✧RAVENCLAW VERSUS GRYFFINDOR VERSUS DEMENTORS✧

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Ronan and Lori had graced the Ravenclaw table. It was a sight to see the lineup of his siblings that managed the entirety of the chasers for the team. Granted, Imara was debating on switching to Keeper, just to give up the spot to someone else who might favor it.
But as of late, none of the second years had bothered trying out.

Leaving it to be the same roster as the year before.

"Did mum write to say when they're coming?" Lori questioned and Romulus swallowed his sip of pumpkin juice to follow up. "Yeah, said they were going to come last night and stay in Hogsmead. Sure they're on their way soon." Ronan smirked, knowing full well that the next Ravenclaw and Slytherin game in the following weeks would draw them back to Hogwarts as well.

"Alright, any strategies going in?" Ronan pushed and Romulus smirked. "Had a bit of help from their beaters, think we'll be alright at that end but—" The sudden streak of lightning had flickered in the great hall's large windows.

"That's not worrying at all..." Cara whispered, her pout looked towards her brother. He was the co-captain after all, he could be the one to put forth a pass card in the event to reschedule.

"It's supposed to clear up soon," Imara said with a light smile and Cara shook her head. "I don't think so, those clouds look awful." The sisters didn't necessarily look at Romulus outright, but he felt the expectation of his own input.

"If it's that bad then Flitwick won't allow us to play, courage my arse. We'll see how bad it is on the field." That seemed to be the right approach, and the siblings had turned back to their breakfast and drinks in a record of silence.

"Lestrange." The Ravenclaw captain called out, though he wasn't prepared to have five pairs of eyes to turn to him. So he nicked his head off to his fellow bluebirds and smiled politely to Ronan and Lori. "Better get going." Thus the blues had left the greens, Ronan and Lori had dressed in rain jackets to battle the likes of the horrid outside the castle walls.

By the time the Ravenclaw crew had managed to walk towards the Quidditch pitch, they were drenched. But they didn't hesitate to dry themselves with their wands and scoff to the locker room's exit.

"Those bloody Gryffindors, Flitwick already tried to get McGonagall to reschedule." Cara turned off towards Cho and pouted, though the Lestranges weren't strangers to playing in the rain. Yet they weren't familiar with flying in this type of brutality.

"I can't..." She whispered, her eyes looking up to the sky and flinching at the sudden flash of lightning. "What...No, come on Cho—We need to show them that we have just as much courage as them! We're birds for goddess sakes!" No matter how much coaxing, nobody could force her to play.

But at the mention of a forfeit had caused the rest of the room to turn glum.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Imara said, gripping her broom and huffing—Clearly, this weather just steamed their bad luck.

"We have five minutes or else it's automatic forfeit on our end, it's—" The captain dwelled and Romulus' eyes widened at his youngest sister. "Cara, you can play Seeker!"

"Merlin, that was one season Rom! And it was much less competitive than this!" She said, staring up to her brother and damning him under her breath.

Cho had been let off the hook and now Cara had been tossed into the mix. Yet she didn't have the heart to say no.

The seven of them had taken to the field, it was much easier to substitute a Chaser than it was a Seeker.

"You'll do great," Imara said with a bump into her side and Cara breathed unevenly. "But against Harry Potter? Mum and Papa didn't come to see me play Seeker!" Romulus smirked and bumped her from the other side.
"Yeah, but I bet someone will be excited to see those spectacles." And the twins smirked to one another as the temptation had been clear.

Cara Regulus Lestrange held the name of a family member who was a damn good Seeker in his time, and even now when he coached.

The competition had clapped instantly much like the icy blue light that sparked up and around the clouds. Cara had taken a quick look to the side of her broom into the stands, the rain had been lashing against the sea of umbrellas below. But the children could depict their parents fairly quickly in the professor's stands and the waves and cheers had rallied into Cara's heart and pumped through through the rest of her veins.

With the whistle projected out, the crowd had exploded as the rest had moved and fluttered back and forth to begin their practiced methods of dribbling it back and forth between the Chasers.

Monty had been the perfect substitute as both he and Romulus would on occasion go for the fun of it. However, Cara had made it a mission to pay attention as to where Harry would be in terms of being on the field. As of yet, she had only caught a fair glimpse, but even then it was too early to truly try and get after it.

