Disclaimer: Harry Potter, names, and places are copyright JK Rowling. No profit is being made from this fanfiction.

Pairing: Draco/Hermione

Summary: It's the second flying lesson in first year and Hermione is still having problems. Madam Hooch partners everyone up while she has to step away for a bit, and Hermione gets Draco Malfoy as her partner. One shot.

Setting: First year, just after the first flying lesson and troll incident.

x-x-x-x-x

November 7th 1991

The first time Hermione attended her mandatory flying lessons during her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been cut short when Neville's broom had gotten out of control and Madam Hooch had to escort him to the Hospital Wing. Now she stood there outside at the pitch, for the second time, a week after Halloween, with about the same amount of luck as the first lesson. Which was none.

She looked around at everyone else's progress. Seamus was hovering about a half a foot above the ground on his broom and seemed to be stuck. Dean was doing a little better as he flew around about four feet off the ground. Her dorm mates, Parvati and Lavender were watching and giggling lightly at Ron getting hit in the face by his broom a second time. The two girls were wobbling and hovering, although Parvati had a better grip on hers. She quickly grabbed Lavender before the blonde girl fell off and the two giggled once more. Poor Neville was trembling and looking warily at his broom that still lay on the ground.

Hermione sighed and looked down once more at the broom laying below her. She had no idea why a class like this was mandatory. Why would she ever need to fly a broom?

"Up," she said firmly, ignoring the temptation to stomp her foot childishly when it didn't budge.

Across the way, she saw Pansy Parkinson of Slytherin along with some of her girl friends, Millicent Bulstrode and Daisy? Daffodil? Hermione couldn't remember the name of the Greengrass girl. They were oohing and ahhing over Draco Malfoy as he showed off his flying skills. Rolling her eyes, she tried to summon her broom once more.

"Up!" This time, the broom twitched a little and she smiled. Her smile however dropped when she whirled around at the sound of a heavy thud.

Everyone winced as Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy's two goons, slammed into each other in the air and crashed to the ground.

"I specifically said not to fly too high off the ground!" Madam Hooch scolded as she rushed over to them. Hermione could hear Crabbe groaning about a broken wrist. Tsk'ing, Madam Hooch helped the two to their feet then turned to address everyone. "I have to take these two to the Hospital Wing. In the mean time, I'll have each of you pair up to practice until I come back. Some of you are doing a little better than others, so who shall I pair...hmm..." she eyed the class. "Potter with Weasley," she said and Hermione could hear Ron hiss 'yes!'.

Hermione rolled her eyes. After the Troll incident on Halloween night, she, Harry, and Ron had come to a better understanding and respect for each other. She wouldn't consider them friends just yet, but they were well on their way.

Madam Hooch continued: "Bulstrode with Parkinson, Greengrass with Finnigan, Thomas with Patil, Longbottom with Nott and Zabini with Brown..."

'Oh no...' Hermione thought worriedly.

"...And Malfoy with Granger. I want to see you all doing this properly by the time I get back. Put your differences aside for twenty minutes because I want absolutely no fighting whatsoever. Granger, Zabini, you two are in charge. Let me know if anyone steps out of line. If you're not all hovering three feet above the ground by the time I get back, you'll have detention with Mr Filch. For the whole weekend."

The class groaned at this and Hermione could see Harry and Ron looking at her with pity before she turned away as Madam Hooch headed off the pitch with who Hermione silently referred to as Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Oh Merlin, not Malfoy. Why couldn't it be with Zabini? Or Nott? At least they were some of the more quiet Slytherins. Even that Greengrass girl seemed decent enough.

"Well you heard her," Zabini said gruffly. "Pair up," and he went over to where Lavender was.

Everyone paired up and Hermione turned slowly to see Malfoy still standing across the way. She rolled her eyes and picked up her broom, before moodily walking over to him. She narrowed her eyes at his smirk. When she got there, she glanced around, nervously, and saw everyone else busy themselves with their task.

"Looks like the little miss know-it-all doesn't know everything after all," Draco smirked at her. "Can't handle a broom, Granger, get it? Handle a broom?"

"Very funny, Malfoy," Hermione said, throwing her broom to the ground and glaring down at it.

"First thing," Draco said, "is that you have to treat the broom with respect."

"You say it like this inanimate object has feelings."

"It doesn't. But didn't your parents teach you to have respect for things that belongs to others? These brooms belong to the school, you know. I thought you would've learned that from your Hogwarts, a History that you enjoy reciting to the class so often," he taunted.

