This is getting pretty close to M...just so you know, even though it's related T, it'll have some language and slight, fleeting sexuality.
Yes, I know. You probably HATE the main pairing, but no likey, no read-y. I don't really like it either, but as I said, I was on a Hermione-writing kick, and this fic just happened to be some of the fallout. *Wraps self in one of those awesome fireproof blankets* Okay, I'm ready for anything!

The Usefulness of Firewhiskey

"We shouldn't be doing this." Ginny whispered in the dark of the room to the person lying next to her.

"I know." A voice whispered back.

"Like really. We really shouldn't be doing this."

"I know, Ginny. Would you like me to leave?" Ginny felt the bed shifting slightly, indicating that the other girl was completely serious.

"No!" Ginny protested, wrapping her arms around the other body. She felt warm lips meet hers and a nice weight pressing onto her body. It started all over from there.

A long while later, Ginny found herself in the arms of her lover, reflecting back upon how this all had started.

It was September. The school year was in full swing, and, in an attempt to help the Gryffindors relax, someone managed to sneak in a few bottles of firewhisky and sent the party poopers and anyone under fifth year to bed before hosting their "party."

Hermione was about to report the party to her Head of House when Ginny stepped in front of her, pulling the most pitiful pout possible and signaling to Harry and Ron who snuck up behind the prefect, sending a Charm of General Silliness in her direction. It was smooth sailing from there.

Before long, nearly everyone was a bit unsteady and all were losing their compunctions. Soon after, most everyone had stumbled to their own or each others' beds, leaving Hermione and Ginny alone in the common room together. Hermione swayed dangerously, and Ginny helped her to the couch, which was weird; Hermione thought the other girl should have been just as inebriated as her. But she was distracted when the girl in question spoke up.

"Hermione? I have something to tell you." Ginny stated in a surprisingly steady voice, and Hermione began to wonder if this was just a dream.

"Oh yeah? What is it?" Hermione felt as though her tongue was incredibly thick, causing her to slur almost annoyingly.

"I love Harry…I mean, he treats me right, he's so nice, and of course, he dotes upon me constantly…but he's so boring! I prefer someone fiery, unafraid to fight back, exceedingly smart. I want someone like…you."

Hermione sat staring at the young woman in front of her as though she had sprouted horns. "Don't you fancy…" Hermione lowered her voice, "…boys?"

"Of course I do! I don't even know where this is coming from, but I like you, Hermione. I really do."

Hermione gave up trying to comprehend this crazy dream and did what felt right. She lunged at the girl sitting next to her, taking her face into her hands and her lips also into hers. Their kissing escalated from there, and, as a testament to the alcohol consumption, the girls had their first night together on the couch in the common room. Given, that night was clumsy and awkward, and Hermione was actually completely unaware if either had finished. But it didn't matter; that was the beginning of their sordid affair.

The girls snuck around whenever they could, going wherever they could for the next few months. They escaped to deserted halls and classrooms, rooms in Hogsmeade, even each other's beds when propriety allowed, spending every possible minute together.

This pattern continued with more than enough close calls for the girls' liking, but still, they continued. Ron and Harry noticed the girls' closeness, but they didn't think anything of it, instead attributing it to a growing friendship. This was how they had come to the winter holidays, the two girls sharing a room as always when Hermione visited.

Before Ginny knew it, someone was nudging her awake. She swatted away the offending person; the sun wasn't even up, so it was way too early.

"Ginny. Ginny, wake up." Ginny's eyes flew open as she heard Hermione's voice in her ear and felt a phantom hand snaking its way down her torso. She smiled, fumbling in the darkness for a moment before locating and pulling the other girl's body on top of hers. Sighing deeply, Ginny crushed her lips to those mere inches above hers and grabbed full hips, rubbing them into her own. Trysting was fairly difficult in the dark of the room, but the girls managed, fumbling to remove clothing and grasp at expanses of skin.

After many moments of rolling around, the sky started to lighten, and the girls could suddenly see each other. That is, each could see the blankets that covered the most intimate parts of the other, a decidedly bad situation. Clumsily, the girls wrestled themselves out of the bed sheets, pushing them to the foot of the bed. Each moaning softly in the other's ear, their hands stopped fumbling randomly, preferring to concentrate on the spots that drove them crazy.

