Chapter 40
Ginny POV
Ginny couldn't believe how quickly the past two months had gone by. It was difficult at first, accepting that she and Demelza were no longer together, but she did what she could to abide by Demelza's wishes for them to continue spending time apart. She found this to be quite helpful, as it was painful enough to even think about the girl, never mind actually seeing or speaking to her. Ginny was still unsure about the possibility of rekindling their friendship at the beginning of the next school year. She just couldn't see how they could possibly be friends after all the snogging they'd done, but maybe it'd work out. She wouldn't mind having Demelza back in her life in some capacity. Maybe Hermione was right, and someone new would be interested in being with her. That surely couldn't hurt in trying to be friends with Demelza again, being distracted by someone else.
Ginny had spent most of her time almost exclusively with either Hermione or Juliette. About two months ago, she decided to finally take Ron's advice and apologize to Juliette. Ginny figured, of all three girls, Juliette was the one who really deserved an apology, after all she was the one who had gotten hexed. She accepted it willingly, but Ginny had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with Hermione. Regardless, over the past two months, she'd started joining Juliette for Quidditch training sessions, at Hermione's suggestion. Apparently, Juliette had grown tired of training only with her Beauxbatons teammates, and Ginny wasn't training as much with the Hogwarts Quidditch players in order to let Demelza have some time to train Ginny-free, so they were a perfect match, as Hermione put it. It was awkward at first, but eventually they hit a groove and had been training together successfully now for the better part of a month.
So, when she wasn't studying and preparing for her upcoming end-of-year exams with Hermione, she was training out on the Quidditch pitch with Juliette. As much as she hated to admit it, Juliette was an incredible Quidditch player and flyer, and she'd learned so much from her in the past two months. Juliette was a tough, but patient teacher, and Ginny felt that even with all the strife that Juliette had given her prior to the Bat Bogey Hex incident, Juliette seemed to genuinely want Ginny to improve. Maybe it was the apology (Ginny doubted it) or maybe it was Hermione's insistence in Juliette being nicer to Ginny (surely the case), but Ginny didn't care, she just knew she was improving, and at a rapid pace no less.
"Zat was good, but it needs to be a bit faster and a bit smoozer. 'ere, watch," Juliette said, taking off on her Firebolt. It was unusually warm for May and the sun was beating down on them. Both girls were sweating so profusely that they'd completely drenched their shirts. Ginny was wearing one of her old Harpies t-shirts, while Juliette was in a pale blue tank top, similar to the one she wore to the Quidditch World Cup. Ginny leaned up against her broom, wiping her face with the bottom of her shirt. She was breathing hard while she watched Juliette effortlessly execute the move she was working on, the Double Eight Loop. This was a tactic used only by Keepers, but Juliette insisted that it would be a good idea for Ginny to master the moves of every position. That way, she'd be much more valuable to any team she'd be trying out for. As Juliette returned to where Ginny stood, she wiped her brow as well with the edge of her tank top.
"One more attempt, zen we are done. Did you see what I did, staying low to my broom? Remember, agility is ze key to success in Quidditch," Juliette instructed as Ginny mounted her Comet 260.
"Yep, I got it," Ginny said as she flew off towards the goal posts. She paused once she got there, took a deep breath, then took off as fast as she could. She whipped around the three goal posts at the highest speed she could manage, making sure to stay so close to her broom that she was basically lying flat on it. She looped around the goal posts once, then on the second loop, she cut a turn a bit too close and clipped the last goal post. At the speed she was going Ginny had been completely thrown from her broom, and was falling towards the ground. Before she crashed into the pitch, she felt a strong, slender body collide with hers, grabbing her and taking her up towards the blue sky rather than down into the ground. Juliette had shot across on her broom and caught Ginny mid-air. They looked at each other briefly as Juliette flew them back down to the base of the goal posts, when Juliette suddenly spoke up.
