Spring time at Hogwarts.

[Josh Baxter]

As March drew to an end so came April, and with it - his birthday. Although it wasn't just his birthday, no, it was also the birthday of his twin sister Jasmin. He missed Jasmin a lot when he was at Hogwarts and she was in New Zealand with their older brother and sister. So Josh sat outside in the courtyard, enjoying the slight change in the weather. It was now spring and it was growing warmer outside, but it wouldn't be Scotland with out the chill in the air, but Josh had grown used to it. So with his Transfiguration book on his knee, doing some revision for the up coming exams, he took out a spare piece of parchment and started to write his birthday wishes to his sister.

As he did so Jasmins birthday present flew around his head. It was the Golden Snitch that he had caught in the last Quidditch game of the season, winning Gryffindor the Quidditch Cup. He knew, out of everyone, that Jasmin would appreciate the token. He was also adding a top from the Gryffindor Quidditch Team which he had gotten for her. He and Jasmin both knew she would have probably been a Gryffindor if she had attended Hogwarts, that or a Ravenclaw, so Josh was sure his sister would love her presents. They were definitely better than the dresses that Kira was getting for her. He laughed to himself as he continued to write letter as he thought about how different the two girls were.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

Daytona Bradshaw had a high opinion of herself at the best of times and today was no exception. She was discovering a fascination for the opposite gender slowly but they seemed to have discovered one for her as soon as she had stepped across the threshold of the school that year. She had grown possibly an inch or two taller and her hair was a bit longer than in her first year and though she would have liked to play the modest card and make like she had not a clue why she was receiving so much male attention, the fact was she loved it and thought it highly deserving. Of course she did not encourage it though she was beginning to learn how to use it to her advantage.

Her best friend Gregor was completely ticked off with her over the situation, three Hufflepuff boys from their year had already challenged one another to a duel because she had asked one of them to carry her books for her. The other two had been livid at not being chosen and had subsequently started brawling, to which they had earned Daytona's malicious glare and an admonishment that a proper duel in her honour would have been more worthy of her. Gregor and Helga had fallen about laughing of course when the three boys had taken her in earnest.

As she left the school to wander the grounds it was to be as far away from the dungeons as was possible to be. The three fools were down there hovering about the corridors near the dueling chamber in the hopes that she would show up to watch them. Undoing her black hoodie she removed it and tossed it over her bag as she walked across the gardens. There was still a chill in the air but she had been cooped up for so long that the slightest breeze against her skin was positively delicious. Humming a tune to herself as she walked she looked over to see none other than Josh Baxter. Instantly she could feel her heart do a somersault; it was decidedly unfair that the one boy at the school that she would like to be interested in her showed no signs of knowing she even existed.

She watched a snitch of all things flutter about his head and for reasons she could not explain to herself she took out her wand and flicking her wrist and muttering an incantation at the snitch summoned it too her. Instantly she hid her wand inside her bag as the little gold ball came flying her way.
"Oh" she exclaimed as if in complete surprise. Catching it effortlessly in her hand she grinned a little before putting on her best smile and approaching him.
"Is this yours, it seems to be trying to get away" she extended her hand with the snitch to him wondering if he would actually talk to her now or just simply thank her for returning the silly ball.

 

[Josh Baxter]

As Josh continued to write the letter to his twin sister he wondered if maybe he could go to New Zealand during the holidays to visit her. He hadn't actually been to his sisters shop before, let alone New Zealand, and after Jasmin telling him all that was sold there he definitely wanted to see it for himself; and Weasley's Wizarding Weaseys of course. He had been to the one in Diagon Alley any Gods amount of times and was becoming one of the more regular customers when the holidays came and he got to visit the shop. The chance to go to the one in New Zealand would be a dream for him, just to see if they had any undiscovered gems for him to waste invest more of his money on.

