"Ehm…Good evening, Miss Rosier?" Professor Lupin looked surprised and amused at the same time.
"What are you doing here?" Jayla exclaimed before she could stop herself.
Lupin just chuckled. "I could ask you the same thing."
Before Jayla could come up with an answer, the door behind her creaked again and too laughing figures went in. Their laughter died abruptly though as soon as they saw who was in the room with them.
"Oh, I see," Lupin commented. "Just try not to get caught by anyone else."
And with that he just walked past them out of the room. Jayla still hadn't found her voice, so she just looked at the door in disbelief.
"What was that about?" Fred asked.
Jayla had to lean against a table to steady herself as she had just realised she was shaking slightly.
"What was that promise about not being caught?" she squeaked, her voice coming out a lot higher and thinner than usual.
"I mean it could have been worse, I guess" Fred casually replied and started unpacking the huge bag they had brought with them. To Jayla's surprise, he suddenly put a pile of clothes into her arms.
"You can put that on in the meantime," he mumbled while continuing to spread more things on the table.
Jayla unwrapped the pile and found herself holding a crimson and gold cloak und some protection gear made of leather. George took the pile from her hands and held the cloak up, ready for her to slip into it. Jayla looked at him hesitantly.
"We thought the best way to apologize for how we acted after the Quidditch finals was by playing a round of Quidditch with you. I mean, only if you want. You told us you've always wanted to play, so we thought this was a good idea. But maybe it wasn't after all, so if you don't want to, I understand…"
George would have probably continued his rambles if Jayla just hadn't wordlessly slipped into the cloak, which made him stop mid-sentence.
"Looks like someone's making you nervous, brother," Fred joked from the side line.
This earned him an annoyed glance from the girl. George expression, however, seemed rather shocked and it seemed like he immediately wanted to object. Jayla put a hand on his arm to signal him that it's okay. It was sort of cute and funny how he was always scared she'd run away like a feral cat whenever they might have pushed beyond any of her borders. Fred did not seem to care about that at all.
To dissolve the situation, Jayla went over to the table and took the protective gear she had put there earlier.
"Can you help me with those too, please?" she asked George, who finally had found his smile again. He signalled Jayla to sit down and took the shin guards from her hand. The boy knellt down in front of her and carefully wrapped them around her black faux-leather leggings, making sure they'd cover her shin and knee, which wasn't hard as they were quite long for her anyway. Jayla couldn't help but notice that his hand was resting on her thigh afterwards longer than it needed. She put her hand on his and slightly pressed it.
"Thank you," she mumbled, looking at both of the boys.
She could not believe anyone would do something like this for her. Jayla felt her eyes water.
"Don't get too emotional yet," Fred chimed in, "you can thank us afterwards. Who knows, maybe this will result in you breaking your leg or something." He said that in such a casual way that all three of them burst out laughing.
George punched against her padded shin to test the guards.
"Let's go, shall we?" He stood up, extending his right hand towards her as if asking for a dance. "My lady?"
Jayla smiled up at him and took it, making sure to add a quick curtsy. Fred's old too long cloak pillowing behind her like the ones in those old renaissance paintings. George extended their hands above Jayla's head, turning her on the spot a few times.
"Looks presentable," he joked and let go of her hand.
All those turns had made Jayla dizzy, so she fell against George's chest before she could regain her balance. George gently grabbed her shoulders, making sure her sense of direction had returned before releasing her again.
Half an hour later they had made their way through the secret passage behind a statue and were walking through the Hogwarts grounds to the Quidditch pitch. Instead of going through the main entrance the spectators usually take, the boys take Jayla around and into the dressing rooms at the back of the stadium. Once there, the two of them took their own Quidditch uniform out of a locker, as well as their two brooms.
"Do you need my jumper?" George asked Jayla, offering his gold and crimson Quidditch jumper. "It gets quite chilly when flying."
Jayla shook her head slightly. "Nah, I'm fine. Mine should be warm enough."
As it always got quite cold in the dungeon at night, she had already put on a tight turtleneck jumper.
"Alright, then," George said while pulling his t-shirt over his head.
Jayla blushed. She had always been taught that it wasn't proper etiquette to get dressed – or undressed – in front of someone, not matter if they were a male or female friend, so seeing the boys just casually removing their shirts in front of her made her feel quite uneasy. She knew she should look away, but she also caught herself stealing a few glances at George's body. George put on his woollen jumper and robes – which definitely didn't look as huge on him than they did on Jayla – took one of the brooms and turned towards Jayla with a smile.
"You ready?" George asked.
It took Jayla a bit to process that question as her mind was elsewhere. Yep, apparently she definitely had a thing for boys in Quidditch uniforms.
"Ehm…yeah, I think so," she managed to reply after all.
Fred and George signalled her to follow them through a little tunnel. When they walked out of it, Jayla was taken aback. The stadium looked massive from down here. With a flick of their wands, Fred and George lit some of the stadium lights.
"Won't anyone see that?" Jayla asked nervously.
"I don't think anyone will notice as they won't expect anyone to be out here anyway, so don't worry," Fred assured her.
The girl wasn't completely convinced, but she was also too excited about the prospect of flying to worry too much about it. Except for their flying lessons in their first year, she had only flown around the grounds of their mansion at home, pretending to play Quidditch, but always just a few feet above the ground in order to not hurt herself. She had no idea how she would have explained any injuries to her parents without having to tell them she flew a broom against their orders.
