Disclaimer: I own nothing and am making no profit

Acknowledgments: Rpeh for the beta work.

5. Pixies

Surprisingly little changed for Sylvie after acquiring her first girlfriend. Despite the fact that they didn't flaunt their new relationship, it seemed that the entire school was aware of it almost as soon as they left the Room of Requirement.

The news spread so fast that she half wondered if the room had broadcast their exploits to the entire school. That thought made her wonder how much money she could make doing exactly that. At least before embarrassment rushed through and she pushed it out of her mind.

All of the attention made Anna uncomfortable, much to Sylvie's chagrin. The younger girl didn't mind playing up to the taunts, teasing the people who teased them right back, and altogether being her bratty self.

The Gryffindor boys were the worst when it came to the taunts. But they were easily rebuffed with the most basic comebacks. The easiest was most often just pointing out that they were too incompetent to have their own girlfriends, or kissing Anna in public.

The Keeper was always a little hesitant when Sylvie acted that way in public. But she never said anything or resisted anything. Sylvie figured she'd known her for long enough that it was just a matter of understanding that she loved the attention. And honestly, watching Gryffindor boys look stunned was worth it. Even if it drew her quite a few glares from Gryffindor girls.

But it settled back into the normal routine soon enough. The team was mostly indifferent to their new relationship. Lydia commented that it was about time, and a few of the other team members voiced their agreement. But, past a few of the boys perhaps paying too much attention when they kissed, none of them acted any differently. In the end Sylvie found the final months of her fifth year drew to a close far faster than she expected them to.

They squashed Ravenclaw in their final match, but again the chasers hadn't been able to get the lead much past one hundred. They held the points lead by a good margin going into the final match of the season.

Sylvie sat mostly on Anna's lap as they watched the Gryffindor team come out for the final match. Her girlfriend clutched her close, holding her tighter and tighter through the game. She squeezed a little harder with each Gryffindor goal. By the one-hundred-point margin Anna's face was buried in Sylvie's hair as she tried to ignore Gryffindor's mounting lead.

The match plodded on toward its inevitable conclusion. Gryffindor ran up the score up as much as they could, and then, with a mundane toss, they scored enough goals that the outcome of the match became irrelevant.

"Damn," Anna sniffed, frowning.

"I'm sorry," Sylvie frowned, the memory of missing the snitch lingering in her mind.

"It's not your fault, Princess," Anna said. She kissed the top of her head as her attention shifted away from the match as the aftermath continued around them.

"I still wanted to win the cup with you at least once," Sylvie said.

"Me too," Anna said. "But we did our best. You'll just have to win it for me next year. Rub that stupid smile off of Button's face."

"I could hex him right now. I'm sure no one would notice," Sylvie said.

"I'd know," Anna responded with a smirk. Sylvie stayed quiet for a moment.

"You know what we should do?" Sylvie asked, feeling a bit down about their failure. But feeling worse for her friend. Anna didn't think she was good enough to play Quidditch professionally. And she already had a job lined up with her parents for after school. Sylvie hoped she could have given her one final great Quidditch memory. But it simply wasn't to be. Still, she knew she could give her a better memory to drown out the bad.

"Hmm?" Anna responded.

"We should sneak up to the seventh floor and not come out until class on Monday," Sylvie said.

"That sounds lovely," Anna smiled. "But I will have to be responsible and grab my transfiguration homework."

"Well fine," Sylvie said, slipping off of her girlfriend's lap as they moved to leave the stands. "That will give me time to pick up a few things to make distracting you easier."

"I can't wait," Anna laughed as she took Sylvie's hand and they started to walk back toward the castle.

Sylvie finished her fifth year without much fanfare. She thought her exams were tolerable. And when her grades came they were good enough that her parents decided to let her spend a few weeks toward the end of summer with Anna and her family.

Well, that's what she told them. Anna came over for the afternoon to pick her up and enjoy a family meal with the Potters. Leo saw them kissing when she arrived and ran off, but neither of her parents mentioned it over dinner or after. And then Anna and Sylvie went to London.

