Why

"And look! Coming up on the side comes Piperel, trying to get the Quaffle--but Pucey has it tight--he shoots--and scores! Forty to twenty and Slytherin leads!" Lee Jordan commentated.

Kiera Piperel scowled and shot a nasty look to the Slytherin chasers, who shot smirks and sneers back. Davies recovered the Quaffle from the Keeper and tossed it to Bradley, who started to streak up the field towards Bletchley the Slytherin Keeper. Flint and Pucey surged ahead, and Kiera could see that they were going to try and trap Bradley. She quickly sped her broom up, and just as they were closing in on Bradley at either side, she came up beside him and rammed a shoulder into Flint with all her might. Bradley realized what was going on and flew ahead with Pucey on his heels. Flint growled in annoyance and rammed hard into Kiera, sending her into the Hufflepuff parapet and frightening the first years that were sitting at the front. Kiera landed hard and there was a sickening crack. Madam Hooch blew her whistle hard and flew up to the parapet, followed by Davies. The rest of the players hovered over head, straining to get a look at what happened. Kiera lay still, her long strawberry blonde hair in her eyes, feeling queasy and wondering vaguely if it had been her spine that snapped.

"Back up now and give her some breathing room!" barked Madam Hooch. She kneeled down and inspected Kiera's left leg. Kiera gasped in pain when it was lightly prodded. "Fracture. Get Pomfrey up here, please."

"Is she going to be able to play?" asked Davies anxiously. Just then, Madam Pompfrey burst through the crowd and immediately swooped upon Kiera.

"Definite fracture, but I can mend that real quickly, although I think it's best if she sit out a few plays," said Madam Pompfrey, digging through the pockets of her robes for her wand. When she finally extracted it, she pointed it at Kiera's leg and muttered an incantation. All the while Kiera sat looking up searching the mass of players until she found who she was looking for. There sat Flint smirking like an idiot, mocking her. A wave of fury passed over her and her piercing grey eyes shot daggers at him.

"I can still play, ma'am," she said. Pompfrey looked at her, surprised.

"Well, if you're sure...can you walk?" Kiera grabbed hold of her broom and stood using it as leverage. Her leg tingled a bit, but she took a step forward, then another, and another. The Ravenclaw side of the pitch cheered. Davies grinned and gave her a quick hug.

"Alright now, back on your brooms!" barked Madam Hooch. She flew to the middle of the field and gave two short blasts of her whistle. "PENALTY TO RAVENCLAW FOR RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT TO THEIR CHASER!" The Slytherin side booed and the smirk vanished from Flint's face. Davies nodded to Kiera and she shot forward to take it. She was tossed the Quaffle and sped towards Miles Bletchley. There were hisses and boos from the Slytherins as the Ravenclaws gave cries of encouragement.

"Kiera Piperel flies down the field to score for her team. Will she make it?" yelled Jordan. "She's getting closer--she approaches the goal posts and Bletchley is at the ready--she shoots--she--"

The crowd gave a collective groan and all went black.

~*~

Kiera felt a slight stinging in the back of her head which slowly brought her back to consciousness. There were voices talking softly around her, but it seemed like they were yelling.

"We're second in the running for the Cup. It stays that way if Slytherin beats Gryffindor," the voice said. It sounded like Roger Davies. "But if Gryffindor wins, we'll be up against them."

"I'd rather play Gryffindor than Slytherin any day," muttered Kiera, her eyes still closed. It hurt her head to talk.

"K. P., how is your head doing?" she heard Cho Chang ask. Kiera frowned and lifted a hand to her head gingerly and felt that it was heavily bandaged.

"What happened to my head, exactly?" she asked.

"Took a bludger to it," said Davies. "Apparently, you and everyone else were so intent on watching you trying to score that no one noticed the big bludger sailing towards you until it hit you." Kiera groaned and opened her eyes slowly. She adjusted to the light poring in through the windows of the hospital wing and fixed her gaze upon her team mates.

"So...who won?" Several of them cast their eyes down.

"Slytherin." Kiera just closed her eyes and lay back on her pillow.

~*~

The following week of classes was hectic for Kiera. On top of her head being bandaged like some sort of mummy, she also had to endure taunts from the Slytherins. Pucey took up the past time of imitating her being hit by the bludger, and would do so every time he passed her in the halls. Flint and Warrington once reenacted the shoulder ramming that took place and made it look totally ridiculous.

"Roar! I am woman!" Warrington screeched, sending Flint into the nearest wall. After composing himself from laughing, Flint went over and lightly bumped into Warrington, who made a show of running himself into the wall and dropping to the floor, clutching his leg. When they did this demonstration in front of Kiera it took six girls to steer her past the Slytherin boys. She sent a steely gaze their way, but kept walking.

"I say you're taking all of this way too seriously, K. P." said her friend Penelope Clearwater one day when they were studying in the library. She glanced to the side. "It was just a bad game for you. They're being immature jerks about it. You shouldn't let it get to you."

"I know it shouldn't get to me. But it does! Especially when they do it right in front of me," said Kiera, looking up at Penelope, but she was looking off to the side again. Kiera followed her gaze to see that Penelope had been staring at Percy Weasley a few tables over. "Do you like him?" Penelope's gaze flew from Percy to Kiera.

