The Weight of the World

Chapter 12 - Quidditch

All three continued staring at the figure in the mirror until Ron threw one of the couch pillows at it causing it to slide back enough to where they no longer could see it clearly.

"That thing is giving me the creeps," Ron said loudly.

"Yeah, I know," Harry said.

"Harry," Hermione said, "what happened with your dream?"

"Yeah! What happened?" Ron added.

"I was back at the Quidditch field and I was running through the maze," Harry said. "The dreams where you two found me, I could see someone in the middle of the maze, and when Hermione woke me up I had just gotten to talk to him, but I still couldn't see who it was. Last night, he was back, and I got close enough to see his face," Harry said.

"Who was it?" Hermione asked softly.

"It was Cedric Diggory," Harry stopped after he said his name, then we went on.

"He came into my dream to warn me. He said that Voldemort was sending someone to the school to kill me. He said that he owed me a favor because I got him back to his parents," Harry stopped for a second.

"He also said that I," he stopped again.

"That you what?" Ron asked quickly.

"That I stop blaming myself for his death," Harry paused again.

"He said that Voldemort was to blame and that I should never forget that," Harry said.

"He's right Harry," Hermione said.

Ron agreed with her by nodding his head at Harry. They knew that Harry had been hard on himself the past several weeks. They knew that he hadn't been eating or sleeping well and that the issue with Cedric's death had been most of the reason.

"Harry, did he say anything more about who was going to try to kill you?" Hermione asked.

"No. No real details. I told Moody this morning. Dumbledore had already talked to him about it though. He didn't seem too surprised. It's almost as though they are waiting for it. I think they have already started working on it," Harry said.

"So are you ready to help me with Quidditch now?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Ron, did you not just hear him? Someone is planning to come here and try to kill him. Do you think he wants to go outside and make it easy for them?" She said loudly.

"Hermione, settle down. I'd like to see a Death-Eater that can catch me on a broom," Harry said with a smile on his face.

She couldn't argue with that. She figured Harry was probably safer on a broom that he was anywhere else. Not even the Horn-Tail could get to him.

"You come too Hermione. I'd like to see you shoot a few goals," Ron said as he winked at Harry.

Hermione had never attempted to play Quidditch. She knew she wouldn't be that good at it, and she wasn't about to let the whole school see her not do well at something. But the whole school wasn't here, and if Ron and Harry made fun of her, she could just curse them.

On their way down to the Quidditch field, they ran into Meagan and her mother. After a short conversation about their trip into Hogsmeade, and a quick update on Harry's dream, Meagan said bye to her mother and headed to the Quidditch field with them.

Ron was anxious to get down there, and since he had started a conversation with Meagan about Quidditch rules, she had to almost run just to keep up with him. Harry and Hermione didn't walk as fast as they did, so it wasn't long before they had some distance between them.

"Will you make sure I don't make a fool out of myself Harry?" Hermione asked him.

"You won't Hermione. Just stick to the school broom. I'll pick you a good one. They don't go very fast," he said.

"You just make sure you catch me if I fall off," she said smiling.

"I'll do my best," he said as he smiled back at her.

Harry was excited about having his Firebolt in his hand. He hadn't flown it in a while and it always made him feel so carefree. He accompanied Hermione into the locker room and picked her a stable school broom that she could fly on. He also grabbed a Quaffle so that he and Ron could shoot goals. He carried it and Hermione's broom down to the field for her, and when they got there Ron was already in the air with Meagan looking up at him in amazement.

"That is unbelievable," Meagan said still looking up at Ron. "I've read about flying on brooms before, but I had no idea that they were actually that fast."

"Wait until you see Harry," Hermione said with a hint of competition in her voice.

Harry blushed when she said it. He smiled at her, then kicked off the ground and was fifty feet in the air before either of them could even blink.

"Oh wow!" Meagan said. "Isn't that a bit dangerous?" she asked Hermione.

"If it were you or I, it might be. But for Harry it's just like running. He made the Gryffindor house team in just his first year," she said proudly.

