Note: Huge chapter for you, dear readers!

Things get even more complicated now. The title of this story didn't lie: the drama these teens are able to cause is unbelievable!


April 2012

Neville stood by his desk as his sixth year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students walked out of Greenhouse #3, shocked and frustrated that the absence of a particular Ravenclaw had made him more distracted than her presence.

Sophie Snape had been dismissed from attending his classes until the end of the term; not that she had tried anything lately to draw his attention– quite the opposite in fact was true: she had stopped wearing the shortened skirts and tight blouses she had favoured in the not-so-distant past, her uniform was back to regulation length and tightness level, and her grades were still as perfect as ever, but her distant gazes and lack of questions during classes had Neville on the brink of an emotional breakdown. He knew she was there in body but not in spirit– and he hated knowing he had been the one to cause that.

So, looking to relieve her from a class that didn't make her happy and to spare himself the pain of seeing her and not being able to talk to (or touch) her anymore, he'd decided the best course of action was to dismiss Sophie Snape from his class.

He'd talked to her mother the day before and Florence had stood in front of his desk looking at him with a mix of disapproval and reluctant understanding.

"So she only has to show up for the finals?" she'd asked, looking from the paper in her hand, that said Sophie was excused from attending Herbology classes, to the professor.

"Yes," Neville nodded, trying to control his nervousness, "She worked hard all year and... I-I don't see the need to make her go to the greenhouses to sit classes she already knows everything about."

Florence nodded slowly, stopping a smile from forming in her pink lips, "You should talk to the Headmaster about this, you know? Not me."

Neville had turned white then, "B-but he might misunderstand–"

"Why?" she tilted her head, "Is there anything to be misunderstood, Neville?" she still controlled the smirk, but her eyes twinkled with mirth, as if she enjoyed watching him squirm, "As far as I can see, you're relieving my daughter from sitting classes in the greenhouses for the next two months because she doesn't need them. Have I misunderstood?"

He gulped, "No, no, ma'am. That's exactly why, nothing hap– I mean, no other reason than that just, just that."

Florence had watched him for a few silent seconds, strangely seeming to ponder about something; he'd hoped she didn't know about him kissing her daughter in the greenhouses.

But she had just shaken her head slowly and let out a sigh, folding the paper, "I'll talk to Severus this time."

He frowned, willing his voice not to waver, "This time?"

"Yes, Neville. This time," she put emphasis in her words, "Somehow I feel that soon you might need to talk to my husband again."

It had been his turn then to shake his head, "I can't see why–"

"You can't?" she interrupted again, narrowing her eyes, "Really? Well, I guess I'm wrong then," she shrugged and walked out of his office, leaving a befuddled Neville staring at the open door.

Slowly he'd let his head fall on his desk with a 'THUD'.

And now he stood in an empty greenhouse, pressing a hand to his chest as if that could aliviate the emptiness he felt inside.

He knew he had done the right thing by dismissing Sophie, it was the only way to avoid any complications; he couldn't let himself get involved any deeper, doing so could land him in trouble – certainly with Snape and perhaps even with the law (after all, she might be of age, but he was still her teacher and could be accused of power abuse and misconduct).

But Sophie's absence had hurt.

And Florence Snape's words rang in his mind: if there were another time – she had been clear – where he needed to talk to Snape, he'd have to do it himself for she wouldn't be there to act as buffer.

Fuck.


Another Saturday with another Slytherin game.

Gianah had avoided the subjects of Quidditch and Stephen since the morning she had declared that chapter closed in her life – she sat with her friends at the Gryffindor table during meals and refused to look at Stephen if he decided to sit with them too. Each and every one of his provocations fell in deaf ears as she refused to acknowledge his existence.

It was clear he hated that, and she couldn't stop but feel proud of herself for not replying to any of his attempts to engage her into a screaming match that most certainly would end up with her smacking him and them both in detention.

As Stephen had started to frequent the library during the week due to Quidditch practice, Gianah only went to the library on the weekends – if she had any homework that needed books during weekdays, she went there, got the needed book and left.

So that Saturday morning, as everyone got ready to go to the Quidditch pitch, Gianah had gone to the library, and her girl friends accompanied her.

"Are you going to the game, Gigi?" asked Lily as she folded her homework, getting ready to leave for it was quarter to ten and the game was scheduled to begin at ten.

"No, I have too much study to do," Gianah replied without looking up from her books and parchments.

