Chapter 5

The room is bright when she wakes the next morning, a light breeze flowing in through an open window carrying the telltale smell of saltwater with it. The smell immediately soothing. The fresh air leaves the room cool, so much cooler in contrast to the warmth she feels wrapped around her still naked flesh. A soft pillow under her head and a large bed all to herself.

The later sparks her attention then and she's sitting up hastily to take in her surroundings. Her fingers gripping the plush duvet to her bare chest to save her dignity. A brief eruption of anger filling her up quickly as the thought of Storm leaving her in her bed flits through her mind.

Though the fire is soon quenched when she realises there is a muggle television sat on the far wall facing the bed. Colours fill the screen and cartoon characters interact with each other in some sort of mind-numbing way. It's then she notices the shifter, sat cross legged on the floor at the foot of the bed. Attention fully turned up to the television as she chuckled quietly to herself. Not yet aware of the brunette's consciousness.

"Why are you sat on the floor?" Hermione questions aloud, her voice still laden with sleep and a little hoarse. Though her words effectively grabbed Storm's attention away from the screen and dragged it her way instead.

"I didn't want to wake you up by jiggling the bed. This show is hilarious" Storm quipped as simply as that. A hand finding its way to push back shaggy dark hair, a small sheepish smile tugging at her lips as she watched the older woman for a moment. "I didn't want you to wake up alone either, otherwise I'd have gone downstairs to watch it" She stated as if that explained everything.

Hermione was surprised by how thoughtful the simple gesture actually was and how caring the younger woman actually seemed to be. She wondered then if she had always been this way, so brash and hard on the exterior but incredibly soft and considerate once you got close enough. The thought leading to a flickering feeling of regret towards never getting to know her sooner.

"Did you sleep well?" Storm spoke again as she moved to turn the television off and push herself up and off the floor. Now she stood she still made no move to get any closer to the older woman still in her bed. She looked almost nervous, a little unsure of herself as she stood at the foot of the bed. Her fingers fidgeting with the hem of the t-shirt she had put on.

"Brilliant" Hermione spoke honestly, relaxing back into the headboard behind her. Her own dark eyes fixed to Storm in front of her as if she was trying to figure the woman out by simply watching her. "Best night's sleep I've had in a very long time" She stated simply as she moved to run a hand through her own mane, the other still clutching the duvet to her chest.

"I'm glad to hear that. I don't sleep well either, and I think this is the first night in weeks I've actually gotten a few solid hours" Storm replied nonchalantly as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She wandered over to a dresser beside the bed after a small pause, pulling open a drawer before tugging out a few articles of clothing.

"I would have pegged you as the type to enjoy a lay in" Hermione stated, a playful smile tugging her lips up at both corners as Storm moved towards her finally. Holding out the neatly folded pile of clothes for her to take.

"I wish, I honestly used to sleep all the time" Storm began, shaking her head as she rolled her eyes playfully. "At Hogwarts I don't think I'd get out of bed on the weekends until at least midday. Unless there was a match that was" She laughed then as she flopped down at Hermione's feet. Careful not to sit on them as she did so.

"What changed then?" Hermione prodded, the thought of getting to know the younger woman still very fresh in her mind.

"Joseph" Was all Storm replied with, her lips tugged up into what could only be described as a proud smile. "He was a git, never slept in past six or seven until he hit at least eleven. Well then he buggered off to Hogwarts and here I am with a routine he's not even here to share anymore" She laughed again at that and Hermione was surprised by how easy the conversation had come between them.

"Well, that is a shame" Hermione quipped, dark eyes meeting dark eyes for a moment as she regarded the younger woman. Storm was still smiling so brightly that it made Hermione's own smile grow until it almost hurt.

"Do you have anywhere to be today? Or are you going to stick around for a while?" Storm asked then, her tone changing ever so slightly as she moved to get up off the bed once again.

"I think I'll stick around for a little while, at least until I have to get ready for the Cauldron tonight" Hermione replied easily. She didn't really wish to leave the easiness that came with the shifter just yet. "If that's alright anyway?" She quizzed; an eyebrow raised in question.

"Of course, though I can't promise there will be much more than cartoons to entertain us" Storm stated then and Hermione figured she really didn't look that upset by the prospect of a day with cartoons. She wondered if this is how she spent her Saturday's off normally. "I'll go put the kettle on, I've left a spare toothbrush and a clean towel in the bathroom for you. These should be alright; they might drown you but I figured it'd be more comfortable than your work stuff" As Storm spoke as she motioned towards the folded clothes she had handed over, a light blush creeped up her neck and across the bridge of her nose.

