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booksmarts and broomsticks
act iii , turning tables
chapter fifty-two , just kids

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➖DRIA LOCKABY➖
may 1994

"TESS, PLEASE STOP EATING crumpets. You're going to make yourself sick."

         Tess paused, looking up mid-chew at Penny's horrified expression as the Robbins girl opened the second packet of crumpets that she had brought down from her dorm to their study session in the Gryffindor common room despite having declared them 'communal snacks'.

    Nearly a month had passed since Gryffindor's victory in securing the Quidditch Cup and it was safe to say that feeling had been incredibly short-lived in the eyes of the seventh-years, as any sense of following euphoria had been swiftly replaced by the looming dread of their NEWT exams.

       "If I do, does that mean I don't have to take my exams?" Tess arched an eyebrow, as Penny gave a defeated sigh from where she sat beside the girl.

       "I mean you wouldn't graduate but sure."

       "This graduation business seems very overrated." Tess tutted, pushing her revision a little out of the way so she could rest her arms upon the table top.

       "You're just worried they won't find a cap big enough to fit your head." Jackie heckled from where she sat across from the Gryffindor girl.

        "Oi!"

         Tess' face morphed into a scowl as she lifted her arm, tossing the remains of her crumpet at Jackie at retaliation.

       "Alright, enough!" Penny called a ceasefire, as Jackie let out a whooping laugh. "Give me those bloody crumpets!"

       In a swift motion, just before Penny could reach the packet, Tess snatched them away from her grasp and held them close to her chest.

       "I can't help it that in times like these, I stress eat." She narrowed her eyes, looking pointedly at Penny. "You've been biting your nails for the past hour, Jackie's this close to pulling her hair out and Dria keeps cracking her knuckles so loudly I keep thinking her fingers are going to break off."

        Another loud pop followed Tess' outburst causing the three girls to look at the fourth member of their group who was absentmindedly cracking her knuckles, her gaze firmly fixed on the parchment in front of her.

       "Dria?"

    Tess arched an eyebrow, turning to look at the girl who had been completely unfazed by her outburst. A deep crease had formed between the blonde's brows, as her eyes scanned her handwritten notes, trying her best to ignore the state of handwriting which over the course of the page had morphed from neat swirls to cramped and barely legible scribbles. 

      "Dria!"

    Jackie had elected to take the slightly less gracious approach to getting the girl's attention as she smacked her hand down upon the table.

      "What?!" The blonde looked up with a start, dropping her quill in surprise.

       "You good?"

       "Uh-huh."

       "Looking a little intense over there."

        Dria shuffled in her chair, suddenly feeling the effects of having been hunched over for the last few hours, she gave a light sigh as she crossed her legs upon her seat.

       "You reckon if I sleep with a textbook on my face, I'll somehow be able to absorb the information through osmosis or some shit?" The blonde mused as she rested her head in her hand, softly massaging her temple as her eyes adjusted to the light of the common room.

       "What in Merlin's name is osmosis?"

    "Potentially an entire essay subject in my Herbology exam." The blonde groaned, letting her head drop onto the pages of her notebook.

    "Herbology isn't until Thursday." Penny looked at the blonde with a confused expression.

    "I can't look at my Charms notes anymore, they're making me feel sick." Dria mumbled, turning her head to the side, eyebrows furrowing as she looked at Tess. "When did we get crumpets?"

    The Robbins girl scowled, clutching the packet to her closer.

    "Mine."

    "Okay, that's it, we're done."

    Dria furrowed her eyebrows, as she lifted her head from her notes watching as Jackie got out of her chair and began closing everyone's books in front of them.

    "Jackie, what are you doing? Jackie—!"

    Dria and Penny immediately objected as the O'Hare girl continued on in her endeavour, piling up the books and sealing up the ink pots, all the while Tess spectated with a grin, continuing to eat her crumpets.

    "Look!" Jackie silenced the objections, "We are a group of very capable and very smart witches ... and Tess."

    "I hope you fail everything." Tess glared at the Hufflepuff.

    Jackie ignored her interjection.

    "We have been studying for weeks."

    "Months." Penny corrected at which Jackie faltered, shooting an appalled look between her and their blonde friend who was nodding in agreement.

    "Months? How on Merlin's green earth—?

    "I've been following a timetable since January." Dria yawned, resting her head on her hand again, waiting for Jackie to get to her point.

    "Whatever, my point still stands!" The Hufflepuff dismissed them. "We are smart, we are prepared, we're not going to learn anything we don't already know fourteen hours before the exam starts!"

