Woo! I think I'm on a roll today! Defeated my writer's block, typed up the last chapter last night, and got this one done this morning! (That, to me, is a day, even though it's technically a night and a day...) So yeah. Hope you all like this one; it's more of a fun lightening scene...I think. It is long, but I enjoyed typing it! The caffiene at 3 in the morning probably helped, so Pepsi gets partial credit for helping me turn out this chapter! In case yaw'll are wondering, this chapter is called Scying Fleams, because it's really Flying Screams...or Screaming Flies...I couldn't decide, so that was what I came up with.
Disclaimer: Same old, same old. That damned lucky woman Rowling still owns everything, except Wren. I can't even claim that awesome move in Quidditch called the Wronski Feint (or Wonky Faint as Hermione calls it in the 4th HP book). T.T Sho shad...
"Can you hear it calling?
Can you feel it in your soul?
Can you trust this longing?
And take control, Fly...
Hillary Duff, -Fly
Wren and Severus arrived at the Quidditch pitch just as Sirius dodged past James and Tonks, scoring a goal. Wren grinned and clapped, "Nice shot!" Severus stood slightly to the side in the shadows, hoping Wren was right. He was having serious second thoughts about the whole thing.
Wren opened the student storage shed, and rummaged around in the racks until she found her broom. Carrying it back out, she groaned as she saw Sirius and James speeding towards Severus. Wren was much closer to Severus, so she only slightly increased her pace. Potter and Black were almost at them, and Wren took a deep breath before turning away from the oncoming human missiles, to talk to Severus, who she was now standing in front of.
It worked perfectly. Sirius swore loudly, and swerved out of the way to avoid hitting Wren who was now conveniently standing in the way of Severus. He smashed into James, and both of them fell off of their broomsticks; a harmless two feet from the ground. Their brooms landed a short distance away, and Wren grinned widely at Severus, who smiled nervously back, keeping his eyes on the two flying wonders.
"Are you ready then, Severus?" She asked him.
"Yeah…I guess…Listen Wren, are you sure they won't try anything?" He replied nervously. James and Sirius were approaching now with brooms and wands in tow. Both looked seriously pissed off.
Wren nodded firmly, "I'm sure."
Tonks touched down (rather gracefully) a few feet away. Seeing Severus, she raised her eyebrows at Wren, who glanced at Severus, her broom, and then at the two boys storming up and rolled her eyes. Severus blinked. What? He wondered, as Tonks nodded again and smiled. Tonks had gotten the gist of what Wren was trying to say without saying anything, and rushed forwards to Sirius and James.
"Oh no! Are you two okay? That was one hell of a stunt. Why'd you do something so stupid?" She laughed, pulling them both in for a hug and starting to look them up and down. James tried to pull away from her and Sirius looked utterly amazed.
"What are you doing, Tonks?"
"Get off of me!"
But Tonks didn't seem to hear them as she checked them over, giving Wren and Severus plenty of time to get up in the air.
Wren smiled after Tonks as she distracted Black and Potter, and turned back to Severus again. He stared at her, "What the bloody hell was that? Mind reading or something?"
She laughed, "No. That was the female sixth sense." Before Severus had a chance to process this odd bit of information, she hopped on her broom. "Come on then! Get on!"
Severus hesitated as he got on Wren's broom behind her. Where the hell was he supposed to put his hands!? Wren turned halfway around to see him. "Are you going to hold on, or would you prefer to fall off?" She asked smiling. Taking a hold of Wren's shoulders, he shut his eyes and prepared for kick off…but it never came. Opening his eyes, he saw Wren staring at him with barely concealed amusement. She seemed to be rather enjoying herself.
Struck speechless, Severus just stared back at her. Taking his hands in hers, Wren lifted them off of her shoulders, and yanked on them, pulling Severus up the broomstick until he was pressed closer to her. His sallow and pale face immediately began to burn. "I think you'll find that if you scoot up and put your hands here, you won't fall off." She said, smiling at him. She placed his hands around her waist, "Hold on tight, okay?"
Severus just nodded, and tried to breathe regularly. There were butterflies in his stomach, at the anticipation of flying for the first time…or was that because of Wren? He couldn't decide, but at that moment, Wren kicked off from the ground and took to the air. Immediately, Severus yelped, and Wren felt his grip tighten ten-fold as the ground dropped away beneath them. She soared off around the stadium slowly, leaning slightly to adjust its course. "Ah…Severus." She said after a moment.
A small reply came from behind her, "Yeah?"