They went to a small party with a few other recent graduates. Sylvie felt a little out of place among the older students. She stuck mostly by Anna and felt oddly out of place, sipping some vile beer from a bottle to distract herself. But at some point Anna was dragged away by a few of her friends before Sylvie really noticed.

She looked around the apartment, feeling oddly uncomfortable. She knew most of the people there, but she was the youngest one she saw, and she felt rather childish while she was there.

It was a half hour into Anna's disappearance before she started to worry. She paced around the party, looking for her without much luck.

"Lost, Princess?" a man said from behind her. She paused spun around, feeling suddenly concerned at her surroundings. But what she saw was mostly harmless.

"Do your parents know you're here, Q?" she asked.

"Do yours, V?" Quintus responded. Sylvie took a sip of warm beer rather than answering. He remained silent for a moment before adding. "I thought so."

"What do you want, Q?" she asked.

"Why do I have to want something?" he asked.

"Because you're you," Sylvie said. Quintus raised his brows and stared at her. But he didn't leave her alone. Instead he leaned on the wall next to her.

"I don't think I'm the one famous for getting what I want," Quintus said.

"Go away," Sylvie said.

"So, what brings you to London?" Quintus said.

"I'm in London all the time," Sylvie retorted. Quintus rolled his eyes but didn't let any annoyance slip into his annoyingly cheerful voice.

"What brings you to London this evening?" Quintus asked.

"I'm here with Anna," Sylvie said.

"And where is Miss Chase?" Quintus asked.

"Around," Sylvie shrugged, sipping her beer.

"Are the French always such wonderful conversationalists?" Quintus asked.

"Only when the English are around," Sylvie replied.

"Interesting. What are you drinking?" Quintus asked.

"Beer," Sylvie said, taking a sip of it and continuing to scan the party for Anna.

"What kind?" Quintus asked.

"The brown kind," Sylvie said.

"And how is it?" Quintus asked.

"Why are you still here?" Sylvie asked. Quintus looked at her for a few moments. He pressed his lips together and seemed to think about his response for a moment. And then he took a deep breath and spoke.

"I was leaving. And then I saw you. And I don't think you should be here," Quintus said.

"Fuck off Q," Sylvie said and turned to move away from him. But he shifted and blocked her path.

"Hear me out, Sylvie," he said. She tried to force her way by him but she couldn't.

"What?" she asked, annoyance rising in her voice.

"You want to be a professional seeker like your father," Quintus said.

"I will be a professional seeker," Sylvie commented.

"There's people doing drugs here, it's incredibly loud and likely to lead to a noise complaint and someone investigating and you don't want team scouts asking you why you were at a drug party," Quintus said.

"Please. It's not that loud and no one is doing drugs here," Sylvie said.

"Sure, V, Sure," Quintus said. "Let me take you home. I'm sure my parents would be thrilled to have a guest for the night."

"I'm staying with Anna," she said.

"And I haven't seen her in a half hour," Quintus said.

"It's none of your business Q, just leave me alone," Sylvie said. She turned the other way and managed to escape him. At least momentarily. She could feel him behind her for the next fifteen minutes. But he didn't approach her or try to stop her. Still, his presence was incredibly irritating.

But finally, as she paced around the room, she found her girlfriend. Anna came stumbling out of a side room. She giggled when she saw Sylvie. Her eyes were a little glazed over and she was holding two cupcakes. She had purple frosting on part of her lips and underneath her nose. It matched the frosting on the cupcakes.

"Princess!" she yelled as she saw Sylvie. She moved over toward her and offered one of the cupcakes. "You have to try these! They're amazing."

"What are they?" Sylvie asked.

"Really good cupcakes," Anna giggled as Sylvie took one from her and examined it. She took the wrapper off of the bottom revealing the yellow cake and sniffed at the purple frosting. It had the lingering scent of chocolate and had all sorts of shiny purple crystals dusted onto it.

