I Think I Like Him

9. A fall Further Grim

Word count: 1304

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"When Katy gets into position-" Oliver tapped the tip of his wand on the black board, showing a complicated diagram with various arrows pointing in different directions, and their names placed in the middle. "-Angelina, you will come over from the back and block off Preece while Alicia gets the ball from Katy"

"What about us?" George spoke up, Fred nodding next to him.

"We all know that if I gave you instructions you would ignore them anyway, so just so what you do, and do it well" he turned back to the black board, and pointed his wand to the name in the corner.

"And Harry, all you need to do is catch the snitch." The Halfblood nodded absently, fiddling with the end of his broom, and not at all paying attention.

"Our first match is Hufflepuff this year, and although they may not be our strongest competition, we still need to take this match seriously! It's the first match of the year and I want no slacking!"

...

Harry walked onto the pitch, and while he could hear cheering, he could barely see his hand in front of his face. The weather was horrific, even for the last day of November.

Lee Jordan began calling the names of every member of the team, though you could scarcely distinguish a word, his voice being swept away in the wind and rain.

After a breif huddle, everyone took to the sky and the game began.

Harry circled the pitch, one eye remaining on Diggory as he squinted through the pouring rain. He couldn't see anything. All the boos, cheers and score keeping blended into one constant noise, resulting in his ears ringing almost painfully. The wind pulled deviously at his broom, making it challenging to even stay in the air, never mind anything else.

The raven felt so painfully isolated -cold, deaf, blind- in the sky, and so began unconsciously lowering in a small effort to steady his broom; when a Bludger flew past his face, forcing him to back up sharply. Turning around, the Gryffindor found himself facing the blaring stands.

His squinting eyes flickered across the tops of the many umbrellas littering the crowd from behind his blurred glasses, until the dark silhouette of what he horrifyingly recognised as The Grim, flashed across the stands as lightning struck somewhere behind him.

His eyes widened and he backed up once again. Another Bludger rushed past and he rose into the sky quickly, climbing higher and higher, the rain and wind causing his broom to shudder and tremble furiously beneath him. It was then that the young Seeker caught the familiar glimpse of shining gold; the Snitch taunting him as it backed away, its white wings burry shape's either side of the small patterned ball.

Without hesitation, he darted towards it like a magnet to metal, arm already outstretched, leaning closer to his nimbus 2000 as it neared the inky blackness that was the roaring clouds above.

Harry could see the shallow puffs of air vacate his mouth, and could feel his broom begin to turn an icy shade of blue under his numbing fingertips. All the noise, which had previously been roaring past his ears, gradually slowed until the only thing battling the deafening silence was the rhythm of his thudding heart against the burning cold of his chest.

His fingers were inches from grazing the smooth surface of the snitch, when he glanced down towards the ground, growing further and further away at an alarming pace, and all the breath raced from his lungs. His vision grew hazy, when his mother's scream forced itself into every crevice of his fading consciousness. He stiffened, as if physically frozen, his broom tipping back slowly.

The Gryffindor, through the small slits in his closing eyes, could see at least six dark figures circling him like prey, until his cramped up hands finally gave in to the traitorous pull of gravity, letting go, and leaving Harry in an unnerving free-fall.

The cheering, having riled up when the raven had begun racing for the snitch, stilled and warped into cries of horror when they saw Harry, small in contrast to the powerfully vast backdrop of the ebony storm that thundered above the timid stands, plummeting towards the ground.

Harry didn't scream as he fell, his eyes seemed frozen in place and he stared at dementors above him. Halfway down, he blacked out.

...

Draco stood up, forgetting to breath as Potter grew closer to the ground. He looked around frantically at both the teachers and Potters friends, awaiting for them to do something- anything, but they all seemed to be frozen in shock.

That wasn't Potter, it was Harry- the boy hidden away in a cupboard because of magic he had no control over. It was Harry, who came to the Wizarding world to feel less of a freak, only to be idolised for something he, again, had no control over.

It was as though in that moment, diary Harry and real-life Potter overlapped for the first time and merged. Draco pulled out his wand, "Oesto momentum!" He screamed, and Potter stopped barely a meter from the ground.

As if unpaused, teachers and Gryffindor's alike, charged forward and whisked Potter away to the hospital wing. Draco collapsed back in his chair with a sharp breath of choked relief.

...

It was hours before Harry woke again, and when he did he found himself surrounded by his teammates, plus Ron and Hermione. Harry was then bombarded with 'are you ok!?'s and 'does it still hurt?'s. He ignored them and looked to Oliver. "What happened?"

He sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "when you got taken away, we thought they'd stop the match but.. Diggory caught the snitch" Harry groaned, "I'm sorry guys I-" George interrupted sharply, "What are you on about harry?"

"Yea, the dementors shouldn't have been so close to the school. Dumbledore's furious!" Fred carried on, leaning on his bedside table.

"uhh.. there's something else too, harry." He turned to Ron, who he just then noticed was carrying something bundled in a Gryffindor flag. "your broom sort of blew away when you fell off it and it kind of went a bit too close to the whomping willow and- well.. see for yourself, mate.."

He set down the Gryffindor flag, and unwrapped it, showing what was left of his broom, which now more resembled splintered fire wood. He leaned forward to touch it, but flinched back as pain erupted from his side. "What-"

Madam Pomfrey pushed through the small crowd and laid harry back down sharply. "The pressure from the fall fractured three ribs. One of which completely shattered, and impaled the skin. I had to remove both the bone and the tissue. You'll have to stay here for a few days so i can make sure that the bone and tissue don't fuse together while regrowing, and so i can prevent the tissue from growing wrong and pulling at your side and potentially restricting your movement."

Madam Pomfrey bustled around his bed, tutting to herself. "you could have died, if it wasn't for Mr. Malfoy"

"Malfoy?" Harry sat up, clutching his side, before Madam Pomfrey pushed him back down once again. "oh, yes.. it seems Mr. Malfoy is the only person in Hogwarts with any sense.. if he hadn't of stopped you from hitting the ground then it would be a completely different story.. but anyway, dinner starts in 5 minuets, so I'd get to the great hall if I were you," she said, turning to the group around harry's bed.

Hermione squeezed his hand then left with Ron and the quidditch team, with a promise to visit the next morning, and harry was left alone for the night.