(no subject)

[letstryagain]

"Yes, dad. I have everything. Mum went through my trunks several times to be sure," Daisy was saying as she got out of her dads car, pulling her school trunk out with her and setting the cage with her personal owl on top very carefully. Apparently, it wasn't carefully enough for one Jareth the Goblin King because there's a hiss and a nip at her hand and Daisy sighs as her dad shoots the owl a glare, reaching for her hand to check it.

"I'm fine, dad. Honestly. Jareth missed. I'll still be able to write home. Anyway, you're going to be late and should probably head to work. Mum's already on the platform and Declan is waiting."

Dudley Dursley gets out of the car and wraps her up in a hug, holding her tight. Daisy, obviously, is going to hug back, giving her dad a grin and nudging him back to the car with a faked exasperated sigh and an "Oh, my God. You're the most embarrassing Muggle on the planet."

With that, and with some I love you's sent from one to the other, Daisy picks up her stuff and sets it on a waiting trolley, heading inside to Kings Cross.

It's already maddeningly crowded with students from school, and she hasn't even crossed the barrier yet. So the brown haired girl with the vibrant blue eyes tugs at the hem of her Five Night's at Freddy's t-shirt that hugged her frame a bit more than it did last year, absently reaching for the cellphone she's had to leave at home and groaning once she remembers.

Right. The one thing that sucks about Hogwarts. She can't shoot Declan a text to let him know where she is.

Jareth hoots softly, the owls attempt to let her know it'll be fine. For a curmudgeony shit, he could also show some concern for his human.

"We'll find him. We always do. If not here, then on the train." It's about then that she thinks she hears someone call her name. Is it Dec? Another student from school? With the chaos and the din, she can't tell. But she's sure as hell looking around for the source, eager to see whoever it is.

Comments

[wingardiumportianus]

He chuckles. Even that has changed, gotten deeper; it's more in his chest now. "Yeah, how is your hand? That looked like a nasty slice." He remembers getting a SnapChat of it but had forgotten about it until now. Of course, she'd only been back in the UK a couple of days.

He nods, though, dropping his arm around her. One of the other 'Claws sticks his head in, saying the trolley is coming around if they want anything.

Dec doesn't want anything but that's because he brought something from home. He shifts and reaches over, grabbing his messenger bag. "Mum wanted us to have real food, so she sent some of her noodle bake with me." He says, opening the tupperware and allowing the fragrance to permeate the cabin. He digs into his bag and offers her a fork. There's pasta, a cheese sauce, bacon and ham in the pasta bake. It's a favorite of his and his Mum always makes sure he has some when he leaves for school.

[letstryagain]

Daisy settles in against Declan, grinning some at the looks they're getting now. The rumors about them were kind of hilarious, and maybe Daisy had a small love of adding fuel to the fire. They knew what they were to each other, so whatever anyone else thought didn't matter to her.

At the question of her hand, she holds it up and shows it was in fact cut free and not even scarred. She was fine and healed.

"Stung like hell when it happened, but it's fine."

Turning to look at the food Declan bought, Daisy sits up and smiles more. She loved his mothers cooking. That doesn't mean she won't buy a cake or two off the trolley when it shows, but home cooked meals were the best.

[wingardiumportianus]

Everyone in Ravenclaw knows that they aren't together. They all know, but still, they look. There's a running joke that Dec and Dais will be the last ones to know that they're dating. That's probably not far off.

He grins and offers her the noodle bake first. Because she deserves it. He's spent the summer learning how to cook and failing at it spectacularly. At least nothing had been set on fire.

"Good. Need our Beater up and ready for Quidditch season." He grins. "Did you get a new broom like you wanted?"

[letstryagain]

They probably will be, and will put up with years and years of 'I told you so's'. For a couple of Ravenclaws themselves, they aren't too bright when it comes to this kind of thing. She picks out a bite of the food and shakes her head, chewing and swallowing quickly.

"The updated Bluebottle is on back-order. Won't be at school until late September."

But, it's the broom she's been working for and saving for. So she feels good about at least having ordered it.

[wingardiumportianus]

He grins. "We'll have to go out some weekend after you get it." Because he has new physics theories and he's going to try them out on her and her new broom.

"Mum's sending my new physics book when it gets delivered. Not printed yet, and the school doesn't get Amazon deliveries." Which sucks, because if it did? It would be awesome.

He picks at the noodle bake. "Did you get your History essay done?" Because he finished his last night.

[letstryagain]

"Second week of break," Daisy replies, nodding her head some. She was not at all a slacker and would rather just get things done as she could, when she could. The sooner, the better. That way she wasn't doing schoolwork on her break and could spend time with her family. She could spend time with dad, go shopping with mom. Loads of video games were played before she left for America. She had the free time she needed to remember how to breathe before school started again.

"You?" She already knows, so says the eyebrow raise and the look she's giving him.