The girls got so worked up that they didn't notice the heavy footfalls on thee stairs. They also didn't hear the light knock on Ginny's bedroom door or the groggy call of "you up?" They didn't notice their mistake in not locking the door as Harry stood, dumbfounded, in the door frame, watching Ginny's then Hermione's eyes unfocus and spines curve drastically in ecstasy. They did, however, notice a sudden increase in light as the lamps were turned on and hear the loud expletives thrown in the phrase "What are you doing?"

Recovering quickly, Hermione pushed herself off of her red-headed partner and grabbed a blanket, using it to cover her exposed skin.

As Hermione scrambled back to her own bed, Ginny spoke up. "It's not what it lo-"

"No! Don't try to explain this away!" Harry interrupted her. "Just…get dressed. I'm not going to talk about this when you're naked…or around anyone else." After taking a quick glance in Hermione's direction, Harry stepped back, shut the door, and padded back up the stairs, if the sounds of his steps were any indication.

Haphazardly throwing on any clothes she could find and avoiding Hermione's gaze, Ginny followed her boyfriend's instructions, rushing out the door to meet him. Hermione, left shell-shocked and still wearing nothing but a bed sheet, laid back on the bed and attempted to calm her pounding heart.

"What's going on with the lovebirds?" Ron asked later that day at the lunch table, trying to get an answer out of anyone. "Harry took over my room for them, and they haven't been out for hours. I heard yelling earlier…but not the kind I'd give him a pat on the back for, you know what I mean?" The boy chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood, only succeeding in making the seven others seated around the overcrowded table cringe.

"Give it up, Ron. None of us know what happened!" Fred remarked, growing tired of his brother's incessant inquiry.

"Well, there might be someone who knows," George clarified. "Hermione must have been there this morning. I heard the screaming start in her shared room with Ginny."

Hermione tried not to blush at the statement or the fact that seven sets of eyes trained themselves on her. "Uhh…Harry, well…Ginny and…it's just another one of their frequent fights. It should blow over soon enough." Even though she didn't believe her own words, the family seemed to take them at face value.

Cheeks still tinted from being put on the spot, Hermione excused herself from the table, citing a need to study and escaping to her room, to escape the inevitable person wanting to know more.

Many hours had passed before Ginny returned to her room. She was physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted from her talks with Harry. The word "talks," of course, was used loosely, as Ginny had no idea to describe the times one or both had raged at each other, then when they simply sat and cried or the scarier moments of quiet, nearly whispered "civil" seething and finally, the making out, inspired from the cycle of anger and comfort. Either way, Ginny was drained and didn't want to talk to anyone by the time she returned to her room, only to be stopped short by the sight of Hermione, long forgotten book in hand, staring into the darkness (had they really been fighting that long?) outside the window with a scary, blank look on her face.

"What happened?" was all the greeting the contemplative woman gave her lover.

Ginny thought for a moment before closing the door and slowly crossing the room, taking a seat across from Hermione. "Well, not counting the understandable moments of yelling, he was very reasonable."

After a long moment, Hermione slowly spoke again. "Did you finally come to an agreement...or did you just get tired of fighting?"

"We…we came to a sort of agreement. He said he loves me, so if I love him too, we may be able to get back together." Hermione's face lowered slightly, "But if there's any chance this might happen again, it's not worth it. He left the final decision with me, to tell him 'whenever I'm ready.'"

"Have you made your decision?" The words were barely whispered past Hermione's lips.

Ginny briefly considered ignoring the question, maybe pretending she hadn't heard the question, but she decided she had to tell Hermione the truth. "No…I-I haven't given it enough thought."

Hermione sat watching Ginny for a few terse moments before turning off the light, climbing into her own bed, and pretending to go to sleep.

The Christmas holidays passed, the Weasley household retaining a tense, curious atmosphere. Those still attending school boarded the train, three of those in the mix keeping a safe, awkward distance between them, leaving the fourth confused and feeling left out.

They eventually reached the school, and each headed to his or her own bed stiffly, without a word to the others in the group.

Everything continued in much the same way; Ron looked on in confusion as his sister spent little or no time with her supposed boyfriend and best friend and the other two didn't even look at each other, let alone hold a conversation. He was starting to get a sneaking suspicion that, were it not for him, the two wouldn't spend so much as five minutes together that their schedules had not required. He was becoming increasingly upset with his closest friends, but he soon realized that there was nothing he could do to help it.

