Flying higher than the sky...

Walking into the grassy field, Mary looked over the flat area, the hoops fastened high in the air and the tribune on the sides. She blinked at them with awe. I've ready about them, but I never imagined they'd be this large, she thought, looking up at the tall goalposts.

Looking back at Sam she smiled brightly. "This looks so cool! Do you really shoot the quaffels through those hoops?!" she asked, not really bothering if she got an answer or not. Her eye glittered as she walked over to the tribune, and ran her fingers over the rough wood. "So then, when do we start?" she said with a twinkle of amusement as she sht a glance over her shoulder at Samuel, who had accompanied her to the pitch to teach her about flying. Being pureblood didn't neccesarily mean she'd spent half her life swooping around on a broom

((Couldn't write any more... My dad wants me to turn the computer off.))

Sam looked at Mary's awed face and couldn't help but chuckle at her antics. When she asked the question, he began to answer, "Yes, the people who do that are called the-" He was interrupted.

"So then, when do we start?" When he saw her excited face, he couldn't help but grin.

He held up two brooms from the broom shed, and put them on the ground.

"So hold put your hand over your broom, and say 'up,'" he instructed, demonstrating. He wobbled slightly when the broom shot off the ground and and into the palm of his hand, "now, don't be nervous, because just like horses, brooms can somehow know when you're scared, so try to be confident. Don't be too forceful, because brooms don't like being told what to do; but don't say 'up' like you're speaking of the weather either. Say it like... a kind of... suggestion/command. I'm not really good at explaining this. I'm rambling, aren't I? I don't even know why I'm rambling, there's nothing to ramble about and- I'll just stop now."

Unlike usually when Sam blushes

Sam looked at Mary's awed face and couldn't help but chuckle at her antics. When she asked the question, he began to answer, "Yes, the people who do that are called the-" He was interrupted.

"So then, when do we start?" When he saw her excited face, he couldn't help but grin.

He held up two brooms from the broom shed, and put them on the ground.

"So hold put your hand over your broom, and say 'up,'" he instructed, demonstrating. He wobbled slightly when the broom shot off the ground and and into the palm of his hand, "now, don't be nervous, because just like horses, brooms can somehow know when you're scared, so try to be confident. Don't be too forceful, because brooms don't like being told what to do; but don't say 'up' like you're speaking of the weather either. Say it like... a kind of... suggestion/command. I'm not really good at explaining this. I'm rambling, aren't I? I don't even know why I'm rambling, there's nothing to ramble about and- I'll just stop now."

Unlike usually when Sam blushes, not only his ears turned red, but his neck was turning red as well.


((PLEASE IGNORE POST ABOVE, SOMETHING WENT WRONG ON MY COMPUTER))

A look of deepest pleasure spread over Mary's face at the mention of starting, and she eagerly grabbed the broom in her hand, running her fingers over the handle. "It's beautiful," she muttered silently, although had to admit her father's Nimbus was prettier. Carefully she put the broom on the ground, handling it as if it was a very vulnerable creature, who could break at the slightest touch.

Mary listened to his instructions and nodded firmly. "You're definitly not rambling. If I can get it up, then you've learned me something, right?" she said with a smirk. She could hardly believe she'd met a person who had less confidence in himself than she had.

She stopped for a second and raised her arm over the broom, falling silent as she allowed ehr eyes to travel over the stick on the ground. "Up," she said, although her voice had a slight quaver. The broom hovered up into the air, although a little more wobbly than what Samuel had managed to make it do earlier. Finally, it landed itself in her palm and she let out a giggle of satisfaction.

Sam smiled in satisfaction when she was able get the broomstick into her hand.

"Being able to get you to hold the broomstick in her hand means I'm at least a little bit decent of a teacher," he muttered to himself, not sure if Mary heard him.

"So then, you put a leg on each side of the broomstick, like a... a horse position, you could say," he instructed, demonstrating again, "then, you push off from the ground, hard. Hover for a few seconds, and then I could show you how to steer it and stuff."

