Learning to fly

Chase felt her heartbeat speed up to dangerous levels when the broom was suddenly much higher then it had been. She had been fine with only a few feet off the ground, where she could register her speed and height. She suddenly felt herself tense and she leaned back against him, her eyes closed. "I don't like it.." She said softly. "How do you stand being up so high? I know it's barely any higher then what we were at.. but it feels way to high up for me.. it's odd because I can be standing on the top of the astronomy tower without a blink.. put me a few feet above the ground on a broom? Nu uh!" She leaned back against him hard, as though afraid the broom would suddenly take off and she would have no control. "Just... fly around a bit for me? Maybe I'll get the hang of it then!" She said spinning around to look at him.

"I mean it.. just.. let me get used to the feeling.. then maybe I'll try, it's just.. my heart speeds up, and I freak out! I don't know what happened that made me so afraid of flying.. but I am!" She closed her eyes and kept her back to his chest, her whole body shaking as she scooted back on the broom so he could take control of it. She didn't want anything else to do with flying right then. Let the baby feel, let the baby learn, but she was perfectly fine with BOTH of her feet planted firmly on the ground, because even down there she was a clutz, and she had no place in the sky, where she would probably hurt something that wasn't even up there.

Adam couldn't help but grin when she started to have a little freak out. He only held onto her firmer, more re-assuring. He smiled at her as she turned around to look at her. "Alright, I'll fly around for a bit before you control from this 'eight." he told her. He managed to grab the broom handle while still managing to hold her with his arms. He began to gracefully fly at a slightly quicker pace, in circles around the pitch. He hoped she would get used to it. Flying was fun and she may even learn to enjoy it if she learned. "Took me a few months before I could get as 'igh as ze goalpost's at Beauxbatons. Zen again...zey are razer 'igh." he said thinking for a moment. He shrugged and continued to circle the pitch.

Freaking out was normal but he had seen worse. He remembered this one time his sister had gotten on a broom and it took off as soon as she sat on it. She was holding on for a good half hour before he could get her down. He chuckled to himself; he loved moments like that. Didn't matter who he was with! He just loved those...picture perfect moments. She had her back againts his chest, now his heart was racing. But he calmed down a few seconds later. "Freaking out is normal," he told her. "all eet takes is some practice and, voila! You're as skilled as I am in a matter of days. Well...maybe not as good as me." he said snickering. He was joking of course.

Chase felt him take over the broom, and felt her whole body tense up. Her eyes shut tight, and she leaned back against his chest harder as he sped up and went a few laps around the Quidditch Pitch, the more he flew the more she slowly started to relax, getting used to the motions, the way the broom moved, and how it sliced through the air so smoothly. She slowly opened her eyes and immediately wished she hadn't. Things were whizzing past her face, and it made her feel a bit queasy. She could go a hundred miles an hour in a car, she could drive over water, but a few feet over the ground? She flipped, she was even fine in an airplane! It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair.

Chase slowly let herself relax and took a deep breath, her hands slowly laying over his. "Okay.. let me try now.." She said softly, and she carefully leaned forward and took control of the broom. She leaned more forward and felt them speed up, the wind started to really make her hair flip back, red streaking in the sunlight, almost blindingly. She smiled slightly and glanced back at him. "I think I'm getting the hang of it!" She exclaimed, looking excited now. "Maybe I'll try out for Quidditch or something!" she said with a very happy air of exuberance.

Adam moved his hands back to her waiste and allowed her to continue the flight path. He looked down quickly to see if she lowered them at all she didn't. She was doing rather well for a first timer now. She was smooth, relaxed, speedy, and confident. Well at first she was the complete opposite of those words. As everyone was in the beginning. However she broke one of the most major laws of flying. Always look where you're flying. Adam looked at her and then looked in front of them. They were heading right into a goal post, he quickly turned the broom sharply towards the left and he began to fall. He saw Chase was falling off as well and he grabbed onto her. He held her close, his back to the ground. He pulled her tight so she wouldn't get as hurt.

