AN: Everyone take a deep breath. Comments follow the chapter :)

Chapter 24 – In My Place

Lavender ran through the crowds along the main street of Hogsmead. She needed to get away from here, from all of it.

Her eyes weren't stinging from tears, it was from the wind she told herself as she raced down the street. She didn't care about the curious glances of people or shouts of protest as she bumped and pushed past them.

Finally she rounded a corner and turned until she reached the back step of a local shop. She leaned against the building and caught her breath.

Slowly she slid down the edge of the building and sat down on the ground. She pulled her knees close to her chest and rested her head on them.

She heard someone clear their throat and she hastily wiped her tears away.

"What do you want now?" she sighed looking away.

Ron didn't say anything but sat down beside her.

"You left this at the store," he replied.

She grabbed the package but refused to look at him. The wind whipped around them furiously and she pulled her coat closer to her body.

"I'm sorry," he said after a long silence, "For what I said."

"Don't be," she didn't look at him but continued staring straight ahead into the trees, "Everything you said was true."

Another silence.

"Maybe," he said taking a deep breath before continuing, "But I didn't have a right to say those things to you. You were right, I shouldn't judge people I don't know."

Lavender leaned her head back against the building.

"But everyone knows me," she said with a humourless laugh, "Lavender Brown, the stupid tart with no brain."

When she finally looked at him she saw pity in his eyes.

"Don't feel sorry for me," she said as she stood up from her seat on the ground, "I'll be fine."

"You remind me a lot of this girl I know," Ron sighed, "She's brilliant, no one like her really, but she can't seem to see just how great she really is."

She turned around to look at him and his eyes were glazed over a smile on his lips.

"Bloody brilliant, but so insecure about what other people think of her," he stood up as he spoke, "But the reality is, everyone is insecure."

She watched him still guarded as to what his intentions were. Why was he even talking to her at all?

"Take me for instance, I am so crazy about her," he admitted leaning against the wall and placing his hands in his pockets, "And I want so desperately to tell her how I feel but every time I see her – its like I can't move, can't speak, can't do anything really. Because when's she around…"

He sighed and Lavender turned around properly to look at him.

"What?"

"Nothing else exists," He said with another sigh, "And that scares the shit out of me."

"Why are you telling me this?" she questioned in confusion, "Aren't you afraid I'm going to tell everyone?"

"Well that's the thing, you could do that, go on and start up rumours about me and it'll probably get you a lot of attention," he cocked his head to one side and continued to look at her, "But is that what you really want?"

She stared at him still confused.

"The first person to trust you with their secrets and you go off and tell the world - is that the kind of person you want to be?"

Her eyes widened at this and she took a step away from his penetrating gaze. When she looked back up at him he raised an eyebrow at her.

"What's it gonna be?"

"I think…" she said slowly licking her lips thoughtfully before continuing, "You need advice about girls."

He smiled at this before pushing away from the wall.

"That I do," he chuckled.

"Hey."

Ginny turned around when someone grabbed her hand.

"Finally got away from Potter huh?" Seamus smiled, "Thought he was going to strangle me for sure."

"Wh-what?" Ginny said in confusion still too distracted to even comprehend what Seamus had said.

"Oh come on," he replied but his smile faltered when he saw her face, "You don't know?"

She shook her head at him.

"Okay," he said thoughtfully before continuing, "It really doesn't matter anyway. How 'bout a drink?"

"Sure I guess," she shrugged realizing that she never got a chance to drink or eat anything earlier.

"Great," Seamus smiled and led her into Madam Puddifoots.

"Err…you sure you want to go in there?" she hesitated in front of the store.

"Yeah, trust me you'll love it," Seamus answered.

She raised her eyebrows this.

"I will, will I?" she said in annoyance but she didn't think Seamus noticed her tone.

He opened the door and waited for her to walk in, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes and stepped inside instead.

Harry gulped down the rest of his butterbeer before sighing.

He stood up from his seat and exited the Hog's Head where he found Hermione waiting for him.

"Took you long enough," she said before grabbing his arm, "Come on I saw her go this way."

"Thought we were looking for Ron and Lavender," He replied.

"Don't bother," she replied softly, dropping his arm.

"Hermione," he stopped but she refused to turn around to look at him, "this was just a big misunderstanding, he really likes you, trust me on this."

"Maybe…"

"No," he moved to stand in front of her, "Not maybe. He is so crazy about you so much so that it's driving the rest of us insane."

"What do you mean?" She questioned clearly intrigued.

"I like you Hermione but there's only so much I can take."

When Hermione continued to stare at him blankly he elaborated.

"He talks about you all the time, and when he's not talking about you he's always drawing in that sketchbook of his. Have you seen inside that book?"

