A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! I'm sorry for leaving you hanging for so long, but I've been needing to finish Trials finally. That's all fully written now, so I can return my focus to this story! You can expect weekly updates until I've finished writing this one and then I will post twice a week. You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates, and answer questions.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter nine and be on the lookout for chapter ten soon! I think you will really want to tune in for that one...
Hermione had been looking forward to and dreading her flying lesson with Marcus in equal measure. Mostly, she was consumed with worry that she was going to embarrass herself so thoroughly that he would never want to speak to her again. What kind of witch didn't know how to use a broom? And, it wouldn't put her very high in his estimation seeing as he, well...flew for a living.
Marcus, on the other hand, wanted to get something on the books as quickly as possible. He didn't even wait a day until he confirmed with her when their first lesson would be. They decided to meet on the first day of winter break. There would be less students and no Quidditch to get in the way of things. Godric, if Hermione thought that embarrassing herself in front of Marcus would be bad, showing weakness in front of students would be even worse! She would certainly never live it down.
When the day came, Hermione slipped into some comfortable clothes that would hopefully help keep her warm enough, before walking down to the Quidditch dressing rooms where she'd agreed to meet Marcus. He was already waiting for her, his breath frosting in front of him from the cold.
She swallowed thickly when she saw what he was wearing - tight Quidditch pants that seemed to hug his legs, showing off the muscle that he'd built over the years. He looked tall and strong and Hermione thought that he'd have no trouble lifting her up so she could throw her arms around him and climb him like a tree.
Shaking her head to get those kind of thoughts, she greeted him instead, hoping that she wouldn't stumble over her words. "I didn't know that I would need special gear," she quipped, letting him know that she had absolutely noticed his attire. Merlin, she hoped he didn't know she was ogling.
"No need to wear anything specific as long as it's comfortable," he said, before his grey-blue eyes dropped to her muggle jeans. "I think you'll be fine," he added, his eyes lingering a bit longer than was socially acceptable.
It was then that Hermione noticed he only had one broom. "Only one broom?" she asked, unsure of it she should have brought one herself.
He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, perhaps already regretting agreeing to help her after she was already questioning everything and they hadn't even started with flying yet. "I figured we could start with the basics, since you said you weren't too comfortable," he explained. "Maybe, if you do well today, we could go for a short ride together, but I figured you wouldn't want to be on your own yet."
She figured that was reasonable enough. She would defer to his expertise in this situation.
He handed off the broom to her, and began to talk through the very basics of flying - like explaining the actual method for calling a broom. But, Hermione quickly found herself tuning out his words, while she instead zoned in on his handsome face and good looks. He had such a kissable mouth, she thought, and she wondered what it would feel like to kiss him. He always kept a little bit of scruff, like he couldn't be bothered with shaving every day. Would it feel scratchy against her skin or would it tickle? Blushing, she even found herself thinking about how it would feel against the delicate skin of her inner thighs as he kissed his way up from her knee to her...
Forcing herself to focus, she realized that Marcus was asking her to mount the broom. If only that weren't the only thing that he wanted her to mount!
Okay think, Hermione! She focused back on all the little tips he'd just given her about calling the broom, hoping that she didn't fail on this very first task. With the broom next to her, she held her hand over it and called for it. "Up!" she said, with all the confidence that she didn't actually feel.
For the first time in her life, the broom popped right up from the ground to meet her hand, as if it was just the thing it was meant to do. It didn't feel awkward or shaky at all. She truly had control over the broom. Marcus did not cheer this feat, and instead encouraged her to keep going. Standing over the broom, she gently pushed off of the ground so that she could hover. She was amazed that it didn't feel wobbly or uncertain as it usually did.
Turning, she gave him a blinding smile. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this," she revealed, feeling pleased with herself. "This is the first time that being on a broom has felt...right."
While she was hovering off the ground, she was eye level with Marcus for once, and she was struck by the thought that it would be quite easy to lean over and press a kiss to his lips. She must have been leaning towards him, because before she realized it, she was tumbling off of his broom and into his arms.
"Salazar, Hermione, if I'd known that a flying lesson would impress you this much, I would have offered earlier," he said, holding her in his arms, as if she were light as a feather.
So he was as strong as she imagined, after all.
He didn't let her go, not immediately. And, if anything he looked at her like he was completely captivated by her lips, his eyes dipping down to them again and again. He wasn't willing to put her down, not until she cleared her throat and thanked him for saving her from falling flat on her face. Realizing that he had held her for an indecent amount of time, he bent over so that she could stand.
Awkwardly, she returned to the ground and called for the broom again. When she was hovering again, Marcus started giving her little pointers here and there about how to change direction and pitch, and before she knew it, she was flying around the pitch like a real witch.
