AUTHORS NOTE: So another chapter is up and I believe this one is a lot better than the last one. I spent a bit more time on it than I would usually have done. I can't decide if I should keep writing for this story or start a new one. Please let me know what you think I should do. I hope y'all like this and please review!

At dinner Albus was quiet. Everyone in the hall was talking about Olivia and her fall. Albus told the team he had asked Hugo to replace Olivia tomorrow. Albus had nothing to worry about for the match. But since he was team captain if anything went wrong it would be his fault.

Hugo wasn't at dinner. Albus presumed he was out practicing. If anyone was more nervous than Albus about tomorrow's game it was Hugo. He had practically fainted when Albus told him he would be substituting in for Olivia.

James Potter was missing to, he was most likely with Olivia. She was his girlfriend and by the looks of it they loved each other. Albus had to say he had been very surprized when the relationship hadn't ended and it had now been over a year since they started going out. After all, it was well known that James had been the one to pass his reputation for the opposite sex on to Albus. But if James could change so could Albus, right?

Albus looked around the Gryffindor table. He spotted Francesca right away. She sat in the middle and was laughing with Lily and Kylie. Albus smiled. She had a pretty smile. After a moment she glanced up at him and their eyes met. Albus swallowed and his smile faded. She didn't look angry per-se... maybe a little stony. Albus felt bad, he had turned her down, after all. She probably hated him now. And why in the world would he turn her down in the first place? He couldn't think of one reason now that he had given earlier for doing so. She was the girl of his dreams!

But then Albus glanced at Lily and there was no question of her feelings about the situation. Her dark eyes blazed, she looked angry and murderous. Just the look made it clear that he wasn't allowed to be with Francesca. Albus looked away guiltily and found another pair of eyes watching him.

It was Spencer Cord. He looked very angry. Albus was a little confused. He seemed jealous, and there was nothing to be jealous about. Well, Albus thought, if he was in Cord's shoes he would feel the same. Yet, as Albus thought this he still didn't feel as if Cord had a reason to be jealous. After all Albus had blown his chances. But Albus didn't think Cord knew this, and as he continued to stare Albus felt that his reproachful eyes were hinting that there would be a confrontation in the near future.

Albus then looked at his mates. Well, he hoped that Dan was still his mate but he wasn't so sure. Daniel had called Albus an arrogant jerk. Along with that he also said Albus used and abused girls. Albus should be the angry one in this situation, yet all he felt was guilty. He was a player, no doubt, and he had no right to claim that he wasn't one.

Albus left the table early, before desert was served. He walked the corridors alone. This was beginning to be a regular activity for him. Albus walked for about ten minutes when he interrupted.

"Hey!" A voice called, Albus turned around. It was Francesca.

Albus waited as she ran down the hall to him. He shook his head in annoyance. Apparently even if Albus had decided to leave the girl alone at last, there was no getting away from her.

"Albus," she said, out of breath. She flicked her brown hair out of her face and looked him in the eye. "What's going on with you?"

"I don't know what you mean." Albus lied.

"Ye...yes you do." Francesca stuttered. She looked very nervous. Albus was nervous too, his palms sweated and goose bumps rose on his arms. But when he was with Francesca he was always nervous.

"What are you talking about?" Albus asked her out right. "Francesca..." he started but was cut off.

"Stop!" She yelled abruptly. "I mean, please do not call me that. For once, do not call me Francesca." She took a deep breath but didn't say anything more. They were both silent, Albus didn't really know what to say.

"Um...you don't want me to say your name?" Albus was confused.

"No," Francesca said. She grimaced, "I mean, you can say my name, it's just... Francesca isn't my name."

Albus didn't answer her, he stood with his mouth open.

"My name is actually Frances...Francesca is just a nickname." Francesca, or Frances gave a short laugh. "My grandparents call me Francesca, they're very italian. But my mum actually named me Frances. Truth is, I'm only a quarter italian."

"Oh..." Albus said. "I'm sorry?"

"It's okay, I guess I only made it worse by letting people call me that. The only people at Hogwarts who do call me Frances is Lily and Kylie."

"I thought Frances was your nickname." Albus admitted, giving a small smile. Lily often gave people nicknames and she joked around a lot with her friends.

Albus was silent. It was strange, the name Frances was so...normal. There was nothing mysterious or exotic about it. Albus looked down at her, she was just a girl named Frances.

"Albus," Frances said. She stepped closer to him and grabbed his hands. She held them in her small ones, they were warm.

They were standing very close and Albus could smell her perfume, it was very alluring.

"I thought... I mean it seemed that before, you..." Francesca, actually Frances started to say. But she trailed off and just stared into his eyes. Albus was mesmerized. And as if in slow-motion Frances lifted up on her toes and placed a kiss on Albus's lips.

Albus felt dizzy, everything around them was fuzzy and distant. All he could focus on were Frances' soft lips.

As soon as the kiss ended so did the spell. But now the room seemed darker and for the first time Albus noticed how dark it was outside.

"What I meant was I thought you liked me..." Frances said, pulling Albus out of his daze. Her face was flushed with embarrassment and from the kiss.

"I did, I mean I do." Albus flustered. But then his mind cleared and the words that came from his mouth next were not the ones he expected.

"I can't do this." Albus stepped away from her and dropped her hands.

"What! Why?" She blurted out. She turned even more red as Albus watched.

"I'm sorry," Albus said, not meeting her eyes. "I like you but I can't be with you."

Frances didn't say anything. Albus tried to explain, "I'm not the right kind of guy for you. You should be with someone better."

"What on earth are you talking about, Albus?"

"You know what," Albus said to her. "I have a reputation."

