In Another Universe

Chapter 13

TW: brief instance of verbal abuse/manipulation

Weasley turned back to face the pitch, his face burning with embarrassment despite how cool he'd played it in front of Granger. He was met with a chorus of wolf-whistles and teasing jeers from the boys: "Smooth one, Weasley, real smooth!"

"Oh, shut up," he said, giving a playful shove to Jack Sloper, the nearest defender. "Bunch of gits."

"Particularly smooth considering it was the last kick of the match," Ginny remarked, looking at her watch. "Practice is over, everyone! Thanks for a great scrimmage!"

The men's and women's teams both dispersed, chattering animatedly, but when Weasley turned around to do the same, he noticed a determined figure strutting toward him, primping her blond curls as she approached him.

"Won-Won, that was incredible!" Lavender squealed as she came closer.

"Don't call me that," Ron grimaced, trying to twist away. But she was faster, and soon she was holding on tightly to his arm, keeping him from leaving.

"I didn't know you were so good a goalie, Ronnie," she cooed, raising a hand to try to brush his red fringe out of his eyes.

He whipped his head away from her touch, and tried to fake a friendly chuckle: "That's because you've never been to one of my games before— by the way, who told you I was here?"

"Some guy at your lab," she beamed radiantly. "I went to check whether they'd given you my little note, and I asked those guys where you were. One of them, very nicely, told me you'd probably be at football practice— Cormac, I think his name was? Very kind, very handsome chap, y'know, he was kind enough to even give me a run-down of your lab schedule in case I need you again..."

Damn that McLaggen, Ron thought, swallowing a curse behind a very forced, tight-lipped smile, finally getting his revenge on me for beating him out for goalie.

Lavender was undeterred: "...so I came to find you! I thought we could have a nice afternoon together, we haven't been on a date in so long..." she purred, inching her chest closer to his body, ignoring his uncomfortable stiffness and strengthening her grip on his arm.

"Lavender, please get off me. We're not dating. I don't really want this."

"When have you not played hard to get?" she said in a low voice, apparently taking Ron's request as a flirty invitation.

"I'm serious, Lavender," he said, trying to pry her fingers off his arm, but only making her clutch more strongly. "I'm sorry for any signals I gave you at Katie's party, but I was really drunk, and sober me really does not want this, we've put it behind us..."

"That's what you said the last two times we broke up," said Lavender, trying to pull him even closer, but he finally succeeded in shaking her off and backing away. Though startled at his breakaway, she suddenly seemed to have finally caught the hint, and when she spoke again, there was no hint of soft flirtiness in her voice, but rather a cold edge: "This is about Granger, isn't it?"

"Granger? What would make you think that?" said Ron, rubbing his arm where her fingers had left behind red marks, too focused on that to even blush.

"Because if it is," Lavender continued, not even deigning to answer his question, "you're wasting your time. I saw her with that Malfoy guy down at the library a couple days ago, sharing a table and getting all buddy-buddy."

Ron simmered under the surface. "Malfoy? Seriously?" he murmured absentmindedly, feeling a gust of undue jealousy ripple through his heartstrings.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did she not tell you?" Lavender intoned maliciously, without a hint of sympathy in her voice. She once again made a grab at him, and he was so stunned that he couldn't fight her back. She cozied up to his arm once again. "Seriously, Won-Won, why you even bother... I'm right here, you know. And it's worked twice before." She stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear. "It's worked quite well, actually, if my memories of us in my bedroom don't fail me..."