"Oh, so that's what happened. Thank Merlin because the position I found you two in wasn't exactly... appropriate."

Jessica glared at her cousin for that comment. After she and Oliver got off the ground, she immediately explained to Charles that they had gotten startled by his sudden arrival by Floo and ended up tripping and falling on top of one another. Oliver was so embarrassed that it didn't fully process in his brain that the Charles Hawthorne, one of the Chasers of Puddlemere United — his all-time favorite Quidditch team — was standing in front him. It was only now that he was seated on the couch after that incident that it did, and it was taking all his willpower to not fanboy over him while Jessica was still clearing things up.

"So, this is Oliver Wood, huh?" Charles finally said, eyes turning away from his younger cousin and to the boy next to her. Oliver visibly perked up.

"You know who I am?"

"You're the one Jessica bought those Keeper gloves for, right?" Oliver nodded earnestly at his words. "She asked me for help to get them since they were a limited edition."

Oliver couldn't take it anymore. He stood up with a start, surprising both Jessica and Charles at his abrupt movements.

"I just want to say that it's a massive honor to meet you. I'm a big fan of Puddlemere United. I'm on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team — have been since my second year. And thanks for helping Hawthorne get those gloves — they're amazing to play with. I'm a Keeper, by the way. Oh, wait, you already knew that," he blabbed.

Jessica hid an entertained laugh behind her hand, watching as Oliver rambled on about his love for Charles, his team, and the sport in general.

"It's a pleasure to meet a fan, too," Charles happily said, sticking a hand out for Oliver to take. Of course, the Scottish boy took it at once and eagerly shook it.

"Who are you two talking to — oh, Charles?"

The adults must have heard the commotion in the living room because both Ian and Katherine left the kitchen to check on them.

"What are you doing here?" Ian asked his nephew.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot," said Charles. "Sorry for intruding. I didn't realize you had guests."

"Not to worry. We invited them last minute."

"Well, it's nothing serious, but dad's been asking for his tuxedo back," Charles said sheepishly. "He said you keep forgetting to owl it back to him and his company dinner is in a few days and, in his words, he can't just 'magic a new suit out of nowhere' like you can, so..."

"You still haven't sent it back?" Katherine scolded her husband.

"I forgot," he admitted with a nervous laugh, hurriedly fishing out his wand. He swished it once to summon the aforementioned tuxedo. A garment bag came zooming down the stairs a few moments later and straight into Ian's hands.

"Thanks, uncle," Charles said with a charming smile, taking the bag from his hands.

"All that trouble for a suit?" Jessica questioned as the adults retreated back into the kitchen and dining area. Wow, they still aren't done talking, she thought.

"You're just mad since I caught you two —" Charles began.

"Doing nothing," Jessica cut him off. "Shut up and go talk about Quidditch with Wood some more."

Oliver looked like a kid about to get a bag full of candy after Jessica suggested that Charles talk to him. He thought he would leave right after doing what he needed to do — getting his father's suit back — but if he was going to stay a bit longer to give him a chance to talk to him a little more, it would make him the happiest person alive.

"Speaking of Quidditch," said Charles, setting down the garment bag on one of the armchairs. "Why don't we play a quick game?"

"Yes," Oliver said right away.

"We're only three, though," Jessica pointed out.

"My dad can play," Oliver offered. "He used to play back in Hogwarts, too."

"Problem solved," Charles beamed. "I've been wanting to play a lighthearted game of Quidditch in a while. Training's been such a bore recently."

And that was how Jessica found herself in the field at the back of her house with Charles, Oliver, and Mr. Wood. That morning, she didn't expect to have lunch with the Wood family, let alone play a Quidditch game with them and her own cousin, too.

"I can't believe you're making an old man like me play Quidditch," Mr. Wood said to his son, a hint of humor in his voice.

"You're not even forty, dad. Don't you miss playing it, too?" Oliver said like a child.

"I do," he confessed. "It would be an honor to play with a professional Quidditch athlete, anyway."

