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booksmarts and broomsticks
act iii , turning tables
chapter thirty-eight, study dates and jaffa cakes

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➖PENNY CLEARWATER ➖
september 1993

"I THOUGHT I MADE IT clear to him, you see? I told the class they were very easily offended."

It had been a fairly quiet during the morning Dria had spent volunteering in the Hospital Wing. There hadn't been much disturbance other than a few teary-eyed first years that had complained of being homesick. She's sent them back to their classes with a few words of advice (and, of course, a chocolate frog from Madam Pomfrey's supply) and thought herself rather accomplished.

At least, that was the case until Hagrid had barged through the doors with a bloodied Draco Malfoy in his arms causing Dria to ditch her Witch Weekly magazine and jump to attention in guiding them to a nearby bed.

"Though I can't imagine anything I say will matter much once his father hears of what's happened." The new Professor let out a large sigh once the Slytherin boy had been placed on the bed.

"It's alright, Hagrid." Dria told him with a tight-lipped smile as she tried to ignore the squirming of her new patient. "We'll fix him up in no time."

        The blonde could see Hagrid begin to nod along with her words as she readjusted the pillow to support the Malfoy boy's head.

        "Alright." Hagrid stated before making a hasty exit from the Hospital Wing, his worried breaths echoing away down the corridor as he went.

        "It's killing me! It's killing me!"

        Dria had to use all her might in order to suppress the frustrated groan threatening to leave her lips at the boy's complaint as he writhed on the bed, clutching his arm.

        "You're not dying." Dria told him, as calmly as she could, grabbing his other arm in attempt to stop his squirming. "If you stay still, it'll hurt less!"

        "What are you doing?"

         The boy's eyes had gone wide and fearful as the blonde began striding away from his bed and towards the nearby medical cupboard.

        "I'm getting you a tonic for the pain." Dria informed as she pulled open the cupboard and began scanning the shelves furiously for a suitable pain killer.

        "I swear to Merlin, if I lose my arm that fat oaf will never hear the end of it from my father—"

        "You're not going to lose your arm." She reminded him once more, as she snatched a bottle of Sleeping Draught — deciding that knocking the boy out was the best course of action until Madam Pomfrey returned from errand running — and walking over to him. "Just stay still, and drink this."

        Dria was surprised when the Slytherin didn't question her but instead took the vial from her hand and quickly poured it down his throat. He let out a short breath, and shot her an expectant look at which she raised an eyebrow.

       "Better?"

       However, her question was answered with nothing but the loud thud of his head falling colliding with the bed frame behind him, as his eyes rolled back and the Sleeping Draught took effect.

        Normally, Dria would have winced at seeing a someone hit their head so harshly yet there was something about it happening to Draco Malfoy that just didn't prompt that reaction. In fact, she was trying her best not to chuckle as she lifted the pillow once more and adjusted it by his head.

"Miss Lockaby!"

The doors to the Hospital Wing had opened once more, revealing Madam Pomfrey swishing her way through the doors with an enthusiastic smile on her face.

       Dria spared a quick glance at the unconscious Slytherin, and then back to the jovial matron, breaking into a brisk walk over to the woman.

"Oh, Madam Pomfrey—"

        Her words fell short as her blue eyes landed on a figure that had emerged from behind Madam Pomfrey, and she felt herself inadvertently tense.

        "This is Miss Heron, she'll be joining in some of your volunteering slots this year."

       Dria could only offer Vixen Heron a tight-lipped smile which her fellow Gryffindor returned hesitantly, their gazes refusing to meet.

        "Oh. Great. Hi." The blonde got out unsteadily, failing to hide her apparent discomfort.

         "Hi."

         Despite the awkward exchange, Madam Pomfrey — who seemed to take little note of it anyway — turned her attention back to the blonde, with a light sigh.

         "Did you manage to hold down the fort while I was out?" The matron asked, bringing Dria out of her thoughts and back to the present, where she remembered the unconscious Slytherin boy lying not to far from them.

        "Well, Hagrid did just leave."

        "Hagrid? I thought he was teaching?" Madam Pomfrey queried, her brows furrowing ever so slightly.

