Title: Eating Blowfish

Category: Harry Potter

Genre: Action/Adventure/Romance/Humor

Rating: R

Pairings: So far, H/D, established B/N, Th/Hr

Summary: Harry Potter was a good boy. Despite his various adventures, ya gotta admit he needs to live a little. Is a certain blond Slytherin the right man for the job?

Warning: language, slash

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Belongs to J.K. Rowling

Chapter Two: Extreme Broom Flying (cont.)

(Narrator's POV)

It was Sunday morning, five days since Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter had met on the pitch that fateful Tuesday evening. It was once again ten minutes to 5pm, and both boys could be seen strolling onto the field, broomsticks over their shoulders. They'd been meeting for a week straight, same time, same place. Harry had improved immensely, and today was to be a test of his skills. A repeat of the challenge Malfoy had issued on Tuesday.

Both boys reached the center of the Quidditch pitch at the same time, eyeing each other speculatively and competitively. "What are you doing here anyway, Malfoy?" Harry began, already knowing that somehow, their earlier meeting had to be recreated.

"It's a free Hogwarts, Golden Boy. I can use the pitch if I wish," Draco said. He smirked in anticipation and mounted his broom. "Do you have a problem with that? Because we can settle it right now."

Harry grinned. "Fine, Malfoy. A race then?" he snapped.

Draco couldn't help but grin slightly back. "Not something as mundane as that, Potter," he said, grin challenging. "How about a bit of stunt flying? If you even know what that is."

Harry smiled wicked, definitely different from before. "Of course I do." He waved a hand nonchalantly, a little trick he'd learned from Draco."Bring it on, Malfoy," he said. Draco smirked. It was just like old times. Or not so old times. And without the obvious malice. He was definitely getting somewhere. Both boys shed their school robes, revealing light, easy to move in Muggle clothes perfect to stunt in.

"All right then, Potter. First one to ten points wins. Ready?" he said.

"I was born ready," Harry said. "Let's go." Serious case of amusing déjà vu, here.

"Right, then. On three, Boy Wonder. One…" Harry mounted his broom. "Two…" Malfoy smirked at Harry in exhilaration, but this time for the show he was sure they would both put on. "Three!" Both boys kicked off hard from the ground, shooting 50 feet in the air.

Draco did a few twists and loops, excitement like he'd never felt bubbling in his veins. He'd practiced this with Blaise, of course, and they had a few stunt trophies under their belts from over the summer, but he'd always known that Blaise wasn't his true stunt partner. (He'd made Blaise practice with Theodore, since the Fairy and Cherub didn't really like the whole broom concept.) That person was out there, somewhere, waiting. And it seemed he'd found him.

"Handstand reverse!" Draco called, as they'd agreed. To make it fair, the one about to do a trick had to announce the trick they planned on doing so that the other could watch to see if it was done properly so it could count. Quickly doing a repeat of the trick that had grabbed Harry's attention Tuesday, Draco pushed himself up to balance on his arms, spun himself around with the complicated wrist maneuver, and reseated himself, then flipped his legs over his broom and turned himself so he was back in his original position. "Complete!"

"Counts! One!" Harry called, flying closer to Draco. "Backward Catwalk!" He loosened his lower body much like Draco had, and thrust up with his arm muscles, but instead of continuing with a handstand, he hopped up onto the broom and balanced himself with his arms spread out. Now came the tricky part. Harry put one foot behind him until he felt the bristles of the end of the broom. Spinning in a soldier's 180, he took one careful step backward on the broom, and it wobbled. Sucking in a harsh breath, he waited until it steadied. Once he was sure it was safe, he walked confidently across the broom and back, turning around again and reseating himself heavily. Grinning at Draco, he yelled, "Complete!"

Grudgingly, Draco admitted that his backward catwalk had been pretty good. "Counts! Two!" he called. Harry's catwalk had been good, but what Draco was about to do was better. "One arm handstand split!" His voice echoed faintly in the warm summer air, as he prepared for one of his more flashy tricks. It didn't take long. He performed the motions of a handstand, quickly standing his body vertical on the broom (remember, through all these tricks, the broom is still moving fast in some direction or other), then spread his legs completely horizontal to the ground. He was pretty limber for a guy who thought ballet was a tad sissy.

After a few moments Draco brought his legs back together and reseated himself comfortably. "Complete!" he called. Harry nodded and looked thoughtful.

"Counts! Two!" he said. Draco smiled. He now had three points and Harry only had two. Maybe this next trick would make up for it. There were some that were worth four, five, and even six. "Handstand somersault!" Harry called. Draco's eyes widened. That was one the Golden Boy hadn't quite mastered yet.

Harry pushed himself into a handstand, walked himself to the front of the broom, then tensed. He always got a little scared at this part. Breathing deeply, he lowered his hands a bit, then sprung himself straight into the air, somersaulted, and landed heavily on his hands near the broom end. The broom wobbled, scaring Harry a tad, and causing him to sit down quickly to straighten it. Luckily, it wouldn't count against him, though he never did learn how to land lightly. "Complete," he breathed, grinning slightly.

