Lia blinked her eyes open slowly to find her room bathed in gentle sunlight. She wasn't always an early riser, but she could tell this was later than she'd normally wake up. She was facing the wrong way, though; she needed Ginny back in her arms. In an attempt to roll over, she let out a yelp as she nearly rolled off the bed. Luckily she caught herself, but when she got her bearings, Ginny was taking up the majority of the bed, her legs sprawled out like a starfish with her arms under the pillow. How had Lia slept through that much movement? She took a minute to enjoy the view, tempted to crawl on top of her, but she knew that would be a terrible idea after the frustrations of the previous night. She'd taken a chance in letting Ginny grind against her leg, unsure of what she would even do, but the tell-tale ache was coming back just at the memory, and getting out of bed would be the best choice at the moment. If anything, they could get back in it later. In fact, she really hoped they would.
Tea. She needed tea. Lia pulled her favorite mug down from the cabinet, one covered in birds with inappropriate names. Blue-footed Booby made her smile every time. She emptied the water out of the kettle from the morning before and filled it up with fresh, enough for Ginny too if she wanted some. While she was waiting for it to boil, she opened the fridge and pulled a sticky note from Claire off the milk.
Went to breakfast. Hope you at least got some snogging out of that argument last night.
Rolling her eyes, Lia crumpled up the note and threw it in the bin so Ginny wouldn't see it. She appreciated Claire's concern, and the secret hiding place she'd known Lia would see first, but she didn't need the reminder this early in the morning. Everything Ginny said had infuriated her. The accusations, the guilt tripping. She knew Ginny hadn't meant any of it, that it wasn't directed at her specifically, but it hadn't stopped it from hurting. The only thing that held her together was that Ginny was hurting more. She knew they needed to talk about it, but it didn't mean she wanted to. Their first sleepover was supposed to be just cuddling and kissing and getting to wake up next to each other, not a night that was interrupted with some resentment. She didn't even know how Ginny would feel when she woke up, and Lia was scared she'd just want to go home. Two months wasn't quite enough for those types of conversations, was it? She sighed to herself, turning to put the tea bag into her mug and pour the water over it while focusing on what she thought George and Claire were talking about. Would Claire bring up their fight? Would George be mad at her? Or would they just have a nice breakfast with no drama like Lia had hoped to do..
"You left me for tea?" While Ginny's words were accusatory, Lia could hear no malice. Only teasing. Lia's shoulders relaxed a little - at least she wasn't upset anymore.
"Oh, I'd leave anyone for tea," Lia replied without looking up.
There were a few seconds where she could feel the energy in the kitchen change, and she was suddenly nervous to make eye contact. Though she couldn't avoid it for too long, the trail of tea making its way into the water was very mesmerizing.
"Well, um…" Ginny cleared her throat softly, as if waiting for something to happen. "Good morning."
Finally, it couldn't go on any longer. She hated this. She hated not knowing. Sometimes sleeping on an argument only made things worse, but it sounded like they'd be just fine. She picked up the mug to bring it closer to the milk and when she turned towards Ginny, she almost dropped it. "Jesus Christ," she muttered. "I-I mean… good morning."
In favor of the large shirt and pajama pants she'd worn to bed, Ginny was leaning against the doorframe in a sports bra and a pair of cotton shorts that showed much more thigh than she'd seen on their date. Lia had always been a leg and ass girl, and Ginny had no flaws in either department. Now she understood the silence. Ginny had been nervous about Lia's reaction, which currently just consisted of her quickly setting down her mug on the counter and roaming her eyes over Ginny's body. She'd come into the kitchen with confidence, but now Lia could tell she was second-guessing herself.
"Have you got any idea how gorgeous you are?"
Ginny relaxed, arms that were threatening to cross over her stomach staying down by her sides. "I just… I got kind of warm when I woke up, so I thought… I mean if you want me to go change-"
"No." Lia shook her head quickly. "There are just a lot of things going through my head now that I'd love to do." Lia's eyes took in the freckles that really did cover Ginny's entire body like a map of the galaxy. Pinpricks of rust against pale skin that she wanted to trace with her fingers, with her tongue. Petite shoulders and a slim waist with a little curve in her hips that gave way to long, toned legs and bare feet with toenails Lia had painted pink for her the week before. The domesticity of it all was almost too much for her to handle. Fuck .
