My eyelids opened slightly as I lay on my stomach. I pulled the covers closer and saw Lavender sleeping next to me. She looked like she was sound asleep. It was Sunday, so there wasn't anything to do, so I decided to let her sleep. She was cute lying there with her hair tousled. I wish I could say that she was smiling like she was having a good dream or something, but she wasn't.

A half hour passed. I was getting bored, impatient, plus I was hungry and had to pee. But shouldn't those things not matter since I had a beautiful, sexy girl next to me? Shouldn't I not notice hunger, shouldn't I never be bored? Plus I didn't want to go to the bathroom and have her wake up by the time I got back, and think I left her.

After weighing the pros and cons for five minutes, I decided to run to the bathroom really fast. When I came back, she was just waking up, it looked like.

"Morning babe. Get sick of me that fast? I wanted you here when I woke up," she said with a tiny pout. It was a flirty pout. No, maybe it wasn't, maybe she was actually a bit upset but wanted to play it off as flirty. Shouldn't I know these things? No, it was a flirty pout.

"I really had to go pee, I'm sorry," I leaned down and kissed her standing over the bed.

"Come back to bed," she said playfully, pulling me back onto the bed.

"I'm actually really hungry," I apologized.

"I know what you can eat," Lavender suggested, flashing me a look that nearly ripped the clothes right off me.

"I know sweetie, but I'm actually completely starving for food right now. I could barely eat at Madam Puddifoot's last night," I apologized again as I played with her fingers.

She sighed, "Okay."

……………..

We sat down at breakfast just the two of us. I felt a little funny making conversation at first, but she talked about how nice I'd made the Room of Requirement (really, the room readied itself…I mean, I guess it could sort of read my mind, but she should know that it wasn't anything I specifically did). Also, I'd much rather hear that I was good in bed. Her words played over and over.

"Wow, Ginny, that was good."

Yeah, I got a "wow" in there. But "good" didn't seem to quite cut it. If I was really good she would have said it again. And my mind was swarming with "you were amazing"s to tell Lavender. But I didn't want it to be uneven.

"Thanks, yeah, I thought it was really nice, too. Everything," I said.

Just then Seamus came up to where we were sitting. "Oy, Lav, we've got that group project to work on for Divination…the mapping of our planets and how it works in our friendships and relationships. I can't believe we haven't started yet."

"Shit. I totally forgot. It's due tomorrow, right? Mione don't hate me for bugging out on you like this, especially after last night. I'd invite you to come, but I know I'd be desperately distracted and never get anything done."

"It's fine, I'm happy you're doing your work. I'll see you later, whenever you get done," I said. I was actually happy to have a bit of space to process last night, and I was dying to talk to Ginny.

A moment after Lavender had left, I heard someone running and quickly sitting down next to me. Ginny was there.

" 'Ello Love, I haven't seen you in awhile," Ginny sat turning toward me and cocked her head to one side with an arm propping up her head. Her hair was a sea of curls today.

"Yeah, I know," I said hurriedly. "Anyway, I've got something massive to tell you. Lavender and I had sex." My eyes were huge, I wanted to show her I was excited about it.

"Really, when?" she asked.

Whoa. Not the reaction I wanted. She wasn't frowning, but she wasn't smiling. When she had told me about having sex with Harry, her face was incredibly animated the whole time.

Flashback

"I finally had sex with Harry. I don't think it was exactly amazing physically, because it was my first time, but I love him so much. I mean, we had basically planned to have sex soon, but I never felt something that intense and we just went for it. We were kissing and fooling around, and usually as much as I love it there comes a point when I'm ready to stop, but I never wanted it to end and I wanted so much more. And he just pressed himself inside of me and it hurt a bit but it was exhilarating knowing that we were that close," she let out all in one breath. She was glowing, and it was breathtaking.

"Wow, I'm happy for you," I said as I gave her a hug. I thought about how Harry had held her in his arms in a really different way not too long ago. Last time I hugged her she was a virgin. I was probably way overthinking it, but it felt different. When we pulled back I glanced at her crotch, and it was definitely pretty weird thinking about Harry being inside that.

But she was gorgeous when she glowed.

End flashback.

It was only fair that she was happy for me having sex, when I was happy for her having sex. "Ehrm, last night. We had a really nice dinner and then we used the Room of Requirement. It was all done up romantically, and she said I was AMAZING." I fibbed.

She laughed a little, "Nice. Well, any details?"

I felt a little thrown off by the way she was reacting, but I dove into an account of some of last night's more sordid details.

"And that's basically it," I finished.

"How long have you been going out now?" Ginny's eyebrows were tilted up in the middle.

How could she not know it had been a month? I knew exactly how long she'd been dating Harry—an intimidating 17 months. She's my best friend—best friends are supposed to keep track of these things.

"A month," I said a little defensively.

"Okay, I really don't want you to take this the wrong way, but," she took a breath here. I hate it when people preface uncomfortable talks like that. "I think any sort of sex at only a month is trashy. You're so much better than that, Hermione. You've got so much time to find yourself a long-term, love relationship. There should be more of an emotional connection than you get at a month." She reached to grab my hand.

Why was she holding my hand? Was I a baby who needed to be taken by the hand and taught how to act around people? Who was she to judge? And actually, I was eighteen. It was about time I'd gotten some action. I had finally stopped waiting around for Ginny, being satisfied with Ginny's little…pity snogs? And how did she know exactly how to measure the emotional connection in my relationship with Lavender? I liked Lavender. Maybe eventually it would be love. I was comfortable enough emotionally to have sex with her. I wouldn't have if I didn't feel like it was right.

As I pushed her hand away, I ranted, "Actually, I love her." Lie number one. "She's the best kisser I've ever kissed." Lie number two. "She loves me too." Probably lie number three. I could be a bad best friend too, by lying.

"You know that's not true, Hermione. You gave yourself to the first thing that came along. That's trashy."

"Harry was the first thing that came along for you, Gin, you should know sometimes it happens that way. And," I lowered my voice, whispering ferociously, "You're such a bloody hypocrite. Isn't it trashy to snog your best girl friend when you have a boyfriend that you supposedly love?" I was seething, but rather proud of myself. Take that, Gin.

Ginny's face fell. She blinked a few times, but it didn't look like she was holding back tears. She looked like she was going to say something, but then stopped and looked confused. I could see the wheels turning in her mind, and she finally settled on, "That's…different, Mione." She put a decided emphasis on "different".

"How?" I felt almost bad still asking her, when it had visibly upset her, but I needed to.

"It just is, so can we drop it, okay?" she furiously started buttering a biscuit. Her eyes were pleading with me.

"Fine," I said. It wasn't a bitter "fine", just "fine".

"So I've got to tell you about what Harry did yesterday…"

I could tell this was filler story. It was rather therapeutic getting all our emotions out, though.