𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 (𝖽𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖿𝗈𝗒 𝗑 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋)

chapter nineteen

"I'll race you!" I yelled, smile audible through my tone.

"Be ready to lose!"

I shook my head, not believing Draco's words. He couldn't beat me, at least not while we were on brooms.

"First to get the apple wins!" he shouted, holding up a green apple. He threw it as far as he could and we both dashed for it. I passed him quickly and wrapped my hands around the apple, cheering victoriously.

"Bet you didn't expect that!"

Draco rolled his eyes jokingly. "Pfft, that was easy."

"Says the loser," I teased. I tossed him the apple and flew circles around him. "Do you always keep a spare apple on you?"

"I do. Play again?"

"You know it. What should we do this time?"

He thought for a moment. "Let's race around the field," he answered. "First to return here wins."

"You're on. Three, two, one!"

We both took off, zooming over the field and around the Quidditch goals. I leaned forward on my broom, gaining speed immediately as I turned.

I returned to our starting point, smiling smugly. "Guess who won?"

Draco didn't answer. Instead, he chuckled and flew close to me. "I have a new game: You come onto my broom and I do as many tricks as I can. If you ask to leave during any of them, I win, and if you stay on for the whole time, you win."

"Ha! That'll be easy," I said. We briefly descended so that I could put my broom down and climb onto his, and then we were back in the air.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, unsure of what he was going to do. When he started flying slowly, I relaxed, ready to win.

My grip on his torso tightened as soon as he sped up. Next thing I knew, I was upside down, holding on for my life. My chest and face were right on Draco's back, telling him that if one of us let go, we both did.

He turned us right side-up again, and he let go of his broom with one hand. His now-free hand moved to my hands, gripping his robes still. He covered my hands against his chest, comforting me in a way I didn't understand.

"Remember, I can put you down at anytime."

"And let you win?" I answered snarkily, despite my recent fear. "I don't think so."

"If you say so."

Suddenly, we were going through the air at dangerous speeds and spinning around, my hair whipping with each turn. My grip on Draco tightened and I closed my eyes, trying to push myself against him as much as possible. He must have sensed my fear, for he slowed down and stopped spinning.

Neither of us said anything, but I calmed down, and we started ascending. The rings on the Quidditch field began disappearing, and I wasn't sure of what was going to happen, which scared me. My fear set into me with a pit in my stomach and a lack of breath.

Draco stopped rising. "Are you ready?"

I nodded against his back, terrified.

"You're going to be okay," he said, letting go of the broom. We began falling, descending through the air like a rock dropping to the bottom of an empty well. I squeezed Draco again, him being the only source of comfort I could reach. I kept my eyes closed and we continued dropping.

A sudden, fierce jerking movement on the broom halted our fall immediately. We began soaring through the air at a normal speed again, and Draco brought us to the ground. As soon as my feet hit the grass, I let go of him and got off of the broom, sitting down in the dirt to regain my bearings. Draco sat next to me and I started lightly slapping his arm.

"That was so scary," I whined.

"At least you won."

"You have a good point," I said, chuckling softly. "Today was really fun, thank you."

~~~

Three weeks later, I walked with Star into the Hog's Head, a crowded pub. It was mostly filled with Hogwarts students, some of them I recognised, others I didn't.

Harry scowled when he saw me enter, and that only deepened when I took a seat at the head of the table.

"Y/n Potter," a few people exclaimed.

"Now that we're all here," Hermione began, stealing their attention, "I had the idea that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I mean, really study it, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing for us," she said, "because nobody could call that Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Hermione paused, looking to me and Ron for reassurance. We nodded, and she continued.

"Well, I thought it would be good if we took matters into our own hands. By that, I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just theory, but the real spells. I want to be properly trained because," she said to pause, taking a deep breath to finish, "because Lord Voldemort's back."

A couple of people exclaimed in fear, but nobody spoke up.

"So, that's the plan. But we still need to decide when, where, and how we're going to meet. Harry and Y/n would teach us."

"Is it true," interrupted a girl I didn't recognize, "that you can both produce a Patronus?"

"Yeah," said Harry and I together.

"A corporeal Patronus?"

I nodded.

"And did you kill a basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?" demanded someone else. "One of the portraits told me when I was there last year."

"Yeah, I did, yeah," I answered.

A couple of people turned to each other, showing awestruck looks.

"And not to mention," said a Ravenclaw, looking at Harry, "all the tasks they had to get through last year in the Triwizard Tournament, getting past dragons and merpeople and acromantulas and things."

There was a murmur of impressed agreement around the table.

Ok, so we all agree to take lessons from Harry and Y/n?" Hermione asked, and the table quieted at once.

Most people nodded.

"When and where?" I asked.

"Library?" someone suggested after a few moments.

"I don't think Madam Pince would be too happy about that," Ginny said, messing with her scarf.

"An unused classroom?" Star added.

"I doubt anyone would let us," I responded, shrugging.

"We'll think of something. For now, just write down your name on this parchment. By signing, you agree to not tell Umbridge, or anyone who might snitch, about this," said Hermione, pulling out a piece of parchment.

The paper was passed around and was soon filled with everyone's names, mine and Harry's at the top.