The skies were clear with barely any clouds in sight, allowing the sun to shine perfectly. The air was salty, but the gentle winds were quite relaxing. On that summer day, three newly-graduated girls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry hung around by the shore of a relatively empty beach, their minds free from any worries of homework or tests. This time, though, it was career concerns that lingered in their heads as they sunbathed.

"I hate being unemployed," Bethany was saying. "I feel so unaccomplished."

"I think we've been doing plenty," Alista countered.

"We're literally doing nothing on the beach right now."

"Wrong. We're drinking firewhisky in the daytime at the beach," the blonde corrected her, taking a sip of her drink. "Come on, it's our last summer before we're really gonna be shoved into the real world. Don't be a killjoy."

Jessica had to agree with her on that. It was early into their break after leaving Hogwarts, and Alista had invited her and Bethany to her family's summer home for a quick little vacation. They owned a quaint cottage on the western edge of Pembrokeshire, Wales, with with a view of stunning seascapes and landscapes and not too many tourists. It was a hidden gem, and the past few days there had been like a beautiful dream.

"Fine. Give me more," said Bethany, extending her glass so that Alista could pour more of Blishen's Firewhisky into it.

"That's the spirit. Besides, haven't you looked into some positions in the Ministry already?"

"I have, but there's so many to choose from. And who knows if I'll even get accepted into the ones that appeal to me?"

"If you don't, you can always work for my mum's company."

"The one that produces cauldrons?" Jessica clarified.

"That's the one," Alista nodded.

"No offense, but I don't want to be stuck making cauldrons my entire life," said Bethany with a wince.

"Well, me too," Alista admitted.

"Wait, so you don't want to take after your mum's company?" Jessica raised her eyebrows. It turned out that Alista didn't even need to job hunt — to put it bluntly, her mother could just hand one to her on a silver platter. Days after they left Hogwarts, the blonde had explained to them through letters that her mother offered her a position in her own company, which was pretty convenient.

"I don't know yet," she whined. "It's the easy route, but it sounds... not me."

"Maybe you could take on apprenticeships in different fields," Jessica suggested. "Experiment with them a little."

"Yeah, like Potions or Charms," said Bethany. "The stuff you could do after that are really diverse — producing medicines, cosmetics, household essentials, even prank items like from Zonko's..."

"Maybe," Alista said thoughtfully. She sighed, taking another big gulp of her firewhisky. "I'll look into it before Jess leaves so that I have some sort of internal deadline."

"When's that, again?" asked Bethany.

"End of August," Jessica replied, her stomach turning at the thought of actually moving to another country without anyone familiar by her side.

"And how's Wood taking it? Did he make any plans for you two like this?" Bethany nudged her.

"He needs to go the extra mile if he wants to top off this beach trip," Alista said teasingly.

"Er, about that... I haven't told him," said Jessica.

"What?" Bethany and Alista exclaimed.

"Jess, are you serious?" Bethany gaped at her.

"You still haven't told him?" Alista said in disbelief.

"I know, I know," Jessica groaned before they could fully reprimand her.

She knew she was wrong. She was being stupid and avoidant, and she could even go as far as to call herself artificial. She'd been acting like everything was fine, but it wasn't. This entire time, her mind and heart were a mess about the same concerns she'd been mulling over the past couple of months: those revolving around her relationship with Oliver and what moving away would do to that. She was afraid to face these head-on — to have to confront Oliver about these worries.

"Hey, what's really going on?" Bethany prodded.

"Are you worried about how Wood will react?" Alista asked.

"Or are you still mad at him?"

"Or do you not want to go to take up the job after all?"

"No, it's not that," Jessica sighed. "I just... look, it was fine at the start, but it wasn't easy to even stay in touch with Oliver throughout the year. What more when I'm busy in Egypt and he's swamped with Puddlemere?"

Bethany and Alista glanced at one another in concern.

"Don't you think you should be talking to Wood about all of this?" Bethany said.

"Yeah, Jess, it's the only way you can smooth things over," Alista agreed. "I'm sure he'd also need to mentally prepare for an even longer-distance relationship, if that makes sense."

