Daisy groaned slightly as she attempted to open her eyes. Her head was pounding and the light pouring in through her curtains wasn't helping. She felt down her front, noticing she was still in her dress from the ball. No wonder she felt uncomfortable. It was a bit constricting.

"Bloody triplets," she muttered as a vague recollection of all the shots they had fed her at the flat afterwards flickered through her head. It was suddenly then that she realized there was someone else in bed with her. Daisy's eyes flew open as she felt another body shift behind her. She chuckled softly to herself, thinking Molly must have gotten too drunk to floo or apparate home and stayed over. Lucy and Kelly had left relatively early for one of the family's gatherings at the flat. There was a quiet groan as the person started to come to, moving slightly.

"What the-" he said softly and Daisy's eyebrows shot up, recognizing Toby's voice. While it wasn't the first time the two shared a sleeping space - they had grown up together after all - she was a bit surprised to find him there. Daisy pushed herself up and looked over at him. He had lost his jacket and tie, lying there in his wrinkled dress shirt with the first few buttons undone, his shirt untucked and his shoes missing. Daisy had to admit he looked cute with his dark blonde hair tousled in different directions. He looked up at her, his bleary blue eyes questioning exactly how he had ended up in her bed.

"How you feeling, Sleeping Beauty?" she asked, hoping to lighten the mood. She also mentally slapped herself for thinking Toby was attractive in the morning. This was her best friend, after all.

"Like the Hogwarts Express smashed into me head," he said, covering his eyes. Daisy pushed out of bed and stumbled towards the bathroom. She stopped on the way and pulled some clothes out of her dresser before going in and shutting the door. She quickly got out of her dress and hung in on the hanger that she had left on the back of her door, then pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeve Arrows t-shirt. She glanced at herself in the mirror and frowned at her smeared makeup and the bird's nest her hair had become. It would take forever to get it untangled. Turning she grabbed a bottle of her mother's hangover tonic from the medicine cabinet and walked back into the bedroom. Toby was still in the same position she had left him in. Daisy sighed and took a quick drink of the tonic, relishing the quick relief it brought.

She then walked over and tapped Toby's arm. He uncovered his face and squinted up at her.

"This'll help," she said, holding the bottle out to him. He took it, pushing himself up. He took a sip and handed it back to Daisy, who put the stopper back in and set it on her nightstand.

"That is better," he said with a sigh. Daisy smiled and turned towards the door, smelling breakfast cooking.

"I can't believe one of the triplets is up cooking after last night," she said. "Better go get it before the other two eat it all." Toby smiled and got out of bed, following Daisy down the corridor to the living room. Daisy snorted slightly when she saw John still sleeping on the couch in his tux. His tie was draped over the back of the couch and the first few buttons of his dress shirt were undone. Molly must have left sometime during the night before the triplets got her too drunk. Like Toby, John had probably gotten too drunk to make it home safely. The triplets had a knack for that.

"My, don't you make a lovely couple in the morning," Alan said. Daisy turned, seeing her brother seated at the island, a steaming mug of coffee in front of him, his curls still damp from the shower. He was grinning smugly at the two. Remus looked over at them from the stove where he was cooking eggs and bacon, a gingham apron tied on him. Laura was busy putting out toast, fruit and other various food on the table, dressed in one of Remus' Wanderers t-shirts and a pair of his sweat pants that she had to have cinched up by magic to make them stay. Daisy blinked slightly and moved towards the coffee pot.

"Was not expecting you two to be the ones up this early cooking after last night," she muttered.

"Oh, Daisy… would you mind terribly if I borrowed a pair of shorts or sweatpants? I'm not sure how long these'll stay up," Laura asked, looking over from the table.

"Not at all. Help yourself to my dresser," she replied. She had always like Laura out of all of Remus' girlfriends and was happy to see the two back together. She made a mental note to get the story out of him later. Laura quickly ran to her room.

