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booksmarts and broomsticks
act i , a lovelorn lockaby
chapter one , summer of '91

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➖ DIAGON ALLEY ➖
august 1991

      "OH, FUCK!"

       The words that echoed around her small bedroom immediately caught Dria's attention, as her head whipped around to face the doorway, from where she sat at her desk.

       Upon looking, she did all that she could to not groan at the sight. A man easily in his early thirties stood in the threshold, his hand still lingering on the doorknobs and his face flushed red, bearing an expression of extreme embarrassment. Dria also couldn't help but notice what little clothing he wore, as the only item in sight was a red and yellow kimono wrapped around him - that was blatantly too small, and she recognised to belong to her mother.

       "May I help you?" Dria asked with an arched brow, as she leaned back in chair with arms folded.

       "This is not the bathroom." The man in the doorway stated, amidst a chuckle in attempt to diffuse the awkwardness between them.

       "No, it's not."

       It appeared Dria wasn't in the mood to make this encounter more tolerable for the man into doorway, as she watched him squirm nervously under her the gaze of her narrowed sea blue eyes.

       "Very sorry, I'll just-"

       "First door on your left."

       And with a faint shout of "Thanks!" in return, the door to her room shut once and in a flash of his kimono, the man scurried away into the bathroom.

       With a roll of her eyes, Dria turned back to her desk and picked up her quill, beginning to scribble furiously once more on her roll of parchment about the impact of the Goblin Rebellions.

       The hour was still early and the blonde girl had gathered that most of her household would have been awake by now - she just wasn't aware that kimono man was part of it, but then again with her mother's ways, she was hardly surprised.

       Her parents had divorced six years prior and, in retrospect, probably should have long before. They were sweethearts straight out of Hogwarts and it had seemed that after three children, and less than perfect marriage, their love had run its course.

       Now, Dria - along with her younger twin siblings Maisie and Michael - spent her time between Westminster in their mother's townhouse and her father's cottage in Otterly St Catchpole - unless she was at school, of course.

       Like most British witches and wizards of her age, Dria attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which meant unlike her younger siblings she managed to gain respite from the tumultuous arrangements of having divorced parents.

       Hogwarts was her safe place. A place where she could go away and learn magic to prepare herself for a career in the magical world, spend time with the greatest friends in the world and escape from the draining reality that surrounded her at home. And luckily, this year was the year that her brother and sister would be able to experience that too.

       While Dria would be entering her fifth year at Hogwarts - the year of the dreaded OWL examinations - Michael and Maisie would be starting their first year at the school, and had spent the last weeks of summer elated at the prospect.

       With a final scratch of quill upon parchment and content sigh leaving the blonde's lips, Dria decided that her essay for Professor Binns was complete at long last.

       Dria enjoyed school, she really did, and strived to do well in every subject she took. She put it down to the fact she wanted to achieve success in her future and knew how paramount her school grades would be to future employers. Her friends disagreed and suggested that it was a hopeless attempt on her part to catch her mother's attention. But she would firmly assure you that was definitely not the case - nope, definitely not.

       Screwing the cap back on her ink pot, she heard a soft mewing from the other end of her room. Not to her surprise, she saw her ginger tom cat, Figaro, sprawled our across her bed spread, stretching his limbs out wide and his mouth pulling in a wide yawn, showing off his fearsome teeth.

       After a waiting a moment or two after hearing the faint of sound of water cascading from the shower - signalling the kimono man's departure from the hallway - Dria rose from her seat, seizing her wand to place in her pocket and tossing her bag over her shoulder, and left the room - but not without scratching Figs' head quickly as she went.

       In a light jog, she descended the staircase and found her suspicions to be correct as her mother, wrapped in a different kimono, and her two siblings sat at the dining table with not a word exchanging between them. Ah, home, sweet home!

       "Morning, little idiots." She addressed her younger siblings, smacking them lovingly on the head as she passed, earning a groan from her brother and a giggle from her sister.

       "Morning, big idiot." Her younger sister, Maisie, retorted with a smile as Dria plopped her bag down on a chair and proceeded into the kitchen.

       "I would appreciate if you told your numerous boyfriends where the bathroom is instead of them barging into my room, Mum." The older blonde called to her mother, whose face was hidden behind the Daily Prophet while her daughter poured herself a bowl of cornflakes.

       "Did it happen again?" Michael's voice called out in response as his older sister re-emerged back into the room, and threw herself unceremoniously onto a chair.