    "Are you trying to convince yourself or us?" Penny arched a brow, leaning back in her chair,

    "I haven't seen daylight since Friday, I'll do anything it takes to get us out of this stuffy common room." Jackie's manner faltered as she shot a desperate look at the Ravenclaw.

    "She kind of has a point."

    "I need to touch some grass."

    "I've forgotten what clouds look like." Dria hummed, cracking her knuckles once more.

    "So, come on, let's go." Jackie banged her fist down upon the table, and rising to her feet. "I've had a fantastic idea."

    "Oh, God." Dria groaned as the O'Hare latched onto her arm and began pulling her out of her seat. "Is it too late to opt out?"

    "Move your arse!"

       Without an objectionable groan, the Lockaby girl found herself arising from her once comfortable spot on the sofa as Jackie set her sights on their other two friends.

        "Come on!"

         Dria couldn't help but find some slight amusement in the Hufflepuff's antics as she marched in the direction of the Portrait Hole, beckoning her friends to follow.

      "What are you lot going?"

       The blonde slowly turned on the spot, her body taking a second to adjust to the sudden movement, as her gaze landed on the person who had voiced the query.

    Amir was shooting the group a curious look from where he sat with Lorcan, Hettie and Isolde at the table in the corner, reading through their own respective notes and textbooks — or at least they had been until Jackie's outburst had disrupted the peace.

       "To our deaths presumably." Tess replied nonchalantly, linking her arm through Dria's and discarding her empty crumpet package on the coffee table top.

       "Sounds like a plan. Can we come?"

       "More the merrier!" Jackie's voice could be heard shouting in response from where she was propping open the Portrait Hole, and frantically waving over the group.

    The four fellow Gryffindors didn't need much more persuading than that as they all quickly discarded their quills and quickly set out to follow the group of girls on their way.

       "We'll need witnesses if Jackie's head starts spinning round." Dria muttered as Amir fell into step with her and Tess as they stepped over the threshold to the common room.

    "Hurry up, you lot!"

    "Coming, dearest!"

    Dria watched with an amused grin as Jackie and Penny led the party from the bottom of the nearest staircase - the Hufflepuff wearing her usual shit-eating grin, while the Ravenclaw adopted an expression of slight concern.

    "And where you off to?"

    A familiar Scottish lilt caused a small smile to emerge upon Dria's lips as she allowed her arm to slip out of Tess' hold and turned in the direction of the adjoining staircase, only to be met with a rather amused-looking Oliver Wood.

    "Not a clue." The blonde replied allowing the rest of the group to pass her on the stairs as she hung back and conversed with the Keeper steadily approaching her. "Jackie's had some wonderful idea which involves us going outside and deserting our revision."

    Oliver let out an a light laugh as he reached his girlfriend, throwing a casual arm around her shoulder as she wrapped hers around his waist.

    "Wow, I never thought I'd see the day you'd be prised away from your flashcards." He teased, giving her shoulder a light squeeze at which she scrunched her nose in objection, before giving a light tut.

    "I mean, it could also be a mass sacrifice." She offered, with a nonchalant shrug. "I'm up for either at this point."

    "Dria, are you coming?"

    Jackie's dulcet tones echoed up the staircase causing the pair to avert their gazes from one another and meet the Irish's girl less than impressed gaze. The blonde pressed her lips together to suppress a chuckle, before cocking her head to the side and addressing the Keeper.

    "Tag along?" She arched an eyebrow at which the boy gave a light tsk.

    "I mean you've really sold it."

    The blonde rolled eyes as she took a step down the staircase and offered the boy her hand.

    "We both know you're coming."

    Oliver chuckled as he took her outstretched hand in his — a gesture that had become so natural within the last month, he wondered how he'd ever not done so before when around her.

    When she arched her brow once more, he smiled. If she offered him her hand, he'd take it and follow her anywhere. 

    "Let's go, then."

***

    "ARE YOU SURE WE'RE allowed to be out here?"

    Dria considered it a fair question that Tess had flagged as, some twenty minutes later, Jackie led the group — which had since grown, having run into a few more students outside the library — onto the deserted Quidditch Pitch.

    The grass had grown considerably since she'd last visited the pitch on Gryffindor's win of the Quidditch Cup. Apparently, with exam season fast approaching and the Quidditch season over, the maintenance of the pitch was considerably lacking — honestly, seeing it all look so barren did put a smile frown on her face.