He had become so engrossed in his letter to Jasmin that he hadn't noticed that half of her present had flown away. That was until a girl had come over with it in her hand. Josh didn't know the girl, that was to say he didn't know her well. He had noticed around the schools, in the corridors and whatnot but he had never taken the time to find out who she was. "Oh wow! Thank you!" he said as he jumped off the windowsill he was sitting on. Placing his writing equipment and books aside he took the snitch off the girl, giving her a grateful smile; it wouldn't have been good if he had lost it. Getting the box in which he was sending the small golden ball he placed the snitch back in it again. "Don't make much of a good seeker if I can't keep track of one snitch." he said with a laugh as he put the box back into his bag. "I'm Josh." he said with his charming smile, not really seeing the point of second names, he was much too casual for formal introductions.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

Beaming brightly as he thanked her for retrieving what she herself had purposefully taken, Day watched in awe as the boy jumped from the window sill to her side of the courtyard. She glanced about at the lawned area to see if others were about who would hear the frenetic pounding of her heart but thankfully only three boys across the other side were near by and they appeared to be so engrossed that surely her grossly loud heart beat was the least of their worries. As she glanced up at Josh once more she took in the difference of their heights, he was marginally taller than her which was good. She hated when boys towered over her completely and made her feel almost dwarfish.

His mentioning the position he played made her smile continue longer than she probably should have been smiling for. Convinced he would think her an utter imbecile for standing there grinning like a Cheshire cat at him Daytona made another goof up when she replied to him.
"Snitches are pretty pesky things anyhow and I know..." she watched as he put the snitch into the box, "your name that is... I mean, I watch the quidditch games so of course I know... who you are."

She looked down for a brief moment to make sure her foot wasn't jutting out of her mouth before looking up at him again and though the Slytherin in her wanted to stay put. The teenage girl that she was felt her own embarrassment keenly and stuffing her hands into her pockets took a step backwards to walk away.
"I'll let you finish whatever it was ... bye" rolling her eyes at her ineptitude for speaking to him normally, Daytona wanted to get out of view fast and give herself a good kick.

 

[Josh Baxter]

Now that the snitch was back in its box and there was definitely no chance of it flying away on him again he closed up his bag. Pushing himself back up on the windowsill he let his legs kick back and fourth lightly as the girl talked. Josh smiled down at the girl trying to place her face. He was positive that he had seen her before - it was hard to forget such a pretty face. He chuckled and nodded in agreement on her statement about snitches. Josh had been a seeker on the Gryffindor team for two years now and the job definitely never got easier, in fact there was a few times he felt like turning the position in but he was too good of a seeker to do that to his team, and he knew this. Plus it was one of the few things he did in school that gave him any pleasure.

He was a little taken aback when the girl said that she knew his name but couldn't help smile at the recognition. "Good to know." He laughed softly at how the girl seemed to have embarrassed herself at her confession, but he thought it was cute - she was cute. He frowned when the girl said bye and looked like she was about to walk away. "Hey! I don't even know your name." he told her, hoping it would make her stay for a bit more of a conversation.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

Her feet couldn't move quick enough and yet they halted so swiftly as he quizzed about her name that she all but fell over them. Catching herself just in time she spun around to face him, looking at him a moment before trying to get herself together to play it cool. Chances of that happening were zero at best, especially around Josh Baxter. She didn't know what it was about the boy but ever since she had seen him in her first year of school she practically drooled over him. He wasn't drop dead gorgeous the way some other boys were but he wasn't leaning towards ugly either, to Day he was the perfect mix of roughened charm and roughish goodlooks. Before she allowed her thoughts to hijack her again and cause her further embarrassment she stuck out her hand and wished to high heavens that her body would slow down or her brain would catch up.

"I'm Daytona... Daytona Bradshaw" she told him, retracting her hand hastily before he could have a chance to shake it as she realized it was such an old fogey type thing to do. Day wondered should she stick around a bit longer, he surely wouldn't have called her to ask about her name if he didn't want to speak to her right?
"So how's the quidditch season going for Gryffindor this year?" as if she didn't know, they were ahead of everyone granted just a few points ahead of her own team but considering their next game was against Hufflepuff who were playing atrociously this year; Daytona knew as did everyone else that Gryffindor had it in the bag. Still it was a conversation topic and other than wanting to talk about him she didn't know where else to start.