Frances snorted. "Right, I know what girls say about you, Albus. But I know you, you're not as bad as you think." She stepped closer and put her hand on his arm. "I want to be with you."

"I...we can't. I'm going to hurt you. And you're Lily's best-friend...sorry." Albus took her arm off his and he turned to leave.

"Albus..." Frances said his name as he got to the end of the hall.

Albus didn't turn around, "I can't." He said one more time, but he whispered the words because he was telling himself not Frances.

Albus tried not to think of what he had just done as he descended the stairs of another floor. He waited as the staircases changed, tapping his foot impatiently the whole time.

He walked quickly back to the Gryffindor common room where he would spend the rest of his evening hanging out with his friends. As long as he didn't go to bed he had a chance of not thinking about Frances and what had happened, because lying in bed he knew he would dwell and think about it. He already felt awful as it was.

Albus continued to walk down the hall. Suddenly a voice behind called out. It was an angry voice. Albus turned around, thinking it was Frances or Daniel or even Lily coming to yell at him.

But it wasn't any of them. Albus had a feeling that this confrontation would be much worse than any of the above, because it was Spencer Cord and his two friends, Richard Lancey and Gordon Chant. They were all Ravenclaws, but by the look of them they could have been on a muggle wrestling team. Both Lancey and Chant were huge with bulging muscles. Cord was more slender than them but still tall and broad. Before now Albus had barely spoken to any of them. This year Cord was in his Defence Against the Dark Arts class along with Rose.

"Oi!" Cord called to him. "I want a word, Potter."

Albus stopped and waited for them. He really didn't want to do thisright now but he figured it would look worse if he started to run.

"So," The Spencer Cord said to him. "What's going on between you and Francesca?" Albus scoffed, Frances own ex-boyfriend didn't even know her real name.

"Nothing." Albus replied, which was true. As of about five minutes ago nothing between them was going on, and probably never will.

"You're lying. I seen you two together." Cord said angrily, his voice cracked unnaturally.

"We're friends," Albus told him coolly.

Cord clenched his fists. The three friends had stopped walking as they all stood close enough to poke Albus's shoulder.

"Do you think I'm dumb, mate?" Cord said to him in a low voice. He held his wand in his hands and twirled it casually. Albus stood as still as possible but he slowly reached into his pocket and took out his wand. Albus could barely compute what Cord was saying. All he heard was the loud pounding of his own heart. Finally, Albus took his foot out of his mouth and answered the question.

"That depends," Albus replied smartly. "Do you think that I think that you are dumb?"

Cord and his friends took out their wands in a flash and held them at Albus's throat. Just as a spell started to form on Cord's lips there was a flash of bright, white light and a loud bang from behind them. All three Ravenclaw's flew up into the air and landed on the ground in a heap. Albus's black hair was pushed off his head with a sharp wind, but after a moment everything was still and Albus was completely untouched.

Down the hall, Albus could just see the outline of a person, his eyes hadn't fully adjusted from the flash of light yet. As the person walked closer Albus could tell who it was just by the way he walked.

It was Daniel.

"Hey," he said as he stopped in front of Albus. The three Ravenclaw's lay on the ground, groaning. Daniel casually stepped over them.

"Thanks for that," Albus said stiffly.

"You're my best friend, Albus." Daniel said simply.

The two of them started to walk away. Albus couldn't help but grin. "That was some spell-" he started to say but Daniel cut him off.

"I'm sorry, Albus." Daniel said shortly.

"It's okay..." Albus said sincerely. Daniel cut his eyes to Albus's green ones in shock. But Albus was sincere, he was glad Daniel had told him to stay away from Frances. He was glad that someone had the nerve to tell him who he really was and that the way he was was wrong. Albus needed to change his ways, only then could he even let himself think about Frances di Cartcia.

When they got back to the common room Albus finally told Daniel that he had turned Frances down.

Daniel didn't say anything. He looked extremely surprized.

"Wow," a voice said behind them. Albus turned his head to look at Will. He walked over and sat on the arm rest of the couch. "Honestly, Al, I didn't know you had it in you."

"Me neither," Alex joined the conversation. He sat down in front of the boys, his back to the fireplace.

"Albus," Daniel finally spoke up. He looked like he had swallowed a bogey flavoured jelly bean as he said, "I know that I'm the reason you did that... but I realize now that your feelings for Francesca are genuine."

"It's actually Frances," Albus blurted. Will, Daniel, and Alex stared at him. "It's okay." He answered at last.

"That's it? That is all you have to say?" Dan looked even more surprized now.

"I... I didn't say no only because of you." Albus confessed. Before Dan could reply, the common room door made a big banging noise as it closed. Everyone turned to look. It was Lily Potter. She stomped over to Albus until she was right in front of him. The four boys stared at her.

"She's really cut up, Albus." Lily told him angrily. Her friend Kylie Tolves stood behind her and Albus looked around them just in time to see a head of long brown hair rushing up the stairs to the girl's dorms.

"You're such a jerk!" Kylie added, then she turned around swiftly and followed Frances up the stairs. Lily stood a moment longer. She stared at Albus with her big brown eyes. It took a second for Albus to realize she wasn't actually angry. Sure, she had a scowl on her face but her eyes told him a different story. Her brown eyes were soft and sad-looking, not fiery like they were when she was upset. Lily seemed to be telling him she was sorry he had to do this, and that she was thankful he had stayed away from Frances. After she turned and strode up the stairs to her dorm.

Albus sighed, Will and Alex just shrugged, but Daniel looked more confused than ever. But as Albus met his light eyes Dan finally seemed to understand that he hadn't been the only one against him dating Frances. Albus then went to bed.