Harry landed with a stumble. He was exhausted, soaked to the bone, and cold. The entire team looked like miserably wet cats. All of them except Oliver who looked more like an angry bulldog.

"You call that flying?! My Nanna can do better than that!"

"Wood, come on. We're trying to practice in gale-force winds! Harry almost got blown into the goal hoops! Twice!" Fred argued. 

"Really hope this weather lets up. Tomorrow's match will be a nightmare." George complained dramatically.

"No, it won't, because we're going to get back up there and run the drills again until you get them right!" Wood barked.

"Ollie!" Angelina suddenly cried. The teen turned to her with murderous intent. Somehow she held firm. "It's almost curfew. Gryffindor won't be winning any games if the entire team gets detention for staying out late. Besides, we need to be well rested if we want to win." Katie and Alicia nodded in emphatic agreement. Oliver got a sour look on his face before he looked over at Harry. Upon seeing the young teen's miserable face he winced. Only a moment though. Then he huffed in irritation.

"Fine." He complained. "but mark my words! Don't underestimate Hufflepuff! They may be all smiles and hugs off the pitch, but they're nasty in the air! Especially that Brooks bloke!"

“You say that about all the captains,” Katie remarked with a roll of her eyes. Oliver harrumphed and stepped into the change rooms. Harry let out a sigh of relief as he ducked into the tent, finally out from the bitter rain. But as he pulled for his clothes he made a realization.

"Probably shouldn't bother." He grumbled. Fred and George looked up from where they'd been peeling off their soaked clothes and stopped. 

"Actually he's got a point."

"Just have to change again anyway."

So they all trudged back up to the school. True to Harry's prediction, they were soaked to the bone again by the time they got back to school. Oliver sprayed the mud off their shoes before they went in. 

"Goodness!" The Fat Lady cried as the quidditch team walked up to her. "Foul weather isn't it."

"Cold."

"Open."

"Password?"

"Really?"

"I cannot open without it I'm afraid."

"My brain is too numb to remember words!"

"Excalibur!" Harry suddenly blurted out. The fat lady winced.

"That was technically last week's, but I'll allow it." Then she swung open, which the teen let out a grateful cheer about.

"You are a literal lifesaver, Harry!" Angelina cried as she wrapped him into a tight hug and kissed the top of his head. Harry made a noise of discomfort and tried to pull away. 

"Oi! Let him go change Angie!'' Oliver gripped. “He needs to be well rested and ready for tomorrow's match!”

“Bloody hell Ollie calm down…” Fred argued with a wince.

“You’ll give yourself a coronary.” George agreed with a nod. Harry smiled and followed the twins as they teased Oliver. Suddenly a peel of thunder boomed over the conversation. The team all froze in the stairwell leading to the dormitory doors and looked at the window.

“Really hope the weather lets up,” Alicia muttered with a groan. Harry nodded before he slopped into his dorm.

"Bloody hell mate… did you go for a swim?" Ron demanded in shock. Harry frowned.

"I thought you weren't talking to me." He said bitterly. Instantly Ron's cheeks went red.

"Er… well… I finally… got around to writing that essay Hermione assigned. I realized that… well I was being a prat. It doesn't really matter who you do or don't like. And while I don't like him much, it's not really my place to say nasty stuff about him if you like him." Ron said. Harry narrowed his eyes.

"There's a but there."

"Well… It's just .. you've been showing off! Making yourself out to be this snooty all knowing Ponce! Hermione is bad enough without you parroting off all this potions knowledge and reciting our textbook at the drop of a hat. It's like you've become Snape's little teacher's pet! How did you suddenly get so good at potions anyway?! You used to be rubbish like me!" Ron complained bitterly. Harry blinked.

"Oh… well Professor Snape said I should try approaching potions like it's a cooking thing. And Professor Vance says I'm pretty good at cooking. I wasn't trying to show off. It just makes more sense now. Like the other day, when the old Valerian roots ruined my potion. That would be the same thing that would happen if you used old carrots in a stew. It wouldn't taste right and the consistency would be all weird." Harry explained. Ron looked flabbergasted.

