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"Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again." - Willa Cather

I.

"Rotis!" Jiminy screamed. "Rotis, where are you?"

He watched in horror as the renegade Bludger his Beater Rotis was supposed to be cornering nearly took out a Ravenclaw girl who was in the stands, bemusedly watching the disastrous Quidditch scrimmage.

"Rotis Wood!"

How was he supposed to concentrate on chasing the Quaffle when his best player was off daydreaming again? For the thousandth time that season, he questioned his position as the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain.

It was the fall of Jiminy Tolken´s seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and his third year as a Chaser on his house´s Quidditch team. He´d only recently acquired the title of Captain, replacing Cedric Diggory, who had tragically died the year before in the disastrous Triwizard Tournament, a truth he was reminded of every time he tried to coach. The loss had weighed heavily on the entire team, but if they wanted to win the House Cup this year, a goal Cedric had always aspired to but never achieved, they all, especially Jim, had to put the past behind them. It was a task easier said than done.

"Pidge!" Jim shouted, swerving as the team´s other Beater, Paisley Yale, swooped past him - she was, after all, pulling double duty.

The tiny third year Seeker was by his side in an instant, smiling broadly as usual, thrilled at being sent on a special mission. He saluted, and Jiminy felt a fresh wave of exhaustion.

"Go after Rotis - she´s drifting again."

"Right away, Captain!" shouted Pidge, zipping away. Jiminy sighed tiredly and turned around to hunt for the Quaffle.

Pidge Quimbly was the tiniest, fastest, and youngest player on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, as well as the only Quimbly child to ever go to Hogwarts. He replayed the instant his letter arrived nearly every day - his proud Pa patting his back, his Ma smiling tearfully. All twelve of the Quimbly siblings, long since grown up and moved away to lead normal Muggle lives, had been called that very night to be told the news, and none could believe that miniature, pipsqueak, littlest brother Pidge was a genuine wizard.

That had been three years ago, but the memory of it still excited him. In fact, everything at Hogwarts excited him - every Sorting Hat ceremony, every smuggled bottle of butterbeer, every spark from a broken wand, and especially every Quidditch match.

And to be on the same team as Rotis Wood, sister of Oliver Wood, the famous Gryffindor Captain! The idea of it nearly made him lose his grip on his broom.

Jiminy had been right - Rotis was slowly drifting off again, not paying any attention to the heated game going on behind her. Her club was hanging limply in her hand, and her broom was lilting back and forth, as if impatient and ready to fly. It was slightly unnerving, seeing the ferocious Quidditch queen so quiet and still.

"Rotis?" he ventured. The club slipped a little farther out of her fingers, and Pidge felt a tiny tremor of fear; whatever was plaguing Rotis must be fairly strong to make her abandon the game she was so passionate about, ignore the Captain´s commands, and practically drop her club, which they sometimes joked was attached to her right hand.

Pidge nudged his broom a little closer and tapped her on the shoulder. "Ro?"

She swung around, nearly sending Pidge earthward, looking confused and bewildered, very much unlike herself.

"You okay?" Pidge asked, regaining his grip.

"Yes," she said quietly, shaking her head, a few hairs coming loose from the golden twin buns at the back of her head. "Yes, I´m fine. I just," she paused, looking back at the strip of forest that bordered the Quidditch field. "I just thought I saw something."

Pidge smiled, remembering he was on a broom, miles above the ground, talking to Rotis Wood, champion Beater. "Jim´s getting a little antsy - a Bludger nearly sent him to Madame Pomfrey."

Rotis looked at her club like she´d never seen it before, and then realized where she was, the same malicious glee Pidge saw at matches coming back into her eyes.

"Right," she said, regaining her usual battle-ready tone. "We´re scrimmaging, yea? What side are you on?"

Pidge felt another terror tease dance down his spine as he nodded, only this one the same sort he got at the beginning of every match, when the crowd was screaming, and the bigger, older Quidditch pros of the other team were waiting to tear him apart.

"I´m yellow, you´re black team," he said, heading back to the pitch. "Opposing sides."

"All right." She watched the tiny Seeker fly, grinning to herself. "Hey Pidge - one last thing," she called, and he turned, his oversized robes twirling in the breeze. "Watch out!"

She kicked her broom forward and swung at the oncoming Bludger, but Pidge was as fast as Jiminy raved, and he was already on the other side of the field. Rotis smiled, forgetting her previous trance, and darted back into the game.

