Hannah Abbott awoke with a start and sat up in her bed, sweat beading on her forehead. She looked through the gauzy yellow drapes around her bed and saw that the sun was just cresting over the tops of the trees in the forest.

It was way too early to be awake. Hannah collapsed onto her pillow and her dream came back to her. She had been flying… playing Quidditch? It had been wonderful, the wind streaming through her hair, the billow of her robes behind her, the rush of elation that came from flying.

This was totally bizarre. Hannah usually preferred her feet to stay firmly on the ground. She shook her head and tried to go back to sleep. The flying sensation came back to her. Sighing, she rose from bed and slipped her robes on. She plaited her long fluffy blonde hair into one braid, and slipped quietly out of the dorm, into the Hufflepuff common room.

Glancing around, she noticed that a fire had already been lit, though she was the only one up this early. She opened the main door and stepped into the corridor. Down the hall, she could smell a mouth-watering breakfast being prepared in the kitchens. She climbed up the steps that led into the Entrance Hall, and wandered over to the Great Hall. Leaning against the wide doorframe, she glanced up at the magicked roof and saw that the sky outside was clear and yellow with the dawn light. She made up her mind and crossed the room, opening the great doors a small gap and slipping through.

She breathed in the crisp air and watched her breath materialize when she breathed out. Grinning, she strolled over to the broom shed. Rays of light poked through the gaps in the wooden walls, so she could easily spot her old Comet. It hadn’t seen much use since her first year, but it still seemed in good shape. She hefted it up, examining the wood with both hands, brushing off the cobwebs in the tail. Yep, still in excellent condition. She grinned, and, grasping the handle tightly, straddled it. She kicked off the ground a little unsteadily, and rose into the air.

Though she didn’t soar effortlessly through the clouds like in her dream, the glorious feeling of the air rushed at her, past her, and she could taste it on her lips. She laughed and swooped, pulling out of it shakily. Strands of hair worked free of her braid and streamed out behind her. She spiraled among the wisps of clouds, gasping with delight. She dove again, hurtling toward the ground. She pulled up on the Comet, but it wasn’t responding fast enough. Panic fluttered in her breast as the ground rushed toward her. She pulled again, desperately. It wasn’t going to be soon enough- she was going to crash!

….

Pansy Parkinson shouldered her broom and walked out onto the pitch, the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team trudging behind her. She glanced up at the early-morning sky, appreciating for a moment its quiet loveliness. Then a swooping blonde figure caught her eye. She watched the girl fly—a little unsteady, but she recognized potential. The rest of the team caught up with her.

“Who’s that?” Draco squinted.

“Dunno,” Pansy replied, “but she’s not bad.”

Draco shrugged. “I guess.”

Vincent stared hard at the girl. “I think it’s that Hufflepuff, the one in our year.”

“Abbott,” somebody supplied.

Pansy nodded, and then watched with increasing unease as the girl went into a steep dive and struggled to pull out of it.

“She’s not going to make it,” Draco commented.

“Shit,” Pansy breathed, mounting her broom.

“Leave it,” said a seventh-year. “What do you care if she smashes herself to bits? Less competition.”

Pansy rolled her eyes and kicked off the ground, rising up to meet the falling Hufflepuff.

…

Hannah gritted her teeth, biting back a scream. She was going to crash, her body spilled across those lovely jagged rocks that happened to be in her way. She tugged with all her might, muscles straining. The rocks flew up to meet her, she opened her mouth to scream, when something caught her hard in the stomach and she was wrenched from her broomstick into the sky. She burst into tears as she watched her broom shatter far below her and clung to her rescuer, pressing her face into a soft shoulder. Pansy held one arm firmly around Hannah and flew towards the far end of the pitch, away from her teammates.

She landed softly, dismounting from her broom, depositing Hannah gently on the ground beside her. Hannah still clung to her arm, shaking. She felt like her bones had turned into jelly. She had stopped crying by now, and looked into her rescuer’s face.

“P-pansy, right?” The Slytherin nodded. “Thanks,” she said, looking into her eyes. They were very close. Pansy felt a surge of—something—slithering in her belly.