As a chaser, she knew that she hated when the Seeker caught it too early, so she decided that once Romulus had given her a sign she'd attempt it better.

Though she still attempted to locate it once more.

The rain had felt like actual needles pelting onto her, but upon flying faster and around, it hurt worse against her leather armor.

She gave props to her siblings for sticking with their previous position as she could hide her hands underneath her chest.

Upon seeing the twins crisscrossing Harry's path, a bludger soon whizzed past them, she laughed at the fact that Harry had almost been taken out from a bludger nearly taking off his head.

She had started to trickle closer to his location and thus she jumped into action and dodged those that were in her way.

Better yet, a few umbrellas had flown out of the audience's hands. Making it another obstacle to dodge and duck from. And in seeing Harry she proceeded forward and gave him the warning buckle that caught him by surprise. "Bloody hell!"

She let out a beautiful cackle to see his shocked expression causing him a bit of fallback, giving Cara the lead.

By their shared altitude, the slight fog had glazed over their goggles, and the water had damn near turned into icicles with how high they were flighting, yet the build-up of air had caused Cara to twist one way to dodge on instinct.

SWOOSH!

A dark silhouette passed by on her right and his left, leaving them both to turn—Another silhouette had gathered to flank the other. With a strip of lightning striking once more, there had been an absolute army of silhouettes trailing them.

"Dementors!" Cara shouted, but her warning had been taking away in the wind. And in a mere instant, she let out a life-moving scream as she tried to get Harry's attention, but it was all in vain.

She caught the sight of his face being instantly sucked and diving straight to his soul, and yet Cara had yanked her wand from her boot and whipped it forward. "Expecto Patronom!" She called out, the sheer blue essence almost blending in with the lightning.

What had been her saving grace had been Harry's doom, with Cara not being a target, it left him vulnerable.

Leaving him to fall.

"No!" Cara shrieked, both he and his broom tumbled in opposite directions. His Nimbus soaring end over end, tossed back and forth then finally dropped into a wind current.

She didn't care, Harry had been free-falling at a growing rate and through the clouds now. Both plummeting through the circling Dementors until the onset of the actual pitch had returned. Cara lifted herself off the broom to gain even more speed, leaning forward, and offered a hand. Yet they tasseled in trying to get a proper grip.

The clap of leather battling leather had finally connected, but a moment too late for Cara to push him onto the back of her broom and instead used the rest of her strength to pull up and avoid the ground.

Harry's feet had nearly grazed the ground and yet a distraction nestled its way into Cara's view, leaving her unable to control the rest of the wind's movement and thus—Leaving them both to tumble off towards the ground.

Cara couldn't exactly make out much, but the figures around her all came forward. The voice of her brother didn't match up with her sister's face, and yet the smile didn't make sense either.

"CARA LESTRANGE HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! RAVENCLAW WINS!"

And she blacked out not a beat after.

*

"Cara!" Aurora breathed, seeing her reckless daughter dive down after a Gryffindor—She hadn't a clue it was Harry until a peek at the number. But the mere sight of Dementors had caused Rabastan to be stuck at a standstill.

A former inmate's worst nightmare, not to mention that his own children were in the very vicinity as well.

The two parents were racing down the tall stands and rushing further into the air, Rory hadn't a damn worry in getting pelted by the harsh winds and rains.

The voice of the announcer hadn't reacher either of their ears until the small golden snitch had been lightly flapping its wings in Cara's limp hands. The mother gasped, and in near-instant had the sea of blue and red cleared the way.

However, being on Hogwarts grounds meant that Madam Pomfrey would be the one to play as a healer. Not mother Aurora Lestrange, and thus Romulus and Imara had lightly pulled their mother back and spoke words of support.

"She played brilliantly mum, all last minute too. She was supposed to be playing Chaser." Romulus drew in, and thus Rabastan had been the one to properly pull up his wife's hood.

It didn't matter all that much, the witch was soaked through.

It didn't shock the twins to see their mother burst into tears, her entire face had gone straight to Rabastan's hold, who knew full well she absolutely hated seeing the children hurt. He could recall the first time a Quidditch accident had occurred when Romulus and Imara were hardly old enough to know the danger they were in.

