Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious or Harry Potter, the former belongs to Dan and Nickelodeon, the latter to J. K. Rowling. This is a collab done with BloodyJesus, we're just working together to make this the best story possible.

Chapter 15: Born to be A-flight

Groans were heard from every first year as they learned with whom they were sharing their flying lessons with; everyone but Jade.

"What's the deal with the Slytherins?" She remarked, rolling her eyes as she left the common room, Beck soon running after her.

"She's a Slytherin spy I say!" Lavender hissed, making Tori roll her eyes.

"Please, just because you're too scared to sleep in the same room," Trina began as her sister left without a word and she followed, "doesn't mean she's a Slytherin."

No one said anything else, especially since it was the Vega survivor who said it. When the two girls caught up with the other two, they went down together. Soon, Ron and Harry caught up, as did Hermione and Neville; really, those two were scared of the West heir, but they tended to get included in things instead of feeling left out.

"Typical," Harry muttered darkly as they ate, "just what I always wanted: to make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

That did kill the mood. What they had been looking oh so forward to, learning how to fly and they had to admit it, they weren't looking forward to displaying stupidity in front of a sworn enemy. Well, whatever Jade and Draco had, which was becoming more apparent, a sibling feud gone wrong. It worked for them; it was Slytherin, it had to be messed up.

"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably; the girls' had shocked faces. Ron could be reasonable? Imagine the day . . .

"You think it's gonna rain?" Hermione asked and whispered to Trina.

"I bet . . ." Tori and Jade replied, but didn't seem to notice; hearing them, the redhead frowned while the others stared. Yup, it was going to rain: Gryffindor and Slytherin agreeing, what more surprises could the day bring?

"Anyway," he continued, not paying the other two any mind, but noticing as did the others, how Beck placed himself as buffer between the two girls, "I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."

They turned towards the silver and green table, watching as the first years seemed to toast to Draco. They boy did talk a lot about flying, complaining about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams, and boasting stories about narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. Then again, he was wizborn; Seamus made it seem as though he'd spent his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron had some lame story consisting of him, on his brother Charlie's broom and a hang glider. The only one from a wizard's family who had no tales to share, was Neville. They all suspected the reason was because he would manage to get himself killed; he already had an extraordinary number of accidents and with his feet on his ground. They nodded and agreed, mentally, that his grandmother had to be amazing.

To compensate, Hermione, Trina and Tori read Quidditch Through the Ages and the brown-haired girl bored them all with facts. Trina and Tori knew that they had learned what they could, now they had to feel it; the Muggle-born was agitated because there were some things that couldn't be learn by heart out of a book. She still felt the need to try. While Neville drank every word spouting from the girl, no one dared to interrupt her because Jade would make it personal; it didn't have to be because she was Muggle but she disliked the insinuations. It was a relief when mail finally arrived, interrupting their know-it-all companion. But even that was source of sadness for the young hero; Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home. This made his cousins worry, until Holly had sent the boy a warm package full of apple cider and enough for him to share. He did. They were proud to tell him no, they hadn't written to their mother for that.

"Neville, what's that?" Beck inquired with curiosity, as said boy opened his package; it was from his grandma of course.

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

As he tried remembering what it was that he had forgotten, the Malfoy heir who was just passing by, snatched the gift as though he owned it. Harry and Ron jumped from their seats, obviously half hoping for a reason to fight Draco. Still, better than any hound, McGonagall found them before trouble could happen.

"What's going on?" She inquired with a keen look.

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor." Neville said softly, clearly avoiding trouble.

Malfoy scowled, but simply placed it on an extended pale hand.

"He was actually passing it over," Jade commented casually, grabbing the ball just as the owner had, focusing; it was clear white, "thanks cuz. Nice Remembrall Neville."

"Just . . . looking," Draco added hastily, clearly surprised by the turn of events; he moved faster, forcing Crabbe, Goyle and Rex to follow and not stop.

Three-thirty in the afternoon had Harry, Tori, Trina, Hermione, Jade, Ron and Beck heading to the grounds for their very first flight class. They were still on edge due to the fact that they'll have to attend it with Draco and Rex, who were already there, along with most the rest of the green and red first-years.

Rex acted as though he had never seen any of them in his life, and so did they. Not sparing him a glance, they joined the remaining Gryffindors, noting the grass rippling by their steps; a clear, breezy day. They assumed: optimal conditions for broom flying. The grounds were on the opposite side to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance. Lying on the crunching grass, were twenty four broomsticks in neat lines on the ground and being eyed by the students. The crew frowned; now they understood why the Weasley twins complained so much, they didn't even look decent and so it was no surprise if they vibrated when flown to high, or had a permanent deviation to the left.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" Their teacher barked; they jumped to attention. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Everyone hurried to take a broom, Jade and Tori were in front of each other and next to the Latina, her cousin, sister, and friends. Draco was besides his cousin, and they stared at each other. Before he could call on the pale girl not being in her own line, their Professor chose that precise moment to speak. The boy frowned.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!"

