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Although the thought of her and Ron bothered her, it was hard to stay somber as she was greeted by a quite giddy Hermione. Apparently she had had a couple of drinks since she had seen her last seen her. No one, however, was quite as far gone as Lavender who was in the middle of giving a rather unattractive lap dance to Seamus. Parvati chose to ignore her best friend's behavior and rather focused on her girlfriend. Unfortunately, she was taken away far too soon by Ron once another dance started and Parvati marched to bathroom as she saw George and Dean eyeing for her in the crowd. She was at the sink redoing her eye make-up when Lavender stumbled inside.

"Parvy!" Lavender exclaimed seeing her friend and addressing her with one of her the many obnoxious drunken nicknames she had for Parvati.

"Hey Lav," Parvati consented with a smile.

Lavender made her way over to the sink. "Where've you been? I've been missing your face."

"Avoiding Dean and George," Parvati said rolling her eyes. "I swear the last thing I need is the two of them fighting over me."

Lavender giggled. "Are you avoiding Hermione too? She's been looking for you- keeps asking me about you."

Parvati frowned remembering her conversation with Ron earlier. "Lav, can I ask you something serious?"

Her friend tried to construe her expression into a somber face, but succeeded in only making an uncomfortable one. "Can I pee first?" she asked.

Parvati rolled her eyes. "Of course you can."

Lavender gave her a gleeful smile and went in one of the many empty stalls and slammed the door. She was in there little over a minute, and let out an appropriate sigh of relief. She slammed the door open after the toilet flushed and made her way over to the sinks where Parvati was waiting with a bemused expression on her face as she washed her hands.

"Better?"

Lavender sighed. "I think if I held it any longer I would have exploded."

"Alright, so can I ask you that question now?" Parvati asked a little impatiently.

"Ask away my dear," but her eyes weren't very focused and she became preoccupied by a picture of a daisy on the wall.

"Lav, focus!" Parvati said, snapping her fingers in front of her face.

"Hmm?"

Parvati gave her an appraising look, and Lavender furrowed her brow and concentrated hard on her Parvati's face. Parvati could have laughed at the effort her friend was bestowing to focus her attention on her.

"Do you think Ron and Hermione make a good couple?"

Lavender shrugged. "They're alright I guess. I think I liked her and Krum better though, Krum- Krum was way hotter and that accent! Mmmm. . . yeah Krum, definitely Krum-"

"What I'm getting at," Parvati started deciding to get very blunt. "Is do you think she's better off with Ron than with me?"

"What?" Lavender asked taken aback. "Why?"

"Because he knows her so well, and well he's a guy so she's more comfortable with that-"

"Bloody," Lavender flustered trying to find a word to go with that. "Shite!" she decided. "Bloody Shite you can't honestly think that! No, no, no Parvati you two are hot together, and cute- she always blushes around you it's infectious makes me want to love you too."

"But Ron-"

"Is a git! No, no trust me I've been with Ron. He's slow on uptake, has no tact, sloppy kisser, does not understand the point of foreplay-" Lavender went on with her mental list saying things that Parvati did not want to hear (which was a usual occurrence when she was around a drunk Lavender), "All over my face one time-" was the last thing Parvati heard before she stopped her.

"Okay! Okay! I get it and Ron is insufferable. . ."

"No, you and Hermione are better, besides she smiles more around you."

"She does?"

Lavender nodded. "Of course she does. What's wrong Vati?" she asked with concern her eyes growing big.

Parvati looked away insecurely to which Lavender pulled her into a big hug. "You're a beautiful, sexy, smart, sexy girl. Hermione loves you, she wants you."

Parvati hugged her friend back. "Thanks Lav," she murmured as they pulled out of the hug.

"So let's go," Lavender suggested. "I bet she's looking for you- keeps saying she wishes she's seen you more tonight."

Parvati nodded with a small smile on her face as they made there way to the door.

"We need to get you a drink too, you aren't happy enough."

Parvati laughed at that one, and Lavender slapped her hard on the arse, to which Parvati gave her an appraised look.

