For a wild moment, James thought the second Bludger had taken his arm off completely.  It felt like there was absolutely nothing attached to his shoulder.  Except for pain.  Searing, blinding, unfathomable pain.

This time last year, James could have beaten Boyd with one arm tied behind his back.  But his body just didn’t work the same anymore.

“Why do you want me to stay on the team?”

“Oh, the idealist in me would say the answer is team spirit, hope, faith, resilience, perseverance, and every other thing I know you’re not feeling right now.  But considering the current state of things, I’ll tell you it’s because your contract runs the length of the season and we haven’t got any other reserve Seekers.”

“You’re really pathetic,” he said quietly.

His reflection said the same thing.

“I suggest you look up ‘self-pity’ and see whose photo is next to it.”

The stars may have been dim from here, and perhaps in Wolverhampton, too, but James reckoned they shone a little brighter in the clear air at Hogwarts, just as they would on the outskirts of Puddlemere during their match against the Kestrals.