Crescent Moons ; J.S. Potter

44. jealousy jealousy.

Since there was a Quidditch match against Ravenclaw coming up in a couple of days, Daisy was pushing her team even more aggressively than usual. This meant nearly daily practices, prolonged drills, and spying on other teams, which Daisy found to be a good team bonding activity—they all bonded on the fact that Daisy was mad.

This particular practice had been quite productive. Of course, she had gotten hit by Marlee and Lily's Bludgers five times, but that meant improvement, so she was willing to take the pain. Her team members looked utterly exhausted when Daisy finally announced that practice was over since the sun had completely disappeared. It was now nine o'clock in the evening.

"Three hours, Daisy," sighed Thomas. "We started at six. It's nine."

"I think you all improved so much!" said Daisy. "And now we have a great chance against Ravenclaw!"

"My muscles are sore," announced James. She looked over at him. His maroon-red Gryffindor Quidditch cloak looked incredibly good on him. His forehead had beads of sweat all over it and his hair was wet and messier than ever. Daisy nearly swooned at the sight. "I'm going back to the common room. Bye, guys. Bye, Captain!"

She shot him a smile before he turned and walked off. Her ponytail was starting to give her a headache, but she decided to keep it in until she returned to her dormitory and could brush her hair.

"Bye, guys," said Thomas, before walking off as well. Soon after, Rose and Alice waved goodbye before leaving the locker room, giggling about something.

"Want me to wait for you?" asked Marlee.

"I've got to clean this place up a bit," Daisy replied. "You two go without me."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Marlee and Lily nodded, waved goodbye, and then left the locker room, as well. Daisy spent the next few minutes putting towels away, closing locker doors, and moving the benches back into place. Once she was satisfied, she trotted out of the locker room as well.

It really was quite late at night. Luckily, Professor McGonagall had given the entire team passes for breaking curfew. Daisy yawned. She couldn't wait to fall asleep.

She walked into the darkly lit castle. It was very quiet, the only sound being the soft muttering from the paintings as she passed. She was daydreaming about taking off her sweaty Quidditch uniform, changing into her soft pajamas, and untying her hair.

She turned a corner, smiling at the thought of her comfortable, four-poster bed when her eyes landed on a sight that made her smile drop at once.

It was James, but he wasn't alone. He had his elbow propped on the wall, a wide grin on his face, facing a small red-headed girl: Rachel. Rachel was leaning against the wall, looking up at James with a bright smile.

Daisy felt as though she was just stabbed, like someone had taken a dagger and punctured her right in the heart. Luckily, James and Rachel didn't seem to have spotted her and were still entranced in each other's presence. Daisy crept back behind the corner and peeked out from behind it.

"You just came from Quidditch practice, right?" asked Rachel's warm voice.

"Yeah, what gave it away?" replied James, with a playfully sarcastic tone in his voice. He was smiling so wide that Daisy was tempted to ask why.

"You're sweating," noted Rachel, "and you've got your Quidditch uniform, and your hair's really wet, I'm assuming from sweat."

"Correct!" said James. "Sorry, it's probably kind of gross."