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booksmarts and broomsticks
act ii , take a breath
chapter twenty-seven , falling to pieces

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➖DRIA LOCKABY➖
may 1993

        UPON RETURNING TO the Common Room that night, Dria thought it suitable to witness and fully appreciate Tess' excessive apologies before revealing — after a good ten minutes — that Figaro had been found un-petrified and well. The dark haired girl was more than thrilled that the cat had been found and declared she was ever indebted to him. According to Tess, if he hadn't gone missing she would never have spent the evening with Una — an occasion that the Robbins girl was labelling the 'greatest night of her life'. So, while Figaro was happily curled in place next to Dria pillow, the Robbins girl launched into a — far too — in depth retelling of her evening with the Head Girl.

        Dria's fellow Gryffindor was just thrilled that, as a follow up from the Figaro's reappearance, she would be able to inform Una; giving her another chance to get lost in those 'green eyes that shine like emeralds—'. In all honesty, the blonde was far too wiped out from her study/therapy session with Wood — and still relishing how his hand had felt upon hers — to fully soak in every detail of Tess' two and a half hour debrief. Nonetheless, she would nod and smile, trying desperately to resist the clutches of sleep that were becoming more and more tempting each time Tess launched into another description of another of Una's features; Dria managed to settle the Robbins girl before she could start describing the red-head's lips and eventually convinced her to sleep.

         And with the closing of her eyes, Dria let that eventful Valentine's Day come to an end, her view of the occasion having undergone the slightest of shifts as a result of the events of said day.

         The incidents of that Valentine's Day quickly faded into memories — albeit very fond ones — as the next few months blurred in the run up to the end of year exams. Dria watched the winter slowly melt into spring, from every flowering blossom to every fresh drop of dew upon the morning grass. She was happy upon the reflecting that those months had been nothing more than simply mundane — it appeared that the Heir of Slytherin, whomever he ('or she!' as Tess had once corrected her) may have been, had some respect for the end of year exams, as there had yet to be anymore attacks on Muggleborn students.

         While this news should have had the blonde jumping for joy, there was still a huge tension hanging in the air that prevented her from doing so — that, and she was far too tired from all her gruelling hours of revision. The fact that the Heir of Slytherin had yet to be caught and still roamed the castle freely did very little to calm anyone's nerves, let alone Dria's — Jackie had theorised that they had worn so thin, the slightest breeze could cause them to snap. Dria didn't disagree.

        Nonetheless, there was still some light to be found in the dark times. The intensity of the exam session had meant that Dria had seen more of Penny than she had all year. Though the three girls had failed in discovering who the Ravenclaw's 'mystery lover' was — not for lack of trying — the blonde was just happy to actually spend time with her friend and let the topic slide.

         The two had been sat in the library for a good forty-five minutes, that night in May, practicing their spells for their practical Transfiguration exam in a couple of weeks. The Ravenclaw and Gryffindor stared intently upon the Wizard Chess set before them as they took turns in transfiguring the pawns to queens — although, the chess set was less than complaint.

         "Well, I think it's safe to say that we've ruined this chess set." Dria stated, as her blue eyes scanned over the board upon which sat about thirteen former pawns, now in the form of queens.

Penny pressed her lips together in a tight line as she nodded along with the statement of her blonde friend, her ebony eyes surveying the chess set.

"That's definitely too many queens for one board." The Ravenclaw agreed, worried that any moment the newly transformed pieces would stand a mutiny upon one another. "Should we practise the counter-jinx before they start attacking each other?"

Dria pursed her lips, and peered more closely at the thirteen queens who were beginning to show signs of consciousness.

"We could always watch it play out."

"We borrowed this from McGongall." Penny reminded the blonde with an arched eyebrow, reminding her of just what 'watching it play out' would result in. "Do you really want to return it in pieces?"

Just the thought of McGonagall's nostrils flaring, upon hearing the news of her chess set being broken, was enough to make up Dria's mind.

"Counter-jinx, it is!"

Penny made her attempt flawlessly and would have been executed perfectly if the chess piece in question wasn't so stubborn. It seemed that, now having transformed into a queen, the pawn was less than thrilled by the notion of returning to its previous state. Ah, the triviality of Wizard Chess.