"Sleep well?" Alan asked, taking a sip from his mug as Daisy poured coffee into a mug and dumped a few spoonfuls of sugar.

"Decent, I suppose," she said, stirring. "Don't remember much… Say, where's your date?"

"Clarissa? Still sleeping, I believe," Alan said. "Now, are you telling me that Toby here was a perfect gentleman last night?" Daisy stared at him a moment, then rolled her eyes. She knew they would take the mickey out of her as soon as she found Toby in bed with her.

"Now you've gone barmy. He's my best mate. And I've no clue how he ended up there," she said.

"You whined that you couldn't walk and so Toby attempted to carry you to bed," John groaned as he sat up from the coach, rubbing his eyes. Daisy's eyes widened as she and Toby looked at each other, their cheeks turning pink. "But you were both so drunk, you ended up falling down a few times. It was kind of funny, actually."

"And that was after Toby kissed you," Remus said glancing at Daisy again from the stove. Both whipped their heads around.

"What?!" Daisy shouted.

"Oh god… did I? Tell me I didn't say anything… Oh Merlin," Toby said, dropping his head into his hands. Daisy looked over at him.

"What would you have said that's so bad?" she asked.

"You don't remember anything?" Alan asked, looking at his younger sister in confusion. She turned her green eyes to him.

"No. The last thing I remember is doing shots with you lot," she said. Alan and Remus shared a look, obviously coming to some silent decision.

"Don't worry, Toby. You didn't say much of anything - at least from what we could understand. Mostly a bunch of gibberish," Alan said. Toby looked over at him, relief filling his face. "And as for the snogging - we were just teasing. But the falling down… that was entertaining. I've never seen you that drunk before, Pix." He chuckled as Remus glanced over his shoulder and met Laura's eyes as she stepped around the corner. Both Toby and Daisy missed her nod of understanding before she started walking towards the table.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about? He declared his undying love. I'd say that's a far cry from 'much of anything,'" Alan's date said as she walked into the kitchen still in her dress from last night. "Oh, coffee! Lovely!" She walked over to the pot, oblivious to Remus and Alan's glares and the looks of complete and utter shock on Toby and Daisy's faces. Clarissa poured a cup and took a sip, still not realizing the silence filling the kitchen.

Daisy stared down at her coffee mug, unable to move or say anything as her hair turned a violent purple. She didn't have to look, but was fairly certain that Toby's face was a bright red.

"What's gotten into you lot?" Clarissa said, looking around.

"They didn't remember about last night," Alan said quietly, trying to keep his voice in check. Clarissa looked at Daisy and Toby.

"Well, that's nothing to be ashamed of," she said with a grin and a wink. Toby looked at her in shock, his mouth moving slowly though no words came out. Daisy suddenly came to life, pushing passed Remus and Clarissa, then barrelling around the corner to her room, nearly taking down Jamie in the process. Toby dropped his head back down on the counter.

"Daisy, what's wrong?" he said, trying to catch her. But instead of answering she fled into her room, slamming the door shut behind her. He walked into the living room and looked over into the kitchen. Toby's head was buried in his arms on the counter, while Remus was shooting glares over his shoulder at Clarissa. Alan's mouth was pursed shut, as though he was trying to keep in a torrent of curse words. Laura had a look of sympathy in her grey eyes, going from looking at Toby to the general direction of Daisy's room, wondering if she should go after her.

Jamie then looked over at John, who was resting his head on the back of the couch, watching the silent group. His mouth twitched as though he couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or be concerned. But at the same time, there was something in his eyes that said he wasn't completely unhappy with Daisy's reaction. Though, instead of looking into his mind, he peeked into Alan's head, and then rolled his eyes.

"Ehm… Clarissa, maybe we should get you home," Jamie said, stepping over to her. He feared that Alan wouldn't be able to keep his temper under control much longer.

"But… what's gotten into everyone?" she asked as Jamie took her arm and started leading her towards the door. He grabbed her cloak from a coat stand near the hall and tossed it on her shoulders.