And yet here it was, seeing Cara go tumbling had truly gone pushed the limits. There was hardly an effort for her parents to join them in the walk towards the Infirmary, and the flock of quidditch players had caused Rabastan to smile fondly to himself.

It's been a while since he could get a mere glimpse of the past, though in looking back to his wife—Reality interrupted once more.

Nothing was evidently wrong with either, the whiplash had been an easy fix. And Aurora found the small bit of humor at the fact that the only real ounce of strength Cara managed, was to keep the snitch in her hands.

Even if Romulus attempted to tear it out.

"Merlin, she's like Saros—You couldn't tear away the damn snitch away even when he slept." Romulus chuckled, and the rest of the Lestrange family had done the same. In addition to Ronan, Lori found herself sitting on the edge of the bed as well./

"Mum, is Cara going to be okay?" She said, her wide doe eyes staring up to her mother. "Of course darling, the potion will kick in soon," Aurora explained and Romulus had taken a look at his watch.
"Sounds like any minute, usually it doesn't take much to—"

"Hey Rom?" The voice behind the curtain had caused the rest to turn off to the side, to see a Ravenclaw in semi-dry Qudditch clothes. "Flitwick dropped this off, Madam Hooch found it," Monty said, giving them a polite way before Romulus returned.

"What is it?"
"Cara dropped her wand." He claimed, taking to drying it off and leaving it at her bedside. However that movement had instantly pulled her back into the world as she gasped. "Dementors—!" Aurora jumped into action as she placed calming hands onto her daughter's chest and took up most of her view.
"You're alright love, they're gone." Cara's panting had eased up after recognizing her mother, then her gaze had gone straight to her father—Instant tears burst through yet again as she found herself weak in her mother's chest.

Her mumbles of what happened and apologies for putting herself in danger were all for not, but at least Cara knew the danger she was in—And wasn't ignorant not to see it.
Rory was thankful for that at least.

Rabastan's hand had gestured kindly to the back of her head, soothing her worries. Thankfully the presence of her parents made her feel much better, though the worry was evident on everyone's face.

"Does anything hurt, Carebear?" Rory whispered, and Cara had taken a moment to look at her arm. It felt rather bent, but then she gasped at the snitch in her hand, pure happiness radiated close to instantly.

As if the small shard of her soul had been quickly re-fabricated, but anything to ensure healing and a steady mentality were all that needed to be done.

Course Cara was given a large dose of calming potion in a bit of tea, on the recommendation of her mother. And thus, she turned rather loopy in terms of staying awake and aware.

When she returned to, her family had been more or less in the same spot. Though nothing felt more blissful than her mother just to her side, combing through her hair with her fingers.
After promising endlessly that she was alright, Rabastan reminded Aurora that they were no longer students and needed to get going back to the Inn.

Romulus had taken a peek to see his parents talking with both Professor Snape and Flitwick, it was silent as the eldest Lestrange couldn't make out all that well.

But clearly, the stress was evident on his mother's face, or by the way she held onto his father.

"Dumbarse almost broke your entire spine, and for what?"
"I caught the snitch, didn't I?" She said with an elated smirk, course Ronan rolled his eyes as he took up the offering.

"Yeah, alright. But you're still a dumbarse." Cara smiled up kindly to her brother with a proud grin. "Cut it out Roe, she's done beautifully. Got us a win and bravery points from McGonagall." Romulus said as he turned in their direction for a moment before gesturing to their parents.

"Suppose they're writing up our transfer to Ilvermorny?" Imara said with her arms crossed and Ronan huffed. "Hope not, the year's hardly begun." He started and Lori shushed them both.

"No, they're talking about the Dementors. They weren't supposed to be on the grounds." All eyes had darted to the youngest in the center and blushed from the attention.
"Mum's lips are easy to read...Oh, she's pissed."
"Doesn't take reading her lips to know that one Lori. You think this is our last straw in staying?" Ronan's voice had caused the rest of his siblings to remain silent, and while Rabastan had stayed with the professors, Aurora had returned back to behind the curtains.

Only to be tackled by Lori.

