He awoke the next morning, feeling a little nervous, as it was the day of his first Quidditch match. He tried to talk himself out of the anxiety; after all, he had played in hundreds of baseball games and this was just another game. Unfortunately, he couldn’t convince his stomach. Instead of butterflies, Brook was convinced he had a hippogriff trying to escape from his abdomen.

Ron had the team eat breakfast together in the Great Hall, but he didn’t feel like eating much. He was just putting a slice of toast to his mouth when he was bumped from behind, causing him to drop the toast into Dean’s porridge. “You’re going to need better hands than that, Pelton, if you want to win the match today,” laughed Draco Malfoy as he walked by. “You probably think because you have a 2C, that you’ll win easily. Don’t count on it, Pelton, because you are in for a surprise.”

Malfoy had left Pelton alone for the most part, acting like he was below his notice. He of course always laughed heartily whenever Snape would take points away for nothing in Defence class, but usually he terrorized the younger students more than Brook and his friends.

Brook decided to just ignore Malfoy. He had learned from sports that, generally, the players that mouthed off the most were the ones to worry about the least. He knew that Malfoy was the Slytherin Seeker, so he would be competing directly against him, and letting emotions get in the way was not going to help. He went back to his breakfast, such as it was since he wasn’t hungry, but a few moments later a commotion could be heard at the Slytherin table. Several teams of owls flew in, two owls to a package, carrying seven long packages and dropping them on the table in front of their Quidditch team. When Brook looked over, he saw a grin of glee on Malfoy’s face as the team ripped open their packages, revealing that the whole team had just received their own Firebolt 2Cs. “I knew my father would come through!” everyone heard Draco yell. The whole house table started jumping and cheering, thinking that this was the key to their victory.

The mood at the Gryffindor table was a little quieter; well, it was actually silent. Ron’s face had gone white, and the rest of the team looked in shock. Brook could tell that they all thought that they had no chance to win. Brook whispered to Ron, “Let’s go down to the locker rooms; I think you need to say something to the team to improve their spirits.”

Ron nodded stiffly and then stood, telling the team it was time to go down to the pitch. As the team walked together in silence, Ron leaned over to Brook and asked, “What can I say? We have absolutely no chance against a whole team of 2Cs. They’re going to wipe up the pitch with us!”

Brook asked if he could say something in the locker room and Ron agreed. After they had arrived in the locker room and sat down glumly, Brook stood up. “I know none of you know much about the Muggle sport of baseball, but a similar thing happened to me last year, and I thought I would share it with you. We were playing in a tournament and, after winning our second game, we drew the top team in our area. We didn’t play them often because they were in a different league, but we knew all about them. They had won several state championships and were considered the favorite again. They lived in a rich town which meant that they had the best of everything. They had the best equipment, the best uniforms, the best locker rooms, the best field, and, quite honestly, our team was sure we were going to lose. Before the game our coach got up and told us that he was proud of us; we had worked hard all year, we never gave up, and we had gotten farther than anyone expected. He then said, 'If you are satisfied with what you have accomplished so far, then you can just go out there, get blown out by the other team, and go home happy that we had a good season. But, if you are not satisfied, if you want to go out and try to win this game, despite the odds against us, if you don’t want to throw all that work out the window, then let’s go out there and play like we have all season, with effort, and guts, and teamwork. Out on that field, it doesn’t matter what their facilities look like or that they have new uniforms; the only thing that matters is what is in here’, and he pointed to his chest. Then he walked over to me and said, ‘And what is in here,’ tapping my chest. And he went around the whole locker room, pointing at each player’s heart and saying, ‘And what is in here.’ I think we can learn from that; we have worked hard, harder than we have ever worked according to you guys. We are a team, and we can work together to win this match as a team. Remember, we are Gryffindors. And what trait is true of all Gryffindors? Courage. So, to paraphrase my coach, what matters most is not what brooms we are flying, but what is in here,” pointing to his own chest. “And what is in here,” pointing to Ron’s chest. “And what is in here,” pointing to Dean’s chest. He went around the room, pointing to each of his teammates.

Ron jumped up and said, “Brook is right. Let’s go out there and show those snakes what teamwork is all about! We’ve worked too hard to give up now! Let’s go, Gryffindor!” he yelled as he led the team out of the locker room.

