Delphine woke up to the sudden sound of Cosima's coughs. She looked up at the girl who had hunched over her knees trying to muffle the horrific sounds, but to no avail as they echoed through out the wing.

Delphine sat up quickly, rubbing her hand along Cosima's back comfortingly. After a full minute of this, Cosima finally calmed, crossing her legs in front of her and slouching over tiredly.

"I'm fine," she rasped.

"It does not seem like it," Delphine said, leaning her head on Cosima's shoulder blade.

Cosima continued to breathe heavily, trying to catch her wind. Delphine listened to her inhale and exhale, frowning when she heard a bit of a wheeze, "Maybe you should see Madam Pomfrey."

"I'm fine," she repeated.

"Okay," Delphine said, wrapping her arms around Cosima's waist, "if you say so."

Cosima turned in Delphine's arms and rested her head against her shoulder, "I'm pooped."

Delphine couldn't help the snort that left her.

Cosima raised her head, amused at the sound the French girl just made, "What was that?"

Delphine tried to cover her face as she was overtaken by embarrassed giggles. Cosima smiled at the hint of a bright red face behind Delphine's hands, "What's so funny?"

"You are 'pooped,' you say?" Delphine barely got through the word before she started to laugh hysterically. There was no sound coming from her, just vibrating shoulders, a red face, and gathering tears.

Cosima smiled wider, "Yeah," she said with a chuckle, "It means tired."

Delphine finally calmed down with a few deep breaths, "You Americans have weird… expressions."

Cosima nodded, "I told you we formed our own language."

"I am sorry I ever doubted you."

"Stick with me, sweetness, I'll teach you everything there is to know about the American way."

Delphine nodded, wiping away the remaining signs of her fit of laughter. Cosima cocked her head, bringing her bottom lip over her teeth and pursed her lips as she stared at Delphine.

Delphine blushed under the girl's scrutinizing gaze, "What?"

Cosima shook her head with a smile as she leaned in to press her lips to Delphine's. Delphine easily and eagerly returned it as she brought a hand up to caress the small patch of hair on Cosima's neck.

Pulling away, Cosima sighed blissfully, "Last night was real, then…"

"You did not think it was?"

Cosima looked at the small frown on Delphine's face, easing it with a charming smile, "I've dreamt of a lot of things, Delphine," she said, taking a soft pale hand in her larger tanner ones, "Since meeting you, I'd say you were featured in… forty-seven percent of them."

"Wow," Delphine said, wrapping a pinky around Cosima's thumb, "That is very exact."

"I say forty-seven because it's not quite half, but way more than a third."

"I'm happy I star in your dreams, mais it is sort of… freaky."

Cosima grinned, tongue caught between her teeth, "Eh, now that we're going out, it's okay to admit it."

"C'est vrai."

Cosima rested her head back on Delphine's shoulder, "Do you dream of me, too?"

"Apparently so."

It was Cosima's turn to snort, "'Apparently?'"

"Oui. I woke up one morning, and my roommate asked me, 'who is Cosima?' I started to panic because I did not remember mentioning you to her before, so I must have talked in my sleep."

"You're a sleep-talker?" Cosima asked excitedly.

"Mhm."

"Just when I thought you couldn't get any cuter."

"Quoi? Who is the cute one here?"

"You."

"You just said you were 'pooped,'" Delphine said with a giggle.

"Wha- That means nothing!"

"You are the very definition of cute, chérie."

"You're the- wait what was that?"

Delphine looked down at Cosima, "What?"

"Sherrie?"

"Chérie. It means… dear or something."

"You callin' me a deer?" Cosima asked, straightening up.

"Oui."

"Is that supposed to be like a pet name or something?"

"Oui…"

"How is calling me a deer- oh! Dear! Gotcha, gotcha."

Delphine was genuinely confused, "What is happening?"

"I thought you were calling me a deer, like the animal."

"Non!"

"Yeah, I know that now," Cosima said, "You meant like, dear. Like 'honey,' or 'baby.'"

"Oui- non! Wait, you call people 'baby'? Like bébé?"

"Uh… Yeah? Something tells me that isn't right."

"Non, it is not."

"Baby is a pet name. Not literally baby- just," Cosima sighed, putting her hands up, "English is fucking confusing, okay? Homonyms, homophones, it all just sucks. End of story."

"I agree."

Cosima nodded.

"So instead of you teaching me, I shall teach you French, yes? Since it seems to be the better language."

"Mhm- wait, better language?" Cosima asked, mock offended.

"Oui," Delphine giggled.

"Them's fightin' words, madame," Cosima said, grabbing Delphine's waist and tickling her sides aggressively. Delphine yelped.

"Arrêtes!" she exclaimes through uncontrollable giggles.

Cosima straddled Delphine's sides, "Say uncle!"

"Why?"

"It's the word of submission!"

