Daisy woke early the next morning and made her way to the Great Hall after getting dressed. She had left Amadeus curled up on a chair in the common room. When Daisy arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast, she was not the only one there this early. Fred was sitting at the Gryffindor table. Daisy tripped when she saw him and beamed at her.
"Come on over here, Zee. You can sit with us if you're more comfortable." Daisy nodded hastily and scurried over to him, sitting close to him. "Have you gotten your timetable yet?"
"Not until after breakfast, all first years get them. I'll have to sit at the Ravenclaw table for that." Fred put a reassuring arm around his new found friend.
"I forgot about that," Fred said quietly. He squeezed Daisy to his side and resisted the urge to kiss her forehead like he would to his sister.
As students started filing in to the Great hall, Daisy moved to the Ravenclaw table and sat down. A short few minutes later, breakfast appeared in front of her. She ate slowly. She was terrified of having to go to classes without Fred there. He was the only person that tried to comfort her since she had gotten there. She could only hope that when Professor Flitwick handed out timetables that she had classes with Gryffindor students.
Professor Flitwick had finally reached Daisy after handing timetables to most of the other first years.
"Daisy Dursley?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Alright, here's your timetable. If you need any help finding your classrooms, your prefects are Jaxon Gallagher and Nicole Lovett." He then tapped a piece of parchment with his wand and handed it to Daisy. Daisy read over her timetable. Not until then did she noticed a dark-skinned boy sitting down beside her.
"Fred, don't you have class?"
"I don't have anything until Care of Magical Creatures," Fred gestured to the giant bloke with a thick, greying beard. "That's second period." Daisy nodded and Fred looked over her shoulder to read her timetable. "Herbology, first. I can show you to the greenhouses. I'll meet you after first period to show you to…" Fred again glanced at Daisy's timetable. "Defence Against the Dark Arts. That's in classroom 3C, right?" Fred read over the parchment once more and nodded to himself. "Well, shall we?" Fred offered his arm to Daisy, and she looped her arm through his.
"Thank you," Daisy grinned as they crossed the grounds. Daisy stopped outside the greenhouse, thanked Fred, and turned to go inside. She turned back to watch Fred walk away. Greenhouse One was filled with several people that were Daisy's age. Some of them had robes on like her own, and she recognized them from the common room. Others had robes with green and silver badges and ties.
A young professor, whom Daisy recognized as Professor Longbottom entered the greenhouse and everyone rushed to take a seat within the room. Daisy sat in a corner, the closest person sitting three seats away. She had almost come to enjoy this new isolation. Professor Longbottom scanned the room with a smile on his face.
"Take out your books, if I recall correctly, you should have One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi at your disposal." Daisy smiled to herself and pulled her Herbology textbook from her school bag. Harry and James had said Professor Longbottom was a nice man, so she wasn't too concerned about Herbology. Especially since she had already read One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi front to back, twice. Professor Longbottom held up a black-stemmed flower with white petals. "Turn to page one hundred sixteen. Who can identify this flower for me?"
Without opening her book, Daisy's hand shot in the air. Professor Longbottom, unable to mask the surprise on his face, turned to her. "Yes?"
"That's a Moly, sir."
"Correct. Your name?"
"Daisy Dursley, sir."
"Yes, Daisy, and do you know what Moly is used for?"
"Yes, sir. It's a very common potion ingredient, or it can be eaten to counteract Dark Enchantments."
"Very good, ten points to Ravenclaw."
Daisy's face turned a light shade of pink and she started reading her book, furiously to avoid the stares of the others in her class.
By the time Herbology was over, Daisy could see Fred peeking in the greenhouse door, waiting for her. Unfortunately enough, Professor Longbottom saw him too. He opened the door to find Fred leaning against the door, causing him to fall and hit his head.
"Mr. Weasley? Lovely for you to drop in. Can I help you?" Professor Longbottom asked as the laughter around the room fell silent.
"Oh! Er–Hi Professor Longbottom. I was just waiting on my friend. She doesn't know how to get to classroom 3C for D.A.D.A."
