Late July brought a sweltering heat over London that currently had Lia very grateful for the lake at the Burrow and the fact that she knew Ginny was home that weekend. She had half a mind to just show up, knowing none of them would care, but she thought it best to at least call ahead of time. It had been over a week since she'd seen Ginny, and the impatience was crawling back. She missed her, and Claire was working until this evening, in a building presumably cooler than their flat. The fun of lying on her bed surrounded by cooling charms only lasted about ten minutes. Snogging Ginny was much more entertaining. Anything with Ginny was more entertaining, really. Just thinking about her infectious laugh, the way she looked at her, the way she'd start talking faster when she got passionate about something, made her mind up easily.
They'd been dating for nearly two months now, and it had been nothing short of amazing in Lia's eyes. Everything with Ginny was comfortable and easy and fun, and they tried to see each other at least once a week, even if some of those times were just Lia going to Quidditch practice and getting to see her before and after. Watching her fly was enough sometimes, especially when she was making remarkable improvements in the way she carried herself on a broom. She'd noticed Harry was starting to back off, letting Ginny take the reins as captain sometimes, which she knew would be great to start her in any professional teams. He was letting her show off.
Unfortunately, though, she knew there would be no flying today. Not in this heat. Lia essentially invited herself over and Ginny graciously accepted, even reading her mind with suggesting a swim. As soon as they hung up, Lia got dressed quickly, throwing her swimsuit on under her clothes, made sure Diana was set with enough food and comforts for the day so she wouldn't have to go outside either, and Apparated to The Burrow.
It seemed even hotter there, which pulled a groan out of Lia as she raised a hand to her eyes to block out the sun. Ginny was already out the door, running to her and wrapping her arms around Lia's neck. Despite the heat, Lia pulled Ginny closer and pressed a couple kisses to her neck.
"Save it for the lake," Ginny whispered with a breathless laugh. "I missed you."
"I missed you too."
"Come on in and get changed, then we can go ahead and get to the lake."
"Already prepared. It's under my clothes." They broke apart and Ginny took Lia's hand to walk her the short distance into the house, where Molly was fussing over making sure they all had enough sunscreen, fighting to put it on George's nose as he kept ducking away from her.
"Mum, I'm twenty years old! I can put on my own bloody sunscreen! I have been since I was ten!"
"And you get burned every year! Clearly I can't trust you to take care of your own skin!" Once Lia walked in, she got a little distracted, turning away from George, which let him sneak out of her grasp out the back door. "Oh, hi Lia! Glad you could join us! Is Claire coming later?"
"I let her know I was here if she wanted to stop by after work if we're still out and she feels up to it, so maybe! She said she'd let me know."
Claire had been to the Burrow a few times in the past couple months, either just for dinner or to hang out. She had also been inducted into George's card game, though with a lot fewer complications since he'd written down the rules, something Lia vehemently pointed out was a very lucky thing.
"Where's Percy?" Lia asked as she followed Ginny up the stairs to change into her swimsuit.
"With his girlfriend. Mum thinks Kingsley wanted him at the Ministry on a Saturday." She rolled her eyes playfully. "I think we're starting to rub off on him again."
"That's good, isn't it?"
"Very. Whatever makes him not be such a stick in the mud all the time." She grabbed her bathing suit off her bed and headed into the bathroom with a quick, "Be right back."
Lia settled herself on Ginny's bed while she waited, leaning back on her hands. "He's still with that one girl? Or… the same girl again?" she called. The beauty of the Burrow being so tight in the upstairs rooms was that most everyone's bathroom had at least an attached water closet. Hallways were in short supply.
"Penelope, yeah. I can't keep up with them, honestly," Ginny answered through the cracked door. "Not that I care, I just don't understand the point of being with somebody if you're constantly wanting to break up with them and then changing your mind. They've been like that for years. Either be with someone or don't, you know?"
"Yeah, I draw the line at two breakups," Lia chuckled. "What about Harry and Hermione, then? Didn't they do the same thing?"
"They weren't annoying about it," Ginny clarified. "And they only broke up once, if you could actually call whatever they did a breakup. Can you help get sunscreen on my back?"
"Sure. As long as you get mine too." She wanted to say more, and she was sure Ginny understood, but the probability of anyone being able to hear was too much to risk.
"Of course."
A couple seconds later, Ginny peeked her head out back into the bedroom. "Okay, you can't judge me for this, all right? It's been so long since we've been actually swimming that Mum had to transfigure an old one for me, so this isn't… uh… something I'd choose normally."
"Promise."
Ginny stepped back into her bedroom in a very colorful, flowery one-piece that looked like she'd had since she was eight or nine. Lia put a hand to her mouth to fight a laugh, which was good because the absurdity of the pattern was a good distraction from the amount of skin she now had the privilege of looking at. So her freckles do in fact go all the way up her legs.
"You promised!"
"I promised I wouldn't judge, not that I wouldn't laugh," Lia smirked, standing to move closer. "It's adorable. I love it, okay?"
"Adorable isn't exactly what I was going for."
"What were you going for, then? Beautiful? Sexy? Because your swimsuit does nothing to detract from either of those things."
Ginny blushed as Lia's hands found her waist, then slid down her sides to rest on her hips. She couldn't help but lean forward to capture the blonde's lips in a quick kiss before pulling away. "Do you have work tomorrow?" When Lia shook her head, instead dragging her lips over Ginny's jaw, she tensed, and Lia pulled away.
"Too much?"