"Ron wants to try out for the team too, he told me yesterday," Meagan said.

Harry felt better than he had in a long time. As he raced faster and higher he almost seemed to leave every single worry he had behind him on the ground. He didn't know exactly why he always felt so good when he flew. Maybe it was because someone was always trying to kill him it seemed, and he was right when he told Hermione that he'd like to see a Death-Eater catch him on a broom. Hell he'd like to see Voldemort or anyone for that matter try to catch him on a broom.

Harry went back down the ground after a few minutes and grabbed the Quaffle. He yelled at Ron to guard the goals, while he threw a few shots his way. Ron was actually pretty good. That was one good thing about being the youngest brother. When it came to sports you always had plenty of experience from your brothers, not to mention the competition to just survive when playing with them. Harry wasn't too bad with the Quaffle either. Even though his expertise had to do with capturing the Snitch, the fact that he was simply an unbelievable flyer made him successful at just about every position. Ron was beginning to get really tired, and Harry's speed almost made him fall off of his broom more than a couple of times. Harry scored a few goals, but Ron stopped most of them, and did a good job doing it.

After his last throw, Ron flew up to Harry and was very winded. "Harry, this is great. I need this kind of practice. You think I might have a real shot at making keeper?" Ron asked.

"Probably so Ron, you'll have some competition from Bradley who used to back up Wood, but if we keep working this summer, I'd say you have a good shot," Harry said.

"Let's go down and talk to the girls," Ron said still a bit out of breath.

They went down to find Hermione and Meagan in a quiet conversation that abruptly ended when the two of them touched down.

"What were you too talking about?" Ron asked with a smile on his face.

"None of your business Ron, just girl talk," said Hermione.

Meagan let out a small laugh then said, "So are you going to show me how to fly on that thing or not?"

"Sure," Ron said. "Come hop on behind me. I'll let you get the feel of it, then we can switch and you can fly."

Meagan reluctantly climbed on Ron's broom, and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Not too fast Ron," she said quickly.

"Don't worry. You're in good hands," Ron said smiling at Harry and Hermione as they slowly took off from the ground.

"You think she's safe up there with him?" Hermione asked Harry.

"She'll be fine, as long as he doesn't try to show off. He's really a good flier," Harry said.

"Not as good as you," Hermione said smiling.

"Thanks Hermione," He said. That was twice in one day she had made him blush.

They both watched Ron and Meagan as they slowly flew higher into the air. Meagan seemed to be squeezing Ron tightly, obviously still very afraid of being up there. After a few minutes she seemed to be enjoying it more and then they both came back down and Ron let her get in front to fly.

"Okay, now just hold it tight when your knees just like you were before, and when I kick us off, lean forward just a bit," Ron said.

Meagan seemed to love her first real flying experience. Harry and Hermione could hear her laughing and talking to Ron loudly as she got braver and went higher into the air.

"She seems to really be enjoying that," Hermione said.

"Yeah she does. Why haven't you been up there?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. I'm just not very good at it Harry," she said.

"You haven't flown that much Hermione. You need to practice a bit that's all. Come on, I'll go up with you."

"I can't keep up with you Harry."

"I'll go slow and stay beside you."

Hermione shook her head but knew that Harry wasn't going to take no for an answer. The truth was that she had rarely flown much at all since their flying lessons back in their first year. Every once in an while over the last few years she came down here from time to time and would fly, but she would never get more than a few feet off of the ground.

Hermione slowly took off from the ground and looked very unstable. Harry shook his head to himself and took off to fly beside her.

"Hermione, you're hunched forward too far," Harry barked at her. "And your hands are spread too far apart on the handle," he added.

"Harry, I don't know what you mean," She said loudly while looking down at her hands.

He flew up beside her and instructed her to stop. After she did, he showed her what she was doing wrong and what she needed to do to correct it.

