The Dreamwalker's Daughter

Chapter Eight It's Raining Cats and Beaters

Sarah woke up a couple of times in the night and checked on Michayla each time. It was a relief to find her sleeping peacefully. After the second time she was able to relax enough to get a good nights sleep. However, it didn't take long after her alarm went off though, that she started thinking about the events of the last forty-eight hours.

Michayla was given a clean bill of health by Mrs. Hutton first thing in the morning and they were all back to their traditional breakfast mayhem. It was raining again and Eric kept looking out the windows and winking at various team members. Sarah nearly choked on her oatmeal when he winked at her. "I think that your brother likes playing in the mud," said Sarah to Zoe, after regaining her wits.

Zoe laughed and Raphael, who had overheard what they said, leaned over. "Some of our easiest wins have been in the worst rain and snow storms. It seems to really pump him up."

Zoe shook her head. "That does not surprise me at all. All of my friends and relatives are storm weirdo's," she said looking at Sarah, who answered with a laugh. It wasn't long before they were listening to the bell, ending Darks Arts class. Abydos had given everyone a dirty look when he heard someone making fun of Michayla this was all that was necessary to keep the class under control for the hour they were there. Zoe, Megan, and Michayla started to make their usual speedy exit when they noticed Sarah hanging back.

"Go ahead, I need to ask Professor Abydos something about my homework," said Sarah trying to look earnest. "I'll just meet you in Divination, okay?" Zoe and Michayla along with the rest of the gang looked at each other oddly and then nodded okay.

Abydos was deep in thought as she approached his desk cautiously. "Yes Miss Nettleton," he said without looking up.

"Professor Abydos may I please ask you a couple of questions?" she said as politely as she could.

Again, the Professor continued to study his books. "If you make it quick."

"I was looking at this book the other day and I found a term that I didn't understand, but it insinuated that it had something to do with Dark Magic and I just wondered if you knew what it meant."

Sarah now had his attention. "And what would that be?"

"Dreamwalker," said Sarah trying not to look directly into his eyes.

Abydos leaned back in his chair and gave her a contemplating look. "You read this in a book?" Sarah nodded again avoiding his eyes. He rose from his chair and came around his desk to face her. "I haven't heard anyone use that term in a number of years. You would perhaps be surprised to know that it was used in conjunction with your friend Chinkana."

Sarah was surprised and was quite sure that her face expressed that. "Really sir?"

"At the height of his power Chinkana had many followers, some of which had his same gift for entering peoples' dreams. He would send them there for various reasons, to recruit, or perhaps just disrupt an enemy's life, sometimes even to kill. These wizards were eventually referred to as Dreamwalker's by many Aurors." Abydos met her eyes and kept her there long enough to ask one question. "Now Miss Nettleton would you like to tell me what book you came across this word in?"

Sarah knew she would not, but she knew she would never feel comfortable enough with Professor Abydos to ever say so. She swallowed hard and answered, "I didn't see it in a book sir, someone called me that, and now I wish I hadn't found out what it was."

Abydos' demeanor now changed and he sat on one corner of the desk. Some of his senior class were now filing into the back of the classroom and Sarah wanted nothing more now than to leave and try to forget this conversation ever happened. Abydos raised his hand to them and asked them to wait outside. Sarah had never heard anyone tell Abydos no, but she was still surprised at how quickly even the seniors turned and exited the classroom. "I don't know who called you that Sarah but there are a lot of wizards and witches that have gifts in common with those who chose to use them to do evil. This in no way insinuates that you could or would follow their ways. What you choose to do with what comes natural to you and what you learn is up to you." Sarah was now scared to death, not only had she found out that she had something in common with dark wizards but Professor Abydos, the scariest teacher in the school was calling her by her first name.

"Thanks Professor, I better get to Divination before Professor Semiramise predicts me an F," she said trying to lighten the mood. Sarah watched his eyes to see if he was going to object to her leaving, when he didn't move she smiled and then turned around to leave. However, she had taken only two steps before he called her name.

"Miss Nettleton, I won't ask who called you this at this time, but remember that you are the only one who holds the key to your destiny."

Sarah looked back at him and nodded, "Yes sir, thank you again." Then she left as quickly as she could and headed for Divination.

Sarah lied to the Professor and said she hadn't brought her crystal ball; she had no desire to listen to its warnings right now. Sarah knew that Semiramise could tell she was lying and didn't understand why she hadn't called her on it. As class went on Sarah could feel the Professor watching her and then to top it all off Zoe's latest astrological prediction had been danger to a close friend. Sarah was the first one to head to the door when the bell rang and was again surprised when Semiramise hadn't asked her to stay over. Zoe kept asking her all day if she was okay until Sarah lost her temper after Herbology and Zoe backed off. "I'm sorry I'm just edgy, worried about my first Quidditch game I guess," said Sarah thinking up a quick lie.

"Well Eric does seem to loose his mind sometimes before a game I guess you can too," Zoe said smiling.

Sarah was glad that Zoe accepted her explanation and left her alone in Charms class. She just wished that Griffin had. It seemed that every time she turned around Griffin was making some sort of obscene gesture her way. It was just Sarah's luck that Professor Quigley was missing it each and every time. She was so grateful when the last bell rang and she was headed back to the common room that she didn't notice Professor Abydos until she bumped into him and spilled her backpack out onto the ground. "Hello again, Miss Nettleton," said Abydos glaring at her.

"Sorry Professor I was preoccupied," she said reaching down to pick up her books and was stuffing them back in her pack.

"Have you seen Miss Surriette?" he now asked shaking his head at her misfortune, "Professor Killainka is looking for her."