"You zink I am going to let you fall again? I am sure 'Ermione would kill us both with 'er bare 'ands if you 'ad another accident under my watch," Juliette chuckled lightly while Ginny laughed as well.
Once Juliette had them both safe on the ground and Ginny had collected her Comet 260, they began to walk side by side out of the Quidditch stadium.
"Thank you for grabbing me back there, even if it was just to spare Hermione a heart attack," Ginny grinned up at Juliette, who smiled as well, keeping her eyes forward. "And thank you for all of these trainings. I've learned so much, and I appreciate that you've been willing to work with me."
"You are a very good student, Ginny. You work 'ard and you are willing to try whatever I tell you. It 'as been a pleasure to work with you."
"So uh… End-of-year exams are coming soon, and I'm guessing Hermione is probably going to make me cut back on Quidditch trainings to study more, so we may only get one or two more of these in," Ginny said, "Would you be willing to…" Ginny hesitated, nervous to make her request.
"Yes…?"
Ginny cleared her throat and pushed through her nerves, "Well, would you be willing to write me a training plan for the summer? Once I get back to school in September, I'll hopefully be on the Gryffindor Team in some capacity and will be training with them. If possible, I'd really appreciate some sort of training plan to follow over the summer, so all of this doesn't go to waste," Ginny said quickly, finally breathing once she got the last word out.
Juliette looked at her, "Of course, Ginny. And I will add fitness in as well."
Ginny frowned up at her, "What's wrong with my fitness?"
"You 'ave added some muscle over zis past year, but if you are wanting to accomplish ze goals you 'ave set for yourself, you need to add more. I understand you cannot control 'ow tall you are, but you can control 'ow much muscle you 'ave and 'ow quickly you fatigue. Strength and endurance would put you over ze top, especially since you are so young. It would set you up for much future success," Juliette said, looking at Ginny seriously.
"Alright, I trust you. Whatever you think I need, I'll do."
"Okay, I will write somezing for you zen," Juliette smiled down at Ginny. "Plus, ze girls like muscles too." She winked at Ginny. Ginny blushed deeply and kept walking.
As they arrived at the Beauxbatons carriage, Juliette set her Firebolt in through the door and threw her tank top in after it. She was standing in front of Ginny in her shorts and sports bra.
Ginny looked away hastily, her face turning red as she heard a light chuckle from Juliette.
"Ginny, it is okay zat you see my body. I am proud of it, and I do not care who sees it. Would you like to join me for a swim in ze lake? It is boiling out," she said, seemingly trying not to smirk at Ginny's reaction.
Ginny kept her eyes preoccupied on a nearby tree, "Uh… N-no, I'm good."
"What are you two doing?" Hermione asked skeptically, walking towards them.
Ginny's eyes widened in shocked, but Juliette remained completely calm.
"I was inviting Ginny 'ere to join me for a swim, but evidently she is uninterested," Juliette said, flashing a smile at Hermione.
"I supposed you couldn't have asked her with your top on, hmm?" Hermione asked sarcastically, wrapping an arm around Juliette's bare waist.
Ginny's insides burned as Hermione touched Juliette's bare skin. She didn't know why, but even months after finding out the two of them were together and doing her very best to accept their relationship, Ginny still felt something whenever she saw them interact. However, seeing as they were the only two she'd spent any time with these days, she'd worked hard to make sure she kept her emotions in check.
"You know, zere are actually many nude beaches back 'ome. Zis is far too many clothes to be wearing to ze lake, if you ask me," Juliette smiled wider, moving to remove her sports bra as well, when Hermione grabbed her wrist.
"You know good and well that this isn't France, Juliette. Go on, I'll meet you in a minute," Hermione said trying to keep a straight face as Juliette laughed. She placed a lingering kiss on Hermione's cheek before heading off towards the lake. Hermione and Ginny stood and watched her walk away.
"You're really okay with that? Her walking around showing off so much of her body?" Ginny asked softly.
