That witch! Lavender Brown thought to herself. She used a different word in her head, but according to her "How to Get Over a Wizard in 12 Easy Steps" book, she should tone down her swearing. She had every right to curse as much as she wanted, in her opinion. That horrid troll stole her boyfriend away from her. One minute, she and Ron were happily in love. They were snogging in the corridors, and empty classrooms, and the Great Hall… Then Ron was telling her to bugger off.

Honestly! Lavender Brown, the prettiest, funniest, sweetest, most desirable girl in 6th year was told to "bugger off." Step 2 in her book was to compliment yourself; that was the easiest step, in her opinion. Why did Ron change his mind if Lavender was so incredible?

And who did he think he was? She'd admired him from afar all year. She'd finally made a move after a Quidditch game and he'd responded. They were supposed to be together forever! Ron was hers and he had no right to leave her like that. Now she was resorting to Self-Help books.

That Hermione Granger was an evil little boyfriend-stealing know-it-all, she was. Ron was Lavender's, not Hermione's! What did she even see in him? They hadn't been on speaking terms in months, but after he was poisoned, suddenly he was all interesting again.

Witch. How dare she steal her Won-Won? She'd never shown any romantic interest in him, so Lavender thought for sure it would be safe to court him, but no, Hermione decided to get possessive of what was never hers to begin with. Unless they were about to get together, the Hermione should have just-

Wait. Were they? Were they really about to get together? Lavender paused her inner ranting to contemplate. She knew Ron had cancelled their date to Professor Slughorn's party; Lavender had threatened to end their relationship if he didn't. Later, she had found Hermione crying in her bed. Was that why? Had she fancied him and planned to make a move at Professor Slughorn's party?

Everything was clicking into place. Suddenly, Lavender's rage faded and was replaced by guilt. Hermione hadn't stolen Lavender's boyfriend- Lavender stole hers.

Well, sh- er, fit? Bit? Sod it, never mind the Self-Help tips now! This was bad. This was really, really bad. Lavender reconsidered her previous question, replacing Hermione with herself.

How dare she steal Hermione's Ron? Who did she think she was- when it was so obvious now- Hermione must've been miserable- Lavender needed to fix this. She could've found someone else to snog, McLaggen wasn't horrible-looking, but she had to have Ron. Oh, Godric. Lavender was the boyfriend-stealing troll, not Hermione. She needed to apologize now that she understood.

Lavender jumped up out of her bed and didn't even glance at her reflection in the mirror before sprinting out of the dorm and downstairs. She needed to find Hermione and make things right. She barreled down the stairs and into the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Hermi-" Lavender was about to call out when she saw something that made her stop in her tracks.

In a corner, barely visible from where she was standing, were Ron and Hermione. With a hand over mouth, Lavender crept closer to hear what was being said. It looked like a private moment, but she couldn't help herself.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione," Ron was murmuring repeatedly. A glance down told her that he was clutching Hermione's hands in his. "So sorry."

Hermione sniffled softly and Ron pulled her into his arms.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise," he told her. "I can fix this."

Hermione mumbled something in response and Lavender saw Ron tighten his hold on her. The moment that had previously been a bit private was turning more and more intimate. She felt glued to the spot, despite her mind screaming at her to leave them alone.

Lavender felt her heart shatter a bit more, then begin to mend itself. This relationship, the open tenderness… that's what she wanted. It was exactly what she longed for. Ron was never hers, she realized, and she was definitely never his.

The pair was whispering now and the moment was completely raw. Lavender could tell something was being confessed from both sides, so she commanded herself to go back upstairs. She could apologize later, they had all the time in the world.

…

Author's Note: I could make this a two-shot, if you guys like this enough. I have an idea. :) Sorry if Lavender is OOC, I tried to have a change of sorts at the end. How was it? Please review!