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booksmarts and broomsticks
act iii , turning tables
chapter forty-two ,  comes all the way back around

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➖DRIA LOCKABY ➖
october 1993

         DRIA TRIED HER BEST TO not think of Nate's distraught face, as she rushed along the corridors — having darted out of the Hufflepuff Common Room, in pursuit of Jackie, minutes before — but she was haunted every time she blinked by the look of upset that had dawned on his features.

         She squeezed her eyes shut in frustration, knowing full well it would cause her mascara to run ever more than the sprinkler in the common room had already caused it to, as she continued on her way, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind her as she went.

        The blonde peered around every corner as she went, quietly opening doors into nearby classroom until she opened the door to room she remembered to be used for Muggle Studies.

       It was a room she'd only been in once during a taster session in third year. Professor Burbage's enthusiasm for Muggles and their pursuits had reminded Dria a little too much of her own mother's antics and caused her to immediately decide she'd rather take up Ancient Runes.

         The classroom would have been deserted if it hadn't been for the singular figure resting upon the farthest window sill, looking out onto the grounds, her breath condensing upon the glass window panes  she gazed through.

        Dria thought about announcing a greeting of sorts but couldn't quite find the right words to say, luckily Jackie saved her the trouble.

"I'm not mad at you."

          The blonde hadn't even realised Jackie knew she was there, the Hufflepuff hadn't turned her face from the window pane. Nonetheless, Dria wasted no time in travelling the distance that stood between them and replying.

         "You're not?"

         Jackie gave a soft chuckle as she budged over on the windowsill and gestured for Dria to join her.

         "It'll take a lot more than dickhead of a boy to get between me and my best mate." She assured the blonde, judging her shoulder once she'd hoisted herself up beside the O'Hare girl.

        Dria gave a relieved sigh as a brief silence settled between them, the blonde averted her gaze to the window pane and the grounds that lay beyond. She could see why Jackie had been so enamoured by them before, their enormity as they rolled on and on in the night was quite striking. It made trivial problems like theirs seem so little.

         "I am sorry, Jackie." The blonde muttered in a small voice after a minute of contemplation. "If I'd have known about you and Lorcan—"

          "There isn't a me and Lorcan." Jackie quickly cut her off, though her tone was still gentle. "There never was a me and Lorcan ... apparently."

        Dria pressed her lips together, and furrowed her brow in slight confusion at the apparent sadness that had overwhelmed her friend.

         "Jack ... what's been going on with you and him?" The blonde asked, gently. "Why didn't you tell us?"

        Jackie cast her eyes upward as she exhaled a shaky breath and offered her friend a meagre shrug.

         "I don't know." She replied, her own eyebrows furrowing in a little confusion. "I didn't think it was all that serious, he was a dick, it was nothing more than the occasional ..."

          Jackie's voice fell away as she attempted to finish her sentence, her eyebrows still stubbornly furrowed. The blonde found herself inclined to think that Jackie was trying convince herself just as much as she was Dria of what she was saying.

         "I'm not sure about that." The blonde sighed, shooting her friend a pointed look. "You care about him, don't you?"

         "I don't think I was going to." Jackie clenched her jaw, burying her face in her hands as she tried to hide the unsteadiness in her voice. "It doesn't matter."

        "Jack ..."

        "I'm fine."

        Dria offered no more words of comfort to her friend but simply embraced her, resting her head upon hers as her arms encompassed her body.

        The response that came was a stifled sob, muffled by hands that covered her face and Dria's arm which she now cried into. The blonde pressed her lips together as she felt her own eyes get teary at her friend's heartbreak, and simply focused on holding her friend tight.

      "Dria?"

       "Yeah?" The blonde replied to her friend's murmur, stifling a few sniffs.

         "Why the fuck are you soaking wet?"

***

DRIA'S FOOTSTEPS HAD just about dried up when she slipped through the exit to the Hufflepuff Common Room once more, although her hair had yet to dry due to the cold October air that ran through the castle.

After a while, Jackie had elected that she'd rather spend the rest of her night in her bed, with one of her annotated Muggle books from the cafe, than half asleep on Dria's shoulder in the Muggle Studies classroom.

