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. I hope you like this chapter!

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

Chapter Five

At Hermione's lesson on Wednesday, George showed up to the Quidditch pitch looking tired and stressed out.

"What's wrong?" asked Hermione gently. "You look exhausted and irritable."

"I know," he grumbled. "Girl problems," he said as he rolled his eyes.

Hermione's heart fluttered and sank down to her toes. He was having girl problems…with another girl….one that he actually liked.

"Oh, that's not good," Hermione mumbled with a frown and absolutely no enthusiasm. "I hope everything works out."

"Yeah, me too. She's causing me to lose sleep," he said as he handed Hermione his Cleansweep. "She does this all the time, and I never get to hear the end of it. I've honestly been up all night for two nights now, because there's not enough time in one day to sort everything out."

Hermione just frowned and nodded. She couldn't believe that George was dating someone else when she was beginning to really like him.

George turned to her and rubbed his eyes. "Honestly, it's like every time Fred and Angelina get into a fight, I'm the one who has to straighten it all out. Fred kept me up talking about her all night, and I just wanted to sleep," he said with a yawn.

Hermione immediately perked up. "You're talking about Angelina? You mean its Fred's girl problems?"

"Yeah, but I always get shoved into the middle of it," he replied. "That's what you get when your twin is dating someone who is too similar to him."

Hermione smiled and started to laugh. He wasn't talking about himself, for which she was very happy.

"What's so funny?" he asked somewhat skeptically. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No! There's nothing on your face, except for freckles, but they look perfect. I thought you were talking about something else," she replied with a smile. "Anyway, I'm ready to kick off today." She felt much better knowing that George's girl problems stemmed from Fred and Angelina.

"Go for it," he said with another yawn and a smile.

Hermione summoned the Cleansweep into her hand on the first try and positioned herself to kick off. This time she kicked off with much more poise than the previous week, although she couldn't help but remember that last time she ended up in George's arms.

"It worked!" she shouted. "I kicked off higher, and it was much easier," she exclaimed from about five feet in the air. The broom was a little bit shaky with her slightly unsteady hands on it, but she was definitely in the air on her own.

"Sweet! You did it!" George shouted up to her with a grin. "Now to initiate forward motion, just lean toward the front of the broom a slight bit. Not too much, or you'll start to go too fast."

Hermione leaned forward a bit, but the broom barely moved. When she leaned forward some more, the broom shot through the air a little bit too much. She screamed and sat up stick-straight. She screamed again as she came to an abrupt stop.

George ran after her and was next to her again. "Are you ok?" he asked. She nodded. "Yeah, it's a bit touchy," he continued, "but all brooms are different. It'll be good practice for you to get used to the way mine flies."

Hermione leaned slightly forward again and flew very slowly around the stadium. She tried to gain some more speed after a few minutes and was pleased that she didn't fall or stop abruptly. She even tried to steer with one hand. That went well at first, but when she was heading dangerously close to the bleachers and George yelled to her, she put two hands on the broomstick. She steered herself back to the center of the pitch where George was standing.

"Oh, bollocks! Now I have to land on my own, because you aren't up here with me!" she said with shock at this sudden realization.

"Hermione! Watch your language!" he reprimanded. "I'm very sensitive."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help laughing. His ears couldn't possibly be sensitive to cursing having grown up with five brothers.

"George, focus! How do I get down without breaking my legs?" she asked him.

George just looked up at her warily and said, "Did I mention I'm not liable for any damage that may be inflicted on your body during these lessons?"

Hermione looked a little scared as she said, "You're joking, right? Am I really going to get hurt dismounting?"

"Of course I'm joking," replied George with a bright smile. "Did you forget who you were talking to? Now just push down lightly on the front of the broomstick until you are close enough to reach the ground with your feet."

Hermione gently eased the broom toward the ground, but ended up tilting toward the right. She tried her best to make a landing on one foot, but somehow she was tipped over too far. Once again George was there to keep her on her feet.

She managed to fall, shoulder first, into George's chest. He held onto her tightly as she regained her footing. "Are you trying to kill me?" he asked, but he didn't let go of her.

"Honestly, I'm not so large that I'm going to smother you," she quipped. "Actually, if anything, I'm keeping you on your toes."

"I still think you'll be the death of me," he whispered, but he didn't let her go. She looked into his smiling eyes and the corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile. He looked so kissable. She wanted to reach up and brush his hair out of his eyes then pull him toward her. She was about to when they were interrupted by the sound of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team arriving for their practice session.

George reluctantly let go of Hermione and reached for his broom. "Guess we should go then," he said as the team members took flight. Once again they walked back to the castle thinking about each other, but saying nothing of it.

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

Hermione and George barely saw each other until Friday. She was sitting in the common room making an outline for Ancient Runes when George quietly sat down next to her. She didn't notice his presence right away. She was adamantly trying to finish her work, and he spent the time studying her features. She was really quite pretty in the way that she didn't need to wear makeup or do hair charms in order to look cute. She was just cute on her own. George liked how she was so much smaller than him; her hands fit perfectly into his, and she was petit but curvy. He was surprised, but happy that Ron hadn't gone after her with all of his Weasley tenacity. Suddenly he noticed that she was looking back at him.

"Hi," he said with a lopsided grin.

"How long have you been sitting here? I just noticed you," she said with a smile as her heart fluttered.

"Only a minute," he replied.

"You look much livelier today," she told him.

His only response was a nod of his head in the direction of one of the loveseats. Hermione turned to look in that direction and saw a delighted looking Fred with Angelina kissing him and playing with his hair.

Hermione chuckled. "I see," she said as she turned back to George.

"Yeah," George said. "They finally made up, so Fred has stopped whining to me all night. That's not why I'm here though. Your flying exam is a week from tomorrow, right?"

"Yes. That's an awful lot sooner than I want to think about right now," she responded.

"Well you've still got some things to learn. Feel like sneaking out past curfew again tonight?" he said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"You're a terrible influence on me!" she scolded him. He responded by making a pathetically sad face of rejection.

"Fine, I'll do it," she responded, and he went back to smiling.

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

Thank you! Please review!