As Lavender Brown's body lay amongst the ruins of what was once her home, she watched a family grieve the loss of one of their own, wondering why fate had so cruelly dealt them such cards. From a young age, all she wanted was to love and be loved in...
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»»» AFTER reading more books than he had read for his O.W.L.s,Fred stood up and put the pile on the ground.
"We've been at this for a while now, I think we can take a break," he said, tapping Lavender lightly on the head with one of the thinner books. She looked up, eyes bloodshot, and gave a grin. Crouching down, Fred noticed the dark circles under her eyes and slight pale twinge to her skin.
"You doing okay?" He asked, voice low so not to bring more attention to themselves. Lavender frowned, suddenly conscious of her appearance. Instinctively, she tried to look for a mirror, but was stopped when Fred placed his hands over hers. "Maybe you just need some rest," he suggested, mentally scolding himself for worrying her unnecessarily. That was the last thing they needed.
"Oh," Lavender said, relief clear on her face. "Do we even need to sleep? I didn't before meeting you," she continued. The whole idea of sleeping when they were technically not living anymore made no sense to her. Yet she could argue the same about other things they were currently involved in, like discussing time travel and the adventures of a long forgotten powerful wizard.
"Me neither, but things are different now. We get hungry, it won't be the craziest thing to assume we need sleep too," he countered, noting how her nostrils flared up.
As expected, he had to prevent himself from smiling when the almost childish stubborn retort came from her; "why don't you sleep then?"
"Because I'm a gentleman," he said, puffing up his chest proudly. "But I'm also worried about you. You look exhausted. And I don't know when we'll get a chance like this again. There's a bed and we're safe," he added in a more serious tone.
Lavender struggled to come up with a reply, sudden weariness over taking her. The truth was, she had been feeling increasingly more worn out as the day progressed. There was almost a hypnotic lull calling her to close her eyes and sleep. She didn't realise how much effort it took her to fight it until Fred had pointed out how tired she looked.
"Okay," she agreed after a pause. "But don't let me sleep for too long," she added with an edge to her tone. Fred smiled, satisfied that she had listened to him. He got up and asked Neville where the best place for Lavender to rest would be, and they were directed to the guest bedroom.
Her stomach started churning at the idea of sleeping in a room with Fred Weasley. Especially given how many almost-kisses they had shared in this flat alone. One hand clutched the end of her blouse, wringing it and releasing it, before repeating the action. She watched Fred talk to Neville, rehearsing the many different ways she could voice her concerns.
Fred glanced at her, eyes traveling downwards, before returning to hers. She could almost see the cogs turning in his brain, before it dawned on him. With a soft smile, he gestured for her to go into the room. Moving at a snail's pace, Lavender trudged inside taking in how little it had changed from when she was last staying here all those years prior. She wasn't left alone for too long as both Fred and Neville walked in, holding a couple of chairs.
