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booksmarts and broomsticks
act iii , turning tables
chapter fifty-one , impending death and egg breath

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➖DRIA LOCKABY➖
april 1994

"WHERE DO YOU see yourself in the next five years?"

"Honestly? Probably dead in a ditch."

"Jackie!"

The final chills of winter had slowly but surely morphed fully into spring. Ever since, Dria and Oliver had made a point of not wanting to waste their time left at school, the blonde could have sworn she'd never known time to pass so quickly.

As the month of April dawned upon them so did the Easter holidays, a two week break from education that had seen the three Lockaby children return to Mulberry Cottage and promptly eat their weight in Easter chocolate. Dria had to say that it was perhaps the least eventful trip home she'd ever had; their Easter roast was perfectly cooked — needless to say due to the fact that neither her nor her father had taken any involvement in its preparation — and, aside from the mild peril that Kipper had been in after eating a piece of Michael's Mars Bar easter egg, there was very little to report.

Upon her return to school, any prior sense of idleness had swiftly disappeared from the lives of the seventh year cohort and was promptly replaced with the impending pressure of NEWTs, Quidditch finals and the newest pain in the backside in Dria's life known as careers sessions.

"I'll be twenty three, past my prime ... it's the merciful thing for the universe to do." Jackie went on from where she was slumped back in her chair, grimacing at the sight of the large form sat in front of her.

"Okay, you're useless." Penny promptly resigned herself from helping the O'Hare girl, turning her attention back to her own form, which she at least two thirds of the way through completing.

Jackie let out a light huff, before turning her attention to the blonde of her left, who was furiously scribbling away, desperately to complete the form so she could return to her studying.

"What did you put for question one, Dria?" The Irish girl nudged the Lockaby girl, who begrudgingly lifted her head.

"Stable income."

Tess let out a snort from where she sat opposite Jackie on the other side of the table, the loud noise earning the Robbins a pointed look from Madam Pince, as she disrupted the quiet of the library.

"You do realise your going into a career in healthcare?" Tess retorted, her voice a little lower as she fixed Dria with an amused expression.

"I know it's hilarious." The blonde let out a derisive chuckle, before turning her attention back to her work as silence descended on the group once more.

Jackie let out a bored sigh, as Tess absentmindedly flicked through her own incomplete form, her own resolve matching that of the Hufflepuff opposite her, who similarly very little interest in the group's current endeavour.

"Why do we even have to do these stupid forms?" Tess grumbled, crossing her legs in her seat, directing her query at the two more studious members of the quartet, who both let out small sighs as they were disrupted once more. "It's not like careers session actually count towards our NEWTs."

"Yeah, they do."

"Did you even listen in the seminar?"

"Pfft, what kind of question is that?" Tess rebuffed Penny's question, letting out a low groan as she rested her head upon the tabletop. "Of course I didn't."

Dria let out a small chuckle at her friend's fleeting attention to span, before her gaze drifted to the girl on her right who, having successfully jotted her name at the top of the form, was now scratching down her answer to question one with her scorched quill. Upon reading her answer, however, said quill was promptly seized from her grasp by the Lockaby girl.

"Jackie, you can't write that."

"What?" Jackie protested, holding up the form, clearing her throat before reading; "Where do you see yourself in five years time? Not dead in a ditch. That, my friend, is progress."

With a roll of her eyes, Dria snatched the form from the O'hare girl and set down the quill, before lifting her wand and casting a simple erasing charm over the parchment. Jackie let out another groan, shooting a glance at Tess, who had opted to start doodling in the top right corner of her own form.

"I don't think I'm built for the workforce." Jackie mused, at which Tess sent her a small nod in agreement.

"Neither."

"We could be trophy wives?"

"Ooh! I'm writing that down."

"Stop it!" Penny rejoined the conversation, smacking Tess lightly on the arm as she looked between the pair. "You seriously have no ambitions?"

"Nope." Tess replied, with a light-hearted shrug.

"Not anymore." Jackie grumbled, "My prospects are shot."

Dria lifted her head up and shot Jackie a sympathetic smile, as the Irish girl rested her head on the blonde's shoulder with a deflated sigh.

