AND THEY WERE WIZARDS. (Oh my god they were wizards)

Flying is for Hippogriffs

sorry for the wait. i don't even know what it is. it's just things happening.

"You know, I reckon I can skive off the lesson if I fake a bad enough illness."

"Aww, c'mon Virge! Flying isn't so bad! It's really easy once you get the hang of it."

"It's not just that. We're doing it with the Gryffindors." Virgil groaned, "As if herbology wasn't enough of their shit for a day."

"Language." Patton muttered, buttering himself some toast. They sat at the crowded Hufflepuff table in the great hall, a golden morning sun shimmering down at them through the enchanted ceiling.

It was a few weeks into their term, and Patton and Virgil had become very close friends. Patton was friendly with everyone. It was hard to find a person who disliked him, and nearly impossible to find a person he disliked. But Virgil's defensive, somewhat turtle-like nature, so uncommon for Hufflepuff house, had endeared him to Patton, which he suspected, took Virgil rather off guard. Still, having every class together, as well as sharing a dormitory, they'd had time to get to know each other.

"They aren't all terrible." Patton continued, "a little prideful, I guess, but—"

"They're downright obnoxious." Virgil said flatly.

"Well I guess that Remy Fox..."

"He and Bond. 'Can't go five minutes without taunting someone or bragging about useless shit. And the worst part is they actually know how to fly if they've been telling the truth. I'm gonna live through hell after I fall on my face or—"

"I told you, it's not that hard. You'll be totally fine." Said Patton consolingly, patting Virgil on the shoulder. "C'mon. We'll be late for Potions."

the day seemed to zoom past them before Patton was excitedly dragging a reluctant Virgil out onto the grounds. The first year Gryffindors and Madam Hooch were already there and waiting, next to about twenty old broomsticks strewn across the ground.

"for the record, Patton, the best thing I've ever done with a broomstick is defend myself from a bobcat."

"Okay, I definitely need to hear that story later." Patton said, smiling as they approached with the rest of the Hufflepuffs.

"'Think you could pull off a Wronski Feint first try, Ro?" Remy Fox was saying loudly, many of the Gryffindors gathered around him and Roman Bond.

"Definitely," Bond said confidently. "But that's a seeker move. When I make the team, I'm playing chaser." He looked at the school owned brooms on the ground disdainfully. "You'd think they'd let us bring our own brooms to school, even if first years can't play for their teams."

"Right?" Remy agreed. "Like, I could be flying my Cleansweep Eleven up in here and you're gonna stick me on a Shooting Star that's older than I am?"

There were bouts of laughter around them both before a whistle blew, and silence fell.

"Alright, alright. Line up by a broom, all of you!" Shouted Madam Hooch sharply.

Patton made sure to find a broom next to Virgil as the instructions were given out. As he'd expected and practiced, they were told to hold a hand over their brooms and say "up." Patton's broom flew into his hand on the first try, Virgil's on the second.

"Hold the back of the handle, left hand in front of right. And be sure to bend your wrist as little as possible to prevent cramps and faulty direction changes," Madam Hooch instructed.

Patton checked Virgil's hand position along with his own, but he seemed to have it right. They practiced pushing off the ground, then hovering. The school-owned brooms proved to be just as shoddy as it was rumored, though no one could deny they were functional. They flew laps around the quidditch pitch for the rest of the lesson, the more experienced flyers staying on the right, Patton and Virgil on the left with those who'd never flown before. Patton's broom started to vibrate slightly if he flew too fast, but that ended up not being a problem, since he wanted to stay by Virgil until he got the hang of it.

"Have you ever ridden a bike?" Patton asked. "It's like that. You don't really wanna go too slow till you get better balance."

"Well, bikes have pedals," said Virgil. "How do you go faster on these?"

"Just lean forward a bit and put some pressure on the handle." Said Patton, demonstrating as he did so. Virgil looked down at the handle and leaned down like Patton said. He sped up slightly. But still looking down, Virgil hadn't noticed how fast he was accelerating. Patton swerved out of the way just in time, but a Gryffindor in front of them, wobbling slightly as she flew, was right in his way and in danger of a collision. Patton had barely shouted out a warning before Virgil dived. Patton followed, prepared to stop a crash if he needed to, but Virgil pulled out of it still ten feet above the ground with a yell, and hovered in place for a second, clutching the broom tightly and gritting his teeth as Patton caught up.

"That was... the idea." Patton said, smiling encouragingly.

"That was a horror show." Virgil scowled.

"I mean, you pulled out of the dive really well."

"That was an accident."

"What was that about?" Asked a voice from behind them. They turned to see Remy Fox approaching on his broom and coming to a stop with an impressive slide. "Someone drop a wand or something?"

"Oh we were just—" Patton began, but Virgil cut him off sourly.

"Why do you care?"

"We're allowed to get bored, aren't we?" Said Bond, appearing on their other side.

"Well there's flying. You could be doing that."

"I am. Obviously." Bond smirked, "but counterclockwise circles for half an hour do get dull when you already know what you're doing."

"Oh there's a tragedy." Virgil said sarcastically. "Come on Patton." He shot upward rather fast and rejoined the left lane of flyers. Patton gave Fox and Bond a weak smile each, then followed.

"So you've ridden a bike," Virgil said, his tone plainly indicating that he didn't want to mention the Gryffindors, who were now racing each other around the pitch and showing off tricks.

"Yeah, of course I have." Said Patton, taken aback. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well it's just, you've also ridden a broom. Remus usually just looks confused when I mention muggle stuff."

"Oh." Said Patton. "Yeah, my dad's a wizard, but my mom's not. They raised me kind of in the middle. So I know the basics of wizarding, but I can also do muggle stuff."

"Cool." Virgil said interestedly, "is that normal? I thought usually people are one or the other."

"Well you don't get a lot of families with no muggles in them at all, people have muggle grandparents or aunts or uncles even if they don't have muggle parents, but it's a little difficult to raise a kid in the middle of two worlds that hardly interact, isn't it?"

"Sounds pretty ideal to me."

"Yeah, I guess you could say I get the BEEEEEEEEST OF BOTH WOOORLDS!!" Patton belted, doing a little flip in the air.

"Shhhhhhh! Patton!" Virgil blustered, actually sinking lower as people looked their way.

Patton hummed the Hannah Montana theme as they practiced landing. When safely back on the ground he patted Virgil's back. "Told you it was easy."

"I still think if humans were supposed to fly we would've been born with wings, but—" Virgil conceded, "yeah. That was okay—" no sooner had he said it than his foot stepped into a dent in the uneven ground and Virgil fell with a thud, his face making contact with the neatly cut grass.

Patton kneeled down as the class around them snickered and Virgil turned over on his back, glaring at the sky.

     "You okay buddy?"

"I told you I'd fall on my face."