To prove his point, he kicked off the ground and did a quick lap around the pitch.

Glad that she'd made an achievement, she eagerly listened to what he said. She even picked up some of the few words he muttered mainly to himself, and realised he still weren't comfortable with his own strenghts. I'll have to do my best, or he'll even less selfconfident, she decided, and clambered the broom hard in her hands, slightly nervous for failing the task she'd been put upon.

Gradually she managed to get onto the broom in the position in which Sam had assumed, and grabbed the handle of the broom tightly. She had hardly ever dared to use a broom before, mainly because of her fear of heights. She bit her lip slightly and swallowed the fear of falling off. She pushed off the ground, although her nervous clasp made the broom stagger sideways for a little while, before she reassured herself that panic would make it no better and straightened it up, making the broom hover quite neatly in mid-air. "What do I do now?" Her voice was filled with fear, and her eyes were fixed on the ground at all times. Even though she was barely a couple metres over the ground, it felt like she was utterly helpless.

When Sam saw the fear in Mary's eyes, he knew she was ever-so-slightly scared of heights.

"What do I do now?" She asked him, fear lacing her voice.

Sam frowned in concentration, "Well, you land, I suppose. It's really simple, just lean forward and aim the tip of your broom towards the ground."

What should I teach her next? He thought to himself, I could fly around the pitch with her, so she can get used to the heights, then I'll teach her how to properly fly, he decided.

Mary frowned slightly, not liking the thought of leaning forwards. Eventually though, she managed to dip the front of the broom forwards, and slowly landed on the ground with her two feet, breathing out in relief. Obviously, she prefered the ground more than the heights.

Uncertain what to do next, she stepped off her broom and looked at Sam, her face pale-white, although her eyes coloured in a deep brown colour. She looked relaxed, despite her little miss when it came to her fear. Putting the broom back on the ground, she raised her hand over it and said "up" in a gentler, although slightly more confident and confident tone. The broom staggered a little, although went smoother up into her hand than it did the first time. She looked at Sam again, and smiled.

"Could we try flying? Like, actually flying? Just for a short distance, of course," she said, not sure how long she'd be able to keep up the flying. Being completely new and all, it still confused her about how to use the broom properly. Practical arts seemingly wasn't her best field.

When she stated that she wanted to actually fly, he grinned.

"This is where the fun starts," he stated, "So, what you do is exactly how i showed to to get up, and instead of going doing my leaning forward and aiming up, you lean forward and lean up. I'm not sure if I'm explaining this properly, so I'll just show you."

He demonstrated exactly what he meant, resulting of him floating upwards.

"To develop speed, you simply lean forward," He yelled down, for her to hear from his position.

He demonstrated again, doing a speedy lap around the pitch. When he landed, he looked at her.

"Of course, you'll need to have more experience to go as fast as me, but I think you'll be able to go around the pitch once," He commented.

With a smile she viewed how he so easily seemed to use the broom, leaning forwards and backwards as easily as if he'd done this for years. He's probably done it for years, too, she remarked, analyzing his every move, his every gesture and movement. Finally, she stepped onto her broom, took off and hovered in the air for a couple of minutes, holding her breath until it was stabile.

Finally, when her confidence had been built up enough she leaned softly forwards, and managed to make the tip head upwards, it steered in turn of her every movement and to her great surprise, she enjoyed it. More than she'd ever have imagined, as a matter of fact. As soon as the fear of falling vanished, she enjoyed the breeze against her cheeks, the feeling of nothingness under her shoes. She dipped the front down slightly and hovered in front of Sam, her feet off the ground but with a pleased look on her face. "Oh yeah? I bet that I'll fly faster than you by the end of this year!" she challenged, before she swooshed off through the air, towards the hoops.

Sam flew up again and swooped to the other side of the pitch.

