Disclaimer – I do not own any of the rights to the Harry Potter Universe.
A/N – Hello. Several people have asked if Zinnia is psychic. I will only say that if she is, Harry has not noticed.
Gusha does not especially like thunderstorms. She would also rather avoid tornados. Too bad the weather does not listen to her.
*****
Harry woke with a gasp and groped around for his glasses. He touched his scar. No, it didn't hurt. Odd, he felt that he must have had a nightmare, but he couldn't remember what it had been about.
He looked over at his clock. Only 3:30. He stretched. He was about to lie back down to get some more sleep. Then he suddenly remembered Severus' note.
He grinned. Bring his broom to the tower indeed.
Harry threw back the curtains and set his feet on the floor. His breath came out in a hiss.
His feet had landed on the bare stones instead of on the rug. He adjusted his aim and fished around for his slippers.
He lit the candle by his bed and carried it to his desk. He sat in the chair, wincing at the cold again. The note was where he had left it, tucked under his inkwell.
Harry yawned sleepily. As he did so, a steaming kettle arrived in its usual spot near his teapot.
"Thank you." He murmured. He shivered. It was early, but a cup of tea was just the thing.
Harry carefully went through his ritual. A little of this, a lot of that. He could do with some more nettle leaves.
He yawned again.
Crush the lot and into the pot. He poured the water in and turned over his three minute glass. That was a fairly new addition to the proceedings. One morning he had fallen half asleep waiting for the leaves to steep and missed half of his Divination class.
He watched the sand fall and when it was gone he poured tea into his cup. He blew across the top and took the first sip. Yes.
He focused on the day ahead. Double Herbology first. He hoped they were inside today. Last time they were working in the outside garden harvesting the summer's bounty.
He thought about each class as he sipped his tea. He mentally checked off the homework that was due that day. Done, Done, Done. He smiled. Good thing he had Hermione in most of his classes. She kept him on track.
Harry swirled and turned over his cup with another yawn.
"Hum." He murmured, turning the cup to catch the light.
"Confrontations. I hope not with Severus. We have had more than enough for a few days."
He turned the cup. "Old and new friends. Interesting. Positive results in the day's activities. Well, let's hope so."
He turned the cup around again. "Might be an animal, the Grim? Sirius? Well, he is due to send me a letter."
Harry winced. He had avoided telling Sirius about his father. He had the feeling that he would not take it well.
Harry set down the cup and stretched again.
"No Sleep?"
Harry jumped at the slithering sound in his ear. His movements had woken Zinnia and she had activated the communication spell.
"Shh, go back to sleep." He told her. "I'm going outside, it's cold. You don't want to come, do you?"
"Ssssss. Cold? No. Sleep." She said grumpily. "Sleep. Warm box good. Sleep."
Harry smiled fondly in the direction of her box.
Harry dressed warmly, adding last year's Weasley Jumper on top.
He braided his hair tightly as insurance against the wind. He added a hair charm he had learned from Bill Weasley and tucked Severus' note into the pocket of his slacks.
None of his roommates stirred as he crept out of the room.
"Out a bit early, aren't you, dear." The Fat Lady asked sleepily.
"Got to meet a professor." He told her.
She just grunted and went back to sleep.
Harry clutched the note in his one hand and the Firebolt in the other as he trudged up the long flight of stairs in the tower.
He was early, so he was a bit surprised to see Severus already waiting for him at the top.
"Punctuality, Harry?" Severus said in the half mocking manner that Harry was coming to associate with his father's sense of humor. "Shocking."
"What a terrible accusation, Severus." Harry returned dryly
"Let's get airborne while it is still dark." Severus said, mounting his broom. "You get a few feet up, and then you shoot straight up as fast as you can, from the center of the tower. I'll go first."
Severus kicked off and demonstrated.
Harry followed. It was harder than he was expecting. Ten feet up, he encountered resistance. He pushed through the barrier and was truly flying.
"I didn't know you could do that." Harry said, as he drew alongside Severus.
"It's a family secret." Severus shouted over the wind. "The point of this exercise is to show you that there is more to flying than Quiddich. I'll go slow." Severus laughed and shot off towards the lake at top speed.
Harry laughed and followed.
They soared and dipped, flipped and rolled. Severus showed off a series of dangerous tricks that made Harry's eyes bulge.
Then Severus led them on an almost suicidal tour of the treetops. Twice he almost ran Harry into trees that he himself quickly hopped.
Then, just as the sun was rising, Severus took them high above the ground. They were just below the clouds.
"Look." Severus yelled.
Harry turned and watched the as the horizon lit spectacularly. They hovered, lazily, until the sun blazed in their eyes.
Severus led them back to the tower.
"That was amazing." Harry said. "Would you teach me to do some of those tricks?"
