Daisy got to the locker room early that Monday. Partly because she wanted to get extra laps in. Partly because she wanted to avoid Kingfisher after her dad and brothers embarrassed her. On that note, she was a bit nervous about seeing Coach Nilsson as well after her father nearly punched him. She sighed heavily as she set about to getting her practice uniform on. Why couldn't she have normal relatives?

Just as she was fastening her last shin guard on, she heard muffled voices from the hall. Kelly and Kingfisher made their way into the locker room and took in Daisy.

"A bit eager to get to work today, eh, rookie?" Kelly asked with a grin. Daisy glanced over at him and smiled slightly.

"Just want to get some extra laps in, is all," she said. She could feel Kingfisher studying her and her face started to turn pink.

"Patch things up with your brothers?" he asked as he made his way to his locker. Daisy's face turned stormy.

"Don't remind me," she said.

"Something happen after you lot left the picnic?" Kelly asked. Daisy stood and turned around, just in time to catch Kingfisher shirtless. Thankfully he had turned and reached for something in his locker.

"Nothing serious," she said, her eyes going wide as she immediately looked away. "I'm going to head out," she stuttered as she grabbed her broom and dashed out of the locker room. Kelly looked at Kingfisher, confused.

"Something going on?" he asked. Kingfisher shrugged and went back to getting ready, genuinely not completely sure what had gotten into the rookie.

"Beats me."

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Daisy said to herself as she walked out onto the pitch. Without thinking, she smoothly started jogging and then deftly leapt onto her broom and flew up into the air. She went through a few different easy maneuvers - flick rolls, flying upside down and a barrel roll or two - just to clear her head. Didn't matter if all she had was a small crush on the beater; he'd find her pathetic after that bumbling display.

"WOOD!" she heard someone shout as she was making a turn to do a third lap around the pitch. She looked over and noticed Coach Nilsson standing in front of the home team hoops. Daisy pulled the broom around and flew down to him, smoothly landing.

"Coach, about this weekend-" Nilsson put his hand up to stop her.

"No need for you to apologize. And your father already did," he said, his face betraying nothing. Daisy nodded. "Let's just forget about it and move onto more important things. Like working on more maneuvers. For the next few weeks, I'm going to have you training on your own. You'll do strength training in the morning and spend the afternoon session in the air."

"Yes, coach," she said.

"Go hit the weight room. I've brought in a trainer to work with you. I'll check in during the mid-morning break," he said. Daisy nodded and turned, walking back towards the locker room to remove her gear. Thankfully, she passed the rest of the team as they were on their way out to the field. She would have the locker room to herself.

"Where are you going, rookie?" Campbell asked jovially.

"Weight room. Coach has me starting specialized training today," she said.

"Good! We need you pulling out more moves like that one you did this weekend!" he replied. Daisy smiled and nodded, continuing towards the locker room to change.

"Give me another 50," the trainer shouted at Daisy. She gritted her teeth and set to doing another set of sit-ups. They were almost to the end of the morning session and Daisy was more than ready to get back up in the air. The trainer Nilsson brought in was brutal and unforgiving, pushing the rookie to the extreme. But at the same time, she knew she needed it if she was going to pull bigger stunts when the season started up. They were about two months away at this point.

Focusing on strength training had also helped her clear out her thoughts as well. It was silly of her to be embarrassed about what happened this weekend. She was a grown woman, for crying out loud. And her dad had a point, she had to admit. Starting anything with a teammate was surely to be messy. She knew that all too well from experience. Besides, she didn't even know if John was even attracted to her. They got on and there had been some mild flirting, but honestly it wasn't too much different from Toby.

So in Daisy's mind, it was settled. She would focus on training and preparing for the new season. No men. At least, no men from her team.

"Alright, that's it!" the trainer said. Daisy collapsed on the mat, breathing heavily and covered in sweat. "You've got an hour for lunch, then Coach wants you in the air." Daisy nodded her understanding, unable to speak for the time being. The trainer walked out, leaving her there.

"Need a hand?" someone asked. Daisy glanced up, noticing Kingfisher entering the weight room. She smiled in gratitude and nodded. He walked over and held his hand out, helping her up. Her legs felt like jelly and she wasn't sure how Coach intended for her to stay on her broom after the intense workout this morning. "Not sure why Coach thinks you need more muscle," Kingfisher said.

"Well, my upper body could use some work. I may not always have momentum to swing myself back up on the broom," she said, walking over to a towel on a bench. She grabbed it and wiped as much of the sweat off that she could before pulling on an old Gryffindor t-shirt over her sports bra. She looked over at Kingfisher. "Lunch?" He nodded and the two walked out of the weight room.

"Any idea what he's going to have you doing this afternoon?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Tricks, stunts and maneuvers, I suppose," she said. "I need to work on flips more, to be honest. I was never able to get the timing down perfectly." Kingfisher's eyes widened.

