Well that was a long delay. Sorry about that everyone.
There are a few reasons why there was such a delay between chapters; one being that I had an itch to work on a few other projects, such as another HP fanfic called Sourblood.
I also also just having trouble writing this Chapter. Especially the part about Theo's flashback (Apologies to anyone out there who suffers similar symptoms to Theo; I'm not sure how realistically I have depicted this scene). I also felt like it was time to edit what I'd done. All the chapters have been replaced. The changes are mostly small, but bigger ones include:
Chapter one and two have been merged into one chapter. They are still mostly unchanged though.
Camille Zabini is now a Witch, but attends the Wizarding Acadamy of Dramatic Arts.
There are a few more minor details dropped about Theo's life before Hogwarts.
Theo becomes more troubled after seeing Malfoy being bashed and when finding Leia's body
Death to Typos
Well, after way too long, here is the next chapter. As always feedback is welcome. And Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling.
Warning: blood and gore ahead
Chapter 16: Keeper and Seeker
Whilst the rest of Slytherin House were making their stand in the Great Hall, Theo was up in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey had healed his cuts rather quickly, but she had some news for him and Hermione.
"I am sick to death of all these injuries happening during those barbaric Quidditch matches" the matron explained to them "fortunately this year Madam Hooch and I were able to work out a compromises that should give you Sixth Years some hands on experience before you're work placement next year. Miss. Granger, Mr. Nott, how would you two like to be Quidditch medics?"
"Medics on brooms?" Theo asked "like... flying around... for everyone to watch?"
"You'll have brooms, but you'll be based on the ground." Madam Pomfrey explained "Madam Hooch hasn't let me attend a Quidditch game for ten years... but finally I can at least get some students with healing training to stand on the sidelines and mop up the mess."
"You aren't allowed to attend Quidditch matches?" Hermione asked "I've always thought it was stupid you weren't on the sidelines... why would Madam Hooch ever dream of banning you?"
Madam Pomfrey's expression grew sheepish for a second, but when she spoke again her voice was stony. "Ten years ago Hufflepuff and Slytherin were playing, and the game had been going on over two nights. It was raining hard. All the players were suffering. Anyway I intervened and healed them up. I made them all stop the game and well... Madam Hooch didn't approve."
"Yeah, but that was a long game" Theo said "surely she could have just let it slide?"
"Well, I also did it during the next game when after ten minutes in a Chaser got hit by a bludger." Madam Pomfrey explained "Hooch thinks I have over-protective issues when it comes to Quidditch. But now I can have student medics on the field."
"Sounds like fun" Hermione said "so how is it going to work?"
"Well, luckily I have six Sixth Years and there will be six games" the matron explained "so one student can be the medic at each game. Now, you two are both tied for top of the class, so one of you can be first."
"One of us?" Hermione said.
"Yes Miss Granger, why don't you and Mr. Nott work it out amongst yourselves?"
Theo was about to tell Hermione that she could go first, but she had turned to him with a determined face and her fist out, saying "Rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock?"
Theo shrugged and decided to play against her. As they waved their fists and chanted the names, he did some quick strategising. They had been talking about Kirk and Spock earlier that day, so maybe she would expect him to go with Spock. In which case she would either try to disprove him with paper, or poison him with lizard. Theo decided to go with the one option that could beat them both.
"Paper!" Hermione declared as she flattened her hand
"Scissors!" Theo declared as he made the winning scissors gesture.
"Oh, I was sure you'd go for Spock." Hermione said "well congratulations Theo, you get to be the first medic of our class."
"Yeah... wait what?"
"Wonderful" Madam Pomfrey said "Mr. Nott can oversee the Slytherin Gryffindor match this weekend, and Miss. Granger can have the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff match in a few weeks time."
"Well at least Harry and Ron are in good hands now" Hermione said.
"Wait... I only have one more day to prepare" Theo said "I... I don't think I can do this. Hermione, you should do the first match. I know you really want to."
"It's fine Theo" she said "you do it. I know you can do it; you're a natural healer. Or are you more worried about the flying?"
