A/N: So, I was originally going to post chapters 23 and 24 several days apart, like I have all of the others, however I've decided I'm not feeling quite that cruel. Thus, you get these two at the same time. You'll understand why I made this decision shortly.

oOoOoOo

4 April 1996

"Hey, can I get in there? I just need to brush my teeth right quick."

Hermione heard Parvati through the door of their dorm's lavatory and shuffled to the side, unlocking it as she went and bidding entry. She was standing in front of the mirror in a dressing gown, nervously blotting a bit of rouge across her cheeks.

Parvati stepped in and grabbed her toothbrush from the stand atop the counter. "Thanks," she said gratefully around a mouthful of minty foam. "They served pasta at dinner and there was enough garlic in it to keep a starving hoard of vampires at bay."

Smiling blithely, Hermione put down the makeup and began negotiating with her unruly curls again, attempting to tuck and pin them back in a way that complimented her face rather than drew attention to its roundness. As she did so, she firmly regretted not taking an interest in such things for the past 16 years.

The other girl finished her ablutions and made to turn and leave when she halted suddenly. Having apparently not been paying attention, her eyes widened as she took in Hermione's appearance in the mirror.

"Well, hold on just a bloody moment! Where are you off to this evening?"

"Nowhere," Hermione replied quickly, self-consciously tucking the meager collection of cosmetics back into her bag. She felt her cheeks flush beneath the artificial colour she'd applied a moment ago.

"Nowhere my ass," Parvati laughed. She craned her neck and her eyes zeroed in on Hermione's shoulder where her dressing gown was drooping a little. "Ah-ha! Lav, get in here!"

She called the last through the half-open doorway into the bedroom and Hermione wondered if it might be possible to spontaneously apparate through sheer force of will. She put her back to the wall of the loo, as if faced with a firing squad rather than her dormmates.

"What?" Lavender asked, drifting through the doorway in just an oversized t-shirt and a pair of minuscule shorts with her dark hair bobbing in a sloppy bun atop her head. Parvati wordlessly looked at Hermione and then back, and Lavender's eyes glimmered as she realized "what."

"Hermione Granger! Is that a red bra!?"

Hermione tugged the shoulder of her dressing gown up too late, not having realised that's what they were fixated on. "No – I mean, uh, yes, but it's – it's just a bra."

"Just a bra, she says," Lavender commented to Parvati, arching a brow. "Parv, do you have any red lingerie?"

"Indeed, I do," Parvati replied, nodding.

"And when exactly do you wear red lingerie?"

"When I mean for it to be seen. Also if I haven't done the wash in a while… but mostly the first reason."

Hermione's heart was in her throat, and she felt vaguely like she might vomit. She'd never been particularly close to Lavender or Parvati, the pair reminding her too much of the girls that used to tease her in primary school. Here, being confronted by them when she was already feeling exceptionally shaky and vulnerable, was one of the most nightmarish social exchanges she could imagine finding herself in.

Her throat tightened and her fight or flight kicked in. She dropped her eyes to the ground and hastily collected her things.

"I'm just – I'm just going to change. It was stupid."

"Wait!" Parvati said, placing a hand on Hermione's arm to stop her crossing into the bedroom. All hint of joking was gone from both her face and her tone, and she looked deeply apologetic. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Lavender nodded vehemently in her periphery and Hermione looked over to see a similar expression of repentance mirrored in her other roommate.

"We were just taking the piss," Lavender tacked on. "You just don't really dress up, is all."

"Well, beside the ball last year, but everyone was done up for that."

Parvati turned and guided Hermione back into the bedroom, perching on the edge of her mattress and patting the space beside her, motioning for her to do the same. Lavender followed them in and settled cross-legged near her own headboard a couple feet away.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lavender asked gently.

Did she? Hermione hadn't really had the opportunity to speak to anyone about her relationship with Fred. Her best friends were boys, her closest female friend was his sibling, and her mum was not only painfully out of touch with her life, but she was also leagues away.

"I mean… I don't want to tell you who it is," Hermione replied, nervously chewing her lip.

"That's okay!" Parvati said hurriedly, smiling. "I know everyone calls us gossips, but you'd be surprised at just how many secrets we keep to the chest."

Lavender barked out a laugh and tipped her head in agreement. "You would at that. So, is it a bloke then?"

"Or a girl?" Parvati added judiciously with a bit of side-eye.

Hermione relaxed incrementally and nodded. "Yeah. A boy, that is. I'm meant to meet him in about an hour."

"And I take it he'll be the one seeing the red lingerie?" Lavender coaxed.

"With any luck," Hermione confirmed timidly, shrugging.

The other two girls giggled. Really, truly giggled. God, was this what this was meant to be like?

"Would it be okay if I touch up your eye makeup a bit? You're a tad lopsided." Lavender asked the question uncertainly, squinting her eyes and examining Hermione's face. It didn't seem like a dig, rather a genuine offer of assistance.

Bearing that in mind, she nodded and Lavender got off the bed, ducking into her trunk and extracting an enormous black box with a handle on top.

"Is that all cosmetics?" Hermione asked, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

Parvati laughed. "Terrifying, isn't it? She could make over every girl in school twice without even coming close to running out."

"Hush, you!" Lavender stuck her tongue out and heaved the box onto Parvati's bed. "Now budge over." The other two girls shuffled.

"May I?" Parvati summoned a small bag from her nightstand and opened it to reveal a collection of hair pins.

"Uh, sure," Hermione said, distracted by the small brush that Lavender was brandishing at her eyelid.

Within moments the girls settled into a rhythm, Lavender all out removing the makeup from her eyes and reapplying warm tones, dabbing just a hint of shimmering copper at the edges.

"So, is it your first time then?" Parvati asked, all business as she pinned and adjusted the curls framing Hermione's face.

"First time – oh! No, no, not that." Hermione flushed and Lavender laughed a little, moving on to sweep something dark through her eyebrows. Encouraged by the unfamiliar camaraderie, she clarified, "But it's a bit of an occasion and I was thinking we could possibly do some… other sorts of things."

"Are you going to suck him off?" Lavender asked offhandedly, as if she were inquiring about the weather and not oral sex.

"Lav!" Parvati chastised, "Not everyone is as slaggish as you, you know!"

"It's just a question!" She defended, rooting in her veritable briefcase for something called setting powder.

Hermione must have given more away than she'd planned in the expression on her face because the pair apparently took her silence as confirmation. Embarrassed as she might be, it would be nice to have a bit of guidance stemming from practical experience on her side.

"Well, don't look at me for advice," Parvati said firmly, quickly dispelling that idea. She tipped Hermione's head toward her a bit and refastened a pin over her ear. "Unless you're planning to switch teams or do a little creative transfiguration on the chap, I'm not going to be much help."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up at that bit of insight.

"Uh-huh," Lavender confirmed, catching Hermione's surprise. "When I told her about the first time I saw a cock, she nearly retched."

"They look like giant flobberworms!" Parvati cried as the other two girls doubled in laughter.

"And I suppose some French girl's hairy muff is better?" Lavender jabbed in return.

"Gianna was Italian, and you know it!"

"Alright, alright," Lavender finally said, waving a hand and hushing the pair of them. She turned to Hermione with all the wisdom of a sensei. "So, here's what you want to do…"

oOoOoOo

A/N: The author-that-must-not-be-named is seemingly incapable of writing female characters supporting one another, but we don't vibe with that here. Hence the personality transplants that just took place.

Go on. Go click to the next chapter. You know you want to.