Two weeks had passed since the first day of school, and classes were just the same. They had began to start learning new topics, some of which Briana found simple enough to grasp while other concepts were completely foreign to her. Outside, the sky grew darker every day and it often rained, soaking the school grounds and creating large puddles. A few puddles were so deep that the water reached to some of the first years midsections. Once in a while, violent winds would blow all around, capable of knocking Professor Flitwick off his feet. Due to the dreadful weather, students would usually travel in packs as a means to stay warm and safe.

Briana was barely following along in History of Magic thanks to Chuck and she, in return, aided him in Potions. She was taking Alchemy with all Seventh years plus Letha, and she had Advanced Astronomy with Alex and Ethan Bentley, as she later found out. Every day, Ethan would sit with Briana and Alex just so he could flirt with her which Alex found extremely irritating (Briana was annoyed by this most of the time as well, though she was much better at hiding it) but neither of them said anything about it. Briana also began to spend her free periods alone, usually writing essays, because Draco left to work on his "project".

Just as they had agreed to do in the Summer, the group of six friends all spent a lot of time together. Of course, every now and then Draco would be absent due to his assignment. Kaylee and Chuck mostly spent time with one another, which left Alex, Blaise, Letha and Briana to hang out with each other. Even in that group of four, Blaise and Letha would sometimes go off by themselves to the library. Briana and Kaylee had both found this suspicious and asked Letha what the story behind it was.

"I just help him out with a lot of his studies," Letha had told them. The three of them were walking to dinner after doing two hours of homework in the library.

"Oh, rubbish! There's more to it than that!", Kaylee exclaimed.

"Okay, and we've been getting to know each other better," she admitted shyly.

"Aw, you guys would make just the cutest couple!", Briana gushed.

"Whoa, we're not quite there yet!", Letha laughed. "And anyways, we'd be nothing compared to Chuck and Kayleeeeee!"

Kaylee hit her playfully, "Stop! We're not an item."

"Yet," Letha teased.

"So what are you guys doing all the times that you run off from the rest of us?", Briana asked. "Don't try to tell me you study either, because we all know that you and Chuck are both the type to get nasty."

"This is true," Kaylee admitted. "Alright, so we... hit it off really really well one day, and then we kissed."

"OH MY GODRIC!", Letha screamed, stopping for a second in the dimly-lit and quiet corridor.

"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US BECAUSE...?!"

"I don't know, really. And that's just half of it! Didn't want your disapproving comments, I suppose."

"Pshaw! I completely approve! That is, if you're not just doing this to get... busy," Briana told her honestly.

"Well that's where we are right now."

"Oh my Godric, so you guys are already shagging?", Letha gasped.

"Erm... yes."

"Why don't you two just date?", Briana asked.

"He doesn't want a relationship yet, but I think I could get him there eventually," she smiled to herself, causing her friends to smile along with her.

"I just hope you're using protection...," Briana added slyly as they reached the Great Hall.

Since it seemed everyone was busy with getting themselves a relationship except for Briana, she spent almost all of her time with Alex. He had been talking a bit more around and to her, whereas when they first met, he hardly said two words in front of her. The two of them often engaged in debates about anything and everything, played Wizard's chess, and did Astronomy homework together. Briana always saw Alex as a quiet person, and she felt obligated to act as a sort of mother figure towards him. He seemed to accept the actions eagerly.

One Friday evening, a half hour after classes had gotten out, Briana was in the common room sitting on the couch with Draco as the two of them were finishing their DADA homework. Suddenly, Daphne and Nigella came bounding down the stairs with several books in hand. Briana sent them a smile as Daphne approached her. She handed over a letter in her hand that was addressed to Briana, saying an owl had dropped it off in their dormitory before it flew off. Briana thanked her kindly as Daphne and Nigella left the common room. She ripped the envelope open and quickly began to read the letter it held. Draco watched her face closely as she continued to read, a pained look on her face.

"What's that about?", he asked her.

"Um... Apparently I have to go get my photos taken so that my dance portfolio is updated."

"Right, don't you have to get new photos every year?"

"Yes," Briana mumbled. She had never been a particularly big fan of photo shoots.

She wrote her mother an owl back and folded it up, putting it daintily in an envelope. Briana stood up and left the Common Room to head off to the Owlery in order to send the owl. On her way there, she happened to see Kaylee and Chuck making out on one of the staircases near the greenhouses. Briana had stealthily tossed a small rock in their general direction before she ran off with an amused smirk on her face, Kaylee yelling playfully after her and Chuck jokingly calling her a female dog.

Briana stuffed her hands in her coat pockets as she saw her breath in a white cloud in front of her. She walked quickly up the stone stairs and entered the dirty, cold and rather dusty Owlery where she was surprised to see Alex. She eyed him suspiciously as he set his owl free out of one of the windows before turning around to face her. Upon seeing that she was there, Alex's cheeks turned red as he immediately looked to the ground and cursed quietly to himself.

