A/N: Well, I didn't take that long now, did I? Oh, come on, it's less than eight months! :) Anyway, here's the next chapter, beta-read by Elanor Gamgee from the Sugar Quill! I don't own anything, just borrowing…. Right, so I'm sure you don't remember, but in the first chapter Hermione mentions Lavender dumping Ron, and this chapter deals with the Lavender/Ron thing. I had an urge to clear that up. If you want, I recommend you read chapter one again (oh, come on, it's short!), because it'll probably help with this one. Oh, and if you're going to read chapter one, it wouldn't hurt to review it as well, would it? :)

                                                                        ***

Hermione entered her dormitory, changed into her nightgown and got into her four-poster.

She and Ron had sat in the common room in silence for a few more minutes after the twins had left, until she hadn't been able to take it anymore and went to bed. However, she wondered how she was ever going to sleep if her mind wouldn't stop swirling around.

Just when she gave up, she heard the door creak open and Lavender's voice yelling downstairs, "No, Seamus, now I really have to go to bed. You should too."

Hermione couldn't hear Seamus' answer, but whatever it was made Lavender giggle. Then she said, "Tomorrow, Seamus. Sweet dreams," stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

Hermione sat up in bed and opened the curtains of her four-poster so she could see her roommate. "Lavender?"

Lavender squinted to try to make out the owner of the voice, but her eyes weren't accustomed to the dark. She reached into her robe's pocket for her wand. "Lumos." Its tip illuminated. "Oh, hi, Hermione. How many times have I told you not to put the candles out until everyone's in the room? Do you have any idea how many times I've bumped my toe on some furniture while trying to find my bed in the dark?"

"Well, I can only sleep when it's dark," said Hermione.

"I can only see when it's not," retorted Lavender.

"You have a wand, why don't you use it just the way you're doing right now?"

Lavender looked from her illuminated wand to Hermione, shrugged, and started to light the candles in the room.

Hermione watched her for a second and then took a deep breath. "Can we talk?"

Lavender gave her a surprised look. "You want to talk to me? That's a new one. But of course, what's wrong?"

"Wrong?" Hermione repeated softly. "Why are you assuming something's wrong? Can't I talk to you just because I feel like it?"

"You just confirmed my belief that something is wrong," said Lavender knowledgeably.

Hermione winced a little; she had only heard Lavender use that tone of voice when referring to Divination. "There's nothing wrong."

"Fine, whatever you say," said Lavender, obviously unconvinced, starting to change out of her school robes. "What do you want to talk about?"

There's still time to back out, Hermione, you can still make something up.

"About you... and Ron," Hermione answered after a few moments' hesitation. She had always been terrible at girl talks. Especially when the girl talk was with Lavender. And even more so when the girl talk with Lavender was about Ron. "Call me crazy, but you two didn't even seem to like each other all that much, and then suddenly you're making out in the middle of the common room. How did that happen?"

It was a question that had been nagging in the back of Hermione's head for the last two months. She wasn't sure why she had never asked about it, she just... hadn't wanted to seem like she cared too much. Which she didn't, of course. And still doesn't. She was just curious, that was all.

Lavender put on her nightdress and looked at Hermione, seeming a little surprised. "You mean you don't know?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Why don't you ask him?" asked Lavender, sitting down on her bed, which was next to Hermione's.

Hermione twisted an end of her sheet around her fingers. "Well, I can't exactly ask him about you right now."

"Had another fight, did you?" Argh, there was that knowledgeable tone of voice again.

"Er - not exactly."

Lavender didn't make further inquiries. Both girls sat in silence for a moment until Lavender said, "Seamus had dumped me for some fourth-year."

Hermione blinked. "Sorry, what?"

"You want to know how Ron and I happened, don't you? I'm telling you, if I don't, he probably will, anyway."

"Oh, right, go on."

"Well, Seamus broke up with me in the beginning of the term, saying he 'needed some time alone'. That was very, very weird, because we sent letters to each other almost every day during the summer. Sappy, lovey-dovey letters. The 'I can't breathe without you here with me' kind of letter. The 'my heart is aching to hear the sound of your voice' kind. The 'the sun doesn't shine when-"

"It's ok, I got it," said Hermione. If girl talks were like that, she wasn't sure if she liked them very much.