"Well, no one was supposed to tell them about last night," he said. Her eyes went wide.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, why didn't anyone say something before I opened my big mouth?" she exclaimed.

"Nothing to be done about it now. Get home safely!" he said as he pushed her out the door, then walked back into the kitchen. "Alright, who's gonna talk to her this time?"

There was a resounding silence in the room.

"I think it should be me, but… would someone mind filling me in on exactly what happened last night?" Toby finally said, looking up. Alan took a deep breath.

"Well… it all started when we pulled out the absinthe…"


Daisy giggled as she plopped down on the sofa, falling into Toby while holding onto two glasses of some sort of green liquid.

"One of those for me?" he asked, a goofy grin on his face. He wrapped an arm around her while grabbing the glass with his other hand. Daisy leaned back into his chest, propping her feet up on the table.

"Of course. I don't know why the triplets never brought this out before. I've had like… two or three and I feel just fine," she said, giggling again. They clinked their glasses and drank the shots. Daisy sat up a moment, taking his empty glass and setting it on the table with hers. She then returned to leaning against him, pulling his arm around her. She sighed contently, looking up over her shoulder at him.

"Maybe they were saving it for a special occasion," Toby finally said, slurring his words a bit. Daisy giggled.

"So this is a special occasion?" she asked, trying to contain another round of giggles.

"It is New Years," he said.

"What the bloody hell are you two blathering about?" Remus asked as he plopped down on the sofa next to Daisy, pushing her over to make room. Daisy looked over at her brother.

"We're trying to figure out what's the special occasion. You brought out the big guns and we want to know what we're celebrating," she said, giggling. Toby started laughing as well. Remus leaned back as if in thought.

"Surviving another year in the quidditch league?" he suggested. Daisy laughed.

"No, silly! That's not good enough!" she said, cackling.

"Pix seems to be in a good mood," Jamie said, sitting down in the arm chair, a glass of something in his hand.

"It's because of that stuff you gave me," she said giggling. She snuggled up to Toby.

"Someone's getting cozy," Remus said, eyebrows raised.

"Ah, so you've told her!" Jamie said, sitting up and grinning. Toby's eyes went wide in shock.

"I, ah-"

"Told me what?" Daisy asked, looking up at Toby. She gasped as she sat up, her eyes bright with mischief. "You have a secret! Oh, tell me, tell me, tell me! We don't keep secrets!" Jamie and Remus laughed at their sister's antics.

"I love it when she gets this drunk. Hilarious," Remus said. Jamie looked at his brother.

"It's your turn to carry her to bed when she passes out this time," Jamie said, taking a sip.

"Nah, we can make Toby carry her," Remus said.

"Toby! Tell me!" she whined.

"What's the rookie whining about?" John said, falling into the other armchair. Daisy looked at him.

"Toby has a secret and he won't tell me," she said, her bottom lip sticking out. She turned and started pounding on Toby's chest. He started laughing.

"Stop!" he said. "Stop, stop, I'll tell you!" Daisy sat back on the couch, crossing her arms, a look of triumph on her face.

"Go on," she said, motioning for him to speak. Toby pushed off the sofa and turned to face the group, weaving slightly. He looked around.

"I need a drink," he said. John laughed and held out his glass of whisky to Toby. "Thank you, good sir." He turned and looked at Daisy, who had an eyebrow raised. He took a giant gulp and then a deep breath, as though he were steeling himself. Clarissa and Alan were standing near the island, watching the young man's theatrics in amusement. Laura walked over and sat on the arm of the sofa next to Remus, smiling. Toby took another deep breath and grinned.

"My secret is… I, Tobias Alexander Davies-"

"Wait, your real name is Tobias?" Remus asked. Daisy smacked him as Jamie and the others hushed him.

"Let him finish!" she shouted. She turned back around, grinning at Toby. "Continue." Toby smiled and chuckled.

