A/N – So the umph to write chapter five has eluded me for the past few weeks and didn't strike until 2:00 in the morning. Not the greatest time for creative juices to be flowing but hey, I'll take what I can get.
Disclaimer – I own nothing but the story line.
Classes passed by in their normal routine, with Hermione sitting in the back of the rooms, not raising her hand, not speaking to anyone, with her nose buried in her book, already several chapters ahead of the rest of the class. Not that the teachers really cared where she was academically anymore. They all knew that if she wanted she could take her NEWTS tomorrow and pass with flying colors. No they were all worried about Hermione mentally. She hadn't been this quiet in her previous years and had always answered every question asked of her without thought. Now though, she was silent.
When the day ended it was only 2 in the afternoon. Dinner wasn't served until 7 that evening. She had 5 hours to kill teaching Hoo-Rolanda, how to skate. Her first lesson, this should prove interesting, Hermione though to herself as she made her way through the corridors to the room of requirement. She had been skating since she had awakened that morning and was finding that her legs were quickly getting tired. After I show her the basics I'm taking these off for the rest of the day, she decided. Finally arriving at her destination she slipped inside and sat down to wait.
Glancing around she realized that there was a table holding all of the protective gear that was needed to play including the crash helmet, pads, and wrist guards. Had those been there earlier? If they had she hadn't noticed. Not that safety had been the forefront of her mind when she had come in here this morning. No that had been the least of her worries at the time. The only thing she had been focused on had been making the memories and nightmares go away. That was when she noticed something else different about the room. There was a pole sitting in the middle of the court that she was sure hadn't been there earlier that day. The pole, a skill that one of the girls on her team had taught her. It was the perfect was to stay in shape for tournaments and bouts. She never danced for anyone, only used it to stay limber and as another way to vent her anxiety.
The last thing she noticed about the room was the table on the far wall. Skating over she realized that her team uniform was on it and there was a door next to the table to a room where she could change, which she took full advantage of. Once she was attired like she normally would be, she moved to the table with the safety gear and put those on. It was as she was fastening the last of the straps on her wrist guards that the door into the room opened.
Rolanda stepped in dressed in her gear for a Quidditch match. Everything from the keeper's chest plate to the beater's bat. Hermione had the devil of a time keeping herself from falling over, she was laughing so hard. She glided over to her new friend and shook her head. Without saying anything to the white haired witch she pulled off the padded helmet, then the arm braces, the shin braces, and finally the chest plate. Taking her hand she pulled her over to where the correct pads were waiting on a table. She helped her fit the knees, elbows, wrists, and helmet, but left her to lace her own skates which had been under the table.
"Ok so first this is what we normally wear to our meets. Each person has a slightly different version of the uniform but this is a general copy." She watched and blushed as Hooch's eyes traveled slowly over her body. The yellow gaze slowly took in the knee high skates, excessively short shorts and tight half top that showed off her mid-section. The older witch met her stare with a smirk. "Right, so first lesson all we are going to focus on is staying upright and moving forwards." She offered her hand to Rolanda and helped her stand. "Now push off with one foot," Hermione demonstrated, "and allow yourself to glide on the other. Then just repeat on the other side."
The older witch tried and lost her balance. She slipped backwards and fell. Hermione offered her hand again, pulling the woman up. "It is going to take practice." She said with a smile. Rolanda glared at her and she held up her hands, "I'm not ridiculing you. I am merely stating a fact. It took me almost a week to get completely comfortable with skating. Though at the time I was practicing going forwards and backwards to secure a place on the team, so it probably won't take you as long."
Hooch fell another 4 times before finally managing to get the gliding part down. Hermione smiled as she watched the woman move slowly around the track. She seemed to have the hang of it so the brunette made her way to the center and sat on a bench pulling off her own skates and making her way over to the pole. She grabbed the cold steel with both hands and very slowly raised her body so that her legs were on either side. Hooking her knee around it she twisted so that she could repeat this procedure all the way to the top, where she thought about what she wanted and the solid standing pole became a spinning one. At this point she went into her normal routine of twists, flips, tricks, and flexes, all to keep herself limber.
Rolanda had been so focused on what she was doing that she hadn't noticed the pole at first. Not until Hermione had mounted it and was, what appeared to be dancing, around and on it. The instructor glided but wasn't focused on where she was going. Watching Hermione's slow, sensual movements had her completely distracted. Even more so the fact that she could see the scars that littered the young woman's arms and the nasty bruises on her ribcage as she flexed. At one point the girl, spinning in circles, had the pole caught behind one knee and was simply laying upon the metal fixture, upside down. Her gaze was clouded over and she seemed to be caught in an inner battle. All at once though she shook it off and wrapped both hands around the pole and lowered her legs so that they wrapped around again, this time Hermione was right way up. Caught as she was in watching the other woman's movements that she lost her balance and fell hard, face forward landing with her palms down.
The sounds of someone falling broke Hermione's concentration. She watched as Rolanda sat up to her knees and shook her head, as if to clear it, then stood and began to skate again. She locked her legs in place and watched as the woman made her way around the track again. Her movements spoke of grace and elegance. The gentle breeze cause by her slow drift, stirred the white hair on her head just caused it to twitch enough that it caught the eye. Her yellow eyes were focused on the track and her next turn. The strong features of her face were schooled not to give away any of what she was thinking but were gentle, and Hermione found herself suddenly admiring the strikingly gorgeous witch. Her mouth, the light color to her lips was enticing. The rest of her body, Hermione shuddered as a single though ran through her head, Power. Muscle rippled beneath skin and the young woman wanted to touch. Desperately did she want to feel that strength.
Just as she had decided to continue with what she had been doing before her friend fell, the dinner bell rang. She wasn't about to go down to the Great Hall in her Derby uniform. She quickly let go of the pole and dropped from the top. She landed lightly and Rolanda watched her run from through the same door as earlier to change back into her school clothes. Coming back out, she walked over to the older witch. "So? What do you think?"
"I think this may take some getting used to but, I am going to stick with it." The hawk-eyed woman answered.
"Great. I'll see you tomorrow then?" she asked looking up into her eyes. The woman was panting softly and her teeth showed in a friendly grin. The woman laughed and for the first time in a long time Hermione felt a true smile drawn to her lips. She watched her friend laugh and was again struck by her beauty.
"Yes Hermione. You will see me tomorrow, and now that I know the normal dress code, my guess is you will see a lot more of me than you did today." She winked at that last part.
"Well then I think I will be looking forward to our time together more and more. Definitely more than I was earlier today. I'll see you tomorrow…Ro." With that said, young witch left the room. Leaving Rolanda thinking, I have never let anyone call me that. If that's all it takes to make her happy again though, I can make her the exception to that rule. The only exception.
A/N – So? Reviews are welcome ! Let me know what you think!