"Holly, slow down! You'll trip!"
Harry smiled and warned the bundle of joy that was currently running up and down the halls, excited for today's caretaker. Evidently, Sue Li had left a good impression on her, and now she couldn't wait to meet up with Susan and see what she had in store. Climbing down the steps and finally arriving at the Hufflepuff Common Room entrance, looking at the barrels, Harry and Holly waited for Susan to come out.
They were met with the expected face of Susan Bones, and some unexpected faces as well.
"Ernie? Justin? Hannah?" Harry said as they appeared one by one, bemused at their presence.
"Hiya Harry, and hello Holly." Susan crouched down and gave Holly a big ol' hug, one which was reciprocated by Holly who tried to return the hug with equal strength and vigor.
"I'm guessing she asked you three to help with Holly?" Harry asked Ernie, who smiled and shook his head.
"Actually, we asked if we could help Susan out." Ernie nodded at Justin and Hannah and they pulled out a banner out of thin air, spreading the banner out and revealing what was on it.
"The Holly Brigade?" Harry read out, his astonishment causing all of them to laugh, although Holly herself was looking on with a great shine in her eyes.
"A group that formed to make sure that Holly has the best time in Hogwarts." Justin dutifully said, his complete conviction truly bringing home how serious they were of their mission, albeit the twinkle in their eyes had given way to levity to their actions.
Holly took it in stride and posed in front of them, her arm and fist straight up in the air in joy, "I have my own flock!"
Susan laughed and joined in with her posing, striking the same posture as her, "That's right!"
Harry let out a chortle and joined in as well, raising his arm and winked down at Holly, who had a large grin.
Harry, Holly, and her newly formed brigade arrived at the freshly cut Quidditch Pitch. Harry took in the smell and relished in the scent of fresh air. At the corner of his eye, he could see emulating his action and had a smile, most likely the same as his. He noticed that the Hufflepuffs were marching towards the shed that held all the school brooms and Susan was left to set up the blanket and picnic box. Taking a step forward, he reached inside the box - the box holding more than it looked thanks to magic - and helped Susan set everything up.
She gave a smile and not long after they had put everything out. And Holly's mouth watered at the assortment of food and morsels placed on the ground.
The others returned, holding a bunch of brooms. Susan stood up and took two, giving one to Harry, "Now, for what I have planned for today! I think that flying is one of the best ways to enjoy a great day like today, and your type of flying gets my heart pumping, not to mention all of Hogwarts, so I'm sure Holly will be entertained."
Harry blushed at the unexpected praise. Although he was sure Holly wouldn't find his flying that grand, given the fact that she had wings a couple of days ago, he nonetheless nodded and understood what she had in store for Holly.
"And of course, if Holly wants to fly, then she can!" On cue, Justin presented a small broom, half the size of a regular broom, and gave it ro Holly, Susan was happy to see the bright face Holly had given her as she gave it to her, "This is a training broom, usually for kids around Holly's age. I wasn't too sure if she had one already, but I thought it couldn't hurt to ask my aunt to send me one and have you take a few spins with it."
Holly had looked like she was given a mountain of bacon, her smile threatening to split her face in two. She hurriedly got on the broom, ready to feel the feeling of flying she had missed.
The broom hovered a couple inches off the ground and began to buzz around slowly. Holly looked down confusingly and tried to urge the broom to quicken, leaning down becoming almost parallel to it. When it didn't speed up or fly higher, Holly sent her puppy eyes towards Susan, "Susan, the broom won't go any faster or go higher!"
Susan comforted the teary eyed girl while explaining, "I'm sorry Holly, but this is how it's supposed to be. Flying an actual broom is way too dangerous."
Holly gave a whimper and Harry couldn't help but feel a bit bad seeing her look so depressed while still flying slowly around Susan. He couldn't imagine not being able to fly, let alone losing the ability to do it in the first place. Weighing the risk, he decided to suggest something that would maybe brighten Holly's mood.
"Maybe I can have Holly fly with me?" Harry's heart lightened up as Holly's demeanour did a 180 degree turn and she was more merry. Susan looked a bit uncertain but the others also seemed receptive to the idea.
"Well, forcing her to use that will go against our mission, so I say we let Harry fly Holly with us." Ernie stated, Hannah and Justine nodding besides him. Susan bit her lip in contention but relented, lifting Holly down from her training broom and letting her walk up to Harry, who had ridden his broom. Holly raised her arms to let Harry lift her up and he complied, putting her down in front of him.
"Keep a tight hold on the broom, alright?" Holly nodded at Harry's instruction and followed said instruction. Harry held on as well, keeping Holly in between his forearms to keep her more secure, and slowly and carefully flew a couple feet off the ground. Getting a feel for the weight, Harry did a couple spins to adjust. Ernie, Justine, and Susan also flew up and waited for Harry to become accustomed to flying with Holly.
Satisfied and happy with his check, Harry looked to the others, "Ready to fly?"
The three Hufflepuffs nodded, and they all began to fly around the stadium. Harry at first began with a slow pace but Holly was not having any of that, "Faster! Faster!"
