Chapter 8: Turbulence
"What're you still doing here, Jess?"
Jessica looked up from her workspace: the table by the large floor-to ceiling window in the Gryffindor common room, covered with stacks of papers and leaflets she had yet to fill out, and her bottle of ink being used as a paperweight for one of the application forms she managed to finish already. Right next to this was Bethany, dressed in casual clothing and a light jacket.
"What do you mean?" Jessica asked her.
"We're going to Hogsmeade today," the redhead reminded.
"Oh, I forgot," Jessica groaned, leaning back into the armchair. It was the 6th of March today. "I suppose I got caught up in all these applications and requirements."
"You don't have to go if you're busy. Alista said she just wanted us to grab some Butterbeer since we'll have Apparition lessons in the afternoon, remember?"
Jessica chuckled before saying, "Right. But actually, I'm meeting up with Oliver today."
"Another date?" Bethany teased, referring to the last time the couple went to Hogsmeade. Jessica enjoyed her time with Oliver back then so much, and she wanted to see him again because she had a lot to tell him and wanted to hear from him, too. "Why didn't you tell us earlier, though? We thought you didn't have any plans."
"He's been pretty busy, so he hasn't actually... replied to my letter. Er, so I wasn't sure if today was even going to push through."
Bethany raised her eyebrows quizzically at that. "He hasn't written back?"
"I mean, it's only been a few days since the second letter, so —"
"Second? He hasn't read and replied to two of your letters?"
"Well, yes, but it hasn't been that long and he probably has a —"
"Jess, I know Wood's most likely busy as you said, but don't you think he could have at least written back one sentence to you? How do you know if he'll even show up today?" Bethany said incredulously, becoming defensive for her best friend.
Jessica's temper started to rise at the way Bethany was speaking about Oliver, even though she only meant well. She usually liked her bluntness, especially when people needed a reality check, but she didn't realize how it would feel to be on the other end of that stick.
"He probably didn't mean any harm," Jessica said, pushing down any anger or frustration that was threatening to spill out.
Bethany sighed, "Look, I didn't mean to sound like I was hating on Wood — I like him, he's a great guy. I just wish he would've told you something so you're not left hanging, you know?"
Jessica pursed her lips, feeling conflicted. Bethany had a point, but she didn't want to question Oliver's actions too much because she knew she would end up overthinking, wondering if he was ignoring her or didn't care enough to write back.
"Alista and I can go ahead to reserve seats at the Three Broomsticks if you want to join," Bethany cleared her throat after a pause. "If you're gonna go to see Wood, though, there's another set of carriages a little later if you need time to dress up first."
Jessica already knew all of this, of course — she was already in her last year at Hogwarts and the Head Girl, after all. She knew Bethany was just trying to break the tense silence, and she appreciated it even if she was still a little irked at her.
"Or, if you're gonna stay and work on these, that's fine, too," Bethany continued, gesturing to the full table. "I'll, er, get going now."
Jessica pursed her lips and turned to face the window. The soft sound of Bethany's footsteps padding onto the carpeted floor as she made her way out of the portrait hole was her only indication that the girl had left.
Once she was alone in the common room, Jessica pondered on Bethany's words. She hated how she was correct; she did believe that she deserved at least one reply from Oliver, even if it was just to say yes or no to meeting up today. Her eyes then scanned the mess on her table, not close to finished at all even if the deadline for submission was coming soon. She began to unconsciously bounce her leg as she weighed her options: to stay in the castle and work on her curse-breaker applications since Oliver never confirmed if he was going today, or to head to Hogsmeade in case Oliver did see the letter and would come by after all.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Jessica said to herself. She swished her wand to gather her things, and then she was jogging up the stairs to the girls dormitory.
Fifteen minutes later, she found herself brisk walking down the endless staircases and hallways of Hogwarts to reach the entrance courtyard. Thanking Merlin, she made it just before the next set of carriages left. She hopped into one with a group of fifth-years who were chatting about the intensity of Professor Moody's Defense Against the Dark Arts class at the O.W.L. level as they made their way into to the neighboring wizarding village.
