“I’m so excited about the Yule Ball.”
Parvati and Lavender were hanging out at the girls’ dormitories.
“Me too. It’s going to be awesome.”
They were laying on Parvati’s bed and talking about nothing in particular. Lavender was painting her nails while Parvati was looking through a magazine.
“What will you be wearing?”
“A lavender coloured long dress. It has a nice, wide skirt and loose, mid-way sleeves.”
“Lavender colour? Really?”
The girls started giggling.
“It’s not my fault, my mother chose the dress. What are you going to wear?”
“Magenta pink; short, decorated sleeves; long, slick skirt. Slim around the waist, loose around the chest.”
“It sounds pretty.” Said Lavender, biting her lip, as she imagined Parvati wearing the dress she described.
“It is. But only if I can find someone to go with. If not, then I won’t go to the Ball at all and the beauty of the dress won’t matter.”
“No one’s asked you yet?”
“No, no one asked me.”
Parvati looked down and played with her freshly-painted nails. She was trying to avoid eye contact with Lavender until the subject was changed but it didn’t work very well since what she said next made Parvati’s head shot up.
“Be my date.”
Parvati couldn’t do anything but stare. Then she found her voice.
“W-What?”
“You said you didn’t have a date. I also don’t have one and the Ball is in less than a month. Almost everyone has a date by now. There aren’t much people left. I just thought going together would be logical and fun too. As friends, of course!” Lavender added quickly.
Parvati’s face fell a little but she recovered quickly. She had liked Lavender for almost a year now and she had hoped the Yule Ball would bring them together. People had asked her, but she turned them down. She was planning to ask Lavender, even though she wasn’t sure what her response would be.
She didn’t want to go to the Ball if she wasn’t going with Lavender. And now she had the chance to do so but not exactly how she imagined. She wanted to go to the Ball as Lavender’s girlfriend, or her flirt. Not as her friend.
Nevertheless, she accepted.
“Yes, I would love to go to the Ball with you.”
Even though she knew it would break her heart to be Lavender’s date to the Ball, dance with her all night and not be able to kiss her at the end of it, she still wanted to have that fun with her. Even if just as friends.
“Good.”
Lavender went back to painting her nails as a silence fell over them. She had a small smile on her lips, a fake one. She didn’t want to go to the Ball with Parvati as friends. She wanted to go with her as girlfriends.
But she didn’t want Parvati to sit in her dorm room all alone for the whole night. She would go to the Ball with or without a date, but Parvati wouldn’t, not without a date.
Also, she wanted to have that kind of memory with her. She wanted to dance with her all night. She wanted to drink punch and gossip about other people’s ridiculous dress choices with her. She wanted to have fun with her. And if the only way of doing that was going to the Ball with her as friends, then she was going to suck it up and go to the Ball with her as her friend. Even though it hurt.
***
Lavender was waiting at the entrance of the common room for her best friend to finish getting ready. They both had agreed to not see each other’s dresses before the Ball, just like how they would do if they had real dates. Lavender had thought getting ready would be tricky since they shared a dorm but it hadn’t. With Hermione’s help and a pair of blindfolds everything was solved.
Lavender waited about ten more minutes before Parvati came down from their dorm, Hermione trailing behind her. Lavender’s breath got caught up in her throat when she saw the brown skinned girl.
Parvati has always been beautiful, but with the long preparation for the Ball, with the beautiful dress on her body hugging her form skillfully and the light make up on her face; she looked like a Fairy to Lavender. Like a Veela, a Princess, an Elf.
“Hi.” Lavender managed.
“Hi.” Parvati responded. She wasn’t in a different state then her date. “You look beautiful in lavender.” She said before she could stop herself.
“Thanks. Magenta suits you very good as well.”
They stood like that for about a minute before Hermione cleared her throat and offered to head to the Great Hall. The girls accepted gratefully and they all left the common room. Lavender and Parvati complemented Hermione’s dress and tried to find out who her date was during the walk to the Great Hall.
And their jaws dropped to the floor when they saw Victor Krum offering his hand to Hermione. Hermione giggled at their state and waved at them as her and Victor left. The girls awkwardly waved back at them. Then they turned to each other and said “Wow.” at the same time.
Their night was fun, more fun than Lavender thought it would be.
They danced, a lot; even during the slow dances. They ate snacks and drank punch and butterbeer. Parvati actually had to stop Lavender from drinking too much from the butterbeer. Yes, it was a drink with very low alcohol, enough that it could be served for kids over 13, but still. Better be safe than sorry, because Lavender was really acting like she was making an experiment on how many bottles of butterbean could get one drunk. They came across Dean and Seamus and chatted with them for a bit. It turned out they also came to the Ball together, but, unlike the girls, as boyfriends.