"Bout bloody time," said Paisley as she swung past, the two knocking clubs in greeting.

"Just got a tad dazed, that´s all," said Rotis, sending the other Bludger skyward and dodging a passing Quaffle. She tried to smile at Jiminy to show she was all right, but the Captain´s attention was elsewhere. Rotis turned to where he was staring with his usual aghast expression and saw the renegade Bludger just as it slammed into the unfortunate Ravenclaw´s face, her feet flying into the air as she fell backwards. Rotis winced, looked back at Jiminy for directions, but he was on the ground, clutching his own face, apparently having run into a goal post at the same moment as the Bludger impact.

Things were not looking good for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, Rotis realized as a whistle blew. They´d be lucky to win a third of their games this year.

"Game Over!" shouted Elliot Fetter from the ground, where he crouched beside Jiminy. "Pidge pulled through yet again."

Pidge was squealing a few feet from the Captain, clutching the makeshift Snitch (a golfball they´d enchanted to fly) in his fist. Rotis landed smoothly beside him, throwing her broom over her shoulder as she went to join the team assembling around Jiminy.

"Huddle up," shouted Elliot. "Jim´s a bit immovable. Paisley, go get that damned Bludger, and Roderick, you bring in the Quaffle." He bent in and listened to Jiminy´s groan. "And he says he wants a word with you, Rotis. The rest of you, off to the castle. We´ll have a meeting later on tonight."

Rotis watched the team wander off, following the stretcher that had been sent for the Ravenclaw. She recognized the injured girl as Meelo, a sixth year like herself, who was often getting hurt - Rotis recalled a particularly painful incident a few months back when she´d been stepped on by an agitated pegamoose, a mishap that had her bedridden for weeks.

Rotis walked over to Jiminy´s horizontal form as Fetter headed off with the rest of the team. His forehead was not a happy sight - the goalpost had been harsh to him, and a huge pink and bluish bruise was starting to form. He beckoned her in closer, too weak, or maybe too aggravated, to talk to her in full volume. Rotis leaned in till he was practically in her ear, leaning on her broom for support, when he grabbed her and screamed, "What the hell were you doing!?!"

Rotis leapt up, watching Jim´s face turn mauve, feeling a bit shaken. She glanced up to see the team pausing its trek to watch the show, and she frowned, knowing she´d never hear the end of the day the mighty Wood got chewed out.

"I´m trying to run a team here! We´re the laughing stock of the school already, you know that, could you at least try and put your talents to use instead of wandering out of the atmosphere? I know it´s not your fault the Bludger went mad, but that girl´s in the Ward because of you!"

"Jim, she never leaves the Ward - "

"That´s not important! You cannot do this during matches! We need you, Ro, we need your genes." Rotis scowled, not needing to be reminded of her famous brother at the moment. "Look," said Jim, his face losing some of its redness, "I know it´s tough being Oliver´s sis, but you´ve got to help us. If not for the team, then for me."

She looked at him strangely, and he shook his head. "I´ve got O.W.L.s to think about and all sorts of seventh year projects." He sighed. "You and Pidge are the only hope I´ve got this year, Rotis. Wouldn´t it be grand to show them all, that we had a fighting chance?" Rotis´ expression darkened as she realized who she´d heard this speech from before.

"Think of," started Jim, wondering whether to say his name or not.

"I know," said Rotis, shifting her grip on her club. "As though I ever stop thinking of him." She looked off to the castle, not wanting to reveal her emotions.

"As though any of us stop thinking of him, Rotis," said Jim sadly. "But we´ve got to move on. You and that runt are our advantage this year, and God knows Pidge is not going to win it for us alone."

Pidge, hearing his name, was by Jim´s side in an instant, ready to assist.

"Yes, Captain?" he said, panting.

"No, Pidge, I - "

"What do you need, Jiminy?"

Jiminy looked at Rotis, his dark eyebrows furrowed, the huge bruise momentarily forgotten.

"We need you. I need you. Do you understand, Rotis?"

She nodded, more of her blonde hair falling down.

"Good. Now help me get up."

Pidge fairly leapt to the task, and Rotis helped lift the injured Captain, his words passing through her head, but her mind elsewhere. As they hobbled off to join the team, Rotis took one last look at the span of forest they were forbidden to enter.

Had she really seen it?

She shook her head and threw her broom over her shoulder, hurrying off to catch up.