Ginny swallowed, looking Lia up and down as well, like she was trying to figure out what it was she wanted, too. "Is… kissing me on that list?"
"It's a bit near the bottom, but I guess it'll do." There was so much skin for her to touch, and if kissing meant kissing , she'd forgo breakfast and talking entirely to take Ginny straight back to bed. Not wanting to risk making Ginny nervous, she reached out a hand as an invitation, which the other girl took without any hesitation. Lia's hands moved instinctively to her hips to ground herself as Ginny leaned in for a kiss, fingertips trailing along her jaw. It wasn't long before Lia felt a sense of urgency as their lips moved together, as Ginny's tongue slid into her mouth, like she was trying to prove a point - a physical apology. And Lia was more than willing to accept. Seemingly on its own accord, her left hand moved to Ginny's ass, squeezing it fervently and pulling their hips flush, groaning into her mouth. Just as brilliant as she'd imagined. Ginny gasped against her lips, pulling away to look at Lia with wide eyes, and it seemed they'd reached a stalemate. Should she apologize or keep going? Neither of them moved for a second and Lia didn't move her hand. Ginny's pupils were darting back and forth between Lia's as she panted softly.
"When… when you said that kissing me was on the bottom of the list, w-what was… what else was on it?"
There was something in Ginny's eyes that had turned Lia's ache into more of a throb that had been frequently reminding her how long it had been since she'd had someone in her bed. "Lots of things that require you to have fewer clothes on."
"More of… more of stuff like what we did last night?" came Ginny's whisper.
"Do you want me to move my hand?"
Ginny shook her head. "No, I've... been having dreams about... I… I was actually… I wanted to…"
"You can put your hands wherever you want, love. On me. In me." Lia cut herself off with a breathy giggle, retreating her hand back to Ginny's waist. "God, I'm sorry. That was… I need to work on my filter because that was very inappropriate and you're very distracting -"
Ginny kissed her again, hands gripping and tugging on her hair just enough to drag a moan out that seemed to just spur the other girl on. Ginny had rarely been this… determined? Dominant? Whatever it was, it was short-circuiting Lia's brain as words began to fail her, especially when Ginny moved to her jaw and her neck, sucking a hickey into a spot that she knew Lia loved, just to hear her moan again. The blonde tilted her head and Ginny's free hand slid down the other side of her neck, over her collarbone, then finally, just when Lia's blunt nails were starting to dig into Ginny's skin with anticipation, down over her breast, cupping it in her palm and squeezing a little.
Lia was proud of herself, if she was being honest. Normally, she would have gotten impatient by now. The seconds Ginny had been wasting on her neck could have them in bed with at least one of them half naked. But if Ginny wanted to take the lead, she'd be an idiot to not let her, even if that meant ignoring the voice in her brain telling her not to rush. It wasn't until Ginny's thumb brushed over her already-sensitive nipple through her thin shirt that the trance was broken and Lia's mind was pulled back into the kitchen from wherever it was trying to wander off to.
"Fucking hell, Gin," she whispered through a moan, resisting the urge to slip her hand under the waistband of Ginny's shorts. Her whole body was on fire, and when Ginny pulled away to assess, she was flushed from the tips of her ears down into her bra, which Lia so suddenly wished was gone.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… was that okay?"
"God, more than okay." She couldn't tell what was going on in Ginny's head, but it didn't matter because suddenly they were kissing again and Lia was backing her up into the counter. Without even breaking, Ginny hopped up onto it and wrapped her legs around Lia's waist, pulling her closer, and Lia thought she might explode. It was her turn to pepper Ginny's neck with hickeys, and the more breathy moans left her mouth, the more Lia wanted to drop to her knees and bury her head between her legs, kiss up each one and suck on the spot right before the junction of her thighs and her hips - no one was immune to that.
Instead, she just licked a purposeful stripe back up Ginny's neck and flicked her tongue over her earlobe before sucking it into her mouth. Ginny was putty in her hands, panting and whining and tightening her legs, tugging Lia's shirt back against her skin before Lia was the one to finally call things. "I don't think I could stop if you took this off me right now, love." Lia's jaw tightened as she tried to keep herself in check once Ginny looked up at her. She'd never seen her eyes that dark, her lips that swollen, her desire that apparent. Already feeling herself clenching around nothing, she knew she wouldn't be able to take much more before she'd have to kick Ginny out just to give herself some relief. "Are you okay?"