It felt like it was taking forever. They weren't even that high up but he would take all the fall. She would be safe in his arms when they hit the ground. He made sure she was all tucked into his arms. And in an instant, he heard the thud and he blacked out. He didn't know what happened, he didn't know anything rignt now. He was laying there...motionless...unconscious. He was dreaming about a faceless girl with red hair. She was dancing with him. Even though she had no face he thought she was beautiful. He was watching from an airiel view. They were dancing on a dance floor to a slow song.

Chase felt them falling and yelped. Her biggest fear, falling off was coming to reality, her whole body stiffened, but she felt him pull her to his chest, and she was curled up against him, and he took the entire force of the fall. She skidded out of his arms and landed a little ways away, completely unharmed, but looking over at him, she realized he was not entirely unharmed. "Adam?" She called out and jumped up, going over to him and falling to her knees beside him. "Adam!?" She gasped and looked down at him. "Oh Merlin, Oh Merlin! Oh Merlin.. What if he's dead? Oh Merlin, I think I killed him! Adam wake up!" She cried out and shook his shoulder before putting her ear by his mouth.

And feeling air. She collapsed in relief beside him and wiped her forehead. She had been certain that she had just killed him and he was dead. Completely and totally dead, and she was a murderer, and they would send her to Azkaban. She sagged with relief and pulled out her wand. First pointing it at the broom hovering above them. "Accio." Then at him. "Enneverate." She smiled and looked down at him carefully. "I am so sorry! Wake up Adam! Please wake up! Please Please Please!" She bent over him with a look of motherly attention on her face, hoping that her spell would wake him up. If not.. she was in for a lot of trouble.

Adam was suddenly aware of a pain coursing throughout his body and a person above him. He groaned and opened his eyes to see that the cries were coming from Chase. He sat up slightly, his vision was blurry and his head was ringing. "You owe me triple now..." he told her through a grin. He had fallen from higher but this time had another person with him causing more weight to hit the ground. He blinked a few times hoping his vision would focus. Alas, it did not..did he just really used that word to himself. Kid you alright? Pain here is having a whole dance part on you're central nervous system. You took quite the fall kid, all for a girl? I mean...well I'm not emoti0ns so I can't really relate. But anyway just get up and shake it off...if you can Even the voice sounded different.

"Ugh..." he groaned standing, he staggered for a bit but found some balance. "I'l...be fine. I'm sure..." he told her walking towards her. He was still aching but his vision was much better and his head stopped ringing. Perhaps it was all those accidents that caused the pain in his head to go away. But he could tell some things were broken on his inside. His breathing was coming out in low wheezy rasps. "Don't worry, I'll just get Madame Benoit to heal me..hopefully." he groaned. Madame Benoit would not be happy...oh God and his parents.

After shoving his bottle of Firewhisky into his trunk, Elijah straightened himself up. After a particularly informative letter from Camille, Elijah had sought out his Firewhisky. She’d gone into great detail and explained exactly how his son had managed to break his arm. Elijah had not been happy – what parent would have been? But thankfully they’d gone to a Wizarding Hospital and gotten Thierry’s arm healed. It was a simple procedure, nothing too drastic but that had still caused Elijah some panic. Of course Camille had then used Fauve’s owl and told him not to panic and to have a glass of Firewhisky. She had told him one glass and no cigarettes – actually she hadn’t specified whether to have a cigarette or not. So Elijah had a few glasses and two cigarettes.

He was calmer now although not really. The Firewhisky had done nothing at all, telling him that he was going to need more, but Elijah had chosen to put it away otherwise he wouldn’t get up in the morning. Thierry breaking his arm was no reason to open the bottle that had been taunting him for weeks. He’d already had the cigarettes and he’d given up on giving up. The woman in Dufftown had made sure that he was smoking again. Actually he’d made sure she’d sold him them. A winning smile and a few well placed compliments had made her ring up enough to last him a term or two and now the cigarettes were sitting in the bottom drawer of his bedside table.