"Oh? And which friend is this?"
"Oh, er. Right over there." Fred's finger led Professor Longbottom's eyes to Daisy, who again turned a light shade of pink and made to put her book in her bag, knowing they both would probably get detention for the disruption.
"Very well, Mr. Weasley. I ask you to not show up disrupting my class again. No detention, but I'm going to write your father."
"Professor–please." Daisy thought she heard Fred's voice crack as she made her way to the pair, but decided she imagined it.
"No need to worry, Fred. I will make sure to include the situation. I'm sure your dad won't be too hard on you for helping your friend. Such a smart friend you have here too." Daisy, whose face had not yet cooled, felt her ears begin to grow warm.
Fred nodded and hung his head. The bell rang from the castle, so Fred, again offered Daisy his arm and escorted her to classroom 3C. "After this class, there will be lunch in the Great Hall. If you make it there a bit early, I'll save you a seat beside James and me. Then you have..."
"History of Magic."
"Right, you can make it to the Great Hall from here, right?" Daisy nodded. Fred let her go and walked the opposite way back towards the grounds as she made her way into classroom 3C. The professor was standing at the front of the classroom as students came filing in. Daisy took a seat in the front, a Hufflepuff girl sat next to her.
"Hello class. I'm Professor Smith." Professor Smith was tall and skinny with blond hair that threatened to fall into his eyes every time he moved his head. He had a somewhat bitter aura to him. Daisy couldn't tell why, but he seemed fairly upset about something. "Get out your textbooks, we will be reading today." Daisy had not read The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. She had overheard Harry discussing his work as an Auror and avoided the book like the plague. She feared the nasty things and people Harry talked about constantly. She knew he had always had the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead, but the one that now went through his eyebrow and over the bridge of his nose, had not been there when she was born. She knew because she had seen a picture of him with Albus at the hospital where his face was completely unscarred, for his hair was covering the identifiable mark above his eye.
Daisy reluctantly set the textbook on the table in front of her and opened to page fifty-seven as instructed. "Curse of the Bogies," said Professor Smith from behind his desk. "Who can tell me what this curse does?" He looked around the room silently for a few moments as students' eyes frantically darted across the page. "Ah, yes. In the back." A small Hufflepuff girl smiled and stated sweetly that the Curse of Bogies gave the target a cold that could make them collapse if not treated, as well as an extremely runny nose. "Twenty points to Hufflepuff." Professor Smith spent the rest of the class describing the Curse of Bogies and the counter-curse. Daisy hadn't been exactly bored with the class, the D.A.D.A just wasn't her cup of tea.
The bell rang and Daisy gathered her things into her school bag. So far, Daisy had no homework; she was proud of the fact, because Professor Longbottom gave her no homework for answering the questions about Moly, while the rest of the class had to write a foot and a half essay due Monday.
Daisy made her way to the great Hall as quickly as she could. She kept her head down and dodged in and out of crowds quickly. She was one of the first people to show up. Fred, James, and the rest of the Weasleys and Potters sat at the Gryffindor table. They all watched Daisy carefully as she walked up to them. Fred made room for her on the bench and she sat beside him.
"I'm sorry," whispered Daisy to the rest of the Potter-Weasley gang.
"Are you kidding me?" shouted Rose. "I wish I was smart enough to get into Ravenclaw. I was only put into Gryffindor because of my family. Otherwise, I would have been thrown into Hufflepuff."
"Really? You all aren't mad at me?"
"For not getting into Gryffindor and getting into the genius house? No!" Albus answered quickly.
"I told you," whispered Fred, whom James watched curiously from the other side of the table. "Ouch! What was that for?" Fred glared across the table at James.
"I don't know what you mean."
Daisy didn't eat much for lunch, but she had enjoyed the meal much more than any of the others she had eaten at the Ravenclaw table. If she could convince Fred to save a seat for her for every meal, she could sit with them every day. "Fred, will you take me to History of Magic? I don't know where it is."
