Flying Lessons
It was a sunny Thursday morning. Harry, Hermione, and Draco went to breakfast. As they sat down at the Gryffindor table, the mail owls swooped in. Harry was curious to see what would happen considering Draco would not take the Remembrall this time around.
A barn owl flew down to Neville and dropped a package in front of him. He eagerly opened it up, and gushed over the trinket. Draco rolled his eyes but said nothing.
"It's a Remembrall." He exclaimed excitedly. "Gran knows I forget things. It tells you…"
"We know what it does, Longbottom." Draco interrupted. Hermione glared at him. He shrugged half-apologetically.
At that moment, Finnegan and Zabini stalked up to the Gryffindor table.
"What you got there, Longbottom?" Finnegan interrogated. Neville flinched as Zabini snatched the trinket and gave it to Finnegan. "Hmm, a Remembrall. Forgotten something, have we?"
"Hey, that's mine!" Neville defended weakly. He tried to grab it back from the boys, but they held it high up in the air.
Draco turned to Hermione and Harry and whispered, "Was I really that important?" Hermione rolled her eyes, but nodded.
"What is going on here?" A silky voice asked. The trio turned to find their potions master standing in front of them, looking between his arrogant Slytherins and the helpless Neville.
"Finnegan and Zabini took Longbottom's present from his grandmother, Professor Snape." Draco complained, hoping he still had some sway with his beloved godfather. Snape turned to his Slytherins.
"You should probably return that back to Mr. Longbottom before Professor McGonagall is called over. You do not want to be in her crosshairs." Professor Snape instructed smoothly. Draco gave him a gracious smile. Professor Snape strode back to the High Table, not looking back at his godson. Finnegan and Zabini gave the trinket back and left.
"That was strange." Harry admitted. Draco smirked. He turned back to his food.
"I'm important." Draco preened quietly. Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes.
Later that afternoon, all the Gryffindors hurried down to their first flying lesson. Harry was excited. He had missed flying so much the past year.
When they arrived, the Slytherins were waiting with Madame Hooch.
"Everyone stand by a broomstick." Madame Hooch commanded. While she waited for everyone to follow her instructions, Ron turned to Harry.
"I'm the best flyer ever, Harry. Just watch. I can show you all the tricks." Ron bragged. Harry had to roll his eyes. Draco snickered in the background.
Madame Hooch instructed them to yell "up" towards their brooms. Harry and Draco watched as Ron struggled to budge the broom. Finally, when they had their fun, they both shrugged and yelled "Up" to their brooms. Both complied immediately.
Ron looked at both of them with awe. "This broom is stubborn." He excused. Draco rolled his eyes and turned away, trying not to fall on the floor laughing.
At last, all the brooms were in the hands of their owners. Madame Hooch took this time to give the next instruction.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, kick off from the ground hard. One…two…" Madame Hooch counted. Before she got to three, Neville pushed off the ground before the whistle touched Madame Hooch's lips. As he did before, he ended up crashing and breaking his wrist.
"None of you move while I take this boy to the hospital wing. You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on, dear." Madame Hooch instructed.
Finnegan burst out laughing as soon as they were out of earshot.
"What an oaf." Finnegan laughed. Zabini nodded in agreement. Finnegan went over and picked up a small shiny sphere. "Look, he dropped his Remembrall. We should keep it safe for him. I'll go find a nice tree for it to rest in to keep it from harm." Finnegan jumped on his broomstick and took off.
"Hey! Give that back." Harry demanded. Without thinking, he jumped on his broom and went after them. Draco turned to Hermione. The fear in her eyes was palpable. Without a second thought, Draco jumped on his broom and took off into the sky.
"Harry, we're going to get in trouble." Draco reminded him. Harry looked at him.
"Then why are you up here?" Harry asked. Draco rolled his eyes and turned to Finnegan.
"Give it back, jerk." Draco yelled. Finnegan smirked.
"You know what? I'm feeling nice today. Here." Finnegan dropped the Remembrall. Harry dived after it. He almost smacked into the castle wall, but right before he hit the side of the castle, he grabbed the Remembrall and turned out of his dive.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Finnegan whined. He changed course and began flying at great speed toward Harry.
Harry thought quickly. "Here, Draco, catch!" He commanded. He threw the ball and Draco caught it with ease. Finnegan changed course again and flew toward Draco. Draco caught Harry's eye and threw it back.
At that exact moment, they heard a shrill voice call out, "HARRY POTTER! DRACO MALFOY! Get down here right this instant!" Professor McGonagall demanded. Harry and Draco had the decency to look cowed. "Never in all my time at Hogwarts! How dare you? You might have broken your necks!"
"It wasn't their fault, Professor." Patil started.