Severus grinned and nodded. "If you want, but until you can do them in your sleep, you have to promise not to do them unsupervised."
Harry nodded. They left the tower top and descended into the well lit staircase.
"You will need a safety harness, and we will have to rig a safety net…"
"A net?" Harry asked incredulously.
"I learned with a net." Severus insisted. "The harness will link you to your broom. The net will be there to catch you." Harry opened his mouth. "No arguments or we won't do it." Severus warned.
"Yes, sir." Harry said meekly. Then he got a good look at Severus. "You're wearing green!"
Severus stopped, gasped in horror and grabbed the front of his robe. "Oh, the agony of it all." He exclaimed theatrically, pretending to stumble down the stairs. He hit the wall where the stairs turned for the last landing. He pounded his fists against it.
Harry laughed.
Severus ceased his antics and smiled softly at Harry. "Someone convinced me that fifteen years is too long to dwell on mistakes. Too long to mourn. Someone made me realize that the one I was mourning would be offended by it."
Harry's mouth dropped open. "I didn't think you were listening." Harry confessed.
"I listen when you talk, Harry." Severus said sincerely.
"Oh, how touching." A cold voice drawled from the foot of the stairs.
"Mind your own business, Malfoy." Harry snapped. They started down the stairs again.
"What an excellent idea, Malfoy." Severus added dryly. "I will leave you, now that you are no longer out of bounds, Harry. Remember, there are good reasons you are not to visit the tower unsupervised."
"Yes, sir." Harry grinned.
"I will contact you with some possible times for your special lessons, Harry. I'll see you at lunch." Snape nodded to them both, and headed off, broom over his shoulder.
"What's going on, Potter?" Malfoy demanded when Snape was gone.
"Flying lessons." Harry said, still grinning.
"Flying lessons?" Malfoy drawled. "From Snape? You two seem awfully chummy all of the sudden."
"So what if we do." Harry said, starting to walk away. "I certainly would not tell /you/ why without warning him first. Dumbledore is fully aware of the situation, so there is no need for you to know anything." Harry grinned over his shoulder. Malfoy was following him. "If you are really so curious, ask Severus yourself."
Harry left Malfoy behind then, ignoring his protests and whistling.
*****
A/N - Uh-oh. Drat that Malfoy, snooping around. Why was he there anyway?
Hum Hoom Bam Boom
More to flying than Quiddich.
A/N – Hello. Several people have asked if Zinnia is psychic. I will only say that if she is, Harry has not noticed.
Gusha does not especially like thunderstorms. She would also rather avoid tornados. Too bad the weather does not listen to her.
*****
Harry woke with a gasp and groped around for his glasses. He touched his scar. No, it didn't hurt. Odd, he felt that he must have had a nightmare, but he couldn't remember what it had been about.
He looked over at his clock. Only 3:30. He stretched. He was about to lie back down to get some more sleep. Then he suddenly remembered Severus' note.
He grinned. Bring his broom to the tower indeed.
Harry threw back the curtains and set his feet on the floor. His breath came out in a hiss.
His feet had landed on the bare stones instead of on the rug. He adjusted his aim and fished around for his slippers.
He lit the candle by his bed and carried it to his desk. He sat in the chair, wincing at the cold again. The note was where he had left it, tucked under his inkwell.
Harry yawned sleepily. As he did so, a steaming kettle arrived in its usual spot near his teapot.
"Thank you." He murmured. He shivered. It was early, but a cup of tea was just the thing.
Harry carefully went through his ritual. A little of this, a lot of that. He could do with some more nettle leaves.
He yawned again.
Crush the lot and into the pot. He poured the water in and turned over his three minute glass. That was a fairly new addition to the proceedings. One morning he had fallen half asleep waiting for the leaves to steep and missed half of his Divination class.
He watched the sand fall and when it was gone he poured tea into his cup. He blew across the top and took the first sip. Yes.
He focused on the day ahead. Double Herbology first. He hoped they were inside today. Last time they were working in the outside garden harvesting the summer's bounty.
He thought about each class as he sipped his tea. He mentally checked off the homework that was due that day. Done, Done, Done. He smiled. Good thing he had Hermione in most of his classes. She kept him on track.
Harry swirled and turned over his cup with another yawn.
"Hum." He murmured, turning the cup to catch the light.
"Confrontations. I hope not with Severus. We have had more than enough for a few days."
He turned the cup. "Old and new friends. Interesting. Positive results in the day's activities. Well, let's hope so."
He turned the cup around again. "Might be an animal, the Grim? Sirius? Well, he is due to send me a letter."
Harry winced. He had avoided telling Sirius about his father. He had the feeling that he would not take it well.
Harry set down the cup and stretched again.
