Chapter 82

Hermione POV

Nearly a month had gone by since they'd been caught in the Restricted Section, and it felt like time was just flying by. The snow on the Hogwarts grounds was melting and making way to some early-blooming flowers, which meant that Valentine's Day was quickly approaching. While it was Hermione and Ginny's first Valentine's Day together, they did want to do something somewhat special to celebrate, but neither of them had come up with the perfect idea just yet. Apparently, they were amongst the last of the couples to have a plan for the holiday. At least, according to a certain dormmate of Hermione's.

"My Won-Won has been planning our Valentine's Day for weeks!" Lavender gushed one evening as she, Parvati, and Hermione were getting settled in to go to sleep.

"Oh yeah? What's he got planned?" Parvati asked as she climbed into her bed and pulled her quilt up to her chin.

"It's going to be a surprise! He's so romantic, my Won-Won…"

Hermione and Parvati exchanged a quick look before Hermione grabbed a book from her bedside table and began to read. Well, tried to begin to read.

"What are you and Ginny doing for Valentine's Day, Hermione?" Lavender asked nosily.

"We haven't quite figured that out yet," Hermione said, not looking up from her book.

"It's just a few days away, how can you not have anything planned yet?"

Hermione just looked at her, biting her tongue so as to not reveal that it was extremely likely that Ron didn't actually have a single plan for Valentine's Day and would surely make it all up on the spot.

"You'd think two girls would have this all organized well ahead of time, but apparently not…" Lavender continued with a tone that was clearly meant to irritate Hermione. Before Hermione could respond, there was a knock at the door.

Lavender, the only one who'd yet to get into her bed, walked over and opened it, revealing Ginny whose face dropped as soon as she saw who had answered the door.

"Well, well! We were just talking about you," Lavender said with a smirk.

Ginny glanced at Hermione, who rolled her eyes.

"Is that right?" Ginny asked, looking back to Lavender.

"Mmhmm. I find it quite odd that the two of you haven't yet decided what you'll be doing for Valentine's Day."

"Why is that odd? And why is that something that you care about?" Ginny asked as she walked past Lavender to sit on the edge of Hermione's bed.

"Oh, I don't care, I'm just shocked that the brightest witch of her age can't come up with a simple Valentine's Day date! My Won-Won has had something planned for ages now…" she added smugly.

"Huh…" Ginny mused, raising her eyebrows.

"What?" Lavender asked as she climbed into her bed, settling in beneath the heavy quilt.

"I just… I thought I overheard Ron saying he had plans to compete in a Wizard's Chess tournament on Friday night…"

"On… Friday…?" Lavender repeated slowly.

"But that can't be right… Isn't Valentine's Day this Friday? I swear, I heard him saying that he knew he'd win the whole thing this time as he'd have more support than any other competitor there… Surely, he meant Harry, there's no way he'd make you sit through an entire Wizard's Chess tournament during Valentine's Day evening… Would he…?"

All eyes were on Lavender, who was now sheet white. Hermione made eye contact with Parvati again, who was trying desperately to keep a straight face.

"I – He… He said it'd be a surprise and… That we'd meet in the Great Hall for a night of… Of moves I'll never forget…"Lavender managed to say, disappointment and disbelief settling on her pale face.

Hermione almost lost it at this, and Parvati clearly had as she quickly rolled over to hide her face from Lavender.

"Ah, yes, I believe that's where the tournament is being held… I'm assuming you thought you'd be out dancing the night away or… Or something much more disgusting, if he meant other types of moves…" Ginny winced, "But I'm pretty sure you'll be taking in some pretty inspiring chess moves come this Friday night Lav… Better brush up on all of the rules so you know what you're watching, eh?"

Lavender's eyes widened.

"We may not have plans yet, but I'm sure whatever we come up with will be loads better than watching Ron compete in a Wizard's Chess tournament all evening, don't you think Hermione?" Ginny asked, her eyes sparkling with her obvious victory over Lavender.

