Crescent Moons ; J.S. Potter

28. charmed.

After an enchantingly peaceful winter break, Daisy was back at Hogwarts. The train ride there had been quiet for her and Thomas, but very frantic for James, Benjamin, Marlee, and Gwen, all of whom had left their homework until the last minute. Somehow, with the assistance of the Wood twins, the four of them had finished their homework just as the Hogwarts Express had pulled into the station.

Now, the six of them were sitting at the back of the Charms classroom, separated into three tables of two; this meant that Benjamin and Thomas sat on the right table, Gwen and Marlee sat on the left table, and James and Daisy sat in the centre.

After the sequence of friendly and—Daisy had to admit—slightly flirty letters exchanged between the two of them over the break, she was starting to grow more and more fond of James. It was a strange feeling; her heartbeat picked up, her cheeks felt warm, and she felt like she was flying. But whatever it was, Daisy was determined to not let it bud into anything more than friendship, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, she couldn't handle all the attention. Except for when she was on the Quidditch field, she was never used to or liked having too much attention on herself. James Potter was the Wizarding World's heartthrob. Being, well, more than friends with him would make Daisy the target of intense criticism and backlash from hundreds of teenage witches across Britain, reporters, and other news sources. She had seen her face on the cover of the Daily Prophet once before during the summer and she did not want to let it happen again.

Secondly, she knew deep down that James' "feelings" for her could not be entirely real. He could say his flirty jokes and confessions as many times as he wanted, but Daisy knew that that wasn't as true or sincere as he always promised. How could it be? How could one be so fascinated by a girl that never reciprocated their feelings?

Though Daisy knew better than to fall into the temptations because of these reasons, she couldn't help but flirt back just a little when he made his jokes. He was looking intently at her hair, which she had twisted up into a bun and was staying in place because she had stuck her wand through it.

"Why aren't you wearing the headband I got you?" he asked, a teasing smile appearing on his face. He was leaning on his hand with his elbow on the table.

"I was too scared to even take it out of the box," said Daisy, "and you expect me to bring it somewhere with spells flying over my head?"

"I could just get you another one if it got a scratch," suggested James. Daisy shot him a look.

"You're crazy, James."

"Crazy for you."

Just as Daisy was about to smack him over the head, Professor Flitwick cleared his throat, turning everybody's attention toward him. She heard James chuckle quietly.

"Good morning, students!" Flitwick squeaked. "I hope you all had a restful break and finished all of your homework!"

Daisy looked at James, who was looking at her. She had told him how to write practically his entire Charms homework essay. Not that he had told her to, but the panic that James was feeling had somehow transferred to Daisy, as well.

"You owe me," she muttered to him. He grinned.

"I owe you."

"Today, we will begin our lessons on nonverbal spells!" continued Flitwick excitedly. "Could someone please give me one reason why nonverbal spells can be advantageous in a duel?"

Daisy's hand shot up. Professor Flitwick nodded at her, indicating that she could answer.

"If you use a nonverbal spell in a duel, your opponent will have no idea what kind of magic you're about to perform which gives you a split-second advantage," recited Daisy. Flitwick clapped his hands together. Benjamin whistled.