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BOOK FIVE: CHAPTER SEVEN

"Alright, so I'll be here after practice, okay?"

"Charlie, I'll be fine to walk back to the castle myself! You can just meet me in the Great Hall."

"No way! After this morning's mixup? Absolutely not." Veronica rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to argue, but Charlie wasn't taking no for an answer. "I'll see you after practice. Now go. We can't have the Captain showing up late."

Veronica's eyebrows furrowed as she cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean? I'm not the Captain... Emily is."

Charlie couldn't hide the panic in his voice despite how hard he tried to keep it off his face. "Ron, what are you talking about? Emily graduated last year and you've been the Captain for the last three months. Seriously, are you feeling okay today? Maybe you should cancel practice, and we'll go to the Hospital Wing and have Madam Pomfrey–"

Veronica shook her head adamantly. "No, no, no! I'm fine... I remember now! It's like you said, it's a combo of too much stress and not enough sleep. I'll skip dinner tonight and go straight to bed after practice, and I'll be right as rain tomorrow."

"You will do no such thing! You haven't eaten a single thing today as you've insisted on skipping breakfast and lunch. I've let it go, but I will not have you skipping dinner too. I'll meet you here after practice at 8:30 PM sharp. We'll go to the Great Hall and eat something quickly, and then I'll walk you to Ravenclaw Tower. If you're still like this tomorrow, I'll drag you down to the Hospital Wing kicking and screaming if I have to, but one way or another, Madam Pomfrey WILL give you a good, thorough check up."

"Charlie–"

"Don't 'Charlie' me, Singer. Something serious is going on here, and you can ignore it all you want, but I can't. Now go to practice, and I'll be here when you're done."

Charlie turned without waiting for a response and walked away down the path back towards the castle. Veronica shook her head, but she had a huge smile on her face. She loved his protective side, especially when it was for her.

Making her way into the changing room tent, Veronica found her team already in their Quidditch robes with their brooms in hand. She quickly changed into her own robes and then led them onto the pitch, instructing them to take their positions in the air before joining them herself.

"Simon, what are you doing in front of the goalposts? Get over there with the Chasers."

Veronica realized her mistake before Simon had the chance to fly over and whisper, "Captain... what do you mean? Have you moved me back to playing Chaser? I totally trust your judgment if you think that's what needs to happen, but it would have been nice for you to let me know instead of just springing it on me in front of everyone."

Veronica rubbed her face frustratedly. "No... I'm sorry, Simon. I just got confused for a second there and mixed things up. You're still our Keeper, don't worry."

"Oh, phew. Thank Merlin," Simon chuckled before flying back over to his position in front of the goalposts.

Despite the cool autumn air surrounding her, Veronica felt sweat flowing down her back even though they hadn't even begun the practice yet. She took her robes off and draped it over her broom, leaving her in only her Quidditch uniform, but she could still feel the heat radiating off her skin. Attempting to ignore it, she addressed her team. "Alright Hufflepuffs, I–"

"Ravenclaws! Veronica, we're Ravenclaws!"

The Captain's hands flew to her face, and her head tipped up towards the sky as she gave a big sigh. She really couldn't understand what was wrong with her, but she was beginning to think Charlie was right. "Bloody hell..." Shaking her head softly, she took a deep breath and slowly dragged her hands down her face. "I knew that... Sorry team! Just a bit distracted today! RAVENCLAWS, let's see a practice game."

As the rest of the team began their practice, Reggie flew over to his Captain with a worried look on his face. "V, what's up with you today? You've been acting so strange, and you look awful– sorry, no offense. But seriously, what's going on?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I've been feeling a bit off for the last week, but today's just been awful. I can't get anything right. I'm constantly confused and mixing things up; I even thought your name was Roger when you first flew over here. I'm literally dripping in sweat even though it's cold out, and because I'm sweating in cold weather, I'm shivering uncontrollably. I seriously... I don't know what's going on, Reggie."

"Alright, Veronica. Don't panic. You'll be fine. I want you to slowly fly back down to the ground. I don't want you falling off your broom; you look very pale, and I'm afraid you may pass out. When you get down, I want you to just sit on the pitch and wait for me. I'm going to very calmly cancel this practice so as not to worry anybody, and then I'll take you to the Hospital Wing. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey can fix you up in no time."

"That sounds like a great plan, Reg, but... why are you spinning?"

"V... I'm not spinning."

"Oh... well... that must just be in my head then. Honestly... I think I might already be fainti–"

Veronica's eyes rolled back, and her body went limp. Reggie quickly grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his side, supporting her weight against him and his broom to prevent her from falling and flew them both down to the ground. At that point, there was nothing he could do to prevent the panic and fear amongst his teammates, but he didn't have time to worry about that. He needed to get her to the Hospital Wing right away.