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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»»» WITH each passing moment, Lavender felt her resolve become stronger. Protecting Fred was now her only priority and if it meant sabotaging whatever plans he came up with, then she was prepared to do so. Their limbo, their reunion, every second she spent with him was proof to support her idea. He was a kind man. More than that, his presence only filled her with warmth and no matter how much she hated to admit it, his pathetic childish jokes were now the highlight of her day. Especially when she knew he used them to coax out a smile from her.
That man deserved to find peace. That man deserved to live.
"You doing okay?" Fred asked, a frown etched on his forehead. Lavender licked her lips and offered what she hoped was a convincing smile.
After leaving the library, they both unanimously decided that they needed a moment to digest the information they had learnt. Having spent her childhood growing up in the area, Lavender led them both to a nearby park and they started walking down one of the paths.
"Just peachy," she replied, her gaze following a small bird that was struggling to gain height due to the wind. It felt oddly symbolic to her situation, yet a part of her couldn't help but silently urge the bird to continue trying.
Fred paused, contemplating his options, before stopping in his tracks. At first she didn't even realise he had stopped walking, for she was far too engrossed in the scene before her. But when her left toe started to tingle, she halted and turned back.
"Do you need me to call you out on your crap?" said Fred, as he folded his arms and regarded her, his expression void of the usual amused glint. "Because I will. Don't even test me on this Lav. You're hiding something from me."
The last statement was not a question. Lavender stared back, her mouth parted. It only took her a moment to recover though, having faced multiple interrogations during her time at Hogwarts. She mimicked his actions and tilted her head questioningly.
"So what if I am," she retorted, noting the surprise that flickered through his gaze. "We don't have to tell each other everything; there's no law demanding it."
"No, no there isn't," Fred said into the silence that had followed. His arms dropped to his sides; one corner of his lips twitched downwards as he shook his head. "But I thought we were at a place where we wanted to confine with one another," he continued in a low voice.
Lavender exhaled gustily, blinking furiously. She hated how easy it was for him to make her feel crippling pain. Her chest alone felt like it was carrying far more weight than any human could possibly bear and coupled with the knots her stomach was insistent on creating and tightening, she lost the ability to look him in the eye.
"Look," he started, taking a step towards her. "You don't have to tell me what Mary said, but I just want to make sure you're not coming up with crazy theories about how you're the only one who's cursed just because I haven't met our stalker yet."
