Euan Abercrombie’s Flying Lesson

By Air Elemental

Euan Abercrombie stepped out into the warm sunlight and breathed in the sweet smell of the grass. It was a bright, sunny morning; perfect for flying. The knot in Euan’s stomach tightened. Flying.

“At last!� cried a delighted voice. A short boy with dark brown hair and a long fringe ran up beside Euan. It was Zebedee Sutton, his best friend. “I love flying! I’m so glad we’re finally getting lessons. I thought they’d forgotten as well!�

“Uh… yeah…� Euan muttered, feeling sick. Just the thought of flying made his stomach turn horribly and the bile rise in his throat. Euan was terrified of heights.

“C’mon then!� Zebedee tugged at Euan’s sleeve. “Let’s hurry or all the good brooms’ll be gone!�

The last thing Euan wanted to do was run ahead to the front, but he didn’t want to look stupid in front of Zebedee. Eagerly zigzagging his way through the crowd, they came to a large clearing. A large pile of brooms lay higgledy-piggledy on the ground. Standing beside them, hands on hips, was Madam Hooch. Euan swallowed nervously; Madam Hooch always made him feel nervous.

“Come on! We haven’t got all day!� she barked, as the students spread around the pile. “Pick one out and stand in a space.�

“Wicked!� yelled Zebedee, picking out a broom that resembled a large toothbrush and waving it in the air.

“Mr Sutton! Your broom is not a battering stick!� yelled Madam Hooch. Nervously, Euan bent over the pile and reached in, tugging out a fairly long and thin broom. It looked as if it would break if he sneezed on it.

“Out of the way, Crom-berry!� snarled a deep voice behind him. Someone pushed Euan aside and snatched a large broom from the pile. It was a dark-haired boy with deep blue eyes. Euan clenched his teeth in annoyance. It was Lewis Pirrin. Euan didn’t know why Lewis disliked him, or why he insisted in calling him ‘Crom-berry’. A horrible sinking feeling surged in his stomach. Lewis was probably much better at flying than him. For one moment, Euan imagined himself flying high in the sky and doing loop-the-loops in the air, while Lewis was still on the ground, trying to make the worthless stick he’d picked fly. Euan smiled shyly to himself, like that would happen!

“Into a line everyone!� said Madam Hooch. Lewis scurried away from the pile and got in line. Euan stood between Zebedee and a pretty black girl who winked at him. Euan felt the nerves come back. Now he was going to make a fool of himself in front of her too.

“That’s it, line up!� Madam Hooch was still ordering everyone into a line. “Place your brooms on the floor in front of you. For goodness sake Tremlin, use your common sense! Salter, stop dancing around like that! What are you, the Lord of the Dance? Right, everyone ready now?� Madam Hooch glared down at them. “Good! Now hover your right hand broom and say ‘UP!’�

After several attempts to make his broom rise, Euan was finally sitting nervously on his broom. His hands felt slippery with sweat and he felt sick. He didn’t want to do this. He hated this. Why couldn’t he stay back in his dorm and finish his potions homework or Charms essay. Anything had to be better than a flying lesson.

“You alright, mate?� asked Zebedee, looking concerned.

Euan nodded his head, “Yeah. I’m just a bit, erm, excited.�

“I’m not,� muttered the girl beside Euan. “I hate flying.�

“At the sound of my whistle,� ordered Madam Hooch. “Push off from the ground and into the air. One, two, three…�

She blew hard onto the whistle and the whole class banged their feet onto the ground and set off. Euan screwed his eyes shut and jumped.

Suddenly, the ground beneath him disappeared and his legs were dangling in mid air. His blond hair blew around his ears and his heart thudded with fear. Nervously, he opened his eyes.

He was two feet off the ground.

“Pathetic…� muttered a deep voice above him. Euan looked up to see Lewis sailing calmly above him, smirking. “I’d have thought you of all people would’ve been able to rise more than an inch, Crom-berry.�

“It’s Abercrombie,� Euan muttered darkly, slightly confused. What did Lewis mean, him of all people?

Feeling determined and willing himself not to look down, Euan slowly edged upwards. It felt like being on a Muggle stair lift like the one at his Grandma’s. Only he felt more exposed and vulnerable here. One wrong move and… no! He mustn’t think like that!

He drew level with the girl. Her face was contorted with nerves; her eyes glued downwards.

“I don’t like this,� she muttered. “Let me down… no, I’ll fall… but I need to…�

“Are you OK?� asked Euan, feeling that he should do something. He was a bag of nerves himself.

“N – no!� she cried. “I want to get – ARGH!�

Euan cried out as the girl suddenly slipped off her broom and falling. It was then that Euan realised just how high he was. The girl was falling at a height of twenty feet head first.

Something took over inside Euan. Felling bravery bubble inside him, Euan took hold of the broom handle and plunged it downward. His stomach felt like it was being stretched and he felt the bile rise in his throat, but he concentrated on one thing: the girl plummeting to her –

“Gotcha!� yelled Lewis, sweeping down easily and scooping the girl up. Euan almost choked with horror.

“Oh… thank… thank you,� she gushed, practically swooning in Lewis’ arms. Lewis grinned smugly.

“Of course,� he said, glancing up at Euan. “You need a real man to help you out.�

“Euan!� yelled Zebedee, halfway across the field in mid-air. “Watch where you’re going!�

Euan blinked and it all came back. He was sitting on a stick, tumbling to his doom.

“ARGH!� he screamed, as he hit the ground with a sickening thud. The broom landed with a soft pat next to him. Groaning, Euan rolled over and rubbed his thudding head. Upstaged by Lewis, fallen off his broom… it couldn’t get any worse.

Out of the corner of his eye, Euan could see Zebedee land his broom and run over to him.

“Are you alright, mate?� Zebedee asked, crouching beside him. Euan mumbled and rubbed his head. Everything was going all blurry.

“I didn’t know you were that bad,� said Zebedee, pulling at Euan’s arm, trying to help him up. “I know your dad’s a Quidditch player, so I figured that you’d be good too. Still, never mind, eh?�

Zebedee’s smiling face was slowly becoming a large peachy blob. Euan rubbed his eye’s nervously.

“Why didn’t you help him?� he heard a voice screech. It was the girl’s!

“I – I – Why should I’ve helped that prat? He was blatantly showing off!� yelled Lewis. They were fighting. A small smile came to Euan’s face.

“There we are, pal!� Zebedee finally pulled Euan up and supported him onto his shoulder.

“Showing off?� the girl cried at Lewis. “You were the idiot showing off!�

“I was saving you,� protested Lewis. He was losing, “I couldn’t save you both!�

“You wouldn’t have needed to save either of us, since he was about to save me!�

“Goodness me Sutton, what happened to Abercrombie?� Euan heard Madam Hooch cry as his vision went black.

*****
“She said it was only concussion,� said Euan, smiling as he patted his head, “so I could get out early.�

“The way Jenny was going on about it, it sounded like your brains had become scrambled egg,� laughed Zebedee. They were walking down towards the Gryffindor common room from the hospital wing. Euan looked at Zebedee with a puzzled look.

“Y’know, that girl that was arguing with Lewis,� Zebedee rolled his eyes at Euan’s surprised face. “I think she’s got the hots for you!�

“You – you think so?� Euan asked, feeling his face go red.

Zebedee laughed again, “C’mon Romeo. Let’s go get you something decent to woo her with! Maybe you’ll be staying up late tonight, eh?�

“Zebedee!� Euan punched his friend playfully. Him? A girlfriend? Well, there’s a first time for everything…

The End