Hogwarts' Newest Quidditch Celebrity
She let herself be pulled up from the grass, quickly retracting her hand once she was on her own two feet. She brushed her hands across her robe before picking up her things. Fred had shoved his hands into his pockets, and the two of them were soon walking across the open space.
The breeze softly moved around them, and Leigh found herself looking curiously as Fred guided a strand of his hair back behind his ear. She looked around, slowly coming to the realisation of where they were heading.
"Are we walking towards the quidditch pitch?" She asked with a bemused tone.
He glanced at her slightly, giving her a look from the corner of his eye. "Shush."
She rolled her eyes, yet with a small smile, grasping the book tighter to her chest. "Are you sure this is for me to relax? Not just an excuse for you to play around on a broom?"
He glanced at her again, shrugging childishly while the corner of his mouth turned upward. "What if it's both?"
Leigh couldn't help but shake her head slightly. She could think of plenty of more relaxing things to do than watch Fred Weasley shoot around on a broom. She had had a lifetime of watching quidditch at Hogwarts, many games of which the man beside her had actually participated in, and she couldn't say she felt the need to watch yet another performance.
"Oh, come on, it'll be fun!" He claimed as the two of them eventually entered the pitch, the hoops looking massive above them. Once she was here Leigh realised she had probably never actually been on the pitch. On the stands, yes, but never on the pitch. She was reminded of how high up in the air the game was played.
Fred looked around the pitch with a faint smile, basking in the memories. He couldn't count how many hours he had spent in this space - before he got banned, that is. The structure of the stands and goalposts had been rebuilt, but still provided him with the feeling of nostalgia. He quickly uttered the words 'accio broom' and patiently waited as he could envision it leaving the outside of the shop in Hogsmeade. At least he thought that was where he placed it last time.
Soon enough the broom shot through the air in his direction. Making sure Leigh was out of the way, he braced for impact and swiftly caught the broom once it reached him.
"Didn't nick one from Hooch this time?"
He grinned at her. "Not this time. Got an old one from home. It's not great but it'll do."
His eyes ran over the broom before he turned his gaze to her expectantly.
Leigh frowned, catching onto what he meant. She quickly lifted one hand in the air, palm facing him, the other holding her book. "Me? I'm not flying."
He raised an eyebrow, looking at her with shining eyes. "Yeah you are, that's the whole point."
"Look, I'm plenty relaxed here with my feet on the ground," she defended. "I haven't been on a broom since 2nd year and I prefer for it to stay that way." She lowered her hand, closely gripping her book. She wouldn't admit it, but the thought of being on a broom was horrifying. She wasn't usually scared of heights, but as she looked up at the goalposts, envisioning being on a broom at that height, a shiver ran through her body.
Fred seemed to notice. "It's not scary, promise. It's freeing." He swiftly got on the broom, immediately hovering above the ground as if it was second nature. Slowly, he circled her, smiling at her slightly as she followed his movements.
He stepped off, holding the broom out towards her. "Now you."
She looked at him for a moment, an expression of defeat taking over her features. "Do I have to?" She whined, and he chuckled at her tone.
"No, but you'll feel great if you do." He eyed her with a cheery expression, anticipating her next move.
She seemed to contemplate it for a moment, looking from the broom to Fred, to the massive goalposts above them. She didn't have to fly high up, she knew that. Just a bit of flying, hovering around for a bit. She could do that - might embarrass herself to death, but she could do that.
Finally, she sighed. She bet he was right. It would probably feel nice with the wind in her hair. It was nice weather, and the summer was coming to an end. If any time was a good time to do something stupid, it was now. "Fine. But any bodily injuries are your fault."
He laughed, but accepted the responsibility. "Fine, fine. I'm sure you're not that bad."
She raised an eyebrow at him as her hand grasped the broom. "Oh, you'll be surprised, Weasley."
Fred didn't reply, but simply took a step back and watched her with a humorous expression as she held the broom with two hands, slowly raising from the ground. The silence was probably a good thing, since Leigh hadn't felt this focused in months. The broom wobbled slightly, and she let out a faint 'woah' as she attempted to steady it. "God, I've forgotten everything about this," she mumbled quietly.
"And you're supposed to be good at classes. Yet here you are, forgetting course material."
She couldn't fight a smile at his stupid reply. "Shut it."
He snickered at her response and watched her rise, slowly, through the air.
"Try do a bit of a lap. Not too high. If you actually fall off and I have to carry you back to the hospital wing McGonagall will kill me."
She let out a giggle, envisioning McGonagall smacking him, like she probably had done many times before. "Even more reason to do it," she teased, glancing down at him, who was standing quite a distance below her at this point.
She slowly steered the broom around, the wind whipping in her hair. He was right - she had to admit it was a bit freeing. She sped up slightly, her hands tightening their grip as the ride gradually became smoother. Carefully she sped up, opting to loop around the bottom of the goalposts.
"It's not so bad, now is it?" Fred's voice was heard from below, and Leigh shook her head slightly, although she was sure he wasn't able to see it.
