Ron sat with his best friend Harry by the Gryffindor common room fire. He was exhausted, with a lot on his mind. Lessons were getting more and more difficult by the day, the homework piling up. Then there was still Quidditch, Apparition lessons and Prefect duties to do. On top of all that, there was his girlfriend, Lavender, who –

‘Won-Won!’ came a shout of glee from the spiral staircase. Ron closed his eyes in resignation. Opening them, he looked at Harry, instead of at the girl behind him. His best friend simply raised his eyebrows at him, giving him a look that said, ‘Well, what do you want me to do about it?’

Sighing, Ron muttered ‘Thanks a lot,’ to Harry, and stood up out of the comfortable armchair. He turned around slowly, his eyes meeting the delighted ones of Lavender Brown. The expression on her face was similar to that of a five-year-old presented with lollies. Ron smiled weakly. Lavender gestured towards the portrait hole, to the left of Ron, a little too enthusiastically. He made his way over, waiting when he got there while she hurried towards him through the groups of people milling around.

Ron continued to wear his cheesy grin as Lavender got closer, a sickly-sweet expression still splashed over her features.

‘Let’s go for a walk,’ Lavender suggested. Noticing a slight fall in Ron’s expression, she added in a sweet, pleading voice complete with puppy-dog eyes, ‘Please, Won-Won?’

Reapplying his fake smile, Ron replied, ‘OK!’, trying to sound enthusiastic, and failing spectacularly. Lavender looked doubtful for a moment, but was fooled yet again by Ron’s goofy grin.

Inwardly, he sighed with relief, but felt dismal at the thought of going for a walk with Lavender. What a way to spend my Saturday, he thought.

Ever since Ron had gotten together with Lavender, nearly a month ago now, he had regretted ever doing so. He was annoyed at himself for leading her on, starting the relationship out of jealousy. He had thought she wouldn’t be too much trouble, a girl he could snog without much fuss. How wrong Ron had been. He had discovered the hard way that Lavender was an extremely giggly girly-girl, whose disposition could be described as ‘overly-enthusiastic’. Ron was now not having second, not third, but fourth thoughts about ever even contemplating going out with her. Sure, the pashing was good, but the rest of the time all her ‘Won-Won -’ this and ‘Won-Won -’ that made him want to puke. Now, unfortunately for Ron, there was no escape. There seemed no way of getting himself out of Lavender’s terrible clingy clutches.

They had reached the Castle doors. Not sure his smile would hold much longer, Ron opened them, and they walked out hand in hand. Ron was relieved no-one was around to see this.

They walked out, into the weak sunshine that lit their surroundings. It was a crisp day, cold enough to need a cloak. Even though Lavender was wearing quite a thick one herself, she shivered unnecessarily and looked at Ron frequently, with a sorry look on her face. Ron, however, was far away from her.

Looking into the distance, he could see places around the grounds he had spent happy times with Harry and Hermione. Ron was in a reflective mood, due to the fact that his relationship with Lavender had caused all sorts of problems he most definitely didn’t want to have. He was frustrated and angry that his heart and instinct (which had been wrong) had ruled over his mind.

Ron was pulled from his reverie by Lavender actually uttering a pathetically fake ‘Brrr!’ Finally, he got the hint, and dispassionately put his arm around her shoulders, without really even looking at her. Out the corner of his eye, Ron could see she continued to look at him with those same, over-sweet, puppy-dog eyes. He retched, mentally, cursing again for getting himself into this state. Though, technically, it wasn’t his entire fault. Merlin, how dumb could a girl be? Wasn’t it obvious he held no real affection for her? That all he really cared about was perfecting his snogging technique and getting someone else’s attention?

That was the problem. The attention he wanted to gain from this particular person was the wrong kind. The attention they were giving him was the kind he had been receiving for the past five years.

Ron must have been thinking all this with a very sad expression on his face, because Lavender said, again in her annoyingly bubbly voice, ‘Won-Won? Are you OK?’

Ron shook his head a little, startled after being so deep in thought. He registered half a second later what Lavender had said, and replied, ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’ with fake cheeriness in his voice.

Lavender wasn’t as convinced as last time, but decided against doubting her Won-Won. Ron went back to staring into space as they walked along, hand-in-hand, through the vast green of the grounds.

Why didn’t she notice him? Girls were so confusing, not to mention frustrating. Ron was back to his deep, meaningful thoughts. Never mind his girlfriend, who was not satisfied by the attention she was receiving. Well, in any case, Ron mused, that could be one way to get rid of Lavender. If I actually tried to like her, she might never go away!

His thoughts turned back to his failed efforts to gain her attention. Why couldn’t he just tell her straight out? Unfortunately, the answer came too easily. It was fear. Fear of rejection and fear of ruining their friendship. Some Gryffindor I am, Ron thought bitterly.

The - well, not happy couple, but the couple nonetheless, had come to the bank of the lake. It was a beautiful sight, the lake still, its surface glassy, surrounded by red-, orange- and yellow-leaved trees. They stood there for a while, taking in the beauty of the scene. Lavender, taking this as a romantic opportunity, leant over, obviously wanting a snog. Ron, realising just in time what she was going to do, turned away quickly with an extremely fake cough. Lavender pouted, but Ron kept up his coughing fit before having an idea. Leading Lavender over to the nearest tree, he sat down under it, pulling her down with him. If they sat here, Lavender in his arms, Ron could think about whatever he pleased, with Lavender thinking she was finally getting the attention she had long awaited.

They settled in their spot, their legs stretching out in front of them. Lavender leant against Ron, her head on his chest. Ron put his arms around her, hoping she was convinced that he actually cared about them, now and… beyond. Ron winced internally at this thought. He sincerely hoped there would be no ‘beyond’ with Lavender.

He wanted a beyond with Hermione. She was the one he cared about. She didn’t seem to return those feelings though. Ron had thought she’d maybe notice him differently if he got with a girl. That she’d finally forget Viktor and see Ron. Ron, the one who actually loved her.

So much for that. She seemed a lot more touchy and snappy now that Lavender was on the scene; and then there was Cormac. Well, OK, he hadn’t been the most caring and understanding person all the time, but couldn’t she at least see he had a lot to deal with?

Ron sat there, under that tree by the Lake, holding Lavender, the girl he didn’t care about in the slightest, while thinking about Hermione, the girl he loved. He didn’t have a clue what to do, but he knew one thing for certain: If he could turn back time, he wouldn’t be sitting there, under that tree, holding that girl, at all.