Once Jessica had stepped foot into Hogsmeade, her legs used their muscle memory to carry her to her destination. 11:15 AM, Brews and Stews Café, she recited to herself, her eyes gazing at the scenery while she was on the way. Although Hogsmeade in the winter was lovely, it was refreshing to now see the snow be replaced by parsley-green grass on the sides of the road and beyond the village. The air faintly smelled like flowers, too, a big contrast to when you could barely smell anything in the winter because your body was too preoccupied with trying not to freeze from the low temperatures. It was still windy, though, so a lot of students and villagers in sight still wore or brought a light jacket with them.
The bell hanging by the door of the cafe chimed when Jessica entered. Like before, there was only a decent amount of people inside, more or less an even mix of students and adults. She had arrived right on time, so she decided to take the booth by the counter and wait.
Even though she had just gotten there, she was already on edge. Oliver wasn't the most organized person, but he was usually punctual, so she felt a little worried that he was not there.
At 11:45 AM, the witch at the counter had started looking at her curiously, wondering if she was going to order something. Oliver had not shown up yet, but Jessica convinced herself that this was fine — if he came in within the next few minutes with a good explanation, she'd forgive him easily.
But when it was 12:15 PM and the group of adults sitting diagonal to Jessica — who she had admittedly been observing for the past hour and deduced that they came from an early shift at work — had finished their brunch, she felt herself start to accept this outcome. The boy who loved turtleneck sweaters and lived and breathed a certain magical sport still did not appear. Did something happen to him that made him unable to read or reply to her letters? Was he having a hard time right now with his career? Or did he really just forget to read and write back on his own accord, and never even realized that they had planned to meet up today? Regardless of the reason, a flurry of disappointment and anxiety began to bottle up inside of Jessica.
The black-haired girl sighed, pushing herself up to leave. She quietly thanked the witch at the counter but couldn't look at her in the eye, too upset and a little embarrassed to do so. It took all of her willpower not to storm out of Brews and Stews Café or to stomp down the roads of Hogsmeade. She began to become even more displeased when she realized she could've used this time to focus on her curse-breaker applications. Adding to the fire was when she also remembered that she still had those challenging Apparition lessons to worry about later, too.
While there was so many things she could've accomplished during this time, Jessica decided that for now, the best she could do was go to the Three Broomsticks where her best friends were waiting, and drink Butterbeer to her heart's content.
★ ★ ★
Oliver Wood made a long noise of complaint as he plopped face down onto his bed, the sound muffled by his pillow. It was a long day for him. The entire morning, Puddlemere United had a photoshoot and interview with Seeker Weekly, a rising magazine that wrote all about Quidditch. The article and spread about them was centered on the idea that they were the first Quidditch team in the UK to complete their team, both official and reserve, and wanted to know what they've been doing thus far to train.
Although Oliver wasn't at the spotlight, he still had to stay the whole time for photos and some questions considering that he was most likely going to be in the official team one day. One of the witches interviewing them had even told him excitedly, "We'll be the first to get this scoop and get to know you guys even before you're in the final lineup." Oliver appreciated the enthusiasm and interest in him and his friends as reserve players, but he would have preferred to have left once his job there was done.
It didn't stop there, though. Once Oliver got home, he was surprised to see his mother there, who said that the reason she came by Floo was to scold him. She had been pestering him nonstop over the past couple of weeks to do a thorough cleaning of his flat, but Oliver kept neglecting it to the point that she decided to show up there to remind him face-to-face. He was glad that she was thoughtful enough to bring him some dinner rolls and meatloaf, though.
But even with magic, it was a tedious task to clean his flat. It was sometime in the middle of the afternoon by the time he had finished that and finally took a shower to get rid of all the sweat and grime that grossly stuck to his skin. And now, he was clean and fresh but had a grumbling stomach that craved for something to eat. He started to wonder if he should eat the meatloaf from his mother, or if he should save that for dinner instead. And then, he thought, Maybe I can cook something simple, like a shepherd's pie from the Hogwarts recipe cookbook that Jessica gave me for Christmas...