Pansy stepped away, and shrugged. Hannah finally released her grip on Pansy’s arm. “You’ve got talent,” she remarked. “Next time, be more careful. I might not be so inclined to play heroine.” With that, she mounted her broomstick again and soared off to join her team.

Hannah watched her, the adrenaline of the experience finally leaving and draining her. Gulping back fresh tears of sudden exhaustion, she made her way back to the castle as the sun rose fully onto the grounds, falling in waves of orange light around her.

…

Pansy silently berated herself as she flew back. What had happened, she shouldn’t have let happen. Oh, it was fine to have rescued the dumb Hufflepuff, she didn’t regret that. It was… that moment, that flash of attraction. Bah. She shook her head. Easy enough to forget. She landed in front of the other Slytherins.

Vincent looked at her curiously. “Why’d you do it?” he asked.

Pansy saw the rest of the team was watching her intently, waiting for her answer. “Would’ve made too much of a mess. We probably wouldn’t have been able to practice out here this early any more,” she responded truthfully, then turned away. Draco caught her eye and gave her a searching look, but she ignored him and kicked back up into the air as the team began their practice.

…

That night Hannah dreamed of flying again, and a strong but soft body. When she woke up, she wasn’t stupid enough to go flying again. And yet the dreams continued.

…

Pansy was working quietly in the library with Blaise on a project for DADA when a flash of gold caught her eye. She half-turned towards it, and realized it was the Hufflepuff, Abbott. The sun had been glinting on her hair. The girl gave a hesitant half-wave and walked to another table with a group of fellow Huffles.

Blaise looked at her accusingly. “Care to explain?”

Pansy grimaced. “The girl I saved the other day.”

“Ah,” Blaise said. “How disgustingly Gryffindor of you. Shall we call you Pansy Potter?”

“Shut up,” Pansy said moodily. She had been teased about the incident until she was about to snap. “It’s not a big deal, okay?” she said, this time more quietly.

Blaise only smirked. “Whatever,” he said, backing off.

Pansy rolled her eyes at him and went back to work.

…

Susan Bones arched an eyebrow at Hannah as they sat down with Ernie and Justin in a corner of the library. “Since when are you and Slytherin’s poster girl on waving terms?” she asked.

Hannah’s pink lips twitched into a half-smile. “Never mind, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she said.

Ernie winked at her. “Oh, I see. It’s a secret.”

Justin and Susan leaned in. “Omigosh, Hannah!” Susan squealed, looking scandalized, “Is there something going on between you?”

“No!” Hannah protested vehemently. “Nothing like that at all!” she laughed, feeling slightly giddy. “A couple days ago I got up early and did a bit of flying.” She grinned at their shocked faces.

“You… on a broomstick?” Justin tried to wrap his mind around the concept. “Not possible.”

“I told you you wouldn’t believe me,” Hannah said, rolling her eyes.

“But that doesn’t explain how you met Parkinson,” Ernie interjected.

“Oh, well, I think she’s on the Slytherin team now, or something. They were out there practicing.” Hannah carefully avoided any mention of her near-accident. And Pansy’s rescue… she flushed thinking about it.

Susan sat back in her chair, arms crossed. “Humph.”

Hannah shook her head, and in doing so, caught a flash of Pansy looking up at her through half-lidded eyes. Hannah quickly looked away and got down to studying for Potions, her heart pounding slightly faster than normal.

            “The Dark Lord has need of us,” he told the group clustered around him. He grabbed Vincent and Gregory’s hands with one of his own, and in the other he caught up Pansy’s hand. He nodded at the others to watch him. With a deep intake of breathe, he slapped their hands against the stone wall next to them. Pansy’s world abruptly tilted sideways and she felt herself falling or rising, she wasn’t sure which. The gut-wrenching sensation behind her navel told her that she was caught up in a portkey—a very roughly cast portkey by the feel of things.

            After a long moment Pansy opened her eyes and found herself and the three boys sprawled out on the dirt. Shafts of dim sunlight fell about them, and Pansy realized that they were in a forest—the Forbidden Forest, most likely. Rough wood dug into her back and Pansy realized that the tree behind her must be the other portkey back to the castle. Blinking, Draco stood up and waited for the others to follow suit. Teddy and Daphne sooned joined them. Once they were all standing, he led them to a small clearing, where a man dressed in black robes awaited them. A hood was raised over his head so that his face was thrown in deep shadow. Pansy squinted, trying to figure out who was under the hood.

