Chapter 15: Feels like home

After finding the notice posted in the Gryffindor common room, Jack could barely sit still during morning classes. They were going to have their first flying lesson this afternoon.

At last.

He didn't know how much time he had left at Hogwarts before Mother discovered them, and unlike Elsa, he didn't want to waste it in the library. Before he lost it all, he wanted to experience everything the wizarding world had to offer. Flying was a must.

He rushed outside with the other students, his insides twisting from anticipation. It was a cloudy afternoon, and a refreshing autumn breeze ruffled his robes. Colin hopped between him and Merlin, while they made their way to the field at the back of the castle. Merlin slipped on the dewy grass twice already.

"Can you believe it?" Colin said. "We're going to fly! I can't wait. How high up do you think we can go on broomsticks? Look! They're waiting for us over there. Madam Hooch is coming. I can tell it's her from afar since she's the only female professor with short hair like that. I'm a little scared of heights but I'm excited to fly so I'm conflicted. Do you think it's comfortable to sit on a broom? Why won't they attach a seat to it or…"

"Alright, children." Madam Hooch stopped his rant. "Position yourselves on the left side of the broom. Yes, like that. Stay close to the ground to minimize your injuries. I don't want to send any of you to the Hospital Wing today."

"Is she kidding?" Colin whispered.

"Don't go crazy and you'll be fine," Merlin said while swatting dirt off his robes.

Jack added, "Hopefully, you have more luck flying than walking."

Merlin shrugged. How exactly would clumsiness in the air look like? Oh, no. This could turn ugly.

Madam Hooch continued, "Now when I say so, you will put your hand over the broom and..."

Jack put his hand over the broom to get ready, and it immediately flew into his hand without a command. No one else's broom reacted in that way.

"Say UP," Madam Hooch instructed.

As students started saying "Up," Jack said it too, hoping that no one noticed his broom was already in his hand.

Not everyone's brooms obeyed the command. Colin's jerked on the ground a few times before flying into his hand. Merlin's carefully floated into his hand. Maybe it knew to be extra gentle with him.

"Mount your brooms," Madam Hooch ordered and walked around them, checking their grips. "Now, only hover over the ground. Do not fly up. Come back down by leaning forward."

Jack's broom raised him in the air with ease. A part of him was screaming, 'Let's fly!' but then he remembered Elsa's voice warning him to not stand out from the other students. If only he could sneak out without anyone noticing, he could try some real flying.

Next to him, Colin's broom started to vibrate and launched him forward. Madam Hooch followed on her broom, trying to catch up to him.

Jack did not wait any longer. This was exactly the distraction he needed. As soon as he thought to fly up, he soared high into the sky. The wind roared in his ears and rushed through his hair. Now, this was the way to travel! The broom obeyed each of his wordless commands, and soon, he was zooming backwards, forwards, making loops and crazy dives, laughing hysterically from the carefree silliness.

He stopped and looked up, wondering what the gloomy clouds looked like from above. Could he reach them?

"Jack!" Merlin caught up to him. How come he didn't say before that he already knew how to fly? "You were supposed to hover! What are you doing so high up?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"Don't be a smart cookie." Merlin pointed a finger at him in a warning.

"Is Colin okay?"

"Yes, I… Madam Hooch stopped him. He fell off his broom, but he'll be okay."

"Then we can have fun."

Merlin looked down at the ground, where the other students were small like ants. "This is a bad idea. It's dangerous."

"Don't be an Elsa," Jack grumbled and shot up, determined to get over the clouds before Merlin tried to stop him. He soared at an alarming speed and ignored Merlin's calls.

"Stop! These brooms are not meant for this!"

Jack loved the pure freedom of flying. It didn't feel like being carried by the broom, but rather, it was as if the wind itself was propelling him forward. The clouds did not feel like smoke but resembled a refreshing mist. By the time he broke through them, his skin was coated in cool moisture.

The tops of the clouds did not look the same as from the ground. He paused and hovered in place to fully appreciate the gentle valleys illuminated in shades of gold and orange. The afternoon sun lazily hovered over the horizon. Its familiar warmth seeped into him. It was like a hidden world above the world, full of sunshine and joy.

Flying had become his most favorite activity. He couldn't imagine anything better than this, but there were so many magical experiences left to discover. There was no way that he would allow Mother to take it away from him. The thought of being stuck underground again when he could be experiencing this instead sickened him.

Merlin never came up after him, and good. The only person Jack would want to share this private moment with was Elsa. Would she enjoy flying as much as he did? She was likely in her precious library right now, looking for clues to finding their father, like he could save them. What type of being even was he? Would he allow them to stay at Hogwarts or would he confine them like Mother did?

"I should get back," Jack said in resignation, guessing that the moment of distraction Colin had created was over by now.

As he descended, he stretched out his hand towards the clouds. Along with the cool moisture, a spark of nature's magic rushed through his fingers. He lowered his flight until fully submerged in their whiteness, where their magic intermingled with his. It felt satisfyingly right like this was exactly what he should be doing. When he broke beneath the clouds, it was snowing!

"Did I do that?" he gasped, marveling at the snowflakes swirling around him.

He looked down at the blur of the pitifully small castle in the distance and wondered what everyone thought of snow in September.

"Oops," he chuckled at the idea. "At least they won't know it was me."

He decided to finish his fun ride with a bang and leaned down on the broom, which increasingly picked up speed. The flight down was exhilaratingly fast, and he was having so much fun, he didn't think about caution. As the ground came closer, he tried to slow down but it wasn't as easy as speeding up. Gravity was working against him, hurtling him towards the ground too fast. He braced himself for a painful landing, but at the last possible moment, his broom jerked up on its own. He glided horizontally and landed by rolling on the wet grass.