It took a couple seconds for Ginny to find her voice, but she nodded, leaning back a little to rest her hands on the countertop. "Y-Yeah, I just... I really didn't mean to touch your... to touch you, but I... didn't think it would feel... that it would make me feel so..." she trailed off, unable to gather a single word for how she was feeling. It didn't matter, though. Lia knew exactly what she meant.
"Well, I'm glad it did. Otherwise I would be very disappointed that I may not get to do all the things I'd like to you ."
Ginny just grinned softly, blush coloring her cheeks, but she didn't break eye contact. "I just wish it wasn't so… uncomfortable all the time. To be…"
"What?" Lia asked, stroking a thumb against Ginny's cheek.
"Constantly turned on whenever I'm around you. It was kind of the same with Dean, too… I just feel like… is that… normal?"
"Normal?" Lia chuckled. "You're sixteen. Hell, you're human . With someone doing things to your body that you enjoy. What's not to be turned on about? Especially when I'm... actively trying to."
"I don't know," she whispered. "I guess I've just never talked to anyone about it before. And it's not just when you're trying, for the record."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm the same way whenever I see you, too. You know how hard it was that day at Hogsmeade for me not to forget about Harry and just drag you off somewhere?"
"We barely knew each other-"
"I know. But we'd talked about types and…" She let her eyes travel south, taking in the glimpse of cleavage down her bra. Bad idea. "I never mentioned it, but God, you're mine."
Ginny's cheeks only got darker as she followed Lia's eyes. "While we're on the topic and… before I get too nervous to admit it, that day we met, I… I wasn't sure, you know, if I even thought girls were attractive like that, so... I stole one of my brother's Muggle magazines that had pictures in it and…"
"You looked at a Playboy ? Just for me?" Lia laughed.
"Yeah, just for you," Ginny replied with a laugh. "So when I saw you at Hogsmeade that was pretty much all I could think about-"
"As honored as I am, and as much as I really hate listening to my own advice, that's not something to rush and I keep having to remind myself of that because... well.." She backed up a little more, hands resting on the outside of Ginny's thighs in hopes that it would let her calm down. "But you like this, right?" Ginny nodded. "And you enjoyed touching me, right? Accidentally or not."
"Definitely."
"Then you'll be just fine." She looked at the mug of tea next to them that had long gone cold and took a deep breath to gather some coherent thought. "Guess I'll need to remake that. Eggs and toast all right for breakfast?"
"What?" Ginny's eyes followed Lia's to the mug. "Oh. Yeah. Yeah, that's fine."
"You can stay on the counter, though. I quite like you up here."
Ten minutes later, they were sitting across from each other at the small kitchen table, sipping fresh tea out of matching mugs and eating breakfast in comfortable silence. Every once in a while, Lia would kick her foot out a little too far under the table and catch Ginny's ankle or tickle the bottom of her foot, which made her laugh and pull her foot away, nearly choking on her tea from the first ill-timed nudge.
"When did you lose your virginity?" Ginny suddenly asked as Lia was getting up for a refill.
"I was sixteen," she said with a smile. "It was Christmas Eve, actually. The night of the Yule Ball. Perks of sharing a dorm with your girlfriend."
"You were at the Yule Ball?"
"I was. World Cup that year, too. Ships in the night, weren't we?" Lia grinned, poured her tea, and leaned against the counter. "Emily and I had known each other since first year and started dating in fifth, so it had been about… what, nearly eight months, I think, that we'd been together. But… the bad thing about sharing a dorm with your girlfriend is… well… there's really nothing stopping you, is there? The, ehm, temptation is there every night, you know. But we'd gone to Hogsmeade that evening to celebrate and we got back and the other girls had given us the whole room to ourselves, so I think she'd planned it. Or… planned at least something . We hadn't really done much before that night except a lot of unintentionally teasing each other, but having the whole place to ourselves and the quiet and the excitement of the ball just… everything came together so nicely. It was lovely."
"Were you nervous?"
