Curiosity
Disclaimer: Don't own it, and it's all Mistress Meow's fault.
She threw herself down on her bed with a groan. Closing her eyes, Hermione reached out one hand and felt around for a pillow, which she promptly drew over her head. To the only other occupant of the room, faint muttering could be heard, which went something like this:
"Arrgh, arrgh, oh woe is me, whatever shall I do, now that I find I must turn down ickle Ronnie-kins' attempt at true love. Gods, I'm going to KILL him!"
The other student in the room choked back a snort of laughter. "Um... Hermione? Are you all right?"
"What? Oh." Hermione pulled the pillow back off her head and sat up, her hair in disarray. "I'm going to kill him, Parvati, I really am." Her face fell into her hands.
Parvati gracefully moved from her own bed to Hermione's, sitting next to the distressed girl. "Well, would you like some help?"
She looked up, a gleam in her eye. "Did you have anything in mind?"
The gaze that met her own looked positively Slytherin. "Oh yes, if it's all right with you... and it'll keep him from offering that to either of us again."
Hermione dropped her head with a thud into the pile of books in front of her. 'Dammit, Ron, can't you get it yet?' He rambled on, not noticing.
A faint noise, barely reaching her ears over Ron's natterings, caused her to look up. A welcome sight indeed had just entered the library, and caught her eye. She smiled faintly, and nodded at the girl just inside the door, who started to pick her way over towards Hermione's table.
"Come on, Hermione, just give me a chance... I've loved you since third year, I just never realized it. We were meant to be together, haven't you noticed that? Please, my darling, I want you... I need you..." She interrupted him before he got any further than that.
"Ron. Ron! Listen to me, alright?" She waited till she had his attention, then gritted her teeth before pressing on with her "confession."
"Ron... as much as I love you, I can't be with you. There's... there's... somebody else, you see, and they will never forgive me if I leave them..." She barely managed to keep her voice even and sincere, except for a slight flutter of "feeling." A phrase her father had used on occasion floated across her mind.
'Sincerity's the most important thing. Once you can fake that, the rest is easy!'
She managed to repress a snort of laughter at Ron's expression. His eyes had gotten as big as a house-elf's, and his mouth was gaping open like a fish. "But... but..."
He was interrupted again, by a voice belonging to the girl standing behind him. "Hermione, darling, are you in here studying again? I swear, sweetheart, you'll wear your eyes out at that rate." Parvati stepped around Ron, and around the table, until she was standing next to her roommate. "Come on up to our room, dear, and take a break from studying for a while. I can think of something else we can do, to keep us busy."
And with that, she leaned down and planted a rather lusty kiss on Hermione's lips.
Neither of them happened to notice Ron's reaction, although both would have been rather amused by it. Unfortunately for them, eventually he would work up the courage to act upon it, but fortunately, it would take the majority of the school year for him to do so. At the moment, he merely gaped even wider, got a shifty look about his eyes, grabbed his schoolbag as he stood, and held it firmly in front of his lower torso as he inched his way out of the library, before running to the nearest bathroom to take care of the problem he now found himself possessing.
Although she had, intellectually, known what to expect, Hermione found herself more than a little bit shocked by what she found herself actually doing. For one thing, although she had kissed several boys before – Harry, Ron, Dean, Neville, even Malfoy on a memorable drunken evening – she had never felt quite so much like she'd been hit by a bolt of lightning, in a most pleasant way indeed.
Hermione also had to admit that none of those boys was nearly so good of a kisser as Parvati.
And then she realized that she needed to breathe.
Hermione broke the kiss with a gasp, and panted for air as she rested her forehead against the other girl's. Once she was breathing a bit easier, she pulled back far enough to look Parvati in the eye. She smiled, shyly.
Her mind made up in that moment, Hermione pulled away and quickly, efficiently, gathered her books together, dumping them in her bag, and leaving behind the books she'd planned to check out of the library. She caught Parvati's hand and pulled her through the door, racing with her over to Gryffindor Tower and their dorm room. She couldn't remember, later, giving the password to the Fat Lady, or crossing the Common Room, or climbing the stairs; she didn't even remember most of the journey from the library to the Tower. All she knew was that she was on fire because of Parvati, and then she was in her room, locking and warding the door against Lavender or anyone else. As an afterthought, she added a Silencing Charm; she'd never been particularly noisy when fooling around with the boys, but she had a thought that perhaps things might be different that afternoon.
She turned away from the door, and rested her gaze on Parvati again, who was slightly flushed, and chewing on her lower lip. 'I'd rather have me do that...'
Thought was as good as deed, and a moment later, she found herself back in Parvati's arms, kissing her as though her life depended on it.
They stayed in the room for the rest of the afternoon, not noticing when Lavender tried to come in to change before dinner, and not noticing when Ginny came by to try to talk to Hermione about what a git her brother was being.
Later, Hermione was quite glad that she'd cast a Silencing Charm. It had come in very handy, several times.
Eventually, when night was falling, she unlocked the door to let Lavender back in, just before falling asleep in her bed, in Parvati's arms.
Her last thought of the night was that what she had told Ron, earlier that afternoon, was no longer a lie.
Author's Note: For some reason, although I've finally managed to persuade my computer to use the QuickEdit function to insert horizontal lines (Formerly known as hr), I still can't persuade it to use italics. Therefore, when in speech, those words encapsulated by ""s are supposed to be italicized, and anything using abused apostrophes (or 'single quotes' as they're sometimes misnamed) is a thought, or perhaps a quote, in one particular instance. Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: Don't own it, and it's all Mistress Meow's fault.