"Why don't you and Fred take a quick flight around the pitch, so you can get a feel for the size and height, while I go and grab some bats and training Bludgers?" George asked.
"Sounds good," Jayla replied, glad she didn't have to fly on her own.
Fred had already mounted his broom and gestured Jayla to take a seat behind him.
"Just hold on tight," he smiled mischievously, and before Jayla had as much as shyly placed her hands on the side of his waist, he took off at full speed. Jayla squealed, quickly wrapping both of her arms around his upper body in order not to fall off. Her face was buried in his robes. After the first quick shock, Jayla recovered quickly and took a look at her surroundings, now that she was safely holding on to Fred, who was laughing heartily.
"You're such an asshole," Jayla screamed.
"Sorry, can't hear you!" Fred shouted back while he continued to zoom around the pitch, constantly going higher.
Jayla actually started enjoying it after a while. Being that high up, wind blowing in your hair, also brought her a sense of freedom, something that had always been lacking in her life.
Fred could feel her grip relax so he started going a bit faster, doing different manoeuvres. Jayla's fear turned into an adrenaline rush.
Way too soon for Jayla's taste, Fred lowered them down on the ground where George was already waiting.
"How was it?" George asked.
Still drunk from adrenaline, Jayla just hugged him, laughing.
"Ready for the next step then?" he challenged her.
"Always," Jayla replied with more confidence than her experience with Quidditch should allow.
George's smile widened. He threw one Beater Bat over to Fred and handed the other one to Jayla. He then grabbed his broom and mounted it. He gestured Jayla to sit in front of him.
As Jayla held onto the broom handle with her left hand, the beater bat in her right one, George put his arms around her to grab the handle just a few inches underneath her own hand. Even though his arms were super long, he still had to sit so close to her that their back and chest were touching.
"I'll be here, just in case, so you can adjust to flying with only one hand," he said, leaning forward so Jayla would here him without shouting. His breath on her exposed neck made her shiver and her hair stand up.
Fuck, Jayla, stop it! she scolded herself. Being on a broom 10 metres above the ground didn't sound like the right time to be distracted by a boy sitting close to her.
"On the count of three?" George asked, again sending goosebumps across her skin.
Jayla just nodded and on "Three" she pushed herself up from the ground as hard as she could. Flying with just one hand was definitely totally different and she was glad George was there to steady the broom a bit. Once she had gotten the hang of it though, she saw him relax his grip on the handle. They flew a few rounds around the pitch, going higher with each until they were about the height of the goal posts. Fred was waiting there for them.
"Ready to try hitting the Bludger?" he shouted.
Jayla tightened her grip on the bat and nodded. Luckily, training Bludgers weren't hexed to actually fly towards someone on their own, but just kept the direction of the hit. Jayla turned the broom slightly towards Fred and got ready to try and hit the Bludger back at him, careful to not accidentally hit George behind her with her elbow. The ball carried more momentum than she had expected and it almost knocked the bat out of her hand, but miraculously she managed to get it straight back to Fred. They kept that little game on for a bit, Jayla getting more and more confident with each hit as she was starting to fly back and forth to get a better angle at the Bludger. Towards the end, George even released the grip on the broom completely and instead let his hands rest on Jayla's waist. Jayla felt her heart make a little jump.
Seriously? she thought, you're 10 metres above the ground on a broom without any safety net, hitting a ball that could knock you off said broom in a second, but THIS makes you nervous?
Fred had decided they should call it a day and had already started to descend.
Completely oblivious to her nervousness, George put his chin on her shoulder.
"You're definitely not as bad as I thought," he laughed.
"You know I'm the one controlling the broom right now, right?" she countered, while turning her face towards him. Only as she had done that did she realise how close that put their faces as George's was still resting on her shoulder. He had his typical infectious smile on his face, which immediately made Jayla smile as well. This close she could also, for the first time, make out the amber patterns in his otherwise brown eyes, the effect increased by the stadium lights illuminating them. Jayla felt her heart beat faster. She forced her gaze away from his eyes, but something prevented her from turning back around. What must George be thinking of her weird behaviour? Her eyes were drawn towards his smile next. The smile that always made her day a bit brighter. She felt George's grip on her waist tighten a little as she leaned closer, without really realizing what her body was doing. Up here felt like being in another world, living someone else's life. This wasn't the life of Jayla, a Slytherin who no one wanted to be friends with. Up here she felt like she could be anyone. Maybe even a girl that could risk falling for one of her only friends… She was so lost in the moment, she even let go of her broom in order to be able to turn towards the boy behind her properly. As soon as she had released the grip on the handle though, the broom gave a little jolt, which brought both of them back into reality. George quickly grabbed the handle with his left hand, while steadying Jayla, who had been scarily close to slipping off the broom, with his right hand. Jayla was shaking when she realized what could have happened, so George pulled her closer against his chest.
"I got you," he said, trying to sound confident, but Jayla could hear some slight shakiness in his voice.
George landed them safely on the ground, neither of them speaking as they were too embarrassed about the situation that had almost resulted in them falling off the broom.
What just happened anyway? Jayla wondered, as there was no way she had just been about to kiss one of her best friends. Definitely not. There was no way she would ever risk their friendship like that.