By Mieko Belle

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling's characters. I've borrowed
the title and a couple of lyrics from a Jim Steinman
song, made famous by the wonderful, wonderful Meat
Loaf. The song in whole is at the end, but I've not
used it all.

"Barbecue on the beach tonight, kids," Arthur Weasley
said excitedly, as he poked his head around the
caravan door. "It's a Muggle one I've borrowed...
Hermione, you'll have to give me a hand."
"Okay, Mr Weasley," Hermione called. He grinned and
disappeared, presumably to play with his new toy, and
the twins rolled their eyes.
"Don't know why he bothers," Fred said. He raised his
eyebrows at George and shrugged.
"Me neither," George said. "Last time he tried to cook
on a barbecue we couldn't tell where the blackened
meat ended and the charcoal began. Why can't we just
cook the normal way?"
"Oh, come on," Ginny said. "It'll be fun."
Fred smiled grimly. "Your definition of fun is
obviously different to ours," he said.
Ginny shot a furtive glance at Hermione, who smiled
sweetly and tried to conceal the gleam in her eye.
"Yeah, I'm sure it is," she murmured.
~~~
'They' had started one night back in June, two weeks
before Hermione's graduation. Hermione had found Ginny
walking through the grounds in tears, and had finally
managed to get her to admit that the reason she was
upset was that she didn't want Hermione to leave
school.
"I'll miss you so much when you're not here," Ginny
said, smiling weakly through her tears.
Hermione hugged her tightly, smoothing Ginny's long
red hair back from her hot forehead and holding her
until the tears had stopped. "I'm not going anywhere,"
she'd said. "Dumbledore's just agreed to let me come
back in September and start training as Charms
teacher, because Flitwick wants to retire."
"Aren't you a bit young for that?"
Hermione shrugged. "I suppose so, but I got 647% on my
mock exam, which is the highest N.E.W.T. grade ever.
Dumbledore said trainee teachers usually have to do
university, but he'll make an exception for me if I
want it."
"And you do?"
Hermione's cheeks reddened slightly. "Yes. I want it.
I can't just leave, these have been the best seven
years of my life. Especially the last six."
Ginny suddenly realised that Hermione's arms were
still around her waist, and she looked her friend in
the eye carefully.
"What do you mean?" she asked, in a quiet, almost
hopeful whisper.
One of Hermione's hands began moving up and down
Ginny's back in long, slow sweeps. "Well..." she said
slowly. "I mean you. I've known you for six years, and
we've been good friends for five and best friends for
three. And..."
"And...?"
Hermione hesitated. "Nothing," she muttered. She
dropped her hand, and slid them both towards her,
through the gaps between Ginny's arms and her body,
but Ginny grabbed them and held them still, either not
noticing or ignoring Hermione's sharp intake of
breath.
"And you wanted to see if it would keep on going to
something more than best friends?" she asked quietly.
Hermione didn't answer. "You wanted it to go further?"
Ginny tried again. Her voice faltered slightly as
Hermione showed no sign of responding. Ginny let go of
her friend's hands. "We should go back inside, it's
getting late," she said abruptly, in an attempt to
cover her embarrassment. She turned to head back to
the castle, but Hermione spoke up, one simple word
that changed their lives dramatically.
"Yes," she said softly. "Don't go inside just yet,
let's talk."
They began walking in the direction of the lake. Stars
were just beginning to appear in the dusky sky, and
they twinkled on the surface of the water like
floating diamonds. The girls sat down under a large
willow by the shore, and looked at each other
carefully.
"You go first," Ginny said.
Hermione sighed deeply. "I don't know what to say,"
she murmured. "You go first."
"All right," Ginny said. "I like you a lot. It's more
than best friend like. If that makes you
uncomfortable, forget I said it. And I'm sorry about
the hysterics. I just couldn't bear the thought of you
going away."
"Because you like me," Hermione repeated slowly. She
let out her breath in a huge whoosh and smiled
slightly. "I like you too."
"Do you like me the same way I like you?" Ginny asked
carefully, not quite meeting Hermione's eyes. The
silence was awkward for a moment, then the feeling
suddenly passed and they burst out laughing.
"Oh, hell, we're being stupid," Hermione giggled. "Let
me put this plainly, Ginn. I fancy you."
"Oh, goodie, lucky me!" Ginny said, pretending to
swoon. "I fancy you too."
At some point, the laughs had turned to kisses. And
that was the beginning.
