A loud crash of thunder wakes her up. Lavender rolls onto her side and reaches beside her, but all she feels is warm sheets. She opens her eyes and sits up when she finds the bed empty. After scanning the bedroom for any dark shape, she sighs and gets out of bed. This summer has had too many storms. Every few days, there’s another one. Thunder, lightning, and too much rain.
She finds Hermione downstairs in the lounge. It’s dark, not even a candle lit, and Hermione’s sitting on the sofa. She looks up when Lavender enters the room. “Sorry. I didn’t want to wake you.”
“You didn’t. The storm did.” Lavender walks to the sofa and stubs her toe on the table, biting her lip hard to keep from cursing. When she reaches the sofa, she sits down next to Hermione. “You okay?”
“I’m tired of the storms,” she murmurs as she leans her head on Lavender’s shoulder. “Is your foot okay?” She moves her hand down Lavender’s bare leg until she reaches the sore foot.
“It’s alright, but you can always kiss it better if you want,” she offers, stroking Hermione’s hair as she pulls her closer.
“If you want a lover with a foot fetish, there are places you can post adverts in Muggle newspapers, I think.” Hermione gently squeezed her foot before kissing her neck. “You should have stayed in bed.”
“You shouldn’t do that.” She rolls her eyes because she knows that Hermione doesn’t even realize how much distance she tries to put between them whenever there are problems. Even after three years, she can’t get used to Hermione’s instinct to handle everything on her own, even if it’s got better over time. At least she’s no longer jealous of Harry and Ron, which is something of an improvement. She sighs and leans over to kiss Hermione’s forehead. “If I wanted a Muggle with a fetish, I wouldn’t be here with you.”
“A Muggle with a fetish probably wouldn’t wake you up at all hours,” Hermione points out softly. “Unless it was to paint your toenails or possibly suck them.”
“Eeew.” Lavender scrunches up her nose but she’s not going to let Hermione distract her. She snuggles closer. “Was it bad?”
Hermione laughs dryly. “Aren’t they always?”
“I’m worried, Hermione. You’re having nightmares more lately than you have in years.” She holds Hermione tighter. “I just don’t like feeling helpless.”
“It’s just a few bad dreams, Lav. Honestly.” Hermione touches her face, gently caressing her scars. “If I start having them like I did after the war ended, I’ll talk to someone. I promise. This is probably just a new case at work that’s getting to me, and maybe all these storms. Not a good combination for peaceful sleep, I guess.”
“I know that you can’t tell me about the case, but I’m here if you need me.” She kisses Hermione’s palm. “I can’t do anything about the nightmares or the storms, but I might have an idea or two about helping you sleep.”
“Do you?” Hermione touches her thigh and squeezes. “These ideas don’t involve my feet, I hope.”
“Hmm…they are rather pretty feet,” she muses before she nips at Hermione’s lower lip. “But, no, my ideas don’t involve your feet. Your mouth, yes. Your breasts, yes. You’re lovely, wet little--“
“Lavender!” Hermione interrupts, and Lavender can imagine a flush covering her lover’s cheeks. “We should go upstairs before you finish that thought.”
She listens to the rain hitting the windows and considers it. “The sofa is very comfortable,” she points out as she pushes Hermione back against it. “Shh. Let me do this. It’ll help me sleep, too. Just lie back and feel, Hermione.”
This might not stop the recent cycle of nightmares, but she’s always eager to replace bad memories with better ones. If Hermione thinks about storms and remembers Lavender driving her wild with fingers and tongue, then that’s definitely better than thinking about bad dreams. Besides, she’s not about to ignore an opportunity to make Hermione beg for more.
End
Summer Storm
Story Notes:
1/1/09