"I didn't know you could cook."

"Oh yeah!" Harry said with a grin. "Loads. Apparently, I'm great at baking too!" 

"Huh," Ron said before he grimaced. "I don't really know anything about cooking."

"Don't you help your mum in the kitchen?" Harry questioned with a blink. 

"Well yeah. But just with prep. Cutting and peeling you know. That bit's easy. I don't know anything about making a stew."

"Oh…" Harry said with a blink before he smiled. "Well, I can teach you if you like. It's pretty easy really."

"Alright," Ron said with a weary smile. The sky rumbled loudly again, pounding in the boys' chests. Both of them moved to the window with wide eyes. "Oliver doesn't actually expect you all to play in this, does he?! It's pitch black out there!"

"You know Oliver," Harry said as he finally pulled off his soaking uniform, teeth chattering. "Quidditch or death."

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered in worry. Harry smiled and gathered his things to have a quick shower before bed. 

"Hey Ron," he said in the doorway. The boy looked over with an expectant look. "Thanks. For what you said about Professor Snape. And I'll be sure to tell Hermione about what you said so she can stop nagging you like I know she probably has been." Ron gave a grimaced roll of his eyes, making Harry laugh out loud.

Harry stared at his breakfast with a bitter, exhausted grimace. Then another boom rattled the rafters.

"Bloody hell!" Ron yelped in horror. He looked over at Oliver who was looking straight ahead in seeing. The entire Quidditch team was exchanging glances and muttering. Everyone else was glancing back and forth between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Mason Brooks, captain of Hufflepuff, looked a bit uncertain as his team all hissed things at him. Then suddenly Oliver slammed his fists on the table.

"Alright!" He barked. "Let's get out there and show this Scottish weather who's boss!" The Gryffindor team let out a cheer, Harry included and marched out into the storm. As soon as they did, Hufflepuff was quick to join. As they walked, Oliver pulled Harry close.

“Alright Harry, things are going to be a bit different this time. Regularly I’d say you have an advantage over Diggory. He’s much too stocky for a seeker I say, but in this weather, he's much less likely to be tossed about. Stay close to the towers. They'll provide some wind cover.” Harry nodded.

"And do us a favour Harry," Fred piped up.

"Catch the snitch as soon as possible." George finished. Harry grinned widely.

"Harry!" The boy turned.

"Professor Vance!" She walked up to him with a frown.

"Alright, Harry. You'd better keep your wits about you. Playing in bad weather is the true test of a player's skill."

"Got any fancy manoeuvres for me?" Harry offered with a grin. Emmeline pursed her lips.

"In this weather. It's better to fly smart, not stylish." Harry nodded. Emmeline suddenly smiled happily.

"Good luck darling." Harry grinned and chased after his teammates.

He wasn't grinning anymore. 

An hour of punishing wind, pouring rain and at least two lost brooms due to lightning strikes on both sides had rather killed the vibe. The good news is that Diggory was actually pretty nice. He hadn't had much luck with trying to find the Snitch either and was periodically flying past him to see if he was okay. Including one time when Harry did a swerve to avoid a bludger and would have spun out into the wind if Diggory hadn't grabbed the back of his robes and stopped him. Hooch had called a foul then, but Harry argued against it, which earned him a death glare from Oliver. Harry realized that they probably could have used the penalty shot.  As he was flying as close to the south tower as he could Hooch's whistle suddenly blew. Both captains gave her a look before the teams dropped to the field. 

"Timeout!" Hooch barked. "You've got ten minutes!"

"But-" Oliver's said with a frown.

"Alright!" Mason quickly acquiesced, to the relief of his players. Oliver was still frowning.

"What is it?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Neither of us called a timeout," Oliver muttered as he pulled open the Gryffindor changing room tent flap.

"I did." The entire team jumped and looked over to Emmeline with shocked faces. The woman looked surprisingly stern as she stood, looking a bit damp, in the middle of their changing room. Then she held out a hand.