Hermione lightly rolled her eyes, but still played along, "I mean, I don't know Ginny… If Lavender truly loves Ron, I'm sure she'd love to spend her evening watching him do something that he loves…"

"Ah, good point. Plus, they've been dating for so long now, surely they're moving into that phase…"

"What phase?!" Lavender snapped from her bed.

"The phase where you become boring…" Ginny added with faux-sincerity that rivaled that of the twins.

"We're not boring!" Lavender exclaimed as she glared at the two of them.

"We're not judging you Lavender, it's just a fact… I mean, unless you don't think Wizard's Chess is boring… You must not, if you're dating Ron… You must never get tired of watching game after game after game… Luckily for you, this is a game he'll be able to play when he's old and decrepit… I would be shocked if he wasn't in the middle of a game on his death bed when he finally kicks it…"

A muffled laugh was heard from Parvati's bed, and Lavender huffed and pulled her curtains forcibly around her bed.

"Was it something I said?" Ginny asked, again in that tone of faux-sincerity and innocence, all the while flashing Hermione a knowing smile.

Hermione just shook her head with a small smile, "Are you done?"

"Well, her curtains are closed and it's not nearly as fun to rile her up if I can't see her face, so yeah, I guess I'm done."

Parvati rolled over in her bed and smiled at the two of them while still trying to contain her laughter, "Is there even a Wizard's Chess tournament happening this weekend?"

"Not that I'm aware of. But I figured I could count on their lack of coherent verbal communication skills to push this one through," Ginny grinned.

Parvati laughed, "Goodnight you two."

"Goodnight, Parvati."

Parvati pulled her curtains closed, leaving Ginny and Hermione alone.

"So, I'm assuming you didn't come here just to annoy Lavender?"

"Even with as much pure joy as it brings me, no, I didn't," Ginny said as she pulled Hermione's quilt up and wriggled underneath it, scooching close to the older girl and snuggling into her side.

"Ginny…" Hermione said with a lightly scolding tone.

"Yes?" Ginny asked, again with the tone of faux-innocence as she settled in.

"You know you can't stay here tonight… After getting caught last month, I just – "

"I know, I know… We're doing our best to operate within the rules… How about just for tonight though?"

"Ginny…"

"Please, Hermione? Just one night? It's been ages since we've been this close… I miss you…" Ginny pleaded, jutting her bottom lip out just enough to melt Hermione.

Hermione knew it was no use, she wasn't going to be able to resist her. Ginny was fiddling with the bottom of Hermione's jumper as she stared up at her with those beautiful, bright brown eyes, silently begging to spend more time with her. How exactly was Hermione supposed to resist that?

Hermione sighed, "Alright, but just this one night, got it?"

A grin spread across Ginny's face as she snuggled in closer to Hermione, laying her head on her chest and wrapping an arm around her middle, "Deal!"

Hermione rolled her eyes amusedly and began gently running her fingers through Ginny's hair, "Satisfied with the way you manipulated me, are you?"

"Mmhmm…" Ginny hummed contently as she relaxed further into Hermione's chest.

"You're so lucky – "

"That I'm cute… I know…" Ginny sighed sleepily.

Hermione took in the adorable sight before her as she watched Ginny slowly begin to drift off to sleep, and her heart soared. They'd been so busy over the past few weeks and Hermione had been dedicated to honoring Professor McGonagall for letting them off with a warning by not sneaking around at night, that they'd spent very little time doing more than studying or meeting up for meals in the Great Hall. And although she knew she shouldn't let Ginny stay in her room with her tonight, she honestly wanted it just as bad as Ginny did, if not more. She'd missed her so much, and she just didn't want to fight it anymore.

"You're so lucky…" Ginny mumbled into her chest.

Hermione smiled down at the girl, "Oh yeah, how's that?" she asked softly.

"I cute…" Ginny managed before finally succumbing to her exhaustion and falling asleep.

Hermione's heart felt like it was about to burst, she was so enamored with the girl in her arms. Hermione pulled Ginny in closer and continued running her fingers through her hair. It only took a few minutes before she drifted off to sleep as well.