Grinning, Harry got comfortable and started to speed up. The others kept a close eye on Holly, ready to catch her if she ever fell. By now, they had been going a couple miles per hour, which increased as Holly repeated the mantra, "Faster!"
As Harry sped up, Holly shouted out in glee with a high pitched "Whee!"
Feeling a bit adventurous, Harry began doing some simple manoeuvres; up and down, then left and right, and then when he told Holly to tighten her grip, he did a couple of aerial rolls, something which Holly greatly enjoyed if her screams of joy were anything to go by.
Finally, they slowed down and landed near Hannah - who had a fear of heights, thus opting out of flying and stayed on the ground to guard the food - who had prepared a couple plates of food beforehand. As they sat down to enjoy the scrumptious picnic, Holly began guzzling down the food in record time.
"Holly, chew your food. You might choke." Susan lightly reprimanded the zealous girl, who slowed down and smiled, her cheeks bulging as she tried to chew the food in her mouth.
"She seemed to enjoy being up there. She might be a natural flyer." Justine pointed out, before tucking into his ham sandwich.
"With the moves Harry was doing and the way she was screaming happily, you might be right on the money." Ernie smiled and let out a warm laugh.
Harry grinned and handed Holly a cup of water. She gulped down the water and gave a burp, "Excuse me."
Dabbing her mouth to wipe off the multiple stains around it, Hannah tutted and jokingly said, "The brooms won't be going anywhere, Holly."
The obvious intentions she had showed had Holly blushing, but still held a happy smile as she couldn't wait to fly once more. Harry, who had only eaten lightly, got up and gestured
towards the brooms, "We'll go on ahead, you guys take your time. Holly might cause an earthquake the way she's shaking."
The others laughed and Holly pouted at Harry, who only smirked and took a broom and lifted her up to the same spot. As they flew further away from the group, he and Holly flew slowly around, as to not agitate Holly's full stomach.
"So, having fun?" Harry started off, making sure they were out of earshot from the Hufflepuffs on the ground.
"Uhuh, I miss flying." Holly said, looking down and giving a small wave down to the others.
"I know buddy, maybe on our days together we can fly around together. I'd rather not give the lot of them a heart attack by zooming around." Holly gave a positive hum and closed her eyes. Harry sped up a bit, to let the wind caress them softly.
"Harry, can I ask you something?" Holly's soft tone penetrated through the wind and Harry slowed down a tad to hear her better.
"What's up?" Harry said.
"Did you like me better when I was an owl?"
The question caught Harry off-guard, "What made you think that?"
"Everybody's been really nice and trying to make me happy, and that means you have to do more work just for me. And with the way I am now, you might need to get another owl, and then you'll leave me…" Her breath hitched and tears stinged her eyes. Harry could feel a slight tremble that made the broom shake lightly.
"No, that will never happen." Harry immediately cut off the mental trap she had put herself in and leaned down to put his chin on her head, "Be it an owl or a human, I'll always be at your side. Nothing will ever change that. And if anybody tries to, I'll fight them every step of the way."
Now tears fell down Holly's cheeks, but the smile on her face made it known that she was crying for another reason, she uttered, "Thank you Harry."
"Hey you two!"
The two turned around to see the three Hufflepuffs once again in the air. Ernie held a quaffle in his arms and gave a grin, "Figured we'd see if she is Quidditch material. Up to catching a few quaffles, Holly?"
Holly nodded enthusiastically and Ernie softly tossed the quaffle, and although it looked heavy, Holly was able to catch it with ease and hold it up.
"A modified quaffle, lighter and easier to catch onto. Give it here!" Justine flew a few metres away and waited for Holly's toss. She obliged and threw it as hard as she could, which was just enough as Justine caught it, ducking to safely secure it in his arms. The next toss was to Susan, who once again tossed it to Holly. This continued on for several turns, every few passes going back to Holly and letting her choose who to toss to, and Harry helped make it interesting by every once in a while flying further or closer, keeping the Hufflepuffs on their toes.
Thanks to them, the tears and dark thoughts that plagued Holly's mind gave way to the cheery laugh and the contagious sunlight smile that formed on her face.
Harry looked on as Hannah, Ernie and Justine listened attentively to Holly's directions.
"Put your arms up more please!" Ernie and Justine complied as they raised their arms up.
"You know, when they said that they were going to make the Holly Brigade, I thought that they wouldn't take this thing too seriously." Susan commented offhandedly as she and Harry watched on from the sidelines, "But after thinking about it, I'm more surprised that they hadn't already come up with an official pose."
Harry chuckled, the both of them sitting on the blanket that covered the grassy field "I'm more surprised that Holly is taking this thing way better than expected."
"You and Holly seem to be as thick as thieves, huh?" Susan rested her head on her arms and looked at Harry.
"Yeah, I guess you can say that it was an unexpected thing." Harry said, the half-truth hopefully enough to satiate Susan's own curiosity.
"It's cute." Susan offered, laughing at Harry's small blush, "I've never really seen you caring for someone this much."