    "Sure, I'm a captain after all." Jackie responded nonchalantly from where she walking a good few strides ahead of the group, a Beater's bat in one hand, with her other holding one end of the Quidditch equipment trunk — the other side of which was being carried by Ruby Otters.

    "Co-captain!" Nate objected from where he was walking a few paces behind with Alita and Florence Russell.

    "Shut up!"

    "You used to be — the Quidditch season's over." Tess called from Dria's left where she was walking arm in arm with Penny.

    A strangled whimper left the lips on the boy on Dria's right at Tess' words causing the blonde to let out an amused scoff as she lightly smacked the bicep she was holding onto, her hands still in his.

    "Oh, you won the Cup, for Merlin's sake." She chastised as she spotted Jackie come to a halt at the centre of the pitch. "Please hold yourself together."

    "It's after dark, Jackie." Penny chastised, her brows furrowing in a disapproving fashion. "We shouldn't be out here."

    "Relax, Head Girl. What are they going to do?" Jackie merely cackled, as she and Ruby set down the supplies trunk upon the centre of the pitch. "Expel us?"

    "I'm down for it, if it means we wouldn't have to take the exams!" Tess voiced her agreement, at which a number of their companions hummed in assent.

    "A show of hands!" Jackie turned to the group, all of whom had come to a halt before the O'Hare girl, tossing the Beater's bat in hand. "Who think Tess is going to repeat the year?"

    A few hands quickly shot up as Tess glowered at her peers.

    "None of you are my friends."

    "Why are we even here?"

    Jackie merely smirked at the question raised by Amir, as she sat down upon the trunk.

    "An excellent question."

    "Oh, here we go." Tess groaned, taking her arm out of Penny so she could fold her arms across her chest.

    "Buckle up." Dria let out an amused sigh, as she rested her head against Oliver's shoulder, which shook a little as he chuckled at the scene unfolding before him.

    "Why are we here?" Jackie mused, rhetorically. "Why would I bring you to the Quidditch pitch?"

    "To play Quidditch?" Oliver's eyes lit up.

    "Nuh-uh." Vixen Heron objected from Dria's right, from where she was stood between Florence and Nate. "Jackie, I'm sorry but I am not playing Quidditch in these jeans."

    "Will you all shut up?" The Irish girl gave an exasperated cry as she rose from her seated position. 'Look, we're tired, burnt out, our brain are on the verge of exploding. I have brought you here for some stress release."

    Dria's eyes widened in horror.

    "Please don't make us run!"

    "If she makes us hold hands and say things we're grateful for, I'll throw myself off the Astronomy Tower." Lorcan grimaced as Jackie continued to get more and more displeased by her companions.

    "Oh, shut it!"

    "Yes, ma'am." The blonde boy smirked in response.

    Dria cocked her head to the side a little upon seeing a slight smirk emerge on Jackie's lips at his words, Tess gave a shudder.

    "Well, that's an unwanted insight into their relationship."

    "You're telling me."

    "Look, I don't know how you people relieve your stresses, okay?" Jackie recaptured the attention of the group as she crouched by the trunk and opened the lid. "But I know what works for me."

    "Is this going to turn illegal?"

    "I don't want to be an accessory to crime."

    "Do you reckon Marcus Flint is bound and gagged somewhere in the stands and the first one to find him gets to finish him off?"

    The final suggestion earned the Gryffindor Keeper a few uneasy looks from the rest of his peers.

    "Don't take this the wrong way, Dria, but your boyfriend's psychotic." Tess clapped her friend on the shoulder, at which the blonde merely winced.    

    "Yeah, I know." 

    Before any other complaint could be made, the group of seventh years found their attention captured by the familiar squirming noise of the two Bludgers locked in the trunk.

    Jackie spared them all a mischievous smile before reaching forward and releasing one of the angry Bludgers up into the air, much to the shock of the cohort around her who all let out yelps of surprise.

    "Watch out!" Oliver shouted, as the Bludger immediately plummeted back down into the earth before and the group dispersed in attempt to avoid the Quidditch ball.

    "Jackie, are you mad?" Penny cried, as the Bludger ascended once more.

    "Nope! I'm a bloody genius!" Jackie shouted in response, her words laced in a chuckle as she tossed the bat in hand, eyeing up the Bludger as it altered course right towards her.

      The Bludger hurtled towards the Irish girl and she met it with a mighty whack of the bat in her hand, sending it over the heads of her classmates and flying towards the other end of the pitch, letting out a resounding whoop as she did.

