The next morning

The four Gryffindors, Lynne Lily, Teddy and Sirius sat at their table, eating breakfast in uncharacteristic silence; the two girls glanced at the entrance of the Great Hall every few minutes with apprehension.

"Do you think Stephen will be upset about me playing Quidditch?" asked Sirius, oblivious to the girls' behaviour.

"Yes," replied both Lily and Lynne in unison.

"But you shouldn't let my brother's opinion stop you from trying to join the Gryffindor team, Siri," added Lily.

"Yeah," nodded Teddy, "You're a brilliant seeker, Gryffindor needs you."

"I just don't want him to be mad at me," said Sirius, "I-"

"Listen, cousin," exhaled Lynne, annoyed by his need for Stephen's approval, "If Stephen stops talking to you because you joined the Quidditch team, so be it!"

"Maybe we should tell Gigi to join the Slytherin team," commented Lily, making her friends laugh.

"Now that would make Stephen spit more fire than an angry Horntail!" laughed Teddy.

Lily nodded at him, but her smile slowly died on her face, concern taking its place.

"Do you think the gossip is true?" she suddenly asked, looking at her niece with clear concern.

"Maybe– I did see her talking to him yesterday," Lynne replied.

"What are you two talking about?" asked Sirius, after having exchanged a confused look with Teddy.

"You two know that large portrait in the common room?" said Lily in an exhale, "The one with the horses where a knight sometimes shows up?"

Sirius seemed even more confused, "Yes... Sir Cadogan. What about him?"

"Well," Lily continued, "He was there this morning and asked me to pass his congratulations to my brother for getting himself such a fair lady last night."

Sirius sputtered: "W-what?" coughing as he nearly choked on his coffee.

"You're joking," said Teddy, a bit unsure.

"Nope, not a joke," Lily shook her head, adding in a lower voice: "Cadogan said the portraits talk of nothing but how Stephen and some girl were snogging by the Slytherin entrance last night!"

"By the Slytherin entrance?" asked Sirius, even more surprised.

"Do you think," started Teddy, glancing at the Slytherin table, "He and she finally–"

"Gigi? No," Lily shook her head, "Sir Cadogan said the girl had hair the colour of wheat."

"It was probably Brittany Bailey, a fourth-year," added Lynne, "I saw her sitting beside Stephen at dinner last night."

"No way!" exclaimed Sirius, incredulous, "A fourth year? And Bailey? She's hot!" he seemed very impressed.

Lily's eyes narrowed at him, clearly unhappy by his observation about the girl's beauty.

"Well," Lily added in a clipped voice, "That's what the knight in the painting said."

"Tiana said no one in the Slytherin House speaks of anything but the way Stephen snogged a girl behind the gargoyle."

"Tiana? When did you talk to Tiana?" asked Sirius, looking at the Slytherin table and not seeing the dark-haired girl.

Lynne seemed a bit uncomfortable as she admitted: "She sent me a message through one of the house elves."

Sirius looked at her with a frown but Teddy spoke, saving Lynne from having to explain herself any further:

"Speaking of them..."

They looked towards the Great Hall entrance and saw the two Slytherin girls walking towards them.

"Hey, guys," Tiana greeted, sitting beside Lynne.

"Good morning," said Gianah, sitting beside Lily and starting to make herself a sandwich, quieter than usual.

There was a brief silence, Lily and Lynne exchanged a look but before either of them could think of something to say to break that uncomfortable silence, Sirius' voice was heard:

"So? Is it true?" his tone anxious.

"Is what true?" asked Gianah, slowly raising her head in his direction, her eyes narrowing at him.

"Was Stephen really snogging Bailey last night?"

"How the fuck would I know?" Gianah retorted, clearly annoyed.

"You live with him in the dungeons–"

"I do not live with him, Potter!" she snapped, "I'm in the second-year girls' dorms, he's a third-year git! I left dinner and went to bed last night; I'm not Snape's carer; I do not have the habit of watching over him!" she glared at Sirius, failing to notice her friends' surprised faces at her tirade.

