Written In The Body

Poetheather

A/N: Thank you all for reading. I am enjoying the writing, but your enjoyment helps keep me writing. Thanks.

Still not JKR, but we all knew that.

Fourteen

The next few days with Ginny sort of flew by as the girls did all manner of things to keep themselves occupied. As everything was all prepared for the date/ present and ready to go, Hermione was all but bouncing with anticipation to see how this particular present would be received by her best female friend. She really wanted this date but not really a date to be especially wonderful for Ginny as it was her birthday present and thus she had exerted a good bit of effort in an attempt to make it the best night she could manage. Her mom had found a nice Italian restaurant near the theatre where the two of them could eat before curtain call and still have time to get to their seats even if they walked to the theatre. Her parents had heard good things about it, which made her feel better about the choice. All in all that part of the plan was just fine.

Hermione had actually used a little magic to ensure that the two of them had gotten good tickets for the musical, but as it was not her general practice to do this sort of thing she did not feel too bad about using magic for this purpose. It was for a special occasion after all and it was not something she did every day. This was clearly a onetime occurrence after all and she had used the subtlest magic she could manage to ensure the smallest chance for detection. So now there were a pair of tickets near enough to the stage to have a great view of everything but not too close as to not be able to clearly see the whole stage waiting for them at Will Call and they had a place to eat and everything that could be was planned out. This night should be perfect, well, at least as perfect as any plans like these could usually turn out. If Harry or Ron had been involved in the planning stages of it the whole thing would surely have spelled disaster for all involved. That was their luck after all.

It had been an easy decision to go for Italian because if there was one thing she was familiar with after all this time it was the Weasley appetite, since every member of that family had it to a degree, even Percy. She knew that Ginny could eat almost as much as Ron, she just had the good graces to avoid shoveling it in. Ron loved food but his table manners were atrocious and sometimes could actually turn the stomach. Ginny's manners on the other hand were quite good and would only take a little work to be decent for formal dining. It seemed that she had at least had paid attention to her mother's training when she had been younger and did not practically throw the food down her gullet. That was another of the things that Hermione really liked about the girl. There really were a lot of things that she liked about Ginny.

She sighed and tried to push those thoughts out of her mind. If she started thinking in that way then Ginny would have no problem catching on to how she really felt about her and that would make things even more awkward than they already were. She really felt things strongly for Ginny but was still unsure how to approach the other girl and had no idea of how to tell her how she felt. That and there was still the fact that it was a little bit weird coming to terms with her being attracted to women. The more she thought about it the more she could recognize that the signs had been there all the time but it was still kind of shocking nonetheless. That was surely why she had a much longer list of favorite actresses than actors, why all her favorite teachers had been women, and why she really seemed to find female athletes more attractive than male or even other women. It did not elude her notice that Ginny was an attractive female athlete.

No, she still had to tell her parents about this and everything. But now was not the time to worry about that, now was the time to think about the fact that she was going to be taking Ginny out to dinner and a musical all on her own for her birthday. Being able to spend a few hours alone with the girl in a fairly romantic setting was going to be lovely. If the fates were kind to her she could even make this a bit of a tradition if the redhead liked this. Who knew? This might even go well. Hermione could only hope that things worked out the way that she was hoping.

She looked in the mirror of her vanity, locked her brown eyes with reflected eyes and sighed at herself. Who was she kidding? She was well aware that this was actually a date, pure and simple, even if Ginny had not been told the truth of the matter. It was even a fairly romantic date and it kind of showed clearly if you looked at it in the right way, or even cocked your head slightly. How could anyone miss this, as it was so obvious? Ginny would be able to see right through her and know what was up in minutes, all of her deepest feelings exposed. She was going to get called on this before the appetizers arrived, ruining everything. Hermione leaned her head against the mirror and groaned. She could do this. She really could. And it was too late to back out now, everything was already in motion.

Right. So. First things first, getting dressed. She had already showered and Ginny was in there now. Now for toughest choice of the evening, what to wear. There was a nice red dress that was somewhat similar to the one she had worn to Bill and Fleur's wedding and she also had a pink dress that was really cute, that was sort of short and flirty. She also had a little black dress as well that she had gotten with her mother but she was not sure which of those three to wear. What exactly was the message she was trying to send with her outfit? Oh this was making her crazy.

