Written for Roo (slightlysmall) as part of the Gift Giving Extravaganza. I used the prompt 'purple'

Written for Gamma Orionis' Kink challenge with the kink being 'bathing/washing'

Written for Gamma Orionis' OTP boot camp using the prompt 'playful'

Of Bubble Baths and Steamy Showers

"I can't bloody see anything," Ron growled as he made his way through the steamed prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor. After a long day of Quidditch practice, all he wanted was to feel the warm water over his stiff body.

Harry had worked them all really hard that evening, wanting to practice some new moves he had discovered. Although Ron appreciated his friend's efforts, he had better things to be doing on a Saturday.

And plenty of homework to catch up on.

Not to mention prefect duty that started in an hour.

Swearing to himself, he finally found the shower he had so desperately longed for and was just about to turn it on when he heard a splash to his right.

Someone else was in there with him!

They were by the bath, which probably explained the excessive amount of steam resulting in him not being able to see.

"Who's there?" he called, squinting through the fog where he could just make out a figure lounging in the big tub.

The only response he got was a gasp of surprise and another splash of water.

Due to the steam, Ron mightn't have worried about it (he just wanted a shower), but the fact that it sounded like a girl made him really self-conscious.

He couldn't possibly shower knowing there was a girl there with him. What if it was Padma Patil? She still hadn't forgiven him for the Yule Ball incident over two years ago.

But it wasn't Padma. No, it was probably the last person he wanted to encounter in a bathtub, yet perhaps the one person he'd fantasised it happening with.

"Ron?" Hermione's voice was soft, shocked.

"Hermione?" He was very thankful he hadn't completely stripped from his Quidditch robes yet, and even more thankful for there being a lot of steam.

"What are you doing here, Ron?" Hermione questioned.

"Harry overworked us at practice today," he explained. Why, oh why, had they not made a separate prefect's bathroom for him to use? Why did they have to share?

"Oh… I see."

"What are you doing here, Hermione?" Ron then asked.

"These exams were really stressing me," she said. "I just needed a break."

"Okay. Well, enjoy yourself. I'll just be… in the shower." He made sure to make the water extra hot so more steam combined with that already made by Hermione. With a hesitant glance in Hermione's direction again, he removed his clothes and jumped under the boiling hot water.

It burned, but he didn't care. He just needed to wash himself and then get out of there. There was no one around; perhaps he could make it back to the common room in just a towel.

"Ron?"

Ron jumped. Her voice sounded awfully close now, and he didn't dare turn around to face her. Why was she here? Didn't she understand the concept of personal space? Especially when he had no clothes on?

"H-how was your bath?" he questioned, somehow managing to turn the water off and wrap a towel around his waist without turning around. When he finally felt confident enough to face her, he discovered she wasn't actually that close.

But she was watching him, and it made him very uncomfortable.

"It was nice and relaxing." She smiled at him.

"That's good."

An awkward silence fell between them; their eyes met, and then averted, then looked again. It was hard to tell, but Ron was sure both of them were blushing a deep red.

"You're welcome to use the bath if you want," Hermione said after a while.

"What?"

"I mean, I'm finished with it, but it's still warm, and… those purple bubbles actually massage your body. It's really nice." She smiled weakly.

"Oh." For a moment, he had thought she wanted him to join her. "Thanks."

Hermione smiled. "I'll see you back in the common room, Ron," she said. "Harry's probably stressing over Malfoy and that again."

"Yeah."

Hermione turned to leave, and once he was sure she was gone, Ron wandered over to the bath and peered in. It was filled almost to the top with purple bubbles.

He'd never used the bath before, and had always been curious what all the taps did.

Checking one more time to make sure Hermione had left, he slipped into the warm water, sighing as the bubbles instantly relieved the strain Quidditch had caused.

It was better than any shower.

He had just settled in, and had closed his eyes, when the door opened once more. The steam was thinning now, and he was suddenly feeling very self-conscious about being seen. He dared not move – perhaps they wouldn't notice him surrounded by millions of purple bubbles – but they had seen him.

And it was Hermione again.

"I just… um… forgot this." She picked up a textbook, which confused Ron. Hadn't she said she had been here to get away from studying?

Ron sank deeper into bath. Go away, he wanted to tell her. Leave me alone.

Despite the thought, perhaps there was a small part in the back of his mind that didn't want her to leave.

Maybe there was even a smaller part that wished she'd join him.

No! No, he couldn't think about that. She was his friend.

Just a friend.

"Are you ready for the game against Hufflepuff?" she asked rather than leaving. "I mean, you've all been training so hard."

Ron grunted. "Yeah… okay, I guess."

Just leave, Hermione.

"Okay, well… I'll see you later."

Ron hoped against hope that this would be the last time, and he could spend the rest of his time in peace.

He stayed there for what felt like another half-hour before the water grew cold, and rather than relaxing him it was making him feel very uncomfortable.