"Harry, give me your gloves." The boy blinked before he did just that.

"Harry!" Oliver cried in horror. "What are you doing?!"

"What?" Harry asked in confusion as Emmeline drew her wand across the surface of his gloves. Harry took them back and grinned widely. It felt as though she restored the gripping surface, which had worn smooth with use, to the rough stubbled version he had bought them as.

"I added a gripping charm as well, to keep you on the broom, as long as you keep a grip on it. Do you remember what I taught you to get back on? It'll be harder in bad weather, but it's by far the safest method."

"Yeah." Harry accented with a nod.

"That's cheating!" Oliver roared angrily. Emmeline gave him a scathing glare.

"Mr. Wood I assure you it's not. You can read the handbook if you don't believe me." Oliver scowled. Then Emmeline gave Harry a firm pat on the shoulders. 

"Now go out there and end this game." 

"Yes, Miss Emmeline." Harry said with a salute. The history professor grinned before leaving. Suddenly the gloves were ripped from Harry's hands.

"Hey!" He cried in distress. Miss Emmeline had just made those for him!

"Shows what she knows!" Oliver barked. "You're a seeker! Using gripping charms is illegal and could cost us the game!" He threw a spare pair at Harry with a scowl. "Just wasted 10 minutes of our time!" Harry looked down at the somewhat tatty spare Oliver had tossed him and huffed before pulling them on.

"I want those back after the match," Harry argued. Oliver huffed. 

"Yeah sure, just don't use them until you get Vance to take the charms off." Harry flinched. Oliver had snarled out Emmeline's name the same way he used to say Snape. It made him feel a bit cold inside. He pulled on the spares, scowling at how they were just a touch too small and followed his team out. As he walked back into the driving rain, scowl still firmly in place, Fred and George suddenly stopped in their tracks.

"Bloody hell." One of them whispered.

"Who-" the other started before the pair exchanged a glance in one of their silent communications. Harry frowned in confusion. That was odd.

"Are the teams ready?" Hooch shouted over the rain. 

"Just a minute!" Mason said before he walked up to Oliver. "Listen Wood… we can't go on like this."

"Are you forfeiting?" Oliver demanded.

"No, I'm saying we should postpone the match and wait. These conditions are dangerous. For everyone!" Mason complained.

"Scared of a little rain Brooks?"

"A little rain?!" Mason cried in alarm. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky just to prove his point. Oliver sneered.

"No reschedule. No rematch. If you don't want to keep playing forfeit. But Gryffindor isn't backing down!" He snarled. Harry wanted to smack himself in the forehead. Oliver was being such a stubborn prat! But he didn't, because he did want to show how divided the team had become in front of the other team. It was too likely they would try to use it to their advantage. Brooks huffed.

"You're a right git, Wood." He snapped. Harry flinched. He'd never heard a Hufflepuff speak so… angrily before. Then he stomped off back to his team. 

"Are we ready?" Hooch shouted. Both captains nodded as everyone remounted their brooms. Hooch blasted her whistle and the team tore into the sky again. 

Emmeline scowled as she watched the teams retake the skies.

"Oliver wood is such a stubborn fool." She muttered. Minerva shot her a knowing look.

"I seem to recall a certain chaser who was more than willing to fly through hurricanes to win." The deputy headmistress reminded.

"Yes," Emmeline huffed. "I was willing. That doesn't mean Walden let me," she muttered.

"Which is surprising when you think of the many things Walden McNair has done and would do," Severus remarked sardonically. Emmeline groaned.

"He is a terrible person, I do not doubt that. But he had the sense to turn away when the odds could be more favourable."

"That's just cunning," Severus remarked with a smirk. "Can't expect Gryffindors to understand that my-" he cleared his throat. Emmeline rose an eyebrow. Had Severus almost called her 'my dear' like he'd done all those years ago? She gave him a look. Severus suddenly became heavily focused on the game. A smile slowly spread over her face. Then a flash of gold caught the corner of her eye. She turned, just in time to see first a yellow, then a red blur streak past. She gasped and stood up, joining Albus as he peered over the ledge to see Diggory and Harry streak off into the wind, before winding back around and disappearing into the low clouds. Emmeline held her breath, waiting for the boys to return. Then suddenly her breath began to fog. A feeling of fear descended before she turned to Severus with horror.