"I, Tobias Alexander Davies… am hopelessly in love with Daisy Nymphadora Wood!" he declared loudly, holding his glass up. Daisy's eyebrows flew up as the triplets started laughing and cheering. John sat back in his chair, stunned and glancing over at Daisy, wondering what she was going to say. He appeared to be the only one outside of Daisy who did not see this declaration coming. Remus wiped the tears from his eyes while Jamie held onto his sides. Alan and his date were laughing loudly behind them, while Laura just smiled silently.

"Me?" she said, pointing at herself. Toby grinned and nodded enthusiastically.

"For years… but I never had the courage to say anything. Until today," he said. Daisy started giggling.

"Aw, I love you too, Toby," she crooned. Toby laughed.

"I mean, I'm in love with you," he said. He dropped down in front of Daisy, looking up into her face. "I love everything about you. Your... your face and your eyes and your voice and the way you play quidditch and, and… everything. The fact that your hair turns purple when you get embarrassed. Or how your eyes go red when you're angry. Everything." Daisy stared at him, blinking. He grinned lopsidedly and then gently kissed her. Daisy sniffled after his lips had left hers.

"That's… that's so beautiful," she said, taking his hands. "It's the most beautifulist thing anyone's ever said to me." Her eyes started tearing up as she quickly went from giggling to crying. Big fat tears fell down her cheeks

"Why are you crying? You shouldn't be crying," Toby said, confused. Daisy tossed herself into the sofa cushion, her sobs getting louder. He looked around. "Why is she crying?"

"Because it's so beautiful!" she wailed into the pillow. Toby looked at her then back to her brothers, confused.

"Did I break her?" he asked, nearly falling over, worry etched into his face. Both Remus and Jamie were laughing again, John joining in this time, chuckling softly. Toby sat next to Daisy and patted her on the back. "It's okay, Daisy."

"Right… I forget she does that sometimes. Goes straight from happy to bawling her eyes out," Remus said. "Best to let her cry it out." Daisy sat up abruptly, her mascara slightly smeared under her eyes.

"I'm tired. I want to go to bed," she said suddenly. She then tried to stand and nearly fell over. "I can't walk… someone carry me!" she wailed as a fresh round of tears poured down her cheeks. Toby chuckled as he stood and pulled Daisy up to her feet. The two of them stumbled down the corridor to her room. He helped her into bed and turned to walk away before Daisy grabbed his shirt.

"You can stay," she said, her eyes closed. Toby's eyes widened as he looked down at her tiny hand holding on to him. "Issokay." He gulped and nodded, though Daisy was already half asleep, her hand falling to her side from his shirt. He walked around to the other side of the bed and crawled in next to her as she rolled over and snuggled up to him. After a few moments, she started snoring softly. Toby chuckled softly, but found himself unable to keep his eyes open.

Neither of them heard Jamie walk up and grab the door handle, checking on the two. He laughed softly as he pulled the door shut.


Toby took a deep breath, still staring at his hands on top of the counter.

"So that's how it went down…," he said.

"So… not too embarrassing, I should think," Jamie said. Toby looked up at him a bit flabbergasted.

"She cried," he said simply. "I told her I loved her and she cried. And not the usual sort that you hear about in the cinema and whatnot. She wailed." Jamie shrugged.

"Sometimes she cries when she gets really drunk," he said, looking away. Toby took a deep breath.

"I suppose I'll go talk to her now," he said. He walked over and down the corridor, stopping in front of her room. He knocked on the door. "Daisy? It's Toby. Can we talk?" He waited a moment and finally heard a muffled "Yes."

He pushed the door open and found Daisy sitting on the edge of her bed facing the windows. He walked around and sat next to her. She was holding a pillow to her chest, her chin resting on it and a frown on her face. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"So… you're in love with me," she said. Toby nodded. "For how long?" Toby looked at his feet.

