Samantha glanced up from the textbook she was reading to watch the impromptu Quidditch match taking place in the Weasley family's yard. The twins, Fred and George, were visiting, so it was 3 versus 3. Bill, Ginny and Fred were playing opposite Harry, Ron, and George.
Harry had been at the house for two weeks now and they had barely spoken in that time. He had joined the tutoring sessions, even going so far as to ask Snape to join Sam's Potions and Defense lessons – something Hermione and Ron had decided not to do.
Sam watched the game for a couple more minutes before she became aware that Hermione was observing her. It was only then that she realized her gaze had been following Harry far more than was probably safe. She glanced away and returned her attention to the textbook in her lap.
A short time later, she glanced up again, realizing the game had ended. She watched most of the players head for the house, laughing and smiling. Harry, however, came to land in front of her.
"Do you fly?" he asked.
"Er, no," she responded, a light blush staining her cheeks as she glanced around. Only Ginny was still outside and she was staring daggers at Samantha. "I never learned how," Sam said quietly so only Harry would hear.
"I can teach you," he said, offering a hand to help her to her feet.
She smiled brightly at him, closing the book and accepting his hand. "I haven't a broom," she said as she came to stand in front of him.
"You can use mine and I can borrow Ron's," he replied, moving to the small pile of brooms which hadn't been put away yet.
Ginny came stomping over, "You're not going to let her use one of our brooms, are you?"
Harry laughed, "No, she's going to use mine and I'm going to borrow Ron's."
Ginny scowled but couldn't seem to find anything to say to that. Sam noticed Ginny's knuckles were white where she gripped her own broom.
Harry picked up Ron's broom and handed Sam his. "Ok, place it on the ground, put your hand over it, and say 'Up'," he instructed, demonstrating with Ron's broom.
Sam nodded and copied him, smiling as Harry's broom rose into her hand. She smiled even brighter as he grinned at her. Then, he showed her how to hold the broom and how to command it.
Finally, nervously, she copied him as he kicked off from the ground. Her stomach took a moment to catch up with the rest of her, but then she came to a smooth stop, hovering in mid air 10 feet off the ground.
"Wow," she said, glancing down.
"You doing ok?" he asked, coming to hover alongside her.
"I think so," she said even though she was still rather nervous.
"Ok, let's try some gentle flying, then," he said, moving slowly away from her.
She began following him, still rather uncertain on the broom, when suddenly something went flying past her, nearly unseating her. She let out a startled squeak and gripped her broom tightly.
"Ginny!" Harry called out, turning around and again moving to Sam's side. He reached out a hand and steadied Sam on her broom. "You okay, Sam?"
"Uhm, yeah, but maybe this isn't for me," she said softly, not wanting Ginny to know how badly she had scared her.
"Let's land," Harry said, remaining by her side as Sam directed her broom gently to the ground.
She hopped off, grateful to feel the ground under her feet. She handed Harry back his broom. "I think I'm better off down here," she said.
He shook his head and shot a glare at Ginny who smiled innocently as she still hovered over their heads. Placing Ron's broom carefully with the others, he gestured Sam over to him. "Do you trust me?"
She nodded silently and watched as he straddled the broom, gesturing her in front of him. She mounted the broom in front of him and held on tightly as his arms wrapped around her to grasp the broom. He gently kicked them off the ground and brought them up slowly.
Feeling much more secure, Sam found herself smiling as Harry directed the broom. He slowly increased their speed as she became more comfortable with it. She noted that he never went as quickly as he had during the game, nor did he do any crazy dives with her there, and she was grateful for it. She enjoyed the sensation of flying, but decided that brooms really weren't for her.
Ginny, meanwhile, kept trying to lure Harry into racing her, all the while shooting angry glares at Sam who simply smiled back. Sam even found the courage at one point to release the grip of one of her hands from the broom. She moved that hand to cover one of Harry's, her fingers stroking slowly over his.
He leaned closer to her, the heat from his chest radiating into her back and his breath ghosting over her ear. She shivered and smirked at Ginny who was even with them.
Ginny's cheeks matched her hair and her eyes were narrowed angrily. Sam could practically feel the jealousy rolling off the other girl. "Don't you have a boyfriend you should be writing to or fire-calling?" she called over to Ginny. Sam hadn't missed all of Ron's references to a boy named Dean whom Ginny was dating.
Harry chuckled behind her as he slowly brought them back to the ground. Ginny landed with them, tossed her broom into the pile, and stormed inside. Her theatrics gave Sam and Harry a moment alone and Samantha was determined to take advantage of it.
Sam turned to face Harry, "Thanks for the flying lesson," she whispered, leaning up to kiss him.
He returned the kiss, "It was my pleasure."
They separated quickly, not wanting to be caught by any of the others, but it wasn't quite quickly enough.
"Oi! Keep that up and Ginny will have more than a broom ride to rant about." Ron's voice broke their sudden silence.
Samantha blushed brightly, "Do you make a habit of sneaking up on people, Ron?"
"And miss my best friend snogging his girlfriend?" he replied softly with a chuckle.
She glanced around, making sure the three of them were alone, "Quit it, Ron." She sighed and glanced at Harry, "How the hell are we going to pull this off? Between being in separate houses, your nosy friends," she shot a playful glare at Ron, "and my dad – er, that is…" she trailed off as she realized she'd said too much already.
Ron glanced between Samantha and Harry. "Ok, let's finish this in the broom shed, yeah? Everyone else is busy having lunch." He headed for the pile of brooms and began picking them up. Samantha and Harry helped him carry them to the shed.
Ron closed the door behind them, "Alright," he said, beginning to put the brooms in their rightful places, "Just who is her father?"
Samantha glanced at Harry who was giving her a questioning look. She took a moment to measure how mad her father would be against her desire to have Ron as a true friend. She nodded to Harry, "You tell him."
"Ok, Ron, don't freak out or anything," Harry began, "but her father is… Snape."
Ron dropped the broom in his hands and he bent and picked it up, placing it in its spot before speaking, "Snape? Our Potions Master, Snape? The greasy git, Snape? Bloody hell…" He shuddered, "And your mum's Professor Smith?"
Samantha nodded, "Her full surname is Stonesmith. They were married after they left school. Her parents convinced my father to join Voldemort. When mum found out, she left him and went to Dumbledore. Mum was pregnant with me at the time, but my father didn't know yet. Dumbledore gave mum a potion to get rid of her magic, I guess so father couldn't find her. It turned her, and me, into squibs.
"I don't know why mum didn't contact father after Voldemort disappeared the first time, but she didn't see him again until you guys came to our house for that lesson. Since then, I've spent some time getting to know my father…"
"But… your magic is back now," Ron said.
Samantha swallowed, "Yeah, there's more that I haven't told you…" She glanced at Harry, "He… he wouldn't tell anyone would he? 'Cause if anyone found out…"
Harry shook his head, "I trust him with my life, Maggie. He may not like Snape, but he wouldn't do anything to endanger his life or yours."
She nodded, "Sorry, Ron, it's just that, well…" She shook her head and then told him about her mother's capture by Voldemort and the forced bonding of her parents.
Once she had finished, Ron was silent for a couple long minutes. When he finally spoke, it was slowly, glancing between the two of them, "Ok. She's still the same person, no matter who her father is. And what're a couple more secrets between friends?" He gave a sly smirk at Harry, "Just think, someday Snape could be your father-in-law!"
As Harry paled, the three of them shared a long laugh and Samantha gave a grateful smile to Ron who returned it. She sensed that Ron would be a loyal friend and she felt grateful that she might be considered his friend.