A few moments later they heard the announcer say, “And here is this year’s Gryffindor team! Weasley, Weasley, Robins, Thomas, Peake, Coote, and, the lone newcomer, Pelton!” They all flew out together, flying a few laps around the pitch. The crowd was in a frenzy, three houses all cheering for the Gryffindors, while the Slytherins were booing loudly. Brook was reminded of the last time he had heard cheering like this, at his last baseball game; the day before his parents were killed. He blinked back the tears and said to himself, “This one’s for you, Mom and Dad,” looking up in the sky.

His private moment was broken when the announcer yelled, “And here are the Slytherins! Vaisey, Urqhart, Harper, Bulstrode, Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy!” Brook looked down at the entrance to the opposing team’s locker room, expecting the team to fly out. But instead he saw two unmanned brooms zoom out over the pitch until they dropped to the ground at midfield. Then, he saw another member of the team tear out over the pitch, just a few feet off the ground, before his foot caught the grass and he crashed spectacularly, rolling over and over. When he stopped he was unconscious and his left foot pointed in an unnatural direction, suggesting a fracture. Madam Pomfrey ran over to evaluate him. The other team members flew out, but they obviously could not control their brooms any better and barely were able to do a lap.

Madam Hooch whistled for the teams to assemble in the center of the pitch and while the Gryffindors did as requested, the Slytherins struggled to even hover in the correct places. She released the Bludgers and Snitch and then threw the Quaffle and signaled for the match to start. Ginny and Dean moved quickly toward the Quaffle while Demelza flew around to the outside to get in position. Jimmy and Ritchie flew after the Bludgers, while Brook flew up above all the action to scan for the Snitch. As he circled around, he watched with amusement as the Slytherins tried to keep up with the Gryffindors. I guess that saleswitch knew what she was talking about, questioning me as to whether I could handle a 2C, he thought to himself. The rout was on immediately. The Slytherins, a man down, and incapable of controlling their brooms, were unable to mount any offense or defense and the Gryffindors looked like they were playing against no one. The Beaters didn’t even bother to do much except make sure the Bludgers didn’t hit their teammates. The Chasers just flew straight at the rings, threw the Quaffle in, and then went to pick up the Quaffle again. Before he knew it, the Gryffindors were ahead 280-0. The Slytherin captain called for a timeout and asked Madam Hooch if it was permissible for the team to switch brooms in the middle of a match. Since it was allowed for broken brooms, Madam Hooch permitted it. Most of the team then went to their locker room to get their own brooms, but Brook noticed Malfoy looking up to a man in the faculty box. He was tall, had long white hair, and his face showed a look of extreme anger. Brook assumed this must be Draco’s father, since there was a distinct resemblance. Draco mouthed what looked like “Can I?”, but his father shook his head. Draco’s shoulders slumped in frustration.

The game started up again with the Slytherins actually able to play, but the Gryffindors continued to add to their lead, just not as quickly as before. Draco continued to fight with his broom, barely able to control it. When the score was 350-40, Brook finally saw the Snitch high above the pitch near the low lying clouds, and he shot toward it. Draco also saw it and started off for it as well, but, unbeknownst to Brook, as Draco accelerated, the broom flew out from underneath him. Just as he was about to grab the Snitch, Draco’s broom hit Brook, knocking him off of his own broom.

Like had occurred several times in the past few months, as Brook started to fall, everything went in slow motion. Even though he was no longer on his broom, his momentum carried him upwards enough that he was able to still grab the Snitch, ending the match. Now that duty was out of the way, he needed to figure out what to do about his falling. He did the only thing he could think of, holding his hand out toward his broom, concentrating like he had never concentrated before, and thought Accio Broom. The 2C shot toward his hand and he grabbed it as it came to him, and in one smooth motion, swung his legs over the broom and mounted it. He then saw that Draco was still falling from a great height, so he put the broom into a steep dive, catching up with Draco and grabbing him around his waist and pulling him onto the broom as well. Brook couldn’t help teasing him, saying, “You shouldn’t try to fly a broom you’re not man enough to handle, Malfoy.” This evinced a few choice swear words from Draco and a growl as they flew to the ground together. As they landed, Draco’s broom also came back to earth, shattering on the ground a few meters from them. The crowd had become very silent because of the near disaster of the two Seekers almost falling to their deaths. It was then that Brook realized that he had caught the Snitch too high for anyone to have seen it, so he raised it high above his head with a huge smile on his face. The crowd cheered and the announcer yelled, “Pelton makes a terrific catch, somehow gets back on his broom, and saves Malfoy to boot! Gryffindor wins 500-40!” As soon as he could, Malfoy got off the broom, stomped off, being chased and yelled at by his father.

