Erased and Replaced

Part 9~Little Raven

Harry let out a deep sigh, rubbing his eyes. He was too tired right now. Yet again, he had a nightmare about Cedric and hadn't gotten even the smallest amount of sleep.

Angelia strolled over, slapping his shoulder. "You better not be about to quit on us, Harry. We're relying on you to win us the house cup." Angelia gave Harry a smirk sitting across the table from him.

"You might regret that," Harry stated, leaning up and popping out his shoulder.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You're good, you can easily get us the win."

"If you say so. Who are we against anyway?"

"Slytherin. They've won the cup the last four years thanks to Elijah over there. He became a seeker in his first year. Youngest seeker in a century."

Harry's eyes widened. This was getting a little creepy now. "Come on, or we'll be late."

"That's the spirit." Angelia patted Harry's shoulder, dragging him off to the field.

"...And Gryffindor is up forty to ten. Alica with the quaffle," Lee Jordan announced as Alica swung across the field.

The billiard blared down, hitting against the team's skin. It was almost impossible to see. Out of nowhere, Crabbe and Goyle emerged from the snow. They took a swing at Alica, making her twist around on her broom, causing the boys to miss. She pushes forward on her broom, aiming from the Slytherin goals only to be blocked by the keeper.

The Slytherins swap possession of the ball, pressing down on the Gryffindor goals. They threw the quaffle causing the keeper to duck down but miss, scoring Slytherin the point.

"Ten points to Slytherin. The score is now forty to twenty in favour of Gryffindor."

Malfoy pulls up to Elijah, whispering something to him. Elijah spun around, taking off into the distance. Harry followed him, spotting the snitch he was chasing. He rocketed forward, ignoring the bite of snow against his face. Elijah and he were only a few inches out of reach. The snitch turned sharply, almost getting away as Elijah and Harry turned with it. They reach out together, Harry's hand inches out in front of Elijah's, closing around the snitch.

Harry's eyes caught Elijah's as he spun away, snitch in hand. The crowd was silent for a second before a shout echoed out across the crowd. "We beat Elijah! We won the match!" Cheers echoed out from the Gryffindor section, the Slytherins booing.

"Elijah! Look out." Harry spun around on his broom in time to see Crabbe hitting Elijah around the back of his head with the beater's club as Elijah slumped forward, sliding off his broom. He nose-dived, falling and looking dead. Harry's eyes widened, he dived after Elijah, catching him before he could hit the ground. He brought his broom to the ground, bringing Elijah off it.

"Elijah!" Neville was the first to arrive, worry clear on his face as he took Elijah out of Harry's arms and placed him on the ground, keeping Elijah's head on his lap. "Elijah, are you all right?"

Elijah let out a groan, his eyes fluttering open and closed.

"Come on Harry," Goyle grabbed Harry, dragging him away from Gryffindors.

"Why did you do that?" Harry kept his voice low, glaring at Grabbe who scoffed.

"He deserved it."

"Why? What did he do that deserved getting hit for. If I hadn't gone after Elijah when he fell, he could have died. And you would be going off to jail." Harry hit against Crabbe's chest, glaring into his soul.

"Why do you care? He's just a snake."

Growling, Harry pushed Crabbe into the wooden beam. "Don't ever say that." Harry let out a sigh, hitting his head against the wall. "And I'm standing up for a Slytherin. That's an all-time low." He let out a low laugh, rubbing his eyes. "Oh if they could see me now. I think I would get kicked out." Harry pushed himself up, tapping Crabbe's shoulder. "Just... don't do that again."

Harry walked out on the field. Elijah was fighting with someone. Harry didn't even know who that was. He kept trying to hit them as George tried to stop him. Snape strolled onto the field, shooting a spell at the three. "What on earth do you think you're doing?"

Elijah rolled to his feet, going to attack like before. Madam Hooch stood between then, her wand pointed at Elijah's chest. "Don't make me stupify you, Snape."

Elijah stopped, breathing hard and glaring daggers at the Gryffindor who was on the floor, curled into a ball and bleeding. What did Elijah do to her? Professor Snape grabbed Elijah by the elbow, pushing him away. "My office, now."

Harry snuck over to Luna's side. "What happened when I was gone?"

"Just another fight between Elijah and Tarra."

"Who's Tarra?"

Luna tilted her head, laughing sightly. "I guess you could say Tarra is Elijah's rival. They've been fighting since first year. I'm a little surprised you haven't met her yet, she is a Gryffindor and in your year and she plays on the team."

Harry looked back over at Tarra. She was pushing Grabbe away, wiping her mouth and pretending to be fine. Harry could finally see her in a clear light. She had long blond hair that had clumps of mud in from the attack. She was wearing a quidditch uniform, she most likely had been out on the field but Harry hadn't noticed her out there.

"Tarra... Guess I've got to watch for her."

Harry picked up his books, he may as well try to get at least a small bit of sleep before tomorrows new torture.

"It's Harry right?"

Harry stopped, looking over at the girl blocking his path. Tarra had her arms folded over her chest, glaring at Harry. "Yeah, why do you want to know?"

"I just want to know why a brave lion was befriending some snakes." Tarra twirled the wand in her hand, laughing to herself. "I would hate for there to be a problem in our house. Stay away from Elijah and his so-called-righteous gang who believe they know what's best for us. Just because he's the 'chosen one' doesn't mean he's right. Got it, Harry. I hope so or else a little raven might get caught in my snake extermination." Tarra turned around, walking away with a skip in her step. "Just think about it."