         "Well, he stopped to drop off a student whose arm has been virtually shattered."

         "What?!"

         "I was trying to tell you!"

         "Where is he?"

          A small smile crossed Dria's face before she answered the woman's question — she found humour in the fact that Madam Pomfrey, from her brief explanation, had been able to deduce that the patient would know doubt be a he.

        "Over there, I gave him a Sleeping Draught but I expect the rest is a little advanced for me." Dria told the matron, guiding her over to the Slytherin's bedside.

        Dria rested her hands on the end of the bed frame, watching as Madam Pomfrey expertly inspected the wound, gently pulling the boy's arm out of his robe sleeve. The blonde winced ever so slightly at the bloody sight of his arm — it certainly didn't look very comfortable.

         "I'll need to go to the greenhouses." The matron told Dria after another moment, as she straightened up and began making her way towards the door. "Keep an eye on him and orientate Miss Heron while I'm gone."

       "Yes, Madam Pomfrey."

        And with that, the matron had exited the Hospital Wing for the greenhouses leaving the two Gryffindor girls standing opposite each other, on either side of the Malfoy boy's bed, in tense silence.

Vixen had focused her gaze away from the blonde and was instead looking in the direction of the window, but Dria could tell she was actively avoiding looking at her.

The blonde sunk into a seat at the boy's bedside and felt her jaw clench, her fingers absentmindedly linking together so she could crack her knuckles. Her gaze flitted between her hands and the Heron girl sat opposite her — the only other person who knew the truth of what happened at the beach party.

Dria took a deep breath. But they didn't have to talk about anything that. There wasn't any need to talk about the party, or Lorcan or ... Nate.

"So..." The blonde voiced after a moment of deliberation, willing herself to look at Vixen, tearing her gaze away from her hands. "Are you interested in pursuing a Healing career, then?"

"Not really."

The girl's answer was abrupt, if Dria wasn't already on edge by the atmosphere, she certainly was now.

"Oh." She swallowed, trying her best to feign intrigue and shake off her nerves. "Are you looking just for volunteering hours then?"

"Sort of."

"Right." Dria responded, her lips pressing together before quirking an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

"Yep." Vixen had finally turned her gaze from the window and brought it to meet Dria's, her jaw visibly clenched. "Perfectly fine."

The blonde found herself swallowing again, as Vixen's dark eyes bored into her light ones and immediately adverted her gaze, deciding there was no point skirting around the topic any longer as she let out a light sigh.

"Listen, Vixen, I don't know what you think you saw."

"Oh, I know what I saw."

"Can I at least explain?" Dria asked, regaining a little bit of gumption as the need to defend herself became evident.

"Explain how you were making out with Lorcan McLaggen two seconds after the guy you're dating left the party?" Vixen answered, her lips pursed and eyebrow arched at the blonde opposite her.

"We're not dating exactly..." Dria found herself instinctively replying in a small voice.

"Oh, so that makes what you did okay?"

"No, that's not what I meant!" The blonde cried, shaking her head and letting out a tense breath. "The kiss was an accident! Lorcan initiated it not me, and I was stoned as shit."

Vixen's features relaxed ever so slightly at the incoherent, desperate rambling of the Lockaby girl, as she tried to explain the incident through deep breaths and shaky words.

"It was all a horrendous misunderstanding and mistake, okay?" Dria looked at her fellow girl, letting out a large sigh as she slumped in her seat ever so slightly. "I wouldn't do that to Nate."

The two girls fell into another silence very briefly. Dria felt slightly calmer at Vixen's lack of harsh retort, hoping that her silence meant that she believed what the blonde had told her.

"Does he know?"

The Heron spoke up after a short while, her gaze meeting Dria's, her eyes now filled less with anger and more with concern.

"What?"

"Nate." She clarified, her eyebrow arching expectantly. "Does he know about it?"

Dria stomached a large sigh as she pulled her gaze from her fellow Gryffindor, and brought it back down to her knuckles, shaking her head.

"He doesn't need to know." Dria said softly, her eyes actively avoiding those of Vixen. "It was all an accident, we're all just better off pretending it never happened."

