The weather worsened steadily as the first Quidditch match drew nearer. Undaunted, the Gryffindor team was training harder than ever under the eye of Madam Hooch. Then, at their final training session before Saturday's match, Oliver Wood gave his team some unwelcome news.

"We're not playing Slytherin!" he told them, looking very angry. "Flint's just been to see me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead."

"Why?" chorused the rest of the team.

"Flint's excuse is that their Seeker's arm's still injured," said Wood, grinding his teeth furiously.

"But it's obvious why they're doing it. Don't want to play in this weather. Think it'll damage their chances...."

There had been strong winds and heavy rain all day, and as Wood spoke, they heard a distant rumble of thunder.

"There's nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm!" said Harry furiously. "He's faking it!"

Everyone glances over at the Slytherins who are all smirking with a laughing Malfoy. They heard every word and were over the moon about it. Everyone except Karina who had been shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

"I know that, but we can't prove it," said Wood bitterly, "And we've been practicing all those moves assuming we're playing Slytherin, and instead it's Hufflepuff, and their style's quite different. They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory--"

Angelina, Alicia, and Katie suddenly giggled.

"What?" said Wood, frowning at this lighthearted behavior.

"He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" said Angelina.

"Strong and silent," said Katie, and they started to giggle again.

"He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together," said Fred impatiently. "I don't know why you're worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?"

"We were playing in completely different conditions!" Wood shouted, his eyes bulging slightly. "Diggory's put a very strong side together! He's an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn't relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!"

"Oliver, calm down!" said Fred, looking slightly alarmed. "We're taking Hufflepuff very seriously. Seriously."

The day before the match, the winds reached howling point and the rain fell harder than ever. It was so dark inside the corridors and classrooms that extra torches and lanterns were lit. The Slytherin team was looking very smug indeed, and none more so than Malfoy.

"Ah, if only my arm was feeling a bit better!" he sighed as the gale outside pounded the windows.

Harry had no room in his head to worry about anything except the match tomorrow. Oliver Wood kept hurrying up to him between classes and giving him tips.

The third time this happened, Wood talked for so long that Harry suddenly realized he was ten minutes late for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and set off at a run with Wood shouting after him, "Diggory's got a very fast swerve, Harry, so you might want to try looping him--"

Harry skidded to a halt outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, pulled the door open, and dashed inside.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor Lupin. I --"

But there was no one at the teacher's desk. Looking confused he walks to his empty desk and glances at the table to his left.

"Hey Ron... Where's Professor Lupin?"

"He's not here Harry. Not the slightest idea why. Kind of weird don't you think?"

Harry opens his mouth to speak but is interrupted by the door slamming open. A black caped figure storms in the room wand in hand. The figure slams each window shut with just a swish of the wand, making it darker and darker in the once bright room. The figure stops at the front desk and pulls a rope dropping the projector screen. Turning to the side quickly Harry sees the figure is Professor Snape.

"Turn to page 394."

Everyone starts to slowly open their books except Harry who glances over at Ron in confusion then looks up at Professor Snape again. Snape slyly walks down the aisle glaring at each individual until he is stopped by Harry.

"Excuse me sir... Where is Professor Lupin?"

"It's not really your concern is it Potter?" Snape stares for a second then starts to walk away from Harry's desk.

"Surprising to say your Professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the present time. Turn to page 394."

He taps on the projector with his wand making the machine turn on and start whirring. Seeing Ron turn each page one at a time he angrily takes his wand and flicks it towards Ron's book. Suddenly Ron's book flips to 394 quickly making him jump.

"Werewolves?" Ron questions glancing down at the picture.

"But sir we've just begun learning about Red Caps and Hinkyponks... We're not meant to start nocturnal beasts for weeks." Hermione says out of nowhere.

Harry and Ron stare at her with their mouths open in confusion seeing as Harry was just sitting by an empty seat.

"Quiet." Professor Snape says while looking down at his own book.

"Seems like you didn't get the memo Granger. That's crazy seeing as though you're the teacher's pet and all." Hermione glares at Karina as she smiles innocently while Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle laugh.

"When did she come in? Did you see her come in?" Ron whispers frantically to Harry feeling a bit freaked out.

"Now Karina Grey please tell the class the difference between an Animagus and a werewolf since you have done the research."

