A/N: This is a response to justloveron's "summer challenge." It's 3 am, so I have nothing more to say, except that I hope you like it. )

-passes out on keyboard-

Watching Puddles Gather Rain

Lavender Brown swore under her breath as her sandals slipped off her feet when she flew forward on her swing. As she swung back, she glanced down at the small cloud of dust that had blown when her shoes fell onto the sandy ground. Shrugging off her current barefoot status, she continued to swing, every so often heaving herself against her seat to increase the momentum. Lavender adored the swing sets; she had been spending her summers here as long as she could remember. Up until the time she was about ten or eleven, she always came with her parents. By the time she came back here after her first year at Hogwarts, she began coming here alone – her mother had just given birth to Chad, and would usually stay at home to take care of him. She would invite her best friend, Parvati Patil, to come over…but Parvati was not incredibly fond of the outdoors, and preferred to limit their gossiping hours to Lavender's bedroom. Seamus Finnigan, whose aunt lived in the same neighborhood, could be found here from time to time. But otherwise the swing set usually remained deserted and was virtually hers, and she liked it that way.

She glanced up at the sky –the sun was still out, but large dark clouds had slowly made their way to claim the sky. Her mother, who was a squib, had warned Lavender this morning about hearing a forecast for showers and thunderstorms later in the afternoon on their muggle radio set, and had advised her to not stay out too late. She was right…it did look like rain. But as Lavender squirmed slightly in her swing, she knew she wouldn't be getting up any time soon. She was rather comfortable, and was thoroughly enjoying the sensation of the wind blowing through her skirt and her long blond hair every time she swung forward.

With one hand still firmly grasping the chain that held up her swing, Lavender used her other hand to comb out her hair. She hadn't cut it all year, and was trying to grow it out.

He let out a small gasp as he pulled away from her, in desperate need for air. He swallowed, and looked into her eyes briefly. "God, I love your hair," he said as he let his hand go up her cheek and comb through her long strands of hair. "I like long hair…"

Lavender smiled ruefully. They hadn't talked very much, Ron and her, but for some reason that tiny piece had stuck with her. She didn't really miss him. He had been a bit of a jerk their last few weeks together, and their breakup had been rather ugly, what with her finding him coming out of his dormitory with Whore-mione Granger. Lavender smirked. Parvati had made that name up. It seemed rather appropriate too, considering that their plain-faced-yet-cunning roommate seemed to have gotten much closer to Ron in their last year of school even though she had been dating Cormac McLaggen for part of it.

But she really didn't miss him. He was good company, and with time and practice became a good kisser, but in the end he wasn't it. He didn't care enough about her, and his heart wasn't in it. Did she understand that and forgive him for that? Of course not. But she was moving on. Sort of.

She found herself thinking about him from time to time…mainly because she was bored. Parvati was currently vacationing in India with her family, so she didn't really have anyone to pass her time with. It was only because she wanted company that she thought of Ron. To have someone to talk to, not talk to and just hang out with, to be close with…it would've been nice. But as it was, Lavender's summer was destined to be cruel to her. She would spend it alone.

"Though I'd find you here…"

Lavender craned her neck to see who was approaching her from behind. She grinned, and released one hand from the chain of her swing to wave to Seamus Finnigan.

"Hi Seamus!" Lavender started as she kicked her foot into the sandy ground when she swung forward in attempts to slow down her swing. "Visiting your aunt again?"

Seamus fell onto the swing next to Lavender. "Yeah. Me parents went on a business trip to Egypt, so they asked me to stay with Aunt Gertrude for a few days. They don't trust me…"

Lavender grinned. Seamus's parents owned a novelty store in Ireland where they sold exotic magical objects from around the world.

"I'm sure they trust you fine." She said as her swing decelerated to the pace of Seamus's swing. "They just don't want you to be alone…it's not safe."

Seamus rolled his eyes. "So, how've you been?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Bored stiff…I'm glad you came by." Lavender replied.

"Parvati still in India then?"

"Yeah…"

Seamus smiled. "Isn't one of her cousins getting married?"

Lavender laughed. "One of her cousins is always getting married…seems like that's why she goes there almost every summer. But she told me she's good friends with this one, so she's expected to dance or something at the wedding."

"She has to dance around at the wedding because she knows the bride?" Seamus asked, cocking an eyebrow at her. He couldn't really see the correlation between acquaintanceship and dancing...

"No…it's one of the traditions there…at weddings, the friends always dance for everyone"—

"So it's like a floor show?"

Lavender giggled. "No…not quite. It's just classical sort of dancing…you've seen that stuff before, haven't you? Sometimes a few girls will plan a synchronized dance…I think that's what Parvati's doing with Padma. They're really good, too. They bought matching outfits and everything for their dance."

Seamus nodded. "Oh, cool…"

"Yeah."

They fell into a long silence, where the only sound that could be heard was the wind rustling the nearby trees and the distant roar of thunder from the sky. Lavender glanced up. The sky was darkening a bit, but it had not yet begun to rain.

"I hate dancing." Seamus muttered aloud.

Lavender glanced sideways at him. "Sorry?"

