Demented Match

"Rose, what did you find out in the common room?" Sally-Anne asked the next morning at breakfast.

"It wasn't Sirius that broke in, but he sent a black dog to do it."

Harry's eyes grew wide.

"What sort of a black dog?" he asked.

"Hold on a swift," Rose said, pulling her sketchpad out of her picnic basket. She showed him a picture of a familiar black dog.

"I drew that last night," Rose said. "Look familiar?"

"It's the dog that's been following me over the summer," Harry said.

"Why didn't you say something?!" Sally-Anne screeched. Her face turned pink when she realized how loud she'd been.

"I didn't think it was important," Harry said. "I tried telling Professor McGonagall earlier this year, but she didn't think anything of it."

"The dog's working for Sirius Black," Rose said. "It looked around your bed, Harry, and Ron's bed."

"Mine?!" Ron exclaimed. "What did it want around my bed?"

"Have you ever tried training a dog?" Hermione asked. "I've never had one, but I've heard it's hard. Where did he even get a dog? If this dog was trained by Sirius Black, he'd have done it in a few months. It's probably some stray he found. He trained it to find Harry's bed, and it got distracted by Ron's. Probably smelled crumbs of something that fell off his clothes and onto his bed."

"What, am I not good enough for Sirius Black?" Ron asked.

"Do you want to be the target of a serial killer?" Hermione asked.

"Well, erm, no," Ron said.

"What I want to know is how it got through the portrait," Hermione said. "That's far too clever for a stray dog, so how'd he get it to do that?"

Hermione felt like she was missing something obvious. It happened sometimes; her parents told her it was because she overthought everything. Something like once you get going, it's hard to start over again.

"Maybe it was looking for Harry's friends," Neville suggested.

"Then why not look around your bed?" Hermione asked.

"Right."

"Let's not worry about it now," Sally-Anne said. "The professors are taking care of it. Let's just relax and try to enjoy ourselves."

Like that's possible, Harry thought. At least Professor Lupin will be back soon.

As if Professor Lupin being too ill to talk to him about his parents wasn't bad enough, Harry began to notice something just as infuriating on Tuesday morning. Percy walked with them on the way to History of Magic, then again on the way to Defence Against the Dark Arts.

At first, Harry just thought Percy was making sure that they were alright, given that there had been a break-in Sunday. Percy was still their prefect, but then Harry realized that he had hardly seen Percy all year.

Maybe he's just trying to keep an eye on us, Harry told himself. He realized he needs to make sure we're okay.

This illusion was dashed after lunch when Percy insisted that he needed to see Professor Vector about something when Harry just so happened to be walking to Arithmancy.

"Are you following me?!" Harry demanded when no one else was around.

"I'm your prefect," Percy said. "I'm just making sure you're alright."

"You're also Ron's, Neville's, Dean's, and Seamus's prefect," Harry shot back, "but you're not watching them right now, you're watching me. Ron's your brother!"

"Ronald isn't in danger, Potter; you are."

"I'm fine!" Harry shouted, then took off towards Arithmancy, hoping that he could outrun Percy.

It didn't stop there. If Percy wasn't walking with him and his friends, Harry would notice a professor that just so happened to be going the same way they were.

"Is anyone else getting followed everywhere?" Harry asked at dinner that night.

"No," Neville replied.

"Even my parents aren't getting Rose to follow me," Hermione said. "They just told me not to lose the condition conch."

"They told me to be ready to help you," Rose said to Hermione.

"It's just me?" Harry said.

"Wait, who's following you?" Ron asked.

"How has no one else noticed that Percy's always walking with us?" Harry asked.

"It's not just him," Rose said, "the professors do it sometimes too, and Percy's under orders from his mother not to let you out of his sight."

Sally-Anne wasn't sure who was infuriated more, Harry or Ron.

The difference between them was Harry was subtle about it. He ground his teeth together, clenched his fists, but otherwise gave no indication that he was angry. Sally-Anne wouldn't have known if she hadn't been inside his head.

Ron's face turned a shade of red that nearly matched Rose's hair and began shouting.

"So that dog goes around my bed, but it's too much to ask to have him keep me safe! It's not like I'm her own flesh and blood or something!"

"Calm down," Ginny said. "You know how much Mum loves Harry."

"There's no reason to think Sirius Black's after you," Hermione said.

"His dog was by my bloody bed!" shouted Ron. With that said, Ron stormed out of the Great Hall before anyone could keep arguing with him.

"Someone should go talk to him," Sally-Anne said.

"He'll be fine," Ginny said. "He does stuff like this all the time. Just give him a few minutes, and he'll calm down. He'll have forgotten all about it in the morning."

