Everyone reviewing with their reactions is just making me so giddy, so I'm updating again! Also, I am pretty far ahead in the storyline at this point, so extra updates won't hurt.
Also, FanFiction is being real weird and keeps cutting out random parts of what I've typed up, so if I mess up your usernames when responding to reviews and/or there's some weird chunk of a sentence missing, I swear it is not me. I thought I was losing it for awhile LOL.
Bookcozy: Alicia is not my favorite at the moment. I like keeping the interactions with her as vague as possible because I'm not a huge fan of tearing down other women in order to cause issues with another, so I'm trying to keep it as lowkey as possible to keep it realistic without overdoing it. George needs to get it together regardless though. Fred is a sweetie pie, but I have also missed George's relationship with Nessa. And the 'love' thing just gets me going.
readerfaye: George is very annoying at the moment LOL. Sometimes I forget I'm supposed to love him, so I try to focus on how much Alicia's insecurity irritates me instead. I am still here for the groveling that is sure to come.
Chapter Nine
The school could talk of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days. No one seemed to understand how he could have gotten in and the theories were becoming wilder and wilder as the days passed. Hannah Abbott was telling anyone who would listen that he could turn himself into a flowering shrub at will. Nessa had spent an entire hour in Potions listening to McLaggen muse that he could blend in with the walls and could be still lingering within the castle waiting for the opportunity to strike. Nessa had never in her life wanted to get out of Potions class so badly.
The Fat Lady's ripped canvas had been taken off the wall and replaced with the portrait of Sir Cadogan, and his fat gray pony. Nessa had never met him before as he had apparently been housed in the Divination Tower and she could clearly see why. He was a very irritating person. When he wasn't challenging them to a duel, he was thinking up ridiculously complicated passwords, which changed at least twice a day. She had never seen Neville Longbottom so distressed.
Nessa hated even going to Gryffindor Tower at any point in the day now, but she didn't spend much time there anyway. Mrs. Weasley had written to her when she'd found out about Sirius Black having broken into the castle, and requested that she keep an eye on Harry for the time being. It was something she was already doing, but it felt a bit relieving that someone else was as concerned about her brother as she was. She seemed to have written to Percy as well because he was tailing Harry everywhere like an extremely pompous guard dog. Between classes, worrying about Harry, and listening to Harry complain about Percy and the teachers following him around everywhere, she was able to avoid Sir Cadogan as much as possible.
McGonagall had summoned Harry to her office at one point and had nearly pulled him from the Quidditch Team because she didn't like the thought of him being alone during practices with no one but his teammates. Harry had not taken this well and had convinced her not to do so, something she had acquiesced but only if Madam Hooch now sat in on their practices. Nessa didn't know what the point of that was. From what she understood from Tori, Madam Hooch spent most of the practices sleeping, so she was about as much help as any of his teammates might have been. Nessa half-suspected that McGonagall's own desire to win the Quidditch Cup made this decision easier for her as well.
As the first Quidditch match approached, the weather worsened steadily. There had been strong winds and heavy rain throughout the entire week leading up to the match, and the thunder and lightning did not seem to be deterring Oliver Wood from his rigorous practice schedule. Undaunted, the team had been continuing to practice every evening, coming in past ten, soaking wet and dripping mud everywhere.
The Thursday before the match against Slytherin, Nessa was sitting around the Gryffindor common room, steadily working away on a Charms essay, when the portrait hole opened and the Gryffindor team trudged into the room, grumbling and dripping with mud. Fred, George, Tori, and Harry came stalking toward her, looking irritated.
"What's wrong with the four of you?" she said in alarm as they all sat down, looking morose. "George! Would you pay attention, you're getting mud everywhere!"
"Can the two of you please act like you like each other for two seconds?" snapped Tori when he opened his mouth to retort.
They huffed at each other, but said nothing.
Despite her decision to speak with George on Halloween, they were still bickering at every turn. By the time she'd woken up the next morning, she'd completely lost her nerve to say anything and he didn't seem any closer to speaking with her himself. He still seemed very intent on showing her that he wasn't choosing between her and Alicia, and was still around her nearly every day, but Nessa still had a hard time reconciling this George with the one who had stopped talking to her for weeks. Tori and Fred still seemed to find the whole thing amusing, however, which irritated both Nessa and George. It was the only thing they happened to agree with each other about at the moment.
The fact that Tori was griping at them for it now was not a particularly good sign.
"We aren't playing Slytherin on Saturday," said Harry angrily.
"What? Why?" said Nessa in alarm. They always played Slytherin at the start of the year. It was the most anticipated game of the season, other than the championship game.
"They don't want to play in this weather," Tori said with an eye roll. Nessa snorted.
"That's not surprising, considering they suck under the best of conditions, but there's no way Hooch would excuse them from the game because of that."
"She didn't," said George. "Flint told her that Malfoy's arm is still injured and they need more time for him to heal."
Nessa gaped at him.
"And she bought that?" she exclaimed. "There's nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm! It's been two months since he was attacked by Buckbeak and it was barely a scratch."
"Yes, but we can't prove that, can we?" said Harry heatedly. "So now we're playing Hufflepuff —"
"Oh, well, that's not so bad is it?" she said bracingly. "Hufflepuff's always been a pushover in Quidditch. Even with the weather, I'm sure you guys will still pull through the win."