 

[Josh Baxter]

Josh smiled as he saw the girl come to a halt, when he saw the girl start to turn around he leaned against the window frame, well it wasn't exactly a window frame just an arch made of brick but that was besides the point. When it looked as if the girl was about to fall, probably tripping over her heels Josh was about to jump of his seating place and try to catch her but thankfully she seemed to do that for herself. Sitting back, but not so far that it would take him forever and a day to get off if need be he smiled down at the girl. As she stuck her hand out and said her name Josh leaned forward, extending his own hand, only to have it hanging in mid-air as she retracted her own. Josh quirked his eyebrows at her, she seemed like a strange girl but this seemed to make him more intrigued in her. She was unlike most girls who seemed far too forward around him.

Then again he was your typical teenage boy and didn't mind the attention from girls one bit, what boys didn't? "Nice to meet you Daytona." he said smoothly, hoping it would help her calm down, he didn't get how girls got nervous or anxious around him, he was a normal person like them. When she inquired about the Gryffindor team he let somewhat of a smug smirk cross his lips, rather proud of how he had performed this year. With it being his returning year as a Champion Seeker he had a reputation to uphold and was glad that he hadn't disappointed his team as of yet. "It's been going more than satisfactory. I doubt we'll need to put up much of a fight against Hufflepuff. Plus I'm pretty sure their seeker is blind compared to how I've seen him play lately, so it'll be pretty simple for me to get the snitch when the time comes." he said, knowing he sounded like a stuck up snob but he knew he was a good player so why not brag once in a while?

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

It was typical that she had retracted her hand just as he extended her own, she sighed blowing hot air up to flap her fridge in front. Sticking her hands deep in side her pockets she listened to him speak and wanted to slap him with something. It was one thing to be told how great the team was doing but quite another to be so caught up in your own importance. She had thought Josh Baxter would be lots of things but a pompous wind bag had not been one of them and it was because of his own arrogance concerning his team and his own mode of play that made Daytona realise how very human he was and all quivering, drooling stupid girly actions concerning him went right out the window.

"If I didn't know you were a Gryffindor, I'd have said you were a Slytherin. Single minded attitude like that is not part of a team game and for your information, their seeker is a good friend of mine and had a bad case of the flu the last game but was still determined to play. He refused to let his team down, they would have had to forfeit the game otherwise" she glowered at him now, wanting badly to kick his shins or something when a voice rang out across the courtyard and the very same seeker that they had been discussing was waving to her as he passed by on the opposite side. She waved back slightly embarrassed that he might have overheard her talking him up, the guy was known to have the biggest crush on her and he was a third year like Josh. 'Another one bites the dust' she muttered inwardly, glad that he walked on.

"Well I'll let you get back to writing your own fan mail" she huffed turning to walk away again, why boys were so infuriating was completely beyond her. True he was awesome and good looking and so far up his own arse that he couldn't see it from his elbow... Daytona rolled her eyes and silently told herself that she would so not go out of her way to speak to any guy like that ever again.

 

[Josh Baxter]

To say Josh was confused would be an understatement as Daytona began to talk again. He was confused, a little annoyed and hurt by her words but becoming increasingly intrigued in her, her attitude was something Josh hadn’t experience before as the ever curious teenager he wanted to explore more of it. He sat there and listened to all of her words having grown up in a majority female run household, he knew better than to interrupt them when they were angry. Despite having grown up around more females than male he was still confused by females and what got them like this, but he slowly began to realise what he had done, or rather said, that had upset her.

