Getting used to the water.

Lavender sat on a picnic blanket by the lake, a basket by her feet. She was waiting for Hester to arrive, they'd planned to meet here for a bite to eat and Lavender was going to help Hester with her fear of water. She was excited, but a little worried about Hester. Hester was so beautiful and wonderful to be around, Lavender hoped they'd be friends for as long as possible. Maybe more than friends, though she'd have to be sure Hester wanted that too. She'd be sad if the girl didn't. Lavender glanced at her watch, she'd be here any minute. Her heart was beating incredibly fast.

"Calm down," She muttered to herself.

Hester made her way down to the lake. She was pretty much terrified, both about seeing Lavender in broad daylight, a planned meeting, after their accidental run ins, after the fiasco in the forest, after the chaos in the hospital wing, and about the idea of being by the lake. Lavender had promised a picnic though, and Hester so desperately wanted to spend time with the pretty girl.

She saw Lavender sitting on a picnic blanket and she charged down to see her, forgetting her dignity. She arrived slightly out of breath, a blush creeping around her cheeks.

"Hey," she said, "I'm starving."

She sat down close to Lavender and reach out a hand to touch the other girl's arm.

Lavender snapped her head up when she heard the wonderful sound that was Hester's voice. She grinned widely as the red head sat down and touched her arm.

"Good. I've got loads of stuff in here," Lavender bent her head to kiss Hester's hand on her arm before leaning over and opening the basket. "Take whatever you'd like," She grinned. Butterflies began to flutter in her stomach, though she tried to ignore them.

Hester tried to keep herself thinking stright, but just being in Lavender's presence pretty much killed that idea before it even began to work.

She smiled at Lavender and looked into the picnic bag.

"What did you do, raid the kitchens?" she asked with a giggle.

She pulled out a bottle of pumpkin juice and a couple of glasses first and poured one each for herself and the pretty girl sitting next to her.

Lavender watched Hester lean over the basket with a grin, before sniggering when the girl made her comment.

"Not exactly. I just asked them to put some food in a basket for me," She paused, wondering whether to tell Hester the other part. Deciding she would, Lavender breathed in. "They were terrified of me," It made her feel awful. As Hester poured them a drink Lavender scooted closer to the red head and took a glass. "Thank you," She attempted a smile.

"They were terrified? I wonder why..." They hadn't been scared of Hester. Or at least she hadn't thought they had been. But then again, it was a couple of years ago when she had last gone down to the kitchens. Perhaps she was remembering wrongly.

"Ooh," she said, pulling out some food. "Cake first, or sandwiches first?" She held up the items for Lavender's inspection and then dug around some more in the basket.

Lavender looked down in her lap. She knew perfectly well why. Though she decided not to talk about it, she didn't like it.

"Erm...cake," She couldn't stop the grin arrive on her face. Lavender watched as Hester rummaged through the basket. She hadn't told the elves what to get so she didn't know what to expect. She took a bite of cake, it was delicious. "You should try this," She smiled, nodding at the cake.

Hester looked at the chocolate cake that had somehow managed to make its way from her hand into Lavender's mouth before she had realised. She giggled.

"That was quick," she said with a grin. "You're like a ninja..."

She took a bite herself. It really was nice.

"Mmm..." She lay back on the blanket and stared at the sky. She wasn't sure why she had worried so much last night and this morning; everything was fine.

Lavender nodded, faking seriousness.

"Oh no. You discovered my secret, drat," She couldn't help but grin, ruining the facade. Lavender watched the red head fall gracefully back onto the blanket, and wondered whether she should do the same. Though, she decided against it for now. She let her eyes wonder the length of Hester's body, attempting to keep it discreet. Hester seemed to be absolutely perfect, in every way. "So, what do you want to talk about?" Lavender took another bite of cake.

"Oh, I don't know," said Hester, gazing at the clouds. She felt so carefree all of a sudden. She was enjoying this year so far and meeting Lavender had made it even better. There would be ups and downs and right now this was one of the biggest ups she had ever experienced.

"Look!" she said, pointing at a cloud in the sky. "It looks like a dragon..."

Lavender smiled as Hester watched the sky with a thoughtful look. She gazed up at the clouds when the red head suggested one looked like a dragon.

"So it does," She grinned. Lavender had thought Hogwarts would be good, but not this good. Amazing in fact. She was so glad she'd met Hester. As she craned her neck upwards it began to hurt so she too lay on her back beside Hester. Lavender turned her head to glance at the red head before grasping her hand and entwining their fingers.

Hester held Lavender's hand for a moment and then she felt her stomach rumble.

"I think I'll have some more cake..." she said, sitting up. She took her hand away but she kept her body close to Lavender's.

She took another bite of cake and then glanced down at Lavender. She kept her eyes there for only a moment before feeling self conscious and looking away. Damn, the girl was beautiful.

Lavender watched Hester sit up and begin to eat more cake. The feel of the red head's hand was gone, which made her feel a bit sad. But their bodies were still very close, so not all contact was lost, to her relief. Lavender had her eyes on Hester all the while, the red head looked back at her for a second before looking away again. She wasn't sure what was going on in the girls head.

