Flying For Beginners

Mary blushed, she was acting so stupid today. She figured it was from that fall, she hit her head pretty hard there.
"Thanks, Sam. Do you know a Carlee Raven by any chance?"asked Mary after she checked who her partner should be.
"She's my partner, but I don't know her. Or maybe it's a he..." she trailed off.

“Uhh… I’m afraid not,” the witch confessed. “I don’t really know many people…”

“I can help you practice though,” she offered, trying to help in some way. “Just try and make your broom come up to you and I’ll help you with the balancing part as best I can. That’s why Professor Lewis wanted us to pair up, to help balance each other.”

"Oh, thanks, Sam. Yeah, I don't know that many people either." she shrugged. She knew Sam was shy and she wanted to let her know she wasn't alone.
"So I just say up to the broom?" Mary thought that was quite weird. How is the broom supposed to know what she was saying? But then again, it could fly...
She decided to give it a chance, if Sam says so...
"Up!"
The broom rolled over. Mary looked at Sam helplessly and then tried again.
"Up!" she said warmly, but firm.
The broom flew to her hand!
"I did it! Sam, I did it!" Mary exclaimed happilly.

Samantha smiled at her enthusiasms. She had felt somewhat the same when she had first managed to make her broom come up to her.

“Well done, Mary. Getting in on the second try is really good,” she complimented. “Now you have to mount it, here, I’ll hold on to it and you can use my shoulder for support. Just mount it and get comfortable on it.”

“Though don’t kick off yet,” she added hastily.

Mary grinned at the memory of Sam falling off her broomstick, mainly because she was convinced that'll happened to her as well.

She mounted the broom where Sam showed her and it felt really weird. Flying on it seemed even weirder.
Suddenly, she lost her balance and thank Salazar Sam was there so Mary quickly held on to her shoulder in time.
"Sorry." the witch blushed. At least Sam fell off when she was in the air.

Once again, she sat on the broom and tried to get comfortable as her friendly roommate told her.
"All right, it's kind of okay." she said, smiling.

“I don’t know if “kinda” is good enough. From what I understand, you have to be quite comfortable on the broom before you kick off… or you’ll end up putting on a show,” the witch said, trying to smile at her earlier blunder.

“Once you’re sure of your position, then kick off gently, very, very gently. We’re only allowed to be three or four feet in the air. See if you can do that. Don’t try to manipulate directions yet, just concentrate on getting off the ground,” she finished.

Mary nodded to Sam, who seemed to be sure of what she's talking about.
Of course she does, she was here all lesson, unlike you! she scolded herself. She has got to stop being late for classes...
And she has to focus on things she's doing at the time.

She moved along the broom a little and suddenly, she felt really comfortable.
Smiling at Sam, Marry pushed herself a bit off the ground and she didn't fell off! She was 3 feet in the air, she realized she had to get to the ground.
"Come on, move down." she told her broom and lean forwards a bit under the impression it would help her get back. However, she lost balance completely and fell off just as Sam did before. Only her friend landed on all four, Mary landed facing the earthy grounds. And then the broom fell on top of her.
"Why does this keep happening today?" she muttered angrily as she was getting up.

Samantha gave Mary a hand up. “It takes some getting used to but you’re doing great. I guess you just need to try ad try again. This is how far we’ve reached in the lesson so now you aren’t behind anyone,” she offered on a positive note. She herself couldn’t help Mary anymore seeing as her own broom had thrown her off.

Rebecca turned to look at Dixie. Rebecca really didn't want to go first.

"Dixie, wanna go first? You seem to be better at it than I am."

Rebecca handed the broom to her. Hoping that the other girl really didn't mind going first. They could always give it a few minutes and wait for others to go and watch them. Learn a few things, if Dixie didn't want to go first.

Mary smiled at Sam and thanked her for picking her up.
"You have a partner, right?" she asked her friend. It didn't matter to her now, Sam helped her as much as she could and Mary was very thankfull for that, but now she felt she could do it on her own. Well, to try on her own, that is.

Samantha nodded. “Vanessa’s over there. She’s a little nervous about kicking off, I guess.”

The Gryffindor did look a bit peaky. And Samantha guessed her own spectacular flying hadn’t helped the other girl’s nerves any.

“Most of us seem to have partners, maybe you can go help the new boy…” she suggested.

Mary looked over at the Gryffindor girl Sam pointed to and noticed she looked a bit pale. Relieved she wasn't the only one who was scared of flying, Mary smiled.
"Who, Dimitri?" Mary looked over at the boy and grinned. "If he has to help me up from the ground again. I'm afraid he'll go crazy." she joked, but then realized Sam had no idea what she was talking about.
"I fell before and he helped me. Quite a gentleman, actually." she told Sam. "Yes, I'll ask him." she said.
"Well, have fun, Sam. Try not to hurt yourself." Mary suggested with a smile.