Lily and Lynne exchanged a glance, not surprised by her reply, since she hadn't gone to the last two matches.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" offered Tiana, stopping gathering her books.

"Why?" Gianah raised her head and glared at her friend, "Do you think I need babysitting?"

"No, of course not–" Tiana looked taken aback by her sudden rudeness.

"Oy, that was uncalled for," said Lynne, frowning at Gianah.

Gianah sighed, looking at her three friends, "Sorry, Ti. It's just... you know I've never been much of Quidditch fan, and I have absolutely no reason to go watch the game," even though as she said it the image of Stephen in his Quidditch kit flashed on her mind, "I used to go to make you all company and not be here alone, but I don't care anymore," she shrugged to emphasise her words, "I have homework to finish and then I'll enjoy a silent Common Room for an hour or so. So, you go. I'll be perfectly fine."

Lynne held Tiana's hand and they exchanged another glance with Lily – it was no secret the real reason Gianah wasn't going to the Slytherin versus Hufflepuff game was because she was avoiding Stephen as if he had Pixie Pox, but none of them had any idea what to do to change that situation.


Gianah let out a sigh of relief when her friends walked out of the library without questioning her.

She slowly dropped her quill to the table and took a deep breath, knowing she was right on refusing going to the Quidditch game– she had no business going there and watching Stephen flying and scoring points and running his hand through his hair– hair that he'd let Circe-knew-who run their hands through after the game.

She sighed, forcing into a mental vault any and all lingering thoughts related to Stephen or his (bloody stupid) hair and locking its heavy door, focusing on her books again.


Meanwhile, at the Quidditch pitch

Forty minutes into the match, and the landslide was one for the history books.

Hufflepuff was crushing Slytherin in a way never seen before; the badgers were more than a hundred points ahead of the snakes – it was so bad that even if Slytherin caught the snitch, they wouldn't win.

"What the fuck is wrong with Stephen today?" asked Sirius, no longer able to sit down as he nervously watched the game in bafflement, "He's never missed so many goals before!"

"Yeah," nodded Teddy, still sitting beside Lily, although his focus was fully on the game in the sky, "And his performance is affecting the other chasers..."

"I'm neither a huge fan nor a Slytherin," added Lynne, grimacing, "But this is embarrassing."

"And it serves him well," muttered Lily, glaring at the moving green blur in the sky that was her brother.


Up in the air...

Stephen flew after the quaffle that had been thrown by the Hufflepuff keeper after he had missed yet another goal, his grip on his broom nearly painful as his whole body shook with anxious energy.

He flew over the Gryffindor stands, unable to stop himself from checking the spectators, easily finding his sister and friends.

But not her – Gianah wasn't there. Again.

And Lily was glaring at him – as was the new normal – and he knew perfectly why.

His twin was the only one– at least he hoped– that knew the truth about his feelings; Lily knew he cared about Gianah, and she had even tried to bring the two of them together, but Stephen had gone and fucked it all up to smithereens by kissing two girls in the span of a couple of hours – both in front of Gianah – even though inadvertently.

Well, I had no way of knowing she had gone after me...

Liar! His inner voice hissed as usual, making him wince.

Stephen had felt her presence outside the locker rooms after that first game, and yet he hadn't stopped the Robertson girl from kissing him.

According to his sister Sophie, Gianah had decided to close the chapter pertaining to him in the book of her life.

She had moved on – and he hated it.

The thought of her dating some faceless bloke filled him with anxiety and rage.

"SCORE!"

Shouts from the Hufflepuff stands forced him back to the present and to the game that he was helping his team lose royally.

He saw his team's keeper throwing the quaffle his way and he flew as fast as he could, grabbing the brown leather ball and moving to the Hufflepuff hoops; he focused on the one in the middle but pretended he was going to throw through the one on the right.

The Hufflepuff keeper fell for it, and he scored!

But his happiness was short-lived, for within five minutes the Hufflepuff seeker was catching the snitch and the game was over.

Prof. Hooch, the old Sports Teacher, blew her whistle to end the match and Stephen flew down to join all the other players.

Flint, the captain of the Slytherin team, shook hands with Burton, the Hufflepuff captain.

Stephen admitted to himself that his head hadn't been in the game and that had helped them lose but he could also tell that the other team had played really well and earned that victory.

Flint turned towards the Slytherin team, looking understandably unhappy.

"Let's put our Broomsticks away and walk to the castle, you can shower there," his tone hard, leaving no room for questions.

The six players did as he had told them and within ten minutes, they were all making their way to the castle, looking as defeated as they felt.

