Title: What Goes Up
Author: Grevola
Rating/Word Count: G,1102 words
Notes: This is set in the same GW/HP crossover world as my Sorting Hat Series. Meiran is the focus, but other characters make appearances, of course. X-posted to my LJ and gw500.
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This was what Meiran Long had been waiting for. After a week of boring and interminable lessons, she was going to learn to ride a broom. And there was absolutely nothing Chang Wufei or the Elders could do about it! She lined up with the other Gryffindors on the Quiddich pitch, and surveyed the array of students. The Slytherins were lined up indolently across from them in roughly two groups. On one end stood Draco Malfoy, lounging about between the two lumps he insisted on calling his friends. On the other end was Quatre Reberba Winner. Everyone had thought they would be best bosom buddies within five minutes, as they both came from very old and very powerful wizarding families. And apparently they had been until Malfoy had thrown a fit over Winner's friendship with Duo Maxwell and Trowa Barton. Both boys had arrived at wizarding from orphanages and Malfoy had been quite distraught over their admittance to Hogwarts, much less Slytherin. This had resulted in what Relena Darlian was calling "The Battle of the Blonds".
"I can't believe we have to attend lessons," Malfoy was saying, "I mean, it's not as though any proper wizard wouldn't teach their children to fly as soon as they could walk."
Meiran glared at Malfoy, and was about to give him a piece of her mind when Winner beat her two it. "Oh, I don't know about that," he said, "I've never ridden a broom before, after all."
Malfoy sneered at the other Slytherin, "Oh? Daddy Dearest too busy to show you which end was the bristles?"
Winner's blue eyes flashed, but his expression remained quite friendly, "Nothing like that," he said, "I believe it was because I was too busy racing carpets to give much thought to straddling bits of wood."
"Well if you're more interested in having your tea than a good turn of speed," he waved a dismissive hand, "I suppose it's a matter of taste. And what about you Potter?" His eyes fixed on the black haired kid about halfway up the line, "Ever ridden a broom before?"
"No Malfoy," he said, "But it can't be that hard, if they're going to let you do it."
That got a round of snickers from the Gryffindors, and even Meiran was amused enough to laugh. It was also just then that Madam Hooch, the Quidditch and flying instructor, arrived.
She had them line up, and settle themselves next to their brooms. When she told them to command the brooms "Up!" Meiran was delighted to see that hers jumped into her hand immediately. She held onto it, feeling it pressing gently against her arm, ready to rise further at a single command. The annoying Granger girl couldn't manage to get hers to respond, and the utterly useless Longbottom was looking at his like he was terrified of it. She found herself wondering how much trouble Chang had had during his lesson earlier in the week.
Then Madam Hooch, to a twitter of giggles, told them to mount there brooms. Meiran watched how Weasley and Malfoy managed it, and quickly copied them. She was surprised when both Darlian and Yui, the quite brown haired Gryffindor who probably hadn't spoken more than ten words to anybody so far, both settled themselves side-saddle on the brooms. Madam Hooch was also surprised, and she left off correcting Malfoy's grip to see what those two were doing.
She walked around Darlian first, before she nodded, "I haven't seen contenental style riding in a long while," she said. "You've got good form though. Done this before have you?"
The blond girl nodded, "Yes Ma'am, my mother used to take me riding."
"Well, there's no accounting for taste, but we teach English style here, so you'll need to re-mount" another round of snickering, "like the others."
While Darlian was getting herself settled and explaining the difference between Continental and English broom riding to Granger, Madam Hooch was looking at Yui's form. The boy looked like he was sitting on a fence rail, Meiran thought, with his hands folded in his lap and his feet dangling a few inches above the ground.
"This, though," she said, "this is new. Who told you to ride like that?"
The boy shrugged, and swung one leg over the broom so he looked like all the other students. She examined his new stance and grip and then frowned at him, "Ride properly from the start next time" she admonished him, and then it was time for them all to push off.
Meiran felt the butterflies fill her belly as Madam Hooch counted them to their first launch, but before the whistle blew Longbottom was shooting up into the air next to her.
"Come down this minute!"
But Longbottom was just flying further and further up, with obviously no control over his broom. Meiran looked around her. Madam Hooch was shouting for him to come down, and the other students all seemed transfixed watching him zoom away. "Typical," she muttered, and kicked off from the ground.
It was not, she felt a moment later, probably the smartest thing to do. But if they'd wanted smart they could go to Chang. Long Meiran was not going to sit around while some idiot got himself killed. She was halfway to Longbottom when the boy finally lost his grip on the broom and tumbled toward the ground. She leaned forward, directing the broom with her hand, and managed to catch his arm as he went past. He was much heavier than she'd anticipated, and falling faster than she'd been ready for. Her arm was wrenched and felt like it might pop out of its socket, and the broom was forcibly jerked out of her other hand. His weigh spun her around until she was hanging upside down from her broom by her thighs, but she didn't let go. She put all her effort into convincing the broom to slow their fall as much as she could, before finally they both tumbled to the grassy lawn of the pitch.
"You idiot!" Madam Hooch was yelling, "You could have been killed! Mid-air catches are only for the professionally trained! Now get up the both of you, how badly are you hurt?"
After a quick exam Madam Hooch decided they both needed to go to the medical wing, "And that's five points from Gryffindor for reckless endangerment!" But it was, Meiran felt, five points well spent.