"You don't have to hold on that tightly." She said, wincing as some slight turbulence bounced them and his grip tightened more.
"Oh….sorry Wren." He said, his cheeks once more turning scarlet.
As they completed their circuit of the stadium, they saw Tonks, James, and Sirius kick off from the ground and speed towards them. Severus was just considering if it would be safer to jump for the ground than to have a head on collision when the three pulled their headlong rush into check.
Wren grinned at them all, "You guys are okay from that fall you had, aren't you?" She asked innocently.
James nodded, completely unaware that it was Wren who had caused Sirius to crash into him; he hadn't seen her.
Sirius however, scowled and crossed his arms, to which Severus had to admit was very courageous. Then again, they were used to brooms and he wasn't. "What's he doing here?" He asked, nodding to Severus, not bothering to conceal the contempt in his voice.
"The same thing as you, I imagine." Replied Wren evenly, "Having some fun."
Sirius snorted, "Sure." He made a gesture as if to pull his wand out of his pocket where it was poking out, and then something that could have been outrage crossed his face as he didn't complete the motion and turned back to stare at Wren.
"Something wrong, Sirius?" She asked pleasantly, watching his bewilderment turn to understanding.
"No…nothing." He said finally, throwing Severus a look that was partially hate, and partially jealousy. Severus couldn't help but smile and shrug at him as Wren waved over at Remus and Lily, both who were trying to figure out who was sitting with her on her broom.
"Well, are we going to play or are we going to sit around all day in midair?" Tonks asked, tossing a Quaffle up and down. Sirius reluctantly tore his gaze away from Severus and Wren, and followed James and Tonks nearer the goals to practice playing as Keepers.
Wren twisted around oddly to look at Severus. "You alright?" She asked him.
"Yeah…fine." Wren smiled, and Severus looked away, embarrassed again. "How fast does this thing go then?" He asked, finally looking back at her.
Wren grinned and turned back to face the front of the broom, "Hold on!" She said, bending low over the broom handle. Severus did as he was told, and they shot forward split second later, the wind whipping them in the face as Wren pulled into a slow climb. They sped around the pitch a few times, and then slowed down. Severus stared around.
Everything was tiny from where they were, and he immediately looked back up as he had a sudden urge to throw up. They were a couple hundred feet in the air, and Wren laughed oddly.
Severus grimaced. He'd heard that sort of laugh. It was the kind that Sirius and James used when they were about to do something extremely dangerous, comical, or stupid. His suspicions were confirmed as Wren let the broom arc, slow down to an almost standstill, and then the angled downwards, and began gaining speed. "Wren!? What are you..." He stopped as she realized she was diving (obvious really). "Wren!" He cried again. "Wren, stop!" She ignored him, yelling happily in excitement as they shot downwards for the ground.
Severus held on tightly and closed his eyes…he didn't want to see when they hit the ground at over a hundred miles per hour. Once more, he waited for something that wasn't going to happen. He felt themselves level out in perfect control, as Wren pulled out of their steep dive, in perfect time, to leave their toes skim along the grass of the field. He opened his eyes, and let out a nervous laugh that was closer to a giggle, as Wren laughed with him, slowing down. "Wasn't that fun?" She asked him, practically bouncing on the broom from the adrenaline rush.
"Yeah…yeah it was." Severus found himself saying, after all, he had enjoyed it. He sighed, and rested his head on her shoulder, "But please don't ever do that again without telling me first!"
Wren grinned and nodded, "I'll remember."
She climbed higher again until they were level with the goalposts, and then, began gaining speed, shooting towards the side that James, Sirius, and Tonks were playing.
For the third time that morning, Severus thought they were going to crash, as they neared the other three flyers with alarming speed. They all stopped to watch Wren and Severus hurtling towards them. Again, at the last moment, Wren pulled up, but this time she went up and up, taking them in an arc. Severus yelled out again, fearing he'd fall off of the broom, but G-force kept both of them attached firmly to the broom as it went upside down and she leveled out again, close to James, Sirius and Tonks, who started flying towards them.
Gasping, Severus found the courage to let go of Wren with one hand to cuff her around the head. "You said you'd tell me!"
Wren squeaked when he whacked her, and twisted around again, grinning wickedly, "Oh…you meant all of the daredevil tricks I know?" Severus scowled and went to whack her again lightly on the head, but she made the broom buck, almost unseating him and he quickly grabbed hold of her waist again.
"WREN!!" He exclaimed, and Wren just giggled. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry. But you had to admit, it was funny."
