With One Breath

Whatever Gets You Thru the Night

As soon as they left the [Solstice Ball in the] Great Hall, Seamus and Dean broke into a run. They dashed up the endless sets of stairs to Gryffindor Tower, adrenaline fueling their muscles. As they neared the Fat Lady they shouted the password so that by the time they came around the corner, she had already opened and they leaped through the portrait hole. They sped past the surprised younger students in the common room and up even more stairs into their own dorm room.
—Eight Ways from Sunday, ch 13

“Well,” Lavender was saying, “that was another mediocre ball.”

Parvati nodded. “Uneventful.”

They were sitting together in their usual small corner of the Gryffindor common room, the one they had been relegated to first year but had held on to because it was both semi-hidden and provided a view of nearly the entire room, particularly the door. After all, if a girl was to keep up with gossip, she had to see who came into the room together and who didn’t. When they were young the little nook with its table and settee was perfect, even roomy, but five and a half years on, they were forced to sit closer together.

Parvati didn’t mind this in the least.

Now, as usual when they weren’t working, they sat sideways on the settee with their legs in each other’s laps. This position was made slightly more awkward by their Solstice Ball dress robes, but they managed.

“Ernie didn’t even try anything, and he’s such a terrible dancer,” Lavender continued. “I’m tired of waiting for him.”

“So don’t wait,” Parvati said.

Lavender raised an eyebrow. “What do you propose I do?”

“Move on.”

“To whom? Any suggestions?”

“No,” Parvati admitted. “So give Ernie more encouragement.”

“I couldn’t give him more encouragement unless I jumped on top of him!”

“Maybe that’s what you should do.”

Lavender looked up at Parvati, shocked. Then they both collapsed into giggles.

“Can you imagine,” Lavender said, still laughing, “the look on his face if I did that?”

“I’d like a photo if you do,” Parvati replied.

“No, I’d say this is the end of Ernie.” Lavender was silent for a moment, scowling, then added, “Well, better luck next time, I hope.”

“I’m sure of it, Lavender. What man in his right mind wouldn’t want you?” She smiled.

Lavender smiled back. “Thanks. But what about you? What went on with Frank? I barely saw you at all, but I supposed you were with those other Ravenclaw seventh years.”

“Oh, it was fine,” Parvati replied vaguely. “He’s a sweet boy but I think we should just stay friends.”

“You say that every time. No boy can meet your standards for a boyfriend?”

“I suppose not.” She shrugged. “Let’s go up to bed. I want to get out of this corset.”

They were unsurprised to find that Hermione wasn’t back in the room quite yet. Lavender sat on her bed and slid off her gold evening slippers. “I wonder where our other housemate is.”

Parvati, who was toeing off her own shoes, raised her eyebrows. “Who would have thought that relationship would be quite so . . . .” She paused

“Lusty? Earthy?”

“Physical. She lives so much in her head.” Parvati pulled at the lacing of her corset.

“Certainly I wouldn’t have predicted it. One wonders where she finds the time between her Very Serious Prefect Duties and her daily minimum four hours in the library.”

“She doesn’t sleep,” Parvati replied. “She goes to the library early in the morning. Pince gave her a key.”

“I wonder what Harry has that Ron didn‘t. She certainly didn’t sacrifice sleep to snog Ron,” Lavender said. She unfastened the clasps at her shoulders, and the top slid down to rest on her hips.

Parvati tried not to stare at the creamy skin of Lavender’s bare stomach, to no avail. She shook her head slightly to clear it. “I think she was afraid of his, you know. Their sixth roommate, as Seamus called it.”

Lavender giggled. “Who wouldn’t be at least wary? Though I can’t believe your sister didn’t know!”

Parvati laughed, too. “Good thing we told her, because she met up with him in Shay’s room at the inn right after we finished shopping.”

“Really? Well, better then than tonight I suppose.” She paused for a moment, then threw her hands up in frustration. “Argh!”

“What is it?”

“Hermione and Harry, Ron and your sister, Ginny and Draco, Neville and Susan—even Seamus and Dean finally stopped fighting tonight! Everyone is snogging someone but me! I’m sorry, Parvati, but I am sixteen and I am horny as hell and I want some fucking action! Seamus gave me more play than Ernie did and that was two years ago and he is GAY!”

Parvati blinked, surprised at Lavender’s outburst, though it wasn’t as though she didn’t feel just the same. “What sort of action do you want?” she asked, slowly and softly.

Lavender shrugged. “I’m tired of having to use my own hand. Or at least I want someone to think about while I do besides Kirley McCormick.”

Parvati swallowed hard and made her hands into fists to keep them from shaking. “How about using someone else’s hand?”

Lavender’s eyes widened. “Do you mean, you and me?”

Parvati nodded. “It would kill two birds with one stone. Or something.” She held her breath, watching Lavender think.

At last she said, “You would do that? With me?”