The blonde heard a short sigh sound from the girl opposite her, and slowly brought her gaze up to face her.

"Look, Lockaby. I'm not going to tell you what to do." She said with a small smile, throwing one leg over another. "You want to bury your head in the sand? That's fine by me, whatever helps you sleep at night."

Vixen paused for a slight second, as she inhaled and her jaw clenched every so slightly.

"But don't hurt my friend, okay?"

"I would never do that." Dria shook her head adamantly, her gaze sincere as she assured the Heron girl.

"I believe you." Vixen spared the girl a weak smile, before letting out another short sight. "But just be careful."

"Vix?"

Dria immediately caught herself after the nickname slipped her lips and she saw the girl opposite her perk up with slight intrigue.

"Sorry. Can I call you that?"

"I suppose."

The blonde stifled a small sigh, before pressing her lips and wincing ever so slightly as she brought herself to meet Vix's gaze.

"You won't tell him, will you?"

She knew what she asking was a lot, and she could see the Heron deliberating it as she looked between the blonde and the floor, before letting out a light breath.

"He won't hear anything from me, I promise."

"Thank you." Dria replied in a small voice, straightening up a little. "As for Lorcan and everything—"

"I'll forget about it, okay?" Vix very quickly cut her off, clearly not wanting to hear any more of the conversation. "If that's what you guys are doing, I suppose I'm party to as well."

"Thanks." Dria offered her a weak smile which she returned, before straightening up and nodding in the direction of the patient that lay between them.

"So, what happened to Malfoy then?"

"Attacked by a Hippogriff." Dria replied, perhaps a little too nonchalantly, judging by how wide Vix's eyes went.

"What in the fuck?!"

Dria only spared her a chuckle and a gentle shrug, as she found herself slouching back down against her chair again.

"Welcome to the Hospital Wing."

***

       "OKAY, TIME! NATE WINS."

       Dria chuckled along with Tess' declaration, as Nate let out a victorious laugh from beside her, smacking his hand down up the Gryffindor table as he shot a wink at Jackie who sat across the table from him.

         Even with chocolate smudged all around her lips, Jackie still looked positively thunderous as she vigorously shook her head in objection.

        "Not a fucking chance." Jackie contested, shooting Tess a harsh look as she gestured over the table at her fellow Hufflepuff. "He was cheating the entire time. He was barely chewing!"

        "Oh, I chewed plenty!"

        "Bullshit!" Jackie slammed her hand down on the table, her nostril flared as Dria tried her best to contain her chuckling, passing Nate a napkin to wipe the chocolate from his own face. "You can't appreciate the flavour if you're inhaling them! Therefore, I like Jaffa cakes more."

        A good while had passed since Dria had been tending to Draco Malfoy in the Hospital Wing, and she was now sat at Gryffindor table — having been sat there since her lunch hour — surrounded by her fellow seventh years for an alleged study date that had ultimately turned into Nate and Jackie arguing over who liked the Muggle biscuit Jaffa Cakes the most.

        In fact, Dria wasn't entirely sure as whether they were biscuits or whether they were cakes as the name suggested. But Penny insisted that she left that can of worms unopened.

        "But the bet was who could eat the most in thirty seconds." Nate retorted, as he began wiping his fingers free of melted chocolate.

        "You inhaled!"

         "Is this conversation really happening?" Dria shot a bemused glance over a Tess, who was sat near Penny and Percy, who were looking on the scene with mild concern.

      "I like them more." Jackie persisted, her jaw still clenched as she attempted to stare Nate down from where he sat chuckling into a goblet of pumpkin juice.

      "My mum sent them so we could share." Penny mumbled with a defeated sigh, as Tess placed a hand on her shoulder and sadly passed the empty packet back to her.

        "Sorry, Pen."

        "Don't be so jealous, O'Hare." Nate smirked, setting down his drink as he folded his arms across his chest.

       "Don't antagonise her." Dria chuckled, placing a hand on his arm as she looked up from her Potions research. "She'll go feral."

        "Claw your eyes out." Tess reiterated, as she passed Jackie a napkin who gave a small huff before wiping her face free of chocolate.