After several minutes of deliberation, she decided on the black dress as it was simple and looked good on her. It wasn't overly flirty and did not have that weird connotation to weddings that the other one had. No, this would work just fine. She even had jewelry that would complement things quite nicely. There were shoes she had gotten earlier that would go work with the whole ensemble and only had a minimal heel. Heels were nice and made her legs and butt look good, however they were a little precarious and something she had rarely worn. Thankfully she knew a few spells that could help with that and make them a little less bothersome. There was little doubt in her mind that wobbling while she walked would not be attractive. A quick color changing charm later and her hand bag was an appropriate color as well.

Once she was finished getting herself ready, she headed out to the living room to wait for Ginny, so that her best friend would have plenty of undisturbed private space to get all dressed up in. She knew she appreciated it when she was dressing and was sure Ginny would feel the same. Her mother smiled at her as she walked in, "You look really pretty Hermione."

"Thank you Mom."

"Are you sure that she will enjoy this?" This was asked without too much worry, more as a double checking thing.

Hermione bit her bottom lip and then said somewhat nervously, "Not really. I think she will, as she has enjoyed a couple of the musicals we have seen. The show is supposed to be very good and it has gotten wonderful reviews both here and in New York. It even won four Tony awards including best musical, so that has a lot going for it. I think that speaks highly for the show and hopefully this company will be able to do a great job with it."

"Will Ginny even understand some of it? You know it is going to reference a lot of things that will not be familiar to her. That could be a problem." asked her mother, again pointing out important flaws in her plan.

"She should be, besides I'll be right there to answer any questions she might have. I am sure there is nothing in that show that I can't explain. Besides, after reading the basic premise I was going to give her a rough primer to things." said Hermione, quite confident about that.

"That should be fine, I hope. You know, if she asks too many questions she might disrupt things for the other audience members, so you need to be aware of that." commented her mother, pointing out another obvious fact that Hermione had overlooked.

"I suppose if I had to I could use a limited silencing charm around us?" mused Hermione, trying to figure out what the logistics of a spell like that would be. It shouldn't be that difficult to limit the area of effect… right? "That should keep things quiet."

Her mother rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "You know Hermione, whispering also has a long and noble tradition."

"Mother… honestly. It's not we were going to have a regular conversation, full voice right there in the middle of everything. Neither of us are that crass." Hermione huffed. Surely her mother was not that crazy, to think that the two of them would do something that rude in the middle of the show.

"What? You were the one who was going to use magic to do something that a simple fix would take care of." It was clear by her tone that she was teasing her daughter.

"Okay… fair point." Hermione heard a sound behind her and she turned.

Ginny had walked into the living room, wearing a lovely dress in a very non-Slytherin green and gold that made her hair and eyes pop. The fabric also clung to her body nicely, emphasizing her curves and muscle tone. Her hair was mostly down and had a faint shine that Hermione knew could be achieved without magic. Two bits from the side were pulled up and held by a barrette that complemented the dress perfectly. Hermione swallowed heavily, her mouth falling open as she was stunned by the sight. Ginny simply took her breath away. "So what do you think?"

"You look great Gin." replied Hermione, honesty clear in her voice.

"Thank you. Fleur sent it over to our house, saying she and Bill got it for me to wear for something special. This sounded like a special occasion to me so I wanted to try it on."

Hermione said a silent thank you to Fleur for this dress and the accessories that went with it. It seemed clear that the young woman was thinking of her even now. Maybe she should send her Patronus off to her with a quick thank you to her? There was no way that she would misunderstand the meaning… right? "It is a great dress. You look absolutely fantastic. Fleur clearly has great taste and she found something that suits you perfectly."

"I agree. Fleur really is a lot better than I gave initially her credit for. I misjudged her and you said she really helped you after you got hurt so I have to give her a lot of credit for that. And the way she stayed by Bill through all of that… yeah… She's not even remotely a Phlegm any longer." said Ginny, clearly a touch emotional at points.

Hermione laughed a little at what she had said. Her mother looked confused and asked the redhead, "You called her Phlegm?"

