"Blimey, Hermione, have one more shot!" Ginny yelled. "You've only had ten!" They poured more drinks and poured it down their throats. "Now you've had eleven. It's a good number: prime, the age you start Hogwarts, it should be suitable."
"Oh, but I don't want to stop." Hermione whined.
"Good, 'cause I don't either." She ordered another bottle, this time of firewhiskey. "Oi, I see our little friends coming over. Hi Harry. Ronald."
"Ginny." Ron said. "Who's buying?"
"The whole bar, doofus." Ginny yawned. She poured two more shots and gave them to Hermione. "Why don't you two go have fun?"
They walked off with the shots and another bottle, while Harry sat down next to Ginny, who was pouring them some shots.
"Are you old enough to drink?" Harry asked. "I thought you were only sixteen until next week."
"Early birthday, let's settle for that. Who cares how old I am? No one checks I.D. in this place, and if they do, I've got you three." She raised her glass. "Cheers to that, Harry."
"You're wasted, aren't you?"
"Aren't you?" Ginny asked, looking confused.
Harry leaned in and started kissing her. He lifted her off the stool, still in heavy liplock, and brought her up the stairs, unlocking a hotel room door with his wand, then locking it so no one else could unlock it. He cast a silencing charm and dropped her on the bed. She let out a moan of delight, and he could barely wait. He closed the shutters and lit candles before jumping on the bed and kissing her again.
"Oi, 'Mione, just about how long have you and my sister been drinking together?"
"We've been out together every night this week. A few Muggle night clubs never did a girl harm, nor did a little liquor." Hermione forgot about the shot glass and drank straight from the bottle.
"I think it would do a bit of harm to a sixteen-year-old girl."
"Lighten up, would you, she's just having a bit of fun. What's the harm of that?" Hermione shrugged. She put the bottle to his lips. "Drink up." She tilted it back, dumping large quantities of alcohol down his throat.
"Happy Christmas!" Hermione called, drinking the rest of the bottle with a waterfall.
"Hermione, it's August."
"Then I must be very, very drunk."
"Oh, Merlin, how did this happen?" Ginny whispered to herself when she woke up in bed with Harry Potter. She remembered a wonderful night of oral sex, spankings, and horrible, nasty measures of S&M that she knew she would feel for the next week. But she also sat up and felt a splitting headache, probably caused by the scattered bottles of empty and half-empty liquor. Her stirring must have woken Harry, because he sat straight up.
"We…we had…oh god, we did, didn't we?" He said.
"What gave it away? The booze, the bruises, or the fact that we're both naked and in bed together?"
"A combination."
"Good, you look at all the details before coming to conclusions. I like that." She grumbled.
Harry's eyes widened. "You…you're only sixteen. You're not legal yet, are you?"
"Ding ding ding. But it's not like you raped me or anything, I won't turn you in for molesting a minor."
"I wish you wouldn't use words like 'rape' and 'molest' while we're in bed together after a night I barely remember."
"Glad I made an impression."
"Oh, god you did." He moaned. "I was exaggerating. You are…amazing." He turned. "Can we do it again?"
Ginny laughed and kissed him. They found themselves doing it again.
Hermione woke up in a hotel room. She had a headache like her brain was trying to bust her skull with a heavy rock. Nowhere in her memory was there the way she got in the hotel room, or whose hotel room it was. All she remembered was coming back from a Muggle nightclub with Ginny and going into the Leaky Cauldron for some more drinks before they went home. But then, the next thing she remembered was leaving Ginny with Harry and going off somewhere else with—
She sat up with a start and looked beside her. Ron was, luckily, not next to her, and she still had all her clothes on. She let out a sigh of relief and fell back onto the pillows, keeping her head turned to the side so she didn't choke in case she vomited. Lately, waking up with a hangover was not an uncommon thing, but waking up in a room she simply had no recollection of falling asleep in was a very, very uncommon thing. In fact, it had never happened to her in her whole life, unless she had fallen unconscious and woken up in the hospital, which was only once or twice.
Ron came into the room. "You doing all right?"
Hermione shook her head, remembering how much speaking was painful during a morning hangover, but soon realized that it would probably be better if she just had spoken. Her brain rattled around as she shook her head, and it was painful.
"Do—do you remember how you got here?"
Hermione made a sound, then said, "No clue."
"Well, you were very, very drunk. Like seriously. You could barely stand. You fell asleep on one of the tables downstairs, so I rented a room and brought you up here. Didn't think it would be safe to bring you home." He said.
"That was…" She stopped, almost unable to believe what she was about to say. "responsible of you."
Ron smirked. "How bout some coffee?"
Hermione groaned. "It would be wonderful." She realized it was no longer just her head that was turned to the side, but her whole body. In fact, some of her left side was hanging over the side of the bed. But she was too lazy to roll the other way. Then she realized something else as she pulled the comforter over her. "Where's Ginny?"
Ron's hand slipped and he burned himself. "I dunno. Been looking for her all morning. She's not at home, and she's not at Harry's. Harry isn't even at Harry's." He mumbled bitterly, with an upset look on his face.
