Finder's Keeper || Oliver Wood [1]

Chapter 4: The Match

That was only the first time Oliver Wood sat down with her in the library.

The second time happened in the middle of that week. He looked a bit tired when he came in the library. Jessica found him looking in the Herbology section when she had come to return a book, and once again, she kindly offered the said book to him for his homework which was due the next day — she could already tell he had a knack for procrastinating. They didn't speak much, except for when they bid each other goodbye.

The third time was the day before the Quidditch game. Jessica had no books to offer Oliver anymore for she was studying Arithmancy while he was doing his Divination homework — she didn't understand why the boy had chosen to take up the subject even in his fifth year. Still, he ended up sitting across her. This time, though, they made small talk because he had started complaining about running out of ideas for his homework and asked her to help him make up a fake scenario. Jessica found Divination a very weird subject, mostly because she didn't get the hang of it last year, but it was certainly very entertaining.

"So, according to my dreams," Oliver clarified. "I'm going to be facing a tragic accident involving Exploding Snap this Tuesday?"

"That's right."

He chuckled. "These are getting worse by the minute."

"I'm not the one who signed up for that subject."

"I'd rather do this than take up Arithmancy. I'm not willing to suffer for that."

Jessica scoffed. "It is harder, but at least it means something. Divination is all about making things up."

"And that's exactly why I joined it. I don't need to learn there."

"You're sassier than I thought, Wood."

They lapsed into silence, but it wasn't for long.

"Jess! Jess, we— oh, hey Wood. Great timing."

Both Jessica and Oliver stopped what they were doing, looking up from their work to find the source of the voice. At the middle of the aisle were Alista and Bethany.

"Hey," Jessica said as they neared them. "What's —"

"Is it true?" they asked.

"What?"

"Rumor has it that Potter's the new Gryffindor Seeker. Is it true?"

Oliver's heart dropped to his stomach and glanced at the dark haired girl across him. How could people have known? Who spread the word? He trusted Jessica, and she seemed like a person who would keep her word. Did she do it?

Jessica's eyes widened at her friends' words. "Who said that?"

"I overheard it from my roommates," Alista said. "They said they heard it from someone named Draco Malfoy."

"Malfoy?" said Jessica. "Who's that?"

"Some first year," Bethany informed her. "All houses are talking about it, though. They said it's because Potter received a Nimbus 2000 and the rumors just began from there."

If that was the case, Oliver thought, then Hawthorne really kept her word, then.

"So?" Alista prodded, looking at Oliver. "Is it true?"

"There's no point denying it," Oliver sighed. "Yes, it's true. The team was supposed to keep it a secret longer because I wanted to make Potter our secret weapon."

"Jess," Bethany suddenly said. "Why don't you look surprised?"

"Oh," said Jessica, caught off guard. "Well..."