Oliver shot up with a start. Jess. The letters she sent to him completely slipped his mind again, and he cursed himself as he rolled out of bed to search for them. He grabbed his training bag and shuffled through his belongings in there. He cringed when he found the letters folded wrongly after he stuffed them inside there two days ago. He desperately hoped that Jessica wasn't angry at him yet for not replying, but he was going to get to that now.
The first letter was dated February 26, 1995, where Jessica mostly talked about the Triwizard Tournament's Second Task, and he'd already finished going through that. The second one was still untouched. He quickly unfolded it, seeing the date on the top left corner: March 4, 1995, the same day he was planning on reading it but was interrupted when Charles called him and his teammates out after training because their coach wanted them to have a team lunch.
The letter was extremely short, which made Oliver frown. When its contents processed in his brain, his heart dropped.
Hogsmeade trip... 6th of March... same time and place as before... see you soon? Oliver read it three times just to be sure.
"Oh no," the realization hit him like a Bludger to the head. He only knew it was the 6th today because of the photoshoot and interview earlier. When he checked the clock hanging on the wall and saw that it now read 3:27 PM, he cursed himself. "Damn it."
He was a prat — no, an absolute arse for messing this up. Not only did he forget to send an owl back on time, but he even missed their meet-up. To make matters worse, he realized that he couldn't have made it to their date even if he tried because of his commitments already scheduled that day. Was Jessica hurt and ranting to Faye and Greene by now? Did she still go to Hogsmeade? Did she change her plans or did she really anticipate that he'd come? Whatever actually happened, there was no way that she was still expecting him to go to Hogsmeade at this time. He was late, so incredibly over the time indicated in her last letter that it was almost laughable.
Oliver's mind was whirring as he scrambled for an empty sheet of parchment and his quill and ink, ready to explain himself to Jessica. But Oliver had never been good with words, even more so in writing. Every phrase he began to write always ended up sounding like he didn't find what he did to be a big deal, or as if he didn't care enough. Whenever he tried to explain himself, it would look like a sad excuse — and while he did have his valid reasons for being late with writing back to her, he knew deep down that the bare minimum he could've done was respond once. That way, Jessica would have at least known about his busy schedule, and perhaps they could've worked things out.
He kept scratching words off of the parchment and crumpling them up to throw them away, unsatisfied with his reply. In the end, he decided to just suck it up and write as directly as possible, and to send it as soon as he could. At long last, even if there were some mistakes and his handwriting was messy in his final letter, Oliver sent it. He could only hope that Jessica would understand, and that he could find an opportunity to make it up to her.
Jess, I am so sorry I didn't read your letters in time. I was caught up with a bunch of Puddlemere matters l̶i̶k̶e̶ m̶e̶e̶t̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ w̶i̶t̶h̶ t̶r̶a̶i̶n̶e̶r̶s̶ a̶n̶d̶ r̶e̶p̶o̶r̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ but I know it doesn't change what I did. C̶a̶n̶ I̶
H̶o̶w̶ c̶a̶n̶ I̶ m̶a̶k̶e̶ i̶t̶ I promise I'll make it up to you soon. I don't think you have any Hogsmeade trips left anymore, but I'll find a way. I haven't even responded to your previous letters, but I swear I will. Just let me know once you've seen this... I'm sorry again.
Oliver
★ ★ ★
"Remember the Three D's of Apparition: Destination, Determination, Deliberation!"
That same Saturday, Hogwarts held their fifth Apparition session for the sixth and seventh year students. Since it was a twelve-week course, the progress of the class was all at varied levels. Some could only physically twist on the spot they were standing on, while others had already Apparated a few times but usually got splinched while they were at it.
