Lost and Found || Oliver Wood [2]

Chapter 13: First and Last

"You're working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement now?"

Alista's exclaim rose above the music playing in the background by The Bent-Winged Snitches, an American wizarding band. Bethany waved her wand to change the music before replying to the girl, allowing a song by the muggle band Pulp to play instead.

"Yes," Bethany said simply.

"That's the biggest department in the Ministry!"

"It is. And It suits you," said Jessica with a hint of humor as she shoved a couple more of her belongings into a box.

"I'm still in a fairly low sub-department," Bethany reminded them. "I'll be doing mostly administrative work only."

"Oh, please, it's your first job! You can't expect to be in a high position already," Alista said. "This is still a big thing."

"Yeah, you should still be proud of yourself. We are," Jessica nudged the redhead teasingly.

"Oh, alright, alright," Bethany waved them off. Not liking the attention on herself, she asked Alista, "And how about you? Didn't you say you have 'life updates' for us, too, or whatever you called it?"

"Yeah! Well, I took you girls' advice and began looking into apprenticeships to be a potioneer."

"And?" the other two urged expectantly.

"And nothing yet, I just sent out my inquiries a few days ago. Relax," Alista replied, though it looked like she was consoling herself at the same time. "Anyway, in the meantime, I've still been stuck helping out my parents, right? It's not too bad, since it's all about cauldrons, after all. Mum placed me in charge with answering inquiries and requests for collaborations, and guess who owled."

"A supply store?" guessed Jessica.

"No, that's too easy."

"A famous potioneer?" she tried again.

"Nope."

"I have zero guesses, so just spill it already," Bethany interjected.

"Fred Weasley."

"No way. What does he need to know about cauldrons for?" Jessica said, finding the situation both entertaining and interesting. "It's not like he's ever liked potions — or Snape, for that matter."

"Don't take my whole word for it yet, but according to his letter, he and George are looking into making certain... products."

"What products? That doesn't sound suspicious at all," said Bethany sarcastically.

"It's Fred and George. I'm sure it isn't anything too serious — maybe a prank," Jessica reassured them. "They're still in school, anyway. They've got one more year left."

"Meanwhile, we've got only a couple of hours left together," Alista pouted.

Jessica sighed, starting to feel sentimental already.

"Why'd you have to make the mood sad?" Bethany huffed.

"I can't help it! Jess is moving to Egypt for Salazar knows how long."

"It's only a few months... roughly a year," said Jessica. Although, now that she was saying it out loud and it was truly dawning on her that she would be leaving that same day, those months sounded like a lifetime to go. No matter how excited she was to take on this new journey, it still wasn't easy to even think about leaving her best friends and family.

"Speaking of which, I can't believe you didn't wanna throw a going-away party," Alista said. "I was so willing to organize one for you."

"You just want an excuse to dress up for an occasion," Bethany pointed out.