Following, Dria's mum coming up to Hogsmeade during one of the weekends in February, Jackie had intercepted her hoping for some career advice and also her personal thoughts on the girl's eligibility for the internship offered by the Ministry of Magic in their Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. However, much Julia's dismay and Jackie's disappointed, the older witch had informed the girl that due to budget cuts, the internship would no longer be going ahead in that department, and that additionally Jules herself had been made the offer of a transfer to the Department of International Magical Cooperation in light of coming events that she couldn't disclose.

Needless to say, this onslaught on information left Jackie with very few options in terms of pursuing a career within her interests and had left her feeling pretty hopeless within the realm of career prospects.

"Well, what has Professor Sprout been advising you to do?" Dria asked the girl on her shoulder, as she lifted her quill and turned her attention to the blank question one answer box on the freshly erased parchment before her.

"She said if I'm interested in work with Muggles to go and live and work amongst them for a bit." Jackie grumbled, her voice slightly muffled as she replied. "Maintain my contacts and pray to fucking Merlin that the department get their funding back."

"Yeah, I'm not sure she used those words."

"So, what?" Tess arched an eyebrow, leaning forward. "After grad, you're just going to Apparate into the middle of London and hope for the best?"

Jackie merely shrugged before being forced to sit up as Dria shook her off her shoulder and presented her back with her own form, the blonde having neatly written an answer to the first question for the Hufflepuff.

"Here." Dria patted the parchment, directing Jackie's attention to the question box. "Where do you see yourself in five years time?"

"Working a job within my field of interest?" Jackie read out the blonde's handwriting with a delated sigh.

"It's not wrong, is it?" Dria shrugged, cocking her head to side as Jackie straightened up in her seat and gave the girl grateful nudge.

"It'll do."

"How do you intend to achieve this goal?" Tess read the next question aloud, having ceased her doodling, shooting a menacing grin at Jackie.

"By Apparating into the middle of London and hoping for the best!" The Hufflepuff exclaimed causing a wave of laughter to overcome the pair, as Dria and Penny looked on with pained expressions and soft chuckles.

"Oh, Merlin help us all."

***

"YOU KNOW, IF I LOSE this match, I might actually have to drown myself in the shower."

Dria shot Oliver an unamused look as she chewed on a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"I'd rather you didn't."

Only a few days after Dria and her friends' sad attempt at completing their careers paperwork had been the Saturday of the Quidditch Final between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and it was safe to say that tensions were running fairly high — the blonde could testify to this upon regarding her boyfriend's grip on his knife and fork as he stared down Marcus Flint across the Great Hall.

In the lead up to the game, a number of small scuffles broke out in the corridors, culminating in a nasty incident in which certain Gryffindor fifth year and a Slytherin sixth year ended up in the Hospital Wing with leeks sprouting out of their ears — an incident that in treating, Dria was sure would set her St Mungo's application apart from the rest of the candidates ... she sent a personal thanks to the Heidi Wood for her service and sacrifice, although if anyone could pull off having leeks in their ears, it was her.

Dria had noticed that the youngest member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team had been having a particularly hard time, the boy had recounted many a tale to her in the Common Room of how he could barely take a step around the school without a Slytherin trying to trip him in the corridor.

On top of this, Oliver had not exactly been a massive help in easing the boy's anxieties.

"Remember we have to be at least sixty points up before you catch the snitch—!"

"I KNOW, OLIVER!"

"Oliver, leave the boy alone, for Merlin's sake!"

Nevertheless, despite Oliver's methods, upon entering the Great Hall the morning of the game, all of the Gryffindor team seemed is very high spirits — especially considering that they had entered to enormous applause not only from the Gryffindor table but Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff too.

Dria had been among those cheering at the Gryffindor table, having risen earlier than her friends in order to cheer on the team upon their entrance, and now sat beside the Keeper at breakfast, donning her house colour in the form of face paint across her cheeks, polish on her nails and the slightly oversized Quidditch jumper that read O. Wood that she was wearing.

"Promise me, you'll avenge me, Dria." Oliver looked back at the girl, having sufficiently stared down Marcus Flint enough for morning.

The blonde let out a small mumble of assent as she took a drink of her morning tea and laid a hand on his, a small smirk on her lips as she shook her head in a light chuckle.

