AU: Hermione Granger performing the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament.

The shining, menacing eyes of the Hungarian Horntail were more horrifying than the small figurine Hermione had held in her sweaty palm earlier could ever hope to be. Her breath caught in her throat as she locked eyes with the menacing beast, guarding its eggs savagely, obviously suspicious of her intentions already. She knew what she had to do. Thanks to only a few acts of untrustworthiness and her friendliness with Hagrid, she’d known what to expect in this Task for a few days now. Her preparations were made, but performing what she’d been training was much more difficult when she was facing a dangerous dragon. 

Sucking in a calming breath that did nothing to ease her nerves, she raised her wand in the air high above her head and did precisely what she and Harry had practiced. Only mere moments later, Harry’s Firebolt whizzed over and halted at her side, ready to be mounted. 

She’d never been an expert flyer, of course, but Harry had been training her rigorously over the past few days to attempt to bring her up to at least an advanced enough level to get her through this task without any fatal damage to her person. 

She swung her leg over the broom and was off.