"In fact," Gianah went on, "I make sure to look the other way whenever he enters a room! I can't stand the sight of him!"

"Ookay," drawled Sirius, "I just–"

"Therefore," Gianah continued with ardour after taking a breath, still not seeing the worried glances exchanged by her friends around her, "I do NOT know anything about Snape and any snogging behind any stupid gargoyle! And if you haven't realised yet: I do not care to hear about it!" she finished, glaring at Sirius for a few more seconds.

None of them said a word, slowly resuming their breakfast, darting glances at Gianah and amongst themselves, heavily concerned.

Then they heard an unexpected change in the regular sounds of breakfast, hushed whispers were added to the cutlery hitting the porcelain and the usual conversation sounds of mealtime.

Looking up, Lily and the others immediately understood what had caused that change: Stephen and Brittany had walked into the Great Hall, hand-in-hand.

"So it IS true," gasped Sirius, receiving a sharp glare from both Lynne and Lily.

Gianah saw the couple walk into the Great Hall and forced herself to focus on her breakfast; the feelings swirling inside of her were foreign, violent and confusing; she wanted to hit Stephen, make him bleed, but also be the one holding his hand and being kissed by him.

What's wrong with me? She asked herself in desperation, schooling her face to not give her inner conflict away.

She heard Lily and Teddy inhale sharply and looked up to see Stephen bringing Bailey towards the Gryffindor table.

Gianah's heart rate sped up, her hands clenched, and she bolted, standing up quickly and walking out of the Great Hall before the couple had reached them.

Lynne, Lily, Tiana, Sirius and Teddy looked at her going and the girls sighed, exchanging a meaningful glance.

"Well, that was... interesting," murmured Lynne, clearly worried about her cousin.

"I'll go after her," said Tiana, leaving the table at the same time Stephen and the blond girl sat down.

"Hello there," said Stephen cheerfully, "You all know Brittany, right?" he quickly introduced them.

"Yes," was the collective reply.

"Is this Weasley's sandwich?" continued Stephen, pointing at an unclaimed plate with a perfect sandwich resting on it.

"Yes," replied Lily, glancing at Brittany and noticing the sly smile on the corner of her mouth, "She said she wasn't hungry."

"Brilliant! It's mine now," Stephen said, picking it up and biting a large chunk of it, "I have to keep up my energy levels," he winked at Brittany, making the girl giggle.

Sirius and Teddy exchanged an impressed glance, while Lily and Lynne grimaced in disgust.

"This is good," Stephen said as he finished the sandwich Gianah had made.

"Hey, Stephen, listen," spoke Sirius, looking a bit nervous all of a sudden, "Since you're here... I want to talk to you about the Quidditch trials..."

"Go for it, mate," said Stephen, pressing his lips into a thin line, his eyes losing some of their previous sparkle.

"You don't mind?"

"Of course I bloody mind, Sirius!" Stephen honestly replied, clearly frustrated, "But it's not fair to you if I told you not to play just because I can't! Go for it. You'll certainly make the team."

"Thanks, mate."

"What happened to Weasley, Lily?" asked Brittany, receiving a look from almost everyone around them, the upwards movement of the corner of her lips making it clear she knew exactly what had happened.

"She forgot to put her Charms book in her schoolbag," Lily replied without batting an eye, "She went to her dorm to pick it up."

"Sure," replied Brittany, summoning a glass of juice and sipping it, "How forgetful of her."

Stephen, oblivious to the undertones of the girls' conversation, just winked at her and chuckled, feeling proud of himself for having landed a beautiful and funny girlfriend.

However, as the days went by, Stephen's feeling of self-satisfaction began to dim, and a week later he didn't find Brittany's kisses as enjoyable as he had that first night. In fact, her presence made him feel uncomfortable and even annoyed.

She refused to sit at the Gryffindor table again after that first morning, and Stephen accepted it, following her to the Slytherin table for every meal and finding himself staring at the lions' table more than once per meal, secretly wishing he was sitting there with his sister and their friends instead of at the Slytherin table with his Slytherin friends and Brittany and her gorgeous friends.

