The Memories That Linger

+ Chapter Two - Into the Air +


As the fourteen Quidditch Players flew into the sky, Harry sped upward above the game and above the madness. For the first time since he joined the team, he felt happy despite the fact that his heart was racing out of his chest, and his stomach was a giant bundle of nerves. For no reason, he lapped around the stadium, feeling several thousand pairs of eyes staring him down.

The Quaffle was put into play, and the three chasers from each team immediately rushed in to try to take it for their team. The French team took the Quaffle, and sped towards the opposite direction towards London\'s goals.

On of the beaters sent a Bludger Harry\'s way. He rolled and barely missed it. He felt the whoosh in his ears. The Beater that sent it towards him was laughing loudly, not even bothering to stifle his laughter.

\"Hé la Face de Cicatrice, sucer sur le côté d\'un bludger et apprendre à voler!\" The French Player shouted. Harry\'s eyes narrowed into a deep glare wishing for a bolt of lightning to hit that French Player right on the spot.

\"I don\'t understand French, but whatever you said you sounded like a little bitch!\" Harry shouted, rounding his broom off into the opposite direction, and going towards the other end of the Stadium so he wouldn\'t rip that other player to shreds. He waited.

And then he saw it. Or him. He saw the Seeker on the opposing team speed off towards the ground. Without thinking he bolted after him, his broom catching up to the small, blonde seeker. He neared him, merely inches away. His eyes scanning the area looking for the Snitch.

And before Harry knew it, the boy who looked younger than Harry was made a sharp turn to the left, and flipping forward, the end of the boy\'s broom smacking against Harry\'s so hard it flipped over nearly sending Harry flying. Harry gripped tightly onto the handle, trying desperately to remain balanced. He felt his feet touch to ground mid turn. He tucked his head close to his broom so he wouldn\'t be beheaded. The crowd emitted loud cheers of laughter, while the eyes were all on Harry. His face burned with embarrassment. What a dirty trick.

The blonde boy reminded Harry of Draco Malfoy from school. But he brushed the thought out of his mind as he accelerated towards the sky again. He scanned the field, looking hopelessly for the Golden Snitch.

Meanwhile, down in the field the French Framers weren\'t fairing very well. They were down by a good seventy points. Then he saw it. The Snitch, hovering just above the left hoop on London\'s side. His heart stopped for a moment, while he was frozen in mid air.

And then he felt it. The same blonde idiot from before had called upon one of his beater friends who had nailed Harry in the back with his bat. He felt the crunch of several bones shattering, and the sneering taunts of the boy behind him. He clenched his teeth and sped off towards the Snitch, not thinking about the blonde who was tailing him.

He swerved, trying to get the French Seeker away from him, but unfortunately the Snitch had moved. It was gone into the mysterious underworld of the Quidditch Stadium. Harry cursed in rage. He turned around and sped over the mass huddle of chaos in the center of the field. It was getting violent, but the referee was too busy flirting with the woman who was supposed to commentary.

The two beaters from the Fears were speeding Harry\'s way, and Harry dodged just in time. He felt the clang of something on his glasses. The Snitch had run into him. And he tried to reach out to grab it.

The evil hands were on Harry\'s shoulder, and he soon found himself falling nearly one hundred feet from the air. The Beaters had pulled him off his broom. There were loud cheers from the French end of the stadium as the French Seeker caught the snitch.

Everything went black.


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Harry\'s head felt like it was on fire, while the pain in his shoulder, back, and left leg over powered it. He tried to open his eyes, but couldn\'t face the bright light that was waiting for him. He tried to call out, but he couldn\'t find his voice.

But he felt cool lips on his own. Someone slid their own hand into his, gripping it softly. Harry tried to force his fingers to work, and clutch the person back. A strange sort of comfort came to him once the lips left.

\"Sleep, Harry.\" Whispered the voice. It was the voice of the girl from the Bar where he had gotten his Butterbeer before the game; Erica! He tried to move his arms. He didn\'t want her to leave him. He felt the comfort drain from him through is toes.

\"Pease, stray.\" me managed to mutter. He just now noticed his throat was very dry, and he dry coughed. He tried to sit up, but it felt like his entire body was covered in sand. He remained motionless under what felt like a mountain of blankets.

The bed slouched a bit as more weight was added. Erica sat beside him and touched his cheek. He could feel her cool hands against his face, that was on fire. He turned his head ever so barely. He finally opened his eyes. Then he saw her.

She was in a flowing violet gown, black velvet covering the chest in a \"V\" pattern, and laced sleeves from the shoulders down. The same lacey pattern was found around the lower torso, the beautiful shade of violet sticking out above the rest. The lace pattern had glittery roses. Her hair was cascading down her back in a wavy fashion, and it rested a few inches above her naval. Harry had never seen hair as long as hers. She was wearing it up before. A silver chair was placed upon her neck with a rose pendent.