The following evening, Hermione and Katie were on their way to yet another Slug Club supper. Professor Slughorn had been kind enough to move the meeting off of the holiday weekend, although, they'd hoped that the meeting would've been postponed to another week all together, or possibly even cancelled. It had become harder and harder for Hermione to convince herself that the club would actually be worth it in the long run, as Professor Slughorn's stories had seemingly become duller and longer with every passing meeting. The silver lining, outside of the vastly important connections at the Ministry, of course, was that she felt as if she and Katie were truly beginning to become actual friends independent from their mutual link in Ginny.

"So, what are the big Valentine's Day plans?" Katie asked casually as they descended the stairs from Gryffindor Tower.

Hermione was quiet.

"Oh, have you not planned anything? Are you not celebrating? Some couples don't, and I could certainly understand if you two weren't."

"No, we want to. We've both just been so busy and I've been a little reluctant to spend much time with her outside of normal social hours ever since…" Hermione hesitated.

Katie looked over at her as they continued towards Professor Slughorn's office, "Ever since…?"

Hermione sighed, "Ever since we got caught in the Restricted Section after hours…"

Katie was quiet, and Hermione nervously turned to look at her to find a very impressed and amused expression on Katie's face.

"What?"

"I just – I didn't really peg you as such a rule breaker, Hermione…" Katie grinned.

Hermione blushed and looked away, not knowing how to really respond to that. She couldn't deny it, she was a rule breaker, and deep down, she knew she'd break just about any rule for Ginny, if she were to ask.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't see that as a bad thing. I'm actually very impressed! Surely that was all you, as I can't imagine Ginny being able to access the Restricted Section."

Hermione nodded silently.

"Wow… So, who caught you? Madam Pince?"

Hermione nodded again, "She took us to Professor McGonagall… And revoked my Restricted Section privileges that I have yet to earn back…"

"Harsh… What did McGonagall say?"

"She let us off easy… She actually said that she was happy for us, but that she thought that the two of us would be smarter than to get caught…"

"Hmmm. I think McGonagall might have a soft spot for us, honestly. She was so kind when I came out to her last year when I withdrew from consideration for the Quidditch captain role."

Hermione furrowed her brow, "You withdrew from consideration? Why?"

"I didn't want anyone to think that Demelza didn't make the team on her own merit."

Hermione stared at the girl, shocked, "That's... Wow, that's so thoughtful…"

Katie shrugged, "It wasn't that big of a deal…"

"Katie, it's a huge deal. Aren't you wanting to play professionally? Surely being a team captain would be beneficial to have on your resume?"

Katie shrugged again, "I'm sure I'll be fine. If I can just get a foot in the door somewhere, I'm confident I'll be able to earn my way onto a team somehow. Demelza is more important to me than some title that may or may not help me in the future. Say you were offered Head Girl, but you knew if you took it, it would make Ginny's life harder somehow… Would you still take it?"

Hermione paused, thinking about the question. Her brain had immediately provided the answer of yes, of course she'd still take it, as it was the obvious and logical thing to do. Her heart, however…

"I see what you mean…" Hermione said softly.

"It's not an easy choice, by any means, but the things we do for love…" Katie shook her head and smiled. "So, you're a bit hesitant to do anything to break the rules now, eh?"

Hermione nodded.

"What if I said you could break the rules, but it was nearly impossible for you to get caught?"

Hermione looked up at Katie again, "What do you mean?"

Katie pursed her lips as if she was debating whether or not to tell Hermione something, before continuing, "Have you ever heard of the Room of Requirement?"

"I – No… Is that a room in the school?"

Katie nodded, "It's a hidden room that can be used for just about anything, and I'm not sure that many professors even know about it…"

"How – How do you know about it then?"

"Fred and George…"

"What?"

"Fred and George found it last year. They were trying to hide a load of their products from Filch, and suddenly a hidden door appeared on the 7th floor leading to a massive storage room, just opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls how to do ballet. They'd come back a few weeks later to grab what they'd stashed away, and apparently at the same time were wishing there was an indoor Quidditch facility to train in, as it had been right after one of those lovely freezing Quidditch practices we had last year. When they opened the door, they found just that – their products stacked neatly near the entrance, and beyond that, a wide-open area with everything they'd need to get a proper training in. The room apparently transforms into whatever you need or 'require'."

