Battle Royale
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated characters, places, and terms are property of J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 6: Round Five: Lavender vs. Daphne & Ginny
Lavender Brown was heading in the direction of the Gryffindor common room when she ran into Ron Weasley, who was heading in the opposite direction. The boy was rubbing his jaw with one hand. Lavender noticed that his cheek was also red and that his demeanor was somber.
"What happened to you?" she asked as Ron passed by.
"What's it to you?" Ron snapped and continued walking.
Lavender did not appreciate Ron's attitude, but she was also one for drama so she decided to follow the boy and see what was wrong.
"Look," she said, matching Ron's pace. "I don't know what happened to you but I want to help."
Ron laughed in spite of his state. "Why would you want to help me? Shouldn't you be back at the common room snogging Harry?"
Lavender thought back to the plan that she and Ginny hatched. She remembered kissing Harry but she did not know why she believed for that moment that Harry was her boyfriend. Either way, it was probably not relevant, and she could potentially use this opportunity to sabotage her co-conspirator since Ginny did not make her take any oath of silence. She let out a high pitched laugh. "Why would I want to do that? Your sister came up with that plan so that Harry and that Slytherin girl wouldn't get together. Isn't that what you wanted? Or are you jealous?"
Ron stopped in his tracks and turned to face Lavender. "So the plan the whole time was to make the Greengrass girl think that he was cheating on her?"
"That's right," Lavender replied with a grin. "I may be a ditz sometimes but I'm not an idiot to see that clearly Harry does not belong with that Slytherin."
Ron slapped himself in the forehead and Lavender could not figure out why the boy would do such a thing.
"I'm such a git…," Ron muttered. "And here I thought that Harry was playing around. This'll help me patch things up with Hermione."
Ron began to walk back in the direction he came from, dragging Lavender behind him.
"Did you have a fight with Hermione? And isn't the Hospital Wing back that way?" Lavender asked as she allowed the boy to lead her back toward the Gryffindor common room.
"Look, Hermione broke up with me because I made a dumb comment," Ron said. "With you to tell Hermione about Ginny's plan, I'm sure she'll understand."
"Hermione broke up with you!" she exclaimed.
In an instant, Ron's hand was covering Lavender's mouth. "Shh, not too loud. I don't want this to get out. I just want to make things right with Hermione."
"What did you say to her?" she asked.
"None of your concern," Ron replied flatly.
When the pair arrived at the Gryffindor common room, Lavender noticed that it was completely empty except for Neville and Hannah, who was sitting on his lap. They were reading a book together by the fireplace.
"Have either of you seen Hermione?" Ron asked them.
"No, why?" Neville asked as he glanced up at his friend. Lavender saw that Neville and Hannah's expressions changed to ones of shock when they noted Ron's bruised face.
"That looks terrible," Neville commented. "Shouldn't you be getting that taken care of in the Hospital Wing?"
"Hermione and I had a little misunderstanding," Ron told them.
"That's an understatement," Hannah deadpanned. "A misunderstanding that involved her slapping you repeatedly in the face? What did you say to her?"
"No one asked you for your opinion," Ron replied sharply. "I'm going down to the Hospital Wing. Just let me know if Hermione comes by will you?"
"Sure, no problem," Neville said as Ron left through the portrait.
Once Ron had gone, Neville asked Lavender if she knew what had happened between Ron and Hermione.
"I don't know any more than you do really," Lavender replied.
"Did it have something to do with you?" Hannah asked. "I mean when you entered, he was dragging you behind him."
"Of course not," she insisted. "All I know is that Hermione broke up with him."
Realizing what she had just said, Lavender covered her mouth with her hands and gave Neville and Hannah a sheepish look.
"Oops," Lavender said softly. "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. I couldn't help it though...news like that was just too much to keep to myself."
"Yeah well Ron's an idiot for telling you," Hannah said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lavender said defensively. "You were just as curious as I was and you'd probably never know if I didn't tell you."
"She has a point dear," Neville said to Hannah before turning his attention back to Lavender. "But even if you didn't tell us I think Hermione would. I imagine this is the kind of stuff that she wouldn't keep to herself either."
"In that case, I'm going up to tell Parvati," Lavender said, going into gossip mode.
The next day at lunch was interesting for Lavender because Harry Potter had decided to join them at the Gryffindor table for the first time this year. The fact that he chose to sit next to Hermione was no surprise given that she had broken up with Ron the night before. However, when Ron Weasley showed up to lunch, the entire Gryffindor table seemed to be on edge to see what happened. Thanks to Parvati, the everyone at the school already knew about the demise of Ron and Hermione's relationship.
The table got suddenly quiet as Ron approached Hermione. "Hermione, I need to talk to you about last night."
Hermione did not respond, but Ginny, who was sitting on Hermione's other side, spoke.