Her stomach fluttered as she did a dive towards the ground, surprising herself with the control she seemed to have over the broom. The wind swept through her hair and the fresh air filled her lungs.
Suddenly, Fred's voice was booming across the pitch, as if he was speaking in a microphone, and Leigh abruptly whipped her head around to see what was going on. "What the–"
Her gaze caught sight of him. He was standing plainly on the grass, holding his wand to the side of his neck. "We are kicking off with a new addition to the team: Leigh Conway! Aaand we're off!"
She felt herself turning bright red, and was thankful she was way up in the air with the colour of her face out of sight. His voice echoed throughout the pitch, and she was worried the sound would actually reach some poor student who was out and about and urge them to come see what the fuss was all about.
"Conway approaches, takes the quaffle, dodges a bludger, the opposing team is tight on her heels. She dives, faking a pass to confuse the opposition before– ohhh!– she scores! 300-0 for Gryffindor and Conway is responsible for Gryffindor winning the cup! Hogwarts' newest quidditch celebrity!"
She let out a laugh as she lowered the broom towards his form, looking at him through playfully narrowed eyes. "You're ridiculous."
He smiled as she looped around him. "Can I have your autograph?"
She decided that those should be her last loops, and carefully steered the broom in an ellipse shape, coming back around and approaching Fred.
She slowed down, his eyes following her, focused. "Slow down more," he commented, and she attempted to do so as she came closer to his form. "Woah, take it easy–"
But before any other words were able to escape his lips Leigh felt her body knocking into him, causing him to stumble off his feet.
With a 'hmpf' Leigh felt herself be airborne for a few seconds before plummeting to the ground a small distance from Fred. Her arm skidded across the grass, and she groaned slightly at the impact.
Fred huffed, sitting up before her as he rubbed the side of his chest, probably the area where she had accidentally knocked into him. The broom itself laid unscathed by his side. He looked over at Leigh, who was also sitting up now, but was holding her arm close to her chest, shielding it with her other hand. He could faintly hear 'shitshitshit' coming out of her mouth. Immediately Fred's eyes widened.
He shuffled up, approaching her. "Are you okay?" He asked, each word laced with concern. Leigh's face was scrunched up in pain, and a wave of worry washed over him. "Oh shit," he mumbled, hurrying over to her form and bending down beside her, seeing the way she was still wincing, cradling her hand, pushing it into her stomach. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault."
McGonagall was truly going to kill him.
"Can I see?" He asked softly, looking at her with wide eyes.
She nodded slightly, looking up at him for a second before slowly removing the shielding hand from in front of her arm. Fred's eyes reached the view of her wrist, squeezed closely to her stomach, and her fingers neatly arranged to point the middle finger in his direction.
His mouth fell open, but it was first when the sound of Leigh giggling reached his ears that he truly let the worry leave his body. Her face had broken out into a wide smile, and laughter bubbled up in her chest.
He was at a loss for words, but soon matched her wide smile with a faint one of his own.
"I call that payback." Leigh said once her laughter had calmed down. "I told you I could prank."
He shook his head as he took in the view of her; on the ground laughing wildly. A look of surprise clad his features. "I did not expect that." He admitted, and she looked proud at his confession. "Who are you? What have you done with Conway?"
She giggled. "I would say I'm sorry for knocking into you, but flying was your idea. I told you I suck."
"You did, yes," Fred replied, moving to stand up, Leigh soon doing the same.
"Thank you for taking most of the impact." She gave him a smile, brushing herself off.
"You're very welcome. Although I do kind of regret it now," he replied with a pout, his open hand rubbing across the side of his chest slightly.
Leigh rolled her eyes light-heartedly. "Chivalry."
A loop-sided grin spread across his face. "You know it."
It felt like a natural place to leave the flying session, and the two of them slowly started to move out from the pitch, walking until they reached their natural point of separation, where Leigh would turn to walk back up towards the castle, and Fred would turn to walk towards Hogsmeade.
Just when she was about to say some final joking words and bid goodbye, Fred beat her to it.
"Come to the shop tomorrow?"
She was caught slightly off guard by the question, and stumbled slightly across her words before she finally were able to have them exit her mouth. "Uh, I– I can't tomorrow. I have to study." Not only did she promise to study with Neville in the evening, but she also had her first test of the year the morning after and was as such in dire need of revising.
"Come Thursday then?" Fred continued, unfazed at her answer. "Everything's fixed now, and I want you to see it before the grand opening. We want you to see it," he corrected himself, his gaze fixed at her.
Leigh shuffled slightly on her feet as she considered the invite, and couldn't find a reason why she couldn't visit. After a second she spoke. "Okay, yeah. I can do that."
He seemed pleased with her response and nodded slightly to himself while delivering a smile her way. "Good."
"Thursday?"
"Thursday."
"Okay." Leigh smiled back.
After that the two of them parted ways; Leigh moving back towards castle and Fred moving down towards Hogsmeade, broom in hand.