A/N: "Soap" – a fragment of the ancient Greek poetess Sappho's writings
…which has very little to do with the story, except for the bathroom setting, but which Little Pebble finds amusing.
Anyway…Goddess knows when I got this idea, or how, or where. I suppose I just wanted some female Harry Potter characters to talk about dirty, sleepover gossip-type things and ended up with mild f/f slash in the prefects' bathtub. Intrigued or appalled? Read on, O strong of heart and stomach!
J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter characters and setting. I am extremely glad that she will never read this, because I am sure that she would die of a heart attack if she did.
Heart-to-Heart
Or
"My Bath With Cho"
(Get it? "My Dinner with Andre"? Oh well, that was weak…)
Hermione's first day as fifth-year student and prefect had been a tiring one. She had always viewed the misbehavior in the halls with disapproval, but discipline had never before been her problem. So she looked forward to the comforting hot water and copious bubbles that awaited her in the prefects' bathtub (which, according to Harry, was fantastic – in the boys' bathroom, at least).
Hermione approached the door with the Gryffindor-scarlet towel under her arm. She knew the password – Professor McGonagall had told her, and the other three female prefects – but she decided that she should knock anyway, in case someone was already in the tub. She rapped gently on the door, and called softly through the crevice between door and wall, "Is anyone in there?"
"Yeah," said a voice from inside – Cho's. She sounded somewhat listless; it seemed that she always did, ever since…ever since the Third Task the year before. Cho seemed to be the person who was the most affected by Cedric's death; Hermione didn't know the extent of their relationship, but serious or not, its absence hit Cho hard.
Hermione sighed inwardly. She had been looking forward to the hot water. "How long do you expect you'll be in there?"
"Oh, not horribly long," came Cho's expressionless voice. There was a slight pause. "Unless I drown, in which case I'll be in here indefinitely."
Hermione laughed weakly. The idea of Cho drowning herself in the bathtub was not strictly a joke.
After a few seconds' silence, Cho called out through the bathroom door, "You can come in. I don't really mind."
Hermione said the password, "Lavender mint," and the door swung open. The first thing she saw was the swimming pool-sized bathtub, Cho's black-haired head protruding from the thick layer of bubbles on the surface, her finger drawing patterns in the foam.
"Hullo," Cho said dully, looking up.
"Don't look until I'm in, please," Hermione said. Cho turned around, and Hermione untied and slipped off her scarlet bathrobe (she had long ago outgrown her pink one and opted for a different color). She slipped into the warm, bubble-covered water, and sighed happily. She reached for the shampoo dispenser, pressed some green liquid into her hand, and began lathering her hair.
"Everything's marble," Hermione commented.
"Yeah," Cho responded, still sounding listless. "Big, too."
There was another lull in the half-conversation. "You weren't a prefect last year, as I recall," Hermione remarked, trying to break the silence.
"No," Cho said. "Penelope Clearwater graduated, and I got promoted."
Hermione sighed. "Multi-person baths are kind of…odd."
Cho smiled slightly. "The boys don't seem to have any trouble with group bathing."
Hermione grinned back. "No, they probably don't even notice where they are, and talk about Quidditch, as usual."
"Or compare the size of their packages," Cho offered with a completely straight face. "I hear that's what they do at sleepovers."
Hermione tried to muffle a guffaw and it came out a snort. "Now, that isn't very nice," she reproved jokingly.
"I know – how would we like it if they, at this very moment, were accusing us of being in here comparing the size of our breasts?"
Hermione looked down at the bubbles concealing her dismally small chest. "I wouldn't – I have nothing to compare."
Cho started snickering softly, then covered a louder laugh with her hand.
"What?" Hermione asked, grinning.
"It's just – imagining the famous Harry Potter comparing the size of his member with the rest of them."
"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed indignantly, then started giggling herself.
"I wonder –" Cho began, then stopped, as if coming back to herself. "No." The mirth came to an abrupt end.
"Cho, I…" Hermione trailed off. "I'm so sorry about… I know how close you were… how hard it hit you…"
Cho waved her stammered apology away. Her eyes were dry, but filled with sorrow.
Hermione sighed, and ducked into the water to rinse her hair. When she surfaced, she watched Cho drawing figure-eights in the bubbles again.
"Harry has a serious crush on you," Hermione said abruptly.
"I know," Cho said. "He asked me to the ball last year, but I was already going with –" She stopped. "I already had a date."
"You don't find him repulsive, do you?" Hermione inquired.
"No," Cho said. The corners of her mouth curled upward slightly. "I think I embarrassed him when I said 'no' to him in front of my friends."
Hermione smiled as well. "He was mortified." She paused. "He really likes you."
Hermione and Cho lay back against their opposite sides of the round bathtub. Then, for once, Cho started a conversation: "Have you ever had sex?"
"God, no!" Hermione exclaimed, horrified. "Why?"
"Well, isn't it one of those candid sleepover – or group bath – questions?"
"A bit too candid, perhaps… Have you?"
"Almost," Cho sighed thoughtfully, sinking into a trance of memory. Hermione wondered if she was going to cut off her train of thought abruptly again, struck by the still-acute pain of losing Cedric, but Cho continued: "But…we knew it was a bad idea, and always stopped ourselves before passion got the better of us."
"Oh," Hermione said, almost speechless with surprise that Cho was volunteering so much information.
"We did sleep together – clothed, of course – on occasion… Not for sexual pleasure, just to be close to each other. No one has commented to us, but some sources have reported that the Slytherins are convinced that we've been making love. Cedric is fit to be tied…he doesn't want anyone thinking that he's been taking advantage of my youth and purity."
Hermione did not point out that Cho had switched to talking in the present tense, as though Cedric were still alive. Loss can do odd things to the memory.
But Hermione must have been giving Cho a sad or quizzical look, because the amused smile vanished from the Asian girl's face. "Was," she amended, returning to her pastime of drawing in the foam atop the water.
Cho looked up abruptly and asked, "Has Viktor Krum ever kissed you?"
"Once or twice, yes," Hermione replied, puzzled.
"Is he a good kisser?" Cho asked, leaning back against her side of the tub and staring at the ceiling.
"Oh, I don't know," Hermione said. "I have no one to compare him to. But I think he kisses well."
Cho sighed, submerged, and resurfaced closer to Hermione. "That's one thing I miss the most about Cedric – his kisses were fantastic. He was so gentle, so sincere, but always managed to leave me breathless."
It was a bizarre impulse, it seemed, that made Cho lean forward and softly touch Hermione's lips with hers, hungrily reaching with her mouth, her arms, her empty heart for a love that she no longer had. Shocked, Hermione did not resist at first, but then pulled away from the other girl.
"Oh, my God," Cho said breathlessly. "I have no idea why the hell I just did that."
Hermione smiled sadly. "No, neither of us is discovering a secret lesbianism. You just need someone to fill the empty place Cedric held. I'm not a replacement for him. …Good God, I sound like a therapist," she added self-consciously, which made Cho smile slightly through the pain in her eyes.
"I need to get out," Cho said hastily, and swam over to the marble steps. Hermione averted her eyes until Cho had wrapped her Ravenclaw House-blue towel around herself. She dried off in silence, got dressed, and moved towards the door.
Then Hermione looked up from the bubble-covered water and said, "Harry doesn't want to be a replacement for Cedric, either. He wants you to like him for himself. If you ever have a relationship with Harry…wait until you're ready for someone new, not just someone with whom you can close your eyes and pretend it's Cedric."
"Thanks," Cho said, looking back with a hint of a smile, then closed the door behind her.
Hermione reached for the bar of soap and began washing her arms as if to cleanse herself of that touch.