"That's the thing, though," Jessica mumbled. "I'm not sure I want that again."

The two girls didn't make any effort to hide the shock on their faces.

"Hold on, you're not thinking of breaking up with him, are you?" said Alista, setting her drink down to give her her full attention now. "I know you've fought before, but I thought everything was alright now."

"It is — they are, but... I don't think couples always need a massive fight just to... you know..." Jessica trailed off. It felt childish, but she couldn't even physically utter those words. Maybe it felt like if she did say them out loud, it would eventually come true; and it scared her.

"I think I get what you mean," said Bethany. "Some people just part ways because they're not emotionally available or the timing's just off, stuff like that."

"But there are also situations where it all works out," Alista piped up. "Let's not be so pessimistic."

"Just being realistic," Bethany said. When she saw the glum look on Jessica's face, she felt a little bad for being so frank. She shifted closer to her friend and added, "Hey, I didn't mean that you should do that. I just think that you really need to talk to Wood about this before things actually get messy."

"She's right, Jess," said Alista. "Talk to him soon, alright?"

Jessica pursed her lips, deep in thought. Eventually, she nodded, receiving encouraging smiles from her best friends.

★ ★ ★

The window in Oliver's kitchen was left open, allowing the breeze and sunlight to seep in. A brass clock further in the flat ticked in the background, reading 1:30 in the afternoon. Dishes and glasses at the sink were being magically washed there after having been used for a simple homemade lunch. Meanwhile, Jessica stood by the counter as she manually wiped it down with a rag, and Oliver prepared tea for them while he shared what happened when he met up with some of his Hogwarts friends recently.

"So, it was just me, Carson, and our other roommates at the pub that day," Oliver said. "Percy couldn't make it, but maybe it was a good thing because... well..."

"He doesn't believe Harry, does he?" Jessica guessed, a sad yet knowing smile on her face. Of course, Oliver — as well as the rest of the wizarding world at that point — was aware of what happened on the last night of the Triwizard Tournament. They knew that Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory won, that Cedric unfortunately died, and that Voldemort returned and made his first kill since coming back. It was the last bit that many refused to believe. Many wanted to think that the Hufflepuff boy's death was just a tragic accident, and that Harry was delusional. In particular, the Ministry was against any possibility that the darkest wizard of all time was alive and scheming. So, it wasn't surprising that Percy Weasley, who worked closely with Cornelius Fudge, the current Minister of Magic, was against Harry Potter now.

That didn't make it any less disappointing, though. Jessica could only imagine how the Weasleys were doing now. They had always been very close to Harry, so she was sure there must be some tension amongst them nowadays. Oliver was also feeling tense around Percy since he and most of their former roommates were on Harry's side.

"Yeah," he said sourly. Now done with preparing the tea, he levitated the two steaming cups towards the coffee table and made his way there.

"Enough of Percy. What were you saying about Carson?" Jessica said as she plopped down on the couch next Oliver,  not wanting him to get upset over one of his closest friends.

"Oh, right. Anyway, Carson was piss drunk by the end of the night, but he was still wide awake and only Merlin knows how. He somehow convinced us to leave and take a walk outside, and someone had the bright idea to make him do loads of dares while he was hyper and willing to do it. One thing led to another, and he was dared to collect a bouquet of Bouncing Bulbs by the roadside."

"Those were covered in fourth year, maybe even sixth, so it should've been an easy task for Grey if he wasn't drunk," Jessica said with a hint of humor.

"Yeah, but you forget that it's been years since we had those Herbology classes," Oliver added with a lopsided grin, almost as if he was stopping himself from laughing before completing the rest of his story. "So, there Carson was, getting ready to get the Bouncing Bulbs, but he did it wrong — mind you, he was never that good at Herbology to begin with. Anyway, the Bulbs obviously felt threatened because they got aggressive and all pounced on Carson."

"No way," Jessica laughed, quickly setting her tea down to avoid spilling it. "Did they all attack him?"

"They did. They were kinda young, though, so it wouldn't take much to knock them out, but seeing as Carson was drunk... well, he ended up losing his balance after getting socked in the face by one Bulb."