         "What's so bad about that when I have you to nurse me back to health?" Nate asked, placing his hand over Dria's and shooting her a wink, at which she gave him a light shove and Jackie made a loud retching sound.

        With a light-hearted roll of her eyes, Dria picked up her quill and turned her attention back to her parchment. However, that lasted all of about two seconds before her attention was captured by the loud ruckus of third years entering the Great Hall, amongst which she spotted her own brother and sister making their way over to the Gryffindor Table.

"Well, look who it is." The blonde chuckled, as Michael, with a trusty golden retriever at his side, and Maisie — alongside the other third year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs — came into earshot. "Didn't think guys had a study period."

At the sound of the older Lockaby's voice, the golden retriever's attention was caught and he began bounding towards the seated girl, jumping up in between her and Nate, who gave a light laugh at the excitable dog.

"Hello gorgeous boy." Dria fussed over him, ruffling his fur as he made himself comfortable on the bench, giving Nate a lick on the cheek as he began patting the dog's back.

"Professor Binns fell asleep so we figured we'd take our chances and do our work in here." Michael explained as he slid into a seat next to Jackie on the other side of the table from his older sister.

"Ballsy of you to do it right in front of the Head Boy and Head Girl." Tess chuckled, nodding at the couple who were sat just up from to the young Gryffindor boy.

Michael stifled a bashful smile as he looked between Penny and Percy, who shot him knowing glances which then passed round the wider group of third years as they began taking their seats.

"Hi guys."

Percy gave a light sigh, as he set down his quill looking between Penny and the young Lockaby boy.

"Even I can't blame you. But do your work." He explained, at which Michael gave a hasty nod that was mirrored by the rest of his classmates.

"And you're alright with this arrangement, are you?" Dria gave a light chuckle as she caught sight of Hermione slipping into the seat beside Harry, who was beside Michael.

"She's about to explode at any moment." Ron chuckled, as he and Maisie emerged from behind Dria and settled themselves into the seat on her right.

"No, Ronald, I'm not." Hermione quickly countered, as she began unpacking her study supplies from her satchel and placing them on the tabletop. "I actually happen to think that this learning environment will be far more productive."

Dria tried her best to stomach the chuckle that threatened to erupt from her chest at the stiffness of the Granger girl's features as she spoke.

"I almost believed her, did you?" Maisie asked with a wicked smile, as she nudged herself who retorted with an agreeing nod.

"Oh, so very nearly."

Hermione gave a light smile before playfully narrowing her eyes at the two Lockaby sisters, before one of her eyebrows arched at the sight of something further down the table.

"Are those Jaffa Cakes?"

At the mention of the treat, Dria spot Jackie instantly clock out of her conversation with Tess and turn her attention to the bushy haired third year.

"We don't talk about it."

        Dria stifled a light laugh at her friend's reaction before her attention was caught the clattering noise of a ghost of a knight on horseback riding down one of the aisles of the Great Hall. Her gaze followed the ghost on his way, but faltered as they landed on the angered face of the Weasley boy that sat on the other side of her sister.

       "You good, Ron?" She asked, arching an eyebrows at the boy whose jaw was clenched so hard, she worried it might shatter.

       "Look at him." He muttered, nodding towards the Slytherin table, in the direction of Draco Malfoy who was showing off the injury he sustained. "He's really laying it on thick, isn't he?"

        "At least Hagrid didn't get fired." Harry mumbled from the other side of the table, his gaze having followed Ron's.

       "Well, lucky Lockaby got to treat him." Jackie interjected, nodding in Dria's direction who gave a derisive chuckle.

       "How unbearable was he?" Hermione enquired, her nose turning up ever so slightly.

        "Very." Dria answered shortly, before sparing them a nonchalant shrug, as Kipper settled on the seat between her and Nate, his head resting in her lap. "However, I did get to knock him out."

         "With your fist?"

         "With a Sleeping Draught." Dria chuckled in response to her sister's excited interjection. "Punching Malfoys is your speciality, Mais. Wouldn't want to take that from you."

        "You're such a good sister."

        "Words I don't hear often enough." Dria agreed before shooting a brief glance over her shoulder in the Malfoy boy's direction. "Anyway, it's not half as bas as he's making it out to be. I'd be surprised if it's not fully functioning within a month."

