*Somewhat inspired by two requests, the protégés chapter is being postponed so I can fit this one here and keep up the chronological order of the chapters. Thanks to everyone who read-faved-reviewed and I hope you enjoy this!*

CHAPTER TEN

"Ready, Toms?" Dick asked, tying the laces of his tracksuit pants.

"Err… I'm not so sure about this…" Thomas said hesitantly, upon seeing the gear of the Manor's gym. Dick was the one that used it, mostly, so it was fully equipped with all kinds of acrobatic devices.

"Come on, you asked for it." Dick insisted, warming up his shoulders.

"Can't I have some second thoughts?"

"No!" Dick said grinning and running to the opposite wall. He grabbed from some barely-there handles and climbed up the wall, reaching a high platform. "We'll start with the trapeze."

"Oh, boy…" the eleven-to-twelve year-old boy mumbled, watching his big brother show off. Dick untangled the trapeze from its handles and grabbed it, jumping off, as he started swinging. Thomas watched in awe, really, the young man go up and down the trapeze, hanging from his hands, from his feet, not holding anything and then jumping off, turning three times in mid-air and landing perfectly on his feet. He took a bow.

Thomas laughed and approached him. Dick grabbed the coming-to-a-halt trapeze and smiled at Thomas.

Dick was fully aware that Thomas admired him, like he did with his father and godfather. It was natural that Thomas would like to look like them as much as possible, although he didn't seem too keen in getting involved in athletic activities, unlike his sister. Academics were more of his thing and no matter how his parents seemed to tell him that there was no need in him getting all bulky, it was always a kind wish of his. Since summer vacations had begun and he had no homework, Dick had decided to help him fill some of his hours with some workout.

"Here." Dick said. "Hang from the trapeze and try to pull yourself up."

Thomas swallowed awkwardly. There was no way he could that, but he would give it a try. He jumped and luckily managed to grab the trapeze with his hands. It shook and Thomas didn't expect it to be this unstable. Taking a deep breath, he tried to pull himself up but all he did was shake, without managing to lift himself for more than some centimeters. Dick, his head reaching the level of the hanging trapeze, easily picked Thomas from his waist and helped him up the trapeze. Thomas sat on it, holding himself tightly from the ropes. He looked disappointed.

"Hey, sorry for asking you to do a pull-up." Dick said. "It's hard, even for people working out."

"It's okay…"

"Let us try this. You fall back and hang, holding the trapeze under your knees." Thomas gave him a questioning look. Dick winked at him and went to stand behind him. "Fall and I'll hold your back. Just grab the trapeze tightly with your legs."

Thomas trusted Dick, so he tensed his legs and let himself fall back. He felt Dick's hands on his shoulders, as he slowly let him down until he was finally hanging upside-down. He giggled, it was funny.

"Can you try pulling yourself up now? Use your hands too." Dick instructed, folding his hands.

Thomas struggled and managed to lift himself as far as he could go without feeling like his abs were going to break any second now. He stretched his hands and grabbed the trapeze, sitting himself up and panting.

"That was a good try!" Dick said. "Want to do it again?"

Thomas shook his head negatively. "Can't we do anything else?"

"Oh. Like what?"

The boy shrugged. "You're the expert down here."

Dick rubbed his chin. "Know what's fun and easy? The trampoline!"

"Oh, yes!" Thomas exclaimed. Dick picked him up from the trapeze and put him down, leading the way to the trampoline.

"Good thing the ceiling is high." Dick commented. "This thing can really shoot you up high, so be careful there, alright?" Thomas nodded. "I'll have my eye on you but you know… You have a thing for hurting yourself in every imaginable way possible."

Thomas chuckled awkwardly, acknowledging that his habit of dropping and hitting on things had accompanied him since the day he was born. "Climb up."

Thomas crawled on the trampoline and Dick helped him stand up. "Enjoy yourself!" Was the only thing the master acrobat said before starting to jump around. The trampoline surface vibrated with his jumps and Thomas soon started jumping too. His heart faltered a bit every time he was at the highest point of his jump but he got used to it and started laughing. Jumping made his tummy feel weird, but he enjoyed it and began moving a bit with each jump. Dick was jumping a good deal higher than him but then again, he was a good deal taller than him too.

Thomas frowned a bit at the thought, as his height frustrated him. His sister was a lot taller than him and his parents always said that girls grew taller sooner than boys and that she was older too, but that didn't soothe him. He wanted to be tall, pass her and pass his parents as well, but he didn't seem to grow much taller as the months passed.