When she turned to walk away Josh let out a small sigh, if he was one thing he was not a jerk. True his previous words may not have helped him win that case but he hadn’t meant it to come off how it had. He had only just met Daytone but this did not stop him from wanting to make amends, he didn’t like hurting people – emotionally, and if that meant him apologising then so be it. Jumping from his sitting place once more he caught up with Daytone, reaching out to grab her arm. Not wanting to seem abusive or anything that would dig his grave further he quickly let go off her again stepping back so as not to invade her personal space. “Look Daytona I’m sorry for what I said, I’m sure I sounded like a class A jerk.” he said as he began to shuffle on his feet, feeling a bit awkward. “But I just want to let you know I’m not normally like that and I definitely wouldn’t have said that about your friend if I knew the whole story. I’ve seen him play before and he’s a really good seeker, so I’m sorry.” He said truthfully, now knowing why his opponent was a little off on their last game, because he was normally so much harder to beat. “And for your information I’m not answering to fan mail, I’m writing my twin sister a birthday message, the snitch is actually part of her present. She’s a squib so she can’t do magic, but she loves things like that.” he said, his voice soft and warm as he talked about Jasmin, he missed his twin sister so much most of the time. "There, I've said what I came to say, you can go now if you want." he said with a shrug as he turned round and made his way back to the window sill.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

Flouncing off was probably not the cleverest moves she had ever made but she did it any way only to feel his hand on her arm moments later. She could feel as if her arm held now the imprint of his touch, as if it had been seared into her skin. His hand moved as swiftly as he had touched her but it didn't matter, she had visions of herself never washing that area ever again.

Her gaze went to his and she could not believe that he was actually apologizing to her. She had a hotheaded temper at the best of times but she really did hate people who seemed to love their own importance. All such thoughts of Josh being like that were deftly flying out the window though with every word he spoke. Hearing the different tone his voice took when he mentioned his sister, Day could not help but want him to speak to her or about her with that softness to his voice or that warmth.

It was her turn now to swallow her pride and in a few swift steps she was putting her hand on his arm.
"Wait ... I'm sorry too Josh" she moved her hand, looking slightly sheepish now which only really made her look positively cuter than she already did.
"I'm sure you're not a jerk."
She offered a slight smile his way completely stuck for something to say because quite frankly she was stopping herself from blurting out that she would gladly like to get to know the version of him that wasn't a jerk at all.

 

[Josh Baxter]

Josh took a deep breath as he turned to walk away from Daytona and with one foot in front of the other he stopped dead in his tracks. With her soft touch he turned swiftly to face her, his own blue eyes landing on hers, as if looking into his own, except hers had something extra about them that made them stand out more. At her words of apology he couldn’t help but smile as he heard the sincerity in her words. “I’m not, I assure you of that.” he informed her. “I'd love to show you that I'm not. Maybe we should start over, this meeting hasn’t gone the best so far.” he said with a small chuckle. Sticking his hand out he said, “Hi! I’m Josh Baxter. And who might you be?” A mix between a sweet smile and smirk played on his lips.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

Oh the way the boy was looking at her now was causing her heart to flip all sorts of different ways, she felt as if she stood there completely helpless. If he saw through her 'cool' facade at the crazy ass fool she really was, he would probably retract his offer of starting over and run for cover.

"I'd love to show you that I'm not" when he spoke it was like the first time her mother had taken her to the Gargoyles concert and she got to stand there among a sea of other hormonal kids screaming when Brian MacCradden appeared on stage to pick up his guitar or when Darius Philpot walked out and sat at his drum set giving a slight wave but managing to convince every young girl and some mothers that he had been waving at them specifically. But it was when the lead singer David Schnellken came out and wrapped one hand around the microphone and the other around the stand that all hell broke loose. Daytona could remember clearly every emotion that flitted through her in that moment right before she passed out from excitement.

Well she wasn't going to pass out now, though some parts of her felt like it. Josh Baxter wanted ... no not just wanted, but loved to show her the type of person he really was. To Daytona that was a swoonage moment if ever there was one and could not wait to grab Helga and Gregor. He held his hand out to her and then gave her one of those awesome smiles she had seen him give to other girls and felt instantly her knees go weak. It took all her strength to not faint as she had that fateful day at her very first concert as her hand reached across and slid inside his.

