Marauder's Daughter (Eventual Tom Riddle X OC)

Chapter 11: Flight

Flying lessons are scheduled to happen every other Saturday for the first term, and then only once a month after our holiday break. I was looking forward to them, not because I don't know how to fly, but because I won't be limited to staying below the tree lines like I am at the cottage. At the Weasley's house I can fly a little higher when we play quidditch together, but that's not often enough. I'm decent at all the quidditch positions, but I was best at being a Keeper or Chaser. I'm good at observing and defending, but I'm also quick and aggressive, so those positions worked best for me. 

I don't have a plan to join the quidditch team, despite Charlie's constant begging. He's team captain this year, and most of the team is made of 6th and 7th years, plus Oliver Wood. I've only seen Oliver briefly in the common room, he's in Percy's year and was only a reserve player last year, but he's the Keeper full time this year.

Our whole year took the flying lessons on the same day, but half practiced after breakfast, and the other half went after lunch. We lions were partnered up with the Hufflepuffs, so there were a lot of muggleborns who have never flown on a broom before in our group. Lee and Kenneth weren't flyers themselves, and Kenneth's never even flown before either. 

As first years, we weren't allowed to bring our own brooms, and Remus unfortunately insisted I actually follow this school rule, so we all lined up along the shabby school brooms. I looked at it, and it made me miss Uncle Reg's broom. It's older, but he had kept it in flawless condition, and so did I.

Madame Hooch went over the basics, and when we went to command our brooms up, most of us got it instantly. She coached the others for a while until eventually we were all mounted on ours. We went through the basic hovers and such, a few people struggling with that, or afraid of the heights. Cedric was one of the only two Hufflepuffs even comfortable on the brooms, the other was a girl named Margaret Otters, and she was comfortable with the broom itself, but not with heights. 

We spent all morning there, until finally Madame Hooch allowed us to take a lap around the pitch.

"Care for a race?" I smirk challengingly to Cedric, the twins already on my side ready to go.

"Alright then!" Cedric grins and joins us. On the count of three, and all four of us took off like a bullet. Madame Hooch was yelling at us to slow down, but we were too busy having fun. 

I'm lighter than each of the boys, so I took that advantage to lean flush against the broom and go as fast as it could go. It was slower than my broom and shaking at the speed, but it was still pretty fast. I loved the feel of the wind rushing past my face. I landed lithely on my feet after the lap, beating all three boys and smugly grinning at them.

"Losers!" I call out in a sneer at them, laughing proudly. The twins then tackled me off my broom to the ground, and we wrestled together on the ground, like we usually do. I pinned them both, and then sat on top of them. "Double losers now." I smirk at them while they glare at me from the ground. Cedric offers his hand to me to help me up, and I take it and bounce back up. "Thanks!"

"You're a great flyer! Are you going to join the team?" Cedric asks me quietly while grinning.

"Nah, probably not. Too much time spent in practice for my tastes." I tell him truthfully. "But I can't wait to see the matches!"

"The view is better from inside the pitch!" I hear a voice behind me calling out, and spin around to face Charlie. "Stop saying you aren't joining my team, each time you do, it breaks my heart!" He mock cries, but I know he really wants me on his team. I run over and give him a hug, which he scoops me up into.

"Stop trying to recruit me, I'm too lazy for your team. Just take the twins." I throw my hand over my shoulder to the twins. "I'll certainly cheer the loudest for you though." I grin at him.