The Dungeons were depressing so Elijah decided that perhaps it was better to head outside. As much as he hated the ship that proved to be the biggest bit of visual pollution in Scotland, Elijah knew he needed some air. So he left the castle and headed out into the grounds. For some strange inconceivable reason he headed to the Quidditch pitch. Perhaps the inevitability of the Quidditch trials was finally beginning to play on his mind along with everything else. But Quidditch was a waste of time in Elijah’s opinion. Only through his father’s fame had he been elected the position of captain. He could have put it to good use but he saw no use in it. He’d do the trials, let them on the team and train them but Elijah wasn’t promising the team of a century. If it came down to it he’d let Malfoy have the bunch of blithering idiots.

There was a soar of a broom above and Elijah looked up from the archway that led out onto the pitch. He watched the people on the brooms for a few moments before realising it was Chase. Elijah blinked in disbelief and lifted his hand to his face, clenching his fist and rubbing both of his eyes before opening them again. Sure enough it was Chase on a broom, flying, with some guy behind her. Elijah felt jealousy bubble underneath his skin and he watched with narrowed eyes. He was poised, ready for something to happen but when it did he was so shocked he could have been immobilized. Elijah watched as Chase curved into the other student. He watched as they fell but he could do nothing about it, his arms were glued to his sides and his feet to the ground, his mouth slack with shock.

When they hit the ground Elijah regained movement and he rushed towards the archway. His hand caught the arch and he hung back, watching Chase hit the boy and beg him to wake up. Elijah took his wand from his back pocket and trained it on the foreign; he noted that by the accent, as he staggered towards Chase. Inhaling, Elijah strode out onto the pitch. He let the air leave his lungs slowly and he swapped his wand hand, thrusting the piece of wood into his left hand. He pointed it at the foreign and took Chase by the wrist. “Merlin’s beard...are you alright?” He murmured to her, leaning down close to her ear.

He glanced at the foreign and recognised that puppy-dog look in the boy’s eyes. Elijah smirked at him, lowering his wand, and turned his head back to Chase. Elijah released her wrist and pushed her hair away, lowering his face to kiss her neck. He drifted back up to her ear and kissed the spot behind it before whispering, “I love the skirt by the way...” He tugged at the short piece of material that shouldn’t have been referred to as a skirt in any language and smiled a little. He lifted his head and looked at the foreign before glancing at Chase. “Who’s your friend, Fen?”

There was a sudden flurry of activity. One minute Adam was staggering towards her, the next she was being pulled back by the wrist and Elijah was standing in front of her with his wand out. "Elijah!" She said in astonishment, her eyes wide. "What are you.." But she was cut off when he let go of her wrist and spun around to face her, moving her hair out of her face and kissing her neck and ear. She giggled slightly and then looked grave. When he tugged at her skirt she felt her whole face turn red. It was something she had worn without even thinking of it, way back when she hadn't had a boyfriend, and every guy enjoyed flashes of skin here and there. She felt her face heat up and she tugged it down, hoping she hadn't been COMPLETELY exposed during the tumble.

"Elijah.. this is Adam.. Adam this is Elijah my boy... well he's the father." She said biting her lip, and realizing she didn't know if they were dating or not. She smiled and then blushed harder, looking down. "I wanted to learn how to fly, so that maybe the baby would like to fly.. you know get used to it and stuff, so that Kitty wouldn't be like me when she grew up... afraid of the broom, but I tried to fly myself... and I went up way to high, and he saved me.. I thought I was going to crash, or fall, or something.. and he helped me down, and then offered to teach me." she said and kept her head lowered through her entire monologue. "But then I wasn't paying attention.. and the broom veered off to the side, and we fell off... I'm sorry." She said glancing up at Elijah and back down in shame.

"Then I thought I had killed him! So I freaked out.. until I realized that he had just passed out, so I did an Enneverate.. and woke him up, and that's.. that's what happened." She finished lamely and looked at Elijah. "I just wanted Kitty to like flying better then I do.. and thought I might like it if I learned how to control the broom.. he was only helping me." She said with a small smile to Elijah, her eyes big and reflecting as she looked up at him, a huge smile on her face. Her whole face shone and seemed to glow with happiness every time he looked at her and it was obvious how much she liked him, even if someone had just seen them from across the pitch.

