Christmas in Detention

"50 points each from Gryffindor, and detention this afternoon in the dungeons for both of you for causing such a scandalous display in the hall!"

…

That hadn't been the most romantic thing Lavender had been expecting to hear during the Christmas break she had decided to stay at Hogwarts so that she could spend her first Christmas with her boyfriend, Ronald Weasley. But still, both Ron and herself knew better than to question their Potions teacher. Actually, she had known better and had subtly kicked Ron in his shin when he was about to protest heartily and get them into even more trouble.

Now they were on their hands and knees, scrubbing the dungeon floor, and Lavender made a face as she looked at the grime that had accumulated under her perfectly manicured nails. It was as if this classroom hadn't been cleaned for centuries! Something that Lavender knew was a lie because only the other day Seamus and Dean had been in detention here for the same thing, and had complained for days after about their sore muscles and about how filthy the floor had been and that Snape better be satisfied with the way it had shined when they had finished.

I bet that he puts a dirtying spell on the floor when he's going to give students detention. Growling at that thought, Lavender put more strength into the scrubbing. Snape's voice sounded in her head. 'And don't use magic, I will sense it if you have and you will have detention for two weeks without your wands and an F- in the next Potions class'. She narrowed her eyes, shaking her head at all the murderous thoughts that she was harboring whenever Professor Snape came into mind. What's the use of having magic if you can't use a cleaning spell to clean this place up?

Having heard the growl, Ron looked up rather amused at his girlfriend. "Oi, what was that I heard?" His voice was teasing and his face was bright red from the heat in the room and from the strength he had been putting into the scrubbing. The red of his face made his freckles stand out even more, and Lavender thought that there wasn't anything as cute as his freckles.

"An original growl." She announced, looking at her nails once more in despiar. "If Red and Remi were here I know that they would have put Snape in his place and I wouldn't be here on my hands and knees on this disgusting floor. They're cool like that." She sighed and looked up at an even more amused Ron. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm just curious is all." Ron silently thought his question over, something that he hadn't ever done in his life before he began seeing Lavender Brown. "Why don't you ever call them mum or dad? I shudder at the thought of what my mum would do if she heard me calling her 'Molly'."

A sad expression covered her face and she looked away. "I—I don't know." Licking her lips nervously, Lavender looked at the old and disgustingly dirty sponge in her gloved hand, not really seeing it. "My mother and father are more like friends than parents to me. I mean, they really didn't ever want marriage, and they're always apart. I guess they always treated me so much like a miniature version of their friends and their colleagues that I grew up acting like that myself."

Hating the deep hurt under her voice, all amusement was washed off of his face and he frowned sadly. He really loved Lavender, loved her more than he knew existed—and sometimes he wondered if she realized this. Going slightly red with embarrassment, he looked at the floor. "Not every relationship ends up like that. I mean, look at my parents. They're happy together—I think."

A small smile appeared on her face. "Yes, they are. But they are the special few." Sighing, Lavender shifted her position and turned to look at her expectant boyfriend. "Ron, I believe that there are only a precious few in this world who are destined to be happy in love and marriage. And considering my lineage, I don't think that I am one." Before Ron could speak, she spoke once more. "I know what people say about me. That I'm a shameless flirt. But I really never have been able to get over just the flirting and get past that into a relationship—not even with Seamus."

Now it was Ron's time to growl.

"Ron will you please stop being jealous for just one moment and listen to what I'm trying to tell you?" She sighed, seeing that he wasn't doing so. "I've told you once and I've told you twice: Seamus and I are only friends and that is all that we will ever be."

"I. Am. Not. Jealous." Ron managed to say through very clenched teeth.

"Yes you are. And you're a terrible liar on top of it." Lavender announced with a raised eyebrow.

"I am not!"

"Oh yes you are, Ronald Weasley!" Anchoring her hands on her hips, Lavender ignored the fact that the wet sponge was beginning to soak into her robe. "Whenever you lie you won't look me in the eyes, your face grows redder than usual, and your ears start twitching. SEE! They're twitching right as I speak!"

Placing his hands on his ears to stop the twitching, Ron smiled sheepishly. "You were saying?"

Trying in vain to keep back a smile at his antics, Lavender continued, her smile quickly disappearing as her thoughts returned to what she had been saying only moments ago. "As I was saying: I don't think that I'm one of the lucky people to get the man of her life and live happily ever after." Seeing the hurt appear on Ron's face, she hurriedly continued. "And it's not that I don't—love you—Ron, I do. I, I love you more than I knew I could." Her voice choked and she lowered her eyes. "It's just that I know that you're going to tire of me and then go with Hermione or--."