"Ron, I don't think you should be talking to her right now. She's still mad at you," Ginny told her brother.
His sister's warning did not dissuade the boy and he continued to plead to Hermione to talk to him.
"Please Hermione, you don't need to say anything, I just want to talk to you in private and explain everything," Ron said to Hermione.
Hermione huffed in annoyance at Ron's persistence and turned to face her ex-boyfriend. Harry, meanwhile, had put a supportive arm around Hermione and glared at the redheaded boy standing behind them as if warning him not to try something.
"I think that this entire table knows about our breakup," Hermione said, her anger clearly displayed on her face. "Whatever you have to say you can say here. But I can't possibly imagine that you'd be able to explain what you said last night."
Ron looked around at the table and saw that all eyes were on him now. The rest of the Great Hall had also quieted down as the other students at the school was curious about what was going on at the Gryffindor table.
"Ahem, well…" Ron began. "See last night I had run into Lavender and she had told me that her whole kissing Harry – "
There were gasps at the table at the revelation that Lavender had kissed Harry Potter. Ginny, however, was now looking at Lavender with a look of surprise and concern. Clearly the girl had not anticipated Lavender blowing their plan into the open and Lavender was reveling in the knowledge that Ginny might soon have Harry turn against her.
" – was all part of a plan to – " Ron continued before he was cut off by a silencing spell cast by Ginny.
"I think that's enough Ron," Ginny scolded her brother loud enough for everyone to hear. "Time for you to sit down and eat your lunch. I don't exactly see what Lavender kissing Harry has anything to do with you commenting that Harry seemed to get all of the pretty girls while you're only stuck with Hermione."
The entire Great Hall was now abuzz with gossip as a result of what had transpired. As for Lavender, she thought that Ron was an insensitive git to say something like that to Hermione.
"Serves him right don't you think?" Parvati commented next to her.
"I agree. Hermione was justified in breaking up with him and slapping him silly," Lavender said to her friend, glancing briefly at a miserable Ron who was now sitting at the end of the table by himself since none of the other students wanted to sit near to him for fear of Hermione's wrath.
"But you kissed Harry?" Parvati asked with raised eyebrows. "You didn't tell me that last night."
Lavender smirked at her best friend. "You're just jealous."
Parvati giggled. "I suppose I am, a little."
"Hey look, it's the Greengrass girl," Lavender heard a fifth year student say. "What's she doing coming over here?"
Looking around her, Lavender spotted Daphne who was indeed coming to the Gryffindor table. Harry seemed to meet Daphne's eyes and looked a little guilty. Lavender figured that was because he believed that it was Daphne who witnessed yesterday's events.
"Mind if I sit next to you?" Daphne asked Harry when she got to the table.
"Umm…sure," Harry replied nervously.
Daphne sat down on Harry's other side and smiled at the boy. "So this is new. You've come to the Great Hall for lunch."
"Look Daphne, I'm sorry about yesterday," Harry apologized. "She jumped me and when I had pushed her off you had run off. I chased after you but you disappeared."
Daphne looked at Harry with raised eyebrows. "What about yesterday and who jumped on you?"
"Don't you remember? We had a date and you saw Lavender kiss me?" Harry explained.
"Interesting that you should mention that we had a date yesterday," Daphne replied thoughtfully. "Tracey said the same thing last night when I returned to the common room. You see, I don't remember that we even had a date."
After overhearing that part Lavender felt that she should try to run because now Ginny's whole plan was going to unravel itself. Perhaps she was an idiot for thinking the plan would have worked in the first place.
"You don't!" Harry exclaimed in surprise. On his other side, Hermione and Ginny were also now intently listening.
Daphne shook her head before continuing. "But I think it's even more fascinating that I was there to see Lavender kiss you because the last thing I remember was waking up in some classroom with a headache. I wonder how that could have happened..."
The Slytherin threw a meaningful look in Lavender's direction at the last bit. The look caused Lavender to panic so she got up hastily and began to gather her books.
"Where are you going?" Parvati asked with a confused look.
"Back to my room," Lavender replied quickly. "I just remembered that I had something to do. I'll explain later."
With that, Lavender ran out of the Great Hall and did not stop until she was back in her room up in the Gryffindor tower.
Later that day after all the classes were over Lavender heard a knock at her door. When she opened it, she saw Ginny Weasley standing there frowning at her.
"I don't know why you told my brother about our plan," Ginny huffed. "As much as I think he'd be happy about it, I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to try to use it to make up with Hermione."
"Why are you so concerned?" Lavender retorted. "If anyone should be worried, it's me! I think Greengrass is going to try to get back at me for trying to ruin her relationship with Harry."
"And if you had kept your mouth shut, no one would be the wiser. Fortunately for us, I was able to cast a silencing spell on Ron before he could reveal any more."