"Ha!" Madam Pomfrey laughed "Theodore Nott afraid of flying. I remember the time his sister smuggled him in to watch her match against Gryffindor in her second year. After the game the two of them went flying together, and his boy here is a natural."
"Oh I'm not that good" Theo felt himself blush "Alice was the only flier in our family."
"Your sister played Qudditch?" Hermione asked "you never mentioned that before."
"I didn't?" Theo asked. He was sure he had told Hermione about Alice's Quidditch playing before, but then again he did still find it hard to talk about her at times so it was possible he had never mentioned it.
"You never have" Hermione said.
"Oh sorry" Theo said "well, yeah she played Keeper for Ravenclaw. She was one of the best Keepers Ravenclaw, no, the whole school had seen. No-one ever scored a point against her while she played for Ravenclaw."
"No-one ever scored against her?" Hermione asked, her voice betraying a lot of admiration from someone who was not really interested in Quidditch.
"She is the only Keeper in Hogwarts History to play against all the opposing houses and never let anyone score a point!" He said, feeling his boyhood excitement about Alice's Quidditch games bubble up again. "In her second year she was a reserve on the team, and half-way through the match against Slytherin the main Keeper got knocked out. She was brought in when Slytherin were a hundred points in front, but they never scored again, and Ravenclaw came back! After that they made her their main Keeper, and the next match against Gryffindor she brought me to see!"
"That would have been amazing" Hermione said "being a little kid in Hogwarts."
"It was; and Alice was amazing too! Ravenclaw had been in last place for years, but thanks to her they were able to reach second place, and could have even taken out the cup if the Gryffindor Seeker hadn't caught the snitch just before Ravenclaw was about to take the lead in points. And she did it all on a school broom!"
Hermione gave Theo a happy laugh and then shook her head. He instantly tried to work out if he had done anything wrong - the laugh sounded happy, but how could her shaking her head be good?
"I never realised you were so into Quidditch" Hermione said "you should really talk to Harry and Ron more, I bet they'd hang on to your every word once they find out your sister was such a great player."
"Of course he was into Quidditch" Madam Pomfrey said "that was really the first thing Professor Flitwick and I noticed when we first found him; little Theo was into whatever his big sister was into. They both sang together too, and oh my they both had good voices. Professor Flitwick signed Mr. Nott here up to the choir that day!"
"You never told me you can sing" Hermione said "did you ever go into the choir?"
"Oh no I couldn't do the choir" Theo said "my voice well... it isn't the same as it was back then, coz well, I was pretty little then, and now well... umm.. I kinda grew and erm... developed. And my voice it umm.." Great Theo he thought to himself not only are you lying to her, but you had to mention going through puberty and then get all flustered didn't you?
"Your voice broke?" Hermione asked with that reassuring smile that Theo loved.
"Yeah that happened" Theo said. He wondered if he would have been able to tell the truth to Hermione if Madam Pomfrey hadn't been there. After all, he had told Harry without any problem.
"Tsk, Mr. Nott I cannot believe how shy you have become" Madam Pomfrey said "Now Miss. Granger, if you had known him when he was eight you wouldn't recognise him. He was such a bubbly and talkative little boy."
"Wow" Hermione said "Theo, I cannot imagine you being talkative. I would have loved to see you as an eight year old."
Theo felt himself go tense at her words. Did that mean that she didn't like him because he was so quiet?
"Anyway, did you get to see Alice play any other games?" Hermione asked.
"Oh we made sure he didn't sneak in for Alice's next game against Hufflepuff" Pomfrey explained "Alice almost got banned from the game when she talked back to Professor Flitwick about it, but we made sure she didn't bring him along. Though of course if we had known it would have been her last Quidditch game we wouldn't have tried to stop her."
At the sudden reminder of Alice's death Theo felt a familiar tightness in his chest and then found himself struggling for breath. Alice could have been one of the greatest Keepers of all time he found himself thinking if only she hadn't come home for Christmas to see you.