"I believe she's in the dorm sir, her and Zoe were a little ahead of me," explained Sarah. "I could tell her you're looking for her," she suggested.

"I have a better idea, you find her and bring her to Professor Killainka's office, that way she doesn't get lost." Sarah knew that his idea was actually a command and just nodded. "Very well then," he said turning and returned to his classroom. Sarah was just grateful that he hadn't brought up this morning's conversation. It didn't take long before she had found Michayla and then were headed toward Killainka's office.

"Do you know what he wants?" asked Michayla fearfully.

"No, Abydos just said he wanted to see you."

They walked along silently for a moment or two and then Michayla stopped and looked at Sarah, "Did you tell him anything else?"

"No, I promise, just what I told him before, about my dreams and finding you on the floor," said Sarah earnestly after all she hadn't told Killainka anything else, she had only told Eric and she hadn't told Abydos where she had heard about Dreamwalker's.

Michayla was extremely quiet the rest of the way. Sarah wasn't going to say anything if she wasn't, since she had no idea what to say anyway. The ten-minute walk felt like two days, but they finally made it and were standing outside his door when Sarah heard him invite them in. Sarah noticed the look of confusion on Michayla's face but didn't dare explain that this hadn't surprised her.

Sarah opened the door and walked in, followed by Michayla. Professor Killainka was sitting by the fire in his usual chair but there was a tall dark skinned man sitting across from him that she didn't recognize. Before there was any chance for introductions though, Michayla cleared things up. "Daddy," she said slowly crossing the room and standing next to the man. Sarah noticed that the man rose to his feet and smiled but that he merely placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded to acknowledge her. Michayla took in what she received as if it were gold to a poor man, and then turned grinning ear to ear at Sarah. "Sarah this is my dad. Dad this is my friend Sarah Nettleton."

Killainka watched carefully as the tall thin man took three steps forward and extended his hand to Sarah. He had black hair like Michayla's that was short and slicked back and he limped slightly as he walked forward. Sarah looked at the enthusiasm that was in Michayla's eyes and reached out to greet her father.

Whoosh! There was a bright flash of green light and Sarah heard voices screaming in a distance. She had an overwhelming feeling of dread as she looked up and into a familiar darkness. "Sarah, Sarah, are you all right?" Michayla asked grabbing her arm and steadying her.

Sarah opened her eyes again and focused on Professor Killainka who had moved forward to take Sarah's other arm. "Sarah are you?"

Sarah looked Killainka straight in the face and nodded. "Sorry, I've not been getting a lot of sleep lately and I'm a little dizzy for it." She then allowed Killainka to help her into a nearby chair and leaned back into it. After giving her another concerned look Killainka sat down next to her and then encouraged Michayla and her father to occupy the other chairs by the fire.

"Michayla, I contacted your father when you became ill. He has just now received the message and has come to see how you are." Killainka was talking to Michayla, yet he was having a hard time keeping his eyes off of Sarah.

"I'm all right dad, the nurse checked me over and I got a really good night's sleep." Michayla seemed to be trying hard to convince her father that she was all right. Sarah knew that Michayla was always concerned about being pulled out of Dragon's Wood and assumed that she was stressing about it at this time. "You didn't tell my mother did you?" she asked, more Killainka than her father.

"Michayla, Professor Killainka has assured me that you're fine and there's no need to worry about you at the moment, so calm down." Sarah noticed that Michayla's father spoke in a low almost hissing voice that sent chills down her spine as he spoke. Sarah shifted in her chair and looked up to see Killainka again studying her face.

"Perhaps we should leave Michayla and her father alone for a while, Sarah. Do you feel up to joining me for a short walk?" said Killainka rising to his feet.

Sarah nodded, "I'd like that."

Killainka extended his arm and Sarah smiled widely before also rising to take it. "We'll be out in the hallway when you're finished assuring your father that you're all right, Miss Surriette."

Michayla smiled, "Thanks Professor." Then she gave Sarah her own personal smile and then moved closer to her dad as they crossed the room and exited into the hallway.

They weren't far from the doorway when Killainka stopped and looked Sarah eye to eye. "Are you all right? Don't tell me that you've not had enough sleep."

"Professor who is that man?" Sarah asked almost whispering, Sarah was sure that she had a look of terror in her eyes.

"What happened Sarah?" answered Killainka, looking even more concerned this time.

"It was worse than before. When I touched his hand, I got this awful cold and gut wrenching feeling. I heard screaming voices that seemed to come from every direction. I felt as though he could have drawn all of the life out of me if I continued to hold his hand." Sarah looked drained just from her speech.

Killainka hadn't expected her to unfold such an exact and disturbing account of her encounter. He now took her a little further down the hall and into Professor Ratcliff's office, which fortunately was unoccupied at the time. After stoking the fire in the fireplace he encouraged her to move close to the fire, assuring her that the warmth would help to make her stronger. Sarah had no problem following his instructions for she had still not completely shook the bone chilling feeling that the hand shake had brought on. "Better?" he asked after a moment or two. Sarah nodded.

"Professor, will you answer my question?"

"Who is he?" said Killainka, Sarah again nodded. "I'm sure your father told you that when Lord Voldemort disappeared many years ago that there were people who came back to our side claiming that they had been under a spell and unable to break free." Sarah nodded, "Well when Chinkana disappeared the same thing happened with his followers. There were those like Dillon's mother who were genuinely taken and after months or years of therapy were able to continue with their lives. And then there were the Dreamwalker's."

Sarah turned red and hid her eyes, she knew at that moment that Abydos had told Killainka of what she had asked about. "I'm sorry sir, I should have told you but until Professor Abydos told me what they were I didn't know it was important, after all there was a time when I had no idea that Mudblood was basically a swear word."