        "Still I hear Draco's father is furious." Hermione muttered, her lips pressing together and eyebrows furrowing ever so slightly. "We haven't heard the end of this."

         "Ow!"

        Dria found herself turning her away from the third years as Nate let out an exclamation of pain from beside her. Turning around, she saw him rubbing the back of his head with a light chuckle on his lips.

       "Oi!"

        Dria craned her neck a little at the sound of another exclamation this time coming from Percy, who sat beside the Hufflepuff Chaser, who also reached to rub his head.

        All became clear when Dria's gaze landed on Alita Byrnes who stood just behind the two boys with a humoured grin on her lips as they rubbed their heads from where she just flicked them both.

        "What do you want?"

         "Alright, loser?" She retorted, her grin never fading as she perched on the edge of the table to speak to him. "Mum wants to known what Ginny wants for Christmas."

       Out of the corner of her eye, Dria could have sworn she saw Penny's lips purse ever so slightly and the grip she had on her quill become awfully tight.

       "For Christmas?" Percy chuckled incredulously at his good friend. "It's September."

       "You know what she's like." Alita mirrored his chuckle, shoving him slightly in the arm with a roll of her eye.

       "I don't know." The Weasley boy shrugged, scratching the back of his thought in light thought. "She's a twelve year old girl, for Merlin's sake."

       "Just think on it, alright?" Alita chuckled at his desperation, shooting him a knowing glance. "She's harassing me. And until she stops, I'll be harassing you."

       "Isn't that what you do, anyway?" He retorted, at which she contorted her face into a childish grimace and stuck out her tongue at him.

       "Ha ha."

        Alita feigned a brief bout of laughter at Percy's comment but suddenly turning her attention to the wider group that had unintentionally all fallen quiet so as to listen to their conversation. If she had surprised by the fact that their entire exchange had been eavesdropped on, she hid it well and shot a small smile at the group of her fellow seventh years.

       "Oh, and just so you all know, my dad's bought the vacant property off North Street in Hogsmeade and it opens this weekend." She told them all, with a guilt-free smile as she shamelessly plugged her father's new investment. "So if you want to check it out? You should."

        "What is it?" Tess asked, with a genuine smile — with the exception of Nate, she was the most familiar with the fellow Gryffindor out of the group sat down, just as she was the most familiar with almost every student at Hogwarts.

        "Oh, it's like a sort of book store and bakery sort of thing." Alita winced slightly as she attempted to explain, but responded with a gentle smile at Tess, nonetheless.

        Dria immediately perked up at the words that left her mouth, and shot a glance towards Jackie.

        "Sounds like heaven is a place on earth." The blonde chuckled, as she took a sip of pumpkin juice from her goblet.

       "Belinda knew it." Jackie agreed.

       "Damn right, she did."

       Tess gave a light chuckle at her friends' antics before turning her attention back to Alita who was also chuckling away at Jackie and Dria's reference.

        "Yeah, we'll be sure to check it out." The Robbins girl assured her with a genuine smile, before she looking back down at her History of Magic text book, and Alita turned to leave.

        "Where are you off to?"

        Percy had spoken up once more — Dria had noted how he had barely taken his eyes off her since she had joined the conversation.

       "Meeting Rubes, she's going to test me out before Quidditch tryouts next week." Alita responded, as she stopped in her tracks, gesturing to the trainers on her feet.

       "Oh, have the dates been announced?" Nate asked, quirking a brow in his friend's direction at which she gave a light nod.

        "Well, Ravenclaws are next Friday with Gryffindor, according to Ruby." The Byrnes girl began to explain, her nose scrunching up a little as she wracked her brain for more information. "Think she said the other two are on Thursday."

       "Clear your schedule, O'Hare." Nate turned to Jackie, a slight melody lacing his tone as Jackie let out a low groan.

       "Fucking Quidditch!"

       "Are we talking about Quidditch?"

        Dria could have sworn no more than a second had passed between Jackie uttering the word Quidditch and the sound of a curious voice laced with Scottish accent entering their midst.