Hermione gaped up at her, "I – I've never heard of such a thing."

"I hadn't either before they told me about it. Well, I still didn't really believe them until I saw it myself."

"You've used the room?"

Katie blushed lightly, grinned, and nodded, "Fred happened to walk in on me and Demelza one day, and he suggested we use it. Under one condition: We were not allowed to tell Ginny or Ron about the room."

"What? Why not?"

"Well, I can't remember the exact phrasing, but it was something along the lines of: 'Over my dead body will my little brother and sister be sneaking off to use that room for a quick snog or shag with their girlfriends'…"

"Oh…"

"Yeah… For Ron, I think it was just to prevent him from enjoying himself. For Ginny, I think it was them being protective… But Fred and George aren't here anymore, and I'm not telling Ginny, I'm telling you. As long as you don't tell Ginny how you found out about it, I think we'll be just fine," Katie smiled, clearly proud of the loophole she was using.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because that's what friends do, Hermione."

Hermione processed what Katie had just said and smiled at the girl, "Friends?"

"Absolutely. There's no one I'd rather struggle through these stimulating suppers with than you," Katie said with a grin.

Hermione laughed and nodded, "Me either, actually. It's been so nice having someone to go to these meetings with. Besides Neville, of course."

"Oh, of course."

"So… Can I ask you something then…As friends…?" Hermione said a bit nervously.

Katie looked over curiously at Hermione's change in tone, "Of course."

"Are you and Demelza… Are you…?" Hermione raised her eyebrows ever so slightly, successfully communicating what she wanted to Katie.

Katie shook her head, "No."

Hermione's eyebrows raised further in surprise, "You're not?"

Katie shook her head again in confirmation, "Nope. Demelza's… Well, she's going through quite a lot right now at home and isn't coping with it very well. We were certainly on track to possibly progress our relationship a bit further, but for now, my focus is on making sure she's feeling loved and supported and safe. I don't want to complicate it with anything else right now."

"Oh, I didn't know Demelza was having a hard time. Ginny didn't say – "

"Ginny doesn't know. No one does, except for myself and Professor McGonagall."

"I see… Well, how are you doing with all of that? I'm sure you've got plenty on your plate as it is with Quidditch and N.E.W.T.s coming up at the end of term."

Katie shrugged with an easy smile, "I'll manage. The Quidditch season has been fantastic so far, and Demelza and I have been spending a good amount of time studying for our N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s. And yes, we are actually studying…" she added, giving Hermione a knowing look. "So, what about you and Ginny then?"

"What about us?"

"Are you two…?"

"We haven't, but it feels like we're quickly heading in that direction."

"Did you and Juliette ever…?"

"No, no we didn't," Hermione said quickly.

"I see. Well, do you feel ready? Do you think Ginny's ready?"

"I think we're getting there, but I certainly want to make sure that we're both 100% ready if the time comes. We've been doing loads better at communicating lately, and that's helped a lot."

"Based on your communication from last school year, it could've only gotten better," Katie grinned.

Hermione laughed lightly, "You're not wrong… I just… It's Ginny… I want to make sure that her first time, our first time, is special…"

Katie was quiet, and Hermione turned to look at her, and found that she was gazing at Hermione with a soft expression.

"It will be, Hermione. Just based on the fact that you want it to be special, I have no doubt it will be. Loads better than my first time, I'm sure…"

Hermione gave Katie a confused look.

Katie sighed, "We don't need to delve too deep here, let's just say that my first time was with someone who didn't care much about me, and it was obvious. I was ready, but it was with the wrong person, and while I wish I could take it back, I can't. I can't change who it was with and how it played out. You wanting it to be special for the two of you is a huge part of why I'm sure it will be. That, and the fact that the two of you are madly in love and obviously perfect for each other…"

Hermione gave her a small, shy smile, "You think we're perfect for each other?"

