A/N: Thank you DrumminTater and Journey For Three Little Birds, hope you like this chapter :)

Chapter Eleven

Thursday came pretty swiftly in Rae's opinion. That might have been because she had a nap after dinner, before Astronomy and because they had first lesson off Thursday morning so they could recuperate after the late night. After History of Magic, the first years trekked down the lawns to where the Quidditch referee and flying lessons instructor was waiting, twenty or so broomsticks laid out in front of her.

"Right, everyone stand by a broomstick and hold your right hand over it. Yes, that means make sure the broomstick is on your right hand side," the teacher rolled her eyes at a student who had tried to put his right hand over the broomstick on his left hand side. He quickly corrected his mistake, his face glowing crimson. "When you're ready, say 'up' and the broom should jump into your hand. Don't be afraid, now, or the broomstick won't move at all."

Rae watched Rose and Albus retrieve their brooms without the slightest difficulty. But of course, they were wizarding children. Rae took a deep breath and looked down at the old broomstick at her feet. Please don't embarrass me in front of the Slytherins, she thought before saying "up!" and to her surprise, the broomstick leapt into her hand where it lay in her grasp, quivering slightly.

"Okay, everyone's got their brooms. Mount them yourselves and I'll come round to check that you're holding it right. We don't want you sliding off the end," the instructor told them all. Rae watched how Rose and Albus did it before putting one leg over the broom and holding it, frequently checking her friends' hands to make sure she was doing it right. The instructor didn't find a problem, to Rae's relief, but also to her dissatisfaction, she didn't correct the Zabini twins either.

"On my whistle, I want you to kick off from the ground, hover about two feet up in the air until I blow my whistle again, and then come back down." Rae gulped. She looked down at the broom again; it was still quivering. She hoped this didn't mean the broom was out of control or something. That'd be just her luck, to have a faulty broom. "One, two, three-" but before the whistle had even touched her lips, one of the brooms shot from underneath a student's legs, dropped the student on the floor about four feet from the class and flew back toward the castle. The instructor yelled furiously. James and a couple of friends were rolling with laughter up at the castle.

"I'll have your necks for this, you pests!" she rounded on the class, "don't you dare even think of flying those brooms before I get back, or you'll be expelled faster than a Snitch can fly," then she went running off to the castle to catch James and his friends.

"Oh look what James has gone and done now! He'll be expelled one of these days, just you wait and see," Rose said, shaking her head. Rae opened her mouth to reply, but someone else did it for her.

"Like anyone would care, one less Gryffindor would do the school some good, I daresay," Demitri sniggered from his group of Slytherin friends. Rae turned to him, one eyebrow raised.

"And you think you and your slime-ball friends improve it? Don't make me laugh," she retorted, ignoring Rose and Albus' warnings for her to shut up. Demitri seemed to be expecting this though, because he stepped forward, broom in hand. Rae didn't flinch, even when he was only a few inches from her, and a lot taller than her too.

"The school would be a lot better off made up of Slytherins. At least they're clean and… what's this?" his hand reached towards Rae's chest, but before she could move, Demitri had pulled the silver chain from around her neck. It must have fallen out when she was mounting her broom.

"Give that back!" she snarled, reaching for it. But Demitri was too quick for her, he'd gotten onto his broom and risen four feet up in the air before she had even gotten anywhere near him.

"Come and get it," he jeered, dangling it above her head. Rae bared her teeth at him before mounting her broom again. Rose grabbed her.

"Don't! You'll get into trouble!" she said.

"I don't care! That pendant means more to me than keeping out of trouble does," Rae bit back, forgetting her previous worry about failing on a broom and kicking off from the ground, her anger the only thing fuelling her. It seemed enough for the broom as it whipped toward Demitri and had passed him in a second. Rae had tried to grab the pendant but hadn't managed to get it from his grasp and had only spun him around in the air.

"Ah, so the Mudblood can fly. What a surprise," he sneered. Rae glared at him. Somewhere far below, Rae heard Scorpius shout: "Just give it her back, Demitri; the instructor will be back any minute now!" Demitri ignored him, still dangling the pendant above the ground.