"You know, they say if you look in the mirror and chant Quidditch three times in a row, you'll summon a wild Oliver Wood." Jackie chuckled, looking back at the Gryffindor Captain that was stood behind her.

"A thing of nightmares." Dria chuckled along, sparing a smirk at the Keeper as she absentmindedly stroked Kipper's fur.

"Good to see you too." Oliver replied, arching an eyebrow at the blonde's comment and mirroring her smirk.

"Apparently, your try out dates have been announced." Dria told him with a light chuckle, nodding in the direction of Alita who was bidding goodbye to the group and exiting the Great Hall.

"Yeah, Hooch told the Captains this morning." His eyebrows furrowed for a second as his gaze landed on Nate and Jackie. "Did you both know about it?"

"Did you not go?" Nate looked at Jackie with eyebrows raised.

"I thought you said you were going!"

"I said no such thing!"

"As you can see," Dria began with a humoured smile as she turned her attention back to Oliver. "Professor Sprout's decision to put these two into a co-captainship was the worst idea since Jackie thought she could Apparate over the Irish Sea."

"Turns out I could not." Jackie added with a knowing smile, earning a chuckle from the Keeper.

"That much seems obvious."

Dria's smile stuck on her face as she felt a small nudge come from her right, turning to face her sister who had arched an eyebrow.

"Does that mean I can try out on Thursday?"

        "You want to join the Hufflepuff team?" Nate suddenly perked up, peering around the blonde and looking at her younger sister.

        "I thought I'd give it a go." Maisie shrugged, with a small blush creeping up her face as she spoke to the Hufflepuff Captain. "Dria was supposed to ask Oliver if he could give me some advice. I think I'm gonna try for Keeper."

        Dria's smile faltered ever so slightly as she brought her gaze to meet Oliver's who spared her a confused smile.

        "You never said." He replied, his tone a little quieter than it had been the rest of the conversation.

       "Must have slipped my mind." The blonde replied airily, as she looked between Oliver and her sister, before nudging the girl on her right. "Go on, ask him yourself."

        But before Maisie could even look vaguely in Oliver's direction, Nate had cleared his throat and caught the young girl's attention with a charming smile.

        "I could always take you out for some practise if you fancy?" The Hufflepuff Captain asked her, bringing a giddy smile to the girl's face.

        "Or I could."

        Everyone's attention suddenly faltered over to the Gryffindor Keeper who had shot a small smile in Maisie's direction, his arm now folded across his chest. Dria could hear Nate stifle a slight chuckle, before quirking an eyebrow at Oliver.

        "She's in Hufflepuff." Nate reminded Oliver with a light chuckle, his eyebrow furrowing in light hearted confusion.

       "Well, she wants to be a Keeper." The Gryffindor responded rather shortly, causing the Hufflepuff Chaser to clench his jaw, cocking his head to one side.

        "And she better off practising with a Chaser whose goals she can defend." Nate explained, resting his elbows on the table and leaning forward ever so slightly.

        "I can teach her the technique."

        "It's not like it's that hard." Nate replied, a slight smirk gracing his lips as the two Captains stared at each other. "You stay still for most of the game."

        "Hang on a second—"

        "Alright!" Dria found herself speaking up, putting on a light chuckle in attempt to cease their disagreement, and turned her attention to her sister, who seemed rather surprised at the sudden scene that had resulted from her asking for Quidditch advice. "I'm sure Mais would be lucky to practise with either of you, wouldn't you?"

         "Sure." The young Hufflepuff nodded, placing a small smile on her lips in response.

          Dria cast her gaze across the table to where most of the surrounding students had found themselves engrossed in the exchange between Nate and Oliver. Her eyes met the dark ones of Tess, who shot her a look of disbelief and mouthed Wow in her direction.

        When she finally brought herself to look back at the two boys, she found them still engaged in stern stares. Nate was looking expectant, and Oliver's lips were pressed into a thin line, his nostrils flaring ever so slightly.

        "I'll see you guys later." The Keeper said very suddenly and broke eye contact with Nate, before promptly turning on his heel and moving towards the Entrance Hall.

        "Oliver?" Dria's concerned call of his name followed him as he exited, not acknowledging her words.