"Just… considering what I'm about to ask. I can never think straight when you start doing that," Ginny replied nervously. "I was wondering if maybe… when we're done swimming and all, I can… ask Mum and Dad if I can come over?"
"Of course you can. You know you don't even have to ask."
"And stay the night…" she quickly finished, in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Oh."
"Oh?"
"Sorry, ehm, that… I didn't mean for it to come out as… shocked," Lia laughed, stepping back enough to have a proper conversation. "You're really asking me if I mind you spending the night?"
"Isn't that proper when you're dating someone?"
"But you already know the answer."
"So that's a yes?"
Lia grinned. "It's a please, actually."
As they were heading down to the lake, towels in hand, Lia asked, "Is that why you haven't told your parents yet? Because you know they'd never let you sleep over?"
"I… may be taking advantage of that, yes. But I'm also just nervous. Not about how they'll react, just… I don't know. It's strange."
"They've always thought of you as one way and now you're telling them you're another. Even if they don't mind, it's always a little scary."
"Were you scared to come out to your parents?"
Lia nodded. "I was, yeah. And I know I had it better than a lot of others. I'm grateful I've got people who are supportive. But I knew they were better off knowing the truth and not waiting until I was getting married or something to find out," she laughed.
"Yeah, I'll tell them eventually." Ginny ran a hand through her hair. "I mean… I kind of hate keeping it a secret because all I want to do is talk about you. A lot of people know already. Friends, at least. And I think Percy may have gotten suspicious, but he hasn't said anything to me, so I don't know."
George was already in the water by the time the girls got to the lake, calling as he saw them approach. "Hey! You two done snogging, then? I've been out here for hours."
"It's been ten minutes!"
"Ten minutes of hell. Did you know that gnomes can swim?!"
"Please tell me you got them all out of there," Lia sighed, setting down her towel. "I've gotten so many bites on my toes as a kid, I thought I was going to turn into one. I don't know why they like me so much."
"I think so!"
"All he had to do was take off his trunks and they went running," Ginny smirked.
"Har har." Nevertheless, George disappeared under the water to double check.
Ginny handed the bottle of sunscreen over her shoulder to Lia, who made quick work of slathering it on the back of her neck and shoulders as George came back up.
"All clear, ladies."
"Thanks for looking out, George."
As Ginny was putting the sunscreen on her arms and face, she looked to the side to see Lia slide her shirt over her head and toss it onto the grass, followed quickly by her shorts, and instantly forgot George was even there. She'd seen the girls in the locker room in various stages of undress, and she had been admittedly letting herself be more curious recently than in previous years. But the fact that she was allowed to stare, allowed to let her eyes linger and her imagination wander with the knowledge of how she knew Lia could make her feel, was something she was not shy about taking advantage of. Lia's bikini was the same color as her eyes.
George teasingly let out a low whistle. "Pick your jaw up off the grass, little sis."
"You still okay with getting my back?" Lia asked as she turned to Ginny, a hint of an amused smirk on her face. Ginny was flushed from the tips of her ears all the way down to her chest, seemingly unable to do anything except stare.
"If you don't, I will."
"No." Ginny seemed to find her voice again, though there was a bit of a crack in it. "I-I can. I'll do it, yeah." She reached for the bottle of sunscreen, fumbling for it while not taking her eyes off Lia. There was so much skin.
"Bloody hell," George muttered with a laugh. "It's like you've never seen a woman before, Gin."
"Shut it."
"You sure you've got it?" Lia asked, nearly as entertained as George was. She knew that look - she'd seen it a lot. George was far enough away that he probably couldn't tell, but she knew maybe kissing her right now probably wasn't a good idea. At least not with her brother around.
Ginny just nodded as Lia sat down on the towel in front of her. "Just… just your back, right?"
"Mmhmm."
Lia lowered her voice to a whisper. "Maybe I should have warned you."
"It's… it's fine," Ginny whispered back. "I just… didn't expect…"
"Sorry."
"No you're not."
"I am," Lia chuckled. She allowed herself to relax as Ginny's hands moved the sunscreen over her back as quickly as possible to be thorough, wanting to get it over with so she didn't have to spend too much time thinking about it. "You still want to spend the night?"
"Absolutely."
"Moreso now?"
That brought a laugh from Ginny. "Nothing I had planned on tonight revolves around knowing what you look like in a bikini."
Lia smirked. "Sure about that?"
"Positive."
"We'll see."
"You really like pushing me, don't you?"
"Into walls? Yes."
Ginny rolled her eyes playfully. "You're impossible. And lucky we're on George's bad ear."
"Is it really bad?"
"When he wants it to be."
"Now that I heard," George finally called.
"You were supposed to!"
Once they were done with the sunscreen, something that Ginny was very grateful didn't take much longer, they laid out to let it soak in while Lia took an interest in watching the frogs. They were taking shelter under a bush at the edge of the pond, all huddled up together wherever the shade was. They were clearly not interested in doing anything productive in this weather, either.
Tired of swimming by himself for the moment, George made his way out onto the grass and laid down, foregoing a towel altogether. "Oh, Lia! Did I tell you about the newest Wheeze?"
"I don't want to hear about it if you're going to call every product a wheeze," she groaned. "Do you realize how dumb that sounds?" Ginny just shook her head. It was a conversation they'd had many times before to the point where George had admitted to Ginny that he called them that around Lia just to irritate her. She didn't mind, though; she was grateful that Lia was already so close with her family, bickering with her brother like they'd known each other their whole lives.
"Anyway, humor me here. Have you ever woken up in the morning and thought that having your regular old blonde hair is boring and you wish it could be a different color without going through the trouble of dying it?"