Jessica concentrated on the wooden hoop in front of her, determined to keep moving forward. She had successfully Apparated last session without any trouble, so she wanted to prove to herself that she could do it now. However, it was turning out to be more difficult than she thought because she was very distracted, and not feeling her best. At first, she thought it was just her own thoughts causing her to lose focus, but there was also the literal voice of Alista next to her who kept mumbling encouragements to herself.
"Come on," the girl was telling herself in a not-so-quiet voice. "Be the hoop. No, be the space inside the hoop. That's it."
"Alista, I'm pretty sure everyone in the room can hear you," Jessica whisper-yelled.
"Oh, sorry," said Alista sheepishly. She continued to mumble to herself, but thankfully, she lowered her volume.
It was almost the end of the Apparition class, and it was an understatement to say that it was chaotic. A sixth-year Hufflepuff whose name Jessica didn't know had left her foot behind in one attempt; Zarina Chopra, one of Alista's Slytherin friends and roommates, appeared on almost the exact spot where their instructor was standing, so they had knocked into one another and were now sporting bumps on their foreheads; and of course, there was the majority who couldn't even Apparate at all and were just whining and sighing the entire time.
Jessica and her friends were no better. Bethany was growing frustrated because nothing was happening to her despite her progress in the previous classes — she was actually one of the firsts to Apparate, and she was now paranoid that it was a hoax and she could never do it anymore. Alista had successfully Apparated into her practice hoops a few times in that session alone, but she ended up getting so dizzy that she became hesitant to do it again.
Meanwhile, Jessica prepared herself to finally make an attempt. She focused her mind on the hoop, hoping with all her might that she'd appear there, and then she spun around in her place while gripping her wand tightly in her right hand. And then, she felt it — like she was being squished from all directions, her ears were ringing, and there was some pressure in her head.
She wasn't sure when she closed her eyes, but Jessica opened them to find herself having landed in the hoop, her body swaying slightly as she tried to stabilize herself.
"Good job," the instructor praised. "Almost there."
Almost? Jessica wondered. The confusion on her face must've been evident because the instructor lifted his hand and pointed it to Jessica's face. She reached up to search for anything amiss and was almost sure she was fine. That is, until she couldn't feel the hair above her eyes — she had splinched both her eyebrows.
"It's quite alright, Miss Hawthorne," said the instructor, and Jessica felt her face grow warm in mild embarrassment. "A common mistake, and easy to fix. You may approach the other Ministry officials at the back of the room now. We'll be wrapping up in a few minutes, anyway."
Jessica thanked him before doing as he said, walking to the back of the room with her head down to get her missing eyebrows fixed. Sure enough, it only took a minute or so, and the class was dismissed a while later. In hindsight, she considered herself lucky that she only lost her eyebrows and got them back easily — a lot worse could've happened just because she was distracted during class by the events of that day.
Since it was a weekend, the three girls didn't have anything concrete planned after that Apparition lesson except to spend their time at Transfiguration courtyard, which was one of their favorite spots at the castle. So, that was exactly where they headed to the moment they were out of the Great Hall.
The air was crisp but not bitterly cold as they stepped out into the Transfiguration courtyard, and the sun was still shining enough to give them warmth, although it looked like it would set soon since dinner time was fast approaching. As the they settled into the spot just under the tree that gave the best shade, Jessica thought back to everything that happened just that day. She remembered walking into The Three Broomsticks sulkily after Oliver didn't arrive, and neither Bethany or Alista needed to ask what had happened. Bethany had undoubtedly already told Alista about Jessica's plans to meet up with Oliver, and the mere fact that she had gone to them after an hour, looking down in the dumps, was enough. They had asked her if she wanted to talk about it, and she didn't because she never really liked pouring everything out like that. Jessica was grateful that her friends respected that, but she was sure they were itching to know more. It was only in the carriage ride back to the castle that Jessica found the courage to speak up about what happened, resulting in her best friends being up in arms at Oliver for what he did — or rather, what he failed to do, which was to show up.
As if the universe could tell that Jessica was thinking precisely about that, an owl suddenly swooped down from the sky and into the courtyard, flying just below the large canopy of leaves covering them. It startled the three girls a little, and they watched as it landed on a low branch next to Jessica. Attached to its leg was a letter addressed to her in Oliver's familiar handwriting.