The older boy looked down at Daisy and smiled. "Of course, Zee. Give me a moment. You can wait for me in the Entrance Hall." Students had already started to leave as class would be starting in ten minutes or so. Daisy made her way to the entrance to the Great Hall. She leaned against the door frame and saw Fred and James in the middle of what looked like a heated conversation. The rest of the Potter-Weasley gang turned their heads and stared at Daisy. Rose kept looking back and forth. When Fred finally made his way towards her, his face was bright red, but he forced a smile on his face.
"What happened? What were you and James talking about?"
"Quidditch," Fred replied shortly.
"Oh." Daisy decided not to push anymore and wrapped her arm around Fred's, which was now offered to her again. His face had cooled from what she could see and when they reached Classroom 4F. Daisy turned to Fred and put a hand on top of his. "Thank you," she whispered.
"I told you. Any time."
"No, for letting me sit with you all, for walking me to classes, for helping me. Thank you."
Fred felt his neck flush and smiled. "My pleasure, ma'am." He leaned down close to Daisy's face. "Professor Binns is a ghost. Prepare yourself." With that, he turned and disappeared in the crowd. Daisy took a deep breath before walking into the open classroom. A couple of Gryffindor students had found their way to the classroom before her. She sat in the front, for she had already read A History of Magic a number of times over the last year. When the bell that signaled lunch was officially over, a transparent man that looked very old, came strolling through the wall.
"Hello, I'm Professor Binns," said the man in a monotonous voice. "Welcome to History of Magic. Open your books to page three hundred fifteen. We're going to start with Elfric the Eager." Professor Binns droned on about Elfric the Eager and Uric the Oddball (or was it Uric the Evil?) for the next hour as Daisy dozed in and out of consciousness. She had thought this would be her favorite class, yet she could barely stay awake.
"I expect a twelve-inch essay on Elfric the Eager or Uric the Oddball by Tuesday." The bell rang and Daisy hurriedly got her things together and left the classroom in a jog. Fred had not been waiting for her this time, but she knew her way back to the common room from Classroom 4F. She found her way to the common room, answered the riddle of the day, and sought out a seat next to a window with an excellent view of the lake. Daisy got to work on her essay for History of Magic and surprisingly, got it done before dinner.
About an hour before dinner, a girl in Daisy's year walked into the common room. "Daisy Dursley?" she called.
Daisy looked up from her Herbology textbook, which she was re-reading. "That's me," she replied softly.
"There's a Gryffindor boy, waiting outside for you." Daisy, thinking about Fred, happily put her books aside and rushed out of the door. She was met with a boy, slightly taller than her with discernable black, messy hair.
"James?"
"Expecting someone else?" James replied with a frown.
"No, I just... She said Gryffindor boy, I assumed it would be Fred."
"Yes, you and Fred have been spending a lot of time together, haven't you?" James said, and Daisy thought she sensed a bit of coldness to his voice.
"He's walked me to most of my classes today, if that's what you mean. I couldn't find them, so he helped me."
"Oh." James went quiet for a bit and then turned to Daisy as they walked through the corridor. "Do you like Fred?"
"Well, of course! He's done nothing but help me since I got here."
"Yeah, but─" James was cut off as his little brother appeared beside them.
"Hey guys, are you heading down to dinner?" Albus didn't wait for an answer. "I'll walk with you." Daisy smiled and walked between her cousins to the Great Hall. She walked with them to the Gryffindor table, where the rest of the Potter-Weasley gang was sitting. Daisy took her seat beside Fred and smiled at him. He nodded towards her, but then initiated a long, intense staring contest between the two. The group of cousins got awkwardly quiet as everyone watched James and Fred. Daisy cocked her head and turned to Rose. Rose just shrugged, but never took her eyes off of her cousins.
After dinner, Fred was the one to accompany Daisy back to the Ravenclaw tower. Daisy said her good nights and walked into the common room, where she gathered her textbooks into her school bag and made her way to the girls' dormitory. She was very aware of her dorm mates already sleeping, so she climbed into bed quietly and continued to read her Herbology textbook until the moonlight no longer shone through the window.
Only then, did she draw the drapes closed around her bed and lay her head on her pillow to welcome sleep.