She threw herself down on her bed with a groan. Closing her eyes, Hermione reached out one hand and felt around for a pillow, which she promptly drew over her head. To the only other occupant of the room, faint muttering could be heard, which went something like this:
"Arrgh, arrgh, oh woe is me, whatever shall I do, now that I find I must turn down ickle Ronnie-kins' attempt at true love. Gods, I'm going to KILL him!"
The other student in the room choked back a snort of laughter. "Um... Hermione? Are you all right?"
"What? Oh." Hermione pulled the pillow back off her head and sat up, her hair in disarray. "I'm going to kill him, Parvati, I really am." Her face fell into her hands.
Parvati gracefully moved from her own bed to Hermione's, sitting next to the distressed girl. "Well, would you like some help?"
She looked up, a gleam in her eye. "Did you have anything in mind?"
The gaze that met her own looked positively Slytherin. "Oh yes, if it's all right with you... and it'll keep him from offering that to either of us again."
Hermione dropped her head with a thud into the pile of books in front of her. 'Dammit, Ron, can't you get it yet?' He rambled on, not noticing.
A faint noise, barely reaching her ears over Ron's natterings, caused her to look up. A welcome sight indeed had just entered the library, and caught her eye. She smiled faintly, and nodded at the girl just inside the door, who started to pick her way over towards Hermione's table.
"Come on, Hermione, just give me a chance... I've loved you since third year, I just never realized it. We were meant to be together, haven't you noticed that? Please, my darling, I want you... I need you..." She interrupted him before he got any further than that.
"Ron. Ron! Listen to me, alright?" She waited till she had his attention, then gritted her teeth before pressing on with her "confession."
"Ron... as much as I love you, I can't be with you. There's... there's... somebody else, you see, and they will never forgive me if I leave them..." She barely managed to keep her voice even and sincere, except for a slight flutter of "feeling." A phrase her father had used on occasion floated across her mind.
'Sincerity's the most important thing. Once you can fake that, the rest is easy!'
She managed to repress a snort of laughter at Ron's expression. His eyes had gotten as big as a house-elf's, and his mouth was gaping open like a fish. "But... but..."
He was interrupted again, by a voice belonging to the girl standing behind him. "Hermione, darling, are you in here studying again? I swear, sweetheart, you'll wear your eyes out at that rate." Parvati stepped around Ron, and around the table, until she was standing next to her roommate. "Come on up to our room, dear, and take a break from studying for a while. I can think of something else we can do, to keep us busy."
And with that, she leaned down and planted a rather lusty kiss on Hermione's lips.
Neither of them happened to notice Ron's reaction, although both would have been rather amused by it. Unfortunately for them, eventually he would work up the courage to act upon it, but fortunately, it would take the majority of the school year for him to do so. At the moment, he merely gaped even wider, got a shifty look about his eyes, grabbed his schoolbag as he stood, and held it firmly in front of his lower torso as he inched his way out of the library, before running to the nearest bathroom to take care of the problem he now found himself possessing.
Although she had, intellectually, known what to expect, Hermione found herself more than a little bit shocked by what she found herself actually doing. For one thing, although she had kissed several boys before – Harry, Ron, Dean, Neville, even Malfoy on a memorable drunken evening – she had never felt quite so much like she'd been hit by a bolt of lightning, in a most pleasant way indeed.
Hermione also had to admit that none of those boys was nearly so good of a kisser as Parvati.
And then she realized that she needed to breathe.
Hermione broke the kiss with a gasp, and panted for air as she rested her forehead against the other girl's. Once she was breathing a bit easier, she pulled back far enough to look Parvati in the eye. She smiled, shyly.
Her mind made up in that moment, Hermione pulled away and quickly, efficiently, gathered her books together, dumping them in her bag, and leaving behind the books she'd planned to check out of the library. She caught Parvati's hand and pulled her through the door, racing with her over to Gryffindor Tower and their dorm room. She couldn't remember, later, giving the password to the Fat Lady, or crossing the Common Room, or climbing the stairs; she didn't even remember most of the journey from the library to the Tower. All she knew was that she was on fire because of Parvati, and then she was in her room, locking and warding the door against Lavender or anyone else. As an afterthought, she added a Silencing Charm; she'd never been particularly noisy when fooling around with the boys, but she had a thought that perhaps things might be different that afternoon.
She turned away from the door, and rested her gaze on Parvati again, who was slightly flushed, and chewing on her lower lip. 'I'd rather have me do that...'
Thought was as good as deed, and a moment later, she found herself back in Parvati's arms, kissing her as though her life depended on it.
They stayed in the room for the rest of the afternoon, not noticing when Lavender tried to come in to change before dinner, and not noticing when Ginny came by to try to talk to Hermione about what a git her brother was being.
Later, Hermione was quite glad that she'd cast a Silencing Charm. It had come in very handy, several times.
Eventually, when night was falling, she unlocked the door to let Lavender back in, just before falling asleep in her bed, in Parvati's arms.
Her last thought of the night was that what she had told Ron, earlier that afternoon, was no longer a lie.
Author's Note: For some reason, although I've finally managed to persuade my computer to use the QuickEdit function to insert horizontal lines (Formerly known as hr), I still can't persuade it to use italics. Therefore, when in speech, those words encapsulated by ""s are supposed to be italicized, and anything using abused apostrophes (or 'single quotes' as they're sometimes misnamed) is a thought, or perhaps a quote, in one particular instance. Thank you for reading.