The two girls took turns in transforming the rest of the pieces back to their original states with the use of the counter-jinx. By the time the chess set had returned to normal, the two girls felt fairly confident that they would be able to replicate the charm in their upcoming exam.

Dria allowed her attention to shift from the chess set for a moment, and couldn't help but notice the scarcity of people in the library. Naturally, it wasn't at its busiest on the Wednesday night but the blonde knew there was more to it than that. The longer the school went without another attack, the more worried students were becoming that said attack would be on them. Thus, many students had taken to retreating to their Common Rooms a little earlier than normal, leaving only a few students dotted around the communal areas of the school in the evening hours.

         "How was your shift earlier?"

         Penny was folding up to the chess board when her question awoke Dria from her momentary daze. The blonde acknowledged her with a soft nod, before casting her mind back to that morning when she'd spent a couple of hours with Madam Pomfrey.

        "Good, good." Dria told her, leaning back in her chair ever so slightly. "Someone came in with Jelly Legs Jinx so that was fun."

        "Nice."

        "And the Mandrake draught is coming along nicely, at least that's what Madam Pomfrey said." The blonde added, with a hopeful smile. "It's taken on a petrol smell which apparently means its in final stage of brewing — so that's fun."

         The Lockaby girl had developed a habit for checking upon the draught, even when she wasn't doing her volunteering hours. Even though the potion had begun to smell rather foul, her stubbornness persisted and she continued to monitor its progress — to the point where the matron had once found her asleep by the pot.

"No more attacks?" The Ravenclaw queried, her eyes still focused on the task of placing the chessboard in her school bag.

Dria gave a shrug, as she reclined in her chair with a confused expression.

"It appears that The Chamber of Secrets has been temporarily closed during exam season."

"Considerate."

         Dria pursed her lips together at Penny's short response, although she'd come to expect nothing more from her Ravenclaw friend, she couldn't fight the tiredness that crept upon her whenever an instance, such as this, would occur.

        However, suddenly an idea lit up the blonde's mind. Her pursed lips curved slowly into a smirk, as her brain toyed with the idea of actually going ahead with such a thing.

        "What do you suppose the secret is?"

        Before her brain could comprehend the decision, Dria's mouth had already made it. She voiced the obscure question with her eyes trained on her Ravenclaw friend.

        "What do you mean?" Penny responded, her interest finally piquing as she shot the Lockaby a confused glance.

        "Well, the Chamber of Secrets." Dria emphasised with a shrug, keeping her act together. "I guess it's a chamber but what's so secret about it?"

        "Maybe the fact that no one knows where it is?" The Ravenclaw responded, rising to her feet with a quirked eyebrow.

         Dria rolled her eyes but nonetheless gave a small nod of agreement as she followed suit, pulling her bag onto her shoulder.

         "Granted, but there's so many kinds of secrets." The blonde began, her lips pursing in resolve as she fell into step with her friend. "Family secrets; bad habits or — my personal favourite — hiding something incessantly from your friends and almost completely cutting them off."

         As soon as the words left her lips, Dria immediately regretting having said them. The smirk that once resided on her face fell, as Penny stopped in her tracks and let out a light scoff.

         "Wow."

         Readjusting her bag on her shoulder, the Ravenclaw shot a glare at the blonde and strode forward, making for the exit of the library with immediate haste.

         "Penny!" Dria called in exasperation as she willed her feet to follow her friend.

         "Shh!"

         "Sorry!" The blonde called absentmindedly at the librarian that had shushed her despite no-one else being in the library.

         Although, apologising to Madam Pince was the last thing on Dria's mind as she broke into a jog and left the library. She caught sight of the Ravenclaw stepping upon one of the moving staircases leading up to the next floor, and persisted in her endeavour to follow — only just managing to jump onto the staircase before it left the landing.

        "Penny, wait!" Dria pleaded, as the dark-haired caught sight of her and made to walk away again. "I was joking."

          "Yeah, it was hilarious, Dria."