Stephen walked with his head low, his thoughts once again on something other than the game.

He should be thinking about their loss but instead the only thing on his mind was how successfully Gianah had been avoiding him for the past several weeks.

Her absence and indifference were like an open wound in his chest that he couldn't heal.

"I don't really understand what happened to us today," said Flint, bringing Stephen's attention back to the present, "But we're going to train harder from now on. I'll study everyone's schedules and come up with days for practice."

Everyone nodded their agreements.

"This was my fault," said McDermott, the Slytherin Seeker.

"Well, you're not wrong," agreed the captain, "If you had been faster, we'd have won. But the same could be said about the chasers... if Snape, Boot and Campbell had scored more, we would've won," he shrugged, "No point in playing the blame game now, mate. We've got enough points that we can still have a shot at the Cup if Gryffindor beats Hufflepuff next month and Ravenclaw beats Gryffindor, then we play the final against the black birds!"

The boys nodded in agreement, feeling slightly better about that day's loss.

"I promise I'll get the snitch in two minutes next game!" said McDermott, firmly.

"That's the spirit!" exclaimed Flint, slapping the seeker on his back, "Now I'm aware some of you are too young to join us getting pissed, but if you decide you want to give it a go, you're welcome to show up at the Muffliatto corner in the common room."

Stephen looked at him with a frown, "You're getting drunk? Inside the castle?"

"Don't worry. Trust me, it'll be fine!" Flint waved his hand nonchalantly, "Not the first time we do it – and we're certainly not the first Slytherins to share firewhisky with friends in the Common Room."

"Are you in?" asked one of the other chasers, Wyatt Campbell, "You look like you could use some booze, Snape."

"Yeah, you look distracted today, mate," added McDermott.

Stephen gave a one-shoulder shrug, "Just upset with the shitty game..." a small part of him glad they had lost so his teammates wouldn't think he was down because of a girl.

"Join us, then!" said Flint, slapping a hand on his back.

Stephen pondered for a moment; he was faced with two choices; he could either shower and go to bed to reminisce about a girl that he couldn't approach and who wanted nothing to do with him, or he could join his friends after showering and drink his heartbreak away.

It wasn't a difficult decision to make.


Later, in the Slytherin Common Room

"You know, I don't see the appeal," said McDermott as he passed the half-empty firewhisky bottle to Stephen.

"What are you yapping about?" asked Flint with a drunk snort.

"I don't see the appeal of girls like Bailey."

Then the five boys gathered around one of the fireplaces, which had a strong Muffliato spell in place, all looked at Stephen.

"What?" he asked after taking another swing of the bottle before passing it on, wanting to avoid that talk, "I can't be the only one on the team that has snogged her."

"Well– no, you aren't," said Flint, "I dated her for five months before you."

The way the others got quiet after he spoke said everything he needed to know.

"And it ended up bad," said Stephen.

"You could say that," Flint paused, clearly unhappy to be talking about that, "Brittany is a girl that enjoys the thrill of the chase… once that's over, if you stop doing every bloody thing she wants, she loses interest," he averted his eyes and Stephen thought there was more to that story then just a parting of ways.

"So," said McDermott, clearing his throat, making them look at him again, "Bailey was all over you again, Stephen, after your first game. What's the deal there?"

Stephen ignored the sudden flash pain that came every time he remembered that night – the night he had missed that Gianah wanted to talk to him and kissed two girls in front of her instead; he shrugged, trying to portray nonchalance.

"She's fit, older– if she wants me, I won't deny her."

The other boys laughed.

"Not wrong, Snape, not wrong," said Edward Boot, one of the other chasers, "But, you know, some of us always thought you and Weasley had a thing."

"No," Stephen played cool, his heart jumping at the mention of her name, "We've known each other since forever and never saw eye-to-eye."

Flint snorted, "That's putting it lightly. She slapped you in the Great Hall, mate. It ended up in the Prophet!"

"And then her brother bought the newspaper to stop Skeeter," added Wyatt Campbell, sounding impressed, "That's a girl a bloke doesn't mess with."

"She's fit and all, but..." Boot added, shaking his head, "I wouldn't even try getting near her. Her brother now controls the media, and her father can send people to Azkaban."

"Yeah," agreed Flint, "Can't deny I've dreamed about her though, you know," his lips molding into a telling smirk, "All that red hair, and the new curves... plus she's a spitfire."