Her eyes widened. "You don't think they—"
"I hope not, she's only sixteen!" He yelled, knocking over the sugar bowl.
"Calm down Ron, I'm sure she's fine. And safe." Hermione mumbled. "What time is it anyway?"
"Practically noon." He chuckled.
"Oh, Merlin, do you have aspirin or something, I feel like my head will explode." She whined. Ron looked confused.
"Sorry, I don't have aspirin. Can I get you something else?"
She chuckled. "My dignity, I guess. I'm so sorry you had to do all this. I'll pay for the room. Thank you for helping me."
"Hey, it's all my pleasure. I'll pay for the room, it's the least I can do."
"No, it's the most you can do. You will not be paying for the room as long as I stayed in it. I'm the one you had to do this all for; I see no need for you to have to pay. Go get my purse, I think I've got the money in there to cover it, otherwise I'll give the rest to you once…well, once I can stand."
Ron shook his head, grinning. "Nope, nope, nope. I will pay it all."
Hermione's face was suddenly showing much worry. "What did you do to me while I was sleeping?"
Ron glared at her. "Don't you trust me?"
"Not when you're acting like this, Ron!" She screeched, then covered her mouth and jumped over the end of the bed to the bathroom. Ron raced after her and held her hair back. "You are being way too nice to have a missing sister and be catering to someone with this bad of a hangover."
He grinned. "It's my pleasure to be catering to you. What can I get you?"
"My money sack so I can pay you back."
"We did it again?" Harry mouthed, incredulous. The woman next to him must really love him. He turned over to see that she was staring at him, a startled look on her face.
"Okay, not that I don't like you, because I really do, but we need to stop this." She said, sitting up and having to fall immediately back onto the pillows due to a terrible headache. Harry ran and got her a glass of water and a bag of ice.
"I've gotten a few hangovers myself the last days."
"Well, it's a time for celebration." She said, half sarcastic.
Harry ran his fingers through his hair. "This is seriously mad. What are we going to say to your family?"
"They don't have to know."
"They'll get suspicious, Ginny, you've been gone practically twelve hours!"
"Look, my parents have no idea what I've been doing that last few weeks. But they do know I've been with Hermione. And if they don't trust me, they trust Hermione." She said, taking a long gulp of water.
"Ron knows what you've really been doing. If you think he won't get suspicious!"
"He's probably one to talk. You don't know what he's been doing all night with Hermione."
"Probably not what we've been doing!" He said, realizing that all this time he had no underwear on. Ginny frowned when he pulled his boxers on.
"You really are being no fun." She chuckled. "You should calm yourself. Hermione and I'll make up a story, no one will even have to know we met up with you. Lighten up and have some fun."
"You can say that, but you're not the one who has to face up to their friends that he's taken the virginity of their underage daughter and sister. Their only daughter and their only sister. Eight people, too!"
Ginny hung her head, and Harry swore he could see tears coming to her before she hid her face. "Seven people. Don't you remember? Fred's gone. And they're all grieving over him, too. Why don't you bring that up when you're telling them about your 'taking of my virginity'?" She mumbled. Harry walked over and put a warm hand on her cold, bare shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Ginny. Really, I'm being selfish." He closed his eyes. "So…is he why you've become this person?"
"What person?" Ginny yawned, her eyes closed. "The one who goes out all night drinking illegally and wakes up in bed with their true love? I find the first part a little troubling, but the second part…what's wrong with that?"
"I—Ginny—"
"Save your breath. I don't want to hear any of it." She mumbled, more tears coming, but her eyes were closed and Harry couldn't see them. "I really do love you, Harry. And I for one don't care what my family says. Screw my family. They're too protective of me anyway. Idid a lot at Hogwarts last year, I saw a lot of things that disturbed me. It just made me stronger. I'm not a baby anymore. They need to stop treating me like it." She opened her eyes and stroked his cheek with the back of her fingers. "And you need to stop worrying. We'll get through it."
Harry nodded, but said nothing.
This time, she paid no attention to stop him from seeing her tears. "Please tell me I'm not just a one-night stand."
He smiled and kissed her. "Wouldn't dream of it."
"I'm an idiot!" Ron exclaimed. Hermione looked up weakly, her eyelids drooping.
"No need to announce it, Ron, not everyone thinks so."
Ron shook his head. He had a horrible, gruesome expression on his face. "Harry rented a hotel room last night. He wanted to get on-his-ass wasted. I bet they're in there."
Hermione's head was throbbing. "Would go with you, really, but I think standing would just mean falling back down."
"No, stay here. You need to rest. I'll go make sure Ginny's okay." He ran out, while still looking back to make sure Hermione was alive.
"Shit, someone's knocking." Harry said.
"Well, then open it." Ginny mumbled, half falling asleep. She hadn't gotten this wasted her whole life. Well…
"Is Ginny in here?" Ron's voice came from the door. Luckily they had both gotten dressed. Harry showed Ron over to her, and then said something about getting them tea.