"God, yes. Even though we were very ready, it's a huge step, to be that vulnerable with someone. Neither of us knew what we were doing, either, so that probably helped a little. We were both nervous." Lia moved to the fridge to get the milk again, splashed some in, and stirred it before going back to the table. "Lucky for you, though, I know exactly what I'm doing now."
"I thought you said you were working on that filter," Ginny said, blushing again.
"Oh, that was intentional," she smirked. "Though I do want to hear more about those dreams you've had…"
"No. Absolutely not," Ginny laughed. "I don't know if I could actually bring myself to say any of it."
"More of a demonstrator, then?"
Ginny's face fell into her hands as she tried to hide her blush further. "I definitely can't do that, either. Especially over the breakfast table. And don't you say anything about getting us on the table either, because I know that's where your brain went."
Lia smirked over the lip of her mug. "You're absolutely right. That is exactly what I was going to suggest."
A few minutes went by as Lia sipped her tea and watched Ginny try to compose herself enough to speak again. "I actually wanted to ask you something. That… doesn't involve any of the activities we've been talking about."
"Yeah, sure," Lia teased.
"I'm serious. It's… well… you know my birthday's coming up and I wanted to know if you'd like to come to my party."
"Of course! I'd be upset if you didn't invite me, actually."
Ginny took a deep breath. "Could you come as my girlfriend?"
Lia's eyes widened a little. "Is that what I am?" She'd assumed, but they'd never talked about it, and she had wanted Ginny to make that decision when she was comfortable.
"I…" she shifted a little in her seat. "I mean, I think I'd like you to be. Unless you're seeing someone else or something?"
"I'm not. I promise," Lia said with a smile. "I just didn't know you were that… committed to letting everyone know just yet."
"After that?" she asked, glancing back to the counter for a second. "I think I'm pretty sure that this is something I'm very interested in and I don't think I want to hide it anymore. So what do you think? Would you? B-Be my girlfriend, I mean."
Lia debated making Ginny sweat for a second, but the sparkle of hope in her eyes was too beautiful to lose. "I'd love to."
It had been Claire's idea to get a bottle of whiskey for them to share as an early birthday celebration for Ginny at their flat. Since Claire said she couldn't have the actual day of the party off, the weekend before, they'd invited Ginny over and Lia had taken the day off work, using the extra time to decorate the flat with balloons and streamers. Her own room was already completely covered in banners, decorative pillows, and special balloons she had transfigured to look like snitches, a couple that Diana had already popped trying to attack them.
"I'm not trying to get her drunk," Lia insisted as she taped a twisted crepe banner up to the cabinets.
"Neither am I! But you've been complaining for weeks about how randy you are and how hot she is and how you can't stop having inappropriate dreams about her, blah, blah, blah. And frankly, I'm getting sick of it. I thought maybe some alcohol would make her a little more… comfortable. That's all. Not drunk. You know I'm better than that," Claire grinned, sliding her hair up into a ponytail as she took out all the ingredients for the cake. "Just trying to be a good friend. She's staying over tonight, yeah?"
"Yeah," Lia sighed and hopped down from the counter. "Probably the last time for a while after the party once her parents find out she's not just sleeping at a friend's."
"Even more reason to make it worth her while!"
"Shut up. I don't want to rush anything, no matter how irritable I am."
"Speak for yourself. I'd rather you not be irritable," she muttered.
"I really do just like cuddling with her, thank you . It's nice-"
"Waking up to someone. Yeah, yeah, you've said." Claire used her wand to attach a few balloons to the ceiling and door frames, in all the places that would be extremely inconvenient to put up and remove were it not for magic. "But I know it's better to wake up to someone who's… you know… naked."
"Thanks. Now you've got me thinking about her naked again," Lia teased, washing her hands before getting to work on the cake.
Though she couldn't cook to save her life, she enjoyed baking the Muggle way unless she was in a hurry. It always tasted better and the effort was nice, especially for special occasions. And this was definitely a special occasion. She always ended up with flour all over her face and arms, but she didn't care. She could clean it up later. Which she did with a flick of her wand once the cakes were in the oven and the only thing she had left to do was resist eating all the icing sitting in the fridge. Ginny's present was also sitting in the box in her room, which Ginny had insisted on opening with the rest of her gifts at her party, much to Lia's impatience. She was excited about giving it to her, as the first important present that Lia had spent some money on, but she'd wait.