"No."
"Well, now it can be!" he continued as if she hadn't responded. "Because these new candies will let you do just that! Now I don't have all the colors just yet and I'm still trying to work out how to do multi-colored and stuff like that, but it's a work in progress, of course. I've got a couple of prototypes I've already tried on Ginny a couple times."
"It's nice being a test subject."
"And if these go well, I'd love to do other features, too. Like eye color, noses, lips, chins-"
"That's a slippery slope to Polyjuice candy, George. You know that, right?"
"That's kind of what I'm going for. And yes, before you bring it up, I know the moral issues of Polyjuice, but if we sold love potions, I'm sure we can get a workaround for Polyjuice, too."
"Actually, I was going to say it's kind of brilliant. Much better idea than your dumb card game I still don't know how to play."
"Claire figured it out-"
"Claire didn't have to go through the testing phase-"
"Maybe Claire just likes me more than you-"
"Maybe it's really her you fancy and not me."
"Oh, just wait until we get these candies and I'll just pretend to be Ginny one day-"
"Would you two take a break?" Ginny finally stepped in, unable to keep herself from laughing. "First of all, that's disgusting. This is supposed to be relaxing and you two are about to make Mum come out here and yell at us for disturbing the peace." She laid back on her towel and closed her eyes. "If you two are just going to argue, go back inside and I'll swim by myself."
That seemed to sufficiently quiet them down, but Lia stuck her tongue out at George before lying down on her stomach next to Ginny.
"I'd love to go to the beach one day. Not these beaches, but like… an island somewhere. A real beach. Where I can just drink something out of a pineapple and not be arsed to do a single thing for an entire week."
Ginny sighed in agreement. "That sounds fantastic." She could see it now: Lia lying on a beach in that damn bikini in the sun, drinking some fruity cocktail out of a pineapple while Ginny came in from surfing (she'd always thought it sounded fun). She'd get Lia all wet from the water dripping off of her because she wouldn't be able to keep herself from plopping down next to her and kissing her. She stopped before her daydream went any further, opening her eyes to find Lia looking over at her too. Ginny's cheeks pinked as if Lia could tell what she was thinking about, but the other girl just smiled softly. "What?"
"Nothing. You ready to get in the water?"
"Yeah. Yeah. Let's go."
George got up as soon as the girls did, running into the water yelling, "Gnomes, I'm back! Watch out!"
She managed to convince Lia to go in before her - not so she could check her out at all, of course; just to make sure she got in okay - and that the middle of the lake was really the best and the most gnome-free because they couldn't touch the bottom. Not so she wouldn't get distracted by Lia being anything other than shoulders-deep in water. Not at all. God, her body was amazing.
They stayed in the lake for almost two hours, and that thought crossed her mind at least twenty times. Maybe thirty. She'd stopped counting after ten. She'd even caught George staring a couple times, which made her feel oddly proud. But maybe that was because she knew he had no chance. She had always been more of the grovel from afar type anyway, if her past crushes had any indication of how she felt about someone else fancying the one she was after. She'd spent five years dealing with Harry crushing on Cho, random girls he talked about, briefly Fleur, then Hermione - seeming everyone but her. And she'd understood. If he didn't fancy her, it wasn't like she could change his mind. But this… Lia was hers. Not officially yet, but Ginny wanted to. She knew now. This wasn't just a test anymore. It had stopped being a test somewhere around the beginning of the month, after a couple weeks where they'd split their time together between talking, watching movies, and snogging, and Lia had gotten the confidence to grip Ginny's hips and press her against the bedroom wall.
Every thought of her before had gone straight out the window. Nothing her brain could come up with compared to the heat that flooded her as soon as Lia's lips were on her neck, kissing and sucking on the skin until Ginny started to get lightheaded. She wanted to make Lia feel like that, too. She wanted to know what noises she could draw from her mouth. She wanted to kiss every inch of skin she could see.
Girlfriend seemed like the only reasonable option. She'd been rolling around a few ideas in her brain about how to ask - not that any of them were viable as soon as Lia headed back out of the water and Ginny lost the ability to speak. She hated it. No one should have that much control over her to make her reactions involuntary.
Once everyone was dry and Lia was dressed, they headed back into the house and Ginny was already yawning even though it was barely late afternoon. Being in the sun and the water was exhausting, and the allure of going back to Lia's flat and cuddling until they fell asleep sounded heavenly. But first, she had to ask her mother.
She changed in record time, nearly running down the stairs to find Lia in the living room with her parents, all chatting happily. Perfect.
"Mum? Dad? I, er, I was wondering…" She sat down on the couch next to Lia but not too close. Not touching. She hadn't expected to be this nervous, even though she had no doubt they'd be fine with it. "Could I spend the night at Lia's?"
A beat passed where Ginny thought she would hear a "no", but her mom just answered, "I don't see why not! What's the occasion? Anything special?"
Ginny shook her head, fighting the blush threatening to color her cheeks. "Just… I thought it was about time. And since Claire couldn't make it today, I thought it would be nice to see her again, too, so it's just easier for me to go over there."
"Yeah, that'll be all right. As long as you're not back too late tomorrow."
"Of course not."
"And you can always call if you need anything. At any point during the night. We'll be right there."
Ginny opened her mouth to argue that she wasn't a child, but after all the danger she'd been through in the past year and the struggles she was still having, their sentiment was actually very welcome. "I know. Thank you. So I guess I'll just go, er… pack a bag, then."