"Don't let Wood hear you say that," Tori smirked, glancing at an irritated Fred. "Fred said the same thing and Oliver nearly took his head off. Cedric Diggory is the new Captain and Seeker and he's been putting a strong team together apparently."
"Yeah, so, if you are in Diggory's good graces, do us a favor and go snog him for a bit and tell us what their strategy is, will you?" said Fred grumpily.
George scowled at him. Harry looked at her in alarm.
"You're snogging Diggory?" he said, looking green at the prospect.
"No, I'm not!" she said in exasperation. "And besides, I thought you said you'd stop being my friend if I was snogging Diggory."
"I would," said Fred stubbornly, although he was smirking. "But I'm willing to give you a free pass if you can make it worth my while."
Nessa rolled her eyes.
"I'm not making anything worth your while, Frederick," she said dryly. "And don't wink at me like that."
He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes, even though she was smiling fondly at him.
"Are the two of you snogging?" said Harry, looking between the two of them and looking clearly alarmed. He stood hastily before either of them could answer. "No, you know what, don't tell me. I don't want to know."
Tori snickered as he hastily made his way toward the boys' dormitory.
"Well, at least we know how to get rid of Harry, if we need to," she said with a raised brow.
Fred sighed morosely.
"No one understands our love, Vanessa."
"Don't call me that!"
"Sorry, sweet cheeks." Nessa spluttered at him and he grinned at her. "No? How about Love Bug?"
"Try again, Fred."
"Half pint?"
"Don't be insulting."
"Buttercup?" She stared at him. He grinned wider. "Pipsqueak? Angel cakes? Precious —"
"That's a dog's name!"
He laughed and grinned sweetly at her.
"Fine. How about munchkin?"
She sighed heavily, as though he was causing her a great deal of pain, despite the twinkle in her eyes as she looked at him. The nickname had irritated her at first — which had been his purpose in choosing it — but she'd gotten used to it since then. She wouldn't have said so if anyone asked, but she'd grown quite fond of the moniker.
"I can live with that, I suppose."
He tapped her fondly on the nose as he stood up.
"That's my girl," he said with a wink. "Now, come on, Georgie, I need a shower before you start glaring at me like that."
Tori snorted as the two of them walked off. George was, in fact, shooting daggers at Fred with his eyes. He did not seem to enjoy when Fred flirted with her in any manner, even if it was clear he was joking. Nessa would have found that extremely confusing, except she enjoyed making him so irritated so it amused her more than anything else.
She was much meaner than she had been before he'd pissed her off. She should probably rein that in.
"Come on," said Tori with an eye roll. "I need you to convince me that I shouldn't just drown myself in the shower before Saturday."
-o0o-
The day before the match, the winds reached howling point and the rain fell harder than ever. It was so dark inside the corridors and classrooms that extra torches and lanterns were lit. The Slytherin team was looking particularly smug indeed, and none more than Draco Malfoy. He had walked past the four of them at dinner one evening, sighing loudly about how he wished his arm were feeling better. Nessa had told him if he didn't get away from them, she'd break his arm herself.
They'd spent all of Care of Magical Creatures listening to the youngest Bletchley brother make snide remarks to Tori about their chances against Hufflepuff if the rain did not let up. Tori had nearly shoved a Horklump down his throat when he'd told her he was sure she wouldn't be able to tell a Quaffle from a Bludger unless the rain let up, and he wished he'd be able to see clearly when she was knocked off her broom.
Not to mention, Oliver Wood kept coming up to the twins and Tori at random points of the day to give them tips. Which may have been endearing, except for the fact that he was bordering on obsessive at this point and his tips were useful to someone who'd never played Quidditch a day in their life. After Wood had come up to them a third time, Fred had looked Nessa dead in her eyes and said, "I'm going to end up hitting him with a Bludger if he comes up to us one more time."
As it stood, the four of them were hiding out in the twins' dormitory to avoid him and anyone else on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. The entire team seemed to be irritated and anxious and any time Wood saw more than two of them together, he had taken to interrupting their discussions to speak with them about tactics. Since Tori and the twins were nearly always together, they'd had to deal with this more often than the others.
Without warning, the door burst open unceremoniously and Nessa shouted in surprise as Harry came stomping into the room.
"Oh, hello, Harry —" said Fred sarcastically.
"-please come in," finished George in the same tone.
Harry ignored the both of them completely and stared hard at Nessa, who was lounging with Tori on Fred's bed.
"I've been looking everywhere for you," he said to her angrily.
"What is your problem?" she snapped back at him, immediately rankled by his tone.
"Snape is my problem," he said, throwing his bag against the bed post next to him.
"Harry!"
"Do you know what he did today?"
"Murdered someone for sport?" said Tori slowly, and Nessa was glad not to be the only one thinking he was overreacting.
"Very funny," he replied with an eye roll. "He covered for Lupin today —"
"He's out again?" said George incredulously. Harry ignored him.
"He spent the entire class trying to tell us how horrible of a teacher Lupin is. Took ten points from Hermione because she was answering his questions. Ron got detention!"
"What does this have to do with me?" said Nessa in confusion.
"You're the one that likes him!"
"What does that have to do with anything?" she exclaimed. "I'm not whispering in his ear, am I? It's not my problem when he wants to act like a child!"
"I don't understand how you like him," Harry said stubbornly.
"I never said I liked him," she huffed. "I said I don't think he's all bad —" Fred snorted and shared a look with George. "- and I never said I agreed with his motivation techniques."
