30 September 1991 – Quidditch

Just like her mother, Hannah Abbott had a horrible fear of flying. And so, when she, along with all of the other first-year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, were summoned out to the front lawn one morning in early September, she was understandably miserable.

"Don't worry, Hannah," Susan Bones told her kindly. "It's not like we're trying out for the Quidditch team or anything. We just need a few lessons for safety."

"I know," Hannah mumbled, nervously twirling the end of her pigtail as they lined up before a row of broomsticks.

Ernie Macmillan stepped up on Hannah's other side. "I think this is going to be great fun," he said. Hannah rolled her eyes. Ernie was nice, but he could be very pompous.

"All right!" Madam Hooch called. "That's enough, quiet down, now. Welcome to your first flying lesson."

Hannah was sure she was going to be sick. Her heart started racing, and her mouth went dry. She could see Madam Hooch's lips moving, but couldn't hear the words over the pounding in her own ears. All Hannah could think about was that in a minute, she was going to be on a broomstick, and her feet were not going to be on the ground.

What if she just kept rising up, and couldn't come back down? What if she fell? People died falling from broomsticks! She didn't know how to use her wand to stop herself. If she fell, there would be nothing to stop her from breaking every bone in her body.

"Miss Abbott, are you listening?"

Madam Hooch was standing over her, looking worried. Hannah could feel clammy sweat building on her neck and face, and she felt dizzy.

"Get your broom up, Miss Abbott," said Madam Hooch.

Hannah fainted.

She woke up on a bed in the hospital wing with a cold compress on her forehead. Susan sat at her bedside.

"Hi," said Hannah, feeling herself blush.

Susan smiled and patted her hand. "You're all right, Hannah," she said. "Don't worry, everything's fine."

Hannah looked away as tears of humiliation stung her eyes.

"Miss Abbott," said Madam Pomfrey, bustling over to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, thank you, ma'am," Hannah murmured, determinedly avoiding looking at Susan with her tear-filled eyes.

"You're not the first to have trouble with flying, dear, Mr. Longbottom's already been here," Madam Pomfrey said kindly. "You're very fortunate to have a friend like Miss Bones, you know. She's been waiting here with you for nearly an hour." Hannah glanced at Susan, who smiled. "Just rest here quietly for a moment," Madam Pomfrey said. "You can go to dinner soon."

Hannah nodded as the matron walked off down the ward. Then she turned to Susan. "You didn't have to wait with me," she said apologetically. "I would've been all right. You should've stayed and learned to fly."

Susan shrugged. Then, suddenly, she leaned forward. "Do you want to know a secret?" she whispered. Hannah frowned. "I'm terrified of flying, too."

Hurray! Another big project done. For Quintessential Dreams' "Ten" Competition. I was given ten characters and ten prompts. Each of these ten chapters (I'll do one per day, unless you want more? I'm willing to be flexible on updates for this, actually...) is 500 words apiece. In them, you'll be told who the character is (probably in the summary if not the first line) and the prompt (up next to the date). In addition, as a fun added bonus, each chapter will have the character's best friend and their future spouse (teehee).

Every chapter tells the story of the character's least favorite day/class/teacher at Hogwarts. XD I hope you like it!

Lucy

Just as a side note, the main reason I'm even able to share these stories with you all is because I own my Mac laptop. Say what you like about the product, that's not why I'm bringing it up, but I have to just share my gratitude for the man who invented the technology I've been lucky enough to grow up alongside and use to express my own creativity. Thank you, Steve Jobs. You're an inspirational man.