Finder's Keeper || Oliver Wood [1]

Chapter 7: The Holidays

"Look, I really am sorry. I'll get you a new bottle of ink to make up for it and —" He paused to look at what else had spilled. "... hot coca?"

Jessica scoffed. "You don't have to do that," she sighed, not wanting to trouble him.

The other boy, Wright, nudged Higgs and muttered, "You heard her. Let's just leave."

Higgs sent him a pointed look before turning back to the Gryffindor girl seated before him. He eyed the parchment, pulled out his wand, and said, "Scourgify."

The liquid that had spilled vanished, but the parchment remained smudged with barely any legible words left. However, Higgs seemed to catch a few words and frowned.

"'Possible casualties of overusing the Sleeping Draught'?"

Jessica simply nodded. She had almost forgotten he was her group mate.

"Isn't this for our group work?" the boy questioned, stepping closer to take a look at the parchment. When he realized he couldn't read much more of it, he stepped back to stand beside an impatient looking Wright. "Why are you doing it already?"

"I wanted to get some stuff done before I head home," Jessica shrugged.

Higgs pursed his lips. "You do know you're not being graded individually, right?"

Jessica knew he was right, but she didn't like the all-knowing tone of voice he used.

"I do," she said bluntly. "I just like getting things done on my own sometimes."

Higgs nodded before glancing at his friend.

"You go ahead," he said. "I'll catch up with you and Pucey later."

Wright frowned almost in disgust, obviously not liking that his friend was going to stay behind with some Gryffindor he didn't know. However, he chose to keep quiet about it, simply scoffing before turning on his heel and walking away.

"I'll help you rewrite all that," Higgs said, motioning to the parchment.

Jessica shook her head. "Oh, no, it's fine," she insisted, now feeling bad that he felt obligated to rewrite all of it. "I was just taking notes of a few things. It's nothing —"

"Hawthorne." She stopped talking. "I'm doing this not only because it was my fault I bumped into you, but also because it's still our homework."

He sent a small smile to show her he was really fine with it. Jessica sighed, knowing once again that he was right. They were group mates after all, so might as well get started on doing the assignment together while they can. She chose to accept his offer, unsure if he'd ever be this willing again to get their homework done once the break was over.

"Okay, then."

Terence Higgs did as he promised: he rewrote the notes Jessica initially took that he ruined when he and Wright bumped into her at breakfast. The two group mates sat mostly in a comfortable silence, speaking to one another regarding their assignment but also occasionally making small talk here and there. Despite Jessica having one of her best friends in Slytherin, the prejudice against the house still lingered and she couldn't help but sometimes see them in a bad light, which was why she was mildly taken aback that Higgs wasn't as mean as she thought he would be. She heard from Alista that he was known to be one of the "nicer" Slytherins, but it was still a pleasant surprise to find that out in person.

While Terence was deciphering the smudged words as well as adding his own ideas to the parchment, he asked, "So, why aren't you with my fellow Slytherin like you always are?"

Jessica raised her eyebrows. "You mean Alista?"

"Yeah, Greene. Still don't get why she chose to hang out with Gryffindors."