She shook her head although she did remember seeing Ron carry it around a lot.

"I don't want to freak you out, but it's kinda bordering on obsession," Harry shook his head as though remembering said book.

"That doesn't really prove –"

"Did I ever tell you the time Hermione and I met at the train station? Did I tell you what she was wearing at the Christmas Ball? Did I mention her hair? Her hair smells so nice – ouch!"

Hermione had punched Harry on the arm.

"You're embarrassing me," she mumbled, "And he doesn't talk like that, I've never heard him say things like that around me, I mean around the guy-me."

"Well yeah because…" Harry's eyes widened and Hermione could actually see his the cogs turning in his head.

"Hermione he knows!" He suddenly spoke causing her to jump slightly.

"Shhh!" she pushed Harry into the alleyway near them, "What are you talking about?"

"He knows Hermione, think about it, he never talks about the girl-you when you're around."

"Cause he thinks John is my cousin, he wouldn't want to talk about me in front of my cousin."

Harry's brow furrowed.

"No, I think he…" Harry trailed off as he looked off into the distance, "Oh, I am going to kill him!"

Without another word, Harry ran out of the alley and across the street, Hermione running after him.

"So I said, 'you can't beat a Gryffindor,' and then BAM!" Seamus slammed his fist on the table, "he was on his back before he knew it."

Seamus smiled gleefully at the memory.

Ginny sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Yeah, great," she said while groaning internally.

Seamus was very slowly killing her.

For the last half-hour he had told every stupid anecdote and story of him generally just beating up people and making them randomly catch on fire. Her hopes had been raised when he brought up Quidditch but those hopes were quickly dashed when he began talking about how toned his body looked from the exercise.

Of course it didn't help that she saw Amanda across the room with her friends and they were all glaring at her. And she had a sneaking suspicion that this was all part of Seamus plan to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. She should have just left, but where would she go? Her pride refused to let her go and find Harry. So she just sat there, growing angrier by the second that she was being used and hating the fact that she was so darn stubborn.

At least, she had been able to restrain herself from banging her head on the table. But that had been because she was more annoyed at the decorations that were sprinkled in her hair every now and then by the flying fairies.

"Can we get some chips over here," she called back at the waiter who ignored her for the tenth time.

"What you out of chips? We're British, we created fish and chips!" Ginny shook her head in irritation.

"I was thinking of getting these new weights…"

'Merlin just do it, just kill me now,' she prayed closing her eyes tightly in hopes of a lightening bolt.

Ginny's eyes snapped open when she felt Seamus hand on top of hers that was resting on the table.

"You know you have really pretty hair," Seamus noted shifting his chair closer.

He ran his fingers through her hair before leaning over to smell it and Ginny leant away to maintain the distance

"What are you doing?" she questioned pulling her hand away.

"Just smelling your – oh, hi Harry."

Ginny didn't have time to register what Seamus had said before she was forcefully pulled out of her chair.

"Look, we were just talking –"

Ginny tried to twist her hand free but it was no use, Harry had her with a vice like grip.

Harry stepped forward and glared down at Seamus who visibly paled and swallowed.

"Stay – away – from – Ginny," Harry seethed.

Seamus simply nodded his head vigorously and that was the last Ginny saw of him before Harry dragged her out of the shop.

"Harry let go!" Ginny cried as they sped down the road and away from Seamus.

"Harry wait!"

Ginny turned behind her and only just realised that Hermione was with them.

"Shouldn't you be with Ron?" she questioned her friend momentarily distracted by Harry parting the crowds with his glare.

Harry suddenly dropped her arm and spun around and focused his glare on her.

"What the hell do you think you are doing!"

"Harry, calm down," Hermione tried to interject herself but Harry ignored her.

"I told you he was bad news but you wouldn't listen. I'm Ginny Weasley and I can't take care of myself."

"I can take care of myself," she replied her anger increasing when he scoffed at her.

"Don't patronise me! I may not be Harry boy-who-lived Potter but I can hold my own," she was breathing heavily now as she glared back at him.

"Please, he was going to kiss you and you didn't even -"

"For your information," she jabbed him in the chest to stress her point, "He was not going to kiss me."

She left out the fact that he was actually trying to smell her hair cause that thought was equally as disgusting.

"Whatever! He shouldn't be touching you at all, no one should!"

"Why the bloody hell not?! I'm not good enough am I? Is it so inconceivable that anyone would want to kiss me!"

"Guys, maybe we should continue this elsewhere," she heard Hermione urge them from the sidelines.

Ginny ignored her friend she didn't care if the whole world saw what an arse Harry Potter was.

