It was almost too good to be true that there would be a normal year at Hogwarts. Yet another incident occurred within the walls of the castle: Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, was found petrified in a hallway next to words written in blood that said, 'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir... beware.' Needless to say, it spooked everyone at Hogwarts, from the students to the staff and even some of the ghosts. What even was the Chamber of Secrets? Who would petrify a cat? Whose blood was that written on those walls?
Although that got everyone inside the castle curious, Jessica and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team had another matter to face: their first match of the year against Slytherin. Unsurprisingly, they were all feeling a mixture of emotions, wanting to defeat those nasty players but also a bit apprehensive about going against an entire team using Nimbus 2001s.
Together with that, Jessica was still feeling guilty about Oliver getting hit by a Bludger during that one practice even if that did happen weeks ago. Of course, she also knew that Madam Pomfrey healed him in no time and he was as good as new, but that didn't stop her from worrying. On the morning of their game, she wouldn't stop fussing over Oliver as they ate their breakfast with their housemates.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes, that happened weeks ago. I'm fine."
"I still don't get how you got hit. It's so unlike you," Jessica said.
"I was... distracted, okay?" Oliver brushed it off. "After all, you were talking to me while it happened."
"Oh, so now you're blaming me?"
"I'm kidding. I really wasn't paying attention that time, I swear," he reassured, although he knew deep inside that he wasn't telling the whole truth. He did see that Bludger coming their way... but Jessica didn't. He couldn't tell her that, though.
"Fine," Jessica huffed. "Whatever you say, Oliver."
Oliver choked on his buttered toast, catching the attention of his teammates. He was caught off guard by Jessica calling him by his first name even though so many other of his friends had done that already for years.
"You okay?" Jessica stifled her laugh.
"Look at him, he's dying," Fred snickered, causing the others to join in all the laughing.
"Hey, don't go dying any time soon. It's my first match today," Jessica jokingly threatened Oliver. Feeling slightly bad for his predicament, she handed him a goblet of pumpkin juice. He took it from her and sipped a bit of it, glaring at everyone once he had calmed down.
"Thanks for nothing, lads," he grumbled at the Weasley twins.
"What? It was entertaining," George shrugged.
"Sorry, but he's right," Jessica agreed.
"Oh, yeah? Why don't you see how it feels, then?" Oliver challenged, shoving a new piece of toast at her face.
"Hey! Alright, I got it!" she dodged his attacks, grabbing the bread with her hand.
Terence Higgs watched the whole ordeal from the Slytherin table. He felt pathetic watching them, but in his defense, he was planning on wishing Jessica good luck at the match today even if she was going to compete against his own house. The past few weeks had been uneventful because he wasn't quite sure how to make his next move to her. He wanted to take it slow and see if she started to react any differently. She remained stagnant, though, and there was that nagging thought in his head that told him it had something to do with Oliver Wood. Watching them interact the way they did at the Gryffindor table was starting to make him think that no matter how hard he tried, maybe the black-haired girl just wouldn't reciprocate his feelings. So, with a sigh, he decided against approaching her at all.
The time finally came for the first Quidditch match of the season to begin. The Gryffindor Quidditch Team gathered at the locker rooms beforehand, all clad in their scarlet robes and gear, sitting down on the benches together while Oliver stood before them to give one of his famous pre-match pep talks.
"Slytherin has better brooms than us," he said. "No point denying it. But we've got better people on our brooms. We've trained harder than they have, we've been flying in all weathers —"
"Too true. I haven't been properly dry since August," George muttered to Jessica.
"— and were going to make them rue the day they let that little bit of slime, Malfoy, buy his way onto their team."
After scanning each and every one of his teammates, he faced their youngest member.
"It'll be down to you, Harry, to show them that a Seeker has to have more than a rich father. Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, Harry, because we've got to win today, we've got to," he told him.
Jessica blinked, both surprised and amused at Oliver's words. She already heard of how intense his talks before games were, but it was different hearing it firsthand, not to mention the fact that there truly was a lot more pressure this time around what with the Slytherin team having high-end broomsticks and a new Seeker.