"I can't believe I'm really flying right now, Marcus," she said, unable to keep a smile off of her face. "You are truly a miracle worker."
"I don't know if that's true," he said, twin points of pink on his cheeks.
"No, really," Hermione continued to gush, unable to stop herself from heaping praise on the burly ex-Chaser. "I don't think you know how many times that I've tried to learn this and failed miserably, even with the help of others. No one else has been so patient with me."
"Well, I'm happy to give you more private lessons, whenever you want them," he said, looking at her shyly. "In fact, you still aren't really flying yet. I could show you what a real ride is like."
Hermione's words caught in her throat and she wondered if he knew just how suggestive he sounded in that moment. Knowing Marcus, he was completely unaware of the things that he said and just how they affected her. Or maybe he did know - he was a Slytherin after all.
"Sure, that'd be nice," she said, once she regained her composure. "But we only have one broom."
"That's not a problem," he insisted. "I'll ride behind you. It can handle us both."
It was her time to flush as she thought about sharing the broom with Marcus, but was already moving up the broom to make space for him. When he joined her on the back of the broom, his arms wrapped on either side of her, in a protective cage. She could feel every inch of his chest pressed firmly against her back and she wondered if her heart was about to pound right out of her ribcage.
He pushed off of the ground, bringing them to a hover, before pushing them up higher in the air. When they were over the tree line, he leaned over so that he could talk to her. "You're in control, Hermione. I'm just here to help," he said, his breath tickling the sensitive skin by her ear.
She nodded, wondering how she was going to get through the rest of this lesson without being driven insane by the closeness. Or by getting distracted by fantasies of turning around so that she could catch his lips in a kiss.
But, before she could get too carried away, Marcus encouraged her to begin flying over the trees. "I'll take you on my favorite route of the grounds," he said in her ear, making a shiver run up and down her spine.
With Marcus wrapped around her safely, Hermione felt more daring than she ever had on a broom. It was only too easy for her to start flying faster and taking turns quicker or swooping down to get closer to the Black Lake. For the first time, she didn't feel like she was going to fly right off the back of the broom. Her stomach dropped and flipped pleasantly as she pushed the limits of what she could do. She finally felt like she was understanding what it was about flying that was so freeing for Harry. She knew now that she would be able to inject some of this passion into her writing when she returned to her writing later that evening.
Marcus had given her something that she didn't even know she needed.
Before long, it was time for them to return to the castle. She reluctantly followed his instructions to get back to the dressing rooms, touching down once they reached the pitch. She was efficacious in her praise of his teaching skills.
"Thank you so much for teaching me to fly, Marcus," she said once again. The wheels were already turning her in mind about how much more authentic this was going to make her writing and she just knew it would make her latest work her best yet. "I never thought that I would actually feel comfortable on a broom."
He gave her a crooked smile. "Well, as far as I'm concerned, you are still at like...level one of flying," he said, looking at her hopefully. "We still have over a week of break before the students come back. I'd be willing to keep giving you lessons, until you are a real pro."
Hermione, eager to keep going with him as long as possible, nodded in agreement. "I'll keep showing up as long as you'll have me," she said, feeling strangely vulnerable about the statement. She took a step closer to him so that she could hand him back the broom. He was so tall that when she stood this close to him, she had to crane her neck to get a good look at him.
Marcus took the broom from her reflexively. He looked down at her, his eyes reflecting some kind of want. Again, they dipped to her lips.
She felt her lips parting and she wondered if this was finally it. Was Marcus going to kiss her?
But then, it was as if he were released from some sort of spell, turning around and returning the broom to the shed, before suggesting they return to the castle so as not to be late for dinner.
Hermione felt bitterly disappointed, wondering if her little flirtation with Marcus was ever going to materialize into something more. There were times when she thought that he might feel the same sort of stirrings as her, only to be left wanting time and time again. It left her convinced that she was imagining all the covert glances and not so innocent touches.
Feeling a bit glum after the high she'd felt while flying, Hermione walked with Marcus back up to the castle. On the way to the Great Hall, they were stopped by the Headmistress herself. "Hermione, Marcus," she said, looking at their windswept appearances and red cheeks. "Where have you come from?"
"I was just taking Hermione for a quick fly around the grounds," Marcus said gruffly, sounding peculiarly defensive about it.
"Hermione, on a broom?" Minerva asked with a quirk of her lips. Her eyes were sparkling like she knew something neither of them did - twinkling, just like Dumbledore's had. "Well, I am just glad that the two of you are getting on so well. Now, hurry into dinner. There's treacle tart for dessert!"