Harry huffed and sat down on one of the beds, crossing his arms petulantly.
"He gave us two rolls of parchment on recognizing and killing werewolves," he said morosely. "We aren't even supposed to learn about werewolves for weeks. And I have Quidditch. I have to do it by Monday, Vanessa." he looked at her seriously, "Two rolls." he repeated as if she had not heard him properly the first time.
She grimaced.
"Well, I can help you with the essay," she said since she didn't have anything better to console him with. "I read about werewolves last year when I was looking at monsters that could have been in the Chamber of Secrets."
Harry stared at her a moment before sighing heavily and pulling a parchment and quill out of his bag.
"What are the chances Lupin will be back by Monday?" he said, hopefully.
"Hard to say, mate," said George as if he were telling someone they were chronically ill. "This has got to be the third time he's gotten sick this year alone."
"You don't need another reason for Snape to antagonize you," said Nessa firmly. "I can go over the basic stuff with you and you can write the essay later." Harry grumbled to himself as he was opening his ink bottle and preparing his quill. Tori was grinning at his obvious irritation. "Werewolves can be distinguished from a regular wolf based on their shorter snout and tufted tail —"
"Yeah, Hermione tried to tell Snape that and he —"
"Harry, I love you, but if you keep going on about Snape, I'm not going to get a word in edgewise." she said impatiently. Tori snorted. Harry rolled his eyes but looked at her expectantly. "Werewolves also have more human-like eyes than a regular wolf. And, well, I hate saying this because wizards are already cruel to them, but they do have a tendency of being more aggressive toward humans, although studies suggest that they don't care so much about animals they come into contact with."
"Can you blame wizards for being cruel to them then?" said Harry in confusion.
Nessa huffed.
"Yes, I can —"
"Here we go," said Tori tiredly, rolling her eyes at the twins.
"They tend to be aggressive towards humans, yes, but the human has no control of his werewolf counterpart. Werewolves have been known to kill their best friends or closest family members by mistake —"
"I thought you were trying to point out why it's wrong for us to hate werewolves," said Fred amusedly. "Sounds more like you're writing the pamphlet for the Ministry's Anti-Werewolf Legislation."
Rolling her eyes, she continued as if he hadn't spoken, "But people who have become werewolves have no choice in the transformation. They were bitten — usually when they're children because most grown wizards would recognize a werewolf for what it was — and they're forced to change into something they can't control. Even worse, they remember everything that happens during their transformation, even though they had no ability to stop themselves from hurting someone else. They're only dangerous for one night of the month and they're perfectly normal human beings on every other day."
"So — er — do they just avoid humans during the full moon or…"
"Wolfsbane Potion," said George with a shake of his head. "They use it to keep their human minds during the transformation. They take the potion and typically just sleep through the transformation."
"Yes, but the potion is extremely hard to brew and it can have disastrous effects if done improperly," said Nessa, sounding irritated. "Not to mention, the ingredients to make it are extremely lucrative. Most werewolves can't afford it because they aren't allowed to work and are forced to take jobs that barely allow them to live. It's a horribly vicious cycle."
"Yeah, well, I got the impression Snape isn't fond of them, so I'll leave out the bits about the unfairness of all that," said Harry, looking decidedly more sympathetic. "So, what do I use to kill one? Silver?"
Nessa snorted at the same time that Tori said, "What?" in confusion.
"No, that's a Muggle myth," said Nessa. "They use silver and dittany to seal a werewolf bite after a human has been bitten to prevent them from dying of blood loss. The only thing I know that can kill a werewolf is The Killing Curse —"
"-which is illegal, by the way," said Tori.
"- because werewolves are much faster, stronger, and more magically resistant, it's hard to kill them in that form. Any injury that you cause to the werewolf will be transferred to its human form as well. It's likely much easier to kill them in human form than wolf form. Best case then is to just get out of there while you can."
"You know, I think I feel worse now than I did when I came in here," said Harry seriously.
"Ask her about house elves, Harry," said Tori sarcastically, causing the twins to grin. "I dare you."
-o0o-
The whole school turned up at the match the next morning, even with all of the wind and rain. They had all run down the lawn toward the Quidditch field, heads bowed against the wind, umbrellas being whipped out of their hands as they went. Vanessa had not bothered with an umbrella. She could never get them to stay steady in the wind, so they were utterly useless in this level of rain. She had instead opted for a poncho and was forced to hold the hood up in the wind, causing the tips of her fingers to be hit with icy rain and feel stiff from the cold. The ground was soaked underneath her shoes and water was running down her poncho like a waterfall. Her socks were soaked through within minutes and she was hardly able to feel her toes by the time they made it to the pitch. The wind in her face was brutal and was causing her nose to run and feel like it had frozen off at the same time.
November being the start of the Quidditch season was tough enough on a regular day. Adding the rain into the mix seemed like a cruel punishment. Despite this, the team had been in relatively good spirits when she'd met them at breakfast. The twins, Tori, and Harry seemed confident despite the weather, although they didn't look particularly excited to be flying around in it. Oliver had not been so confident. He hadn't eaten at all and he had spent the whole of the morning talking about the rough conditions. Alicia had tried to soothe him, but Nessa was not entirely sure he had even heard her.
