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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»»» A long second passed between them both.Heart hammering in her chest, Lavender glanced back at Fred, a wave of nausea making her lose balance. Fred grabbed onto her arm to hold her steady. Now that he had pointed it out, there was no mistaking the marks that seemed to be permanently attached to her skin. With her other hand, Lavender started rubbing the spot, but just as she suspected, it refused to move.
"What is this? Wh- what's going on?" She forced herself to ask.
"I don't know Lav," Fred started in a low voice. "But we're going to figure it out, I promise."
"Just like we're going to figure out who's stalking me?" Lavender snapped in reply. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," she rushed out in a hushed whisper before he could even react.
"Everything just feels like it's out of control, and it seems like I'm the one who is messing up. We're both in the same situation, but I'm the one with a crazy ghost haunting me, I'm the one with the mother who gave us this stupid prophecy - who can't even think straight half the time - and now this." Her voice became increasingly more scratchy and she could sense the tears that were threatening to appear along with another panic attack.
Her companion must have recognised the same signs as he immediately put an arm around her and gave her a gentle squeeze.
"You're okay. I know it all feels a little crazy, but this doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with you. Listen," Fred said pointedly when she tried to interrupt again. "Whilst I don't have the stalker, yet," he added, earning a small smile from her. "I did get into a huge fight with my brother. The last memory I have of him is beating me senseless. And it's so twisted because he's going to have to deal with that when he finally realises that I wasn't joking. I'm going to have to deal with knowing I did that to him, for purely selfish reasons. But you know what makes it a little better?"
Lavender met his eyes again, her gaze softening as he smiled.
"You. You literally knocked him out and by Merlin, you did it with one hit. I honestly think the Gryffindor team lost out," he said, his smile widening when she rolled her eyes. "We're in this together okay? We're going to figure it out."
Something about the way he said it with sheer force coupled with the intensity of his gaze, Lavender couldn't help herself when she slowly nodded. She knew that there was far more to it, but for now, knowing that she had him was enough.
"It's not coming off though," she said in a small voice after a pause.
"It might need water," he suggested, causing her eyebrows to shoot up. "Oh come off it. I have some decent ideas," he said with a laugh. She shook her head at him and gave a light shove on his shoulder as she led the way to the nearest bathrooms.
Fred hovered by the entrance to the female bathrooms, an odd look on his face, but was soon dragged in by Lavender despite his many protests.
"There's literally no one here. It's fine," Lavender said, making her way to the nearest sink and turning the tap. The sound of running water instantly soothed her mind and she took a moment to absorb it before putting her hand under it. Many nights she had spent in the girl's bathroom with noise of gushing water acting as the only remedy to her raging mind.
