Daisy woke early the next morning, and dragged an exhausted Roxanne out of bed and down to the Great Hall. James eventually joined them at the table, and they ate together while they waited for Professor Longbottom to hand out their schedules.
When Daisy got hers, she was sufficiently underwhelmed. She had Muggle Studies first, which was enjoyable because of how easy it was, followed by Potions, which was possibly her favourite course. After lunch she had Transfiguration and Divination, both of which she didn't particularly care for. The next day on her schedule was even worse, with its only redeeming quality being History of Magic, but she opted to ignore that.
James was staring at the paper in his hand, somehow managing to look even less impressed than Daisy did. "I've got to deal with Muggle Studies and Divination, all in one day?"
"You're the one who choose to take them in the first place," Roxanne said unsympathetically. "Though why you did, I'll never know."
"They're easy marks, is why," James said, before looking pointedly at Roxanne. "Some of us care about that stuff, you know."
That brought a smile to Roxanne's face. "Luckily I don't have to- I'll be out of here for good at the end of this year."
"If you pass your OWLs," James pointed out, getting another eye roll from Roxanne.
"Like that'll be a problem."
"I can't believe you're leaving us," Daisy grumbled, interrupting their bickering to voice her displeasure at Roxanne's decision to leave school after she completed her OWLs. "You're sure you don't want to stick around, just for fun?"
"Sorry Daze," Roxanne said, almost sounding like she meant it, "But there are bigger and better things waiting for me outside the world of higher education."
James snorted. "Like what- the fascinating landscape that is Diagon Alley?"
"Eventually, yes," Roxanne said matter-of-factly, "But that'll only be once I'm tired of working with Uncle Charlie in Romania."
James rolled his eyes and Roxanne glared at him, and suddenly Daisy had had enough of the conversation. "I forgot my notebook," she said, standing up abruptly and discarding her half-finished tea, "I'll see you guys later."
The halls were a lot more crowded than they had previously been, so Daisy took the long way back to the Gryffindor tower. Unfortunately that meant that, by the time she made it to her Muggle Studies room, the class was already underway.
She slid into a seat beside Olivia, another Gryffindor girl who also happened to be a muggle born, and ducked her head to avoid the glare that Professor Avery was sending her way. After a few moments of him glaring at her and her avoiding it, he sighed and continued on with his lecture.
"As I was saying, you will all be writing your OWLs at the end of this year, and I expect nothing but the best from my students. I know very well that most of you were raised by muggles and, as a result, think you automatically know everything these is to know about this course, but common knowledge will not be enough this year."
Daisy tuned him out after that. He was right about her reasons for taking the course, though she doubted he was right about the work becoming more difficult. The culminating task of last year had been a 2000 word essay on a 'cultural phenomenon.' It was the only time her extensive knowledge of Star Wars had ever actually come in handy.
Despite an easy start to the day, Potions was anything but. While Professor Patil was normally a serious woman, her demeanor had shifted entirely this year, as was evident when she delivered a speech that mirrored Professor Avery's.
"It's like they're preparing us for war," James muttered into Daisy's ear, as the woman at the front of the room continued to lecture them.
Daisy shrugged him off, and tried to give the teacher her full attention. The class was challenging, but she'd always enjoyed potions. She liked the idea that, simply by mixing things together in the instructed manor, she could create something entirely new, and Professor Patil had always been encouraging. Still, the 1000 words on the properties of mandrake leaves in healing spells due Monday was almost enough to change her mind on that.
James said as much at lunch. "It's like they're trying to kill us- we're going to drown in papers before the week is through."
"You've only had two classes," Roxanne said, apparently over their disagreement from earlier in the day. "How bad can it be?"
"Awful," James said darkly, and Daisy nodded her head in agreement.
Roxanne only rolled her eyes at that, and turned back to her food. Daisy followed suit and the three of them ate in silence for a few minutes, until she felt the bench shift beside her and looked over just in time to see Dean Finnegan sitting beside her.
