Chapter Text
Drabble 1
Prompt: Scars
Title: Scars: An OOTP missing moment
Rating: PG
Relationship: Ron/Lavender
warnings : none
Lavender was listening to Parvati expound on the pros and cons of waxing when her attention inadvertently drifted to one Ron Weasley. Across the common room he stretched his arm out to reach for a book and the firelight caught the pale marks along his forearm—thin, silvery scars.
Lavender blinked.
Ron didn’t notice her staring. He rubbed his arm absentmindedly, frowning at his parchment.
Lavender wandered over, curiosity tugging her forward. “Ron?” she said softly.
He looked up, surprised. “Oh—er—hi.”
She pointed hesitantly at his arm. “Did you get those during… during a battle?”
Ron glanced down like he’d forgotten they were there. “Oh. Er - Yeah.”
Lavender leaned closer before she realized she was doing it. The scars weren’t ugly—they looked almost like faint threads across his skin.
“You fought death eaters?” She asked feeling a little awestruck now she thought of it.
“Well—yeah, but so did Harry and Hermione and everyone,” Ron said quickly, turning a little red.
“But you were hurt,” Lavender said, almost gently. Her fingers hovered near his arm before she pulled them back. “And you still came back to school like it was nothing.”
Ron puffed out his chest but also shifted in his chair, clearly unsure what to do with the attention. “Pomfrey healed me up. These are just the leftovers.”
Lavender studied him for a moment. She’d always thought of Ron as loud, a bit awkward, usually arguing with Hermione or joking with Harry. But sitting there in the firelight—with the faint scars and the embarrassed smile—he looked different.
Braver.
More interesting.
“Well,” she said brightly, recovering herself, “I think they make you look rather… heroic.”
Ron blinked. “Heroic?”
Lavender smiled.
“Yes. Very.”
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Drabble 2
Prompt: Scars
Title: Scars: Five years Later
Rating: PG
Relationships/ characters : Ron/ Lavender; Harry
Warnings: none
Five years later the Leaky was loud in the familiar way it often was on a Friday evening. Rain tapped against the windows while wizards and witches crowded the tables.
At the bar, Ron leaned on his elbow while Harry finished his story about a cursed teapot and an extremely confused Auror trainee.
Ron snorted into his drink.
The door opened with a gust of damp air.Ron glanced over without thinking—and paused.
Lavender Brown stepped inside, squeezing rain from her hair while Padma said something beside her that made her throw her head back and laugh.
Ron hadn’t seen her properly in years. Not since everything at Hogwarts.
She shrugged off her coat and draped it over a chair. As she did, the top of her dress shifted slightly.
Ron noticed the marks almost without meaning to.
Faint, pale lines along her shoulder. They caught the candlelight for a moment before the fabric fell back into place.
He looked away quickly.
Harry was looking at him with a funny look on his face.
“What?” Ron muttered.
“Nothing,” Harry said, which meant very much something.
A minute later Lavender glanced toward the bar and seemed to notice them.
She hesitated only briefly before walking over.
“Ron,” she said.
He straightened slightly. “Oh—hi.”
“Hi.”
There was a small, awkward pause that felt oddly familiar.
Lavender rested a hand lightly on the bar. Up close, Ron could see faint lines again where her sleeve didn’t quite reach her wrist.
He tried not to stare and mostly failed.
Lavender noticed.
Her eyes flicked down to her arm and then back up to him, one eyebrow lifting slightly.
Ron cleared his throat.
“From… Hogwarts?” he asked quietly.
Lavender nodded once.
Another small pause settled between them—not uncomfortable exactly, just thoughtful.
Ron looked at the marks again, then back at her.“They suit you,” he said, almost absentmindedly.
Lavender blinked.
“Suit me?”
Harry stared at his pint.
Ron shrugged a little, suddenly aware of what he’d said. “Just—look like …. you’ve done something heroic.”
For a second she didn’t say anything.
Then the corner of her mouth lifted.
“That’s a very polite way of putting it.”
Ron rubbed the back of his neck.
“I’m not always very good at being polite.”
“No,” Lavender said lightly. “I remember.”
He huffed a small laugh.
For a moment neither of them moved.
Then Lavender reached across the bar and briefly tapped the inside of his forearm where his sleeve had ridden up slightly.
“You still have yours,” she said.
Ron glanced down at the faint lines there.
“Yeah.”
Lavender nodded, almost thoughtfully.
“Well,” she said after a moment, “they look good on you.”
Ron looked back at her.
For a second it felt oddly familiar, though he couldn’t quite place why.
Lavender gave him a small smile before turning slightly toward the bartender.
“Another drink?” she asked.
Ron didn’t answer right away.
He was still looking at her arm and then at her very pretty smile.