"Oh, you should know all about respecting other people's belongings, right Malfoy?" she crossed her arms over her chest. "You certainly didn't show any respect when you stole Neville's Remembrall last time, remember?"

"I didn't steal it. I found it on the ground and picked it up."

"And then you decided to show off in front of the others, which upset Harry and then you threw it. Thanks for that, by that way. Because of that stunt you pulled, Gryffindor is the only house in the last hundred years to have a first year student on the Quidditch team," she smiled mockingly. She felt satisfied when his smirk turned into a frown.

"Oi," Zabini said as he zoomed past them with Lavender slowly following behind. "Get to it, Malfoy! None of us want a detention!"

Draco narrowed his grey eyes at his classmate. "Tell that to the girl who's suppose to be in charge as well," when Zabini didn't hear him, he turned back to Hermione. "Let's get on with it then. What are you having problems with?"

Hermione sighed and looked down at her broom. "Everything. It just doesn't listen or whatever when I say 'Up!'"

"That's because you're not saying it like you mean it," he said and turned his attention to the broom that was assigned to him. He held his hand out firmly and without saying anything, the broom sprung up and he gripped it firmly. It was almost like how Hermione saw her father pick up a rake before, by stepping on the spikes and grabbing the handle.

"How did you do that?" she asked, looking back down at hers and holding her hand out as if to command it.

"I've known how to do this since I was five years old," he said. "The first time you use a different broom, you have to command it by saying 'up!'. Or it's not going to know you as its rider."

"I see..." she said.

"Just concentrate on it real hard."

"I'll try..." she said and stared down at the broom determinedly. "Up!"

Nothing.

Draco rolled his eyes.

"I can't do this," she growled with frustration. "I'm just not meant to fly."

"Anyone who has magic can fly," he said.

"I didn't even know I had magic until this past summer," Hermione mumbled. "Things like flying on brooms was always something I thought was just make believe."

"So, the rumors are true then. You're one of those," he said with disgust laced in his voice.

"One of those what?" she asked, confused.

"A Mudblood."

"I don't understand...what's a Mudblood?"

"A Mudblood is what you are. You're a witch that was born to Muggle parents. So therefore you are a Mudblood. My father told me so, but every pure-blood or half-blood knows that."

"There's nothing wrong with my parents just because they don't have magic," she glared at him. "They're really nice people."

Draco caught Blaise's warning glare from the corner of his eye and decided to drop the subject for now. There would be other opportunities to insult her in the future. But for now he had to make sure he didn't land himself in detention.

"Just try again. Pretend for a moment that you've known you've been a witch all your life and it's your first time flying and you're really excited about it," he instructed.

"Okay..." she said warily. She would need to do some research on the term Mudblood later. She concentrated hard on it. Minutes passed and she knew that Draco was getting annoyed by her, but ignored him. Finally, she turned her chin up and said, "Up!" like she meant it.

The broom shot up and she fumbled to catch it. "I did it! Malfoy, I did it!"

"Good," he said, his eyebrows raised with surprise. "Now get on."

She looked around at everyone's progress. All the other girls was flying lowly, and a few other students were helping Theodore, who seemed to be running out of patience, instruct Neville. Meanwhile, Ron and Harry were flying around with the other boys.

"Well?"

"Oh," she said. Now that she had the broom in her hand and could feel it's magic flowing through it, she wasn't sure what to do. She backed away slightly and it floated up until it levelled a couple of feet above the ground. She could feel herself losing her balance as she tried to put one leg over. "Um...Malfoy? Could you maybe...just...umm..."

Draco scoffed. "I am not touching you!"

"But if I can't get on it properly, we'll have detention!"

Draco clenched his teeth and came forward. He took her not so gently by the arm and kept her balanced while she gripped the broom handle with both hands and threw one leg over. She could feel the cushioning under her and it felt strange.

"Well, it's certainly not like horseback riding," she observed.

Draco smirked and let go of her, unconsciously placing a hand back on her arm when she wobbled a bit. "No. It's a lot more fun."

"I don't see how being up high is fun."

"I take it you don't like heights either?"

She shook her head.

"Careful with those thoughts. The broom will know. It can tell you're not very confident."

"I'm plenty confident now that I'm actually on it."

"Oh? Well how about you try to hover around like everyone else is doing? Even Longbottom sort of has the hang of it," Draco said, slanting his gaze to Neville who was flying lowly now, with Seamus and Dean flanking him on either side.

"Okay. What do I have to do?"

"Just kick off the ground."

"Okay...ah!" she yelped when she kicked off the ground and the broom jerked up. Draco quickly caught her as she slid off the back and the broom fell to the ground.

