Dancing with Danger

seventeen

"Well, if you really think you can do it," Flint said anxiously, still casting his glance from my wrist to the Ravenclaws zooming around in the sky.

"Flint! We need an answer!" Madam Hooch impatiently nagged at us once more over the noise of the crowd.

"Yes," Flint glanced down at my wrist again,"we can play."

"Then what are you waiting for? Go on, get out there!" she bellowed before blowing the shiny silver whistle that hung around her neck once again. Seven more brooms rose into the air and Lee Jordan began to commentate.

With the Beater club in my left hand and the stinging pain in my right wrist, I held on as best as I could with one hand. Majority of the job was left to Mack—which, if I'm being honest, probably wasn't the best idea.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Malfoy called out worriedly.

"I hope so!" I called back as he shook his head in disapproval while watching me struggle to fly straight.

"Rogers of Slytherin now back in the game, The Broken Beater—what a headline!" Lee chanted from the top of the stands. "Chambers of Ravenclaw back in possession of the Quaffle, he darts up the field just passing Montague of Slytherin by pure luck...what's that? Chang suddenly makes a dive near the edge of the field...Malfoy trialing closely behind...Malfoy's gaining on Chang—OH GOD!"

Everything suddenly went black, as if someone flipped the lights off as you were standing in the middle of a room, helpless and only to wander aimlessly around. Only, I couldn't wander.

"Where am I?" I said wearily as I sat up and began to recognize all the familiar faces around me and a woman in a dress bustling around the room.

"Hospital Wing," whispered Adrian as he looked at my hand he had interlocked with his.

"Did we win?" I mumbled while sitting up and finally noticing the bandages and wraps of all sorts that were nearly cutting off circulation to my hand.

"Seriously?" said Malfoy, who sat on the edge of the bed, with a laugh. "No, we didn't win."

"But you could've just," I made a grabbing motion with my hand, "grabbed the Snitch. Speaking of snitch, who turned me in?"

"You turned yourself in," Graham sighed as he unfolded his arms he had crossed over his chest, "you started to go after another one of those damned Bludgers but ended up going too fast and kind of, well, quite plainly crashed and burned."

"I wasn't on fire was I?!" I audibly gasped out and started flipping over my uninjured arm to check for scorch marks.

"Oh, God no," Miles said while burying his face in his hands, "you- you need sleep."

"Out! Chop chop!" Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, snapped at all of the worn out looking Quidditch players who surrounded me.

"Malfoy, stay," I whispered as I starred up at him helplessly.

"Romeo, out! You can see her tomorrow, she needs her sleep," Pomfrey growled at Malfoy, the grey in his eyes amplified by the sun reflecting off of them. He gave a timid wave and left, looking back at me only to see Madam Pomfrey shooing him out once more.

the next morning...

God, the pain really is worse the second day I thought as I rolled over groggily on my side to fish for my glass of water in the sea of things on the bedside table. "Got to be here somewhere," I mumbled.

"Here," said someone who handed me a glass from the table.

"Thanks," I said after taking a drink and rolling back over. "Wait a minute!" I shot back up and looked to my side to see Malfoy laughing softly, careful not to wake another girl a couple of beds away. "How did you—"