"Hi Josh, I'm Daytona Bradshaw. Nice to meet you" there she had said it easily enough now if only she could get her hand to let go of his.

 

[Josh Baxter]

As Daytona slid her own hand into his Josh shook it gently, fighting back the overwhelming urge to kiss her hand – he had been watching too many old muggle movies while at home. “It’s very nice to meet you too Dayton.” he replied, his smile relaxing more now. Releasing her hand he moved his body slightly, inclining to the place he had been moments before. “Care to join me? Get to know each other?” he suggested. Daytona was different to most girls he had met before around the school. He didn’t know why girls acted differently around him. He had asked Jasmin and she simply rolled her eyes at him, tutted and moved on to the next conversation. Even his best friends had refused to tell him, he had eventually forgotten about it and just went on with things. Although, Daytona was different, she had actually talked to him as if he was a person and not just an object to admire, or whatever it was the other girls did.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

The more she spoke with him, the less her nerves seemed to attack her and with the new introduction it was as if her clumsiness around him disappeared as well. Seriously she could not wait to tell Gregor or Helga about how well she conducted herself. She still could not help the slight shot of shyness that overcame her as she went to sit beside him though. Placing her hands behind her on the ledge she attempted to hoist herself up the small distance but slipped instead as one of her hands came off the ledge. Recovering herself extremely quickly she stood up abruptly and made another attempt, this time getting up with no worries.

"Misjudged" she rolled her eyes, Daytona was not naturally clumsy at all and really wanted to kick herself that she was about him. Just after she had convinced herself that she had gotten it under control too.

"So besides quidditch what do you like to do?" she could probably tell him exactly word for word what he liked to do, she had read the Hogwarts monthly when they had done a piece about the Gryffindor quidditch team. Of course there was no way she could admit out loud to this or that she had the piece about him pinned to the inside of her trunk with a picture of him from the same paper.

 

[Josh Baxter]

Day is a creeeppyyy stalker

---

Josh moved back over to the windowsill and took his seat once again, relaxing himself as Daytona pushed herself up. When she slipped Josh moved forward quickly putting his hands out as a natural instinct, seeing she had composed herself and attempted to get up again Josh remained sitting forward, just in case it happened again. Once she was safely seated on the window ledge he laughed at her nonchalant pass of the incident and relax back on the window. Resting his head on the concrete behind his head he thought about Daytona's question. He didn't like talking about himself too much and he didn't want to make the mistake of sounding like a big headed jerk to her twice in the one day so with a small sigh he answered her question.

---

Time lapses FTW

---

Josh wasn't exactly sure how long he and Daytona had been outside talking for but it was starting to get a bit chilly and most of the students were now inside. With a rumble of his stomach he cringed and laughed about it. "I didn't even realise the time. Want to go in for dinner?" he asked as he jumped of the sill, throwing his bag over his shoulder his held his hand out to help Daytona get off of the windowsill, considering the trouble she had getting up.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

It seemed that time spent with Josh was time that went by much too quickly for her liking. They talked amicably about everything and anything and she found herself liking him even more, though she would be loathe to admit it to him. Anyhow she was much too young to be thinking about boyfriend material, yet she knew one thing as sure as the sky was blue and the sun shining; if ever she did get herself a boyfriend it had better be Josh or a damn fine replica because she was hooked... officially line and sinker and could see no way out of it.

He asked then about accompanying him in to dinner and putting her hand into his as she got down from the window sill, Daytona was certain she had a tingle run the length of her arm. Once her feet were on solid ground she removed her hand again though she seriously would have preferred to have left it in his. It had felt so at home there. She smiled up at him before they walked back into the school and into the Great Hall. It was typical that they belonged in different houses, she was a Slytherin and had to go to the far table while he was in Gryffindor and had to go to the one two tables over from hers.

At least she could try to get a position whereby she could catch glimpses of him across the hall but it was usually impossible to do with so many other students in the way.
"Well ... it was nice meeting you Josh" she told him honestly and with another smile she made her way to her own table where Gregor and Helga were waiting for her with their mouths hanging open.