"How does that solve the problem?" Lavender asked. "He still knows and the moment he's able to talk, he'll tell Hermione, or worse, Harry. Then neither of us will have a chance."
"Exactly why I came up here," Ginny said, grinning at her. "I've already taken case of my brother with a memory charm. He won't remember a thing except that you were trying to sabotage Harry's relationship with Greengrass and I'm going to make sure that you'll never be able to ruin my chances with Harry either."
The next thing Lavender saw was a blinding flash and she remembered no more.
For the rest of the month and into December, Lavender spent some time thinking of how to get closer to Harry but with little success. Another complication was the fact that Harry was spending more time in the company of Hermione, Ginny, and the Greengrass girl. Evidently her plan to ruin Harry's relationship with the Greengrass girl did not work at all and the Slytherin was probably closer to Harry than she was before.
As for Ron, he was still making attempts to fix his relationship with Hermione, ranging from sending her roses to cards, presumably with romantic messages written in them. Lavender had to give the boy some credit. He was persistent. On her part, Hermione was not very receptive to the idea of dating Ron again and made her point quite clear by sending him on another trip to the Hospital Wing. However, even that did not deter Ron, which was why he had come to Lavender to seek her help.
"Lav, I need you to help me get back together with Hermione," Ron pleaded with her after they had met in the Room of Requirement.
Lavender crossed her arms and stared at the boy. "After what you said to Hermione? I think you're on your own. I don't need to create more problems for myself and why isn't your sister helping you?"
"My sister won't help me," Ron replied, sounding a little desperate. "She said that I've already endangered her chances with Harry and that her best shot with getting together with Harry is to have Hermione help her. Hermione won't help her if she's busy helping me fix my relationship."
"This is your fault in the first place. And you're not giving up why?" Lavender asked.
"Because Christmas is coming soon and mum will want all of us to be back home, including Harry and Hermione," Ron explained. "Mum doesn't know that Hermione broke up with me yet and I don't want to destroy her dream of having Harry and Hermione as part of the family...besides, I think I love Hermione."
Ron's explanation sounded odd to Lavender. Was Ron making the decisions about who he should be dating or was his mother? But if he did love Hermione, who was she to get in the way of that? Maybe she could use this to her advantage and get something out of it.
"So what do I get in return?" Lavender asked finally.
"What do you want?"
"Hmm…let me think," Lavender said, bringing a finger to her chin. "How about a date with Harry?"
"What!" Ron exclaimed. "I can't give you that! Harry and Ginny would kill me!"
"Then you're on your own," Lavender said.
"Ok fine, but only one date," Ron agreed.
"That's all I ask," Lavender said, smiling at Ron.
It was a week before Lavender could get Hermione by herself. She had found the girl in the library studying with Ginny. Hermione thought it was out of place to see her in the library but Lavender was able to convince Hermione that it was urgent and that they should talk alone. Hermione excused herself and allowed Lavender to lead her to an empty classroom.
"So what's this all about?" Hermione asked after the doors were closed.
"It's about Ron," Lavender replied. "He really wants to get back together with you."
"Oh, so now he's having you do his bidding," Hermione commented sarcastically.
Lavender shook her head. "I'm getting something out of this so think of it as a trade."
"So what did he offer you?"Hermione asked.
"Well," Lavender began. "I suppose you'd hear it from Ron sooner or later but he promised me a date with Harry."
"So he'd sell out his best friend like cattle to get back with me?" Hermione asked, appalled at the lengths at which Ron seemed to be going to get back together with her.
"Hermione, he loves you," Lavender insisted. "Ron told me that much the other day when he came to me to beg for help. I think he misses you and wants you to give him another chance. Please consider it."
Hermione sat down at one of the desks and covered her face with her hands.
"If nothing else, at least think of the seven years of friendship that you've had with him," Lavender pleaded. "Are you going to throw all of that away, not to mention a steady relationship, over one stupid comment? It's Ron you're talking about. He doesn't think about what he's saying sometimes."
Lavender thought she heard Hermione let out a small laugh.
"I wouldn't call our relationship exactly steady but all right, I'll give him another chance," Hermione told Lavender. "He's going to have to work hard at this though if he wants to redeem himself."
Lavender grinned at her. "What else are boyfriends good for if not for hard work?"
Hermione laughed. "I think that I'm going to find Ron and put him to work now."
Over the next few days Hermione was seen in the company of Ron again, which meant that the girl had decided to forgive Ron for his stupidity. However, Lavender heard later from Parvati, it came with a catch: Ron would have to do anything that Hermione said for a month. Whether or not that was accurate did not really matter to Lavender. What mattered was whether or not Ron kept his end of the bargain. Fortunately for her, it appeared that Ron was true to his word because within a week, Harry approached Lavender and asked her on a date in Hogsmeade. They agreed to meet by the entrance of the school. Lavender was so excited that she gave the boy a kiss on the cheek and proceeded to run off to share the good news with Parvati.