"Theo are you okay!" Hermione asked, panic looming in her voice "you just went all pale, is it because of Alice? Theo? THEO!"
If she hadn't of come home to see you, then Gabriella wouldn't have done it. Alice wouldn't have been in any danger at all. She wouldn't have suffered! For a second the Hospital Wing was gone and he was back in the corner of Alice's room. She was screaming as kind hearted Mrs. Tucker from the library pinned her down, and looked in his direction with the gazed over eyes of someone under the Imperious Curse.
"THEO! THEO!" He was suddenly aware of Hermione grabbing him by the shoulders, and saw Madam Pomfrey conjure up a brown paper bag. He wanted to tell her he was alright, but he was hyperventilating and couldn't get the words out. He felt sick, and his last though before he was thrown back into the flashback was oh please let me not throw up on Hermione, please don't throw up on Hermione. Oh god I can't be having a panic attack in front of Hermione!
Next second he was back in Alice's room, where kind Mrs. Tucker was powerless to stop her hand from lifting up that butcher's knife and stabbing his screaming sister. And stabbing her again, and again, and Mrs. Tucker had always been nice and helped them why was she hurting Alice? And Alice just kept screaming and screaming and Theo was crying as her blood splatted against him and blood went everywhere and Gabriella was in the hallway laughing and he couldn't do anything and Alice was hurting.
"THEO!"
He was on the floor, drenched in sweat and breathing into a paper bag. Well, at least he hadn't thrown up on Hermione. Speaking of Hermione, he couldn't help but miss a breath once he realised where her hands were. While Madam Pomfrey had steadied him and forced him to breath into the bag, Hermione was crouched down next to him with both her hands desperately clutching his.
He had always wondered what it would be like to have Hermione hold his hand, but this was certainly not the way he had wanted it to happen. He took a moment to take in the softness of her hands and to gently caress her fingers with his thumb. He decided that despite still feeling the effects of a panic attack, he quite liked having his hand in Hermione's. Now if only his palms weren't covered in sweat.
"Are you alright Theo?" he had never seen her look so worried before. He wanted to tell her not to worry, but he knew swatting the paper bag away from his mouth wasn't a good idea.
"He'll be alright" Madam Pomfrey explained "won't you Theo? Just a mild panic attack, you've gotten through worse than this before."
"This is mild?" Hermione asked "God Theo what's happening, does this happen all the time?"
Theo managed to shake his head and pat her hands with his free hand. His breathing felt a lot more normal now, and Madam Pomfrey finally removed the paper bag.
"I used to get flashbacks and panic attacks a lot" Theo said "especially before I came to Hogwarts. But I haven't had one in almost two years. I... it's scary to have them, but the worst is over, I can handle it from now."
"Are you sure?" Hermione said, squeezing his hand tighter "Jesus Theo I didn't realise you had anything like this going on."
He felt fresh worry and his stomach was telling him that vomiting was imminent. Oh please, Hermione please don't stop liking me. I can't... I want you to love me.
"Theo!" she squeezed his hand again "it's alright, you can handle this." She looked over his shoulder to where Madam Pomfrey was still keeping him steady "should we get him to a bed?"
"Just give him a second to get his breath back" the matron said "he'll probably have some vertigo."
After a while the matron got Theo calmed down and he was able to get up. Hermione helped him stand, keeping one hand in his as she helped him towards a bed. As he sat on the bed, he found himself in a tricky predicament; he really did not want to let go of Hermione's hand, and she wasn't making any moves to let go either. But hadn't they now been holding hands longer than was needed?
She blushed when she noticed she was still holding his hand, and gave his hand one final squeeze before letting go.
"Sorry about that Theodore" Madam Pomfrey said "I didn't realise saying that would set you off. So was it more a panic attack or a flashback?"
"Flashback" Theo said "It was almost like being back in Alice's room... and its not your fault. When I saw Leia murdered I could feel a flashback coming along... but I... I don't know how I did it, but I managed to push the flashback aside to help Blaise. Since then I've felt like well, like it was only a matter of time before it caught up with me."