     "She is going to get us killed!"

     "I always knew that when I died it'd be Jackie's fault." Dria moaned, as her eyes flitted between the retreating Bludger and her thoroughly amused friend who was fast approaching her.

    "Here." The O'Hare girl placed the Beater's bar in Dria's hand, and taking her other in her own, dragging her away from the rest of the group and out into the middle of the field.

    "What are you doing?"

     "Hit it!" Jackie nodded at the Bludger that was looping around the stands at the far end of the pitch. "Feel all your stress melt away."

     "Jackie, no." Dria objected, desperately trying to pass the bat back into Jackie's grasp. "I have the hand-eye coordination of a blind donkey—"

     "Hit the Bludger, Dria!"

     With the bat in both her hands, there was little Dria could do to prevent her friend from retreating away from her as the squirming noise of the Bludger became louder and louder as it hurtled towards her down the pitch,

   "Oh, fuck!"

    Amid her cry, Dria squeezed her eyes shut and prayed to Merlin — if she was going to die at the hands of Bludger, for the love of all thing holy, let it be quick. However, she was unaware of the involuntary motion of her arms swinging backwards and only dared opened her eyes after a loud crack had cut through her surroundings.

    Feeling a slight ache in her forearms, Dria dared to open her eyes only to see her hands still desperately clutching the Beater's bat and hear the sound of Bludger retreating into the distance once more.

    The blonde faltered as a loud cheer echoed from her peers, a small smile breaking out on her face as she digested her actions and loosened her grip on the bat.

     "Nice shot!" Oliver cried, jogging over and throwing an arm over her shoulder.

    "Good, huh?" She heard Jackie ask, looking over towards the Irish girl, Dria stifled a small chuckle.

    "Yeah."

    "You'd make a fair Beater." Oliver squeezed her shoulder, nodding into the distance where the Bludger was beginning to make its u-turn towards them once more.

     "Please don't get any ideas." The blonde groaned.

     "Well, with a bit more practise, who knows—?"

     Before he could finish his sentence, Dria pushed the bat against his chest and took a step away.

     "You're up, Cap." She told him, a light laugh shaking through as she ran back to the larger group.

     The former Quidditch Captain spared her a smirk, as he tossed the bat in hand nonchalantly and began stretching out his arms, watching with keen eyes as the Bludger weaved its way around the stands, anticipating its next attack.

     "Come on!"

     "Whack it, Wood."

     "Go on, Ol!" 

      A deafening crack echoed across the pitch as the Bludger travelled substantially further into the distance than either Jackie or Dria had managed to hit it so far, having been met with a powerful swing from Oliver Wood.

     His victory was met with enthusiastic cheers and whistles from his fellow classmates — none of whom were smiling any wider than Jackie O'Hare.

    "Alright, Nate, grab the bag of bats!" The Hufflepuff instructed, as she approaching the supply trunk once more. "I'll release the other one!"

     Dria couldn't help but laugh as the group of seventh years dispersed across the large field, grabbing bats between them and whacking away the swarming Bludgers that fiercely pursued the group.

     She'd give credit where it was due. There was something fairly therapeutic in the action — her shoulders did feel lighter in having carried out Jackie's elaborate escapade.

   She looked fondly as Amir whacked a Bludger towards Nate who skilfully sent in through the far goalpost, Hertie and Isolde cheering as he made the shot; Lorcan was throwing Jackie over his shoulder having he'd sent his Bludger sky high into the clouds, the Hufflepuff cackling as he spun her around.

    Oliver, Alita and Ruby being the professionals that they were had tactically positioned themselves around the pitch, their athleticism assisting them as they ran to intercept passing Bludgers.

    Florence and Vix had partnered with Tess and Penny, the four of them tossed one bat between them, screams of laughter escaping them every time a Bludger came near them.

    Dria let out a content sigh, a wide smile on her lips as she re-entered the fray in a light jog, picking up a discarded bat on her way.

    It well may have been that they were too old to have been mucking around on a Quidditch pitch past their curfew. It may well have been that their rigorous exams season started the next day. It may well have been that their futures lay outstretched and looming before them.

    But for then? They could afford to be just kids.

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖐𝖘!
well, well, well, look at
what the kat dragged in

making a return following
18 months of inactivity -
is it kind of iconic? maybe?

mission 2025 is to get b&b
tied up with a nice big bow
so let's !! get !! it !! <3

hope youre all aliving & thriving x

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