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booksmarts and broomsticks
act iii , turning tables
chapter fifty-four , long live

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➖DRIA LOCKABY➖
june 1994

"COME THE FUCK ON, DRIA!"

Tess' loud shout echoed from the stairs outside the Gryffindor girls' dormitories, where she had been pacing up and down for the previous fifteen minutes as she waited for her dorm mate to finish in the bathroom.

"Merlin, woman, keep your hair on!" The blonde cried back, as she pulled her T-shirt over her head and began frantically looking for her shoes.

"Penny said they've only put seventy galleons behind the bar and I will not be happy until I'm at least triple parked!" The Robbins girl whined, stopping in their doorway, folding her arms as she watched Dria locate one of her trainers and force it onto her left foot.

     "Alright!" The blonde threw her hands up as she spotted her other shoe by the doorway and quickly crossed the room before seizing it in hand. "I'm coming!"

    Shutting the door behind her, leaving behind a very disgruntled Figaro, Dria jogged down the stone staircase behind Tess, her eyebrows furrowing as they arrived down in the common room, finding it surprisingly vacant.

     "Where's everyone else?" She asked Tess, stopping at the bottom of the staircase, much to her friend's dismay, so she could lace up her other shoe.

     "They've already gone because you were taking forever!"

     "Tess, I needed to shower!" The blonde replied, her eyes focused on her shoelaces as she made her defence. "The Bubotuber pus got in my hair! I wasn't going to the pub smelling like an exhaust pipe!"

    However, the blonde's excuses fell on deaf ears as the Robbins girl let out another groan at the halt they'd come to at the bottom of the staircase.

"Dria. Let's. GO!"

"Where are you off to?"

     The blonde looked up from her tied shoelace at the query that had been called in their direction. Her eyes met those of her little brother who was sat on the sofa by the fireplace with a group of third years including his twin sister as well as the trio of Gryffindors that Dria had seen in the Hospital Wing the week before.

     "Three Broomsticks." His older sister answered his question as she neared the group, her face lighting up upon seeing the smiling golden retriever stretching out across her brother's lap.

     "But it's not even a Hogsmeade weekend." Maisie objected, as Dria reached down and began patting Kipper's head.

     "End of exam party."

     "Why didn't we know about this?" Michael furrowed his eyebrows at which Dria spared him a wry smile.

      "Seventh years only."

      "What?!"

     "Yeah, you'll get this once you go through the positive hell that is your NEWT exams!" Tess shouted from across the room, where she was waiting for the blonde by the Portrait Hole.

     Dria gave a light chuckle at the expressions of defeat on the third years' faces, her eyes lingered on one young boy, whose leg was wrapped in thick bandages.

     "How's the leg?" The blonde quirked an eyebrow, as she addressed Ron, who responded with a sheepish smile.

      "Yeah, loads better, thanks Dria."

      "It seems I should be thanking you." The blonde replied with a small smile, as she moved round and leant on the back of the sofa. "Apparently, word got to the Mungo's admissions about your little escapade last week and apparently creature-induced injuries are looked on pretty favourably in candidates."

     Dria's smile widened at the memory of the St Mungo's owl that had swooped in on their breakfast three days prior — very narrowly missing Penny's bowl of Cheerios — with an official envelope in the grasp of its beak.

     "That, plus Malfoy's little Hippogriff stunt earlier in the year, seems to have set me apart." She explained to the group of smiling third years all gazing up at her. "They've given me a conditional offer, should I get my predicted grades."

     "That's amazing, Dria!" Hermione gleamed, while the others spared her encouraging smiles.

      "So I owe you." The blonde addressed the Weasley boy. "Or rather, I owe that Hippogriff and whatever it was that tore your leg to shreds ... still no word on what it was, I take it?"

    Dria quirked an eyebrow at the group, most of whom looked back at her with clueless expression, apart from three of them who bore looks of suspicions, one of which quickly morphed into a defensive hard stare.

      "It wasn't Professor Lupin if that's what you're thinking." Harry told her, firmly.

    Dria's raised her eyebrows at his adamancy, before her expression morphed into a sympathetic smile.