His teammates were flying to him to congratulate him, but the first person to reach him was Hermione. She almost knocked him down with the force of her running hug, crying, “Brook, you’re alright! You’re alright! I’m so sorry!” Brook, confused, just hugged her back as she sobbed against his chest. The rest of the teammate reached him a few seconds later and he was enveloped in a huge group hug before being lifted up on their shoulders and carried off the pitch. They were soon joined by the rest of the Gryffindor house. He looked up in the stands and saw Professor McGonagall, who nodded to him in approval.

After the excitement died down, he sought out Hermione, who had not celebrated with the rest of the house, but had pulled back and sat in the first row of the stands, continuing to cry quietly with her face in her hands. Brook slipped away from the crowd, sat down next to her, and asked what was wrong. Again, she buried her face in his chest and sobbed inconsolably.

By the time she got herself under control, Ron and Ginny had noticed what was going on and were making their way over to them. “I’m so sorry. I should have prevented it and you wouldn’t have almost died!”

“What are you on about, Hermione?” asked Brook softly.

“Last night, when we were studying, do you remember when I looked frightened and ran up to my dorm? Well, the reason I did that was that I had a vision of you being hit by a broom and falling from a great height. I’ve always thought visions and prophecies were a bunch of bunk, so I talked myself into ignoring it. But then today I saw it happen just as I saw it last night. I’ve never had a vision before. How could I see the future like that?”

“I don’t know, but nothing bad happened and I am fine, so don’t worry yourself about it. Now, before this red headed lunk that is quickly approaching takes off my head for holding his girlfriend, I think we better sit up.”

Ron and Ginny had just arrived and Ron asked, “Oi, what is going on here?”

“It seems that my fall frightened Hermione and I was just trying to convince her that I’m okay and that she didn’t need to worry so much.” He then stood up with Hermione and pushed her in Ron’s direction so he could comfort his girlfriend.

“Oh. Well, we were all scared for a moment there,” said Ron.

“What exactly happened, Brook? How did you get back on your broom?” asked Ginny.

“I just Accioed my broom. That’s all. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Hermione instantly went into investigative mode. “Did you have your wand with you?”

“No,” Brook answered. “You know that’s against the rules.”

“Did you yell the spell?”

He thought for a moment. “No, I think I just thought it. It happened so quick I’m not sure.”

“None of us heard you say anything, but you were pretty high,” said Ginny.

“Wow, Brook. Wandless and non-verbal magic are both rare and you did both at the same time. I think you should let Professors Lupin and Dumbledore know this.”

“Why is it so rare? It’s basically like the accidental magic I was doing before I knew I was a wizard. Surely others can do it if I could without any training.”

“As we learn to control our magic, we tend to lose the ability to do magic like that. You really need to tell your professors; only a very strong wizard can do spells like that.”

“Okay, if you insist.” They slowly walked back together, rehashing the Quidditch match and enjoying their first victory over Slytherin in many years. They knew that there was a huge party starting back at the common room, but they wanted to relish the win before they were mobbed by the whole house.

**********

Despite the overwhelming victory, Ron continued to work the Quidditch team hard. Shortly after the match with Slytherin, the whole team started working out in the Room of Requirement two to three mornings a week. Ron had really enjoyed working out with Brook in the Room of Requirement and had suggested getting the whole team to come, but Brook had convinced him to wait until after the Slytherin match. Brook knew that, since none of his teammates, with the possible exception of the Muggle-born Dean, had ever done any weight training, and that they would be very sore initially and could adversely affect their performance until they got used to the workouts. Brook designed different workout routines for each position. For Ron, he had him do a lot of agility and quick responsive movements. In particular, he had Ron throw an irregularly shaped ball against the wall, which because of its shape would come off the wall at crazy angles, and try to catch it. For the Chasers, he had charmed a medicine ball to be the same shape and size as a Quaffle, but much heavier, and to have them do various drills throwing the ball back and forth between them. He had the Beaters using a weight machine attached to a pulley that allowed them to strengthen the swinging motion with their bats. And he had everyone work on core strengthening, with lots of twisting and side bending exercises. As they became stronger, he had everyone build up to doing the exercises on exercise balls to simulate sitting on a broom. He also tried to vary the workouts so that the team didn’t get bored and still were having fun, especially since the practices were all so early in the morning. It was also a good time to bond as a team, as the practices, while beneficial, still had a lot of laughter, especially when they fell off the exercise balls.