Hermione was taken back; she hadn't really expected the younger woman to be so put together. Though she supposed there had been more than a decade between the Storm she remembers and now. It was refreshing to be around, though she couldn't help but wonder if Storm had many guests of a similar nature.

"I won't be long" Hermione called as the shifter wandered out of the room, shooting a wide grin over her shoulder in response as she did. The older woman was left to contemplate what exactly had just happened. She ran through their entire conversation a few times as she washed up. Her keen mind pulled up questions to ask the shifter, and pondered on whether or not they were appropriate to ask so soon. She figured Storm wasn't really the type of person to hold back if asked a direct question.

She dressed quickly in a pair of boxers she'd been given, shorts that she was sure would be far too short on Storm came to her knees and a big baggy sweatshirt with some sort of faded logo on it. The articles smelled so distinctly of the girl she had spent two separate nights with that she became ever so slightly overwhelmed. The only other person she had ever really been consumed by this entirely was Ron.

Though there was a distinct lack of sadness that accompanied that thought, something she had grown accustomed to. It wasn't that she necessarily regretted the decision to end their marriage, it was just sad she'd lost that fixture. She figured the fact she was so utterly comfortable as she wandered down the younger woman's stairs and down into her living room was a great thing.

"You look like you're in your own head again" Storm's voice came then, effectively breaking her out of her own thoughts. It was strange how well this woman she barely knew had figured her out so effectively. Storm was sat on the sofa already, lounging back and looking quite comfortable. Two steaming mugs sat on some novelty coasters on her glass coffee table in front of her.

"I was just thinking" Hermione answered honestly, unable to find it in herself to lie to the younger woman. "I've never done this before" She started as she sat beside the shifter who was watching her with a wry grin.

"Done what?" Storm questioned again as she moved to make a bit more room for the older woman. Though Hermione had shuffled up so she was pressed to the shifter's side. Once again finding comfort in their close proximity. Storm tried desperately to hide the way her smile morphed into something much smugger.

"This" Hermione gestured between themselves, "Only with Ron have I ever had anything even close to an adult relationship. I mean, I don't really know what this is exactly. But it's nice and honestly Storm, if someone were to tell me when we were at Hogwarts that I'd be sat here with you after…" She paused then, pulling her eyebrows together for a moment before continuing "Sleeping together" She spoke then, her tone hushed as if she was telling some sort of secret, her eyes darting up to look at the shifter who was biting her lip in an attempt to contain her amusement. "Well, I'd have laughed out loud! Then I'd have sent them to Madam Pomphrey for being entirely off" She finished then, shaking her head as she tried to stave off her own laughter.

"I wasn't that bad in school Hermione, you talk as if I had the plague or something" Storm stated, though her tone was light as she laughed at the older woman beside her. "I saw the way you looked at me those three times you caught me making my way back from some sort of liaison with merlin knows who" She stated with an eyebrow raised, her eyes bright as she regarded the older woman's reaction.

"Looked at you like I honestly had no idea how you could get up to such nonsense! Honestly, who even was it? Cho had left by that point?" Hermione questioned, though she wasn't really sure she wanted to know who exactly Storm had been courting during that year.

"I got up to such nonsense the same way I get up to such nonsense now. That's not changed." Storm stated seriously, her expression evening out to remain as neutral as possible. "I mean, you must know the answer to that, because here you are. Getting up to such nonsense with me!" She laughed then, nudging the brunette beside her with her shoulder.

"Cho and I were never in a relationship" Storm added as an afterthought, clarifying simply with a shrug. Though it only raised more questions for the brunette at her side. "Also, I wish I could answer the question of who but I really have no idea" She shrugged again, a mischievous smirk tugging itself across her face.

"I don't understand? I thought Ginny said you had 'wooed' her" Hermione spoke, adding air quotations where necessary. Her own dark eyes fixing Storm with a disbelieving stare. "You mean to tell me you have no idea who you were sleeping with?" She stated, recoiling a little bit. She had always assumed Storm had just been very good at keeping her private life private. There had been rumors obviously, though she had never really paid much attention to them.

"She felt bad for me. Every time I came back from detention that year, she'd help sort any injuries I had out. Honestly, I think she had just been lonely. We became friends kind of, and friends became just a way to scratch an itch. You had to forget about the hell Hogwarts had become somehow." Storm stated, her voice a little bit quiet then. "The Carrow's loved it when they got a scream from people, and I refused to give them the satisfaction. They'd do everything they could do to break me" Storm explained, though her voice remained just as quiet. Her eyes had dimmed considerably and Hermione couldn't help but reach out and take one of her hands.

