Ron was at a late practice and Susan was bored. She'd rearranged her living room, cleaned the kitchen and the loo, changed her bed sheets, and there weren't any books in the house that she hadn't read. She was almost reconciled to watching Pride and Prejudice for the millionth time when it occurred to her that she hadn't seen Lavender in a very long time.

Considering Lavender was her closest friend, that was a bad thing.

Grabbing her coat, she scribbled a note for Ron in case he turned up while she was out and Apparated to the Happy Hearth's back door. Hopefully Lavender was in, and not busy with Justin. As much as Susan would like to see them both, she'd rather they be dressed for the occasion. She knocked on the door before poking her head in. "Lav? Are you here?"


"Mmmhmm," Lavender hummed from her spot on the living room floor. She had several pieces of paper spread around her, piled in some places, sticky notes on many of them. "In here." Scribbling out a sentence, she looked up at Susan with a large smile on her face. "Suse!" She rose to a sitting position, gesturing the Hufflepuff over with a wave of her hand.

Susan grinned, laying her coat over the back of a chair as she plopped down next to her friend. Now that she was here, it struck her how long it really had been since they'd spent any time together. The last time she'd seen Lavender, they were making up after their fight.

"Well, it's official. I'm a horribly negligent friend. How are you? I've missed you," she said in a rush, hugging Lavender tightly.

Lavender hugged Susan back, squeezing her, adding a squeak to the end before pulling back. "I haven't exactly been the best at keeping tabs on you either." Grinning at her friend, she glanced back down at the papers on the floor. "I'm actually glad you came by, other than the fact that I've missed you an insane amount. I was just thinking I needed a break from these doldrums. Want to go out? Justin's working late and I'm suddenly dying for a drink and a rundown of what's been going on in my best friend's life."

"Absolutely. Where should we go? The 'Sticks? Mac's not after you anymore, right?"

"Not that I know of," Lavender said, with a bit of doubt. "She works downstairs sometimes, but I heard she was beaten pretty bad not too long ago. The 'Sticks sounds fine to me. Let me go change." Climbing to her feet, Lavender nodded. "Keep me company while I change."

Feeling a little badly for teasing about Mac, Susan nodded. "She was. She'll be alright, though. Thank God." She followed Lavender up to the loft bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed while she changed. "Is Justin living here, too, now? Or just staying over enough that he might as well be?"

Lavender peeled her tank off and rifled through her wardrobe, looking for something suitably warm. "He stays here most nights. I asked him why he even had things at Harry's place anymore, but he sort of avoided the question." Pulling a fuzzy black sweater from the closet, she turned back to Susan, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't want to push him. I mean, we just made it known that love had entered into the equation. I don't want to start scaring him with my inevitable clinginess."

"Well, I'm glad you two have finally cottoned on to what's been obvious to the rest of us for months," Susan teased, linking her arm with Lavender's as they started down the stairs. "And I'm glad things are going well. Having a warm body to curl up with every night is lovely, yeah?"

"Most nights," Lavender corrected. "He works nights every once in a while. I don't particularly like those nights." Setting the wards behind them, the pair made their way down the stairs and into the alley behind the bakery. Tightening her grip on Susan's arm, pulling the other girl closer for warmth, she led them down the street towards the Three Broomsticks. "Are you enjoying having someone to snuggle up to every night?"

Susan sighed. Ron still hadn't made any attempt to get her naked and she was getting a little discouraged. She looked at Lavender with a wry twist to her lips and held the door to the pub so her companion could go through. "Yes, it's -- nice. There's been plenty of cuddling going on at my house and Ron's flat." And not much else.

"Why does that statement sound like a consolation prize," Lavender asked as she scanned the pub for an open table. Spotting an open booth in the corner, Lavender wrapped her hand around Susan's and pulled her friend in that direction.

Sliding into the seat, Susan ordered a pint when the barmaid came by not a moment later. After Lavender had ordered her usual wine and they were left alone again, she turned her attention back to her friend.

"Things are good with Ron and me," she started, tracing a finger over the old water rings in the wooden table. "He's very sweet, and rather protective of me. He must enjoy my company because we're together most every night and he never seems unhappy about that. I really don't have any room to complain, but..." Meeting Lavender's eyes, she lowered her voice. "We've never... You know. He's never even attempted to get me undressed."