"UP!" everyone shouted, several brooms jumped from the ground.

The teacher had an impressed look on her face. Clearly, it wasn't normal for so many brooms to actually jump to that command. Tori's, Jade's, Trina's, Harry's, Draco's and Rex's all did as told, some others, like Hermione's just rolled on the grass; Ron got his broom on the second try along with Beck, and Neville's broom barely moved. The boy's voice clearly stated I want to keep my feet on the ground. Perhaps that was why his didn't move at all.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Jade snickered while Harry and Ron delighted themselves when their teacher told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.

"No, no, Mr. Malfoy!" Madame Hooch frowned, taking his hand in hers and ignoring his aghast expression. "This is the proper grip."

"What are you looking at, West?" Draco hissed at his cousin, who gave him a sickly and sweet smile.

"Why, checking the proper grip," she replied with an innocent bating of lashes.

"You're quite a fast learner," Madam Hooch commented before turning to Tori, "as are you, Miss Vega. Wow, quite an impressive amount from Gryffindor this year!

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle — three — two —"

Suddenly Neville started raising at full speed towards the sky; Beck, in his eagerness to show off, kicked off too soon as well. So before they could actually go too far (at around twelve feet), they crashed and fell. The brooms drifted lazily towards the forbidden forest while the tanned boy rubbed his head and the plump one groaned from the ground. Bending over the boys with a pale face, the teacher gave her evaluation; she sighed in mild relief.

"Broken nose and the other with broken wrist," muttered the teacher near a terrified Tori; they had almost landed on her. "Come on, boys, — it's all right, up you get".

She turned to the rest of the class, stopping and frowning at the pale girl who was near the tall boy and punched him softly on the arm.

"Hard headed," she told him, smirking, "too dense for your own good."

He groaned at that, but before their bantering could even start, Madame Hooch cleared her throat.

"None of you is to move while I take these boys to hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

She helped Neville, had an arm around him as Beck just winced as he held his arm, following behind with a straight back. Clearly, he had gotten the best part of the deal; Longbottom had a broken nose and an incredible amount of blood to contend against. Of course, as soon as they were out of earshot, the Slytherins had to start, obviously led by one, nasty, Draco Malfoy.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?" Laughter began.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Jade, frowning this time.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl, began, obviously feeling cocky as no other Slytherin, not even Malfoy, dared to go against her in a verbal way; then again, she had never been on the biting end of that sharp tongue. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, West."

"Oh, you can talk?" Jade inquired with a deadly look upon her face. "With your dog-face, I thought you could only bark."

It was quite a surprise when several Slytherins began chuckling, led by Rex. They heard him whisper "oh . . . burn . . ." and more laughter followed; the girl turned, obviously enraged but unable to do anything. Just as Gryffindors saw the West heir as a spy, Slytherins saw her as a traitor, but they couldn't deny she was as green as the rest of them. Considering how she went against her cousin, they saw her as a fellow snake.

"Look!" Malfoy didn't care about the exchange, he was darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. This turned everyone's attention and they all stopped talking and began staring.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find — how about — up a tree?"

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He definitely hadn't been lying, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak, he called. "Come and get it, Potter!"

"Really, acting like a child?" Jade remarked smartly, snarling a bit and jumping to her broom and taking off after her cousin, who was taken by surprise and paled further as the hero he was taunting also grabbed his broom. "Then again, we are kids, aren't we?"

The flying sensation . . . It left her breathless. It was something that couldn't be taught, not fully, it was one of those pass-or-fail kind of tests, something that a genius could feel and a natural tingled with the certainty that they could do it but had to be ingrained. What she had been searching for was reduced to a single, beaten and rather worn down, broom: freedom and beyond that, endless possibilities. It was then that she realized; she may have been raised as an American, but she was glad and proud to be British.

"No, Jade! Come down here now! And Harry, don't even think about it!" Hermione shouted, looking about in sheer anguish. "Madam Hooch told us not to move — you'll get us all into trouble."

"Sorry, did you say something?" Jade remarked, grinning and raising her arm and the boy gave her a high-five, ignoring the earth-bound girl completely; they smirked at Draco's stunned look. Harry obviously knew the feeling, the elation.

"Oh God!" Tori paled. "Harry, Jade! You guys are gonna hurt yourselves!" She then turned to her sister, giving her a critical eye. "Trina, stay on the ground and don't move!"

And she leapt on the broom too, raising in the sky and ignoring Trina's pout and Hermione's warning. Trina though, immediately found something to occupy herself with; besides, her sister's plea was done in earnest, and she couldn't deny her that.