January reached its end, turning into February's moony-eyed flirting for the whole school, excepting, of course, Ron's friends. Then came March, a humiliating time to be an elf, as they were dressed in green and paraded around with four-leafed clovers (the leprechauns had refused that year). March was followed by April, the love triangle not taking part in the celebrations at the beginning of the month to "fool" each other or near the middle of the month when the snow suddenly disappeared, relatively early in the year. It was mid-May before Ron started noticing a heightened sense of impatience from one of the three that surprised him.

It was the morning of Sunday, May sixteenth, what looked to be an unpleasant day outside as the ceiling in the Great Hall was already starting to drizzle, showing threatening, dark clouds that cast a gloomy mood over everyone seated at the tables. Hermione suddenly jumped up from her seat with a determined look on her face, stormed down the aisle, and grabbed a certain red-headed girl on her way out.

"What the hell?" Hermione was questioned by a frustrated Ginny, attempting to regain her footing as she was dragged through the dismal weather.

Hermione waited until they had reached a large tree near the lake, looking more foreboding than ever. "Funny, that's what I was about to ask you. What the hell is going on? Harry found out about us over five months ago, and you said you were going to decide which one of us you wanted. But I'm starting to think that was all rubbish! I have waited patiently all this time, but no answer has come. Ginny, I love you. I love you, and I want to be with you. But if you're going to pull this whatever you want at the time shit, I'd rather you just told us who you decided you want more and get on with it!"

"Hermione, will you please try to see things my way? Since Harry found out about us, my life's been completely mental-"

"Oh boo hoo." Hermione chimed in as the rain began to pick up. "You have two people who adore you and want you that you can choose between. That's not exactly what I'd call 'mental.'" She paused again, waiting for an answer from the other girl as she studied her face. A realization suddenly dawned upon her, "Or do you not want to decide? Some sick part of you loves him but loves to fuck me! You know what? My relationship with my real friends isn't worth this." With that, Hermione left the shelter of the tree only to find a hand clenched onto her arm.

"No! I'm not using you! I love you, and, yes, I love Harry, too…I'm just-I'm just confused."

By this time, both girls were drenched from the rain pouring on and around them, so Hermione easily shook off the other girl. "You've had five months to be confused! You've run out of decision time! Now I'm going to attempt to regain the trust of one of my best friends!" Ginny stepped forward again, but Hermione simply maneuvered out of her reach, causing the other girl to hit the ground, knees first. Hermione told herself she wouldn't look back as she stormed away, but she couldn't help a quick glance just outside the front doors. She could barely make out Ginny, soaked to the bone on her knees in the grass, resting her face in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking as though she was crying, and Hermione thought she could hear a faint sob, but all noise was soon blocked out by a long peal of thunder. Hermione turned on her heel to enter the school, knowing she would never be able to forget that picture.

"I'm so glad you could make it!" A beaming Ginny greeted her friends.

"But of course. I couldn't miss my girlfriend's graduation!" Harry smiled as he gave her a quick peck on the lips.

Two years after the cheating catastrophe, the group seemed to be happier than ever. Harry had given his forgiveness to both Ginny and Hermione after they, in turn, begged it out of him. Hermione finally hooked up with Ron, and, through much tribulation, finally forgave his sister. Ron still knew nothing of the debacle but was simply glad to have his friends back to normal. And Ginny? Well, she was happy to have Harry's and Hermione's forgiveness. And she was excited to be graduating as she stepped up to the podium where the diplomas were being handed off. But, if one paid enough attention, there was something noticeably off about her chipper attitude.

Ginny's steps didn't falter at all as she watched Hermione with Ron. She threw her graduation cap in the air in time with her peers as she wondered how there could be no drama left over, even two years later. When Harry hugged her waist, she thought it was too perfect; everyone was happy.

She turned to embrace her boyfriend, considering how she could stir the water. Finally, a calculating smile crossed her face as she wondered if she could get her hands on some more firewhisky.

What did you think? I actually think I liked the way this came out, after much difficulty. So…am I deluding myself ^.^ and is it really terrible? Was there anything you would have changed? Constructive criticism would be much appreciated. Thanks!