All the boys nodded in agreement, but Stephen shook his head, hiding his clenched fists, "Not me, I don't want to get slapped in my dreams."

And his comment worked in making the boys laugh and change the subject, but it did nothing to assuage the jealousy inside of him.


Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor Common Room

Lily, Sirius and Teddy sat together on the comfortable brown leather sofa in front of the fireplace.

"What's got you so quiet tonight, Siri?" asked Teddy, sat to the left of Lily, while Sirius was on her right.

"I'm worried..." he sighed, "Hufflepuff played too well today... next week I'll have to beat their seeker."

"Well," said Lily, one hand holding Teddy's and the other Sirius's, "If their team is better than ours, they deserve to win. Like today – they played infinitely better than Slytherin."

"You're just happy Stephen lost," said Sirius, seeing right through her.

Lily didn't hide her smile, "I sure am. He deserved it."

"Does he want to be a professional player?" asked Sirius, "He is a great chaser."

She shook her head, "I have no idea what Stephen wants to be in the future. I doubt even he knows. Do either of you have any idea what you want to do after Hogwarts?

"I want to be an auror like my dad," said Sirius, his eyes on their hands intertwined on Lily's lap, "He said when I turn fifteen, he'll get me an internship at the DMLE for the Summer."

"That's cool," said Teddy, "How about you, Lily?"

"I think I'd like to be a Mind Healer."

"Really? Why?" asked Sirius, a little surprised.

"I like giving people advice," she shrugged, "I'm a good listener."

"Yeah, you are," nodded Teddy, giving her a brief kiss on her lips, "You're always listening to everyone's troubles."

"And you, Teddy?" she asked with a smile.

"I think I'll be a Curse Breaker. I like to study History and Charms, and I have the patience needed to solve complicated puzzles."

"Too true," nodded Sirius, "You must be the most patient person I've ever met, Teddy," he put a hand on the back of Teddy's head and pulled him closer, kissing his lips too, making Lily sigh.

"You two look so good together," she whispered, her bottom lip between her teeth as she watched them kiss.

The boys smiled and each kissed her a couple times before they sat comfortably again.

"I wish everyone could be as happy together as we are," she added seemingly out of nowhere.

"Why do you say that, love?" asked Teddy, sharing a confused frown with Sirius.

"I hate what's happening between Gigi and Stephen..." she said.

Sirius tilted his head, "And what exactly is happening there? They've always hated each other but she hasn't even looked at him lately."

Lily sighed, not wanting to break her brother's trust but needing to talk about that to someone, "I think they may have realised they don't really hate each other."

The boys gaped for a moment.

"Bloody hell," said Sirius in awe, "That would make so much sense."

"Yeah," agreed Teddy, "It sounds terribly sad though."

"And it is," Lily nodded.

"They'd kill each other if they ever dated," added Sirius, "Or burn the world together. Either way, them as a couple would be dangerous."

Lily huffed a laugh, "You're not wrong."

"Maybe it's better this way," continued Sirius.

"Maybe," she whispered, looking at the fire in the fireplace, feeling Teddy's comforting grip on her hand.


Past midnight, in the Slytherin boys' dorm

Stephen fell asleep the moment his head hit his pillow minutes, the alcohol in his bloodstream making him drift into dreamland with ease, taking him into an unexpected, but not unwelcomed, kind of dream.

He walked into a room that seemed to be mostly white at first, not in a bright uncomfortable kind of white light, but simply empty and white, with no discernible walls or furniture.

It was calming.

But as Stephen walked, forms started to take shape, windows and tables showed up as if out of thin air and tall bookcases were next, making him recognise where he was: Hogwarts Library.

"Huh," he let out softly; he had never dreamed about the school library before.

Stephen walked to the tall bookcases, enjoying the stillness and silence of the huge room, taking his time looking at the nameless books distractedly. It was nice to be alone in the library, it was a comfortable place to be for those like him that found books interesting and a source of relaxation.

He wasn't alone though.

"Stephen?"

He stopped at once, doubly surprised, first by the sound of his name and second by who had uttered it.

"Gigi?" he asked, staring at the redhead girl with a hint of apprehension. She had spoken first, and called him by his name, did that mean she wasn't angry at him in dreamland? He didn't know, so he waited for her next movement.

Gianah surprised him even further by walking towards him without a second thought and with a smile on her face.

"Gigi?" she asked with an amused snort, "Since when do you call me that?"

Stephen took that as a good sign and walked towards her, meeting her half-way, suddenly having no fear of being slapped – for that was his dream so chances were the Gigi of his dreams wouldn't want to smack him.

