𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐥𝐞 | h. granger

xxviii | the rogue bludger

Quidditch Stadium

── •✧• ──

𝐋𝐘𝐑𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐀 𝐅𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇. She'd never been to a match, and if it weren't for the fact that Draco was now the Slytherin team's seeker, she'd be in the library or the Hufflepuff Common Room enjoying the peace and quiet. She stood between Ophelia and Aliyah in the stands, holding both a Slytherin and Gryffindor flag to show her support for both teams. She wasn't paying attention to who was winning; she'd rather be anywhere else.

Ophelia thought that Lyra going to the game would be good for her and help her get her mind off of things. The issue was that what Ophelia thought Lyra was upset about wasn't what she was actually upset about. Yes she was worried about the Chamber of Secrets, but it wasn't in the way that everyone else was.

She saw Lucius sitting in the teacher's stand next to Professor Snape. He was on the Hogwarts Board of Governors and a powerful member of the wizarding community, so it was no surprise that he was invited to see Draco play in the match. Lyra just wished that Narcissa had come with him. She smiled a little, however, when she saw Dobby's large elf-ears poking up over the railing.

Dakota frowned deeply when she noticed one of the Bludgers zooming towards Harry. No matter which way he went, it kept following him, determined to get him hurt. She scanned the crowd – and even the players – to make sure that no one was muttering a spell, but people's mouths were only moving to cheer for their favorite team.

"Blimey! Harry's got himself a rogue Bludger!" Hagrid shouted. "That's been tampered with, that has!"

"First his broomstick, and now this?" Ophelia sighed. "The poor boy can't catch a break."

"I'll stop it," Ron said, raising his wand.

"No!" Dakota pushed his hand down. "Even if your wand wasn't broken, it would still be too risky. You could hit Harry."

"Do you see who's doing it?" Hadley asked as she took her wand out of her robe pocket. "Who do I need to light on fire this time? Is it Snape again?"

Ophelia snatched the wand from Hadley. The shorter girl pouted and scrunched her brows. "No. Absolutely not. No fire, Weasley."

"You're no fun, Longbottom." Hadley reached to take her wand back, but Ophelia held it up above her head so she couldn't reach it. "Give me my wand, Ophelia!"

"Not unless you solemnly swear that you're not gonna light someone on fire."

"Ugh, fine!" Hadley crossed her fingers behind her back and grinned innocently. "I solemnly swear that I'm not gonna light someone on fire."

Ophelia narrowed her eyes at the redhead. She tucked her wand away into her pocket. "Nah, I think I'll hang on to this until after the game. Don't want to be taking any chances, now, do we?"

"Fuck you," Hadley grumbled, crossing her arms. She scoffed and turned her attention back to the game.

"You wish," Ophelia muttered. She smirked when the Gryffindor girl's face flushed nearly as red as her hair. "You definitely wish."

"Draco!" Lyra suddenly cried out. Her attention was grabbed when the blonde boy went flying from his broom. He landed hard on the ground below, and Ophelia had to grab her to keep her from running to him.

Dakota gasped when the Bludger collided with Harry's arm. He didn't let that hold him back, and he kept flying after the Snitch, reaching out with his left hand. He, too, went flying from his broom in an attempt to avoid the Bludger. He landed on his back, the Golden Snitch in his hands.

"Harry Potter has caught the Snitch!" Lee Jordan announced as the crowd of Gryffindor supporters cheered. "Gryffindor wins!"

Ron, Hermione, Dakota, Aliyah, and Lyra left the stands to go down to check on the two boys. Lyra ran over to her nephew as the others rushed to Harry.

"Dragon, are you okay?!" Lyra asked worriedly as she knelt down beside him.

"M-My. . .father. . ." Draco groaned, his face contorting in pain.

Lyra looked up at the teacher's stand. Lucius looked furious. "Don't worry. . .He's definitely heard about this." She flinched when she heard the Bludger slam down a few feet away. Harry was rolling around on the ground to avoid it.

"Finite Incantato!" Hermione shouted, pointing her wand at the rogue Bludger. It exploded.

"Are you okay?" Dakota asked as she knelt down beside Harry.

"No." Harry winced in pain. "I think my. . .I think my arm's broken."

"Not to worry, Harry, I will fix that arm of yours straight away," Lockhart said.

"Like hell you are!" Dakota scoffed, protectively putting an arm around Harry. "I'm not letting you do anything to my cousin, you. . .you fool!"

"Kody's right." There was worry in Harry's voice. "N-Not you."

Lockhart chortled. "Poor children. They don't know what they're saying."

"Oh, I know what I'm saying you knuckleheaded— mfph!" Dakota's sentence was cut off as Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth. The blonde's brows scrunched in annoyance, and she gave her a side-eyed glare.

Lockhard took Harry's arm and rolled up his sleeve. "Now, this. . .won't hurt a bit." He pulled out his wand. "Brackium Emendo!" He picked up Harry's arm, which now flopped. Dakota scowled at him. "Ah. Yes, well. . .that can sometimes happen."

"Are you sure that was a real spell?" Aliyah frowned deeply and crossed her arms. "I've read just about every book of spells, and never once have I heard of 'Brackium Emendo.'"

"Um, well, uh. . ." Lockhart stammered. "The point is, uh. . ." he bent Harry's wrist all the way back, "you can no longer feel any pain. And very clearly, the bones are not broken."

Dakota pulled Hermione's hand down so that she could speak. "There aren't any bones left, you moron!" she shrieked. "You just made everything worse! I'm not even sure you're a qualified teacher, let alone a healer!"

Lockhart shrugged and released Harry's wrist. His arm flopped down towards the ground. "Much more flexible, though."

── •✧• ──

Draco and Harry were brought to the hospital wing. Lyra was sitting beside Draco on his hospital bed, Crabbe, Goyle, and a couple others from the Slytherin team surrounded him. She didn't like the people that he was friends with, but they were nice to her solely because of the fact that she was from a powerful pureblood family, not because they actually liked her.

"Mr. Malfoy, stop making such a fuss," Madam Pomfrey snapped at him as he lay moaning in pain. "You can go." She hurried over to where the Gryffindor team and Harry's friends were gathered around his bed. "Out of my way. Out of my way! Should've been brought straight to me. I can mend bones in a heartbeat, but growing them back?"

"You will be able to, won't you?" Dakota asked nervously as she sat beside her cousin.

"Oh, I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful." Madam Pomfrey poured him a glass of Skele-Gro. "You're in for a rough night, Potter. Regrowing bones is a nasty business," she said as she handed him the glass. He took a sip and immediately spit it out. "Well, what do you expect? Pumpkin juice?"

Dakota stayed with Harry until Madam Pomfrey said that it was time for her to go so that he could get some rest. When she returned to her dorm for the night, Tracey looked up from her Potions essay.

"How is he?" she asked as Dakota sat down on her bed and pulled Bongo into her lap. "Did Lockhart really remove all the bones from his arm?"

Dakota frowned. "How did you know about that?"

"Everyone knows about it," Pansy said boredly from where she sat painting her nails on her bed. "This is Hogwarts, after all. People can't get enough of the infamous Boy Who Lived."