Chapter 16

Ginny POV

"Ginny?! What in the bloody hell are you doing out here?!" Ron asked defensively, pulling Lavender up with him as he scrambled to his feet.

"I could ask you the same thing! You two can't snog inside? The two of you are a couple, it's not as if you've got to hide out here!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Won-Won thought it would be better out by the lake! He's so romantic…" Lavender gushed as she looked up at Ron.

Ginny shot Ron an incredulous look. "Look, I've lost Mum's necklace. I think it may be out here somewhere. Have you – "

"You mean this necklace?" Lavender asked as she pulled a blue necklace away from her chest to show Ginny.

"Yes… That would be it…"

"Oh, that's Mum's? I just found it on the ground and thought it'd look nice on Lavender here," Ron said proudly.

Ginny gaped at the two of them. "That's… Wow… That's incredibly thoughtful of you Ron… To just pick something up off the ground and give it to your girlfriend to wear… Just… Wow…" She couldn't even continue speaking as Ron and Lavender had pulled each other into a tight embrace, snogging aggressively. "Alright, alright! Let's get back to Gryffindor Tower before we get caught. Surely someone saw me light up this area."

They began the trek back up to the castle, completely oblivious to the other couple that was tucked a bit further into the forest, just barely a stone's throw away.

Hermione POV

Hermione could hardly breathe as she watched Ginny, Ron, and Lavender depart the shore of the Black Lake and head towards the castle. Partially because she was terrified of any of them finding her, but mostly because Juliette had her hand firmly across Hermione's mouth.

"Just a few more seconds, 'Ermione… Zen zey will be far enough away…" Juliette whispered into her ear.

They were deeper into the forest than Ron and Lavender had been, and hadn't actually noticed that the pair were even there before now. Once they'd seen the flash of light from Ginny's wand, Juliette had immediately pulled Hermione away from the light, holding her close – one arm protectively across her midsection, the other hand on Hermione's mouth to keep her quiet.

"Okay… Zey are gone."

Juliette removed her hand from Hermione's mouth and smiled. It was that genuine smile that Hermione had seen briefly that one night in the corridor.

She chuckled lightly. "Zat was a close one." Before continuing where she left off, gently kissing down Hermione's neck.

"Juliette… Juliette, wait – " Hermione whispered.

Juliette immediately stopped and brought her face up to Hermione's.

"I – I can't…"

Hermione's eyes began to well with tears. Juliette looked at her, studying her face, quickly and gently wiping away the single tear that had escaped down Hermione's cheek.

"Zis is about Ginny?"

Hermione nodded.

"Would you 'ave asked me to stop if Ginny 'ad not shown up tonight?"

Hermione hesitated, then shook her head no. Juliette paused as she looked at Hermione, as if she was debating on what to do next.

"Well zen… Let us get you back up to ze castle. I am fine if you want to stop for ze night, but I am not fine with you getting sick. It is much too cold out 'ere if we are not going to be keeping each uzzer warm…"

She straightened Hermione's dress before fixing her own, shaking a few bugs off in the process, then took Hermione's hand and started off towards the castle.

They walked in silence, every once in a while, Hermione looking over at Juliette. She had thought that Juliette was beautiful before, seeing her in her dress in the Great Hall, but it didn't even come close to comparing to how incredible she looked now under the light of the moon. Her long, silky, dark hair was glistening in the moonlight, she had done her makeup perfectly to highlight the flecks of green and gold in her hazel eyes, and her dress fit her flawlessly, accentuating both the tone of her muscles as well as her feminine curves. She was gorgeous, and Hermione had just been snogging her down in the forest by the lake. Hermione blushed and her thoughts began racing. Why did Ginny have to show up to the exact spot where she and Juliette had been? And even now, after telling her she wanted to stop, Juliette is being so incredibly understanding and… And kind…

They stopped just outside the doors to the castle. The Beauxbatons carriage, where their delegation was sleeping while they were at Hogwarts, was down near Hagrid's hut, so this was as far as Juliette would take Hermione. Juliette let go of Hermione's hand, and Hermione noticed how she immediately missed the contact.

"Goodnight, 'Ermione. I am sorry zat our night was cut short, but – " Hermione cut Juliette off by crashing her lips against hers, kissing her almost desperately.

"I changed my mind, I don't want this to be the end of our evening," Hermione murmured against Juliette's lips. "Come on, I know where we can go where we shouldn't be bothered."

She stepped back towards the castle, offering Juliette her hand.

Juliette stared down at Hermione's hand before looking up at her, clearly at a loss for words, before giving her another one of those genuine smiles.

"Lead ze way, 'Ermione."

Hermione grabbed her hand and pulled her into the school. They walked, quietly and quickly, through the corridors until they arrived at their destination, the library.

"Alohamora," Hermione whispered and then slowly pushed the door open, guiding Juliette in first then closing the door behind them.

There was no way that anyone would be visiting the library tonight, especially not after the event this evening. The girls walked towards the back of the library before Hermione pulled Juliette into an area between two stacks near the back, containing her usual study table. Hermione backed Juliette to the edge of the table, and kissed her hard as she felt her bump against it. Juliette pulled Hermione into her as the kiss intensified, then reached her hands up into Hermione's hair, letting it down out of the fancy style it had been in for the Yule Ball. Juliette then pivoted them around so Hermione was against the table instead, then effortlessly lifted her up to sit her on it. Hermione looked down into Juliette's hazel eyes to find they were looking up into hers, passionately. Hermione took Juliette's face in her hands, gently running her thumbs across the soft, smooth skin of her cheeks. Juliette stared up at her longingly, her hands resting lightly on the outside of Hermione's thighs.

"'Ermione… What is it zat you are wanting from me? I do not want to push you beyond what you are comfortable with…" Juliette said breathlessly.

Hermione studied Juliette's eyes for a moment, then took her hands from Juliette's face and grabbed Juliette's, leading them around to the back of her dress, guiding her to undo it.

"I want you to help me forget…"

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 four-poster bed in her dormitory.

It was still 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 and slender arm that was wrapped tightly around her waist. As she gained more awareness, she realized that she was on top of her table in the library, with Juliette behind her sleeping soundly. She did her best to turn around in Juliette's arms without waking her, but as she finally moved enough so that she was facing her, Juliette's eyes were staring back at her softly.

"'ello 'Ermione…" Juliette mumbled sleepily, giving her a small smile.

"Hello Juliette," Hermione responded, blushing.

Juliette took her hand from around Hermione's waist and slowly 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 as she nodded. "Yes, I did. Did you?"

Juliette chuckled femininely. "Yes, I very much enjoyed myself. You are a very quick learner." She smiled at Hermione, making her blush even deeper.

"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 light 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."

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 before ending on a soft note, pressing her forehead against Juliette's.

"Thank you…" Hermione whispered.

Juliette gave her a small smile, then placed a kiss on her 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 responded as casually as she could.

"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 honestly, avoiding eye contact.

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

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

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

"Oh, was it?" Hermione said, a hint of a smirk on her face. "Was Ron 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 and we had a great time." Parvati grinned.

"I'm glad that the two of you had such a pleasant evening. If you don't mind, 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 he was every night. 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.