with luck
it'll all go
smoothly

ϟ

"—the wind was howling as I soared across the sky. Father could barely keep his eyes on me. I would be in one spot then in a entirely different one the next second."

"Oh, I bet you're the first to get your broom to fly," Pansy cooed.

"No need to bet, I will be the first to get my broom off the ground," the blonde boy boasted. "Once when I was flying, I was traveling so fast that I almost ran into one of those... of those muggle contraptions that fly around."

"A helicopter?" Perry asked with her eyebrows raised. "A plane? A hang glider? A—"

"What are you doing here?" Pansy barked as the group of Slytherins reached the top of the staircase.

Perry blushed a deep red before looking past them to see a certain bushy haired Gryffindor making her way down the corridor alone.

"Leaving," she muttered under her breath as she shifted past them. A few of their eyes lingered on her as she walked towards the know-it-all Gryffindor.

"Hermione! Er—eh—hey, hi?" She said catching up to her.

"Oh, hello Perry," she said with a halfhearted smile.

"Is something wrong?" Perry asked as her eyebrows furrowed with concern. "If I'm bothering you I can—"

"No, no. You're not bothering me. Why would you be?"

"I guess no reason," Perry mumbled with a shrug of her shoulders and a growing feeling of guilt in her stomach. "What's got you so concerned then?"

She let out a sigh as she gripped her books a little tighter. "I'm just a little nervous for the flying lessons," she answered.

"That's understandable," Perry said. "I know I'm gonna make a complete fool of myself in front of all the Slytherins."

"I'm sure you'll do great," Hermione encouraged, although it sounded like false hope to Perry.

The two girls walked through the castle doors side by side. They strolled through the courtyard and out into the grounds of Hogwarts, on which they'd be learning to fly.

Behind the two girls, the Slytherins glared at them. Perry could feel the familiar stares of her peers as they neared the other first years. It seemed the rest of the Gryffindor class was already down on the lawn, waiting for the Slytherins and the forgotten bushy haired girl.

All the Gryffindors were lined up on one side next to a broomstick. Harry looked up at Perry, who was descending the hill towards them, and nodded to the open spot next to him.

Perry would have gladly accepted the spot if it hadn't been the last open broom on the side of red and gold. Her wanting for that spot may have been great, but she knew better than to take it. If she were to occupy the space between Harry and one of her other classmates, Hermione would have to take a spot with all of the Slytherins, and there was no way she was going to let that happen.

She looked over at a nervous Hermione before sending Harry a guilty smile. Being Harry, he didn't quite understand what she meant by looking at the bushy haired girl, but he knew that smile, and that smile meant she would not be standing beside him.

The group of Slytherins behind the two girls fastened their pace as they raced down the hillside. Perry gave Hermione a slight nudge towards the spot next to Harry as she departed from her side.

Perry ran to the spot directly across from Harry. The other Slytherins filled in the spots next to her shortly after she did this. Perry now knew she had made a mistake by taking this place. To her left stood Millicent Bulstrode, and to her right the blonde prick himself, Draco Malfoy.

A shrill noise echoed around the grounds and the chatter among the students immediately died. Madam Hooch, their flying instructor, had arrived and blown a whistle to get everyone to quite down.

"Well, What are you all waiting for? Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"

A chorus of "UP"'s were heard by the students who so greatly wanted to watch the fickle first years fail their flying lesson.

Perry watched as Harry's broom and Draco's broom flew right into their hands. She narrowed her eyes at her broom that had only rolled over. She flared her nostrils and straightened her back as she repeated the simple chant.

"Up!" she yelled at the broom, which, yet again, failed to rise into her hand. Around her, many of the other first years had gotten their broom to levitate into their palms.

Perry bit down on her lip while staring down at the school broom with furrowed eyebrows. Beside her, she heard an overly dramatic sigh.

"It can sense the worry in your voice," the blonde boy sighed.

Perry turned to him with her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not worried," she mumbled.

"That's a lie," he scoffed.

She looked down at the broom and slightly pouted her lips, "But it's a broom," she said lightly tapping it with her foot.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "You really don't understand the whole magic thing, do you?"

She opened her mouth to send back a nasty retort but instead closed it as she clenched her jaw. She straightened her posture and raised her arm out.

"Up!" she commanded. The broom rose into her hand and a small smile crept onto Perry's face. Now they only had to wait for the rest of the unsuccessful first years.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle — three
— two —"

"Oh no," Perry muttered as she watched a pudgy Gryffindor boy rise into the air on his broom.

