"So, how are you feeling?"

Ginny shrugged. "As good as I can for it being a Monday."

"I love Mondays," Hermione said with a smile, her back to the showerhead, droplets traversing her arched back.

"Actually... They've been growing on me, as well." Ginny giggled.

Hermione shut her eyes, listening to the water hit the ground. "I like our little routine."

"It's good to have normalcy."

"And stability," Hermione added.

"Yes, yes, that too," Ginny agreed hastily.

"Ginny?"

"Mmm... Yes?" Ginny replied. She was shaving her legs.

"Stability is good." Hermione refrained from using a metaphor of a table with one rickety leg.

Ginny almost nicked herself. "Yeah, I know." She put the razor down, rinsing the blood from her leg.

"And you know, stability doesn't make me Dean Thomas."

"All the surgeries and costume make-up in the world couldn't make you Dean Thomas!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Good. As long as you realise that this is..." Hermione rubbed her eyes. "Blast! Shampoo in my eye..."

"Need some help, there?" Ginny asked.

Hermione mumbled incoherently as she peeled her eyes open and rinsed them in the water.

"All better now?"

Hermione blinked furiously. "Ah. Yeah, I think it's gone now. Cor, I haven't had shampoo in my eye since I was little..."

Ginny interrupted. "What were you about to say before?"

"What? Oh, that?" Hermione smiled nervously. "We must be wasting hot water in these long showers."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "We've done our part. We've consolidated!"

Hermione grinned tentatively. "Well... I thought there was another reason for why we did that." She felt Ginny's soft fingers massaging conditioner through her hair.

"Yeah. You need help washing," Ginny said in mock reproach.

Hermione looked over her shoulder at Ginny and smiled broadly, her happiness unrestrained.

"But...?" Ginny paused from conditioning Hermione's hair.

"But... There's this now." Hermione reached behind herself for Ginny's slippery hand, which was resting on her neck. She held it for a moment, then squeezed and released it. "And I just hope you realise that this is different from what you and Dean had. This is... special."

"I know." Ginny reached around Hermione's waist with her freckled arms and pulled her in tightly. She rested her head on Hermione's collarbone.

They stood, intertwined together in the rain of the shower. When they left the girls' dormitory bathroom, they were together.

Fin