"I said give it back!" she yelled, flying at him. Once again, she failed to snatch the pendant from his grasp and had only spun him around. To her satisfaction, though, he was starting to look a little sick. "Is that all you can do? Steal stuff? Well you're as pathetic as you are slimy, you arrogant prat, now give it back!" Demitri glared at her, but looked for a minute as though he was going to give it back to her… and then he threw it.

"Woops."

Rae didn't wait to hear what he had said, or look at the expression on his face. She went straight into a dive, hardly aware that they had somehow risen a good sixty feet. The pendant was falling fast toward the forest. If she kept this up, she'd smash right into the trees. But if she didn't catch the pendant, it would smash against them. "Come on, faster, faster!" she urged the broom, tightening her grip around the handle and leaning forward.

She heard some people gasp, maybe a scream but the wind howling in her ears was almost deafening. She heard professor Kells' and Abel's words about her uncle, she remembered professor Kells' story. This pendant meant so much to him; he wanted to pass it on. To remember the friendship. She had no idea what had happened but for some reason she was screaming at the top of her lungs, pushing the broom onwards. She had to stop this pendant from breaking!

The trees came closer, closer. Rae stretched out her hand as far as it would go. A minute more and she'd crash into the tree. Gritting her teeth, she stretched out her fingers, yanked the broom upwards with her other hand and grabbed the pendant. Her feet landed on the tree trunk and pushed away, sending her back into the air and soaring back to the amazed class.

Luckily, the instructor didn't appear from the castle until after Rae had landed and was fastening the necklace back around her neck. Demitri now owned a particularly foul expression and looked as if he could murder Rae on the very spot. Rae glared back at him, assuring him that the feeling was mutual. Scorpius, to Rae's increasing annoyance, had become extremely fascinated in his shoes.

*

Friday passed without more trouble, but it also made Rose and Albus worry. Rae didn't understand why they were so concerned; after all, she was more than happy to pummel Demitri Zabini into the floor if he said one more thing that pissed her off. Unfortunately, her friends didn't think this way, and they were fanciful of the idea that he was coming up with some unbelievably horrible plan to get her back.

"It's the sort of thing the Zabinis would do," Rose said anxiously, twirling her spaghetti absent-mindedly. Rae laughed, eating her dinner without so much as a slight worry hanging over her shoulder.

"You should be at least a little scared, Rae; the Zabinis can be dangerous – just like the Malfoys!" Albus warned her across the table. Rae sighed and shook her head, rolling her eyes at her two friends.

"Look, let me do this how I want, okay? If that scumbag comes anywhere near me with a wand, I'll nick it off him and shove it where the sun don't shine before he has any chance of hexing me," she assured them. Just then, somebody appeared behind her.

"Who's gotten on your bad side?" James asked, his eyebrows raised. Rae smirked at him and shook her head as he took the seat next to her, still waiting for her to answer his question. Without hesitating, she quickly went through the whole ordeal with the Zabinis and how Albus and Rose were worrying a tad too much, and that she had plenty of ideas in her head about what she'd do to Demitri Zabini if she got the chance. Rae half expected James to react like his brother, but then she realised she'd forgotten who she was talking to.

Clapping Rae on the back, James said, "well if you ever need any help, you know where to find me. I've been itching to get at that little prick for days," he growled at the last bit. "I don't like his attitude. It stinks of the old Purebloods. Give me one reason to hex him to oblivion and I bloody well will." Rae laughed and nodded, accepting his proposal for help. She knew, even at this early stage in her school life, that if someone could raise hell, James Sirius Potter could do it better. Now, it was Demitri's move, and if he made one, he'd never make another. Well, if he had half a brain he wouldn't.

Chapter Twelve Preview:

"You know, you haven't looked at me properly since that night…" he said, leaning against the wall. Why did he have to look so cool? "Afraid you'll blush?"

Right. That was it. She glared at him, not caring if she blushed or not.

"Abel, you are such a prick!"

And then she stormed off, blind once more. But this time it was with rage.