"You're right," Lavender said agreeing with the look. "I should save that for Seamus."

xxx

A slow song started. Parvati grinned from ear to ear upon hearing it. It was a favorite of Parvati's, one that Hermione had whispered in her ear as she was falling asleep the second time they had slept together. Hermione was never much of a singer, but when she whispered a song her voice went a notch deeper and it was smooth and timbre with the radio to back her, and Parvati couldn't think of anything that sounded better.

"Sound familiar?"

Hermione grinned and replied. "I think I remember holding a beautiful girl in my arms the last time I heard it."

Meanwhile, Seamus walked up to the table and left with a drunk Lavender who started dancing sloppily with her old schoolmate. Parvati observed her smiling. "I think she's had way too much to drink already."

"It is a wedding Parvati," Hermione said as she downed another fire-whiskey. Hermione was not much of a drinker. She drank rarely so when she did it did not take much time or alcohol until she got drunk. She tried unsuccessfully to hide a burp.

Parvati giggled. "Do you want to dance with me?"

"What?"

"Dance with me Hermione," she said with a gleam in her eye.

A part of Hermione was self-conscious of all the people around them and wanted to say no, but a more rational part answered for her instead. "Okay."

Hermione downed Lavender's abandoned shot as Parvati grabbed her hand and led her to the dance floor. Perhaps it was all the fire-whisky, but Hermione did not seem to mind who was watching them as Parvati pulled Hermione's body close. She grabbed Hermione's hand in her own and intertwined their arms so Hermione's forearm was pressed firmly against Parvati's front and her hand scraping the bottom of Parvati's cheek. Parvati smirked feeling her own arm against Hermione's firm breasts. With her other hand, Parvati hooked Hermione around her back right above her arse and pulled her closer suggestively. Hermione mirrored her lover giving her a quircky grin as they moved their bodies intimately together with the music.

Behind Parvati, Hermione could see that George and Dean had stopped arguing and stood jaw-dropped at the sight of Parvati dancing with another woman rather than one of them. Both of them looked at a loss of what to do, worried that one might interrupt the girls to take her hand in a dance before the other did but uncertain if they should just stop and enjoy the sexy slow dance the two girls were doing instead.

"George and Dean-" Hermione started.

"I don't give a damn about George and Dean, Hermione," Parvati said laughing. "All I give damn about is you," she said a bit louder as the slow song hit a high note.

Hermione smiled wickedly, and said the first thing that popped into her mind. "I like your skin!" she said loudly and bluntly over the music.

Parvati did nothing but laugh at that statement. Hermione smiled and laughed along with her lover feeling as light as a feather and as if nothing could bring her down.

"You're drunk." Was Parvati's short and true reply.

"So," Hermione countered. "It's still true! Alcohol makes me honest. Seriously, though," Hermione continued not letting it go, "I love your skin. It's so nice and dark. It's dark but not too dark- it's like dusk before nightfall. I think it's the contrast I like the most."

"The contrast?"

"Well you know," Hermione explained in her drunken un-eloquent state as the two of them swayed with the music. "Your teeth are white and your skin is dark. It's sexy when you get out of the shower wearing a white towel because it stands out- the contrast. You know like us- I'm milky white and your dark and it's beautiful," Hermione concluded with a nod and a blissful grin and gestured towards their intertwined arms showing the contrast.

Parvati giggled. "Like yin-and-yang?"

"Nope, like Parvati-and-Hermione."

Parvati giggled again and ended up snorting to which Hermione heard and continued further complimenting Parvati. "I like it when you snort too. And, you're laugh lines. Nothing is more beautiful than a girl like you laughing so much she gets lines from it."

Parvati gave her girlfriend a curious look. "I think it's the alcohol but I'm liking all the compliments. I think I need to get you drunk more often."

"Maybe, yeah- no. But, yeah, I just really, really, really, really, really, really like you."

Parvati didn't know what else to do but laugh. "I like you too, Her-"

"Excuse me."

Parvati felt a tap on her shoulder. It was George and to his side was Dean.

