Lavender, Jasmine and Bubbles, Oh My!

by elana

A nice bath. That is just what she needs. It is the perfect thing to get her mind off end of year exams, the fear of Voldemort and his Death Eaters and especially dear Won-Won.

Normally, to relax she would just curl up in the common room in front of the fire with a favourite novel. That, however, was now completely out of the question, since at every spare moment these days Ron and his living blow up doll could be found with their faces and bodies fused together in the precise spot she would normally sit. And despite what most people thought, she does not wish to spend every moment in the library.

So, this is what provoked her to make one of the few trips she has made to the prefect bathroom. The reason that she did not frequently visit the special bathroom was not that she did not enjoy taking a relaxing soak in the tub, but because while at school she always found more pressing or important things to occupy her time with. However, in the summer, she often finds the time. Despite the muggle soaps and perfumes her mother bought, however, her tub at home could never compare to the one for Hogwarts prefects. Therefore, as she now makes her way to the bathroom, she cannot help being pleased that she had this chance, despite the reasons why.

She reaches the fifth floor and walks past the statue of Boris the Bewildered. She finds the correct door and tells it the password, "Soap Suds." She enters and takes a moment to admire the pool-like tub and the jeweled taps. Even without turning on any taps, the room already smells amazing.

Specifically avoiding the tap which she already knows produces lavender-scented, purple mist, she turns a few knobs, so that the bath begins to fill. She grabs a towel, removes her robes and arranges her things by the edge of the tub.

She lets out a sigh as she slides into the bubbles. All the tension in her body melts away as the water moves around her. It had slipped her mind just how wonderful this was.

She finds a ledge below the water and suds to sit on, then reaches to her neat pile of things for her novel. Just as she gets settled with her book, she hears the door creek open. Had she forgotten to bolt it? Turning to toward the sound, she finds, who else, but Ron, frozen at the door. "Ron! Don't you knock?!"

"Sorry! It was unlocked!" He looks a little uncomfortable, but he's not leaving. "Are you almost done?" He looks quite nervous as he bolts the door.

"No! You can leave now!" He still isn't moving. Why is he still here? "RON!" He jumps about a mile.

"I can't leave... I... I want to have a bath." He doesn't seem as nervous now that the door is locked, but he should be. She does not appreciate him intruding. He starts to come further into the room.

"Ronald Weasly! Don't you dare come any closer or I'll scream!" She double checks that she is fully hidden by the foam and bubbles, just in case.

"Please, Hermione! I can't see anything. I'll go to the opposite side of the tub." He grabs a towel and heads to the other end.

"I... I will scream!"

"No you won't. Nobody will hear you from in here, and if they do, that means someone else coming in here. And you know that." Realizing that he was right and that he wasn't going to leave, she sinks deeper into the water and hides behind her book. A couple minutes later, she hears him get into the water. They are both silent for a little while until Ron quietly speaks. "I'm sorry, you know."

"I'm reading, Ronald."

"No your not. When you read you play with your hair. Always." God! How can he know her so well? She can feel him watching her, and now he was making her uncomfortable, She obviously wasn't going to enjoy her reading with him here. She closes her book and puts it on the floor by her things, purposely avoiding looking at him. "Did you hear me?"

"I heard you, Ron, but I don't know why you're sorry."

"You do know why." There was annoyance in his voice. She could feel his gaze burning a hole in her forehead.

"I'm not a mind reader. You're going to have to tell me, Ron."

"For the whole.... Lavender thing. She's driving me bonkers, if that makes you feel better." Surprisingly, that does make her feel a little better, though she's not sure why. She hasn't missed the fact that he still hasn't apologized for hurting her.

"Why did you get together with her anyway?" He looks slightly uneasy about that question.

"Well... I had a row with Ginny and she said... promise me you won't laugh." Oh, dear. What has Ginny done?

"I seriously doubt I'll laugh." He still seems unsure.

"Well,.. she said that... the reason I didn't like finding her snogging Dean, was because... because I wasn't snogging anyone myself. She said that Harry snogged Cho and you snogged Krum and --"

"She said WHAT!?" Ginny is a dead witch.

"Harry snogged Cho and you snogged Krum and --" He was trying to act like this was insignificant.

"He kissed me a couple times briefly. It was nothing. I certainly didn't snog him. And Ginny wasn't supposed to tell a soul, never mind you. She has got such a big mouth sometimes." Is that why all this happened? He was embarrassed because he hadn't snogged anyone and he thought Vicktor and her were snog partners.

"Oh." A small bit of relief seemed to spread over him, but then what looked like guilt took over. At least now she knew he had somewhat of a reason for what he did.

"Perhaps, we can be friends again," she said slowly.

"Yeah, I reckon Harry would be glad if we were." She gave him a disbelieving look. "And so would I," he adds quickly.

"I missed you too, Ron," she replies sarcastically, though it was true. She missed the old Ron. The one that didn't snog twits in public. "Friends then?"

"Yeah," He answers smiling.

"Just as long as you and Lavender move your sessions somewhere more private, if they continue, so the whole common room doesn't have to witness them," she added, barely able to spit out the horrid girl's name. "So, why were you in such a hurry to have a bubble bath?" she teased.

