in which hollis rosier falls asleep in the wrong compartment
or the right one, depending on who you ask
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part one of two
editing closed, logged off wattpad (sorry only like half of it is edited, but its obviously still all good)
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#...
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"just hold on"
The mixture of snowflakes and hail were both soaking and freezing Hollis to the bone as she hovered in front of the hoops, waiting for the match to start as the rest of her emerald-clad team gathered below.
She blinked the white dots out of her eyes and wiped her numb face in an effort to keep a film of ice off her skin, the temperature well below freezing. Madame Hooch and the Gryffindors were barely visible from where she was, the storm forcing her visibility levels downwards. Sirius's amplified voice rang out from the teacher's box, and Hollis half laughed and half groaned.
Who in their right mind let Sirius be the commentator? she thought, squinting her eyes to try and see him. Minnie's going to kill him before someone scores.
A loud whistle pierced through the howling wind, blurs of green and red beginning to streak through the air.
"And Potter has somehow managed to get the Quaffle, no matter how hungover he is!" Sirius declared, making half the stands laugh. "Sorry, professor," he amended with an unapologetic tone.
These words made Hollis swoop down lower from the highest goal to try and get a better view. She could vaguely see three Gryffindor Chasers flying in formation when she squinted closely enough, but it wasn't easy.
All of the sudden, a scarlet blur diverted from the others to dodge a bludger. Regulus and Lucius came in from both sides, and James quickly lost his hold on the Quaffle.
The Slytherin side erupted in cheers as the Gryffindors groaned.
"Rookwood has gotten possession of the Quaffle!" announced Sirius. Hollis lost sight and now relied entirely on Sirius's commentary. Her hands began to feel nonexistent around her broom, the numbness gnawing her senses away. "Even if they did unfairly team up on James!"
Hollis rolled her eyes. It's not unfair, she thought. It's quidditch.
"He passes to Yaxley, who passes to Rowle." Hollis held her breath. "And Slytherin scores." Sirius's voice couldn't have been less enthusiastic.
More excited cheers from the Slytherin side to her left and upset booing from the Gryffindors. From behind her, Nott flew to their Keeper. She barely gave him a glance.
"Shouldn't you be looking for the Snitch?" Hollis asked firmly, switching goals as the Gryffindors got closer. "Try not bothering me every second you get, you might find an enormous improvement in your playing."
He hovered next to her.
"Shouldn't you be in the stands?" Theodore snapped back quickly with a smirk.
Hollis tensed up but still didn't look at him.
"How's that back doing?"
"How the hell do you know about that?" Hollis replied with gritted teeth.
"Oh, so I was right," he grinned, and Rosier cursed herself. "At the ball, obviously. The injury must have been more fresh then. I thought I noticed a difference in the way you were walking. Apparently, I wasn't imagining it."
"Get the hell away from me," she snapped, at a loss for any other words. To her surprise, he did.
I won't let him get to me, Hollis told herself as she switched goals once more. There are more important things right now, like winning this stupid game before I get hypothermia.
Remus watched with Peter, Lily, Dorcas, and Marlene as the match slowly became more and more chaotic. It was evident that the Chasers could barely see where they were going through the snow and hail, making the Beaters' job much easier than it would have been on a sunny, clear day.
Because of the bludger's easier way to their confused targets, Yaxley, Potter, and another Chaser all had been hit by the steel balls multiple times. At this point, both the players and viewers were hoping that one of the Seekers would find the Snitch already before any more bruised bones were inflicted.
"Who do you think's gonna win?" shouted Marlene to Remus over the wind, huddling further into Dorcas for warmth, who smiled.
"Gryffindor still hasn't managed to score," Remus shouted back. "But they aren't high up enough to win even if we catch the snitch. It's anyone's game."
"Remus with the professional analysis," Lily muttered.
It was accurate. Gryffindor had attempted three goals, but all of them had been blocked by Hollis. It was visibly frustrating James even from the stands, who hadn't gotten the chance to even throw the Quaffle yet.
"And the score is still ten Slytherin zero Gryffindor," Sirius shouted into the microphone so that his voice could be heard from all sides of the stadium. "Turns out Rosier is also good at Quidditch, which is a bit annoying."
Remus agreed.
"Only joking, Hols!" Sirius shouted after a few scolding words from McGonagall, making the stadium laugh again. The crowd gasped suddenly as two Gryffindor Chasers stole the Quaffle from Yaxley, who was clutching his arm, just badly hit by a bludger.
James had the reddish ball tucked under his arm and was speeding towards Hollis, determined to score. From James's left, Lucius poised his bat as a bludger came hurtling towards him. Potter flew right so he could be aligned with the right goal right as Malfoy's wooden bat made contact with the dense metal bludger with a loud thud.
Too many things happened at once for Sirius to verbally keep up with.
First, James turned quickly on his broom at the sound of the bludger and ducked to avoid it. Then, Theodore saw the Snitch right by Rookwood's ear and caught it. At the same time, the ball stayed on its course to where James had been right in front of the hoop seconds ago.
The bludger rammed right into Hollis's stomach, making her back collide against the thick, curved metal with a sickening thud.
She didn't see anything for a second, her world had black and empty and cold.
Hollis felt her skin split, all the healing done for weeks made useless in an instant. Blood began to trickle down her back, warm against her freezing skin. She couldn't scream or cry out, knowing any movement would make her fall off her broom.
Her knuckles paled from underneath her gloves as she gripped onto the handle, the cheers of victory from Slytherin drowning out as her ears roared with the pounding effort of keeping herself on the broom.
Suddenly, a strong arm wrapped around her waist, forcing her back upright.
Hollis blinked a few times to see Regulus shaking his head, lips moving with words that took her delayed senses a few seconds too long to process.
"I told you to be careful," he said, voice bordering on franticness. "I- no. Not me. We need to get you down right now, okay- no, stop. You're not okay. You look like you're about to pass out. Just- just hold on."
And she did, as tight as her weak arms would let her.
