AN: Welcome back everyone. I haven't gotten much feedback on this story just yet and it's kind of making me uncertain about it and whether or not I should continue. So if you read the story, please let me know what you think. Remember, reviews are an author's best friend! (;
Chapter 7
Of course, that had not been the end of it. Although it was obvious that professor McGonagall did not fully believe Malfoy's story, with the facts being what they were, she had no choice but to give Daisy detention. Two Monday evenings of polishing the armour on the fourth floor. Despite losing yet another bit of her precious leisure time, it was worth it. The way the Slytherin boy would look at her every time they passed each other in the hallway, the way he would quickly hide behind his big, bodyguard friends, Daisy would have gladly taken a thousand Mondays of detention to get to see that look for the rest of her life.
Naturally, Harry and Ron had applauded her for her actions, hailing her a hero. Hermione, however, had been less than pleased. 'What were you thinking?' She'd demanded to know, crossing her arms in front of her chest. 'You could have gotten expelled, you know. Violence is highly frowned upon at Hogwarts.' She had not tried to reason with the brunette, knowing that trying to get her see her side was impossible. Instead, she had relished in the reaction she got from Malfoy just by looking at him from across the Great Hall.
As wonderful as it had been to manhandle the Slytherin, as Daisy dragged herself to the fourth floor that Monday evening, she regretted her actions for a moment. Monday had been her only evening without extra classes planned late into the evening and now, even those few hours of freedom had been taken from her. It had, of course, been her own fault. If only she had a tighter control over her anger, she might have just walked away after his comment. But instead, as was always the case, all reason had flown out of the window as soon as Malfoy challenged her.
Reaching the fourth floor, she found a bucket and sponge already waiting for her. She was about to contemplate just leaving when an elder, filthy looking man appeared, an equally foul cat beside him. He nodded towards the bucket, a grin on his lips. 'You are not to leave until all the armour is spotless.' Turning on his worn, squeaking boots, he left Daisy to her job.
Although she rather liked cats, the caretaker's pet soon proved to be as vile as her owner and so Daisy decided to leave the animal to her staring. As she finished the first piece, she saw the cat closely inspecting her work and, as she was working on the third one, she could even swear the animal had scrunched up its nose in dissatisfaction. Surely she was going mad..
Leaving for her second evening of detention, Daisy really didn't have any hope of things being less mind-numbing than the first time. After she had cleaned all of the armour, she had found the cat had disappeared and, moments later, arrived back with Mr. Filch. She'd pushed her further suspicions about the cat aside as the caretaker had inspected her work and had then scowled at her. She'd then been allowed to go, leaving the man to his grumblings about 'real punishment' – she really didn't want to stick around to find out what those entailed.
Apart from her obvious reasons for being reluctant to drag herself to the third floor, there was something about that Monday that made it just a bit worse. And that something once again had everything to do with the bloody tournament that people would never shut up about. That morning, five minutes after Hermione had quite literally pulled her sleeping body out of bed, she knew it would be a horrible day. When she spotted the notice of the upcoming arrival of the wizarding schools, Daisy knew it was all she would hear for the remainder of the day. And she had been right.
In a way, she was almost glad to get away from the Gryffindor tower, if only because she would no longer have to listen to the gossip and rumours about the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. Even Ron and Harry, whom she could normally get along with quite well, had not proven immune to the promise of fame and eternal glory of the tournament. Boys..
When she arrived on the third floor, she found it to be less deserted than the previous week. Coming to a halt beside the other student, a tall brunette who looked to be around her age, Daisy put her hands in the pockets of her robe. She was about to ask her for the whereabouts of Mr. Filch when a loud clashing of metal against metal resounded in the empty hallways, followed by a string of curses.
'Now you've done it Peeves! This time I'll get Dumbledore ban you for good, mark my words!'
Listening to the caretaker's retreating footsteps, Daisy wondered whatever it was the poltergeist had done this time – and, more importantly, if it meant that she was excused from her detention. Once again, however, she was stopped from voicing her thoughts. Mrs. Norris, what Daisy had learned was the cat's name, had sneaked into the hallway, keeping an eye on them.
'How much I would want to give that cat a good kick,' she murmured, unconsciously speaking her thoughts out loud.
The brunette beside her smiled timidly, but didn't say anything.
'So…' Daisy started, soon becoming uncomfortable with the silence 'I'm Daisy, by the way. Daisy McCalman.'
'I know who you are!' The brunette's eyes had brightened and, for a moment forgetting her shyness, openly stared at the Gryffindor. Then, clearly remembering herself, she blushed and looked down. 'I mean, I have heard about you. You see, my brother is in Gryffindor as well.' At Daisy's silence, she continued to explain herself. 'His name is Bryan Ackerly, he was in your Transfiguration class.'
Realization dawned on Daisy as she remembered the insecure boy with whom she had been partnered up in her first class, after professor McGonagall had explicitly asked him not to set something on fire. Again. 'I remember him. For a moment, I was afraid he'd die of excitement when I turned that match into a needle.' Chuckling at the memory, she shook her head. 'It's good to meet you..'
'Amanda,' the brunette provided, a smile on her lips. 'I'm glad I don't have to serve detention on my own. Or worse, with a Slytherin..'
It was only then that Daisy took a look at the girl's robes and noticed the black and yellow of her tie. A Hufflepuff. 'What did you do?'
'What?'
'I mean, what did you do to get in detention? I thought they said Hufflepuffs weren't trouble makers.'
Amanda turned a bright red at this and, in her haste to get the words out, stumbled over them. 'We aren't!' Looking down at the ground, Daisy could see the girl's visage turn an even brighter shade of red. 'I was on my way to Potion's class when I got lost. I swear one minute I was in the right corridor and then suddenly it changed. Snape, of course, didn't believe me and gave me detention.'
'Snape's an arse,' Daisy agreed, thinking back on all her own encounters with the Potion Master. True, he had not given her detention yet, but he had already abducted points for talking, answering and breathing too loud to his liking. All under the guise of 'disrespecting the professor'. Her favourite was of course the time when Snape had loudly complained about the new defence against the dark arts teacher and had questioned Dumbledore's sanity for hiring such a crack-brainer like professor Moody. Knowing that Snape was after the position, Daisy had innocently wondered out loud how tremendously batty the other applicants must have been, for someone like Moody to be accepted. Although Snape had not directly acknowledged her personal attack, he did deduct thirty-five points from Gryffindor for 'talking out of turn' – her record so far.
'What about you?' the Hufflepuff asked, dragging Daisy back to the present. 'What did you do to end up here?'
'I jumped Malfoy,' Daisy said, simply, as if that were the most logical thing in the world.
'You did what?' Her face was a mixture between disbelief and disgust. 'I know he's good looking and all, but I didn't think you – I mean a Gryffindor of all th…-'
'What? No, not like that, you twonk. I meant: I literally jumped him.'
Twenty minutes later found the two girls, who had been mere strangers before that night, with tummy aches from all their laughter and a new-found friendship. And coming upon that sight after half an hour of playing chase with Peeves, Mr. Filch dismissed the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor for the night, wanting nothing more than to retire for the night himself.