Draco scowled, while inside he was smiling. Harry had done it, and without killing himself! "Counts! Two!" he called, giving Harry a total of four points to his three. He decided he need to get ahead quick. "One armed handstand reverse!" Deciding to do this quickly, he pushed himself onto one hand, wobbling a bit at all the weight he was subjecting his wrist to. Much like Harry's somersault technique, Draco had to lower his hands a bit to give himself room to push. Throwing himself away from the broom with one hand while carefully twisting, Draco spun his body slightly to assist him. Turning on one wrist was hard but doable. Once he was turned around, he decided to add an extra flair for extra points. "Backwards Reseat Add!" he called, adding on to his trick. Harry nodded, acknowledging it.

Draco allowed his body to lean in the direction of the broom end, bending backwards until his feet touched the broom. Allowing them to slide past, Draco slithered into his new backward position. He quickly turned around. Harry was looking at the ground, pissed. A tad annoyed that Harry was ignoring him and had missed his stunt, Draco looked angrily at the ground…and smothered a gasp. Almost the whole of Hogwarts was gathered directly under them, watching with rapt attention as the two rivals battled it out with amazing stunts.

"Complete!" Draco barked, scowling.

"I bloody saw it!" Harry snapped, ignoring the grumbling boy. "Counts! Three!" Draco was surprised Harry was even continuing. From various small arguments and conversations over the past week, he'd realized that Harry truly hated the whole Savior of the wizarding world thing, and absolutely loathed attention. This continuance was most likely an angry wish to finish, not showing off.

"Personal savior!" Harry called out, ignoring the crowd below him as he turned his broom toward clearer airspace. With his last stunt he'd almost reached the Gryffindor Tower peak. Draco held his breath as he watched Harry. The personal savior was pretty dangerous, and doing it out of anger wasn't safe. Hopefully his anger would fuel his speed and he'd be back on his broom in no time.

Draco's wishes were, for the most part, answered. Harry gripped the broom handle tightly with one hand and threw himself to the side, off the broom. His body swung rapidly, slowing slightly as Draco had taught him to give a better view, then swung back up and over the other side of the broom, reseating heavily. It took all of five seconds. "Complete!" Harry called.

"Counts! Three!" Draco called, putting Harry back in the lead with seven points. He needed to do a four pointer quickly. Unfortunately, there wasn't any he had mastered that didn't require a partner. He would have to settle for a three and hope Harry didn't ace his next stunt. "Triple stationary back flip!" he said loudly. Without waiting for Harry's acknowledgement, and ignoring the cheers of the crowd, Draco stood on his broom and walked to the edge. Positioning his feet carefully, the broom stopped. Contrary to popular belief, when a broom wasn't moving was when it was more dangerous.

Taking a deep breath, Draco began. He performed one perfect back flip, landing in the same position he'd started in, then quickly did the next one. Right off the back of the broom. Now here came the tricky part. As his body fell past the broom end, he grabbed it with one hand and used his arm to propel himself under the broom. He flipped again, this time completely upside down, released his hold and grabbed another at the front of the broom, and used this new hold to swing himself back into a seated position. His speed was the only thing that allowed him to do that. The crowd went wild. "Complete, Potter!"

Harry flew slowly around him, the air of excitement coming back into his jade eyes. Ignoring the crowd, he smiled at Draco challengingly. "It counts, Malfoy. Three," he said. Draco almost smiled back in amusement. "Now to show these nosy rejects a thing or two," Harry whispered viciously, smirking. "Broom trust 101, Malfoy!" Draco stared at the raven haired boy as if he'd been hit with a botched Obliviate. Did he just say he was doing the most difficult and dangerous move Draco had taught him? Even Blaise was only willing to do this move if they were in danger of losing a tournament!

"Um, Potter? I don't think this is the best idea right now. I think I see a few Professors in that mob," Draco said, almost pleadingly.

"What, Malfoy, scared I'll beat you?" Harry called, laughing and flying a quick loop.

"Not particularly, Golden Boy. But I really don't need my arse expelled for teaching you dangerous moves. I might be sent to Azkaban on charges of assisted suicide or something equally infantile," the blond snapped. Harry ignored him, flying up about 100 feet above the pitch.

"Too bad," Harry whispered, and leapt off his broom. As he did this, he managed to throw the broom like an arrow in front of him, so that it was going slightly faster toward the ground than his own body. The breath froze in Draco's throat as he watched the Gryffindor dive bomb, his broom only a few inches in front of him. 20 feet above his assuredly gruesome death, Harry streamlined his body, picking up speed, and drew level with his broom. Grabbing it ten feet from the ground, he put it under his feet and surfed it to the ground. With the added cushioning of the broom's magic, Harry slowed considerably, and was able to tumble harmlessly on the pitch. The crowd immediately rushed to him.

In the air, Draco was gasping. That Potter boy was a complete psycho, to even think of trying out a move for the first time, and in front of a huge crowd. But really, how could he expect any less from the Boy-Who-Lived?

As the crowd swarmed Harry potter, Draco flew into the shadows and disappeared into the Castle.

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TBC…