     The day after her call out to the Hospital Wing, as the seventh years emerged out of their Transfiguration exam, the school had been absolutely abuzz with the news that not only had Professor Lupin had handed in his notice that morning, but that he was also a werewolf.

      Needless to say, Dria had about a million questions as to whether the outbreak of such news had anything to do with the incidents of the night prior, but there had been some sort of unspoken agreement of discretion between herself and those she'd interacted with that evening, so she had kept quiet.

      "Not at all." She responded to Harry's accusation, softly. "Werewolf bites don't present that way. And you've not developed an appetite for raw meat, have you, Ron?"

      "Can't say I have." The boy shook his head.

      "There you have it."

      "He was the best professor we ever had." Michael vocalised, his jaw clenched. "So he was a werewolf, so what?"

     Dria spared her brother a sympathetic smile, resting a hand on his shoulder.

     "Well, some wizards out there aren't as accepting as the rest of us."

     "Well, it's bullshit." Maisie quickly countered, earning noises of assent from her peers.

     However, any further discussion on the ethics of werewolf welfare were unable to be had as a loud groan cut into their midst from where Tess was stood impatiently by the Portrait Hole.

     "Yes, he was brilliant. Yes, it's very, very sad but I want to go!"

     The blonde stifled a small chuckle as she decided to put her dear friend out of her misery, sparing a wave at the group by the fireplace.

     "Her Majesty beckons." She nodded in the direction of the girl in the doorway, before running over to join her. "I'll see you in a bit!"

***

"THERE YOU ARE!"

Penny's excited grin met the duo as they entered the Three Broomsticks some twenty minutes, breathing heavily and sporting a light sweat — partly down to the June sunshine, and partly down to the speed at which Tess had them travelling at.

There had been a sign on the door of the pub stating that it was 'closed for a private function' which had initially elicited a rather bold reaction from Dria ("I swear to Merlin if this end of year party ends up being a great big Prefect orgy, I'm throwing myself off the Astronomy Tower!") but the reality behind the doors was rather less explicit than she had anticipated.

     The pub was alive with chatter. Loud music was blasting from an enchanting stereo sat upon the bar top in the corner, all the windows were cast wide open welcoming in the warm glow of the evening sun, and seventh years students were bustling around with the hands full of beverages from the bar.

"What took you so long?" Penny asked the pair, as Dria shrugged off her jacket, feeling entirely too hot. "I thought Herbology finished at four?"

    "Better not getting into it." The blonde dismissed her query, as Tess hurried out of earshot and in the direction of the bar. "Tess is on a verge of a nervous breakdown."

     "Rosmerta, hit me!"

     Dria narrowed her eyes as she scanned the room. She could make out Jackie in the far corner chatting with Lorcan and Amir over their glasses of Firewhiskey, Nate spared her a wave from where he was sat with Alita and his friends, a large camera hanging around his neck. She even clocked Phoebe Rowle and Cecelia Kennedy chuckling with some of their fellow Slytherins by the open windows. However, she could not spot one particular face. 

"Where's Ol?" The blonde furrowed her brows, before looking back at Penny. "Weren't you in his Arithmancy exam?"

"Yeah, he said he had to talk to McGonagall?" The Ravenclaw replied, earning a look of surprise from her friend, before taking her arm in hers, attempting to divert her attention. "I'm sure he won't be long. Come on."

Dria allowed her friend to lead her in the direction of the bar, squeezing their way past their fellow students, sparing polite greetings and waves as they passed.

     A strange feeling of sentimentality washed over the blonde as she looked around her, thinking of how after seven years of schooling together, all of the people around her would disperse, each venturing on a different path out into the wide wide world.

     Looking toward the group of Slytherins by the window, she smile at the sight of Phoebe and Cecelia, whose hands were interlocked upon the tabletop.

     She'd learned after their final Defence Against the Dark Arts exam that, after graduation, Cecelia would be going to work as a trainee Curse-Breaker for Gringotts. Phoebe, on the other hand, had seemed rather closed off when Dria posed the question to her, responding that she was going into her family business — although Dria wasn't entirely sure what that was and elected not to push further.

     Upon receiving a tankard of Butterbeer, her arm linked through Penny's, Dria made her way into the fray, choosing to stop by the table where Nate was sat with his friends including Alita and Percy, who greeted Penny with a gentle squeeze.

