The Roil of Falling
Today was the day: Slytherin v. Gryffindor. You couldn’t help but feel anxious. It was your first game after all. Now, instead of sitting at the bleachers and cheering for Fred and George like you had for the last two years, you were facing them in a match.
Rivalries between Slytherin and Gryffindor were stronger than ever. Every time a match between any house happened, the two rivaling houses would always dunk on the other. This helped the two houses strive to do better at the match, swearing they’ll get the other back. And honestly, they did make the matches more interesting.
That morning you were eating breakfast with most of the team. Erin and Corry, two of the three seekers on the team, were sitting on the opposite bench next to Solaris. Adrian and Miles were seated next to you, chatting away about a few quidditch pointers they were planning on executing. Draco, on the other hand, was seated a few spots away with Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy; speaking excitedly over his first-ever match.
The match would start early noon, two hours before lunch would be served, so breakfast was the only time you would be able to get anything in. Food right before a match was a big no and you had learned the easy way by watching a senior quidditch player throw up once during a game. Image burnt into your mind.
Just as breakfast seemed to be settling down, Corry stood up from her seat. “Alright team, Flint’s waiting for us at the tent. We better get a move on so we can get in some warm-up practice,” she said enthusiastically
Corry was practically Marcus’ right-hand (wo)man. If there ever was a time where Flint couldn’t make it to practice, she was the second to be in charge of the team. She was scarier, to be honest, much more brute in her warm-ups, but no one complained, they got the job done.
You placed your napkin down and tapped Adrian on the shoulder, but before either of you could leave for the quidditch field, Solaris stood up and gave the both of you a good luck kiss on the cheek and cheered you on.
Once at the tent, everyone changed into their uniform and gear. Flint did a quick run-through on the match’s gameplay and tested reactivity with each player. All in all, you were confident in winning today’s match.
As you walked out to the field, you couldn’t help but look up at the tower where Lee and the other professors sat. You had sat there once on a special occasion to comment on one of the twins’ games since Lee had gotten sick that particular week. He began to name the players, stopping on yours and giving long-winded dramatics.
“I can’t help but feel betrayed by my best friend,” he said as he spoke into the amplifier. He sniffed and wiped a fake tear. “She’s playing against Gryffindor, the biggest crime of the century and —”
“Mr. Jordan, I do advice you to stick to commentating on the game.”
Lee laughed into the microphone. “Sorry, Ms. G.”
He proceeded to name the rest of the team’s players and marked the beginning of the game. Madam Hooch stood on the field and after the whistle, she tossed the quaffle up into the air. You gave Adrian a knowing look, to which he nodded and kicked off from the floor at the same time. The wind rushing against your ears felt exhilarating. You could barely hear the roaring of cheers and insults as you gained altitude. Adrian was beside you at a moment’s notice and then the two of you were off.
You caught sight of George who flew right past you, his laughter trailing where he had just flown by, and not a second later, Fred had done the same. It would be unwise of you to focus solely on the twins throughout the game, they weren’t the only players of course, but they were the most dangerous. You gave a quick glance at George, hoping to locate him quickly, he was the brute one in the sport. Gave much nastier clubs than Fred you had to admit.
It didn’t take long for Slytherin to score… then score again.
Gryffindor managed to score right after Slytherin had, but they were a bit behind.
“Let’s see what you got!” Fred shouted, the air nipping at your ears making it difficult to hear. He hovered a few feet away from you, his reddened face smirking; you noticed a shimmer of mischief in his eyes as he swung hard and hit the bludger towards you.
You swung and deflected the bludger towards Adrian who managed to club it towards Angelina. When she noticed the bludger, she tried to swerve out of its way but managed to drop the quaffle. Erin, one of your chasers, caught it and dove away from the other Gryffindor players, scoring in a few seconds' time.
“Slytherin scores ten points — Slytherin is in the lead with fifty points!”
You flew beside Fred and winked. “Thanks for the ten points, Weasley.”