She had no idea just how bad the shifter had gotten it that year, she had never even asked her after Ginny had told her about the D.A and how they were doing what they could to help. Ginny had told them some stories, but she had seemed reluctant to give too many details. It seemed many had the same feelings in that regard.

"That sounds awful" Hermione spoke quietly then, giving the shifter's hand a gentle squeeze as she did. "We had no idea what was happening back at Hogwarts. Not until the night we came through the portrait in the room of requirement." She muttered, dark eyes searching out equally dark eyes.

"You guys had more than enough to do, honestly. It wasn't that bad" Storm spoke then, a small smile pulling her lips up at the corners. "Besides, the real tragedy here is the fact you've only ever been with old Kingyboy and myself" She stated with a laugh, though Hermione knew she was just trying to change the subject.

"Is it a tragedy?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes playfully as she pulled her hand away once again to reach forward and grab her own mug from the table. Noting it seemed to have not lost a whole lot of heat. The liquid piping hot as she took a sip. "It seemed like Ron was the only person in the world I wanted to be around after what we had all gone through, and everyone we knew sort of just expected us to be together." Hermione answered then, a serious tone tugging at her voice as she sat back once again.

"So, what happened then?" Storm pushed, sitting back herself as if mimicking the older woman beside her. She seemed to lean away then as if expecting some sort of backlash to the question.

Hermione thought for a moment then, she didn't really know exactly how to answer. There had been so many things that had led to their separation. So many different contributing factors that had eventually led to them agreeing it would be best to leave it at that. She sighed then, running her fingers along the fabric of her loaned shorts as she thought.

Storm surprised her once again by reaching out to take her hand then, squeezing it ever so gently. The shifter leant back in and wrapped an arm around her back, pulling her close into her side. It wasn't a romantic gesture, but a protective one. It seemed the younger girl had picked up on her fear of speaking the truth and had once again put her body in the way of the nonexistent danger. The embrace seemed to calm the nerves that had erupted within the base of her stomach, and for once Hermione felt like she wanted to talk about it.

"Nothing" Hermione spoke, and that word was probably the best word to use to describe the demise of their marriage. "There was just nothing left. We were pushed together by the war, by our friendship with Harry. We only really had each other, the three of us. There was something so nice about Ron, so protective and secure that I just thought that's what I wanted. Our families and friends pushed us into this relationship that they had expected from us" Hermione began to explain, her jaw set as she paused to play with the younger woman's fingers that were still wrapped around her own.

Storm said nothing, she simply just stayed quiet. Offering her the time she needed to get out exactly what she needed to get out. Once again, she was being given total control, and the feeling of it set light to her belly and stoked the hellfire that had once been ever present.

"We just, grew apart. When everything finished and had become so calm again, we just didn't really know what to do with ourselves. I plunged myself into work, and he did too. But then eventually he had gone to help George with the store and just they've always been so family orientated. He'd get angry at me for trying to get somewhere in my career" Hermione carried on, flicking her eyes up to meet Storm's for quiet reassurance. The shifter just nodded, reaching over to brush a stray strand of hair from the older woman's eyes.

"He wanted to start trying for children. Honestly Storm, I just wasn't ready at all. It's not that I didn't want them, I just didn't want them yet and he just took that so personally" She spoke, a helpless tone taking her voice and prompting the younger woman to hold her just a little bit closer.

"It really just fell apart from there. I started thinking about how I just wasn't ready, then started thinking about how I might just not be ready with him. Eventually we had to sit down and really talk about it. We both felt the same, neither of us had the same feelings as we once had. It wasn't a romantic love and I don't think it ever was. I think we just got caught up in everything and had been for a long while." She finished then, looking up to take in the younger woman's stoic expression. Her dark eyes watching so intensely, though it was a much different intensity to what it had been the night before.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out for you both. He's a nice guy, and you're great" The shifter started quietly, and Hermione was a little surprised by her words. "But if it didn't work, then that's it. Sometimes the best thing is to just put it down. Will you continue as friends?" She asked with an eyebrow raised. Though her words were a little bit hesitant.

"I think so, but it's still incredibly fresh. I think just some time apart would do us good, and he agrees. I honestly wouldn't say no to a friendship though. It would feel as if the whole time was for naught if we end up not speaking entirely" Hermione stated with a small smile, reaching up to place a tender kiss to Storm's cheek. "You're a good listener, when you're quiet" Hermione quipped then, her tone taking up a teasing edge once again.

"Well, I try. I really just want you to be happy. So, if me being a listener is what you need then that's what you'll get" Storm quipped, though she had remained serious. "I hope you don't feel any pressure by what we're doing Hermione. What happens between us, it's entirely up to you. I get that everything is still very new to you" She spoke again, her voice quiet still.

