A/N: This Randomality tidbit takes place during the Prologue of Apprentice. I hope it explains why Hermione didn't have any fear of flying in the trip to the Marauders' Era that she took with Harry. Enjoy!

"This is absolutely ridiculous!"

"Oh come off it, Hermione. You don't expect us to believe that you never planned on using the gift that the Firebolt company gave you, do you?" Harry Potter raised a skeptical brow at his best female friend.

"Of course I was going to use it…" At the incredulously looks from her two best friends, Hermione sighed. "I was going to hang it over the mantel." Her smile was bright and cheerful.

"Hermione Jane Granger!" Ron Weasley gasped in horror. "Only you would take a special edition Firebolt and turn it into a mantelpiece!"

Harry nodded his head, agreeing with Ron. "We are definitely going to have to teach you to fly."

The fright on the faces of her two friends was not enough to deter them from their new goal.

"Besides, Granger… You don't have a choice."

The new voice drew the attention of the famous Golden Trio and they turned to look into the silver eyes of a snow-white wolf. The wolf was lying on the ground watching them, ears perked forward and a malicious look in his beautiful gaze.

"What do you mean, Moonshine?" Hermione's tone was wary as she asked the question.

The telepathic reply managed to be both sympathetic and mocking at the same time. "Haven't you read up on our Auror training? Mounted combat skills are a requirement. And it starts next month..."

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Aside from one disastrous lesson in which Ron landed in the Auror Training Facility's Infirmary for a day, Hermione managed to avoid anything involving a broom. Her luck ran out when the Trainees were ordered to report at 09:00 hours on a beautiful Monday morning for mounted combat lessons to begin… With their brooms in hand!

Her evil glare at Harry as he handed her the golden Special Edition Firebolt could have melted a hole in steel. The-Boy-Turned-Man-Who-Continued-To-Live-Despite-Too-Many-Stupidly-Long-Names thwarted yet another attempt on his life with a dazzling smile that reflected the Glare-Of-Death and sent Hermione into an impressive sulk. On top of that, Ron insisted they do some stupid pose with their broom handles touching to form a triangle. How he had managed to talk them into the little cheer was completely beyond Hermione's understanding, but next thing she knew, they were in the stupid pose and giving some really ridiculous cheer. Which just happened to be when Draco Malfoy and the other Auror Trainees in their class entered the room. It didn't take long for Draco to get everyone in on laughing at the Trio.

Just another day in the life of the Saviors of the Wizarding World…

An hour later, the Trainees were all lined up, brooms in hand, wands in their wrist-holsters and waiting for instructions. The brooms were all new, anywhere from the polished ebony of the Nimbus 2001 to the sleek mahogany shade of the traditional Firebolts and everything in between. The only distinctive handles were the polished gold color of the three Special Edition Firebolts.

The Trainer for this class was, surprisingly enough, Nymphadora Tonks. The metamorphmagus had proven in times past that her seeming clumsy behavior was a diversionary tactic and allowed opponents to easily underestimate her abilities when it came to real combat, so the Trainees were paying close attention to her instructions. Most of the Trainees had at one time or another played some form of Quidditch, so the fact that they would be using their wands while flying one handed wasn't completely foreign. Others such as… Well, all the other students had experience in some form of flying, so Hermione Granger was all alone in not knowing how she was going to handle this aspect of training.

"Now, we all know what to do when we're on a broom, and we all know how to shoot spells. The whole point of this aspect of training is so that you can fire difficult spells with accuracy while flying at high speeds. I can't tell you how useful this ability is when you're in a risky situation and a quick air strike is the only safe plan of attack." Tonks walked back and forth in front of the Trainees. Finally she stopped in front of Hermione and stared the younger witch in the eye. "Off the ground and warm up. Trainee Granger, wait just a moment…"

As the other Trainees took off Harry, Ron and Draco warmed up and then drifted their brooms closer, looking down. They watched as Hermione and Tonks spoke to each other.

"You don't think she's going to wash out of the training at this point, do you?" Harry seemed worried, they had already devoted over a year of their lives to becoming Aurors.

Ron snorted. "As stubborn as she is?" Then a concerned look flitted over his face as he saw Hermione move to mount her broom. "Hey… You don't think they're going to force her to do it, do you?"

"I wouldn't think so… I'm told my cousin has a great record for teaching hesitant Trai-" Draco trailed off when they saw Hermione kick off into the air and start zipping around as if she had been flying for years.

Jaws dropped, the three boys watched their friend fly around the course at the breakneck speed of a normal Firebolt. Then the jaws hit the floor when they saw her reach up the handle of her broom and seem to stroke the wood before she shot off so fast around the course that she nearly created a sonic boom! By the time she pulled her broom to a stop right in front of the boys and gave them a smirk, everyone was watching the scene.

"Bu…Wuh… How?" Ron seemed incapable of completing a proper sentence.

Harry's eyes were bugged out behind his glasses. "'Mione! How in the world did you get the Firebolt to go that fast!"

Hermione's smug look spoke volumes. "Don't tell me you didn't bother to read the manual the Firebolt Company sent with the brooms…" She gave a laugh and whipped out her wand before flying over to where Tonks was starting the lesson.

"That's impossible!" Draco burst out as soon as the shock wore off. "She was horrid! How could she go from being a danger to others to Professional Quidditch Player skills!" He seemed more outraged than anything else. After all, he'd been flying for years and now someone that shouldn't have been able to even stay on a broom had shown him up!

For the rest of the Mounted Combat lessons, all three boys harassed Hermione to find out how she had suddenly learned to fly like a professional. Each time she was asked, she merely laughed them off and asked if they had done their required reading material. Needless to say, they didn't get many answers from their friend.

Three months later, when the group completed their required Mounted Combat course… The course that they learned involved being mounted on brooms, horses, various pegasi, thestrals, dragons - with the help of the Romanian Dragon Preserve Colony, motorcycles and inside cars, the boys finally learned the answer to the question that had plagued them from the start.

"All right, Hermione." Ron, Draco and Harry had cornered her in the Trainee common room. "How did Tonks teach you how to fly in less than ten minutes when we've spent years trying?"

"Well, Ronald." Hermione's tone was at her bossy, know-it-all best. "It is rather amazing just what can be accomplished with a modified calming draught and a shared memory thread."

At the stunned looks her reply received, Hermione picked up her book on Equines and headed into her dorm.

A/N: I was going to say something about some part of the story here… But I forgot what I was going to say. So, still saving for a new computer. Hopefully by the end of February I should have one!