Nessa stood between Ginny and Hermione with Ron on Hermione's other side. They had to scream to be heard over the rush of wind through their ears, but Nessa was grateful that they looked as much like a drowned rat as she felt. The team had not even taken to the pitch yet and every limb on her body felt frozen and numb. She prayed that the match did not last long because at this rate it would take her hours to warm herself up again.
When the team entered the field, Nessa saw them all stagger sideways from the strength of the wind and grimaced. Keeping a broom steady was going to be a difficult task. She cheered with the rest of her House as they entered, but she was not sure if they could even hear them, as there was a fresh roll of thunder at the same time. The Hufflepuffs approached from the opposite side of the field, wearing canary-yellow robes, which were much easier to spot. The Captains approached each other and shook hands and Nessa took a breath as the teams mounted their brooms. She loved watching Quidditch, even despite her worry over her brother playing such a dangerous sport. She was nearly as competitive while watching Quidditch as the team was at playing — she was depressed and angry when they lost and ecstatic when they won — and she could understand most of the plays, despite her unwillingness to get on a broom.
Despite her love of the game, she still prayed for the match to be quick. With luck, Harry would see the Snitch within five minutes. Which, coincidentally, had been the case the last time they'd played Hufflepuff.
She didn't hear Madam Hooch's whistle, but she roared with the rest of her classmates as the two teams rose fast into the sky. She watched as Harry swerved in the wind and turned in search of the Snitch. Alicia was the first to get her hands on the Quaffle and she passed to Angelina. It was an easy first score for Gryffindor. Nessa was not totally sure that it was due to any real skill on their part or if it was just too difficult for the Hufflepuff Chasers, or the Keeper, to see anything that was happening until it was too late.
Harry was flying backward and forward across the field past all of the players, but he kept taking his glasses off to rub them to make it easier to see. Cedric, who was much bigger than Harry, seemed to be having a slightly easier time. He was able to hold himself slightly more steady than her brother due to his size and he didn't have any glasses that would fog up with the weather. Even so, he was taking the same approach as Harry, flying back and forth, and searching desperately for the Snitch. This was not likely to be a quick game.
"I don't think Harry can see very well with his glasses on," shouted Ron from the other side of Hermione. "The rain must be fogging them."
"We should have told him to charm them before he went out," shouted Hermione, looking stricken.
"Maybe Wood will call a timeout soon," Nessa shouted back, pushing her rain-soaked hair away from where it was sticking to her cheek. She was certain she had never been this wet before. She could have taken a dive into the Black Lake and been drier than she was now. "You can probably run down there and help if he does!"
Hermione brightened at the thought, but Wood did not call a timeout.
She lost track of time as the game continued on and the sky began to darken as if night had come early. Angelina had scored once more and so had Alicia. Tori scored twice more, despite nearly crashing into one of the twins mid-way down the field. Hufflepuff scored once, which was met with a chorus of boos, but those quickly turned to cheers as Alicia scored again immediately after, despite having to twirl wildly to avoid a Bludger she likely hadn't seen until the last minute. Nessa could not even begin to imagine how the twins were able to see the Bludgers with how dark it was getting and how quickly they were moving within the storm. She wondered even more if they had any idea who they were hitting the Bludgers at or if they were just taking random swings and hoping for the best.
Hufflepuff had still not scored, but as the rain continued battering down, and Harry didn't look any closer to finding the Snitch, Wood finally called a timeout. Hermione rushed off immediately to try and help Harry with his glasses issue and Nessa huddled closer to Ginny in an attempt to conserve some sort of warmth. There was a wild flash of lightning that illuminated the pitch and she could see Harry gesticulating wildly to Wood under a large umbrella that was placed on the edge of the field.
Eventually, the team was back in the air and Hermione had returned, beaming proudly. The Impervious Charm seemed to have done a great deal to help. He and Cedric nearly plowed over each other, but Harry had reacted much sooner than he had previously when he ducked under him. He was looking frantically this way and that, clearly looking for the Snitch at a fevered pace. She appreciated this about him because her shoes were puddles of water.
There was another clap of thunder, followed immediately by forked lightning and Nessa prayed to anyone who would listen that none of the players were hurt. It was getting more and more dangerous to play as the conditions worsened, but Quidditch was not called off due to weather. Much to her chagrin.
She watched as Harry turned to head back to the middle of the field, but there was another flash of lightning and his shocked face was illuminated briefly as he stopped flying completely and hung in the air.
"What's he doing?" cried Ron.
Nessa shook her head in confusion, but then saw a canary yellow figure was shooting past in the opposite direction, his arm outstretched as if he were going to grab something out ahead of him.
"He must have seen the Snitch!" yelled Ginny worriedly.
But Harry was still not moving. Still staring in the same direction as before.
"Come on, Harry, what the hell are you doing!" Nessa shouted desperately. Wood seemed to be trying to get his attention from the goalposts and Harry finally jerked and sprang into action, flattening himself against his broom and shooting after Cedric and the Snitch. "Go, Harry, catch it!"
There was a mixture of elation and dread pooling in her stomach as she waited to see what would happen next. Who would get the Snitch and win the game. But even though she could hear the cheering around her and wanted to cheer along with them, there was something odd happening around her. There was an eerie silence falling across the stadium. The wind was roaring less loudly, even though it had not slowed. There was a horribly familiar wave of cold that swept over her.