He smiled at her, which she found odd. She waited a moment too long to return the gesture, and by the time she did he was already focused on shovelling food onto his plate.
She turned back to her friends, who were now looking at her with raised eyebrows. She shrugged and tried to focus on anything but their looks, which only seemed to encourage them.
"Good summer, Dean?" James asked amicably, overtop of Daisy's head.
"Good enough; I spent most of it preparing for this year," he said, getting a nod from James and a confused look from Daisy. He caught on to that and explained, "I'm Gryffindor's new Quidditch captain. I've got a whole new strategy worked out."
"Oh- cool," Daisy said lamely, when it became apparent that he was waiting for a response. Luckily, James was always ready to talk about Quidditch, and he jumped in.
With both of them distracted, Daisy was finally able to turn back to her food and eat it in relative peace, ignoring the brief questioning look that Roxanne sent her.
If she'd thought Potions class was difficult, then it was a miracle that she survived Transfiguration at all.
Despite being Headmistress of the school, Professor McGonagall still enjoyed teaching, and did so at her own discretion. This year, she'd chosen to take on an OWL level fifth year course, and it just so happened to be Daisy's.
"As you are all well aware by this point, I expect the best from all of my students. This class is no exception. Those who work hard will be rewarded, and those who do not will suffer the consequences."
The woman may be aging, but it only added to the intimidation factor. She paused then and seemingly made eye contact with every single one of her students, before she turned back to the blackboard and continued on with her speech.
However, unlike her other teachers so far, Professor McGonagall did eventually instruct her students to pull out their wands. She then distributed beetles, and pointed them to the instructions on the board.
She made her way around the classroom slowly, checking her students' progress. They were tasked with making the beetles disappear entirely, and it was turning out to be much more difficult than expected.
For her part, Daisy hadn't even tried yet. She was still reading the instructions on the board and cross referencing them with those in her book, when McGonagall descended on her.
"Ms. Dursley, at this rate the only way you will succeed in making the beetle disappear is if it runs away," the teacher admonished, peering down at Daisy expectantly.
Daisy bit her lip to keep from saying anything stupid, and realized that the teacher wasn't leaving until she tried out the spell. With that thought, she turned back to the beetle and pointed her wand at it, well aware that her teacher was watching, and read the spell in a clear voice. Her wand twitched in her hand momentarily, before it stilled. Nothing happened.
"Very well," McGonagall said, pursing her lips in a tight line and turning away. "You'll do best to figure this out before your OWLs."
Roxanne and James sent her sympathetic looks from across the room, while most of her classmates snickered. She ducked her head and went back to reading the textbook, waiting for the bell to dismiss her.
By the time Daisy made it to Divination class at the end of the day, she was about ready to drop out of school altogether. Luckily, Professor Trelawney took a different approach to teaching.
"I am very pleased that you have all chosen to join me again, for what I am sure will be a very revealing class," the woman said from the front of the room, her frail hands resting on the back of her chair, and her glasses enlarging her eyes to epic proportions. "As you know, you will all be taking your OWLs at the end of this year and, while I do not believe that the art of divination can truly be tested, we must prepare for it anyways."
Most of Daisy's classmates were staring at the professor with looks of disbelief on their faces, while the other few looked genuinely entranced. Coincidentally, James was in the first group.
"According to my dad, all you have to do is predict your own death and you'll get full marks," he whispered to Daisy, nodding his head when she raised her eyebrows. "He said she used to predict his at least twice a year."
"Well she was right the one time, wasn't she?" Daisy pointed out, which got a shrug from James.
"After hearing the stories that him and Uncle Ron tell once they're a few drinks in, I'm surprised she wasn't right a few more times."
Daisy snickered at that, and it drew the teachers' attention to her. "Is something amusing, Ms. Dursley?"
Daisy hated being put on the spot, and said the first thing that came to mind. "Oh no- quite the opposite, actually."
When her classmates dissolved into fits of giggles she realized her mistake, though she was too late to remedy it. The dazed quality left the teachers voice as she stood up a bit straighter. "Well then, I wouldn't want to keep you. I'll welcome you back next class, at your convenience, of course."