         Her shortness once again triggered something within the Lockaby girl, and suddenly she decided she was done with being polite or even light-hearted about the situation.

        "Seriously, what's going on with you?" The blonde scoffed, her arms folding across her chest. "Ever since summer we've been seeing less and less of you—"

         "Did it occur to you that maybe I have other things going on that don't revolve of you?" Penny retorted, her eyes narrowing in defence.

        "That's not what I meant and you know it." Dria countered, before letting out a soft sigh and taking a hand through her hair. "You've not been yourself and we're worried that's all. We're friends and we don't keep things from each other."

         The staircase gave a sickening crunch as it connected to the next landing, and Penny continued to ascend it moving onto the next adjoining staircase.

          "Well, I want my friends to respect my privacy and learn to keep their noses out of other people's business!" The Prefect snapped, increasing her speed and storming up the next set of stairs.

        "Penny!"

        Dria willed herself to jog once more as she let out exasperated breaths, only for Penny to turn on her heel and face the blonde girl.

        "Look, Dria, just because you've realised your love life will never amount to anything doesn't mean you have to invest yourself in mine!"

         Dria's look of exasperation very quickly fell into one of hurt, her eyes widening in surprise at the words of her friend and taking a small step back, all thought of making amends drowned out by feelings of betrayal.

        Penny fell into silence as she stomached the words that had left her lips, her own eyes widening upon realising what she had said.

        "Dria, I'm sorry—"

        "No, you said what you said." The blonde cut her off, not bringing herself to meet the gaze of her friend and shying away from her outstretched hand.

         Shuffling past her friend, Dria set out to continue her way to the Common Room, her spirits now so low they were practically dragging on the floor.

        But she stopped herself for a moment, and took a deep inhale before turning around to face her friend whose eyes had followed her as she passed her by.

         "I'll back off but I'm only looking out for you." Dria told the Ravenclaw in a small voice, swallowing gently. "Because I care and don't want you getting your feelings hurt."

        Penny's face contorted into a helpless expression but Dria quickly turned on her heel and jogged up the rest of the staircase and away from her friend before their altercation could continue any further. She was only left with the girl's calls of her name that followed her up to the Common Room and were only silenced when the portrait hole was shut.

         "Dria!"

***

NORMALLY, DRIA would not advocate wallowing in self pity as a coping mechanism but as the fire crackled before her and bathed the room in the most inviting glow, she struggled do anything but.

She wasn't sure what the time was, but it was dark out and the common room was deserted. Dria knew she probably should have been wallowing in her room, but the thought of leaving the sofa she was stretched out upon only made her curl into its cushions further and pull her blanket further around herself. That, and she knew that she'd be lucky to get a wink of sleep amid the tornado of emotions whirling around her mind. She was much more content by the fire with Figs purring at the other end of the sofa.

Her altercation with Penny had really sent her mind into a mad frenzy of emotions that the blonde was having a hard time distinguishing.

Clearly, there was frustration. Frustration with her friend for hiding something from her for so long. Anger — at Penny turning the tables and deciding to divert from her own troubles by bringing up those of Dria's. And finally, and most prominently, was confusion.

The blonde's eyebrows were knitted in thought as she tried to fathom what had caused her friend to insult her so and what she actually meant by it. But, above all, in light of her friend's words, Dria was forced to question what her actual feelings toward Oliver Wood were.

They had been friends for over a year, and in more recent times, she would go as far as to say they were good friends. Yet then, why had Penny's words stung so much?

The blonde had been convincing herself since the summer to bury her feelings for the Gryffindor Keeper in the assumption that they were unreturned. While her intention was absolute, Dria had come to acknowledge that her friends' constant jesting in regard to the matter — constantly assuring the blonde that her attempts were in vain — had done nothing more than fuel her affections for the boy. But, now, to hear from another friend and that her "love life would never amount to anything" — while rash and said in the heat of the moment — left Dria feeling disillusioned.

The confusion continued to eat away at her brain until she decided the best course of action would be to close her eyes and hope, in the name of Merlin, that she would never have to see Oliver Wood ever again.

"What are you doing up?"