"Well," he frowned in concentration, something he did a lot, "You're a total natural, and I think that you'd be able to be almost as fast as me, if not as fast as me by the end of the year. Then maybe in the summer you can come over to my house, and we can practice. By next year, you'll be able to join the Quidditch team, and Gryffindor won't stand a chance!"

He really did mean every single word of it. He genuinely thought that she could beat him in a race by the summer.

"Well, do you know how to play Quidditch, or any of the team players' positions?" He asked her.

Mary was genuinly surprised by his serious tone, as if he really meant it. "Oh come off. I won't have a chance joining the Quidditch team. How can I learn to play an entire game over a year?" she questioned in a slightly low voice, halfly to herself. "Besides, I thought a Gryffindor student would cheer for his own team? Why don't you try for a position yourself? If it so happens both of us get in, then we can go against one another," she suggested, her eyes gleaming with interest.

Indeed, it would be great fun if they could both get to play officially for the Quidditch team.

Excited, she tried to recall what she'd learned about Quidditch from school books, and from several of her father's technique and newbie player guides. "Eh, I know there's three Chasers, two Beaters, one Seeker and one Keeper. Then there's the... Er... Qurraffel?" she suggested, trying to recall what the name of the ball they played with was named. As a matter of fact, she had been half asleep when she lay on her bed, trying to read up on what was to be known about the sport.

"I genuinely mean it," he told her honestly, "my great, great grandfather became seeker after one flying lesson."

"You're right about the players... but it's called the quaffle, and I luckily have my hands on one," he gestured to the big metal trunk and took out a quaffle. He held up the red football sized ball and tossed it to her, "the chasers pass it to each other and try to get it into each hoop. It's the keeper's job to stop them going through the hoops. It's a bit like football, I suppose."

Mary stared at Sam with an amazed look. "WOW! That's amazing!" she exclaimed, obviously in awe at how quickly a person could learn Quidditch. "It seems like a simple game, then, if it's that easy to learn," she commented, although could hardly believe Sam's great grandfather had flied a broom before he gave a go at Quidditch.

"Quaffle. Right," she commented, trying to attach the new piece of information and link it with other information. As she hung in the air, thinking about it, she suddenly realised the large ball was headed straight for her. Instinctivly she let go of her broom and caught the big ball, and her broom staggered backwards slightly. She used a second to regain balance, and then breathed out. "Chasers play with the quaffle, Keepers keep them away from the hoops," she repeated, although stopped at the mention of 'football'. Sitting up straight, she looked at him with a puzzled look. "A 'football'? What's that?" she asked questioningly.

Despite being raised in a muggle town, she hardly had any contact with muggle objects and sports, other than the cinema. She loved watching the figures moving across the screen, like a long version of their own photographies. She could imagine a ball being passed by foot, although she couldn't link it to anything outside the wizarding world.

Sam shrugged, as if having Harry Potter be one of the best seekers of all time wasn't a big deal... which it wasn't, in his opinion.

"Football is this muggle sport where you kick a ball around to get it into a big... net, I guess, but never mind that," he gave her a beater's bat, "A big black metal ball will come zooming everywhere, and if it comes near you, I need you to hit it as hard as you can away from you. This part is one of the most dangerous parts of Quidditch, and requires extreme strength."

He went back to the trunk and released a squirming metal ball. It flew around the pitch a couple of times before heading towards them. Sam had his beater's bat at the ready, but only if Mary needed help.

She hardly noticed his shrug, being more interested in what the 'football' was all about. Besides, she couldn't possibly believe that Sam wouldn't be honoured of being a decendant of such a great wizard. Her eyes grew wider as he told about football and she blinked. "Wow. Sounds pretty nuts to me," she commented and frowned softly. She took the bat and looked rather uncertain about what to do with it, before he released a squirming ball that flew automatically into the air.

Completely stunned by how quickly it moved, her eyes following it carefully. Actually, she was following it so carefully, she almost forgot what she was supposed to do.