"I needed a place, other than the boys toilets, to hide from Lavender and this was the only other place I could think of where she couldn't go."

"Ron, if she annoys you so much, why don't you end it?"

"I'd like to believe me. I tried once a couple of days ago," She feels the urge to cheer, but contains herself. "but before I could get the words out, she realized what I was about to do and would have ripped me to shreds had continued. I'm too chicken." He leans his head back and hits it against the marble a few times, then stares at the ceiling for a while. "Could I pour in some more foam and bubbles, before they start to fade?" he asks when he raises his head again.

"Go ahead." He carefully swims across to her side of the large tub, to where the taps are. She notices that he avoids the same tap she did. As he reaches up and turns the knob for the bubbles, the hand supporting him on the marble ledge, slips. She sees his elbow hit the marble before he falls under the water.

Instinctively, she lunges to catch him. However, in his haste to grab onto something he pulls her under with him. Being a very poor swimmer, she flings her arms around his neck. Fortunately, he finally finds the tubs edge and pulls them to the surface of the water.

They both chock and sputter soapy water, and she continues to cling to him for dear life. As they catch their breaths, they become very aware of they are pressed together in their current state of undress. Her breathing speeds up and she can feel his heartbeat quicken. This is not a position two friends should be in. She begins to pull away, but he doesn't let go. When she looks up at him, she finds him gazing at her with a look filled with uncertainty, fear and lust. With their lack of clothing, they are far beyond anything either of them have ever come close to experiencing before.

Her eyes close as she moves her hands over his shoulders and down his chest. Ron's hands are holding her at her sides, over her lower ribs. When her hands reach his abs, he snaps out of the trance he seemed to be under, but now she doesn't want to let go. She can't let him sip away again. So, her arms fly back around his neck. She barely hears him say, "Mione?" before she pulls his mouth to hers.

All rational or hesitant thoughts leave their minds as everything happens so quickly. His arms immediately go around her waist he stumbles backward onto the ledge she had been sitting on earlier. Each mouth still frantically exploring the other, he flips them around to that they are level, her sitting on the ledge and him standing on the bottom.

His mouth begins moving down her neck and she lets out a moan as he finds a sensitive spot somewhere around where her neck meets her collar bone. He gives the spot a few more kisses before she pulls him back to her mouth.

She runs her hands through his hair and he undoes hers from it's messy bun. From there his hands slide down her back to her hips and her legs wrap around his waist.

They are interrupted by a gasp, not from either of them but from elsewhere in the room. They turn to find the mermaid, who had not been there earlier, giggling in her portrait.

Looking and feeling thoroughly embarrassed, the pair quickly separate. Hermione purposely avoids looking at Ron, not believing what she'd just been doing.

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaims after a while of stunned silence.

"Ron!" she admonishes before looking away as he hurries out of the bath and wraps a towel around his waist. Berating him seems to simply come out naturally, even in the most tense situations.

"Sorry, Mione, but I thought that warranted a good 'bloody hell.' W...we...we just snogged in the tub, stark naked!" As she begins to calm down, she starts to realize how she really feels about what transpired.

"I am well aware of what just happened, thank you."

"Well, what should we do?" After motioning for him to turn around, she gets out and covers herself with a towel as well.

"What do you mean?" she asks. As she begins to calm down, she starts to realize how she really feels about what transpired. She had indulged. Much like her bath had started out as. Problem was, her indulgence was currently someone else's and until that is no longer true, she cannot indulge again.

"I mean, what happens now? I don't know about you, but I thought that was brilliant, now that some of the panic has worn off. But, at the moment, I'm with Lavender and now I've technically cheated on her with you." As these thoughts pass through his mind, he paces back and forth across the tiled floor. She is amazed at how they have pretty much come the same conclusion at the same moment.

"I don't know about you and I, but you do need to end things with Lavender. She drives you mad, and the longer you wait the worse it will be." she rationalizes. It is all fine and dandy admitting to herself that she enjoyed what occurred between them, but admitting it aloud is another matter. Besides, there is no point in admitting anything when acting on it would still constitute adultery.

"Should I just tell her that I cheated and then she'll break up with me?"

"No! I mean, I wouldn't if I were you, unless you want a bigger scene than she'll likely give you anyway."

Ron looks as if he will be sick to his stomach before he asks, "And then what?"

"Well, I suppose, then you and I will discuss what happened a moment ago. Until Lavender is out of the picture, there isn't anything to talk about. And don't you dare say anything about me. All I need is to be known as some 'scarlet woman' again."

"Bugger, how do I get myself into these things." Ron sighs before tugging his shirt over his head. Hermione turns and gathers her things while he finishes dressing. "I'll see you later then." he says awkwardly.

"Yes. Good luck." she says, just as stiffly, as he exits. When he is gone, she lets out a long sigh. Why must everything be so complicated between them. If it wasn't one thing causing discomfort among them it was another. "Bloody hell."

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A/N: Well, that's it. Please review! Tell me if you would like me to write a sequel or continue it or something and I might do that. Any ideas on what you'd like to happen next, tell me, because I'm not sure. Review! Thanks for reading!