The Gryffindor common room was a bustling place throughout the day, especially after classes. Many of the Gryffindor students would spend their time in the comfortable room, exchanging gossip, rereading notes from courses, and finishing assignments. The circular room was rather large and homey. A big fireplace sat on one side with a plush couch in front. Squishy and comfy chairs littered the area along with wooden tables. The scarlet and gold color scheme both showed off the house colors and instilled a sense of pride and hominess to the students.
Bianca sat in one of the arm chairs. Her body sank into the welcoming cushions, and a relieved sigh slipped past her lips. It had been a long day, to say the least. A full day of classes always tired her out. Considering most of them had assigned potentially long homework assignments for the evening made her close her eyes in agony. For potions, Snape barked out for his fifth years to write ten pages on the antidote they fumbled through that day. Ten pages! It was due in two days. She didn't understand how anyone could possibly come up with enough information on one antidote for ten pages, but she had to do it. If she didn't keep her marks up, her mother and stepfather would be disappointed. Not to mention the fact that OWLs – Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations – were at the end of the school year. It was only November, but just thinking about the upcoming tests had her stomach in knots.
OWLs were one of the single most important exams a witch or wizard would ever take in their lifetime. An exam was administered for each subject, and if one did not pass the exam, they could not continue to study that subject for the last two years of their time at Hogwarts. If one cannot continue with the subject, they cannot take NEWTs – Nastily Exhausting Wizard Tests – which determine what positions they can apply for in the ministry or other career areas. Everyone already started studying their fourth year, Bianca included, but it was still a lot to take in. If she couldn't even keep her marks up in potions now, how could she begin to imagine passing her OWL in the subject?
As if school wasn't enough, there was also the tiny fact that she was madly attracted to a Slytherin girl who made her head spin and heartache with each mixed signal. Really, how could someone kiss you the way Frankie had kissed her and then go and say it meant nothing? And it wasn't even one kiss! It was a lot of kisses. A whole night's worth of them. Then, Frankie ups and disappears only to turn around and say it was a mistake. But, it wasn't. Bianca knew it with everything inside of her it wasn't a mistake. It wasn't for her, and it wasn't for Frankie, whether she would admit to it or not.
Frankie was going to kiss her again. She was sure of it. If those Ravenclaws had not appeared, Frankie would have given in and kissed her.
"Are you ok, Bianca?" Babe Carey plopped into the seat next to her with a concerned look.
Bianca blinked up at her friend. Babe Carey was in the same year as her. They met the first night during the welcome feast. While the girl could be a tad loopy and dense, she was one of the friendliest people in the whole castle and a good pal. "Fine, just tired."
"Classes were pretty harsh today." Babe accepted the response easily. "I can't believe Snape took away thirty points because of my antidote. It worked…kinda."
It had actually turned her partner Lucy's hair orange instead of alleviating the poison, but considering one of the Slytherins' potions made someone vomit crabs and they didn't get punished, it was uncalled for.
"Well, that's Snape for you." Simone entered the conversation. The dark haired fifth year dropped into a chair, Dani and Erin taking the other seats. "I don't understand why Dumbledore keeps him around."
"He knows potions." Babe shrugged.
"He's also a giant piece of owl dung." Simone scoffed. "How am I supposed to write ten pages on one antidote? I have a life, you know."
"Yes, and it involves sitting in the library with the rest of us tomorrow evening while we write this." Erin chuckled.
"Your boyfriend can go one evening without seeing you." Dani added.
"At least I have a boyfriend."
Bianca half-listened to the back and forth between her friends. While the girls snarked at each other, it was always in good humor. The group cared for each other, and like every other Gryffindor, was helpful and nice to everyone. Well, except when it came to quidditch. The girls were highly supportive of their team and cheered against all the other houses whenever they were matched up against Gryffindor.
