Gryffindor tower was dead silent in the pale midnight moonlight. Up in the fifth year girls' dormitory, the only sounds were the rustling of sheets as sleeping bodies turned and the wheezing and snoring of exhaustion. One girl, many suspected it was Simone but no one knew for sure, possessed a rather obnoxiously loud snore.

Bianca listened to the annoying noise, her even breaths in sync with the rise and fall of it. The curtains had been drawn around her four poster bed, so she was eclipsed in total darkness. Flat on her back, her hands were folded on top of her belly and her open eyes stared up at what would be the ceiling, if she could see it. The teenager snuggled further under her blankets and grasped the warm wool and cotton. She didn't notice how soft the blanket felt curled beneath her fingers. Her mind, instead, was focused on the same thing it had been focused on since she slipped into bed earlier that evening.

Frankie Stone.

With a huff, Bianca rolled onto her side. Her hands fell from their perch, and she dug them underneath her pillow. She should be sleeping. Tomorrow would be another full day of courses, and she still had to write that potions essay with her friends. It would be very detrimental if she was so utterly tired that she could not do anything but nap, which would happen if she didn't get any sleep.

Why did she have to run into Frankie again?

If it wasn't enough that she had really thought of nothing else since their kisses in the astronomy tower, her outburst with her friends was quite enough. It wasn't right for them to be ridiculing Frankie. They didn't know a thing about her. All they knew was that she was a Slytherin, and while that would normally be enough, Frankie wasn't just any ordinary Slytherin. No other Slytherin had those cute hazel eyes or adorable little smile.

Bianca slapped her palm against the bed. The Slytherin quidditch team just had to be in that hallway, didn't they? She just had to see Frankie again after the girl nearly kissed her again after saying what they did was nothing. Nothing! A one time thing! Like…they'd lent each other a quill or something. Why did Frankie have to be so…so…gah. It wasn't like Bianca could walk away, chalk it up to Frankie being a no good Slytherin. Frankie sought her out first. It was Frankie who provided the firewhiskey that got them drunk enough to make-out in Hogsmeade. It was Frankie who waited around in the dungeons after her meeting with Professor Snape. It was Frankie who disappeared afterward. It was Frankie who said she didn't want anything to do with her.

It was always Frankie!

Bianca rolled onto her back, again. Frankie had to feel something for her. Why else would she be like that? If she didn't care about Bianca, she would have let those Slytherin boys jinx her that night in the dungeons. She wouldn't have agreed to go to the astronomy tower with Bianca. For Merlin's sakes, she never would have kissed her back!

Bianca wanted to see Frankie again. She was sure of it. She wanted to spend time with her. That sentiment was confirmed when she saw Frankie on the way to the library. If only neither one of their friends had been there. If only it was the two of them in that hall. What would have happened? Would Frankie have tried to leave or would she have went up to her and admitted the truth – that there was something between them?

Oh, why did they ever have to kiss at all? Why did she have to keep feeling these things inside? Well, one way or another, she was going to do something about it.

Entering the potions' classroom two days later, Bianca was both nervous and determined. She was able to finish her essay, it took nearly the whole night and was dull as could be, but it was ready to be turned in. She was prepared for whatever life could throw at her that day.

She was ready for Frankie Stone.

Walking to her assigned seat, her friends around her, Bianca chanced a peek over at the Slytherin side of the room. Frankie was, once again, sitting at her post next to Gary Chancellor. A few other students were gathered around, all of them talking in hushed whispers. A few glanced over at the Gryffindor side with smirks.

"Wonder what they're up to." Erin spoke as the group sat down.

Bianca shrugged, not really caring. She was more focused on the blonde. Frankie had foregone the robes that day. Instead, she was dressed in the normal uniform of white shirt, grey sweater vest, and tie. Bianca noticed the tie was slightly crooked, and it brought a smile to her face.

"Bianca, did you bring an extra quill? I forgot mine." Babe tapped Bianca's shoulder.

Drawing her gaze away from the Slytherins, Bianca nodded and dug through her satchel. Bypassing the textbooks and rolls of parchment paper, she pulled out a quill and handed it to her friend. Babe accepted it with a friendly thanks and returned to extracting her own supplies for the class.

BANG!

Bianca jumped in her seat at the loud noise. She spun to see a cloud of smoke surrounding Simone's seat. Erin, who shared the table with the black haired girl, was coughing and waving at the cloud. A screech filled the air, and the smoke slowly dissipated. Bianca's eyes widened at the sight before her.