The blonde evidently complied and had looped her arm through her friend's before walking her back to her Common Room, only stepping through the doorway momentarily to hug her friend goodnight before quickly departing, and heaving a deep sigh as the door clicked shut behind her.

"I thought you would have been long gone by now?"

The blonde started a little, her breath hitching in surprise at the sudden sound. She turned around slowly, as she recognised the Scottish accent that laced the words she'd heard, her shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Oh, it's you." She offered Oliver a tight lipped smile. "What are you still doing here?"

"The party kind of finished after Jackie stormed out, so I stuck around to help clean up with a few others." He shrugged, walking up to her, his hands shoved in his pocket as he gave a light shrug.

"That was nice of you." Dria remarked, before gesturing towards the door of the Hufflepuff Common Room behind them. "I was just seeing Jackie back."

"Is she alright?"

"She cried."

"Holy Merlin."

Dria couldn't help but chuckle at the shock in the boy's voice upon hearing that the Hufflepuff Keeper had actually displayed emotion.

"It was a little frightening." The blonde agreed with a gentle smile as they fell into step beginning their upward journey back to their own common room. "But she'll be fine."

"And you?" Oliver asked with a quirked brow, after their conversation lulled.

"Me?"

"Are you okay?" He clarified his question, as they stepped onto the next staircase into their ascent. "After things ending like that with Nate—"

"Things aren't done with Nate."

Dria's eyebrows had furrowed at his words, as she shot him a look that was perhaps a little too defensive. He looked surprised at her contradiction, an expression he failed to mask.

"No?"

"No. I'm going to fix it, I don't exactly know how yet but I will." The blonde affirmed, resolutely as she wrapped her arms around herself, desperately trying to believe the words she spoke. "I'm not going to leave it the way it is."

Dria wasn't sure if her words had come across as aggressive when Oliver failed to reply, and the two walked up the next few staircase in an uncomfy silence.

"I knew too, you know."

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows at his comment, as they jumped onto the final staircase beginning to approach the Portrait Hole.

"What?"

"About you and Lorcan." The Keeper clarified, his gaze looking ahead of him before muttering the password to the Fat Lady and stepping inside.

Dria faltered slightly as she tried to understand him before hastily jogging into the room behind him.

"What do you mean?" She called as she caught up with him, carefully to keep her voice low. "You knew about the kiss?"

His continued silence was all the confirmation she required as she tried to organise her thoughts.

"But how— did he tell you or—?"

"I saw it."

Dria didn't think her eyebrows could furrow anymore in the confusion she felt, as she brought her hands to cover her face as she tried to make sense of his words

"You ... what?"

"I saw the kiss."

"But you weren't at the beach party, how could you have—?" She faltered once more as she brought herself to look at him in realisation. "You were there."

"I assumed you were drunk, anyway." Oliver shrugged, a light smile playing on his lips.

"I mean I wasn't drunk exactly—"

"There wasn't anything more to it, though, was there?" He cut her off with an arched brow.

"The kiss?" Dria queried before quickly shaking her head and stifling a chuckle. "Of course not, it was just all a mistake."

Judging by his expression, her answer seemed to satisfy the Keeper, however the blonde was less than satisfied with the information he had given her.

"Look, if you were at the party, why didn't you stay—?"

"It meant nothing?" He asked again, cutting her at which she confirmed with a confused nod.

The Keeper offered her a small smile before turning on his heel and leaving her completely dumbfounded in the middle of the common room.

"Good night, Dria."

No words left her lips in response as Oliver disappeared up the staircase to the boys dormitories, she was too confused and exhausted to try and make sense of their conversation and instead opted to throw herself down upon the sofa, where she was met with a very unimpressed meow.

"Oh hi, Figs." She gave a tired chuckle, reaching forward and scratching the top of his head. "Where the hell have you been?"

But that question was quickly answered by a soft mewl of another cat that jumped upon the sofa besides Dria and Figs, settling happily besides the grey cat.

The blonde quirked an eyebrow upon recognising the black and cat so contently curled by her own — having seen her many times curled upon near any member of the Byrnes family.

"Oh, I see." She chuckled, shooting the cat a disbelieving look. "Men, you're bloody unbelievable, all of you."

***

        THE FOLLOWING MORNING was perhaps one of the worst Dria had ever experienced — and that was with the exception of the crippling pounding in her head after that one too many shot of Firewhiskey. Consequently, the blonde decided the best course of action was to bury herself in her duvet and spend her day eating the last of her sugar quills from Honeydukes.

