The rematch took place in brutal weather. Rain came down in billowing clouds and thunder rumbled angrily.
"Make sure you have your wands," Alexander was saying as I joined the boys in the locker rooms. "If the Slytherins decide to hex us, this weather will give them perfect cover."
Thunder cracked like a violent snap and we all jumped.
"Bloody hell," Hayden grumbled, always the pessimistic one on the team. "How are we going to be able to see anything?"
"What's wrong, afraid of a little rain?" Sirius said tauntingly, raising an eyebrow.
"Let's go," Alexander said. "Slytherin's drawn out their loss long enough. Now it's time we stop teasing them and just get it over with."
"Hear, hear!" James said cheerfully.
We all put our hands together and shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"
I couldn't see two feet in front of me through the sheet of rain and blistering wind. This is absolutely insane.
I was soaked to the bone, and my hair was plastered to my cheek as I impatiently tried to brush it away.
Madam Hooch called a time-out to hand out goggles. Though they helped a little bit, they fogged up as I elevated into the air to search for the Snitch.
I distantly heard Mary yelling out the score, "Gryffindor- 40 points, Slytherin – 20 points."
Good, we're in the lead. I thought to myself. Now, come on, Snitch!
And then I saw it. It was an inch from the stands. In fact, spectators were already pointing to it.
I bolted, flying out of the air and hurling towards the stands.
Suddenly, Regulus hurtled out of the sky from nowhere, having also spotted the Snitch.
I cursed. The wind was not in my favor.
"Go!" I yelled at my broom, urging it on as I battled the wind towards the Snitch.
We raced towards the Snitch from opposite sides of the fields- a green streak and a red streak hurtling towards each other at maximum speed.
I growled in frustration as my broomstick whined against the wind. On the other hand, Regulus was fast gaining ground on me. My head start from seeing the Snitch first was withering away to nothing.
Mary shouted,"And Slytherin scores again! Gryffindor is only ten up now! But look, the Seekers are racing for the Snitch! The Slytherin Seeker seems to be gaining ground!"
My goggles were fogging up again. I swore. I ripped it off my face, letting it fall to wherever it would go. I was only three feet from the Snitch- two-!
Regulus suddenly spun himself sideways so that he slammed straight into me, deflecting me from my path to the Snitch. He made a snatch for the Snitch himself but I rammed the front of his broomstick, spinning him in a random direction.
He snarled and we both slammed into each other again. No mercy given as we both struggled to climb up into the air where the Snitch was headed. A Bludger nailed Regulus in the small of his back and though he shouted in pain, he kept going. Despite the pain he must have felt, he allowed himelf no hesitation in his path to the Snitch. He kicked the end of my broomstick, but I grabbed his broom so that we spun together and when he straightened himself out, I was right there with him, back on track.
Lightning flashed all around us as we climbed higher and higher into the air, but we barely noticed it. The rain was so thick I could barely breathe as it pelted my face, but we kept spiraling up into the air. Then, somehow I felt it- the sense I'd developed from practicing feints with Alexander ever since I came back to school kicked in and I just knew this Snitch was going to fall back down. It's going to nose dive! It was just a gut feeling, but I didn't even question it. For once in my life, I didn't doubt myself. Now!
I disentangled myself from Regulus with a quick duck-swerve and abruptly leaned backwards. I heard the crowd gasp as I backspun in the air, now heading straight for the ground headfirst- but sure enough- the Snitch abruptly nosedived. Yes! I just had to reach my hand out to grab it, that was all. But I was sure I was going to fall headfirst all the way down to the pitch if I let go of the broomstick handle by more than a finger.
However, Regulus was hurtling down now, with determination etched in his face and his hand outstretched.
I took as deep a breath as I could and let go of the broom with one hand, stretching my hand out towards the Snitch. Instantly, I felt that feeling of ice cold metal and wings against my hand. My fingers closed. The Snitch was caught!
The whistle blew- and I closed my eyes as I felt myself slipping off my broom- falling, falling.
I hit the ground with a loud thud! All the wind was knocked out of me. I saw red and couldn't breathe. The rain kept pouring down and lightning was flashing like crazy.