Daisy wanted to defend herself, but the look on the woman's face told her that it was pointless. She gathered her stuff as quickly as possible and ignored the apologetic look on James' face as she rushed out of the room, only slowing down when she heard the door swing shut behind her.
She slowed to a stop a few steps after that, taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart. She didn't consider herself shy, but she also hadn't expected the teacher to call her out so publically. The whole thing had surprised her, and when she was surprised she panicked.
She was still standing on the stairs calming her breathing a few moments later, when she heard a pair of footsteps ascending and opened her eyes in time to see Fred stopping in front of her.
His forehead furrowed when he caught sight of her, and for a moment he looked worried.
She spoke before he could say anything that might border on caring. "What are you doing here?"
"I go to school here. I thought you'd have picked up on that by now," he said, the concern lessening, though not quite disappearing.
"Shouldn't you be in class then?" she snapped back, at which point he crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows in what seemed to be a challenge.
"I've got a spare period. I'm meant to patrol the halls and report people who are skipping class," he said, looking pointedly at her, at which point she inwardly cursed and decided that the best option was to simply walk away. Evidently, he didn't agree. "Currently that means you, Daisy."
She'd only made it down a few of the steps before he'd stopped her and she was forced to reason with him. "Fred, it's the first day of classes. Would you give me a break?"
"If it's the first day of classes is it really too much to ask that you would go to them?"
"I did," she muttered at that, swallowing her pride when she continued, "Trelawney kicked me out."
His eyebrows practically hit the ceiling. "Care to explain?"
Daisy bit her lip and looked away. When she looked back and saw genuine curiosity on his face, she let out a long sigh. "She caught me and James talking, and I accidentally called her class boring."
Fred laughed at that. "You always did have a way with words- but how do you manage to accidentally insult somebody like that?"
A part of Daisy knew that his teasing was harmless, but she also grew tired of it quickly. "Can I go?" she demanded, cutting off his gloating.
Her anger caught him off guard, but he stepped aside anyways. "Be my guest. But do at least try to keep yourself out of trouble from now on, would you?"
The condescending hint in his voice was far more than Daisy could handle in her present state. She spun around just before she turned the corner of the spiral staircase, and looked at him with the most innocent expression she could manage.
"Of course I will," she said, before she put every ounce of sugar possible into her voice and asked, "But tell me, just out of curiosity, how much trouble would a prefect get in for neglecting his duties and snogging his girlfriend for the better part of a train ride?"
Freddy's face turned bright red at that, and he sputtered for a moment. It gave Daisy just enough time to punctuate the statement with the most insincerely sweet smile she could muster, and then spin on her heel and walk away.
\\
While it seemed to take forever, the weekend did arrive eventually, much to Daisy's relief. She was fully prepared to ignore the mountains of homework she had and sleep for two days straight, but a beam of sunlight through her curtains woke her up around seven o'clock in the morning, and she was unable to fall back asleep.
She gave up when her stomach started growling, and decided it was time to head to the Great Hall for breakfast. She changed as quickly and quietly as possible, surpassing her uniform in favor of her muggle clothes, and settling on her favourite pair of leggings and her father's old Lancaster U sweater. She then tip toed her way out of the dorm, past her fast asleep roommates and out the door.
The common room was practically empty and there were only a few more people in the hallways, some of whom she smiled at, but most of whom she ignored. She made it to the Great Hall soon enough, and was headed straight for the Gryffindor table when, even in her sleep-hazed mind, something caught her eye and she made a slight detour towards the Ravenclaws.
"You lost already, kid?" she asked, casually plopping herself down onto the bench beside Hugo, who was sitting across from Fred. The older boy didn't look impressed with her presence, but he also didn't say anything.
"Freddie said we can sit wherever we want as long as it's not a feast or something," Hugo explained, nodding towards his older cousin, who smirked at Daisy in a way that said 'you know I'm right,' which she ignored.
"And you're choosing to sit with him?"