For Merlin's sake!

Dria shot up from her curled up position on the sofa at the sound of the amused Scottish voice that had interrupted her tangled train of thought.

"My God, you scared me." The blonde gave a light chuckle as she clutched her chest, and turned to face the Keeper, who had come to stand behind the back of the sofa.

"Sorry about that." He apologised, his brown eyes lighting up at the sight of the grey tabby perched at the end of the sofa. "Hey Figs."

Oliver moved around the sofa to greet Figaro who purred with glee as the Quidditch captain approached him and scratched behind his ear with affection, before turning to face the blonde once more.

"Can't you sleep?" He asked, taking a seat next to her, ignoring the disgruntled mewls of the cat at his side who rejected being ignored in place of his owner.

Dria thought that if she wanted to, she probably would have been able to sleep but her anxiety-ridden brain thought otherwise. But instead of going into that rather convoluted explanation, she simply shook her head in response to his question.

         "Want to talk about it?"

         Dria could only chuckle derisively in response to his second query, as she hugged her knees to her chest.

         "I feel all I do is complain to you." The blonde observed as the Keeper settled himself in his corner of the sofa. "I'm rivalling Moaning Myrtle at this point."

        Oliver let out a light scoff and shook his head lightly, sparing the girl beside him a smile.

         "Oh, you could never be that bad." He assured her, before continuing. "Anyway, I bring it upon myself by asking."

         It was now Dria's turn to let out a light scoff, why was it Oliver Wood could never just let her be miserable?

        "Will you ever just let me wallow in self-pity?" She asked, arching a brow ever so slightly as the boy, across from her, grimaced.

         "Nah, it doesn't suit you." He told her but her merely got a roll of the eyes in response. "Come on, what's happened?"

        Oliver gave her leg a light nudge, his warm eyes now bearing a look of concern as a faint reflection of the flickering fireplace danced across his irises.

        Dria could only sigh, sitting up a little bit straighter in preparation to unload her burden into the hands of the Keeper. She knew, by this point, avoiding the subject would get her no where with this certain Scot.

         "Well, I'm fairly sure another one of my relationships just fell through; Penny and I had an argument." She explained slowly so as not to fall back into the pit of emotional turmoil that the Quidditch Captain had only just pulled her out of.

         "What about?" Oliver persisted, his eyebrows furrowed in a mix of curiosity and concern.

         The blonde could only sigh again, sparing the boy a slight smile.

         "... Something really stupid." She clarified, her intonation assuring him that was as far as she'd delve into the reason why. "And I'm too frustrated to sleep in all honesty."

         The Keeper reached forward and rested his hand atop of her knee, pressing his lips together, unsure as what he could say to comfort her.

         "Is there anything I can do?" He tried, pleased when he received a smile from the blonde, who placed a hand over his.

        "Don't push me away."

         "Wouldn't dream of it, Lockaby."

         A moment passed between the two of them as they so often did; a moment of assurance and promise with the fire as their only witness — well, and Figaro, of course.

        When Dria began to notice the seconds ticking by, she felt the need to clear her throat and quickly removed her hand from his, as she moved to cross her legs upon the sofa.

        "What's kept you up, then?" She asked, turning the table, amused when a small smile stretched across his lips. "You know how this works; I bare my soul, you bare yours."

         "Is that the agreement?" He queried, his head now resting in his hand as he leaned against the back cushions of the sofa.

         "Yes, now spill."

         It took a second for any words to leave his lips, Dria assumed he was trying to fathom how to convey what he was feeling. But, eventually, he did.

         "The match against Hufflepuff's playing on my mind." He stated, simply.

          "It's not because Jackie said she'd destroy you, is it?" Dria jested, earning a hearty chuckle from the boy beside her.

         "No, I would never give her that satisfaction." Oliver assured her, before letting out a large sigh. "I just want it to be a worthwhile distraction from everything — I don't care if we win."

         Dria's eyes widened in shock at his statement. She recoiled slightly, just wondering who it was that sat across from her and what they had done with Oliver Wood.

        "You can't mean that."