Sam, Charlie and the other third-year boys were ecstatic that Stephen had managed to make the beautiful older girls sit with them, giving them all more fame than Sirius Potter could ever dream to have with the older female students.

But still Stephen felt uneasy.

He'd never admit it out loud, but he had noticed Gianah started to sit with her back to the Slytherin table, so his eyes never crossed hers anymore – and that, for some reason, bothered him deeply.

By November, Brittany had got tired of Stephen's growing indifference and dumped him in the most public fashion: in the Great Hall, during lunch, with a glass of juice being thrown at him.

He simply apologised for whatever she felt he needed to apologise for, scourgifyed himself and resumed eating his lunch with a smile, feeling like a ton had been lifted off his shoulders.

He looked at the Gryffindor table, seeing Gianah pointing her wand to her long red hair, magically tying it up in a high ponytail.

She's certainly getting ready for Potions class.

He frowned at that thought: how did he know she had Potions class that afternoon?

Maybe... Sirius mentioned something– he does have the same schedule as her, except for Quidditch... now he has training at the weekends and some evenings.

Stephen let his envy of his friend's being able to play Quidditch distract him from his thoughts of Gianah and finished his lunch, going to his first class of that afternoon: Charms.

At Breakfast the next morning, Stephen didn't think twice before joining his friends at the Gryffindor table.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Lynne with a frown the moment he sat down.

"Good morning to you too, dear niece," Stephen replied with a wink, adding: "I'm obviously joining you for breakfast," he finished with the family's signature arched eyebrow.

"So," commented Lily, her tone clearly disapproving, "your girlfriend decided she doesn't want you drooling all over her anymore and you suddenly remembered you have friends beside the Slytherins?"

Stephen rolled his eyes, "That's life, sis! I will have girlfriends from time to time, and of course I'll prefer to be with her during meals instead of you lot."

"I feel so cherished, uncle," said Lynne, touching a hand to her chest in obvious mockery.

"Take notes, niece," continued Stephen, "making a girlfriend happy during meals means you get to snog her in a dark corridor for desert."

"That's disgusting Stephen," said Lynne with a grimace.

"Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same," Stephen scoffed, "If you had a pretty girl to snog in an empty classroom, you wouldn't be thinking of meeting them for meals," he motioned the others with his head.

"Yes, I would, Stephen!" Lynne replied, crossing her arms, "I am not ditching my friends and family for some meaningless snogging! If the person I am dating doesn't like my friends, I won't be dating them long."

"Your loss, niece," Stephen shrugged, glancing at Gianah who sat across from him and had yet to look his way.

He wanted her to look at him more than anything. He needed her to look at him! It was a necessity, like a void in his soul that only her looking at him could fill, a nearly desperate hunger that only having her eyes on his could satiate.

But Gianah didn't look up from her plate, just keeping quiet, eating her breakfast sandwich and sipping her latte from time to time.

"What's wrong with her?" Stephen motioned Gianah with his head.

And the girl's head snapped up, her angry narrowed eyes fixed on him (Finally!) so coldly no one would be surprised if they found they had snow to brush off their shoulders.

"Your presence, Snape," Gianah said, her voice low and furious, "That's what's wrong with me."

"I knew you'd missed me, Weasley," Stephen replied, his heart racing as he felt the familiar surge of energy that arguing with her always gave him.

"As much as one misses a unicorn leech," she scathingly replied, "Do us all a favour and go back to your friends, we don't want you at our table."

"Look at your uniform, Weasley – this isn't your table!" Stephen replied, his voice going louder as he was hit by the strength of her contempt, her blue eyes on him making him angry and ecstatic at the same time, "Also, you can't tell me to go anywhere!"

"We don't want you here!" she spoke as loud as he, "You'll soon ditch us again to go snog the next stupid bimbo somewhere!"