On the day of their date, Harry met Lavender by the entrance of the school. It was ironic that she was standing in the same spot where she had kissed Harry previously.
"Ready to go?" Harry asked when he arrived.
Lavender nodded and attached herself to one of his arms.
"Harry wait!" They heard a voice call out as they started to walk toward the carriages.
When they turned around, Lavender saw Daphne Greengrass running toward them. From Lavender's point of view, it looked like that Daphne had dressed herself up more than usual.
"I'm glad that I caught you before you left. Hermione told me that you two were going on a date today," Daphne said to Harry.
"Yeah, why?" Harry asked her, a little concern evident in his voice. "Is everything ok?"
"It's nothing," Daphne said, looking bashfully at Harry. "I just wanted to say have fun and don't forget about me ok?"
Daphne's next move caught both Harry and Lavender by surprise as Daphne put a hand on either side of Harry's face and gave him the most passionate kiss she could.
Lavender stood there in shock at Daphne's unexpected move. When the two finally broke off the kiss, Harry was staring down in a daze at Daphne who had a satisfied smile on her face.
"Now have fun on your date," Daphne told Harry as she began to walk away.
"Turnabout's fair play," Daphne whispered to Lavender as she passed. "I'm sure you'll understand."
Looking back at Harry, Lavender saw that the boy was staring at Daphne's retreating figure.
"So are we going on our date?" Lavender asked, seething in frustration.
Lavender's tone shook Harry out of his reverie and he looked at her. He let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry, I can't do this..." Harry told her. "I don't know why I let Hermione talk me into this but I can't go on a date with you."
Hermione talked him into this? Lavender thought that the date was because Ron carried out his part of their deal. She had been mistaken. Ah well, she thought, she'd have to get something else out of him the next time she saw him. Now she'd have to clean up the pile of ashes now sitting in one of the drawers next to her bed, but she had to admit that the contest had been fun. Without saying a word to Harry, Lavender turned and walked back to the Gryffindor common room.
The trip to the Gryffindor common room was uneventful. When she passed through the portrait, she saw Ron and Hermione sitting next to each other on the couch. Hermione was dictating something to Ron who was scribbling what she was saying on a piece of parchment in front of him. Lavender grinned to herself. Hermione looked like she was making Ron useful.
Lavender walked upstairs to her bed and opened the top drawer. Sure enough there was a pile of ashes sitting where her list had been. Lavender banished the ashes and sat on her bed. Since there was no one around, she thought she should go back downstairs and perhaps talk to Parvati if she could find the girl.
When she got downstairs, she saw that Ron was now sitting by himself in front of a large stack of books, writing something down on a piece of parchment.
"So how are things with Hermione?" Lavender asked, taking a seat next to him.
"Oh, Lavender," Ron said, looking in her direction. "Things are great, I can't thank you enough. I don't know what you said to Hermione but it worked."
"Speaking of which...I believe you owe me a date with Harry?" Lavender said suggestively.
"But I thought you were already going on one?" Ron asked. "Hermione told me about it."
"That didn't turn out so well," Lavender explained. "Harry said that he couldn't go through with it so that means you owe me something else."
"What do you want then?"
At that point an odd feeling washed over Lavender. She felt as if she were floating and only one feeling replaced every worry or thought in her mind: happiness.
"Lavender, are you ok?" she heard Ron say, a concerned expression on his face.
Lavender didn't answer him. A thought about how Ron could repay her for her help came to mind. She hoped that he wouldn't mind doing it either. Looking back at the boy, she suddenly realized that Ron was cute worrying over her the way he did. In fact, she felt like kissing him. So she did.
The kiss was about as wonderful as she thought it would be and it seemed that he was enjoying it as much as she was until a shrill voice snapped her out of her bliss.
"RONALD WEASLEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"
Lavender turned around and saw a very angry Hermione Granger glaring at both of them. Lavender didn't even hear her enter the common room.
"Her-Hermione!" Ron said in surprise as he jumped to his feet. "I thought you went to the library!"
"Yes but I forgot one of my books here," Hermione told him. "So I give you another chance at making our relationship work and this is what you do!"
Hermione did not give Ron any time to reply but instead fired off a low-level blasting curse at him. Ron recoiled back at the blow and staggered to the ground in front of Lavender.
Lavender saw Hermione stalk out of the portrait, leaving a stunned Ronald Weasley at Lavender's feet.
A/N: Sorry this one took a while to post. It took me a while to figure out what to do and I did have a very hard time writing Lavender. Same as usual, feedback would be appreciated.