As soon as she was back in her room, she let out the breath she'd been holding since she'd started up the stairs. Had that been too easy? There was an undercurrent of defiance, but she figured it wasn't since her mom didn't have a clue that she'd be getting pushed into any walls tonight.
"You did great, love," Lia said from the doorframe. "You just have to be home by noon."
"Noon?"
"Mmhmm. That okay?"
"Yeah. It's just… a long time. Almost a whole day."
Lia laughed. "Well, you don't have to stay that long if you get bored of me."
"Bored of you? Not likely," Ginny replied with a grin as she threw the last of her things into her bag. "Would it be okay for me to use your shower stuff?"
"Absolutely! Whatever you need. Eager or something?"
Ginny blushed. "Shut up," she answered. "I'm just exhausted and I feel like I need to get into comfortable clothes and watch a movie until I fall asleep. Though I am craving a cheese toastie somewhere in there."
"Are you? Or do you just want one because it's the only thing I know how to cook?"
"I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here, okay? I also haven't gotten to kiss you properly since you got here and that's something we can only do when I don't have to worry about anyone walking in."
"Properly? That's what we're calling it now?" Lia moved closer, wrapping her arms around Ginny's neck, and Ginny felt her heart race as their lips met. Anyone could come in. Anyone could see. They'd kissed a couple times at the lake, but anything further than a peck felt strange in front of George. She didn't even want to imagine what would happen if her parents walked in on Lia snaking her tongue into their daughter's mouth.
Once Ginny started getting lightheaded from the amount of blood rushing south, she reluctantly pulled away. "Lia…" she whispered as her eyes fluttered open. "That… that was definitely a proper kiss. But we've got nearly a whole day for more."
Lia's changed tactics to kiss her neck, which didn't make things much better. Thankfully, it was a small one. "Finish packing, then. I'll meet you downstairs," she whispered before backing up and giving her a wink as she headed out of the bedroom.
"Fuck," Ginny whispered to herself. She tried to distract herself by throwing some extra clothes into the bag, trying not to second guess the underwear she'd packed - not like it would be seen anyway. Lia knew exactly what she was doing, and Ginny was sure that something would change tonight. Whether that meant a boundary pushed or just Ginny coming back home with an actual girlfriend, but she was very okay with either one. Or both. Hopefully both.
When she finally calmed down enough to make her way downstairs, George was trying to get Lia to try some of the hair color candies. "They're not dangerous!" he promised.
"Then you try one first."
"Fine!" He picked up a blue one and popped it into his mouth. Starting at the roots, his hair became a vibrant shade of royal blue, and Lia's eyes went wide. "See?"
"Oh my God," she whispered. "You weren't joking."
"You thought I was?"
"How long does it last?"
"About 30 minutes right now, but hopefully I can figure out how to make it longer."
It turned out that Lia's non-interest was indeed a ruse, because she immediately reached for one, and seconds later, her own hair was a bright shade of pastel pink.
"Okay, that looks fantastic," Ginny said before she could think about it. Lia turned to her with a radiant smile.
"You like it?"
"I love it."
Lia stood and moved to one of the wall mirrors to inspect herself. "Wow. This does look really good. I'm actually impressed. Good job, George."
"Is me getting a compliment from you a one-time thing?"
"Probably. So enjoy it while you can."
"I'll just put a sign up with these that reads Lia Maher Approved," he gestured with each word. "People will think you're somebody."
"If my hair didn't look so good, I'd have some very inappropriate words for you. And I take back everything good I've ever said about you." She was smiling, though, and only managed a quick middle finger back at George, which was graciously returned. "I'm curious, though… does this only affect hair on your head?"
George smirked. "That's classified. You'll have to check that one yourself," he said before his eyes finally settled on his sister. "Hang on, Gin. You've got a bag. Where the hell do you think you're going?" he asked, raising an accusing eyebrow.
Ginny cleared her throat. "I'm sleeping over at Lia's. Can you take care of Arnold for the night?"
"You're joking."
"I'm not! What's wrong with sleeping at a friend's house?!" She shifted her eyes to the side in case her parents were listening.
"That's the most unfair thing I've ever heard in my life," George whispered with a half-hearted laugh.
"Look, we've got to have some perks," Lia smirked. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of her."
"You better not."
"You know what, I think I left something upstairs!" Ginny quickly called, running out of the room and back up the stairs before the embarrassment kicked in.
Lia's hair was still pink when she and Ginny Apparated to her flat, though it was starting to fade. "So what colors did he give you?" she asked as she unlocked the door and let them in.
Ginny adjusted the bag over her shoulder. "I tried a few. Brunette suited me the best, I think. I really do love this pink on you, though. It looks so good." She reached up to unclip it from the claw and fluff the curls out, pulling her in for a kiss that only lasted a few seconds before Lia pulled away.
"Does that mean I have to keep it?"
"No, you don't have to. But if you ever did want to dye it, I wouldn't be opposed."
"Holy shit, Lia, your hair!" Claire stopped short as she walked down the hall from the bathroom. "It's… pink!"
Lia laughed, turning away from Ginny for a second. "Yeah. Just temporary, though. One of George's products. He's doing all kinds of hair colors."
"That would be so much fun! I think that's a brilliant idea." Once the shock wore off, her gaze moved to the bag over Ginny's shoulder, then quickly to Lia. "What's, er… what's the bag for?" She was trying to hide a smirk - she knew exactly what it was for.
"Ginny asked if she could spend the night," Lia explained. "That okay?"
"As long as you follow the rule, that's all I ask."
"I don't think that'll be an issue."
"Doesn't matter. Also, I promise to get out of your pink hair in the morning."