It was a comfort to listen to the banter, but Bianca only listened along, barely speaking. She couldn't help it that her mind floated back to those dark dungeon halls. The fact that Frankie was going to kiss her again meant something. It meant Frankie felt it too, whatever it was. The blonde had basically told her to leave because it was dangerous for her to be there. Her front of being an uncaring jerk was shot to hell now. Bianca saw past it. If she was truthful with herself, she never really believed it in the first place. The girl she met at King's Cross Station was a little edgy, but she wasn't outright mean.
"Come on, though. The way Snape treats us and treats the Slytherins is stupid. He shouldn't be allowed to do that." Dani's words cut into Bianca's thoughts.
"Do what? Treat us like idiots and the Slytherins like gods?" Simone rolled her eyes, "How anyone could treat those snakes like anything other than what they are is beyond me."
"Snape's the only reason any of them pass at all." Erin smiled, "Well, that and their parents' connections."
"They're not going to win the House Cup again this year. They can't." Simone grimaced.
"We should win it, but Slytherin keeps winning all the quidditch matches." Erin shrugged.
"Cause they cheat." Dani frowned, "They're all dirty, and their seeker is the dirtiest one of all."
Bianca sat up a little straighter at that. Frankie was the Slytherin seeker.
"It bugs me so much. They walk around like they're the supreme rulers of the school. I'd like to see our team wipe those arrogant smirks right off their faces." Simone sneered. "They act like no one can touch them. The only reason people stay away is because they'd stun you when your back is turned."
"A group of them jinxed Marco from Hufflepuff earlier in between classes. They stood there and laughed while his legs turned into jello." Babe informed the group.
"See, I bet he wasn't even looking." Simone pointed her finger. "The whole lot of them are arrogant jerks. You know what everyone says. No one good has ever come from Slytherin. They've all turned out to be evil one way or another."
"Do you know who jinxed him?" Erin asked.
Babe shook her head, "There was a big group of them. Someone said it was Frankie Stone, but I don't know for sure."
"If they said it was her, it was her." Simone spat. "That sounds like something she'd do."
Bianca felt her nails dig into the cushions of the seat as she sat up as straight as she could. Just because someone said it was Frankie, didn't mean it was. And, who were they to say that?
"It's weird." Babe squinted in thought, "I heard she was muggle-born."
"And sorted into Slytherin? Not a chance." Simone crowed. "She is as much of an elitist pureblood as the rest of them. All Slytherins are."
Bianca's teeth gnashed together. That wasn't like Frankie at all. And, how did they not know Frankie's heritage? Was it a secret? How?
"Remember in History of Magic, when Binns briefly talked about…what were they called…Death Eaters?" Erin said.
"You're awake in that class?" Dani chuckled.
Erin brushed off the comment, "Really, do you? They were all about getting rid of anyone who wasn't pureblood. They killed a bunch of people and everything."
"So?"
"So, they were Slytherins."
Simone spoke, "Sounds like something they'd do. I bet Frankie Stone would be the first one to sign up, too."
Bianca couldn't take it anymore, "Leave her alone!" She blurted out, face red.
The others turned to her with looks of confusion and incredulity. Bianca, breathing heavy with the exertion it took to not say anything for so long, stared back at them. She swallowed roughly, gaze ticking over each of their faces. While she didn't like what they were saying, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to let her bubbling anger spill out like that. These were her friends…and they were talking about Slytherin.
"What did you say?" Simone was shocked.
Bianca took a calming breath, "We don't know her. We shouldn't be talking about her like this."
Simone laughed humorlessly, "Are you serious, Bianca? We don't have to chat with her to know what she's like. The whole school knows that Frankie Stone is about as bad as they come. She's just another Slytherin snake."
Bianca shook her head, "We don't know anything about her."
"She was sorted. That's all we need to know. Maybe if you went to one of the quidditch matches, you'd know what we're talking about. Do you know she made the Hufflepuff seeker crash into the ground? For no reason but her own amusement." Simone waved her arms.
