In Search of a Broom

You're as good at takeoffs as your boyfriend!

It's just a little dirt; at least you didn't get face planted like Starbuck.

Try again, Annie.

She felt the broom vibrate faster as she took to the air. She remembered the maneuvers they had reviewed in class on Monday and lifted her broom about two meters higher from the ground, still heading straight ahead.

She figured she had to be crawling along at a slow jog pace. Her adrenaline surged as she leaned forward, urging the broom faster.

Annie Krum carried out 1 launched of one (D100.) :

99

Annie Krum carried out 1 launched of one (D20.) :

19

The member 'Annie Krum' has done the following action : Dice Roll

'D100' :

Result : 40

You Kids, both of you--GET OUTTA MY DICE POOL!

Damn broom fliers!

Though Annie stalled out the first time--doing like a take off, hop and roll--she was up in a fast second, and then--

She was moving. Fast.

Jeez! Kerry took off after her, laughing, with Professor Salomon right behind him. Kerry was pushing it just a little, but he caught up with Annie some 6 seconds after she took off.

"That's my girl!" he said over the headset, and he couldn't keep the pride out of his voice.

Annie bolted past Kerry—really opening up the broom. Instinct took over as she tore down the pitch. Kerry’s voice was suddenly in her head as she heard him declare, ‘That’s my girl.’ She giggled in response, peeking over at him flying next to her.

“We’re flying, Kerry!”

Kerry blew Annie a kiss then said over the headset, "It's your pitch, Annie. I'll be right here. Let's have fun." He rose just a bit to keep her in sight, but his feeling was that right now, this was about as perfect as it had been for him for a very long time . . ..

Annie spent the better part of an hour getting the feel for the broom before her back end started to protest. She landed and dismounted; the ground beneath her felt too spongy when she walked. No wonder papa prefers to fly, she thought while bouncing up and down.

She took off her headgear and stretched out on the soft grass, laying the broom gently on the ground beside her. The overcast fall day was perfect flying weather. Annie gazed up at the few fliers overhead…actually, she was only looking at one in particular... She smiled as she watched him, pleased at how the day was turning out.

Kerry saw Annie land and stretch out. He had followed her through her paces on the broom, and had been amazed by what she'd done. She might not have realized it, but she was pushing herself little by little, Kerry thought.

He pulled the Nimbus into a long, lazy, circling climb. It was one thing to go up this high with the Professor, but he wanted to do it himself. Once he was up about 100 meters he turned the broom over towards the stadium and gave it a little boost to cover the distance.

Kerry saw the activity in the stadium; 6 fliers in different colors running patterns around the enclosure. He knew nothing about these games--but he was sure he would learn more since Annie's family was so tied into them. For now, he was content to fly and watch.

And speaking of Annie . . ..

He turned and headed back to where she was, losing altitude as he reached the pitch. Setting up, Kerry came in low, then slowed, then brought himself to a stop a few meters from where they lay. He climbed off the broom and groaned a little as the pressure from having ridden for a few hours made itself known. Just like a bike, he thought, only . . . you get a lot higher.

Kerry walked over to Annie, pulling off he headgear and unzipping his jacket. Laying down next to her, he took her hand and said, "I think it's been a good day."

Annie rolled over on her side and propped her head up with her hand. She watched him laying beside her—his cheeks a bright red from the excitement of flight.

“You’re a great flier, Kerry,” she said quietly. “I wasn’t expecting it to be quite like this. It makes me feel even worse for stuffing that Firebolt in my closet all these years.” She smiled at him. “But, it wouldn’t have been the same…because you would not have been there.”

She lay back down and stared up at the cloudy sky. “In fact,” she said, “I probably won’t pull that broom out for quite a while.”

Kerry listened and nodded when Annie finished speaking. "You'll get it out when you're ready," he said, not looking away from her. "Right now you have another broom, so make that yours." He snickered. "Maybe you were meant to ride the same broom as me."

Annie considered his argument. It seemed logical enough—everything else in her life had clicked into place since meeting Kerry, why shouldn’t flying be the same.

“I think you’re right,” she said. “There is a time and place for everything…and this just happened to be it.”

"Just let it come," Kerry said, nodding. "It seems like so many things are falling right for us." He laid back and snuggled next to Annie, looking at the sky. "I think I'm going to ask about buying that 4500. There's a lot of room to grow on that."

He kissed Annie on the cheek. "I'm happy you could fly with me. It seemed really right."

Annie sat up on her elbows, looking around the pitch. She saw a few fliers, still up in the air; mysteriously, Victoria seemed to have disappeared. Since Annie and Kerry were the only two people on the ground, she rolled over, placing her arm on his chest.

“I’ll fly anywhere with you, Kerry.” She lowered her head and kissed his lips.

Kissing Annie was a great way to finish off what had been a great morning going into afternoon. "I'll hold you to that," Kerry said. "'Cause one day we're gonna do some traveling."

Thinking about the stadium and all the activity there, Kerry said, "You'll have to teach me about this game. I like to know everything, if you hadn't noticed." He pulled Annie tight. "Oh, girls in leather are nice."

Her body took over as she reacted to his embrace, molding herself to him. The breeze was blowing steadily now; Annie felt a storm might pass though.

“Guys in leathers aren’t half bad either,” she giggled. She kissed him once more, lingering a bit longer this time, and then hopped up on her feet. “If you like to know everything, Mr. Malibey, then I suggest we get started on our Herbology assignment.”

She bent down, scooping up her broom. “Let’s change and hit the library.” She laughed, slowly turning in a circle in front of him and added, “Last looks before I take this stuff off.”

Kerry grabbed up his broom and, before getting on, gave Annie's butt a pinch. "That won't be the last time I see you like that, Sweetie!" he said as he mounted.

He flew off slowly, waiting for Annie. I can't believe I just got on a broom and went like that, he thought. Yeah, this beats the hell out of secondary school in Cardiff.