"Claire."
"What? I'm… meeting a friend for breakfast. Totally coincidental. I've had it planned for days."
Lia narrowed her eyes, fully moving from Ginny to fix her eyes on her friend. "Oh yeah? Who?"
"Erm… George. George… Glass."
Lia snorted.
"Who's that?" Ginny asked.
"I… no, that was… that was a Muggle joke. Sorry. I'm meeting George. Your brother."
"My brother?"
"Mmhmm. Yep. That's the one."
"You're going to breakfast with my brother."
"Yeah."
Ginny just stared at her quizzically for a second. "Right. That's… not weird at all," she said sarcastically.
"Anyway," Lia continued. "I've been coerced into cheese toasties for dinner, so you're more than welcome to join if you don't have any other randomly scheduled meals with friends I didn't know about."
"And miss the famous toasties? I would never. No dinner plans today, so I'm all yours."
"I'm gonna go put all this in your room if that's okay. And probably go ahead and shower unless you want to first," Ginny started.
"Of course, love. You go ahead." Once Ginny had moved down the hall and the door to her room closed, Lia crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you really going to meet George for breakfast?"
"I guess I am now," she admitted with a laugh.
"You should have come swimming with us! Everyone asked about you."
Claire moved to sit down on the couch with a sigh. "I know. I just… I don't want to feel like he's only hanging out with me because neither of us want to be a third wheel with you two. It's dumb, I know."
Lia plopped down next to her. "He's not going to ask you out if you don't actually, you know, ever see him. Or, better yet, you can ask him out."
"Have you figured out if he even likes me or not?"
"I can't tell for sure," she admitted. "But that doesn't matter. You're allowed to come over even if he doesn't. Or ask him out. I think he does, though. I did my best. We were arguing-"
"Shocker."
"-and he kind of brought you up. Bragging about you figuring out his stupid card game."
"It's easy!" Claire laughed.
"Maybe you just pay more attention."
"Well, you're not wrong… does he know Ginny's sleeping over?"
"'Course he does. The look on his face when she told him was priceless. I'd pay to see it again, actually. Going on and on about how unfair it is."
"Well it is!" Claire agreed. "So I assume that means Ginny's not planning on telling her parents anytime soon?"
Lia shrugged, leaning her head against the back cushion. "I'm not sure, honestly. She hasn't said anything. I mean, we haven't even really talked about… being girlfriends or anything like that. I mean I told her I wanted to be, that it's not like I'm seeing anybody else. Not like I want to see anybody else. I'm just waiting on her to make that decision, you know? Though… if she plans on sleeping over at all, then no, she can't tell them."
"Well, you win some, you lose some, right?" Claire grinned. "You don't get to kiss her in front of her family, but she gets to sleep in your bed. Which would you prefer?"
"I guess we'll see after tonight, won't we?"
"You nervous?"
"Nah. I think I'll be all right. She's nervous, though. I can tell." She turned her head to the door, listening to the shower run for a couple seconds. "I think part of it's just the fact she's breaking rules, but… the way she was looking at me at the lake earlier…"
"You brought your bikini, didn't you?"
"What was I supposed to do? Not impress?"
"You were intentionally teasing her!"
"So what? No harm! George was enjoying the view too, I think," she teased.
Claire responded with a playful eye roll. "Of course he was. Is that just you trying to get me to show up in a bikini, too?"
"I mean, it wouldn't hurt your chances." She laid her head on Claire's shoulder, who pulled away quickly.
"No! No laying on me until you don't smell like lake water anymore," she threatened. "Go shower with Ginny or something."
"She'd never want to see me again if I barged in on her."
"Say it was an accident," Claire laughed.
Lia laughed too. "Right. Right. Oh, sorry Gin. Thought I was going into the other bathroom we don't have."
"Yeah, see? It's perfect."
"You're mad!"
Once Ginny was out of the shower and dressed, Lia followed right behind her, fighting with all her might not to smirk at the thought of Claire's suggestion, especially when she kissed her on the way into the bathroom and her fingers briefly brushed through wet hair. Her own was back to its usual blonde when she looked in the steamed-up mirror, but there was a little heart drawn in the bottom corner that brought a smile to her face. She traced over it, where Ginny's finger had been, feeling her heart swell in her chest. Lia wasn't one to go head over heels anymore, but Ginny threatened to change that. It wouldn't be hard to fall in love with her if their time together already had been any indication. It all depended on where Ginny's heart was. She didn't need to think about that, though. She'd gotten over plenty of hurdles before with past relationships, and she could do it again.
By the time she'd showered, braided her hair, dressed, and finished up with dinner, she was barely able to keep her eyes open, and Ginny wasn't far behind, though Lia was half-convinced the only reason Ginny was still up was because of her nerves. On top of that, it was clear Ginny and Claire of them had talked while Lia was in the shower, if the number of times she could feel Ginny's eyes on her over the course of dinner was any indication. About what, though, she had no idea, but she was desperately curious.
"So what's on tonight's agenda for you two?" Claire asked as she finished up eating, leaning over the table on her elbows towards them expectantly. "Disney movies and knitting?"
"I've never knitted a day in my life, actually!" Lia laughed.
"I have."
Claire rolled her eyes playfully. "Of course you have."
"Well… I've tried. I'm rubbish at it, though. Mum stopped trying to teach me a couple years ago." She scooted her chair closer to Lia to rest her head on her shoulder.
