Twenty Little Known, Random Facts about Lavender Brown as Told by her Admirer by Luvscharlie
One: People often mistook Lavender for shallow and a bit of an airhead. She was neither. She didn't bounce up and down in her seat to answer a question like Hermione Granger often did, but that didn't mean she didn't know the answer. She didn't need someone else to validate her, so she chose not to raise her hand, or at least that's what she told him.
Two: She was always pretty. He had thought so since the first time he saw her. As they were boarding the boats that would take them to Hogwarts to begin their first year, she had stumbled and would have fallen backwards into the water if he hadn't caught her. She smiled at him and said thank you. Those two simple words and one brilliant smile later, and he was smitten.
Three: Most people assumed that she had it easy. Some even compared her to a cherished little princess behind her back. If only they'd taken the time to get to know her, they would have realised her home life was not a picture of storybook perfection. Far from it, in fact.
Four: She could be the epitome of bitchiness when she wanted to be. When angry, she would rant, rave and stomp around. Her cheeks would redden with anger and her chest would heave, and he was certain he had never seen anything so enchanting in his life.
Five: He learned early on to remove anything that she might be compelled to throw in a fit of temper because she would… and did… more than once.
Six: For your information, an inkwell held more ink than one might think. In fact, when thrown against a wall, it shattered fabulously. Red ink wasn't easy to clean up, even when you knew how to cast an effective Scourgify. It was bloody near impossible when you did not. But it was worth every effort he had put forth to see her blush in embarrassment at her tirade after hours of scrubbing by his side, and to be the one near enough to pull her close when she had needed a shoulder to cry upon.
Seven: He had been less forgiving the next time she had thrown something and broken it. Perhaps 'broken' was an exaggeration, as she had been quick to point out, the inkwell had not actually shattered this time, but the Fat Lady was rather loud in her protestations at having ink splattered all over her, and well, there were parts of her that he didn't fancy having to touch. Alas, the sight of Lavender burying her face in her hands and the sound of her sobs, and in spite of his protestations that he would not help her clean it up this time, there he was, right beside her.
Eight: It was much the same when her cauldron had exploded in Potions after Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson had sabotaged it. He was right there beside her serving their first detention. It was worth every moment of punishment remembering the way Malfoy had sobbed like a baby after only a couple of well-planted punches.
Nine: She noticed Ron Weasley their third year of school and talked about him incessantly.
Ten: The way her eyes lit up when Weasley was the topic of conversation… and he always was…cut him to the core. She had eyes that he could get lost in for hours. They were a beautiful shade of green, but if you looked deeply into them there were visible specks of gold and brown.
Eleven: He was elated when Ron failed to ask her to the Yule Ball their fourth year. Seamus had asked her "just as friends" when time drew close and she became worried no one would ask her. She was a picture of loveliness that night. So beautiful. Seamus danced every dance with her, and if he had but one wish, it would have been for that night to last forever.
Twelve: The first time he saw her kiss Ron Weasley during their sixth year at school his heart had broken. He had never felt anything that hurt so badly….
Thirteen: …until he saw Ron Weasley break hers. There was nothing he wouldn't have given to spare her that pain.
Fourteen: Alas, a broken heart was the least of their worries when they re-entered Hogwarts to start their seventh year. She was terrified, and though he wanted to comfort her, there was nothing to say that made any of it any better.
Fifteen: They had somewhat of a role reversal that year. He had been her protector for as long as he could remember. When he was injured at the hands of the Carrows during the first week of term, she had treated his wounds in the Room of Requirement and stayed with him throughout the night. When he awoke moaning in pain, her words had comforted him and her hands had stroked his face. That night, she became the caretaker… and she was brilliant. Of course, he had always thought so.
Sixteen: They had shared their first kiss that night. He would have gladly withstood the tortures the Carrows inflicted upon him three times over knowing that kiss would be waiting for him.
Seventeen: Two weeks later, he crossed the Carrows once more. This time it wasn't him they tortured. It was her. He was forced to watch as they performed Crucio upon her more times than he cared to count, and each of her screams tore his very soul. It was the only time, in all the years they had known one another, that he shed tears in her presence. He didn't care who saw the tears that rolled off his cheeks.
Eighteen: He vowed revenge that night, and during the Battle of Hogwarts he sought out Amycus Carrow. Then, he saw her go down, saw Greyback attack and he was forced to abandon his plans of revenge. She needed him, and he wouldn't fail her again.
Nineteen: He was her faithful friend, her constant companion, her steadfast admirer, and life without her was not something he was willing to contemplate. With his wand in Greyback's face, he cast Avada Kedavra without a second thought.
Twenty: Greyback's attack left her face deeply scarred. His teeth and claws had ripped once smooth skin and it now puckered in what most would consider hideously grotesque. She hid her face from him when he came to the infirmary to see her. She needn't have. There was something to be said for beauty being in the eye of the beholder. Seamus never saw the scars. It was as if his heart took a photograph of the girl she had been when they had danced the night away at the Yule Ball, and she remained in his mind that image, forever frozen in time.
Love, it was like that.