Ron seemed fine in the morning, but it was obvious to anyone that wasn't wrapped up in their own problems that Ron was having problems of his own. Unfortunately for Ron, everyone else was wrapped up in their own problems.

As the week went by, Harry began talking more, if only about the Quidditch match the following Saturday. That gave the boys something to talk about, and kept both their minds off the Dementors and Sirius Black.

Saturday morning rolled around, and it was pouring. Sally-Anne was certain they canceled other matches when the weather was that bad, but apparently they didn't do that for Quidditch.

"Who cares?" Ron scoffed. "It's just a little rain! It won't bother Harry, right, mate?"

Harry was ecstatic for the first match. Wood had complemented him on how well he was doing in practice, something almost unheard-of from Wood, and it was all thanks to the new enchantment Rose put on his glasses. He could sense where any of the players were and react quickly. He could track the movements of the Snitch once it got within 30 feet of him, and he'd learned to distinguish between the Snitch and the other balls based on that sense.

Within seconds of stepping out onto the Pitch, Harry's glasses were completely useless as glasses. Harry began to panic; he couldn't see anything but a fog of water, and he wasn't sure if he could depend entirely on the new ability.

"Wood, we've got a problem!" Harry said, shouting to be heard in the rain.

"That's not something I want to hear just before a match, Potter," Wood replied.

"I can't see through my glasses."

"Can't you just wipe them off?"

Harry wiped off his glasses again, but his sleeve was already soaked. He replaced his glasses, but found that the water was just smeared. He could see through them, but just barely.

"I think I can play like this," he said.

Sally-Anne watched from the stands as Harry wiped off his glasses for the third time.

"Rose, can you enchant Harry's glasses so they don't get wet?"

"What good would that do?" Rose asked. "Glasses don't change anything. My goggles can get wet, but I'll still see through them. I don't remember the exact rules for rain, but it's just a penalty to Perception Checks, no matter what's in your face slot."

Sally-Anne opened her mouth to argue, decided it wasn't worth it, and turned to Hermione instead.

"Hermione, can you–"

"I've got him," Hermione said, making her way down to the pitch. "Rose, get Wood to call a time out, or delay the match or something."

Rose still didn't see the point of it, but her friends wanted her to, so she complied.

<Hermione's on her way to keep the rain off your glasses.>

"Hold up!" Harry said.

"What is it now, Potter?" Wood asked impatiently.

"Sorry," Hermione said, running out to meet them. "I'll only be a round! Harry, hand me your glasses!"

"Did you just say 'round'?" Harry asked, handing his glasses to Hermione.

"Too much time around Rose!" Hermione called back, drawing her wand.

After a quick enchantment, she handed them back to Harry. When he put them on, they were spotless. No matter how much rain fell on them, it slid off his glasses as fast as it got on them.

At that moment, Harry could've kissed Hermione. His fears slid away like the rain on his glasses.

"Hermione, that's brilliant! Thanks!"

"Don't mention it," Hermione said, holding her arms around her. "I'm going back to the stands to see if Rose can make a fire that won't be put out by rain. It's freezing!"

Hermione ran back to the stands, then sat down on the wet benches.

"It's gonna be a long match, isn't it?" she asked Sally-Anne.

"I just hope Harry's alright out there," Sally-Anne said. "I'm worried about him. Especially after that dog broke in last week."

"He'll be fine!" Ron said. "I just want to see the look on Malfoy's face when he loses!"

"Is that all you think about?" Hermione asked. "That dog was looking around your bed too!"

"Not like Mum cares," Ron muttered.

He'd been over it at length in his head. His bed had been searched by Sirius Black's dog, just like Harry's, but his mum didn't care about that. She was too worried about Harry, whom she loved like a son, instead of Ron, who was her actual son. It was clear that he wasn't important enough for his mum. What was so great about Harry, anyway? Ron thought about it for a moment, then realized that Harry had been allowed to play Quidditch as a first-year. Why did he always get special treatment?

As he thought about it more, he realized that everyone got special treatment, except him! Hermione and Sally-Anne were both teacher's pets, while Rose and Harry got to break whatever rules they wanted. It wasn't fair! Both his parents always wanted to know how Ginny was doing, or how Harry was doing, but never him! He had nearly mastered summoning! Not even Percy could say that! He was just as special as any of his friends, but it was always his friends that got the attention! His friends got special treatment, and all Ron got was punished!