She found herself checking her watch every thirty seconds around seven when Ginny was supposed to arrive. It wasn't going to be any kind of big party, but over the past few weeks, she'd only slept over a couple times, which was far too little in Lia's opinion.
"Would you calm down? You'll scare off the pizza guy when he gets here because you'll think he's Ginny. Everything's fine. Do you want me to open the whiskey? You'll get first sip."
Lia groaned, moving from sitting on the back of the couch. "Fine. Get me drunk before my girlfriend gets here. Great idea."
Claire stood from the couch and headed into the kitchen, pulling down two glasses from the cabinet and opening the bottle to pour a little into each. "How's that working out for you, by the way?"
"What, having a girlfriend? What do you mean?"
"Having Ginny as your girlfriend."
Lia sat up a little straighter as she handed over the drink. "Again, meaning ?"
"Well, she's the first girl you've been with who's younger than you, right?"
"Oh." She slumped back again, looking at the whiskey in her glass. "Yeah. It doesn't feel like it, though, which is part of the problem. I just can't take her out for a drink, but as far as anything else goes, I have to remind myself that she is two years younger than me."
Claire took a seat next to her on the end of the cushion, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. "Why?"
"Why? It feels like she's a child , Claire!"
"And yet here you are, snogging her on our counter…"
"That was one time."
"One time that I walked in on. Who knows how many more?"
"I know it's stupid. Obviously she's not any more of a child than I am. It's not like I'm any kind of adult. Two years just feels like a lot, but it's only like it matters when I'm not physically with her."
There was silence for a few seconds while they both looked into their glasses, swirling the ice around so that it clinked against the sides. They both knew what they wanted to say, it was just whether they would say it, and who would be the first.
"Being in a war makes people grow up, Lia. A lot."
There it was.
"And I'm not saying that-"
"I know," she interrupted before Claire could even finish. It wasn't a new conversation. They'd had it so many times before. She didn't need to relive the argument she'd had with Ginny that first night she slept over. It had been a sore subject ever since, and honestly, Lia wasn't sure if it would ever be something she'd be able to apologize enough to any of them for, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Claire's younger brother had even fought alongside them (something Lia hadn't been happy about, either) while Lia had been home, completely unaware that a lot of people she cared about were putting themselves in mortal danger. Once she realized what had happened, she had promised to never leave their sides again, but Claire was here, and Timmy, though safe for the moment, was back at home. "I know what you're trying to say. That I'm mentally a sixteen-year-old." She managed a smile, trying to change the subject.
"Actually, I was going to say that Ginny doesn't act like she's her age, but that works, too. Always a smart idea to insult yourself when you can't think of something to say."
"Now that's a Slytherin answer if I've ever heard one. Did you just start me drinking to get me talking about this?"
"No, but I'm glad it worked. You've needed to talk about it. I can tell."
"How?"
"Because with your other girlfriends, you'd go into far more detail than I want to hear. With Ginny, you're… more reserved when you talk about her, so I kind of picked up that there was something bothering you. And every time we get on the subject, you bring up how old she is…"
Lia shuddered. "That makes me feel gross."
"Then get over yourself and stop pretending you care so much! I don't care. She doesn't care. You lost your virginity when you were her age!"
"Emily was also my age!"
"Lia, who the fuck cares?!" Claire laughed incredulously. "If she barged through this door naked right now and told you she wanted you to fuck her, you can't tell me you wouldn't be in your room before she could even get the words out of her mouth." When Lia's eyes focused on her feet, Claire could nearly hear the thought running through her friend's head. "You don't want to take away any more of her innocence. You're bloody torturing yourself because you feel guilty."
The only answer Lia gave was draining the small amount of whiskey left in her glass before quickly getting up for a refill. "I hate when you do that."
"How many times have you been the one to stop things?" At the counter, Lia shook her head, biting her top lip to hide the telltale sign she was about to cry. "Oh, love…" Claire stood immediately, moving to the kitchen and reaching her arms out for a hug, but Lia held a hand out to stop her, which was fine. It depended on whether she actually wanted to cry or not. Claire's hands fell to her side. Understandable with Ginny about to arrive. "Don't let that hold up your relationship, sweetheart. She wouldn't want all of that to affect anything. You're…" she took a deep breath, running a hand through her hair, "you're what's keeping her from being as affected by the war, Lia. And that's not to put any pressure on you. That's me telling you that she's happy because you're allowing her to be. You're giving her things to be happy about and excited about and if she wants to experience those things with you , there's absolutely nothing wrong with letting her. Okay? She wants you. Believe me. Holding things back and pussyfooting around her is only going to hurt you. And her, once she finds out. I'm sure she's already confused since your mouth says one thing and the rest of you says another."