"Hold on a sec," he said to her mid-sentence, and then he jumped from his Firebolt to her broom and landed straddling her broom directly behind her. His Firebolt stayed hovering perfectly in the spot where he left it. She screamed when she felt him jump.

"Harry! What are you doing? We are thirty feet up in the air and you're going to make us fall!"

"Hermione, we're fine. Listen to me. Don't slouch so much, and pull your hands closer together,"

He grabbed her shoulders and made her sit up a bit straighter. He then reached under her arms and grabbed them at the elbows and fixed the positioning of her hands.

"You'll have much more control this way and you won't be so shaky," he said.

"Now start flying forward and don't change direction for a while," he said.

They flew forward for about thirty seconds before Harry spoke again.

"She how smooth it is? When your body's in that other position, your center of gravity isn't right."

Hermione couldn't believe how well she was flying. It was just a couple of simple things that she had been doing wrong and he pointed them out right away.

"Now speed up a bit and make a slow turn," Harry instructed.

Hermione didn't know if she was ready for that, but Harry's hands were on her waist and she felt a bit braver with him there with her. She began to slowly pick up her speed then she leaned into a slight turn.

"Lean just slightly above the waste. If you use the lower part of your body for the lean, you'll become less stable. You only have to do that for the really hard turns."

She straightened up again and picked up her speed. She felt Harry up close behind her and she was more aware of his hands.

"Okay now try again. Just lean with this part," he said as he guided her just above her waist. She felt what he meant as she went into a nice smooth turn and never once felt off-balance.

"Harry! That's great! You're teaching me how to fly! Let's go a big higher," she said.

Just then Meagan and Ron came along side them on Ron's broom.

"Harry, do you mind if I ride your Firebolt for a second? I think Meagan is ready to have a go by herself on mine and I want to ride along side her in case she needs help," Ron said.

"No problem. It's just back there a hundred meters or so," Harry said pointing.

"Hermione you look like you're doing good!" Meagan said as she and Ron turned around and headed towards Harry's broom.

"Thanks!" she said smiling.

She began to climb a bit doing small turns as she rose higher into the air. Every once in a while Harry would give her a small instruction. It wasn't long before they were over a hundred feet up.

Hermione stopped and looked back at the castle.

"This is great Harry. Thanks for helping me. I never knew how pretty everything was from up here," she said glancing back at him.

"Me neither," Harry said, but he wasn't looking at the scenery.

Ron was flying along side of Meagan while she attempted her first solo broom flight. She was a bit shaky at first, but it wasn't long before she steadied up a bit.

"You are doing great Meagan," Ron said. He was very proud of his pupil. "Look up there, Hermione has been flying for years and she is still afraid to go up by herself. It only took you one day."

Meagan blushed a bit, and then got a wild urge to take off very fast. Ron was surprised by this but obviously on Harry's Firebolt he had absolutely no problem staying with her.

"I can't believe how much fun this is," Meagan said smiling at Ron after she slowed down.

"Follow me for a second Meagan, I want to show you a few places," Ron said.

Ron didn't fly too high or too fast. He didn't want Meagan to have any problems keeping up with him. Plus he was playing tour guide and was talking when he had something to point out. He flew around and showed her Hagrid's cabin, the Forbidden Forest, and the Whomping Willow. He even showed her one of the large marks on the Willow where he and Harry had hit it with his dad's car a few years ago.

"Thank you Ron. Today has been great. I have had a lot of fun," she said smiling.

"Me too," Ron said.

"Meagan, can I ask you something? And you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Ask me what Ron?"

"Do you.....I mean..... did you have a boyfriend back in the States?" Ron said as his face was becoming visibly redder. He thought he maybe shouldn't have asked that, but he couldn't resist. She was just too beautiful. Her brown hair was just a big lighter than Hermione's, but it wasn't just her hair, it was her eyes too. There was something about them. They were the bluest eyes Ron had ever seen and he couldn't stop staring at them.

Meagan smiled at him for a second after he asked that and then pulled her broom right beside him. She then leaned in and kissed him.