"If you want alone time, just ask," Claire teased. "I'll clean up. You two go ahead. You've had an exhausting day and honestly, so have I." She pulled her wand from her pocket and flicked it at all the dishes, which quickly cleaned themselves, then with another wave, put themselves away. "There. Now we've got nothing to do tonight but relax. Just… the rule, Lia."
Shaking her head with a grin that was only half-joking, Lia replied, "How many times do you have to remind me about it before it's appropriate for me to tell you to fuck off?"
"Okay, okay, I get it! No need for such language in front of such young ears…"
Ginny waved dismissively. "Nothing I haven't heard before, I promise. Or said."
Claire rose from the table and started solemnly shuffling to her room, sighing dramatically. "I guess I'll just go hang out in my room all by myself while you two act all coupley and cuddly…"
"Says the one who's got a breakfast date," Lia snarked back.
"It's not a date!" But the comment got her out of the room quicker until they heard her bedroom door close behind her.
"I have so many questions," Ginny muttered, still looking in Claire's direction.
"I'm all ears."
They got up from the table and headed into Lia's room, where she cracked the window open for Diana to go out if she wanted, since it had cooled down with the setting sun. Diana didn't move, but Ginny gave her a treat from the container near her perch anyway while Lia flopped down onto the bed.
"Okay," Ginny started, pushing the door closed with her toe and not missing the way Lia's eyes followed her movements. "First of all, what the hell is the rule?"
The blonde let out a short laugh, adjusting herself on the bed to get more comfortable. "It's… there was one time I had a girlfriend over and I forgot to silence my room and… well, I'm sure you can put the pieces together. She acts like it scarred her for life or something," she explained, rolling her eyes. "But that's the rule. It's… been kind of a playful thing, but-"
"When was that?" Ginny stood in the same spot, eyes roaming over the bed. A thrill rose up in her stomach of being able to sleep in it, since it was so comfortable, but suddenly, them being alone in the room with Claire wondering what they were doing in it (would she say anything to George the next morning?) had warmth pooling in the pit of her stomach.
Lia pressed her lips together and nodded softly, sitting up and nodding for Ginny to sit next to her. "So you're wanting to know about my exes, yeah? Last girlfriend I had? Last time anyone else was in this bed?"
"No," Ginny lied, but moved beside Lia, pulling her knees to her chest. "Just…"
"My last relationship ended back in December. Right after my birthday, actually. It wasn't anything awful. We just… we'd only been together three months and I don't ever think I really felt right about her, so I felt like it was just a waste of time, you know? But… as far as, ehm… sleeping with someone goes, it was about three and a half months ago." Her eyes moved down to her feet, to the comforter, anywhere but Ginny. She didn't say anything, though, so Lia continued, as difficult as it was. She didn't want to admit it. She'd already felt bad enough, but she wasn't about to lie.
"It was back home. I met her at a Muggle pub."
"You said three and a half months ago? So, like… mid-April." Ginny's voice was steady, but there was an undercurrent that made Lia regret bringing it up.
"Yeah."
"You were in Ireland?"
"...Yeah."
She heard Ginny take a deep breath, clearly trying to stay calm, which Lia appreciated. She hadn't been ready to have this conversation yet. And she wasn't even sure what to say, not that it would make a difference.
"In a Muggle pub. We were fighting a bloody war over here and you were getting a drink?"
"It's not like that-"
"People were dying and you were just looking for someone to shag?!"
"Ginny-" She was too close. Far too close. The heat radiating off Ginny's body and the way Lia was subconsciously leaning into the wall next to her was making her feel claustrophobic.
"We didn't know-"
"Didn't know what?"
"Anything!" Lia finally admitted, feeling a single tear track down her cheek. "We didn't know anything except what the Prophet was telling everyone, which wasn't much. They said there was fighting. That half-bloods and Muggleborns were being targeted in England, so we did what we thought was the smart thing to do, and-"
"You ran."
"I'm not proud of it, Ginny. If we'd known how bad it was, we wouldn't have gone. It wasn't until everything was all over that… that we got the okay to come back. We just wanted to keep ourselves safe until things had settled down. We figured the Ministry would have-"
"The Ministry didn't do shit," Ginny huffed, finally scooting away a few inches, and Lia felt like she could breathe again. "And knowing that no one was even telling the public what was happening…"
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Ginny relaxed a little, running a hand through her hair as she leaned back against the wall. "The whole thing just makes me so angry. I lost a brother and there were people who didn't even know. Was I getting tortured while you were getting fucked?"
"Stop it." Lia shook her head, finally looking over at Ginny with tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to get her voice in check. "I just told you I didn't know. You're really going to get mad at me for something I didn't know about?" Silent, fiery tears fell from Ginny's eyes as she focused on a point across the room, pooling on her jaw. "Ginny, look at me."
She shook her head. "I can't."
"Why?"
"Because I want to be angry."
"Then be angry. I'm angry. It's just not me you need to be angry at."
"I'm not angry at you," Ginny managed through clenched teeth.
"Could've fooled me." She regretted it as soon as she said it, because Ginny turned to look at her and she had to face her anger head-on. Anger and grief. Her lips were quivering as she tried not to cry, but all Lia wanted to do was kiss them.
"What am I supposed to do, then, huh? Who am I supposed to be mad at when it won't change anything? Fred's still going to be fucking dead! " She pressed on her eyes until she saw stars - it was more distracting than thinking about the fact that they were fighting again. Lia didn't deserve this. Why had she thought it was a good idea to try dating again in the first place? She was still so messed up. So broken. How was she supposed to love someone when she couldn't even get over-
"Here." Lia shoved one of her pillows into Ginny's chest, shocking her out of her internal warfare at the contact.