Hermione looked at Ginny and frowned, "Of course, why wouldn't I be? I trust her to be more than capable to pick out her own clothes and wear whatever she wants. Besides, I find her confidence to be… Very becoming…" Hermione blushed a tiny bit as she smiled after Juliette.
Ginny stared at her in shock, then laughed. "Honestly Hermione, I'm not sure anyone our age uses the word 'becoming' anymore," she teased.
Hermione shrugged, "So, would you actually like to join us in the lake?"
"No, it's okay. I'm going to go write a few notes on our training session so I remember everything I learned today. I'm sure you'll have fun though," Ginny said, raising her eyebrows at Hermione.
"Oh, I'm sure we will," Hermione laughed, lightly rolling her eyes. Ginny started to jog off towards the castle and Hermione headed towards the lake.
Hermione POV
As Hermione approached the lakeshore, she could see Juliette standing about waist deep in the water, looking out at the lake. She took in Juliette's body as she began to wade through the water towards her. Juliette had her hair plaited neatly in three rows running along the top of her head, then into a long loose ponytail that extended nearly halfway down her back. She'd gained more freckles in the May sun, and her skin had tanned darker as well, much closer to the tone it was when they'd first met last August. Her shoulders and arms were built strongly, but lean, as were her legs. As Juliette heard her approaching, she turned, to reveal the muscles lightly chiseled into her stomach. The muscles flexed and relaxed as she walked towards Hermione, quickly closing the gap between them.
"So, what exactly were you doing back there?"
"Inviting 'er for a swim," Juliette said, smiling innocently down at Hermione.
"I thought you were done getting under her skin? I thought the two of you were maybe even becoming friendly, what with all of the flying you've been doing lately," Hermione looked up at Juliette, scoldingly.
"Oh 'Ermione, it was completely 'armless. Sometimes I forget 'ow uptight and reserved ze English are," she said, a light smirk on her lips.
"You've been working hard to change that about me, haven't you?" Hermione asked, this time smirking a little herself.
"You seem to be more zan willing to change your ways…" Juliette said softly, pulling Hermione in close to her.
"I mean, how could I not be?" Hermione sighed as she ran her hands down Juliette's arms, feeling the muscles beneath her skin.
Due to the recent heat, for the past week Hermione had seen more and more of Juliette's bare skin in tank tops and shorts, and she'd been thoroughly enjoying it. She moved her hands from Juliette's arms to her waist, slowly running her thumbs over the defined ridges that her muscles had created on her stomach. She looked up into Juliette's eyes, and saw that they'd darkened to the golden brown color that she'd become very familiar with over the past few months. At Hermione's request, they still hadn't moved much past snogging, but during times like this, she really struggled to remember why. She brought her hands up to Juliette's face and pulled her down to her, connecting their lips. Juliette tightly wrapped her arms around Hermione's waist, pulling her in even closer to her. Hermione broke the kiss and looked around to make sure they were alone, then lifted her top up and over her head, revealing her swimsuit top, before stepping back into Juliette's embrace. She gasped at the sensation of so much of her skin against Juliette's, then suddenly, they lost their balance.
- SPLASH -
Hermione could hear Juliette laughing as she sputtered in shock at suddenly being completely drenched.
"Juliette!" Hermione cried out, spitting out water and pushing her wet hair out of her face.
"I did not do it on purpose, but I 'ave to admit, it was very funny," Juliette said, still laughing at what had happened.
Hermione shot her a look of mock hurt.
"Oh… Come 'ere…" Juliette waded over and gently pulled a soaked Hermione up against her. "Does ze water not feel good?"
"I wasn't as hot as you were…" Hermione pouted lightly, cuddled up closely to Juliette.
"Well, I zink we 'ad already established zat…" Juliette said, smirking.
Hermione lightly slapped Juliette on the arm, narrowing her eyes at the girl.
Juliette laughed again, "Come on, let us go get dry."
The two exited the lake, Juliette with her arm protectively around Hermione and still laughing, while Hermione couldn't help but smile.