Ginny blushed a little at the question, looking away and Hermione decided to explain, hoping to help Ginny through this. She knew that the youngest Weasley would hate to be on the outs with her mother as the two of them usually got along so well most of the time and this really had been a simple case of sibling overprotectiveness. "Fleur is very beautiful and quite talented. She was also really nice to Harry when we met her fourth year, especially after the first task but definitely by the end of the second. She was the French Champion for the Triwizard Tournament. She married the eldest of the Weasley boys, Bill."

"That doesn't explain the nickname." said her mother, interested and clearly paying a good bit of attention to things.

"Ginny… ah… really looks up to her big brother. And at the time was also grumpy with someone else being nice to Harry. That combination did not mix very well and she got… overprotective, somewhat aggressively so. Hence the nickname." Hermione fought to keep from snickering. If she did she was almost certain that Ginny would smack her in the back of her head and she did not want that to happen, it might mess up her hair.

"You know… yes, that does explain things. Well, I am glad that everything worked itself out then Ginny and that your relationship with her improved. You girls have go have some fun and be safe. I guess we'll see you after the show?" she asked.

"Yes Mom… we'll be safe and apparate home right after." replied Hermione, amused at the very standard parenting speech that she was hearing. She was sure she was going to say the same things to her children when she was a parent but it didn't make the absurdity of telling two war veterans to be careful any less funny.

"That's good. Well, have fun."

Hermione grabbed Ginny and the two of them disapparated to the Leaky Cauldron before her mom kept talking. She really did not want to hear anymore and if she had to be told to be safe one more time she might just scream. Once there they left the pub before they attracted too much notice and headed out to the main street in order to catch a taxi. Ginny and she walked calmly to the main street alongside each other, Hermione leading and closer to the street. Ginny took this opportunity to look at her and ask, "So now that we are doing this whatever this is, where are we going?"

Hermione smiled at her coyly, looking at her through her lashes. "Well just so you know, dinner tonight is going to be Italian food and then afterwards we are going to go see a show."

"I already know that part Hermione, you already told me that we were doing dinner and a show. What show?" asked Ginny curiously. "It's not like the name will actually mean anything to me if you say it. I mean, honestly Hermione all the shows I know you showed me. You know all the titles of all the shows I know."

Hermione thought about it and realized that Ginny had a fair point, one she couldn't argue with. Ginny had no way to have heard of the show before and the name would therefore have no meaning to her. It wasn't like the wizarding world had an equivalent to Broadway or the West End. It would be just fine to tell her. "Okay. You made a perfectly valid point. The show we are going to see is called Rent. It is an American musical that deals with a bunch of friends living in New York, many of whom are poor artists, dealing with life, love, and AIDS."

Ginny was not following, clearly confused by something. "AIDS? What's that?"

"It is a terrible disease that people can get from either sex or sharing needles when shooting up drugs or a few other methods. It attacks your immune system making it so that you basically get so sick that you die. There is a lot more to it as the disease s very complex but that is basically it. It's as dangerous as Dragon Pox only worse." clarified Hermione, trying to keep her explanation as simple as possible, despite everything in her telling her to keep sharing information until she had covered the topic completely. She knew plenty about the disease but did not want to overwhelm Ginny with data.

"A musical about people with a fatal illness? This is supposed to be good?" Ginny looked really skeptically at Hermione, clearly doubting the wisdom of this choice.

"Isn't that what you said when Romeo+Juliet started?" countered Hermione with a smirk.

"Fair point. I have to admit I know you would never drag me off to see something terrible. Nothing you have taken me to see this whole summer has been terrible. I trust you Hermione." said Ginny, touching Hermione on her bare arm.

Hermione flagged down a taxi, using that action to keep from saying anything in response to that statement. She was glad that Ginny trusted her but would she continue to do so if she knew how Hermione felt about her? To know that Hermione had known about these feelings she had for her and still continued to share a bed with her. To know that Hermione desired her, sexually and said nothing, instead enjoying the pleasure of awakening in her arms. There was no way to know how she would react to such knowledge so all Hermione could do was fret. Thankfully it did not take too long for one of the black cabs to pull over and let them in. She gave the driver the address of the restaurant and they headed off to dinner.