"You are too," Fred jumped in, when Hugo only shrugged. He looked pointedly at her and raised his eyebrows. "And it's not exactly like I invited you to, so…"
"Somebody ought to warn this boy about the dangers of being associated with a prefect," she said quickly, while holding back a slight grin. She could tell she was getting under his skin, and that he desperately didn't want it to show.
"And here I thought you just liked spending time with me," Fred sighed, a hint too dramatic for it to be believable.
Daisy snorted at that. "Right, and I don't know if you heard, but pigs have also learned to fly," she said, before turning back to Hugo, who was watching the exchange with fascination. "Surely you've found somebody more interesting to hang out with by now."
While the mood between the three of them had been light -if not slightly hostile- before, Daisy felt a distinguished shift in it then. Hugo bit his lip, and Fred shot her a warning glance, before he said, "I happen to think I'm wonderful company for breakfast; I doubt there's anybody more interesting than me in this entire castle."
Daisy once again snorted, and decided not to grace that with a reply. Instead, she turned to Hugo and waited until he was looking her in the eye before she spoke, her voice a bit softer than usual. "Never mind that; you'll get there. It took me days before your cousins would talk to me- and look at Freddie; even he has friends, for Merlin's sake. You'll make loads of them in no time."
Hugo smiled slightly, and Fred shot her a grateful look. She felt her cheeks go red, so she pursed her lips and looked away quickly, spotting James in the process.
"Speaking of better people to sit with," she said, looking pointedly at Fred before sending an exaggeratedly meaningful look towards the now giggling Hugo, "I better go make sure James isn't sleep walking again."
She ruffled the younger boys' hair and sent a brief smile towards Fred, and then she was gone.
"What was that about?" James asked, once she'd situated herself across from him at the table.
"I was just saying hi," she shrugged, brushing it off and turning her full attention towards the food in front of her. The selection was as elaborate as ever, but she settled on a scone and a cup of tea.
James, on the other hand, had taken a large portion of just about everything, and was shovelling it into his mouth at record speed. When he caught the eyebrow she'd raised at him, he stopped for a moment. "Quidditch tryouts are today; I'm carb loading."
"Won't the extra weight just slow you down?" she asked, getting an eye roll in response.
"It's for energy," he explained, "Dean's the captain this year and he's asked me to help him out. I'll be out there all day."
"Right," Daisy said, in her usual 'I don't know anything about Quidditch but my best friend treats the sport like a religion so I'm just going to go with it' voice.
She'd spent the week listening to James talk about the tryouts and, as a result, there was a good chance that she was more ready for them to be over than anybody else. Still, she nodded her head along as he continued to talk about the sport and she did her best to sound interested, because she knew how important it was to him.
He left shortly after that, heading to the Quidditch pitch to prepare, but not before he made Daisy promise that she would stop by to offer her support ('It's a matter of house pride, Daze'). By then the Great Hall was starting to fill with students, so Daisy also made her exit, but not before refilling her tea cup and bringing it with her.
She headed back up to the Gryffindor common room, taking her time and enjoying the castle in the morning.
When she got there, she found one of the muggle books that she'd brought with her for recreational reading and settled in a chair, and was still there a few hours later when Roxanne stumbled out of the dorm in her pajamas.
"Does it always have to be so fucking bright in here?" Roxanne groaned, collapsing onto the chair beside Daisy and covering her face with a throw pillow.
"I've heard the sun occasionally has that affect," Daisy responded, mildly amused and not at all surprised by Roxanne's inability to deal with mornings. "Though if you keep trying, one of these days you might succeed in becoming entirely nocturnal."
Roxanne muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like a suggestion of something rather explicit that Daisy could suck on, before she raised her voice to a level that her friend could here. "What time is it anyways?"
"Almost one, I think."
Roxanne seemed to accept, but her eyes widened after a moment. "Shit- did we miss the tryouts?"
"I didn't realize you were going out for a spot," Daisy teased, to which Roxanne sent her a slightly exasperated glare, still too tired to fire an actual insult back. "I saw James at breakfast- he said he'll be there all day."