       "It happened to me, last week." Maisie groaned, poking at her cereal with the back of her spoon as Dria nodded in response to Michael's question.

       It seemed that at the mention of her new boyfriend, Julia Appleton was suddenly interested in conversing with her children.

       "Oh, have you met Shaun?" She asked, setting down the paper at her side, resting her chin on her hands as she addressed her oldest daughter.

       "In less than ideal circumstances."

       "What do you think?" She gushed, evidently not reading into her daughter's opinion on the subject. "He's a muggle and he's in a band."

       "What a dream boat."

       Dria did love her Mum, she did. It was just sometimes the woman made it a very hard thing to do. It wasn't that Julia didn't care about her children, she was just a little absent and self involved - she hadn't changed much since her Hogwarts days and found herself retreating into that personality when she divorced from their father, much to the dismay of her children. 

       She was always obsessed with Muggles. Having been born herself into a pureblood household, Julia grew up fascinated with the species of people that coexisted with witches and wizards. She worked at the Ministry of Magic at the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, but her job never seemed to quite satisfy her fascination and, as a result, her children had grown accustom to her many Muggle boyfriends that seemed to be constantly roaming about the house.

       "I think this might be something you know, Dria." Her mother continued with a little squeal of delight.

       "That's what you said about Stephen-" Dria dismissed her mother's delight, as she took a mouthful of cornflakes.

       "And Marcus-" Maisie added, still poking at her breakfast.

      "And Daniel-" Michael continued, his attention on the newspaper his mother had discarded as his finger traced the words he read.

       "Alright," Julia dismissed them, however still wearing a hopeful smirk and sparing a wink at Dria. "But I mean it this time."

       A groan masked in a sigh left Dria's lips, already exhausted from the slightest interaction with her mother.

       "Great."

       And with that final word, the family fell back into their normal silence. Julia tugged back the newspaper from her son, who looked less than pleased with her, and the room was once more filled with the sound of pages turning and spoons clinking against bowls.

        Looking up from her breakfast with another sigh, Dria's gaze met those of her siblings who looked on her expectantly and nodded in the direction of their mother.

        With a loud clang Dria's spoon knocked against the side of her bowl, as she cleared her throat before deciding to talk to her mother about what the twins were so keen to know the answer to.

       "Um, I think we need to go to Diagon Alley today so Michael and Mais can get their stuff?"

       "Have they not got it all yet?" Their mother's gaze didn't leave the paper as she replied to them.

       "No, Mum." Michael said, his voice laced with frustration. "We asked to go last week, but you said you were too busy."

       "Did you?"

       Michael's hand that rested upon the tabletop began to curl into a fist as his jaw clenched, but luckily Maisie answered the question for him and dismissed his frustration with a smack on the arm.

       "Yes." Maisie nodded, "And school starts in a couple of days so we really need our get our things-"

       "And while we're there, I need to pick up a few things too-" Dria cut in, pushing her bowl to the side as the three of them began chatting animatedly over one another, in a desperate chorus for their mother's attention.

       With the sound of the newspaper shutting, their chatter ceased and the three of them slumped in their chairs once more.

      "I'm sorry, Dria, but I promised Shaun that I'd go to his band rehearsal." She said, with a sorry smile that screamed with insincerity. "Doesn't it sound fascinating? Muggle music?"

       Dria didn't reply, but merely offered her mother an insincere smile in answer to her question.

       "Listen, why don't you take them?"

       Part of Dria knew that her asking the question would amount to this as it always had done, but another part clearly held out some hope that one day their mother would desire to spend time with them especially moments such as these.

       "... Right."

       "Yes, that'll work, won't it?" She gushed out with a smile, happy that she'd sorted out at the situation in her head at least.

       "Yeah, Mum, sure it will." Dria muttered, masking her disappointment with another smile.

       She couldn't help but glance at her siblings who also wore the same expression she did, after years of practice, having to hide their disappointment in their mother had become second nature for them.

       "Alright, while now that's settled, you best be off!" Their mother declared, as she rose from the table in a quick walk towards the staircase. "I don't want Shaun seeing you flooing. Be safe!"

       And with that final statement, their mother left them downstairs to do however they pleased, just as she always did.

       "Will she ever stop talking about us as though we're not in the room?" Michael turned to his sisters with a frustrated grimace that was beginning to become his standard expression.