"Hey, Ron. What brings you here?" She asked.
"Oh well you see I'm taking a poll of which one got more drunk: Ginny or Hermione. I'm basing it on their hangover." He kneeled down next to her. "What the hell is wrong with you, you're sixteen years old. You still have years to go before you're ready to be doing this."
"Based on what the laws say. But I'm the one drinking. I should know when I'm ready to, and right now I am." She said. "Where's Hermione?"
"Sleeping, I hope. I've been taking care of her all night. And looking for you."
"Sorry I don't check in with my big brother before carrying out my plans. Harry brought me in here to take care of me because he noticed I was a bit over my limit. So here I am." She yawned and snuggled her face deeper into the pillow. "What do you want?"
"Just to know you're okay."
"I'm fine, Ronald, now leave me alone. I don't need your protection. I'm fine." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "How's Hermione?"
"Dreadful. Have you two been drinking like this all week?" Ron asked. Ginny open her eyes for the sole purpose of rolling them.
"What makes you in a position where that's something you should care about? It's my life Ronald, just leave me alone." She turned over. "I can live however I want. You don't see me butting into your life, do you?"
Ron sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry." He stood, but couldn't resist. He sat down on the edge of her bed. "Ginny, please be honest with me. Did you and Harry—do anything last night?"
Ginny didn't start yelling at him. It would just get him angry. But for some reason, she just could not lie to him. "Nothing I will ever regret. But I will regret not asking you if you trust me. Do you?"
Ron didn't answer for a while. When he did, he left it at, "Sometimes, you seem too grown up for me to not worry about you staying my little sister." He got up, and before he left the room, he pushed some hair from her face to behind her ear, running his hand quickly over her cheek. "I really do want you to stay my little sister forever."
"It's not like I can promise I'll never fall in love. For all you know I might already have. But I will be your little sister, and I know better than to keep that from happening." She mumbled and closed her eyes. "Tell Hermione I need to talk to her whenever she's up for it."
"Seriously, Ron, I will not be answering that question."
"Nothing she wouldn't regret! That's what she did last night! I'm asking you, and I expect you to answer! Would she regret having sex with Harry?"
"I dunno, Ron, but I don't think it's any of your business either way. It's her life, she's the one living it, and she should choose how she does so."
He grunted loudly. "I'm worried about her, Hermione. She's sixteen, out drinking and partying all night long, and then wakes up in a hotel room with the boy she's fancied since she was ten. And to top it off, Fred's just died!"
Hermione sighed. "Did you ever think the latter provoked the former?"
Ron stared at her in silence for almost a full minute. "You think she's like this because of Fred?"
She shrugged. "It's Ginny. Honestly, with her, it's possible she's doing this because last year was a leap year."
"I don't appreciate that." He said warningly.
"Look, Ron, I'm just saying that Ginny's mind works a bit differently. Sometimes I get the feeling even she doesn't know why she's doing something, but the next thing she knows she can't stop." She lowered her voice. "One thing I do know is that she knows how to fix things by herself. And she wants to."
"Ginny? You—you're crying?"
"Go ahead and sound surprised, but it does happen." She snapped. "I can cry if I want to. You go ahead and try to stop me, you won't succeed."
"Sorry, I just haven't seen you crying for six years. What's wrong?" He asked, sitting down next to her on the bed and putting his arm around her shoulders.
"Everything!" She piped in an uncharacteristically high-pitched voice. With a sniffle, her voice returned to regular pitch. "I've always had eight people to worry about knowing my secrets. I've always had eight people to tell something important to. Now I have seven. Seven!" She yelled. "After almost seventeen years, how am I supposed to get used to that? Fred and George…don't you dare tell anyone else this…they've always kinda been my favorite brothers. But now…it's all gone. Poof. I still have George, but that's not the same. It was always both of them. I miss him Harry. I feel like my whole life had changed just because of it. I don't even know who I am, or what I'm supposed to be."
Harry exhaled. "I—I dunno how to answer that."
Ginny chuckled. "It wasn't exactly a rant one was supposed to answer. It was just a rant." She kissed him on the cheek. He frowned.
"That's it? I'm not just a one-night stand, am I?"
Ginny sniffed. "No. I just don't want to go any further until I really know what's going on. Can we just stay…simple?" Harry nodded.
"You should get some sleep. You look exhausted." He kissed her on the top of her head, and stood. "I mailed your parents, telling them you were safe, but that you wouldn't be home until tomorrow morning. I haven't gotten a response yet, so I believe it'll be your job to come with an excuse why."
"Wonderful. I'm just gonna tell them I got bloody drunk and you took care of me all day. Same story I told Ron. I think my parents'll be glad I'm not shooting up on something."
"They won't be angry at you?"
"Course they'll be angry, I'm sixteen and got a hangover that could kill an elephant. But they'll accept my sob story with no shit." She mumbled, and almost a second later, her eyes were shut, and she was snoring softly fast asleep.
Harry kissed her again, changed into pajamas, blew out the candle, and lay in bed next to her.