Thicker than Water (Marauders Era)

14 June, 1974 - Seeing Red

The end of Lavinia's third year at Hogwarts came as quietly as she could have hoped. Her exams passed without trouble and she managed to avoid having many altercations with the Marauders, though there had been a few incidents, as was inevitable. At the end of the day, Lavinia and the Marauders were locked in some sort of strange war, and though she had no intention of coming to blows with any of them, she couldn't deny that neither side shied away from a verbal blow any time the chance was offered.

Little jabs as they entered and exited classes, which ranged from quick-witted barbs to tired jokes about the state of Severus's hair, were exchanged constantly. Anything of note could become fodder and Lavinia was proud to say she always got in the last word.

On a Monday morning in mid may, when Lavinia had worn a hair ribbon from her mother to celebrate the latter's birthday: "A hair ribbon, Selwyn? What is this, the 18th century?"

"It's called class, Potter, you should try some."

"What, a hair ribbon?"

"Given the state of your hair it couldn't hurt."

On a Sunday afternoon when Lavinia had been unfortunate enough to run into a solo Sirius Black on her way down to the lake: "Going to join your posse? Tell me, how much do you have to pay them to pretend to be your friends?"

"How much do you pay Pettigrew to brush your hair?"

A bleak Saturday before exams: "You should invest in a new wardrobe, Lupin, this one died twenty years ago and resents being resurrected."

"You pay an awful lot of attention to his clothes for someone who isn't interested in him."

"Ah ah, hatred is a form of interest."

And on and on, right through the end of exams.

It was the last day of term and the train would be departing for London the following day. Lavinia rolled out of bed predictably late, enjoying her last chance to sleep in before the summer holidays when her mother's insistence on a family breakfast would have her waking early. And as it was the last day, she figured Eloise's threat of an intervention was unlikely to be seen through.

Besides, she wanted one last day of relaxation before she left. She knew she'd inevitably spend the next month stressed about her exam scores and praying to who knew what gods that she'd gotten acceptable scores.

It was almost afternoon, therefore, when Lavinia made her way up the stairs from the dungeon and set about trying to find her friends. Figuring they were probably enjoying the sun, she headed for the open doors to the grounds, searching the lawns for any signs of her friends. And thus it was that Lavinia wasn't paying attention when a voice shouted "Now!" as she cleared the steps down to the lawns

She felt a strange sensation, like water being dumped over her head and then her hair moved in a phantom breeze. She whirled around, seeing red at the edge of her vision, trying to find the culprit, only to find Black, Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew, all laughing from where they had crouched on either side of the steps, waiting for her to come.

She frowned, unsure what they were laughing about but knowing it couldn't be good. She shot a glance over her shoulder, half hoping no one had noticed, half hoping her friends would come to back her up, only to see her hair. Her lovely, long blonde hair, pride of her mother's Malfoy lineage was red as... well, red as a Gryffindor banner.

She felt the beginnings of a scream of rage forming in her throat, but choked it down, knowing her anger was out of proportion, knowing it stemmed from stress and fear and yet not particularly caring. Keep it together, Vin, she thought, taking a deep breath. Keep it together and tear them apart. No one touched her hair. Even her mother asked permission. Not to mention, it was one of the few things that still held them together as a mother-daughter pair, the only thing about her Rhea ever complimented.