"So, no pressure, Harry," Fred teased, winking at the boy.
When Jessica and her team stepped out into the Quidditch pitch, they were met with a mix of the cheers from their house as well as some supporters from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students, and some boos and hisses from the Slytherins. She soon found herself standing directly at the center of the field, facing the Slytherin team while Madam Hooch stood in between them with the case containing the Quaffle, Bludgers, and the Golden Snitch. Jessica's heart pounded so loudly that she thought it was louder than the audience shouting for them.
"Nervous?" Oliver said, glancing at her from his peripherals.
"Maybe."
"Well, don't mess up. We need to beat them."
"Real helpful, Oliver," she said sarcastically, causing him to chuckle lightly under his breath.
Madam Hooch called the attention of the two captains, motioning for them to step forward.
"Seriously, though, we have to win," Oliver whispered before walking towards Marcus Flint. Jessica scoffed, but that did make her a little less nervous. Oliver wasn't the best at comforting people, but at least the effort was there. Besides, she did want to win, too.
After Oliver and Flint shook hands, both of them wearing threatening stares as they did so, Madam Hooch stood at the ready.
"On my whistle," she said. "Three... two... one..."
Madam Hooch blew the whistle loudly and a roar from the crowd ensued. Both teams kicked up into the air as the balls were released, the enchanted ones zooming around the pitch almost immediately. The Keepers went straight for the goalposts, the Beaters began swinging the Bludgers at their opponents, the Seekers flew the highest into the air, and the Chasers raced around in a blur, stealing and catching the Quaffle whenever possible. Katie was first to snatch the Quaffle, and that was when Jessica's adrenaline really spiked.
However, she didn't expect the first few minutes of her first ever Quidditch match to go downhill so quickly. She, Angelina, and Katie managed to pass the Quaffle to one another at a good pace for a while, and it wasn't that unexpected that their first few attempts would not make the goal. But when one of the Bludgers would not stop zooming too closely to them, they started to lose that dynamic. She could see the Slytherin Beaters ruthlessly swinging it at them, but the Weasley twins were nowhere in sight to defend them.
Jessica narrowly missed a Bludger after having the Quaffle stolen from her by Adrian Pucey. She sighed in frustration, leaning forward to fly after the Slytherin Chasers in an effort to get the ball back. Angelina managed to grab it, but when she tried to score, the Bludger blocked her way again.
Where the bloody hell were the Weasley twins? Jessica wondered irritatedly. She knew she also had to make an effort to dodge the Bludgers on her own, but she thought that Fred and George would be closer to her and the other Chasers during times like this to ward them off as the Beaters.
"Slytherin lead, sixty points to zero!" Lee Jordan announced a little while later, dampening Jessica's spirits. She, Katie, and Angelina hadn't managed to score anything because they were too focused on evading the Bludgers that Fred and George weren't protecting them from.
Oliver suddenly called for a time-out. Madam Hooch blew the whistle and allowed the players to descend. The Gryffindor team huddled in one end while the Slytherins stayed on another, their housemates in the stands jeering at their rivals for calling a time-out.
"What's going on?" Oliver demanded. "We're being flattened. Fred, George, where were you when that Bludger stopped Angelina scoring?"
"We were twenty feet above her, stopping the other Bludger from murdering Harry, Oliver," George replied angrily. "Someone's fixed it — it won't leave Harry alone. It hasn't gone for anyone else all game. The Slytherins must have done something to it."
"But the Bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since our last practice, and there was nothing wrong with them..." Oliver trailed off.
"Listen," Harry spoke up, making everyone in the team face him eagerly. "With you two flying around me all the time, the only way I'm going to catch the Snitch is if it flies up my sleeve. Go back to the rest of the team and let me deal with the rogue one."
"Don't be thick," Fred said. "It'll take your head off."
Oliver kept looking at Harry and to the Weasleys as if he was actually contemplating the idea. As much as Jessica wanted to win, this didn't seem like a good idea.
