The Gloriana Set

Fear I To Fall

"Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall."— Sir Walter Raleigh, said to have written on a window with a diamond to Queen Elizabeth I

"If thy heart fails thee, climb not at all." —the queen's response

Hermione crashed into a hard surface, expecting the snap of broken bones, but the hard surface was soft as well, and she found herself clutching Malfoy, who had flown directly beneath her. He had caught her in his arms, one arm around her waist, the other under her knees. "I've got you," he said hoarsely, climbing again.

She wanted to bury her head in his shoulder and bawl, but Astoria was undoubtedly watching, so Hermione just nodded. Her arms tightened around Malfoy's neck as they rose until he began gasping for air.

Hermione loosened her grip slightly. Malfoy swung around on his broomstick, using only his knees for control. He hovered high over the pitch, holding Hermione to his chest, before a frowning Astoria and a white-faced Ginny.

"That was a dangerous, vile trick, Astoria," he snarled.

"It's not my fault that Granger can't control her broom," Astoria sneered.

The hand under Hermione's legs began twitching; Malfoy was trying to summon his wand. His breath came in rapid pants and the arm around her waist was like iron. "Don't," she said to him, her voice low. She released one hand to place it on Malfoy's spastic one beneath her. "Draco."

"Bound to the earth," Astoria drawled, "yet so desperate to fly."

Malfoy snarled again and now Ginny had her wand out. Hermione pulled her hand from Malfoy's to draw her own wand, pointing it at both Ginny and Astoria, her other arm half-choking Malfoy once more.

"NO," Hermione said in harsh, commanding tones. "We start trading hexes up here, and someone will truly end up dead."

Ginny's smile was cold. "You can't stay up here forever, Greengrass."

"No, Ginny," Hermione said, looking straight at Astoria. "She's mine." Astoria blanched slightly, then tried to cover it with a disdainful sniff.

"Enough, I'm taking Hermione back to the castle," Malfoy said.

"You are certainly not," Astoria said. "We have practice."

"Fuck your practice," Malfoy snapped and turned his broom away.

"Draco!" Astoria called. "You leave this pitch and you won't be playing Quidditch at all!"

He continued his course. "Then I won't play!"

"Malfoy, I'm fine," Hermione said.

"That's what you think of me?" he asked. "You think I'd just dump you on the ground and fly off with Astoria? As soon as we get back to the castle we are reporting—"

"No," Hermione repeated. "I will handle Greengrass." She frowned up into his face. "No reporting, no Slytherin revenge, no little accidents in Herbology." She squeezed the hand under her legs again, now distractingly warm against her thigh. "Trust me."

Malfoy's jaw tightened, but he nodded, turning the broom again. "Where are we going?" Hermione asked.

"Over the Forbidden Forest," he said. "You are getting over this ridiculous fear of flying before you kill yourself."

Hermione nodded, slipping her wand back in her pocket and linking both arms around Malfoy's neck again. Her anger had faded, but she couldn't stop trembling.