~~~
"Ginny! Hermione!" Mrs Weasley yelled, pounding on
their door. They pulled apart quickly and fixed their
smudged lipstick with a spell, before joining the rest
of the family.
"Why do you always take so long to get ready?" Harry
grumbled. "I'm starving."
They didn't answer.
Mr Weasley, having shrunk the barbecue with a charm,
slipped it into his pocket. The twins took hold of the
food basket, and Harry and Ron struggled under the
weight of all the drinks. Mrs Weasley dumped some
blankets and lanterns in her husband's arms, and made
her way to the head of the group.
"How come they don't have to carry stuff?" Ron asked
his father grumpily.
"We're ladies, Ronald," his mother said reproachfully.
"Honestly, you call yourself a Gryffindor? Where's
your sense of chivalry?"
Hermione itched to hold Ginny's hand as they set off
on the short walk to the beach. A quick look at her
girlfriend attested she felt the same way, only they
couldn't. They didn't know why it was so damn hard to
tell people they were homosexual, but it was. They'd
talked about it, even had a couple of mild arguments
on the subject, and agreed they'd come clean sometime
soon. They couldn't do it during the holiday, though.
It wouldn't be fair on the others. It would have been
different if they'd admitted to having new boyfriends
or something, but admitting they were lesbians? The
very idea made them shudder. They'd seen the reactions
some people had to lesbians, ranging from pervy male
interest to bitchy female disgust, and didn't feel
ready to face the amount of abuse they knew they'd get
when they went public. And then there was the fact Mrs
Weasley kept dropping rather large hints about
marriage whenever Harry and Ginny were in the same
room... Ginny wondered how her mum would take the news
that her only daughter would probably never give her a
grandchild.
Lost in reverie, they were at the beach almost before
Hermione and Ginny knew they'd left the caravan site.
"Spread the blankets here, Arthur," Mrs Weasley said,
then proceeded to dish out instructions to the boys.
Before long, the lanterns were lit, and the heavenly
smell of sausages and bacon was drifting over their
section of the secluded beach.
"Come and get it!" Mr Weasley sang. "It's not even
burnt, look!"
Indeed, the meat was cooked to perfection, so Mr
Weasley's smug expression was completely justified.
The family ate in silence for a while, until Fred and
George started to laugh, snorting into their plates
and trying to keep quiet.
"What's so funny?" their mother asked them.
"Nothing," George spluttered.
"Oh, George, do act your age, you're supposed to be
twenty years old!" Mrs Weasley snapped. She hated it
when the twins started laughing about 'nothing',
because it usually meant they were in the middle of
carrying out an elaborate practical joke. She nudged
her husband, and he suspiciously checked the bowl of
salad for baby acromantulas.
Ginny looked confused, and she glanced at Hermione,
who shrugged. They looked back at Fred and George,
then followed the twins' eyes to Ron... and collapsed
in silent hysterics too.
Ron grinned back, around the huge sausage in his
mouth. He'd speared one end on his fork and was
nonchalantly sliding it in and out between his lips
with such an expression of mock-ecstasy it made
Hermione's sides hurt from trying to hold her laughter
in. The little looks he kept giving to Harry made it
all the more funnier, especially as Harry's cheeks
were flaming red.
"Stop it, Ron!" Harry hissed, although his mouth was
twitching as he hovered on the brink of laughter. Then
he whispered, "Oops," as Mrs Weasley's head whipped
round and she glared at Ron. He immediately bit half
the sausage off, and the twins winced.
"What?" Ron said innocently. "These are great
sausages, Dad, really sexy."
Mrs Weasley went off in a tirade of 'what do you think
you're doing?' and 'you were brought up, not dragged
up, why are you behaving like this?' and 'we do not
make crude gestures with our food, Ronald Weasley.'
"Come on," Ginny said. Hermione nodded, and they
quickly made a couple of bacon sandwiches each and
walked down the beach a little way, far enough that
the others wouldn't come over and interrupt, but not
too far that they were out of sight.
The night was warm; indeed, the heat seemed to radiate
from the sand as if all the sun's rays of the day had
been stored in it. The girls lay down, Ginny on her
stomach and Hermione on her side, digging little
hollows where her hip and arm pressed into the sand.
"You okay?" Hermione asked, munching on her sandwich
and throwing her crust to the last seagull left on the
shore.
"Do you think they're gay?" Ginny asked suddenly.
"Ron and Harry?" Hermione asked. Ginny nodded, and
Hermione thought for a moment. "I don't know. I've
never really considered it." She hesitated. "They
*have* been spending a lot of time in the caravan this
holiday while we've all been at the beach or in
town..."