"Oliver, this is mad," she began. "You can't let Harry deal with that thing on his own. Maybe we can ask for an inquiry —"
"If we stop now, we'll have to forfeit the match!" Harry said. "And we're not losing to Slytherin just because of a crazy Bludger! Come on, Oliver, tell them to leave me alone!"
Fred, George, Katie, Angelina, and Jessica all watched Harry with wide eyes, taken aback at how adamant he was on catching the Snitch.
"This is all your fault," George said to Oliver. It mildly startled Jessica, never seeing any of the Weasley twins as angry as they were at the moment. "'Get the Snitch or die trying,' what a stupid thing to tell him —"
Jessica didn't even notice that Madam Hooch had arrived, looking at them expectantly.
"Ready to resume play?" she asked Oliver. The Scottish boy hesitated, looking at Harry's determined face once more.
"All right," he gave in. "Fred, George, you heard Harry — leave him alone and let him deal with the Bludger on his own."
The team, except for Harry and Oliver, all exchanged reluctant glances. Now that they knew that there was a tampered Bludger, they wanted nothing more than to keep Harry safe from it. But they also all knew better than to disobey their captain and risk losing the match. So, they continued.
Thankfully, Gryffindor was able to score now that Fred and George were helping them with the other Bludger. Each of the Chasers scored one goal each, bringing them up to thirty points. Although, the Slytherin team was already far ahead, also managing to score another few goals to keep them ahead.
"Another goal for Slytherin!" Lee declared after Oliver failed to block the Quaffle shot by Flint. "They lead Gryffindor ninety to thirty!"
Jessica knew it all boiled down to Harry catching the Snitch, but she still didn't want the points scored by the Chasers to be so far behind. She dove for the Quaffle before Pucey could snatch it, racing away from him as fast as she could. With his Nimbus 2001, he was catching up to her, so she threw the Quaffle to Katie instead. The younger girl caught it and tucked it under her arm as the Slytherin Chasers went for her instead. Jessica and Angelina hurried after them, intentionally confusing their opponents by passing the ball back and forth and flying in the formations they had practiced for weeks. It seemed to have done the trick, because Jessica was able to retrieve the Quaffle once more from Katie and shoot it into the middle hoop, getting it past Miles Bletchley. Katie cheered triumphantly while Angelina gave Jessica a hi-five, and then they dove back into the game.
"Training for the ballet, Potter?" Malfoy taunted Harry from above all the chaos. And that's when Harry saw the little gold ball hovering just around Malfoy's head. He ducked his head when the rogue Bludger came after him again, causing Malfoy to have to do the same. Then, the two of them dashed towards the Golden Snitch.
The rest of the members from each team focused on their tasks while their Seekers momentarily disappeared from sight. It turned out that they had been chasing the Snitch practically underground, right at the edges of the pitch where the locker rooms were located just below them. They only noticed this when both Harry and Malfoy shot back up into the sky out of nowhere, but the latter had done it ungracefully, losing control over his broom and crashing into the ground painfully. There was a collective oooh from the crowd as Malfoy landed in a heap on the floor, face contorted in pain. Jessica almost felt bad for him, but she had to admit that it was also laughable.
WHACK!
A loud thud and crack sounded from above, and Jessica looked up in time to see Harry clutching his arm. The rogue Bludger was flying away from him, only for it to make a U-turn and plummet down back to him.
But Harry was too close to catching the Snitch to let it go that easily because of a broken arm. Tucking his injured arm close to his body, he extended his free one, only using his legs to keep him balanced on his broom. Finally, Harry's fingers enveloped the little gold ball, but he lost balance and tipped over, tumbling into the sandy portion of the field.
"Harry Potter has caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins!" Lee Jordan yelled. Jessica pulled her broom to a stop and hovered in the air for a moment. She locked eyes with her fellow Chasers before her face broke out into a grin. They won.