"No! That's not what I meant – I meant that…"

"What? I'm easy, I'd just let anyone kiss me? What? What did you mean?!"

"I don't want anyone else touching you!" Harry finally screamed his hands pulling at his hair.

Ginny gaped at him.

"What the hell does that mean?" she questioned her voice hoarse now from all the screaming.

Harry groaned and looked away from her. He took a few deep breaths before looking back at her.

"I meant," he said through gritted teeth before fixing her with an intense gaze, but he hesitated before he continued, "you're just a kid, you shouldn't be dating anyone."

Ginny stared at him disbelief.

Then she slapped him.

Harry staggered back a few steps from the impact.

She swore several words at Harry that she was sure shocked even the adults around her before turning and walking away.

"Hi Allan," Lavender greeted the shop owner as they stepped back inside his store, "Could we get some tea please?"

Allan blushed when he saw Lavender walk in. He passed a hand through his short brown hair and looked from Lavender to Ron.

"Sure," the shop owner said finally before disappearing behind the curtain, "I'll bring it up for you."

Lavender lead Ron behind the counter and pushed aside the curtain for him to pass through, he saw boxes of art supplies stacked along the walls and he heard Allan moving around in a small kitchen near the back door.

"Come on," Lavender said before leading him up the stairs to the second floor of the building.

Ron saw that Allan had set up his art studio above the store, he even had sofa chairs and a bed.

He followed Lavender over towards the sofa and sat down across from her.

"You come here often?" he questioned glancing at the bed.

"You mean am I sleeping with him?" Lavender laughed when he blushed, "No, Allan's a good guy he wouldn't do that – besides he's far too smart to be interested in a kid like me."

"I don't know," Ron remembered the look on Allan's face when he saw Lavender, "he's not that old, he only graduated from Hogwarts last year."

"We're talking about your love life, not mine," she rolled her eyes at him.

"Teas' done," Allan suddenly appeared on the steps holding a tray.

Lavender instantly jumped up to help him but he shook his head.

"Hey, did you change your hair," Allan questioned after placing the tray down on the coffee table.

Lavender bit her lip and ran her fingers through her knotted hair.

"Yeah, a bit," she replied in embarrassment.

"I like the colour on you," Allan said before he looked at Ron, "This…your boyfriend?"

"No we're just mates," Ron replied and he saw Allan smile at this.

Ron smirked and looked over at Lavender.

She shook her head at him though she was biting down on her lip to stop from smiling.

"Thanks Allan," she said.

"Oh right, I'll be downstairs if you need anything."

When they heard him descend the stairs Ron burst into laughter.

"Oh yeah, he doesn't like you at all."

"Kettle – Pot – Black."

"What?" he questioned her in confusion.

She rolled her eyes at him.

"You can hardly make fun of him when you haven't told the girl you like how you feel."

Ron scratched his head distractedly.

"So you were saying something about advice?"

"Well that was nicely handled," Hermione said as she watched Ginny walk off into the distance, "Not how I would have told Ginny that you like her but still better than nothing."

Harry groaned.

"I do not like her, she's Ginny," He said Ginny's name as though this settled the point.

Harry passed a hand through his hair as he watched Ginny walk away.

Hermione simply rolled her eyes at him.

"Ron's gonna kill me when he finds out I treated her like that. What are the chances of him finding out?" Harry looked at her desperately.

"Having a screaming match in the middle of Hogsmeade might diminish your chances of keeping this a secret," Hermione replied.

"But he'd understand, she's like a sister to me too, I don't want anything bad to happen to her," He looked at Hermione as though expecting her to agree.

She simply gave him a 'are you serious' look.

Harry groaned.

"The thing is Harry," Hermione placed a comforting hand on his shoulder to get his attention, "She's not your sister is she?"

Harry continued to stare off into the distance before sighing.

"We should find Ron," Harry said after a moment's silence.

"You know what," she said when she saw the gloomy expression on his face, "How bout we just hang out for a bit."

"What? No, Hermione its fine, me and Ginny we'll sort it out –"

"No, its okay," she felt a surge of confidence from within her, "Watching you two made me finally realise what I have to do, and running after him and ruining his date is not it."

"So what are you going to do?" Harry asked now curious.

"You'll see," she attempted to smile but may have just made him more nervous.

"Stupid - egotistical - overprotective – bastard!" Ginny screamed kicking the fence beside her angrily to emphasise every word.

The fence wobbled slightly but remained standing. She gave it a few more forceful kicks imaging Harry's face in front of her.

"Thanks for this."

Ginny spun around when she heard her brother's voice. Her eyes widened when she saw Lavender and Ron walking towards her unaware of her presence. Ginny looked around her frantically before running behind a tree.