Simone was yellow!

Literally, every inch of the girl had turned a sickenly sweet pale yellow. Her hair, her skin, even her eyes were a glaringly bright yellow. Bianca gasped and brought a hand to her chest. Simone continued to screech, swiping at her discolored hands and clothing. Erin frantically reached for her friend, unsuccessfully helping her scrub at the golden tinge.

Boisterous laughter erupted from the Slytherin side.

"What's a'matta? Turn a little yellow, did ya?" Rich shouted gleefully.

"Lookie there, the Gryffindor turned yellow! Your true colors coming through?" another yelled.

"I don't know if she's a big canary or a yellow bellied coward!" came a mirthful chuckle.

Bianca looked over to see every single Slytherin bent over laughing. Frankie was leaned back in her chair, an amused smirk on her face. The smirk grew as Simone jumped to her feet and shook a finger at them.

"How dare you! You…you…" Simone couldn't finish her sentence she was so angry.

"What? You think this was us?" all of the Slytherins planted innocent looks on their faces. The looks quickly faded back into smirks and laughter, though.

Bianca felt absolute disgust churn in her stomach. How could they have done that to Simone? There was no warning or anything. And Frankie was sitting there laughing along with them. How could she? It wasn't funny at all. That was her friend! Rising to her feet, Bianca stormed to the space between the two sides and glared at each and every one of them.

"You think this is funny? This isn't funny at all. It's stupid." Her glare was merciless, "You are the cowards. What did you do? Put a jinx on her seat? Attack her when she didn't expect it?"

Her eyes landed on Frankie, "You won't even own up to what you've done."

She watched as Frankie's face slowly fell at the double meaning. The smirk dropped away, and she ducked her head. The other Slytherins continued to chuckle under their breaths, sneering at the brunette. Gary shook Frankie's shoulder jovially and rolled his eyes. Frankie shot him a half-hearted smile, but it quickly went away once he turned to talk to someone else.

"What…is going on here?" Professor Snape's cold voice droned out. He walked out of the back room where all the ingredients were held. His long drawn face was pale and greasy black hair hung around his features. His lips were thin and formed a straight line as he looked over the scene. Vision landing on Simone, he spoke evenly, "Did Ms. Carey perhaps make another antidote without supervision?"

"They attacked me!" Simone shouted, throwing her hands at the Slytherin side.

Snape turned to face his house students, "Did they?"

The Slytherins quietly snickered amongst themselves as Simone angrily bounced in place. However, they shot the perfect picture of innocence at their head of house.

"And, pray tell, why is Ms. Montgomery standing in the middle of the room?" Snape glanced at her.

Bianca pulled back her shoulders and returned his look, "I was telling them what I thought of their dumb prank."

Snape took this in. Spinning around, his black robes floated in the air, "Fifty points from Gryffindor."

"What? Why?" the Gryffindors cried out.

"For not properly defending one's self from attack." Snape marched up to the chalkboard. "Perhaps if there was a more qualified Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, this problem would not exist."

"You're punishing us for what they did?" Bianca asked disbelievingly.

"Ten more points for questioning my authority." Snape waved his wand and words began to form on the board.

Bianca should have shut up. But, Frankie's involvement with the joke on Simone and Snape's blasé attitude had her temper flaring, "This is ridiculous! They attacked Simone, and the only reason you aren't doing anything is because they're Slytherins like you!"

Snape turned, "A hundred points and detention, Ms. Montgomery. Considering your performance in this class, I would recommend you sit down and let us begin the lesson. Unless you wish to continue with your current academic performance?"

Bianca glared hard. She opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she though of his bullying ways, marks be damned, when a loud smack sounded. All eyes turned to see Frankie bending over to pick up her book that had fallen from the table.

"Sorry," Frankie muttered and cleared her throat, putting the textbook back in its place, her eyes flickering over Bianca as she did so.

That tiny fraction of a break afforded Bianca the opportunity for her temper to die down a little. While she was still mad, she could clearly see that arguing with a professor, especially Snape, was not the best or brightest thing to do. With one last glare, she went back to her seat.

"Now, if Ms. Torres would sit down and stop blathering, we will begin." Snape motioned toward the board, "The confusing and befuddlement draught is similar to a confusing concoction in that its main purpose is to cause confusion. What three ingredients are integral in its production?"