       "I wouldn't hold your breath." His twin sister sighed, leaning back in her chair with a defeated sigh.

       Maisie was always the calmer one, it was her temperament. While Michael was always more raucous and uncontrolled. They balanced one another out. Dria supposed she was a mix of the two, but instead of letting it out like Michael or letting it slide like Maisie, she just allowed it to bottle inside of her.

      "Quickly then," Dria muttered as she grabbed her bag from the other chair and slung it over her shoulder. "Get some floo powder before the bloody Muggle comes down."

       Due to the fact Muggles constantly swarmed the household, Julia had taken the liberty of stowing all magic devices out of sight. So, now their floo powder supply was to be found in the urn atop of the fireplace - which, if any Muggle were to ask, contained the ashes of their great-grandfather.

       After each of them grabbing a handful and placing the urn back on the mantelpiece, the Lockaby children departed from the household in a sequence of bright green flames and three shouts of "The Leaky Cauldron!".

       Having grown up in the Wizarding World, the three siblings didn't stumble as they stepped  of the open fireplace of the dingy pub, but instead stepped out with confidence due to their familiarity with the mode of transport.

       Despite it being at least 10 o'clock in the morning, from within the Leaky Cauldron it very well could have been mistaken for 10 o'clock at night. Small flames lit the room ever so slightly from where they sat on tables of dark oak occupied by various witches and wizards, chatting animatedly and contributing to the general cacophony of the place.

       Pushing the twins in front of her, the three of them made their way through the crowded pub uttering apologies as they bustled through.

      Dria casually spared glances around her to see if she could see anyone she knew from school, knowing how often Hogwarts students tended to visit the Leaky Cauldron and, by proxy, Diagon Alley towards the start of the school year.

        But she was left disappointed as no one particularly stuck out to her into the dimly lit room, with the exception of a man dressed in purple robes, and purple turban to match, sat at the bar making stuttered conversation with Tom, the barman.

       "Huh, Professor Quirrell's here." Dria muttered to herself, but not so quietly that her siblings didn't hear as they emerged out into the courtyard.

       "Who's he?" Michael asked, as Dria shut the door behind the three of them, blinking quickly to adjust to the brightness of day once more.

       "He teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts."

       "What's he like?" Maisie asked, as Dria withdrew her wand smoothly from her pocket.

       "Fine, I suppose." She shrugged, as she raised her wand to tap out the combination onto the brick wall before them. "He's scared of his own shadow, but he can teach well enough."

       Earning a few chuckles from her siblings, Dria took a step back and watched, with her siblings, the sight she'd seen many times before - the brick wall moving apart to reveal Diagon Alley.

       The view before them couldn't have been more different from that of the pub. The shop exteriors, that lined the street, were painted in vibrant colours and witches and wizards of all ages bustled along the cobblestones as they went about their shopping.

       Dria still grinned at the sight, happy to be immersed once more in the world she knew and loved so dearly.

       "The Daily Prophet said, this morning, that Quality Quidditch Supplies are displaying the new Nimbus 2000, can we go and look?" Michael asked, as the three strolled down the street, smiling politely at vendors as they went.

       "Only if you're just looking," Dria said, with a small sigh, readjusting her bag strap over her shoulder. "We have a lot of stuff to do and I have zero interest in wasting my time staring at a plank of wood."

       "But she has plenty of interest if that plank of wood's first name is Oliver."

       A smile crossed Dria's face at the sound of voice that had interrupted their conversation but fell as she stomached the words it had said.

       "Very funny." She scoffed as she turned around and met the face of Tessa Robbins, a fellow fifth year Gryffindor and one of Dria's closest friends.

       She stood just behind the three Lockabys, having just seen them from the window of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, with a devilish smirk on her face. Her jet black hair was scraped back into a ponytail - which Dria knew she must have hated - and an beige apron was tied around her waist, her brown eyes gleaming with mischief.

       "Hi Tess." Maisie greeted her sister's friend, with a polite smile while Michael merely offered her a small nod.

       "Alright, squirts?" Tess smirked, folding her arms as she took a step further towards Dria who still surveyed her with an incredulous look.

       The three girls continued to make the slightest of small talk for a moment, and soon enough the one boy amongst them had clearly had enough and nudged Dria's arm, impatiently.

       "Can we go look, Dria, please?"

       "Fine."