"Expecto Patronum!" Lupin suddenly shouted from the back of the stand. Emmeline whipped back around to see dementors slowly descending from the cloud cover. So she summoned her own Patronus. The silvery pheasant burst out of her wand, long tail feathers leaving a wispy trail. As she watched it fly she was reminded of just which memory she still used to summon it.

The day Severus had asked her to buy a house with her.

Then suddenly a shadow tumbled out of the sky. Emmeline turned in slow motion. The red robes were flapping around in a flurry 

"ALBUS!" she shrieked. The man turned and lifted a hand.

"ARESTO MOMENTUM!" He bellowed. Emmeline held her breath and prayed the man was as powerful as he had just attempted to be. Then Harry slowed. She let out her gasp and rushed for the stairs. Severus hesitated.

"Go!" Minerva shouted angrily.

"No," Albus spoke up as he watched Harry fall into the waiting arms of hooch, who was bringing him down towards Poppy and a rapidly approaching Emmeline. "Severus, I need you to help drive them off." The man shook before he sank to the benches.

"Albus!" Remus cried in alarm. Albus smiled at the wolf indulgently.

"I mayhaps have pushed myself a touch too far," Albus admitted. "Give me a moment, I will recover. But Severus," The man growled and turned back to the stands

"Expecto Patronum!" He growled. And his doe exploded out, the shock wave sending many of the closest dementors fleeing. But his eyes never left the small cluster of red-robed teens moving off the pitch with all speed. 

Emmeline looked back when the sky flashed white. It was a softer light than the lightning. She saw the doe streak across the sky and let out a sigh. Then she turned back.

"Mr. Wood!" She barked coldly. The captain whipped around and turned to her with a blink. "I would like to have a word with you when we get to the hospital wing."

"Yes, professor." He said cautiously. Emmeline felt her expression soften. She didn't want him to be frightened of her, really. But then she looked down at Harry again and her blood boiled. "Where are Harry's gloves?!" She snarled furiously. No wonder the poor thing had fallen off his broom!

"I…" Oliver began as he cautiously pulled them out of his back pocket. Emmeline saw red.

"You utterly daft stubborn idiot!" She screamed. The entire team was looking at her, completely horrified. Not one of them had ever heard her speak louder than a voice necessary to command a classroom, and never with so much anger. She took another deep breath and re-oriented herself, though her eyes still simmered with fury. She was silent the entire march up to the hospital, though hooch now had a smirk on. Emmeline cleared her throat as they approached the hospital wing. "Mr. Wood," She began coldly, "stay out in the hall with me." The teen swallowed and hung back. Hooch leaned on the wall and grinned. "Firstly, I will be taking twenty points from your house, for deliberately discarding the sound advice of your elders." She said. Oliver flinched but didn't seem that bothered. So Emmeline moved to her masterstroke. "In addition. You are going to be serving detention every Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday with Professor Hooch."

"What?!" Oliver cried in horror "we have quidditch practices on the weekend!" He turned to the flying instructor desperately. "tell her what she's doing! This could cost us the cup!"

"FOR MERLIN’S SAKE BOY THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS THAN QUIDDITCH!" Emmeline screamed furiously. Oliver Wood shrunk before her fury. "As captain, you have a responsibility to improve your team's performance, yes, but you also have a responsibility to your players and their well-being! This reckless disregard for common sense in the obsession of victory nearly got one of your teammates killed!" The last word made Emmeline's throat tighten. She suddenly wanted to rush into the hospital to make sure Harry was truly fine, and that she hadn't imagined Albus's powerful display. She took a deep breath. "I understand the drive to win. I was a Quidditch player myself. And I will admit, I did on occasion do things which were downright idiotic and certainly reckless in order to win, but my captain made it his priority to ensure our safety. What you did today was selfish and irresponsible. You showed a complete lack of care for your teammates or their input, focused only on the end goal and not the steps you would need to take to get there. I understand that you want to seem brave, tough, or some other ridiculous thing." Emmeline finished with a huff, maybe Severus was right about these Gryffindors. "But retreat is the better part of Valor. It is the living who return to fight another day." Emmeline finished. Oliver Wood looked utterly ashamed, staring at his navel with a miserable expression. "Now. I want you to come inside and apologize to your team for disregarding their safety. Then you should all go change out of your robes, lest you all join Harry with whacking great colds."

