Up Up and Away PV Ami & Amadea Finished

Amadea immediately felt bad for the poor Slytherin. Clearly, he had wanted this day to go well. Not having plans didn't ruin it though! It made it even better. They could be spontaneous and make the plan as they went. She told him this, hoping it would lift his spirits. 

Then she turned to Ami. "So, a race?" she asked. Amadea still hadn't flown very often and wasn't sure how fast she could go, especially on these rickety school brooms. Nevertheless, she was determined to make this a great day and Kyden had suggesting racing, so that's what Amadea was going to do. She patted her broom beneath her, wondering if it understood her gesture. It meant, We are most definitely going to win this race and show the others how it's done. 

Amadea decided to take charge. "Let's fly over to where the Quidditch hoops are," she said. That way, they could line up and each one of them would be starting from the same place so it would be a fair contest. If they started here, they couldn't be sure they were in a straight line. She looked across the Quidditch field. "We can race to the other end of the Quidditch field," she suggested. "Or if that's too short and easy we could race to the other end, turn around and come back." 

"A race!" Ami cheered with a wide smile. Excellent... so you're going to relive the Falcon Incident? some back part of her mind snarked. The Hufflepuff shuddered, and her ankle tingled as if it was physically reminding her of that catastrophe. Her smile faded, if only slightly, and her grip tightened drastically on her broom, her knuckles turning white. Flying with the other two to the Quidditch hoops she'd been flying around minutes prior, she nodded along to Amadea's plan. "Let's try just down to the other end, first, without flying back," Ami suggested. "Y'all are so much better than me, I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with two lengths..."

Shifting her seat on the broom, she waited for someone (probably Kyden's) shout of "Go!", geared up and ready to redeem herself. First, her spraining an ankle with Lorelai, then, the disastrous Quidditch game... really, flying just seemed to be her ultimate downfall, whenever she got too cocky with it. She'd just have to remember and slow down, keep her head, and to not get over-excited. Really, simple, basic things, right? Somehow, however... she knew, deep in her heart, she'd manage to screw this up. She always did.

Kyden perked up. He was both surprised and excited that both of the girls wanted to race. However he felt it unfairly matched. He wondered if he should say something. He was sure most Slytherin's wouldn't and would just win but that wasn't him.

"Umm okay so to the other end of the Quidditch Pitch. Should we do handicaps? Like do we all start at the same time or since I am a better flyer I start five seconds after? How do you guys want to do it?"

He looked across the pitch before looking at the girls. The sun was hiding behind some clouds and it was a tad bit chilly. He looked down and around and smiled slightly when he realized that they were practically the only students outside. I guess the fear of rain was kind of huge. He wouldn't mind if it rained. He loved the rain. He loved watching weather change. Weather amazed him.

Okay if thoughts were wandering off he looked back at the girls waiting for an answer. "We could just all start at the same time. Then after the race lets say winner gets to choose what we all do next. Seems fair doesn't it?"

Amadea had suggested the race, but even so, she was growing a bit nervous. She had never raced before and she had only flown a few times. This would be quite the experience. She hoped she didn't hurt herself. Amadea performed surprisingly well under pressure. She had the ability to calm herself and think rationally without letting the panic shield her vision and thoughts. It was a helpful skill to have. She hoped it would pay off here. 

Amadea only half listened as Kyden tried to figure out where they all should start. She was too busy going over the technique of flying in her head. Stay balanced on the broom, don't overcorrect if you make a mistake, lean forward, keep your hands steady. Those were the big takeaways she had learned from her flying lessons with Kyden and she hoped that they would be enough. 

It seemed as though both Ami and Kyden were experienced flyers, or at least more experienced than her. She didn't let that get her down though. She had only just learned how to fly, and they might have been flying for a much longer time.  "Yes, lets all line up together," she said, moving so she was in line with the other two. 

Then she waited for whoever was going to call their marks, probably Ami. She adjusted herself on the broom before looking over at the other two. "You're going down," she said playfully before returning her attention to the race course in front of them. 

Ami cursed under her breath as she realized the other two were waiting for her mark. I thought it was going to be Kyden! "Alright... down to the other end and stop... ready..." Her eyes narrowed, her body leaning forward on the broom, her shoulders tensing of their own accord. "Steady..." 'Set' was too basic, she was with intellectuals, after all. Besides, 'ready' and 'steady' rhymed. "GO!" she yelled, streaking off across the pitch as soon as the word left her mouth.

To be perfectly honest, Ami wasn't the best flier. Any talent she had came from the sheer natural instinct to not fall off, and she naturally had pretty good balance. However, she hadn't flown much, often skipping Flying because of her dislike of flying in front of other people, and her small fear of heights. The rush of adrenaline usually canceled the heights thing out, though, so the only expression on the redhead's face was one of extreme delight and soaring through the sky.

To her extreme dismay, Ami watched Kyden shoot past her, taking over her minuscule lead. "Come on!" she yelled good-naturedly, egging herself to go faster. "Not cool, Ky!" By now, they were almost at midfield- the halfway point of their race.

Kyden waited until he heard go from one of the girls. He hung back for a brief moment before shooting forward on the broom. He quickly passed Amadea and then just as quickly over took Ami. He wondered if he should go easy on them.

