The Quidditch team trained every day and the weather got worse steadily. None of the players wanted to but Flint made them practice harder than ever. The only positive thing was that this way Draco did not have time to miss his family like he usually did or contemplate the crappy decisions he had made throughout his life.

It was incredibly windy, and it rained heavily when they had their first match of the year: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Even at noon it was dark, with the wind blocking the sun almost completely, and the wind was howling. Draco did not remember ever playing under such horrible weather conditions.

Draco was in a bad mood when he made his way, head bowed down, fighting against the wind, towards the Quidditch pitch on Saturday, the day of the match. He wasn't surprised that even though the weather was the way it was the whole school was watching the match. That was how popular Quidditch was and Gryffindor vs Slytherin always drew a large crowd.

When they all walked onto the pitch he knew the crowd was cheering but he couldn't hear them over the loud howling of the wind. Before the game even began he was already soaked and half frozen.

The captains shook hands, Hooch blew her whistle and the game began.

Draco could barely keep his broom steady, but he wasn't the only one. He could see Potter struggling and squinting. He probably couldn't see anything through his glasses.

"Problems, Potter?" he laughed.

"Shut up, Malfoy," was the response, which Draco found highly amusing.

Thunder and lightning soon made the game even more dangerous.

30 minutes into this horrible match, Draco could hear Wood yell, "Harry, behind you!"

Draco looked over to Harry and they both saw the Snitch – which was right between them – at the same time.

They both rushed towards it. The Snitch went up higher and they both followed. They were practically side by side, so it was hard for Draco to estimate who would reach the Snitch first, when suddenly everything went cold. Cold and suspiciously quiet. The Dementors were getting closer.

"Darn," Draco muttered. His last encounter with those wretched beasts had not gone well, and if he fainted now he would probably fall to his death. And so, Draco remembered with a glance at his opponent, would the savior of the Wizarding world.

Still racing towards the Snitch, Draco searched for his wand. He could see Potter losing his concentration and he noticed his own vision blurring as he started hearing the screams of every muggle born that had ever been tortured at Malfoy manor.

His hands were shaking. He tightened his knees around his broom and used one hand to reach for the other boy, keeping him on his broom when he seemed to be losing consciousness. He used the other hand to raise his wand.

He thought of Astoria and the first time he saw their son in her arms. "Expecto Patronum!" he yelled. A blinding light filled the air for a second. It wasn't much but enough to make the cold go away. He had never been able to produce a fully corporal patronus but he had worked on it after the war. It had been a therapeutic experience.

He pocketed his wand again. The Snitch was right in front of him. He reached for it. The moment his fingers closed around the Snitch, something pulled him back.

Harry had lost his broom and his weight was, as Draco was still holding on to him, pulling them both down.

"Malfoy," Potter yelled. At least he hadn't fainted. He wriggled out of Draco's grasp, slinging his arms around Draco's legs, pulling Draco off his broom. At least Draco now had both hands free to clutch at his broom.

They were nearing the ground at a dangerous speed. Not as fast as they would have been free falling but still fast enough to cause some serious damage among impact. Racing brooms weren't made for two people. And the weather did not make holding onto a piece of wood for his dear life any easier.

"Can you climb up and hold onto the broom?" he yelled. If Potter held on to the broom instead of him, it would not slow their descent, but at least Draco would stand a better chance of not falling to his death.

He was surprised Harry actually managed to do what he was told. Potter clawed his fingers into Draco, slowly climbing up until his fingers reached the broom, finally letting go of Draco.

"Put your weight forward a bit!" Draco instructed, and Harry immediately caught on.

The broom was no longer free falling straight out of the sky but somewhat diagonally. Harry hit the ground running while Draco stumbled and then rolled in the mud. The crowd was silent, shocked.

Draco looked over to Harry, who seemed to be alright. Draco stayed on the ground, his arm hurt like hell. Which reminded him…

He lifted his other arm and opened his hand slowly, revealing the Snitch.

It took a second for everyone to catch on to what happened, but soon everyone on the Slytherin side started to cheer.

Crabbe and Goyle landed next to Draco and soon the whole team was around him, cheering.

"Awesome," Flint yelled, landing right next to him.

"Yeah," Draco agreed, "I'm the best. Now can someone please get Madam Pomfrey?"

Draco spent the rest of the day in the infirmary, which he found blatantly unfair. Potter hadn't even had a scratch, although the whole thing had been more or less his fault. But he had ended up with a broken arm and a mild concussion. And his broom got destroyed. At least Potter's broom hadn't fared any better. That was a mild compensation.

At least the whole of Slytherin had visited him. They had been ecstatic, to say the least. Because Draco couldn't join their celebrations they had decided to bring the celebration to him – at least until Madam Pomfrey kicked them out.

"They don't even want a rematch," Flint cheered. "Potter said you caught the Snitch before he fell off his broom so even Wood agrees we won fair and square."

Draco was quite glad no one knew what had really happened. Everyone assumed his patronus had been lightning and that Potter fell of his broom and held on to Draco. This was quite alright with him. He wanted to be the Slytherin hero who even though he got assaulted by a hundred dementors and a Gryffindor's clumsiness, still managed to catch the Snitch and win the game.

He had a few surprise visits. One of which was Neville Longbottom. He gave him a potted plant and wished him a quick recovery. Another were the Weasley twins who left him, while he slept, a pack of candy which Draco was sure he would never eat. Perhaps he could somehow get Potter and the Weasel to eat them. It also served to remind him that he had to come up with a way to get back at the twins for the hair incident. Daphne visited him too, which wasn't so surprising as almost every Slytherin came by at some point, but she was accompanied by her sister Astoria, which made his day infinitely better.

Towards the end of the day, Harry Potter stopped by the infirmary, making sure that no one else was around to see him.

"Hi," he mumbled.

"Potter," Draco nodded his head.

Potter looked very out of place and uncomfortable. Served him right.

"I- although you probably didn't mean to save me or anything, but you still did so-"

"Get to the point," Draco growled.

"Thanks for saving my butt. I don't know what would have happened if I had fallen and you hadn't been there… I'm sorry about your broom, too."

"Don't mention it," Draco replied. "I mean it, don't."

"Don't worry. I won't mention it. Would ruin my reputation as well as yours," he chuckled, "Some people think you pushed me of my broom. But most think I fainted because of that lightning and held onto you… Well, thanks, anyway."

When Harry didn't leave immediately, Draco asked, "Anything else?"

"I just don't get why they affect me so much! No one else seems to have this problem. Well, besides you on the train, but you seem to have gotten over it."

"Not really," Draco mumbled. "There are things you can do about them but you should ask a Professor about it. Maybe Lupin, Defense is his forte."

Potter thanked Draco again and then left.

It had been a long and taxing day and Draco was happy when at last everyone was gone and he could enjoy the piece and quiet of an almost empty infirmary.

TBC

Finally some action. There will definitely be more of that in the next couple of chapters.

As always, let me know what you think :)