“Would you rather be a blonde or brunette?” my best friend, Parvati asks me from her position, sprawled out on my bed, taking one of those silly Muggle quizzes out of a magazine.
“Blonde. Definitely,” I answer, ignoring her obvious display of eye-rolling that I can see quite easily through the reflection in the mirror. I run my brush through another section of my perfectly blonde hair.
“Okay,” Parvati says, sucking thoughtfully on the end of her quill. “Well, according to this, you are fun, playful, and ripe and ready for love,” she says, barely suppressing a snort.
I beam.
“Excellent. Because you know who’s looking particularly fine this year?” I ask, setting down the brush and turning to face her.
“Cormac McClaggen?” she gushes with a sigh. “He’s so dreamy and handsome…”
“No,” I interrupt before she starts drooling all over my bed covers. “Ron Weasley.”
Predictably Parvati makes a face. “No way. His hair is loathsome and he’s too gangly,” she says dismissively with a wave of her hand. “I like my men strong and muscular.”
Yes,” I say slowly, watching her closely. “That was how he was last year. But have you looked at him recently?” Parvati opens her mouth to argue back, but I beat her to it. “No. Really looked at him?” She closes her mouth and slowly shakes her head with a confused expression on her face.
“But he likes Hermione,” she points out reasonably.
“Well, that’s because he’s never really had the option of anyone else. And it’s not as if she likes him back.”
Right on cue, Hermione Granger walks into the room. Immediately Parvati and I fall silent, letting her know, without a shadow of a doubt, of whom we were discussing. She looks between the both of us, looking slightly puzzled. I smile sweetly and flip my hair back prettily. “Do you Hermione?” I ask, still smiling, but all I can think about is how Ron could possibly like this bookish girl with her hideous bushy hair.
The funny thing is that she doesn’t even know about his little crush, though it’s quite obvious to the rest of Gryffindor house.
“Do I what?” she asks, still standing in the doorway, somewhat defensively. Well I have to admit, it’s not like we’re best buds with her.
“Like Ron,” spits out Parvati, like a little child on the edge of her seat. She would love to have some juicy gossip like this. So would I for that matter, as long as it doesn’t mess up my plans with Ron.
And when you really think about it, she probably wouldn’t tell us even if she did like him. Yet, she would claim that she doesn’t and therefore couldn’t blame me if her feelings got hurt. After all she can’t say we never gave her a chance to speak up and claim him. So basically, it’s a win/win situation for me.
Unless she says yes…
“Not in that sense,” she scoffed. “Of course not.” And she promptly marched over to her trunk and hid her blushing face.
I almost let out a sigh of relief and nearly felt sorry for her. Poor dear. Maybe she knew more about Ron’s crush than we gave her credit for. Well at least I know she won’t act on it. Good thing my good looks and charm can erase from Ron’s mind whatever he saw in that girl in the first place.
“Oh, Lav!” squealed Parvati, “this is excellent! So what are you going to do next?” she asks, coming over beside me and examining herself in the mirror.
Was I imagining things, or did I just see Hermione look up suddenly? I could kick Parvati and her big mouth. Oh well, I don’t really care that she knows or even if she tells Ron. Then he’ll just know for sure that I’m interested and won’t go through all his ‘shyness worrying’ about what I really mean.
“It’s a pity Harry’s not my type,” Parvati says thoughtfully, sliding on some lip gloss and puckering her lips. I ignore her.
I watch as Hermione gathers her many books and heads out of the room. I almost cringe in embarrassment for her.
Almost.
Standing up, I waltz over to my truck and rummage for my new necklace my mother had sent this morning. As I clasp it on I examine myself in the mirror. Yes. I think I’m ready to go.
“Come Parvati, dear,” I say happily, looping my arm through hers. She grins at me. And despite the fact that her parents may force my best friend to leave school; despite the fact that Prof. McGonagall has warned that my Transfiguration grade is in trouble; despite the fact that Ron already has a crush; I’m feeling optimistic. “Let us go.” And with that, we skipp out the door and into a world of infinite possibilities.
Author's Note: In no way, shape or form am I supporting Lavender/Ron by writing this story. I'm a firm believer that Ron and Hermione are meant to be together, but I wanted to get inside Lavendar's head to see what she might have been thinking during HBP.