Nessa stumbled as the screaming started in her head again. She watched as Tori raised both hands to cover her ears and came to a dead stop in the middle of the field, dropping the Quaffle to one of the Hufflepuff Chasers underneath her. Harry seemed frozen in place, looking down at the field. Nessa fought off the memories of her mother's screams and the horrible laugh in her head and followed his gaze. At least a hundred dementors, their hidden faces looking up at the players, were standing on the entrance to the field.
She heard the others cry out in alarm as they noticed the dementors themselves and her lungs felt like they were being filled with iced water, heavy and cold, making it extremely difficult to breathe. A movement caught her eye as she was allowing herself to get dragged into the fog of the dread in her head. It was Harry. He was falling off his broom, down to the ground below him like a dead weight. His broom was flying off in the opposite direction.
Hermione covered her mouth in alarm. Ginny cried out. Ron shouted in alarm. But Nessa felt the panic break through part of her fog, as she watched her brother fall quickly to the ground. She released a scream so ragged that Hermione and Ginny grabbed onto her in comfort, even though she wasn't going anywhere.
She had never in her life screamed so loudly, so brokenly. Never even heard that kind of fear and pain come out of another human being before, let alone her own mouth. The breath left her lungs as her brother hit the ground below him and she was clawing her way out from the bystanders around her, desperately trying to reach the pitch. To get to her brother.
He could not be dead. The ground was soft. That had to help, right?
She could see the Gryffindor team huddled around him on the ground and she raced to meet them, passing by Cedric Diggory, who was yelling at Madam Hooch about something. She hardly cared. All she needed was to know that her brother was okay. She saw McGonagall in the center of the students, looking grave and conjuring a stretcher.
George looked up just as she was coming up to them and stood, grabbing her around the waist before she could push her way through. He looked very white under the mud and rain he was covered in.
"George, let me go! Harry —"
"He's alright! He's breathing, Nessa, he's fine!" he shouted back as gently as he was able, given the raging storm around him. "He's alright, love! Let them take care of him!"
She knew he was right. Knew she would distract them or hold them up when they were trying to get him to the hospital wing. But even despite the words, she would not believe he was okay until she saw it herself. Until she touched him and could feel him breathing.
She grabbed onto George's Quidditch robes tightly until they bunched in her hands. She needed to ground herself with something. She wanted to run toward her brother anyway, even though she would get in the way. As if he sensed this, George's hold tightened around her waist and he lowered his forehead to hers. It had worked with the Acromantulas when he'd done the same thing. It barely made a difference now through her panic. He didn't budge though and even though it was barely helping, even though she was still absolutely raging mad at him for being so stupid, she was grateful that he didn't.
-o0o-
Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let them into the Hospital Wing. She'd said she wanted to heal Harry without all of the team distracting her and making too much of a fuss. Nessa had begged to be let in herself, without the team or Ron and Hermione, but she had told her gently that she would come and get her once she had determined that Harry was stable.
Stable.
She did not like that word at all, she realized. Not in this context. It made it sound like she had something to be concerned about. Something to panic about. Implied that her brother was not stable, even though George had assured her over and over again that he was okay.
The entire team stood outside the Hospital Wing, lining each side of the corridor. They spoke in hushed whispers as they watched her pace back and forth, her face pale and hands shaking as she chewed on her cuticles. All of the team was pale and antsy themselves, but they seemed to be trying to avoid having her hear how afraid they all were. Angelina had been talking about how scary the ordeal had been to watch when George had glared at her and she'd fallen silent. Not that it mattered much. Nessa had been so consumed in worry that she hadn't seemed to have heard her at all, but the team got the gist after that.
George watched her wearily where he stood next to Alicia. Alicia had been trying to get his attention for the past several minutes, but he was too busy eyeing his friend in concern to pay her much notice. She had seen the two of them huddled together on the pitch as McGonagall had taken Harry away and she had not been pleased, though she'd said nothing. Nessa thought that it was only a matter of time personally and that she was only being respectful to the situation. The kindness she showed in that regard only irritated her, however.
Tori stood close to Fred, looking off into the distance with glazed eyes, as if she were somewhere else entirely. Tori had tried to push past her own feelings around the dementors, past the nightmares running rampant in her head, in favor of concern for Harry, but the memories were too vivid still. Nessa was too caught up in concern for her brother to notice much and Tori was grateful for that. She wasn't entirely sure she was prepared to talk about it again and she hated the impact the dementors had on her emotional stability.
"Munchkin, you've got to relax," said Fred suddenly, grabbing one of her wringing hands as she passed and pulling her into his other side. His tone was as gentle as she had ever heard him speak to someone, but his face was as pale as hers. "McGonagall said he's going to be alright, darling."
"McGonagall isn't a Healer, Fred," said Nessa, trying to keep her anxiety at bay until she could see her brother again. The image of him falling through the air still appeared if she closed her eyes. Her stomach had fallen with him and the passing of time as she'd watched had been somehow faster than she could blink and so slow that it made her heart ache painfully. "What were they even doing on the grounds anyway?"
"I don't know," he said, rubbing her arm gently as she took up wringing her hands again. "Dumbledore wasn't happy though. He'll take care of it."
"He could have died," she whispered brokenly. Hermione whimpered and closed her eyes to prevent herself from crying again. Tori flinched even though she kept her eyes focused on the wall.
There was a pained noise from behind her and then George was placing one of his hands over hers, putting an end to her anxious wringing. She stared at his hand as if she'd never seen it before. It was such a normal gesture — one she had gotten used to in the year that they'd grown close, but they'd been so distant with each other lately that the motion made her heart lurch instead.