\"Erica?\" Harry whispered. For the first time he was able to collect where he was. He was in a room, that must be a sleeping chamber. There was a bright window to his right that was letting in all the morning sun. The room was decorated elegantly, with famous art pieces hanging upon the walls. The floor was covered in a dark wood pattern, and there rested a couch at the other side of the room. His bed had comforters on it that looked like it had cost a fortune.

\"Where am I?\" He questioned Erica, who was smiling softly from her position beside Harry. She leaned down and kissed his lips momentarily again. Harry wanted desperately to reach up and stroke her hair, feel the pale skin on her face, and kiss her madly. She crawled over so she was sitting right on his chest, and she laid on top of him, her face just centimeters from his. She kissed his neck, leaving smile tingling sensations with every touch. Harry stifled a groan.

Harry tried to lift his arms but felt the situation was hopeless. This didn\'t seem like the shy, scared girl from the bar before the game. He liked the feeling of what little weight she had on top of him, her small kissing leaving a lingering aftermath.

Harry opened his mouth to speak, still squinting from the bright light of the sun. \"Erica, where am I? What happ-\" Harry was cut off before he could finish. Erica was only his mouth again, seductively sliding her tongue into his own mouth. She nibbled on his lower lip softly, sliding her fingers into his hand.

Never before had Harry wanted to hold the cuddle someone so terribly. The girl laying on him was so innocent. She was like a feather rest on him. She had now retired to resting her head against his chest, her hands still holding his. Harry didn\'t ask questions, he felt good with Erica so close to him. She slowly got up and kissed his forehead.

\"See you later, Harry Potter.\" She whispered, slowly turning towards the door leading out of the extravagant room. Harry cleared his throat, and held onto her soft, petite hands. He didn\'t want her to leave. She brought an unknown comfort to him.

“Wait, where are you going?” Harry cried out hopelessly, finally finding the strength in his weak legs to kick the blankets from his lower torso. “Please, wait! Don’t go!” He cried, trying to get himself out of bed and over to her. He remained trapped on the bed by an unknown force.

Erica stopped walking, and gracefully turned back to the entangled Harry on the bed. “You’re dreaming, Harry. Wake up.” She whispered, disappearing right before Harry’s own brilliant green eyes. Harry felt something jab himself in the heart. He rolled over painfully.

“Harry, wake up.”

Harry’s eyes opened quickly. He was staring into the face of Erica. His eyes blinked several times, trying to figure out if she was real or not. He stared open mouthed at the girl, who was wearing a ruffled skirt that rested at her knees in a soft shade of mint green, and a matching spaghetti strapped tank top.

“But, Erica… I just saw you disappear…” he said, aghast. His eyes were wide as he reached out to try and touch her. She let him gently brush his fingers against her cheek.

“I was going to let you sleep, but I saw you tossing and turning so I decided to wake you up.” She explained softly. “And I thought you might want to know, my real name isn’t Erica. But it’s Anastasia, you can call me any form you’d like; Stace, Stacy, Ana, whatever.” she replied quietly.

“But you were laying on me, and you kissed me and everything. And we were in an elegant room and-”

“You were dreaming, Harry. You had a realistic dream.” Stace replied calmly. “Your next question is probably why you’re here, aside from the fact that you’re mangled in about a million pieces from the Quidditch Game.”

“Yeah, that’s one of the top questions on my list. What happened after I was knocked off my room? I remember everything growing dark.” Harry answered, shifting his weight and noticing a cast on his leg, and medical tape around his ribs.

“You’re very lucky you’re not dead. A fall like that would have killed almost anyone. But I think you’ve got someone watching out for you.” Stace explained, sitting on the bed beside Harry. “After you fell What’s-his-name, the seeker on the French Team caught the Snitch. Several Medics rushed down to try to get you stable. You were knocked out cold. I was mingling around the stands and rushed down. I told them I was your friend and that I’d take care of you. I took you back to my apartment -where you are now- and I casted your leg, wrapped your ribs, and cleaned your cuts and bruises. You’ve been asleep for about a week. I worried you had gotten serious brain damage. But as I said before, you’ve got someone watching out for you. You\'re in my room, if you\'re wondering.”

Harry was wide-eyed by the time she finished her explanation. He looked around the room. It had a few pictures on the walls which were painted dark blue. They were in a really high apartment complex.

“I was hired to protect you, Harry. Someone is after you.” Stace explained quietly, laying her hand over his which was resting on his knee. Harry looked up, faintly smiling.

“Yeah?” He replied quietly. “What else is new?”

A/N : Well, thanks to a few reviews I\'ve been inspired to get the second chapter up early. I personally love this chapter, love the twist at the end. I\'ve been thinking about it for a few days, playing it over in my mind and I finally wrote it down tonight. Yay for writing. Please review, it doesn\'t have to be anything long. Just a \"Nice story\" or a \"Sucky story\" would be fine with me. As long as I know that people are actually reading it. I know, I know the hit counter but sometimes I don\'t know how trustworthy it is. As usual, review my story I\'ll review yours. Until next time! SignedAngel. (Has anyone gotten my name yet? :-P)