She Said What?

Chapter 9: I Have an Unfortunate Accident

October 1

8:00 PM
Status: Confused

Okay, wow.

I am...befuddled, but not really. Like, I know where I am and what my life is and when I was born, but I'm still bemused, in a dream-like state where everything is a little fuzzy. Very strange.

Plus, I'm in pain. Not a lot of it – just enough to have a mildly throbbing headache. A bloody irritating one, though.

There is a reason for this. Allow me to explain to both myself and this diary, because we're both slightly out of it at present and it would do me well to go over the events one more time, keep them straight.

See, today was the day of the big Quidditch match. Ravenclaw and Slytherin, very exciting. I went with Alice and Livvy to watch. We might have stayed back to do our homework on such a day – because we really did have a lot of it – but Livvy has been ordered by James to figure out some of the tactics being used and Alice and I are just lousy procrastinators. It all worked. We bundled up in jackets and sat up in the stands, cheering on Ravenclaw because no Gryffindor ever cheers for Slytherin as a rule.

The Ravenclaws were pretty good. I could tell as much without Livvy whispering it feverishly in my ear. They were well-organized and knew what they were doing. Their Beaters were particularly good – Terrence Andrews and Jonathon Sanders. Jonathon is a prefect as well. I was pretty impressed; they whacked the hell out of those Bludgers, sending them anywhere a green speck lingered a second too long. More than once, they came close to unseating a Slytherin someone and we three girls stood up and cheered. Very fun.

However, this wasn't to say that the Slytherins took this lying down. They didn't. They played back and the Beaters knew instantly that they had to play it up a little. Once they warmed up a little to the other's tactics, the game evened out and stayed break-neck close for a while, sixty-seventy to Ravenclaw. The Seekers were constantly combing the pitch for the Snitch (ha, that rhymed!) and the audience (meaning us) was pretty tense.

The score continued to climb, slowly and painfully. The Beaters were fighting for control of the Bludgers. The Chasers were fighting for control of the Quaffle. The Seekers were tailing each other in the hope that one of them would find the tiny fluttering thing first and make their lives easy. Not happening.

Either way, though, I remember is the score being at one-ten for both and one of the Ravenclaws was hitting the Bludger. It went astray, though, and started a rogue course close to the stands. They usually don't do that, the Bludgers, but in this case, it was hit wrong and one broke the rules and it was coming straight at me and the girls.

The last things I remember are an enormous cannonball-like thing shooting like a rocket, a collective intake of breath from the people around me, and my arms coming up to shield my face.

Then, it all goes dark for me.

I woke what had to be several hours later in a bed in the Hospital Wing. The sky was getting darker and I felt a little dizzy. I also had my present headache. I tried to sit up, but I got too dizzy, so I just stayed put. I turned my head to see Livvy and Alice sitting across the room with their books. I attempted to find my voice from the parched, thick depths of my throat, but I couldn't, so I coughed instead. This caught their attention.

"Lily!" Livvy instantly put her books down and got up. "Hey, Lils, are you all right?"

"Goodness, Lil, you gave us quite a scare!" Alice agreed, dropping her books as well. "Feeling any better?"

I coughed again. "Yeah. Slightly bewildered, and a little like I'm made of lead, but otherwise I'm okay."

"Oh good, you're awake," said Madam Pomfrey in her brisk, nurse's voice, arriving on the scene out of nowhere with her wand. "All right, Miss Evans?"