Ron looked up at Harry, flying through the rain like it was nothing. Ron had to admit, Harry was brilliant at Quidditch, but that was only because of the stuff Rose kept giving him. Come to think of it, why did Rose give everyone else stuff like that? She showered gifts on the others, but gave Ron a bracelet and a bag. The bracelet had been amazing, but she had given the same thing to Hermione, and a ring that let her only sleep for two hours, and a hair clip that made her clever. Why didn't Rose give him anything like that? He was just as deserving of something like that as Hermione was!

Ron wasn't even good at chess anymore! He was starting to lose to Hermione, and it was all because of that hair clip Rose had given her! It wasn't fair!

"Ron, are you alright?" Neville asked, noticing that Ron was starting to turn red.

"I–" Ron began.

"Don't waste your time," Ginny said. "He's just pouting."

It took all the restraint Ron had not to punch his sister in the face. She didn't know anything about him, and there she was, acting like she knew everything! She was worse than Hermione!

Any other day, Sally-Anne would've been sitting behind Ron. She would've heard his problems and tried to help him, but today she was in the front row looking up at the sky. Sally-Anne was too worried about Harry to worry about anyone else.

Up in the sky, Harry sensed a familiar movement and dove towards the Golden Snitch. Malfoy was on his tail in seconds, but it didn't matter. Harry could keep track of both of them at once, something Malfoy couldn't do, and Harry exploited that fact. Not to mention, Malfoy couldn't see the Snitch in the rain, but knew Harry must've, so he was just following Harry.

Harry dove straight towards the ground, then cruised just above the grass. He reached out his hand when he got close to the stands, and Malfoy flew past him, right into the stands.

Harry grinned, pleased that Ron's trick had worked.

Gotta thank Ron for suggesting that, he thought as he went for the real Golden Snitch. He had it in his hand by the time Malfoy was back in the air.

Madame Hooch called the match, awarding the victory to Gryffindor. The crowd cheered, and for a moment, Harry was on top of the world. Nothing could go wrong as he soared through the air.

Someone in the audience screamed, knocking Harry out of his daze. He looked around, but he felt it before he saw it.

The air turned cold, and a wave of sadness washed over him. His ears buzzed with the sound of someone screaming his name, then everything went black.

Mass panic ensued as Dementors flooded the Pitch. Everyone was desperate to get away from the Dementors. Prefects and professors tried to herd the students and restore order, but few people could think straight with that many Dementors so close.

"Rose, do something!" Sally-Anne screamed.

"About what?" Rose hissed. "I'm not allowed to touch those things."

She glared over at Professor Dumbledore, who met her gaze. Hermione watched the two of them glare at one another. She couldn't tell which of them was angrier about the Dementors.

"Rose, this isn't his fault," Hermione said.

"Sure it's not," she growled.

Professor Dumbledore drew his wand and aimed it towards the Pitch. Without uttering a word, he conjured a ball of light that shot towards the Pitch. The ball of light took the form of a phoenix, flapping its majestic wings as it soared through the air. The Dementors began to flee the second the light from the bird touched them.

Just as the crowd began to settle down, Sally-Anne screamed.

"Harry!"

Looking up, they all saw Harry plummeting towards the ground. His broom was flying off into the horizon, no longer attended to by the young Seeker.

"He's fine," Rose said. "He's got a ring of feather fall, so he won't get hurt."

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked, receiving the harshest glare she'd ever got from Rose.

"Arresto Momentum!"

They all looked down to the Pitch and saw Professor Dumbledore on the ground. No one knew had seen him get from the stands to the pitch, but he was there slowing Harry's descent. Professor Dumbledore picked him up when he reached the ground and rushed him off the Pitch.

The crowd stormed the Pitch, everyone trying to see what was happening. The Gryffindor Quidditch team raced to get ahead so they could see how Harry was doing, professors pushed their way through the crowd, and his friends tried to get to him to make sure he was okay.

"MOVE!" Professor Dumbledore roared as people began to crowd him.

The crowd obediently parted to allow him to pass, and he exited the Pitch.

Harry slowly opened his eyes.

"He's waking up!" a voice that sounded a lot like Sally-Anne said.

He saw his friend at his side, her face lit up with joy.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Dementors, mate," Ron said.

Despite his current frustration with his friends, they were still his friends, and Ron knew he should be with them. Besides, if he wasn't with them, Rose would kill him.

"All of them were on the field," Sally-Anne said.

Harry looked around and realized that he was in the Hospital Wing. With him were Sally-Anne, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"You caught the Snitch, then they all started flying in," Ron said. "Must've been Slytherin fans."

"Not the time, Ron," Sally-Anne said. "Harry, you must've passed out, because you fell off your broom."

"Did Rose catch me?" Harry asked.

"No, Professor Dumbledore did," Ginny said. "Rose said you didn't need to be caught."