"Hester..." She began. "What are you thinking?" Lavender gazed back up at the sky. Not sure whether she would get an answer.

"What are we doing?" asked Hester. "I mean, it's not a bad thing, but I still don't understand. I just don't get it."

She gazed sadly at Lavender's face.

"Why is this happening? I just- Never mind," she said softly. "It doesn't matter."

She picked up Lavender's hand and began stroking it absent mindedly.

Lavender furrowed her brow at Hester's first words. This didn't sound good.

"I don't know," She shrugged, though that was a little more difficult because she was on her back. When Hester tried to dismiss the question Lavender sat up abruptly. "No, tell me. You can tell me anything," She paused before shifting yet closer to the red head. "Please," Lavender looked down as Hester took her hand and began to stroke it. Why would she do that if she was uncertain of her feelings?

"I don't want to stop," clarified Hester. She didn't want Lavender to leave, she didn't know what she would do. "I just- I just don't understand. I don't get why I feel like this, that's all."

She paused and looked down at Lavender's hand. She continued to stroke it.

"I'll get used to it, it's just so new..."

Lavender looked up at Hester when she began her reply, smiling slightly when the girl said she didn't want to stop. Lavender didn't either.

"It'll get better," She reassured, thankful the red head hadn't wanted to leave. Lavender lent forward and kissed Hester's cheek, savoring the taste of the girls skin on her lips. "I just want you to be happy," Lavender said once she'd backed away again. As she waited for an answer she leaned over the food basket to have a look at what else had been packed.

"I am happy," said Hester, smiling. "Are you happy?"

The feeling of Lavender's lips on her cheek lingered and she shivered.

Lavender was only a first year, but she seemed to know so much more about relationships than Hester. Perhaps that was good, since Hester knew next to nothing.

She leaned over Lavender to see into the picnic basket as well.

Lavender smiled when Hester answered, something she wanted to hear.

"Yes," She grinned, knocking Hester's shoulder with her own playfully. "The happiest I've ever been," Lavender was a little surprised at how little the older girl knew about relationships. Though, Lavender acted a lot more confident than she felt. She'd never been in a relationship, not like this one anyway. But somehow, she still knew how to act, she guessed it had something to do with watching her brother come in and out of the house with his many girlfriends. Lavender was immitating what they did, finding what worked for her. As well as what seemed to work for Hester, though Hester didn't know it yet. Lavender felt Hester lean in beside her as she rummaged further in the bag. She pulled out a bowl of strawberries and offered it to the red head. "Strawberry?" Lavender grinned, taking a piece of red fruit for herself.

Hester grinned.

"Don't mind if I do," she said, taking the offered strawberry. "These are my favourites."

She smiled happily. This was perfect. Everything about this was perfect.

She knew that she didn't have much experience in relationships. Ok, none at all. But to her this seemed like the beginning of something wonderful, and she didn't need experience to tell her that.

Lavender watched the red head take a strawberry, making a mental note to remember they were her favorites. This was just amazing, she was sitting here by the river with the prefect view, by this she meant Hester. Though the school grounds were a great background. Lavender glanced at the lake, wondering when she should mention going a bit closer.

"Have you had enough to eat?" She asked, not caring whether she herself had. Lavender had had a large breakfast.

"Yeah," said Hester, smiling. "Have you?"

She wouldn't mind if Lavender hadn't; she was perfectly content sitting here next to her.

She saw Lavender glance at the lake and she shuddered. She remembered the reason why they had come down here and she felt scared now.

She didn't want to make a fool of herself but it was so hard to control herself when she was thrown into a panic attack.

She gazed up into the sky instead and took deep breaths trying to calm herself down.

Lavender watched Hester as she too glanced at the lake.

"Yeah I'm pretty full," She closed the food basket before turning back to Hester. The red head was looking at the sky, breathing heavily. Lavender took the girls hand. "Hey, hey, hey. It's okay. I'm here, nothing bad's going to happen to you while I'm here," She brought Hester's hand to her lips and kissed it. "I promised. We go at your pace,"

Hester breathed out. She felt herself calm down now that she was in physical contact with Lavender.

"Will you hold my hand?" she asked quietly, her voice shaking. "I'm scared."

She wanted to shut her eyes but every time she did she would see a crashing wave, hear a scream and then she would snap them open again.

She curled up close to Lavender.

"I'm fine," she whispered. "I'm fine. Give me a moment. I'll be fine."

Lavender couldn't help but worry about the red head, wrapping her arms round the girl tightly.

"Of course I will," She nodded stroking Hester's beautifully soft red hair soothingly. "Don't be scared," Lavender slowly helped them both to their feet, but didn't move them any closer to the water yet. "We'll go closer when you're ready to, okay?" She continued to stroke the red locks of hair, staring at the lake over Hester's shoulder. For some reason she was angry with it, angry with water. What would she think of next?