Flying Lessons

Severus tipped one of his glossy black wings toward the ground and flexed his shoulder muscles, rolling smoothly into a sideways glide downwards. He caught sight of three figures standing at the fringe of the school grounds, two tall boys and a shorter, more diminutive one. If Severus had been in his human form his face would have broken into a grin, but instead his beak opened slightly and he emitted a low whistling call. The Marauders were waiting for him. Wanting to show off a bit, Severus allowed his body to swoop lower than he normally would and pulled levelly into a steep dive over the waters of the Black Lake, skimming low over the surface in imitation of James's most popular Quidditch move, stretching one talon down and allowing it to graze the glassy surface of the water, sending a spray of water that arced out behind him and sparkled as the droplets caught the soft yellow glow of the late afternoon light. Severus snapped his wings out flat against the wind to slow down, and swung his talons forward to grip the soil. Once on the ground Severus folder his wings neatly against his body and appeared in human form, laughing at the amazed expressions on his friends faces. It took quite a feat to impress the Marauders, and Snape couldn't help but feel smug.

"We," James said decisively, "are going to teach you how to fly."

"I can fly! What did you call that?"

"No, Prince. You are going to learn how to fly on a broom."

Severus froze. He remembered all too well his flying lessons in first year, an embarrassing weekly ordeal punctuated by harsh insults that James had unfailingly thrown at him. Severus was suddenly haunted by the memory of jeering laughter as an unruly broomstick bucked belligerently under his body. "I think not."

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun."

"I took elementary flying classes," Severus said flatly. "Surely you remember that, Potter?"

James bit his lip, looking uncharacteristically daunted. "Err, yeah, I remember, mate. But I mean it, you're so good with wings, why not on a broom?"

"It doesn't concern you that you'd be strengthening Slytherin's flying skills?" Severus asked slyly, mounting a different angle of attack.

James snorted. "You wish. We can crush your House regardless. And I know you wouldn't join the team anyway."

"Give him a break," Remus muttered to Severus. "He just wants to show off. After five minutes he'll be putting on a show for us and you just have to watch and look impressed. I speak from experience."

"I know," Severus said, smirking slightly. "Alright, let's go."

Shortly afterwards, Severus stood in the center of the Quidditch pitch with his right hand outstretched over the broom lying on the ground. "Up?" he said hesitantly, unwittingly turning it into a question. A few bristles of the broom twitched, but the handle was still.

James shook his head with disapproval and said, "No, you have to mean it. It's like…" James searched for an analogy that Snape would understand. "It's like the Unforgivable curses. You have to want the broom to obey you. You have to know that it will."

"But I don't know that…" Severus pointed out, but trailed off and looked at the broom with the sort of intensity with which he regarded his Occlumency. "UP!" To his amazement, the broom rose and the handle settled firmly into his palm.

Sirius snickered at the shocked expression on Severus's face, but Snape only muttered "Shove it," in a tone lacking any real malice, and swung one of his long legs over the broom.

"Kick off," James instructed as if it was the most simple thing in the world. Severus shifted his weight onto his left leg, and then shoved off as hard as he could with his other foot. He rose a few feet in the air, and then snatched his hands off the broom in surprise. The handle, no longer being guided into the air, dipped down and Severus dropped like wet fabric to the ground. He looked up, waiting for James to say what he'd done wrong.

"Try again."

Half an hour later, Severus was seated in the bleachers at the edge of the Quidditch pitch, his Ancient Runes homework balanced on his knee, looking up from it every once in a while to cheer on James and Sirius, who were both high in the air on broomsticks, weaving dangerously close to each other as they competed to capture the stolen snitch. Severus shared a knowing grin with Remus, who was next to him, also doing homework interjected by a few shouts of praise for the boys in the air.

"I hope you lose that Snitch," Severus called out as he leafed through the charts full of foreign symbols.

"As if," James yelled back casually, not taking his eyes off the field.

Moments later a sudden cry went up from Sirius, and Severus looked up to see him circling the pitch, his fist uplifted and clenched around the struggling snitch. James and Sirius both descended, and scrambled up the bleacher to where Severus and Remus sat. Sirius, flushed from exertion and dripping with sweat mock-punched James's shoulder lightly and said teasingly, "Too bad we're in the seventh year, Prongs - otherwise I'd give you a run for your Galleons at the Quidditch tryouts next year."

James rolled his eyes patronizingly, refusing to be flustered. "I could've had the snitch thirty seconds into it. I totally let you win."

"I know you did," Sirius answered. "But a guy can dream, mate. You have your own set of impractical desires." Sirius cast a pointed look at Lily, who was lounging with a group of friends in the grass by the lake.

"Hey! I'm not dreaming!" James protested vehemently. "Lily and I've been talking lately."

Severus's head snapped up at this and he cleared his throat gruffly before rising to gather his books, biting his lip and frowning. "I'm going up to dinner - I'll see you all later," he said, his voice closed off, cold.

As he trudged across the grounds back to the castle, Severus looked back a few times, glancing between James and Lily, trying to loosen the sour knot of jealousy in his stomach.

A/N: So I know this chapter was basically just fluff, but I felt like I should lighten the mood after the ominous tone of the last chapter, and I love having the Marauders hanging out together. Also, I've been told to make the fact that Snape loves Lily more clear, so I tried to do that at the end of the chapter. Anyway, I've never really tried to write fluff before, so I hope it was as much fun for you all to read as it was for me to write. Thanks for reading, and please tell me what you thought!