"Oh, I'll hunt Marcus Flint to the end of the earths."

"And beat him to death with a Beater's bat?"

Dria quirked an eyebrow as she set down her tea, and gave his hand a light squeeze.

"... Sure." She nodded at his plate which, in true Oliver Wood fashion, he had not touched, despite having urged the rest of his team to fill their boots. "Eat your bacon."

Seemingly satirised with her response, the Keeper obeyed and began tucking into his bacon and eggs, just as another figure entered their conversations with her usual shit-eating grin donning her features as she slid onto the bench opposite the couple.

"What's this I hear about beating Marcus Flint to death?"

"My dying request to Dria should Slytherin win the match and I have to drown myself in the showers." Oliver explained to Jackie between mouthfuls.

"Nice. I'll help." The O'Hare pledged her loyalty with a shrug.

"With the beating or the drowning?"

"What the hell have we walked into?"

The slightly concerned tone of Penny interrupted the somewhat disturbing conversation that was taking place between Jackie and Oliver, the three seated students looking up at the girl who had just appeared with her Tess, who was wearing a wide grin as the pair slid onto the bench next to the Hufflepuff.

"Probably safer not to question it." Dria interjected before the pair of Keepers could launch back into their discussion.

"So, how are you feeling, Wood?" Tess directed her attention at Oliver, "Think I just saw the scouts in the Entrance Hall."

"Shit, really?" The Keeper craned his neck to look over the heads of everyone else sat at the table. "Who was it?"

"An old white guy. Another old white guy, and — oh yeah — another old white guy."

Oliver looked very unimpressed with the Robbins girl's answer, still craning his neck to get a better look at the Entrance Hall while Dria let out a wry chuckle.

"Got to love the patriarchy."

"Go sports!" Tess gave a loud whoop.

"I'm disappointed, Tess. I would have expected names, birth dates and Gringotts vault numbers from you." Jackie fixed the girl with a look of fake disappoint as she poured herself a glass of apple juice, but Tess merely shrugged in response.

"Suppose I'm a little off today."

"You alright?" Dria quirked a brow.

"Yeah, yeah, just the careers stuff." The Robbins girl responded, vaguely.

"How's that going?"

"Something promising popped up. McGonagall's put me forward for ... but I won't get into it."

"Oh, come on." Penny gave the girl a light nudge on the shoulder. "Don't leave us hanging."

"I'll tell you if it comes to anything, besides today I'm focusing on Gryffindor's long awaited Quidditch Cup victory!"

Oliver gave a light chuckle from Dria's right, his attention having finally left the scouts in the Entrance Hall.

"Fingers crossed." He responded, with a small smile as he took another bite of his breakfast.

"I've never seen you so calm." Dria mused, having observed the boy for a moment, eyebrows furrowing in slight confusion at his manner.

"Why you think I'm weird if I said that as it's my last match I kind of want to enjoy it?"

"No, but I would think that you'd been kicked in the head."

Oliver pursed his lips as he thought on the blonde's words, before his expression quickly curved into a menacing smile.

"Yeah, fuck having fun, I'm going to annihilate those bastards."

"There he is." Dria stifled a chuckle at his sudden change in attitude, watching as he polished off the rest of his bacon sandwich and dusted his hands over his plate, before he surveyed his team sat nearby and looked back at the blonde.

"Alright, better get going." He spared her a small smile.

"You off, already?" Dria arched an eyebrow as Oliver threw his leg over the other side of the bench, preparing to stand.

"Yeah, I want to assess the pitch ahead of the game." He explained, rising to his feet and shooting her a soft smile. "And, I've got one last pep talk to do."

A collective groan sounded from along the Gryffindor table, the mention of a 'pep talk' having been enough to disturb the rest of the Quidditch team from finishing their breakfast.

"Come on guys, let's get a move on!" The Captain clapped his hands together as the other players began also rising from their seats.

"Oh, bless them." Dria chuckled, rising to her feet and casting the Keeper a knowing look. "Please don't destroy their morale."

"No, this one's really inspiring." Oliver dismissed her concerns at which she promptly fixed him with another pointed look. "I'll cut it down to ten minutes."

"It's over ten minutes—?"

"I'll cut it down!"