"Je ne peux pas… respirer!" Delphine gasped.

"Say it!"

"Uncle!"

Cosima ceased her fingers' assault on Delphine, putting her hands on either side of the French girl's head, watching her pant exhaustedly underneath her.

"That was mean," Delphine accused.

"So was calling my language inferior."

"It's not my fault," Delphine said putting her hands on Cosima's waist.

Cosima stuck her tongue out teasingly at Delphine, who reached up and captured it between her lips and slightly sucking it before releasing it, hearing Cosima moan hotly. Cosima, not having any of this sudden separation, pressed her lips back against Delphine's retreating ones, sucking on her bottom one until Delphine moaned herself. As the girl's lips parted, Cosima helped herself to Delphine's tongue, coaxing it with a light brush of hers. Delphine gripped Cosima's shirt tighter, tilting her head for better access to her mouth. Cosima bent her elbows, pressing her full body flat against Delphine's and reached up to tangle her left hand in her (extremely) soft locks. Delphine sucked at Cosima's bottom lip, nipping at it slightly before releasing it and replacing with her tongue, letting it delve deep into the cavern of Cosima's mouth. Cosima moaned, louder this time, as the hand in Delphine's hair tightened, gently scratching her scalp. Delphine sighed blissfully and smiled against the brunette, who began a series of chaste, sweet kisses against her lips.

After Cosima's lips ended their barrage of kisses, the girls stilled for a moment, smiling at each other. Delphine took this opportunity to catch Cosima off guard by flipping them over as she proceeded to tickle Cosima's sides.

"Ahh!" Cosima shrieked, giggling, "Stop, stop!"

"Say oncle."

"Whaa?"

"Oncle," Delphine repeated as her fingers moved up to Cosima's ribcage.

"Ow! Ow ow okay. That hurts, actually. Delph- ow," Cosima grunted.

Delphine frowned, she wasn't pressing that hard. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Yeah, just a bit sore or whatever."

"That should not have hurt you at all," Delphine said frowning deeper as her fingers toyed with the hem of Cosima's shirt, "May I?"

Cosima shrugged, "I'm not wearing a bra. But now that you're my girl, you have full access to the sights," she said with a smirk.

Delphine giggled, "I will not go too far." She lifted the shirt up to the bottom of Cosima's breasts, rolling it under so she could inspect the damage. She frowned when she saw an array of bruises, small to large covering her entire midsection. "Ce qui la baise? Were you stoned under there?"

Cosima laughed, "No, there was a hoard of grindylows and they attacked me when I tried to surface."

Delphine gasped, that explained the extent of the tentacle marks, "Oh that's what happened?

"Yup, I was close enough to the surface to push Ali and what's-her-face up before they dragged me back down. Next thing I know, everything went dark and I woke up pukin' up the Black Lake."

"Gabrielle," Delphine offered.

"Yeah that's the one."

"Fleur said thank you, by the way. For saving her."

"I would say it was no problem, but… it kinda was," Cosima said with a giggle.

Delphine smiled softly and looked up where she was tickling Cosima earlier. Slightly lifting Cosima's shirt near her armpit, she spotted a weird looking mark, "Did they bite you?"

"Huh?" Cosima said looking under her arm, "Uh, yeah. They did."

"Have you cleaned this properly?"

"Um… does lake water qualify?"

"No, Cosima."

"Then nope."

Delphine sighed as she left the bed, going to fetch some disinfectant. Cosima sat patiently, fingers drumming idly on her stomach. A couple of minutes later, Delphine reappeared with a towel and bottle. Sitting in the forgotten chair by the bed, she poured some contents of the bottle onto the towel and wiped at the cut.

Cosima flinched away from the towel, "Ow! What the-" she said with a cough.

"Desolée, we have to do it the uh… muggle way. Madam Pomfrey is not here."

Cosima pouted as Delphine cleaned the cuts, wincing a few times.

Delphine giggled, "There is my chiot again."

Cosima narrowed her eyes at the girl, "I thought we talked about this."

"Oui. All done. Do you have anymore?"

Cosima pointed to her breasts.

Delphine smacked her hand, "Cheeky."

"I had to try."

After Delphine put the disinfectant away, she plopped back down next to Cosima, snuggling against her gently.

"Hey. Delphine."

"Hm?"

"You look pooped."

Delphine snorted.

Alison and Sarah looked at their sister as she relentlessly shoveled food down her mouth. Cosima paid no mind to the on looking girls, this is the first time she has eaten in a whole day, and she was not going to let anything that appeared on her plate go to waste. This was the messiest she had ever eaten, and that was saying something considering the fact that it was Cosima.

Alison winced as Cosima let out a great belch after washing down her food with a class of cranberry juice. She looked to Sarah to do something about their sister. Sarah shrugged and put her hands up as if to say 'don't look at me.'

