If you are new to my "Daisies" universe, I suggest you read that book first. If I ever get to the other books in this series, some of those will be able to stand alone, but this one has a fair amount of OCs and references to what happened in Daisies.

Expanded Story Summary:

Emma Taylor had never believed magic, but when a closer investigation into her friend Daisy Dursley's new school only brings up more an more questions, Emma may have to reevaluate her beliefs.

Daisy Dursley, painfully oblivious to her friendship with Emma being torn apart is now too focused on the destruction of another friendship. Sam Edgecombe's arrival at Hogwarts might mean that Daisy looses Jonathan's close friendship.

Poppy Dursley grows closer to her sister now that they have magic in common. But when Daisy goes back to school, who can Poppy truly relate to? What will it take for her mother to finally accept her?

Although their paths divide, all three find out that first impressions are only a sliver of the whole truth, and the secrets underneath can go farther than one would ever expect.

Emma Taylor considered herself to be many things. She wasn't a competitive athlete or artistically talented, but she was a logical thinker and a good planner. When things didn't add up, Emma noticed it. And something about Daisy's story didn't add up.

The most noticeable oddity in her school's explanation was the fact that Daisy didn't seem to have many new songs to play or sing. Emma might have ignored this point, except that she had always been Daisy's practice audience in the past. No matter what questions Emma asked, Daisy never brought out any of her music books when Emma went over to visit. Emma had even looked for them and only ever found the same books Daisy had played from before going to St. Cecilia's School of Music.

When she had brought the topic up with her older sister, Heidi had only shrugged.

"I'm not friends with any of the people I hung out with when I was your age. It might just be time to move on."

"No," Emma had protested. "It can't be."

"Why should it be different for you and Daisy than it is for nearly everyone else?"

Emma had struggled to think of any real reasons that she and Daisy wouldn't suffer the unimaginable friendship split. In the end, her biggest reason had been her own determination to keep their friendship alive. She would be whatever their friendship needed her to be - a shoulder to lean on, a person to talk to, or, at the moment, a detective.

After all, how could two people stay friends when a secret cut through the ropes that had taken years to tie between them?

Emma figured that asking other people would be her best bet. She guessed that asking Daisy's parents would be too direct and might alert Daisy to Emma's investigation. No one from their old school besides Emma had kept in contact with Daisy once she had left, so none of them would be helpful. This meant that Emma was stuck with only a few options: question Daisy's sister Poppy, or one of her cousins.

Poppy would be the ideal one to talk to. Emma knew Poppy better and hoped she would be willing to share. The thought of talking to Daisy's cousins made Emma's hands curl into defensive fists and sharp words come to the forefront of her mind.

Either way, she would need to get herself over to Daisy's house first.

That week's mild temperatures made for pleasant walks the short distance to Daisy's house. Emma didn't know what she hoped for more: that Daisy would be home, or that she wouldn't. If she was home, Emma would get to spend time with her, all the while wondering about Daisy's secret and getting no answers. If Daisy wasn't home, but Poppy was, then maybe she could get some new information.

When Emma got closer to the Dursleys' house, she saw someone who was neither Daisy nor a family member. An extremely short man with a grey beard and odd purple suit stood at the door shaking hands with Daisy's father and saying something with a broad smile stretched across his face. She couldn't help thinking that he looked like he belonged in some fantasy world as a dwarf mining for gold. No — a dwarf that had mined for gold in his past, but had found a decent-sized collection, become rich, and spent his money on curiously coloured clothing.

As Emma watched, the man backed away from the door, waved, and headed off down the sidewalk. She would have continued to watch him walk, but she'd been spotted.

"Emma, dear, won't you come inside?" Daisy's mother stood in the doorway waiting.

Emma had always liked Anna. Some people would have found it strange to be such close friends with your best friend's mom, but Emma had always shared almost as much with Anna as she had with Daisy. It drove Poppy insane sometimes, Emma knew, but they had kept the practice of keeping secrets from the younger girl as a precaution from back when Poppy hadn't been able to keep secrets.

"I'm sorry to say that Daisy is just leaving," Anna said when Emma got to the door. "Unless you'd like to go boxing with her and Dudley? I seem to recall you enjoying yourself last time you went."