"He's not dead, love," he said, gently. "I didn't even see any injuries on him before McGonagall got there. His glasses weren't even broken."
She blew out a shaky breath. That had to be a good thing, right? Her life was a nightmare, honestly.
"The Whomping Willow did worse damage, honestly," said Ron with a grimace, holding a bag that contained dozens of splintered wood and twigs. Professor Flitwick had stopped by to give them the remnants of Harry's broomstick only moments earlier.
Nessa felt a flare of irritation before she could control it and she whirled to glare at him.
"I don't care about his bloody broom, Ron —"
Ron backed away hastily, spluttering and Hermione rolled her bloodshot eyes.
"Honestly, Ronald," she said in irritation.
"We've talked about you trying to comfort her, haven't we?" said Tori finally with a snort. "I said stop doing it."
Nessa huffed as Ron smiled at her apologetically. He was just as upset as she was, so she shouldn't be so frustrated with him, but this was the second time he'd said something stupid in an attempt to comfort someone. He really should work on his social skills.
Looking over at Tori, who had wrapped her arms around herself and was still leaning into Fred's other side, she sighed sadly and pulled out a chocolate bar from her pocket, handing it over to her without a word.
"Why do you have this?"
"I've had it since the train," Nessa said quietly. "I was kind of hoping I wouldn't need to use it. Are you alright?"
Tori made a noise in the back of her throat that was neither denial or confirmation. Getting into the ordeal at this time when her friend's brother had fallen fifty feet off his broom seemed selfish. Nessa shouldn't be focused on her well-being and she felt guilty that she was such a mess that she had to ask in the first place. Instead of saying so, she took a bite of the chocolate bar and relaxed minutely as the warmth spread through her body again.
"I told you chocolate solves everything," she muttered. Nessa rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched despite herself.
The corridor lapsed into silence again and Nessa tried not to shift restlessly from foot to foot. She could not tell if the fact that Madam Pomfrey hadn't come to get them yet was a good sign or not. If he were okay, wouldn't she have come to tell them all by now?
"Potter!"
She jumped as the male voice echoed through the corridor and turned to see Cedric Diggory racing toward her, still dripping wet and covered in mud. The twins tensed on either side of her and she thought she heard one of them growl as he came to stop in front of her. Tori grinned for the first time since the match had ended and cocked her head to the side, eyes darting between them. Angelina and Alicia began giggling to each other and whispering excitedly to each other, anxiety quickly forgotten for a moment.
"Is he alright?" Cedric inquired of her when he stepped close enough to talk to her. "McGonagall wouldn't say anything when I asked. I swear I didn't know he had —"
"She said he was okay," she said softly. He relaxed a little and ran a muddy hand through his wet hair. "I haven't seen him yet, so I'm not really sure…"
He grimaced and placed a hand on her arm in comfort. Nessa jumped and eyed it in bewilderment. Tori's grin widened. The growling noise came from behind her again and she was fairly certain it came from George because Fred snorted derisively. Cedric ignored them.
"I'm sorry, I —" He shook his head. "I wish there was something I could do to help. I know it's probably the least of your concerns, but I tried to get Hooch to call for a rematch."
"That is the least of my concerns, you're right," Nessa said, even though the fact that he would have thought to do that at all made her chest warm.
He chuckled and squeezed her hand — she hadn't even realized he'd been holding it. She shifted and crossed her arms to avoid the intimacy in the touch. If he noticed, he didn't say anything.
"I figured, I just — I don't know what else I can do. I'd be upset if I were Harry." He hesitated and then grinned sheepishly at her. "Plus, you know, I saw you yelling at the Weasleys last year about that Bludger and I'd prefer to stay in your good graces. It was brutal."
Tori snorted, but he ignored her.
"I'm confused now," said Nessa, though her lips were twitching at the information. "You asked for a rematch because it was the right thing to do or because you're scared of me?"
He grinned.
"I asked for the rematch because it was the right thing to do," he said teasingly. "I'm telling you about it now because I'm scared of you." She laughed despite herself and he grinned wider before looking at her seriously again. "Look, I've got to go let the team know what's going on. I just wanted to make sure you were — I mean, that Harry was alright."
"Thank you," she said, smiling softly at him.
He squeezed her arm again before backing slowly away down the corridor.
"Next time you're in the library, come find me and let me know how he's doing, yeah?"
She nodded, slightly bewildered, and he grinned before racing back in the opposite direction.
"Nice seeing you, Diggory!" Tori yelled after him jokingly before whirling to face her best friend. Nessa eyed her wearily as the grin on her face blossomed into a cheshire grin. "What the hell was that?"
"Diggory being a prat," muttered Fred. Tori punched him on the arm with an eye roll.
"I think it was sweet," she said, looking at Nessa with a smirk and raised eyebrows. "I told you he was into you."
"What are you talking about?" Nessa scoffed as George grumbled behind her. "He was just being nice."
Tori looked at her incredulously and she did not like the way that even Fred was looking at her now like she was being daft.
"Please," Tori said. "If he were being nice, he could have just waited until he saw you in the library to ask about Harry. We already knew he'd asked for a rematch. Wood went to drown himself in the shower right after Diggory told us."
