As I made my way down to the Quidditch stadium on Friday, I will admit - I was a tad nervous. I wasn't nervous about teaching - Quidditch was as easy as "Wingardium Leviosa" to me; I felt confident. I was nervous about what Arianna made of this meeting.
Over the years, it's been annoying how girls have tried to get my attention. They count the days off until the next Hogsmeade visit and practically attack me in the halls with requests to go to Madam Puddifoot's with them. I've broken more than one heart over the years, but I'm still not sure if I should admit that or not. I was nervous about Arianna counting this as a "date". Usually, I would have turned someone down if they asked me to teach them Quidditch, but there was something in Arianna's eyes that told me she was serious about this. Either that, or she was a damn good actress.
I stopped before I rounded the corner. I took a deep breath, and rounded it. Part of me was expecting Arianna to be wearing make-up and some flowery or frilly dress. How wrong I was: she was sitting in the bleachers, wearing ripped pants, a raggy black sweater, her hair pulled back into a braid, a watch, and worn shoes.
No makeup.
No dress.
No flowers.
No frill.
That took a big load off my shoulders. I could see she was taking this seriously. I strode over two her, carrying two broomsticks. "How long has it been since you last were on a broomstick?" I barked. As soon as that left my mouth, I resisted the urge to slap my forehead. Very nice greeting, Charlie, I thought. You REALLY made her feel welcome.
She glanced at me, boredom in her eyes. But was that all? I could tell there were flecks of nervousness and determination, and she was going to do this if it killed her. She was trying very hard to stay cool, and it was working, for the most part.
Did I just read that all in Arianna's eyes?
"I'm not sure," she replied slowly, her gaze resting on me. "How long has it been since flying lessons?"
"Come on," I groaned. "Flying lessons were in our first year." First year? Wait a minute...
"YOU'RE SAYING THAT YOU HAVEN'T FLOWN IN FIVE YEARS!?!?!?!?!?!"
Arianna looked away, and her face turned a bright, shiny red, like a burn. I immediatly felt guilty. At this rate, she thinks that I'm the biggest jerk she's ever seen, I groaned. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Obviously, I was full of nerves, and I needed to calm them. "Hey, sorry about that," I said in a soft voice. "I'll guess we'll just start from the basics, huh?"
I layed the two broomsticks on the ground. "First, you have to learn how to command your broomstick up. Here, I'll show you." I stood next to my broomstick, stuck my right hand out, and commanded, "Up!"
The broomstick shot into my hands. Arianna looked slightly impressed.
"Your turn." I told her, motioning twoard her broomstick.
She strode over, stuck out her right hand, and, in a trembling voice, called out, "Up!" The broomstick just layed there.
"Try saying it with more confidence," I suggested. Broomsticks had a strange way of knowing if you didn't were nervous, and would only respond to when you were sure of yourself.
"Up!" Still nothing.
My mind was racing. How can I make her confident? I wondered. Suddenly, and idea sparked in my head. "How about this...look, this is a broomstick. Any idiot can ride one. You are the boss of it, you are smarter than it, you are the superior. You are better! Why be afraid of a few splinters of what once was a tree? Heck, you can snap it in half if you want! It's nothing more frightening than a wand." My speech worked. Arianna believed what I said, and a confidence aroused in her eyes.
"Up!" Like a bullet, the broom zoomed into her hands with extreme velocity. She looked at me and grinned, and I returned it.
"Great job!" I praised. "Now I have to teach you how to mount it."
I showed her how to hold the broomstick so you don't slide off, how to lower yourself, and how to go higher. After a few practice rounds on the ground, she was ready to fly...for the first time in five years.
"OK, on my count, you kick off, hover, and come back down. Ready? One...two...three!"
Arianna went up, hovered, and came down. She looked proud of herself. I was impressed at the way she handled it with ease.
"That was perfect, Arianna. Your a natural." Did I say that outloud? I was thinking that it was possible that she had talent, but a natural? That's a bit pushing it for the first time.
She blushed and looked down at her watch. Her eyes suddenly became as wide as dinner plates. I glanced down at my watch too - it was getting late. "I guess we'd better get going," I advised. I picked up a broomstick and turned in the direction of the school's broomstick storage room. "Same time next week?"
"Sure," said Arianna, picking up a broomstick too. "On one condition...."
Uh-oh. I knew that the lesson went too good to be true. She wanted a date from me, she never wanted to learn Quidditch, she just wanted to get to know the Quidditch me, not the real me. My insides were squirming. "Oh? W-what's that?"
Her deep blue eyes twinked mischeviously. "That you stop calling me 'Arianna'. I won't answer to it anymore. Call me 'Ari'."
Ari. I liked that name - I liked it alot.
"Sure thing...Ari."