After Jack's expulsion from Hogwarts, the Slytherins disowned and rejected Lena. Which was fine, because although she'd been drilled to have house pride, she'd never really been interested in making friends with any of them anyway. So, Lena took to sitting with the Gryffindors for meals, which was slightly more inviting, considering that they'd given her a pass for getting another Slytherin expelled.

"You're cool, kid. We'll keep you around," she was told, surprisingly by the boy who had tried to curse her the night Kara had found them in the corridor past curfew.

Kara and Lena both knew it had nothing to do with house loyalty, but neither of them minded having a less hostile environment. Finally, a little bit of support.

Then, rumors spread like wildfire, and soon, the girls found themselves at the Gryffindor breakfast table listening to everyone beside them chanting, "Kara's got a girlfriend" over and over, which made an incredible scene that caught the attention of the entire Great Hall. Everyone knew Kara. This was not going away any time soon.

"Stop, guys!" Kara whined, not willing to address the statement but making all reasonable efforts to make the chanting stop.

Lena had her head down. She knew this wasn't good for Kara, for her house to think she was dating a Slytherin. She was, but they hadn't exactly had any public displays of affection to signal this. How did they even know? It was probably in the way they looked at each other. At least, that's what Lena assumed, since she knew full damn well that every time she looked into Kara's eyes, everything inside her melted into a pile of I'd-do-anything-for-you.

But Lena tried to respect Kara's privacy. She was the Gryffindor team Seeker and was on pace to be the team captain the next year. If her popularity wavered, she might not get the spot, and Kara wanted to be scouted more than anything. She needed this. She needed people to like her, just like they always had. The last thing Lena wanted was to ruin that for her.

Mentally attempting to drown out the chanting was going absolutely nowhere for Lena, considering that her girlfriend was still standing, shouting at her classmates, and looking guiltier than ever. Kara wasn't really all that great at lying either. Not that she denied the rumors. Just that she was giving the very strong impression that she had something to hide.

Was it really that obvious? Kara wondered.

Then, she thought about it. She couldn't keep her hands off Lena. Not public displays of affection. Just… little touches here and there. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Resting her hand on Lena's thigh. Playfully nudging her shoulder. Anything, really, to have an excuse to touch her.

This realization only made Kara's blush redder, and that blush had spread far past her cheeks and was now simply making her face a deep shade of crimson.

"Sit," Lena begged her, seeing just how upset Kara was getting while trying to convince her classmates to knock off the teasing. "It's okay. Just ignore it. They're—"

But Lena had made the mistake of grabbing Kara's hand to try to pull her back down into a seated position, which only earned whistles and hoots from the Gryffindors.

Then, to both Kara and Lena's surprise, they started chanting something else: "Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!"

Kara thought she might faint. They were teasing her, but… it wasn't a bad thing? Relief washed over her, at first, before embarrassment returned. Kara had never kissed anyone in front of anyone else. In fact, the thought of doing so in front of the whole school was overwhelming. Still, she probably would have given just about anything to remove herself from the spotlight in that moment and to get her classmates to shut the hell up.

So she sat down slowly and turned her head to look at Lena, whose cheeks were also burning.

Biting her lip, Kara looked at Lena quizzically. She wasn't about to assume that PDA was okay with her, so she waited. Lena nodded almost immediately, and as soon as she did, Kara leaned in shyly and pecked her on the lips.

"Aww, c'mon, Kara!" a voice called out. "Kiss her like you mean it!"

Kara's head whipped around to see her sister, Alex, standing behind her near the table, wearing a shit-eating grin.

"It's the least you can do when you literally never shut the fuck up about her!" Alex added, pushing on Kara's back to scoot her closer to Lena.

By whatever strange happenstance – probably because Alex was always so busy – Lena had never officially met Kara's sister, so to have her first experience with her be Alex ratting her sister out for 'never shutting the fuck up' about her… it was intense. Was that true? Did Kara really talk about her with her sister?

Judging by the horrified look on Kara's face, it was 110% accurate.