        "Okay, maybe I don't mean that." The Keeper corrected himself, putting his companion at ease. "But everyone just needs a break, you know?"

         Dria gave him a tight-lipped smile and a small nod of understanding.

        "Yeah, I know." The blonde told him, as she mirrored his stance and, too, rested her head in her hand. "You're not alone, Jackie's worried too — although she'll kill me for saying so."

         "No surprise there."

         "I've gone out a couple of times with her and the team." Dria disclosed to the Captain, reflecting upon the multiple occasions that Jackie had invited the lot of them out to spectate various practices. "I think they're just practising to take their mind off everything."

          Oliver nodded in agreement although it was apparent from his distant gaze that his mind was still spinning at a thousand miles an hour. Dria sought to seize his attention and leant a little closer to him, lowering her voice.

         "And, just so you know, from what I can gather, most of the Hufflepuff team are convinced that Harry will petrify them if they fly too close to him." Dria told him, a light chuckle lacing her tone. "So, feel free to use that to your advantage."

          "It'll give him something to do before he catches the Snitch." Oliver noted, a chuckle of his own leaving his lips.

         "Scare the other team senseless?"

         "I mean it's not a foul — you would know."

          "I sure would." The blonde nodded, folding her arms across her chest in fake thought. "Funnily enough, scaring the other team isn't one of the seven hundred fouls of Quidditch. Who'd have thought?"

        Dria was happy to see her little comment had earned another smile from her fellow Gryffindor, before he turned to face her with an eyebrow slightly raised.

        "Will you be watching?" Oliver asked, although Dria was fairly sure he already knew the answer.

         "Of course, I will." The blonde chuckled, as though the answer was obvious — which, in fairness, it was. "Who else are you going to rely on to cheer you on?"

         A slight smirk had settled on Dria's lips which she could see was mirrored on those of the Keeper facing her, his brown eyes boring into her blue ones.

        "Maybe the entire house?"

        "Nah, you're not that popular."

        Oliver's gaze dropped from hers at her comment, as he let out a light laugh and gave the two of them a brief interlude from their conversation to remind themselves of their surroundings.

         When his gaze rose back up to meet Dria's, it also flitted towards the staircase to girls' dormitories.

        "It's getting late, you should probably head up." He advised her with a tight-lipped smile, as he fought off a yawn.

        "So, should you."

        "I told you first."

        "I'm too tired to argue." Dria rolled her eyes, gathering her blanket up in her arms and slowly rising from her seat.

         "Don't forget your cat." Oliver jested, nodding in the direction of the tabby cat that sat happy on his right.

         "Ah yes, the cat."

         Slinging the blanket over one of her arms, the blonde manoeuvred around the sofa in order to grasp her cat in her arms.

        "You really are a terrible owner." The Keeper chuckled, light-heartedly as he rose to his feet and began making his way across the Common Room behind Dria.

         "What's it matter when I've got you to pick up after me." She smirked, readjusting her grip on the squirming cat in her arms.

        "I think he likes me more than you." Oliver chuckled, noting Figaro's apparent want for escape from Dria's grasp.

         "I think he likes anyone that gives him the time of day." The blonde corrected him with a roll of her eyes, a large smile spreading across her face which in turn caused one to spread across Oliver's.

         "See? Wallowing in pity doesn't suit you at all." The Quidditch Captain remarked, "Why would I leave you like that when I can easily get a smile on your face?"

         "You seem to have quite a talent for doing that, Wood." Dria replied with a quaint smile on her lips, as she desperately tried to ignore the blush rising up her cheeks.

         The blonde allowed her gaze to drop to the floor as she tried to compose herself, although she could feel his gaze still on her.

        "Good night, Dria." He said, as she took a step up the staircase and continued on her way.

        With considerably higher spirits, Dria pressed her lips together to suppress the most idiotic grin from spreading across her face as she gradually faded from his view.

        "Good night, Oliver."

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖐𝖘!
apologies for taking so
long to write this,
fingers crossed i can get
my old writing schedule
back now i've got a bit
more free time!
ALSO the magnificent
CELINE has spoiled me
again,and gifted me this
new BEAUTIFUL cover

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