At half passed eight that evening, the men backed to see three quite large houses finished. They started jumping and screaming with joy. As they heard the women shout as well, they turned to look at them, and saw the river finished, and it was slowly filling with water from the nearby lake.
"We did it!" Hermione gasped and hugged Ginny. One of the guards approached the field and looked at the river, then at the buildings.
"GET TO BED MAGGOTS! You will find a towel, a soap and a toothbrush on your bed. The water is on for showering between six and six thirty tomorrow morning!"
"Thank you, sir" they all echoed and rushed to their barracks.
"I'll see you at six, then" Ron told Hermione before she entered the barrack where the women slept. She nodded with a smile.
"See you in the morning, girls" the twins yelled and Angelina and Katie waved towards them, giggling.
"I don't deserve this. I mean I have only been here for a couple of days" Ginny told Hermione as she climed into her bunker.
"Everybody will get clean, even you" Hermione answered. "Oh, thank you Merlin they left us toothpaste aswell"
"Look what I managed to get"
Luna tip-toed towards them and waved with soemthing shiny.
"You're a star, Luna, you know that? A lifesaver" Angelina said with a smile, as they realized she had been able to steal a razor.
"Thank you, Angelina. Now, I found out the guard are even too lazy to get new ones so there's a spell on this one that removes all the hair when it's used, so we can all use it"
The joy that spread across the barrack was something out of the ordinary at that place. When the lights went off, the girls stood one by one infront of the window, getting some light from the moon, as they mixed spit with the soap and covered their legs and armpits with the fresh smelling foam. They helped eachother to shave off the hair between their eyebrows ans went to bed happier than ever. Allready, Hermione felt clean, and she couldn't help but to giggle at how funnny it must look on them to be dirty all over, except for their now clean and smooth legs.
As it was a moment not to waste, the men decided that they would take turns in staying awake, to make sure someone was up to wake everyone at ten to six.
"Can you imagine how excited the girls must be? I mean, sure we're dirty, but they have their... you know... every month" George said. That was something none of the guys had been considered, or even noticed at all.
"I guess that's why they were so awfully jolly when it rained" Ron chuckled.
"Do you remember what they smelled like? When they just had taken a shower... Angelina always had this sweet smelling shampoo" Fred said dreamingly. The guys inhaled and let out a sigh, thinking about the old days with their girls.
"Or when we used to get down to the beach and she wanted help with the sunlotion. Those perfect curves. Not as skinny as they have gone now" Ron said, just as dreamingly as his brother. The other guys started to get irritated.
"Stop, please... It hurts to remember those days, knowing that I can't have it now" Seamus said in a hurt and longing ay. They didn't know his girlfriend, she had been in Hufflepuff.
"Raspberry lipgloss" George sighed.
"Oh, yes" the others murmured, smirking. They were longing badly for their girls. Longing to have that halfhour in the shower with them, and then the rest of the day.
"When I get out of here, I'm going to give Hermione anything she wants. Being here really makes me appreciate her more, you know. I always took her for granted before, and now, I can barerly see her"
The others nodded and mumbled in agreement.
"It makes you realize they could be gone in minutes. Everything you've loved and cared for could be gone, shot in the head, just like that"
They didn't like the way Fred put it, but they knew he was right. The girls were not needed there as much as the guys and if they broke the rules one time too many, they would be dead.
Morning could not have come fast enough and as soon as the muggle clock hig up on the concrete wall turned ten to six, Seamus yelled at the men to get up. None of them had slept hard, and they jumped out of their bunkers and grabbed their toothbrushes and soaps, and ran outside, where a portable shower room had been placed. A guard stood outside the quite large building, not letting them in yet.
Seconds later, they heard joyful yells from the women and everyone turned to their right and watched the girls run towards them.
Hermione flung herself around Ron's neck and slipped the stolen razor in his hand.
"Share, okay?" she whispered, and he smiled brightly at her, before he kissed her.
Fred and George left the line and ran to meet their girlfriends halfway. Angelina jumped at Fred, her legs around his waist and he span around, laughing in a way he hadn't laughed for over two years. Katie completely knocked George over and they rolled around in the sand, kissing for the first time in ages.
"GET IN NOW, RATS, AND BE READY BEFORE SIX THIRTY!"
"Yes, sir" They all answered in unison, and ran into the shower room. There were rows of showerheads on the walls and without another word, they threw their clothes off and raced towards the cold white tile. They put their clothes on the floor beneith them, to clean them up aswell.
The water that was flowing on the floor had a dark brown colour and the girls rolled their soap in their moist hands and massaged the foam into their hair with one hand, and brushed their teeth with the other. Ron quickly shaved his face and gave the razor to his brother, before he brushed his teeth, and joined Hermione in the shower. Her skin had now a healthy sunkissed tone and her face was clean.
"Let me do that" he whispered and grabbed the soap. He rolled it in his hands a few times, before letting his foam covered hands massage her hair and scalp. She closed her eyes and a smile spread across her face. As the dirt washed away, she felt the old scent of Ron fill her lungs, and for a minute, she was sure it had all ben a nightmare, and that she was standing in the shower with Ron in their new appartment. She felt his hand trace the curves of her body, foamy bubbles making the skin of her waist and tummy soft again. Ron gently rubbed her back with his soap covered hands and he leaned in closer to smell her skin. His breath tickled her neck and Hermione giggled, before she turned around.
"I like it when you're dirty, but not in this perticular way" she teased and grabbed the soap from his hands. She let her palms stroke his chest and neck, leaving traces of a soft white foam on his body. She ruffled his hair and he chuckled.
"I've missed you" Ron grabbed her wrists gently and put her arms down, then leaned in and kissed her passionatly. He let go of her wrists to caress her moist skin. He had missed that soft skin on her arms and waist. Missed that over bushy hair and deep hazel eyes, that for a moment, had regained their spark. They lost themselves in eachother, as the filth washed away.
When they guessed about twenty minutes had pased, they grabbed their soaked clothes and rubbed the soap onto the fabric, washing away the dried blood, sweat, dust and mud from them. The guard yelled at them shortly after and they put on their damp clothes and walked out of there.
"Go and have your meal. After that you're free to do what you want. Tomorrow it will get harder for you, and from now on, you'll sweat like pigs"
The guard didn't yell, but his voice was threatening and they knew the real Hell was yet to come.
As they stood in their regular lines to have breakfast, Katie came up next to Hermione, teary eyed.
"What happened?" Hermione asked quietly.
"It's George... What they've done to him. I saw his back..."
Hermione didn't know what to say. She knew Katie was suffering more than George on this. He didn't feel anymore pain, but she felt it always. In her heart.
"Don't worry about him. He's not tormented about them, he knew he would be punished for what he did, even if it was the right thing to do"
Katie nodded slowly and a tear fell from her face and onto the floor.
"I what I hink about it... I hate that I wish he'd just let that girl get hurt, but that's what I feel"
Hermione bit her lip. She somehow understood Katie perfectly.
"George is an honorable man, Katie. More curageous than most of the men here"
Katie looked up at her and smiled.
"I know, Hermione"