Crescent Moons ; J.S. Potter

26. sluggy's christmas party.

Potions class always seemed to be never-ending.

This was especially true today since all they had done all class was listen to Slughorn's lecture about the uses of dittany leaves. The only thing that kept Daisy from zoning out was thinking about the upcoming Christmas party for the Slug club.

"For members of this year's Slug club," Slughorn had announced at the beginning of this lesson, which now felt like days ago, "the annual Slug club Christmas party will be taking place this Saturday, or two days from now! Please be sure to wear formal clothing and invite a partner to the event. It will take place from seven to ten."

Daisy, Gwen, Marlee, James, Thomas, and Benjamin had been discussing the event in whispers for the past hour while Slughorn rambled on. It helped that they were sitting at the back of the classroom.

"Who are we supposed to invite?" asked Gwen for the third time. Daisy was struggling with the answer to this question, as well. "It's not like I have an obvious choice."

"Can't we just go together?" Daisy asked. Thomas shook his head.

"I asked," said Thomas. "Slughorn said we shouldn't just bring our friends."

"Why does it matter?" groaned Gwen. Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Ooh, Daisy, what if we pretend we're dating and—"

"Slughorn isn't that dim," chuckled Marlee. Gwen smiled.

"Daisy, will you go with me?" asked James, raising his eyebrows. Daisy shot him a look.

"James, you've asked me this five times in the past hour," said Daisy. "I can't go with you!"

"Why not?" he said, frowning. "I've been wanting to say this for a while, but ... I fancy you!"

"Yeah, we all know, lover boy," said Marlee, rolling her eyes jokingly. James' eyes widened.

"How, I've kept it under wraps so well!"

The six of them burst out laughing. Slughorn stopped talking.

"Anything you'd like to say, Miss Jordan?"

Marlee straightened up and shook her head. Slughorn nodded and continued.

"Anyway, why can't you go with me, my lady?"

"First of all, I don't fancy you, James," said Daisy, smiling. "Second of all, I don't want to get nasty looks from other girls at the party. Third of all, Slughorn loves you and I don't want to draw more attention from him to me. I want to be able to leave the party early and no way can I do that if I'm with you!"

"So ... is that a yes?" he asked. Daisy shoved his shoulder lightly.

"Oh, I know who you should bring, Daisy," said Gwen, perking up. "You should bring that boy ... Greengrass! What was his first name?"

"Miles Greengrass?" said James incredulously, his jaw dropping. Gwen snapped her fingers.

"Right! He definitely has a thing for you. Also, you clearly fancy him. It's so obvious. You literally said he's not bad-looking which basically means you think he's attractive and also, you guys both like nerdy stuff like books or whatever. So—"

"You can't go with Greengrass!" interrupted James. Daisy raised her eyebrows as if to ask "Why not?" James shook his head. "He's so annoying and thinks he's so smart. I could beat him at Quidditch, you know."

"Yeah, and so could Daisy," said Marlee.

"You don't have a say in who I bring, James."

"Daisy, you can't bring him," said Thomas this time, which shocked Daisy. She turned to her brother who looked very firm on his decision. "I know he's a fan of Puddlemere United. He wears their pins. What if he's after the wrong thing?"