"Don't eat that Sylvie," Quintus said from behind her. Sylvie glared at him.

"Fuck off Q," she said. And she took a big bite of the cupcake, not caring that she got more of it on her face. She sniffed at the icing underneath her nose before she managed to wipe it away. The cupcake was good, moist and light. She licked at some of the icing before taking another bite of cake.

She glared at Quintus while she ate. A string of annoyance running through her as she realized that he was fairly attractive. He was over a head taller than her and in great shape. He wore a tight t-shirt that seemed like it would look better torn and on the floor.

She blinked a bit as she thought of removing Quintus Button's clothing. That was unusual, a small voice in her head said as she took another bite of the cupcake. She didn't like him at all.

Well sure but that didn't mean it wouldn't be nice to rip her nails down his back as he pressed her against a wall. She savored the last bite of cupcake as her mind lingered on the thought of his weight pressing her down. She bit her lip after she swallowed the last of the cake.

Her teeth digging into her own lip felt oddly wonderful. She paused as she realized that her body felt like it was on fire. The only time she'd ever felt like that was after Anna had teased her for hours.

She turned to see her girlfriend and felt a smile draw over her face. She tossed the cupcake wrapper over her shoulder, hoping it hit Quintus on his perfectly sculpted chest and slipped closer to her girlfriend.

She kissed Anna roughly on the lips, her arms sliding around her. She didn't care that they were in public. She didn't care that a crowd gathered shortly after they started kissing. All she cared about was soothing the slowly spreading fire in her. She needed Anna to touch her, kiss her, love her. And she didn't care who watched.

Sylvie woke up in Anna's one-bedroom apartment near the back of Diagon Alley. Her parents thought she was staying with the family. They hadn't quite divulged that Anna had her own place. It was small and old, but neither girl cared all that much.

She had a splitting headache and rolled around for a minute or two to attempt to go back to sleep. But it became apparent pretty quickly that she wasn't going to fall back asleep. Anna left a note on her pillow stating she'd gone in to work and would be back later that evening.

Sylvie frowned at that. They'd arranged this tryst knowing full well that Anna would be working most days. Her girlfriend was training at one of the grocery stores her parents owned. She would replace the old manager in a few years, once the man retired. Sylvie was happy for her, but she barely remembered the night before and wanted some semblance of home.

She eventually dragged herself out of bed and moved toward the bathroom. It was small and dark, but clean. She leaned against the counter and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was all over the place, her makeup smeared across her face. Her lips were tinged purple. There were bite marks on her neck.

She stripped off her clothing and drew a bath. She washed her face while the water came up to temperature and then lost herself in the warmth of it. A few hours later she woke up again and rose from the bath. She dried herself and wrapped herself in a robe before leaving the bathroom.

Sylvie frowned at the lack of food in the apartment as she rifled through the cabinets. There was plenty of stuff had she been able to make anything. But her own culinary skills were far from competent.

Instead she summoned Kreacher. She was still fairly surprised when he came when she called. And even more surprised when he happily made her an omelet. She had him sit with her while she ate. The elf seemed uncomfortable but he stayed with her, eyeing the apartment with disdain.

Once she'd finished he cleaned up and popped away before she could tell him to do anything else. Sylvie found herself disinterested in getting dressed, or doing anything, while wishing she had more of the cupcakes from the previous evening.

She was laying on the couch, still in the bathrobe when Anna returned from work. Anna chided her for not being dressed or remotely ready for their dinner reservation. Which Sylvie completely forgot about.

She threw on a dress and was ready in just enough time to not miss their reservation. Dinner was nice. Sylvie preferred it to the chaos of the party the night before. When Anna mentioned that there was another one they could go to after, Sylvie balked.

When Anna frowned at her she countered by saying she wanted to remember their time together. And that she was really looking forward to being alone with her and cuddling up in bed and enjoying each other's company. She pouted and looked away as she said it, making her voice small and weak. And Anna caved immediately. After desert they went back to Anna's apartment and did just what Sylvie wanted.