[wingardiumportianus]

He huffs out a sigh. She's the better history student than he is. "It's done!" He defends himself. In fact, he'd written it out on the computer and then hand copied it to parchment. Which he still feels is ridiculous. "It just got done last night." He admits, sheepishly.

"Even got my potions homework done." He says. That had taken him almost three weeks and texting with one of the other 'Claws who was brilliant at potions. But he'd worked his way through it. He's just rubbish at Potions during the school year. Without her, he'd have failed out of Hogwarts long ago.

[letstryagain]

She does have a teacher for a parent. Maybe this gives her an edge on some things. She's also just plain old hard-working. Next time, she'll have to keep better in touch with Declan. She made it her personal mission every year to make sure he passed and truthfully, she kind of enjoyed tutoring people.

"Good to hear. I'm proud of you." And she means it.

[wingardiumportianus]

He nudges her gently. "Not that rubbish a student." He teases her. She knows he's a good student. Maybe not as fanatical as she could get, but he was a good student. Even his two least favorite subjects get proper time and attention during the school year.

He's comfortable with her against him and doesn't even blink at her being where she is.

"You studying for your OWLs yet?" Granted, that was the end of Fifth Year, but better to start early than late.

[letstryagain]

“Not yet.” Not without him, she means. Their study sessions were their time together at school and while she is a huge bookworm and very prone to being a bit too hard a worker when it came to school, Daisy didn’t want to get ahead of Dec if she can avoid it.

“They have me so nervous,” she admits, looking up at him with a sheepish smile. It’s only a fleeting moment, but looking up at him brings finer details of his face into view. Details that maybe she didn’t notice before, like his eyelashes or the insane amount of freckles he has. And that weird feeling from earlier returns for a moment. Which she’s going to ignore because she doesn’t understand it at all.

“I honestly think I’m looking forward to trips off campus more.”

[wingardiumportianus]

"Oh yeah, Hogsmeade trips." He'd forgotten about those. His mum let him go, because why not? He shouldn't be trapped in that dusty old castle, without his friends, just because she doesn't understand the appeal.

He looks down at her, and sees how blue her eyes are, and did her hair always smell like that? Whatever, she's Dais, that's what matters.

"We oughta start studying. Potions and History for me at least." He says, with a groan. "Can't hurt."

[letstryagain]

Declan was good looking. He’d always been adorable, but this was different. When had this become different? It was mildly frustrating to think about and Daisy didn’t do frustrating. Challenging, sure, but that meant there was an outcome of some kind. She didn’t know what was going on this time. And that was where the frustration came in.

“You’re going to pass and I’m going to make sure of it, like I always do.” Daisy sits up as she speaks, stretching a bit, not aware of the way her shirt moves or the flash of skin between the hem of her shirt and the top of her jeans. Standing, she puts her hands on her waist with a sigh.

“I have to check on Harry. It’s his first year and he’s a couple cars down with friends.” Always the loving big sister, Daisy is. She refuses to let Harrison Dursley get hurt by anyone and as this is his first year at school, she was going to be extra vigilant.

“I’ll be back in ten, yeah?” With that, she exits their car and heads off to find her brother and to get away from the strangeness in the Ravenclaw car. Just for a moment.

[wingardiumportianus]

"Yeah," He says. Nope, he's not going to think about it. He's not going to think about that thin strip of skin that he'd seen or the fact that that shirt might be just a little too small for her. He also isn't going to think about how her hair smells or the way it falls against his shoulder.

What is wrong with him? He digs the heels of his palms into his eyes. She's Daisy for pity's sake. She'd tried to put a toad in his robes their first year. She'd knocked out a seventh-year last year. She's got boyfriends that are not him. They come to him for advice, but nothing more.

This is when he hates not having a cell phone. He could be calling Jer, or Mike, or Dan, and they'd straighten him out. This is Daisy. His BFF4E. That's just how it was.

He looks up when she comes back and grins. "Har alright then?"

[letstryagain]

Daisy spent more than ten minutes with Harrison. Partly because her brother was the king of a million questions and partly because she could not get her scattered thoughts organized. But she did have to go back, and avoiding Declan was just not how they did things. He was important to her. They’d been friends since day one and what mattered most to her was just that. How they were with each other.

So she returns, and when he asks how her baby brother is, she’s quick to flash that ‘proud big sis’ grin before rolling her eyes in pretend exasperation.

“He’s talking to people about Pokémon, ago! and Netflix. And he showed me the Dumbledor card he finally got. Gave me a few extra cards. Must have bought at least a dozen chocolate frogs and had eaten six before I got there.”

[wingardiumportianus]

Dec laughs. "Not like they'll understand Pokemon or Netflix. But good on him for tryin'." He grins. "Caught a Pikachu over the summer, finally." He'd been desperate to get one. It's in a special place in his heart.

"But if he's eating chocolate frogs, he should have shared a bit. Six is what we eat a piece and we're bigger than he is."

He pats the seat next to him. She needs to come back and hang out with him. This year is kind of an in-between year. They aren't First Years worried about fitting in and passing strange classes, but they're not Fifth Years worried about OWLs and then a short two years later, NEWTs.