Charles chuckled and thanked Mr. Wood. The two of them lapsed into a casual conversation about playing Quidditch at Hogwarts, reminiscing their time there even if it hadn't been that long since Charles graduated.

Jessica snickered at how excited Oliver looked even when he was just looking at her cousin. She placed both her hands behind his back and steered him away from Charles, much to his dismay.

"Hey, lass, what're you —"

"You're going to help me get the broomsticks and balls in the shed," she announced. "Besides, if you stayed there and ogled at Charles any longer, it would look like he made you drink a love potion."

Exactly ten minutes later, the group was ready to go and play Quidditch. Since Charles wanted a fair match, he decided to play as Keeper instead of his usual position as Chaser. Hence, Jessica took over as Chaser on his team. Of course, Oliver was the Keeper of his own team while his dad would play as the Chaser. They settled on only using a Quaffle in the game because they lacked members, and they agreed that the game would end when one of the teams reached 50 points first. It sounded like a low goal, but with only a total of two members on each team, it wasn't going to be as easy as it seemed.

Lacking some of the equipment, Mr. Wood and Charles (being the only ones who could legally use magic) made some adjustments. They transfigured some of the taller trees to become makeshift goalposts and enchanted the Quaffle to levitate in midair since they didn't have a referee who would release it for them. Finally, to officially start the game, Mr. Wood flicked his wand upwards and a red spark shot out from the tip.

The four players, mounted on the Comet 260's and Cleansweep Sixes the Hawthornes owned, watched in anticipation the spark ascended upwards. Once exploded with a bang, their match began.

Mr. Wood and Jessica immediately flew towards the Quaffle from opposite ends of the field. Fortunately, the black-haired girl was able to grasp it before he did. She flew towards the goalposts on Oliver's end and had to admit that she was a bit nervous knowing how much of a skilled Keeper he was.

She leaned towards the leftmost ring and attempted to throw a Curve Ball, but Oliver knew better than to fall for that trick.

"Nice try, Hawthorne!" he taunted after blocking it easily. That only increased Jessica's competitive spirit.

The Quaffle was hurtling downwards, but Mr. Wood caught it before it could touch the floor. Jessica followed after him, flying closely behind and trying to match his speed. He shot the ball at one of the rings, but Charles blocked it with his arm. Jessica dove for the Quaffle in an instant before Mr. Wood could even comprehend that he didn't manage to score.

And then, she was zooming back to the goals where Oliver was waiting. She could see him preparing to block with his right arm, but she knew he'd be quick no matter what move she pulled. Still, she took her chances and swerved abruptly from the left ring and then to the right one, shooting the Quaffle into that goalpost. Oliver caught on to her act and tried to make it back to the other side, but the ball had already gone through the hoop.

Charles cheered a loud "Yes!" that brought a triumphant smile on Jessica's face. She was used to playing Quidditch with him for fun, but now that she was doing it with other people and the game felt so much more real, she was feeling pumped. Was this how it felt to play in an actual match?

The competition didn't last long, but it was thrilling nevertheless. Oliver blocked a lot of Jessica's shots, but she had to give herself credit, too. She managed to shoot enough to get her team in the lead, and she was the only one who hadn't played Quidditch in Hogwarts at all in their group. Before they knew it, Jessica and Charles had 40 points on their end while Oliver and his dad had only 20.

After Mr. Wood once again failed to get the Quaffle past Charles — who had blocked it by kicking the ball with his foot and towards Jessica's direction — she flew towards it and caught it successfully. Tucking it under her arm, she made her way towards Oliver's side again.

Oliver was, quite frankly, surprised that she had managed to score that many goals. He recalled that she had mentioned playing Quidditch as a hobby before, but he didn't expect her to perform as well as she was doing at the moment. Other than that, he had never seen her look like that: a mixture of determined and thrilled all at once. But, this didn't mean that he would allow her to win. He was still a competitive person himself.