Dria let out a soft chuckle as she studied the boy's face, her laughter fading as she spotted the slight clench of his jaw, understanding the nerves beginning to set in.

"You're going to be great." She reached out for his hand, capturing his attention.

"Yeah?" His lips curved into a small smirk, leaning a little closer to her. "How about a kiss for good luck?"

"I've literally just eaten scrambled egg." Dria let out an amused scoff.

"Valid point."

"And besides you don't need luck." She mirrored his smirk, a strange feeling of confidence washing over as she ran her thumb gently over his knuckles. "But when you win ... I'll have to offer my congratulations some way, won't I?"

A brief moment passed between the couple who were both smirking at one another, oblivious to the onlookers around them who were spectating — or rather, in Jackie's case, making retching noises.

"Wood!"

The shoot of his name from one of his team member brought Oliver out of his reverie as he cast a fleeting look of acknowledgment over his shoulder.

"I am coming!" He called, a slight note of irritation in his voice before he turned his attention back to his girlfriend, who was still wearing a small smirk. "I will hold you to that, egg breath."

The blonde wrinkled her nose at the nickname before the Keeper pressed a quick kiss to her head before letting go of her hand and shooting her a wink as he walked away towards the Entrance Hall with the rest of his teammates.

Dria let out a slow breath, her cheeks suddenly feeling very hot as she sank down onto her seat, and turned to look back at her friends who were fixing her with mischievous expressions.

"Bet that's not the only thing he'll hold you to."

"Tess!"

***

"DRIA, YOU'RE GOING TO have to help us out         here."

The blond let out a low groan at Jackie's seemingly innocent statement. Only half an hour had passed since they'd been sat in the Great Hall - the group of four friends had been situated in the Quidditch stands for around ten minutes anxiously awaiting the starting of the match - and in the time that had elapsed, Tess and Jackie had yet to stop making crude insinuations about Dria and her boyfriend, much to the blonde's mortification and Penny's amusement.

"I swear to Merlin—"

"I'm just saying the incentive of a kiss is cute, but we might have a higher chance of winning if you just said you'd sleep with him." Tess shrugged, a wide grin on his face as Jackie let out a loud cackle from beside her.

"Oh my God!" The blonde exclaimed turning around, from where she stood on the stand below the pair with Penny.

"And you'd be benefitting too, victory sex is amazing." Jackie added, her shit-eating grin getting wider by the second.

"Guys, there are first years here!"

"Bet he'd love to do it in a broom closet, he'd feel right at home."

"I'm this close to throwing myself off the stands."

Thankfully the threat of harm to herself was enough to get the duo to cease their teasing and instead descend into a bout of gleeful cackling as while the blonde spared an exhausted look the friend beside her, who was desperately trying to stop herself from chuckling along with the joke.

As their laughter settled, Dria found her mortification to be only momentary, a small smile forming on her lips at all too familiar kidding of her friends.

Three-quarters of the crowd in the stands were either wearing scarlet rosettes, jumpers, face paint or nail polish eagerly waving scarlet flags with the Gryffindor lion upon them, or brandishing banners with slogans like GO GRYFFINDOR! and LIONS FOR THE CUP!

Behind the Slytherin goal posts, however, two hundred people were wearing green; the silver serpent of Slytherin glittered on their flags.

"And here are the Gryffindors!"

The sudden booming of Lee Jordan's voice sounded out around the pitch startled Dria and everyone around her as he announced the team zooming onto the pitch, above the roaring crowd.

"Potter, Spinnet, Byrnes, Johnson, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years—"

Despite three quarters of the crowd cheering along with his statement - excluding Jackie who took the statement quite personally - Lee's voice was drowned out by a tide of boos from the Slythering end of the pitch.

"And here come the Slytherin team, led by Captain Flint. He's made some changes in the lineup and seems to be going for size rather than skill-"

Lee's further commenatry only beckoned more booing from the Slytherins, as their team zoomed onto the pitch. Although Dria had to say that Lee had a point, since the Slytherin team had dropped Phoebe Rowle at the start of the year - for reasons which Dria could assume were entirely sexist - Draco Malfoy was now the smallest member of the team, the rest of the players being enormous.

Dria clasped her hands together nervously as the fourteen players flew into formation, with both Captains landing on the ground.

"Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch announced from where she had wandered onto the pitch, standing beside to the two boys.

Oliver and Flint did so, reluctantly, both wearing grim expressions as they did - but look a little less like they were shaking hands and more so trying to break each other's fingers.

"Am I the only one who thinks that there's a little bit of unresolved sexual tension there?" Dria heard Jackie's voice whisper in her ear from behind her.

"This is the most insufferable you've even been, Jackie."

"Aw, thank you."

The blonde only shook her head before turning her attention back to the pitch, anxiously awaiting the start of the match with the rest of the crowd.

"Mount your brooms! " Madam Hooch called out. "Three... two... one..."

The sound of her whistle was lost in the roar from the crowd as the fourteen brooms rose into the air, and the Quaffle was sezied into the possession of Alita.

"And it's Gryffindor in possession, Byrnes passes to Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slytherin goal posts, looking good, Ange! Argh, no- Quaffle intercepted by Warrington, Warrington of Slytherin tearing up the field-WHAM! -nice Bludger work there by George Weasley, Warrington drops the Quaffle, it's caught by Byrnes, Gryffindor back in possession, come on, Lita-nice swerve around Montague-duck, Lita, that's a Bludger!"

Dria wasn't sure if it was because of the match being the final, the fact that scouts were there for Oliver or that Gryffindor was just playing Slytherin but all in all she had to say she had never been so tense as she spectated a match.

"SHE SCORES! TEN ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

At the sound of the Quaffle smashing through the Slytherin goal, Dria let out a loud scream, her tension fading ever so slightly as she jumped up and down in excitement with the rest of the crowd.

However, the celebration was short lived as on her return from the goal, Alita smashed with Flint in a very deliberate seeming collision.

"Sorry, didn't see her!" The Slytherin called out, a malicious smirk on his lips.

A moment later, Fred Weasley chucked his Beater's club at the back of Flint's head as he flew by causing Flint's nose to smash into the handle of his broom and began to bleed freely.

"Nice one, Fred!" Tess cried out, as Dria looked on, desperately trying to hide her smile.

"Promise me when you fix that up, you'll give him a botched nose job." Dria heard Jackie call at her, causing the blonde to look behind her at the Hufflepuff with a small shrug.

"No comment."

"That will do!" The sound of Madam Hooch's invention captured the crowd's attention once more. "Penalty shot to Gryffindor for an unprovoked attack on their Chaser! Penalty shot to Slytherin for deliberate damage to their Chaser!"

"Come off it, Miss!" Dria could hear Fred contest, but Madam Hooch blew her whistle and Angelina flew forward to take the penalty.

"Come on, Angelina!" Lee's boomed out into the silence that had descended on the crowd. "YES! SHE'S BEATEN THE KEEPER! TWENTY ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

The crowd erupted in celebration until the Quaffle was passed back to Flint to take the penalty for his own team, despite the mess of his face.

"Course, Wood's a superb Keeper! " Lee told the crowd as Flint waited for Madam Hooch's whistle.

Dria felt Tess' hands anxiously lay on her shoulders as Flint took aim and the blonde fought every instinct to squeeze her eyes shut.

"Superb! Very difficult to pass-very difficult indeed-YES! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! HE'S SAVED IT!"

"YES!" The blonde exclaimed in victory, punching the air as Tess shook her shoulders in violent enthusiasm as the gameplay recommenced.

"Gryffindor in possession, no, Slytherin in possession-no! Gryffindor back in possession and it's Alicia Spinnet, Alicia Spinnet for Gryffindor with the Quaffle, she's streaking up the field—THAT WAS DELIBERATE!"

Dria grimaced as she watched Montague swerve in front of Alicia, and instead of seizing the Quaffle had grabbed her head. Alicia cart wheeled in the air, managed to stay on her broom, but dropped the Quaffle.

"What the fuck is wrong with men?!"

Madam Hooch's whistle rang out again as she soared over to Montague and began shouting at him. A minute later, Alicia had put another penalty past the Slytherin Keeper.

"THIRTY ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING—"

Lee's voice was cut off and - if she squinted - Dria was fairly sure that she could see Professor McGonagall admonishing the boy from where they sat in the box across the pitch.