He glanced around to make sure that no one saw, which they didn't because they were all too excited about the prospect of flying right now. He quickly let go of her and stood back.

"Well...I almost had it at least," Hermione muttered as she stood back up. "Up!" the broom flew into her hand. Before she got the chance to try again, Harry called out that Madam Hooch was returning.

"Great!" Draco hissed. "She's coming back and you still can't do it right!" he cursed under his breath. "Quick, get back on," he took hold of her arm once more as she balanced herself to get on. He turned from Madam Hooch's view and pulled his wand from his robes and waved it. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Hermione gasped when she floated the required three feet and Draco quickly got on his broom and did the same, staying close enough to her so that she wouldn't fall. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Making sure you meet the requirements," he replied as Madam Hooch stood in front of everyone and looked around.

"Good, good! You're all doing great! There were no problems?" Madam Hooch asked while Blaise and Hermione quickly shook their heads. "Good, you're all dismissed. Off you go now!"

"This is cheating!" Hermione said as Draco lowered her back to the ground.

"It's not cheating if we don't get caught," he said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's still cheating! Why would you do that?"

"So we don't get any detention," Draco said matter-of-factly. "I suggest you get Potty and Weasel to teach you how to do it right before the next class. If Longbottom can do it, I'm sure you can."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Take it whatever way you want," he drawled.

Hermione watched as everyone else flew off to the broom shed. "I really would like to one day fly maybe," she said longingly. "Just to fit in..."

"Listen Granger," Draco said as they started walking towards the broom shed. "Flying a broom isn't for everyone."

"Obviously not for me," she said bitterly.

Draco looked at her for a moment. "Well, you're a pretty quick learner for the most part if that makes it any better for you."

"Thanks," she said quietly.

They walked in silence until they got to the broom shed, and saw that everyone was gone now except Madam Hooch who was still waiting for them. They went inside and set their brooms down gently before leaving and allowing Madam Hooch to lock up.

On the way back to the castle, Draco spoke up again. "You're not so bad...you know, for a Mudblood. I mean, you are pretty smart for the most part."

"Wow, Draco Malfoy is just filled with compliments today."

"Don't get used to it," he sneered.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Just before they entered the castle, Draco turned to her again. "Listen, Granger, do you really want to fly?"

Hermione nodded, her thick curls bouncing slightly. "At least once, I would like to. To say that I did it."

Draco thought for a moment before speaking again. "Well, if you don't succeed in the flying lessons, I promise that I'll take you flying sometime before the end of our seventh year."

"Really?" she asked, shocked.

He nodded. "Yeah. Save your first flying for me."

"Ha ha," she said when she realized he was joking. "I will do that."

"Promise?"

"Only if you do," she said.

"It's a promise then," he nodded with confirmation. "And our secret. Don't tell anyone."

"I don't think they'd believe me if I did," she said and he started to head towards the dungeons. "Oh, and Malfoy?" he turned back to look at her. "You're not so bad yourself. I mean, you'll make a good tutor for anyone who needs flying lessons."

He smirked and turned around, heading down to the Slytherin dungeons. Hermione watched as he left. Was that really the same Draco Malfoy who had been giving Harry and the other Gryffindors problems since the start of the school year? She didn't know much about Draco and just realized that this was the first time she's actually really spoken to him by herself. He seemed like a little bit of a different person when his friends weren't around. Maybe he wasn't too bad after all. Then again, it's only November of her first year and she still had seven years to go. She wondered if he would hold on to his promise like she would hers. Little did they both know, they would both be on different sides in the future war that would happen. But that doesn't mean they'll miss their chance entirely.

x-x-x-x-x

Epilogue

November 7th, 1998

Seven years passed and the Dark Lord Voldemort had risen once more, taking the Wizarding World into another war. Fortunately, Harry Potter was still The Boy Who Lived when he defeated Voldemort for the second and final time. That was over five months ago.

Hermione was back at Hogwarts now to finish her seventh year that she had originally missed out on. She was one of the few students of her year to return. However, she wasn't entirely alone. Draco Malfoy had returned as well, and surprisingly she wasn't shocked by how much the war had changed him. The war had changed everyone; some for the better and some for the worst. It seemed it was for the better with Draco. One thing however that did surprise her was the first day she had returned.

Since there was hardly anyone from her year returning, the few that did, was mixed in with this year's regular seventh years. To her disappointment, she hadn't had the opportunity to become Head Girl, but the new Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, had given her the Prefect badge along with the rest of the ten returning students. They needed more authority this year to keep everyone in line, so Hermione was more than happy to accept.