His mind drifted away from those thoughts, when his eye caught Dick doing several figures. When he reached the peak of his jump, he spread his legs wide, touching his toes with his hands and landing perfectly again. On his next jump, he did two twirls and on his third, he turned around and landed on his back, getting shot back up, to land on his feet again.

"Don't try these!" He shouted, turning in mid-air.

"I couldn't, even if I wanted to!" Thomas shouted back, keeping doing his classic jumps.

"You know," Dick said, shooting back up, "you can try to do a turn!"

"No way!" Thomas squealed. "I'll kill myself!"

"It's not hard!" Dick insisted, jumping closer to him. "You won't do it like me, you'll fold yourself to turn around more quickly!"

"I-I'd rather not, Dick!"

"Alright, alright, I won't pressure you!"

Dick did a few more stunts and soon, they stopped jumping and sat by the edge of the trampoline, both somewhat sweaty.

"You don't really fancy this, uh?" Dick asked, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Not really, sorry…" Thomas said. "I'm just…not fit for this. I'll just stay short and skinny forever!" He pouted and Dick laughed. "What is so funny?!"

"You're so wrong, little brother."

"Why?"

"Because we're all late-bloomers. When I was still Robin, I was the shortest member of the team. I was toned, but skinny and my most profound characteristic was my huge ears."

"You?"

"Yes, me. Then some years passed and I grew much taller quickly and I finally got to build some muscles and here I am! I even grew into my ears!" He chucked.

"So you think that I can be like that too?" Thomas asked, his eyes sparkling.

"Of course! Both of your parents are tall, and your sister as well. It's only a matter of time and patience."

Thomas nodded. "I see…"

"Although you shouldn't be this concerned about it. Focus on your studies, you're a real talent!"

"Mr. Fox is teaching me well." Thomas said, blushing slightly.

"Oh, Lucius is a blessing! You're his favorite, you know."

"Really?!"

"Of course. He's boasting like a peacock when he talks about you. Between you and me…" Dick said, lowering his voice.

"What?" Thomas asked whispering.

"He thinks you'll run the company one day."

"Me? Wow!"

Dick shook his head. "I honestly don't know how you get so excited about finance and graphs and stuff like these."

"But they're so interesting and exciting and-"

"Spare me, Tommy."

"Alright…"

"Hey, want to go play some Quid?"

"Yes!" Thomas said, jumping to the floor and Dick led the way upstairs. They entered the small library and Dick turned the TV on, handing a controller to Thomas. The screen lit up and the official 'Harry Potter' logo showed up on the screen. The game was an electronic version of Quidditch, played almost like the Soccer Pro one. Magic was involved in gameplay, though, which included many complicated combo button pushes to perform the actions, but none of the kids had any problems in grasping them quickly. Thomas traditionally picked the Hufflepuff team and Dick the Slytherin one, since the game was new and they were still in the school league before they could unlock the professional teams.

While the small introductory video played, Dick nudged Thomas.

"What?" Thomas asked, watching Madame Hooch explain the game.

"I didn't ask you. How's it going with the girls?"

"What girls?" The boy asked, frowning a bit.

"At your school, I suppose. Don't you have a little girlfriend?"

"No!"

"What? Unbelievable!"

"I…I like someone but she's stupid!"

Dick laughed. "Cliché, Tom. Why is she stupid?"

Thomas shrugged. "Because she likes George Paddington."

Dick nodded in comprehension. "A great argument."

"Then," Thomas went on, "Cathy and Hailey like me and Cole told me that Nora told him that Casey and Alicia fought because they both like me too but I don't believe him, because once he told us that he owns a horse with a marble stable and of course he doesn't."

"So we've got four girls with crushes on you. You almost compete with me at your age!" Thomas looked at him from the corner of his eye and Dick laughed. "I guess with looks like yours, it was meant to happen."

"What with my looks?"

"You're quite handsome, pal. That's all."

"I'm short and skinny!"

"You have your mother's eyes and look exactly like Dad. Trust me, Thomas, it's a deadly combination."

Thomas shrugged and pressed 'A' on his controller, letting the game begin. The digital Madam Hooch released the balls and all talks about girls were cut short. It was a serious match now.

*I'm sorry that it's so short but I don't have much time to write more because I'm leaving in a bit. I don't know when I'll update again, but it can't be too long. Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading. If you liked, leave me a small review!*