Bianca was furious. She was more than that. She was…upset. How could Frankie have participated in what happened to Simone? The girl had to go to the infirmary to get the color taken care of. The entire castle saw her. She was humiliated. Why? Because she said something to the quidditch team? The Slytherins started it.

Frankie just sat there. She laughed. She laughed as Bianca's friend turned yellow. She acted just like all the other Slytherins. Bianca thought Frankie was different, but clearly she had been wrong. Instead, Bianca had to suffer detention with Snape and watch as Gyrffindor house points drained away.

She had defended Frankie. She told her friends not to judge her. Maybe they were right. What she thought of Frankie was just that, a thought. What did she know about the girl? That she was a good kisser? They never really talked…except for when they first met. That had been five years ago. People changed. Being surrounded twenty-four hours a day by Slytherins, how could Frankie not become like them. Who was she kidding; Frankie had been sorted into that house. She already was like them.

And still she felt something. It put her insides into knots remembering how Frankie behaved in potions, but her heart also thumped harder when she remembered the feel of their lips meeting. She wanted to see Frankie, if only to smack her upside the head and confront her. It was baffling. Bianca truly did not know what to make of it. First, Frankie and her kiss in Hogsmeade. Then, they pretend it never happened. But, they meet again and kiss. Bianca instigated the kiss, but Frankie was the one waiting for her in the hall. They make-out for an entire night. Afterward, Frankie runs away and says it didn't matter. However, she almost kissed her again. Now, she played a horrible prank on her friend and laughed about it.

What was she supposed to think of all that?

Trudging through the cold drafty dungeon halls, Bianca chewed on her lip. It would be a lie to say she wanted to forget about Frankie. But, she just didn't understand her. Was this all some joke to Frankie? It couldn't be. Frankie had been protective of her. Not to mention that night in the astronomy tower. The way Frankie kissed her and held her…it sent delightful shivers down her spine.

She was still furious at Frankie for what she did to Simone, however. It was so confusing.

The crash of footsteps stopped her train of jumbled thoughts. Quickly looking around, Bianca spotted the alcove she hid in the last time and hopped inside. It was after dinner, and most of the Slytherins would be milling about here. She didn't want to run into a horde of them.

Peering out from the darkness, Bianca watched as a group of people appeared at one end of the hall while two other students ambled up from the opposite end. As they drew closer, the group transformed into the Slytherin quidditch team. The happy voices joked with each other.

"Bloody good show that was in potions today." Rich bumped Frankie's shoulder with a grin.

"Yeah, that freak looked like what she is." another player joined in.

Freak? How dare they? Bianca frowned.

"Wait till we beat them." Gary nodded his head, "Then, they'll shut up for good."

"Won't even have to catch the snitch, we won't." Rich whooped.

"We will, though." Gary patted Frankie's back.

Frankie rolled her eyes but a big smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Whatever. I wouldn't even need a broom to beat their seeker. He can't even get off the ground without crashing – bumbling fool."

Bianca felt her hackles rise at that. She knew the boy. He wasn't the best flyer around, but he wasn't terrible. It seemed the Slytherins couldn't say anything nice about anybody.

"Bumbling fool? You talking about yourself there, mudblood?" the two students walking from the other way finally reached the team.

All movement stopped.

Bianca held her breath and narrowed her eyes. What had he said?

"Watch it, Novak." Gary took a step forward.

"Watch what, Chancellor?" the boy who spoke raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to do something?"

"I am." Frankie stared at him, her voice low.

"What are you going to do? Hmmm?" Novak scowled.

In the blink of an eye, Frankie had her wand out and pointed at him, "I don't know. Maybe I'll make your arms fall off…maybe something else."

Novak's scowl darkened, "Tough talk for a muggle-born. You shouldn't even be here."

"Still am, though."

With her gaze on Novak, Frankie didn't notice the other boy pull his wand out until it was pointed at her. She whipped her wand toward him, allowing Novak the split second it took to take his out. Reacting, the rest of the quidditch team yanked theirs out.

Bianca was speechless.

"A filthy little mudblood trying to perform magic. How cute." Novak sneered.

"How about I sew your mouth shut? How's that for cute magic?" Frankie shot back.

"Get out of here, Novak." Gary ordered, his wand trained on the boy.

"Your little guard dogs are here. No wonder you act so tough. Rotten mudblood wouldn't act like this if you didn't."