Draco had also become a Prefect again and to her dismay at first, he had been assigned as her partner for patrolling. She had been too tired and wary after the war to really care, but would hex him if he tried anything. To her astonishment, when he got her alone during that first evening, he had reached out and attempted to apologize to her for the things he had said and done the whole time she's known him. She saw the sincerity in his eyes and knew that he was trying and wanted to redeem himself. With that in mind, she easily forgave him. Which in turn, surprised him just as much. Since then, the two of them had gotten along civilly in classes, walking past each other in the hallway and during Prefect duty.

Currently, she was sitting out on the Quidditch bleachers, watching the sun set. She didn't notice him until he sat down beside her.

"Oh!" she gasped. "Malfoy, you startled me."

He gave a small sheepish smile and turned his attention to the sunset.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

He nodded.

"What are you doing out here anyway?"

He gestured to his broom which was the latest Nimbus model. "I was just out flying when I saw you. Thought I'd come down and talk to you."

She nodded at this.

They were quiet for a few moments, before he spoke up again. "Do you remember seven years ago on this day?"

"Huh?"

"I thought you were good at remembering dates," he smirked.

"I am!" she replied haughtily.

"So tell me you didn't forget this day, seven years ago. Back in first year."

"I..."

"We has flying lessons that day."

"Oh," she said. "Well, I prefer to forget about those," she huffed. "I never did enjoy them."

"I recall you didn't do very well in them either. But you managed to pass," he grinned.

"Yeah, only because Harry and Ron helped me between classes."

"I helped you, too," he said.

"Yeah, that one time. And only because you were forced."

"Yeah...listen...do you remember that promise?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I do..." she trailed off, turning her head to the side.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid I didn't keep my promise. I had my first real flying lesson on a Hippogriff in third year, then on a Thestral in fifth year and then...on a broomstick. Twice. During the war. I'm sorry."

"With Weasley, I know. I was there that time...I'm assuming you were with him the other time as well?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't get to keep my promise."

"That's okay," he said, standing up. "A promise is still a promise and I did say that I would take you flying before our seven years was up. I think we were given a second chance for a reason. So if you're still up for it..." he held out a hand to her.

She looked at his hand for a moment and just as he was about to pull away, she reached out and took it. He easily pulled her to her feet and got on his Nimbus. "Would you feel more comfortable in the front or back?"

"I almost fell off a few times while being on the back..." she murmured, blushing slightly.

"Front it is, then," he said, sliding back so that she could sit comfortably in front of him. "I think I prefer this anyway. I'll be able to hold on to you so I won't be responsible if you fall off," he smirked at her scowl.

She came forward and he helped her balance herself to sit in front of him. He placed one hand above where hers rested and wrapped his other arm around her waist protectively before kicking off the bleachers. She gasped as they shot up fast into the air.

"Ahh!" she yelped.

"Shhh..." he whispered softly in her ear. "I've got you. I won't let you fall."

"O...okay..." she say shakily. "I'm trusting you this time, Malfoy."

Draco smirked as he took them around the Quidditch pitch and then up higher. He smiled inwardly as she relaxed against him and enjoyed the ride.

"This is nice," she said. "A little cold, but nice."

"I think so, too."

They hovered high up to watch as the sun dipped lower, painting the grounds of Hogwarts in a golden light. It was peaceful.

"So is it true that you're dating Weasley now?" he asked.

Hermione shook her head. "No. I mean, we tried the dating thing for about a month over the summer, but it felt strange to us and we decided that we're better off being best friends."

"I see," he said.

"Yeah."

"And are you...interested in anyone else?"

"Hmm...not really. Well, what I mean is, is that the opportunity hasn't really come up yet."

"And if the opportunity did come up, would you take it?"

"What are you getting at Malfoy?"

"What I'm trying to ask is...if I wanted to kiss you, would you kiss me back?" he asked softly.

She whipped her head around to face him and he quickly tightened his hold on her so she wouldn't fall off. She stared closely at him, wide-eyed.

"D-do you mean that...y-you're not just messing around, are you?"

"I mean what I say," he said softly once again, taking his hand off the broom handle to tuck a curl behind her ear.

She gazed at him for a few moments longer before slowly nodding her head. "I think that I would, if you're being serious..."

"Good, because like I said, I mean what I say," he said before leaning forward and capturing her lips in a sweet kiss. She quickly responded, closing her eyes and moving her lips over his.

They stayed like that, occasionally breaking apart for air, before kissing again as the sun finally set.

x-x-x-x-x

Author's Note: I don't see too many first year fanfics, so I thought this idea would be cute :)