Katie chuckled, "Very clearly you are. I can't imagine anyone else being able to keep up with either one of you."

Hermione smiled as they finally arrived at Professor Slughorn's door, "Thanks Katie. For listening and – and for being my friend."

Katie grinned, "Anytime. It's nice having someone to talk to about this kind of stuff outside of Demelza or Ginny, don't you think?"

Hermione nodded, "It is. I'm sorry that Demelza's going through a tough time. If there's anything I or we can do to help, just know that we're here for you, both of you."

"Thanks Hermione," Katie said with a genuine smile before sighing. "Well, shall we?" she said, motioning to Professor Slughorn's office door.

"Yes, I think we should…" Hermione said, following Katie into Professor Slughorn's office.

Ginny POV

"C'mon Hermione, why won't you tell me where we're going?"

It was the evening of Valentine's Day, their first Valentine's Day as a couple, and Hermione was dragging Ginny along the seventh-floor corridor while carrying a covered basket in the other hand.

"I told you, Ginny, it's a surprise!" Hermione said with a tone of slight exasperation as she continued to pull Ginny along. "Have you forgotten how surprises work?"

"Ugh… Fine. But Hermione, I swear, if you've brought me up here to have a picnic in front of the bloody tapestry with the dancing trolls…"

"Oh shush…"

Once they arrived at said tapestry, Hermione let go of Ginny's hand and began pacing in front of it.

"Hermione, wha – " Ginny stopped mid-sentence when a door suddenly appeared on the wall across from the ridiculous tapestry. Hermione smiled at it proudly, then turned to Ginny and held out her hand.

"Miss Weasley."

Ginny looked from the door to Hermione, not being able to help but chuckle lightly at how pleased Hermione clearly was with herself as she stepped forward to accept her hand. Hermione pulled them to the door and opened it, stepping over the threshold. Once inside the room, Ginny gasped and Hermione's smile increased to a full-on beam.

"How – How did you?" Ginny stammered as she took in the scene before her. Somehow, and Ginny wasn't quite sure yet how this was possible, they were standing on the edge of the Black Lake in their spot, the location on the lakeshore with the log that they've had many conversations on.

"I didn't do anything except ask the room exactly what I wanted…" Hermione said, her face still glowing with pride.

"You – You asked the room…?" Ginny managed, now incredibly confused as to what was going on.

"This is the Room of Requirement. It contains very impressive transformative abilities that allows it to become whatever the user asks for," Hermione explained, "I wasn't exactly sure of what it's limitations were, but so far all I've found is that it can't produce food, thus the basket I brought with us," Hermione walked over to the log and set the basket down.

Ginny was quiet for a moment as she looked around the room in awe, before she too walked over to the log, their log, "How did you find this?"

"A friend," Hermione said plainly as she sat down.

"What friend? It better not have been Ron… I can't imagine what he and Lavender would get up to in a room like this…"

Hermione shook her head, "Don't worry, it wasn't Ron…"

"Then who – "

Ginny was cut off by Hermione pulling her in for a kiss, "I've been sworn to secrecy…" Hermione whispered against Ginny's lips with the beginnings of a smirk forming on her own.

Ginny sighed, "Fine… I'm only letting this go because it's a holiday, though. So, this is pretty incredible Hermione…"

Hermione nodded, "It really is. I wasn't sure that this scene would be possible to recreate, but here it is…" Hermione said, looking out across the reproduced Black Lake. They could hear the lake lapping upon the rocky shore, could see the start of early-season bulbs starting to poke up out of the terrain. "Every time I've thought of what to do for Valentine's Day, my mind has gone straight to our spot on the shore of the Black Lake. It's far too cold to be out there at this time of year, so I figured this was the next best thing."

"Oh, this is far better than us freezing our arses off down by the lake in mid-February, you're spot on about that," Ginny agreed, nodding enthusiastically. "Why the Black Lake, though?"