"I see" Madam Pomfrey said "did you go to see Madam Lestrange while you were feeling like this?"
"I dropped in on Wednesday night, but she had someone else with her. These been quite a lot going on lately, so I haven't had a chance. I... I guess I also thought I could just get over it."
"Silly boy" Madam Pomfrey said.
"Do you get flashbacks and stuff often?" Hermione asked.
"Not really" Theo said "I haven't had anything like this happen in ohh... over two years. The worst thing for me is nightmares, but even they started to decrease after the DA started."
"That's good" Hermione said "well, good it doesn't affect you all that often. Do you want me to stay with you while you're here?"
"That would be nice" Theo said.
"What about classes Miss Granger?"
"Oh do I have to?" Hermione said
"You want to skip class for me?" Theo said.
"Of course I would" Hermione said "but only for you Theo."
Theo found himself smiling; she would only skip classes for him? That had to be a good thing.
Saturday Morning
Harry felt strangely relaxed as he led his team into the Great Hall before the match against Slytherin. But then again, Ron was sitting beside him being nervous enough for the whole team.
"I can't do this Harry" He said "I just can't."
"You won the cup for Gryffindor last year Ron" Harry said "you can do this."
"But I've been sucking badly Harry"
"You can do this, now eat something. Please."
Ron struggled to force down some food, and Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table again. The bright green Quidditch robes were right in the middle of the table, with Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Vaisey and Selwyn on the 'Pure-Freak' side of the gap and Urquhart and Bletcherly on the 'Traitor' side.
There was absolutely no contact between the two sides of the team. No contact between Urquhart and the other Chasers; How the hell were they meant to function as a team?
"Demelza, Ginny, Katie" Harry said to his own Chasers "The Slytherin team is divided... you'll be able to make the most use of that. Force the Chasers to pass and fly in formation, because I don't think they can work together at all. Jimmy, Ritchie, Crabbe and Goyle are much bigger and stronger than you, but they haven't been practicing nearly as much as you. Fly rings around them, hog the Bludgers, keep them out of the game and bombard the Chasers,"
Jimmy and Ritchie nodded... then glanced at Crabbe and Goyle in terror. Harry wasn't worried though; they may be the smallest Beaters in the Cup this year, but they could outfly Crabbe and Goyle.
"Here comes Hermione and her Slytherin friends" Ginny said.
Harry followed where Ginny was pointing and saw Hermione walking towards the Gryffindor table with Blaise, Xanthe and Theo. Blaise and Xanthe were wearing Slytherin scarves and beanies, but Theo was dressed in smart pale green healer robes. Harry wondered whether he should shoo the Slytherins away if they came to the table. Sure they were his friends, but today was game day. Until the game was over at least, Slytherin was back to being the enemy.
In the end Harry didn't have to say anything to the Slytherins. They gave him a friendly wave before heading to their own table, and Hermione came over to sit with the team.
"The Slytherins have their own medic now?" Katie asked Hermione.
"No" Hermione said "Madam Pomfrey is getting her sixth year students to act as medics during the Quidditch games from now on. Theo will patch up players from both teams, not just Slytherin."
"Sure" Ritchie said.
"He will! Doing well in Healing is much more important to him than silly house rivalries."
"Well at least we're in good hands" Ron said "but why couldn't you be our medic Hermione? I'd feel a lot better knowing you were looking out for me."
"Oh um, thanks Ron. I'll be the acting medic for the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff game. Just well... just how the draw went."
"How was that determined?"
"By our grades"
"But... shouldn't you be first then?"
"Ron, I'm not perfect at everything I do. Now eat some breakfast, you'll need your strength."
Ron did manage to eat his breakfast, and the more he looked at the gap between the Slytherin table, the more at ease he became.
Soon Harry was leading his team out to the Quidditch Pitch, and then into the change rooms, where they listened as the students took their seats. First match of the year; and Harry's first match as captain. For now, everything was perfect.
"Remember" Harry said to his team before they stepped onto the pitch "The Slytherin team is divided. However we stand united! We are capable of working together as a team, but they aren't. We communicate with each other; they don't. The Slytherin team is a mess; we cannot lose! Let's go show them the power of a united team!"
