Chapter 9 - Aftermath

The game was called to an end by Madam Hooch, as the players made their way down to see what had happened with Katie Bell. Madam Pomfrey bustled to the girl, tending to her and fussing, casting a multitude of colourful charms with no visible effect. After a quick word with the matron, Madam Hooch spoke towards the two teams.

"It appears that Miss Bell has been confounded," several players gasped, and Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Captain, glared suspiciously at his counterpart. "This is a serious matter, as she could have easily been permanently injured, or even lost her life. As such, I will not hear a single childish accusation; every player's wand shall be checked with Priori Incantato."

Madam Hooch proceeded to test each wand, but found nothing more than simple charms or spells from previous classes. As she tested the last player, Oliver Wood - Accio Cleansweep - Dumbledore and the heads of house arrived on the field. "None of these children confounded Miss Bell, Headmaster," she declared.

"I should think not; that was a powerful confoundment," replied the headmaster, "I shall personally test each staff member's wand." Ten minutes later, they were none-the-wiser as to who had cast the charm, however.

"Attention, students," called Professor Dumbledore on a sonorous, "Someone has confounded young Miss Bell, which would have certainly caused her serious injury if not for the brave actions of Mr. Potter. I can assure you we will be looking very closely into this matter, and measures will be taken so that this does not happen again." After a quick conversation with Madam Hooch, he continued on, "Based on the Quidditch Standard Rulebook, Gryffindor would forfeit due to a chaser catching the snitch," the Gryffindor section roared their dissatisfaction, "However - due to the extenuating circumstances, a rematch shall be held instead." At this, cheers rose around the stadium as the seriousness of the situation was overshadowed in the face of an extra game of quidditch.

`-'

"Come on, Puce, chasers stick together - you've been drilling that into us every day," pled Harry.

"But they're Gryffindors!"

"Chasers stick together," Draco retorted, pulling him by the sleeve. Pucey eventually caved, if only to keep his robes intact, and the trio headed to the Hospital Wing.

"What are you doing here?" Wood spat at seeing the Slytherins, "Come to finish her off?"

"Shut it, Wood," retaliated Draco, "We're here to see how Bell is doing."

The twins piped up at this, "Nice comeback, Malfoy -"

"But we believe you -"

"Or at least, that Harry convinced you all to come -"

"Sounds like something he'd do -"

"Surprised he's not a Gryffindor with an attitude like that -"

"Or a Hufflepuff."

"Hey!" Harry protested, "I resent that! I don't have the appetite to be a 'Puff; Ron seems to have it, though he's a bit lacking in that loyalty thing. I'd rather corrupt the house of the snakes from the inside."

The twins shared a look, before turning serious. "We're sorry he's such a prat, but it doesn't run in the family. You're our friend, snake or no."

Wood looked about to say something, but the twins spirited him out of the wing, calling on the way out, "Catch you later, you three -"

"Maybe with a bludger!" They cackled and disappeared around the corner with their irate captain.

The remainder of the Gryffindor team accepted the chasers without protest - though that might have been to avoid the twins' wrath, Harry thought.

"Hey," called Katie, "Thanks for coming, guys. It means a lot even though you're Slytherins," Katie beckoned Harry to come closer. "Thank you, Harry Potter," she said, pulling him down by his tie into a sincere hug, making the boy blush.

The other two Gryffindor girls came up behind, clapping Harry on the back. "Yeah, thanks Potter," agreed Alicia.

"You saved our friend, even when she was the opposition." said Angelina.

"Of course I would, I wasn't going to let her get hurt," Harry answered, "And chasers stick together," he added, as if that settled that.

Gryffindor's chasers huddled together at that, and after a flurry of words, Katie grimaced, before turning back to the Slytherins. "I'm going to have to fly again before the rematch, and I was wondering if you'd fly with us. Maybe we could have a friendly chaser match?"

"That does sound good…" Pucey admitted hesitantly, "I do wish we had more than a handful of games a year, especially after all that training."

"I know! Wood runs us ragged, and then the game's over in a few hours," Alicia moaned. The two teams complained about their captains together, trying to convince the other that theirs was worse. Katie lost her grim expression to a warm smile; someone had saved her life, and she had three new friends, and more quidditch to look forward to. It wasn't such a terrible thing to happen, after all.

Author's Note:

Thank you, to everyone that's read, reviewed, and followed this story. Unfortunately, I have decided not to continue it. I'm sorry for anyone looking forward to reading more, but I have thought hard about what I want to do with writing fiction, and even though it has been a wonderful and different experience, I find it to be a much more rewarding experience writing original stories rather than fan-fiction.

I may change my mind down the track, but if it ever happens it will be many months into the future, I would say. Feel free to keep following, but no guarantees!

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

-ForLackOfPaper