He needed to start his prefect round, and Hermione would be waiting for him – probably ready to scold him for cutting it fine with timing.

He just didn't anticipate someone else finding him on the way.

"Won-Won!"

He groaned. "Oh, hi, Lavender," he said.

"I've been searching for you forever," Lavender said. "Where've you been?"

"Shower," Ron mumbled, not meeting her eye entirely. She'd already questioned him over his relationship with Hermione. She wouldn't appreciate him telling her he'd found her in the bath.

"Well, I must go and patrol the fourth floor," he told her. He made to leave, but she wasn't going to let him get away that easily.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" she said.

"Yeah."

She tugged on his arm, and before he knew what was happening, she had brought him towards her, her lips meeting his.

"Bye, Won-Won!"

Ron left quickly after that, meeting Hermione by the portrait of the Fat Lady. She looked down at her watch. "We're almost late," she said.

"Sorry."

They hurried to the fourth floor corridor they were supposed to be patrolling. It was always the most isolated one, and Ron didn't mind that one bit. As much as he enjoyed it, he didn't particularly feel like yelling at first years for sneaking around after hours.

He was alone with Hermione. He liked being alone with Hermione.

Why didn't he ever feel that way about being alone with Lavender?

"Oh, Lavender was looking for you." Hermione broke the silence, speaking as if she had just read his mind. Her tone sounded rather bitter at the thought.

"Yeah," was all Ron said.

"So, she found you?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

Ron bit his lip. He'd been thinking about it for some time now, and things with Lavender just weren't working. She was nice, but she was way too clingy, and slightly annoying, too. Maybe if he liked her more he could put up with it, but he didn't.

In fact, he wasn't sure he liked her in a romantic way at all.

"I think we're going to break up," he blurted out before he could stop himself.

For a moment, Hermione paused, but continued with walking the corridor almost instantly. "Oh?" she said.

"Yeah… it's not working out."

"May I ask why?"

If Ron had been more observant, he would have noticed that her question was more than just friendly curiosity. But, he didn't… because he was Ron.

"I dunno. I guess I don't really like her, you know. She's not really my type, I suppose. I bet things are peachy with you and McLaggen, then?"

"Oh… um… no… that didn't work out either." Hermione blushed.

A little bit of hope filled inside of Ron. "That's a shame."

"No, not really. I think there might be someone else."

The hope slowly faded. "I hope he's not as big a git as McLaggen."

"No, no, he's much better… still a bit of an idiot, though. I don't think he really notices me… in that way."

Whoever this bloke was, Ron would have pulled them into line. Who wouldn't notice Hermione? "Well… he doesn't deserve you if he doesn't notice you," he said.

"Hah."

Had Hermione just laughed?

As expected, the corridors were dead aside from Mrs Norris strolling along, hissing at them at least three times. Filch was soon to follow and was sorely disappointed every time that he couldn't give them detention for being out of bed.

When nine-thirty hit, they returned to the common room, stopping just outside the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?" she asked.

They ignored her.

"So, you're really going to break up with Lavender then?" Hermione questioned, turning to face him.

"Er… maybe," Ron said.

"Do you like her?"

"Yeah, she's alright." He shrugged.

Hermione nodded. "Okay," she said. "But let me know when you do."

Ron frowned, and Hermione sighed, shaking her head.

"Goodnight, Ron," she said, and before he had a chance to respond, she'd vanished through the portrait hole and up to the girls' dormitories.

It wasn't until he was lying in bed an hour later, thinking about everything that happened that night, that he realised what she had been implying.

I don't think he really notices me… in that way.

But let me know when you do.

He groaned loudly, rolling onto his side. Sleep was very hard to come by that night.

He never did tell Hermione he'd worked out what she had meant. Even for the few more weeks he had been with Lavender, he never said a word. When Lavender had accused him of being in the dormitories with Hermione, he hadn't bothered to correct her, and that had been the end of their pathetic excuse for a relationship.

Hermione never said anything either – even when he was single again – and they never spoke of that night to anyone. It wasn't until many years later and they were soon-to-be-married that he confessed he had known how she felt for a lot longer than he let on.

She'd been angry for a few minutes, but had eventually conceded that that had been the closest she'd come to telling him, and she couldn't blame him.

"We were both idiots," she said, bringing her lips to his. "I think we need to finally accept that."

Ron laughed, drawing her to his chest. "Yeah," he replied, "I suppose so." He kissed the top of her head. "I love you."

Thanks to the lovely Paula for reading over this for me. I've kind of been having issues with RonHermione lately :(

Also, Roo, I hope you liked it :D I wasn't sure how much kink you'd like in it, so kind of didn't add too much.

And, yeah, the prompt playful didn't really appear in this, but in fact, it did, in a roundabout way. It's what inspired the whole running into each other in the bath. Things were meant to get... playful... but they didn't. Oops.

Anyway, I hope you liked it (especially you, Roo) and your reviews would be muchly appreciated :)