New Faces and Hidden Motives

Arnie1701 - All I will say is that remember this is AU and some milestones will not be the same.

odonnellzoo99 - That's why I try not to do pairing tags depending on the age of the characters. It's not that I don't have it set in stone, who would write so nebulously and vaguely I wonder, but that I don't think it's all that important until later when the characters develop and the like. I'm trying hard to challenge myself and have the characters develop as organically as I can and feel like proper people. I seemed to have gone on a tear lately, finished chapter 11 today, so I might be able to sustain 2 updates a week. We will see. Thank you for being a kind reader.

mike3308 - That might happen.

LordLiberty - I try to have things make sense. To have Pansy all of a sudden turn and change wouldn't, and this way, it feels feasible. Plus I think everyone can identify with friendships that change and how we don't always like who we are or people become. Thank you very much.

alix33 - She should have the opportunity to do it at least once, right?

guest - Thank you. It's been a little hard to rewrite my mind around this setting and try to give life to these "new" characters, but I am pretty happy without how they are developing.

DOOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Yes, it was a long time coming and I started it later than I thought I would, but it's chugging along.

poka - There's going to be a number of changes from canon that I hope people like. A bit of a sneakpeak/spoiler, I am going to try and explore other facets of the Wizarding World, similar how I did a little in Defiance, but on a more in-depth scale for some parts.

.....

Harry loved the way the wind felt as he flew. Being on a broom and flying in the sky felt freeing, a way for him to focus on the moment and ignore everything else. The feeling of the air flowing over him, the wind going through his hair, the sensation of being slightly away from everything, all of it was wonderful to him. Practically and literally magical to him.

Flying club was popular. A lot of the students chose it from all the Houses. For some, it was a chance to just enjoy flying while others played Quidditch casually. Harry had drifted away from Seamus, Dean, and Ron and avoided Draco and his friends like the plague. With no one else that he was friendly with in the club, he had flown around a bit by himself.

Then the Weasley Twins approached him.

At first, they seemed very nice, like they were when he met them briefly on the train. But as they continued to 'help' him with his flying, he started having second thoughts. They continued to smile that identical smile at him but he felt that it was having a different feeling to it the longer they smiled. They pushed him on, taking him faster and guiding on maneuvers that felt more than a little unstable to him. He had just barely managed to hang onto his broom and landed, winded.

"Hey, you okay?" A tall older boy with short sandy blonde hair approached. He looked down at Harry with a touch of concern.

"I think so," Harry gasped.

The boy looked at the twins. "Excuse me a minute," he said to Harry and jerked his head one way at the twins. They followed him and looked insincerely innocent all the while. "Alright you two," the older boy sighed, "what's all this about?"

"What do you mean?" Fred Weasley asked.

"What's all what about?" George Weasley asked.

Oliver Wood snorted. "Don't give me that. I know you two and you were giving the kid some trouble."

"Was not," they protested.

"We were just trying to give him some pointers," George said.

"Help him with his flying," Fred said.

"He's an ickle firstie you know."

"Second time on a broom and everything."

"Then why were you 'teaching' him some of the more intense stuff?" Oliver asked, eyebrow raised. He sighed at their identical shrug. "Alright, fine. Be that way. Leave him alone."

"Just 'cause you're Quidditch captain, doesn't mean you can boss us about," Fred sniffed.