Finder's Keeper || Oliver Wood [1]

Chapter 12: Summer Affairs

The summer of 1992 started off smoothly and pretty uneventfully, just the way Jessica liked it. Being the introvert she was, she was thriving off of getting to spend time alone reading, playing with her dog, baking, taking walks, and just doing all sorts of regular and mundane things that she sometimes forgot were so relaxing after spending a large chunk of her year in Hogwarts. It felt both foreign and natural especially after being surrounded by magic and so many people for so long.

However, the most out-of-the-ordinary thing came in the form of a letter. She was was expecting it to be from Alista, Bethany, or even Oliver, but the first letter she received only a week into her summer break wasn't from any of them. It was from Terence Higgs.

It was short and simple, but it implied that he was going to be writing more to her.

We didn't really get the chance to talk much after that Potions assignment, so I hope it doesn't shock you that I'm writing to you now. To get straight to the point, I was hoping that we could write to one another during the summer (if it doesn't bother you, of course).

P.S. Greene gave me your address.

It was already past the middle of July when Jessica found herself relaying those events to Alista and Bethany, ending her short story with a glare towards the blonde girl. The three of them were gathered in Bethany's home after grabbing a cup of coffee in the muggle cafe Alista had been begging to try.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Alista shrunk back at the black-haired girl's gaze. "He's the one who asked me about you after our exams ended. I didn't just give your address out of the blue."

"Did you really have to do it without telling me, though?"

"What, do you not want him to write to you?"

"No. I mean, I don't mind..." Jessica blushed in embarrassment, causing her friends to giggle teasingly.

"Do you have a crush on him?"

"Godric, no. I suppose he's nice and good-looking, but I honestly never really gave him much thought until that time you two insisted he fancies me," Jessica said truthfully.

"Because he does."

"Are you willing to give him a chance?" Bethany asked.

"I don't know. It's not like he flat out showed or said he likes me."

"If the time comes that he does, though, would you?"

"Er, maybe?"

Alista and Bethany squealed, causing Jessica to playfully hit the both of them.

"I don't even know him that well," she groaned at how excited they were already getting. "If he turns out pretty interesting, then I guess it's a... possibility."

"That means she's going to write back to him," Alista said in a sing-song voice.

"Of course. It would be rude if I didn't."

"Wait, so if he sent that letter at the start of summer, does that mean you've already been writing back to him?"

"Um, a bit?" The two girls snickered mischievously. "We haven't written to each other that much, but he's not... boring. It still feels strange talking to him since it was pretty unexpected."

It was true, after all. After that first letter from Terence, he and Jessica exchanged a few more back and forth, and while it was nice to get to know him, she still wasn't sure what to make of him. She still felt a bit formal speaking to him, but she recalled that he was easy to get along with the whole time they worked together for Potions, so she wasn't that surprised that their letters were friendly enough considering that they hadn't spoken to one another until that school year.