It can never be the same

Chapter 15

Warning: violence

Ron's poisoning had set everyone on edge. Unfortunately, Ron had to stay in the hospital wing for the rest of the week, which meant that McLaggen would take his place as Keeper for the upcoming match. It was dreadful having him at practice and between her and Ginny, Harry had his hands full trying to keep them both from hexing him.

She had started avoiding Harry because McLaggen had taken to cornering him and hinting that he would make a better Keeper than Ron. McLaggen wasn't the only one cornering Harry, Lavender had decided to seek Harry's company since Ron was in the hospital wing. Unlike McLaggen, Lavender would seek her out when she couldn't find Harry. 

She never had anything against Lavender; they'd always got along fairly well, and she, in fact, pitied her because she was pretty sure that Ron did not like her as much as she liked him. But Lavender didn't seem to have a filter when it came to Ron and it was starting to get on her nerves. 

She would not have had this problem if Hermione was around because Lavender avoided her like the plague but she had hardly seen Hermione all week. She had taken to avoiding her and she knew why that was. So, Lavender kept badgering her about Ron's feelings and it was the most awkward thing in the world, having to listen to her dissect how Ron feels about her, especially when she didn't know what to say. 

Once she had tried pretending like she and Neville were deep in conversation about something rather private and important - much to Neville's confusion because they had just been discussing the latest Herbology book he was reading - but she joined them and roped Neville into the conversation on Ron's feelings. She wondered why Lavender wasn't discussing these things with her best friend but Parvati had suddenly made herself scarce.

Across the common room, Harry looked relieved and shot her a smug look. Only for it to fall away when McLaggen approached him yet again. 

Her only solace, was Malfoy - a thought she never would've even let cross her mind at the beginning of the school year. Since the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff match was that week, they could not meet up on Saturday again. So they met up after her Quidditch practice, twice, both of them sneaking out of their respective common rooms. 

They weren't supposed to meet a second time but Malfoy had let slip that he was struggling with Alchemy. So, she told him to bring his books to the Room of Requirement later that week, deciding to kill two birds with one stone. They could work on the Vanishing Cabinet for a bit before she helped him with what he was struggling with. 

Surprisingly working with Malfoy had become the least problematic part of her life. She wasn't sure how that had happened. 

Helping Malfoy with his Alchemy turned into them talking about Theo and his latest failed flirtation which then turned into them chatting about how well things were going between Pansy and Daphne. This turned into her complaining about Ron and Lavender's relationship and how Lavender wouldn't leave her alone which turned into them gossiping about how Ron and Hermione had become friends again and what that meant for them going forward. 

They talked about everything and yet nothing at all - avoiding the heavy topics; the things they most likely should've been discussing. They decided to call it quits for the night after they made a bet over whether she would apparate in their next lesson. She obviously didn't believe that she would. 

It was more anxiety-inducing, sneaking out after hours without the invisibility cloak, but on her way back to her common room, she felt like she was floating. She forgot how nice it was to talk with Malfoy. Their conversations hardly ever had a lull in them and she liked the way he thought, not to mention that they shared a similar sense of humour.