Loverboy

"This is goodbye."

Victoria and Ollie found a deserted nook in the corridor. "So, what is it?" Ollie asked her girlfriend. She knew it couldn't be anything bad, but still she was a little nervous.

"Well, I've been thinking," Victoria began, looking at her hands. "We've been together for a little while now."

"That we have," Ollie said during a long pause. "And I'm so happy about that."

"And-" Victoria sighed deeply. "I'm glad for the weeks that we've been together but..."

"But what?" Ollie prompted, now certain that this wasn't something she'd want to hear.

"I don't want to do this, Ollie," Victoria said, finally meeting Ollie's eyes. "But it's going to happen sooner or later, and I think we should do it now, while we're on good terms. So we can remember each other... and have good memories."

Ollie's world seemed to stop. "What- what are you saying?" she said, her voice beginning to tense up.

"Ollie, I'm breaking up with you," Victoria said quietly. So quiet, it was hardly a whisper.

Ollie swore she could feel her heart break in that moment. It felt like someone tore it out of her chest, leaving a painful throb in her chest while she held back tears. "Why? Did I do something?"

"No, it's just... Ollie, I do love you. I really do. But we're going to leave soon," Victoria explained, taking up Ollie's hands. "And neither of us owls, we won't be able to communicate over the summer-"

"We'll make it work!"

"Ollie, it'll just fall apart. Or we'll come back and it'll be stiff. It'll never be the same."

"Victoria, we can make it work! I know we can," Ollie pleaded. "Please."

"Ollie, it won't work. I'm sorry," Victoria said, looking into Ollie's emerald green eyes. "This is goodbye."

"Why now? Why not at the end of the year or- or-" Ollie began, begging for answers. The ache growing in her chest demanded closure.

"It'll be easier for you to heal if you have more time," Victoria said. "And it'll be better to end it now, to know it's over, than to have a fuzzy ending later on."

"But- Seeing you, every day for the next month is going to be better?" Ollie said, her voice cracking, and her eyes brimming with more tears.

"Maybe not, but wouldn't you rather not question if we're still an item? You're going to be okay one day," Victoria said, caressing Ollie's cheek, tracing the freckles on her face with her fingers as she'd done so many times before. "You're getting a head start. Both of us are, really."

Ollie didn't say anything. A few tears were starting to stick to her eyelashes. "You can tell your friends, if you'd like. Tell whoever you want. Just... don't make me out to be the villain?" Victoria said.

"And when you think of me," she added, "I hope you can smile."

With that, she leaned in, left one last kiss on Ollie's lips, squeezed her hand, and turned away, leaving Ollie stunned. As she watched Victoria's retreating back, she felt the ache in her chest become a ripping sensation. A small, choked noise escaped her throat as she walked slowly to the corridor proper. She looked for the clock and saw she still had an hour before practicals.

Time seemed to slow down as she went to the Gryffindor Tower, the corridors seeming to stretch out, the stairways seeming twice as long. When she finally stumbled into the common room, James, Sirius, Peter and Remus's eyes all flicked to her. James looked angry, as he was pacing in front of the unlit fireplace. Sirius was lounging on the couch, examining his nails, Remus was practicing before the exam, and Peter was sitting there, on the floor, drawing on a piece of paper.

Ollie was mad at them for how they had accosted Snape earlier, but she still went and slumped down into the armchair she usually occupied. Remus put his wand away, turning fully to his friend. He didn't have to say anything, didn't even have to fully look at her to see something was wrong. In fact, all four of the boys immediately knew something was wrong.

Maybe it was the way she was sitting in a heap on the chair, or the way her hair looked disheveled. Or perhaps it was just the silence. But most likely, it was the tears silently falling down her cheeks onto her collar. Regardless, all four boys moved closer to her. Peter was sitting beside her legs, James standing over the back of the chair, Remus on one side and Sirius on the other.

"What happened?" Peter asked quietly, gently. Ollie shook her head, another bout of tears coming forth. "Ollie, you can talk to us," he said softly, reaching up and taking her hand, discarded to her side. He began to rub circles with his thumb onto her skin.

Despite what any of them would want to believe, Peter was the best at comforting people in their friend group. He just knew what to do. He would bring them some tea, sit with them, rub circles in their hand or thigh or shoulder. He would listen while they talked about and he'd tell them it would be okay, that he was there.

Ollie didn't want to say it; she couldn't bring herself to put it into words. If she said it, it would mean it happened. It would mean it was over. And she didn't want to believe it. So, she didn't say anything. She forced herself to sit up, wipe her tears and put her mind elsewhere.

After a minute of drying her face with the sleeve of her robes, she spoke. Her voice was shaky, and anyone could hear that she was trying to keep it level. "I'll- I'll tell you guys later," she said. "We need to get to our exam."

"Okay, then we should probably go," Remus said, checking the time. "We have fifteen minutes before we have to be in the Great Hall, come on." 

With that, they left the tower, and made their way to the Great Hall. When Ollie didn't flock to Victoria, the boys made a guess as to what had happened, but none of them said anything about it.

In the first round of students called in, Sirius entered, with good luck wishes from his friends. Gradually, all of Ollie's friends were called in, leaving her to wait for her name to be called. None of the students called in came back through the side chamber where they all waited, so Ollie didn't have an idea of how easy or difficult the exam would be.

Still, she walked in upon hearing the examiner call "Sato, Olivia," knowing she would do good on the test. It was spellwork. She could do that.