Lavender raised an eyebrow, thinking that were she anyone else, having a sex conversation about a previous boyfriend would be rather awkward. "Is he aware that you'd like to see him sans vêtements?"

"He's a man, Lavender. Doesn't the man code obligate him to want to see me sans vêtements?" The drinks arrived and Susan took a long pull of her beer, her nose crinkling slightly at the taste. She didn't drink beer very often. There was a reason for that. "But yes, I've been dropping hints all over the place. He's just more turned on by my culinary skills than he is by me."

"Well, maybe you should burn something to take the spotlight off your chef status," Lavender said after taking a sip of her wine. "I know this probably won't make you feel better, but it sounds like he was the same way he was in school. Ron is thick. He's oblivious. Besides stripping yourself, and putting on the frilliest pair of knickers you own, he's not going to get the message."

"Even if he's not getting the hint, shouldn't he want to have sex? With me?" She was verging on whiny now, but she knew Lavender wouldn't hold it against her. "Lav, we've only gone further than snogging one time, when I took my shirt off and actually put his hands on my breasts. That's it! I just don't think he's attracted to me."

"Oh, sod that, Suse. You're gorgeous! Were Justin not completely monogamous, I'd steal you from the red-headed pillock. As it is, I'll have to take it on a project. Do you think he'd die of embarrassment if I owled him and asked why he hasn't gotten grindy with you yet?" Lavender couldn't help the grin on her face. It was obvious Susan was really worried about Ron's lack of sexual urges, and that meant it was up to Lavender to help in whatever way possible. If that meant making her friend smile, she'd make it so.

A bark of laughter fell from Susan's mouth. Lavender had told her about the triad she'd been part of, but she hadn't thought much about the implications of it. "I'm flattered. If I was going to be with a woman, you'd be at the top of my list, but I can see where Justin might not approve," she said, giggling. The vision of Ron's expression flashed in her mind then and she laughed harder. "I think Ron would be horrified if he knew I spoke to you about our lack of nakedness. It's even odds whether he'd do something to remedy the situation or not speak to me for a week."

"Well, he'd be an idiot if he did the latter." Lavender took another large drink of her wine. "Maybe you just need to be forward and obvious with him. 'Ron Weasley, I want your body inside of mine.' Perhaps add a 'now' at the end and stamp your foot a bit." She shrugged. "Ron is oblivious. Completely and utterly. He probably has some insane notion that he doesn't want to push you, while you're laying there, dying for him to jump on top of you and go to town."

"You think?" Susan asked, trying to ignore the heat that had risen in her face at Lavender's bluntness. "Maybe." Worrying her lower lip, she steeled herself to ask about something she wasn't sure she wanted to know. "When you dated Ron, did he... Did you have to push to get him to touch you? To take you to bed?"

Thinking the conversation had just taken an interesting turn, Lavender shrugged. "I've always been a bit pushy when it comes to sex. We were also sixteen. I remember him being a bit... it took a bit to get him to understand that that was what I wanted from him. Not that that was all I wanted from him, but it was a desire, yeah." Thinking back on her time with Ron now, the feelings she'd had for the man were trivial compared to what she felt for Justin.

"If you really want him to understand, you have two choices. You have to explain it very bluntly, exactly what you want him to do to your body... or you have to make it clear in some other way. Perhaps being naked in his bed when he comes home. Joining him in the shower after practice. Do something that makes it impossible for him to avoid or ignore you."

Nodding slowly, Susan frowned thoughtfully. She wasn't like Lavender. It was one thing to hint, but it was something else to be that brazen and forward. What if he really didn't want her that way? At the same time, she wanted him. Badly. "Alright. I suppose I'll have to work up to it and hope you're right. Getting rejected is bad enough. I imagine getting rejected while nude is worse."

Lavender took a sip of her wine, looking at Susan over the rim of it. She knew Susan was a Hufflepuff, through and through, and throwing herself at someone was probably not something the brunette would normally do. "It's not he doesn't want you, Suse. It can't be that. It's not that. It's not you, love, Ron Weasley is an idiot, that's all."

"I don't think I've ever been comforted by being told my boyfriend's a bit of a dolt before," Susan joked. "I'll let you know how Operation Seduce Ron progresses."


Summary: Susan and Lavender catch up.