Severus muttered something about what he considered funny and what he considered stupid. She playfully bucked the broom again, and his grip tightened again, but he didn't say anything.
The others had reached them, and James immediately started complimenting her Wronski Feint, saying how he'd only done it a few times, and that was without another person with him. Tonks joined in, commenting on it as well, but Sirius smirked at Severus, edging his broom closer. "Bet you enjoyed that. I wonder if you screamed loud enough though? Someone in Romania might not have heard you."
Severus smirked back, "Bet you enjoyed watching me fly around with Wren, didn't you, Black? Bit jealous, perhaps, are we?" Sirius looked murderous, but just then, James poked him in the cheek.
"Oi! Padfoot! We're going to take a break. You coming?" He asked, once again oblivious to the conversation that had just transpired.
All five students landed safely in the bleachers, and Severus stretched, un-cramping his stiff arms. Wren handed him her broom, walked a little ways down the bleachers and beckoned Sirius over, who grinned widely at Severus as he passed.
Lily started talking to Severus, asking how his Charms were improving, and struck up a conversation with him.
Wren glanced over Sirius' shoulder to make sure no one was within hearing distance. She only then just noticed the grin plastered on his face. Wren frowned, "I just wanted to talk, Sirius."
Sirius thrust his hands into his pockets, "'Bout what?"
"About your murmured conversation with Severus a moment ago." Wren replied.
Sirius just smirked, "What of it? It was all true, he was screaming like a girl, er…" He glanced at Wren, and started to continue, but she cut in.
"Look, I don't care if you hate each other, I really don't, but don't drag me into your feud as well. Don't use me as a way to get to each other, alright?"
Sirius muttered something that could have been an "okay", and Wren continued. "I've known you both for only a few days and I'm already very fond of you both, and it would be wonderful if you could just be civilized for once and not try to beat each other to bloody pulps." Sirius grudgingly nodded his consent, and Wren nodded back, before giving him a big hug. Startled, Sirius patted her back awkwardly.
Drawing away, Wren grinned, "So…Padfoot eh? Is that your nickname?" Sirius glanced behind him nervously, and nodded again.
Padfoot… That triggered something in Wren's mind, and she gazed at Remus for a long moment. He was reading that book on the train…he already knew a lot about them, and Severus almost let something slip yesterday about Remus… The conversation floated back across her mind. "And Remus…That were-- …" Of course…It made sense. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, she casually said, "When's the next full moon? It's in…three days, isn't it?" She asked.
"Four." Said Sirius without thinking. Oh. SHIT. He thought, mentally kicking himself.
"Odd…Not many people take to remembering the phases of the moon and when they are, now that there're calendars."
Trying to redeem his mistake, Sirius nodded, "Yeah…calendars. I was looking at mine this morning and noticed it was in four days." He shrugged, hoping his lie would work. Wren slowly nodded, "Ah." She walked silently back to the others, and joined Lily and Severus, who were still discussing Charms. Sirius followed her, nodded slightly to Severus, who blinked and frowned wonderingly at him, and stood listening to Remus', James', and Tonks' conversation.
They all talked together for a few hours, Severus being, much to his surprise, included in most of it. Finally, they all hopped on their brooms, and took off towards the shed at the entrance to the Quidditch pitch. James had Lily riding double, Sirius had taken off already and was flying in loop-the-loops and corkscrewing while he waited for them to catch up, Severus was once again with Wren, and Remus, much to his embarrassment and Tonks' pleasure, rode with her.
Stowing their brooms away, they headed back for the castle, and a nice big lunch.
Thankies for reading! Please please please reply! I am VERY open to suggestions right now (always have been, but now more so) because I can feel the Writer Block Spawn from Hell coming for me. Some suggestions on what to do next (perhaps a scene you'd like to read? Or a fight? Or something?) would be very appreciated, and I'm sure at least one of you has noticed that Wren has no last name yet. That's because I suck at names...Wren came to me out of the blue when I was typing. (Any surname suggestions will be considered, and if yours is the only one there, and it's fairly good, I'll use it!) Thanks for yer time, and I sure hope you enjoyed this chapter; I did! And hopefully stuff makes sense to you. In a nutshell, Severus and Sirius both like Wren, but (for now) she only sees them as good friends; Wren is catching on very quickly that Remus is a werewolf; and I'm slowly going insane!! A toast to my sanity. We shall miss it, but not for very long. TO INSANITY AND BEYOND!! Cheers.