Emma tried to keep her horror from showing through her smile until she noticed the twinkle in Anna's eye that gave away her sarcasm.

Emma laughed for real this time.

"Not this time. But, if Poppy's around, maybe I'll just stay awhile if that's okay?"

"Come on in."

Emma entered the front door and directed herself towards Poppy's room. It was the first to the right at the top of the staircase, opposite to Daisy's which was the first to the left. The two girls shared the bathroom in between. Daisy's door stood closed, which would have been unusual before that summer, but Poppy's stood propped open slightly and Emma could see her bent over a piece of paper on her desk.

"Knock, knock," Emma said, pushing the door open further.

Poppy looked up, shoving the paper she'd been pouring over underneath a blank sheet.

More secrets.

Wiping her hands on her shorts, Poppy stood and turned.

"Hi."

"Hi," Emma responded. "Mind if I sit and chat for a bit?"

"No, no, of course not, I'll just," she looked around her room, suddenly seeming to notice the clothes thrown over the end of her bed and the markers strewn across the table, several of which had rolled their way onto the floor. She waved her arms for a second and then shrugged. "Nevermind. My room's a mess, but you've seen it worse."

Emma sat on the floor, and Poppy sat across from her.

"So, what've you been up to? I've been so focused on spending time with Daisy, I feel like I haven't really talked to you all summer."

"Not much. Just some summer reading and art."

"Nice."

Emma waited for Poppy to ask something, which just created an awkwardly long silence.

"Did you come to ask something in specific, because otherwise, I'd like to get back to what I was working on."

In only looking at Daisy, Emma had failed to see how much Poppy had changed as well. Where was the little girl who would talk until she fell asleep, and forget that things were meant to be kept a secret? Sure, Poppy was 10 now, not 7, but somehow, Emma had thought she would retain some of her chatterbox quality.

"I can't just want to talk to an old friend?"

Poppy tilted her head and waited. Emma recalled all the time in the past when Emma had come into Poppy's room. Usually, it was because she and Daisy wanted something they had left in there or because they needed another player in some game they had invented. This time there was no game, and Poppy could clearly see that and conclude that Emma wanted something.

Emma sighed. "Fine. I just wanted to know about Daisy."

"What about her?"

"What's the true story behind this school she goes to? Why won't she talk to me about it? I know she doesn't have any new music books, and I haven't heard her play anything new. She always keeps her door shut, and she spends a lot of time at your cousin's place."

Poppy nodded in agreement. "I noticed that too. I wish I could tell you what was going on."

"But you're not allowed to."

"I can't tell you what I don't know."

"I'm supposed to believe that you don't know any more than I do?"

Poppy shrugged. "I suppose you could believe I'm lying to you, but I thought I'd give you another option."

Emma didn't know how to respond to that. Poppy's words were vague, but she said them in a way that reminded Emma of the cryptic but wise character one might come across in a movie. She had confirmed one thing: there was a secret being kept from her. But Emma had already pieced that together on her own. Poppy knew the secret, too, but she thought that Emma should stay out of it. Or did Poppy's willingness to admit the secret existed mean that Poppy didn't agree with keeping it from her?

Did ten-year-olds think this deeply about what they said, or was Emma overthinking?

She had to be overthinking.

Poppy flipped her hair and folded her arms across her chest. "Weren't you going to leave?"

"Right." Emma cleared her throat and walked out. "I'm sorry I haven't talked to you lately," she called back sincerely. "If you ever want to talk, or do… something, I'm still here."

"Mhmm." Poppy had already returned to her desk.

Emma sighed. Maybe she had been wrong. Perhaps talking to Daisy's cousins would be her best option.

My current outline has this story at only about 14 chapters (less than half of the length of the previous) so hopefully I'll be able to finish more quickly. Petunias also has more of a focus on friendship/jealousy than Daisies, which at the end had more of a mystery to it. I hope some of you will enjoy it anyway and leave a review!

As for other books in my Daisies universe, I'm thinking about skipping ahead to later years at Hogwarts after this fic, because I don't find writing about twelve-year-olds that interesting anymore, honestly. I have ideas for a Scorose fic, one that focuses on Lily, on an older Poppy, on an after war Dudley/Anna. So if this story doesn't hold your interest, maybe one of those would.