Jessica couldn't help but laugh louder at that, imagining how chaotic that night must've been. Watching Oliver animatedly talk about the good time he had with his friends, listening to his stories, laughing with and at him — doing all of that as she sat comfortably in his flat almost covered up her guilt for leaving him in the dark about her career plans, which she still did not tell him in the weeks after Bethany and Alista advised her to. Almost.

As Oliver continued to indulge her with the stressful yet entertaining events of his night out, the guilt crept back in. She was so short on time now; she would be leaving in a few weeks. She really had to stop beating around the Flutterby Bush. As random as the timing was, it was now or never.

"We were gonna Apparate Carson back home, but since he got a concussion, it might've made him feel worse. So, we had to walk all the way back to the pub to use the Floo and —"

"I'm gonna be a Curse-Breaker," Jessica blurted out.

Oliver raised an eyebrow at that and chuckled, "I know. I'm proud of you, but you already told me months ago, remember?"

"Right, right," Jessica mentally face-palmed herself. She had worked up the courage to finally say something, and yet it was the wrong thing. "Sorry, er, let's go back to your story."

Oliver paused, sensing that she was a bit distracted.

"No, I can finish it later. What's on your mind, lassie?" Oliver raised his eyebrows curiously.

"I..." Jessica gulped. "Like I said, I'm gonna be a Curse-Breaker."

"Er, okay?"

"But not in the UK — for now, at least. My training program under Gringotts is in Egypt."

"Oh," said Oliver, processing her words. It was a big deal. He was a little hurt that she didn't tell him sooner, and that it even looked like she'd been trying to find a way to tell him for some time now; that, perhaps she wasn't ready to tell him earlier. But the nagging voice at the back of his mind told him that maybe he didn't even deserve to feel hurt after he practically neglected her a few months ago. "When did you find out?"

"March."

He was right. That was around the time they fought.

"Honestly, I don't blame you for not telling me till now since I wasn't the most attentive person back then," Oliver confessed with an awkward smile. "Um, when do you leave?"

"In a couple of weeks," Jessica answered.

"For how long? I mean, it's just a training program, right? Not the full job yet?"

"Well, yes, but it's a 10-month program," she said carefully. "And then, I'll get deployed somewhere else, so... I actually don't know for sure how long I'll be away."

"Oh."

There was a brief moment where neither of them spoke a word. Oliver felt a mix of emotions bubble up inside of him. Knowing how intelligent and talented Jessica was, he was thrilled that she was getting this opportunity to go abroad for such an exciting and challenging job. But he was upset that she'd be temporarily moving away, especially since he initially thought they would be seeing each other more frequently now that she was out of Hogwarts. He also couldn't deny that he was really hurt, maybe even a little peeved, that it took this long for his own girlfriend to tell him about such a huge matter in her life.

"My point still stands, Jess: I'm proud of you. I do wish I knew about all of this earlier, but it's been done," Oliver said sincerely. "So, have you packed? Do you need help with preparing anything? And are you free these next few days? Maybe we should do something before you leave."

Jessica felt her heart clench at how supportive Oliver was being. She was grateful, of course, but it seemed like her worries hadn't crossed his mind just yet.

"Do you — do you think it'll be okay? You know, us not seeing each other for more or less a year," Jessica said in a small voice.

"Well, yes," said Oliver, confused as to why she was even asking that.

"You don't mind that?"

"Not really," he replied slowly. "We did it once, didn't we? This past year was just like that."

"Even with your work, you didn't find it too hard at all to stay in touch with me? Or keep up with each other? You're willing to go through that again?" Jessica went on.

Oliver frowned. Of course, it was difficult. He'd messed up many times. It wasn't easy to manage everything: his trainings, schedules of interviews and check-ups, social life, family matters, and his relationship with her. And he was sure Jessica knew that he felt that way. So, why did it feel like she was trying to pull a specific answer from him?

"What are you trying to say, lass?" Oliver said softly. "Why does it sound like you're suggesting that we stop?"

Jessica didn't reply, instead choosing to avert her gaze from his. If she hadn't looked away, she would've seen Oliver's face fall. He didn't need a verbal response from her to understand what she was trying to say.