        The night before, after surveying her cat and his apparent lady friend for a few moments, she had found the will to drag herself up to her dorm. However, that had been the worst idea she had ever had as when she opened the door she was reminded of the fact that a certain visitor had come to stay with Tess and that certain visitor was staying in her bed.

       So, after a mild frenzy of surprised screams, the hasty pulling up of covers and Oh Merlin, my eyes!, the blonde found herself entering her dorm in an extremely awkward silence and bidding Tess and Una a very quick good — though not too good — night, and throwing herself into her own bed.

       Tess had been most accommodating the following day, bringing the blonde snacks from the Great Hall as well as dognapping Kipper from Michael and bringing him to their dorm for some much needed dog therapy. While Tess insisted it was out of the goodness of her heart, Dria had very good reason to believe it was an apology for effectively flashing her the night before.

       The blonde had been right in assuming that the news of the events at Nate's party had spread around the school like wildfire, on the Monday morning after — she'd has been awfully to feeding herself to the giant squid when she saw the giggling trio of first years pass her by in hall and whisper something or other about If I was with Nate Squire, I would never! However, as the last week of October rolled by and the Halloween Hogsmeade trip inched closer and closer, those rumours finally died down and Dria was able to put into action her plan of immense apology to a certain Hufflepuff Chaser.

       She had approached him after one of their Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, and after a ramble of various apologies, he'd told her that he forgave her but still needed a more coherent explanation, proposing a Butterbeer in Hogsmeade that coming weekend to talk over. With a very relieved smile, the blonde had agreed and he'd walked off to his Arithmancy lesson.

       Dria was able to get through the remainder of the week with a somewhat clear conscience after their talk, however with this new space, her conscience decided to then plague her brain with the conversation she had shared with Oliver that same night.

       He had told her in the summer that he hadn't gone to the beach party in Newquay but it had now come to light that he had, and had witness the blonde kissing Lorcan McLaggen. Had he seen the kiss and then left? If he had, why did he? Why did he lie about coming in the first place? Why did he ask if the kiss meant anything?

       A thousand questions and more failed to leave her mind. Why did he seem happy at the thought of her and Nate being over? And above all, why was he keep having these confusing conversations with her while he had a girlfriend?

       So, in true Dria Lockaby fashion, she decided the best way to keep her conscience's endless questions at bay was to completely ignore them and avoid the Gryffindor Keeper at all costs.

       And while her friend completely objected to her decision ("You're a bloody coward, woman." "And I don't deny it!"), they couldn't help but look forward to witnessing her humorous ostrich antics once more.

       All three of them had bowed out of the Halloween Hogsmeade trip for various reasons; Jackie wanting to get an O in her Muggle Studies coursework and thus employing Penny as her point of research and Tess opting to write her History of Magic essay that was due the following Monday. Thus, leaving Dria to walk alone towards the Three Broomsticks to meet Nate.

       The two of them exchanged in polite enough conversation as they sat down with their drinks, both of them seemingly wanting to avoid the difficult conversation ahead them. Both their drinks were all but finished, before Nate took the plunge and opened the floor.

       "I just can't express how sorry I am." The blonde told him after a few moments, biting the inside of her cheek nervously.

       "Dria, it's alright." He told her gently, leaning back against the booth in which they sat. "I just wished you'd told me, I would have understood."

       "I know." She replied, with a small sigh, at which he gave her a small smile before sitting up a little straighter.

     "Can I be completely honest?" He asked, wincing slightly at which she gave him a small nod. "I don't think this is working. And I know you feel the same, even if you don't think you do."

     "Nate, I want to make it work." Dria told him, taking his hands in her own in a final attempt of apology.

     "But maybe it hasn't been working the whole time, Dria." He countered, causing her shoulders to slump as she stomached his words. "Through no fault of our own, I wanted it to work as well. We've had a good time together and we still can, but honestly I think we're better off as friends."

       "Yeah?" The blonde queried after a moment.

     "Yeah." He nodded, giving her hands a comforting squeeze. "I think I need a bit of time by myself, I've got a bit of unfinished business in the love department. Think I need work those feelings out."