     Nate and Vixen were chatting excitedly about their internship with the Department of Magical Sports and Games, and their potential involvement with the upcoming Quidditch World Cup. Whilst Ruby told Dria about how she'd heard back from a scout about a tentative position with the Holyhead Harpies, and how she'd be leaving immediately after graduation to begin her training.

Florence had secured a position in the Auror Office as part of their early recruitment programme, and would not be alone in pursuing a career within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as Alita had also applied and had been accepted into their internship scheme, wanting to pursue a career in the Wizengamot.

    Percy, who sat closely by the Byrnes girl, had also been accepted into a Ministry internship in the Department of Magical Co-operation — a feat for which Penny was incredibly proud of him, as rumour had it the Head of the Department, Bartemius Crouch Jr was an incredibly selective stalwart.

     Dria was taking a large sip of her drink when a loud cackle from across the pub caused her to turn her attention away from Nate, who was explaining how he reckoned he could probably meet Viktor Krum if he played his cards right.

The blonde craned her neck to Jackie slouched in a booth, Lorcan's arm stretched lazily across her shoulders as she laughed at something he'd said.

Lorcan had also been accepted into the Auror Office — a career choice that had greatly surprised Dria when he'd disclosed it to her on the walk back to the castle after their time beating Bludgers.

     His Hufflepuff girlfriend wasn't all too pleased at discovering he would been working closely with Florence, especially following their altercation back in October.

     However, despite that history, Lorcan and Florence had actually been able to maintain a rather amiable relationship, having assisted one another with their applications. Yet whilst they were able to bury the hatchet, Jackie O'Hare could certainly hold grudge and made no exception for the Slytherin girl.

     But, as Dria had already told her, if they were going to be working together she was going to have to get damn well over it.

     That went down about as well as you can imagine.

     The couple were sat in the far corner of the pub with Lorcan's friends and Dria's remaining Gryffindors.

     Hettie was heading off on a specialist course in Paris, after graduation, training to be a translator — though that came as no suspense considering the blonde knew her to be incredibly proficient at Ancient Runes.

     Whilst Amir and Isolde had elected to go on — what they had colloquially called — a gap year, planning on travelling together before entering the working world. Amir had animatedly told the blonde about backpacking in Sri Lanka at which Isolde had grimaced and declared out right she would not be sleeping in a hammock. The concept thoroughly amused Dria and she greatly looked forward to hearing of their tales once they returned to British soil.

     Tearing her gaze away from the group in the corner, Dria allowed her eyes to drift towards the door, a wide smile stretching across her face at the sight of a familiar Keeper walking through the doorway.

     Oliver was craning his neck as he entered the pub, an excited grin on his lips as he scanned the room.

     Dria politely excused herself from her conversation, setting down her empty glass on the tabletop, before calling out to her boyfriend and crossing the distance between them.

      "Hey!" She called, catching his attention.

     "Hey!" He grinned in response, approaching her and enveloping her in a tight hug, causing her to chuckle lightly.

      "Was beginning to think you weren't going to show." She mused as she pulled out of the hug, his arms still tight around her waist. "Penny said you were with McGonagall?"

     "Yeah, I was." He smirk down at her.

      "And?" She chuckled at his evasiveness. "What are you grinning about?"

      The grin on his face got even bigger, if possible, as he took a deep breath before meeting her questioning gaze.

     "I got scouted."

     Dria's eyes widened at his statement, her lips threatening to curve into a smile so wide that would threaten his own.

"You got—" She stammered. "You got scouted?!"

"Puddlemere United." Oliver nodded, barely managing to contain his excitement, as his grip around his girlfriend's waist tightened. "They want me. Reserve Keeper."

"Oliver!" The blonde exclaimed in glee as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug.

She relished the feeling as his chest shaking lightly with laughter at her gesture, his chuckling echoing in her ear as she held him close. 

"I knew you'd get it." She whispered, before pressing a light kiss to his cheek and withdrawing from the hug.

"I know." His deep brown eyes met hers as he took her hand in his own. "I ran straight here. I wanted you to be the first to know."

Dria felt her chest swell with pride as she beamed at the Keeper, the faintest of blushes dusting her cheeks at his words.

