Chapter 9

Robyn stepped into the common room on first day back from the Christmas Holidays in search for her friend, Laura, but she was nowhere in sight. She thought she'd be waiting for her at the front of the school when she got back.

She sat alone in the common room that night. Harry and Ginny went to the Quidditch Pitch to play one on one and since Ron was off with Hermione, she had no one. It was nice to finally be single, but not when everyone else had someone. She missed Ron like crazy. He was the first person that loved her back. He was her security. Always there for her to talk to. She hated Hermione for taking him away from her. She wished Hermione never existed so that Ron never had to cheat in the first place. But it's true what they say-there's a thin line between love and hate. She hates Ron for what happened, but at the same time loves him, if that makes any sense.

"Um... Robyn?" Neville Longbottom appeared beside the sofa.

She probably had a really strange expression on her face thinking of all of those things.

"Uh huh...?" Robyn tore her eyes away from the fireplace to meet Neville's and he quickly looked away.

"Um... is it true that Ron and you broke up?" he asked, turning pink.

"Yeah, it is. Why do you ask?" she replied, trying to keep a straight face.

"Er-well... um... would you... oh, never mind," he mumbled, looking at the floor.

"Come on, tell me," Robyn said, tilting her head to the side.

"Ok, well.. I was wondering if you'd ever consider g-going out with me... maybe," Neville stuttered, going really red.

"Oh, Neville... um, I'm sorry," Robyn said, trying to find a reason to support her answer, "I'm still getting over Ron and I'm gonna need some time before I get together with anyone... but it was really sweet of you to ask." Neville's face fell.

"Oh, right," Neville said, nodding and turning away.

Robyn suddenly felt bad, so she said, "But... but maybe we could be friends." She smiled at him.

"Alright, sure," Neville agreed, smiling back at her.

Just then, Laura emerged from the Portrait Hole, very pink in the face. Robyn went on her knees on the couch backwards to face Laura.

"Ooh la la! Who is it?" Robyn giggled.

"Um... well... er...," Laura stuttered, getting a bit red.

"Come on, spit it out!" Robyn laughed.

"Draco Malfoy," she muttered, not at all loud enough.

"Who?"

"Draco Malfoy," she said, a little louder this time but still not loud enough.

"Excuse me?"

"Draco Malfoy!" she shouted.

Everyone in the common room stopped talking. Robyn's eyes were wide with shock. Laura went and sat next to Robyn and tried to explain herself.

"I'm sorry... I thought it would be ok... he's not your brother afterall," Laura said, "I couldn't help it. He just kept talking to me and looking into my eyes. And he was so charming." She smiled dreamily, thinking back on what happened, "And before I knew it, I was slammed up against the wall and making out with him."

"Sounds romantic," Robyn said sarcastically, "But I don't care. You can date him if you want."

"Oh, thank-you so much, Robyn!" she exclaimed and jumped up.

"Where are you going?" Robyn asked.

"I'm meeting Draco in the Astronomy Tower," she giggled.

"Wait!" Robyn grabbed her arm, "I need to tell you something really important."

"Well, you can tell me later. Tonight. I'll be back around ten." Laura said.

Robyn sighed and approved. She would just have to tell her about Ron tonight. Just when she was about to go to the library, she felt a hand grab her shoulder. It was Ron without Hermione. She shrugged his hand off.

"Get away from me," she spat, looking away from him.

"Robyn, I-" he started.

"I don't even want to look at you right now," Robyn muttered.

"Just let me talk," he said quickly so she wouldn't interrupt.

"Fine. But it won't help you," Robyn said, glaring at him. Butterflies erupted in her stomach as he sat next to her. She just edged away.

"Robyn, I'm so sorry about what I did. I shouldn't have lied to you," Ron said, "I just love Hermione now."

That last sentence almost killed Robyn. Suddenly the truth hit her. She and Ron weren't supposed to be together.

"So you mean, you don't feel anything for me at all anymore?" Robyn asked. Tears were stinging her eyes and she angrily wiped them away.

"I don't know," Ron said. They were looking at each other in a locked gaze and Ron was the first to look away.

"Whatever," Robyn muttered.

A tear streamed down Robyn's cheek and Ron wiped it away, surprising Robyn. Before Robyn knew what she was doing, she leaned towards Ron as he did and they shared a short and sweet kiss.

"Oh my god," Robyn said, mentally slapping herself (A/N: Not really slapping herself like a menal person, I mean that she slapped herself in rher mind!).

"No, it's ok," Ron said, "I liked it too."

Every hateful memory slipped Robyn's mind as she and Ron began to kiss longer and deeper.

"What the HELL is going on here?" Harry shouted behind the couch of Ron and Robyn.

Robyn's stomach lurched forward as she looked between Harry and Ginny. Ginny grabbed Robyn by her robe collar and dragged her to the other side of the room as Harry sat with Ron.

"What the hell were you thinking, kissing Ron?" Ginny whispered hoarsely, "That is the guy that put you threw so much pain, that lied to you so many times and probably still is!"

"I know, I tried," Robyn said, "But he really looked like he was sorry... and it felt right at the moment..."

"Robyn, you can't give in! A liar never stops lying, and it counts for cheating too!" Ginny said loudly.

