Crescent Moons ; J.S. Potter

59. nightmarish newts.

April had come and gone and it was now early May. the leaves got greener, the air got warmer, and the library got fuller as students prepared for their finals.

With less than a month until her N.E.W.Ts, Daisy was spending ninety-seven percent of her free time in the library or on the Quidditch pitch. The last three percent was during meals that her boyfriend or Professor McGonagall dragged her to.

In addition to being busy all the time, her mind was also always racing. On top of thinking about the nightmarish N.E.W.Ts, Quidditch finals, and James' handsome face, she also was thinking about the letter that she had sent Gwenog Jones early in the school year asking about pursuing a professional Quidditch career, perhaps with the Holyhead Harpies. She had recently gotten a reply at last, but it hadn't exactly been satisfying:

Dear Daisy Wood,

Thanks for the letter and I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I think your letter ended up in the fanmail pile and that takes forever to get through.

Anyway, about your question, I would love to see you play sometime. However, I'm an extremely busy woman. Life of a Quidditch player—your dad would know. Still, I'm sure I'd be able to make some time for you to practice with the Holyhead Harpies in the summer.

As much as I'd love to give you a chance, the Holyhead Harpies are an extremely professional and experienced team. As a teenager whose only experience is the Gryffindor Quidditch team, it may be hard for me to convince the others and my coach to give you a shot, especially because of how many people try out for the team each year. Out of thousands, we can only really pick seven starters and five alternates.

But I know you have the passion and talent for it so I'll definitely mention it and try to convince the others over our next few practices. I'm not sure when I'll get back to you but hopefully, it'll be before summer with some good news. No promises, though.

Gwenog Jones.

Daisy had read the letter over and over again since its arrival last week. She had shown it to James, who had insisted it was good news because Gwenog had said she would try to convince the others, but James was always much more optimistic than realistic.

So, as usual, she was studying in the far corner of the library to distract herself from her worries. James said he would be dropping by sometime in the afternoon and it was now one o'clock. This was one of the days that she had actually eaten lunch, meaning she was energized and ready for a long study session.

"Damn it," she muttered to herself. She had run out of ink once again. She pulled out a new box of ink from her pocket and just as she was placing it on the table, she saw a figure walk up to her. "Hey, James!"

Daisy looked up and saw that the figure was not James, but was instead some random boy that she had never talked to before.

These days, probably because she had started dating James, Daisy never really talked to boys who weren't family or friends. It wasn't like she had ever been a player or someone extroverted enough to strike up conversations, but any desire to talk to a boy who wasn't James and had the potential of flirting with her had disappeared months ago.

"Hello," she said to the boy. "Do you need something?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to ask you about this Charms topic that I don't really understand," said the boy. "Oh, my name's Anthony, by the way. I just heard that you're top of the class in Charms and I need some help before the N.E.W.Ts."

"Oh, sure," said Daisy, gesturing for him to sit down beside her. He promptly did. She studied his uniform and saw that he was a Slytherin. "Weird. I don't think we've ever talked to each other. I'm Daisy Wood."