"Proud of you." She squeezed his hand at which he quickly raised hers to his lips and planted a soft kiss upon it.

"You want a drink?" He quirked an eyebrow, letting her hand go as he took a few steps backwards in the direction of the bar.

Dria spared him a fervent nod as she remembered the empty glass she'd left behind.

"Please!" She called after him, as he disappeared into the crowd clamouring around the bar all vying for Madam Rosmerta's attention.

The blonde turned on her heel to return to the group, only to find that Penny had vacated their table. With furrowed eyebrows, Dria scanned the room and was pleased to quickly locate her.

The Ravenclaw had found Tess and the pair of them were tucked away in the back corner of the pub, budged up close on a bench around a corner table.

The blonde quickly moved over to join her two friends, slipping into the seat beside Tess and inserting herself into their conversation.

Dria had not even been sat with Tess and Penny for more than two minutes when the loud interjection of an Irish girl interrupted their conversation. 

"Whaddup, sluts?" Jackie grinned her wolfish grin as she slid into the seat next to Dria, only being met with eye rolls from her friends as means of greeting.

The blonde gave a chuckle at her words, budging up a little so that Jackie could sit beside her, before letting out a nostalgic sigh.

"I'm going to miss this."

"What? Jackie calling you a slut?" Tess arched a brow, earning a light smack on the arm from her blonde friend.

"No!" She chided before sparing her three friends a small shrug. "Just it being the four of us, that's all."

"Shut up, you soppy git." Jackie bumped her in the shoulder with another cackle.

"What?" Dria argued, still smiling wide. "It's the end of an era."

The Irish girl shook her head in enthusiastic disagreement, her wolfish grin never wavering.

"It's the start of an age." She corrected the blonde, wiggling her eyebrows. "London doesn't know what's going to hit it."

An amused chuckle shook through Dria at the Irish girl's words. There had been no further development with regard to Jackie's post-graduate plans following their careers session in April, and she was intending to follow through with her promise of Apparating into the middle of Muggle London and hoping for the best.

      "You sure you're going to be able to put up with her, Dria?" Penny cocked her head to the side as she peered at the blonde.

      "I've managed this long, haven't I?"

       While Dria had been mildly impressed at Jackie's seeming commitment to her cause, she'd been slightly more concerned with the lengths the Hufflepuff might go to achieve it. Upon the mention of sleeping in the underground, the blonde quickly intervened and suggested the two should just move in together. The blonde was going to need to be based in London should she be successful with her St Mungo's placement and like she'd said to Penny, she'd put up with Jackie O'Hare for the last seven years, what was a few more?

      "It's gonna be great, Dria." Jackie mused, a gentle hum of contentment leaving her lips. "I'll make us waffles every morning in all my domestic glory."

     "You have to get a job, Jackie." The blonde scoffed.

      "I'm going to be your housewife."

       "How are you going to pay rent?"

      "In waffles." Jackie replied, her smirk never wavering. "And love."

      Dria shook her head as she turned away from her Hufflepuff friend and looked back towards Tess and Penny with a tut.

     "We're still working out the finer details."

     "I'm sure you'll have more fun than I will back at my Mum and Dad's." Penny groaned, taking a sip of her drink as she slouched back in her seat.

      Much like her boyfriend, Penny had also been successful in her application to intern at the Ministry of Magic — her department of choice being that of Magical Law Enforcement, with a focus on the Council of Magic Law.

     Jackie had joked that pipeline from being Head Girl and taking house points from students into persecuting wizards in criminal court was undeniable. Penny had responded that she looked forward to the day she'd be trying Jackie for whatever crime she'd have unwittingly commitment — she'd elected for indecent exposure.

     Despite this, however, Penny had elected not to join in on Dria and Jackie's London Adventure — as the Irish girl had dubbed it — stating that the fast paced city life was not for her. Although, this did mean the alternative was moving back in with her parents.

     "I'd love to live with your Mum and Dad." Dria let out a light scoff at the Ravenclaw's small complaint at which she quickly conceded and agreed.

     "Yeah, they do make a good roast."

     "Ooh, maybe we could make a roast?" Tess interjected, her eyes lighting up. "You guys could come over to mine and Una's one Sunday or something?"

