The day had finally come, the day which Lily had been thinking about endlessly as she meandered through corridors, sat at the table in the great hall, lay in bed at night. True, she'd only found put about quidditch on Wednesday and it was not only the Friday, but the time span between had seemed to take an eternity to the excited eleven year old. To make matters worse she'd had to endure a two hour history of magic lesson, then lunch before finally she rushed towards the area of the castle where the flying lessons were going to take part.
Out on the grass her eyes quickly fell to the teacher standing there, a wall, willowy looking woman with short spiky grey hair, looking directly at her, the woman stood beside a row of broomsticks, in front of those was another.
"Well, don't just stand there!" The woman called, sounding impatient. "Come, pick a broom, not that there's much difference in any of them."
Doing as she was instructed, Lily move swiftly to the first broom in the rows, followed quickly by Cam, Taliah, Lainey and Bec. The boys were there as well, James sand Sirius were nudging each other, snickering and looking at the brooms with thinly veiled excitement. Remus didn't look nearly as certain, however, Dale, the tall blonde boy was grinning as he stared down at the broom at his feet, while Peters watery blue eyes took in the sight of the broom with apparent scepticism. Looking across to her friends, the girls all seemed quite happy, Cam and Taliah looked at the brooms with eagerness while Bec appeared slightly uncertain, Lainey for her part looked bored – she'd moaned endlessly that she was able to ride a broom – her father was a professional quidditch player.
"Alright!" The professor barked. "I'm Madame Hooch, your flying instructor, I also act as referee in quidditch matches. I know all there is to know about flying, so listen closely, I don't want to be having to deal with any broken bones this year."
"First things first, step to the left of your broom, until it is at your right hand side – I said right hand side Jones!" She sighed exasperatedly, as a blonde girl in Hufflepuff colours turned red, correcting her position. "Now remember, you need to take control of the room, you are in charge, not the other way around. It can sense your fear."
"With your right hand over the room – not yet Potter! I want you to firmly say the word 'up' – I said not yet Potter!" Lily's eyes flickered to where James stood, grinning sheepishly as he lowered his hand. "I want you to grasp the broom tightly in your right hand when it rises, nothing else, just grasp it firmly. Alright, give it a go!"
Looking down at her broom, Lily grinned once more, before pulling back her shoulders, feigning confidence.
"Up!" Her broom twitched, even hopped off the ground a bit before falling back into place and remaining there, looking up and around to see how everyone else was doing, she quickly spotted that James, Sirius and Lainey already had brooms in hand, the other however were mostly getting the same reaction as she was. She frowned, before parting her feet until they were shoulder width apart, pulled back her shoulders. "UP!"
The broom flew into her hand, she even squeaked as the smooth wood hit her plan, a wide smile spreading across her face as she felt it there, floating in her air with her small hand wrapped around it. Looking around, Cam also hand her broom in hand, quickly followed by Dale and Taliah; Remus, Bec and Peter weren't having as much luck.
"You must say it like you mean it." Lily looked to Bec who was frowning at her broom that lay still at her feet, Madame Hooch could say 'say it like you mean it' all she wanted, but it might not mean something to Bec, who just looked confused.
"Like you want it… Like you need it in your hand… You control the broom," Lily told Bec quietly.
"That's it Miss Evans, exactly!" Madame Hooch exclaimed, grinning at Lily, who visibly reddened at the compliment she was being given. A smile spread across her face, despite herself, she could do this, she could be a witch, she could fly. More than that, she could help others do it too. It was a very nice thought indeed. She watched as Bec, with renewed concentration, called the word 'up', she was quickly rewarded with the broom lifting into the air, into her hand, until she clasped her fingers around it.
"I did it!" Bec squeaked, hopping from foot to foot excitedly. She turned to Lily, a smile spread across her face.
Smiling to herself, Lily looked to her own broom, feeling it in her hand as she flexed her fingers around it. This is what she needed to do, she needed to learn to fly, she was made to do so.
"OK, when I say so, you are to step one leg over the broom, grip the top of the handle firmly with both hands, and push off the ground," Madame Hooch told them, her golden eyes looking at them each in turn, as if trying to properly hammer the message into their brains. "Once you have done this, hover for a minute before pushing the handle towards the ground, this will direct the broom into lowing you back into the ground. Anyone that does not follow those exact instructions will find themselves in detention for a month!" Her eyes flickered towards were James and Sirius were snickering together, apparently their reputations were spreading amongst the professors. "Now, off you go, hover!"
Taking a deep breath, Lily pulled over leg over the broom and settled herself down on it, surprised by the fact it was more comfortable then she had thought it would be, almost as if it had an invisible seat. She settled her small frame down on it, wriggling slightly until she felt completely settled, grinning to herself as she could feel the broom vibrate slightly, as if it felt the same eager anticipation she did. With her hands tightly gripped to the broom, she kicked off from the floor, shooting five foot into the air.