       She spared him a soft smile, and they both fell into a light bout of chuckling before the Hufflepuff Chaser opened his arms and wrapped her up in a tight hug.

     "We're okay, then?" The blonde muttered into his shoulder at which he gave a hearty chuckle.

     "Course we are, you idiot."

        Dria couldn't help but chuckle in response, opening her eyes that had been squeezed out, her gaze landed on the door of the pub that had just swung open to reveal a certain Keeper entering, untying a scarf from around his neck.

       "Oh, God."

       At her exclamation, Nate withdrew from the hug with a quirked eyebrow before following her gaze to the door, where Isolde was now entering behind Oliver with a giddy smile on her lips. The Chaser only chuckled at her reaction, as the blonde desperately tore her gaze away from the duo.

       "Speaking of working out feelings." Nate gave a light tut, nodding his head in the direction of the keeper, at which the blonde gave a loud sigh, slumping in her seat.

     "Oh, I don't know."

     "And I didn't want to say," He said, turning to face the girl, lowering his voice slightly. "But I wouldn't be too sure that Wood doesn't like you back."

       Nate's comment took Dria aback, her eyebrows furrowing at his words.

       "What?"

       "Wood likes you." He clarified.

     "No, he doesn't."

     "Dria, I can recognise when I'm locking horns with someone trying to impress a girl." The Chaser chuckled disbelievingly as the girl sat up straighter.

       "What are you talking about?"

        "Maisie's Quidditch lessons?" Nate reminded her, the blonde stifled her words briefly before shaking her head

     "He's just very into Quidditch."

       "Okay, fine." The Hufflepuff conceded, before shooting her a smirk. "Then, tell me why he hasn't taken his eyes off you and me since he walked in?"

       Dria spared a fleeting glance at the pair that were still lingering by the door, before looking back to Nate, her jaw clenching at the smirk on his lips.

     "Maybe he likes your coat." She offered, poking his shoulder upon which hung the tangerine coat he had told her his sister Brittany had sent him.

     "I mean, it is a great jacket."

       "Yeah, the orange really brings out your eyes." She jested, her eyes widening in slight panic as she saw Oliver and Isolde begin to approach their table. "Oh shit, why are they coming over?"

       But Nate only gave a giddy grin, before straightening up and throwing his arm around the blonde and pulling her close to him.

       "This'll be fun."

       "Nate." She warned, but he had already sent a large wave in the direction of Oliver and Isolde, forcing her to plaster on a tight lipped smile.

       "Hey there, guys." Oliver greeted, as he came to a halt before then, resting his hand son the top of the chair that sat on the other side of the table from them.

       "Hi." Dria muttered, her jaw clenching ever so slightly.

     "Mind if we join?" The Keeper asked, already pulling the chair out and shrugging off his coat, all the while Isolde lingered behind him.

     "I mean—"

     "Brilliant." He cut off the blonde, as he sank into the seat with a wide grin.

       "I thought we were going to Honeydukes?" The Crawley girl asked from behind where the Keeper had sat down, her face falling into confusion.

       Oliver turned ever so slightly in his seat to look at the girl, offering her a light shrug.

       "You can run ahead if you want?" He offered, folding his arms across his front. "I'll catch up with you in a bit."

       If Isolde was unsatisfied with his reply, she didn't show it, instead agreeing amicably before turning on her heel and leaving the three of them in a tense silence.

     "Not interrupting anything, am I?" The Keeper gave the couple a seemingly oblivious grin, as Dria pursed her lips in response.

       "Well, actually—"

     "What are you two having?" Oliver nodded at the nearly empty tankards sat before them.

     "Butterbeer." Nate replied, his smile never fading.

       "Yeah, but I mean we're pretty much done." Dria cut in, pushing her tankard away from her.

       "Then maybe you should be on your way, Squire?"

       It took Dria a second to take in the words that left the Keeper's head as he cocked his head to the side, and shot an expectant look at Nate.

     "What?" The blonde replied, her eyes narrowing.

       "Aren't Hufflepuff practising this afternoon?" Oliver persisted, ignoring Dria's interjection, as Nate only continued to smile but turning to Dria with a slight mutter.

      "I rest my case."

        "No you don't." Dria replied, shortly, before turning and scowling at Oliver. "He's just being a prick for some reason."

