Dangerously Yours - Mattheo Riddle

Flying

'Oh god this is going to be horrible,' said Alora darkly. 'Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of a bunch of people.' They had just found out that their first flying lesson started today and Alora could feel the nerves getting to her.

Alora wasn't too sure if she was going to be all that good at flying but Astra had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else. Astra had basically jumped with joy when they heard the news and there had been more pep in her step since then.

'You don't know you'll make a fool of yourself,' said Astra reasonably. 'Anyway, I know the boys are always going on about how good they are at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk. Besides, I'll be there too so we can help each other out'

Mattheo certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first-years never getting in the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories which always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. He wasn't the only one, though: the way Jasper Rowle told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around his backyard on his broomstick.

Even Theodore would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang-glider on his fathers's old broom. Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly.

Astra had never been on a broomstick in her life, because her god-father Remus could never afford one. Alora could tell that Astra had gone without a lot of things growing up, but she never complained. She spoke of Remus as if he had given her the whole world, and that was one of the many things Alora liked so much about her.

Alora was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something way out of her comfort zone, she hadnt even known about magic for that long and now she was about to fly around on her broom?

At breakfast on Thursday Astra had spent some time trying her best to calm Alora's nerves by giving her some tips she'd got out of a library book called Quidditch through the Ages. Neville, who was sitting with them across the table, was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later.

Alora hadn't had a single letter since Hagrid's note, something that Astra had been quick to notice, of course. Astra's owl was always bringing her packages of sweets from home, which she often happily handed a handful over to Alora.

A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grand- mother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.

'It's a Remembrall!' he explained. 'Gran knows I forget things – this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red – oh ...' His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, '... you've forgotten something ...'

Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand.

Alora and Astra jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.

'What's going on?'

'Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor.' Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.

'Just looking,' he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

"God, I dont know how Mattheo, Jasper or Theodore can stand that stupid kid," Astra grumbled under her breath

*

At three-thirty that afternoon, Alora, Astra and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps into the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns towards a smooth lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the Forbidden Forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.