            The man began to speak without preamble. “In a few months our project should be in full swing. One of our operations will be executed at the school.” He nodded at the small group. “You’ll be contacted with more details when the plan becomes more concrete. The Dark Lord has not yet determined how large a part you will play in the operation. So for now, be aware, and await further orders,” he finished, and Pansy recognized that he was dismissing them. She turned and walked back to the tree, the others following behind her. Again. that wrenching feeling—then they tumbled back out into the corridor.

            Pansy left without saying a word.

@~}~~

            Professor Sprout was blathering on about something in Herbology, but Pansy couldn’t bring herself to pay attention. It was Monday, the beginning of just another goddamn week to get through. She just didn’t see the point. Why bother learning about plant life, why bother trying to get good notes, when it was all going to come crashing down in a few months, anyway? She gritted her teeth together in an effort not to scream, to tell all of her stupid classmates what was going to happen. Pansy was in an advanced class for Herbology—she couldn’t remember why at the moment—so of course most of her classmates were Hufflepuffs. Warm, fuzzy, stupid-happy Hufflepuffs, with their families and their values and their love—Pansy felt bitter tears rising in her eyes and was aghast. She knew it was bad when she was getting jealous of the Huffles.

            She cradled her head in her arms and tried to block everything out. Suddenly there was movement around her—she glanced up, confused. Everyone was pairing off for something, and she had no idea what was going on. Someone placed a tentative hand on her shoulder. Pansy looked up, trying not to shiver at the contact. It was the blonde girl—Abbott.

            Looking very unsure of herself, she asked, “Do you need a partner?”

            Pansy slowly nodded. “I…missed most of the lesson, though,” she whispered as she and Abbott walked to an open station. “I’m afraid I don’t know what to do.”

            “That’s okay…I remember.” Abbott smiled at her, and Pansy’s mouth twitched in response.

            They worked mostly in silence, with Abbott occassionally directing her. Pansy began to relax, to slip into the work, and she then remembered why she was taking Herbology. It had exactly this affect on her.

            Near the end of class Abbott turned toward her. “When… did you want to get together to finish it?” she asked.

            Pansy blinked at her, nonplussed. “What?”

            “Oh. It’s a long-term project…we have to write a paper and do research on further applicaple properties.”

            “It doesn’t matter,” Pansy said, again feeling that nihilism crash down around her.

            “Is Wednesday okay? In the library—after dinner?”
            “Sure.”

            Abbott studied her, and Pansy grew uncomfortable. “Are you okay?”

            “I’m fine. See you Wednesday, Ms. Abbott,” Pansy snapped gathering her things and almost, but not quite, rushing out the door.

~~{~@

            Wednesday rolled around, and after dinner Hannah gathered her things and went to the library. She found an empty table and sat down. For some reason, her stomach was full of butterflies.

            Pansy showed up not long after she did, and the two got to work. Mostly, they were doing research. Occasionally, when Hannah came across something interesting, she’d share it with Pansy, who surprisingly seemed quite interested. Soon the two were engaged in deep conversation about the ethical uses of powdered unicorn horn, and what alternative ingredients produced similar effects.

            “You really have a good eye for alternatives,” Hannah remarked at one point.

            “…thanks.” Pansy said, caught off guard

            “Are you going to go into herbs or potions after Hogwarts?”

            After Hogwarts…Pansy resisted the urge to laugh wildly. Something in her face must have changed because Hannah’s brow furrowed.

            “What?” she asked. “What is it?”

            Pansy blinked, and looked up into Hannah’s face. “I…”

            Hannah placed a tentative hand on her shoulder. Pansy shrugged it off violently, suddenly angry. “Goddamn Hufflepuffs! You’re so fucking touchy-feely! It’s none of your business.”

            Hannah’s face crumpled. Oh God, thought Pansy, don’t tell me she’s gonna start crying. But she didn’t. “I—sorry.” she said, gathering up her things. “I think I better go.”

            Pansy swallowed a sigh, and watched the blonde Hufflepuff walk away.