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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»»» NOT wanting to tempt fate with another family reunion, they rushed out of the bathroom. After a quick silent debate, filled with nervous glances around the hall, hushed whispers and random pauses ("Quiet, I think I hear someone" and "Are you sure that's not the sound of your breathing?"), they agreed to use the Gryffindor Common Room as their new hideout. It was the start of the Christmas holidays and most people had left pretty early in fear of You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters.
The common room looked exactly like they remembered it. Upon stumbling inside, Lavender inhaled the familiar musky smell, darting towards the sofa and grazing her hand across the cushions. Many memories were made in this room alone. Most of them good ones, a select few far too terrible to recall.
Fred stood frozen at the entrance. It was way too easy to picture George and Lee walk down the stairs and greet him with a yell. His eyes travelled to the far corner which they had adopted over the years, a section where they would conduct their business or bother Lily whilst she pretended to study. This was his home.
"I can't believe this is still here," Lavender breathed, her head bent under the mantelpiece. Fred raised an eyebrow at her, but was ushered towards the scene before he could make a comment.
"Pav and I rated the boys in our year group," she explained as Fred peered under to see initials scratched into the wood.
"Ernie Macmillan? Who the heck is that?" he asked, tilting his head so that Lavender could see the questioning eyebrow he had raised.
"Hufflepuff. He sat next to me in Herbology. He was so dreamy," she said, resting her arm against the ledge and pressing her cheek against it. She sighed loudly, only to cause Fred to bump his head as he turned far too quickly.
Lavender snorted and shook her head at him, eyes glinting mischievously.
"It's just some dumb list we made when we were in fourth year -" she started to explain.
"And let me guess, you decided on who you were going to go to the Yule Ball with according to it," Fred interrupted, one hand rubbing his head, a scowl decorated on his features.
"You know me so well," she replied with a smile. "Don't tell me you guys didn't have similar lists." She folded her arms at him and tilted her head. Fred, in the-most-Lavender way, rolled his eyes and walked to the sofa, choosing to take a seat at his favourite spot.
"It's weird being back, I never thought I would be. I mean coming back for the Battle was one thing, but this is different," Fred said, trailing off as his eyes wandered around the room. The only part of the scene that was odd was how quiet it was, but he and George had experience of going down to the common room when it was deserted. They needed the time to discuss their ideas for their store, especially when it became clear that George's girlfriend wasn't a fan of the whole idea.
"It feels like everything is normal," Lavender finished for him, sitting on one of the large cushions by the fire. "It's so easy to pretend that we're back at school and McGonagall's about to burst in and demand to know why we're not in lessons."