"Yeah, that ring she gave me," Harry said, looking around. "Where is Rose?"

"Never mind her," Wood interrupted. "The Dementors are still crawling the grounds, so they could be at any match. If they're gonna be a problem, Potter, then I'm gonna need a new Seeker."

Harry didn't know what to say.

"What?!" he exclaimed.

"What does that mean?!" Sally-Anne shouted.

"I need to be able to count on you during a match," Wood said, ignoring Sally-Anne. "Don't get me wrong, that fake-out you pulled on Malfoy was good, but we were still lucky you ended the match before the Dementors got there. Diggory and Chang wouldn't have fallen for it so easily, and they might've caught the Snitch before we got the match postponed."

"What are you saying?" Harry asked.

"We need to start training a reserve," Wood said.

This is my chance, Ron thought. It wasn't the ideal position for him; that would be his next year after Wood graduated. Ron wanted to be Keeper, because it would be like midair chess. He could just watch the field, stop anything from coming near him, and fame and glory would be his for the taking. This was a good head start on it; he'd get to know the team and understand their dynamic, so next year they'd all work well together.

"Weasley!"

"Really?" Ron asked. It was a dream come true. He had been picked for–

"Not you," Wood said. "Her."

"Me?" Ginny asked. "Why me? I'm not–"

"We need a strong flier, and Madame Hooch says your the next best Gryffindor's got to offer. Potter, once you've recovered, you're to start training her."

"Congratulations, Ginny," Neville said.

"Thanks, I guess," Ginny said.

Ginny didn't know what to do. A year ago she would've jumped at the chance to work closely with Harry, but now it wasn't half as exciting as being selected as the reserve Seeker. She had always thought of Harry as some brave, handsome hero, but then she'd seen Hermione, Sally-Anne, and Neville. Hermione was amazing all the time, Sally-Anne had wiped the floor with Draco Malfoy, and Neville had grabbed the Sword of Gryffindor to kill the Basilisk without so much as stopping to think about it. True, it had been Ginny that had set the thing ablaze, but Neville was still more brave than Ginny could ever hope to be.

Harry and Ron were both upset about it, but for different reasons. Ron hated the idea that his kid sister had been chosen for the Quidditch team instead of him. He was a brilliant flier! Why was everyone else being given special treatment?!

Harry couldn't stand the thought of someone replacing him on the Quidditch team. Quidditch was important to him, and it was a lot of fun. It was as if he could just leave his problems on the ground and fly away on his broom.

"Where's my broom?" Harry asked.

Sally-Anne looked at Hermione, who shook her head.

"That's gonna be a problem," Fred said.

"We tried to go after it," George said.

"It flew into the Whomping Willow."

"The what?" Ginny asked.

"It's a living tree on the grounds," Ron said condescendingly. "It attacks anything that goes near it."

"It tore your broom to pieces," George said, holding up a bag. "This is all that's left."

Harry's heart sank. Even compared to the news that he might be replaced on the Quidditch team, the loss of his broom hit him hard. His broom was like one of his friends, and losing it was as if he had just received news that Sally-Anne or Ron had died.

"I…" Harry said.

"Why don't we take what's left to Rose?" Neville offered. "She can probably fix it."

"I don't think she can," Hermione said. "There are tons of enchantments on brooms, most of them patented. They're resistant to analysis, so even I can't get at them."

"Besides, we can't have you using a non-regulation broom," Wood said. "It'd be cheating."

"How do you have regulation brooms?" Sally-Anne mouthed.

You'll just have to get by like the rest of us, mate, Ron thought.

Losing a prized broom was something Ron understood, even as indignant as he was. Ron wasn't about to mock his best friend just because he was angry at him, not after something like this.

"Speaking of Rose, where is she?" Harry asked.

"She said she wanted to talk with Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said.

Rose appeared in the last place to which she expected to return. She trudged through the damp room, noting that the floor and ceiling had been repaired since her last visit. The statues lining the room watched as she approached the large statue of Salazar Slytherin.

Rose's "meeting" (or shouting match, depending on who you asked) with Professor Dumbledore went about as well as she'd expected. Once again, the staff had chosen not to help her, so she was going to someone who would. Any one of the Exalted could figure out a way to fix the Dementors and Sirius Black, but she still couldn't leave Hogwarts without endangering her friends.

That meant she had one option.

"Sally!" she shouted. "Get out here!"

For a minute, there was no reply, and Rose instinctively looked for the most breakable object in the room.

"Sally!" she screamed.

"Back so soon?" crowed Sally.

"I'm ready to talk," Rose said. "What do you want?"

"Me? Nothing."

