Secrets I have held in my heart (part 1)

Chapter 17: Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor

'alright everyone' said Oliver, he seemed very upbeat despite his miserable mood from last night after finding out we wouldn't play against Slytherin 'this is our chance, the first match is just as or even the most important one we will play because we will be setting a precedent of how well we can play. Let's get out there and show them who we are' he roared proudly

I did have to owe it to Oliver, he made the tense mood in the changing rooms shift. Now we were all excited and pretty motivated, and I had forgotten that I had gotten mad at Malfoy during breakfast.

'y/n' said Oliver 'you looked upset earlier, are you okay?' he asked 

'yeah just the nerves from the match, that's all' I exhaled

'okay because I want you in your best state, you've proven that you're a terrific chaser so don't let us down' he said, I knew he wasn't trying to make me anxious but Oliver tended to give backhanded advice that wasn't very encouraging.

I simply nodded and joined the team outside. I immediately felt discouraged once again, the weather had gotten much worse. It was raining hard and there was the faint rumbling of thunder in the distance. Not only that but the wind had picked up speed since last night, meaning we would be having even more trouble staying on our brooms and scoring precisely. We all exchanged nervous glances but moved forth, we hadn't trained hard for just giving up because of the weather.

We stood in our positions while Diggory, who I must admit was quite stunning, and Oliver shook hands. Cedric had a calm demeanour but Oliver was tense, the weather seemed to be worrying him more than it should.

'mount your brooms' I heard Madame Hooch say, it was barely audible because the wind was making it impossible to hear, not even the chants from the stadium could be heard. Then I heard the sound of the whistle and pushed off the ground, slightly moving to the side from the harshness of the wind.

Angelina, Katie and I had managed to score enough so we were fifty points up from Hufflepuff but the match was stopped when the first ray of lightning struck. Oliver had called for timeout.

'Harry, you need to get the Snitch soon or else we'll be playing until nightfall' he advised, we all looked frigid, the wind had frozen our damp clothes and my teeth had started to grit from the cold.

'I can't see anything with these' complained Harry, while taking off his glasses 

Hermione was standing right behind us, overhearing the conversation and as always, saved the day.

'give me those' she urged, pointing at Harry's glasses 'Impervius' she said, pointing her wand at the glasses

'that will keep the rain from getting to your glasses' she said proudly. The team began to cheer but there was no time to waste, we stepped back into the pitch and once again, kicked off the ground and were hit by the freezing air and the droplets of the icy cold rain.

For a while, we kept playing. I had lost sight of Harry from the amount of rain that didn't seem to seize to an end. Then, it started to get colder and colder and from the sky, fell a figure.

'Harry!' I screamed, abandoning the game and zooming towards him. His fall was stopped by Dumbledore, whose voice resonated around the pitch echoing 'arresto momentum'

I was in complete shock by the sight of Harry's limp body on the ground, he's dead, I thought. My eyes began to blur from the thought of it but he had to be fine, his fall was stopped, wasn't it?

I saw him being carried on a stretcher and into the school building. I flew down and joined the team, who were either still in the air, paralyzed or stepping on the ground and running into the building, trailing behind the stretcher. 

Harry didn't wake up until a few hours later. He looked around the room dumbfounded towards the Gryffindor team and naturally, Ron and Hermione.

'Harry!' exclaimed Fred 'how are you feeling?' he said looking distressed

Harry took a while to respond. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts but he broke his silence asking what had happened.

'you fell from your broom, around a 50 feet free fall' I stated, still shocked but glad Harry had woken up

'Dumbledore stopped your fall' said Alicia who was still rigid from the fear of losing Harry

'and he was terribly angry about the Dementors entering the school grounds, they weren't supposed to be there' interjected Hermione, who was drenched from the rain

'what about the match?' Harry asked 'do we get a replay?' he insisted, the team looked at each other uncomfortably, we didn't want to break the news to him

'well' started George 'Cedric caught the Snitch moments after you fell, he didn't realise what had happened. He insisted that we have a rematch but Oliver accepted the defeat' he said quietly

Harry somehow looked even paler upon hearing the news and began to pull his hair while placing his head between his knees. He had never lost a Quidditch match and took the defeat more personally than he should've. The whole team insisted that he had never lost a match and that there was still a chance for Gryffindor to win but it didn't convince Harry and it definitely didn't convince Wood, who was still in the changing rooms grieving the loss.

Madam Pomfrey ushered us out when she saw the trail of mud the team had left, saying Harry needed to rest and muttering about the mess we had made in the infirmary. I tried to stay a while longer but she kicked me out as well. Ron and Hermione stayed with Harry which made me feel better because Harry needed the support, especially since his Nimbus had been obliterated by the Whomping Willow, a tree that seemed to destroy everything that came close to it.

I felt sick now, the day had gone awfully, Harry had almost died just like Professor Trelawny had predicted. Malfoy ridiculed me in front of the Gryffindor table and I had hurt George's feelings. I dragged myself up the stairs, ignoring Fred who was asking if I wanted to talk. If I was being honest, I needed a friend right now but I couldn't handle talking to him, he reminded me too much of him.

I miserably climbed the stairs to my dorm and slammed the door behind me. I took a long shower and changed to comfortable clothes. I still had plenty of homework to finish but I wasn't in the mood. I wish I had George to comfort me like he used to but that was now in the past. I decided to go find Draco, even if it was possibly the worst idea I could possibly think of, he might be able to provide me with the comfort I needed.

I began looking for him in the swarm of students that were returning from the stadium, all of them chilled to the bone and drenched. I finally found Malfoy in the crowd, he dismissed himself from his friends and came to where I was standing.

'Edwards' he nearly shouted

'Malfoy, be quiet' I said looking around warily

'are you okay? you look very pale' he said as he was now closer, looking sincerely worried

'I just need someone right now', 'who isn't Fred or Hermione' I added

I wasn't sure if I could trust him again since previous events but something told me that today he wouldn't hurt me, and I wanted to trust that gut feeling.