But it only took a few days for Sylvie to grow bored. She didn't want to say anything, because that seemed rude. But she found very little to do during the day. By the fourth day of the vacation she'd completed her summer assignments mostly out of boredom.

And she could tell Anna was growing annoyed with her. Her friend looked tired. They went out for dinner almost every night and, at first, she was incredibly concerned with cost. And grew annoyed when Sylvie offered to pay for everything.

Anna implied that maybe Sylvie should try to make dinner or something while she was at work. Sylvie wondered why she would even attempt that and instead called Kreacher to do it for her. The elf did so happily, but Anna seemed annoyed by that too.

And she seemed annoyed when Sylvie bought a vial of that purple dust that had been sprinkled on the cupcakes. Sylvie had thought it might be fun to do it again while they were alone, but Anna hadn't wanted to.

Sylvie got her Hogwarts letter, including her fancy new Captain's badge, while staying with Anna. Which was good as it gave her an excuse to buy all of her supplies in Diagon Alley. Which prevented her from being bored for a day. She ran into quite a few of her housemates while she was there. Their conversations were mundane small talk but it was nice to see her friends. She even conned Anna into taking a lunch break during the time too.

They talked mostly of Quidditch over lunch. After Sylvie told them about her captaincy they talked about prospective teammates and the like. But by the time she'd come home that evening, she was uninterested in continuing to talk of Quidditch.

Sylvie had gotten carryout from The Leaky Cauldron. Anna didn't comment on it and they ate mostly in silence. Sylvie poking at her food and thinking Kreacher did a better job. They cuddled on the couch and listened to the wireless after they finished eating. Anna fell asleep there. Sylvie let her sleep for a few hours before kissing her awake and whispering that they should go to bed.

Anna didn't resist as they changed the location of their cuddling. It was, Sylvie thought, entirely worth it to cuddle close to someone she loved as she fell asleep. Well sure, the sex was nice too, but there was something more intimate, move loving, about falling asleep together and waking up together. Even if Sylvie often just kissed her in the morning and went back to sleep.

But, still, she couldn't help but feel that things seemed strained as she returned home to Bordeaux. She was glad to see her parents, although they both seemed to look at her oddly for the first day or two. But she figured she was imagining it as everything went back to normal. Her father was quite proud of her Quidditch captaincy and they spent time talking about what type of qualities she should be looking for in prospective players.

Quidditch talk and Quidditch practice with her father filled the rest of her summer. And it was pleasant until he helped her pack the morning of her return to Hogwarts.

"Sylvie?" he'd asked, rather sternly as she was making sure her uniforms were folded and ready to go.

"Yeah dad?" she asked. She turned to look at him and found him holding the purple vial.

"Why do you have pixie dust?" he'd asked. She paused and started to pout, looking as innocent as she could imagine.

"I uh…" she started, racking her brain to come up with a good excuse. Her first idea of 'blame Chloe' seemed like it wouldn't be the brightest play, given that her sister was six.

"It doesn't matter," her father shook his head. And with a flick of his wrist the vial disappeared. "Don't do that shit."

"It's just pixie dust," Sylvie frowned. Her father grasped her shoulder almost painfully.

"Sylvie," he said more sternly than she could ever remember him being. One finger of his other hand pushed her face up until her eyes met his. "Do not do that shit. It will ruin your Quidditch career."

"I….okay," she said, knowing there was no point in arguing. She could also tell there was more to it than he was letting on. But she knew better than to press her father for details he didn't wish to give.

She thought for sure she'd get a lecture from her mother as well, but neither parent mentioned it as they ventured to London and to the train station. Anna met her there and saw her off with her parents. They didn't kiss in front of them. And everything felt strained again as Anna showed. But it was nice to see her as she joined her friends on the train and prepared to start her sixth year at Hogwarts.