"And it's Gryffindor in possession again, as Byrnes takes the Quaffle — Flint alongside her — poke him in the eye, Alita! — it was a joke, Professor, it was a joke — oh no — Flint in possession, Flint flying toward the Gryffindor goal posts, come on now, Wood, save—!"

Dria held her breath and watched with dismay as Flint put the Quaffle through one of the hoops.

"Fuck!"

"See, if you'd promised him sex, Dria."

"Jackie, I'm going to punch you."

There was an eruption of cheers from the Slytherin end. The blonde let out a delflated sigh as she watched her boyfriend swerve around the goalpost, trying his best to shake off the loss. Meanwhile, across the field, Lee was having a tug of war with McGonagall over the magical megaphone due to him having called Flint not a very nice name ...

"Sorry, Professor, sorry! Won't happen again! So, Gryffindor in the lead, thirty points to ten, and Gryffindor in possession—"

Dria let out slow breath, her hand now clutching Penny's arm as she watched match morph into the filthiest game of Quidditch she'd ever seen.

Enraged that Gryffindor had taken such an early lead, the Slytherins were rapidly resorting to any means to take the Quaffle. Bole hit Alita with his club and tried to say he'd thought she was a Bludger. She'd elbowed Bole in the face in retaliation ("Alita, you're the reason I'm a feminist!"). Madam Hooch awarded both teams penalties, and Oliver thankfully pulled off another spectacular save, making the score forty ten to Gryffindor.

Alicia then scored. The Weasley twins promptly swooped around the Chaser, clubs raised, in case any of the Slytherins were thinking of targeting their revenge at her. However, Bole and Derrick took advantage of Fred's and George's absence to aim both Bludgers at Oliver. Dria watched in horror as they caught him in the stomach, one after the other, and he rolled over in the air, clutching his broom, completely winded.

"Oh my God!" The blonde clasped her hands over her mouth as her friends began furiously screaming their indignation towards the Beaters.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"That's her boyfriend, you wankers!"

"THAT'S A FOUL!"

Madam Hooch was beside herself - and so Dria, for that matter.

"YOU DO NOT ATTACK THE KEEPER UNLESS THE QUAFFLE IS WITHIN THE SCORING AREA!" She shrieked at Bole and Derrick. "Gryffindor penalty!"

Angelina promptly scored. Sixty, ten. Moments later, as Dria began to slowly calm herself down, Fred pelted a Bludger at Warrington, knocking the Quaffle out of his hands; Alita seized it and put it through the Slytherin goal — seventy, ten.

"That's sixty points up, right?" Penny nudged the blonde beside her, who was furiously nodding, her blue eyes scanning the pitch in a frenzy as she tried to spot the Seeker.

"Harry, wherever you are, get the fucking Snitch!"

"Dria, I love this side of you."

"Oh, come on!"

Having finally spotted Harry amid the rest of the players, Dria let out an exclamation fo frustration at the sight of Malfoy grabbing a hold of the Harry's Firebolt's tail, pulling it back.

"Penalty! Penalty to Gryffindor! I've never seen such tactics." Madam Hooch screeched, shooting up to where Malfoy was sliding back onto his Nimbus 2001.

"YOU CHEATING SCUM!" Lee Jordan was howling into the megaphone, dancing out of Professor McGonagall's reach.

Professor McGonagall didn't even bother to tell him off. She was actually shaking her finger in Malfoy's direction, her hat had fallen off, and she too was shouting furiously.

Angelina took Gryffindor's penalty, but she was so angry she missed by several feet. Dria watched on with a worried expression as she saw the Gryffindor team begin to derail, losing their concentration and the Slytherins, delighted by Malfoy's foul on Harry, were being spurred on to greater heights.

"Slytherin in possession, Slytherin heading for goal-Montague scores—" Lee groaned. "Seventy twenty to Gryffindor..."

Dria had grabbed a hold of Penny's arm once more, adrenaline coursing through her head as she watched Alita tackle the Quaffle from Flint.

"Alita Byrnes gets the Quaffle for Gryffindor, come on, Lita, COME ON!"

"Come on, Lita!"

"SHE SCORES! SHE SCORES! Gryffindor leads by eighty points to twenty!"