"Sorry, got carried away. Anyway, he broke up with me and, about three days later, showed up with the fourth-year what's-her-name. So much for being alone. And then, of course, I was devastated. Parvati then told me that being depressed wouldn't bring him back, which I suppose was true. That was when I... Well, you remember that day I asked to have a word with Ron in the hallway after Herbology?"

                                                                ~o~

"Ron, can I have a word with you?" Lavender asked Ron in the hallway after Herbology.

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" said Ron, turning to her.

Lavender eyed Harry and Hermione, who were (obviously) there with him and said pointedly to Ron, "In private."

Hermione sent her a murderous look.

                                                                ~o~

"What?" Hermione gasped. "I did not!"

Lavender grinned at her. "Oh, please, you wanted to bite my head off."

"You're completely exaggerating."

"Maybe. But it's my story, and I'll tell it my way."

                                                                ~o~

Hermione, quite noticeably, wanted to bite her head off. Ron looked at Lavender, seeming intrigued.

"Er- ok, I guess." He turned to his friends. "Go on, I'll catch up."

They both left, Hermione still giving Lavender dirty looks on her way.

Lavender looked after them, and, making sure that that they were gone, said, "Seamus broke up with me."

Ron raised his eyebrows as if to say 'so what?'. "Yeah, I know about that."

"I want him back."

"And what does that have to do with me?" he asked, sounding like he really wasn't in the mood to hear about Lavender's undying love for Seamus.

"And the only... Ah, whatever, pretend to be my boyfriend," Lavender blurted out, forgetting about the whole preparation she had memorized.

"*What*?" asked Ron, seeming taken aback.

"I'll do your Divination homework for you. You don't have to do much. Just call me 'dear', laugh at my jokes and kiss me once in a while when Seamus is looking."

                                                                ~o~

"Wait, wait. Why Ron?"

"Oh, I was waiting for that question to come up. You see, Dean would be my first choice, but he's Seamus' best friend and would probably tell him it was all a set-up. Dean can't keep his mouth shut. Neville..." She wrinkled her nose. "Well, you know. And Harry, as we all know, is too noble and honorable. He'd never agree to do that."

"I thought Ron wouldn't, either. Guess I was wrong," Hermione said, feeling a bit disappointed. "He agreed, just like that?"

Lavender laughed. "Are you kidding me? His ears turned a deep red and he told me I was a loony."

Hermione smiled, and then something occurred to her. "Wait, wasn't that the same day I found you two...?"

"Hold on, I'm getting there."

                                                                ~o~

Ron's ears turned a deep red. "You're a loony, Lavender."

"What's the matter, Ron?" asked Lavender teasingly. "Never kissed a girl before?"

The blush spread to his cheeks. "That's none of your business."

"It's not that hard, you know. Want me to show you?"

He stared at her in disbelief.

Lavender stood on tiptoes and pressed her lips briefly against his.

                                                                ~o~

"You kissed him," Hermione stated faintly.

"I didn't kiss him. It was more of a peck. A slight brush of lips, if you will. I was desperate," Lavender said defensively. "And anyway, you should have seen his expression. It was priceless."

"Oh, I'm sure it was," answered Hermione, congratulating herself mentally for being able to keep her voice even.

"He's pretty adorable when he's shocked. Oh, don't tell Seamus I said that," Lavender added quickly.

                                                                ~o~

Lavender grinned when she saw Ron's adorable shocked expression. "See? Kissing a girl is not an issue anymore. Will you help me now?"

"No!" he answered, not looking shocked anymore. Just exasperated.

"Oh, come on, Ron, what do you have to lose?"

He glanced at his watch, ignoring her. "We're late for Potions."

"But-"

"See you."

                                                                ~o~

"And he left. I almost gave up after that."

"Why didn't you?" asked Hermione.

"Well, later that day I had a talk with Parvati in the common room. And she asked how my talk with Ron was."

                                                                ~o~

"How was your talk with Ron, by the way?"

"Oh, terrible," Lavender answered.

"I'm sorry about that..." Parvati said in a soothing voice. "Oh, talking about bad news, I saw Seamus and that girl today, putting on quite a show in the hallways."

"He used to *hate* public displays of affection!" moaned Lavender.

"That girl is quite the slut, you know. Maybe he just didn't stop her," said Parvati, obviously trying to be positive but just making things worse.