"Well, I don't usually call you that but… can I? Just in here?"

"Here?" she echoed his word, "In dreams, you mean?"

"Yes, can I call you Gigi in my dreams?"

She seemed to ponder for a moment, and then she smiled and nodded – something Stephen had expected since, again, that was his dream; it made sense that she would do what he wished her to do in his dreams.

He stopped right in front of her, his eyes never leaving her face, "I've never dreamed of you before," he sounded awed.

And she blushed, averting her eyes, "I dream of you all the time."

He smiled sadly, "Yeah, of course you do," he wished that was true – which was probably why his dream-Gigi said it.

Gianah rested her back against the nearest bookshelf and looked at him with a relaxed smile that he had never seen her give him in real life, it was beautiful, hypnotising, and made him want to kiss her.

"What're you staring at?" she asked softly.

"You. You're beautiful," he said what he wished he could say in real life.

"It's nice to hear you say that," she lowered her eyes, suddenly shy.

"I wish I could say that in real life... you deserve to hear that you're perfect."

She let out a snort, "Now you're pushing it, Stephen."

"But you are. And I am an idiot for making you believe otherwise," he took two steps closer and raised his hand slowly, tentatively touching her face.

She leaned against his palm, her blue eyes on his with warmth, a sweet smile on her pink lips.

"I miss you," he blurted, his other hand picking one of hers and bringing it to his lips – it was his dream, he could do whatever he pleased, in real life she'd have already slapped him at least three times.

She seemed confused, "What? How so?"

"You barely look at me lately and… Salazar, I hate that."

"I wish things were different too," she whispered, a hint of sadness making her smile falter.

"It was shitty today," he continued softly, "I had a game, and you weren't there. I flew around the pitch like a drunk Cornish Pixie..."

She let out a soft chuckle and the smile returned in full force, "It bothered you? My absence?"

"Fucking hell, it did. Then I got actually pissed with the other players–"

"Aww... no one grabbed you today?" she asked in playful mockery, "No girls to kiss when you lose?"

He closed his eyes briefly; of course his dream-Gigi would mention the night that had been haunting him for weeks, "No. No one in line to kiss a loser."

"I would've," she said quickly, as if telling him a forbidden secret, "I'd have kissed you either way, if... "

"If things were different," he echoed her words from before, his thumb caressing her lips, "I know..." he let out a sigh, "I need to apologise, Gigi, for that night after my first game... I'm truly sorry for what you saw," he knew his apology wouldn't make any difference in real life, but at least he had said it to her in his mind.

"Don't," she stopped him, touching his face, "Let's not talk about that."

"But I think about that daily... how I could've kissed you that night, instead of them."

The sadness was back in her eyes, and he touched his forehead to hers.

"I wish it had been me too," she whispered.

Then time – as much notion of time existed in dreamland – seemed to stop and they looked into each other's eyes closer than they had ever been in real life without being fuming at each other.

"Gigi," he breathed over her lips.

"Hm?" she softly hummed, instinctively tilting her head to the side, running her hands up to his shoulders, her fingers playing with his hair at the back of his neck, lightly pulling him even closer.

Stephen trembled, loving that dream more each second; he let her pull him closer until their noses touched.

"I'm kissing you now," he said in a whisper.

"Please," she replied just as breathlessly.

And he closed the small gap between their lips, fearing he'd wake up from the intensity of the feelings coursing through his body; her lips were so soft, and warm against his, he caressed them with his own and they both sighed.

He raised a hand to her face and her next move had him trembling; she sucked on his bottom lip before her tongue touched his lips.

And he immediately opened his mouth so his tongue could meet hers.

If kissing real-Gianah was better than kissing dream-Gigi, he'd have no qualms with getting slapped daily for the rest of his life.

Her hands went up to his hair and he let out a soft moan as she tugged on the strands.

"You like that?" she stopped their kissing but kept close enough that their lips rubbed as she spoke.

"Yes, I love having my hair touched," he admitted.

"Thank Circe," she exhaled, sucking in his bottom lip briefly, "It's my deepest secret obsession; touching your hair," she ran her hands through his locks.

"Touch all you want, love," he said, watching her smile broadly before kissing her again.


Note: Do you want to scream? I do each time I read this chapter. OH MY GAHD! They kissed! OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! OH MYGOD!

BUT – just kissing for now, they're still too young for other things, even in dreams.

(dreams, uh? or are they?)