Roxanne nodded her head at that, before excusing herself to go get changed. Daisy took the time to finish the chapter she was on and then dropped it in her bag and followed her friend out of the common room.
As soon as they arrived at the Quidditch Pitch, Daisy realized why the rest of the castle had seemed so empty. It looked as if every student at the school had gathered to watch the Gryffindor tryouts and show their support and, as a result, the stands were packed. Daisy was about to suggest that they sit on the grassy area of the pitch near where the players had discarded their belongings, but that plan was foiled when Olivia stood up and waved to them.
Daisy looked to Roxanne, who simply shrugged and headed towards the girls. She knew Olivia and her best friend Raina, and she knew that the other girls were in their year, though she couldn't recall their names.
Still, they said their hello's amicably, before Roxanne and Daisy sat down and turned to face the Quidditch pitch.
"So, how do they look out there?" Roxanne asked, nodding her head towards the Quidditch players who were currently flying from one end of the field to another, apparently racing.
Olivia shrugged. "They could be worse; it seems like everybody's practiced and improved over the summer, but it really all depends on whether or not they can fill the spots they lost last year."
"They're looking for a new beater?" Roxanne only sounded mildly curious, and Olivia nodded in response.
"And a keeper."
"They'll be hard pressed to find one as good as Bones was," Raina said appreciatively, which Daisy found strange, as the girl played for Slytherin's team. "He practically held their team together last year."
"Well then, you must be happy that he's gone," Daisy pointed out frankly, before she could stop herself. "Maybe your team will actually have a shot at winning this year."
Roxanne elbowed her at that, and Daisy let out a sharp gasp. Olivia apparently missed that exchange, and turned to Raina. "I don't know about that; you guys lost a few players too. Honestly, the Ravenclaw team looks like the best of the lot."
"We'll have to wait and see, I suppose," Roxanne interjected then, taking note of how tense the conversation had become and bringing it to an abrupt end. "How have you all been finding your classes?"
That was a discussion that brought about no disagreements. All of the girls agreed that their teachers were being harder on them than ever before, and that if they never heard the term 'OWLs' again, it would be too soon.
Only Roxanne seemed unconcerned about the tests, but the only reason Daisy noticed that was because of how well she knew the girl. To anybody else, the fact that she nodded along to everybody else's complaints would have been enough to sell her agreement. Daisy wanted to bring it up, but she decided not to in front of the other girls.
Instead, she focused her attention back on the Quidditch pitch, and focused on her cousin, who was hovering on his broomstick beside the boy she recognized as Dean, watching the other players take shots on the net. It seemed as if they were very intent on judging the keepers.
She watched them for a while and it seemed as if they noticed because, after a few minutes, Dean turned away from the players briefly and waved to her. She raised her eyebrows and it took her a moment, but she waved back.
Of course, it didn't escape the notice of the girls she was sitting with. "You know, he's been single since last spring," Olivia pointed out, much to the amusement of the other girls, and to Daisy's bafflement.
"Has he?" she asked lightly, looking away and praying that the blush would fall from her cheeks.
"Yup," Olivia nodded earnestly, "Him and Jenna Romain broke up early March, and then he was with April Lou for a few weeks, but there hasn't been anybody since."
Daisy made a noise insinuating vague interest, but didn't say anything else to that. Instead, she let the conversation grow from there, and tried to hold back vomit when the other girls started talking about James.
It was then that Roxanne sent her a 'for Merlin's sake not this again' look, and the two of them excused themselves.
"Honestly, do they not realize that he's out cousin?" Roxanne complained as they headed back towards the castle, shaking her head and shuddering at the turn the conversation had taken. "Besides, when have I ever shown interest in conversations about boys?"
"Didn't you kiss Ernie Coulson in second year?" Daisy asked, thinking back to the unfortunate game of truth or dare. Roxanne groaned, apparently remembering it as well.