Once seated, she turned to face Ginny and said, "Well, it is good that you trust me Ginevra because tonight should be interesting and fun."

"You know… you are about the only person who can say my actual name and not make me want to curse them. At least I'm not as bad as Tonks was though." Ginny smirked.

"I like your name." stated Hermione, wanting to make that point clear.

Ginny rolled her eyes and said, "Well, you would. Most others just think it's old fashioned."

"And like Hermione is currently a very popular name?" teased Hermione.

"Okay, another point." conceded Ginny with a grin. "I can give you that. I guess we've both been saddled with odd, old names."

"I don't mind names like that. I think it gives your name some weight, some meaning. Using an old family name or an older name that you like, sounds like a perfectly good idea to me. I always thought I might name a daughter Rosalind and call her Rosie, since the name means beautiful rose, but Rose itself sounds good as well for a diminutive." said Hermione, looking out the window at the passing buildings, losing herself to one of her oldest daydreams.

"That's a really pretty name. I like it. You know, Rosalind Weasley sounds pretty but you know, I don't imagine that you're going to end up marrying Ron now are you?" Ginny snickered.

"I don't know Gin… maybe if he grew some breasts and let his hair grow out he might be fetching, but I'm not sure. I am sure though that George can help make that happen if we asked him really nicely for a little bit of help with this plan." retorted Hermione, trying to get the suddenly clear image she now had of her and Ginny holding a beautiful baby girl out of her mind. The detail in this image was incredible and it was not fair that she had this now battling for dominance in her thoughts. It was making anything else difficult to do.

Ginny blinked a few times, as if she were not really sure she had just heard that come out of Hermione's mouth. Hermione merely smiled and winked at her, knowing what the possible effect would be. This set Ginny off and she started laughing. Between the guffaws she managed to wheeze out, "George… would… totally… do… that."

"I'm glad you agree." Hermione's response was nice and dry, belying the fact that she thought it would be amusing.

"We should totally do that 'mione. It will give George a really clever prank to focus on and what a great prank that would be. Oh I can just imagine the look on Ron's face when that happened to him." Ginny was still snickering, the laughter still not letting go of her.

"I think it would be funnier to see how Ron would react as he suddenly realizes that the strongest people he knows are us women. I think he might just die when that finally penetrates his skull. Even Harry is outnumbered by us, but at least he is okay with that." said Hermione, slightly irked with the way Ron usually acted. Hadn't he ever realized the number of powerful witches he knew compared to the number of powerful wizards?

"Well Harry is sweet that way." replied Ginny, with a smile.

The cab pulled up to the restaurant and Ginny got out as Hermione paid. Once they were both on the sidewalk, Hermione led Ginny into the restaurant, letting her go through the door first. There was only a short wait for their table as it seemed that the restaurant was running on time that evening and their reservation was early enough that it was before the usual dinner rush. That was nice, as it reduced the chance that they would miss the opening of the show. That would have been a disaster.

Once they were seated, the two of them were looking over the menus. Ginny seemed kind of in awe of the list of food as her eyes kept going back and forth over things. Hermione had a slight smile on her face as she had an idea what the problem could be however she was trying not to presume too much. For all the wonders of magic she was aware that many places still had rather limited menu's. At least that was the case with the Leaky Cauldron and the Three Broomsticks. "Is something wrong Gin?"

Ginny leaned forward and whispered intently, "I thought I knew Italian food. I have no idea what a lot of this is."

"There is a lot more variety to Italian cooking than most people think. They usually think about only a few items or options but that is not the limits of what is available in their cuisine. This place has a lot more than just pasta and the pasta they do have represents a far wider range of what exists. I thought you would enjoy trying something new, different and tasty. Was I wrong?" Hermione smiled at the redhead, hoping her read on her would be borne out.

"No, you were right. I think I can go with something new. It's just that I am not used to all of this. There are so many options." Ginny grinned and turned her attention to the menu with renewed vigor.

"That sounds good. I was thinking about their chicken and wild mushroom risotto with the asparagus on the side." said Hermione as she scanned the menu for her own meal.