"Mum I don't want to leave Hogwarts! I wanna stay with Rosa and everyone! Please don't send us to Ilvermorny!" The begging had caused their mother to recoil, and while she did remain quiet for a moment—Letting her hands work their magic and soothe her daughter's worries.

Part of her still felt immensely defensive over her children.

"It's not safe here anymore darling." And that caused Romulus to scoff. "But it was safe when a basilisk was living in the vents, or a troll managed to sneak its way in? Cara's fine, I'm fine, we're all—"

"But it's not fine!" Their mother's voice had hit a new low, it demanded to be heard and respected. But that hardly meant that children would agree outright.
"This is not a joking matter or a chance to be social with friends, and I cannot believe I have to remind you again of the severity of what's at stake! I was willing to look past one fluke, but this is the fourth issue and it's hardly closer to Christmas vacation than it was the last time!" Aurora had long since put up a muting spell around the curtains.

They did not need to hear about such a family-related issue.

Aurora, having build upon the moment of stress had sucked in another breath as she tried to ignore the growing spike in her head. The damned thing had hardly subsided since appearing in the infirmary, and it only had managed to become dull when she relaxed.

Yet in the moment she pinched the brink of her nose, the children surrounded her knew just what it meant.
"If it wasn't for your father, you'd be all in Ilvermorny—That includes for right now. I'm not making this decision lightly, and if it turns worse before Christmas. You can bet your arses you'll be out of this castle before the Auror's can buck up the courage to find the bastard. Do I make myself clear?" Instead of their verbal agreement, they all gawked at their mother in awe.

Had their father truly been on their side?

Rabastan had caught the near end of his wife's rant off towards the children, thus leaving him to clear his throat and looked pointedly towards each of them. "I believe your mother asked if—"

"Yes mum!" He allowed his eyes to relax, though Aurora's ticks had become quite clear as he held onto her waist close to his. "We'll be at the inn for another night, leaving tomorrow around lunch. Don't hesitate to an owl or mirror us." Clearly the mention of her brother terrorizing the school or the option of Dementors causing yet another problem had been too much that her migraine had kicked into overdrive.

Thus having them both say goodbye to their lot of children and being escorted out by professor Snape.

"Goddess, I've never seen mother about to blow a fuse about something we have no control over," Cara whispered out, clearly upset and distraught that this had been her mother's final straw. It caused the young Ravenclaw's expression to fall into her hands. "I shouldn't have played Seeker—"
"That isn't it, mum's just a worry wort. We'll mirror Reg and get it sorted. He'll calm her down." That seemed to be the consensus between them, and most of the siblings had been shooed away by the healer as Cara wanted a bit more sleep.

And she groaned in seeing that Madam Pomfrey had started to bind her arm into a sling. "I've gotten much worse from Quidditch ma'am, this isn't as—"
"I'm sorry Ms.Lestrange, I don't want it to heal lopsided." Cleary it was on the order of her mother, so she didn't bother making another comment.

Romulus had stayed behind, sitting in a chair off to the side as picked as his name uneasily. Watching his mum struggling over this whole issue was slowing going to put her back into the hospital.

He couldn't move even if he tried. Not with the way that bandage was looking.

"I'm fine, brother."
"Not fine enough, Dumbledore should've stopped the game the first chance they've got." A small hum had floated into the room and either Lestrange had turned to the voice.

Speaking of the Headmaster.

"I would have, Mr.Lestrange, but your sister had caught the snitch and ended it. The commotion of the fall had caused both teams to fly down. I must say, you both have shown bravery since the beginning of the semester." Romulus nodded his head along, thanking the professor kindly after being another round of points.

"Professor? Could it be possible for a rematch?" Now that certainly caught the Headmaster's attention.
"I'm sorry Ms.Lestrange, you rightly caught the snitch. I don't think the Gryffindor's will fault you for that, get some rest." He'd dismissed the thought outright, leaving Cara to huff.

"Yeah? They could fault us for everything else though, right?" She spat and Romulus knew that his sister wasn't a negative person, she was just peeved. "It's alright Cara, you did very well this game. I'm sure they're happy that you went down to save Potter."
"I suppose." It left her frown turns into a pout, and then fairly sleepy with the way her eyes began to flutter.

"Sleep Cara. Madam Pomfry said you can leave just before dinner. We'll head down together." She nodded numbly before turning into the stiff pillow and promptly following asleep.