Jessica was flying towards him at a great speed while calculating his next move. She tried to read his body language. Oliver was stationed in front of the rightmost goalpost, so if she was correct, it looked as if he was going to do a Double Eight Loop: flying before all three rings at high speed to block the incoming Quaffle with his entire body and the broom.

Pretending to aim the Quaffle straight at the center goalpost, she watched as Oliver did as she expected. He accelerated and zoomed straight past all the rings in an attempt to defend all the goals, but he had miscalculated Jessica's actual move. She only threw the ball slightly upwards instead of straight ahead like he thought. Then, she spun her broomstick around and let the end of the broom hit the Quaffle with as much power as she could give. By the time she had stabilized herself after that spin, the ball had already gone through the goalpost and was falling towards the ground. The look on Oliver's face was enough to tell her that she successfully scored.

"Another ten points!" Charles said excitedly from the other end of the field. "We reached 50!"

"Bloody hell, Hawthorne," Oliver said in awe. "You literally just did a Finbourgh Flick."

Jessica could only grin proudly in response.

"When you said you played Quidditch for fun before, I didn't know you were this go —"

"Now, that was a fun game." Charles had appeared beside Jessica before Oliver could finish his sentence.

"Merlin, playing against you isn't a joke at all, lad," Mr. Wood said, flying towards Charles. "I'm beat."

"You still played well, sir," Charles said kindly. "Especially since it's been years since you last did."

Mr. Wood thanked Charles for his compliment as well as Jessica and Oliver for the quick match. He announced that he'd return inside, wanting a nice, cold glass of water after such an exhilarating game.

"As for you," Charles continued, pointing at Oliver. "You are one wicked Keeper, mate. It would have been interesting if I played as Chaser in this match. I'd like to see how many goals I can get past you."

Jessica swore Oliver blushed at Charles' words, making her giggle.

"T-Thank you so much," he stuttered. A professional Quidditch athlete had just praised his skills. He would never forget this day.

"But," said Charles, "thanks to the moves I taught Jessica, we still won."

Jessica scoffed. "Taking all the credit now, are we?"

"I'm just kidding," he chuckled. "You were good as usual. Don't you think it's time to tryout for your House team? I have no idea why you're still not part —"

Jessica elbowed him in the ribs, wanting him to shut up.

"Wood's the captain, Charles," Jessica muttered. She felt awkward that he was talking about her trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team when the very captain of it was right in front of them and also happened to be a good friend of hers.

"Oh," he said in realization. "That makes sense."

There was a pause.

"I'm going to go and get a glass of water, too," Charles announced, already descending to the ground to escape the tension that somehow found its way into the atmosphere. "I need to leave and go to mum and dad's place soon, anyway."

That left Jessica and Oliver still hovering in the air beside the goalposts.

"About what Charles said," Oliver broke the silence. "Why won't you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Tryout for the team."

"I don't think I would feel comfortable if I became a Chaser in the House team," she admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"Charles is already a famous Quidditch player while my parents are both pretty known in the Ministry. We're the only ones with magic in our family, so I don't want to put myself in a position where I'm expected to be as good as them in what they do. I don't want to play Quidditch and feel second to someone else when I could be using more of my time with something I'm already good at — like, well, school."

Jessica didn't mean to blurt that all out, but it just happened. Slightly embarrassed for spurting all that nonsense, she tilted her broom downwards to make her descent. Oliver hurriedly did the same and landed on the ground shortly after her.

"Wait, is that really what's holding you back?" he asked.

"I know it sounds irrational, but yes."

"Frankly, I think you're being stupid, lass."

Jessica's eyes narrowed at his words.

"Okay, not stupid," Oliver said quickly before she could get angry. "I just mean that I think you're the only one who's putting all this pressure on yourself. Nobody's forcing you to be anything. You're a top student in your year, a prefect now, and surprisingly talented in Quidditch — but that's all you, Hawthorne. From an outsider like me, I swear I did not once wonder if whatever you're doing is better or worse than what your family does."