Killainka smiled and nodded, "I suppose I can see your point. Sarah, Michayla's father was a Dreamwalker. Her mother would like Michayla to believe that she didn't know he was a wizard and that was what was why they fought and split up. The truth was that she found out he was a Dreamwalker, she took Michayla and ran. By the time he had found her, Chinkana had disappeared. He had been one of the first to come clean and say that he was under his spell. I believe that Michayla's mother was fighting her enrollment in school because she was afraid that she would follow in her father's foot steps."

Sarah sat staring into the fire and having no idea what to say. Her emotions were quickly changing from total pity for Michayla to wanting her to sleep in a different dorm. However, Sarah somehow felt that if Michayla were following in her father's footsteps she should have felt it by now. She was finding it hard to believe that considering the past flashes that she had had including the one that happened only moments ago, that Michayla could live in the same room with her and not set off the bells and whistles. "I don't think so," said Sarah.

"Pardon?" said Professor Killainka.

"She wouldn't do that, I just don't think that Michayla wouldn't follow in her fathers footsteps," said Sarah with the confidence that she had about Dillon being alive and all right last year.

Professor Killainka patted her on the shoulder and smiled. "Well we will see what we will see. But I have a feeling that you and Michayla will be up very late finishing your homework. if we don't get you two back to the dormitory. Sarah let's try not to spread this too far around school. I have a feeling that there are all ready far too many people who know it."

Sarah nodded and Killainka turned and headed toward the door. Sarah turned back to the fire for a moment and glanced into the flames. "If ever there was a time this year that I could use your support, this is it," whispered Sarah to the fire. Killainka stopped for a second and smiled.

As always Professor Killainka had impeccable timing, he and Sarah managed to exit Professor Ratcliff's office only seconds before Michayla and her dad came out of his. Sarah managed to stay two steps behind the Professor as they approached them. Michayla was too wrapped up in her father to notice Sarah apprehension. It was clear to Sarah that the world began and ended with him for Michayla.

Sarah was trying very hard not to stare at Michayla's father but was now spending all of her time sizing him up when she thought no one was looking. Sarah watched him gesture and move as he spoke to Killainka, he seemed smooth and slick like an eel or a used car salesman. He wore black silk robes like Abydos, but without the gold sash and writing. Sarah wasn't intimidated by the cloak however until he had said his good-byes to Michayla and Professor Killainka, and then before turning to her he reached behind him and pulled forward his hood covering most of his face. A cold chill rose slowly up her spine and she didn't even hear what he said to her or even see him leave because of the overwhelming sense of Deja Vu. She had seen this man before; she had seen him in her dreams.

Michayla had spent all morning talking about her father coming to visit her and how much better it made her feel. She hadn't thought twice about Sarah's week spell, after all she had not been there last year and had no understanding of what it could mean. Sarah was grateful that she hadn't mentioned it to anyone and decided that it was best that she didn't either. It was long after their last class that Zoe even considered asking Sarah what she thought about Michayla's dad. Sarah mustered the best smile that she could and lied through her teeth. "He seemed all right for a dad."

Zoe smiled. "That's good I'd hate to think he didn't seem like a dad," Zoe said sarcastically. Then seeing Megan and Michayla reenter the common room, she decided to see what they were up to. "Hey, are you coming?" she said looking back at Sarah.

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"Nay, tomorrow's my first real game I thought I'd go over the stuff Eric wrote down for me about Parathion's playing style. Besides, I promised Professor Semiramise that I would mediate for at least an hour tonight, she said it might even help with the game tomorrow." Sarah really had told the Professor that she'd meditate tonight and she was nervous about the game but she had to admit that she was grateful for the excuse.

Zoe rolled her eyes, "My brother is a bad influence on you," she said before walking away. Sarah laughed, grabbed her backpack, and headed to a quiet corner of the common room as far away from Zoe and the others as she could get. It wasn't long before Eric entered the room and caught sight of what she was doing.

"That's the kind of dedication that I like to see," he said sitting down next to her and slapping her on the back.

Sarah laughed. "I'm really nervous. I really don't want to be the one who blows the game. I mean sure I want to win, but it more important to me that I just don't personally loose the game."

"I remember feeling that way my first game."

"What happened?" asked Sarah.

"I made the winning goal for the other team," he said distorting his face. Sarah looked at him for a second and then busted out laughing. "Oh you laugh now, but I nearly got kicked out of the dormitory," he said grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, I'm supposed to be meditating right now, but I bet Professor Semiramise wouldn't mind if I was playing chess instead or do you have to meet Morgan?"

"I'd love to play chess and besides Morgan isn't speaking to me, she saw me talking to one of the Parathion prefects and accused me of cheating on her. Like I'd ever date a Parathion prefect," he said winking. "I'll get my chess set and be back in a flash."

"Cool, do you mind if we play in a study room? I still don't feel comfortable with an audience."

"Sure I'll meet you there." Eric returned a few minutes later and met Sarah in one of the empty study rooms. Eric beat her the first time but was pleasantly surprised when she beat him in game two.

"I think I taught you too well," Eric said looking at the board after Sarah had proclaimed, "Check mate." As they were setting, up for their third and final game and up until then they had mostly talked about the upcoming Quidditch game and her studies with Professor Semiramise but Eric finally got around to asking if everything had been going okay with Michayla and her dreams. Sarah looked around to see if anyone was near the doorway that could hear. Eric noticed her concern and asked, "What's up?"

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"I went to Professor Abydos yesterday after class and I asked him about the Dreamwalker thing."

Eric was shocked. "I'm impressed, what did he say?"

"He said that's what the Aurors called Chinkana's follower's because they could enter people's dreams like he could."