They continued past her and Ginny was about to step out from the shadows when Lavender stopped. They stood a few metres away from her and unfortunately she couldn't hear what they were saying. She wondered briefly whether to walk away or to move closer.

Her brain stopped functioning however when she saw Lavender stand up on her tiptoes and kiss Ron full on the mouth.

She didn't know whether to puke or continue staring at the horrifying scene unfolding in front of her.

At least the kiss was chaste and the next moment Lavender stepped back from Ron. Ginny's eyes darted to Ron's face, she was confused by the sadness she saw there.

'Darn, why can't I read lips?' she cursed, 'surely women should be able to read lips, otherwise how would we ever find out about cheating men.'

Instead she turned to Lavender who nodded her head at something Ron said before she smiled up at him. Ron continued to look at her before he pulled out his wand and pointed at Lavender's head.

Ginny narrowed her eyes when she saw Lavender's hair repair itself and return to its natural beauty though it remaind brown. Lavender ran her fingers through her long silky hair and laughed at something Ron had said.

Lavender linked arms with him before they turned and continued on their way.

'Probably best not to tell Hermione this,' she said to herself.

Ginny suddenly tensed and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

Slowly she turned around and looked behind her.

Though she didn't see anything she made a hasty retreat from the bushes. The last thing she needed was to be attacked. A smirking Harry appeared before her face.

"Stupid git, don't know why I like you at all Harry Potter," she grumbled before walking back to Hogwarts.

Hermione sat on the steps outside the courtyard. She had long since changed back to being 'John'. Her hands running through her now short hair as she looked thoughtfully off into the distance. The sun was setting and it was nearly twilight. Almost all the students had returned now and Hermione bit back her concern at how long Ron had been gone. She replayed the speech in her head and wondered briefly whether Ron had kissed Lavender.

Harry was pacing the courtyard in front of her and she wondered whether he was slowly coming to the realisation that he liked Ginny.

'Doubtful,' she told herself, 'Boys are so thick sometimes.'

A scream of horror jolted her from her inner reverie. She was instantly on her feet. Harry shared a look of concern with her before they raced towards the sound.

As much as she hated her, Hermione knew instantly that that scream belonged to Lavender Brown, the same Lavender who was with Ron.

'Please Merlin, let him be okay,' she chanted in her head.

AN: Seriously, were you worried? Lavender/Ron?? Really? Come on, this is me here, Ron/Hermione shipper through and through. I'm surprised so many of you thought I'd go down that road...pretty funny though, sorry but you guys freaking out made me laugh XD but before you hate me for enjoying being evil consider that your collective freak-outs also made me finish this chapter quickly.

xzotic: Aww Lav-Lav...what made me write her this way was the way she was fighting and was attacked at the end of DH, Gryffindor through and through. Though even I was surprised at how she developed as a character here.

Emjalina: Thanks for reviewing and I'm very flattered by your praise.

TearsIntoRoses: LOL glad I left you speechless. Though another cliffhanger, how much do you hate me? XD

Kashrlyyk: Thank you so much! I'm trying really hard to make everything as realistic as possible, takes quite a lot of editing and I'm glad you notice and appreciate it :)

DHlover99: You get credit for being one of the people who's freak-outs over possible Lav/Ron made me write this chapter as quick as possible lol

Briememory: Thanks! Always nice to have new readers and hear their thoughts.

1234: I know me too, poor kid. Though I'm annoyed that he and Harry are so thick.

HGT: Don't get me started on boys. You too deserve credit for the quick update, did you really think I'd make Ron date Lavender? bleh! Hope this chapter made you feel better :)

3's all around: I do believe in Ron/Hermione, I do, I do, I do...feel better? lol

PhoenixLighterHybrid: Thanks so much, not sure from your comment but I hope you are enjoying this fic.

Emily (Emmy1124): They sure are, honestly the only ones worth any time are the fictional ones. But Ron doesn't know Hermione saw him with Lavender and as far as he knows she's in love with Harry...could he be more stupid? LOL

CEO-FLEX: Thank you so much! This made me smile and comments like yours encourage me to write more :)

charma10: You'll go mad? How do you think I feel? lol I have these guys in my head 24/7 trying to figure out how they feel about each other. Honestly, I may just give up and lock them in a room together to work out the sexual tension...hmm maybe in the next chapter :P

theholyhorehay: Really, you printed this out? Kinda makes me embarrased...not that you printed it but that someone would actually like my story so much that they would go to the trouble...Thanks sweetie, that made me smile all day :)

IsIWisi: Thanks so much! Honestly, you guys are so sweet and that just makes me want to work even harder to make this story great! :)