"Awhile… few years at least," he said. Daisy nodded. Toby laughed softly. "This isn't really how I intended on telling you," he said, glancing at her.

"How did you, exactly? Tell me, that is..." she asked. Toby chuckled.

"Apparently I stood up and declared that I, Tobias Alexander Davies, am in love with Daisy Nymphadora Wood," he said. He saw a hint of a smile. She looked over at him.

"Sounds like a grand declaration of love," she said, smirking slightly. "Shame I can't remember."

"According to the triplets, it was," he said. "Then you started crying and we proceeded to fall down the hallway until we made it to your bedroom. From there, I do have a vague recollection of you collapsing on the bed and starting to snore." Daisy scoffed.

"I do not snore," she said, her head popping up.

"You do when you're drunk apparently," he said. Daisy smiled and him, looking back down at her feet, laughing softly. "I'm not sure how I had intended on telling you… if I ever actually did, but that was not it..." Toby said. The two sat in silence a few moments. Daisy sighed.

"Toby, I…," she said, frowning slightly. She wasn't sure what to say exactly. It was a heartfelt confession, but she had never really thought of Toby in that way. He had been her best friend for so long, she thought of him as just another one of her brothers, in a way. She heard Toby sigh heavily.

"This is why I never said anything before," he said. Daisy looked over at him. "I've mucked it up."

"No," she said. Toby looked up at her, meeting her eyes. "You didn't muck up anything. You… you shouldn't feel bad about what you feel." He nodded.

"But… you don't feel the same, do you?" he asked, a hint of hope present in his voice. Daisy took a deep breath and forced herself to maintain eye contact.

"I don't," she said, her brow knit in worry as her eyes started tearing up. "And I'm so sorry about that. I wish I did, truly..." Toby laughed and shook his head.

"And now I feel bad about makin' you cry... again apparently," he said. Daisy dropped the pillow, leaning over to wrap her arms around him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Please don't feel bad… I do love you, Toby. But… just not like that," she said, sniffing. "And… I don't want to lose you as my best friend." Toby looked down at her and wrapped his arms around her, running his hand up and down her arm. He smiled slightly.

"I'll always be your best friend, Daisy. Nothin'll change that," he said huskily.

"It's so selfish of me," she said, the tears starting to fall down her cheeks. Toby laughed softly and looked down at his best friend.

"I won't lie. It's not going to be easy for me for a bit… but… I think we'll get through this," he said. Daisy sat up and looked at him, her eyeliner and mascara smudged even more around her eyes.

"Toby, you are the most wonderful person. And I know that someday you're going to meet the most amazing woman who is going to make you so much happier than I ever could," she said seriously. Toby laughed and hugged his best friend, kissing her head.

"Thanks, Daisy," he said. He sat back and looked at her. "To be honest, I'm pretty sure I've known all along that you didn't feel the same… which is why I never wanted to say anything. But… I think this is a good thing… Getting this out in the open." Daisy looked at him, confused.

"How so?"

"At least now I can move on now," he said thoughtfully. Daisy nodded slowly.

"Yea, I suppose so," she said, smiling at him. They sat in silence a few moments.

"As I recall, your brothers were in the middle of making breakfast," he said. "Hungry?" Daisy nodded.

"Let's go."


Later that day, after everyone who didn't live there had left and Daisy finally got a chance to shower and make herself decent, she was sitting on the sofa, browsing for new music when Remus and Alan flopped down on either side of her. Daisy looked up just as Jamie sat in the arm chair, looking concerned.

"We, ah, would like to apologize for our part in last night's fiasco," Jamie said, his brow furrowed. Daisy looked at him, then at Alan and Remus. "I knew how Toby felt. He mentioned he was thinking about trying to tell you last night. I tried to stay out of it, but may have unintentionally encouraged him."

"We didn't realize that getting you both that drunk would… exacerbate the situation," Remus said.