As he laid there on his back, breathing heavily and grinning wide, the first thing he noticed was that it was raining.

"Too warm for snow," he murmured to himself, already making plans to test his snow-making abilities when the weather got cooler. He couldn't wait for winter.

Soon, he heard the pounding of someone's feet.

"Are you okay?" Merlin asked and stretched out his hand to help him up.

"Yeah. I just need to work on my landing."

"I told you it was a bad idea," Merlin said while rubbing his arms. His breath was visible on every word. "Let's get out of this cold. The lesson was cancelled."

"Why did you stay?"

"I was worried about you."

Jack felt a rush of gratitude, Merlin was proving to be a really good friend, but he just couldn't help himself. He had to respond with a joke.

"Aww. You care."

Merlin rolled his eyes and motioned for them to run. They returned their brooms to the storage shed and ran inside the castle. Merlin slipped on the wet floor and held onto Jack for support.

"Did you make it above the clouds?"

"Yeah. It's amazing! It's a sunny day up there."

Merlin put one hand on his hip and gesticulated with the other. "It shouldn't have been possible on these old brooms. Mine started vibrating so badly, I had to get down before it threw me off."

Jack tried to shake the rain out of his hair. "Maybe I got lucky and got a better one."

"You have no idea how lucky you were. Let's get changed. I'm freezing."

》《

Ginny came back to her dorm with the Chatties who were squealing about how cold they were. She didn't mind a little rain, so she was very disappointed that the flying lesson was cancelled. She knew how to fly already, she'd been sneaking out with her brothers' brooms to practice for years, but she was still looking forward to this lesson. If she had any hope of getting on the Gryffindor team next year, she needed all the practice she could get. Even a beginner class was better than no practice at all.

She sat down on one of the couches by the lit fireplace, where her chatty roommates were warming themselves, complaining about why flying lessons were mandatory. Ginny wished that boys would come back already so she could talk about their experience with school brooms. Soon, Colin showed up with a small, mostly healed bruise on his forehead from when he fell off his broom.

"Madam Pomfrey healed it with a spell so it's no longer bleeding. That was so cool!" he exclaimed, and Ginny chuckled. Only Colin could make an injury exciting.

"I'm glad you're better," she said as he sat down next to her.

"It's a shame I don't have a photo of my first flying accident. Hey, Ginny, maybe later you could take a picture of me on a broom so I could send it to my parents."

"Sure, Colin."

Lisa, one of the Chatties, asked, "Ginny, did you see what Loony Luna wore during lunch today?"

Ginny did not feel comfortable with that nickname. "No, I didn't."

"Eggshell. Earrings. She painted them this ugly yellow and they were, honestly, the most horrendous things I've ever seen."

The girls started giggling and exchanging exaggerated gagging impressions.

"I heard that her father is deranged. No wonder she's so loony."

"So there are more loonies in her family?"

"No one could be as loony as Loony Luna."

"Do you have to call her that?" Ginny said.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Everyone calls her that."

Everyone? Ginny lost the enthusiasm to talk about Quidditch. She was the one that gave them the idea to call that girl Loony. She didn't mean for it to become a permanent nickname. It was so easy for an innocent joke to turn into something hurtful. Or maybe, the joke was never innocent. It was never okay to make fun of others. She wished she could take it back, but it was too late now.

Ashamed of herself, she snuck out to her dorm and pulled out her diary. Tom always made her feel better.

Hi Tom.

Ginny. I must say, I'm disappointed.

Ginny's heart picked up pace. How did Tom learn about what she had done? She considered putting the diary away.

You've been neglecting me, Ginny. You haven't written to me in days.

Ginny exhaled in relief. Of course, he didn't know.

I'm sorry, Tom. I promise I'll write more often.

Every day, Ginny. Don't abandon your one true friend. You could carry me in your pocket and take me everywhere you go?

That's a good idea.

Great. Now, tell me about what you're feeling today.

Ginny bit her lip. Should she tell him? Would Tom judge her? How would he react?

You can trust me, Ginny. I'm your friend.

Ginny swallowed. He was the only person she could talk to about issues like that. Maybe Tom would understand that she didn't mean for this to happen.

Tom, I did something awful.

What happened?

I called this girl Loony Luna and now everyone is calling her that. I didn't mean to. What if she finds out that I was the one that started it?

Oh, Ginny.

I was never a mean person. When did I become mean? No wonder I have no friends. I don't deserve friends.

You have at least one friend. You have me.

You're just saying that because you're stuck in this diary.

No, I mean it. I like you. I think you are a lovely girl who is underappreciated.

Thanks, Tom. What am I going to do about Luna?

I'm sure you didn't mean to hurt her.

Of course not.

It was a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, Ginny.

It's so mean. I don't want people to call her that.

You're not responsible for other people, Ginny. If they really want to be mean, they will find a way. With or without you.

Maybe you're right.

I am. You need to forgive yourself for your mistake. Promise me you will forgive yourself.

I'll try. You're such a good friend.

That's what I'm here for. You can always confide in me.

I will. You're so easy to talk to. In real life, it's hard to talk to people.

Then, you have no need for those people. You have me. Talk to me.

I am so lucky to have you.

Yes, you are. Now, tell me more.

A/N: I hope you will all remember Ginny's mistake and take it to heart. Be careful with what you call others. Words are forever.