“It happens all the time, doesn’t it?” Parvati asked, stepping closer to Lavender. “It wouldn’t mean anything. It wouldn’t mean—”

“That we’re gay or something, or girlfriends,” Lavender finished.

Parvati shook her head. “We’re just best friends who are helping each other through a dry spell.” She was standing right in front of Lavender now, and she reached out to rest her hand lightly on the other girl’s waist. She leaned in closer, so that their lips were nearly touching, and put her other hand on Lavender’s cheek.

“Nothing wrong with that,” Lavender whispered, her breath warm against Parvati’s lips.

Parvati leaned in closer and kissed her softly, not wanting to go too fast, but Lavender was as good as her word. She put both arms around Parvati’s waist and pulled their bodies close together as she deepened the kiss. Parvati felt lightheaded. Lavender was easing her tongue into her mouth and it was so passionate. Nothing at all like Frank, or Ted, or any of the other boys who’d kissed her. Ernie had missed out on a good thing, clearly.

Finally Lavender pulled away. “We should undress and get into bed before Hermione comes back,” she said, breathless, then smiled.

“By all means,” Parvati replied. She slipped her hands to Lavender’s hips and pulled at the snaps there, and the dress slid down her legs. She stepped out of it and Parvati scooped it up, turning to hang it in the wardrobe. She could hear Lavender walk closer to her, then felt her corset strings loosening. She lifted her arms and Lavender pulled the heavy crimson fabric over her head, then hung it next to her own formal robes in the wardrobe.

They stood side by side, staring ahead, then Parvati saw the door of the wardrobe close.

“Come on, then,” Lavender said. Parvati turned to look at her and she was smiling, her warm brown eyes twinkling. She held out her hand and Parvati turned and took it, and they walked over to Lavender’s bed.

Years of late-night gossiping next to a studious roommate served them well, as both girls were proficient with silencing charms—and Hermione would think nothing of her two roommates sharing a bed behind unnaturally still, quiet curtains. Their wands, hung from opposite corners of the bed, cast a soft glow against the white sheets and scarlet curtains.

Their preparations finished, they sat next to each other in the center of the bed, Parvati in black tights and the thin crimson camisole she’d worn under her corset, while Lavender wore the special lingerie she’d bought in hopes of impressing Ernie: a dark brown lacy bra, matching panties, and shimmering gold thigh-high stockings. Parvati ran her hand along Lavender’s silky leg from ankle to bare thigh, then kissed her. This time Parvati was dominant, sliding her tongue into Lavender’s mouth as her hand moved further up her thigh and then to her hip. Lavender kissed back eagerly, reaching her hands under Parvati’s camisole and sliding it up, her fingers caressing her back as she did so.

Parvati pulled away long enough for Lavender to pull her camisole off, and made short work of her bra. Parvati ran her hands along Lavender’s chest, feeling the breasts that were just a bit more than a handful, rubbing the pale pink nipples lightly with her thumbs. Lavender hummed, her head rolling back, and her yellow hair slid off her shoulders. Parvati’s hands moved lower, across the stomach she’d been coveting earlier, and she traced the hips as they curved out from the tiny waist. Her thumbs hooked under the band of the small panties and Lavender lifted her hips to allow Parvati to slip them off her legs. She knelt before Lavender, running her hands along the shapely legs again, and said, “I think we should leave these on.” She was surprised at the huskiness of her own voice.

Lavender smiled. “Okay, but not yours.” She sat up and pushed the tights down over Parvati’s hips, her hands caressing Parvati’s arse as she did so, then down the thighs and Parvati sat down to let Lavender remove them completely. Then she reached up to pull Lavender down to her, kissing her firmly, feeling their skin and the silk of the stockings as they slid against each other. Parvati rolled them over so that she was laying on top of Lavender, their legs entwined. Hands moved everywhere as they kissed, exploring this new territory, so unexpectedly soft and smooth.

They shifted, moving their hands a bit and straddling each other’s thighs. Parvati grabbed hold of Lavender’s waist, and her hands were around Parvati’s back, and they moved together but sometimes not, in an erratic rhythm, gasping and moaning and sighing and crying out, little high-pitched squeaks and oh’s. And she could smell the remnants of their perfume and also sweat and something else, muskier, that she’d never smelled before. They weren’t kissing much now, but making a good deal of noise, and the bed was moving a bit, and then Lavender shouted out quite loudly and tensed up, and Parvati moved again, faster, and then she was shouting high-pitched and shrill, and then both girls collapsed back onto the bed, panting.

“Oh, Vati,” Lavender said, breathless, “that was better than anything else, ever. But, can I ask one thing?” she continued.

Parvati smiled, turning to look at her friend. “Anything.”

“Can we take my stockings off now? They itch.”

Parvati started to giggle, in spite of herself, in spite of wanting to preserve the moment forever and take a mental picture of every moment of it because it was so pretty. Then Lavender started to giggle, and they stripped Lavender’s stockings off, laughing all the time. Then they lay back down on the bed together, embracing and kissing a last time before they drifted off to sleep.