The Game of Risk

DISCLAIMER: "This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended."

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Chapter Two:

Two Weeks Notice

I lied curled up on my bed for hours. My tears were long since gone, but the pain was still fresh. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Ron and heard his confession in my head. I was grateful to have my own room as Head Girl, even if I was still stuck in Gryffindor Tower. I was able to grieve in solitude. Until, that was, I heard a tentative knock at my door.

"Go away!" I shouted angrily. I didn't want to be bothered. I just wanted to sit and wallow in self-pity and become overwhelmed with depression.

"Please let me in, 'Mione!" Ginny pleaded.

"No, I just want to be alone!" I cried.

"Hermione Granger, open this door right now!" Ginny shouted with anger and persistence.

I sighed and rolled out of bed. I unlocked the door and dove right back into bed. Ginny burst into the room and, with a strange aura of composure, sat beside me on the bed. We sat in silence for a while before she brought up the obvious.

"You talked to Ron." It wasn't a question, just a statement.

"Yes," I agreed, fighting back the tears that I thought had already been cried out. "You were right, Ginny. He has a girlfriend, though not 'officially'."

"What does that mean?" Ginny asked skeptically.

"It simply means that he's been fucking around with some bitch while trying to play me!" I exclaimed angrily. The tears fell from my eyes and let go of my anger. With the pain returned I could feel nothing but misery. "How could he do that, Ginny? I thought he cared about me! I thought I was the center of his world, and yet he's been with someone else behind my back."

"Hermione," she said cautiously, "you do realize that he is single and therefore free to do what he wants."

For a moment I said nothing. I was speechless; I knew Ginny spoke the truth. He was a free man. I had no hold on him. He didn't belong to me, nor did he owe it to me to tell me everything that was going on in his personal life. Yet I still felt betrayed. I still felt like he deliberately hurt me, that he totally lied to me, even if it wasn't true. "I don't understand it, Ginny!" I cried through my sobs. "He's not my boyfriend, so why does it hurt so badly?"

Ginny sighed. She scooted closer to me on the bed and stroked my hair sympathetically. "You still have feelings for him, Hermione. You never stopped having feelings for him. You didn't break up with him because you liked someone else or because you didn't like him anymore; you broke up with him because you felt overwhelmed. The feelings never went away; they were bound to resurface. I think that part of still believed you were together, especially because of how things have been between you recently. Does that make any sense?"

"It makes perfect sense, Ginny," I sniffled. "You should be a psychologist at St. Mungo's!"

Ginny chuckled and I smiled. It felt strangely good to be able to smile again. "Thank you, Ginny. You're the best friend a girl could ask for. I owe you so much."

"No you don't, Hermione," she grinned. "That's what friends are for."

*-*-*-*

I had thought things would change after I discovered about Sylvia. Surprisingly, though, they did not. At first I avoided Ron, but then my feelings took back the reins and I was falling for him again. I was still mad at him, but I figured I could still go back out with him. I would just tell him he had to make it up to me. Nevertheless, I was afraid to make that jump. Going back out with Ron would mean making myself vulnerable to all the hurts again. Late one night I sat alone in the Common Room and I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I turned to see Lavender Brown walking sleepily toward me.

"'Mione," she yawned, "what are you doing still up?"

"I have a lot on my mind," I said simply as I gazed into the warm, blazing fire.

Lavender slumped down in the seat next to me and conjured up two cups of steaming hot cocoa. She handed me a cup and said, "Come on, girl, talk to me."

I smiled. Over the past two years Lavender and I had gotten a lot closer. We rarely did things together, but we talked a lot. I was grateful to have her as a friend; she gave great advice.

"I'm thinking about going back out with Ron," I said quietly. "I know he lied to me about that whole Sylvia thing, but I still think I'd rather be with him than be mad at him."

Lavender remained silent for a long time before she took a sip of her hot cocoa and cleared her throat. Lavender knew all about the Ron/Sylvia affair, but she had never expressed an opinion about it. She just listened to me rant and rave. Ginny was the friend I liked to cry with; Lavender was the friend I liked to curse with. "I think you need to reevaluate why you broke up with him in the first place."

"Why?" I asked defensively. "You don't think I should get back together with him?"

"It's not that," she said cautiously. "It's more of the fact that you can't allow yourself to forget the bad times just because you miss him. It's easy to only remember the good times, but you don't want to get a harsh shock if you go back to him."