"An animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf has no choice."

Hermione stares blankly at the smiling Karina.

"Perfect anyone else?"

Hermione's hand shoots straight to the air almost hitting Harry in the face. Snape turns to the projector screen ignoring her hand.

"No one? How disappointing."

"Please sir... With each full moon when he transforms he no longer remembers who he is. He'd kill his best friend if he crossed his path. Furthermore, the werewolf only responds to the call of its own kind-"

Malfoy interrupts her with a howl like a werewolf causing his Slytherin friends to laugh. Karina smiles and bats his arm as he turns to her howling again.

"Thank you Mister Malfoy," Professor Snape replies to Malfoy then turns to Hermione. "That is the second time you have spoken out of turn Miss Granger... Are you incapable of restraining yourself or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"

"He's got a point you know." Ron whispers to Harry.

"I believe it's the know-it-all part sir." Karina says smirking at a frowning Hermione.

"Karina!" Harry shouts in a whisper tone glaring at her slightly.

"Five points from Gryffindor... As an antidote to your ignorance and on my desk by Monday morning two rows of parchment on werewolves with particular emphasis on recognizing it. Everyone except Miss Grey as it seems she has already done the work."

Everyone snaps their heads to look at Karina who just shrugs and smiles.

............................................................................................................................................................................

"It's going to be a tough one," said Wood, who wasn't eating anything.

"Stop worrying, Oliver," said Alicia soothingly, "we don't mind a bit of rain."

But it was considerably more than a bit of rain. Such was the popularity of Quidditch that the whole school turned out to watch the match as usual, but they ran down the lawns toward the Quidditch field, heads bowed against the ferocious wind, umbrellas being whipped out of their hands as they went. just before he entered the locker room, Harry saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, laughing and pointing at him from under an enormous umbrella on their way to the stadium. He wondered where Karina was, it was weird not seeing her around Malfoy.

The team changed into their scarlet robes and waited for Wood's usual pre-match pep talk, but it didn't come. He tried to speak several times, made an odd gulping noise, then shook his head hopelessly and beckoned them to follow him.

The wind was so strong that they staggered sideways as they walked out onto the field. If the crowd was cheering, they couldn't hear it over the fresh rolls of thunder. Rain was splattering over Harry's glasses. How on earth was he going to see the Snitch in this?

The Hufflepuffs were approaching from the opposite side of the field, wearing canary-yellow robes. The Captains walked up to each other and shook hands; Diggory smiled at Wood but Wood no, looked as though he had lockjaw and merely nodded.

Harry saw Madam Hooch's mouth form the words, "Mount Your brooms."

He pulled his right foot out of the mud with a squelch and swung it over his Nimbus Two Thousand. Madam Hooch put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant they were off

Harry rose fast, but his Nimbus was swerving slightly with the wind. He held it as steady as he could and turned, squinting into the rain.

Within five minutes Harry was soaked to his skin and frozen, hardly able to see his teammates, let alone the tiny Snitch. He flew backward and forward across the field past blurred red and yellow shapes, with no idea of what was happening in the rest of the game. He couldn't hear the commentary over the wind. The crowd was hidden beneath a sea of cloaks and battered umbrellas. Twice Harry came very close to being unseated by a Bludger; his vision was so clouded by the rain on his glasses he hadn't seen them coming.

He lost track of time. It was getting harder and harder to hold his broom straight. The sky was getting darker, as though night had decided to come early. Twice Harry nearly hit another player, without knowing whether it was a teammate or opponent; everyone was now so wet, and the rain so thick, he could hardly tell them apart....

With the first flash of lightning came the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle; Harry could just see the outline of Wood through the thick rain, gesturing him to the ground. The whole team splashed down into the mud.

"I called for time-out!" Wood roared at his team. "Come on, under here --"

They huddled at the edge of the field under a large umbrella; Harry took off his glasses and wiped them hurriedly on his robes.

"What's the score?"

"We're fifty points up," said Wood, "but unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night."

"I've got no chance with these on," Harry said exasperatedly, waving his glasses.

At that very moment, Karina appeared at his shoulder; she was holding her cloak over her head and was, inexplicably, beaming.

"Hey Harry!"

