A new chapter is up.
Come in, get comfortable, and let’s see what kind of trouble waits this time ❤️ ✦ The students cheered when Hermione shot into the air.
For one brief, absurd moment, they seemed to believe she had flown up to stop Harry and Malfoy’s quarrel.
Then her screams reached the ground.
Edmund stared at the applauding first-years.
Did they honestly think Hermione knew how to fly?
He had no time to correct them.
He clamped his knees around the broom, kicked off hard, and raced after her.
“Hermione!
Stop moving and keep your balance!” She could not hear him over her own panic.
Both hands were locked around the handle, her knuckles white with the effort of holding on.
The broom shuddered violently beneath her, then lurched forward and carried her toward the trees.
Edmund flattened himself against his Comet and forced more magic into it.
The broom groaned under the strain, its frame creaking as though it might come apart at any second.
He ignored the warning.
Hermione’s fingers were already slipping.
They gave way.
She fell.
Edmund drove the Comet into a final dive.
He reached her when she was barely six feet above the ground, released the handle, and caught her with both arms.
The impact nearly tore him from the broom.
It dropped beneath their combined weight, skimming so close to the grass that the twigs brushed the ground.
Edmund tightened his legs, leaned back, and fought to slow them without losing Hermione.
The instant they landed, the Comet split into several pieces.
Hermione stared up at him, mouth open, too shocked to speak.
Then the fear caught up with her.
She buried her face against his chest and began to sob.
“Merlin’s beard!
How dare you two…” Professor McGonagall’s furious voice carried across the lawn.
She strode toward them with Harry trailing miserably behind her.
Farther back, Professor Flitwick was running as fast as his shorter legs allowed.
“Mr.
Gaunt!
Miss Granger!
You…” McGonagall stopped when she saw Hermione crying in Edmund’s arms.
“I’m sorry, Professor,” Edmund said.
“Hermione didn’t do it on purpose.
She was only trying to help.” He explained what had happened, making it clear that Hermione’s broom had carried her into the air by accident.
McGonagall’s expression remained stern, but some of the anger left it.
She understood exactly what Edmund was doing, and he had just saved one of her Gryffindors.
“Mr.
Gaunt, are you hurt?” Professor Flitwick reached them at last, breathless and visibly shaken.
He had heard the shouting, noticed a flying lesson with no professor in sight, and come down to investigate.
Instead, he had arrived in time to see Edmund catch Hermione on a failing broom.
“I’m fine, Professor.
Hermione just needs some time to recover.” Edmund was perfectly fine.
Being alive with a pretty girl still in his arms was hardly the worst outcome.
McGonagall studied Hermione.
The worst of her crying had passed, but she still trembled and refused to release Edmund’s robes.
“Mr.
Gaunt, please take Miss Granger to the Hospital Wing.
And thank you for what you did.
Twenty points to Ravenclaw.” She turned to Harry.
“Potter, you are coming with me.” Edmund lifted Hermione into his arms and carried her inside.
…
In the Hospital Wing, Hermione still had her face pressed against his chest.
“Hermione, we’re alone now.
You can let go.” She did not move.
“At this rate, you’re going to soak through my robes.” That finally drew a reaction.
Hermione raised her head.
Her cheeks were flushed, whether from crying or from hiding against him for so long, and tears still clung to her lashes.
“It was an accident,” Edmund said gently.
“It’s over now.
With a little more practice…” “I am never getting on a broom again!” The force of her answer almost made him laugh, but he knew better than to argue.
He sat beside her and let her condemn broomsticks, flying lessons, and the collective sanity of anyone who enjoyed Quidditch.
Little by little, the tension left her shoulders.
Exhaustion eventually won, and Hermione fell asleep.
Edmund remained until her breathing settled.
After what she had endured, a few hours of undisturbed rest would do more for her than any lecture about flying.
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS AuroraVale Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter pulled you a little deeper into the story.
Stay close, because things are only getting more interesting.