The Chaser and the Keeper

***

When Savannah brought Kristen her notes, she brought the rest of the Ravenclaw quidditch team with her. Upon seeing Kristen awake, huge grins appeared on all of their faces.

“I’m so glad you’re awake!” Kailey exclaimed, hugging her.

“We thought we were going to lose you for a while there!” Jason added.

“Did you hear what happened?” Tony asked.

“I can’t believe the beaters were stupid enough to start that crazy shit,” Alex stated.

“Well, the Gryffindor beaters. We were just defending our team,” Garret corrected.

“My cousin is an asshole,” Rose finished.

“Yeah, I heard about what happened,” Kristen replied, “I can’t believe most of you guys were in the hospital wing as well.”

“Being the only person on this team who wasn’t unconscious, I must say, it was very unpleasant,” Garret stated.

“At least people were punished,” Kailey said.

“What was the punishment?” Kristen asked.

“Well all of the beaters, including Garret and I, and James Potter have detention every day for the rest of the year. We also have to apologize to everyone,” Tony replied, “I am sorry that we were not able to defend you better.”

“I’m sorry too. We should have stopped the bludger and prevented this mess from happening,” Garret added.

“It’s alright. Considering all that happened, I’m still proud of every single one of you. We had a fantastic year except for that last game. Yes, our winning streak is over, but I don’t think any Gryffindors are going to be rubbing that into our faces, considering what they had to do to win the game,” Kristen said, “We made James Potter get so desperate to beat us that he turned to violence. I think every single one of us has made Ravenclaw a force to be reckoned with.”

The Ravenclaw team clapped and cheered, gaining them some glares from Madame Pomphrey, which they ignored.

“Next year, we’ll kick their asses once again!” Rose exclaimed.

“I might be out of Hogwarts next year, but I’m going to go to every single one of your games and watch you all kick ass,” Garret stated.

“Same goes for me,” Tony added.

“Me too,” Alex agreed.

“No one messes with Ravenclaw and gets away with it,” Kailey said.

“Gryffindor shall meet our wrath,” Jason agreed.

***

Tyler walked into the common room to find James, Fred, and Louis talking by the fire. He approached them, for he had some news for them.

“Hi Tyler,” Louis said, “What’s new with you?”

“I think Kristen woke up,” Tyler replied.

The three sixth years looked at him. If he was right, then that was definitely good news.

“Why do you think that?” Fred asked.

“I passed her sister in the hall and she said, ‘Well it looks like you’re not going to Azkaban after all’,” Tyler replied.

“That definitely sounds like something Savannah would say,” James stated, rising to his feet, “Well it looks like we have someone to apologize too.”

***

Kristen watched as Tyler and Fred walked out of the hospital wing. They had apologized for being such asses. She was glad that they apologized, but it felt almost forced. She could tell that they didn’t want to be there and seemed to be extremely uncomfortable. Well, she assumed it would be uncomfortable having to apologize to someone that you purposely knocked out, especially when they were unconscious for a week.

Kristen was interrupted from her thoughts by the sound of the doors to the hospital wing opening. This time, it was James Potter walking through them. It was odd, but he actually didn’t seem to be as arrogant as he usually was. He seemed guilty and timid.

“How are you feeling?” James asked as he approached.

James Potter asking how she was feeling? That was definitely a first. This was really starting to get strange.

“I’m doing alright,” Kristen replied.

“That’s good,” James stated.

James took a deep breath; this was a lot harder than he had planned.

“I’m sure by now you have been told that the beaters and I were forced to apologize to everyone for our actions during the quidditch game,” James started.

“I have,” Kristen replied.

“Good. So I’m going to do this real quickly so we can both get on with our lives. I’m sorry.”

James quickly turned around and walked away. Kristen was stunned. She made her life a living hell for the last six years and was the reason she had been unconscious for almost two weeks and all she got was a simple sorry.

“Hold on, James,” Kristen said, stopping him before he reached the door.

He hesitantly turned around, not wanting to face her. She beckoned him to come back and slowly he approached her, afraid of what she was going to make him do.

“You need to apologize better than that, Potter,” she stated.

“I do not! My punishment was to apologize to everyone, not do a fantastic job apologizing,” James argued.

“You are going to apologize better than me or I’ll tell McGonagall. I’ll also tell your mother.”

James froze. His mom would flip out on him if she found out he had done such a terrible job at apologizing to Kristen. He was going to have to apologize better.

“Now get on your knees,” Kristen commanded, looking him in the eye.

He found her glare quite frightening. They were eyes that seemed capable of being so warm at times but also extremely cold. They were cold looking at the moment. He slowly got down on his knee.

“Both of your knees, you moron!” Kristen scolded, “You’re not proposing to me!”

James quickly got onto both of his knees, his face red in embarrassment.

“Now you are going to apologize for being the biggest ass ever,” Kristen continued.

James took a deep breath, trying to push through his embarrassment. After all, he was feeling awfully guilty about how terrible he’d treated Kristen.

“Well, I have to apologize for six years of being an asshole. Actually, I don’t have to apologize for all those years, I want to apologize. I remember that first day when I said that pigs would fly before you could play a good game of quidditch. I don’t think I’ve ever been proven that wrong before. I just assumed because you were a girl and a nerd that you wouldn’t be any good at quidditch. I guess I was just mad that you didn’t fall all over me like most of the girls I talked to.

“I’m sorry for setting your books on fire and pushing you in the lake. I’m sorry for using magic to hold you upside down, showing the entire school your underwear. I’m sorry for every time I threw a dung bomb at you or slipped some Weasley Wizard Wheezes products into your food and drink. I’m sorry for every time I used nerd as an insult, when I shouldn’t have been. I’m sorry for telling you to ‘fuck off’ the couple times you offered to help me with homework. I’m sorry for all the times I’ve called you ugly and fat, when you definitely aren’t.

“Most of all, I’m sorry that I almost killed you. I was sick of you beating me at quidditch. I still thought that I shouldn’t be beat by anyone, especially a girl. My desire to win just drove me over the edge. I didn’t think about the consequences of my actions. I didn’t realize that you would be unconscious for almost two weeks. I didn’t realize that it would cause your sister and brother to give up on their social lives. I didn’t realize that I would feel so guilty.

“I don’t want you to forgive me. I don’t deserve to be forgiven. For the past six years, I’ve been a complete ass to you when you have been nothing but nice to me. I can’t promise that I’ll never do something stupid to you again. I’m naturally stupid, and usually it gets worse when you’re around. However, I can promise that I’ll never have my beaters try and take you out again, Kristen. You might drive me crazy at times, but I don’t really want you out of my life. You make it a lot more interesting.”

With that, James got up and left the hospital wing, leaving Kristen shocked. She hadn’t expected James to apologize so much. Was it possible that James Potter might be not such a terrible person after all?