So Lena's smile returned, having caught Kara in an adorably embarrassing act of love. Without hesitating, Lena felt a burst of confidence tear through her as she grabbed Kara's tie and jerked her forward, crashing their lips together hard.

"Yeah!" the Gryffindors roared. "Show that chicken who's boss, Lena!"

It had been Lena's move to go back for a deeper kiss, but she was still surprised to be getting encouragement from Kara's housemates. Kara, on the other hand, wasn't thinking about this at all. She was busy getting lost in the kiss, savoring the taste of pumpkin juice on Lena's lips. When she realized she was holding her breath, she finally gasped and broke the kiss, left completely breathless by the passion with which her partner had just kissed her.

"Pathetic, Kara. Really," Alex teased. "You go in for a peck when the whole house is cheering for you? What a pansy." Then, turning to Lena and continuing to wear her confident grin, Alex said, "Good job, Lena. Make sure you remind her where her balls are on a regular basis, because she seems to forget they're there around you."

With a wink, Alex gave the fifth year sitting beside her sister a gentle shove and sat down in his place, wrapping an arm around Kara as the table finally settled down.

"I'm happy for you, sis," Alex whispered in her ear, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "You should've let me meet her sooner."

Unable to blush more than she already was, Kara felt herself becoming lightheaded. Everything was spinning, and the surprise with which she greeted the moment was incredibly overwhelming. It helped when Lena squeezed her hand to ground her, though, and her smile finally returned.

"I love you," Lena whispered, so only Kara could hear her. "Thank you."

"For what?" Kara asked, looking confused.

"For kissing me in front of everyone. For not being ashamed of me. And for defending me even when I was on their shit lists for being a Slytherin."

"Well," Kara said cheerfully. "You're a Slytherdor now, so…"

Lena grinned, wrapping her arms around Kara and repeating her thanks.

"Stop," Kara laughed. "Quit thanking me."

"Thank you," the brunette pressed on. "Thank you for being with me. Thank you for being so beautiful. Thank you for always standing up for me. Thank you for always protecting me. Thank you for—"

"Shut up, would you?" the Gryffindor laughed, leaning in to silence her with a kiss.

Lena smiled against her lips, making Kara shiver.

When Kara finally pulled away, she commented, "So… The final Quidditch match of the year is tomorrow…"

"I know," the Slytherin told her with a smile. "You're not nervous, are you? You're going to do great."

"Look… Lena…." Kara began, seriousness returning. "I know you don't like Quidditch, but… There will be scouts there, and I'm… I'm honestly nervous. I could really use your—"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Lena interrupted her, kissing her firmly on the lips. "Not for anything."

Feeling herself tear up from the relief of having such an overwhelming outpouring of support from her partner – she'd honestly been nervous that Lena wouldn't want to go – Kara hugged the girl tightly and nuzzled her neck with her forehead as she clung to her.

As soon as Lena was comfortable – probably too comfortable – in her arms as they sat at the table, Kara felt the sudden urge to tickle her, and did so without inhibitions. Lena hated that. Hated being tickled. But good Lord was it funny!

So Kara reached under her arms and pressed just the right places to make Lena laugh, causing her to squirm in her seat at the table.

"Kara!" Lena shouted. "Stoppp!"

But Kara simply shook her head and leaned in, kissing Lena repeatedly, all over her face.

"Kara," the older girl laughed. "That's enough, you goober! We gotta get to class!"

Kara shrugged, grinning as she pulled away, pressed a kiss to Lena's lips, and said, "Best part of my day."

Lena just rolled her eyes, telling her, "You're a brat."

Of course, Kara walked Lena to class, insisting on carrying her books.

"I'm not breakable, you know," Lena had told her, protesting the gesture.

"No," Kara agreed. "But you're my princess, so I'm going to treat you like one." Once they reached Lena's classroom, Kara pecked her on the lips and said, "So, I'll see you later?"

Lena smiled and nodded her head in confirmation.

"And you'll be at the match tomorrow?" the blonde asked.

"Of course."

"And I'm not gonna die this time, right?"

"Nope. I'd never let that happen," Lena promised.

Kara kissed her one last time before they parted ways.