A story I just finished, that I've worked with for quite a short time. Hope you like it, and please write me a review! I'd be so happy! ^^

She had been longing for him forever. Watched him, with stolen looks over her shoulder. It felt like an eternity since she first saw him. Really saw him, not his general appearance, but the inner him, his soul. People were talking about Harry Potter as a champion. The man of their dreams, the man every girl would want. But she shook her head. Surely, Harry was as nice as anyone, and she was persistent to make him like her. But she had a man of our own, the man of her dreams. Her chosen one.

What it was that made him so special, she couldn't say for sure. Maybe it was his bright blue eyes? They made him look, kind, as a child more or less. Playful, filled with hope, smiling all by them selves. She could even swear that she could see a flame in them at times, dancing cheerfully in his pupils. Or maybe just a spark. But she could see it, all right. And it made her feel like he was hers. For a few lousy moments where their eyes met, in class or during meals, they belonged together. Almost as if they were speaking. Whispering, in a language only they could understand.

Hey. This is Lavender. I'm in love with you.

It started with a crush. Or fascination more like it. She hadn't talked much with him before that, it was something about the unity in his charming trio that made it difficult to make contact. Why would he care for her, anyway? After all, he was best friends with The boy who lived, and the brightest girl in school. But he did care for her, in a way.

It just happened. Suddenly she found her moment. Unexpectedly, though she had used so much time to prepare, organize, structurize. To get control. So she wouldn't have to face a single moment with him in uncertainty, to spare herself the embarrassment of rambling in his face. But there it was. The moment. And she knew she had to grab it!

The whole Gryffindor house was cheering, standing around him, calling his name. His eyes radiated with joy and confidence, and she clapped her hands cheerfully with her fellow students. Suddenly, she found herself close to him, standing in the inner circle of the soon-to-be rebellion that was forming in the Gryffindor common room. She didn't know if she had random pushing, or her subconscience to blame, but there she was. And in a moments time, she could've missed it. So she ran towards him, she clunged to his neck, her fingers gently stretching towards his ginger hair, and she kissed him. In a second or two she thought, anything could happen. He could reject her, humiliate her, push her inches from the edge just by one word, one hand laying gently on her shoulder, pushing her away from him. He would break her. She couldn't bare it. She was known as a strong girl, the girl that never let life get the best of her. But she knew, in those intense seconds, that she may have ruined that forever. Because she was strong, she could take a lot. But not rejection. Not from him. But by the time she got so nervous that she considered to let him go and run for it, he kissed her. She kissed him, and he kissed her back, and the students got mental, yelling of joy and encouragement of the new It couple of Hogwarts. The prestige, yes, she had to admit that it fulfilled something inside of her, some sort of need of public attention. But to feel his lips pressing softly towards her forehad, smelling the scent of him, feeling his strong neck pumping underneath her hand… That was heaven. That was perfection in a touch.

It was Parvati who told her first. Without blinking, with wrinkles of seriousity between her eyes, while Lavender was fixing up in the ladies room mirror.

"I had to tell you, Lavender, it was getting more obvious each day. You could see it from a thousand mile's distance, Lavender…"

Parvati took her friend's hand before she gave her the news of the year.

"He loves her."

But she already knew, you see. She knew, when they sat on different tables at the library, throwing folded notes of paper to each other, with sentences of love and faithfulness written on them, giggling and blushing at the same time. When they cuddled, Lavender on his lap, while his fingers stroked her blond curls, and they laughed joyfully at some joke Dean told, or at Seamus for making a fool out of himself in potions. When they held hands in the hallway, when they snogged in the corners, and even that time when he pressed his body towards hers, she knew. It wasn't real. It was all an act, and the school was their stage. He didn't love her, in fact, he didn't feel anything for her. It was Granger he wanted. Lavender saw it from the looks he gave her. When he looked at Granger, the flame multiplied, it grew stronger than anything, and his grip around her hands loosened, wanting desperately to hold Grangers hand instead. It was all an act. And she, she was the clown. But through this Lavender already knew, but she would never believe it. She refused to face that the only boy she had ever wanted, was using her, making fun of her, and not even secretly, not even discretely, was using her to get to another girl.

But now, standing beside her best friend in front of the ladies room mirror, looking herself in the eyes, she couldn't lie anymore. Not to Parvati, and not to herself. She deserved better, better than him. But she wasn't interested in the one she deserved. She wanted him. Lavender blinked a few times to her reflection, before she whispered secretive that she think she'd known all along. Parvati didn't answer. The silence spoke for both of them, and Lavender saw her face crack up, before she allowed herself to scream. Scream in pain. She felt better than ever.

At first she tried to wait till he told her himself. But he didn't. Instead she kept on with the silly jealousy-game. At one time she actually considered to continue their relationship in order to help him get his target. One last favour to the boy that had awaken her. But in the end, he made it impossible for her to stay. She often wondered if he ever thought of her at all. Of her feelings. Suppose he didn't. Maybe Harry Potter was the hero of the two after all.

They'd yelled at each other, Lavender with her head held high, but her heart falling towards her stomach. Ron with a careless look on his face. Not angry, not sad or anything. Just, careless. Tired of the whole thing. Regretting he ever started this. Silly boy, he didn't know what he was doing. She wanted to cling to him, she wanted to beg him, beg him on her knees, to please give her mercy. But there was no good to that. He still loved his brown eyed beauty, and Granger still loved him back. Lavender despised her for it. She ran out of there, with fierce anger pumping in her veins. She wanted to do something. Do something to make him regret that he let her go. Do something drastic. Maybe to her? Go to her bed, and colour her sheets pink. That would serve her right, that heartless…

"Manstealer. That's what you think of me, right?"

Lavender turned around, and quickly wiped her tears away when she saw who was standing in front of her. Granger, with that fluffy brown hair, with a book in her left hand. Lavender didn't answer. She turned around on her heal, almost running now to get away from it all.

"I'm sorry, Lavender. He's sorry too. He doesn't know yet, but he is."

Grangers voice was longer away for every step, but Lavender could still hear her.

"We know him you and I, like few else does. Whatever he does or say, how stupid it may be - "

Lavender wanted to block Grangers voice away, but she couldn't. Was she following her? She didn't turn to look.

"We see him for who he really is. You do, I know you do. You can see, that all he long for is acceptance, though he tries to look confident. You can see, that all he ever needed, was comfort and love. You saw that, and you helped him at a time where I didn't. So, I have to say, from both of us, really - "

She hated her! She hated her!

"Thank you. Thank you for seeing his flame. Or spark, perhaps."

Lavender stopped. Hermione was following her, she stood behind her, awaiting the reaction. Lavender turned around, tears streaming down her face, and embraced the girl she'd just been busy hating. Hermione, with some doubt fair to say, laid her arms around her, and let her sob with her head on her shoulder.

They hated each other. They did. But they loved the same boy. And it brought them together. They didn't speak much after this day. Hermione went back to her "will they, won't they"-dance with Ron, that would last for half a century, one could guess, and Lavender slowly but surely put Ron behind her. But at time to time, their roads met, both in their fellow school time and many decades after. And when the two girls, later to be women, met, they smiled at each other with such a grin, that some could think they were family, and when someone asked Lavender Brown, who this girl was, she answered, gazing out in the air,

"A very dear friend of mine, I never really got to know, that never really got to know me."

Now, pretty please write a review of what you think! I'd be so encouraged if you could spare the time. Thank you for reading!