Then I Met You [D.M.]

Year Two: Rogue Bludger

7th November, 1992, Saturday

The first quidditch match of the year was proving to be challenging.

No one was surprised when Draco Malfoy suddenly found himself the seeker for the Slytherin team, nor when they found out his father had bought the entire Slytherin team Nimbus 2001's, the newest and fastest broom available.

Slytherin was leading ninety to thirty, and the students in the stands were as loud as ever. The match had only been going for less than an hour when something odd happened.

Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor keeper and captain was flying near Harry when a bludger hit his broom, breaking it in half. Wood was barely able to slow his descent before he hit the ground. Then the bludger went after Harry.

The young Gyffindor did his best to fly away from it. The rogue bludger was vicious in its pursuit, following him around the quidditch pitch and through the crowds of students. It tore holes through the stands, wood splinters flying everywhere. At one point, it appeared the bludger had finally given up, as Harry pulled to a stop near Draco.

Violet couldn't stop the scream that tore from her throat when the bludger nearly took out both Harry and Draco, both boys narrowly ducking out of the way.

"Woah!" Cedric shouted, pulling Violet back into her seat, "Harry's fine, Vi! I'm sure they'll take care of that bludger before it hurts him."

Violet couldn't tear her focus away from the pitch to reply, as Harry and Draco had just flown below, out of view. It appeared they were after the snitch, but the bludger was right after them. The longer they stayed out of sight, the more anxious and tense she grew.

She released a sigh of relief when they finally resurfaced, but the relief was short lived before they were back below.

When they resurfaced again, it wasn't in a way that brought her any more relief. Draco flew through the air in one direction, his broom in another, before landing on the pitch. Several boys around her let out a groan when they saw how Draco had landed, his eyes and mouth wide in pain at the impact of landing with his legs spread.

Violet was out of her seat again, but so were all the other students now. Harry was within distance of the snitch. The crowd watched in anticipation as he neared the snitch, his fingers nearly touching it, when the bludger reappeared. No one could hear the sickening crack of his arm, but they all knew the bludger made contact as Harry began to spin wildly.

He quickly righted himself, never giving up his chase of the snitch. Until he lost his balance and fell, luckily close enough to the ground for the impact to be minimal. He laid in the sand for a moment, seemingly unconscious, until a bright smile lit up his face and he held up the snitch.

The crowds went wild, as Harry had just won the first quidditch match of the year. Cheers quickly turned to gasps and shouts as the bludger reappeared again. Harry rolled out of the way just in time for the ball to hit where his head had previously been. The bludger continued its assault until Hermione blasted it away. She, Ron, and Hagrid were suddenly on the pitch, along with several teachers and students.

"Should we go check on him?" She asked no one in particular.

"No, best we let Madam Pomfrey take care of him first." Hannah replied, looping her arms through Aimee's and Violet's, pushing their way through the departing crowds.

"Right." Violet nodded.

Despite the surrounding crowd, Violet stood up on her toes to look for one boy in particular. She didn't know why she was worried for him, as he was obviously fine five minutes ago when he walked off the pitch. But she couldn't help the sense of reassurance of seeing Draco Malfoy along the sidelines, standing with his team and his father. He still had an expression of pain, but he was standing on his own, and that was enough for Violet to dispel her concern.