It wasn't meant as a joke, but Lia smiled softly. Even during a serious conversations, the inappropriate thoughts knew no bounds. It had made her feel better, though, for someone else to validate how idiotic her whole train of thought was. Because it was true - when Ginny was standing there in front of her in a bra and shorts or a bathing suit or her Quidditch uniform or just clothes in general - she had no problem. Besides the usual first-time hesitations and nerves, Ginny had gotten more obvious about what she wanted. She wants you . It was obvious, wasn't it? If even Claire could see it. She didn't need to treat her any differently just because she'd been in a war if it wasn't something Ginny was struggling with.
She needed to get over herself. She wanted Ginny. Why was she looking for so many reasons to deny it? Lia quickly gave herself a generous pour and swallowed it in one go, forcing herself to relax.
"Damn. You all right?"
"Fine. I'm fine. I'm just… trying not to overthink it. You're right. You're absolutely right. And I don't want you to be right. I don't want to keep psyching myself out anymore. It's stupid and it's childish and if I want to fuck Ginny Weasley then dammit, I'm going to fuck Ginny Weasley!"
Right on cue, there was a knock on the door and Lia immediately slapped a hand over her mouth, somewhere between embarrassed and proud of herself, while Claire let out a silent guffaw.
"Please tell me that's not her," Lia whispered frantically through her fingers, backing into the counter as Claire silently tiptoed through the door to look through the peephole.
"Just pizza. You got lucky."
"Oh my God." She buried her face in her hands, sliding down the cabinets to sit on the floor as Claire handed over the money and brought the boxes to the counter.
"Okay, I kind of lied. She was right behind the pizza."
"What?"
"Hey." Ginny had been not too far behind the pizza, already in her pajamas with her duffle bag slung over her shoulder. She looked from the bottle on the counter to Lia on the floor and laughed. "Started without me?"
Lia quickly shut her mouth from where it was hanging open in shock and somehow managed to stand. "You, ehm, didn't hear any of that, did you? Before you… walked in?"
"No, why?" Ginny smirked, and Lia was partially unconvinced. "Were you talking about me?"
"Oh, Lia was just yelling about how she wanted to-"
"Throw you a great pre-birthday!" Lia interrupted, shooing her friend away. "That's all. And how fun it's going to be now that you're finally here!" She pulled Ginny into a tight hug, mouthing I'm going to kill you over her shoulder at Claire, paired with a middle finger.
Claire just wiggled her eyebrows and started getting out plates while Lia pulled Ginny into her room to put her stuff down.
"Oh my God," Ginny laughed as soon as she saw the setup and the streamers and the balloons. "Lia… this is incredible. No one's ever done this for me before."
"You like it?"
Ginny deposited the bag onto Lia's bed and looked around, tapping one of the balloons with a chuckle as Diana started flying around it again. "I love it. Thank you."
The kiss she gave her made Lia think she had heard what she'd said, because it was soft and sensual, paired with a smile against her lips.
"You really did start drinking already."
"Had to make sure it wasn't poisoned," Lia teased, twirling a strand of Ginny's hair around her finger.
"Well, thanks for looking out for me." Ginny kissed her once more before pulling away and taking a deep breath. "Let's, uh… get back out there. I'm starving."
It didn't take long for the pizza to disappear and each of them be a few drinks in, and once the giggles were gone, they ended up with Ginny lying on the couch, Lia raking her fingers through her hair as she rested her head in Lia's lap and her feet in Claire's. They'd gotten on the topic of school starting again, and while neither of the older girls would be going back, Ginny still had her final year to finish, and she asked them about what they missed since they'd graduated.
"End of the year feasts," Lia answered almost immediately. "That chicken was always perfect . Especially since they saved up all the good stuff for then. Oh! Remember when the ghosts would always come through the tables to scare the first years?" she giggled. "Popping right up from the floor."