"That's it! That's sixty points up!" Dria all but screeched, her voice beginning to feel hoarse from all the shouting. "Where's Harry—?"

"There, Dria! Look!" Tess violently shook her shoulders once more from behind, pointing the girl's attention to that of the Gryffindor Seeker who in pursuit of Malfoy, who had seen the Snitch.

"Go! Go! Go!"

Harry was gaining on Malfoy - he flattened himself to the broom handle as Bole sent a Bludger at him - he was at Malfoy's ankles - he was level -

The blonde watched with wdie eyes as Harry threw himself forward, took both hands off his broom, knocked Malfoy's arm out of the way and-

"YES!"

Harry pulled out of his dive and the stands erupted in cheers at the sight of the tiny golden ball clutched in his grasp.

Dria screamed in a glee, punching the air again, jumping up and down before crashing into Penny and enveloping her a hug.

"He did it, Dria!" The Ravenclaw exclaimed as they pulled out of the hug, immediately to be pounced upon by Jackie and Tess from behind, the latter of which was shaking the blonde as she screamed in excitement.

"He fucking did it!"

Dria tore her gaze from her friends, and looked back towards the pitch where the Gryffindor team had all flown together and now in a many armed hug were sinking to the ground.

The blonde's heart swelled with pride as she spectated Oliver throwing his arms around every member of his team, beginning to feel her eyes prickle with tears and choked out a relieved laugh.

It didn't take long before everyone in the stands were spilling onto the pitch, Dria amongst them, jogging with her friends not far behind her as she dodged through the crowd, attempting to find the Keeper.

It wasn't hard to spot Oliver amid the rest of the crowd, his face breaking into an even wider grin - if possible - at the sight of her.

"You did it!" The girl exclaimed across the short distance between them before he enveloped her in tight hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around.

"We fucking won!" He cried, as she held him tight, their gleeful laughter shaking through them as he set her down, the two of them still in a tight embrace. He arched an eyebrow at her. "I believe there is an offering of a particular kind of congratulations that are in order."

"Really?" Dria smirked, mirroring his expression, at which he let out an amused scoff.

"You've got to be joking, I take two Bludgers to the stomach, we still win and you—"

"Shut your face, Wood." She rolled her eyes, silencing him as she leaned up, arms wrapped his neck and pulled him into a long-awaited kiss.

Almost immediately she could feel him returning his kiss, smiling as he did, his arms wrapping around her as he relaxed in her embrace.

It was everything she'd dreamed of. The second his lips were on hers, she wondered how she'd ever gone on before and how she'd continue to go on - it felt like a missing piece had been finally slotted into place. Her stomach was alive with butterflies - years of pining, misunderstanding, miscommunication, heartache had all led to this, and there was no doubt in Dria's mind that it had all been worth it.

"About bloody time!"

The exclamation startled the pair, causing their kiss to stop, as they turned around to see the grinning faces of the Gryffindor team, red of the face from their exertion and whooping in the direction of the pair.

Dria let out a light laugh, her own face flushing red as she looked back at the Keeper before, pressing her lips together in a bashful smile, chuckling.

"Well?"

"I'd take a hundred Bludgers if it meant you'd do that again." The Keeper smiled down at her, causing the blonde to scoff out a laugh, as she slipped out of his embrace and slapped his arm.

"Alright, charmer." She narrowed her eyes, playfully, before nodding at the rest of his team. "Now, go and get your bloody cup."

Dria had never seen him smile so wide. He took her face in his hands and pressed firm kiss to her lips which she gladly returned, before he shot her wink and jogged back over to his teammates.

The blonde let out another chuckle at the sight before her, and the atmosphere around her.

Percy and Penny were jumping up and down like maniacs, together all dignity forgotten. Professor McGonagall was sobbing violently into an enormous Gryffindor flag; Jackie and Tess were grinning with Lorcan and Amir, the former of which had his arm slung around the Irish girl's shoulders.

Dria smiled as she took in the scene with a deep breath. It didn't get much better than this.

every reader for the last fifty chapters:

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖐𝖘!
ta daaaaaa !!

it took us a while but here
we are. thanks for all your
patience,  my love for every
single person to reads/enjoys
this book is unmatched <33

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