        "What's his issue?" Nate turned to the blonde, seemingly now a lot more calm since the end of their exchange, his attention now on the golden retriever that sat between them, who was blissfully unaware of the what-had-once-been tense atmosphere.

        "He's just passionate about the game, that's all." Dria put a light smile on her features as she replied to Nate's query, although couldn't quite shake her concern for the Keeper.

        "You know what?" Tess interjected after a moment, a light laugh on her lips as she fanned her face. "For a hot second there, I kind of understood why you fancied him Dria—"

       If Dria thought she'd been tense before, it was nothing compared to how she felt when Tess cut herself off too late and caught Nate's attention with her words.

         "Ah, fuck."

         Dria could see his eyebrows furrow in slight confusion as he stomached Tess' words, a disbelieving chuckle leaving his lips as he looked between the two girls who both sat with alarmed expressions on their faces.

         "You fancied Wood?" He asked, upon realising that Tess hadn't been joking, at which the blonde spared him a sheepish smile as she desperately tried to keep her cool.

        "Yeah, but I mean it was ages ago." Dria told him, lacing her tone with a light laugh. "Trust me, that's all in the past now."

       "Only because you thought he didn't like you back."

        Dria's expression hardened as she whipped around to look at the Robbins' girl who was sat with a pained expression on her face upon realising how she'd made matters worse.

       "Tess, I love you but you are not helping right now."

        "I see your point." She nodded, grabbing her quill and abruptly fixing her gaze on her empty piece of parchment. "Shutting up."

        "Did he?" Nate asked, clearing his throat a little nervously. "Like you back?"

         "No." Dria answered perhaps a little too abruptly. "I mean he never gave me any indication that he did."

       Nate nodded along with her words, yet his brow was still furrowed as he reached for his goblet, clearing his throat once more and taking a sip.

        "But it doesn't matter." The blonde informed placing a hand on his forearm, and shooting him a fond smile. "I'm not interested in him anymore. I'm interested in you."

        Nate spared a look and very quickly mirrored her smile as he placed his hand over hers and gave it a squeeze.

        "Well, I am very interesting." He mused, earning a light laugh from her, before bringing her hand to his lips and placing a kiss there.

         "He's been sighted! He's been sighted!"

         Dria was almost glad to hear the sound of Seamus' frantic voice and thundering footsteps upon entering the Great Hall as it immediately snapped everyone's focus away from the stand off between the two Captains, and instead towards him as he slammed a newspaper down on the table in between Michael and Harry.

        "Who?" Hermione spoke up, evidently alarmed by the boy's behaviour.

         "Sirius Black!"

        At the mention of the name, everyone on the began shuffling closer to the centre of the scene trying to get a closer look at the newspaper as Hermione pulled it towards her and began reading.

        "Dufftown?" She remarked, her eyebrows furrowing in concern. "That's not far from here."

        "You don't think he'd come to Hogwarts, do you?"

        "With Dementors at every entrance?" Michael asked, his eyebrows furrowed derisively in response to Neville's query.

         "Dementors, he's already slipped past them once, hasn't he? Who's wants to say he can't do it again?"

        Dria immediately clocked the panicked look on Michael's face, and very soon after felt Kipper instinctively shift from beside her and make his way under the table to comfort his human.

        "That's right." Another first year spoke up, one that Dria honestly didn't recognise. "Black could be anywhere. It's like trying to catch smoke."

        The blonde furrowed her eyebrows at the nihilistic view of this thirteen year old, and felt Nate throw an arm around her shoulders, having sensed her apparent discomfort.

         "Like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands." He went on, as the group of them fell into a worried silence.

        Dria found herself shuffling closer to Nate, staying in his embrace as she noticed the confused look on Jackie's face as she stared at the boy who had just spoken.

         "Who in the fuck is this kid?"

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖐𝖘!
i feel like i always apologise
for the amount of time that
passes in between each time
i update this book but this
time has felt weirdly long
so i do apologise —
admittedly i did fall out of
love with it for a hot second
but thanks to kristy and elyse
i was able to get my act together

also peep another absolutely
stunning gif banner made by elyse
she really does spoil me rotten

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