"What?"

"I said: do you like him?" Penelope sputtered for a bit, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Finally, she pointed a finger at her sternly.

"Finish your essay!"

~*~

"What classes do we have this morning?" asked Kiera, looking on the table for a butter knife.

"Double Herbology and Charms," said Penelope. Kiera groaned and slumped forward. "I do wish you wouldn't do that. It isn't becoming for a young lady." Kiera snorted.

"Penelope, you're starting to sound eerily similar to my mother."

"I take that as a compliment. Your mother is a wonderful lady." Kiera rolled her eyes and Penelope glared.

"I think I'm going to dash upstairs to get my scarf. It's going to be windy today," said Kiera. Penelope just opened her Daily Prophet and said nothing. Kiera shrugged and headed up to the Ravenclaw tower. She had just barely rounded the corner after climbing the marble staircase when she ran straight into none other than Marcus Flint. She glared and muttered a half-hearted apology for running into him and proceeded to go around him, but he stepped to the side and blocked her way.

"What do you want, Flint?" growled Kiera. She didn't like the way he was smirking at her.

"Thought you'd be happier to see me, Pip." His smirk widened when her face reddened and she clenched her fists.

"I really don't have time for this. I will be late for Herbology if I don't hurry up and get my scarf. And if you ever call me 'Pip' again, I will personally execute you." She attempted to elbow her way past him, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her against him. Her face reddened again, but for an entirely different reason. She squirmed in his grasp, half nervous and half excited in spite of herself. She couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with their faces mere inches apart. He leaned forward and for one split second she thought Flint was going to kiss her, but instead he brought his mouth to her ear.

"I could warm you up. I bet I'd be more enjoyable than a scarf. Don't you think?" But Kiera had no time to think because suddenly Flint was nibbling on the sensitive part of her earlobe and she froze, gasping. She grasped the front of Flint's robes to keep her knees from buckling as a wave of heat washed over her. All too soon, he stopped his ministrations on her ear, chuckling softly as she let out a soft groan of protest.. "Liked that, didn't you? There's plenty more where that came from, Pip." Kiera abruptly backed away, staring at him in horror and humiliation, then--

SLAP! Flint staggered back a little bit and then stared at her blankly.

"If you ever touch me again, I will QUARTER you and enjoy every minute of it!" hissed Kiera. With that, she turned on her heels and stormed back down the marble staircase, scarf completely forgotten.

~*~

She could hardly concentrate in Herbology due to the slight tingling feeling of her ear. She was easily distracted and because of that, she narrowly missed being strangled by one of the vine plants they were working with. She froze when Penelope felt her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Er...Penny?" Penelope fixed her with a stern gaze.

"You don't have a fever, yet you're acting like you're delirious. What's the matter?" asked Penelope. Kiera reddened considerably but didn't answer. Penelope raised an eyebrow but didn't confront her until later in the dormitory when the other sixth year girls were down in the common room.

"Something has been bothering you all day," said Penelope. "I'm worried about you, K. P.! Please tell me." Kiera flopped down on her bed and sighed, contemplating on how to tell her.

"You see...um...when I went up to get my scarf this morning...I never quite got there." Penelope frowned.

"Well, I do remember that you didn't have it when you got back...so what happened?"

"Er...I had just climbed the stairs and then I ran into Flint." Kiera wasn't sure how to continue. Penelope's eyes narrowed.

"You didn't let his mocking get to you again, did you?" Kiera shook her head.

"He wasn't really mocking me. But..." Kiera took a deep breath and then told Penelope how it went after that. Penelope looked dumbstruck.

"He...he...what?" Kiera groaned and flopped onto her back.

"I know...and I...I liked it!" fretted Kiera. "He is the most loathsome person ever! What is wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you. Let's look at the logic of this." Kiera sat up again, curious as to how logic fit into it all. "Just because Flint...did that...doesn't mean that you like him in particular. That would be like saying you like everyone that tickles you but tickling evokes the same feeling no matter who does it."

"That's a really good insight of it. I'm glad I don't like him," said Kiera, relieved. The matter was dropped, and they went about discussing more important things like lessons or their theories of what may be in the Chamber of Secrets.

~*~

"Don't look, but here he comes now. Are you absolutely sure you don't want me to report him?" asked Penelope. Kiera shook her head and averted her gaze to the ground as Flint passed them in the hall, sneering. "You know, I may have been wrong with my tickling theory."

"I do NOT like him! He's a jerk, and a perverted one at that," said Kiera. Penelope raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I can't understand why you don't want to report him."

"It's just...I don't want him to have the smugness in knowing that he bothers me," said Kiera hesitantly. They sat down in the Great Hall for lunch.

"I think it's quite obvious that he bothers you. Actually, I hear you complaining about him the most out of all the Slytherins," said Penelope. "Come to think of it, you talked endlessly about him yesterday."

"That's because he's a right foul git." Kiera stabbed her fork viciously into her piece of chicken.

"Whatever you say, K. P." said Penelope, looking unconvinced.

"Oh, go snog a Weasley."

"Go snog Flint," retorted Penelope without hesitation. Kiera coughed, nearly choking on her pumpkin juice. "Or perhaps you can go gnaw on his ear in return."

Kiera nearly died of asphyxiation.