Frankie and her friends had been talking about that earlier. "It could have been tactical."
"He ran into the ground!"
"Simone, I'm just saying we've never talked to her. We shouldn't judge someone we've never even talked to." Well, they'd never talked to her. Bianca on the other hand…
"Bianca's right." Babe interrupted Simone's retort. She offered her friend a smile, "We don't know Frankie Stone."
Simone rolled her eyes, "Fine. You're too friendly for your own good sometimes, though. The Slytherins are trouble."
Bianca silently thanked Babe as the conversation steered back toward classes. She couldn't stop herself from speaking up. Frankie might be frustrating, but she didn't deserve ridicule. Of course, Bianca had felt the same way about Slytherin for a long time. Gryffindor was her family's house. Each of her relatives had been sorted into it. And if there was one thing that never ended, it was the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry. She'd always been taught that while there were four houses at Hogwarts, Slytherin was the one she did not want to be in. Her mother, especially, instilled in her how horrible they could be. Being at Hogwarts, she'd let those feelings continue on.
But one drunken day in Hogsmeade made her question it, at least where Frankie was concerned. While Frankie wasn't a saint by any means, she wasn't what all the rumors said she was. She couldn't be.
The group of friends decided to make a quick trip to the library that night before curfew. They'd grab a few books on the antidote, hopefully before anyone else did, and be prepared for their study session tomorrow.
Walking along one of the many castle corridors, though, they ran into something unexpected.
The Slytherin quidditch team was walking back from practice, their practice robes rustling at their feet. They were laughing and joking with each other, smirks and smiles on every face.
The noise stopped when they spotted the incoming Gryffindors.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the pathetic loser brigade." One of the Slytherin players called out, "Come to see how badly your team is going to lose?"
"You wish." Simone replied with a glare, "All I see is a bunch of wannabe's."
The two groups stopped in front of each other. Bianca felt her breath catch as she spotted Frankie in the middle of the group, in between Gary and Rich, she wasn't sure that was his name, but she was going with it. The blonde's hair, while pulled back, had been tussled by the wind. Random wisps stuck out at odd angles. Her face was still slightly red from the mixture of physical exertion and flying through the air. In one hand, she held a pair of leather gloves while the other paused as it rose to scratch near her eye.
The moment Bianca's brown eyes met Frankie's hazel, the Gryffindor had to bite her lip to hold in the words that wanted to pop out. She clenched her hands into fists to stop them from reaching out and fixing the rumpled robes. Was it wrong to think Frankie looked particularly sexy all wrinkled and exhausted?
Frankie returned the stare, her tongue darting out to moisten her wind chapped lips. Bianca had changed out of her uniform into comfortable casual clothing, and the sight made her stomach clench. That was the same shirt Bianca wore to Hogsmeade at the end of their fourth year. It was the same one she'd wrapped her hands in as she kissed her against that wall behind some store.
What was Bianca doing there?
"Ooooh," the Slytherins, except for Frankie who was somewhat stunned at the moment, echoed. "You better watch your mouth. Considering how you played us last year, we won't even need to catch the snitch to beat you."
Simone scowled at the arrogance, "Don't you have somewhere else to be? Like Azkaban?"
All of the Slytherins bristled at that, "You think you're so brave talking like that to me? You better watch your back."
Before the insults could escalate into something more, Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher and head of Hufflepuff, rounded the corner. "What's going on here?"
All eyes turned to her, except two pairs. Bianca was still wondering why Frankie had acted the way she did earlier, and Frankie was still trying to work out how to make the fluttering in her belly stop.
Their stare was broken when Frankie was suddenly pushed forward by Gary and Rich. The Slytherins moved as one around the Gryffindors, sneers directed at the other house. A few parting insults were muttered.
Bianca looked over her shoulder as they left. She caught Frankie taking a quick glimpse behind her before she was out of sight.
They were the only two silent throughout the whole encounter.