"Wow, I wonder why Michayla would have called you that?" said Eric looking mortified.

"I met her dad yesterday Eric, when I took her to Professor Killainka's office, when I touched his hand I had another spell, you know like last year only it was the scariest yet. Eric, Professor Killainka told me that Michayla's father was a Dreamwalker."

Eric sat with his mouth wide open. "You've got to be kidding."

"Killainka said that he's reformed, or he says so, but it was just horrible touching his hand. It was like someone was trying to suck the life right out of me and I could hear people screaming, it was horrible."

Eric looked across the chessboard at Sarah. "What else did Professor Killainka say?"

"Not really anything, just that he thought her mother was afraid of her following in his footsteps. Oh, and he didn't want me spreading it around the school, probably for Michayla's sake. He said too many people knew all ready. But I just had to tell someone and you're the only one I trust with things like this."

Eric smiled softly. "I'm glad that you feel that way about me," he said then he shook his head. "That's crazy. Are you all right?"

"I guess I was really afraid that I'd dream about him last night. I had the strangest feeling right before he left that I'd all ready seen him in my dreams," explained Sarah. "But I couldn't tell you if it was last night or last year."

"I want to know if you have anymore crazy dreams or if you think you've been in anyone else's but yours. Alright?" Eric said looking her in the eyes.

Sarah nodded. "Yes big brother," she said sarcastically.

"Oh hush and make your first move," he said blushing and gesturing to the chessboard. Sarah smiled and then proceeded to beat him again. Sarah had the feeling though that this time he had let her win. She now found herself wishing that the Parathion team would do the same tomorrow night.

The next day both Dillon and Sarah were gigantic raw nerves. It had been terribly hard to concentrate in class and neither had eaten a single bite at lunchtime. The worse part was that Eric's predictions about the weather were coming true. Sarah sat in Charms class and stared out the window at the raging storm. She had to admit that she loved storms, there was this certain kind of magic that the rain, the thunder and the lightning produced that couldn't be taught at Dragon's Wood, but she wasn't quite sure that she had any desire to fly in it.

Eric hadn't made it any better, each time he had passed her and Dillon in the hallway he had pointed out a nearby window and grinned. The last time he had done it, Zoe had produced her wand and threatened shrink important parts of his body if he didn't stop it. This had at least managed to relax Dillon and Sarah a little. But now it was only a matter of moments before the bell would ring releasing them from Charms class then only a trip to the dormitory, before she would be rising into the rain for her first official Quidditch match. At the true moment of this realization, Sarah thought she might wet her pants.

"Man, you guys look so cool," said William, as Sarah and Dillon entered the common room in their new uniforms. Dillon turned quickly toward Michayla to see if she was looking and nearly tripped over a chair when he met with her eyes.

"Cool's not the word I would use," said Michayla suddenly blushing.

Sarah smiled and put a glove-padded hand on Dillon's shoulder. "I wish this get up included a gigantic bubble for each of us," said Sarah again looking out the window and watching the rain come down in sheets.

Sarah hadn't noticed that Eric had now entered the room with Raphael and was staring in her direction. "If I had known how good you were going to look in the blue and gold I'd have figured out how to get you on the team last year."

Sarah tried very hard to prevent the color of her face from changing but was unsuccessful. "Unless you have a desire to be knocked into the mud by a rogue Bludger, I suggest you stop teasing me," said Sarah pulling at the padding around her neck.

Everyone laughed and then Sarah pulled her hood up over her head and grabbed Dillon's arm. "Let's go kick some Parathion's butt." The rain had let up a little and Sarah hadn't heard any thunder in at least a half hour by the time that she and the rest of the team gathered at the back of the stadium for their last pep talk before the whistle.

Eric waited for everyone to grow quiet before he smiled slyly and turned his ear to the stadium door. "Do you hear that? That is the sound of victory. There has never been a Parathion team that could play as well as we do in the rain. It's because we don't have to see the balls that we chase or dodge we can feel them and there is no doubt in my mind that when we fly out onto that field, in the rain and the dark that we will be victorious. Now line up, 'cause we're heading out," he said pointing at the door at the end of the locker room.

Sarah swung her bat over her shoulder and lined up side by side with the other Beater for the team, Marjorie Evens, directly behind Dillon and Eric as they lined up in front of the door. Again, she lifted her hood and watched as everyone else did the same. Dillon turned around and met her eyes, "We're going to win," he mouthed silently.

Sarah however was not so quiet, "You bet your broom we will," she said loudly smiling at Eric and Dillon. Then seconds later the double doors opened and Sarah along with the rest of the other team members mounted their brooms and flew out into the rain.

The invisible canopy's had been added to the tops of the bleachers so the spectators, at least, were staying reasonably dry. However, the cloaks and hoods of the players were doing very little. Sarah followed Eric in a lap around the stadium and noticed Zoe and the others were bouncing up and down in the Bellarmine box, as they passed. They had formed their half of the circular line up when the Parathion team entered the Stadium, took a lap also and then completed the circle. Sarah saw Dillon line up nearly nose-to-nose with the younger Griffin brother as Sir Roger walked out onto the field. The rain had picked up again and Sarah was nearly clipped by one of the bludgers as it rose from its box. Her first instinct was to sending it lobbing in Griffin's direction, and she did it quite successfully.

"Crap," said Sarah as he was narrowly saved by a Parathion Beater. Sarah was disappointed that she'd only pissed the weasel off, she had managed to distract the Parathion's long enough for the Quaffle to be taken by Eric.