"I know."
"And that little show back there... did you see the
looks they were giving each other?"
"Yeah," Ginny sighed. "They've just practically
announced their homosexuality to the world, but
because they're boys they can get away with it. Fred
and George seemed to think they were just larking
about." She paused for a moment, finishing her bacon.
"I wish I had the balls to do something like that in
public," she said, sounding almost wistful.
Hermione laid her hand on Ginny's shoulder, and
smiled. "I'm quite glad you don't have balls,
actually."
Ginny laughed. "Sorry, I'm overreacting, I suppose.
But all this sneaking around is really annoying me.
Fred and George go about snogging all those local
girls in plain view of Mum and Dad, and all they have
to say is 'Aw, how cute'. And Ron gives a sausage a
blowjob that looks pretty damn practised to me. Yet if
*we* kissed..."
"I know," Hermione said quietly. She stroked her
fingers though Ginny's hair softly. "They'd all go
mad."
Ginny clenched her jaw angrily. "I'm sick of trying to
live up to what they want from me. Why can't they just
let me be happy? I've never been happier in my life
than when I'm with you, and all I want to do is cast
Sonorus and shout it from the rooftops that Hermione
Granger is my girlfriend, but I'm too bloody weak to
go against my parents' expectations, and society's
norms, and all the other poor excuses we keep coming
up with for keeping this secret."
Ginny's eyes were shining with unshed tears, and she
furiously blinked them back. They lapsed into silence
for a long while, just watching the mist from the sea
and looking up at the stars. Hermione glanced at her
girlfriend, who had her head pillowed on her folded
arms and was staring out pensively over the dark
water, and suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to kiss
her. Maybe a kiss was all it would take to make her
smile again, Hermione thought. Or maybe Ginny needed
something more...
I love you, Hermione tried to say, but the words
stayed in her mind. I love you, Ginny. I love you.
Ginny licked her lips, and the red shone a darkish
blue colour lit with silver highlights from the glare
of the half moon. Want to kiss her so damn much,
Hermione thought desperately. Want to see if her lips
taste as good as they look. Want to kiss her and hold
her tight and tell her how much I love her. She
glanced back towards the others. Mr and Mrs Weasley
were sitting on the blankets talking, and the twins
were building a huge sandcastle with childish
enthusiasm. Ron and Harry were nowhere to be seen.
I bet they're kissing behind a sand dune somewhere,
Hermione thought, and a wave of envy washed over her.
Why do they have the guts to do it but I don't? She
looked back at Ginny, meeting her eyes and holding the
contact for a long time.
I love you, I love you, Hermione repeated desperately
in her mind, trying with all her willpower to speak
out loud. Neither of them had said it before, although
Hermione had wanted to for a while. Now when it came
down to it, she was finding those three little words
to be the most difficult she'd ever tried to say.
"Oh, sod it," Hermione thought she heard Ginny say,
before they were suddenly kissing with such passion
that the tide seemed to come in to watch. "I love
you," Ginny managed to say, in a split-second of a
pause before Hermione dragged her face back and kissed
her again. Ginny ran her thumb over Hermione's breast,
feeling the pebble-hardness of her nipple under the
fabric of her vest. Hermione gasped and tilted her
head back, breaking the kiss and exposing her neck so
Ginny could lick it.
Hysterics replaced passion as Hermione giggled and
squirmed. "That tickles!" she said. Ginny grinned.
"Sorry," she said, moving away.
"No, don't stop!"
They both laughed as Ginny licked her again, from her
earlobe right down her chest to where her vest began,
then they settled down in the sand in each other's
arms, sighing happily.
"I didn't just imagine that, did I?" Hermione asked
after a moment. Ginny needed no clarification of
'that', and she shook her head.
"No. I said it."
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Hermione
murmured, trailing one finger up Ginny's side, coming
to rest on the small swell of breast under her
t-shirt. "When you were kissing me. I swear it's true,
I was just about to say I love you."
They kissed again, a sweet, gentle brushing of the
lips instead of the frenzied snogging of a moment ago,
whispering words of amour to one another.
"Did anyone see?" Hermione asked. She sat up slightly
and risked a look back up the beach... the rest of the
party, sans Harry and Ron, were looking at them with
slack-jawed expressions of amazed disbelief.
"Yes," Ginny said. She held her arms out, and they
came to rest around Hermione's body, their curves
fitting together perfectly. "But I don't care any
more."
~~~The End~~~