"We were wondering," George started. "Which one of us you would like to finish off the dance with? Now, I know it's not much competition," George said ignoring Parvati's blank face, "But I decided to be the mature adult and give the boy a shot." He finished by playfully punching Dean's shoulder who looked sour that he had let George do the talking. "So who's it gonna be Parvati?"

Parvati blinked dumbfounded at the two boys. "Hermione," she replied like it was no competition. She gave Hermione a wicked grin and pulled her off to the corner of the dance floor as if to have more privacy.

"It's not the last dance," Hermione noted as they danced on the outskirts. She did not have to talk as loud as they were farther away now. "You could dance if you want with them."

"I don't want them, I want only you."

Hermione giggled and said quite honestly. "I like how much you like us."

Hermione saw Parvati grin at the statement, white teeth against dark skin, and then the room went completely dark as if someone had dropped peruvian darkness powder in the tent. The music went on unnoticed and in a moment of impulse Hermione pulled Parvati toward her and found her lips in the darkness. Parvati responded crushing her lover's mouth against her own. Their lips parted just as the faint glow of a patronus of stag appeared, followed by a patronus of a horse. Hermione smiled knowing that in some way Harry had planned this as he was a fan of the patronus charm. A few moments later she saw Ron's patronus follow his sister's horse as a terrier appeared. Hermione grabbed her wand and muttered her patronus as a few others were forming. Her otter took it's place among the others, drifting close to Luna's rabbit.

The tent was beginning to be illuminated by the glow of the patronus charms. "C'mon Parvati do yours," Hermione coaxed.

Parvati hesitated. "No, I can't Hermione, I've always had trouble with this one. The closest I ever got to it was in the D.A. and I never got past wisps of smoke."

"Parvati, you can do it. Just think of something happy. Are you happy now?"

Parvati nodded uncertainly.

"Then think of now," Hermione instructed. "Think of now and produce it. Just close your eyes."

Parvati did as she was told. She closed her eyes and held out her wand limply in front of her.

"Hold your wand with confidence Parvati. I know you can do it. I've seen you do amazing things before, the patronus is just gonna be another one of those things. Just think of how beautiful it is here."

Parvati held her wand with confidence, or at least tried to. Her lips were tight and thin in concentration as was her brow. "Expecto Patronum!"

Smokes of bright blue erupted from her wand, looking like it was in the process of forming a large animal but fell short and dissolved instead.

"Almost," Hermione encouraged. "Just relax and try not to concentrate so hard on being happy. You're happy now so just let that flow through you, it's not like a dementor is coming after you or anything."

Parvati gripped her wand tightly, but instead of furrowing her brow with concentration and terseness, she let a smile play on her mouth instead. LIke yin-and-yang? Nope, like Parvati-and-Hermione. She bit her lip to keep from grinning widely at the newly acquired memory and exclaimed, "Expecto Patronum!"

A majestic tiger erupted from her wand and took a lap around the tent. The powerful cat looked ferocious and lean but also playful and young as if it had been caught someone between childhood and adulthood.

"Hermione, I did it!" Parvati threw her arms around Hermione and watched as the tiger did a lap around them.

Hermione beamed. "I like it. I would have never guessed a tiger."

Parvati frowned. "Why not?"

Hermione giggled. "I figured you more of a butterflies and bunnies kind of girl."

"No. No absolutely not." As if it was listening, Parvati's patronus let out a low growl. To which Parvati smirked and said, "See he totally agrees with me."

Hermione chuckled. "I can see that." She pulled Parvati towards her as a faster song started and grinded herself against Parvati's body.

"Perverti!" Lavender shrieked the drunken nickname for her friend as she eyed the patronus of the tiger. "Did you do that? That's amazing!"

Lavender stumbled toward to the two girls finishing a drink in hand and slamming it on the nearest table. Parvati let go of Hermione and held Lavender up laughing.

"Had enough to drink Lav?"

"Nope," Lavender shook her head in an exaggerated way. "Maybe a few more. Anyway I saw you two dancing together earlier," she said pointing a finger at them and sniggering. "Very sexy, I'm a little turned on. . . actually I'm very turned on."