        "Who? Me?" The Keeper replied, a small smirk emerging on his lips.

     "Don't be dim." The blonde snapped, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What's the matter with you?"

       "What do you mean?" He stifled a chuckle, before turning to look at Nate. "Hufflepuff have practice this afternoon, don't they, Squire?"

     "He's not wrong." Nate tutted, shooting Dria a humoured look at which she scowled.

       "See? I'm not wrong." Oliver repeated, contently. "They're gonna need all the help they can get this year."

        "Oh, is that so?" Nate chuckled in good humour, as he removed his arm from Dria's shoulders and began to stand up. "I best be off then.
I'll see you later."

       He gave Oliver a friendly clap on the shoulder as he moved past him before shooting Dria a knowing wink, as he went on his way, leaving the blonde lost for words.

       "Nate—"

       Dria's words fell short as she watched the Hufflepuff exit the pub, her gaze hardening and expression of surprise falling into one of anger as she looked back to the Keeper.

       "So how have you been?" He said after a moment, shooting her a small smile.

     "You're unbelievable."

        His eyebrows furrowed momentarily at her words, looking at her with an expression of apparent confusion. Dria gave a light scoff, before rising to her feet, grabbing her coat from beside her and storming past him in the direction of the door.

     "Dria!"

       The blonde shrugged on her coat, as she made her way through the crowded pub, stumbling ever so slightly as she knocked into the owner accidentally in her haste.

       "Watch yourself, sweet." Madam Rosmerta told her with an affectionate smile.

       Dria tried her best to stifle a polite smile, before giving a small huff.

        "Men are the absolute worst." She told the woman, her jaw clenching once more.

       "Honey, don't I know it." The barmaid chuckled, moving out of the blonde's way, as she continued to make her way towards the door.

        Dria wasn't prepared for the bracing wind that struck her as she barged through the door to the Three Broomsticks and found herself back out on the High Street. She looked around as she walked for wherever Nate might have walked off to — she was far too agitated to stand still. After failing to spot him anywhere, she resorted to walking back to the castle, her frustration carrying her at an alarming pace.

       "Dria!"

       At the sound of the Scottish accent calling from behind her, the blonde gave a loud groan before whipping around in her frustration, her nostrils flaring.

       "Oh, what do you want?!"

       "C'mon Dria, you know I was just having a laugh." The Keeper called back, jogging slightly to catch up with her, adjusting his scarf around his neck.

       "Oh yes, I could definitely tell that from just how much fun we were all having!" She snapped, turning on her heel with the intention of continuing to walk away.

       "Look, you don't really want to date Squire anyway—"

       But she found herself quickly coming to a halt upon hearing the next words he spoke, turning around to look at him with narrowed eyes.

       "Woah, okay!" She cut him off, beginning to feel her blood boil at how he was behaving. "I'm sorry but I didn't realise that you had a say in who I date."

       "Dria!" He called to her again, as she made an attempt to walk away.

       "Why?"

        "What?"

        "Why did you do it?" She countered, squaring her jaw, her anger failing to subside. "You knew I was trying to fix things with him, why?"

       "I was just looking out for you." He replied, his own responses beginning to get shorter as her anger fuelled his own.

       "Bullshit, Wood, that's bullshit!"

       "It's not, he's not right for you." Oliver retorted, earning a frustrated cry in response from the blonde opposite him

       "That's not for you to determine, Oliver! I hurt him and I was trying to make amends, you knew that. The last thing I needed was you barging in and elbowing him out for no apparent reason." Dria snapped, her eyes narrowing as she tried to make sense of the way he was acting. "For Merlin's sake, why are you acting like such a dick?"

       "I'm not!"

       The blonde let out a disbelieving scoff.

       "Yes, you are!"

       "No, I'm not!"

       "Yes, you are!" She took a step close to him, before letting out a shaky breath, trying to reagin some control of her temper. "Look, I don't know what's up with you but you need to sort yourself out."

       "I need to sort myself out?" He countered, arching an eyebrow and letting out a scoff. "Dria, I've barely seen you since we came back to school, either you're tutoring someone or in the Hospital Wing or going on a bloody date with Nate Squire, what happened to always having time for me, huh?"