The team cheered, and Harry led them onto the pitch. They faced the Slytherin team, Harry and Urquhart shook hands, then Madam Hooch blew her whistle and everyone took to the air.
Harry flew above all the other players. He took a look in the direction the Snitch had taken off in, then did a quick survey of the pitch. As captain, he would not only have to keep an eye out for the Snitch, but he would also have to keep a much closer eye on the rest of the team so he could direct them if needed.
And of course, he would have to watch Malfoy.
Malfoy was circling the pitch at the same height as Harry. And as they passed each other Malfoy glared at Harry with fire in his eyes. The aloof Malfoy of the past few months was gone; the old Malfoy was back and after Harry's blood.
"Well there they go, and I think we're all surprised to see the team Potter's put together this year. Many thought, given Ron Weasley's patchy performance last year, he'd be off the team. But I guess a close personal friendship with the Captain does help."
Zacharias Smith was commentating. That pouncey Hufflepuff that as far as Harry knew no-one really liked. Harry hoped that Smith's commentary wouldn't put Ron of.
"And here's Slytherin's first attempt at a goal. Urquhart speeds away from the Gryffindor's with his Firebolt, rushes to the goals and... and Weasley misses it. Well what did I say? Very lucky for Slytherin though; The Gryffindor Chasers are out flying them something fierce. At this rate Urquhart's Firebolt will be their only chance at getting near the Gryffindor end of the pitch. Though they could make it up if their Beaters play well; After all, Coote doesn't have the usual build of a Beater. They usually have more muscle."
"Aim a Bludger at him" Harry said to Ritchie as he flew past. The smallish Beater smiled, but instead aimed a Bludger right at Vaisey, who had just regained possession for Slytherin. Harry heard a satisfying 'thunk' as the Bludger found it's mark and Gryffindor regained possession.
After that first goal Gryffindor came back hard. Only twice did Slytherin make it back to the Gryffindor side of the field, but both these times Ron had managed to block the goals. Once because Selwyn had shot from an impossible angle, and another time he blocked Urquhart by the narrowest of margins.
Harry hated to admit it, but at the moment Bletcherly was certainly being the better Keeper. He blocked goals left right and centre, but the Gryffindor Chases just kept coming, and he couldn't stop all the goals. Within an hour the score was sixty-ten Gryffindor's way.
Urquhart called a time out, and Harry found his team all in high spirits.
"If it wasn't for that Smith git this would be a dream game" Ginny said "you were right about the Chaser's Harry... they can't do anything together."
"And Crabbe and Goyle are way too slow" Jimmy said "we've got this one in the bag"
"Don't let your guard down" Harry warned them "Bletcherly is going great, despite what the score says. And Ron, watch out for Urquhart coming up with his Firebolt. I haven't seen the Snitch yet, but Malfoy is all fired up. That worries me. I want us to have a cosy lead - preferably over a hundred-and-fifty points - before he catches sight of the Snitch."
"So now that you're Captain you can make us get your points for you?" Katie asked.
"I intend to get the Snitch; Malfoy hasn't beaten me to it before. But I'd rather him hesitate to get it. We should play to our strengths in this game."
What Harry wouldn't admit to the rest of the team, was that there was something about Malfoy today that scared him. He may not have seen much of Malfoy over the months, but Harry could tell that he had changed; for the worse.
They flew back out, and straight away Urquhart raced towards Ron with the Quaffle. This time Ron had no problems blocking it; the confidence the rest of the team were feeling was contagious.
The Chasers began wearing away at Bletcherly again; the stuttering Keeper saved four impressive shots within ten minutes, before Demelza snuck Gryffindor's next point past him. The Gryffindor beat-down continued for Slytherin, until the score was one-hundred to ten.
Oh, looks like Malfoy has seen something Potter hasn't" Smith said. Harry had stopped his search to watch the latest goal, and in that moment Malfoy had found the Snitch and was zooming upwards.
