The Chaser and the Keeper (A HP Next Gen Story)

6 ► Waking Up to Reality

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Waking Up to Reality

People feel the emptiness left by the unconscious quidditch players.One of the unconscious players wakes up.

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Over a week had gone by since the quidditch game disaster had occurred. By this point, James and the beaters were used to the glares they received from fellow students they passed in the hall. One thing that he wasn’t used to was the emptiness that filled the school. It was strange seeing Samantha and Kim without Kristen and Kailey. Scorpius looked almost lost without his best friend Albus, even though he looked better than he did when Rose had still been unconscious. James missed the presence of his best friend quite a bit. He would rather have Andrew scolding him about how much of an idiot he was than have him lying unconscious in the hospital wing.

Samantha and Kim ate lunch in relative silence. It felt so awkward eating lunch with just the two of them. They were used to having Kristen and Kailey around. Those two were much better at starting conversations then Samantha and Kim were. For the past week, meals had consisted of awkward silences, with random interruptions of half hearted conversations.

“If we eat quickly, we should have time to go visit Kristen and Kailey in the hospital wing,” Samantha stated during lunch on Monday.

“That sounds good,” Kim replied, “I really miss them.”

“Me too, it seems so weird without Kristen making remarks about how I should be with that Hufflepuff Drake Smith.”

“Considering she’s been bugging you about it almost every day for the past three years, I would have to agree with you.”

Drake Smith was a Hufflepuff in their year. He was quiet and shy, but he and Samantha sat next to each other in Transfiguration and talked a lot. Just by looking at them, it was obvious to tell that they would be extremely cute together. Kristen Wood spent quite a lot of time pointing that out to Samantha, who usually just rolled her eyes. Now, though, she would have been happy to sit through Kristen going on about her and Drake’s future together.

Samantha and Kim quickly gulfed down their lunch before rushing to the hospital wing. Taking a look at the clock when they walked in, they realized they had twenty minutes before their next class started. They had plenty of time.

“They look so peaceful,” Kim muttered as they were looking over the unconscious forms of their friends.

“They do look peaceful,” Samantha agreed, “I’d rather have them be awake and talking to us though. It’d be a lot more interesting.”

The two lapsed into silence. They’d been coming up here every day for the past week. It was quite boring just sitting on the side of the beds, hoping for the slightest chance that their eyes would flicker open. Sometimes Samantha and Kim silently feared that that would never happen.

The minutes ticked by and it seemed like today would be like every other day they had come. That Samantha and Kim would realize there was no difference in their friends and reluctantly make their way to Charms. A flash of movement caught Kim’s attention and she looked down to realize that Kailey’s eyes were slowly starting to flutter open.

“Samantha! Get over here!” Kim exclaimed, “Kailey’s awake!”

Samantha quickly rushed over to Kailey’s bed. Kailey was now looking between her two friends.

“This is definitely not the quidditch pitch,” she stated.

“What gave it away?” Kim asked, “This is the hospital wing.”

“How did I end up in here?”

“Fred Weasley hit a bludger at your head,” Samantha replied.

“Bastard.”.

“How long have I been here?” Kailey asked, sitting up slightly, as everyone’s fits of laughter died down.

“A week and two days,” Samantha replied.

“I’ve been unconscious in the hospital wing for nine days?”

Samantha nodded.

“Is Kristen still unconscious?” Kailey asked.

“Yeah she is. So are Andrew and Albus. The others have woken up by now,” Kim replied.

“Others? How many people were knocked unconscious during the game?”

“Eleven people. The only people who weren’t knocked unconscious were Fred, Tyler, and Garret,” Samantha answered.

“Why in the name of Merlin were eleven people knocked out?”

“Well, you and Kristen were knocked out because James Potter told his beaters to take you out first,” Kim started.

“Tony and Garret weren’t too pleased about that so they took out Jessica and Taylor,” Samantha continued, “It sort of became a game of sorts. The beaters were knocking people out of the sky left and right. It was quite frightening to be honest.”

“Finally, Fred caught the snitch and Gryffindor won the house cup. However, I don’t think it was a very happy win, considering most of their team got knocked unconscious.”

Kailey sat there stunned for a minute. She didn’t think the game would get that out of hand. She was disappointed that they had lost the cup though. If the Gryffindors had played fairly, then it might have been the sixth year in a row that Ravenclaw won the house cup. However, her main concern was that Kristen, Andrew, and Albus were still unconscious. Even in the world of quidditch where players were often unconscious for days at a time, nine days was a long time.

“Is anyone getting punished for almost killing us?” Kailey asked.

“Tony, Garret, Fred, Tyler, and James are being punished. They have to go to McGonagall tonight to find out how bad their punishment is,” Samantha replied.

“Personally, I hope they aren’t allowed to play quidditch for the school anymore,” Kim stated, “They were reckless, stupid, and could have killed you all.”

“Could you imagine the Gryffindor team without them?” Kailey asked, “It’d be even easier to beat them!”

The three girls laughed again.

“I’m glad you’re awake Miss Neilson,” Madame Pomphrey stated as she approached, “Miss Grant and Miss Stevens, you might want to head to class. It starts in five minutes.”

“You’ll take notes for me won’t you?” Kailey asked as her friends gathered their stuff.

“Who do you think we are?” Samantha asked, “Of course we’ve been taking notes for you!”

“See you later Kailey!” Samantha and Kim shouted as they raced out of the hospital wing.

“I’m glad you’re awake,” Madame Pomphrey told Kailey again once everyone had left, “That makes one less person who can die on me.”