"So you are saying we shouldn't get back together."

"Listen, Hermione," Lavender said sweetly, "I'm just trying to be your voice of reason." She drained her mug of cocoa. "Now, it's going on three in the morning, 'Mione, you should get some sleep."

"I suppose you're right," I resigned as I finished my hot cocoa and followed Lavender up the stairs. She left me and went into the room for the seventh year girls. I continued to the top of the staircase to my private room.

I lied on my bed in the dark knowing sleep was not an option. My mind raced as I tried to come up with a good solution to my problem. I thought about what my relationship with Ron had been like, everything I liked and didn't like.

He really was a sweet guy...but he was very jealous and was often possessive. He was always there to talk to me...but he got mad if you decided it was more important to do your Potions essay than discuss Quidditch. He wanted nothing more than to make me happy...but he hated it when other people made you happy. He was a great friend to me even when he was my boyfriend...but he wouldn't let you have any other friends.

That night, as the first rays of the rising sun reached my bedroom window, I cried myself to sleep.

*-*-*-*

It was just over two weeks after I found out about Ron and Sylvia. I returned to the Common Room in a good mood that night. I had been in the library for hours and was able to get all my homework done for the week with barely any effort; all the books I needed seemed to come to me. I said hi to Lavender who was chatting with Pravati Patil in the corner of the Common Room. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Lavender stand up and follow me up the staircase.

"What's up Lavender?" I asked as I fished in my bag for the key to my room.

"I need to talk to you," she said quietly. I shudder ran down my spine. I could tell that whatever she wanted to talk about would not be pleasant.

"Sure, come in," I offered as I held open the door for her to come in. I dumped my bag on the floor and sat down on my bed. I gestured to the chair in front of my desk and Lavender took a seat. I stared at her, waiting for her to speak. She avoided my eye, keeping her gaze fixed on the hardwood floor. "Well?" I prodded cautiously.

"This is hard for me to be the one to tell you. I feel terrible about it, but I think you need to know." Lavender hesitated; I hung on her bated breath. "I mean, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier. I guess I was trying to spare your feelings or something. I mean...I just think it's important for you to hear it from me, because I think you need to know."

"For God's sake, Lavender, just say it!" I exclaimed. I think part of me knew right then what she was going to say. I didn't want to admit to myself that something like that could ever happen.

Lavender took a deep breath and looked up at me. She immediately withdrew her gaze and said in a rushed voice: "Ron and I go out now."

My heart dropped; my breathing ceased; a tear fell unbidden down my cheek. After what felt like an eternity of shocked paralysis, I regained control.

"What?" I asked in a low, threatening voice.

"'Mione, I'm sorry, but it just happened!" she exclaimed, hoping that her answer would be enough to satisfy me.

"It 'just happened'? What the hell is that supposed to mean, Lavender?" I screamed angrily. "My God, I thought you were my friend!"

"'Mione, I'm still your friend!" Lavender pleaded.

"Like hell you are, bitch!" I yelled as I jumped off the bed and started towards her. "Friends don't date other friends' ex-boyfriends! Dammit, Lavender, what were you thinking? Not just that, but only two weeks ago he was screwing around with someone else! Doesn't that tell you anything about him?"

"'Mione, how can you criticize me when you wanted to get back together with him, too. You're willing to forgive him, so why is it so strange that I can look past it?" She sighed. "Let's not let this stupid thing break up our friendship. Can't we just stay friends?"

"'Friends'?" I repeated. "How can we stay friends after you betrayed me like this?" I shook my head in disbelief. "No, there is no way. Get out of my face, I don't even want to look at you anymore." I turned my back on her and headed back toward my bed.

"Hermione, please!" she pleaded.

I spun around, fury boiling the blood in my veins. I ran up to Lavender and slapped her hard across the mouth.

"Get the fuck out of here!" I screamed.

Lavender burst into tears and tore from the room. I shakily made my way back to the bed where I collapsed in shock. Ron is dating Lavender. I just slapped my so-called friend. What next? I asked myself, but I already knew the answer to that question.

Talk to Ron.

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[A/n]: Merry Christmas to all!! This is my gift to you (a new chapter!!) so how about giving me a gift in return (a review!!!)??? Luv you all, please please read/review!!! ~m.o.e.