Epiphany
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter – he belongs to JK Rowling & a couple of publishing companies. I only own an evil Plot Bunny called Bronwen.
"Do I look alright?" Lavender looked anxiously at herself in the mirror, twitching the skirts of her robes to make them sit right. She had taken extra effort with her hair today, trying a new style of braiding in the hope that Ron would notice and pay her the attention that had been missing since his birthday.
"Perfectly lovely!" the mirror gushed to her. "The hair looks just lovely. I'm sure it will impress that young man of yours."
Lavender gave one last nervous twitch of her robes and left the dormitory. She had had the feeling that Ron had been avoiding her recently in the Common Room and she wasn't going to let him get away with it any longer. She was his girlfriend for goodness sakes! They were supposed to spend their free time together!
It had been so wonderful to start with. Lavender had been thrilled – if a bit surprised – when during the Quidditch party Ron had marched right up to her and kissed her in front of everyone. It wasn't a very good kiss, his teeth had clashed with hers, and it was really rather wet, but the more they had practiced, the better he had become. But things hadn't been the same since his birthday; he had been poisoned and no one had bothered to tell her til the next day. And every time she went to visit, he had been asleep, and after he had got out of the Hospital Wing, he hadn't wanted to spend nearly as much time with her, no matter what she had suggested doing.
Having learnt Ron's schedule by heart, Lavender knew that his Apparition test was scheduled for this afternoon. He should have finished by now, and be coming back from Hogwarts, ready to celebrate getting his License with her. She was planning on meeting him in the Great Hall for dinner and some celebrating. Spotting Parvati near the fireplace, she called out, "Parvati, I'm meeting Ron for dinner. See you down there."
Parvati waved in response. "I'll be down once I've finished these readings for Divination. I keep getting the same card layouts, no matter what way I ask the questions. I may have to use the tea-leaves to check my work."
Diverted by the chance to discuss her favourite subject, Lavender joined Parvati on the low couch. They spent a pleasant half-hour re-laying the cards, consulting the tea-leaves and arguing over the interpretations before Lavender gave a shriek. "I'm late! Ron will be waiting for me for dinner. Do I still look okay?"
"You look fine. Have a lovely evening, and I'll see you sometime tonight for the latest gossip," Parvati answered before reaching for a new piece of parchement to rewrite her homework.
Lavender flew down to the Great Hall, stopping outside the doors to check her hair was still secured in the butterfly clips, before pushing them open and eagerly scanning for Ron.
Dean and Ginny stepped around her as they went out the door, and Lavender put her hand out to stop them. "Dean! Have you seen Ron? I promised to meet him for dinner to celebrate getting his License."
Dean and Ginny exchanged a look. "They were here," Dean answered slowly. "Ron didn't pass, he left an eyebrow behind, so the three of them were saying rude things about the assessors while they were eating dinner. They went up to the common room a couple of minutes ago, you must've missed them on the way down."
"Oh," said Lavender blankly. "Oh, okay then. Thanks." She turned and went slowly back to the common room, debating whether to be angry with Ron for forgetting their plans, or sympathetic that he had failed. Deciding on sympathetic and forgiving, she absently gave the Fat Lady the password and entered the portrait hole.
Her eyes caught the flash of red hair through the door to the boys' dormitories and her face lit up. Finally! There he was, with… Hermione!
Lavender's world came crashing down around her ears. A thousand fragments whirled through her mind: half-heard snatches of conversations, interrupted looks, unconscious touches, a screaming match at Christmas in their Fourth Year. The pieces fitted together into a picture that made Lavender both furiously angry and nearly sick with embarrassment. She had been living in a delusion for the last few months – Ron didn't want her, not really, not in that way. It was Hermione he wanted. It had always been Hermione.
Pushing down the sick feeling – she wasn't going to let Ron know exactly how bad she felt – she shrieked, "What were you doing up there with her?"