As Sam walked away, Mary approached the Russian boy. With a smirk, she spoke to him.
"Hey, Dimitri. Remember me?"

Harmony nodded over at Raven.

"Only if you're comfortable," she said, noting how he didn't seem to trust the brooms.

She looked over at the new boy curiously. This was her first time seeing him. Shrugging slightly to herself, she kicked off into the air. She probably went a little higher than she was supposed to, but she turned in the air gently, wondering if she could do any barrell rolls.

She grinned to herself. Professor Lewis would surely advise against it, so she didn't even try.

Seeing as they no longer needed a partner to kick off, Will immediately set to it, pushing upwards a bit more as he lifted off.

The broom, which was terribly old, lurched a bit and Will was forced to steer it back up. It even hovered loudly. He sighed, wishing to get a suitable broom for next year. He wished he could at least move it forward, but since Professor Lewis hadn't directed them to do so, he hovered in the air like a loon until she said otherwise.

With a smile, Dimitri nodded. "Of course I remember you, Mary. It is good to see you again." Having caught his breath, Dimitri was looking around and trying to figure out his next course of action. A broom would be needed, of course.

"Flown before?" The tone was conversational. Dimitri had some small experience with it from Durmstrang, and while he was passable, he did not particular enjoy it, and certainly not the sport commonly associated with it.

"Just now. Of course, it ended with me falling." Mary replied laughing. She didn't care she'll appear a clutz to him, she guessed he worked that out by himself.
"Here, I have a broom. If you want, I can hold it until you get your balance on it." She suggested with a warm smile.

With a little smile, Dimitri shook his head. "No, that is alright. Let's see if we can get you up and going." He reached his hand out for the broom, ready to help.

Dimitri remembered his own first flying lesson, and while it had not progressed much further then the absolute basics, Dimitri had not done as well as he had hoped. Maybe by helping Mary try, he could garner some insight into the process.

Mary thought it quite weird he didn't want to fly, but decided he's just being a gentleman. She smiled and put the broom on the floor.
"All right, but I want to help you too. You're next." she said the last thing like a threat, but she grinned along and that erased the whole threat thingy.
"Up!" she told the broom and this time, it flew to her hands right away.
"Can you help me keep it steady, please?" she asked the boy before mounting the broom.

Dimitri grasped the broom both at the base near the head and at the other end. This would allow him to try and hold it steady while giving Mary plenty of room to get on. Always a tall, stong boy for his age, Dimitri was not worried about holding the broom steady for her. She looked as light as a feather. "How is that?"

Mary was glad her partner was a tall boy, he was holding the broom with an ease. She wondered how she'll do afterwards. While she was mounting the broom, Mary suddenly lost balance and she grabbed Dimitri's shoulder for support.
"Sorry, I slipped." she apologized. Once again, she looked for a comfortable position and after few moments, she found it.
"Here. It's great."

When Mary slipped, and he felt her hand upon his shoulder, Dimitri really could not help but grin. She was even lighter then he had been expecting. But of course, where he came from, people were generally stockier than here in England.

"That's alright, Mary. You're doing great." While she was focused on her flying, he gently released the broom, to let her hover on her own.

She really hoped she won't fall off this time. She pushed her off the ground gently and was hovering in the air in about 4 feet for few minutes. She had no idea how to go back to the ground without falling off, so she just leaned her broom down slightly and it went down, her still on it. The second her feet touched the ground again, Mary let out a shriek of happinness.
"I made it, Dimitri!" she exclaimed and in the euphoria of "flying" succesfully, she hugged him. Then, she realized she's hugging a boy and she quickly let go.
"Your turn." she told him, slightly red in the face.

When Mary yelled in excitement, Dimitri could not help but grin, but he did not expect what happened next. When she hugged him, he was shocked. That kind of thing did not really happen in Durmstrang. He was a little awkward as he gave her a gentle squeeze, and secretly kind of relieved when she let go, not because he disliked Mary, but more because he had not been sure what to do.

When he had recovered, he grinned a little once more. "Well done."

Mary, still in shock that she hugged a boy only nodded at his remark. Shaking her head to concentrate, she remember he still han't gone on a broom.
"It's your turn." she repeated. Maybe he didn't hear her before. Holding out a broom for him to take, she grinned. She was imagining her steading the broom for him and the image was hillarious.

"Finally!" Reina breathed. She shifted on her broom a little and then let her foot graze the ground. She took a breath and kicked off. The broom shuddered under her weight before moving upward. She steadied herself, making sure she was balanced as straight as possible as she moved into the air. She took another breath as she steadied the broom so that she hovered, instead of taking off like she really wanted to. She held herself back from leaning forward.