"Trust me when I say, if I wasn't a lesbian before that, I definitely was after," Roxanne joked, scrunching her nose in distaste, before a smirk appeared on her face. "Though speaking of boys, what was that with Dean?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Daisy said quickly, before changing the subject entirely. It was a blatant lie, but Roxanne didn't push her on it and for that Daisy was grateful. She'd noticed the attention from Dean over the past few days but wasn't sure what to make of it, so she ignored it.
When they got back to the common room Roxanne claimed exhaustion, and headed back to her own dorm for a quick nap. Daisy, on the other hand, new that if she slept now she wouldn't sleep at night, and that was a viscous cycle that she wanted nothing to do with.
Instead, she found her potions text book and started reading the chapters that Professor Greengrass had assigned.
She was still there, fully engrossed in the book, an hour or so later when James came bolting into the room, drawing the attention of just about everybody in it. He let out a visible sigh of relief when the portrait swung shut behind him, and then he caught sight of her and headed over.
"I saw you stop by tryouts," he said nonchalantly, dropping into the seat beside her. He was still slightly out of breath, his hair ruffled, and it looked like his hands were covered in dirt.
Daisy was somewhat put off that she'd been pulled away from her reading, so she just raised her eyebrows and waited for an explanation of his current state. It didn't take long.
"The Slytherin team showed up shortly after you left the pitch, and they had a few choice words to say about our recruits. I may have left them a parting gift or two in their changing rooms- what else was I supposed to do with the dungbombs I had lying around, anyway?"
"I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure you weren't supposed to have dungbombs lying around to begin with," Daisy said, though she couldn't hold back a smile for long.
Despite Raina being alright, the rest Slytherin Quidditch team was filled with the most fowl people at the school, and it was always nice to know that they didn't get away with everything, even if their discipline came in less conventional forms.
James smiled back and wiped his hands on his pants, before nodding towards the discarded textbook in her lap. "Have you started Transfiguration yet?"
She let out a bark of laughter. "You'll know when I start Transfiguration. I'll be lying on the floor crying."
"It's that difficult, then?" James asked dejectedly, as if he'd been hoping for a different response. Daisy's solemn nod told him all he needed to know. "For Merlin's sake, you'd think McGonagall'd go easier on us. She's the Headmistress after all; she's got to have better things to do than read twenty different papers on 'the logic behind the magic of animagi.'"
Daisy didn't offer a reply, but she did make a sympathetic face and a noise of agreement, and that was enough for James to continue.
"I mean, what does she want from us? At this rate, it'd be less work to actually become animagi," he said incredulously, building himself up to a rant and then stopping suddenly, which drew Daisy's attention. She saw the wheels turning in his brain, and she wasn't sure she liked where it was headed.
"Of course, that's not actually an option…" she said as if it were the most logical thing in the world.
"My grandfather was one- and my dad's godfather. Apparently they figured it out while they were in school," James said, as if he'd already decided on something, and was now thinking over the logistics of it. "It can't be that hard, can it?"
"Well I guess you won't know until you've finished your paper," she said smartly, which seemed to bring him back to the realm of the logical.
"Oh yeah," he muttered, before he picked himself up off the couch and excused himself. He was back ten minutes later, with washed hands and a pile of textbooks, which brought a bitter smile to Daisy's face.
"You know, I never thought I'd see the day when James Sirius Potter spent a Saturday night studying," she said, getting an eye roll out of him for it.
It wasn't until hours later, when the common room had almost cleared out and Daisy was considering sleep, that the portrait opened on last time and Roxanne tiptoed in. Her hair was mused, and she looked like she'd been caught in the middle of something. Daisy raised her eyebrows when they made eye contact, but Roxanne brushed it off and headed straight to their dorms.
"What do you think that was about?" James asked, pulling himself back into a sitting position, and staring after his cousin.
Daisy shrugged and proceeded to listen to James speculate for a few more minutes, before she followed her friend up to bed. She hadn't realized just how tired she was, until she fell into a deep sleep, almost the moment her head hit the pillow.
AN- Please let me know what you think! Any/all advice is appreciated! :)