"And by the way," Rolanda piped up, looking thoroughly impressed with how well Emmeline handled the situation. "Diggory caught the snitch right before Potter fell." Oliver looked crushed. "However, your fellow captain asked that the match not go towards the final points count, citing dementor interference as an unfair disadvantage. So the next time you see Brooks, you should thank him, because he likely saved your season. And while you get very well acquainted with the smell of broomstick polish, you should reflect on why Brooks is a better captain." Then Rolanda turned and walked away. Emmeline sighed and placed a hand on Oliver's shoulder and gently guided him into the hospital wing. The Quidditch team was all huddled around the edge of the curtains, trying to peer in through the gap as Pomfrey worked.

"Hey guys," Oliver said quietly. The team all turned to him with worried frowns. "I'm… I'm really sorry. I guess I was so hung up on winning the match that I didn't really think about how you guys must be feeling… Harry is the youngest of us and I have a responsibility to you guys as captain." He trailed off, his words getting all muddled as he thought about everything Emmeline had berated him on. 

"You were a prat." Angelina piped up with a frown. "But you're our prat. And you wouldn't be you if you weren't."

"Well… actually I'm not going to be able to practice with you guys for a while. I've got detention with Hooch on the weekends." Oliver said with sad shoulders. Then he straightened up. "Till I'm back, I'm making Angelina interim captain. So don't give her any sass! That means you, Weasleys!"

"Who, us?!" The left tried innocently

"When have we ever given you sass?!" The right demanded, though his smile was ruining the played-up innocence. Oliver rolled his eyes.

"Well, I probably deserved it." He finally muttered. The entire team smiled and pulled Oliver into their little circle. Emmeline smiled and walked to the curtain as well. Then suddenly they disappeared.

"Potter is on the road to recovery," Pomfrey said with a stern look. "Let him rest. No shouting." She gave Emmeline a look which Emmeline ignored with her own flat face. The team all bundled around the bed muttering nervously while Emmeline pulled a chair over and began to slowly smooth out Harry's hair. Poppy's drying spells had made it stick up at all ends which Emmeline knew bothered the poor boy endlessly. Then suddenly the door opened again. A sopping wet Neville Longbottom, half his face painted a slowly running crimson, stumbled in.

"Where’s Harry!" He cried. Pomfrey gave him a death glare. The boy winced and clamped his mouth shut as several other of Harry's friends rushed in. Ron Weasley ran right up to the bed and winced.

"Bloody hell he looks terrible."

"Course he does!" Fred barked.

"He fell over a hundred feet!" Geroge agreed 

"Yeah, Ronnie let's chuck you off the astronomy tower!" Fred offered.

"See what you look like!"

"Probably a lot better than he does now." Came Harry's groggy response. A chuckle and bright smile rang out across the room. Harry groaned and slowly pulled himself up. Emmeline got up and stepped back as the Quidditch team explained what happened before Oliver launched into a very heartfelt apology and told Harry about how much trouble he'd gotten into. She smiled at Harry's sympathetic expression. That boy would need to learn some self-serving habits. 

"Professor," Hermione called to her quietly.

"Yes Miss Granger?"