"You want to willingly leave your broom and do flips in the air? Hundreds of feet up?" he asked. Daisy nodded, her face scrunched in concentration.

"It does seem to be a seeker's bread and butter… I just never got the chance to really work on them thanks to Dad… and the timing is difficult," she said. Kingfisher gawked at her as they walked into the team cantina.

"Now I think I understand your dad a bit better," he said. "He's not crazy protective… you're just crazy fearless." Daisy glanced up at him.

"Just wait and see," she said, with a grin.

Later that afternoon, she was back on the pitch with her broom, though sans her pads and full practice uniform. Nilsson thought it best to start on the ground without the heavy gear. At least for now.

"Flips?" Nilsson asked, staring at her. Daisy, once again, tried unsuccessfully to read him and got nowhere. "Can you even do flips on the ground?" She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead put her broom on the ground and calmly walked up a few feet. She took a deep breath and executed a series of back flips, ending it with a tuck. She smirked after she straightened up.

"Okay, well at least we don't have to learn the basics for that," he said. "I suppose the best way would be to start from a standing position… Can you balance on the broom?" Daisy walked over and picked up her broom. She held it out while Nilsson waved his wand, suspending it about two feet off the ground. Daisy swung her leg up and then slowly raised herself to a standing position, balancing her right foot in front of the left with her arms out. She edged up a bit, knowing she would need to give herself enough room to land behind her. The broom tipped forward slightly, becoming top heavy and Daisy was bent over a bit, trying to keep her balance.

"If I'm moving, the speed should keep it from tipping forward too much," Daisy said, staring down at the broom and straightening up. She looked over at her coach, who was studying the broomstick and then her.

"Wait… no. If you're doing a backflip, you won't be able to land on the broom. You'll grab it with your hand and then swing back up," he said. "It'll be moving forward while you're flipping back. Too difficult to land on it, I think. But, it would look spectacular still." Daisy looked down at the broom and then up at the sky, imagining it in her head. She then looked down at the coach and grinned.

"Let's do this," she said. She hopped off the broom and grabbed it, moving aside while Nilsson conjured up a bunch of mats about two feet thick for Daisy to land on. Daisy then hopped on her broom and shot up about 10 feet in the air. She hovered a bit and looked down. Nilsson nodded. She then pushed forward, not going too fast. Cautiously, she got into a standing position with her arms straight out. She looked down at the broom and scooted forward a bit, making sure she was in a good position. She then took a deep breath and pushed off. She arched her back and flipped over, immediately looking for her broom. She reached out for the handle, barely grabbing the tail of it. Her fingers slid through it and she continued falling, landing on her back on the mats. Grimacing, she pushed herself up and rolled off, whistling to get her broom back over.

"Try going faster," Nilsson suggested. "And a little bit further up on the broom." Daisy looked at him and nodded before hopping back on her broom. She flew back up about 10 feet and started another pass. This time she got up into a standing position much faster and inched forward towards the front. When she had deemed herself in a good position, she took a deep breath and pushed off, launching herself into the flip. She looked down and saw the broom still mostly under her and kept it in sight until she was nearly under it, only then reaching out and grabbing it with her left hand. This time she held on tight, dangling from underneath it as it continued forward.

"Good! Now try to swing back up!" Nilsson yelled. Daisy looked up, she swung her legs to the right and using the momentum, she pulled the broom down while swinging up and managed to get back in a sitting position. It was bumpy, but she did it. Daisy looked down at the Coach, grinning. He was smiling.

"Again!" he shouted. Daisy nodded, deciding to increase the speed this time. After she had managed to do several in a row without hitting the mats, Nilsson magiked them away and looked up at Daisy.

"Ready to try in on the pitch?" he asked. She nodded and took off, flying in a circle around the home side of the pitch about 50 feet up. The others were at the other end practicing plays, though they kept looking down at what the young seeker was doing. Nilsson stood in the center, watching with his wand out in case he needed to break her fall. Daisy did a few more circles before pushing herself up. She barely paused before launching herself into a backflip. Much more smoothly this time, she caught the broom handle and in one motion, swung back up onto the broom. She cheered as she looked down at the coach who was grinning. She then turned around and set to doing it again, though this time in her haste, the handle slipped out of her grip and she looked up, watching it move farther from her. She heard the coach shout something and just when she expected to hit the ground, she stopped and was suspended about two feet off the pitch.

"Are you okay?" he asked frantically. Daisy looked up at him and grinned.

"I'm fine, but I think I had too much speed on that one," she said. Nilsson waved his wand and she unceremoniously landed on her butt. Pushing up she looked for her broom. "I think I can get it again this time."

And here is the latest! Thanks for following the story and I hope you enjoy it!

twilightlover427: Haha! I'm warming up to Kingfisher & Daisy more and more as the story progresses.