the best girl win,' and we both know that's you. So go on out there and kick ass."

I smile weakly and pull my phone out to send Alison a text.

Emily: Hey Ali. Thanks for the heads up. I'll be careful, but only if you promise you will be too. Good luck today! Xoxo

Alison wasn't kidding about the storm. The wind is so bad that it's whipping me around on my broom. I have to consciously force myself to stay in the same place and not get blown away.

The match started about five minutes ago, and so far no one has scored. I defended a well-thrown shot from Cece, but I was able to somehow chase it down and toss it over to Paige. She dropped it almost immediately trying to avoid a bludger, but thankfully Toby swooped down under her and maintained possession.

That's all of the excitement that's happened so far. The icy rain pelts my face, stinging my cheeks with its freezing liquid. I breathe out and can see my breath envelop all of the surrounding air. I shiver a little, trying to shake off some of the dampness from my uniform.

The rain makes it nearly impossible to see. Even though it's daytime, the entire sky is black. The rain falls down like a curtain, altering all perceptions. No one has been very accurate this game because of the weather.

The quaffle is on the other side of the pitch when I hear the first ding, indicating that we have scored. Normally, the announcer goes over the intercom and says who scored the shot, but I don't even think that they could see who did it.

I haven't seen Alison too much since the game started. I think that she's probably trying to avoid taking any shots on me, but I wish she wouldn't.

Almost immediately after I think that, though, she appears in my line of vision. The rain has drenched her, plastering her beautiful golden hair to her face in all different places. She tosses the quaffle over to Cece, who almost immediately tosses it back. I try to keep my eyes on it, but Alison is too quick. She disappears for a split second, and that's all she needs before the ding goes off. I slump my shoulders; I hadn't even see her attack coming.

"It's okay, Em! It's just one shot!" Toby shouts at me from a few feet away. I nod my head and give him a thumb's up. He smiles and then turns back upfield to help his fellow chasers with their next attack.

After a few seconds, the muffled ding is heard. I pump my fist; I can already tell it's going to be a close game. I glance around the pitch to see if I can lay eyes on Jenna, and see her progress with the snitch, but the raining has increased, making it even harder to see. I didn't even know that was possible.

I can see three blurred figures in green and silver charging after me, and I ready myself for their strike. My heart pounds louder and louder in my ears with every second that goes by. The wind roars, jerking my broom around, but I try to hold it steady.

The rain lets up enough for me to distinguish where each person is. Alison is on my far right, but she doesn't have the quaffle. Cece closes in, the quaffle in her hand, and aims for the right post. I block it down to Toby. I watch as he speeds down the field, the other chasers at his side. I sniff, wiping my wet nose.

Before I even have time to register anything, another Slytherin chaser has regained possession and is flying towards me. I can't tell if it's Alison or Cece, but their blonde hair ripples in the wind despite the rain. She jukes me a few times before shooting into the right hoop. The ding indicates that she scored.

I grimace; that's totally Alison.

Sure enough, she flips her wet hair out of her face and flashes me a smile. She flies close to me, stopping directly beside me.

"Hey, beautiful," she grins. "Are you taking it easy on me?"

I roll my eyes and smile a little. "Go away, Alison."

She smiles and reaches out, touching my face. Her hand is warm against my skin. She brushes some hair out of my eyes and shrugs. Her eyes sparkle as she watches me, and I feel my face heating up despite the freezing temperature.

The ding is heard again, and I know that it's time for Slytherin to launch their counterattack. In the split second I looked up the field, Alison disappeared from beside me. She had flown downfield a little bit to make it easier to pass the quaffle.

I sniff the air again and wipe some rain off of my forehead. My fingers drip, but I try to stay completely focused as the green and silver blurbs fly towards me.

At least, I tried to.

Everything around me goes quiet when I hear Alison scream, "EMILY WATCH OUT!"

Her voice is so foreign that I barely register what she's said, and the next few moments play out in slow motion. It's as if someone had a remote control and was altering the way that time flowed.

I watch as Noel winds up on the left of me, slamming the bludger as hard as he can in my direction. It makes a cracking sound, and I see that his paddle has actually snapped in half from the contact. The top piece of it flies off into the crowd, causing the Hufflepuffs in those particular stands to duck.

The black object pelts towards me, refusing to be slowed down by the whipping wind and rain. I shut my eyes forcefully, waiting for it to collide with me. Before the bludger can hit me, something else rams into me from behind, causing me to spin out of control and out of the trajectory of the bludger. My head slams into one of the goal posts, but thankfully my broom keeps me upright. I shake my head in a daze, trying to regain my full consciousness.

Part of me sighs in relief, but then the majority of my blood freezes. There's another scream that I don't want to recognize. I slowly open one of my eyes in time to see Alison spiraling down towards the ground, her broom barely supporting her. It sags to one side, causing her to fall even faster. My vision goes in and out, but I continue to follow her with my eyes.

My mouth goes dry and I scream, but I can't hear anything. There's a ringing in my ears that blocks out any foreign sound. I try to move after her, but I'm frozen. My body nor my broom listen to my brain, which screams at me on loop to dive after her.

She continues to fall, and it registers in my mind that we're well over 60 feet in the air. Something moves to my left, and I notice that it's the third Slytherin chaser coming towards me. They haven't even stopped play to see if Alison was okay.

I don't know how, but I instinctively close off any angle that this chaser has and block their shot. I throw the quaffle as far as I can into the middle of the field, not even caring where it goes. My mind is still on Alison.