**********

“H ey Brook.” Ginny had spotted Brook sitting by himself by the lake and had come to check on him. “What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean ‘what’s wrong?’?”

“It’s obvious that something is wrong. You’ve been brooding all weekend. You disappear for hours at a time; you sit by yourself in the Great Hall avoiding contact with anyone. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“No, not really. I just want to be alone.”

“Are you having more nightmares?”

“Yes, but actually it was a nice dream and not a nightmare that’s got me into such a funk.”

“Huh? A nice dream makes you want to pull back from everyone?”

“Let me explain. First off, I haven’t told anyone, but, before my parents died and I learned I was a wizard, I was going to attend a boarding school in Scotland this year anyway. Just a Muggle one. My parents were going to spend the year travelling Europe and visit me on the occasional weekend. Their first visit was supposed to be this weekend. We had planned for me to show them around school and meet my teachers and friends.”

“Oh. So I see why that would make you sad. How does the dream fit in?”

“On Thursday night I dreamt that my parents had actually come here to visit instead. I showed them all around the castle, introduced them to Dumbledore and the other professors, well, not Snape, but everyone else. I introduced them to you and Ron and Neville and Hermione. I showed off what I could do with magic and even took my dad flying on my broom. He loved it. And it seemed so real. When Ron woke me up Friday morning, I didn’t want to get up; I wanted to go back to sleep and spend more time with my parents. So, I went to breakfast depressed, and the day just went downhill from there. Nothing went right in class. I couldn’t manage any spells. I couldn’t even do ones I could last week.”

“Yeah, I saw you and Colin having difficulty in Transfiguration. I wasn’t surprised that he couldn’t change the small statue into a mouse, but the fact that you couldn’t either was a big surprise.”

“The rest of my classes were the same. Then yesterday and today, I’ve been either in the Room of Requirement or out here trying to do the spells, but nothing works. I don’t understand it. Perhaps I’m not as good a wizard as the rest of you. I’m starting to question whether I really belong here." He paused and then added under his breath, "Maybe I should just go back home.”

“Brook, I’ve never seen you like this. You’re normally so confident.”

“Well, maybe this is the real me," he said testily, "and I’ve just been putting on an act for you since I got here.”

“No, your magic is strong; I’ve felt it in class. You definitely belong here. I think I know what’s wrong. I have a friend who had a similar problem last year. You see, she was in love with this wizard, but for some ridiculously noble reasons, he denied his feelings for her and said they couldn’t be together. And she found that the longer she was away from him, the weaker her magic got. It deteriorated to the point that she was almost a Squib.” Noticing Brook’s confused face, she explained, “A Squib is a person born to magical parents but has no magic themselves. Anyway, she almost lost her job, and was considering leaving the Magical World. But someone convinced him that he was being stupid, stubborn, and outright absurd. They got back together, and now they are engaged and her magic is back to normal. I bet the same thing is happening to you. We just need to figure out how to get you out of the doldrums.”

“And what do you suggest? What worked for your friend?”

“I think they just shagged and made up, but for you, a good snog would probably do it.”

“Are you offering, Weasley?”

She turned as red as her hair and she sputtered. “No, I wasn’t suggesting me. But certainly there is someone you might be interested in.”

Brook looked down in his lap, trying not to give away anything. “Yes, there is. But unfortunately, she’s taken.”

“Oh. Well, what else can you do? Have you tried talking to your parents?”

“Huh? Ginny, my parents are, you know, dead.”

“I know that, but perhaps if you just talked to them like you used to, or maybe wrote them a letter, it would make you feel better. I see you writing letters to a friend back home; try writing one to your parents.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

“But you need to something more immediate. I know, let’s go flying.”

