Chapter 8: Aerodynamics
Ron met them at the Qudditch Pitch holding out a broom to Harry and ready to mount his own. "Where have you been?" he called as soon as Harry was within earshot. Then he noticed Medea and his smile faded away slightly. It was the height of the Quidditch season so the emptiness of the pitch was surprising. Harry and Ron had planned to play the second they heard that no team was practicing, but Hermione decided to stay in the tower. She was somewhat infuriated by the fact that the two boys had seemingly brushed the events of the day before to the back of their minds. After six years as friends she still did not understand the power Quidditch had over them or how it helped them forget their troubles.
"I promised Medea yesterday that I'd teach her." Harry said as he reached for his broom. The shiny wood was a comfort in his hands. He knew that when he was flying, the whole world could come to an end and he would not care.
"Suit yourself," Ron shrugged. "I'll just fly around a little, call me when you want to play."
He did intend to fly around and warm up but as he glanced back at Medea's feeble attempts to invoke the magic of the broom without using her own while Harry was laughing hysterically he decided to give up and watch. When Medea finally took off but was unable to sit straight and soon flipped upside down, her cloak dragging on the ground, Ron even smiled. It was good to see Harry laugh when he usually would be strung up and nervous. Ron had wanted to take him flying because he knew that that was the only thing that would help ease Harry's tension. Even he and Hermione were never able to make him laugh the way Medea had. Hermione's mistrust that had rubbed off on him a little in the past twenty-four hours was nagging at the back of his mind but he shut it out. It did not hurt to see Harry laugh.
Finally Medea had had enough. "I give up!" she tossed to broom to Harry. "I don't understand why you like that thing! Even if you finally do learn how to control it, it must be horribly uncomfortable and you can only use one hand without risking falling and breaking you neck. I don't know about you but I value my sanity."
Medea stared at the two boys; both completely helpless with laughter and a small genuine smile crept onto her face. She wrapped her cloak around her more tightly. "Look guys, if you want to protect yourselves, you have to be aware of everything." With that she leapt into the air. Hovering several inches off the ground she sprung into action. She spun in a circle extending her right leg so that in knocked Ron clear off his feet. Her right arm went to her waist and after barely aiming she threw a boomerang straight through the closest goalpost. At the same moment her left hand shot out and with a smooth movement grabbed Harry's wand. She landed neatly on her left foot after only one complete spin. She bowed and caught her boomerang as it flew back to her. Then she handed back Harry's wand and held out a hand to help Ron get up.
They stared at her in amazement for a second, Hermione's nagging coming back to their minds but now with the feeling that it did not matter. If she wanted to kill them, they would already be dead and she would not have given Harry's wand back. Ron still heard Hermione's voice echoing in a knowing manner. "That's exactly what she wants you to think. Trust her completely so that she can then do whatever she wants." He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought. "What's that?" he asked. Trying to keep the shock out of his voice he pointed at her weapon.
"What this?" she shrugged. "It's a boomerang."
"I've never seen one of those." Ron was regaining control of himself. Medea regarded him carefully.
"You come from a wizarding family don't you?" Ron nodded slowly. "Than of course you haven't. They're a purely what you would call muggle toy. Sure a few Australian wizards or witches have adopted the idea but the rest of the world still lives in the denial. Isn't it beautiful?" She examined the blue designs as though she was seeing them for the first time.
"How do you make it come back then? I mean if it's a muggle thing," Ron asked.
"It's all about aerodynamics," Medea made a face. "Do you really want to get into that? I find it incredibly tedious." Both boys laughed nervously.
"Can I try it?" Harry asked shyly.
Medea handed it to him and showed him how to hold it. Then Ron asked for a turn. By the end of ten minutes Quidditch was completely forgotten as the three proceeded to try and get the boomerang through the hoops as many times as possible. Medea won, but that was no surprise.
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a/n Yes I know this chapter is short and seems pointless but it was a lot of fun to write and it brings in a few things that I had no idea how to bring in otherwise. Love you all.