Takeoffs and Landings by WeasleyForMe

Hermione finds out there has been an addition to the O.W.L. exams... a mandatory flying test. The only trouble is Hermione doesn't know how to fly! George agrees to give her lessons. Will she learn how to fly, or will she fall hard for George Weasley? Hermione/George

I don't own these characters, but they are really fun to play with.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Three

"Ok, I'm ready now," Hermione said. Then she started laughing again. "Stop it George, I can't concentrate!"

It was time for Hermione's second flying lesson. Hermione and George were out on the Quidditch pitch on Friday after classes let out. She was trying to do a repeat performance of summoning the broom into her hands, but George was lying in the grass, making faces and distracting her.

"Come on, Hermione! We don't have all day," he called up to her as he made a ridiculous face.

"You are entirely too distracting! If you weren't being so helpful, I might have to give you a detention!" she shot back.

"You're all talk, Granger. Now just show me what you can do," George said as he stood up.

Hermione glared at him as she successfully summoned the broomstick. After a few tries, George was confident they could move on to more advanced techniques.

"You're doing great, Hermione," he told her. He knew that her best friends weren't being supportive, so he'd have to be a substitute for them. "Now you are going to try sitting on the broom and kicking off."

Hermione looked a little wary as she held his Cleansweep. She took a deep breath, "This is the scary part."

George showed her how to properly sit on the broom and where she would be comfortable for her height. "Give me your left hand," he said as she slipped her small hand into his. Her skin was so soft and she looked so sweetly enthralled. He put her hand in the proper location.

"What do I need to do with my other hand?" she asked.

"You'll learn later how to steer with your right hand, so for now just place it on the top of the broomstick. Ready to kick off?" he finally asked.

Hermione turned to him and asked very quietly, "Maybe you could show me first?"

George smiled at her shyness as he took the broom from her. "Sure, watch me."

Hermione watched him alright. She watched his smooth motion as he took the broom, kicked off and casually flew a low lap around her. She couldn't take her eyes off him actually. He was downright delectable. All this flying reminded her of Quidditch, witch reminded her of the way George would get sweaty during matches, and the way his jersey would cling to his muscular frame.

"Ready?" he asked.

She almost forgot what she was doing.

He handed her the broom. "You need to kick off now; it's the next step." Hermione shook off the last bit of her daydream and took the broom. She was still hesitant, so he promised he would stay very close by, ready to use a cushioning charm in case she fell.

"Ok, I'm going to do it now," she told him. "Right now. I'm going to kick off. I'm going to fly. Ready? Make sure I don't fall, ok? I'm really going to do it… right now."

"Do it, Hermione!" George urged while he shook his head.

Finally Hermione sucked in a huge breath and kicked off of the ground. She was thrilled and terrified at the same time; it was the most exhilarating and yet the scariest thing she'd ever felt. She was free, but completely reliant on the broom. She finally looked down and realized that she was three feet off the ground. Oh god, she was three feet off the ground!! Hermione started to freak out.

"Ahhh!" she screeched. She felt herself tumbling off the broom toward the turf.

"Oof!" grunted George. He caught her in his arms while his broom hovered nearby.

"That was the scariest thing I've ever done!" Hermione whispered in George's ear as she clung to his chest. His very solid chest.

"Hermione, you have fought a giant troll, faced a werewolf and dated an international Quidditch celebrity. Are you sure that's the scariest thing you've ever done?" he asked as he held her close.

"Positive," she assured him as he set her down. She immediately regretted losing the warmth of his arms around her.

"Well regardless, you did really well! You stayed up there for about five seconds!" he tried to reassure her.

"George, there's something else I didn't tell you," said with her eyes closed. He waited for an answer. "I'm afraid of heights."

"Oh," George replied. George thought about this for a moment. This was going to be a problem, but he didn't want to let her know that. "Well in that case Miss Granger, we will just have to cure you of this fear."

Before Hermione had a chance to react, George had scooped her up onto the broom with him and he kicked off. They were barely off the ground, but Hermione had managed to wrap her entire body around his.

Not that George didn't like this feeling, but he thought he should try to make her comfortable on the broom. "Ok, Hermione, you need to calm down. We aren't moving, and I won't move us until you relax..."

She managed to open her eyes and lessen her death grip on him. George helped her turn around on the broom so she was sitting right in front of him, facing forward, and protected by his arms. Her breathing began to return to normal. "I guess this isn't so bad. It's not really that high."

George wanted to point out the fact that he would be able to touch the ground if he straightened his knees, but thought better of it. "Right, now that you've calmed down, I think we should move forward a bit."

Hermione liked the feeling of George's voice reverberating through her body as he was talking to her and calming her down. But as soon as George eased the broom forward through the air, Hermione thought she was going to faint.

"It's ok, relax. You're going to be fine. I'm right here," George cooed near her ear.

George managed to slowly fly them around the Quidditch pitch for a few laps. During the first lap, Hermione was still quite tense. By the second lap, she was able to answer his simple questions. By the third lap, George was able to get her to laugh at a joke. By the fourth lap, he had convinced her to try to steer them.

"Just focus and go with your instincts," he whispered to her. "You don't need to be forceful, just guide the broom where you want it to go."

Hermione concentrated on his voice, and she found she was actually quite good at steering them. She was almost beginning to have fun by the fifth lap. Then George's soft voice and breath began to drive her crazy by the sixth lap. It was at that point that she asked him to end the lesson, before she said something to embarrass herself.

"George, it's getting late. We should go in," she said. And with that he guided them to a soft landing.

"Hermione, are you free tomorrow?" George asked with a smirk as they walked back to the castle.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for all the reviews so far! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!