He continued to stand where he was, looking down while Briana tied her letter to one of the school's owls and sent it on it's way. After the bird had taken off into the dark landscape, she slowly walked over to her friend, eager to find out about his actions.

"What are you doing up here?", she asked him as casually as she could manage.

"Sending an owl of course," he still wasn't looking at her.

"To whom?"

"My grandmother, I've told you that before."

"Alex, most people don't exactly send their grandmother's owls everyday, sometimes even packages that smell as if they're filled with chocolate," she noted bluntly, recalling events that had taken place a few days earlier.

He shifted uncomfortably, "What are you supposing here?"

"Can't you just tell me who you're honestly sending owls to?", she practically begged him. "I know it's not your grandmother, and Chuck and I are so curious! I thought you trusted me well enough at this point to let me know. Or at least Chuck; he's your best friend!"

"It's a girl," Alex told her simply and quietly.

Briana stared at him for a moment, "A girl? Alex, that's brilliant! Who is she?!"

"Her name is Bridget... Bridget Beaudet."

"Well that's a very French name. Does she live in France?"

Alex nodded, finally making eye contact with his friend.

"How come you didn't... Where did you... Oh, I have so many questions! Can we go talk about this inside somewhere a bit warmer?!", Briana was very excited for him at this point.

From what Draco, Chuck and Blaise had told her, Alex has never had a girlfriend and he never got around nearly as much as they did. Alex agreed to the discussion that Briana had proposed and they descended the stairs of the Owlery then entered back into the main castle. Briana removed her green and grey Slytherin scarf as they walked in the common room where Draco was still completing his homework. He eyed the two of them as Briana stood in front of him sitting on the couch, Alex standing a couple feet behind her.

"Alex and I are about to go have a talk," she explained to him.

"What about?", he asked, glancing back at Alex.

"A girl he's been talking to. That's all I know, really, that's why he and I need to talk."

"A girl, yeah? I better find out about this later, but sure go have your talk. I'm heading to dinner in twenty minutes anyway," he waved them off, continuing to write.

The pair of them headed to Alex's dormitory where they made themselves comfortable on his bed. Alex sat at the head of his bed in his black sweatshirt and jeans, while Briana lounged next to him in her light wash skinny jeans and blue and white striped hoodie. She watched him expectantly for a few seconds before she realized she ought to prompt him.

"So, this girl... what's her name again?"

"Bridget Beaudet," Alex answered quietly.

"She lives in France, yeah? So how'd you happen to meet her?"

"Summer Culinary school."

"Culinary school?", Briana asked, her interest peaking. "I didn't know you cooked!"

"Basically my favorite thing to do. I go to this nice culinary school in Ireland every Summer."

"That's amazing! You must cook something up for me, one day! I bet you're brilliant."

Alex smiled shyly, "I suppose so. Anyway, Bridget joined my class this past Summer and we sort of clicked."

Briana nodded eagerly, "Just tell me the whole story, dear."

He looked a little excited to recount the story of how the two of them had met, a smile creeping across his face inconspicuously.

"I've attended this culinary institute in Ireland every Summer since third year, it's a fantastic place. The chefs there say I've got quite a bit of talent. I thrive there; it's pretty much my favorite place to be. So every year, every morning, I'd always been the first one to show up for class. Until this Summer. I walk in on the very first day, expecting to be there alone as always, but instead this short girl with bright red hair and tanned skin is sitting in the waiting room already. She had these intense big brown eyes, and wore lipstick the same color as her hair. I had never seen her before in my life. She's so... beautiful."

Briana smiled fondly at her friend, glad to see him so entranced, talking about this girl. He continued, "So me being me, I sat as far away from her as I could manage and didn't say a word to her. Everyone else began to arrive and we still hadn't even acknowledged each other's presence. This went on for the first two weeks. So when class started on the third week, we were given a sort of test to make sure we were following along well enough, where we had to demonstrate all these techniques. And as I'm finishing up, I turn around and see her crying to herself over in the pantry. I couldn't ignore her of course."

"Of course not," Briana shook her head, completely enthralled in the story.

"So I went to ask her what she was crying about and she just stared at me for a bit, still crying. Suddenly she bursts out, crying harder and she goes on to tell me that she's actually a pastry chef but her parents said that pastry chefs are not real chefs and she ought to try that out so they sent her to my school. Being a pastry chef, she was having a rather difficult time following along and she was afraid to fail. So I tried to cheer her up and helped her with all that I could. After that, we became really good friends and we talked every day. When the term ended, she said she would write to me everyday and so far... we have."

Alex finished his tale, looking up at Briana for the first time since he had first started telling it. She was grinning broadly at him with a look of admiration on her face.

"You really fancy Bridget, don't you?"

He nodded.

"You must miss her so much..."