Seamus shrugged. "I hate dancing…I swear, I've got two left feet"—

"Don't I know it." Lavender said with a giggle. She remembered the events of the Yule Ball of their fourth year all too well. Seamus had taken her, and by the end of the night, her feet had been covered with swells and blisters – though admittedly, it was partly due to the fact that she had been wearing 3-inch heels for the event…but Seamus had definitely contributed to her foot ailments from his inability to lead in a waltz

Seamus frowned at her. "It wasn't my fault your robes were so damn long that I kept tripping over them."

"Are we still bitter about the tripping incident?" Lavender asked innocently.

"A little."

Lavender sniggered. "Oh please. You had fun that night, despite all the tripping and trampling over feet incidents…"

Seamus looked up as he felt something wet hit his nose. It had slowly begun to rain. He glanced over at Lavender to see if she was getting up, but she remained on her swing, seemingly oblivious to the rain. He smiled slightly. "Yeah, we did have fun."

After another moment of silence, Lavender turned to Seamus again, brushing her hair out of her face as it blew forward from the wind. As she ran her fingers through her hair, she realized it had become a little wet.

"So…are you doing anything fun this summer?" she asked.

Seamus frowned. "Not really. Just going to Ron's brother's wedding next week…"

"Bill?"

"Yeah. My parents are friends with his parents, so we got invited." Seamus replied. And after a moment's hesitation he added, "My guess is you're not going…"

Lavender smiled ruefully. "Don't really know his family anyway."

Seamus nodded, and fell silent again. He wasn't quite sure how to go from here. Did he dare delve into the subject, or was it best to leave it alone? He and Lavender had always gotten along, but they never really connected. He didn't know what kind of response she needed at the moment…did she need consoling or was she over Ron? Hell, was he even in a position to inquire? They weren't really good friends…

"So…er…how are you?" he asked slowly.

Lavender glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow uncertainly. "Do you mean with Ron?"

He nodded.

Lavender shrugged. The sky lit up above them, and a loud clap of thunder caused the soft ground beneath them to rumble a little. She still made no attempt to get up.

"I'm alright I guess. I mean, I think about him sometimes…but I don't know, I guess I'm fine," she replied.

"Yeah?"

Lavender nodded. "I'll be fine."

A small puddle from the rain had formed under Seamus's swing. He watched as it rippled slightly with each drop of rain it received. Still watching the puddle gather rain, Seamus asked, "you sure?"

Lavender shrugged. "We were just really close, you know? And it's weird losing that closeness…"

Not exactly sure how to respond to this, Seamus simply nodded. No, he didn't know they were close. They certainly didn't seem close. Not from what Ron had said, anyway. He thought briefly of telling Lavender what Ron had said in order to enlighten her of how far from close she and Ron had been, but he thought better of it. It probably wouldn't have helped in making Lavender feel better…and besides, Ron would probably give him a bloody nose if he found out his trust had been betrayed.

"Yeah, I understand…" he finally said, letting his feet dip slightly into the rain puddle beneath him. "But you know, I think you're better off without each other."

Lavender's head turned sharply to face him. "What?"

"Just…I mean, you know…you were so attentive to him…but he didn't appreciate it." Seamus said quickly.

Lavender gave out a small sigh in response. "No, he didn't…and I don't get it. I gave him more attention than that Granger ever will…I don't get what he sees in her."

Seamus grinned. "They've got a pretty symbiotic relationship going…treating each other like shit, bickering all the time…it works for some people."

"I suppose so."

"You should be someone who's as affectionate as you are. You know, someone who'll appreciate all the attention you'd give them. Ron's not like that. He never was like that…"

Lavender laughed. "I thought Ron was your friend…"

"He is…but he's got his faults." Seamus replied. "And you're my friend too…"

A roll of thunder sounded again, this time causing Lavender to jump slightly. She looked uncertainly at Seamus, her eyebrows tensing up slightly. "Yeah, so?"

He laughed. "I mean, you're also my friend…so…I want what's best for you…and I don't think Ron's it."

There was a note of seriousness in his voice. Her expression softened slightly as she continued to stare at Seamus. "So…who do you think is it?"

"I'd say Slughorn has definite potential..."

Lavender made a face at him as she hopped off her swing. "You're sick and twisted, Seamus Finnigan." She said with a laugh as she hugged herself from the cold. She was soaked through.

"I'd like that on my tombstone, please." He replied, kicking his foot into the puddle beneath him so that the water splashed onto Lavender's legs. She squeaked as she jumped back.

Still hugging herself, she glanced behind her to see her house, which was about a fourth of a mile away. "I'm freezing," she said as she turned back to face Seamus, "I'm going to go back home…you should too, shouldn't you? Get back to your aunt's place?"

"Nah. I'm going to stay out here a bit longer," he replied. "You go on back home."

Lavender nodded. "Say goodbye before you leave back for Ireland."

"Will do."

She smiled, and turned around to leave. Seamus watched her walk away until her figure became tiny in the distance. Still sitting in his swing, he glanced down at the puddle beneath him. He had kicked most of the water out of it when he hit Lavender, but the puddle seemed to have refilled itself. Again he continued to stare at it, watching the puddle gather rain, until he was suddenly forced out of his reverie with a heavy sneeze. Wiping his nose on his sleeve, Seamus finally got up and began to walk in the direction of his aunt's house, wondering how long it would take Lavender to decide who she thought was "it".