Letting out a squeal of surprise as the bludger neared her at an extreme speed, she raised the bat and slammed at the ball as forcefully as she could. However, she wasn't the largest person and the bludger was quite strong. She was knocked backwards, and was unable to straighten up her broom from the impact, even if the ball was sent fluttering back across the field. Struggling, she kept one hand around the handle of the broom, and one tightly around the bat if the bludger happened to come back. Right before she'd hit the ground, she regained control and she gasped heavily, realising she'd held her breath during the entire session.

Looking up, she saw the mere silhoutte of a round object coming at full speed towards her, and she helplessly raised her bat to attempt beating it off again.

Sam widened his eyes as Mary fell over from the force of the bludger; he was about to save her when she managed to gain her composure again. She hit the bludger very hard, and it zoomed off to the other end of the pitch.

But just like a ping pong paddle, it came zooming back to them. When it came within reach of them, Sam jumped in front of Mary and caught the bludger with his bare hands, using his chest as landing aim. He let out a quick 'UFF!' when it hit him, but he managed to pin it down and put it back in the trunk.

"That was the bludger," he said, still panting from when said bludger hit him, "the beater's job is to hit it with the beater's bat and keep it away from their players. I wouldn't suggest playing beater."

Mary shivered, not really understanding what was going on about the round little ball that was jumping about. What is that thing?! The question seemingly burned in her mind and she couldn't get rid of it. She was pretty relieved when Sam caught it though, unsure whether she'd be able to make another hit strong enough to defend herself. However, she was slightly worried about the fact that he took the full impact to his own body.

Frowning she landed by his side, and it somehow seemed that she had got the hang of taking off and landing. "Are you alright? I'm sorry," she apologised quickly, realising it would be her fault that he had to tire himself like that.

"What is a Bludger though? There's got to be something behind it, right?" she asked quickly, curious about every little detail, no matter how useless it would be in a real combat. Though it was just another proof she belonged in Ravenclaw. "I agree on that one... Isn't there any position that doesn't require extreme strenght? I'm not particularly good with stuff like that..." she admitted, though had a very strong sensation he already knew.

Sam waved off her apology, with a "that? That was easy!"

"I don't quite understand what you mean by 'something behind it,' sorry," he frowned for a moment, "there is one last position that requires mad spotting skills, but no extreme strength. It's called the seeker position."

He landed on the ground and went back to the trunk to take out a small golden snitch. It was a small golden ball the size of a walnut.

"This is the golden snitch," he stated, "it used to be an animal called the 'golden snidget' but then they got extinct so we just use the snitch. The job of the seeker is to find it and catch it. The seeker who catches it wins the game; well, usually, because it gains you 150 points. See if you can catch it."

He released the snitch.

With a grin, Mary eyed him as he waved of her apology. "Oh, I'm sure it was," she said with a raised eyebrow. "Nevermind. I'm just a little caught up in every detail that is to be known about this game," she said and flushed slightly, her cheeks turning into a soft rose colour. She immediatly looked exited when he began telling off about the Seeker position.

Eyeing the small ball, she found herself surprisingly fond of the ball already. Something about it's round shape, coated with gold and the small wings that fluttered softly to release itself from Sam's clutch became sort of intoxicating. "Golden snitch, eh?" she said softly and followed the ball as he told about the animal they'd used before. To be honest, she probably had a better relationship with the small golden ball. She looked up to meet his eyes for a moment, when he told her about how the ball usually won the game. Woah, it seems the position is really important! It'd be awesome to have such a task, she told herself, although doubted she'd ever be able to get into the team.

As he released the snitch, her eyes found the golden ball flying in the air and she tilted her head slightly to the side, following it while it fluttered from side to side. As if in a trance, she reached out and plucked the Snitch out of the air, and held it in her hand, studying the blank metal surface with a smile glimmering on her face.

