Preferred Customer Normal Preferred Customer 3 143 2003-08-12T15:27:00Z 2003-08-12T16:17:00Z 2 1044 5951 Dell Computer Corporation 49 11 7308 9.2720 9.35 pt 2
Disclaimer: Not one bit of this belongs to me and I'm not making a bit of money from it. I thank JKRowling for the characters to play with!
A/N: This takes place in their sixth year. They've been dating since fifth year. (I wrote it before OotP)
Hermione's Flying Lesson
"Harry, I just don't know about this," Hermione sighed.
"Mione, what's the big deal?" Harry asked. "You said you wanted to learn. Who better to teach you?"
"There's no one I would rather learn from, but that doesn't make me any less frightened of falling or something."
"I promise, if you fall, I will catch you," Harry said as he opened the door to the Quidditch field.
The expansive arena seemed extra large to Hermione now. Harry began to walk onto the field, one of the places he was most comfortable. Unfortunately, it was here that Hermione was least comfortable, and he was out to change that. She followed him slowly.
"Now, which broom do you want? You can use the school's or you can ride my Firebolt," Harry said.
"Oh, I'll take the school's. I do not want something that goes too fast or turns too quickly."
"Funny. Most people buy them for those reasons," Harry joked.
Hermione playfully slapped his arm. "You know what I mean!"
"Ok, ok. School broom it is. Now, do you want to do this like in flying class or can you just take off?"
"Um, I think I need to do it like in class," she sighed. It was strange for her to not be good at something.
"Ok, then put it down. Step up to it and say 'up!'" Harry said, while doing the same thing.
His instantly jumped into his hand, but Hermione's protested a little.
"See? I can't do this!" she cried.
"Mione, just try. I know that you can do this!"
"Up!" she yelled, perhaps a little louder than she meant to. The broom shot into her hand and she beamed with happiness. "I did it!"
"Of course you did. Ok, climb on and kick off from the ground," Harry explained as he did what he was saying.
Hermione followed and soon they were both hovering a foot or two from the ground.
"Ok, now what?" she asked shakily.
"Do you want to go higher?"
"I guess so. Just slowly," she replied.
"Ok, pull up a little. Do it slowly so you don't get too high."
Hermione did this and rose another three feet.
"Great job. Want to make a lap or two?" Harry asked.
"Um, yeah, we could do that," she said.
"Ok, lean forward just a little. If you go too much, you'll start going down. Just kinda nudge it along," he explained.
"Whoa! This is such a strange feeling," she said as the broom slowly moved forward.
"Yeah, but isn't it wonderful? Such a free feeling. You're like a bird!"
"It's not so bad after all," she said shakily.
"Do you want to go a little higher?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think I do," Hermione said as she pulled up a little more. Soon, she got really brave and went even higher. Soon, she was about 25 feet in the air.
"Hermione! Are you ok?" Harry yelled as he chased after her.
"I'm fine. This is actually great! Now I know why you love this!" she said with the wind blowing through her hair.
Harry couldn't believe how happy she suddenly looked. "Are you all right?"
"I feel great. I could do this all day!"
Harry smiled. Finally, he got her to love flying. He flew next to her.
"Wanna race?" he asked.
"Yeah, right. This old broom versus a Firebolt!"
"I'll tone it down. I'm trying to catch my girlfriend, not the snitch," he said.
"Ok. You're on!"
"We'll race to those goal hoops," he said pointing to their right. "On three. One, two, three!"
Both took off. Harry knew full well that he could get to the end and back before Hermione any day, but he only put light speed on the broom. He let her win, but she knew that the whole time.
"Thanks for letting me win," she giggled.
"Who says I let you win?" he asked.
"Oh come on! The great Harry Potter on a Firebolt against me on a Clean Sweep. And you didn't let me win?"
"Ok, fine. Maybe I sort of let you win. But you did amazing anyway," Harry said as he leaned over and began to kiss her. Hermione began to lose her balance and swayed a little. Harry reached over and grabbed her. "Whoa! Calm down, fly-girl."
"How do you balance on this thing?" she asked.
"Well, once you have practice, it gets easier. Trust me, Oliver had me running drills on balance alone. One day, nothing but how to balance well."
"Is that how you stood on the broom during your first game?"
"Yeah. Though even I couldn't believe I was doing it!" Harry said. "So, if I can do it, you can do it."
"Well, with you as a teacher, I can't go wrong," she said as she grabbed his hand.
"Are you ready to go back down?" he asked.
"Yeah, for now. But I think I'd like to try it again some time," she replied.
"Any time you want," he said. "Dating the Quidditch captain has its advantages. Access to the pitch anytime you need it."
She beamed at him. "Ok, so I have to lean down to bring the broom down, right?"
"Yep. Nice and easy," Harry said as he demonstrated on his own broom.
Hermione did the same and she glided back to the ground. Harry went faster to catch her in case she landed funny. Hermione almost landed perfectly and only stumbled a bit. Harry caught her and the pair kissed. Soon, the kiss began to heat up.
However, the sound of someone clearing their throat broke them apart.
"You know, Captain, just because you have a hot girlfriend and a new way to spend time with her, doesn't mean that we lose practice time with you," Dean Thomas said jokingly.
"Watch it, Thomas. Or the Gryffindor prefect will take points from you!" Hermione said.
"Ouch! Potter, can't you stop her? You're a Prefect, too!" Seamus Finnegan laughed.
"Oh, I don't think so. I don't get in the middle of her Prefect matters!" Harry replied.
"It's ok, honey. Have fun at practice and thanks for my lesson," Hermione said as she planted a kiss firmly on his lips.
The Gryffindor Quidditch team was surprised at the boldness of the act (as was their Captain/Seeker). As usual, they hooted and teased the couple for their public display of affection.
"Careful, guys. Practice could last an hour longer tonight," Harry threatened. "Bye, sweetie."
"Bye, honey. Be careful out there," she said as she gave him a sweet little kiss before leaving.
"Bye, Hermione!" the team yelled with singsong voices. She didn't turn around, but just waved vaguely behind her.
"All right, guys. Time for balance drills," Harry said as he mounted his broom and took off.
"They are without a doubt the cutest couple I have ever seen," Seamus said.
Dean looked up at their captain. "I'll betcha he'd never even know if we didn't join him. He's on cloud 9 right now."
"Yeah," Ron Weasley agreed. "But we might want to break him out of his spell before he starts flying into things," he said as he got onto his own broom.
The team agreed and followed Harry into the air. Hermione watched the team from the castle door. It was difficult to see who was who. It looked like 7 red spots. But even through that, she knew exactly which one was Harry. He carried himself so well on a broom. She smiled and mentally wished him good luck as she headed up to her room.