"Ne do gromph, Sally!" Rose screamed.

"So touchy today. Did your meeting not go well?"

"I don't like shouting at the air!"

"Very well."

A red blob rose up from the floor, taking shape as it did, and within seconds, a boy about Rose's apparent age stood before her.

"Better?" the boy asked in a voice that almost could've been mistaken for a nine-year-old boy.

"Much better," Rose replied. "What do you want from me?"

"Why must I want anything?" Sally asked.

"You put that gromphun ward up, so I can't talk to my family. I can't leave, or else I can't talk to my friends, and it's dangerous around here. I want the ward removed, so I'm willing to make a deal. Name your price."

"Very well, there is something I desire. In exchange for dropping the ward, I want you to retrieve something for me from outside of the castle."

Rose briefly wondered why Sally couldn't get it himself, but if that was all she needed to do, then she figured it wasn't important.

"Then when I leave, you've got to promise that my friends won't get hurt!" Rose demanded.

"No," Sally said. "I will not drop the ward until you have retrieved this object for me, but if you're out there retrieving it, why would I harm your friends?"

Rose had already had enough of people messing with her. She just wanted to talk to her family without worrying about her friends. Sally had a point; if he needed something from her, it didn't make sense to remove one of his bargaining chips.

"While you're pondering that, I'll give you something else to worry about: If you're outside of the ward, why not just talk to your family and never collect anything for me?"

"Because if I don't," Rose said through gritted teeth, "I can't be sure my friends are alright."

"See, Little Rosie, you and I understand one another. It's not all politics like it is upstairs, it's just trading favors. Everything's simple down here. Can you believe that Dumbledore's plan for handling the Dementors is a letter writing campaign?"

Rose had to admit, that plan not only sounded like something Dumbledore would do, but it also sounded like a pathetic attempt at reasoning with Fudge.

"Alright," Rose said. "You've got a deal."

"Not quite," Sally said. His silver gloves melted into his hands. "We're going to guarantee this with something called a Blood Pact."

Rose rolled her eyes.

"What's a Blood Pact, Sally?" she asked with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

"I'm glad you asked, Little Rosie," Sally replied just as sarcastically. "It's something I developed a long time ago. We both make our side of the pact, and both offer up something of equal value to the pact. So what's just as important to you as talking to Sk'lar, Shadow, and Alice?"

Rose thought about that for a long time. Reflectesalon was more important than being able to talk to her family; he was her family. Serendipity and Crimson Thorn were less important, since she could remake them. The remakes wouldn't be as good as the originals, but they'd still get the job done.

"What about your notebook?" Sally asked. "I've heard you rattle off some pieces of wisdom from your brother. It must be like you can still talk to them so long as you've got it."

"Alright," Rose said. "I'll offer up my notebook. What's your end of the bargain?"

"In exchange for removing the ward, I want you to retrieve Hufflepuff's Cup," Sally replied.

"Of course, you've got no idea where it is."

A smile formed on Sally's perfect face, and Rose wanted to put her fist into it.

"Not the faintest idea, although it was owned by Helga Hufflepuff at some point. Perhaps you should start with her."

"Fine, what are you offering?" Rose asked.

"Oh, you don't actually have to say what you're offering, just concentrate on it. Since this is your first time, I'll be nice. I'll offer up my Spektres."

Rose immediately wondered why the cup was worth so much to Sally. Either that, or his Spektres were worth little to him.

"Deal," Rose said. "Do I need to take off my glove?"

"Yes. A rune will be carved into both of our hands. The pact will end when you give the cup to me."

"Alright," Rose said, removing her glove and seeing her hand for possibly the first time since she made the Ring of Life's Flame.

Sally's hand glowed green, and he took Rose's hand in his. As they shook on it, Rose's hand glowed with the same green light, and she felt as if someone were branding her hand.

Sally released her hand, and she looked at her palm. Her right hand now bore a rune made up of a triangle enclosing a pair of concentric circles.

"The top two edges are us, the bottom is the pact," Sally explained. "The circles in the middle are the eye that watches to ensure that the pact is honored. If the pact is broken, that line at the bottom will vanish, and whatever it was that the pact breaker offered up will be sucked inside those circles, trapped there forever."

"Noted," Rose said, not caring about anything Sally had to say.

She turned to walk away, then glanced back over her shoulder. Sally stared back at her with eerie green eyes. No, it wasn't his eyes that were creepy; it was his smile.

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Smiling. It's creepy."

His smile vanished and he glowered at Rose.

"Better?"

"Much. I'll have your cup for you soon, Sally."

"Then I look forward to your next visit, Little Rosie."