Jealousy Redeemed

"Hi."

"Hi."

Lavender stared at Hermione who was resting idly on her bed, her N.E.W.T. level charms book spread open over her thighs. Hermione was twirling a lock of her absentmindedly , and Lavender, while noticing that it had become a bit more manageable over the summer, couldn't help but want to take her hands to it and make it look spectacular.

"Have a nice holiday?" Lavender asked, trying to make her voice sound as cheerful as it would be if she were addressing Parvati. "I had a brilliant one, you know."

"It was nice," Hermione said shortly. "I spent some time in France."

"Oooh," sighed Lavender, taking a seat on her bed and pausing her unpacking. "That's right. Ron's brother Bill got married? To Fleur? I wish I were a veela." Lavender reached up and ran her fingers through her short blonde hair, pouting a bit. "Her hair was always perfect."

"There is a lot more to life than hair," Hermione said. Lavender thought she heard an 'honestly' under the other girl's breath, but she didn't push the subject.

"Well, I must say that I am quite ready for us to finish this year, get a handful of N.E.W.T.s and get out of this place. My parents forced me to come."

"Mine too."

Lavender looked up in surprise. Hermione forced to come to school? She looked out the window as though she expected the trees to start crumbling. "Oh," she finally said, standing and walking to put some of her clothes away. She was able to spread her belongings into the areas that Parvati had usually filled. "Anyway, how are you and Ron?" Keeping the bite out of her voice was incredibly difficult, but Lavender tried.

"Ron is a fool," Hermione said bitterly. "Trust me when I say that you are much luckier to have removed yourself from him."

Her words caused Lavender to freeze in mid air, taking everything in before she turned to face Hermione. "Really? What happened?"

The brunette stared at Lavender for a short time, as though she were unsure if she should ever discuss it. Finally she took a deep breath, running a hand into her hair to tug at some of the messy curls. "I caught him at the joke shop with Verity, one of the clerks."

Lavender had visited the shop before and her eyes went wide. "Isn't she older?"

"And more experienced," Hermione's voice was low, growling. "She practically had his trousers off."

Being cheated on was something that Lavender took very seriously. Seeing Ron and Hermione alone together had driven her up the wall (she had been suspected foul play for quite some time), and she could only imagine how terrible that had made Hermione feel.

"He is a complete ass," Lavender said. She sighed, shaking her head and remembering how upset she had been last year. "Listen," she said. "I've got some fudge from Honeydukes. You want some?"

Hermione blinked twice before slowly nodding. The surprise on her face showed she half expected there to be something wrong with the fudge, but she took a bit from Lavender and even made room for the other young woman to sit on her bed. They were quiet, nibbling on their chocolate, studying each other out from the corner of their eyes.

So, they did have something in common.

----

Hermione finished her fudge with her head bent over her book, having resumed that position as soon as Lavender had returned to her unpacking. She was going over her Advanced Runes when she was bumped by a new bulk of weight on the bed. Turning her head, she felt her hair get caught in the the teeth of a comb. "Lavend--" she protested, her mouth still full of fudge. "What--"

"Just let me comb it out a bit, please, Hermione? I haven't got Parvati here and I've just got to. Please?!"

Hermione wanted to hit her away, like she would have any other year. But this year was different. She felt estranged from Ron and Harry, and she knew that Lavender's beautification attempts were not a chance for her and Parvati to laugh at her. It was just the two of them.

"Fine," she said. "As long as it doesn't disrupt my reading."

Lavender let out a little shriek, causing Hermione to give half a grimace toward the pages of her book. The blond quickly calmed down and began carefully moving her fingers to fix the various clumps of curls, licking her fingers sometimes to smooth out the hair.

"Lavender -- are you--"

"It's fine, just like when you mum would do it or something," she said. "It's not like I'm licking your face." Lavender moved her head so that she was nose to nose with Hermione. "It's not as gross as that leeches you use in Potions, is it?"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the serious expression on Lavender's face. "No," she finally said. "It's not."

Giving a little laugh, Lavender resumed her work. Her fingernails began moving across Hermione's scalp, and Hermione felt a little tingle in the fingers that were resting against the page. No one had ever gotten that close to her head, and it was oddly comforting to have someone running their fingers through her hair. She took a deep breath, trying to focus on the translation that was suddenly swimming before her eyes. Hermione bit her lip, feeling a bit confused, determined to ignore the tingling sensations. How could she feel like that about Lavender?

"That's enough," she suddenly said. "You've gotten to have your time playing with my hair. Just leave it now, alright? I've got work to do."

Lavender let out a sigh and stepped off the bed, happily oblivious to what had really made Hermione change her mind so quickly.

"Goodnight," Hermione said. "I'm quite tired." She closed the curtains around her bed and dived under her covers, ready to forget the way that Lavender's hands had made her shiver once.