"You are," Oliver said, mostly to himself. "Why?"

"It's not that I want to," Jessica began, fiddling with her hands. "But this year was tough on us, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but — come on, Jess, we just made up recently," said Oliver, not quite knowing how to articulate his thoughts.

"But... if it was hard enough keep up with everything while I was only in Hogwarts and you were getting started with professional Quidditch. I-I don't know, I'm just saying that we had a lot of slip-ups and could hardly balance what we had on our plates."

"Is this about that time I didn't show up?"

"It's not — I mean, it's part of it, but it's not just that," Jessica spluttered. "Oliver, I'm gonna be away for a long time and I have no idea what to expect there. And you're already so busy nowadays and —"

"Could you stop thinking about what might happen for a second?" Oliver interrupted. "This is starting to sound irrational."

"It's not," Jessica said defensively. "I'm the one who's being rational here. I'm thinking about what'll happen — how we won't be able to see each other, how we'll probably have miscommunications again, how the same things we already struggled with will —"

"You don't even know if those will happen again," Oliver said loudly before she could continue. "Why do you have to worry about everything already?"

"Because there is a lot to worry about," Jessica raised her voice as well. "For Merlin's sake, I'm going to Egypt. It's a completely new environment, I'll be doing dangerous things, and I won't even know anyone there. I — I just think I need to adjust to and focus on that and... and then there's you with Puddlemere, Oliver. You're not a rookie anymore, so you'll be even busier than you already are and slots will open for main players and you —"

"Good Godric, why do you want a solution before there's even problem?" Oliver asked irritatedly.

"I already said that I don't want this, but I think it's what has to be done!" said Jessica exasperatedly. "I think it's the best for both of us."

"How so?"

"Listen, all I'm saying is that I want to focus on my program and get used to everything there, okay? I need to take my career seriously."

"But you can't take me seriously?" said Oliver.

"I didn't say that," Jessica huffed.

"You didn't, but it's as if you're expecting things to go wrong because I messed up before," Oliver scoffed.

"So what if I think that way? It's not far from the truth," Jessica shot back. Oliver faltered for a second, and she almost wanted to take her words back.

"Do you even see that you're backing out before even trying?" said Oliver after a moment.

"It's not wrong to back out before things get worse," Jessica retorted.

Oliver let out a humorless laugh at that, saying, "It's funny how you haven't even asked me what I think about this."

"Well? What do you think?" Jessica urged just to appease him.

"It doesn't matter. It looks like you've made your mind up already," Oliver shook his head.

The boy wasn't daft; he knew that Jessica didn't bring this all up spontaneously. She most likely thought about it for days, weeks, even months leading up to this day. She'd pondered on all the possibilities, all the best and worst case scenarios. This was something she had decided on — in her head, to herself — for quite some time already. She just needed to say it out loud, and it stung that, deep down, she probably made a choice before even talking it over with him.

"That's — that's it?" Jessica asked after a beat.

"That's what you want, isn't it?" said Oliver, sounding irked that she was questioning him when this was her idea in the first place. "You want to end what we have now just because you're moving?"

"I..."

Jessica wanted to say that it was more complicated than that. She wanted to repeat that it wasn't simply because of the move, that it was more about everything that came along with it: the distance, communication, different paths. But she'd already told him all of that.

"Y-Yeah," was all she ended up saying instead.

"It's over, then," Oliver scoffed, folding his arms and refusing to look her in the eye. He knew he was acting like a kid throwing tantrum, but he couldn't bring himself to address her properly anymore. He was too upset, angry, and annoyed at everything to do anything.

And then, they lapsed into silence. Jessica felt a lump form in her throat as the atmosphere grew tense and suffocating. She cleared her throat in an attempt to get rid of that feeling, gathered her things, and got to her feet. Without so much as a proper goodbye, she dropped the Floo Powder into the fireplace. She was engulfed in the green flames and disappeared from sight, leaving Oliver sulking on the couch and two cups of untouched, cold tea on the table.

A/N: Did y'all expect that breakup? :') Do you think one of them's at fault, or are they both wrong? Let me know what y'all think <3