"What are you two doing!" Malfoy hollered at Crabbe and Goyle who were watching, dumbstruck as he evaded a furious Gryffindor, "get up here and help me!"

A grinning Vega child gave them a menacing look; they swallowed and backed down, train incident still clear in their mind. It didn't dawn on them as their brain was high up, that last time it had been the two Latinas, not one.

"Jade!" Tori warned as both girls stopped before crashing. "Stop! We gotta get down!"

"Give it here," Harry called to his rival, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"

"And let the little creep continue?" She frowned then took the girl by the cuff of her robe.

"Oh, yeah?" At her cousin's reply, Jade rolled her eyes; surely he could come up with something better than that; he barely managed to evade a javelin-like Potter.

"Why do you care?!" The airborne Latina hissed.

"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called, and this made the pale girl smirk, then turn to her tanned friend.

"He's my freaking cousin Vega," the pale girl hissed back, and only once it dawned on the girl, the frown left and the robes slackened. "You from the left, I from the right."

With the technique in place, the girls prepared for it; the tanned girl sighed since she knew there was no way in getting her to stop, and with Beck gone (along with Neville) there was no one that the West heir would listen to.

"Catch it if you can, then!" The boy called once he noticed what the two girls were up to.

The maneuver worked perfectly; they crushed the pale boy and he groaned in pain. But before he got squashed, he threw the ball with all his might.

"I'm on it!" Harry called, diving after the sphere.

Jade just grunted, managing to not let the pale boy crashing down. Tori was pleased by this. Once they were down though, the pale girl shook the pale boy in mild rage.

"I could have let you drop — maybe you would have learned your lesson!" Hermione swore that a teacher had heard that and almost fainted. "But noooo! You just had to be family, and my mom wouldn't appreciate it . . ."

Draco actually laughed; he was sitting on the ground besides his cousin. The girl made an aggravated sound and ended up crushing the boy in an awkward embrace.

"Bet your dad wouldn't be impressed," the blond remarked, still laughing at the word choice, waving his hand to keep his two minions at bay, "I can tell."

They smiled amicably, but the boy was obviously still too dazed to mean it; she ruffled his hair for good measure, but he just laughed at this again. Right then, Harry came down, catching the sphere a foot from the ground, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist. Tori, being near, managed to prevent his cousin from crashing on to the Black family members.

Suddenly, a roar made everyone jump and the cheer die; Draco and Jade broke apart, just to watch Professor McGonagall heading towards the group. She was really angry, very pale, and looking very much like an animal hunting prey. They swallowed.

"HARRY POTTER!"

From his face, they deduced his heart sank faster than his recent dive. The teacher was running (was it speed walking?) towards them. Trembling, he rose with his cousin.

"Never — in all my time at Hogwarts —" She was almost speechless with shock, and her square glasses flashed furiously, "— how dare you — might have broken your neck —"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor —"

"Be quiet, Miss Vega," interrupted McGonagall, her tone scathing, "believe me, if it wasn't because you and Miss West saved Mr. Malfoy, you both would be in serious troubles!"

"But Professor!" Malfoy began in outrage. "They disobeyed Madam Hooch's orders to stay on the ground!"

"And so did you!" McGonagall was far from pleased but this clearly was stepping the line in some fashion. "If someone just saved my life, I wouldn't be trying to get that person in trouble! That will be 10 points from Slytherin! Potter, follow me, now."

"Wait Professor — !" Jade's frown made clear the disappointment she felt.

"Don't say a word Miss West or I'll change my mind about you and Miss Vega," the pale girl glared at the woman as Harry followed her with a dreadful expression; the Latina urged her friend to listen, but —

"WORD." All the whispers stopped as the goth stated at McGonagall; the woman turned around ferociously as Jade glared at her and Trina was held by Alex, who prevented her from getting involved as Tori was obviously going to get it, whatever it was.

"Jade!" Tori hissed more than a little angry; now she was in trouble because of her and sighed. It really wasn't that surprising. "Sorry Professor —"

"That's it!" McGonagall's eyes were narrowed, looking at the children with a mild glare in place. "Potter, West, Vega, come with me, now."

Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and even Rex had on triumphant faces as they left, walking nimbly in the Professor's wake; Draco even laughed at this but a look from the stern witch made him quiet down.

"Be grateful I'm not calling you, Mr. Malfoy," she warned.

He frowned at that, "my father —"

"Cousin dear," Jade began, approaching him in a menacing manner; Tori facepalmed her forehead, regretting letting the pale girl go from her grip, "shut it with your daddy; can't do anything by yourself?"

"Miss West!" The Professor began, outraged. "Keep this up, and you won't even stay for Christmas!"