"No Sleep?"
Harry jumped at the slithering sound in his ear. His movements had woken Zinnia and she had activated the communication spell.
"Shh, go back to sleep." He told her. "I'm going outside, it's cold. You don't want to come, do you?"
"Ssssss. Cold? No. Sleep." She said grumpily. "Sleep. Warm box good. Sleep."
Harry smiled fondly in the direction of her box.
Harry dressed warmly, adding last year's Weasley Jumper on top.
He braided his hair tightly as insurance against the wind. He added a hair charm he had learned from Bill Weasley and tucked Severus' note into the pocket of his slacks.
None of his roommates stirred as he crept out of the room.
"Out a bit early, aren't you, dear." The Fat Lady asked sleepily.
"Got to meet a professor." He told her.
She just grunted and went back to sleep.
Harry clutched the note in his one hand and the Firebolt in the other as he trudged up the long flight of stairs in the tower.
He was early, so he was a bit surprised to see Severus already waiting for him at the top.
"Punctuality, Harry?" Severus said in the half mocking manner that Harry was coming to associate with his father's sense of humor. "Shocking."
"What a terrible accusation, Severus." Harry returned dryly
"Let's get airborne while it is still dark." Severus said, mounting his broom. "You get a few feet up, and then you shoot straight up as fast as you can, from the center of the tower. I'll go first."
Severus kicked off and demonstrated.
Harry followed. It was harder than he was expecting. Ten feet up, he encountered resistance. He pushed through the barrier and was truly flying.
"I didn't know you could do that." Harry said, as he drew alongside Severus.
"It's a family secret." Severus shouted over the wind. "The point of this exercise is to show you that there is more to flying than Quiddich. I'll go slow." Severus laughed and shot off towards the lake at top speed.
Harry laughed and followed.
They soared and dipped, flipped and rolled. Severus showed off a series of dangerous tricks that made Harry's eyes bulge.
Then Severus led them on an almost suicidal tour of the treetops. Twice he almost ran Harry into trees that he himself quickly hopped.
Then, just as the sun was rising, Severus took them high above the ground. They were just below the clouds.
"Look." Severus yelled.
Harry turned and watched the as the horizon lit spectacularly. They hovered, lazily, until the sun blazed in their eyes.
Severus led them back to the tower.
"That was amazing." Harry said. "Would you teach me to do some of those tricks?"
Severus grinned and nodded. "If you want, but until you can do them in your sleep, you have to promise not to do them unsupervised."
Harry nodded. They left the tower top and descended into the well lit staircase.
"You will need a safety harness, and we will have to rig a safety net…"
"A net?" Harry asked incredulously.
"I learned with a net." Severus insisted. "The harness will link you to your broom. The net will be there to catch you." Harry opened his mouth. "No arguments or we won't do it." Severus warned.
"Yes, sir." Harry said meekly. Then he got a good look at Severus. "You're wearing green!"
Severus stopped, gasped in horror and grabbed the front of his robe. "Oh, the agony of it all." He exclaimed theatrically, pretending to stumble down the stairs. He hit the wall where the stairs turned for the last landing. He pounded his fists against it.
Harry laughed.
Severus ceased his antics and smiled softly at Harry. "Someone convinced me that fifteen years is too long to dwell on mistakes. Too long to mourn. Someone made me realize that the one I was mourning would be offended by it."
Harry's mouth dropped open. "I didn't think you were listening." Harry confessed.
"I listen when you talk, Harry." Severus said sincerely.
"Oh, how touching." A cold voice drawled from the foot of the stairs.
"Mind your own business, Malfoy." Harry snapped. They started down the stairs again.
"What an excellent idea, Malfoy." Severus added dryly. "I will leave you, now that you are no longer out of bounds, Harry. Remember, there are good reasons you are not to visit the tower unsupervised."
"Yes, sir." Harry grinned.
"I will contact you with some possible times for your special lessons, Harry. I'll see you at lunch." Snape nodded to them both, and headed off, broom over his shoulder.
"What's going on, Potter?" Malfoy demanded when Snape was gone.
"Flying lessons." Harry said, still grinning.
"Flying lessons?" Malfoy drawled. "From Snape? You two seem awfully chummy all of the sudden."
"So what if we do." Harry said, starting to walk away. "I certainly would not tell /you/ why without warning him first. Dumbledore is fully aware of the situation, so there is no need for you to know anything." Harry grinned over his shoulder. Malfoy was following him. "If you are really so curious, ask Severus yourself."
Harry left Malfoy behind then, ignoring his protests and whistling.
*****
A/N - Uh-oh. Drat that Malfoy, snooping around. Why was he there anyway?
Hum Hoom Bam Boom
More to flying than Quiddich.