"But it was funny," Alan added. Remus and Jamie glared at him. "What? It was! You started wailing like a banshee!" Daisy chuckled softly.

"I appreciate it. And, I think we'll work things out," she said. "But I never want absinthe again."

"Are you sure? You were pretty hilarious...," Alan said. Daisy shot him a look and he held his hands. "Fine! No more."

"Good, I really don't need anymore situations like last night. No more drunken confessions for me," Daisy said, looking back down at her laptop.

"I wouldn't mind slipping some to Coach Nilsson," Remus said with a short laugh. Jamie and Alan looked at him, their eyes wide. Remus froze, realizing his slip. Daisy looked up and chuckled.

"Why would you want to do that? 'Cause you think he's got a stick up his arse?" she said.

"Yes, that's it. Exactly," Jamie said. Daisy snorted.

"Probably could be pretty funny. He's always so calm and stoic," she said, turning back to the laptop.

"Except whenever he's upset about you," Remus said. He then grimaced, realizing his second slip. Jamie glared at him again while Alan slapped his forehead and fell back into the couch.

"Don't see what that has to do with anything. He's a dedicated coach," Daisy said, still not looking up from the screen. Remus snorted.

"Right, that's it," he said. Daisy looked up at her brother.

"What is it with you and the snarky comments about Coach today?" she said, a slight smile on her face. Alan huffed as Jamie stood up and smacked Remus in the back of the head.

"Good going, ya oaf," he said before sitting down again. Daisy looked around at her brothers, seriously confused.

"What?" she asked. They were all silent. "Okay, no. You've already started, so you might as well come out with it. What is it you've got to say about Coach?" Jamie sighed.

"For the record, I did not want to say anything about this to you and had every intention of staying out of it," he started. Daisy looked at him and motioned with her hand for him to get on with it. "We think that Coach Nilsson may have feelings for you, too." Daisy immediately started laughing hysterically.

"You taking the mickey out of me? Merlin, you must be," she said, looking at her brothers. When they still had relatively serious looks, she slowly stopped laughing until she was silent. "No. No. There's no way. What on earth makes you think that?" Remus cleared his throat and glanced over at Jamie.

"We've noticed that he… tends to show a bit more attention to you than the other players," he said.

"So? I am the rookie," she said. Alan took a deep breath.

"Jamie's seen things," he said. Daisy whipped her head over to look at Alan, then at Jamie.

"What did you see?" she asked, still not wanting to believe it.

"Well… the first was back when you were in the hospital after the Falcons match. He, ah, he kept thinking that he couldn't lose you. And it was… intense. Like he couldn't take the thought of you dying. And he was so angry at Hardwick," he said. Daisy nodded slowly, her brow furrowed. "And then last night at the ball… he was… the way he looked at you. And he kept thinking that he needed to keep himself together."

Daisy shut her laptop and thought for a moment before speaking.

"Are you sure that means he has feelings for me? I just see a concerned coach," she said. She looked up at Jamie. "Maybe you're misreading the situation. Wouldn't be the first time." Jamie took a deep breath and sat back.

"Maybe, but, I just feel there must be something there," he said. He glanced up at her. "I've seen the way he looks at you and I can see that the way he thinks of you… it's not like Dad thinks about his team. It's much more than that." Daisy's eyebrows flew up.

"Well, what should I do?" she said, looking at her brothers. "I can't just walk up to him and ask, you know." Jamie heaved a big sigh.

"I'm not sure," he said. Daisy laughed haggardly and stood, holding her laptop to her chest.

"This is… just… mad," she said. She looked around at her brothers. "I can't deal with this." She stomped off to her room.

"What are you doing?" Jamie called after her.

"Going to clear my head!"


And this'll probably be the last chapter for the weekend - depending on how busy/hungover I am on Sunday and Monday. Sorry to leave you with a bit of a cliffhanger there.

twilightlover427: Well, I can say that will all be answered very soon... ;)

As always, thanks for reading!