"Raylynx! RAYLYNX!" James practically tripped off his broom as he raced towards me.
"Ray…" he got on his knees besides me. "Are you all right?"
Suddenly, his eyebrows furrowed. "Are you… laughing?"
It took me a moment to realize I was.
"I caught it, James," I whispered breathlessly, but victoriously. "I caught it, you see?" I showed him the Snitch, still struggling in my grasp.
I laughed louder, merrily, this time feeling the laugh rumble through me even as rain continued to drench us. "James, I did it! I caught it. I bet it would dive, and it did. I can't believe I was right. But I was."
"I know," I heard James say. I looked up at him, and for the first time, I looked straight into his eyes, with confidence in who I was.
"Don't cry," I heard him say, as seriously and warmly as I'd ever heard him speak.
"I'm not crying," I replied reflexively, though that was not true. "It's just the rain."
And then the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team surrounded us, cheering and yelling, and yet again, I was accompanied to the Hospital Wing.
I was by now so well-acquainted with Madam Pomfrey that I had taken to calling her "Poppy". She had been indignant the first few times but had slowly come to accept it. Her new nickname for me was 'reckless idiot'- sometimes she said it lovingly, and sometimes not.
I wasn't there for long, just a few days. But on the final night of my stay, I woke up to a whimpering sound. Confused, I looked around me for a few seconds before I realized that Remus Lupin was a few beds down from me. He seemed to be asleep, but he was shouting as though in pain.
"Re-Remus?" I called hesitantly, not wanting to invade his privacy.
He groaned again, louder. It seemed like he was having a terrible nightmare.
"Remus!" I whisper-yelled.
His eyes opened suddenly and he turned towards me. I could see beads of sweat running down his face and his eyes looked haunted.
"Raylynx?" he called hoarsely.
"You were…Well, I thought maybe you were having a bad dream, so…" I mumbled incoherently, not wanting to admit he had been almost yelling in pain.
"I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" Remus asked me, seeming to regain himself as he sat up and wiped his face with the towel on his bed stand.
"No, you didn't," I lied causally. "I was already up."
Remus glanced at the clock on the wall.
"At two in the morning?" Remus half-smiled at me, clearly aware that I was lying.
I shrugged. "The potion completely threw off my sleeping schedule, I guess."
"Ah," he said, still amused.
"What happened, Remus? Why are you in here? Did someone injure you?" I asked him.
Remus half-smiled again, though this time, something about his smile seemed extremely forced and bitter. "No, I just feel like I've got the flu. Fever and fatigue, things like that."
"Oh, well, if it's just the flu, you'll be better in no time, right?" I asked, trying to cheer him up.
Remus' smile shifted from bitter to weary. Suddenly he seemed far, far older than a third year student and far, far different from the usually laughing and gentle prankster he was during school.
"Yeah", he muttered, turning away from me and slipping back under his covers. "I suppose so."
"We should probably go back to sleep," he added quickly before I could say anything else, "before we get in trouble with Madam Pomfrey."
Remus' back was to me. Realizing that he didn't want to talk to me anymore, I pulled the sheets over myself again.
For a moment there, I'd almost felt as though Remus and I were friends. But he had closed down the conversation so abruptly. Staring at the moonlight splayed on the empty bed besides mine, I thought back to our brief conversation. Had I said something wrong that made him want to stop talking to me? No, maybe he was just tired. It was two in the morning after all, and he's sick. I felt a bit dejected, though I knew it was silly to feel that way.
A few minutes later, soft breathing could be heard from Remus'. He must be exhausted, to fall asleep so quickly. I closed my eyes, too, and Remu's gentle breaths soon lulled me to sleep.
"Hey", Zayne greeted me in Transfiguration the next morning, "I was worried you weren't going to be here today."
"Don't worry", I laughed. "I'm here to stamp out the flames."
I swore I heard Professor McGonagall murmur out of the corner of her mouth, "Thank Merlin," as she passed us to the head of the classroom. "Now, I will hand back your essays and we will begin today's lesson…"
