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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»»» EVERYTHING had changed.
Somewhere in between their quest to find answers, whilst searching for the punchline, or the endless tears that seemed to follow her, the change had taken place. Lavender couldn't understand how she let it happen. After her failed relationship with a certain Weasley member, she should have learnt her lesson; the red-headed family were poisonous, at least to her.
As they hurried through the streets of London, cool air whipped her hair making it difficult to focus on anything aside from the man in front of her. Her ribs screamed in pain, demanding to know why she was subjecting them to torture when they could simply Apparate. Yet there was something wrong with that too. They managed to land about a mile away from the Visitor's Entrance of the Ministry. A part of Lavender couldn't help but believe it was her fault; she had been far too lost in the memory of when they first met.
Nonetheless, she kept her theories to herself, wrapping the hoodie around her more tightly. It was bright blue in colour, but it wasn't like she had much choice. They only had a few moments to sort through the clean laundry and pick out something to wear, she was grateful that she managed to grab something that was decently warm.
Fred stopped suddenly. He held out an arm, halting her too as he pushed her into the shadows. The street was deserted. The wind picked up again, dancing between them both, leaving a freezing trail behind it. The fact that it was early August meant nothing to the weather. Not that she was too concerned about it, there were far more pressing things to worry about.
Lavender narrowed her eyes as she regarded his back. His shoulders were extremely broad, something that she was certain she would have ogled had she not been obsessed with his brother. Her bottom lip turned downwards at the thought. It was wrong. Her mind had already listed through the consequences of indulging, but as they approached their destination, her final destination, she realised she couldn't care less.
Fred turned his face, lifting a finger to his lips as he gestured towards the far end of the street. Lavender leant forward, vividly aware of how fast her heart was beating. Willing herself to concentrate, she squinted at the sight. She could just about make the outline of a couple of Ministry officials who quickly Apparated from the scene.
"Come on," he whispered, his hand brushing her own. The action sent her imagination wild, sending her attention back to the moment they shared together in the kitchens.
Dancing with Fred was her new favourite activity. He had taken a step towards her when she didn't move, wrapping his arms around her waist. Her rigid stance had relaxed immediately; she recalled the way his warm breath felt on her skin causing goosebumps to spread throughout her body.
It wasn't long before he had her smiling, and not long at all after that for her laughter to fill the room as he treated her to a performance that she couldn't watch with a straight face.
Fred stopped again, this time in front of a telephone box. He checked the surrounding areas, before gesturing for her to enter. He picked up the phone and dialed 62442, his arm lazily resting on the window pane as he stared at his companion.