"You're always horny when you're drunk," Parvati said rolling her eyes.

"I know isn't it great? Oooh Seamus, Seamus!" Lavender called across the dance floor. "Where did you go? Dance with me!" she commanded as she left her two friends and started making her way towards him on the dance floor tripping over her feet as she did so.

The reception went on for a couple more hours. The guests disappeared slowly, by the time the last song was playing only the wedding party and a select few of the younger guests remained. At a corner table in the back Hermione and Parvati were sitting with Lavender who was deep in a snogging session with Seamus. Hermione cleared her throat, feeling very awkward as Lavender started moaning and Seamus' hand was crawling ever slowly up Lavender's dress. She felt her face go red and tried not to pay attention. Parvati noticed Hermione's discomfort and was growing ever more irritated by the couple anyway that she grabbed Hermione's hand from under the table.

Hermione jumped, obviously not expecting it which caused Parvati to smile. "It's the last dance," Parvati reminded her. "I want you."

Hermione gave her lover a tired smile. The alcohol was wearing off fast now, but the thought of touching Parvati seemed to rekindle something else. They stood up and Hermione started leading her lover to the dance floor, but Parvati saw Ron looking for Hermione and pulled her to the side of the tent.

"What is it?" Hermione asked confused.

"Let's go outside," Parvati murmured seductively, leading her lover through the flap of the tent. Hermione grinned and allowed herself to be lead outside feeling the cool grass beneath her feet as she had taken of her painful heels quite a while ago. They went around the back of the tent toward the edge of the small thicket of trees that stood there. Parvati stopped there and twirled Hermione around once until she pulled her closer moving to the faint sound of the slow dance they could still hear.

Hermione rested her head on Parvati's shoulder breathing in the scent of her skin. "Sorry if I'm sweaty," Parvati apologized. "It was hot in there."

"I think it's sexy when you're sweaty," Hermione responded. "Besides I'm sure I'm just as bad."

"Not a chance," Parvati murmured smoothing back Hermione hair so she could kiss her ear. Hermione shivered. "Are you cold?" Parvati asked concerned.

"No," Hermione responded shaking her head slightly. "Sometimes I just shiver when you touch me."

Parvati smiled. "You know I'm sorry for earlier."

"Hmm?"

"When I was getting all worked up about the quote thing. . . and then I said that stupid quote about taking the girl's clothes off. That's not like us at all. The third time I kissed you it wasn't routine. It still made my heart jump like the first time I kissed you. . . it still makes my heart jump when I kiss you now."

Hermione raised her head so it was level with Parvati's and rested her forehead against hers. She grinned wickedly. "But, you still took my clothes off."

Parvati's lips curved as if she was trying to suppress a smile. "I- I did, but-" she hesitated and continued. "Maybe I thought it was about sex at first, but when it was happening it didn't feel like sex. It felt better. It felt more. . . significant."

Hermione closed her eyes and rubbed her nose affectionately against her girlfriend's. "I know," she said remembering her thoughts on that from earlier in the day.

"And, I said that stuff because I guess I got a little mad at how Ron was looking at you too."

"Ron?"

Parvati nodded slightly. "He was looking at you like I look you. How you look at me when you think I'm not looking."

Hermione gave her lover a small smile. "You don't have to worry about Ron, you know. I plan on being with you for a quite a while."

Parvati nodded and bit her lip.

"What is it?" Hermione pressed.

"Ron, he, well- he knows you a lot better than I do," Parvati explained, but Hermione just gave her a blank expression prompting her to continue. "With all that stuff that happened to you, Hermione the year before the war- and the years before that for all I know." She lightly fingered the scar on Hermione's wrist causing her lover to squirm uncomfortably at the touch.

"Well maybe I like you Parvati," Hermione reasoned, "because you don't know all that. It was really refreshing being with you Parvati, because you didn't take the time to look through all the baggage. So, you don't know everything about me. You know enough about me now, and as for Ron- he may know things about me that you don't, but he doesn't know everything you do about me. I was never as affectionate with him or as happy with him. Our relationship was building up with jealousy and hurt feelings for years, and because death was so prevalent leading up to the war we eventually just acted on it prematurely with the assumption we would die any minute. We did not build it thinking we would be together for a long time Parvati. We were both pleasantly surprised we made it through alive, and then, well you know not a year later our relationship fell apart."