They walked back over to Ron and Harry and saw that Harry was yelling at Ron, holding him by the collar.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," Ron said with his hands in the air.

"You see? We've got your back," Ginny said, smiling, "Now, while Harry's dealing with him, we're going to go down to the library and I'm going to help you get over Ron."

"Oh... alright," Robyn said. In her mind she knew it was wrong to be with Ron, but her heart disagreed. (A/N: Haha, such a cheesy line!)

"Alright, now let's start with the first technique. On this parchment," Ginny said, pointing to a blank piece of writing material and a quill, "you are going to write all of Ron's bad qualities."

Robyn picked up the quill and hesitated, "I don't know.. all of his bad qualities are cute to me."

"You mean like the cheating one?" Ginny said sarcastically.

"... There," Robyn said. A few words shone on the parchment: Lies a lot and cheats.

"Alright, this isn't going to work," Ginny sighed, "Technique number 2. Now, imagine you're kissing Ron."

"Uh-huh.." Robyn said with her eyes closed.

"And you're running your fingers through his hair."

"Yeah."

"And suddenly... eww, gross! A huge block of disgusting grease!"

"Well, I've always found Ron's hair to be crusty, not greasy." Robyn said, opening her eyes.

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes, "Alright, time for drastic measures. We're going in for technique number 3. You're going to wear an elastic band around your wrist and whenever you think about Ron, I want you to snap it."

"Alright, that might work," Robyn said, thinking about it for a moment. She wasn't that open-minded since she was extremely stubborn, but she did want to be happy.

"AND," Ginny added, pulling out a big book labeled Sixth and Seventh Year Bachelors and said at the bottom, By Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, "We're finding you a new boyfriend."

"Oh, Ginny, I don't know," Robyn said, but Ginny was already flipping through the pages.

"Too fat... too nerdy... too short... too air-headed... too short... too scrawny... too gothic... too evil-looking... too short... too ugly... too short... ooh, how about him?" she said suddenly, pointing to a 7th year Gryffindor, James Prsalla.(A/N: There's an extra "l" Laura, so it's not him!)

"Oh... um... well, maybe," Robyn said, looking at the picture. She remembered him from Quidditch practise but never really noticed him because she was with Ron. He was actually not that bad. He had blue eyes and light brown hair with a lot of freckles. She slapped her elastic band. Next to his picture, it said, Head boy, top of his class, 6'2, loves muggle sports and quidditch, muggle-born, and single.

"But he's so-" Robyn started.

"Perfect? Like you?" Ginny interrupted, smiling, "Well, I think you two would make a really cute couple. See what it says about him? Yours would be like: 2nd top of her class, 6', loves muggle sports and quidditch, pure-blood, and recently single."

"Oh... alright," Robyn finally gave in.

"Oh look, there he is!" Ginny giggled, pointing at the entrance to the library. A tall and gangly boy entered with two other friends, both with black hair.

"Go on, talk to him!" Ginny said, giving Robyn a little shove.

"But he's with his friends," Robyn said.

Suddenly, James looked over at her and Robyn's breathe caught in her throat.

"Smile," Ginny whispered.

So Robyn did. She could feel her face heat up and stared into his eyes for a while.

What an amazing smile, Robyn thought, on cloud nine, Just like Ron's... no, not like Ron's!

She slapped the wristband and winced. When she looked back at James, he just gave her an odd look and continued walking with his friends.

"Nice technique, Ginny," Robyn scowled, "Now he thinks I'm crazy."

"Yeah... well, why did you think of Ron?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know, he just popped into my head," Robyn said.

"Well next time you'll know not to think of him. And you can still prove to James what a great girl you are," Ginny reassured her.

Robyn smiled at her and looked at her watch - 9:55pm.

"Shoot! I'm supposed to meet Laura in the Girl's Dorms at 10!" Robyn suddenly remembered.

As she was walking out, she heard someone say behind her, "Oh, Robyn!"

She spun around and saw James with a hand covering his face with his ears turning red. When she got out of the library, she slapped the elastic band again when no one was looking.

When Robyn got into the Girl's Dorms, Laura was already there with a smile plastered on her face.

"I can see you had a good time with Malfoy!" Robyn laughed.

"He is SUCH a good kisser! And I love his eyes!" Laura giggled. This was the first time Robyn saw her giddy, "So, what did you want to tell me?"

Robyn sighed, not feeling like bringing up the subject, "Me and Ron broke up."

Laura gasped, horrified, and rushed over saying, "Oh my gosh! Did his parents not approve or something?"

"No... they seemed to really like me," Robyn said, sighing again, "He cheated on me with Hermione."

Laura gasped again, "Oh, Robyn, I'm so sorry."

Robyn suddenly spilled out everything. All the signs she got, the Quidditch game they had, even when she was in her room and when Ron got yelled at. She also mentioned the kissing earlier that day.

"Ugh... well at least you gave him and Hermione a good beating in Quidditch," she smiled and asked, "Why do you have an elastic band on your wrist?"

Robyn explain how Ginny tried to get her over Ron and every last detail about James. For the rest of the night, they stayed up talking about James and Draco, forgetting the fact that school started again tomorrow.

A/N: Yeah I know.. I kind of rushed things with the whole James thing... but R&R!! I'd appreciate it =P