A/N: Hi everyone! This is my first entry for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition! It's a short one capturing a moment between Padma Patil and Lavender Brown reminiscing on their Hogwarts days.

Please read and review, and most importantly, please enjoy!

~Maya

Years, Scars, and Nostalgia

Without a doubt, the years after the war's end had smoothed over into an easy routine, steady as an ocean gently lapping at the shore. The Battle had scarred its warriors in many ways, given them an eternity of terrifying and magnificent experiences, and it had bonded them together for life, creating friends no force could tear apart. Such friends were Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, and Padma Patil. After leaving Hogwarts, they had each moved within a heartbeat away from each other, and settled into comfortable, happy lives.

Fifteen years later, they were all successful in their careers, married, and Parvati even had a hilariously enthusiastic two-year-old. She was so drained from little Priya that one morning, she called her two best friends over for an emergency meeting and, with surprising vigor, demanded babysitting duties from them.

"I'm going out!" she cried, flailing her arms madly. "And I am not coming back until I have had a good rest!"

Before Lavender and Padma could utter a word, she had slammed the door.

In no time, the two found themselves chattering over a bottle of mulled mead. As always, their Hogwarts days consumed most of their conversation.

"It's still so very sweet that you married your Yule Ball date!" Padma gushed, "but I think it's sweeter that you didn't marry mine."

Lavender shoved her playfully, rolling her eyes.

"At the rate you two were going, I had expected wedding bells any second! And we were in the sixth year!" she protested, rubbing her shoulder.

"Oh, shut up," Lavender sighed dramatically. "You know it wouldn't have worked out between me and Won-Won."

They both giggled at the ridiculous nickname.

"What would you have done," laughed Padma, "if I had told you fifteen years ago that you'd be marrying Seamus Finnegan?"

"Oh Merlin!" she cried, laughing with her. "I still remember what an idiot he was at the Yule Ball."

"They were all idiots," said Padma sympathetically. "I don't know why Hogwarts got all the idiot boys—the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons boys were marvelous."

"I mean, really," Lavender agreed, "the boys weren't even close to being the best part of the Yule Ball."

"Oh, there's no way!" she squealed. "Obviously, getting ready was the best part!"

"Remember how many hours we spent doing our hair?" she giggled, fiddling with a strand of her blonde hair.

"Oh, forget about that, what about buying dress robes?" cried Padma. "We spent nearly all day in Diagon Alley in the robes shops! There was that green one, remember?"

"With the lacy sleeves? Oh, it looked lovely with your skin tone!"

"Yes, but I was fourteen then," she replied, looking amused. "I had a little girl's body. There's no way that dress would have fit me the way it was supposed to. The blue one, on the other hand…"

"Oh Merlin, I remember that one," said Lavender softly. It had fit Padma like a glove, with glittering beads scattering down from the waistline. The covering robes had been adorned with gold and bronze embroidery in the most intricate patterns. She remembered that Padma had been all the more excited to show off her house colors. In the end, though, it had been simply too expensive, and the crestfallen Padma had chosen a simpler one to match her sister's.

"You had quite a lot of fun shopping, too," said Padma excitedly. She'd truly lost herself in this cascade of memories.

"Yes, I came across those great pink dress robes, remember?" They had been flowy, barely touching her skin and almost hanging off her shoulders.

"I really liked those purple ones on you though," Padma insisted. "They were the perfect color on you."

"Yes," she tutted impatiently. "Lavender. Precisely why I didn't want to wear them."

"Sorry," giggled Padma. "I liked the one you ended up with, too, though."

Lavender didn't respond. She was remembering standing in front of the dormitory mirror in the soft green robes she had chosen. They had sparkled only slightly under the light, giving her a subtle, beautiful glow. Her shoes, pale gold with small heels, matched the look perfectly, as did her golden, fairy-like makeup and curly up-do.

"Do you want to try it on?" Padma said in a hushed voice, looking absolutely giddy.

"Oh, I don't know…" She trailed off. It had been a lifetime since she'd felt as beautiful as she had on that day.

"Come on, Lavender!" she urged. "It's been so long. I bet you still fit into it, too."

"I doubt it," she said uncomfortably. "I mean, I'm taller now, for one thing."

"A simple extension charm." Padma waved her comment off casually. "It'll be perfect, Lav."

"Well…" she murmured, wringing her hands. "…All right."

Squealing, Padma Disapparated instantly and returned within moments levitating a large chest. Green and golden sashes flew out of it, and suddenly Lavender was dressed up like a princess.

"Oh, you look so beautiful!" cried Padma. "You've got to see this!"

With that, she turned Lavender to face the full-length mirror on the wall by her bed.

"You look like you did fifteen years ago," she said in awe, eyeing Lavender up and down.

She really did. The woman in the mirror was nearly unrecognizable, with scars all down her face, a thinner, frailer body, but was unmistakably Lavender Brown. Behind the years and the scars, she could see that girlish spark in her eyes, the silliness in her stance, and the giddiness in her smile. She was smiling. Really, really smiling, for the first time in fifteen years.

"Ah, nostalgia, how sweet you are," she said wistfully.

A/N: Please leave me your thoughts! I read and respond to every single review:)