"I could outduel you any day, moron." Frankie's eyes ticked back and forth between the two, cautious of an attack.

"You think you can beat me? Your dirty blood isn't good for anything. You are inferior."

"It's better than yours." Frankie smirked.

Novak's face burned, "Shut your mouth before I shut it for you. I have pure blood, Stone. I'm a real wizard."

"Yet, I'm still at the same school as you and getting better marks."

Novak's irises were huge with rage, "Filthy little…"

"Get out, now!" Gary ordered firmly. The rest of the team circled around Frankie, their wands fixed on the two targets.

Novak looked at all of them. After a second, he put his wand away, "Traitors. This house has gone to the dogs."

Bianca didn't release the breath she was holding till Novak and the other boy left. Once they were up the stairs and out of sight, the others put their wands away. Frankie was the last to lower her wand. In the dim light, Bianca could see she was breathing heavily, and her jaw was clenched as tight as it could be. Gary put a hand on Frankie's shoulder and guided her down the hall. The rest of the team formed around her. Slowly, they began to talk about the practice they just left. Frankie remained quiet.

As the group passed by the alcove, Bianca ducked further back, pressing her form against the cold stone wall. She sighed in relief as they went by without seeing her. A few steps away, though, she heard Frankie speak up, "Go on, I left something during potions. I have to get it."

"You want us to wait?" Gary asked.

"No, I'm fine." Frankie waved them off.

Reluctantly, the rest of the team began to leave. Once they were out of sight, Frankie pulled out her wand.

"Lumos."

The bright light shined into the alcove, illuminating the space and revealing Bianca. The brunette brought a hand up to cover her eyes at the sudden light.

"Why are you here?" Frankie's voice was on edge.

Bianca let her hand drop, "I had detention."

"Nox." The light went out.

"Frankie," Bianca stepped out of the alcove.

"You need to stop hiding down here. It's weird and dumb."

Bianca let that slide, her mind on what happened, "Are you ok?"

Frankie seemed to bristle at the question, "Why?"

Bianca bit her lip, "Those boys…how could they call you that?"

"Bianca,"

"No one should talk to you like that. They called you a mudblood, Frankie."

"I heard."

Bianca shook her head, "You're not inferior or…whatever they said."

"Aw thanks," Frankie drawled sarcastically. "Now, get out of here."

"Have you told Snape about this? Or Dumbledore?" there was no way anyone should get away with treating another student like that, "They're your housemates for Merlin's sake. How can they call you that?" How could they call Frankie that.

"Whatever, Bianca. Go away." Frankie spun on her heels.

"This is serious, Frankie."

"You stalking me? Yes, it is." Frankie walked toward the Slytherin common room.

Bianca followed, "You can't let them treat you like that."

"Don't remember letting them." Frankie stopped walking when it became obvious Bianca wasn't going to halt. "Are you an idiot? I said to go away. Clearly, you don't know what that means."

Bianca looked at her. She really looked at her. The attitude, the clothing, everything screamed Slytherin jerk. But, Frankie's jaw was locked. There was a slight tremble in her hands. And her eyes…

"Have they always been like that to you?" the Gryffindor quietly asked.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Frankie stepped up to her in frustration, "Let it go. It's my life. It doesn't concern you."

"How many of them?" Bianca ignored her outburst.

"Why? You want to play hero? All you Gryffindors are alike, aren't you. Have to be the brave knight in shining armor." Frankie forced Bianca to step back until she hit the wall, "I don't need you. I don't need anything. Why can't you get that through your thick skull? You think you're better than me because you're in Gryffindor? You need to save the poor little muggle-born?"

Bianca felt her heart crack, "I don't think that."

"Whatever. Go back to your loser friends." Frankie scoffed and schooled her features into a bored look. She took a step back, regaining control after the small outburst.

"Come with me. I want to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Please," Bianca's brown orbs pleaded with her.

"You need to leave." Frankie scanned the hall.

Bianca reached out and fisted her hand in Frankie's practice robes, "If we can't talk here, then let's go somewhere else."

"I don't want to talk to you at all."

Bianca pulled until Frankie stumbled forward. Her voice lowered to a whisper, "Fine, but we have to talk."

"About what?" Frankie tried to sound annoyed, but the hitch in her voice gave her away.

"About this." Bianca bent her head and, taking a chance, pressed her lips to Frankie's.

After a startled second, she felt Frankie give in.