"Be quiet, Miss Patil. You two, follow me." Professor McGonagall commanded. Both boys bowed their heads sheepishly and followed the Professor's lead.
"I can't believe you two." Hermione started, once they had gotten back to the common room. Instead of getting punished, like they deserved, they had both gotten onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Harry was again a Seeker, but Draco was a Chaser. "What I can't believe even more is that Professor McGonagall rewarded you yet again!"
Harry smiled. "Come on, Mione. We both know I needed to be on the Quidditch team, especially this year." Harry stopped for a moment and added, "And next year, as well." He turned to Draco. "Is your delusional elf going to try and kill me again?"
Draco looked at him like he had three heads. "What?"
"Dobby. He tried to kill Harry second year." Hermione explained.
"Well, technically, he only wanted to maim me." Harry corrected. "I ended up freeing him. Your dad's a downright git."
"Wait, that explains why we were down one house elf that summer." Draco stopped and thought for a moment. "Wait, was that the house elf that saved you seventh year?"
"Don't you know your own house elves?" Hermione asked angrily.
"There's so many of them. They're just like a big crowd of little old people with bat ears and big eyes." Draco explained. Hermione stomped away furiously. Harry sighed and put his head in his hands.
"Great, SPEW again." He mumbled. Draco looked thoughtfully at him for a moment.
"Wasn't that what Granger was going on about fourth year?" Draco wondered. Harry threw up a hand to stop him.
"Don't…Start…" Harry warned.
When Harry got his broom from McGonagall, Draco was reminded that he would need his broom from home.
"Well, I can't write father or mother to get it for me." Draco reasoned as they talked over possible ways of obtaining the broom.
"Well, you could always call Dobby to do it." Harry recommended. Hermione huffed but stayed silent.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Do you think he can apparate through the Hogwarts wards?" Draco asked. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Oh, I know he can." Harry promised. Hermione snickered at that.
"Dobby." Draco called. Nothing happened.
"Maybe he's busy." Harry suggested.
"No, he should always come when his master calls." Draco explained. He called again. "Dobby."
This time, Dobby showed up, looking shocked. After the shock wore off, he began to punish himself for not coming sooner. Draco stood there doing nothing. Harry looked a little uncomfortable, but remained silent. Finally, Hermione spoke up.
"Aren't you going to do anything to stop him?" She demanded. She looked over at the two boys, huffed, and stomped out of the room.
"Why would I stop him? He was bad. He should have punished himself." Draco said quizzically. Harry looked up shocked.
"Don't say that in front of Hermione. Ever." Harry warned. Draco nodded understandingly.
"What does young master want?" Dobby asked Draco.
"Could you get my broom for me, please?" Draco questioned. Dobby looked at him wide-eyed.
"Of course, young master. Dobby is doing anything young master wants when he says please." Dobby promised. He quickly apparated away.
"What a strange elf." Draco commented. Harry looked at him, shocked. "What?"
"Nothing, nothing." Harry said nonchalantly.
Right then, Finnegan showed up with Zabini, Crabbe, and Goyle. The boys sneered at the Gryffindor duo.
"So, when are they going to have you out of Hogwarts? Did you pack your things already?" Finnegan grilled. Zabini smirked. Harry smiled.
"Yeah. Daddy and Mummy Dear will have even less of a reason to be pleased with the Scion Malfoy. Getting into Gryffindor will be nothing like getting expelled within the first month." Zabini teased. Draco could only smile.
"Actually, we both made it onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team thanks to you. Harry's a Seeker, and I'm a Chaser." Draco bragged.
"Well, you might be good in the air, but you'll never make it on the ground." Finnegan taunted. He looked over at Zabini. The boy nodded. "I challenge you to a wizarding duel. Twelve o'clock in the trophy room."
Draco thought back to the first time around. He remembered Zabini suggesting he do this last time. He remembered how he planned on getting Harry in trouble, but this was something he could not pass up-seeing the faces of the Slytherins when they accepted.
"We'll be there." Draco offered. "I'm Harry's second. Who's yours?"
"Goyle." Finnegan answered. "See you at midnight." The four Slytherins left.
"Great. Another best mate accepting things for me." Harry mumbled under his breath. At that time, Hermione came back.
"Accepting what for you?" Hermione questioned. Harry and Draco looked at each other before Draco answered.
"A wizarding duel." He said. Hermione's eyes widened.
"No!" She demanded. Harry looked affronted.
"Why not?" Harry asked.
"First of all, it's a trap to get you in trouble. Second of all, it was set up just so we could find Fluffy. Third of all, we already know about Fluffy. We don't need to go!" Hermione shouted. Draco sighed.
"She's right, as always." He conceded. Harry nodded.
"Fine, but can we still set them up for something?" Harry asked.
"Harry, mate, we have all year to set them up for things." Draco replied, scheming.