       The two friends stood by one another as they watched the twins run down the street to catch a glimpse of the rumoured broomstick in the Quidditch supplies shop.

       "Your mum too busy, again?" Tess asked, looping her arm through Dria's as the two of began to amble down the street after the twins.

       "Don't you know it."

       "What's her excuse this time?"

       "New boyfriend." Dria told her friend with a roll of eyes, her mind flashing back to the traumatic morning she'd just had. "He's in a band."

       "That's hot."

       "He's still a tosser."

       Tess let out a hearty laugh at her friend's response, knowing very well that it wouldn't have mattered whether her mum's new boyfriend had put the stars in the sky, Dria would still think he was a tosser compared to her Dad.

       "How's Florean's been?" Dria asked, changing the subject as they weaved through more and more people.

       Over the summer, Tess had got herself a job at the ice cream shop on Diagon Alley - which she had left moments before to meet her friend -  in the hope of securing herself a bit more cash for her Hogsmeade trips.

       "Not bad ... hot." The dark haired girl shrugged, "But I mean at the end of the day he pays me and I get free ice cream."

       "What more could a girl want?"

       "Exactly."

       "You on break?" Dria asked, casually, wondering how long she'd get to spend with her friend before the demanding shopping overtook her.

       "Nope."

       "So, you realise you're a bit of a shit employee, then?" Dria chuckled at her friend's bold antics.

       "Don't you know it."

       The two came to a halt as they reached the outside of Quality Quidditch Supplies, the burgundy paintwork of its exterior shining in the morning sunlight. Maisie and Michael were stood right outside the shop's window - if they stood any closer would probably have their noses pressed against it.

       "Wow! Look at it, the new Nimbus 2000!" Maisie gushed, her eyes wide in excitement.

       "It's the fastest model yet!" Michael beamed as he looked behind them at the two older girls.

       Tess chuckled at the excitement of the two children, while next to her Dria couldn't help but roll her eyes.

      "You can't deny it, Dria." Tess told her, stepping closer to the window and forcing her friend to look and appreciate the item. "It's a pretty broom."

       Dria ducked a little, looking over her sister's shoulder as she viewed the enigmatic broomstick in the window. The woodwork was flawlessly crafted and the bristles were sleekly combed into position, with Nimbus 2000 embossed in gold into the front of the handle.

       She could appreciate it as a clever piece of craftsmanship but she just never understood the intensity of the obsession that some had with the sport the broomstick were used for.

       "Well—oh, shit!"

       Having looked up from the broomstick for a brief moment and looking through the window of the shop, Dria's blue eyes landed on a figure inside who nearly made her heart stop.

       "Shit, shit, shit."

       "What?"

       While her siblings were oblivious to the reason behind their sister's sudden outburst, Tess — who had followed her eyeline — merely grinned, as she knew very well what caused it.

       "Oh, well this should be interesting." She mused, folding her arms as she watched her friend in her state of panic.

       A familiar boy of their age with chestnut brown hair and warm coffee coloured eyes, that two girls recognised to be the Keeper of their house's Quidditch team, was stood inside the shop before them and intently inspecting broom varnish with a bashful smile on his lips.

       "What's happening?"

       "Who's that?"

      "That's Oliver Wood," Tess explained to the twins who had clocked onto the person in the shop that Dria was still staring at. "Dria's in love with him."

       "Really?" Maisie asked with a grin, as she turned to look more closely at the boy in the shop, while Michael merely grimaced.

       "That's disgusting."

       Blissfully oblivious to the commotion his presence had triggered outside the shop, Oliver Wood smiled at the cashier as he took his purchased items in hand and began making his outside.

       "Shitting Norah, he's coming out."

       Dria's panicked frenzy had yet to subside as she frantically looked for a place to hide herself while her friend and siblings looked on with amusement.

       "Wow, over summer I really forgot how funny you are when you're around him-"

       "Tess, shut up and hide me, for Merlin's sake!"

      Before giving Tess another option, Dria grabbed her arm and pulled her friend to her side to mask her from the boy about to exist the shop, and turned to face the window once more, pretending to find the new Nimbus 2000 just as interesting as her siblings did.

       "Alright, Robbins?"

       While Tess whipped around in the direction of the greeting, Dria crouched lower to the ground as the unmistakable Scottish lilt of Oliver Wood cut through the air as he spotted Tess on his way out of the shop.