"I do. I have been hoping to see her over Winter holiday, but that's still months away."

"Do you have a photograph of her, by any chance?"

"Yes, you'd like to see it?"

"Please," Briana smiled excitedly.

Alex reached over to his bedside table where he opened the single drawer in it, removed a photo and handed it to his friend. He watched her face intently as she gazed upon Bridget's flawless tanned face, long red hair and thin waist. She carefully handed the photo back to Alex who put it back in its place.

"She is stunning," Briana grinned at him.

"I know," he smiled to himself.

"So why have you been keeping her a secret from us?"

"Because that means Chuck, Blaise and Draco would find out," he said quickly, his mood darkening noticeably.

Briana was a little taken aback by his obvious change in mood, "And what's so bad about that?"

"They make so much fun of me," he answered, looking at her with a pained expression.

"About what? You think they'd make fun of Bridget?"

"Not fun of her, fun of me! As they're always doing," he told her bitterly.

Briana shook her head in confusion, "What's there to make fun of?"

"My extensive lack of experience in... certain areas..."

"Oh, you mean... Like they make fun of you for not getting around like they do?"

He nodded, then added, "They like to crack jokes a lot of the time about me being a virgin. Sometimes you, Briana, add to the fun without knowing it. Like when you said you call me Booboo because of how 'sweet and innocent' I am?"

"But Alex, that isn't something you ought to be ashamed of," she told him sincerely.

"It is to me. Around here. Especially as a Slytherin."

Briana shook her head at him, "You can't let that control all that you do."

"It's not that I haven't wanted to have sex, it's just that I'm so shy and stuff around people, girl's especially, that I just don't do a thing. I'm only able to talk to you the way I am now because we've been such good friends for the past month or so. I just don't want the boys to pester me about it anymore, you know?" he sighed. "They act like I'm much less significant and worthy of respect than them just because of how inexperienced I am, you know? That's why everyone, even you girls, treat me as the baby of the group."

She watched him carefully, "Well, make things change."

"What?", he stared at her.

"Change the way things are so that they'll give you the respect you want and everyone will stop treating you like a little baby."

"Of course," Alex said slowly, his eyes filling with hope. "Briana..."

"Yes?"

"Would you help me?"

"With what, exactly?"

"Helping me lose my virginity."

She shook her head vigorously, "That's not exactly what I meant-"

"I've decided that I want to, though," he told her seriously. "Do you not want to help me?"

"Of course I do," Briana sighed. "Alright. So, what? Do you want me to set you up with a certain girl or something?"

He shook his head, staring her in the eyes, "No, I want to lose my virginity to you."

Her brown eyes widened in shock, surprise, confusion and amusement all at once, "Alex, absolutely not! Why me, of all people?"

"You love me, right? And everyone always says to lose your V-card to someone you love. I love you, as a friend. You're my best friend, you know, next to Chuck."

"But it's more than that. Are you sure you don't want to save it for Bridget?"

"She doesn't love me. Yet, anyways. And even though I think she's brilliant in every way, I'm not all that sure how much I trust her yet. I trust you with everything I have, that's why I'm telling you all this, right now."

Briana shook her head again, "But what would we tell the others?"

"It's not that I like you like that, of course. No offense. This is an act out of friendship, yeah?", he reasoned.

"Yeah...," she agreed a bit hesitantly.

"They're our real friends, Briana; they would understand. And I will take full ownership for the idea. Even if they do get mad at us, then at least we'll still have each other."

"When you put it that way...", Briana's head was swimming.

The two of them sat on the bed for a couple minutes, neither of them saying anything but just staring at each other. Briana suddenly crawled over to Alex until she was right in front of him, never breaking eye contact when she slowly and gently placed her plump lips upon his and they kissed. They pulled away for a second before going in for another kiss, this time more aggressive. Their kissing turned into light snogging that steadily grew more heated by the minute.

By this time, they had both taken their sweaters off as Briana sat on Alex's lap. She pulled away from him to take his shirt off before removing her own. When it was tossed to the floor, she stared deeply into Alex's eyes to try and see what he was feeling. He was excited, nervous, happy, scared and aroused all at once.

She stroked part of his hair lightly, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Positive," he answered her, going in for another kiss. But she stopped him.

"I just don't want you to be making any rash decisions..."

"Briana. I'm really excited about this, but even more nervous. But I know that this is what I want to do."

She nodded in understanding, finally convinced that the whole situation was right, "Calm down, Alex, it's alright. It's okay to be nervous but there's nothing to worry about. Just have fun an enjoy it."

He nodded quickly before they dove into another snogging section in which they peeled odd all of their clothing and got to business. Draco, Flint, Blaise and Chuck didn't return from dinner until nearly two hours later, which was more than enough time for Briana and Alex to finish, calm down, and get dressed again. The two friends talked for a little while about what they had just done before falling asleep in Alex's bed, closer friends than ever.