"Why, Weasley?" he sneered, "Are you jealous I'm not snogging you next?"

She gaped and for a second no one dared to make a sound around them, fearing hexes were about to start flying, but Gianah simply smirked, adding: "In your dreams, Snape!"

"Cause if you're jealous," Stephen continued, pretending he hadn't heard her reply, "I can take pity on you and–"

"Pity?" Gianah scoffed, "If I wanted a boyfriend, I could take my pick from the large number of suitors my brother and father have to decline daily!"

The desire to keep bickering left Stephen all at once, "Suitors?" he asked before he could stop himself; she had official suitors writing to her brother and father? Daily? Fucking hell that didn't sit well in his stomach.

"Yes, Snape," she smiled smugly, happy to see how that had clearly affected him, "And many of them are here in this very castle, if I wanted–"

"Sam?" he remembered his friend had a crush on her.

"O'Brian?" she asked, adding with a shrug: "Yes, he is one of them. His father went to the Ministry a few weeks ago and brought my father a courtship contract – which dad refused to even look at, of course."

Stephen's eyes found his friend sitting two tables away and glared.

"My point is," Gianah continued, narrowing her eyes at him, "You can shove your pity, Snape. I have only to wink at one of those suitors and they'll be here by my side. Still, like Lynne said: if I were to date someone, he'd better accept my friends for I'm not ditching them to go snog him, otherwise I won't be dating him long."

Stephen felt like she punched him every time she said the word 'suitors', the anger and jealousy swirling in his stomach made him want to run to the Slytherin table and punch someone – preferably Sam O'Brian.

And Gianah knew, he could see in her smug smile that she knew he had been affected by her words.

"You're just jealous!" he ended up exclaiming, "I bet you're making all of that up!" he pointed a finger at her.

You have to be making all that up. There aren't any suitors – there can't be any suitors!

"I don't care what you think, Snape," Gianah rolled her eyes, "Go find out which brainless bimbo will let you slobber all over her next."

"I can have whomever I want, Weasley!" he replied with certainty.

"So why are you sitting here with us?" she glared at him, "Go have whomever you want!"

"You know what?" he rested both hands on the table and stood up, "I WILL!"

"THEN GO!" she shouted.

And Stephen walked away from the Gryffindor table, failing to notice, in his altered state, that her tone hadn't been angry when she told him to go, it had been in fact surprisingly sad.

No one made any comments about the exchange between Gianah and Stephen after he left, not for the remaining breakfast time, and not even two weeks later, when the news of a Hogsmeade trip date rushed through the school, accompanied by the gossip of who Stephen Snape would be going with.

Headmaster's Office

Florence walked into her husband's office and approached his desk with a concerned expression.

"What's wrong, Flor?" asked Severus from his seat behind the mahogany desk, signing some documents, "I can sense you're worried, princess."

"Stephen is going to Hogsmeade with a sixth-year," she said as she sat on a chair in front of him.

"Really?" Severus raised his head, seeming impressed.

"You're... proud of him?" Florence exclaimed with a hint of outrage, sensing his pride through their bond, "If I told you Lily was going to the village with a sixth-year, we both know you'd lose it."

Severus frowned, "Of course I would!"

Florence narrowed her eyes and replied angrily: "Your sexism is showing, husband."

"I've never claimed to be a modern man, wife. I did bind you to me through a blood ritual, if memory fails you."

She let out a soft indignant huff.

"Furthermore," he continued, "As a good father, I only have my daughter's best interests in mind, and I'd certainly protect her if some sixth-year git tried to take her thirteen-year-old self to a Hogsmeade date."

"So you think our daughter needs protection, but our son doesn't?"

"Of course he does," Severus retorted, adding with a smirk: "Just not from pretty girls that want to take him on a Hogsmeade date."

Florence shook her head, knowing she shouldn`t have been surprised by his response.

Days later

In the evening before the Hogsmeade visit, Lily sat on the large sofa in the empty Gryffindor common room with her two friends, Sirius and Teddy. The three of them huddled together under a blanket near the fire, Sirius's head resting on her lap while she and Teddy shared a book.