Sighing, Alison reached across the table, poking her shoulder tentatively, "Um, Cosima?"

Cosima looked up, neglecting to chomp off the excessively long noodles, "Mm?"

"Don't you think you should slow down?"

"Yeah, we just got you breathin' again, I don't want you to drownin' in food this time."

Cosima swallowed her noodles, "That's called choking, Sarah, something that I don't do-" she said, cut off by another coughing fit.

"See?"

Alison frowned, "I think this is different, Sarah," she said after watching Cosima cough for longer than normal.

Cosima recovered with a clearing of her throat and a sip of cranberry juice, wincing as it stung the inside of her esophagus feeling more like firewhiskey than juice. "I'm fine."

"You should get that checked out, Cosima. That didn't sound very good."

Cosima scoffed, "When do coughs ever sound good?" she said, continuing her feast.

Alison rubbed her cheek, looking at Sarah once more. Sarah scratched at her head as she looked down at the table in thought.

"Bonjour, everyone!"

The three identical girls looked up at the French girl settling down next to a smiling Cosima.

"Phine!" the girl exclaimed through a mouthful of potatoes.

"Bonjour, Cosima," Delphine said with a giggle as she hugged the smaller girl.

"Hello Delphine," Alison greeted curtly

"'Ey Frenchie. What brings you?"

"Oh, I was just coming to walk with Cosima to class. But I see she is busy," Delphine trailed off, watching Cosima fork down a mouthful of vegetables.

"I haven't eaten in forever," Cosima justified, "And that's your fault."

"Moi?" Delphine said gesturing to herself, "Pourquoi?"

Cosima swallowed, "You held me up this morning."

"I do not remember you complaining about your stomach."

"I was distracted, obvs."

"Oh really? By what?"

"…Your face."

Delphine laughed heartily, "My face distracts you?"

"Twenty-four, seven."

"Perhaps I should wear a mask then, non?"

"No," Cosima whined, "It's a good distraction. I like your face."

Delphine giggled, "I like your face, too."

"Are we missing something?" Sarah asked, suddenly feeling like she was intruding.

Cosima smiled cheekily at her, coughing once, "We have to get to class," she stated, pulling Delphine up by her hand. "Ladies," she said as she curtsied, tugging a giggling Delphine away.

The two girls watched as Delphine and Cosima skipped out of the Great Hall, hand-in-hand.

"What the fuck just happened?"

"What class do you have next, Phine?"

Delphine giggled, "'Phine?' Is that my new name?"

Cosima smiled, "Is that okay?"

"It is kind of cute," Delphine pondered.

"Yes!" Cosima said with a pump of her fist

"But I have no cute name for you," Delphine whined.

"You don't need one. I like the way you say my name. It's a nickname in itself," Cosima said, swinging their hands as they walked down the corridor.

"How do I say it?"

"I dunno," Cosima shrugged, "Like, each syllable is accented."

"Is that not how you say it?" Delphine frowned, had she been saying her name wrong this whole time?

"No, no babe, no. It's not that," Cosima immediately backtracked with a giggle, "It's cute, really. You say 'Co-Si-Ma', you accent all of the syllables. I just say 'co-Si-ma.' Like only the second syllable is accented."

"CoSIma," Delphine tried.

"No. I want you to say it how you normally say it. It's special."

"I don't want to say it wrong-"

"You don't though. I love the way you say it."

"You do?"

"Yeah. It's special," Cosima repeated.

Delphine grinned, "Okay. Whatever you want."

Cosima smiled back at her. "Hey, how long do you have before your class?"

"I have to go to the hospital wing next, pourquoi?"

Cosima grinned cheekily and tugged her into a secluded space, putting her arms around her neck, "I've wanted to kiss you for like, hours."

"You can now."

"I sure can," Cosima said capturing Delphine's bottom lip between hers, sucking on it eagerly. Delphine hummed softly and backed her slightly against the wall, wrapping her arms around her waist. Cosima felt her legs go weak at the feel of Delphine's lips sliding against hers and immediately started to deepen the kiss further with her tongue.

Delphine pulled away as she felt Cosima rub her tongue against hers, "Cosima…" she moaned.

Cosima sighed, "Oh god that was sexy," she said leaning in for more.

Delphine pulled away once more, "Cosima, if you kiss me like that, I will not make it to work…"

"I fail to see the issue, here."

Delphine smiled sadly, "I have to go work," she said, pecking Cosima on the lips, "And you have to go learn."

Cosima rolled her head around, "It's not learning if you already-" Cosima was cut off by a sudden intense coughing fit.

Delphine was rubbing her back within seconds, frowning down at the smaller girl in concern.

Cosima's fit was concluded with a large and final cough, splattering whatever was dislodged in her throat into her palm. Looking down, she expected saliva, but Delphine's gasp told her that she wasn't imagining the splash of red in her hand.