Between Harry and Tori, they managed to make sure their friend wasn't digging her own grave. From the display during potions, it was clear that she didn't care and wasn't shy about getting expelled; Tori had a lingering feeling that she had probably been expelled from other schools before. Only once the group was taken from their sight, did the pale girl seem to relax a bit, and she gave the other two a smile of thanks. Jade lost all tension by a single touch from the Latina, and she sighed in thanks.

Following their Head of House, the two red Gryffindors were looking at the floor, clearly chastised, while the West heir crossed her arms and followed with head held high. The family members looked at each other every so often but refrained from talking; last thing they needed, was for the teacher to get angrier, if that were possible. With every step taken and the silence growing, Harry and Tori began imagining about all the crazy outcomes. The boy decided he would like to go live with the Vegas . . . McGonagall stopped outside a classroom, opened the door and poked her head inside; they stared with something akin to fear and wonder.

"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"

It was a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused. Even more so as his gaze turned towards the first-years.

"Oh, I was expecting a cane of sorts," Jade remarked, peering at the young man with equal curiosity as the other two sighed in relief; clearly, they were thinking along the same lines.

"Huh?" This confused the older boy further while the Professor looked at them, scandalized.

"We don't believe in corporal punishment here, Miss West!" She hissed, frowning, "Follow me, you four."

The pale girl shrugged, and the other two did as well. Wood though, introduced himself and began peering at the hero, prodding at his chest and arms. By the time they entered an empty classroom, he was positively beaming. Clearly, he knew what their teacher wanted to talk about, which meant . . .

"In here." An empty classroom, devoid of all life — except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard. "Out, Peeves!"

The poltergeist threw the chalk in the bin, about to swoop out and curse until he looked at the pale girl. Cringing, he ran off, avoiding touching the girl as he left through the door. The Professor slammed the door behind him and turned to face her students.

"Maybe we're not getting spelled!" Tori whispered with some glee.

"So, this is like a reward for bad behaviour?" Harry looked confused, but he was glad he didn't look like Jade; she was completely bewildered.

"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood — I've found you a Seeker," she glowed as she presented Harry forward, "and two great recruits for training and replacement."

"Are you serious, Professor?!" Oliver Wood eyed the girls critically.

"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "They are naturals. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, children?"

They nodded silently; they had no clue about what was going on, but the Latina was clearly beaming. Since it didn't seem that they were about to be expelled, the family members began to regain feelings on their limbs, while the pale child was left to stare.

"He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive. Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it." The Professor told Wood. "And these girls pulled an amazing maneuver; crushed Malfoy between the two of them."

Wood looked as though all his dreams had come true all at once. "Ever seen a game of Quidditch, guys?"

"Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained, as if that actually said anything.

"He's just the build for a Seeker, too," the older boy supplied eagerly; he had clearly nailed it, as he had been eyeing critically as they moved. "Light — speedy —"

"Hey!" The boy remarked, not sure if he was to be offended or not.

"In that regard, so do these two," he was now prodding the girl with light pokes to arms and bellies, "chaser material, without doubt."

"I believe Miss West has a Beater attitude," the Professor commented dryly.

"Wait, you want Harry to play and us as recruits?" Tori was baffled now.

"Wait, you want me to play Quidditch?" Harry looked as though his mind had been blown. "Like, this year?"

"What in chiz is going on here?!" asked Jade completely and utterly confused. "Are we really getting rewarded for disobeying?"

Professor McGonagall looked with some distaste at the last comment. "I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks . . ."

"We'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor —" Wood said before they could get sidetracked, pushing now that McGonagall was so willing, "a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."

The woman nodded at that then peered sternly over her glasses at the first-years.

"I want to hear you're all training hard, or I may change my mind about punishing you," then her severe expression was replaced by a smile. "Your parents would be so proud Mr. Potter and Miss Vega, and . . ." the next she added in a conspiratorial whisper. "Your father would be so angry right now, Miss West."

Then she winked at a surprised Jade and walked down the hallway; was there more pep in her walk now? Jade stared after her, a look of daze upon her eyes. Tori grew worried, as it looked as though her friend was crushing on their teacher. Was that even possible? For one, they shouldn't be interested in others . . . that way and for another, their teacher was too strict — she didn't want to think further, blushing at the implications that, perhaps, Jade actually liked leaving control to another. Not that she could voice or think about it that way, at least not understanding it entirely. She then turned to her cousin, who was having a heated and intense conversation with Wood and she sighed; boys.

"You know what, Vega?" Jade inquired, still looking high as she draped herself on the tanned back.

"What?" The other asked, blushing at the feeling of the other being close; they weren't supposed to feel attraction, so why did it feel that way with Jade?!

"I don't want to get expelled," the pale female remarked with a sigh, letting her chin rest on the other's shoulder; she blushed further, "this is by far the best school ever . . ."