Weeks after the students' return to Hogwarts from their Christmas break, the workload the professors were giving them — regardless of their year level — was on another level of heavy. It was as if the teachers all thought that the students had more than enough time to sit back and relax during those few weeks and were trying to make up for lost time with an insane amount of requirements to be completed.

On the bright side, the group assignment that Jessica had with Higgs and Chopra was a success. They had submitted it a while back and Snape was currently returning their work with a flick of his wand, the piles of parchment separating and levitating to the respective owners. Their long essay landed in front of Jessica and she gently took it into her hands, eagerly searching for their score. She let out a sigh of relief when she read the big, red letter 'O' for Outstanding. She did pretty well in all her subjects, and Potions wasn't an exception, but she was always a little more nervous because Snape wasn't exactly the most considerate professor there was at Hogwarts — especially to Gryffindors.

"Hawthorne," someone whisper-yelled from somewhere behind her. Jessica whipped around to find Terence trying to get her attention. He pointed at the paper she was holding as if to ask if he could see it. With a genuine smile, she flashed the paper and showed him the high score they got, and the Slytherin boy couldn't help but beam back at her.

After Potions, Alista left earlier than Jessica and Bethany to make it in time for her next class, Herbology, because it took place at the greenhouses and she needed to hurry. So, it was just the two fourth year Gryffindors walking at their own pace out of the dungeons. However, it seemed that Terence Higgs, unlike Alista, was in no rush to head to his next class, because he had suddenly called Jessica's last name on her way out of the classroom.

Jessica didn't have to say a word to know that Bethany would be polite enough to step aside and let them talk. The redhead moved to the side a few feet away from them to wait for her friend to do what she had to. Meanwhile, Jessica met Terence halfway from her spot, curious as to why he still needed to speak to her.

"Higgs," she said. "What is it?"

"Thanks for helping me bring my Potions grade back up," he began with a hint of humor.

"It was a group assignment. I didn't do everything," Jessica said politely.

"You probably didn't notice, but you sort of did. You took charge of almost everything and edited my and Chopra's work."

"Oh," said Jessica sheepishly. "Yeah, I suppose I didn't notice. You did well, too, though."

"Thanks, but I'm not complaining," he clarified with a grin. "We got an O from Snape because of you. Anyway, I've been meaning to ask you something. Even though we're done with that assignment, would you want to, well, continue meeting up?"

Jessica raised her eyebrows at his request.

"Oh, do you want me to help you with Potions?" she asked.

"Wait, actually —"

"I wouldn't say I'm the best tutor, but —"

"That's not what I meant," Terence cut her off. When Jessica merely stared up at him to wait for his clarification, his shoulders slumped. He didn't realize she was that daft for her not to get his drift. With a small sigh of defeat, he shook his head. He decided to try next time and be clearer about it, but he guessed this wasn't the right time.

"Never mind," he said with a smile still playing on his lips. "Thanks again, Hawthorne. I'll talk to you soon."

Jessica frowned in confusion, wanting to know what he was going to tell her. She never liked it when people couldn't just say what they needed to say to her, then ended up leaving her hanging. However, he was just her group mate for that one assignment, so she assumed it wasn't anything big and brushed it off, turning around to go back to Bethany who was waiting for her. She didn't notice that the girl had watched and listened to the whole ordeal and was grinning mischievously, knowing exactly what Terence must have been trying to say to her best friend.

I'm so going to tell Alista about this, Bethany thought, keeping her lips sealed as she and Jessica went on their way to Transfiguration.

★ ★ ★

Later that day, Jessica and Oliver were leaving the Gryffindor common room together as they were heading in the same direction, but to different destinations. Since they were both done with their lessons for the day, Jessica was going to the Owlery to send her parents a letter while Oliver was going to the Quidditch Pitch to practice with his team. The two locations were more or less next to one another, both situated at the same corner of the grounds, so they found themselves walking side by side as they stepped out of the portrait of the Fat Lady.

That morning, it was a buzz in the Gryffindor tower when the house found out that they had suddenly lost a large amount of points overnight. Hence, this was the pair's topic of discussion as they excited the Gryffindor tower, and when Jessica wondered out loud how and why that happened, Oliver turned sour and revealed to her that Harry Potter was responsible for it.