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
Lia grabbed her wand from the holder, silencing and warding the room. "Be angry. Punch it."
"Punch it?"
"Yes."
"I'm not-"
"You are. I don't want you to be raging all night, so get it out. Cop on!" Lia's brows furrowed over her own tears as she got up, moving out of Ginny's way. "You've got the whole bed."
Ginny stared at the pillow in her hands, gripping it tightly. She used to do stuff like this as a child, channeling her frustration into inanimate objects, which usually resulted in accidental magic that broke something in the house. Everyone knew when she was angry. But no one talked about it. She was a girl - she wasn't allowed to be angry, was she? She had to hold it in. Keep it hidden. Push it down.
The first punch to the pillow felt odd. Unsatisfying. It gave too much under the force. She piled another behind it, and the second punch was better.
"Good." Lia's voice cracked behind her.
"It's not helping."
"Then keep going until it does." Her tone softened to more concern than anger of her own. "You don't need to hold onto it, love."
Three more punches and she could feel her shoulder tightening up like it did when she played Quidditch, poised to throw the Quaffle halfway across the pitch. Her left arm needed a bit of love too, so she threw a less coordinated punch with her non-dominant hand. It wasn't until she began alternating punches that the pillows underneath her started to morph into faceless figures with heavy masks. Death Eaters under her fists. At her mercy. The ones who destroyed her family. The one who killed her brother. The ones who tried to kill her friends. The ones who threatened to take everything she loved away from her.
Her punches moved faster and harder until she wasn't sure what was pillow and what was stuffing. It didn't help that her hands were becoming blurry through her tears, but she didn't care. This was the most therapeutic thing she'd done in a long time, and the room around her started to fade until there was nothing left except her and her anger. Her arms were getting tired, but she didn't care. Her strength was failing. Her shoulders were going to be sore. She was sure there'd be half-moon indents in her palms from how hard she was clenching her fists. She didn't care. All she cared about was the fact that her heart wasn't hurting so much anymore.
Eventually, and she didn't even know how long it had been, her tears became too much and her biceps gave out, collapsing her face first into the battered pillow. She didn't even flinch at the hand that began rubbing small circles between her shoulder blades or the body that climbed into the bed next to her. She immediately rolled over, burying her face into Lia's chest and curling herself into any bit of contact she could find. Heavy sobs wracked through her entire body, and she could hear Lia holding her own back, but only barely.
"You're all right, love."
She began singing softly, and for a moment, Ginny thought her brain was still skewing her perception of reality, but after blinking a few times to try to make sense of it, she wasn't going crazy. It wasn't English, but it sounded beautiful. Ginny sniffed loudly and very unattractively, but it didn't seem to deter her. She wasn't sure if it was the tone, the melody, or the fact that she was just being sung to, but it washed over her like warm honey. Lia only continued until Ginny had stopped crying, which didn't take very long, and switched to running her hands through her hair. She unknotted the couple tangles and slid back the strands her tears had plastered to her skin. She was a mess, and Lia was still here.
"Feel better?"
Ginny could only nod. After a moment, she just whispered, "I'm sorry…"
"Me too. I shouldn't have… I mean-"
"I'm not mad at you. I never was."
"Are you mad at all anymore?"
"No. At least not right now. So… thank you. For letting me do that." Her shoulders were relaxed, her breathing was starting to go back to normal, and the mental fog was starting to clear. "We can't have an important date without one of us crying, can we?"
"I don't think that's a bad thing. Just means we trust each other."
Pulling away to wipe her eyes, Ginny took one look around the room. Everything seemed to be the way they left it. She hadn't broken anything after all. "What were you singing earlier?"
"Oh, it was, ehm… old Irish song. Gaelic."
"You know Gaelic?"
"A little? Not conversationally," Lia admitted, clearing her own tears away with the back of her hand. "Just a couple songs Mam used to sing to me to get me to sleep or that my grandma listened to. That one's called, ehm," a blush colored her cheeks, "Eleanór na Rún."
"It's beautiful. What's it mean?"
Lia grinned. "Guess you'll have to learn the language and find out for yourself, won't you?"
"I think I've had enough excitement for one night."
"Agreed. Just brush teeth and go to bed?"
"That sounds perfect."
Ginny went back into the bathroom first, taking the time to wash her face and remove as much evidence of her breakdown as she could. It was hard not to be embarrassed; Lia shouldn't have to see her like that. But when she thought about how the other girl had responded, with love and compassion, encouragement, even, she almost started crying again. She did feel a lot better, though. Lighter. Malleable. The downside was that she was so tired that she closed her eyes to blink while she was using the toilet and didn't open them for nearly thirty seconds.
Lia had remade the bed and fixed the pillow Ginny had destroyed; everything looked as good as new. It took every last ounce of energy she had to stay up while Lia got ready, but she didn't want to fall asleep before she even knew what it felt like to drift off in someone's arms, in their bed. She even let Lia get under the covers first, and though it took a minute for them to figure out the best sleeping arrangement, the blonde finally insisted on being the big spoon, considering the circumstances.
"I'm not an angry person," Ginny felt the need to say when the silence of the room threatened to finish their conversation, cutting through the soft patter of much-needed rain that had begun falling as the moon rose higher in the sky.
Lia nuzzled further into the back of her neck, peppering gentle kisses behind her ear that made Ginny's breath catch in her throat and her heart flutter. "I know you're not, love. I know. You're still grieving. I shouldn't have taken it personally, either."