[letstryagain]

Daisy settles next to Declan and leans her shoulder against his again, comfortable with the situation they found themselves in. It was familiar and she missed the hell out of him over the Summer. Skype and FaceTime only did so much.

A small laugh escapes her mouth at what he says in regards to the frogs and shakes her head. “I’m afraid he’s in the middle of a growth spurt. He grew three inches since the start of summer and will probably be eating nonstop for days.”

[wingardiumportianus]

He drops his arm around her in a familiar gesture of just two friends hanging out. That's all they are, after all. He gently tugs on her hair. "If he keeps growing, he'll pass you up, squirt." Only he can get away with saying things like that. Anyone else? Would lose a tooth.

Besides, he's in the middle of a growth spurt too. He's put on six inches over the summer, and his Mum despairs of him not putting on more while he's away at school.

"He'd better make nice with the house elves then." He says, seriously. They were allowed in the kitchens, allowed into that sacred space of house elven work and play. But, they were nice to the house elves and only abused that privilege a little.

"Think he'll be a 'Claw?"

[letstryagain]

"I know he'll be," Daisy says as her hand finds his and she settles against him. The train ride is making her a bit tired, she's with the most important Non-Relative she has. She's relaxed, headed to one of the places she loves the best on the whole planet.

But she's not going to drop off any time soon. Not since she's remembered something. She sits up a bit, shifting so she can dig into her back pocket.

"I have something for you, by the way. Do you have your keys on you? Or if not, that's fine. It's just best put on a keychain."

And out she pulls a Wonder Woman keyring.

She knows her best friend well enough to know he'll be super for this.

"I saw it at a Lego store and immediately thought of you. I could have mailed it to you, but I like seeing you smile."

Some part of her realizes how that sounds now with the added sensation of God Knows What between them, but she's mostly working hard to ignore that.

[wingardiumportianus]

"Good. Need some good guys in Ravenclaw." Not that there aren't good 'Claws, but well, her brother's the good sort too.

She moves and he's sad about missing her warmth against him. Then she's back and holding out.

"There's my lady!" He says, grinning. "Didn't bring my keys, but I think she'll go well on my messenger bag." He says, dragging the bag over. The bag is a mess of patches from various places, most having to do with Wonder Woman or the Justice League. He's a DC geek what can he say?

He squeezes her against him. "Thanks, Dais." He says, honestly. He'll have to mail a letter to his Mum. He owes Dais now.

[letstryagain]

"I think he'd fit in perfectly. He already has a crowd of friends, so he should be okay." But it isn't like she's not going to constantly and frequently check on Harrison. That's her family.

She'd say he didn't owe her, because that's not how she worked. She does nice things for people because she likes being nice to people. She doesn't have the patience for anything less. She likes making Declan happy, too. Her arm goes around his waist, hugging him close and resting her head on his shoulder, glad he loves the keyring.

"You're very welcome."

[wingardiumportianus]

Oh he knows he doesn't owe her, but he'll make sure that he gets her something awesome for the Wonder Woman keychain. Half his patches are from her, anyway.

He knows exactly what he's going to do, too. A nice portrait of Black Widow will be a nice thank you. Not like she doesn't have a lot of his pictures anyway. Still, he's got a plan for her Christmas Gift already. He needs help from Professor Flitwick, but that's okay. He likes the head of Ravenclaw.

His arm is still around her. He doesn't mind. She's his best friend. Best friend and practically a sister, but not a sister. He's not sure what she is beyond his best friend. But, there's something more about her this time around. Something... different about her.

He looks out the window and points. "Look. The castle!" He says, excitedly. "Should put on our uniforms." He gets up to go exit the car. He'll stand guard while she changes, and she'll do the same for him.

[letstryagain]

Daisy knows how to change her clothes quickly, though she is as always annoyed at the idea of putting away the clothes she prefers and instead getting stuck in a stupid uniform. She hated skirts and neckties and the whole lot of it.

When she exits her car to let Declan change, she’s holding two separate hair clips in her hand and looking them over. They’re obviously hand made and each come with a short spell on a tag and a picture of what her hair will look like after the clip is set in place. And while Daisy had never really cared too much about her appearance, something made her want to try. So she tilts her head towards the car, frowning at the very lovely hair clips. She’ll have a decision made when he steps out. For now, the dark brown waves hang almost past her shoulders as wild and free as they ever are.

[wingardiumportianus]

Before he disappears into the car, Dec looks at the pair of hair clips and touches the one in her right hand. "Like this one better." He says, flashing her a smile and disappearing to get dressed.

It only takes him a few moments, and he's opening the car again. He taps her shoulder, waiting on her to come back. They have the welcoming feast tonight, and then tomorrow, they jump straight into classes.

He is not looking forward to it. He's still rubbish at Potions and kinda wants to ambush the History teacher into retiring, now that he's a ghost