Tipping the broom downwards, you gained speed before pulling back up and trailing another Gryffindor player. You were just about to hit a bludger that zoomed close by, but it suddenly changed direction. Perplexed, you let it be as you saw the other bludger fly towards Corry. With a quick plunge, you sped towards her and hit the bludger with a satisfying crack. She gave you a nod and swerved off, quaffle in hand towards the hoops.
“Another ten points for Slytherin — Weasleys what are you doing?! How are my besties not — Ms. G, please — no —”
You laugh to yourself as McGonagall further berated poor Lee over commentary before stilling on a spot in the field to watch the other players. Already about half an hour in and your team had managed to score just over sixty goals. Some points had been deducted here and there, but your team had a steady hand in the game. 45 minutes into the game and Slytherin was still in the lead. So far, you had managed to keep your chasers safe and kept a clear path for them to score. If you and Adrian kept this up, perhaps a victory would be in line sight.
Perhaps, if only you had —
“Watch out!” A voice screamed, but as you turned your head around you saw a bludger headed straight towards you.
Suddenly, a sickening crack causes you to spin out of control on your broom. You tried your best to hold on, but your grip was sleeping and you were dangling from the handle. Every second that passed, the more you felt yourself get dizzy and the more your grip slackened. You couldn’t hold on anymore.
Hair nipped at your face as you fell, the harsh winds freezing your back as you spiraled downwards. One moment you were zipping around in your broom, the next you were falling? Is that what was happening? All you could see were the grey clouds that clung to the sky above you. You could feel the water droplets fall onto your face. Bitter and cold, that’s what they felt like. They hit with such ferocity that it felt like you were the one who was supposed to be angry, not them.
And with a thud, it stopped. You weren’t falling anymore.
But you were still moving.
The wind still managed to hit you, but it wasn’t the same as before. Someone was holding you close to them, calling your name, but you couldn’t focus on stringing words together. All you could feel was how they held you as they flew on their broom. Next thing you knew you felt the wet grass and the same person lay you down onto it. That’s when you lolled your head to one side, unable to keep it still.
“Hurt,” you gasped, trying to point at your head. Everything was spinning, you couldn’t tell if you actually were pointing at your head. “Head hurts.”
The person — Adrian — Was that Adrian? Who was that? The person’s voice sounded muffled, as if you were underwater, and kept sinking deeper and deeper down. They towered over you and then another person did the same. Then more. There were a lot more people surrounding you than you fancied.
Then nothing.
—————
You jolt awake.
The next time you see anything, you don’t — it’s pitch dark.
There’s practically nothing to see, but the dim lights of floating candles. Your vision was a bit blurry, but you could just barely differentiate shapes and colors. You tried to blink the nasty effect away, but it remained the same, which left you to attempt to squint your eyes. It’s dark out. Must be nighttime.
Confused, you turned to look around, but when you turned and leaned your head on the pillow you had to quickly pull away. A hiss escaped your lips as you touched the side of your head. It still felt a bit sensitive.
You were about to get out of bed when you heard a group of people walk into the room you’re in. They muttered quietly and hushed as they carried someone in. As you carefully turned your head to watch, this time making sure not to put too much pressure on your temple, you realized that you were in the hospital wing.
You couldn’t tell who was who, so you instead decided to focus your ears on their conversation. They weren’t exactly the quietest, so that helped a bit with what they were saying. You picked up a few of their sentences.
Someone had been petrified. A student. He had his camera. There was no evidence of the culprit.
You gulped quietly and waited for them to usher back out. It takes a few minutes until they do, and a few more until Madam Pomfrey leaves the student unattended. Once you’re alone, you swing your legs out from beneath your duvet and stalk over to the bed you saw everyone huddled around. You stumbled a bit, still disoriented, but nothing too drastic as your feet touched the cold stone floor. Once you were close enough, you looked over, squinting your eyes, and nearly jumped back into the bed behind you.
It was Colin Creevey.