Hermione shrugged lightly, "I just… It's our spot. Even though we've got both good and bad memories that we've made there, I cherish them all, and it just felt like the perfect spot to spend our first Valentine's Day together."

Ginny smiled, "I couldn't agree more," Ginny said, wrapping an arm around Hermione, her hand landing on her hip. Hermione nodded happily as she leaned against Ginny's shoulder.

After a few minutes of looking out across the replicated lake, they dug into the basket once they heard Ginny's stomach rumbling. They ate and chatted about their day, and it was just as easy as it had been these past few months. As Ginny looked at Hermione, she reflected on their relationship. Something Ginny truly cherished about Hermione, especially after the difficult year they'd had before they started dating, was just how easy it was to be around her. Hermione was very clearly the most intelligent person she'd ever met and would likely ever meet, but she was also patient, thoughtful, and kind, and always made Ginny feel like her equal. Ginny hadn't felt that too often in her life, being the youngest in a family of all boys who (except for Ron, up to this point) had all managed to overachieve in their own unique way. Deep down, Ginny knew that she didn't need to impress Hermione, and that was a comfort she'd provided that Ginny didn't know she'd been looking for. She could just be with Hermione, and didn't have to worry about if she was doing enough or if she herself was enough. Hermione had seen her at her very worst, and yet, here they were, spending their first Valentine's Day together, and Ginny wasn't sure if she could possibly be happier.

"What are you smiling at?" Hermione asked, a smile ghosting on her lips.

"Just thinking about how amazing you are," Ginny said casually, "Wondering how it's possible that my girlfriend is the Hermione Granger."

Hermione blushed and shook her head with a smile, "I feel the exact same way, you know. The fact that I tried to fight my feelings for you for over a year, but failed, should tell you just how amazing you are."

There it was again, Hermione making her feel like an equal. Ginny could feel her heart swell at how happy this girl made her.

"Hermione, I love you," Ginny said, her tone more serious than she'd intended it to be.

Hermione cocked her head, and her smile softened, "I love you too, Ginny."

"Thank you for being… So… Well, for being you. I feel so proud to be able to call you my girlfriend, and honestly, I'm not sure anyone has ever made me feel as good as you do. I mean, blimey Hermione, being with you makes me feel far better than when I caught the Snitch to win the Quidditch House Cup," Ginny said earnestly. Hermione laughed lightly. "I mean, obviously that's not, that's not something I should be comparing you to, but, I mean – "

Hermione laughed again, gently, "I know what you mean, Ginny."

Ginny gave her an appreciative look, "Hermione, you're my best friend, and I love you so much…" she paused. She could feel the tears forming behind her eyes, but wasn't sure why. She looked up and saw that Hermione was still smiling at her with that soft, gentle smile.

"It's okay… I know exactly how you feel. Do you remember the first time we really had a conversation, the first time I stayed in your room with you?" Ginny nodded as Hermione reached over and wiped a tear that had trailed down her freckled cheek. "I confided in you my deepest insecurity of never being able to catch up because I was Muggle-born, and you were so kind and reassuring. I'd never had someone outside of my family make me feel so safe. Upon reflection, I believe that was the moment I fell in love with you."

Ginny stared right into Hermione's dark brown eyes, "That long…?"

Hermione nodded, "You were so sure of my abilities, far more sure than I was, and you were adamant that I see how wrong I was about my insecurity and that I had nothing to worry about. I think it was in that moment that I knew that I wanted you in my life as much more than just Ron's little sister. Then after what happened at the Quidditch World Cup and watching you process what happened with the Veela, I started to see the possibility of just how much more than a friend's sibling you could be to me. At least, if the feelings were mutual. Took us a while, but you know, I'm not sure I would change a thing about how we got here." Hermione said as she leaned against Ginny's shoulder again, looking out across the water.

"Really? We wasted so much time that we could've just been together, though…"

Hermione shrugged, "What's a few years compared to the rest of our lives?"

Ginny raised her eyebrows as that was the second time Hermione had used that phrase.

Hermione looked up at her, and smiled, "And yes, I do mean it, this time."