The Eye of the Storm

A Crossed Line

Over the next few weeks, Hermione's mood did not improve. Ron was making out with Lavender everywhere, especially the common room. Hermione no longer did her homework in the common room. She refused to talk to Ron, and Ron refused to talk to her. Lav didn't talk to Hermione anymore either. It was hard to tell if it was because of things Ron told Lav about Hermione, the way Hermione was treating Lav, or something else entirely.

Hermione did scoff judgmentally whenever she say he and Lav together, and glare at him in classes when he wasn't looking. However if you looked long enough, you could see how hurt she was.

The whole group Lav, Jazz, Cho, Hermione and I had was filled with tension. At this point, none of us ever hung out all together anymore. Sure Cho, Hermione and I would hang out, or Jazz, Lav and I would hang out. Sometimes Jazz and Hermione would hang out when I wasn't around, but it wasn't the same anymore.

I was still eating lunch with Lavender and Jazz whenever she wasn't with Ron. I was trying my best to stay neutral while still comforting Hermione. Lavender was flaunting her relationship with Ron. Jazz and I were getting a little sick of hearing about him.

I started doing my homework with Hermione in our dorm just to catch a break. Three weeks before the Christmas party, Ron came over to us during lunch.

"Hello Ronni," said Lav in a lovey-dovey voice. Jazz gave me a disgusted look.

"Er— Hello Lavender," said Ron suddenly uncomfortable. "I actually wanted to talk to Kendra for a minute."

"Oh," said Lavender. Her demeanor changed immediately. "Alright then."

I got up and followed Ron out of the Great Hall.

"What do you need?" I asked a little coolly.

"Um, I don't really understand the Charms homework," he said.

"And?"

He shifted side to side. "Hermione used to help me with it...and..."

He let the statement hang in the air.

"You want me to help you with homework?" I asked incredulously.

"Er—Yes."

I paused for a moment. I don't want to betray Hermione, but Ron was my friend to...

"Alright I'll help you. When do you want to start?"

"Now."

"Do you have your books with you?"

"Yeah."

"Then it's settled."

I spent the rest of lunch helping Ron with his homework. During our session his problem became apparent. He wasn't having any problem mastering the concepts, it was the technique he had issues with. Luckily I had had years of practice in regards to technique, and was very good at drilling it into someone's head. By the end of lunch we had decide to meet every other lunch and once on Saturday.

That night at dinner, Lavender approached me.

"What did Ronni want to talk to you about?" She asked, then said in an accusatory tone, "You were gone a long time."

"He just needed help with homework," I said.

"Hm," was her only reply. After dinner in the common room, she was particularly invested in her make out session.

Lavender became very cold towards me at lunch, and would make comments such as: "I don't know why you and Ron have to meet so much," or "I'm sure he doesn't need all that help." one time she even said, "If you're just helping him with homework, you don't need to be wearing all that lipstick."

After about a two weeks of Ron and I meeting, she cornered me in our dorm.

"Are you going to another 'tutoring' session?" she asked.

I grabbed some books from my desk. "Yeah."

"Don't play dumb!" snapped Lavender.

"I'm really not," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I know what you are really doing." She moved to block the door.

"And what is that?" I sighed.

"You're trying to steal my boyfriend," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I barely stopped myself from laughing. "That is the last thing I want to do."

"Don't laugh at me," exclaimed Lavender. "I'm not as dumb as I look."

"I know, Lav. You're really smart, so why on earth would you think I wanted to date Ron?"

"You tell me. You are the one spending all this time with him." She folded her arms as if waiting for an answer. "And I see how you glare at me whenever I'm with him."

"That's because I'm not a huge fan of PDA. It has nothing to do with you guys."

That was a lie, and Lav knew it. She knew I really didn't care about PDAs; it wasn't any of my business. In truth, I was mad that Ron was flaunting it to hurt Hermione. I was also a little pissed at Ron for using Lav like that.

"I always knew you lied to other people," said Lav. "I never thought you would lie to me."

Oh, if only she knew.

"How can I convince you that I really don't care about Ron?" I pleaded.

She gasped. "So you don't even care about him? Are you trying to steal him from me to prove you can? I thought we were close."

"Lav we are. How are you completely missing the point?"

She carried on as if she didn't hear me. "Just because your boyfriend died doesn't mean you can take mine."

I stopped short. "Excuse me?"

Lavender stopped abruptly as well. Her face was frozen in shock. We stood there a moment, staring at each other, neither of us moving.

"Just stay away from him," she said in a soft voice and fled the room.

I stood there a moment, staring at the open door. The thought of Burnell still stung a little. I had told her that in confidence. How dare she use something like that against me. What had happened to Lav? When had she become a jealous girlfriend who say other girls as a threat? How had she changed so much and I hadn't noticed?

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Hey Everyone, the angst is real.

Forever and Always,

Me.