Author's Note: Hello everyone! This is part of my Holiday Fic Event! For more information and more stories in the Event, please visit my profile. Also, if you decide that you like this, please review. It'll make my day. This was supposed to come out a little earlier, but I didn't get a chance to publish it.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or setting.
"Ron," she breathed. They were hidden in an alcove behind a tapestry. The redheaded boy in front of her took up most of the room, but she was fine, just fine with that. She loved him, and he needed space, but she had to talk to him. She had to do this – had to make the choice.
"Lav," he murmured, leaning forward to kiss her.
She felt his soft, warm breath on her lips, but pressed a finger to his lips instead of letting them touch hers. "Let me talk," she whispered, "just for now."
He nodded, eyes wide at her sudden wish to speak. Generally she was the one with more physical needs.
She moved her finger to his cheek tenderly. "I'm breaking up with you," she hissed, and then kissed him full on the mouth, all the while digging her nails into his cheek. After a few seconds or so, she let him go and walked out into the corridor.
He didn't follow.
She'd been hoping to confuse him. She hoped it worked. With tears in her eyes, she returned to Gryffindor common room, praying it would be empty. She didn't want anyone else to see her cry; she was ashamed that she'd actually caused herself so much pain.
It wasn't empty; Ron's sister, Harry, and that Hermione girl were all there, playing wizard chess. Instead, she ran to her bed in the dormitory, pulling the scarlet curtains closed around her four-poster. All she wanted was to be alone.
She cried herself to sleep that night, and did not attend classes the next two days. She stayed there in Gryffindor Tower, not eating or sleeping, for two days straight. The farthest she moved was from her bed to the arm chair by the fire and back again.
She felt like a train wreck; she kept going over her beautiful memories of Ron – how he'd held her, how he'd put up with her. She knew she was clingy. She had a hard time handling that tendency; it always showed up at the worst moments. She hated herself for it sometimes.
And she kept coming back to that ugly memory of Ron muttering in his sleep. Speaking Hermione's name, not hers.
After those two days, she snapped – from isolation, from anger, from depression. There were a lot of reasons why.
She showed up in classes again, more determined than she'd ever been. She began to busy herself during every waking moment – it was all she could do to keep her mind off of Ron. She studied harder than Hermione, and she was usually so tired that she slept dreamlessly.
By the end of the school year, though, she felt empty again. She didn't need to study anymore; school was out and she was at home. The only things she could hope to wait for were the letters that Parvati had promised to send.
She'd forgotten completely about her end-of-the-year exam results. When the letter came, she shrieked with glee.
At least one good thing had come from breaking up with Ron – she had a future. For the first time in her life, Lavender Brown had gotten all O's.
Beat that, Granger.