"I can't believe he dumped me for her. I thought we had something."

"Well, I was talking to Dean the other day, and he told me that Seamus told him that he never cared about that girl. Apparently he broke up with you because things were getting too serious. I wasn't supposed to tell you this, but Dean wasn't supposed to tell me either, so whatever. The point is, Seamus can't live without you, Lav. We just have to make him realize that."

"If he can't live without me, shouldn't he have realized that already?" asked Lavender gloomily.

"Lav, I keep on telling you, but you just don't *get* it. Boys. Are. Stupid."

Lavender didn't answer, just stared sadly at the fire. Parvati patted her arm reassuringly.

"Go talk to Ron."

Lavender turned to her. "What, now?"

"Of course now!" Parvati pointed at Ron, who was sitting on a couch by the fire. "Harry and Hermione aren't with him, you know how rare that is?"

"Very rare."

"Yes, and that's why you have to go now," said Parvati authoritatively.

"But-"

"Go!"

"All right, all right. Calm down." Lavender stood up, straightened her robe and walked over to Ron.

He was scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment on his lap, looking quite frustrated. Lavender looked at it from over his shoulders and confirmed her suspicions: it was his Divination homework.

"Having trouble?"

Ron looked up at her. "Oh, hello, Lavender. Any luck on your hunting for a human puppet?"

"Oh, no," answered Lavender easily. "You see, I have my mind set on this one redhead, but he wants to play hard to get."

"Maybe he just thinks that plan of yours is stupid, ever considered that?"

"Well, I *have* considered that he might have some problems with my gender, if you know what I mean." Lavender recognized this was a below-the-belt comment, but couldn't care less.

Ron looked affronted. "Hey, watch it!"

She chuckled. "Sorry. Mind if I sit down?"

"Of course I do. But then, I don't own the couch," he added, making room for her.

Lavender sat down next to him and asked, "So, where are Harry and Hermione?"

"Harry's in Quidditch practice," answered Ron.

Lavender grabbed his wrist to look at his watch. "But it's-"

"I know it's late, but George's captain," he said, as if that explained everything. And it did. "Hermione… - Let go of my wrist, Lavender - well, I guess Hermione's in the Owlery sending Krum a letter."

"*Viktor* Krum?" questioned Lavender, surprised. She knew that Hermione had gone to the ball with him (who didn't?), but to know they were still in contact...

"Yeah, Viktor Krum," confirmed Ron a bit testily. "The one and – fortunately – only."

"She still keeps in touch with him?" asked Lavender before she could stop herself.

"I don't feel like discussing Krum right now, Lavender."

                                                                ~o~

"So, I noticed how touchy he was about the subject and decided to drop it and ask him about it later… And I was able to get him to tell me that you and Viktor Krum were an item, Hermione," said Lavender, seeming delighted to finally be able to talk about that.

"We're not anymore," answered Hermione shortly.

"Oh, why?"

"Well, you know," said Hermione vaguely; she didn't want to end up mentioning break-up letters and girls' bathrooms in a conversation with Lavender. "Distance and everything," she finished, gesturing a lot with her hands and hoping to make some sense.

"That's terrible. It must be-"

"It is," interrupted Hermione before the subject turned entirely to her and Viktor's break up and consequential events. "But please, continue your story, it's fascinating."

"Oh, right."

                                                                ~o~

Lavender noticed how touchy Ron was about the Viktor Krum subject and decided to drop it and ask him about it later. She then snatched the piece of parchment from Ron's lap and began to read it.

"You know, that chart makes no sense."

He made a face. "*Divination* makes no sense."

"Of course it does. You see, first of all," she pointed at a spot in his chart, "Saturn being in the seventh house does *not* mean that you'll rule over the world."

"It doesn't?" said Ron, feigning surprise. "Oh, damn, I was so sure." He took the parchment from her and scratched that part with his quill. "So, what does it mean?"

"It means that you'll have the kindness of helping a desperate girl out and that she'll owe you forever," answered Lavender, putting the parchment on the other side of the couch and sliding closer to him.

"No it doesn't," said Ron.

"You're right, it doesn't. But you'll do it anyway, won't you?" She placed a hand on his knee.