Ginny and Brook got their brooms and they spent the rest of the afternoon flying. At first they just flew lazily around the pitch, but then they started throwing the Quaffle around. After a while, they played a little tag, but then they just flew around, whirling around each other, not unlike what Brook and Hedwig did on their night-time flights over the summer. Brook eventually forgot his dream, his depression, and started enjoying himself. At one point, Brook reached out and caught Ginny’s arm and they began spinning wildly, requiring them to hold on to the other tightly or be thrown off their brooms. As they came out of the spin, hugging each other, they both threw back their heads in laughter as they soared above the pitch.

“Ginny! Ginny!” A voice called out and disturbed their merriment. Realizing that they were holding each other, they separated, both blushing red. They looked down and saw that Dean waving and trying to get their attention. Ginny flew down to him, while Brook stayed up in the air, giving the couple privacy. Unfortunately, he wasn’t far away enough and could hear Dean’s side of the conversation.

“What do you think you are doing?!”

--- Ginny responded, but Brook couldn't hear what she said.

“It didn’t look like ‘innocent fun’! We were going out six months before you let me put my hands on you like that!”

---

“I don’t care how depressed he was! I’m your boyfriend and the only person you should be flying with like that is me!”

---

“Maybe we need to think about where this relationship is going if you feel like that!” He stormed off, Ginny running after him, trying to get him to turn around and talk. As she left, Brook could see the pain on her face.

Brook slowly flew back to the ground, feeling horrible about what had happened. He certainly had never meant for things to go as far as they did; he had just forgotten himself in the bliss of the moment. The flying had indeed helped, at least temporarily. But now, in addition to missing his parents, he felt guilt for coming between Ginny and Dean. I guess that’s something else I could write my parents about.

**********

Ginny let out a sigh and her shoulders slumped. She then collapsed on one of the couches by the fire, looking ready to cry. Brook hesitated for a moment, but then decided he needed to do something. He arose and walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and pull her wand.

“Ginny, relax, it’s just me.”

“Sorry, I thought I was alone.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t mean to startle you. Good reflexes, though,” he said with a grin.

The corners of her mouth went up a little in a half-hearted attempt at a smile, but Brook could tell that her heart wasn’t in it. “Can I sit down and talk?”

“Sure.”

“Ginny, I’m sorry about this afternoon. I got lost in the moment; it was the first time in a long time that I was able to forget my parents and how much I miss them. I certainly never meant to cause a problem between you and Dean.”

“I know, Brook. I got swept up in the fun too. Dean’s just jealous of all the time we spend together, since we have Transfiguration together and we’ve been studying so much lately. Being in different years has always been a little tough for him.”

“If it would help, I could stop studying with you. I could try working with Luna.”

Ginny giggled a little. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Don’t get me wrong. Luna is brilliant, and she is very gifted at Transfiguration, but her methods are . . . let’s say, unorthodox. Our first year, she was my only acquaintance, so I tried studying with her, but it just didn’t work. While she almost always is able to do the transfiguration, when she tries to explain how she did it, no one else understands how she did it. McGonagall gave up trying to teach her the ‘right way’ and just lets her do her own thing.”

“I could just work with Remus more then.”

“No, we can keep working together, especially if Colin is with us. Dean will cool off. It’s not like he doesn’t do things with the girls in his year. Last year, he spent hours and hours doing a painting of Parvati, and I wasn’t jealous at all.” At Brook’s doubtful look, she smiled. “Well, yeah I was a little jealous, but I only showed it a few times. Anyway, he’ll come around like he has in the past. He blew up at me and Colin more than once last year for studying together.”

“But Colin doesn’t like you; he worships Demelza. Everyone knows that.”

“Dean knows it, too, but that didn’t stop him from being jealous. In a few days, we’ll be back to normal.” Changing the subject, she said, “I see you have some parchment there. Taking my advice?”

“As a matter of fact, I am, and I think it might be helping. Thanks for the suggestion.”

“Anytime, Brook, anytime.” She got up and stretched, exposing a little skin as her shirt rode up. Brook tried to look away, but as he turned his head, she bent over and pecked him on the cheek, giving him a little electrical shock. “Night, Brook. Sleep well.” She turned and walked up the stairs to her dorm, Brook watching her every move, putting his hand over the spot where she had kissed him.