The comment felt odd to Harry, "Have you been watching me specifically?"
"Oh Harry, I'd thought you'd know by now that everything about you is documented. Everybody that has interacted with you has been talked about; a new romance to gossip about or a new friendship to analyse." Harry shuddered at the reminder of his ill begotten fame and its influence, which made Susan give a sorry shrug.
"And to answer your question; yes, I may have kept an eye on you. But it wasn't personal. For a magical castle, it does get a bit boring at times and from half the things I've heard about you, you're a magnet for some interesting anecdotes."
'That's not untrue.' Harry thought
The sight of Holly trying to show what pose she wanted Hannah to do had him smiling, before he gave Susan a question.
"So, from what you've heard, is there anything you wanted to ask me about?" Susan contemplated his offer before taking on a hush tone, nearing him and cupping her hand around her mouth.
"Is it true that you entered the Chamber Of Secrets?" The action of secrecy she took amused Harry, but he gave what she wanted and answered honestly.
"Yes, in our Second Year." Her eyes widened and she inched closer to him.
"What was in there? Was there a monster like the legends say? Was it a giant snake?" She rattled off the questions and it took Harry putting his hands up for her to realise the position they were in; her face inches from his, leaning her body down on him.
As she quickly got off of him and composed herself, Harry glanced at Holly and the others to see if they had seen what had transpired; fortunately, they were still stuck in a particular pose for Hannah, and were brainstorming. Taking a sigh of relief, Harry stated, "Yes there was a monster, and yes it was a snake. A basilisk to be exact."
Susan listened enraptured as Harry told the story of his and Ron's journey to the Chamber Of Secrets, along with the incompetent Gilderoy Lockhart. She gasped as he revealed Voldemort's, or in this case the teenage spirit in the diary, involvement in kidnapping Ginny Weasley and the petrification of the numerous Hogwarts populace; at the end of the story, Susan's eyes had taken a new light towards Harry.
"...And Dobby, the crazy elf, blasted Malfoy senior off his feet and it was the most hilarious thing I've ever seen." Harry finished, smiling at the memory.
Susan could only shake her head in disbelief, but after witnessing his achievements during the Triwizard Tournament, she could bet that every word he had said was the truth, "Now I think I know why Dumbledore decided for you to be her caretaker; I'm pretty sure Holly would be safe with you."
Scratching the back of his head bashfully, Harry only shrugged, "Not really, most of it was luck."
And there was the humbleness, Susan shook her head but made no comment to refute his stance.
"Harry! Susan! Look!"
At Holly's exclamation, the two gave their attention to the energetic girl.
"Holly Brigade, Pose!"
From behind her, Ernie and Justin sidestepped and raised their arms up, emulating wings. Hannah stood up and carried Holly up, grasping at her sides and carrying her as high as she could. Holly striked a pose; her arms going up and down, and her knee jutting out.
All in all, it looked pretty ridiculous.
But they weren't about to let her efforts go to waste.
"Woohoo! Amazing Holly!"
"Pretty cool, Holly!"
Harry and Susan shouted out and clapped, making Holly beam brightly.
Susan waves goodbye to Holly and Harry, who split off to return to their room, and Hannah waited for her before they begin to walk back to the Hufflepuff Common Room.
"Today was pretty fun." Susan happily said, striking today as a success.
"Yuhuh, some more than others, me thinks." Hannah's tone took on a teasing note, which caused her best friend to sigh in annoyance, "And I think someone might have taken the chance to make a move on the Boy-who-lived while her friends were busy doing her job."
"You mean standing there because you couldn't copy any of the poses Holly wanted and relegated to carrying her up instead?" Susan enjoyed the glare and blush the blond Hufflepuff had.
"It isn't my fault! I swear, she might be a secret gymnast or something, the poses she wanted weren't possible with my rigid bones!" Her excuses fell on deaf ears as Susan snickered.
Squinting her eyes angrily at her, Hannah harrumphed and had an evil grin on her face.
"Maybe next time, I'll tell Harry all about the time you gushed about marrying the Boy-who-lived once you got into Hogwarts." This time, the blushing and glaring was done by Susan, who growled out a warning.
"You better not or I'll have a little chat with Neville Longbottom and maybe accidentally let out that you've been eyeing him since Third Year."
The two let a tense silence hang over them, before both broke into laughter, lifting the oppressive air.
"Man, but I gotta say, Holly sure was a cutey." Hannah said, smiling at the memory of the little girl smiling and her laugh as they played together.
"Yeah, we should take some time to think of some other stuff for our turn next time." Making a mental note to speak with Ernie and Justine, Susan hummed happily, "Maybe Professor Sprout might have some ideas, ideas involving a certain Gryffindor boy in the greenhouses.".
Smiling at her bait, Hannah took it happily and fought back with gusto, "Careful there, I know where you keep the photos you bought off the boy with the camera."
Susan and Hannah continued to throw jabs and barbs at each other. Their banter caused the both of them to laugh and end the day on a happy note.
A/N: Hufflepuffs are done! Next, some time underground with the snakes. Leave a review and take a review!