"I don't know what it is I want Storm" Hermione stated honestly, watching as the younger woman's face stayed neutral. She figured just being honest was definitely the best way to press forward. "But you've really surprised me. I feel happy when you're around. Though that's not been a lot, it just feels as if I should have known you this entire time" She stated, and watched as a light pink blush crept up the shifter's neck.

"You could have, Hermione!" Storm laughed then, shaking her head as she pulled back to run a hand through her shaggy locks. "If only you'd have given me something other than a detention every time you caught me out in the halls in various stages of undress" She quipped, her tone light and teasing once again. The tip of a pink tongue poking out to run across her lips as they quirked up into a cheeky grin.

Hermione pulled back, astonished at the insinuation. Her eyes wide and disbelieving for just a moment as she took in the look the younger woman was wearing. "And what would you have had me give you instead?" She quizzed, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"I don't know, a high five maybe. Maybe an invitation into those personal quarters. Might have untwisted those panties of yours!" Storm laughed again then, watching as the older woman blushed furiously. Her features twisting up as she spluttered almost indignantly.

"After you had just been with another person? Don't be disgusting" Hermione scolded, shaking her head in disgust as she tried her absolute best to rid herself of the mental images that were now flooding her sharp mind.

"Like I said Hermione, you didn't see the way you looked at me then" Storm stated with a raise of her eyebrow, "It was not too dissimilar to the look you gave me last night, and the look I got last Saturday night" Her grin growing with every shade of red Hermione was turning.

"I did no such thing! You're really just imagining things" The older woman stated with a scoff, pushing the younger girl away from her a little bit.

"Maybe I'm confusing reality with those dreams I told you about" Storm grinned, her lips splitting her face as she waggled her eyebrows teasingly. "Maybe not, I still think you wanted on this" She laughed again, nudging Hermione's shoulder gently as she wiggled her hips a little awkwardly.

"You're absolutely impossible!" Hermione stated, doing her best to remain serious. Though the small smile that tugged her lips up on one side betrayed her.

"I think you'll find I'm improbable Hermione. I thought you were supposed to be the smart one!" Storm teased again, moving finally to sit back and slouch against the sofa once again. Kicking her feet up to prop them on top of the glass coffee table.

"You haven't changed one bit really have you?" Hermione questioned then; an eyebrow raised as she too settled once again. Relaxing into Storm's side, reaching a hand out to run against the older woman's clothed stomach.

"I have some wrinkles now, and a better body. But otherwise, not at all" Storm replied honestly, winking at the older woman as she moved to run her fingers gently across Hermione's back.

"It's not like you had an awful body back then." Hermione answered cheekily, tapping her fingers against tight muscles that stretched underneath her touch.

"So, you WERE paying attention! I knew it!" Storm laughed, an entirely smug expression tugging its way across her features. "This is what happens when you have Weasley as your captain. She's brutal" The shifter stated, shaking her head. "I swear some of the things she makes us do have nothing to do with Quidditch. Do you know every day this week she had us doing chin ups in the air with our brooms?"

"Well, what happens if you get knocked off? You must be able to pull yourselves back up, surely." Hermione quipped as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I suppose that does make sense." Storm stated, her features twisted up as she thought about what had just been said. "Are you looking forward to the Cauldron later on?" the younger woman asked quietly then, her attention slowly being taken back by the cartoons that had been playing in the background the entire time.

"I am, will you be coming back with me again this evening?" Hermione quizzed, her fingers dipping below the fabric of Storm's t-shirt to meet hot skin. Drawing lazy circles as she too turned her attention towards the mind-numbing television.

"If you want me to, I will" Storm spoke quietly, "Ginny won't be coming over for breakfast tomorrow. It's a game week thing. But I can still make breakfast if you like?" She asked then, as if food was the most pressing matter on her agenda.

"That sounds nice." Hermione answered honestly, already looking forward to spending more time with the younger woman beside her. "I liked your pancakes last Sunday" She quipped quietly.

With the plans for the rest of the day and the morning after decided they both took their opportunities to just enjoy the peace for a while. Storm having slid off of the sofa to stretch out on the floor after having put some sort of film on. Hermione having stretched out on the smaller sofa, watching as the younger woman slept quietly on her stomach.

Once again, she had been hit by just how calm she felt, how out of her own head she actually was. She really wasn't sure what this was exactly, but she was happy with how it was going even if she still didn't know exactly what it was that she wanted. Though she doubted Storm was interested in an actual relationship, she found she wasn't really upset by that prospect. The idea of just enjoying herself, no strings seemed to be just what she needed.