I look down right in time to see her slam into the wet sand. She lands in a puddle, causing water to cascade all around her. There's a Gryffindor chaser beside her; I think that they helped break the fall. I narrow my eyes and recognize the long, dark hair as Sydney's.

An ear-splitting trumpet is sounded, indicating that one of the seekers has just caught the snitch. I'm so out of it that I don't know whether it was our team or Alison's that did so.

Time speeds back up to normal and I see Garrett flying towards the bottom of our goal hoops to check on Alison. Even though time has returned to normal flow, my hearing still hasn't. The ringing in my ears grows louder and louder.

Before I can react to anything, someone flies up beside me and grabs ahold of my shoulders. They start to forcefully shake me, trying to shake me out of my reverie.

"Emily!" his voice is firm. My eyes begin to focus more and I recognize that it's Toby who is shaking me.

"Toby," I say weakly. He pulls me into a warm hug, and grabs ahold of one of my hands.

"Are you okay?" Toby asks me. His voice wavers, either from the cold or being scared. He squeezes my hand and I start to slowly come back to reality.

"Emily!" he shouts when I don't answer.

"Alison," my voice is very low. I look directly beneath me to see a large group of people crowded around the base of the three posts.

"She's okay," Toby assures me. I give him a look that says 'I don't believe you.'

He gives me a look that says 'I don't blame you.'

Someone else's hand touches my right shoulder and I start. I turn back to see who it is and it's a few moments before I recognize that it's a fellow Gryffindor.

"Are you okay?" it's Sydney. I look at her strangely; why wouldn't I be? "It looked like you hit your head pretty hard."

"Huh?" I must have blacked out or something.

Sydney bites her lip and looks at Toby. "I think that she should also get to the infirmary, Toby."

Toby nods, agreeing. "I think that since she wasn't expecting the collision, it may have jarred her from reality."

Their voices sound like muffled buzzes, but I can still determine what they're saying.

"Come on, Em," Sydney's voice is soothing, and she lightly grasps my right bicep, and Toby grabs ahold of my left. They slowly help me down to the ground, but I find it difficult to stand when my feet touch the grass.

I see the large crowd again, but it's grown in numbers now. Someone hugs me from the side, their blonde hair getting in my mouth.

"Emily! Do you realize how close that was?" Hanna screams at me. She slaps my arm. "You gave me a heart attack! I thought that you were going to be paying attention to him after that warning!"

"What warning?" Spencer's voice asks from beside Hanna. Toby moves from beside me and puts his arm around Spencer. Aria appears beside me and gives me a side hug.

"Alison's!" Hanna exclaims, but doesn't go into any further detail. At least, if she does, I tune it out.

I drop my broom because I've heard the name of the person I had temporarily forgotten. Alison.

Without saying another word, I brush past Hanna and sprint as fast as I can towards the crowd of people.

"Careful! Everyone take a few steps back!" a voice orders from within the group. I push through the throng of people and fall to my knees between Nurse Meredith and Garrett. Garrett looks at me weirdly, no doubt wondering what I was doing there.

"Alison!" I exclaim.

She lie there, face down and motionless, the fragments of her broom scattered all around her. It had to have been snapped into at least thirteen pieces. I try to move closer to her, but Nurse Meredith throws me backwards.

"Don't touch her! You might hurt her even worse," she shouts at me.

My mouth goes even dryer as I watch her prod Alison a few times with her wand. Alison's hair covers the ground around her and hides her face from view. I can see that her legs are fractured from the fall and her arms are bent in strange directions. I hear Nurse Meredith say something about her shoulder bone being reduced to dust from the impact, and I gag a few times. Before I can hear any more, strong arms grab ahold of me and pull me away from the scene.

"You don't need to hear that," Toby's deep voice tells me. One of the girls grabs hold of one of my arms and another laces her fingers within mine.

"We need to get you to the infirmary, though," a voice I recognize as Lucas' tells me. I fall into him, and he wraps his arms around me in a hug.

"What's happening?" I find myself asking. It surprises me that I can hear my voice slurring.

"Noel aimed a bludger at you, but Alison pushed you out of the way and took the hit for you," Aria explains. "Sydney tried to help break the fall, but I think that everyone was just really shocked.

I can almost hear the tears forming in her eyes and her throat tightening up. We begin to walk off of the pitch and I guess towards the castle.

"Do you remember hitting your head on the goal post?" Spencer asks me. I shake my head, because, honestly, I don't really remember very much of anything.

"Okay, we're going to get you to the infirmary and get you checked out," Lucas announces.

"Consider yourself blessed that Nurse Meredith is occupied with Alison," Aria tells me. "I'd rather not have her operate on me. I think she'd botch it on purpose."

I nod a few times. I'm glad that Lucas is supporting me, because I think that I would have collapsed by now if I didn't have a crutch.

I try to subtly quicken the pace towards the castle because I'm freezing, and I don't think anyone else minds.

"Who won?" I question.

"Slytherin," Spencer answers after a beat. I sigh in frustration, but decide that I shouldn't get too worked up about it.

So instead, I ask the question I'm not sure that I want the answer to. "So, is Alison okay?"

No one responds, and every time I try to make eye contact, they look away.

Spencer is the first to speak. "Not exactly, but I think that she will be."

I breathe a sigh of relief. At least there's hope for her.

After that thought passes through my mind, though, I grimace. There's that saying that Spencer always says: "You know what they say about hope… it breeds eternal misery."

hey everyone! i'm sorry about the delay. i've been meeting deadlines for a novel i'm working on, and i also attended a weeklong conference that took over my life hahah. but i'm back :)

i hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter and i'm excited to hear what you think! review, pm, tweet me, anything! love hearing from you all!