In all honesty, Jessica was not expecting Oliver to say something that actually comforted her and made sense. Even though she had been friends with him for a while already, she was still pleasantly surprised that his head wasn't full of Quidditch terms 24/7. She was silent for a moment as she absorbed his words.

"You can sound pretty wise when you want to, Wood," she joked.

"I was trying to be serious," Oliver huffed.

"I know," Jessica reassured before clearing her throat, her face growing warm. "Er, thank you."

"Remember when I told you last year to tryout for Quidditch one day?" Oliver said to which Jessica nodded. "I was going with my gut back then, but now I know that you're ten times better than I ever imagined. So, will you tryout this year? For real?"

"Are you sure not saying all this just for your sake? You know, to win the Quidditch Cup?"

"What? No, I would never —"

"I'm kidding, Wood," she cracked a small smile. "I'll... think about it."

Seeing as she was in a better mood now, Oliver playfully said, "Well, I do want that trophy more than ever this year, so you joining the team would actually benefit me a lot."

"What's in it for me, then?"

"For one, I've never seen you look as excited as you did back there," he said truthfully. Jessica knew she had turned a shade even redder than she already was. "You reminded me of a kid getting her first toy broom."

"Good Godric, even your analogies have to do with Quidditch," she mumbled under her breath. I take back what I said earlier about his head not being filled with his favorite sport all day, everyday, she told herself.

"What do you say, lassie? Will you do it?" he went on, nudging her.

"What if it affects my grades?"

"Your average is an O, Hawthorne. I'm pretty sure the lowest grade you'll ever get is an E."

"Well, then, wouldn't it conflict with my prefect duties?"

"A lot of Quidditch players in Hogwarts are prefects. They always find a way around it."

Jessica huffed childishly, not finding a way around Oliver's answers. He grinned triumphantly, knowing he was on the winning end of the discussion.

"By the way," Oliver suddenly said, reaching into his pocket. "I haven't congratulated you on getting selected as prefect yet, so, uh, congratulations."

He fished out something round and shiny — a Golden Snitch. Jessica took the enchanted ball into her hands and observed it. Its wings fluttered and allowed it to hover in the air, but she realized that it was even smaller than an actual Snitch and seemed to not move the same way as well, almost like it was a toy version of the original one.

"The charm's only temporary, so it doesn't act like a regular Snitch and you don't have to worry about it speeding away and getting lost. I know you're not a Seeker... but I found it when we were in Quality Quidditch Supplies and didn't know what else to get you on the spot," Oliver explained in a hurry.

It was unbelievable that even his gifts had to do with the one sport he was crazy about. In a way, though, it was sort of endearing to see him at least try that it made the corners of Jessica's lips unconsciously turn upwards.

As she admired her present from Oliver, a set of words suddenly flashed on the golden ball and she couldn't help but laugh out loud when she read it.

"Wood, do you even know what the Snitch says?"

Oliver frowned in confusion. "It says something?"

Jessica grinned as she read, "'You're a catch.'"

Oliver felt the blood rush to his cheeks almost instantly.

"Oh, Merlin," he groaned. "I swear, I didn't kn —"

"I'm not complaining," Jessica interrupted with a smug smile, making him more flustered than he already was.

"I knew I should've just gotten you food."

"Nope. You found it and gave it to me, so I'm still keeping it," she decided.

Oliver coughed awkwardly, trying to compose himself after that embarrassing turn of events. Plastering his signature lopsided grin back on his face, he shot back, "I knew you fancied me, Hawthorne. No wonder you still insist on keeping that."

"Keep talking like that and I'll send a Bludger your way that'll make sure you can't ever ride a broom again."

A/N: WHEW that was a wordy chapter. Oliver and Jessica's friendship is so adorable ahhh I love writing their cute moments so much :> Also, it was fun looking up some Quidditch moves and tricks lmao I really wish it was a real sport. I'd definitely want to try being a Chaser or Seeker if it was!