Change - James F. Potter

Chapter 9: A Day That Was Never Meant To Come

song: Counting Stars - OneRepublic

Cassie's POV:

It turns out Mother's lessons on balance and posture would actually prove helpful to me. Riding a broom was a lot easier when you knew your weight and how to use it to your advantage.

I was feeling pretty proud of myself for successfully mounting my broom when I looked over to Potter. He had done the exact same thing, of course, he had. I couldn't resist the urge to attempt to one-up him, so I manipulated the broom to raise me off the ground, only a couple feet or so.

The feeling of being in the air was freeing, even if it was only a few feet away from the ground. Madame Hooch was busy helping Lily and another of the Gryffindor's with getting the broom in to rise at their command. It had been rather simple when I did it, and for Sirius too now that I think about it. Maybe it is just in our blood? Either way, it had come naturally.

When Siri and I were little, our Uncle Alphard had allowed us to 'test ride' his old broom and the experience had nearly given mother a heart attack. He and I were mounted on a broom that was flying 25 feet in the air and appeared to have no intention of stopping. The feeling of soaring through the air was one unlike any other. It had made me feel as if all my problems were gone with the wind and nothing was left but me and my brother.

Being three feet in the air was nothing to 25 feet, but it would have to do for now.

"Hey Black!" I opening my eyes to see Potter on his broom soaring above me. Squinting my eyes to see him better, I yelled back, "What Jamsie Poo?" All at once, his ears turned bright red and he slipped off of his broom. The broom itself went diving toward a Hufflepuff who we had been sharing the class with.

James fell the rest of the five feet while his broom crashed into a poor girl. Madame Hooch immediately jumped up from helping Lily and rushed to the girl who's name was apparently Jennifer Mules.

"Oh, my merlin" Madame Hooch might have been overacting a bit when she rushed over to the girl muttering a string of curses under her breath, "We need to get you to the hospital wing, my dear. Evans? Would you mind looking over the class while I deliver her to Madame Pomfrey?"

Lily had a smug look on her face and immediately nodded her head. I laughed and lowered my broom back down to the ground. "Well Potter, it looks like you aren't so great at flying, are you?" I made a smug face and held my broom in my hands, showing off that I had in fact not been the one to hit another student and fall five feet while I was at it.

He scrunched his face up in annoyance, but the look quickly faded as he ran to retrieve his broom. "Oh yeah, Black?" I gulped at the look of mischief he gave me, I was so in for it now. "How about we see who can stay on the longest; can you do a barrel roll?" He raised his eyebrow which brought a smirk to my face. Who knew if I could do a barrel roll, but I knew there was no way in hell I was going to give Potter the satisfaction of knowing that.

I promptly mounted my broom and took off. Soon I was ten feet in the air, then fifteen, then twenty. The cool Scottland air felt freeing against my skin. I turned my head to see Potter mount his broom muttering similar curses to the ones Madame Hooch had earlier.

Laughing I shook my head and continues to climb higher. Time to see if I could do a barrel roll. With a deep breath, I gripped my broom as tight as possible and stopped soaring higher, instead aiming toward the ground. Now free falling, I twisted my broom so it spun in a circle, completing the barrel roll.

"Cassie!" I heard someone yell at me but I couldn't tell who. I was about to hit the ground, but instead of colliding with it, I turned my broom up and began to climb again. I only gained a few feet of air before I leveled out again.