"Hermione, you did wonderfully last time, why on earth are you nervous now?" Harry asked as he led his girlfriend back to the Quidditch pitch.
"I don't know. I mean, I liked it, but I'm still kinda scared of it."
"Well, don't be. You know I'll be right by your side if something happens. But I know it won't," he quickly added.
"Ok, ok."
"Do you think you can just take off?"
"I'll try," Hermione said quietly. She mounted her broom and kicked off. She found herself hovering. "Harry! I did it!"
"Excellent, Mione!" Harry replied as he kicked off as well. "So, what do you want to work on today?"
"I think balance. I'm still a little shaky up there."
"Ok, balance it is. You're going to have to trust me though."
"I trust you with my life, Harry."
"Good, because here's what I want you to do: let go of the broom."
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah. Look, Mione, we're only about two feet from the ground. If you fall, you'll be fine. But I don't think you'll fall. Just let go."
Hermione slowly let one hand go. "Harry, I don't want to let both go."
"Ok, that's fine. We'll work like this first. For most Quidditch players, one hand is the only option. Beaters must hold the sticks, chasers need to handle the Quaffle and the seeker needs to grab the snitch. And if we could just get Ron to catch the Quaffle more, he'd need one hand as well, maybe neither."
Hermione giggled. "He hasn't been so great lately, has he?"
"Too busy making eyes with Lavender, but anyway. Look at you, just sitting there with one hand, like nothing. Not so bad, is it?"
"No, I guess not."
"Ok, let both go. We're not high, Mione. You'll be fine. I'm right next to you."
Hermione cautiously let the broom go.
"See? Not so bad is it? Now put your arms out to your sides," he said as he flew around a little bit. Hermione complied. "Ok, you're completely balancing on your own. And you're holding on with your knees. Good work. See? You're a natural!"
"A natural? Yeah, right!"
"But you're doing great. Maybe you could be a chaser next year."
"On the Quidditch team? Are you crazy?"
"I don't know. Let's see," Harry said as he lightly tossed a Quaffle at her. Hermione hadn't noticed he even picked one up.
She caught it like an expert and barely lost her balance.
"Harry James Potter! What was that for?" Hermione screamed.
"To prove my point. You are a great flyer, Mione. All you need is some practice. Maybe next time we'll focus on Quaffle handling."
Hermione shot him a very skeptical look.
"I'm serious!" he told her.
"So am I," she replied. "There's no way I could play Quidditch."
"All right, well, let's just get back to balancing. Use one hand to grip and then lean forward to get moving. At first, it's pretty hard to go forward without holding on."
Hermione, grateful to grab the broom, did as Harry told her and began to move. Just then, Harry tossed another Quaffle to her.
"Catch!" he called.
"Harry!" she screeched as she caught the Quaffle.
"See? You caught it, even when you were moving and not expecting it."
"That was a dirty trick!" she said as she circled back to him.
"Sure, but it proved my point. Not only did you catch it, but look at how quickly you steered back over here to yell at me," he said with that grin that Hermione couldn't stay mad at.
"Yeah, but what if I had fallen?"
"I would have caught you."
"What if you couldn't get to me?"
"Hermione, I will always get to you. I will fly faster than the speed of light if I have to."
She smiled because she knew he'd probably try it.
"So, do you still trust me?" he asked sweetly.
"Yes, I suppose I do," she replied.
"Ok, follow me up." He pulled up on the broomstick and flew about 10 feet into the air.
She did the same and met him in the air. "Now what?"
"Let go again."
"I can't. Not all the way up here!"
"Ok, well, how about I hold your hand?" Harry said as he reached over and took one of her hands off of the broom.
"How do you talk me into things like this?" she asked.
"It's a gift. See? One hand and we're all the way up here."
"You're holding me. It's like I have training wheels."
"Sweetheart, I'll gladly hold your hand forever."
Hermione blushed. She'd never get used to the compliments that Harry gave her.
"I'll gladly let you hold my hand forever," she replied.
"But, it'll make classes difficult. And trust me, you won't want to see the boys' dorms lately."
"Harry, you're very weird."
"And I mean, if you were to play Quidditch, it would look very strange. The seeker and a chaser really can't be connected for the whole game."
"Ok, I get the point. Let go."
"What?"
"I said let go. I want to try this without my training wheels," she said.
He slowly let go of her hand and watched for what he had been waiting for - his Hermione to be completely comfortable with flying.
"Ok, it's not so bad," she said shakily.
"Of course it's not."
Hermione leaned forward slightly and began to move forward. Harry, completely in shock, followed her.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"I don't know," she replied. "I've seen you just fly around and I thought that might be nice."
"More than nice. It's freeing. It's so wonderful to come up here and just be me. Not "the boy who lived," or "the Gryffindor seeker," or part of "the dream team." Just me. Just Harry."
"I understand, honey. I really do. I feel really bad for you some days. Now I know why you just fly off some days."
"It's never to escape from you," Harry reassured. "It's everything else. Normally, you are my sanity."
"Harry, you don't have to explain. I get it, I really do."
"Ok. I just want to make sure you know how much you mean to me and how much I love you."
"And I love you, too. Thank you so much, Harry."
"For what?"
"For bringing me into your world. I feel so much closer to you now."
"Well, good. I love knowing that you can like to fly. Maybe one day we'll go on a flying trip. Sound ok?"
"Sounds wonderful!" Hermione said as she leaned over to kiss him. This time she didn't lose her balance at all.
"Ok, fly-girl, ready to go back down?"
"Yeah, let's go. We still have that Transfiguration essay to work on."
"Ah, back to Hermione's world," Harry sighed.
"Pretty much," she laughed.
"Ok, well, lean down and we'll get back to Transfiguration."
Hermione did just that and they both landed perfectly. "Well done, Mione," he said as he kissed her again.
"And this time no Quidditch team to interrupt," she said as she pulled him into a much more passionate kiss.
After the kiss ended. Hermione handed Harry the broom. "Ok, captain. Clean up. Back to the real world."
"Yes, ma'am," he replied with a salute. He put everything away and walked back to the castle with his girlfriend, hand-in-hand, beaming with pride.