Behind them, Harry slowly took another sip of his drink and looked straight ahead with the pained expression of someone watching the opening scene of a sequel he had absolutely not asked for.
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Drabble 3
Prompt: Scars
Title : Scars The Sequel
Rating PG
Relationships : H/G; mentioned r/hr; Ron/ lavender
Tags: sequel to the Drabble above. Throwing a bone to the r/hr Otp in me
Harry laid on the couch, the lights low, a warm cloth over his eyes, preparing for tonight.
“Don’t you think you’re being a tad melodramatic?”
Ginnys exasperated voice floated into Harry’s ears
“It’s just one of your best friends coming to stay and then dinner with your two best friends. That’s all.”
Harry slowly removed the cloth and sighed, explaining it for the 20th time:
“Ginny. Last month Ron wrote to Hermione and mentioned he was thinking of taking Lavender away this weekend. Now, after over three years in Australia she’s decided it’s time for an extended visit - not the Hogwarts memorial, not our wedding. Now. Coincidence? I think not. She’s definitely scheming.”
Ginny sighed “ Harry we’ve been over this - not everything is a cryptic plot - they snogged once three years ago and then nothing. Hermione moved to Australia . People snog - they move on, I mean if I pined after every guy I ever snogged I’d never get anything done.”
Harry’s eyes narrowed.
Ginny changed tack “I think you are worrying over nothing - she’s only here for three weeks anyway.”
Harry sighed again, she still didn’t get it.
She hasn’t been mentally and emotionally scarred by Ron and Hermione’s capacity for romantic drama.
The Yule Ball.
Krum.
Lavender part 1.
The sexual tension for months in that effing tent.
He shook his head:
“We are about to witness sixth year: the sequel. Except this is the deluxe extended edition. Three weeks is plenty of time for eyes filled with longing, lingering looks, charged silences, a massive fight about nothing - just you wait - now if you’ll excuse me I have to prepare for tonight.”
And Harry pulled the cloth back over his eyes.
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Drabble 4
Prompt and Title: ‘Sweet’
Relationships/ characters :Ravender; Ginny, Harry, Hermione
Rating G
Warnings/Tags: sequel to the scars trilogy above
It was nineteen hundred hours and Ron was due to arrive in nine minutes and eight seconds. Hermione was currently contained in her room.
“Try to act normal,” Ginny sighed at Harry
“I am acting normal,” Harry said, as he staked out a position that allowed full visual coverage of the dinner table.
Arrivals went without incident. Harry was just starting to relax when…
Ron was on his second helping of potatoes.
Hermione was on her second glass of wine.
“So,” said Hermione, as if continuing a perfectly ordinary conversation, “are you still planning to go away this weekend?”
The question landed in the middle of dinner like a small, well-aimed explosive.
Harry stopped mid chew and glanced at Ginny who was still carrying on as if Hermione had not just started her first manoeuvre.
“What? Oh—yeah. Just a trip to York, get out of London for a bit .” Ron said glancing up
“With Lavender.”
It was not a question.
Ron frowned. “Yeah.”
Hermione nodded, taking a calm sip of her drink.
“Mm. That seems… nice.” The word nice did not sound nice at all.
Ron narrowed his eyes. “What does ‘nice’ mean?”
“Nice,” Hermione repeated. “Relaxing. Undemanding.”
Harry closed his eyes. Here we go
Ron leaned back slightly. “Undemanding?”
“Well,” Hermione said, with the air of someone explaining something very reasonable to someone being unnecessarily difficult, “Lavender has always been very … sweet, always seemed to prefer things that are—how shall I put it—pleasant, rather than… taxing.”
Ron stared at Hermione.
“You mean shallow.”
“I did not say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“I said she’s sweet.”
“Yeah,” Ron said. “You said it like it’s is a character flaw.”
Hermione blinked. “It can be.”
Ron made a strangled noise.“How is liking pleasant things a flaw?”
“Because,” Hermione said patiently, “life is not always pleasant, and it’s important to be able to engage with things that are intellectually and emotionally challenging-“
“She works with sick babies!” Ron burst out, furious
Hermione stopped mid victorious drink, choking slightly,
“…I’m sorry?” Hermione said.
“She’s a neonatal assistant healer ,” Ron said. “That’s her job - everyday she goes out and saves sick babies.”
There was a beat. Hermione’s expression flickered. She took a breath. Slower now. Measured. Dangerous.
“I think,” she said, “that it’s admirable she’s chosen something so… meaningful.”
Ron narrowed his eyes “Why did that sound like an insult?”
“It wasn’t!”
“It was a bit!”
“I am trying to be nice!”
“Try harder!”
Harry looked between them.
There it was.
The tone.
The volume.
The deeply personal investment in something that had started out as a casual comment about a weekend trip.
Here it comes, he thought.
The fight about the fight.