       "Alright, Wood." Tess replied, with a polite nod, "Not surprised to see you in there, got your eye on the Nimbus?"

       "Ah no, just picking up some more varnish, and some new gloves," Wood explained, nodding at the various things in his hands, sparing a smile at the young boy and girl looking up at him with curiosity, by the side of his fellow Gryffindor. "McGonagall gave me the captainship for the team so I thought I'd better pick up some things."

       Dria couldn't help but smile as he continued talking to her friend, the sound of his voice threatening to turn her legs to jelly but still warming her heart as she desperately tried to continue transfixing herself on the Nimbus 2000.

       "Well, congratulations," Tess smiled, leaning against the shop window, "You'll give Charlie a run for his money I'm sure."

       "I can only hope so, I have no idea where we're going to get a new Seeker from, mind you." He tutted, scratching the back of his neck in slight thought while Tess merely shrugged.

       "I'm sure you'll think of something." She assured him with trusting smile.

       "I should probably be off," The Keeper said after a moment or two, becoming slightly unsettled by the two children looking at him. "Good seeing you."

       "You too." Tess called as he jogged off past them and back up the street.

       When she was assured that the new Quidditch captain had left their midst, Dria found herself rising to her feet once more with a relived sigh and a light smile, as she leaned back against the window pane of the shop, nodding to herself.

       "Okay, I think that went well."

       "You're kidding?" Michael's disbelieving voice cut through her reverie, as she took a hand through her hand and grimaced at the boy.

       "Shut up."

       Her gaze left the narrowed eyes of her brother and instead rose up to meet the amused one of her friend, who looked on her with familiar humour.

       "How the hell you can talk to people so easily, I'll never understand." Dria sighed, as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder once more.

       "Well, you see, what happens is: I open my mouth and words come out, it's really quite amazing," Tess explained in faux amazement, earning an eye roll from her friend. "And he's easy to talk to because he's a nice guy."

       At Tess' words, Dria found herself turning around to look after the boy as he weaved his way back up the street, and she didn't even try to mask the small smile that crept onto her face.

      "Yeah, he is."

       Michael and Maisie shared a look of confusion at their sister's behaviour before looking up at Tess, who waved them off as she stood at Dria's side, looking after Wood.

       "Tell me Dria, do you ever wonder if the reason Wood never notices you is because whenever you see him you run for the hills?" The dark haired girl asked, with a knowing smirk that made her friend clench her jaw. "It's honestly getting embarrassing."

      "It's less embarrassing than what would happen if I actually did end up in a conversation with him." Dria muttered with an exasperated huff, as she tore her gaze away from Wood's retreating figure. "I wouldn't know what to say to him, I'd probably accidentally insult him, or freeze up-"

       "Oh my god, stop talking!" Tess cut her off, her eyes wide. "You're stressing me out."

       Bringing her hands to her face, Dria buried her head in them and let out a hopeless groan at the effect Oliver Wood had on her.

       "But I'd have to agree, you're pretty embarrassing all round." Tess joked, bumping her shoulder with Dria's and earning quiet chuckles from her siblings, and a scowl from her.

       "Oh, just piss off back to work!"

       "Don't worry, Dria!" Her friend called out as she retreated down the street back towards the ice cream shop. "At least I love you!"

       "Fantastic." The blonde groaned as she watched her friend blow elaborate air kisses towards her.

       "I'll see you on Sunday!"

       Her spirits slightly lighter by Tess' over-the-top display of affection, Dria let out a chuckle before taking another hand through her hair and turning back to face her brother and sister.

       "Come on, Gringotts is calling."

       Casting longer glances back at the window, soon enough the oldest Lockaby managed to drag the other two down the street to the Wizarding Bank.

       "Tess is right, you know." Michael stated after a moment, Dria looked at him with a quirked brow. "You're an embarrassment."

       Dria scoffed at the proud smirk that filled her brother's face while her sister merely laughed along in agreement.

       "And you're the living embodiment of hell on earth but do you see me complaining?" She retorted, reaching out to scruff up his hair with her free hand, much to his detest.

       Despite the clear annoyance he felt at his sister for ruining his hair, the brown haired boy soon joined his sister's in their laughter as they entered the bank.

       Dria suddenly felt at ease again, and couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever be able to feel that way around a certain Quidditch player.

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖐𝖘!
so this is the first
installment of b&b,
folks! please let me
know what you think,
as i am hella excited
for this one !!

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