"Something has happened." She said with a bite of her lip. Emmeline frowned. Nothing good ever followed that phrase. "It's Harry's broom you see." The girl said as she wrung her hands, leading Emmeline over to another bed in the hospital. "The wind picked it up and blew it off course…straight into the Whomping Willow." Emmeline sucked in a gasp when she saw the pile of splinters on the blanket, with just a faint glimmer of gold etching on the distinct handle reading Nimbus 2000. Her heart sank. "How… how should we tell him?" Hermione finally asked. Emmeline put a hand to her brow. 

"Leave it to me." She insisted. It would come better from her. Then she cleared her throat. “I think we would give Harry some time to rest!” she piped up. The gaggle of Gryffindors turned to her with sade expressions. “You're all soaking wet anyway! Go change into something warm and dry. Harry will be out of the hospital by tomorrow morning I’m sure.” the children all gave quiet whines of disappointment before they trickled out. Weasley gave her a worried look, which Emmeline calmed with a smile. Then she trailed back to Harry's bedside and sat down once again.

Severus walked through the halls towards the hospital wing with weariness etched into his face. He was mentally and emotionally exhausted. After hours of working damage control for Dumbledore while the man recovered from the magical over-exertion he just wanted to check on Harry. The only news he'd gotten all day was that Harry was alive and awake. It did a little to calm the worst of his fears, but it wasn't the same as seeing the boy or hearing his voice. As he turned down the hall he could hear the clock ticking away, which made him even more conscious of time and its passing. But then he stopped. Dumbledore was standing in the hallway to the hospital, looking out the window to the waxing moon. As he saw Severus he smiled.

“Hello, Severus my boy. You’re here to check up on our resident Gryffindor seeker I presume?” he asked casually. Something about his tone set off alarm bells in Severus' mind. What was the man up to?

“Indeed,” he responded with measure. “And send Emmeline off to bed. Rumour has it she hasn't left his side.”

“Ah yes,” Albus said with a smile. “She's grown rather attached to the dear boy.”

“It's Emmeline,” Severus muttered with a huff. “She could grow attached to a flobberworm.”

“She always was rather nurturing.” Albus conceded. Severus narrowed his eyes.

“And?”

“And you were not,” Albus said, still looking at the moon. Severus swallowed. “I think perhaps you could have been, had you invested the time and practice. But no.” Albus turned to him, expression still soft and kind, but Severus could see the disappointment, the disdain, that lurked behind that twinkle in his eyes. “I have thought more about your request Severus.” the man went stiff as a board.

“And?” he asked. But he knew the answer now. 

“And my answer is no. I think Harry would be far better suited with someone more…” he didn't finish the rest of his thought, just came and gave Severus a little indulgent pat on the shoulder, as if he was a small child throwing a tantrum. “Goodnight my boy.”

Severus could have screamed. 

He wanted to throw things at the old fool. Rage and curse him with unspeakable evils. He wanted to weep for Harry, who had never had a say in his entire life, though Severus knew the boy would never pick him of the many options he had. Instead, he just deflated and drifted into the hospital wing with none of the purpose and drive he'd first approached it with. True to the rumours Emmeline was there, sleeping upright in one of the hospital chairs, Severus feeling a learned sympathy for her back in the morning. He too had fallen asleep while watching over one of his students. He tapped her on the shoulder.

“Emmeline,” he whispered. The woman jerked awake and groaned.

“What time is it?” she asked wearily. 

“Nearly 1,” Severus whispered. “Go to bed.” Emmeline stood up, yawning widely.

“Will you stay with him? In case he has a nightmare?”

“Of course.”

“He probably will too,” Emmeline muttered before her face crumpled. “Oh Severus, He was so heartbroken.”

“About what?” Severus asked in confusion.

“His broom,” Emmeline remarked, motioning to the tiny twig Harry had clutched in his hands. “The wind blew it off course and it got thrown into the Whomping Willow.” Severus felt his eyes drift closed. Then he sighed and looked at her again.

“I'll be here. Go get some sleep. I, unlike you, don't have any classes until after lunch.” and so Emmeline left, but not before he trailed a hand over his shoulder, a caress that he found so comforting in the face of the disappointments of the day. And there he sat, staring at Harry as he slept, clutching that desperate twig and mourning what might have been.