"Yes, clearly I did not make my point with him," Nessa groused at the reminder that Oliver Wood was the only team member not waiting at her brother's bedside. The thought brought back her anxiety. She tried not to feel too guilty that she had been laughing with Cedric Diggory when she wasn't sure how he was doing. "Can we talk about this again after I've seen my brother is still breathing?" Or never, she thought.
Tori opened her mouth to say something that was very likely an adamant refusal to this request, but the doors to the hospital wing opened just then. Madam Pomfrey stuck her head out, looking severe.
"You can come in now," she said, and Nessa rushed forward so quickly she nearly toppled forward. "He's still sleeping, so don't cause too much of a commotion. He should be up any moment."
Nessa, Ron, and Hermione were the first to rush forward into the room, the team falling quickly behind them. Nessa felt the sob catch in her throat as she saw Harry laying in his bed. He was as white as the sheets beneath him, his lips a little blue from the chill outside. She stared at him for a long moment and only exhaled when she saw his chest rise and fall. She heard Hermione's breath catch on a sob next to her.
Nessa was next to him in the next heartbeat. Ron and Hermione sat on his other side and the team inched slowly around the bed to look at him themselves, as if they too, half expected that he'd be dead.
The small reprieve from her anxiety that she'd had when Diggory had shown up in the corridor felt like a dream. Her hands shook as she brushed some of the hair out of his face and straightened his glasses. They were, indeed, not broken. His skin was cold and clammy and she felt her eyes water at the thought that he could have died in a single heartbeat today. She couldn't even remember what she'd said to him last. Had she said anything after she'd told him to be safe, as she had before every match? Had she hugged him?
Hermione sniffled from across from her and Nessa cleared her throat to keep from crying. He was breathing. She did not need to upset herself on purpose. The team was talking quietly amongst themselves, clearly having gone back into their own concern now that they were looking at him again.
"Lucky the ground was so soft."
"I thought he was dead for sure."
"But he didn't even break his glasses."
All of these things had already been said. They'd repeated them to each other like a mantra when they'd first been told to wait out in the hall.
"That was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life."
Nessa gasped as Harry's eyes snapped open.
"Harry!" said Fred, who looked extremely white again underneath all the mud. "How're you feeling?"
Harry didn't speak for a moment and Nessa met Tori's eyes in concern as they waited for him to respond. Suddenly, as if he had just remembered everything that had happened, he sat up abruptly, causing all of them to gasp sharply.
"What happened?" he said.
"You fell off," said Fred. "Must've been — what — fifty feet?"
"We thought you'd died," said Alicia, who was shaking again. George put a comforting arm around her.
Nessa turned away so that Harry wouldn't see her eyes tearing again. Hermione made a small, squeaky noise.
"But the match," said Harry. "What happened? Are we doing a replay?"
No one said anything. She saw the realization dawn on her brother's face, and she reached for his hand to comfort him or herself, she wasn't sure.
"We didn't — lose?"
"Diggory got the Snitch," admitted George. "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?" said Harry, looking around at the people gathered. Nessa tensed.
"Still in the showers," said Fred. "We think he's trying to drown himself."
Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping his hair. Before Nessa could soothe him, Fred reached forward and grabbed his shoulder, shaking it roughly.
"C'mon, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before."
"There had to be one time you didn't get it," said George.
"It's not over yet," said Fred. "We lost by a hundred points, right? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin…"
"Hufflepuff'll have to lose by at least two hundred points," said George.
"But if they beat Ravenclaw…"
"No way, Ravenclaw is too good," said Tori. "But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff…"
"It all depends on the points — a margin of a hundred either way —"
Nessa hardly heard them as she stared at her brother. He looked miserable — he'd never lost a match before. She supposed she should be relieved that he was more worried about the lost match than his own health. It was a sure sign that he was perfectly alright. But she still couldn't stop staring at him, as if he were going to fade away in front of her.
He looked over at her suddenly and grimaced.
"Are you okay?" he said softly.
"I — I'm fine," she said, refusing to cry. He shouldn't even be asking her that when he was the one in the hospital bed. "Are you hurt?"
"Feels like I've been trampled by a Hippogriff," he admitted with a grimace. "I'll be alright. I — I hate that I keep…fainting. We could have won if I —"
"They should never have been on the grounds, Harry!" she said heatedly. "This isn't your fault at all."
"Dumbledore was really angry," Hermione said in a quaking voice. "I've never seen him like that before. He ran onto the field as you fell, waved his wand, and you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground. Then he whirled his wand at the dementors. Shot silver stuff at them. They left the stadium right away….He was furious they'd come onto the grounds. We heard him —"
Nessa was surprised that Hermione had noticed any of this. She'd been so full of her own panic, she didn't even remember seeing Dumbledore at all.
"Why did they come onto the grounds then?" he said angrily.
"They couldn't help themselves," said Nessa in disgust. "They probably heard or felt the excitement on the field and couldn't ignore the temptation. Their own personal feeding ground."
The others shuddered at the words. They were such horrible creatures.
Madam Pomfrey came over to tell the team to leave Harry in peace and they all filed away, telling Harry they'd visit later and not to beat himself up. Tori hesitated before leaving, eyeing Nessa in concern, but she waved her off. Mud trailed behind them all as they left and Madam Pomfrey shut the door, looking disapproving. Nessa, Ron, and Hermione all moved their chairs closer to Harry's bed.
"Did someone get my Nimbus?"
Ron and Hermione looked quickly over at Nessa, who flailed around for something to say that would be soothing enough.