        "Do you hear yourself, Oliver?" She retorted, her attempt to calm herself, proving futile. "Believe it or not my world doesn't revolve around you! I'm sorry I haven't seen you but I'm busy — we all are — it's our seventh year for love of Merlin!"

     "You've always made time before, Dria, don't act like you haven't been avoiding me."

       "And what's it to you if I have?" She replied, a bitter smile emerging on her lips as she turned around, calling over her shoulder."The only thing you bloody care about Quidditch, what am I in the mix?"

        "You're everything!"

        She froze. The path in front of her blurred, as her mind took in his words. Slowly, she turned around to face him. He was breathing heavily where he stood, she realised so was she. Her voice felt hoarse from all the shouting, she swallowed slightly before attempting to speak.

        "... What?"

        Oliver also seemed to be trying to navigate how to proceed after having blurted out what he had, he gave her a strained smile. He looked helpless.

         "I think I like you, in fact I'm pretty sure I do." He told her, taking a step towards her, a slightness of vulnerability crossing his features. "I was jealous, that's why I crashed your date."

       Dria shook her head as he took another step closer to her, letting out a desperate sigh as she squeezed her eyes shut and felt her chest tighten. She took a step away from him, continuing to aggressively shake her head.

        "No, no that is not fair."

      "Dria!"

       "You can't just do that, Oliver!" She turned on him again, taking a hand through her hair.

        "I can't help how I feel, Dria."

        "This is so not fair!" She shouted, her cry more aimed at the universe than him, as she fought every urge not to rip her hair from her head.

       "What's not fair?" Oliver asked, his eyebrows furrowing as a bout of derisive chuckling overcame the blonde at the irony of the situation.

     "Do you not realise that I've been pining for you since before we even became friends?!" She asked him, pressing her lips together in frustration. "You haven't even shown me the slightest bit of interest back!"

       "That's not true." He shook his head, his own anger beginning to flare slightly at her words.

       "Oh really?" The blonde asked, folding her arms. "Or are you counting all that fake flirting in the common room when you have a girlfriend."

       "She's not my girlfriend!"

     "What?!"

     "I don't know who started that rumour." Oliver replied, with a pained expression as he took a hand through his hair. "She just started talking to me one day and I just sort of went along with it all, I guess I hoped it would make you jealous or something."

       Dria pressed her lips into a thin line, her nostrils flaring as she felt her pride wounded at the success of his plan — not that she'd ever make him aware of that.

        Then a sudden realisation dawned on her; a horrified expression appeared on her face.

        "Oh my god. Is Isolde aware of any of this?"

        Oliver faltered, his face contorting into a pained expression.

       "Not exactly—"

       "This is what I mean! Oliver, why are you acting like such an arse!" Dria asked him, incredulously.

       "I know I'm not the best at this, Dria. But I care about you, okay?" He countered, taking a daring step towards her. "I know you crack your knuckles when you're nervous, I know you hate apricots and even the sight of them making you feel nauseous, I know that the main thing that gets you through the day is the thought of being sat by the fire with a cup of tea. I know you, Dria and I care about you."

       He let out a tired sigh, his eyes softening as he looked on her.

       "For Merlin's sake last year I made up that whole thing about transfiguration tutoring just to spend time with you!" He said with a gentle chuckle lacing his tone. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I didn't know how."

       Dria swallowed, too shocked to speak as his eyes bore into her own.

      "But you can't tell me that I didn't try. I've shown interest, Dria, for some reason you refused to see it." He told her pointedly at which she pressed her lips and tore her gaze from his, looking to the floor.

       While looking down, she noted how his feet were only mere inches from her own — she hadn't noticed how close they'd become in the heat of their arguing.

       "I was convinced there was no way you could like me back."

       His words caused her look back up at him, a short breath left her lips before she pressed them together in a small smile.

      "How could I not, Oliver?" She said softly, before straightening up little, and regaining her gumption. 'But I've been trying to get over you for a year and you can't just spring this upon me! What are you expecting from me?"

       He opened his mouth and closed it again, trying to find the right words in response. Ultimately, taking a step away from her with a short nod.

        "You know what? Just forget I said anything."

       Now, it was Dria's turn to falter. Her eyebrows furrow as whatever anger she was bale to bury, slowly came bubbling back to the surface.

     "What?"