"I got over that crush a long time ago, thank you very much." Ron announced rather insulted.

"—or some other girl that is more beautiful, intelligent or funny than I am who will make you happier than I have. I just wish that it would be different and I could have you forever." She was surprised when she heard Ron jerk off his gloves and he gently grabbed her chin, bringing her to look at him.

"Everybody deserves to have someone to love." He announced with such conviction that he left her speechless, as did what he said next. "There is no other girl who is more beautiful, intelligent or funny than you for me. I'm happy when I'm with you, and I forget for a moment that I am a poor Weasley, whom Malfoy likes to poke fun at. For a moment I forget that I will always be Harry's sidekick. For a moment everything is right in this messed-up world and neither Voldemort nor Death Eaters exist." His face flushed red and he cleared his throat a couple of times before he could find the courage to add in a near-whisper. "And I am never going to ever find anyone else that makes me feel what you do. I love you." After a moment of silence he added: "And my ears aren't twitching right now."

In the middle of his speech tears had gathered in her eyes and by now Lavender was crying—loudly.

Ron's eyes widened and he remembered the time a long time ago when Harry had been wondering if his kissing a certain girl had caused her to cry. "What? Why are you crying? You didn't like what I said? I take it back then! Oi! Just don't cry!"

Wiping frantically at the tears that just wouldn't stop coming, Lavender sniffled loudly. "No, no. That was beautiful Ron. I—I love you too!" Sniffling once more, she smiled softly when Ron used his hand to tenderly brush away the tears. Suddenly she felt rather embarrassed. "Look at me, crying like some kindergartner. I must look horrible with all my makeup washed away."

Glad to realize that it wasn't his cluelessness when it came to females in general that had had her crying, Ron cracked a smile. Believing that he was on a role, he said something else that he knew that under other circumstances he would have been too embarrassed to admit to the beauty in front of him. "Actually, you look more beautiful now than I've ever seen you."

With that, Lavender threw herself at Ron and her arms locked behind his neck. "I love you, I love you, I love you, Ronald Weasley!" Her tears mingled into their kiss and when he pulled her closer and the kiss grew in feeling, she smiled genuinely for the first time in her life. For the first time she felt her heart lighten, she felt sure that no matter the differences between them and their families, she actually had a chance of being happy.

For the first time since he could remember, Ron was truly happy. "I love you too, Lavender Brown."

Suddenly they felt a burst of magic around them and they broke their kiss to see in surprise that everything inside of the Potions classroom was shining clean. Surprise covered their faces as they looked at each other and then around them. Finally Lavender spotted small feet dangling in the air and she looked up.

Ron followed the direction of her gaze and his mouth fell open. "Dobby?"

The house elf was looking at them with a very content smile on his face. "Mister Harry Potter is happy and so is his friend."

Lavender blushed and then cleared her throat. "Thank you for trying to help us, but Dobby, Professor Snape said that we couldn't use magic to clean the Potions classroom. He'll get angry when he comes back."

Dobby shook his head, a rather mischievous smile on his face; as if he had known that she would say this. "Elf magic and human magic are different, Miss Lavender. Elf magic cannot be sensed." Before they could digest this, he added: "Merry Christmas, friends of Mister Harry Potter." And with that, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Ron's eyes were trained on the spot where Dobby had been seconds ago, and he got up to his feet, helping Lavender up as well. "I don't see why if he can call Harry 'Mister Harry Potter' why he can't call me 'Mister Ronald Weasley.' "

Giggling, Lavender hugged him once more, sighing happily. "You'll always be my Mister Ronald Weasley."

Smiling quite smug at that fact, Ron placed an arm around his girlfriend and led her towards the door that would take them out of the classroom.

Lavender, sensing his good mood, smiled evilly. "Ron?"

"Yes luv?"

"Remember when you said that everybody should have someone to love?"

"Aye." He nodded confidently.

"Do you really believe that or were you just saying that?"

"I really believe it."

"Oh good." She announced as they left the room. "That will make telling you about Ginny so much easier."

Ron suddenly tensed, stopped walking, and looked down at her with his eyes wide. "What about Ginny?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I want to thank all my readers from "Christmas under Mistletoe" and my new readers, for having read this. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it!