Looking at the ground she could see her shadow below her, then she looked up and around her, the only others in the air were James, Sirius, Dale, a Hufflepuff boy and a girl. Catching James' eye, Lily grinned, which was returned he nodded his head towards her, it was a sign of approval. Quickly Cam joined them in the air, then Lainey and Taliah, Remus, Bec and Peter.
It felt like no time before the professor was instructing them to lower their brooms to the ground, which Lily did almost reluctantly, until she felt the soft ground beneath her shoes. A shriek forced her to look up, to see Jones, the Hufflepuff girl, go shooting forward, knocking directly into Remus, sending him flying back a good few feet as she continued forward, screaming.
"Every year!" Madame Hooch sighed, before running off after the screaming girl, looking over her shoulder. "Please someone make sure Lupin isn't dead!"
Remus had quite fortunately survived the incident with nothing more than a few bruises, which he was very unconcerned with. James and Sirius had with the help of Dale dragged him to the hospital wing, despite Remus' protests, while the girls watched as Madame Hooch retrieved the clearly terrified Jones from her runaway broom.
"Well, some of us clearly should try out for the quidditch team next year," Bec commented as the girl gathered their belongings and begun to trudge back towards the castle and the common room, more than ready for the weekend which begun now. "Well, not me, I didn't like that too much at all… But Lily, Cam, Lainey, Taliah, you guys were all really good at it…"
"No thank you." Lainey responded quickly, shaking her head as she did. "I've grown up with quidditch my entire life, I've had enough to last me forever."
"I'm not much into sports," Lily added, she liked the flying thing, but she'd never really been one for teams sports, up until coming to Hogwarts she'd gone to dance classes and gymnastics lessons, but team sports had never really appealed to her before. "Well, teams sports."
"You should give it a go Lily, you never know," Cam told her with a serious look on her face. "Quidditch is amazing, I am definitely trying out for the team."
"Ahhh, so the first flying lesson has only just finished, and already there's talk of who will be on the Gryffindor team," A female voice laughed as the girls entered the Gryffindor Common room, Lily looked to see a familiar face stood there, smiling at them. It was Bronte, the girl who had shown them the way to the common room their first evening here, she was stood beside another girl, she had dark black hair and a pretty face with familiar hazel eyes.
"Kate, do you remember when we had our first lessons, oh so eagerly discussing quidditch after?" Bronte laughed as the girls paused beside them, Lily remembering Kate as being one of James' siblings, she was really pretty, with a kind look on her face. "And then, boys happened and suddenly sports wasn't nearly as interesting."
"Boy happened!" A tall, well-muscled seventh year called across the room, he had a shock of carrot coloured hair atop his head, as he eyed Kate closely, Lily recognised him as Fabian, the seventh year prefect.
"Boy happened," Kate agreed, her cheeks reddening slightly, before turning back to the girls. "So which of you is hoping for a spot on the team?"
"Me," Cam answered instantly, her whole face brightening as she did. "I want to be chaser… or maybe seeker."
"I could see you as a chaser, has your brother Kingsley been teaching you anything? He's quite the player, I know he taught Darwin who is looking to join the team?" Kate asked Cam, who shrugged slightly. "Let me guess, your brothers don't let you play?" This time Cam nodded her head, and Kate laughed slightly. "Brothers, mine used to do the same to me."
"Do none of you want to try out for the team?" Bronte asked the rest of the girl, but none of them seemingly did.
"Maybe," Taliah answered finally, though she did not sound entirely sure. "I dunno… Maybe… It would be kinda cool."
"Being on the team is cool," The carrot coloured hair lad piped up again, jumping up from his position and sauntering towards Kate, wrapping an arm around her waist as he spoke to the girl. "Fabian Prewett, Gryffindor Beater and second in command… Between me and Tom, we're running one of the best teams Hogwarts have ever seen." A look of awe come over Cams face as she looked at him, even to the point her mouth fell open slightly as she stared at the boy before her. He seemed to notice, giving her a quick wink that Lily was sure was gonna cause her friend to fall unconscious. "You should pop to our quidditch practice sometime, you can't play little Gryffie, but you'll pick up some stuff."
Nodding her head furiously, her wide, dark eyes, still intently trained on the boy, Cam was clearly lost to all around her. The three older Gryffindors wandered off together, Cams eyes following the boy still.
"I think I love him."
"Camilla Shacklebolt, he's a seventh year!" Taliah laughed as the three girls begun moving towards the staircase that would bring them to their dorm room. "He's OLD! And did I mention, he's a seventh year!"