       "Just forget about it, I don't want you to be angry with me, can't we just go back to before?" He replied, plastering an unsure smile on his lips as the blonde gave a loud scoff.

       "You've got to be kidding."

       "What?"

       "No, Oliver, I am angry with you, in fact I'm positively furious and that's not going to change just because you don't want it deal with it!" She snapped back at him, feeling an overwhelming surge of emotion at the sight of him before him.

       "Dria!"

       She tore her gaze away from him, and shook her head, beginning to resume her walk back up to the castle.

       "No, I've had enough of you today."

       "Dria!"

       "No I mean it, leave me alone." She turned back one final time, giving him a warning look before letting out a small breath. "And not that it matters, but I'm not with Nate anymore."

        And even though she promptly turned away, she couldn't miss the heartbroken expression that crossed his face at her words — knowing he'd come so close, and missed.

***

       "HEY! HOW'D IT go with Nate?"

       "I hate Oliver Wood!"

       While Tess' question had been raised in an excited tone, Dria's response failed to match it as the blonde stroked into the all-but-empty common room, still seething from her conversation with the Keeper.

       "No, you don't." The Robbins girl countered, looking up from her essay with an arched brow.

      "No, I really do, and now I really need to break something!"

      The blonde had begun to pace around the sofa where Tess was sat, alarming the dark haired girl causing to stand up and drag her blonde friend down onto the sofa.

       "Okay, Madam Destruction! Calm down, would you like a tea?"

      "Don't even talk me about shitting tea!"

       "Merlin's beard, alright!" Tess matched her friend's volume, holding her arms up in surrender.

       "What's going on?"

       Another voice entered their midst, Dria tried to shake her anger upon seeing Jackie and Penny descending the staircase from the dormitories. 

      "We could hear you from the dorm!" Penny cried, peeling plastic gloves from her hands as she and Jackie approached the sofa.

       "What the hell happened?" The Hufflepuff cried, adjusting her hair wrap on her head.

       "Men, Jackie, men happened." Tess answered, gesturing towards their blonde friend, who had began pacing once more, breathing heavily.

       "You don't say."

       "What are you doing with your hair?" Dria managed to shake off her anger momentarily, to recognise her friend had once more adorned a hair wrap much like in the summer.

       "I too am going through my fair share of boy troubles so have entrusted Penny to dye my hair once more." Jackie reasoned with the girl, walking over and interrupting her pacing, causing her to come to a grinding halt before the O'Hare girl.

      "Well, you do rock a hair wrap." Dria replied in a small voice and Jackie guided her into a seat on the sofa beside Tess

      "Why, thank you."

       "So, what happened with Nate?" Penny asked with furrowed brow, at which Dria gave a shrug, her eyes stubbornly fixed ahead of her.

       "Nothing, really." She said quietly, "We're fine, water under the bridge."

       "So why are you so upset?" The Ravenclaw furrowed her eyebrows, looking at Tess for answers.

       "We've established it's to do with Oliver."

       "I don't want to talk about it." Dria groaned, hugging a sofa cushion to her chest, and burying her face in it.

       "Okay, why don't you have some chocolate?" Jackie proposed, as she knelt by the blonde's legs, who had begun to lift her head from the cushion. "Did you go to Honeydukes?"

        Dria's lips quivered as she slowly shook her head, her voice beginning to shake and strangled sob left her lips.

      "No I forgot, because of stupid Oliver Wood!"

      Before the blonde could reason with herself, she broke down in a hysterical fit of frustrated tears, burying her head on Tess' shoulders, who was looking between Jackie and Penny with wide eyes.

       "Okay, so you're broken then! Okay I can definitely deal with this." The Robbins girl muttered to herself before offering the blonde a reassuring pat on the head. "There, there. Let it out, let it out."

       Dria's sobs quickly turned to sniffs after a matter of moments, her gaze fixed itself on Jackie who shot her a sympathetic expression. The blonde furrowed her eyebrows.

       "I thought Hufflepuff had Quidditch practie this afternoon?" Dria said in a small voice, watching as Jackie's eyes widened and her hands flew her hair wrap.

       "Oh, shit!"

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖐𝖘!
merry shitting christmas!

the dialogue for that argument
has been in my drafts since
june 2020, so that was very fun
to write — i love angst

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