Sarah closed her eyes and focused. She was thinking about the bludgers and trying to sense where they were. After a moment or two it seemed it worked as Sarah lashed out into the rain, eyes closed and connected with first one and then the other and sent them both flying toward a Griffin boy. The younger Griffin lunged downward, as the Bludger whizzed by his head, however Malcolm, who was the Keeper for the Parathion team, took his in the stomach causing him to quickly loose altitude and allowing Eric to score their first goal.

Sarah listened as Stephen Fitzpatrick, the highly animated commentator from the Keynes dormitory, recapped the play blow by blow. She could swear that she heard Zoe bragging that he was her brother as she rounded the stadium and headed back into the game.

She was soaking wet and finding herself compensating for the weight of the water. It was almost as exhilarating as it was challenging fighting the sheets of rain that were now falling. It had been dark when they had started the game due to the clouds, however the sun was now disappearing below the horizon and even with all of the lights in the Stadium lit, the darkness was making the rain even harder to tolerate.

Not for Eric, however. Sarah watched as he scored three more goals in less than five minutes. It was as though he had his own Quaffle stashed inside his robes and was passing it back and forth between the goals. Sarah had just begun to have a good feeling about things when one of the older Griffin boy's friends, Harold McBray swooped down and intercepted the Quaffle taking it all the way to the goal.

Sarah could hear Raphael cussing as she glided passed to make sure he was okay. Being assured of it, she quickly turned and headed toward Eric who was attempting to regain the Quaffle. She managed to fend off both bludgers as she did her best to protect her Chasers but ended up letting her guard down long enough to get hit by it's third time around. It took everything she had to maintain the grip on her broom between the rain and the impact of the Bludger.

But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that her upset had allowed the Parathion team to score two goals bringing their lead to only ten points. Sarah felt extremely guilty for this and searched around for someone to knock a Bludger into. The rain was so thick now that she found her only resource to be herself. Then for some reason she was the first but not the only one to see it.

"There is it!" screamed Zoe pointing at the Snitch that had just screeched by them.

"Look, Dillon's seen it." added Megan. It was then and only then that she noticed that Dillon wasn't the only one. It seemed that Griffin's idea of looking for the Snitch was to follow Dillon until he saw it, and he was now side by side with him trying to bump him off.

Sarah watched as Parathion scored another goal and was now tied with Bellarmine. "We just have to win, I couldn't possibly loose to those two creeps." Thought Sarah as she pushed forward through the rain and found a Bludger with the end of her bat just in time to send it toward Griffin at full force. Unfortunately, Parathion's beater had found the other one and was now aiming for Dillon.

"Crap." said Sarah closing her eyes and aiming the full force of her broomstick in the direction of the Bludger. As she got closer, she could tell that there would not be enough time to hit it and keep it from hitting Dillon, who was so focused on the snitch that he couldn't even see his impending doom. As she grew nearer, she knew what she had to do. Sarah closed her eyes and pushed forward faster than she'd ever gone. She was concentrating, she was confident and she was about to be tasting mud as she felt the impact of the Bludger hit her in the chest and she began plummeting to the ground. The last thing she remembered was hearing the announcer scream, "And the Bellarmine Seeker gets the Snitch."

Sarah awoke and opened her eyes; she had no trouble figuring out where she was since it seemed to her that she'd spent half of last year there. However, this time she was covered with mud and staring up at seven others who looked the same including Dillon who sighed with relief and smiled from ear to ear when their eyes met. Her whole body ached including the pounding that she felt in her head. "Tell me we won," she said as soon as she could find the words. Everyone began to answer at once giggling and laughing and nodded affirmative. It took Eric and then Mrs. Hutton to calm things down.

"Hey, you goof balls, cut it out," said Eric slapping a couple of the players on the back. It took a couple of moments but the rest of the team settled down long enough for Dillon to push forward.

"You got it!" said Sarah trying to sit up and grab Dillon.

"I don't think so Miss Nettleton," came the ever-familiar voice of Mrs. Hutton. "I need to check that head of yours and how those bones are mending before you can have any kind of contact with these barbarians."

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Eric and the rest of the team stifled their laughter as the she pushed through the group and began to bark out commands for them to leave. Everyone moaned, but turned and headed out of the door giving her encouraging looks and last minute high fives. Eric was the last one to leave, winking as he left. It didn't take long for Mrs. Hutton to look her over, decide that she needed a shower more than additional bed rest, and send her back to the dormitory hobbling. There was so much celebrating going on in the common room when she arrived that it took a minute or two for anyone to see her. Zoe of course was the first screaming and running over to hug her. "Hey mending bones here," said Sarah laughing at Zoe's enthusiasm.

"I can't believe you flew right in front of that bludger," said Zoe jumping up and down.

Dillon now stepped from behind some of the older members of the team and slowly approached Sarah. "Thanks," he said with his eyes lowered Sarah looked at him for a second and then grabbed hold of him hugging the stuffing's out of him and recovering his freshly showered body with mud causing the entire common room to erupt in laughter.

"Yuck. I think you need a shower hop-along," said Eric intervening, "And looks like you need a change of clothes," he said turning to Dillon.

Sarah laughed, grabbed Dillon's arm and pulled him down the hallway shoving him in the direction of the boy's rooms as she veered off to the girl's wing. When they had both returned, the party was still in full swing and Eric was retelling the game's highlights for the fourth time. "The best part," he was now saying "was that she managed to knock Griffin half way across the stadium with the other one." Eric looked up to see Sarah and then Dillon entering. "And then out of pure self-sacrifice Sarah dove in front of the bludger just as Dillon, the world's fastest Seeker grabbed the Snitch assuring Bellarmine of the win."

The room now erupted as though they had just witnessed the play instead of hours ago. Only this time they were able to hoist both of their conquering heroes onto their shoulders. They began parading around the common room just as Professor Quigley appeared at the entrance. It didn't take long before they all stopped and froze staring at the Professor, Sarah and Dillon still on their shoulders. "Good evening Professor," said Eric smiling ear to ear.

