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15

I let out a gasp as the Bludger hit me, the air in my lungs whooshing out. I was thrown back into the sand, and I could hear half the stands gasping and exclaiming, worried, as the other half celebrated Gryffindor's victory, not realizing what was happening.

I blinked my eyes rapidly, trying to stay awake. I knew that was important; I didn't know about the wizarding world, but when it came to Muggles, if you passed out after being hit violently, you could die. I didn't want to die. Not now.

The cheering from the stands finally stopped and screams and shouts replaced it. My vision was blurring. Something wet, a tear maybe, dripped down my cheek. It hurt. It hurt so bad. Cedric's figure was running toward me. It'd felt like I'd just blinked once, and his worried face was above me. Something was holding my face, perhaps his hands, were caressing my face.

"Roxanne?" Cedric brushed another tear off my face.

"Ceddy," I murmured, squeezing my eyes shut, then painstakingly slowly opening them once more. "Ced, it hurts. It hurts so bad."

I wasn't able to get another word out before I blacked out.

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I jerked up, gasping and immediately regretting it. I looked to my right to see Cedric sitting upright, wide-eyed, looking like he'd seen a ghost. All in all, he looked horrid.

He suddenly got up, embracing me tightly. "Never, ever do that to me again," He murmured in my ear as I closed my eyes, melting into the hug. It felt like I hadn't gotten one of those in a long time.

I gently pulled away, though I didn't want to and looked him in the eyes. "How long have I been in here?"

"A couple months..."

My eyes widened. "And how long have you been here?" No answer. Cedric just moved his head to stare at the ground. "Cedric?" I lifted my fingertips to his chin and gently moved it so he was forced to look me in the eyes. "How long have you been here?"

He mumbled something intelligible. I raised an eyebrow, to which he repeated his sentence. "A couple months."

I inhaled sharply. "Ced. You've been in here for months?? Like, not attending classes? Or leaving? Or eating?"

Cedric snorted, giving me a slight smile. "Well, I didn't want to have you wake up to see me as a corpse beside your bed. Fred and George eat meals in here. The others visit every now and them, but you know Madame Pomfrey's rule. They have to come in shifts, since I refused to move.." He glanced down at the Muggle watch I'd gotten him for Christmas. "Speaking of which... Fred and George'll be here soon."

"Roxanne!" Fred bellowed as I turned my head to see my triplet brothers barrelling their way towards me. I laughed as I was pulled into a tight hug by the two of them.

George pulled away first, dragging Fred with him while he looked at me seriously. "You aren't doing Quidditch anymore. We got a howler from mum as soon as she found out, she thought you'd died."

Fred nodded, biting his lip. "She wanted us to quit too. We sent her a letter saying we wouldn't be quitting, but we'd try to convince you."

I scoffed, rubbing my hand to my forehead. "If you two, along with all the Quidditch teams in Hogwarts, don't quit, then I'm not quitting either."

Cedric barked a laugh. "I told you two it wouldn't work."

Before either Fred or George could reply with a snarky retort, Madame Pomfrey came bustling in, almost dropping the multiple potions in her arms once she saw I was awake. She rushed back into her office, coming back out with another set of potions, which she piled on the side table.