Harry shot after him, but he couldn't close the gap as fast as he normally would have like to. The Nimbus 2002 was almost as fast as Harry's Firebolt.
The Snitched changed direction; it began descending. It sped away from Harry, but now he was closer. He was going to catch it.
There was a heavy thud on his back and he went off course. Malfoy had crashed into him from above and was now rolling off him. At first Harry thought it may have actually been an accident, but when he saw Malfoy's face he knew that it was no accident.
"You!" Harry grabbed Malfoy's collar, and was jabbed in the stomach. He almost fell of his broom, but was able to get back on and land his heel into Malfoy's exposed kneecap.
The whistle sounded. Madam Hooch separated them and awarded both sides a penalty shot. Ginny took the shot for Gryffindor and was blocked by Bletcherly. However Vaisey's shot for Slytherin whooshed right past Ron.
"Harry!" Katie said once the penalties were over "Why..."
"I'm sorry. Just keep playing!"
And keep playing they did. one-hundred-and-ten to twenty. Then one-hundred-and-twenty to twenty. Katie scored the goal that put Gryffindor over a hundred points in the lead. This would be Slytherin's worst defeat in centuries; as long as Malfoy didn't get the snitch.
Harry flew amongst the Chasers, and saw Urquhart shoot Selwyn pure hatred as she attempted to pass the Quaffle to Vaisey - who was blocked by Ginny - rather than Urquhart, who was completely open. Ginny took the Quaffle Selwyn practically handed her, and scored Gryffindor's fourteenth goal of the match.
Harry wasn't going to let his guard down again; he tuned out the rest of the game, and focused on Malfoy and the hunt for the Snitch. He wasn't sure how long he tuned the game out for, but he was brought back to it when he heard Smith taunting Ron again.
"And Weasley lets in another easy goal from the sub-par Slytherin Chasers. Not that it does Slytherin any good. Score one-hundred-and-eighty to thirty."
One-hundred-and-eighty. Gryffindor were exactly one-hundred-and-fifty points ahead. But what frame of mind would that put Malfoy in? Would he avoid the Snitch, waiting for Slytherin to close the gap by just one more goal? Or would he be more determined than ever? Willing to end the match in a draw rather than risk Slytherin falling further behind?
Harry thought it would be the former. He really thought that Malfoy would never yield a draw to Gryffindor.
But a few minutes later, Malfoy proved him wrong. He went at full speed, and Harry saw the Snitch ahead of him. Harry rushed to catch up, but they were at opposite sides of the stadium, and the Snitch wasn't moving inward. It would have been impossible for Harry to catch up, except for Jimmy and Ritchie. They were flying rings around Crabbe and Goyle just as Harry had told them to; they had complete control of both Bludges, and kept them both shooting across Malfoy's path. The Slytherin Seeker was forced to dance around them, and soon Harry found himself closing in. He kept away from the Bludges that were hampering Malfoy. The Snitch was heading towards the Gryffindor goalposts, and Harry could see him and Malfoy closing in from both sides, meeting the Snitch in the middle.
Harry sped past Ron, and the Snitch was ahead of him. He reached out his hand; the Snitch was trapped between the two Seekers and a goalpost. Harry got closer, his arm stretched as far as it would go. The crowd silent in anticipation.
And right before his eyes, Harry saw a gloved hand swallow the Snitch, and he ducked to avoid a Bludger and a swirl of triumphant green and silver.
Malfoy stopped in front of the Gryffindor goal post, and held the Snitch high above his head. He looked at Harry like a madman...
And then the other Bludger - shot by Ritchie before the capture - connected directly above Malfoy's left eye.
His skull cracked, his blood was shed, and the impact sent him backwards; slamming the back of his head into the top of goalpost with more bone shattering force.
The Bludger bounced away from the goal, heading towards the Beaters... but Malfoy wasn't so lucky. He slid down; his right shoulder smashing onto the bottom of the hoop, and his hips slamming into the post.
Like a bag of meat being thrown against the goalpost, Malfoy was completely limp as he fell.
But he never let go of the Snitch.