A/N: So here we go. I got the wife to read the third chapter today. Yay! Please enjoy and let me know what you think. Useful feedback is always welcome.
Disclaimer: ...not mine...belongs to JKR...blablabla
Chapter Three - Making plans
The following Sunday afternoon Hermione came into the living room with a plate full of chicken sandwiches and put it the coffee table. Valerie looked up from her laptop and reached for a sandwich, "Thanks. I'm actually quite hungry." They often spent their Sunday together like that. Each woman doing her own thing, but occasionally falling into conversation for a while before going back to their book or computer or whatever it was they were busy with.
"I invited Harry to come to Dinner tomorrow, if you don't mind. I haven't properly seen him in ages," Hermione started the conversation.
Valerie nodded, taking a bite of her sandwich, "I always tell you, you need to make more time for your friends!"
"You know full well that I don't choose to work so much." said Hermione half-heartedly, knowing it was a lie. Valerie just gave her the look. There was no need to say anything, they both knew that look. Valerie used it a lot when she knew Hermione was making up excuses for things.
"I assume Harry will bring Ginny?" said Valerie probingly.
"Yes. At least he said so. He said he had something to celebrate. I wish Ron could come too. The more people in the room the easier it is to avoid Ginny." sighed Hermione.
Valerie put her laptop away and took a deep breath before saying, "You know, you could just tell her. Then you wouldn't have to walk on eggshells all the time or fall back on the I-pretend-to-not-like-you tactics."
"I can't just tell her. Harry is my best friend, think of the position I'd put him in. Neither would I want to put her in that position. It's all too complicated and I'll get over it if I just ignore it long enough." Hermione said, sounding very unconvinced.
"We need a plan." Valerie stated matter of factly, ignoring Hermione's reasoning.
"No, we don't need a plan. We need to let time pass and everything will be fine." Hermione slightly panicked.
"I'll cook. Harry always asks if he can help. So this time, instead of politely declining the offer, I'll let him help me in the kitchen while you and Ginny have all the time in the world to talk in the living room. I can stall Harry for a good 20 minutes. That should be enough for you to find a way to talk to her." Valerie sounded very pleased with her plan, "No." Hermione said flatly, "No. No. No. I'm not going to tell Ginny I fancy her while her boyfriend is in the kitchen cooking our dinner! What if she freaks, what if she just runs out, what if she runs into the kitchen screaming to Harry about what I said? There are too many flaws in your plan."
"Hermione, calm down. You realise that this phase that you're talking about has now been lasting for two years. So we can safely assume that it won't go away. Trust me. Been there, done that. You avoid Ginny every chance you get so meeting up with her alone will seem a bit weird. Your only chance to talk to her is in a situation like this!" Valerie was beginning to lose her patience, again. They'd had versions of this conversation about a thousand times and she had enough.
"But..." Hermione started but Valerie cut her off, "No but! I've had enough. I see how you're doing. I live with you, damn it. You are miserable! You come home late at night from work and go in so early the birds haven't even noticed it's daytime. On the rare occasions that you come home earlier than nine you sit around and read depressing romance novels or complain to me about how life sucks. I swear to God, if you don't talk to her on Monday, I will do it for you!"
Hermione's eyes widened with shock. The thought of Valerie telling Ginny that Hermione had been secretly in love with her for the better part of two years now was unpleasant, to say the least.
"Fine, I'll try and talk to her. But that's all I'm agreeing to. I'll TRY and talk to her. If there just isn't a way to get that kind of conversation going, I will not force it" Hermione gave in.
Valerie smiled, pleased with her victory. She picked up her laptop again and went back to her work.
Hermione buried herself in her "romance novel" which was really a book about the Wizarding trials of the first Wizarding War. She had disguised most of the books dealing with magic as romance novels, knowing Valerie would never go near one of them. And should she ever open one of the books nonetheless, all she would find was the urgent need to put the book back on the shelf and read one of her own books.
Hermione wasn't really able to concentrate. There were thoughts chasing each other in her head. She could ask Ginny about Harry and their latest fight, but that would maybe only lead to Ginny trying to rant about Harry's behaviour. She could try and tell her she wanted to rebuild their friendship, that she regretted how distant they had grown over the years and that she missed her best friend, but that would probably require a lot more explanation in the process. Like, why reconnect now and why did she distance herself in the first place and so on. Hermione sat there, occasionally flipping a page or two, pretending to read until it was getting dark outside. Hermione snapped her book shut. "I need to get some sleep!" she said and went straight to bed, to escape her thoughts of Hermione woke up she smelt coffee from the kitchen. Before she could get out of bed the door opened and Ginny walked in with a tray of breakfast foods, "I didn't know what you'd want. I hope you're up for ham and eggs?"
Hermione looked at the tray with hungry eyes and nodded, "You gave me quite a workout last night, I'm starving."
Ginny smiled mischievously, "Go ahead and eat, you'll need it!"
"What is your plan, Ginevra?" Hermione said between bites.
"Oh, nothing special," Ginny answered nonchalantly, "I'll just kiss you for a bit," she said crawling behind a sitting and eating Hermione and kissing her neck, "and I'll touch you for a while," she continued while running her fingers along Hermione's thighs underneath the blanket.
Hermione stopped forking around in her food and swallowed heavily. She carefully pushed away the tray and gave in to Ginny's tender attempts to distract her.
"Aww. That was way too easy", Ginny said, faking disappointment. Hermione could feel Ginny's hands crawling under her pyjama top, slowly making their way to her breasts. Hermione was so giddy with anticipation that she forgot to breathe. Ginny softly bit her neck and then expertly got rid of Hermione's pyjama top. That was when Hermione remembered that thing about the oxygen and inhaled deeply. Ginny climbed on top of Hermione and started to caress her breasts with her tongue leaving Hermione nothing to do but to give in to her lover and a soft moan escaped her lips. Ginny took her time, running her fingers along Hermione's body and exploring every inch with her soft lips. Hermione had closed her eyes and was writhing underneath Ginny. She was close to exploding with impatience for what might happen next and the burning tension between her legs was getting close to unbearable, when she heard a loud bang in the kitchen. She rapidly sat up in her bed and opened her eyes. Ginny was gone, so was the tray of breakfast. All that was left was the muffled clankering in the kitchen and the smell of coffee.
Hermione sighed with disappointment and fell back into her pillows, secretly hoping that it hadn't all been a dream, that Ginny would walk into her room any second now.
She looked at the clock: 5 a.m. She heard someone tip toeing back to Valeries room, probably her latest conquest. She hated waking up in the middle of these dreams. It usually left her on edge for the rest of the day. But she didn't want to give in to her desires and go for a quick release. Ginny didn't even know that she fancied her so pleasuring herself thinking about the red head seemed wrong. Usually, those dreams weren't quite so vivid though, so Hermione gave in. She had a busy day at work ahead of her plus the dinner in the evening. She really couldn't carry all that pent up sexual energy around. She told herself that given that she needed a clear head tonight, she might as well allow herself the pleasure this one time and she slid her hand down into her pyjama bottoms.