"I wish you two could go with me tomorrow to the village," said Lily, laying her head on Teddy's shoulder, one hand playing with Sirius' locks.

"It's not like we've never been to Hogsmeade together, Lily," said Teddy softly, "But, yeah, I get it, I wish we could go together. The three of us."

"You'll have fun with Lynne," said Sirius, "I'll use that time to practice Quidditch."

"And I'll watch him practice," said Teddy with a small smile.

Lily was about to say that maybe she could stay in the castle and join them, when Sirius took hold of her hand that was in his hair and brought her knuckles to his lips.

"It would be nice to walk with you down the snowy village," he reached up to grab Teddy's hand too, "With both of you."

She looked from Sirius's face to Teddy's, noticing how having both their hands being held by Sirius caused her and Teddy to be even closer than before.

She could see the beautiful details of Teddy's eyes, so different from Sirius's – Teddy's green eyes were darker and flecked with gold, while Sirius' were a lighter green and had a blueish hue on the edge of their irises.

She lowered her gaze to Teddy's lips; his lips were a tad fuller than Sirius' and just the thought of touching her own to his had her tongue darting out to moisten hers in reflex.

Teddy looked down at her mouth, slowly approaching her as if hypnotised by her, now wet, lips.

"You two are killing me," whispered Sirius, his eyes glued on their faces, "Kiss her Teddy," he softly ordered.

Lily smiled and could feel her cheeks blushing, never taking her eyes away from Teddy's.

"Can I..." the boy asked, "Can I kiss you, Lily?"

She wanted to shout Yes! but she looked from Teddy to Sirius, struggling a little to find the courage to explain that she wanted him to kiss her as well.

"I- I want you too, Siri," she bravely whispered, "Not just Teddy. Both of you."

The two boys looked at each other, and it was Teddy's turn to blush, "I... would like that too."

Sirius seemed a little nervous, an uncharacteristic hesitancy in his voice: "You'd want me to... to kiss you too, Teddy?"

"Yes," admitted the other boy, clearly fearing rejection, "It's fine if you don't feel the same I-"

Sirius quickly raised his upper body, leaning over Lily's legs and pulling Teddy's face toward his, looking into his eyes until their lips touched.

Lily bit her bottom lip as she watched them kiss, her heart pounding at the sight of them kissing.

She touched her lips to Teddy's neck, needing to kiss his skin while Sirius still caressed his lips with his own.

Teddy opened his eyes to stare at Sirius and the two boys smiled at each other before turning their faces towards Lily.

She took the initiative to the next step, touching her lips to Teddy's in a firm and slow caress. He captured her bottom lip and sucked, making her gasp softly.

Soon – too soon – Teddy moved his face away and she was about to protest when Sirius appeared right in front of her, smiling and raising his head towards her, silently asking for his turn.

Lily moved towards him, just like she had with Teddy and the moment their lips touched, she sighed, feeling relief that both of them wanted her – and that they wanted each other as well.

"I've been dying to do that since I learned what kissing was," admitted Lily when she stopped kissing Sirius, looking from one boy to the other.

"Same," whispered Teddy, "I feared you wouldn't want me..."

"We want you Teddy," said Lily, kissing his lips again.

"There's no us without you, Teddy," added Sirius, kissing him again when Lily let go of his lips, and then kissing her next.

"What are we now?" asked Teddy as he watched them kiss and all he wanted was to kiss both of them again.

"Boyfriend," said Sirius, kissing him, "And girlfriend," he said after kissing her again, "If you two agree, of course."

"Yes," Lily nodded, smiling, "Yes, I agree."

"Yes. Boyfriend," said Teddy, leaning to kiss Sirius again, and then Lily, "And girlfriend."

She giggled and touched both their faces, kissing one then the other repeatedly.

And they spent hours like that, enjoying their new relationship, exploring the joys of touching and kissing one another freely, basking on the certainty that they belonged together.