Lori had been an absolutely angel and brought over a book to keep Romulus entertained, though listening to the Gryffindors was hilarious enough.

Though no part of him wanted to join the twins, even though the privacy had been peeked through. Either Fred and George had taken a look to say their thanks, as well as Hermione and Ron.

Though Cara was under the infleunce of the pain relief potion.

It only lasted another half an hour, and Romulus heard that Potter was on the verge of waking up as well. Not that it was that surprising, both he and his sister were administered around the same time.

"Looks a bit peaky, doesn't he?" Ron whispered out, and that certainly caused Romulus to step away from his sister.
"Peaky? What d'you expect him to look like? He fell well over fifty feet." Fred caused, and Imara had held her hand over her mouth. Attempting to stop her laughter at the twin's teasing, which only escalated further.

As always.

"Yeah, c'mon Ron. We'll walk you off the Astronomy Tower and see how you come out looking." George shot forward and Romulus smirked while a surprising voice had agreed outright.

"Probably a right sight better than he normally does." Harry coughed out, having struggled to open his eyes to the crowd of people surrounding him.

All standing at the foot of his bed still in their Quidditch gear. And Romulus surely felt like the odd color out right beside his sister.

"Harry! How're you feeling?" Hermione's voice had made its way through the small bickering happening around the Gryffindor, but once he got his wits about him, he managed to lean forward and push up against the pillow. "Brilliant."

"Yeah? Gave us a right good scare, mate." Fred bustled, and Imara nicked the twin in the side. Earning herself a grin from the fellow as he made another face. "What happened?"

Romulus narrowed his brown, the potion given wouldn't have depleted Potter of his memory so— "You fell off your broom." Ron offered, and Harry groaned once more.

"Really? I meant the match. Who won?" It earned the Gryffindor's a record of silence as their uncomfortable glances had shifted to the two birds.

"No one blames you, Harry. The Dementors aren't meat to come on the grounds. Dumbledore was furious. After Cara saved you he sent them straight off." Harry nodded grimly but then turned to look at those around him.
"Cara? Is she alright?" That earned Imara a right-filled laugh.

"Course. She wouldn't let go of the damn snitch even when mother tried to pry it from her hands...Before she went under she tried to get Dumbledore to make up a rematch, but since she caught it and managed to dive after you—it counted." The lions hadn't heard that portion of it all, though it was rather hilarious to see that the first thing Harry wanted to know was if his team won or not.

Granted it had been Cara's third thought, but in consideration of who she was, that was pretty high on the list of everything else she's worried about.

"There's something else you should know, Harry..." Ron started, holding up the bundle he'd been cradling.
"Your Nimbus—when it blew away?—It sort of landed in the Whomping Willow and well..." He tips the bundle open and the group had been offered the sight of splintered wood and twisted twigs onto the bed. Harry stared at it in awe, but it had been both Imara and Romulus who looked at one another in damnation.

They both knew not everyone had a fortune like their parents—Scratch that, nobody held a fortune like that.

But the cost of a broomstick was considered a hobby item, granted in his family it was almost a requirement growing up. But not everyone would have the equipment to play with as he had.

"No worries, you can have my old one, Potter. Still has loads of life left. Could probably last you the rest of the season?" He asked and Harry offered a kind smile before rising up to his feet to sit by Cara's side. She hardly had much worse than himself, but the sling was the big indicator.

"Madam Pomfry only did that to stop our mother from having an anxiety attacking. She's gotten a lot worse." Imara said, rounding the corner to sit on the opposite side right by her sister's hand. "Worse? Worse than falling from—"
"Yeah, we were playing in-town in America. Last season she was Chaser but the year before she tried out for Seeker and did fairly well. That's why we replaced Cho with her." Harry's eyes had gone wide with realization at how he completely missed this about his Ravenclaw friend.

And it became apparent to the young Mister Potter that he hadn't a clue of who his friend was more than her appearance in Ravenclaw and the small conversations here and there.

While he considered her a friend, it didn't feel like he had been much of one.

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Date Posted: 05/15/2021

Time: 9:31

Words: 4373

Extra-long chapter because I couldn't figure out how to make it two, so enjoy!!