Then He thought back to his earlyish days at the orphanage. He was taught never to go easy. The only way to win was to work hard for it. No Easy win would be a good win and would make the winner feel bad. He saw the midway point just ahead of him and pushed forward. He glanced back quickly seeing the girls were a good distance behind. He leaned forward and pushed the broom to itself speed. He shot forward and towards the finish line. 

He loved the feel of the wind whizzing past him. Just the thought of flying always excited him. He loved how exhilarating it was. He felt free when he flew. He loved racing especially. He flt himself zoning out and shook his head to clear it. He needed to stay focus and keep his eye on the prize. He took a quick glance behind him and say that both girls were nearing him. He leaned more into his broom if that was possible and pushed forward.

On Ami's mark, all three shot forward through the air. Immediately, Kyden passed by Amadea, whizzing by at a speed almost incomprehensible to Amadea. Then came Ami, who passed by at a slower speed, but was speeding up to reach Kyden.

Amadea realized she needed to go faster. This was the fastest pace that she had ever flown in her entire life, but it wasn’t fast enough for what she needed to win this race. Plus, if she won, she would have wonderful bragging rights. If Kyden or Ami won, they would rub it in as well. That only solidified Amadea’s determination to win the race. As she came to this realization, they reached the halfway mark. Amadea leaned forward, nudging her broom to go faster as she zoomed and caught up to Ami. Forcing the broom just a little bit faster, she swerved slightly to the left to avoid hitting Ami and waved as she went by.

Next was the hard part. Beating Kyden. She knew she probably didn’t have a chance, and plus Ami was still right behind her, but she had to try. Her hair was whipping all around her face and she shoved it out of the way to get a good view of the course in front of her. They were almost at the end by now and Amadea knew she wasn't going to catch up to Kyden. She slowed her pace a little bit so she was going at a manageable speed. 

Ami bit her lip as she urged her and her broom to go faster, but the closest she could get to Kyden was directly behind him, drafting so that she didn't have to try as hard to keep up with him. However, as hard as she might try, she wasn't able to swerve around the Slytherin and simply pass him to shoot forward to the finish line.

Then Amadea passed her as well, and Ami groaned. Leaning forward her broom, she shot forward as Amadea slowed down near the end, not wanting to crash into the Quidditch hoops (smart move). The two red-head Hufflepuffs crossed the finish line together, at the same time, and Ami sighed as she realized Kyden had crossed the line far earlier than they had, and that he was waiting for them patiently to finish.

"You're too good," Ami sighed good-naturedly, carefully taking a hand off of the school broom and detangling the new-found knots in her hair. "Really, I mean, you're probably going to be a Quidditch player or something, as a job," she continued, glancing at Amadea for confirmation at the praise directed towards Kyden. "Either that, or a future headmaster of Hogwarts... I can see it now," she said dramatically, spreading her hands out in front of her as if she were imagining a grand billboard of some sort. "Headmaster Goodlow."

Kyden reached the finish line a good bit before the girls. He turned around and watched them cross the designated finish line. He smiled at both of them. 

"Good job guys!" He laughed at what Ami said. "Well actually I used to want to be a professional Quidditch Player. However now that you say it I really wouldn't mind being the Headmaster some day. I think it would be cool." 

He looked at them. He stayed there hovering on the broom. 

"Guys don't let me forget I have the maps for you guys in my bag. But now anyways lets do something else. I never thought I'd say this but I am tied of being on the broom." 

He quickly turned his broom away from the girls and dove down towards the ground. At the last second he pulled even with the ground touching down safely. He dismounted his broom and carried it in his hand walking over to his bag he had left on the ground. He pulled out 2 copies of the maps of the tunnels. Kyden stood patiently holding the maps in his hand waiting for the girls to reach him.

"Come on guys I am not getting any younger." He joked.

Amadea was still out of breath when she and Ami raced across the finish line together where Kyden was waiting. He probably wasn't even trying that hard and he still managed to beat them both. She slowed down to a stop, coming up next to Kyden. 

"Good job to you as well, winner," Amadea said, smiling at him and Ami. She watched as Ami untangled her hair, and Amadea unconsciously reached up to feel her curls as well. Unfortunately, it seemed as though they were hopelessly tangled as they usually were. She decided she would just quickly put it up, so she made sure she was balanced before quickly removing both hands to pull it up in a quick messy bun. 

She then tuned back in to what the others were talking about. Kyden mentioned the maps. At first, Amadea was confused before she remembered what he was talking about. The night before, they had gone exploring in the secret passageways around Hogwarts and Kyden had promised to draw them maps so they could explore on their own without getting lost. 

They began flying down to the ground and Amadea listened to Ami talk about how Kyden would inevitably become a professional Quidditch player or the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Amadea could honestly see him doing both. "You used to be a professional Quidditch player?" she asked him incredulously. "How?! You're only eleven!" She shook her head in amazement. He really was talented. 

They reached the ground and Amadea hopped off the broom. She took the map from Kyden. "Thank you again for making these maps," she said to him. "What should we do now?" she asked once she had tucked the map away into her bag. She was excited to see what the rest of the day would bring.