Together with the rest of the team, they landed on the ground as the crowd erupted into cheers. While they were ecstatic, they were also concerned for Harry, who they had seen catch the Snitch in such a dangerous manner. Before Jessica could make her way to him, though, Oliver descended right in front of her.
"We won!" he exclaimed. Jessica let out an oof! when Oliver pulled her into a hug, squeezing her enthusiastically. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks, having never been hugged by him like that. She was sure he didn't think too much of it because he was still too distracted by the fact that they had won.
"We did," Jessica laughed when they separated. "Er, shouldn't we check on Harry first?"
"Oh, right, right. Of course," he said, though he would not smiling from ear to ear. He probably still did not care that Harry's arm was broken, making Jessica roll her eyes in amusement. Oliver obliged to her suggestion anyway, grabbing Jessica's hand to pull her to their injured Seeker.
Wow, she thought as they jogged towards Harry Potter. He's quite bold when he's on a Quidditch high.
Harry was sprawled on the ground, looking dazed but satisfied after having caught the Golden Snitch. Just before they could reach him, the rogue Bludger had found its way to the boy again. It slammed onto the spot where he lay, and Harry had to roll onto his side to dodge it. Fortunately, his best friends and Hagrid came to the rescue on time, having ran down from their seats and to the pitch the moment the game ended.
"Finite Incantatem!" Hermione Granger said, pointing her wand at the Bludger. The ball burst into sparks that rained down around Harry.
"Thank you," Harry told Hermione as she and Ron Weasley crouched down beside him.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"No," he winced. "I think my — I think my arm's broken."
Professor Lockhart entered the field as well, dashing to Harry's side. A small crowd had gathered around the second year boy by then, consisting of his teammates, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and now, the aforementioned professor.
"Not to worry, Harry!" Lockhart said, kneeling down next to him. "I will fix that arm of yours straight away."
"No..." Harry said anxiously. "Not you."
"Oh, poor boy doesn't know what he's saying."
"I'll keep it like this, thanks."
"Lie back, Harry," Lockhart said soothingly. "It's a simple charm I've used countless times —"
"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" Harry said, clenching his teeth when he tried to sit up.
"He should really, Professor," Oliver spoke up. He was beaming brightly even though his Seeker was in a lot of pain. "Great capture, Harry, really spectacular. Your best yet, I'd say..."
"Now, this...," Lockhart went on, rolling up his sleeves and pointing his wand at Harry's arm." "...won't hurt a bit. Brackium emendo!"
A flash of light emitted from his wand at the utterance of that incantation. When Lockhart lifted what should have been Harry's healed arm, it instead looked like it had turned into some long, rubber prosthetic limb. The people surrounding Harry all let out sounds of disgust, and Harry himself looked like he wanted to pass out after seeing his arm all jelly and unmoving.
"Ah, yes, well, ha, that can sometimes happen," Lockhart started nervously. "Um, but, uh, the point is, uh..."
He bent Harry's wrist backwards at an unnatural angle, eliciting more groans from the crowd. Harry was speechless, his eyes wide at his now malfunctioning limb.
"... you can no longer feel any pain! And, very clearly, the bones are not broken."
"Broken? There's no bones left!" Hagrid said incredulously. As if on cue, Harry's arm bent — or folded — unnaturally the other way this time. Jessica instinctively gripped whatever she was holding, which turned out to still be Oliver's hand. Startled, they both let go instantly, their eyes meeting one another's before flitting away awkwardly.
"Sorry, that was an accident," she cleared her throat. "It's your fault in the first place."
"My fault?" Oliver raised his eyebrows. "You squeezed my hand!"
"You held mine first!"
"I —" Oliver shut up, only realizing then that he did hold her hand earlier when he had pulled her along to get to Harry. He was so caught up in his excitement that he didn't notice he had done that. "Oh."
"Much more flexible, though," Lockhart's voice brought them back to their senses. Ignoring what happened with Oliver and how it made her heart race, Jessica directed her attention to Harry, who badly needed to go to the hospital wing more than ever.
On the bright side, at least she won her first match as part of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.