Finder's Keeper || Oliver Wood [1]

Chapter 34: Sweet Victory

A/N: I'm a little late but Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you're all spending the holidays well :> Here's another long-ish chapter full of (more) Quidditch content and fluff hihi!!

The students at Hogwarts were able to get a few days off thanks to the Easter holidays. When that passed, they were met with yet again more requirements to fulfill, but it was slightly more bearable after having gotten used to it over the past few months.

However, what was even more important to Jessica and her teammates was the fast approaching match against Slytherin, which would take place on the first Saturday after Easter. This was going to be be their final game of the year, which would determine whether or not they would snag that Quidditch Cup. After their previous match against Ravenclaw, they did not waste any time in training for possibly their biggest match of their lives to date. It was tiring and stressful, but Jessica was fueled by a newfound determination, knowing that she could almost taste victory at that point. Furthermore, it was her first time playing a full year of Quidditch since she was petrified for a good chunk of last year's season.

Unsurprisingly, Oliver was even more desperate. It was his last year at Hogwarts and he had never been this close to actually claiming the Cup. Slytherin was leading the tournament by two hundred points, which meant that Gryffindor couldn't just grab the Snitch at any time and get it over with — they had to be smart about when to catch it. So, he spent the days leading up to the big day following Harry around, reminding the third year boy that he should only catch it once the Chasers scored more than fifty points or else they'd lose the Cup. As much as Harry respected Oliver, he was getting fed up with his captain trailing after him in between classes just to tell him that same thing every time.

The whole of Gryffindor House was obsessed with the upcoming match — even Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were highly interested in it because Gryffindor hadn't won the Quidditch Cup in so long. On the night before the long-anticipated event, everyone in the Gryffindor absolutely could not stay still. Even Jessica abandoned her school work, and she noticed that Hermione could not focus on hers, either.

"My brain is not processing any of this," Jessica huffed, dropping her quill onto her parchment full of scratched out words and numbers in an attempt to finish her Arithmancy homework. "I can't concentrate at all."

Oliver barely even heard her. He was sitting beside her in the corner of the common room, crouching over a miniature model of a Quidditch field as he visualized what would happen the following day. He prodded the little figures across the model with his wand and muttered to himself.

Everyone else was dealing with their nerves differently. Fred and George Weasley dealt with it by being louder and more exuberant than ever, if that was even possible. Angelina and Katie tried to keep themselves distracted by listening to and laughing at Fred's and George's jokes. Harry was sitting with Ron and Hermione in silence, just trying not to think about the next day because every time he did, he would feel nauseous. Jessica had obviously tried to keep herself occupied with homework, but she ended up failing at that.

"Everybody looks uneasy," she mumbled, looking around the room.

"Well, a lot is on the line," Oliver said, his brows furrowed. He pushed the tiny figures of his Chasers into one formation, sighed, then restarted with a different formation.

"I give up on this," Jessica decided, gathering her school things. "I'm gonna turn in early tonight. You should, too."

"You're right," Oliver sighed, waving his wand. His miniature Quidditch model packed up in seconds, folding into a small box. He then stood up and eyed his teammates before shouting, "Team! Bed!"

"Whoa, there, Ollie," said Fred.

"A bit bold tonight, are we?" George joked. Oliver made a motion as if to hit them — Jessica wasn't sure if he was serious or playing around. Either way, the twins evaded his attack, sniggering like obnoxious kids as they ran away from him and up to their own dorm room.