"Mr. Turner," she said trying not to crack a smile. "Looks as though we're all having a good time."

"Yes ma'am." answered Eric.

"Well that's all fine and dandy but I think that you'd all better be getting off to bed now." There were several chorus' of moaning and "do we have to's" before they lowered Sarah and Dillon to the floor and started heading down their hallways. As Sarah and Dillon turned, Professor Quigley stopped them, "Not so fast Miss Nettleton and Mr. Ratcliff."

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Sarah and Dillon spun around and froze. "Yes Professor," said Sarah.

Professor Quigley looked at them for a moment with a scowl on her face and that slowly turned into a wide grin. "Well done. Best Quidditch playing I've seen in a long time. Keep up the good work," she said winking. She then turned and started toward her own quarters.

Eric, who had poked along to be left alone with Sarah and Dillon, now put his arm around them both and guided them toward the hallway. "You guys were great, you can't imagine how proud I am of both of you," he said turning them both pink.

"Well I just hope that I don't have to break a bone every time we win a game," Sarah said smiling. Eric and Dillon chuckled and then they said good night to her as they headed down the opposite hallway.

Sarah was so tired that she barely had to find the bed before she was falling asleep. She reached down, rubbed her recently repaired leg, and winced. She was about to snuggle in, when she remembered her father's request for an owl after her first game. Reaching over to her desk, she grabbed some paper and a pen and began to relate to him first what she remembered of the game and then what she had been told about it. She ended by assuring him that she had weathered well and would write again soon. Sarah looked at Max. "I don't suppose you'd take this to Socrates would you?" Max opened his eyes for a second and then closed them as if he couldn't believe she had even asked him to move from his spot on the bed. Sarah chuckled and then decided that it could wait until in the morning, placed the note on her bedside table and snuggled down under the covers. It was the best sleep she'd had in a long time.

The next two weeks were grueling; it was nearly time for first semester finals, not to mention Christmas. With the extra homework, studying, meditation for Professor Semiramise, and Quidditch practice for their second game against Keynes, Sarah barely had time to breath let alone stress about bad dreams or Dreamwalker's. She hadn't forgotten about the things that she had learned about Michayla and her dad, but she hadn't woke up in any of Michayla's dreams since she'd had her seizure so it seemed that perhaps seeing her father had calmed Michayla enough to sleep without pulling Sarah into them.

Eric had been working the team so hard that Sarah was lucky to make it to the bed before falling asleep each night. The bad news was that her leg still hurt a little, but the good news was that the torrential rains had turned into lake effect snow.

It was the Friday before the last week of classes and only three days until their finals and Sarah sat in the library looking out a large picture window and watching the snowfall. She wasn't quite as nervous as a couple of weeks ago but her heart, still pounded slightly harder as she thought about mounting her broom and flying into the carpet of white. Sarah could hear Megan stressing out and arguing with Zoe over about studying verses going to the Quidditch game. "It's not like I'd be concentrating on spells instead of whether or not Sarah is lying face down in the snow."

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Sarah cringed. The thought of lying face down in the snow was not at the top of her list either. She consoled herself by thinking about Eric's last pep talk at practice. He had assured them that all though Keynes wanted to win, they normally did not stoop to the cutthroat tactics that Parathion did. Sarah guessed that Zoe had either won the argument or had just decided to blow Megan off because she had joined her at the table and had joined her in staring at the snow. "Trying to figure out a strategy for Quidditch in the snow?" asked Zoe after a minute or two.

"Trying to decide if I need to send Socrates for my skis," joked Sarah and then after they both chuckled a little they sat quiet again.

"Mom says she's got to go to Canada over the Christmas holidays and dad, well you know," said Sarah still staring out the window. Zoe nodded her head knowing all to well how their dad's were never home on the holidays. "So I guess I'll be staying here over break."

Zoe turned to her and waited for her to turn also. "Want me to ask mom if I can stay? Or maybe you could come home with us."

"Nay, don't ruin your Christmas on account of me. It's bad enough that you and Eric didn't get to go home last year," said Sarah just before concentrating on the snow again. "Dillon will be here and Professor Semiramise already said that she'd tutor me a little more if I wanted."

"What exactly are you doing with her anyway?" asked Zoe.

"I'm not sure how to explain. Right now, we're just spending a lot of time meditating and doing exercises to improve my concentration. She says that it is important for me to master these skills first before I start learning how to harness my natural ones."

Zoe turned to look at her again and took a deep breath. "I hope you don't mind but I sometimes wish you didn't have any 'natural' skills," said Zoe with a pleading look. "It's bad enough that my dad lives so dangerously, but it sucks that my best friend has to have these crazy things going on too."

Sarah smiled and put her arm around her best friend, "Yeah well I sometimes wish you didn't have such a charming personality but I don't dump you."

Zoe pulled back and slapped Sarah on the arm. "I love you too."

Sarah and Zoe then laughed a while before again staring at the snow. "I can't believe we've got lousy weather again for the game," said Sarah.

"Well like my brother always says, the worst weather is the best chance for Bellarmine to win." This sentiment was to be repeated only hours later as Sarah and the rest of the team were once again standing in the locker room listening to their fearless leader. This time they had one win under their belt and spirits were running high, so it was a little easier for Eric to convince them that the blinding snow and below zero wind chills were a plus not a minus.

