Chapter 28

Hermione POV

Hermione woke with a start, realizing she wasn't recognizing the familiar comfort and warmth of her bed. She was comfortable and warm, but she definitely wasn't in her bed. It was still very dark outside, indicating that it was the middle of the night, or at the very latest, early morning. She tried to sit up, but was stopped short by a strong, yet slender arm that was wrapped tightly around her waist. As she gained more awareness, she realized that she was on top of a table, in the library, with Juliette behind her sleeping soundly. She did her best to turn around in Juliette's arms without waking the girl, but as she finally got around enough to face her, Juliette was waking up.

"'ello 'Ermione…" Juliette said sleepily, smiling at her.

"Hello Juliette," Hermione responded, blushing. Juliette took her hand from around Hermione's waist and gently tucked one of Hermione's loose curls behind her ear, gently brushing her cheek as she brought her hand back down around Hermione's waist. Hermione suddenly remembered the night's events.

"Juliette… I'm sorry that we didn't… That I wasn't ready to…" Hermione looked down and closed her eyes.

"Shhh…" Juliette shushed her gently as she grabbed Hermione's chin to guide her to look up at her. "'Ermione, look at me, please."

Hermione opened her eyes to see Juliette's hazel eyes looking very fiercely into hers.

"With me, you will never 'ave to do anyzing zat you do not want to do. Did you enjoy yourself?" Juliette asked, gently.

Hermione blushed, "Yes, I did. Did you?"

Juliette chuckled femininely, "Yes, I very much enjoyed myself. 'Ermione, you are a very quick learner." The girl smiled at Hermione, making the brunette blush an even deeper red.

"Thanks…" Hermione smiled embarrassedly. Juliette leaned forward and captured Hermione's lips in a soft and gentle kiss.

"Whenever you are wanting to "forget" anyzing, please, come and find me…" Juliette whispered as she placed another soft and gently kiss on Hermione's lips. When she pulled away, Hermione tried to follow her lips to maintain the contact for just one moment longer. They looked into each other's eyes before Juliette broke the silence, "We should be getting you back to your dormitory, it is much too late. Come on."

The two helped each other re-fasten their dresses before quietly sneaking back out of the library. Hermione was going to walk Juliette back outside, but she was against it.

"I 'ave a feeling you would be in much more trouble zan I would be if we were to get caught out zis late. Go on to your dormitory, I can find my way back from 'ere."

The two started to go their separate ways before Hermione turned quickly and ran after Juliette. She grabbed her arm and spun her around, much like she did in the corridor the first night they kissed. She kissed her hard, then ended on a gentle note, pressing her forehead against Juliette's.

"Thank you…" she whispered. Juliette smiled softly, then placed a small kiss on Hermione's forehead. The two then parted ways, Juliette heading outside to the Beauxbatons carriage, while Hermione was off to Gryffindor Tower.

Once she finally got to her dormitory, Hermione tried to sneak in as to not disturb her dormmates, but that wasn't at all an issue as Parvati and Lavender bombarded her as soon as she opened the door.

"Were you out with Viktor Krum all night?" Lavender practically shrieked.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Come on Granger, where'd you two go? Off to the Durmstrang Ship?" Parvati probed with a smirk. "We all saw you leave and then Krum followed soon after. I'm sure you two thought you were pretty slick, timing it out like that."

Hermione paused, realizing that Krum must have left once she said she wasn't feeling well and was going to turn in for the night. Hermione looked up and saw that the two girls were still staring at her, expectantly.

"I didn't go anywhere with Viktor. I was… In the library…" Hermione said, avoiding eye contact.

"Hermione… Come off it. You can't expect anyone to believe that even you would leave the Yule Ball early to study…" Parvati rolled her eyes.

"It's true. I wasn't with Viktor. I was in the library," Hermione insisted, a small smile forming at the corner of her mouth.

"Okay, whatever, don't tell us where you've been. My night was fantastic!" Lavender gushed.

"Oh, was it?" Hermione said, a hint of a smirk on her face. "Was Ronald the prince of the ball?"

"Oh, was he ever! He took me down by the lake to spend some time alone together…" Lavender looked out the window, dreamily.

"How special… That must have been cold?" Hermione mused.

"And buggy… But still… My Won-Won is just so romantic…"

"Glad to hear it. How was your night, Parvati?"

"It was actually a lot more fun than I thought! Harry is quite a laugh, we had a great time," Parvati grinned, thinking about the night she just had.

"That's great. Glad that the two of you had such a pleasant evening. I'm going to turn in, goodnight."

Hermione quickly changed out of her dress and got ready for bed. She climbed into her four-poster bed and closed the curtains around her. As she tried to go to sleep, she noted how it felt like something was missing. It wasn't Crookshanks, as he was curled up at the foot of her bed, as usual. She felt that she could use a pair of slender, but strong arms wrapped around her, making her feel protected, safe, and warm. She imagined Juliette was with her as she slowly drifted off to sleep.