"Honestly, Ginny, I cannot believe your brother sometimes!"
Ginny smirked as she glanced up from the latest copy of Seeker Weekly to watch an irate Hermione stomp into their flat. She slammed the door shut behind her as she furiously tore off her traveling cloak, swearing loudly when she missed the coat rack the first time and had to pick up her cloak from the floor to try and hang it up a second time.
"Which one? I know Charlie can be quite the handful when he wants to be…" Ginny said casually, her smirk growing as Hermione's eyes, wild with exasperation, narrowed at her.
"You know who I'm talking about. Ronald. Bilius. Weasley. The arse of all arses. The king of arses!"
Ginny sighed as she sat up from her relaxed position on their couch, tossing her magazine onto the coffee table. "What'd he do now?"
Hermione didn't respond as she stormed through their kitchen, muttering angrily to herself and clanging through their liquor cabinet until she finally pulled out a bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky. She poured herself a glass, tossed it back, then poured herself another before joining Ginny on the couch.
"He told me I was a bad kisser," Hermione said seriously.
It was all Ginny could do to keep from laughing at the gravity Hermione had brought to the situation. "Has the Ministry been notified? Think they'll have a cell in Azkaban ready for him by tonight?"
Hermione gave her a look, but cracked a smile as well and rolled her eyes. "Okay, I know I'm overreacting, but he hurt my feelings. We're trying to be more open and honest in our communication with each other, and he chose to do so by letting me know that my kissing is lackluster."
"He didn't actually say that, did he?" Ginny asked, taking the glass from Hermione and taking a sip.
Hermione nodded as she took the glass back. "He did. I asked him why he'd never said anything about it before, and he said he figured that I'd get better over time. He knows I've only ever kissed him and Viktor Krum, so he assumed that the more we snogged, the better I'd get, but apparently that hasn't been the case."
Ginny snorted. "Wow. You're right, he really is an arse."
"See! I told you… The king of arses…" she muttered, taking another swig of firewhisky.
"Look – I wouldn't read too much into this… I mean honestly, who is he to be declaring your kissing as 'lackluster'? Not that I've ever for a moment thought about it, nor would I ever want to, but I can't imagine his kissing is anything special."
Hermione sighed. "I mean, he's fine… The way Lavender went on and on about it in our dormitory our sixth year, I imagined he'd be far better than he is, but still… That's not the point. He told me that my kissing is subpar… I've never been subpar at anything…"
Hermione frowned as she stared down at the coffee table, then her eyebrows rose as they often did when she had an idea. Ginny followed her eyes to the coffee table, landing on the copy of Witch Weekly with the cover reading "Ginny Weasley – Heartthrob Harpy and Britain's Most Eligible Bachelorette". In the cover photo she's standing front and center in her Holyhead uniform, her Firebolt slung over her shoulder, with four beautiful female models clinging to her – not her worst day, that's for sure. When she looked back up at Hermione, Hermione was staring at her with a pleading look.
"Wha- Hermione, no. Absolutely not."
"Ginny, please! You obviously know what you're doing if you've been deemed the most eligible bachelorette in all of Great Britain! They're not going to give that title to someone who's shit at snogging like I apparently am! And I know you're good at it, amongst other things… Might I remind you that we do share a wall, and you don't always cast a silencing charm when you bring women back to our flat, so I know for a fact that your snogging is more than satisfactory and – "
Ginny huffed out a laugh as she put a hand up to Hermione. "First of all, I'm sure your kissing is more than satisfactory as well. Second, I – "
"Just one kiss, Ginny! One kiss, and if my kissing is indeed more than satisfactory, I'll take your word for it and we'll never speak of it again."
Ginny couldn't help herself as her trademark crooked grin pulled at her lips at how serious Hermione was being about all of this. "And if it's not?"
"Then you'll teach me how to do it right."
Ginny's grin fell off her face as she gaped at Hermione. "I'm not teaching you how to kiss, Hermione."
"Well hopefully you won't have to! Please, Ginny? Just one kiss?"
As Ginny took in her best friend's imploring expression, she knew she wasn't going to let up until she got what she wanted. She never did.
"Fine. One kiss."
Hermione froze briefly, seemingly shocked that Ginny had actually agreed to her request, before she threw back the rest of the firewhisky and turned her body to face Ginny. Ginny ran a hand through her long, red hair, pushing it out of her face and tucking it behind her ear.
"Alright, go for it."
Hermione's eyes widened as she stared at Ginny, her gaze moving from her eyes, down to her lips, then back up to her eyes.
"G-go for it?" she stammered.
Ginny chuckled. "Hermione, this is your idea. So yes, when you're ready, I suggest you – "
Ginny was cut off as Hermione leaned forward, closing the gap between the two, and firmly pressed her lips to Ginny's. That's all it was at first, two sets of soft lips pressed together, but it became something more as Hermione appeared to get more comfortable, more confident. Hermione's lips moved against Ginny's purposefully yet gently, and suddenly Hermione's hands were in her hair, trying to pull her closer. As Hermione's tongue traced her lips lightly, Ginny eagerly obliged and parted her lips, her breath hitching as their tongues touched for the first time. Ginny scooted forward and put her hands firmly on Hermione's waist, trying desperately to pull her in even closer though there really wasn't any space between them now. They carried on for a while, all tongues and lips and grasping limbs, before eventually breaking apart. When Ginny opened her eyes, she found a pair of dark brown eyes already staring back at her in amazement.
"I-is that really what Ron deemed to be lackluster? If so, you may want to consider that he may be just a tad bit mad…" Ginny asked as she caught her breath.
Hermione shook her head slowly. "I've never kissed anyone like that before… Is this what it feels like to… To kiss women?"
Ginny grinned. "Not so bad, huh?"
Hermione smiled back as her breathing evened out. "No… Definitely not bad at all."
Ginny laughed and ran a hand through her hair as she felt a light blush forming on her freckled cheeks. "I'm sure Ron would be ecstatic to hear that."
Hermione rolled her eyes lightly, the smile still on her slightly swollen lips.
Ginny cleared her throat. "Well, uh, I can confidently say that your kissing is much more than satisfactory, Hermione."
Hermione nodded. "So is yours, if you were wondering..."
Ginny chuckled again, her cheeks heating up even more. "You uh – You're definitely going to have to tell Ron that bit. And can I be there when you do?"
Hermione smiled as she shook her head and got up from the couch, carrying her glass to the kitchen sink.
"Oh, come on, Hermione! You've got to let me see the look on his face when you tell my big arse of a brother that his baby sister is a better kisser than him!" Ginny called over her shoulder.
"I never said you were a better kisser than him, Ginny…" Hermione called casually from the kitchen as she headed back towards the couch.
"Oh… I guess I just assumed that – "
Ginny was cut off again by Hermione's lips on hers as she kissed her over the back of the couch. This kiss was different than the first, and certainly not in a bad way. Hermione's hand was on Ginny's cheek, pulling her face towards her, and her lips were sure and confident in how they moved against Ginny's.
When Hermione pulled away, she lingered, a small smile forming on her lips.
"I didn't say it, but I certainly thought it…" she whispered against Ginny's lips as she stood up straight and walked off towards her bedroom.
Ginny's jaw dropped just a little as she watched Hermione walk away in awe, before a crooked grin spread across her face. She did love her arse of a brother, and would never do anything to jeopardize his relationship, but if he was ever stupid enough to let Hermione go, she certainly wouldn't be stupid enough to mess up something that good.