"I just feel like there's this whole side of you that's a complete mystery and if I don't know it, I won't ever know you."

Hermione sighed, thinking very hard about. In all honesty, she was not to keen in reliving her past seven years to Parvati. It was a lot to put into words and where was she supposed to start? In a polyjuice incident second year I basically got turned into part-cat, she imagined telling her, oh and fifth year I was attacked by a brain in the Department of Mysteries. Fast forward a couple years and I'm being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. The only resolve was that she didn't have to tell her anything about her love life fourth year since it was so well documented by Rita Skeeter.

On the other hand, Parvati did have a right to know didn't she? She's been patient with Hermione's coming out although not always happy about it. She was the one that took the risk, that initiated their first night together, that didn't think Hermione was going to stab her in the back the next morning and kept their friendship and relationship going. If it was important to Parvati, Hermione thought she should at least put an effort. However, some of the memories made her stomach squirmed uncomfortably- the Malfoy Manner standing out in her mind like a sore thumb. Count in the months on end camping out, the fiasco at Godric's Hollow, and the fear and anxiousness that persisted every day of that horrible year, and Hermione was not so sure anymore. Finally, she consented.

"It's really hard for me Parvati, but if it's really important to you. . . we'll just take it slow though, okay?"

Her girlfriend nodded, looking worried. "I-I have something important to tell you," Parvati said nervously.

"You know you can tell me anything," Hermione murmured.

"I don't want to tell you now though. . ." Parvati said evasively. "You have the next few days off right?"

"Yeah I took a some days off after the wedding, I don't go to work again until Wednesday."

"Good because I'm kidnapping you tomorrow afternoon."

"I never thought I would be so thrilled about being abducted," Hermione joked. "Where are we going?"

"That's a surprise," Parvati said pulling her lover's body a little closer and letting her hand travel lower down her back.

"What are we going to do there?" Hermione teased pushing the bad memories out of her head and focusing on the goddess in her arms. She turned her head so she could nibble on Parvati's neck, marveling at how easy it was just to lose herself in Parvati and feel alive.

Parvati smirked. "Use your imagination."

"And, what important thing are you going to tell me?" she said planting a kiss on her jawline.

"You'll have to wait and see," Parvati said making her eyebrows jump suggestively before she smiled widely.

Hermione chuckled a bit and rested her head on her lover's shoulder once more.

"You know I had a lot of fun tonight," Hermione mentioned as they continued to move slowly with the music.

"The night's not over," Parvati reminded her. She lightly touched her jawline prompting Hermione to look at her. Parvati licked her lips and lightly brushed Hermione's with her own. Hermione inhaled in anticipation waiting for what was to come next. Parvati pressed her lips against Hermione's cheek, then let her teeth tease Hermione's earlobe until she moved on and started kissing Hermione's neck seductively letting her tongue lick down to her collarbone. Hermione grabbed her lover's face in her hands gently rubbing her cheek with her thumb.

Hermione licked her lips and locked eyes with Parvati. She wanted to say a lot to her. She wanted to tell her that she cared about her, but more than that. She wanted to tell her she was beautiful from the inside out, that she never imagined she would be this lucky to be able to even get a passing glance from the prettiest girl she had ever seen. She wanted to tell her this, but she wanted to dig deeper- to tell her that she was feeling something she had never felt before. That she was suspecting that this feeling was something she had heard again and again in muggle bedtime stories and television shows. Instead of saying any of that though, all she said was, "Please Parvati."

Parvati obeyed knowing exactly what her lover was after and brought her lips to Hermione's, softly at first and then in fevered anticipation. As the last slow song played it's final last notes, the two lovers were oblivious to it. All they knew in the moment were themselves. They did not even notice someone in the thicket who had been listening and watching the entire time.