"I shouldn't have cared so much," she told the wall. "I know there were a lot of people who weren't affected, I just… don't like to think about it, and especially someone so close to me… I feel like I've known you for a long time. Like you'd hurt me by leaving, but I didn't even know you. It's dumb."
"It's not."
"... You were mad at me."
Lia shifted a little behind her, pressing in closer. "I was. Because you weren't even giving me a chance to explain myself. I felt attacked. I shouldn't have been. You didn't deserve me being mad, too."
Ginny took a deep, shuddering breath. "Do you still want to be with me?"
A mood-breaking snort puffed against Ginny's skin. "You ask as I've got as much body contact with you as physically possible."
"Well…" Ginny answered before she could stop herself.
"What?"
"You could get a little closer," she muttered. What was she doing? What was she saying? She'd just had a bloody mental breakdown, destroyed Lia's pillow, made her cry, and now…
Before she could apologize or take back any sort of meaning, Lia was half on top of her, capturing her lips in a searing kiss she'd clearly been waiting to give. It was desperate and messy and Ginny wasn't sure what to do with the one hand that wasn't pinned to her side, but it ended up running down Lia's back to rest on her hip. As Lia's lips left hers to venture down to her neck, Ginny tilted her head to give her as much room as she wanted. Neither of them were any strangers to hickeys, and Lia always performed the spell to cover them up before they parted so no one questioned. The setting, though, was new. Knowing she'd be sleeping over gave her a new rush of confidence. She wasn't sure exactly what she wanted, but the overly large shirt and pants she'd chosen to sleep in were getting extremely warm as the thought of what she knew most of Lia looked like under those clothes.
She squeezed her hip encouragingly over the thin material of her shorts, which drew out a soft moan against Ginny's neck. Lia tensed a little, as if holding herself back, but Ginny squeezed again, undeterred by the hesitance and desperate for the distraction. The bed shifted with Lia's movement as she settled herself further on top. Almost subconsciously, Ginny's legs parted to allow the other girl between them, but she didn't anticipate the pressure against her core, and gasped at the feeling. Lia's thigh was pressing against her, both providing her some relief from the rapidly-building tension and increasing it tenfold. She hooked her ankles around Lia's legs and pulled her in tighter, needy for more.
"Ginny…" Lia was nearly breathless, her leg stone still, not wanting to push Ginny too far, but this was so much better than anything Ginny had imagined. The smell of Lia's shampoo was intoxicating. The weight on top of her was comforting. The warmth pressing against through only two layers of thin fabric was dizzying, shooting sparks through her body she was no stranger to. She did an experimental rock of her hips, because that was the logical next step, and all coherent thought seemed to leave her brain as a whine left her lips. She didn't want to go any further, but she didn't want to stop. All of this was too much, but she wanted more. Lia's nails digging into her bicep and teeth scraped across her skin hurt, but they sent more pulses of pleasure through her body. She was sure if Lia pressed harder against her, which just the thought of made her head spin, she'd be able to feel how wet Ginny already was. But she didn't. She didn't push. One more rock of Ginny's hips had Lia pulling away to look at her for half a second, wide pupils and azure irises flicking over Ginny's for an invitation before she kissed her again. Her shirt rose up as hot fingers splayed against her waist, pricking her skin with goosebumps, and it was only then that her body started sending alarms. Worst timing ever.
Instead of jumping back and wholeheartedly listening to the fear, she just pulled away from the kiss slowly, moving her hand from Lia's hip to her face and brushing a thumb over her cheek. Lia let out an uncharacteristic whine from the back of her throat, knowing Ginny's intention to stop. To slow down. To take a break. She felt bad - she truly did - knowing she was going to send Lia to sleep in such a state, but she was doing the same thing to herself. "I just think… maybe we should breathe for a minute…" she attempted, resulting in another groan.
"It's so nice up here, though," Lia whispered, giving her neck another go and sucking on her pulse point. Ginny's hips rocked once more, involuntarily, and Lia smiled against her skin with a breathless chuckle.
"I know. I know," Ginny panted, fighting to keep her eyes open. "But I don't… I don't think I want to finish this quite yet." She bit her lip - her body told her otherside. "Just… gives you something to look forward to, doesn't it?"
Lia couldn't help but laugh, slowly and carefully moving her thigh away despite Ginny's half-hearted protests. "Just so you know, if I'm irritable tomorrow,this is why," she teased, moving to lie on her back next to Ginny and brushing a couple stray, sweaty curls out of her face.
"I'm sorry… I'll probably be irritable, too."
"Well, misery does love company."
Ginny smiled, trying to get her breathing back in order and squeezing her thighs together to relieve some of the ache. Once both of them seemed mostly back to normal and Ginny could think properly again, she turned her head to look at Lia and studied the twinkle from the fairy lights dance across the freckles on her nose, the way her chest was falling with slow, deep breaths, and the way her fingers were twitching, probably desperate to slip under her own shorts. "You know what else loves company?"
"What's that?" she asked without opening her eyes.
"When you're… when you're turned on."
Lia burst out laughing, finally turning to look at Ginny and pulling her to her chest. "That's the best you could come up with?"
"Clearly my brain hasn't caught up yet. That sounded much better and much less daft in my head."
"It's okay. I'll forgive you this once."
She pulled the blanket up over them and kissed her once more, then closed her eyes, with Ginny quickly following suit as the exhaustion caught up with her again. Though it took a long time for her body to calm down, especially since they were still pressed against each other, she realized, with much ease and no doubts, that this was something she could get used to, dreaming to the soundtrack of soft moans and sharp breaths.
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