"What?" said Harry, looking between them all.
"Well…when you fell off, it got blown away," said Hermione hesitantly.
"And?"
"And it hit — it hit — oh, Harry — it hit the Whomping Willow."
Nessa hated the dread that appeared on her brother's face at those words.
"And?"
"Well, you know the Whomping Willow," said Ron. "It — it doesn't like being hit."
Ron reached down for the bag at his feet and turned it upside down. Dozens of splintered wood shavings and twigs fell onto the bed and Harry stared forlornly at the only remains of his faithful, finally beaten broomstick. Harry made a choked sound in the back of his throat.
"I'm sorry, Harry," Nessa said. She wasn't sure what else she could say. Harry was attached to his broomstick. It had been the first thing in the Wizarding World that he had gotten solely for himself. It had served him well in the last two years. "It all happened so fast. None of us really thought about the broomstick until after we'd known you were okay."
"I— I'll have to get a new one," he said, but he was still staring at the wood on his bed as if he could repair the broom with his eyes alone.
"Do you want me to clean it?" said Hermione quietly.
"No, I'll do it later," he said. "I think I'll just get some sleep. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
The dismissal was pretty clear, even despite the fake brightness he'd tried to infuse in his tone. Hermione and Ron looked at each other and then at Nessa before they stood to leave. Nessa didn't move.
"I'm fine, Nessa," Harry said when she didn't get up to follow his friends. "You don't have to sit here with me."
"Shut up, Harry," she said, the words without any heat at all. She shoved him aside and curled up next to him, doing her best not to lay on top of the remnants of his broomstick. His skin was still cold as she lay next to him, breathing in the scent of him and trying to remind herself that he was, in fact, still alive and unharmed. "You scared the hell out of me," she said in a choked voice. "I think I hate Quidditch."
"No, you don't," Harry said with a small laugh. "You just hate me playing Quidditch."
Nessa made a noise of affirmation, but just kept scanning his face for any obvious signs of injury. She couldn't help it. It felt so surreal that he was still here after a fall like that. Nessa was certain that not even a cat had as many lives as her brother did.
"I'll figure out how to deal with the dementors," he said when she said nothing. "Just in case they come back the next time we play."
She hardly cared. She didn't even want to think about him playing Quidditch ever again at the moment.
"Nessa, quit scanning my face, I'm fine."
"Sorry, I just — it was a long fall, Harry, and you could have — I mean, I thought you had —"
"I didn't," he said softly, but firmly. "I'm alright. I mean, my body aches, but otherwise I'm fine. It was a freak accident and that's all."
"I'd kill those dementors if I knew how, you know," she said, only half-joking. He grinned at her.
"I believe you," he said matter-of-factly. The two of them lapsed into a moment of silence and she tried not to scan his face when he'd already told her to stop. "Can I ask you something?" Harry said suddenly.
"Anything."
"Do you hear someone screaming when the dementors come near?" Nessa tensed and looked at him wearily. "Hermione and Ron said they don't, but I can hear someone screaming every time and —"
"What you hear is different for everyone," she said softly.
"So you don't hear screaming then?"
"No, that's not —" she sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling. "I do hear screaming. I mean, not just the screaming, but she is screaming."
There was a moment of silence as they lay next to each other.
"Is it mum?" Harry said, his voice so soft that she almost hadn't heard him.
He was looking at her as if he were hoping she would deny it, and his body was so tense, she figured he was already fairly certain of the answer. A part of her wanted to deny it, so that he could be spared the knowledge, even if that would hardly change how the memory made him feel. It would have been a horrible memory even if it had been a complete stranger — knowing it was their mother would only be slightly more painful.
"Yes," she said softly. "How much do you hear?"
"Just the end," he said, brows knit in confusion. "Her begging…him laughing. Do you — do you hear more than that?"
She looked away from him again and cleared her throat. She really hated talking about her parents. She coped much better with things when she ignored the issue entirely.
"The whole thing," she admitted quietly. "I was older than you when he — when it happened. Apparently, I remembered more than I thought I did."
Harry was staring at her and she could see it out of the corner of her eye. She prayed he wouldn't ask her to repeat the memory to him. It was selfish of her, maybe, because he had so little of their parents to hang onto and he likely wanted to know as much as possible about them, but she wasn't entirely certain that that was the best way to remember them anyway.
"I'm sorry, Nessa, I — I didn't know," he said. She cleared her throat again and pushed the memories away, lacing her fingers with his and squeezing briefly. "I don't — I don't want to hear it anymore. I don't know why they affect me like that, but I just…I want to know how to defend myself against them. I can't — I can't hear it anymore."
"I know, Harry," she whispered brokenly. "Ask Professor Lupin to teach you what to do. He — he'll understand."
Harry nodded and cleared his throat again.
"I don't think Madam Pomfrey is going to be okay with you staying the night here with me."
She looked over at him. He was staring at the ceiling and he looked a little pained, but his voice was forcibly bright.
"Do you want me to leave?"
"No, I — not really," he admitted.
"Then she'll have to drag me out."
-o0o-
Quidditch chapters are not my favorite to write. It's hard to imagine what Harry sees during the game and switch it to what Nessa does. Especially because Harry never paid attention to anything but the Snitch LOL. But this one was too important to skip.
I'll see you all soon (likely very soon because, again, I am far ahead)!
Up next: Cedric flirts and Tori's past comes to light a little