"Potter? How'd he manage to lose a hundred and fifty points just like that?" Jessica asked in shock.

"I have no idea. I just know that he and his friends got into some trouble. He even came up to me today and offered to resign as Seeker."

Knowing how intense Oliver was when it came to Quidditch, Jessica held out her arm in front of Oliver, causing him to stop abruptly and turn to her with a questioning look.

"Don't tell me you kicked Potter off the team," Jessica said slowly.

"What? Merlin, no," Oliver said, gently pushing her arm away and urging her to keep walking. Jessica let out a sigh of relief and fell into step beside him once again. "The only way we can get those points back is if we win the next few matches, so we need him."

"Oh, good. I kind of thought you'd hold a grudge over him and kick him out that easily."

"Well... if calling him 'the Seeker' instead of his actual name ever since I found out what he did counts as a grudge, then... you're sort of correct," Oliver admitted with a wince.

"Wood," Jessica said disapprovingly.

"In my defense, we can't get back on track if I'm not a little more strict with him. And before you lecture me, I've become more firm with the rest of the team, too. Fred and George have been goofing around a bit too much during training, so I've been trying to lessen that, as well."

"Okay, I see where you're coming from. But still, isn't it fun to have the twins around? Don't they make your trainings less tiring?" Jessica said, nudging the Scottish boy who looked too serious at the moment as he always did whenever he spoke about his favorite sport. Well, it was either too serious or too enthusiastic — there was no in between.

"Alright, sometimes, but we still need to focus on winning the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup this year. We don't have time to play around."

"That really is your top goal, isn't it?" Jessica mused.

"Of course! Gryffindor hasn't won in years. I need to win it as captain."

"Looking too far ahead can be dangerous."

"Why do you suddenly sound like Dumbledore?" Oliver finally cracked a joke.

"I was trying to give you some advice," Jessica grumbled, much to his amusement. "Really, though, you shouldn't worry so much. You won against Slytherin and Hufflepuff already, and in spite of what Potter did, the team's been doing great this season thanks to you."

Oliver felt his heart jump ever so slightly at her compliment.

"Thanks, Hawthorne," he said. "If you're free after sending that letter to your parents, maybe you could drop by the pitch and —"

"Jess! Jess!"

Both Jessica and Oliver stopped in their tracks to find out who was calling the black-haired girl's name. Jessica had barely turned on her heel when a blonde girl had basically crashed into her, seemingly having ran a long distance just to reach her.

"Oof, Alista? What's —"

"Beth told me what Terence asked you," Alista said, wiggling her eyebrows. Jessica and Oliver both shared confused looks before facing the Slytherin girl again.

"What do you mean?"

"He asked if he could continue seeing you!"

"Continue?" Oliver interrupted, even more puzzled than before.

"No, he asked if we could still meet up even though our group assignment is over," Jessica said. "He was talking about how high our score was, so I think he was asking me to tutor him."

"Tutor?" Alista said in disbelief just as another voice spoke from farther away.

"Alista! Why... why did you have to run?"

Bethany appeared from around the corner, looking slightly breathless and not at all happy with having to chase Alista all the way there.

"I wanted to ask Jess about it already!" Alista replied excitedly. Bethany rolled her eyes as she made their way to her friends, catching her breath as she did. "She really did think he was just asking her to tutor him."

"Wasn't he?" Jessica questioned in a small voice, trailing off at the pointed looks the two girls were sending her. "Er, so he wasn't?"

"He didn't even mention anything about studying, you daft woman," Bethany told her.

"I am not daft."

"He was obviously hinting on asking you out."

"I just knew he has a thing for you," Alista added giddily.

Oliver's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but it wasn't necessarily because of what he had just heard, though it did play a big part in it. More importantly, it was because of the look on Jessica's face; she was blushing.

She couldn't help it, though. She was both embarrassed and flattered at Bethany and Alista's words — if they were right about Terence, that is. She had crushes before, but she had never had someone actually want to ask her out on a date, so hearing something like that made her face grow warm, and she just couldn't control it.

★ ★ ★

"You're not going out with Higgs, right?"

"For the last time, Wood, no."