He looked down at her hand and then back at her. "Lavender, we've been through this, I told you-" 

"Shh…" Lavender put a finger on his lips to silence him. Seamus had just entered the common room. "Please, Ron, just this once," she whispered, closing the space between them before he could protest.

                                                                ~o~

"That time I really kissed him."

"And he kissed you back." It was as much of a statement as it was a question.

"Well, he's stubborn but he's not gay, Hermione! I literally threw myself at him! I'm mean, I know I'm not as good looking as Parvati, but-"

"Ok. I'll take that as a yes," interrupted Hermione.

"Sorry about that," said Lavender sheepishly. "It was a yes. He did kiss me back, and I must say that... You probably don't want to hear that."

"Why wouldn't I?" snapped Hermione.

"I was going to say that when Ron puts his mind to it, he's really-"

"You're right," said Hermione crossly, "I don't want to hear that."

Lavender gave her a very annoying 'I told you so' smile. "Even so, I couldn't stop thinking about Seamus. Especially since he was watching the whole thing."

                                                              ~o~

Lavender broke the kiss for a second to look at Seamus and felt very satisfied to see his furious expression. Then she whispered to Ron, "It's working."

"Don't think I've forgotten about your Divination offer," he whispered back while she pulled him to her once again.

"Ron! What are you doing??"

Ron pushed Lavender away immediately, obviously recognizing the voice. Lavender turned to look at Hermione, who was walking toward them, her eyes wide.

Lavender gave her a look. "Well, Hermione, if you don't know..."

Ron seemed pretty speechless.

"Of course I know!!" Hermione yelled. "I just – you two-" she was apparently at a loss for words herself. "I'll have to give you detentions, you know."

"Detentions?" repeated Lavender incredulously.

"Yes, detentions!! I'm a prefect, no kissing in the common room!"

"But everyone else does it and you never give *them* detentions," Lavender reasoned.

Hermione stared at her for a while and then shouted, "Oh, well, I should!! I'll report this to McGonagall!"

Ron seemed to have regained his voice. "Hermione, you're being-"

"Shut up, Ron!"

                                                              ~o~

Hermione was staring at the wall.

"What?" said Lavender. "Aren't you going to say that I'm exaggerating? That you weren't that out of control?"

"No, you're not exaggerating," said Hermione slowly. "I do regret that, you know."

"You do?"

"Yes. You do know that I ended up not mentioning anything to McGonagall, don't you?

"I know," said Lavender softly. "Thanks for that."

"So, when's the part when you fall madly in love and decide to date?" said Hermione, trying to sound cheerful and realizing she'd overdone it.

"What? Hermione, stop being ridiculous! I'm crazy about Seamus, and Ron can barely stand me!"

"So you never dated?"

"Oh, please, of course not," said Lavender, looking amused.

"Oh," she said, feeling irrationally relieved. "But that break up in the Great Hall…"

Lavender grinned. "It was quite convincing, wasn't it?"

"Tell me about it. I never actually understood what you were fighting about, though."

"Well," started Lavender, "we had rehearsed a healthy, mutual break up in which we'd both agree that we wanted more in life than each other, and that our relationship had worn out-"

"After two weeks?"

"- and that he knew I was meant to be with Seamus, always and forever. But Seamus sat on the other side of the table and I realized that, for him to hear, I'd have to make a scene. So I yelled 'You bastard, it's all over between us!' at the top of my lungs, threw the pumpkin juice on Ron's face and ran out. He was furious at me later, but it was fun. You should try it sometime."

"You really embarrassed him, Lavender," said Hermione, half smiling, although she was trying to sound reproachful.

"Well, the twins asked for my autograph and Snape still mentions it every class, but I'm sure Ron doesn't mind," said Lavender casually.

Hermione snorted.

"Ok, so he probably does mind. But right after I left the Great Hall Seamus followed me, Hermione. We got back together at once. You have any idea how perfect that was?" said Lavender, smiling goofily.

"You know, you should really tell Seamus that you and Ron weren't dating. He only talks with Ron if it's to insult him or give him detentions with no reason at all."

"Aw, I know, isn't it cute? He thinks Ron hurt me."

Hermione glared at her.

"I will tell him. I will. Only not just yet," said Lavender. "And anyway, I don't see why Ron's complaining. I did my part of the deal, didn't I? He got top marks in that Divination homework of his."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Goodnight, Lavender."