Sarah again threw her bat over her shoulder and followed her captain and Keeper up into the air to circle around and form there half of the lineup, which was followed quickly by the Keynes team completing the circle. Sir Roger could barely be seen as he walked out on to the field, barked out the rules, and then released the balls. It took only moments for Eric to score two goals with the help of his fellow Chaser Brent Spiers. He had been right and Keynes did not exhibit the same aggressive style that Parathion did. They did however, seem to be faster and more agile which proved to be a bit more challenging for Sarah when it came to dealing with the bludgers.

One of the Beaters for their team seemed to be equally at one with the bludgers as Sarah. There was one point that they had actually batted one of the bludgers back and forth at each other at least five times before the other bludger had hit the Keynes Seeker, Jeffrey Thomas nearly knocking him off his broom and bringing the Keynes Beater back to reality.

Eric had been wrong though, about the snow being the same as the rain. Due to it getting dark so early and bad weather, the game had been moved up to a half hour after their last class and the setting sun that was peeking through a far cloud was causing a great deal of snow blindness, especially since the sun wasn't shining directly over head, where it continued to snow.

Sarah remembered someone told her once that when it was raining or snowing and the sun was shining that the witches in heaven were dancing. This thought danced through her mind as she swung around the stadium and headed toward the only shady area she could see hoping to recoup her vision. "They must have been Keynes alumni," Sarah thought to her self as a crisp wind blew by her sending chills down her spine.

She could see Dillon in the distance gliding slowly around the Stadium in search of the most important ball of all, as Eric lost the Quaffle to one of the Keynes Chasers and they scored not once but twice. None of this would matter however if Dillon was successful in retrieving his.

Sarah was now reminded of her purpose when she saw a bludger headed toward Raphael and she barely made it there in time to knock it out of the way and send it toward the Keynes Seeker. The only thing good about the snow had been that the small black bludgers stood out like a soar thumb against the blanket of white. The Keynes Beaters spent the next half hour keeping her very busy whacking the bludgers back and forth between their players and Sarah and Marjorie.

The snow had been melting on her cape, Sarah was beginning to feel like a witchsicle, and she could tell she wasn't the only one. Eric, nonetheless, was having no trouble staying warm, as he and the other chasers had been busy steeling the Quaffle back and forth from each other and scoring goals at least half the time. The last time Sarah had heard the announcer and the score she believed that she heard sixty to forty with Bellarmine in the lead, but she wasn't sure.

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The sun had disappeared below the horizon and the snow had let up a little but the night fall had made it even colder and she could see that Dillon was doing his best to keep from freezing as he searched for the Snitch. Watching Dillon had made Sarah distracted long enough that she had to barrel roll to duck an approaching bludger however she was able to straighten up and get a head of it and return it to where it came. She became lost again in following the bludgers and protecting first Eric, then Brent, then Raphael when she rounded a turn and found her self very close to the bleachers where she noticed that everyone had just risen to their feet and was pointing toward the opposite end of the Stadium.

Sarah focused and headed that way and as she got closer she could see what everyone was pointing at, the two seekers flying neck and neck and headed blindly into the snow and after the Snitch. Sarah watched as Dillon and Jeffrey Thomas dived and swerved trying to keep up with the small, gold, winged ball. Jeffrey had made the Keynes team the same time that Dillon and Sarah had, and watching him fly she could see why. Thomas was also in seventh grade so they had had several classes with him in the last two years. It had taken only a couple of months for him to acquire the nickname "Brooklyn" because of his obvious New York accent. Unlike Griffin, Jeffrey obviously didn't need to follow Dillon in order to win; he was having no trouble at all keeping up and was about to over take it.

"Damn," thought Sarah looking around for a bludger. After finding one and apologizing to Jeffrey out loud, she lobbed it at him. However, he was too quick and not only dodged it successfully but manage to grab the Snitch at the same time.

The stadium erupted in applause and screams as the announcer confirmed his capture and Jeffrey made a victory lap flying extremely close to the Keynes sections, who were falling all over them selves with excitement. It had been almost two years since they had won a game and it was plain to see that Jeffrey Thomas was to be their new conquering hero. After flying by and congratulating the other team, Sarah followed Eric into the locker room where he proceeded to congratulate them all, individually on a job well down.

"We don't win them all and the point spread is good, there's no reason to think that we still can't take the whole thing. Now head back to the dorm and get dried off, because a bad cold will not keep you out of practices." Eric smiled and the rest of the team forced one, except for Dillon who felt that he had let the whole team down.

It took everyone in the dormitory almost the entire night to convince him that he hadn't let them all down. Eric assured him that they would be practicing a lot of the next couple of weeks so he need not worry for they would win next time. By the end of the evening, Dillon was smiling. Sarah guessed that Eric's words helped but she was sure that Michayla's best wishes and praise had been the real reason he'd come around. Professor Quigley had again stopped in on her way to bed and thanked them for a job well done and informed them they should get to bed.

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"It just wasn't the same," thought Sarah to herself. As she sulked down the hallway behind Zoe, Megan and Michayla, who seemed to sense that she'd just rather not talk about it. Sarah hadn't had a nightmare that night but sleeping hadn't been a top priority either. When she had finally drug her herself into the Great Hall for breakfast, everyone else was nearly finished.

"Hey sleeping beauty," said Eric smiling.

However, Sarah wasn't in the mood. "Leave me alone," she grouched back.

"Oh, are we a sore looser?" asked Eric not letting up on her.

"No just a poor sleeper. I kept going over and over in my head what I could have done different."

"You're going to loose too much sleep if you do that every time we loose. I used to do it, so I should know. You just have to let it go and figure that it's only fair to let the other team win every once in a while." Then he paused and leaned forward to whisper the last part. "Unless of course it's Parathion," he said grinning ear to ear.