Adam was finally back to normal and he was looking at the man holding Chase closely. He looked nice enought, he also looked rather young. Younger than Chase or Adam anyway. Then suddenly things were awkward for him. His face turned red realizing what the situation looked like to Elijah. And turned redder when he realized they were both looking at him turn red. He stuffed both hands in his pockets; one to grab his wand and the other for lack of better usage. He noticed that Elijah had his wand out treating him like a criminal. He was angry now...Elijah seemed to be tugging on her skirt.

"Well hello you horny bastard, so you got Chase full of your devil child? was what he was thinking but what came out was, " 'Ello Elijah, so you're ze fazer Chase tells me about?" he said extending his hand to him. He now realized that last part probably wasn't the best to say. He closed his eyes realizing this and started to beat himself up inside. His breathing was still wheezy and he was breathing quickly. His face had been normal but was now back to red. He hadn't realized this but his hand holding his wand was now out with his wand at his side. What had made him do that? He shrugged mentally and looked at Chase then to Elijah.

"She's uh....quite ze flyer." he chuckled nervously. He really didn't know what he should be saying right now. He had never been in a situation right now. The rebel part of him wanted to burst out saying 'I'm in love with Chase and I think the baby deserves a better father' but he fought it back. He really didn't know what was making him want to do all these...terrible things. He had never experienced these kinds of emotions or feelings before. Perhaps Hogwarts just wasn't his place right now. Perhaps this year wasn't going to be the year he hoped it would be. "Well no duh Sherlock! My advice...run as fast as you can and explain later. Oh..no, common sense....no shut it! Common Sense is just telling me to tell you to stay and try and fix it or whatever the hell is going on. Bottom line, I'm missing Scrubs so I've gotta go!" That voice was really getting annoying.

Adam...suddenly felt like crap when he saw the way she looked at Elijah. His throat closed and he had trouble getting anything out to say. He was being awfully quiet right now, more so than he had since he got here. He coughed and tried to speak. "Well um, I suppose I'll just get my broom and go zen..." he said. He tried moving but topped over. His breathing was quick and was continued to be wheezy. He knew his ribs were broken, and the pounding in his head was coming back. He got back up and turned red again. The broom was still in Chase's hands. He just wasn't sure whether he could walk to grab it or not.

Elijah had not simply been jesting when he commented on the skirt that was hanging from Chase’s hips. He was incredibly interested in it and was idly wondering whether she had more of those things. Chase put him at ease and Elijah watched her intently as she babbled her story and brought him up to speed with everything. He nodded and smiled at her, taking her hand in his own. “You are certainly in high spirits for someone who has just fallen off of their broom,” He chuckled. “I don’t think Kitty appreciates falling through the air though, Fen. Are you both alright?”

It was clear that Elijah wasn’t concerned for the person that had saved the life of the woman he loved and the life of his child. He was glad Chase was alright. Kitty had probably taken a little bit of a beating but not enough to terminate the pregnancy. The womb would protect kitty and Elijah didn’t think the fall had hurt Chase much...just the foreign. He kissed her forehead and swept some more of her hair back. He cupped one side of her face and looked at her closely. “I’ll teach you next time, Fen.” He said with a smile.

Elijah heard the foreign speak and he closed his eyes momentarily before opening them and turning around. Elijah didn’t know what it was but it felt appropriate to be hostile to this ‘gentleman’. There was a need to make a quip. “Well she didn’t make the baby herself,” was on the tip of his tongue although he would not say it. Instead he merely replied, “Yes...that’s correct. I could not be luckier either.” He said carefully, levelling his gaze on Adam. Elijah arched an eyebrow at Adam when he commented on Chase’s flying ability – or lack thereof. He smirked a little and lowered his eyebrow.

The Slytherin was immensely glad that Adam was choosing to retire. Elijah gestured to the broom and smiled faux kindly. “By all means...have a nice evening...” He said smoothly, hoping to hurry him a long.