Harry jumps then turns around and stares confused at her. The team all, except for Fred and George, glare at Karina making sounds of annoyance and disagreement.

"Karina?! What are you doing here?!"

"I've got an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!"

"Wait... Why? You're friends with Diggory you might want to do something to Harry and make us lose?" Wood exclaims coming closer to her.

"Seriously? I'm not that evil. Fair is fair. If you win it's fair and square but it will never be fair if Harry can't see. I love Cedric but I'd rather watch a good fight."

"Really?" Wood says as he eyes beam while staring at Karina.

"Oh come on. Harry you only have one more minute. Do you trust me or not?"

Harry looks at Karina frowning slightly with her hand out then looks over at his team who are all shaking their heads and waving their arms as if saying no. Fred and George just stand there smirking and putting her their thumbs as if to say go for it.

Harry sighs and hands the glasses to her, and as the team watched in amazement, Karina taps them with her wand and says, "Impervius!"

"There!" she said, handing them back to Harry. "They'll repel water!"

Wood looked as though he could have kissed her.

"Brilliant!" he called hoarsely after her as she disappeared into the crowd. "Wow she is something... Okay, team, let's go for it!"

Karina's spell had done the trick. Harry was still numb with cold, still wetter than he'd ever been in his life, but he could see. Full of fresh determination, he urged his broom through the turbulent air, staring in every direction for the Snitch, avoiding a Bludger, ducking beneath Diggory, who was streaking in the opposite direction....

There was another clap of thunder, followed immediately by forked lightning. This was getting more and more dangerous. Harry needed to get the Snitch quickly

He turned, intending to head back toward the middle of the field, but at that moment, another flash of lightning illuminated the stands, and Harry saw something that distracted him completely , the silhouette of an enormous shaggy black dog, clearly imprinted against the sky, motionless in the topmost, empty row of seats.

Harry's numb hands slipped on the broom handle and his Nimbus dropped a few feet. Shaking his sodden bangs out of his eyes, he squinted back into the stands. The dog had vanished.

"Harry!" came Wood's anguished yell from the Gryffindor goal posts. "Harry, behind you!"

Harry looked wildly around. Cedric Diggory was pelting up the field, and a tiny speck of gold was shimmering in the rain-filled air between them

With a jolt of panic, Harry threw himself flat to the broom handle and zoomed toward the Snitch.

"Come on!" he growled at his Nimbus as the rain whipped his face, "Faster!"

But something odd was happening. An eerie silence was falling across the stadium. The wind, though as strong as ever, was forgetting to roar. It was as though someone had turned off the sound, as though Harry had gone suddenly deaf -- what was going on?

And then a horribly familiar wave of cold swept over him, inside him, just as he became aware of something moving on the field below...

Before he'd had time to think, Harry had taken his eyes off the Snitch and looked down. At least a hundred dementors, their hidden faces pointing up at him, were standing beneath him. It was as though freezing water were rising in his chest, cutting at his insides. And then he heard it again.... Someone was screaming, screaming inside his head... a woman...

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"

"Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside, now...."

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead --"

Numbing, swirling white mist was filling Harry's brain.... What was he doing? Why was he flying? He needed to help her... She was going to die.... She was going to be murdered....

He was falling, falling through the icy mist.

............................................................................................................................................................................

Harry's eyes snapped open. He was lying in the hospital wing. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, spattered with mud from head to foot, was gathered around his bed. Ron and Hermione were also there, looking as though they'd just climbed out of a swimming pool.

"Harry!" said Fred, who looked extremely white underneath, the mud. "How're you feeling?"

It was as though Harry's memory was on fast forward. The lightning -the Grim -- the Snitch -- and the dementors...

"What happened?" he said, sitting up so suddenly they all gasped.

"You fell off," said Fred. "Must've been -- what -- fifty feet?"

"We thought you'd died," said Alicia, who was shaking.

Hermione made a small, squeaky noise. Her eyes were extremely bloodshot.

"But the match," said Harry. "What happened? Are we doing a replay?"

No one said anything. The horrible truth sank into Harry like a stone.

"We didn't -- lose?"

"Diggory got the Snitch," said George. "Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square... even Wood admits it."

"Where is Wood?" said Harry, suddenly realizing he wasn't there.

"Still in the showers," said Fred. "We think he's trying to drown himself."

Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping his hair. Fred grabbed his shoulder and shook it roughly.

"C'mon, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before."

"There had to be one time you didn't get it," said George.

"It's not over yet," said Fred. "We lost by a hundred points"

"Right? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin--"

"Hufflepuff'll have to lose by at least two hundred points," said George.

"But if they beat Ravenclaw..."

"No Way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff..."

"It all depends on the points -- a margin of a hundred either way."

Harry lay there, not saying a word. They had lost... for the first time ever, he had lost a Quidditch match.

After ten minutes or so, Madam Pomfrey came over to tell the team to leave him in peace.

"We'll come and see you later," Fred told him. "Don't beat yourself up, Harry, you're still the best Seeker we've ever had."

The team trooped out, trailing mud behind them. Madam Pomfrey shut the door behind them, looking disapproving. Ron and Hermione moved nearer to Harry's bed.

"Dumbledore was really angry," Hermione said in a quaking voice. "I've never seen him like that before. He ran onto the field as You fell, waved his wand, and you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground. Then he whirled his wand at the dementors. Shot silver stuff at them. They left the stadium right away... He was furious they'd come onto the grounds. We heard him--"

"Then he magicked you onto a stretcher," said Ron. "And walked up to school with you floating on it. Everyone thought you were--"

His voice faded, but Harry hardly noticed. He was thinking about what the dementors had done to him... about the screaming voice. He looked up and saw Ron and Hermione looking, at him so anxiously that he quickly cast around for something matter-of-fact to say.

"Did someone get my Nimbus?"

Ron and Hermione looked quickly at each other.

"Er--"

"What?" said Harry, looking from one to the other.

"Well... when you fell off, it got blown away," said Hermione hesitantly.

"And?"

"And it hit-- it hit-- oh, Harry-- it hit the Whomping Willow."

Harry's insides lurched. The Whomping Willow was a very violent tree that stood alone in the middle of the grounds.

"And?" he said, dreading the answer.

"Well, you know the Whomping Willow," said Ron. "It-- it doesn't like being hit."

"Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came around, said Hermione in a very small voice.

Slowly, she reached down for a bag at her feet, turned it upside down, and tipped a dozen bits of splintered wood and twig onto the bed, the only remains of Harry's faithful, finally beaten broomstick.

"Well that doesn't look good."

The three's heads all turn to the left to see Karina walking towards them looking at Harry's broomstick pieces.

"No? Really?" Hermione mimics while frowning at her.

"What? I'm just saying. Anyways I'm glad you're okay Harry. Wouldn't want you to be dead... better your broom than you. Don't you think?"

She gently pushes past Hermione and Ron then sits on the end of Harry's bed.

"Yeah I mean I guess you're right Karina."

"Always am." She says smiling widely.

"Who invited you?!" Hermione snaps at Karina making the two glare at each other.

"Honestly Granger if I didn't know any better you would almost seem jealous."

Ron and Harry both stay quiet and stare at the two scared one will snap on either of them.

"Jealous? Why would I ever be jealous of a lousy Slytherin? You're so rude and so uneducated. I would be sorry for your parents but they probably left you seeing as you're so much to deal with. How does anyone stay around you? They probably don't. They all leave don't they? I would-"

"Hermione!!" Harry shouts glaring the hardest he can at her.

Hermione stops talking just in time to see Karina run out the infirmary with tears in her eyes.

"What? Is it so bad for me to finally stand up for myself against her? She finally gets a taste of her own medicine and she can't stand it. And you think I'm wrong for saying what I just did?!"

"Hermione... her parents are dead. They died when she was younger and her Grandmother, who always took care of her, has gone missing. She literally has no one."

Hermione looks down at her hands feeling like a complete idiot. She knew she went a little too far but now she knows that everything she said was horrible.

================================================================================================================================================

Karina's POV

Draco rubs my arms as I squeeze him in a hug, "Don't cry Karina. That stupid little muggle is going to get it."

"No I don't care about what she said. It just made me realize how alone I am. No parents, no grandmother, no family. Just me... Who am I supposed to stay with now? I thought Gram was coming back but now with the nightmares and the crystal ball and the future and all of that I know she isn't. I wish it wasn't but I feel like something bad is going to happen soon."

"It'll all be okay love... you'll see. I promise."