And before they knew it, the night was over.
They stumbled their way to the common room and got to their dorm. Hermione wasn’t back yet. Parvati was tipsy with exhaustion and Lavender was definitely tipsy for another reason. she took a really quick shower and got into her PJ’s, but Lavender didn’t look like she was safe to be left alone in the bathroom, under the running water and on slippery tiles. And Parvati didn’t want to disrespect her privacy.
She did help her into her PJ’s though. She then led Lavender to her bed and looked around the room for some pain killers and a glass of water, knowing Lavender would need them tomorrow morning. She gathered them in two minutes and put them on Lavender’s night drawer. Then she helped Lavender lay down and tucked her in.
Parvati was about to turn around and head to bed but she didn’t have the chance to do so since Lavender suddenly sat back up and held Parvati by her waist. Parvati felt butterflies in her stomach before she reminded herself that this was not the right time to be thinking about these things.
“Lavender? Something happened?”
Lavender didn’t answer and just stared at her. Parvati could see Lavender’s features, the moonlight filling the room through the window shining on her face with its pale light. Her face was blank and her gaze was intense. Parvati held the eye contact, waiting for her to say something. But she didn’t.
Instead she leaned in a bit. Parvati’s eyes widened and her eyes moved to her lips. Lavender leaned further in until their noses brushed each other and their breathes mixed together. She waited for a good 5 seconds –giving Parvati enough time to pull away– before she closed the gap between them.
Parvati’s whole body stiffened the second Lavender’s lips touched hers. But it didn’t last long. She kissed back as soon as she processed what was going on. Lavender pulled her to herself by her waist. Parvati’s hands roamed on Lavender’s back as she climbed on top of her.
Lavender’s hands slid down to Parvati’s ass as Parvati’s lips moved to Lavender’s neck. She released a small moan as Parvati sucked on her neck. Her hands slipped in Parvati’s shirt and she moved them up and down on her back. She was about to take off Parvati’s shirt when she pulled away from her.
“We can’t do this.”
“Why? Did you change your mind?” Lavender asked, getting confused and wondering about what she had done wrong.
“No. I am okay with this, but…”
“We can’t do this because we’re both girls?”
“Wha-No! No, not because of that.”
“Then why? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s- because, 1) Hermione can come in at any moment, 2) You are drunk and 3) We’re just fourteen.”
“1) We can put on silencing charms and close the curtains. We can also put another charm to keep them from opening. Hell, we can even lock Hermione out. 2) I’m not drunk, I’m just a little tipsy. Enough to make me this bold. But I’m still sober, sober enough to know that I want this. And 3) What the hell are you talking about? We’re just making out.”
“Oh. Uhm…”
“Oh my God, did you think that I was trying to have sex with you?” Parvati looked down, avoiding Lavender’s eyes at all costs as she blushed. “Yes.” She said quietly. Lavender chuckled.
“Don’t laugh at me! You were about to take off my shirt, it was the first thing that came to my mind!”
“I just wanted to access your neck better and leave hickeys on your chest too. Nothing more Sweetheart, I swear.” She was smiling. Parvati blushed further.
“I know now.”
“So, uhm… Do you want to keep going? To kiss until our lips bleed I mean.”
Parvati chuckled quietly. She nodded.
“Are you sure?”
“Definitely. But, uhm… What are we now?”
Lavender stopped to think for a moment. “What do you want us to be?”
“I’m not the only person in this relationship Lav, your feelings, your needs and your thoughts matter too.”
Lavender smiled warmly at Parvati. Her family didn’t usually ask her anything, even when it mattered to her too, and her two ex-boyfriends hadn’t been much better. “Uhm… Girlfriends?”
Parvati blushed and looked down. “Sounds good.” She squeaked.
“And, are you available for the next Hogsmeade visit?”
“Yes?”
“Good. Would you like to go on a date with me?”
Parvati’s eyes widened as she processed what Lavender had said. She stuttered as a blush creeped up to her neck. “I-I… Uhm…”
Lavender chuckled. “Calm down Par. I’m just asking you to go on a date with me, not for you to marry me. Yet.”
Parvati choked on air as Lavender chuckled again.
“Aren’t you going to answer, Sweetheart?”
“Yes.”
“What was that, Babe?” Lavender teased.
“I said yes, I’ll go on a date with you.”
“Good.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
Parvati glared cutely and put her hands on her hips. Lavender attacked her with kisses as a defense. In the end they both fell to the bed giggling.
“Okay, fine. Maybe I don’t hate you.”
“Good. Do you want to sleep with me tonight? We can cuddle.”
“I’d love to.”
Parvati wrapped her arms around Lavender’s waist and used her chest as a pillow as Lavender pulled Parvati closer and kissed her head goodnight.