"It's — it's from Wood?" Alista said, taken aback. Jessica nodded stiffly before untying it from the owl's leg. She felt a little bad for not having a treat to give to it, but it didn't seem to mind too much as it flapped its wings and flew away right after she retrieved the letter. Without waiting any longer, Jessica opened the letter and scanned the words written there.
Bethany and Alista watched her with their breaths held, both of them dying to know what was written but not wanting to pry too much. What surprised them was when Jessica finished reading it in barely a minute.
"You're done already?" Bethany asked awkwardly.
"Er, yeah. The letter's short... you can read it, if you want," Jessica said, handing it to them.
That was yet another surprise for the two girls. Of course, they shared almost everything with one another, but letters between a couple were obviously more private and personal. However, since Jessica had already pushed the opened letter into their hands, Bethany and Alista read it together.
She was right — it was a short letter. It was all about him apologizing for not writing back and for missing the meet-up, and it looked hastily written and had some words that were scratched off. Jessica didn't know what to make of all of that. It was hard to tell what Oliver felt and was trying to get across from some paper and ink alone. Her best friends had other ideas, though; they decided to take on the role of dissecting the letter after reading it, having formulated their opinions on the matter within seconds. While they were both disappointed in Oliver for letting Jessica down, they actually had opposing views on the letter itself.
"The nerve of him to send such a lame letter," Bethany scoffed. "After not responding properly and missing their date, that's all he writes?"
"I'm angry at what he did to Jess, too, but maybe he was in a rush to apologize right away," Alista said.
"But what kind of apology is that? He could've at least put more effort into it."
"Like I said, maybe he realized what an awful boyfriend he was being and wanted to apologize immediately, so that's why it's short."
"I don't buy it," Bethany rolled her eyes. "It's not just the apology — I'm still more mad that he didn't even care to show up!"
"Hey, I'm not happy about that, either! Im sure Jess missed snogging him like crazy —"
"I did not —" Jessica tried.
"— and I'd wack him on the head if he were here for ditching her, but I was just saying that maybe he really does feel guilty now," Alista went on.
"He better be feeling like dragon dung," Bethany muttered. "Godric knows he deserves it."
"What do you think, Jess?" Alista asked when she realized that their friend hadn't spoken in a while. Bethany turned to her as well, eager to hear what Jessica's thoughts were.
"I don't really know," Jessica answered slowly. "I mean, he has been unresponsive recently, but he did apologize, so... I suppose it's fine."
Bethany and Alista shared worried glances at that. They knew all too well that Jessica always tried to avoid getting into disagreements with the people she cared most about. So, while it was very in-character for her to not want to get angry at Oliver, they still wanted her to say what she really felt. It was clear that she was disappointed in him but didn't want to fuel that negativity.
"Well, yeah, but..." Bethany tried, only to trail off because she wasn't exactly sure what to say.
"It's alright if you're upset with him," Alista nudged Jessica. "You can curse him out to us, you know."
Jessica managed to crack a small smile at that. Thankfully, Bethany and Alista eventually dropped the topic about Oliver, sensing that she didn't want to talk about it. She loved how supportive and defensive they were being, but talking about the possible intentions Oliver had in writing such a short apology, not to mention how unresponsive he had recently been up until today, made her even more confused. She and Oliver already experienced some misunderstandings in the past — her 'relationship' with Terence Higgs, their first kiss during that Gryffindor party that they pretended for a while did not even happen, and both of them not admitting their feelings for one another even after they shared that moment. While none of them were that serious, they did cause some issues, so she didn't want another fight to brew between them. Besides, if she did choose to get mad at Oliver and they fought, it would be harder to resolve it since they couldn't even talk in person.
Perhaps it would be better to just forgive him already and call it a day.
A/N: Finally, an update from me that's on time haha :) What are your thoughts on what happened between Jess and Oliver?
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