Oliver huffed and leaned back on the armchair, staring at Jessica as she kept her gaze directly on the book on her lap. More than a week had passed since Bethany and Alista had told Jessica what Terence most likely meant and what his intentions were, and for some reason, it was bothering Oliver even more than it did when he first heard it. He told himself that it was natural to be curious and concerned since he was friends with Jessica, and it wasn't a secret that he was wary of Slytherins.

When the aforementioned girl felt Oliver's eyes still on her, she sighed and looked up at him.

"What is it now?"

Oliver folded his arms over his chest. "You're completely sure?"

"Uh, yes? How could I not be sure if I was dating him?" she scoffed. "Why does it matter, anyway?"

Oliver opened his mouth to say something, only for him to realize he didn't have a concrete answer because he didn't know why it mattered so much to him, anyway.

"Oh, I get it," Jessica finally said in realization, causing Oliver's heart to thump.

"You do?"

"Yep. It's because he's a Slytherin, isn't it?"

"Oh. Yeah."

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop judging them so harshly," Jessica reminded him, though she didn't sound mad.

"Well, most Gryffindors don't exactly have good relationships with Slytherins," Oliver countered. "Except for you and Greene, of course."

He was right to some extent, so Jessica shrugged.

"Fine, you have a small point. So, if that's the reason you're so concerned, you don't have to be," she said with a tone of finality. "I can take care of myself. Higgs is just... Higgs."

"I know, but —"

Oliver and Jessica's conversation was cut short the moment they heard people gossiping behind them about something they had never heard about just yet. Admittedly, they couldn't contain their curiosity either, so they looked over their shoulders to get a better look.

"You saw Weasley and Granger talking to Dumbledore?" one of them said.

"Yeah, mate," the other replied. "You don't see first years talking to the headmaster like that everyday, do you?"

Jessica recognized the two boys' faces, but she wasn't familiar with their names. All she knew was that they were seen around the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan from time to time, giving her the impression that they were also third years and their dorm mates.

"Oi, Holmes, Chapman," Oliver called their attention. So, those were their names.

Once the two boys had approached them by the fireplace, Oliver asked, "What were you lot just talking about now?"

"I was just saying that I saw those first years, Granger and Weasley, talking to Dumbledore of all people," Chapman replied. "Strange, right?"

"What makes that so interesting?" Jessica asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, Dumbledore literally ran off after their short talk," he explained. "I've never seen the man move that fast or look that panicked."

"Yeah, isn't he like, a hundred years old already?" said Holmes, receiving a disapproving elbow to the ribs from his friend next to him. "Ow. Just kidding."

"Did you hear what they were talking about?" Oliver questioned further.

"No. Sorry, mate."

"What if it has something to do with Potter?" Holmes tried. Oliver and Jessica straightened up in their seats at that guess.

"Potter?" Jessica repeated. "What would it have to do with him?"

"Isn't he always with Weasley and Granger?"

"Which Weasley are you talking about?" two more voices chorused. This time, Fred and George arrived at the scene, having just entered the common room.

"We were just about to look for you and tell you about what I saw," Chapman said, facing his dorm mates.

"What did you see? Did one of our dungbombs set off early?" Fred asked with wide eyes. "They weren't supposed to be touched until tonight."

"No — wait, what dung bombs?"

Fred and George exchanged glances, almost as if they had been caught stealing cookies out of a cookie jar.

"Nothing. What is it, then?" Fred pressed, changing the subject.

"We saw your younger brother and that Granger girl talking to Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore?" George said incredulously before facing his twin. "Do you think Ickle Ronnikins finally got into trouble?"

"Doubt it. He doesn't have the guts like we do," Fred chuckled.

"Maybe he did, though," Holmes interrupted, causing the twins to look at him in mild surprise. "Chapman said Dumbledore took off urgently after talking to them. Apparently, it looked serious."

Despite that discussion among the group of Gryffindors, they never arrived at an answer as to what was going on. However, they'd learn soon enough what took place deep inside the castle, and sure enough, it had something to do with the Boy Who Lived.

A/N: I finally updated omg. I was feeling a bit unmotivated bc I wasn't sure how to start again after losing all my drafts in my now ~dead~ iPad, but I'm back! I absolutely love Oliver and want to keep this story going, so a huge thank you to those who've been patiently waiting for my updates :> Don't worry, I've planned out the next few chapters again so at least now, I'm not writing entirely from nothing. Don't forget to vote and comment! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter hehe ♡