"Didn't George and Fred try to start a food fight at the end of first year?" Claire mused as she leaned her head back.
"What?!" Ginny exclaimed. "They never told me about that!"
"Yeah, pretty sure it was them. I mean, who else would it be? I just remember looking over at the Gryffindor table-"
"Because you always were."
"Shut up. But I looked over there and Fred had just launched a spoonful of potatoes at the Ravenclaw table and it hit this one older girl in the back of the head. She just vanished it and nothing really happened except everyone watching those two settle on smearing food all over each other."
"And no one stopped it?"
Claire shrugged. "It wasn't hurting anyone and they kept it pretty contained. It was hilarious, though. George was just absolutely covered in gravy. I have no idea how they got it off their robes."
"Maybe that's why Mum was so angry when they came home."
"They went on the whole train ride like that?! Oh my God, that's disgusting," Claire laughed, then sighed wistfully. "He's ridiculous."
It didn't take long for Ginny to catch onto the gaze Lia was giving her to say something. "It's a shame you won't be at the party next weekend. George was upset when I told him you couldn't make it."
"Really?"
"Mmhmm. He asked about you and everything."
"... He did?" She was suddenly very interested in their conversation.
"Oh yeah. Too bad you'll be working , though."
"Working? Oh. Right. Yeah. I'll be working."
Lia's eyes narrowed. Claire was a terrible liar when she'd been drinking. And right now, the way she was avoiding looking at either of them, pretending she'd found something very interesting on the ceiling, was a dead giveaway.
"I fucking knew it!" Lia exclaimed, turning a little towards her. "You were lying about working just so you didn't have to talk to George again!"
"It's not my fault he got all mad at me for nothing and I don't know how to fix it, so I just figured it would be easier if I gave up. And seeing him isn't going to make me give up." Claire groaned.
Lia gave her a pointed glare, hoping you're here telling me to get over myself with Ginny while you're the one moping because you and George got in an argument came across as well as she wanted it to, but Claire's still-nervous eyes made it clear she'd have to try again later. She couldn't say anything out loud anyway, not with Ginny in her lap, or here at all. When she looked back down at Ginny, she just rolled her eyes and settled down further.
After a couple more seconds, Claire spoke again. "Look, I'll think about it, okay?"
"That's all we ask."
" Anyway , one of my favorite memories at Hogwarts was skinny dipping in the Black Lake."
"Oh, that was a good time, too. Still can't believe we never got caught. Just a whole mess of naked girls running into the lake in the middle of the night."
"Bet you loved that, didn't you?" Ginny teased.
"Of course I did," Lia smirked. "That water was so cold. We only stayed in for a minute or two."
" I was more worried about the squid."
"It only comes after Slytherins who go in the lake alone ," Ginny said. "At least, that's what I heard."
"Oh, that makes sense." Claire rolled her eyes, but then a mischievous grin came across her face. "Have you ever been skinny dipping, Gin?"
"Not since I was a kid," Ginny laughed, fluttering her eyes closed. "But I remember always running naked into the lake at home in the summer sometimes before someone would come after me with clothes. Usually Mum or Percy. But no one was out there, so what's the harm, right?"
"You two should go. Now. Share an experience and all that."
"Claire."
"What? Just saying. It would be weird for the two of us to go at this point."
When Lia looked down at Ginny, her eyes were wide in shock, but she shifted a little on her lap as if the thought had caused a sudden discomfort. After a few seconds of staring, Ginny shrugged, moving to sit up. "I… I mean, I… it might be fun. You know… it's a little cold but maybe-"
"Maybe… maybe we could just go for another swim? Or just a walk. It's… getting a bit hot in here, don't you think? I know a good place that's not too far."
"I'll clean up if you two want to… you know… head out anywhere," Claire said, glad to be off the topic of her own relationship. "Up to you, Gin, yeah? It's your birthday. Don't stick around just to make sure I have a good time."
"You could always phone George," Lia suggested, narrowly dodging a pillow.
It only took a couple seconds for Ginny to make a decision, but she tugged her shirt a little to readjust it before nodding. "Okay, yeah. Yeah, let's go."
A/N: Not tired of me yet! Come hang out on Instagram and Twitter at possumwrites and Tumblr at possumwritesfics!