He felt a strange mix of dread and nostalgia
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Drabble 5
Title / Prompt: Lopsided Smile
Rating PG
Ships/ characters: Ravender; harry; Hermione
Warnings/ tags: slander of York, Hermione’s plotting/ direct continuation of ‘Sweet’
Harry was halfway through his drink, recovering from that mess of a dinner, when Hermione said, dangerously, very quietly:
“You had one job.”
Harry froze.He lowered the glass slowly. “I—did?”
“Yes,” she said. “One.”
Harry considered pretending his scar hurt again.
“…What job?” he asked cautiously.
“To keep an eye on Ron.”
Harry blinked. “I do keep an eye on Ron.”
“Not like that,” Hermione said. “Properly.”
Harry frowned. “What does ‘properly’ mean?”
“It means,” Hermione said, with dreadful patience, “observing patterns, anticipating poor decisions, and intervening before they escalate.”
Harry stared at her. “You wanted me to intervene?”
“Yes.”
“In his love life?”
“Yes.”
Harry let out a hollow laugh.“That feels like something I should’ve been formally briefed on.”
“I assumed it was understood.”
“It was not understood.”
Hermione began pacing - war pacing.
“And now,” she continued, “because you failed to act—”
“I didn’t know I was supposed to act!”
“—he has stormed out—”
“Because of me?!”
“—and will go straight to her”
“Almost certainly.”
“—and they will -“Hermione waved her hand with an irritated look on her face
Harry winced. “Strong possibility.”
“—and then,” Hermione said, turning sharply, “they will go to York” She spat the name with fury
Harry stared at her. “It’s a city.”
“It is not just a city, Hermione said, bristling. “It is a type of trip. It is how it begins.” She said darkly
She sighed at Harry’s bewildered expression.
“It’s historical,” she continued. “Charming. Walkable. It has cobblestones and cosy tea rooms and cute antique shops, Harry.”
“That sounds serious.”
“It is serious!” Hermione snapped. “That is a proper girlfriend trip.”
Hermione stopped pacing. “This was a critical window,” she said.
Harry went very still.He did not like the phrase critical window.”What window?” he asked carefully.
Hermione hesitated.
And for the first time since the argument, she looked… not uncertain exactly, but like she was deciding how much to say.
Harry immediately felt a surge of dread.
“Hermione,” he said slowly, “what window?”
She drew herself up.
“I had a plan.”
Harry shut his eyes “A plan?”
She lifted her chin.”Ten years.”
For the third time in his life Harry’s soul left his body.
“Ten—” he choked. “Ten years?”
“Yes.” She said defiantly
Harry stared at her in horror.”You’ve planned the next decade of Ron’s romantic life?”
“Our romantic life,” Hermione corrected automatically.
Harry made a small, strangled noise.”I’m sorry—our?!”
Hermione waved a hand. “And obviously the plan is not set out in a controlling way—”
“Oh - Obviously.”
Harry began pacing now too, because sitting felt unsafe.
“You can’t just—just—plan someone like that,” he said.
“I’m not planning him,” Hermione said. “I’m planning us.”
“That’s worse!”
“It is not worse!”
“It’s absolutely worse!”
They stared at each other.
Hermione crossed her arms.”It was going perfectly,” she said huffily.
Harry laughed weakly.”Was it?”
“Yes.”
“With you in Australia?”
“We were in the divergence phase.”
Harry blinked.” The—what?”
“Divergence,” Hermione repeated. “Separate experiences. Personal growth. It’s essential.”
“And Lavender is… what, an extracurricular activity?”
Hermione hesitated. “Well…”
Harry pointed at her. “No. No, don’t you dare...She’s a person, Hermione.”
“I know that!”
Harry dragged a hand down his face.”This is mental.”
“It is not mental, it’s structured.”
“It is very mental.”
Hermione ignored him again.
“The point is,” she said, “we were approaching a natural transition point.”
“Into what?”
Hermione hesitated.
Harry leaned in slightly despite himself.
She exhaled.”Realignment. And now,” Hermione said, voice tightening, “you’ve accelerated everything.”
“I didn’t accelerate anything!”
“You failed to stabilise the situation!”
“I didn’t know it needed stabilising!”
Harry threw his hands in the air.
“I thought the point was divergence!”
“It was controlled divergence!”
“Nothing about Ron is controlled! He’s Ron. He’s going to do what he—”
“And what he’s doing,” Hermione cut in sharply, “is smiling like that.”
Harry paused
“That smile,” Hermione said, quieter now. “That ridiculous, lopsided one.”
Harry swallowed. He knew the one. That stupid, soft, lopsided smile. He had, in fact, witnessed it many times over the last few months - it was appearing more often lately - certainly more than Harry could remember since before the war.
“That’s not part of the plan,” Hermione said matter of factly.