"That looks good, but I was thinking about the Cacciatore. That sounded interesting. I've heard about this before but have never had it." admitted Ginny with a shrug. "The description sounds so tasty."

"Should we get an antipasta?" asked Hermione, as she looked at a different section of the menu.

"Hunh?" Looking back at the redhead she had to smile at the confusion there.

"Appetizer."

"Oh… sure. That might be good." Ginny was much more comfortable with the English words for the parts of the meal rather than the more appropriate Italian terms. Hermione could not really blame her.

The waiter came by and took their order, leaving the girls to continue their conversation, menus gone as well as the other distractions. "So is there anything else I need to know about this show before we go see it?"

Hermione smiled, glad that Ginny asked about that. That would have never occurred to Ron, or maybe it might have but not as a usual occurrence. "No. I've told you what I know about the show already from the descriptions I have read. I am excited about seeing it as well. There were such great reviews that I just knew we had to go to this one. I got us the best seats that I could manage."

Ginny took a deep breath and sighed, she was clearly getting somewhat emotional by things. "Thank you for this Hermione. This is so amazingly different from what everyone else usually gives me for my birthday that there really is no comparison. I mean, yeah I really do like new Quidditch stuff and clothes and I know we don't have a lot of money but this is a nice change from the usual. Thank you."

"It is my pleasure Gin. I just wanted to make sure you had the best birthday possible. It's been a crap year for all of us and you could use something different and fun instead of the same old party with the same people like usual." said Hermione with a soft smile playing over her lips. How could she deny Ginny anything? She would give her the world without hesitation if she had the power to make that happen. "You're my best friend, Ginevra. And that means only the very best for you."

Ginny's eyes glistened a little as Hermione spoke, and she had a soft smile to share. "You know, I can handle losing Harry, and in a way I was prepared for that thanks to Harry and his stupid nobility but you know, I don't think I could handle losing you. You've kept me together this summer Hermione and I don't know how to thank you."

Hermione blushed and her heart soared. Was this it? Was Ginny going to tell her? Was her dream going to become a reality? "There is no need to thank me Ginny. I didn't do it for thanks. You mean a lot to me as well, so how could I not be there for you?"

Ginny reached out her hand across the table and Hermione stretched out her own to take it a bit nervously. "I know, but with the way things have been going, you know…"

Hermione's mood darkened a little, beginning to realize what Ginny was talking about and where this was actually going. This was not moving in the direction she wanted. "Yeah, I do. I'm still here and I'm not going anywhere."

She had no intentions of going anywhere unless Ginny decided to tell here to bugger off after Hermione finally got her courage up enough to tell the girl how she really felt. The mere thought of doing such a thing made her quake inside and her mouth go a bit dry, prompting her to take a sip of water. No, she was not ready to say anything yet. It looked far, far too likely that saying anything would result in getting shot down. While it was not a very Gryffindor position she had to admit that it was better for her to suffer in silence with her dreams than to be shot down with the truth.

The conversation got much lighter when the food arrived, turning to thoughts about the upcoming school year and wondering if all the repairs would be done in time for all the incoming students. It really would be awkward going to classes in half completed classrooms, though they did make several jokes. The food was quite tasty and they each shared bits of their meals with the other, passing bits of food across the table on their forks for the other to eat. After sharing a Tiramisu for desert, the girls were soon heading down the street toward the theatre so they could find their seats in time for the show.

Hermione was so excited. Ginny seemed so absorbed by the play, completely falling into the action. Ginny even mooed quite loudly during the performance art piece, several times as Maureen beckoned the audience to join in. The show was even better than she had hoped, with catchy songs that stuck in her head and a storyline that was gripping. That there was a lesbian couple in it was a surprise and Hermione had to admit that both actresses were hot. They were close enough to get a good view of everything. And the girl who played the stripper… there was plenty to look at besides the wonderful show.

Standing in the lobby, drinking a bottle of water Hermione just stood there listening to Ginny gush over things. She was so excited. Hermione had only seen her like this a few times before, at the World Cup, the Triwizard Tournament, and occasionally at Christmas. "Oh Merlin Hermione, those songs, they're wonderful. And the dancing from Mimi… wow. I wish I could move like that. And some of those ideas… wow…"

"So you like it then?" Hermione asked teasingly.

