Control ▸ Ron Weasley [2]

IX. PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS

CHAPTER NINE:
PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS
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      Time went on slowly.

      Nova had never given much thought to the "time heals all wounds" theory. Because, she knew better than most, that time didn't heal all wounds. It made the pain lessen, sure. Maybe someone went from feeling it at every waking moment to only feeling it when something reminded them. Maybe they could go from never leaving their bed to going on with their lives, performing their everyday tasks. But it never really truly healed anything. Time, it seemed, didn't have that power.

      Which was why exactly a month and a half later, Nova was still heartbroken.

      She wasn't one to dwell. She didn't like it when other people did, and so she made a conscious effort not to. However, her mind continued to run through the kiss between Weasley and Lavender, like a nightmare that visited her in dreams and when she was awake. Ginny had profusely apologized for dragging her to the common room, but Nova had forgiven her and stated that she'd rather not talk about what they'd seen. 

      The problem with not talking about it...was that Lavender was everywhere.

      Nova knew it was stupid to hate Lavender on principle. She didn't know the girl. But she couldn't help but wish she could shoot an Incendio her way whenever she caught them walking in the halls, holding hands while Lavender laughed at something Ron had said. Blaise was pretty good at diverting her attention or leading them another way, and Daphne had gotten used to simply sliding her arm through Nova's and marching ahead as if the two of them didn't see the couple.

      It was the night of Slughorn's Christmas party, and Daphne was helping her with her hair. Blaise was meeting her in the common room at eight, and they were heading over to Slughorn's office together. Nova had never really cared much for appearances at special dinner parties such as this one, but she'd always had someone her father hired to do her hair and makeup while she sat and watched in the mirror. Now that she was on her own, she struggled with one of the spells used to curl hair, which was evident by the huge perm horror she sported.

      Daphne tried her best not to laugh, but she let a couple of giggles escape. Astoria was bent over at the waist, laughing as hard as she could. Now that Daphne and Nova were considering themselves friends, Astoria had been hanging around them a lot more. Daphne had confessed that Astoria didn't get along much with the Slytherins in fifth year with her, and Daphne didn't mind having her little sister around, so Astoria was a welcome presence.

      "Let me fix that monstrosity," Daphne said, gesturing for Nova to sit in front of her. She pulled out some Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and applied a generous amount to Nova's hair, immediately curbing the effects of whatever Nova had done to it. Carefully, she waved her wand over Nova's head and the three girls watched as loose curls formed on Nova's hair. "There. Much better."