The Thrilling Adventure of Doing Enough
"The post is here, Charlus!"
Dorea's voice rang through the house, yet it was not needed. Charlus Potter walked into the kitchen right as she called and joined the young ones at the table. While the two boys dug into their breakfast, he dug into his letters. The young girl sitting next to him was busy reading her own letter, which she had opened just seconds before.
Giving it a quick look, she forcefully folded the letter. From the other side of the table, James raised an eyebrow.
"What is it? Are those your OWLs?" he asked, failing to conceal his excitement. Olivia met his gaze, but made no reply.
"How exciting! Let's have a look, then. How did you do, dear?" said Dorea. She had left her place by the stove and had crossed the kitchen to have a look.
Olivia looked around the room, trying to think of a way to escape the situation. Her eyes lingered a little as they fell on Sirius Black. Matching James, he had raised his brow in expectation and had a slightly amused look on his face. She had only met him the day before, and she was not about to tell him something so personal.
"I did fine," she said quickly. "I suppose I should write to my parents. Thanks for breakfast, Dorea, it was lovely as always."
She was off her chair faster than a ferret on a hot plate. Before anyone had the time to voice a protest, she was out of the kitchen and had begun ascending the stairs. She heard Charlus ask "what was that all about?" as she closed the door to her room. Inside it was silent.
Disappointment washed over her. For the past month she had been studying harder than she had ever done in her entire life, whilst James had been acting like a pesky brat, trying to get her to play quidditch with him. It had been the most exhausting month, yet she had learned so much. She really thought she would have done better.
Holding back tears of frustration, she dug out parchment, a quill and ink from her trunk and started writing the usual trivial nonsense she always wrote to her parents.
Dear mother and father
Things are going well, as always. Charlus and Dorea are taking good care of me. One of James' friends came to stay for the rest of the summer. He is of course very excited to have his friends over. I know James thinks of his friends as his brothers. He is incredibly loyal that way.
I've enjoyed being able to relax for the past two days, but I think I'll start on my Hogwarts schoolwork today. From the tasks, it seems as if Transfiguration is a bit more advanced at Hogwarts than it is at Beauxbatons. I suppose I will have to pay extra attention.
My OWL results came this morning. I'm afraid I didn't do as well as I'd hoped. Here they are:
Ancient Runes - E
Astronomy - A
Care of Magical Creatures - E
Charms - O
Divination - E
Defence Against the Dark Arts - E
Herbology - O
History of Magic - E
Potions - O
Transfiguration - O
I'm extremely disappointed with my Ancient Runes mark and my Astronomy mark. I am fairly sure I should have been able to do better in History of Magic and Defence Against the Dark Arts as well. I will do better on my NEWTs.
I hope I'll speak to you soon. I miss you.
All my love,
Olivia
Olivia carefully folded her letter. Her brown owl, Arthur, was perched on her window sill. When she approached him, he stuck out his leg, ready for duty. A short minute later, she was watching him fly out into the rain. She hoped he would enjoy his time in France, away from the chilly and rainy English summer.
From the corner of her eye, she saw another two flying figures. James and Sirius were practising their beater skills out on the field. She didn't understand why they would need it. James was such an incredible flyer, watching him alone made her stomach do summersaults, and Sirius clearly had some experience as a beater. He definitely had the build for it, she thought, and the bruises that came with it.
James was waving at her, she realised, waving for her to come over. He was shouting for her to come join them, or at least that's what she thought he was shouting. He was so far away, she couldn't be quite sure what he was trying to say. Behind him was Sirius, floating in midair on his broom watching James make a fool out of himself, trying to get her attention.
James flew a little closer to the house. "Come on, Olivia! You know you want to!"
Olivia smiled. James was only trying to be nice, she knew, but she also noticed how frustrated Sirius looked behind him. He was rubbing his head, messing up his hair, looking from James to Olivia and then back into thin air. It was clear to Olivia that he didn't want her to join them. So she held up her Transfiguration book for James to see, pointing at it.
"What? Your owls are over!"
She just smiled and shook her head. She knew when she was welcome, and if she didn't start on her schoolwork soon, it would never get done. It was important to make a good impression. After all, she was representing Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, even if she was finishing her last two years of school at Hogwarts.