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Challenges listed at the bottom
Word Count - 548
Replaced
She pretended she didn't notice the way he watched after her.
"...And Parvati said that Dean and Seamus were messing around in the - Ron, are you listening to me?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, course I am," he replied distractedly.
He missed the hurt look on her face when she turned her head to see where his gaze, and clearly his mind, were.
Hermione and Harry sat across the Common room, talking quietly. Ron's eyes were fixed firmly on Hermione.
She pretended that she didn't know that she was just a device, an object to him, used to make her jealous.
His kisses were usually calm and relaxing, his touch gentle on her skin.
And then Hermione appeared.
And Lavender was being kissed harder, and his hands were roaming hungrier, and she didn't know what to make of that until Hermione walked out of the room and Ron broke apart from her, panting at the exertion.
He didn't kiss her again that night.
She pretended like she didn't mind them spending time together.
"I don't understand why you have to patrol with her though," she murmured, pressing kisses to his neck. "Wouldn't you rather stay here with me? Say you're sick."
He pushed her off gently. "We're prefect's, Lav. It's not like I'm slipping away for secret meetings with her. See you later."
She noticed he didn't kiss her goodbye.
She noticed the spring to his step because he was going to meet Hermione.
But it was fine. He was hers. Right?
She pretended she wasn't jealous when he defended her constantly.
"Hermione's nose is always buried in a book though. She'll never get a boyfriend when she puts in no effort," Parvati said, looking down the Gryffindor table at their dorm mate.
Before Lavender could answer, she saw him glaring at Parvati.
"Hermione doesn't need make up or any of the other stuff to make her beautiful," he snapped, before getting up and storming away.
She wondered if he'd think that about her, if she didn't spend an hour making her face perfect in the mornings.
She pretended that she wasn't completely in love with him, because she knew he didn't love her.
Lavender spotted him in the corridor, talking to Seamus and Dean. She was about to walk over and wrap her arms around him, when she got close enough to hear him.
"She's great for a first girlfriend," he was saying. "I like her."
Dean was laughing. "But do you loooooove her?"
Ron shrugged, as they all turned to walk down the corridor. "Of course not."
She couldn't pretend it was her name that left his lips when he was unconscious in the hospital wing.
"Er...mi...ne."
She fled before the others could see her tears, though she didn't know if she succeeded in keeping her pride. It hurt, his utter dismissal of her. Why would he be calling for her? Why didn't his subconscious mind realise that Lavender should have been the first name on his lips, conscious or otherwise.
Parvati was the one who found her, and she didn't say anything, she just hugged Lavender tightly.
"I've been replaced," Lavender sobbed.
Later, she thought that she was wrong. She'd been the one who'd been the replacement.
And Ron had decided he hadn't traded up.
Written for;
Character Appreciation - 30. Prefect
Buttons - C4. Ron Weasley
Caffeine - 5. Breve - Something or someone being replaced
Quilting - RonLavender