Till The End | h.p

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The next day is the Quidditch match against Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. It's been storming like mad all day, so as they watch the game, Sam is wrapped in a red raincoat and screaming, "Go Harry!" with Hermione and Ron. As lightning strikes, it catches someone's broom on fire and they fall to the ground. Harry and the Hufflepuff Seeker fly into the clouds after the Snitch.

Sam tries to focus on the twins since she can no longer see Harry. They continue to hit Bludgers and manage to stay on their brooms. She notices that Hufflepuff's Seeker falls from the sky and then she watches as Harry falls from the clouds as well. She screams and everyone in the stands and on the pitch ducks down covering their ears. Something slows Harry's fall and Sam faints.

Everyone stands back up and looks at the unconscious girl. Fred and George fly over and pick her up, carrying her back into the castle and to the Hospital Wing with Harry. When Harry wakes he hears, "He looks a bit peaky, doesn't he?"

"Peaky? What do you expect? He fell over 100 feet."

"Yeah, come on, Ron. Let's walk you off the Astronomy Tower and see what you look like."

Harry smiles a bit, "Probably a right sight better than he normally does."

Everyone smiles as he begins to sit up.

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asks.

"Oh, brilliant."

"You gave us a right good scare there, mate," George notes as he moves to sit at the bed next to Harry.

Harry looks over and sees Sam, still unconscious, "What happened?"

George looks at her, "Well, you fell off your broom and before she knew what she was doing... she sorta screamed."

Harry doesn't take his eyes off of her when Hermione explains, "A fall from that height, should've killed you-"

"And her scream should've killed us," Ron notes.

Hermione rolls her eyes, "But to save everyone including you, she directed her scream and somehow used the sound waves to slow your fall."

He looks at her with worry and admiration, "She saved you again, mate," Fred laughs.

Ron coughs a bit, "There's something else you should know too. When you fell, your broom sort of blew into the Whomping Willow, and..."

Ron hands Harry his broken broom. Harry's heart drops. The broom McGonagall gave him in the first year, his only broom, was now snapped into many pieces. That night, after curfew, Sam finally wakes up and looks around in confusion. Harry sits up straight in his bed and turns to face her.

"Hey, you're alright. You're in the Hospital Wing."

She looks around until she finds his eyes, "You fell off your broom..." she says still slightly out of it.

"And you saved me."

"Oh, so my idea worked... that's nice."

He chuckles, "It was the Dementors again, they surrounded me."

A look of fury passes across her features, but Harry speaks again, "Dumbledore sent them all away, don't go trying to scream at them too."

She laughs lightly, "I'll try that next time... uh- I didn't hurt anyone did I?"

"Well, most of the Gryffindors' ears were bleeding and Neville fainted, but for the most part your scream was directed at me."

Her head falls into her hands, "Oh, no-"

"Don't worry, no one is mad at you! Pretty sure they all know now, though. But, I think they're just happy you controlled enough of it so they didn't die."

She gives a small chuckle.

"I was wondering if you wanted to talk to Lupin tomorrow?"

And so the next day, when they were discharged, they went to meet the professor.

"I'm sorry to hear about your broomstick, Harry," Lupin states, "Is there no chance of fixing it?"

"No. Professor, why do the dementors affect us so? I mean, more than everyone else?"

"Listen. The dementors are the foulest creatures to walk this earth. They feed on every good feeling, every happy memory until a person is left with absolutely nothing but his worst experiences. The dementors affect you both most because there are true horrors in your past. Horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine."

"We need to know how to fight them," Sam insists, "You could teach us."

"I don't pretend to be an expert. But as the dementors seem to have developed an interest in you two, perhaps I should teach you. But after the holidays. For now, I need to rest."