He noticed her trance-like state and hide a knowing grin - she found her favorite Quidditch position. He saw how her eyes followed the every move of the snitch, and how mesmerized she was. When he released the snitch, her eyes never left the snitch.

He widened his eyes when he released the snitch. it didn't seem to leave - in fact, the snitch seemed to just circle around Mary, almost as mesmerized by her as she was mesmerized by it. When she plucked it out of the air he took it, and put it back in the trunk.

"I bet you you're a better seeker than Harry Potter was," he told her honestly, "well, you could grow up to be, at least. Did you see how that snitch reacted to you? It seemed that it was attracted to you - like it wanted to be near you. You'd make the team next year for sure!! There's no doubt about it!"

Mary blinked out of her trance as the blank metal ball vanished from her fingers, and she felt an oddly hollow space in her heart when it simply vanished. She blinked a couple of times, then looked at it as it was placed back in it's trunk.

Her cheeks blushed into a deeper scarlet colour, and she ducked under her Ravenclaw coloured scarf. "Sure we can hope... Though I'm no good at the broom just yet. A soft breeze can make me fall off," she said and shrugged. "I'd need some more help first..." she muttered and eyed Sam, hoping he'd take her hint. After all, she wasn't taking flying lessons just yet and she would probably learn more from her friend rather than a teacher, all honestly.

Sam happened to be smart and observant, as he was almost put into Ravenclaw. "Yeah, so mount your broom," he told her, "and make sure you have a really firm grip on it. To make sure you do, you go kick off, and if your hands wobble, they're not firm enough. The firmness of your hands is one of the most important key points in flying," he told her. "Which can enable me to do this."

He kicked off the ground and hung upside down, about ten feet off the ground, "being able to do this is very important because some people will foul you, and you'll have to avoid them by flipping over like this. I'm not sure what this technique's called, but I like to call it the flip-tacular. I know it's lame - don't judge!"

Glad that he took her pitiful excuse of a hint, she headed over to the broom, a Cleansweep 5 which seemed to be one of the better quality brooms the school had for teaching purposes. Either way, she practiced getting the broom into her hand, and held it out over the brown handle. "Up," she said, and the broom wobbled a little in the start before it floated neatly into her hand. Smiling she mounted her broom and shot off into the air, using the strenght in her legs to push herself up. It pleased her to find that her feet were once again dangling over the ground, seemingly so free and loose.

It did seem that Sam had recognised one of her problems though, as the broom wobbled slightly from side to side, as if she was shaking from side to side. Trying harder, she gripped the handle firmly, and to her surprise the broom immideatly became much more easy to handle. Smilling she zoomed up to the same level as Sam, and watched him hang upside down. She gulped slightly, afraid that if she attempted she'd fall straight off her broom and end up crashing into the ground beneath. "I don't think it's lame at all. Although I doubt I'll be trying it anytime soon... It seems hard," she muttered, not really feeling up for hanging upside-down.

"Can't we practice steering instead? I could sure use some practice when it comes to flying at a higher speed. Especially if I DO happen to try for Seeker," she muttered, not very comfortable at mentioning her own strenghts.

Sam smiled at her when she got the hang of gripping the broom. "To steer smoothly, don't just turn the handle of the broom into the other direction, because that will cause you to unbalance yourself, and you might fall off the broom depending on how unbalanced you are. So instead, you need to slowly turn it into the direction you need, just like when... driving a car, say. A car's a smaller version of the Knight bus, and a good driver can drive it without the odd angles," he added. He demonstrated what he meant by changing direction.

"To develop speed is something you most definitely need the speed for all Quidditch positions. So what you should do is simply tug the broom handle forwards and lean forward more. Sometimes you'll need to break, so you do the opposite, you tug the handle back and you lean backwards. But be careful, you when braking you have to be quite balanced, or else you'll fall off your broom," he demonstrated exactly what he told her to do, making sure to be balanced when braking.