"No I hate every moment. Of course I like it 'mione. This is so good. Ugh… this story is killing me. Angel and Collins… they are so cute together. That song they sang was so wonderful. Maureen and Joanne are pretty cute as well. And that Mimi… she is a looker as well. I'm not so big on Roger but I have to admit that Mark has the same kind of dorky hot thing that Harry does. It really makes me like him more." said Ginny, looking down at her program as she spoke so she was certain to remember all the characters names.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at everything that Ginny was saying and then shook her head. Maybe she was just getting her hopes up and reading into things a little too much. It wouldn't be the first time she had done that but this time she could set herself up for a lot of heartache. "Yeah, Mark is a bit like Harry. But so is Angel in a way, with the way she is trying to save everyone."

"Ugh… I know what you mean. And you know, I kind of hate that part of him. It is completely endearing right until he goes out and does something stupid yet again nearly getting himself killed in the process. Prat." grumbled Ginny.

"I thought you were over him?" asked Hermione a bit worried. She might be attracted to Ginny but she would never get between Harry and her. Both had gone through too much for her to interfere. If either wanted a chance at happiness together then there is no way she would pursue anyone.

"Oh, don't worry I am, that's not even a concern, it's just that how many times can my heart stop before Harry actually stops acting like that? I'm not sure I can take much more of this. And I almost pity whoever he ends up with. If they aren't ready for that part of him it will kill them."

"Good point." conceded Hermione, her own heart starting again now that she had heard that. The lights flickered and she grabbed Ginny's hand, giving it a slight tug. "Come on. We need to head back to our seats."

Ginny lost herself again in the rest of the play and Hermione spent her time watching the stage and glancing over at the red head. Seasons of Love was really moving even though the math for one year in minutes was closer to… if she could recall the exact figure based off the accurate length of a day was 525,949 or was that just for a leap year? She would have to double check as she could not completely recall the number. She had been away from non-magical data for far too long to have it completely at her fingertips. It was certainly close enough to accurate to not quibble too much.

Once the show was over, Hermione bought Ginny a shirt and got herself a CD of the cast recording. When Ginny saw that, she took hold of Hermione's arm and begged, "Please find a way to get me a copy. I really want to be able to hear those songs more often than just tonight. Please?"

Laughing at how desperate the redhead sounded, Hermione said, "I'll see if I can manage to find something to make that happen. Maybe I can find something that will let me do that, to record the music onto something that can play it back in a magical setting. If not, I will send a letter to Professor Flitwick for assistance. You will have a copy of the music, I promise."

"Yes!" Ginny was quite excited by the mere idea of the project.

Once they were out of sight of the crowds, Hermione disillusioned them to avoid any surprise viewers and then they disapparated back to Hermione's house, and into her bedroom where a quick Finite canceled the spell. Ginny hugged her warmly and said, "Thank you again. This was a great birthday present. Nobody have eveer done anything like this for me ever. We will have to do this again as I don't think anything else could top this but I'm willing to try."

"Sure. That would be great. I had a lot of fun." replied Hermione, pleased that Ginny wanted to do this again. She really had had fun and wanted to do more, anything to spend more time with Ginny.

The girl in question turned so her back was facing Hermione and asked, "Could you unzip me? I want to get changed."

Ginny had no idea what that innocent question did to Hermione. In its own way it was worse than the idea of her and Ginny holding their child. There was a rushing of warmth in her groin and she fought against the images that started dancing in her head, of them pulling clothes off each other, of kisses, of caresses, of nibbles, sucks, licks. She swallowed, attempting to banish those thoughts and said, "Sure."

She lowered the zipper carefully, exposing the smooth expanse of skin and Ginny looked over her shoulder at her with a pleasant smile. "Thank you."

"No problem. I'm going to let my mom know we're home." Hermione left the room before she saw much more of Ginny's back or anything else for that matter. Once she was outside of the room and closed the door to give Ginny some privacy, Hermione took a deep breath and let it out rather shakily, her body trembling and burning with need. How was she going to deal with this? This whole situation with Ginny was going to kill her.