Sara chuckled and nodded. She then looked up to the giant skylights and noticed that they were covered over with a thick layer of the white stuff. All four large fireplaces had roaring fires in them and seemed exceedingly inviting as she considered the chill in her bones. Zoe was had just finished clearing her plate and returned to sit between Eric and Sarah.

"I'm trying to hide," she said after getting a strange look from them both. "Megan wants to spend the whole day studying in the library. She's convinced Dillon, William, and Michayla, but I need a break. She's driving me nuts."

Eric and Sarah chuckled. "Well it isn't my idea of a relaxing Saturday afternoon, but if I'm going to get twelve OWLS again this year. I'm going to have to spend most of the time I'm not practicing with my nose in a book."

Zoe rolled her eyes. Sarah knew that she was very proud of her brother for his excellent grades and skill at Quidditch, but she'd never admit it. By the end of breakfast, they had all decided reluctantly to join Megan in the Library. Eric however, spent most of his so called 'study time' replaying yesterdays game with some of the older members of the team and his girlfriend, who was apparently speaking to him again.

After lunch, Sarah and Zoe convinced Megan that they had studied enough and while Megan went off to begin the pack for next week, Sarah persuaded Zoe to play a game of chess with her. It was the first time they had ever played. Sarah had never wanted Zoe to teach her because they usual bumped heads when one taught the other something, so even though Zoe had known how all along they had never played one another. The second time Sarah had Zoe in Check, she leaned back, and smiled, "I see you've learned a lot from my creepy brother."

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Sarah laughed. "Shut up and move."

It took a lot of dancing around the chessboard, but Zoe finally managed to beat Sarah, after all, they were her pieces. "That was actually kind of fun," said Zoe after watching her pieces be congratulated by Sarah's.

"You're just saying that because you won."

"Nay, you almost beat me. Then it helps if it's your game. My pieces know me and can anticipate what I'm going to do," explained Zoe. Sarah had never thought about the game being intelligent, but then she was continuously finding things out about her knew world that surprised her. "That's why Eric win's so much. He's put a lot of time and effort getting his pieces to do what he wants. Killainka's the only one they respect enough not to work on his behalf."

Sarah thought about everything Zoe had said and laughed. "I guess I better get my own set then, huh?" The rest of the weekend went by quickly. Megan managed to talk them into two more study sessions before they had booed her out of the common room on her last attempt. Sarah and Dillon had met up with 'Brooklyn' in the hallway once on the way to eat and congratulated him. Jeffrey had turned seriously red and thanked them for being so diplomatic.

"You can't believe what this has done for my popularity," he said blushing, "Hardly anyone knew I even existed until I took the Snitch, even the Captain of the team wasn't sure I working out and now he's falling all over me. You should have seen Professor Murphy, I thought he was going to cry when we got back to the dorm that night." Sarah and Dillon smiled widely remembering how happy Professor Quigley had been. "It seems that the last dormitory he'd been in charge of had our same sort of track record." Talking to Jeffrey had allowed Sarah and Dillon to finally come to terms with their loss and they later decided that if it had to happen that it couldn't have been to a nicer team or Seeker.

No one wanted to be the first to go to bed on Sunday night, they all knew that in a matter or hours they'd be given there special pens bewitched with non-cheating spells and spend the next seven hours wading through their first semester finals.

Sarah plopped down on the large sofa next to the roaring fire in the Bellarmine common room and sighed. "I don't think I could have possibly written anything else."

Zoe and the rest of her friends sat down in various places around her and echoed her sentiments. "And I still have to go and finish packing," moaned Zoe.

"I told you, you should have done it days ago like I did," scolded Megan.

Zoe did her traditional eye roll and told Megan to shut up. Sarah tried not to chuckle and turned to William. "Are you finished packing? We all know Megan is."

William nodded, "I got tired of listening to Megan nag at me and just went on and did it," he said smiling.

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"What about you, Michayla?" asked Megan after giving William a dirty look

"I'm not going home," said Michayla looking at the floor. "It was part of the deal. My dad was afraid if I went home my mom wouldn't put me back on the train."

Dillon, who had been rubbing his eyes and sulking on one side of the sofa suddenly perked up, "Really, you're staying?" Michayla, recognizing the enthusiasm in his voice looked up, smiled, and nodded. "That's great. I mean Sarah and I will have some more company," he said turning three shades of red.

Sarah again tried to hide her laughter, "Yeah, Michayla that's cool," she echoed smiling at Dillon as well.

"Perhaps you and Sarah could come to my mom and dad's after the Christmas Feast, you know and just hang out with us," said Dillon, his eyes never leaving the floor.

"That would be cool," answered Michayla blushing pink. "I really like your mom."

Sarah could feel the hormones raging in the air and decided to bale Dillon out. "Yeah, well right now I have a feeling that if I don't help Zoe pack we're going to be stuck with her here, as she receives one howler after another from her parents."

Zoe shot her a dirty glance and then laughed. "She's right you know." Then they all laughed and then Sarah, Megan, and Michayla all followed Zoe down the hall and into their sleeping quarters to help her pack. It was very late into the night before they had all settled down enough to get to sleep.

In the morning, they would find out the results of their exams and those that were going home for Christmas would be leaving. Sarah wrote a quick note to her father. She had been quick to send him the news of their win, but hadn't felt it necessary to be that prompt with their loss. She related the details as best as she could without upsetting her self again and then wished him a Merry Christmas, since she wasn't sure how long it would take Socrates to find him. She then penned one to her mom avoiding all details of the Quidditch match except for; we lost and wished her a Merry Christmas. Socrates happened to be in the room all ready since he had brought some packages from her mother earlier. She quickly tied on both notes, wished him a Merry Christmas, and opened the window briefly to let him out. "Be careful," was the last thing she said before she closed the window, crawled into bed, and fell fast asleep.