"Come back boy," Madam Hooch called at the boy who kept rising higher and higher into the sky.

Perry's eyes widened as she watched the boy's eyes roll back and his body plummet to the ground from about twenty five feet high. With a loud thump and crack, he hit the hard grassy earth.

Madam Hooch was at his side faster than Perry had ever seen someone move. Her face was as white as his was as she bent over him and examined his arm. Then she turned back to the shocked Slytherins and Gryffindors.

"None of you are to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

Perry watched, mouth agape, as the two slowly disappeared into the castle.

"Did you see his face, the great lump!" Malfoy exclaimed before bursting into laughter. The other Slytherins, beside Perry, joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Perry snapped.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom? teased Pansy. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Persephone."

"That's not true!" Perry burst. "I obviously don't like you very much!"

"How dare you, rotten little pipsqeak!" Pansy growled as she stepped forward to tower over Perry.

"The only thing rotten here is the smell of your breath," Perry snapped before she could stop herself.

Pansy gasped as she looked down at the girl flabbergasted. Immediately, hands grabbed both the girls, pulling them away from each other. Harry and Ron pulled the blonde girl towards the rest of the Gryffindors while two boys Perry knew as Blaise Zabini and Theodore Knott grabbed the raven haired girl.

"Look!" said Malfoy, gathering all there attention as he darted forward and snatched something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly as he dropped his arms from Perry and held his hand out. Everyone stopped talking to watch.

Malfoy smiled nastily. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find — how about — up a tree?"

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"

"Harry, don't," Perry pleaded, but Harry grabbed his broom anyways.

"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move — you'll get us all into trouble."

Harry chose to ignore both of them and shot into the air like a bullet fired from a gun. Perry's eyes widened once again as she watched Harry glide so easily through the air. She couldn't tell what they were saying but she could tell it was a very heated discussion.

A smirk crept onto Malfoy's face and he threw the Remembrall in the opposite direction. Perry's eyes were practically bulging out of her sockets as she stared in horror at Harry heading straight to the ground.

Perry was the first at Harry's side as he toppled onto the ground with the Remembrall clutched in his hands.

She let out a sigh once she was certain he was okay, "Are you kidding me, Har—"

"HARRY POTTER!"

Perry quickly pulled Harry to his feet as Professor McGonagall marched towards them.

"Never — in all my time at Hogwarts —"

"Please, Professor," Perry tried to plead.

"—how dare you — might have broken your neck —"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor —"

"Be quiet, Miss Persephone."

"But Malfoy —"

"That's enough, Miss Persephone. Potter, follow me, now. Class dismissed; I'll inform Madam Hooch."

Harry sent the blonde girl a worried look but was only met with one of pure shock. He tore away his arm from her grip and followed the stern Professor.

Professor McGonagall disappeared through the castle doors with Harry toe in toe with her. Once out of earshot, Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins burst into laughter.

Perry clenched her fists by her side. Her face contorted into one of pure anger. Slowly she turned towards Malfoy and his goons. Her eyes narrowed at him in anguish as he wiped his eyes of tears.

The Slytherins behind Malfoy quickly grew quite when they saw the expression painted on the little blonde girl they all had underestimated and will continue to underestimate. In her head she was arguing over wether she should hex the blonde prat or punch him straight in the nose.

He, along with the other Slytherins, had finally grown completely quite. They stared at the girl with mixed emotions. One of confusion and a little fear.

Malfoy plastered a forced smirk onto his face as he challenged the girl, "Mad that your precious little Potter's on his way back to your muggle house?"

Perry scoffed, "Just you wait."

Without warning Perry reached for her wand, finally making her minds up to hex him. Before she could tell them off, Hermione and Ron were grabbing her arms and pulling her back up to the castle. She had grown stronger since coming to Hogwarts, but she might never catch up to the others around her age.

She thrashed in their grip as they reached the courtyard and made their way towards the entrance hall.

"Why would you stop me!" she growled.

"We don't know what's going to happen with Harry, and, frankly, I feel Harry would feel terrible if he were the reason for your expulsion," Hermione said.

"Yeah," Ron said, "What she said."

Perry scoffed before pinching the bridge of her nose and pushing her negative thoughts to the back of her mind.

"Tell Harry — if he's not expelled," she added, "that I'll be in the library." She pushed through the two of them and stalked down the corridor clenching her fists.