     "Bold of you to assume that I'll be touching anything you've cooked."

     Having not disclosed it to her friends until a couple of weeks prior, it was discovered that Tess' careers sessions had culminated in her securing a placement at the Daily Prophet — a position that her friends were immensely proud of her for securing and had zero doubt in mind that she would not excel in magical journalism.

     In pursuit of this career opportunity, the Robbins girl had also elected to move to London, however into the one bed flat that her girlfriend was renting in Bromley.

    Upon sharing the news, her friends were initially unsure how to react — a mix of excitement and apprehension on Tess' behalf washed over them. It was certainly a big step to take in her relationship, and whilst the girls liked Una, they agreed mutually that they didn't really know her. Such opinions they kept from Tess whose excitement at the prospect overwhelmed the majority of their apprehension.

     It had seemed that after seven years together, the four of them would be heading somewhat in their own independent directions.

     Dria let out a soft sigh as she looked at her three friends.

     "We turned out alright, didn't we?"

     "Yeah, I don't think we've done too badly." Penny chuckled, as Tess threw an arm around her, letting out a long breath.

     "Seven years." The Robbins girl mused. "That's a long time."

     "I'd do it all over again though. With you three." Jackie smirked, as they budged closer together on the bench, her hand holding onto Dria's. "I've had the time of my life with you."

      "Now, who's the soppy git?" The blonde scoffed at Jackie's apparent sentimentality.

     "Oh, piss off."

      "You're not wrong though." Tess smiled a bittersweet smile from Dria's right, her voice laced with a slight sadness. "What a time we've had."

      "Yeah."

     The single word of agreement was all Dria could will herself to say in response. She let out a slow breath as the four friends sank into a comfortable, contemplative silence, sharing bittersweet smiles before Penny reached forward and took her glass in hand before raising it.

     "To the last seven years." She declared, as her friend's mirrored her action.

    Dria grabbed one of Tess' drinks that she'd lined up before her — the Robbins girl had also made good on her declaration of being triple parked.

     "Bring on the next seven." Jackie raised her glass.

     "And the seven after that." Tess chimed in.

      "To us." Dria surmised as she lifted her own glass to meet those of her friends, her toast causing her friends to respond with small nods.

     "To us."

     "To us!"

     Their glasses clinked together in a loud collision, catching the attention of the other former Hufflepuff co-captain who spared the group a smile as Jackie waved over at him.

     "Oi, Nate!" She called, setting her glass down upon the table. "Get a photo of us."

      A wide smile spread across his features as he nodded, crossing the few feet from the table he'd been stood by — his camera slung around his neck.

     "Alright, then." He adjusted the strap, and raised it to his eye. "Budge in!"

     The four girls chuckled as they threw their arms around each other, more or less sitting one top of one another as Nate shouted more instructions from behind the lens.

     "Say Quidditch!"

     An involuntary groan left Dria at his request.

     "Oh for Merlin's sake!"

      "Say it, Dria!" Jackie pinched her side, causing the firm to let out a loud laugh.

     Her smile was still wide as her gaze drifted from Nate and his camera and instead landed on the figure stood close behind him.

     The Keeper was holding two drinks in hand, beaming from ear to ear as he looked on the gleeful scene beyond the camera, swelling with pride.

     His deep brown eyes met the cool blue ones of the Lockaby girl, who mirrored his smile as a small moment passed between them. He really had been right; this was only the beginning.

      "Okay, ready?" Nate's exclamation brought her attention away from Oliver Wood. "3 ... 2 ... 1!"

     "Quidditch!" They chorused in a loud cacophony of laughter as the camera flash illuminated their midst.

      And from that point on, that moment was frozen in time, immortalised in a photograph that depicted four young remarkable witches, arms tightly wrapped around each other as they beamed from ear to ear.

     The honourable Penelope Clearwater; future prosecutor and later criminal judge in the Council Magic of Law.

    The dynamic Tessa Robbins; future best-selling author and columnist for the Daily Prophet.

    The fearless Jackie O'Hare; future Muggle Studies Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

     And lastly, a future trauma Healer at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries; the book smart Dria Lockaby.

THE END

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