Heart On Your Sleeve
Parvati placed a delicate hand on the quivering lump of sheets.
Oops, that felt like a face.
Another attempt. Erm, no, now she seemed to have missed the mark entirely.
With the third try her hand landed on what seemed like a shoulder. Ah, third try was always the charm. "Lavender, come on, cheer up," she sympathetically patted the…blob.
The blob only quivered in response and released more muffled crying sounds. "Lav, really, you were a bit obsessed with Ron Weasley, anyways. Maybe it's for the best."
The lump of sheets reacted as though Parvati's words were a red-hot skewer to the ear drums, and the blob temporarily become a banshee wrapped in Lavender Brown's sheets instead of just a quivering blob. Most likely there were Slytherins in their dungeon on the opposite side of the school scratching their heads and pondering "Since when is there a banshee in Hogwarts?"
The sheets started making larger, jerkier movements and finally, after a desperate struggle, Lavender's red, blotchy face emerged from beneath the mountain of covers. Parvati quickly reached out and patted her friend's shoulder before withdrawing her hand. Oh, dear, the girl looked like homicide case in the making. Parvati's Gryffindor courage was just about getting ready to fail her.
"I. WAS. NOT. OBSESSED!" she screeched. Parvati rubbed her left ear, where a ringing sound had replaced her normal hearing ability. Perhaps 'a dog whistle' would have been a more accurate descriptor than 'a banshee.'
"Just calm down, Lav, calm down. Calm. Dowwwwn," she exhaled the last word in a long breath, hoping that her friend would imitate her calming breathing technique.
Instead, her friend decided to utilize a different breathing technique. She filled her lungs to the brim with fresh air but, instead of slowly exhaling and regaining control, she decided to empty her lungs by using that air to hysterically shriek: "DON'TTELLMETOCALMDOWN!"
"Uh, sorry, what was that, Lav?" Parvati rubbed her other ear. Yep. Just about deaf in both ears, now. What she did for her friends.
"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!"
"Lav. Really." She grasped both of her friend's shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. "You know you're my best friend. You know I love you. But, really. You need to get a hold of yourself."
Lavender crumbled onto the pile of sheets. "Why?" she moaned into the sheets, her tear-streaked face now buried against a red blanket. "Why do I have to 'get a hold of myself'?"
"Because—because you're acting unreasonable! You can't just have emotional outbursts and—and be completely obsessed with someone. It's just not acceptable. People think you're crazy. Lav, come on, I'm telling you this as a friend," Parvati pleaded.
"Why?" she cried again. With the appearance of tremendous effort she heaved herself into a slouched sitting position and faced her friend. "Why am I expected to hide my emotions? If I love someone, I'm going to show it, instead of playing that absurd flirty-coy cat-and-mouse game that all of the other teenagers do. If I'm sad I'm going to show it, if I'm mad I'm going to show it, if I'm happy I'm going to show it, and if I think a certain why about someone I'm going to show it! I don't bottle up my emotions and feelings like the rest of the school, why does that make me 'unreasonable' and 'crazy'?!" Lavender's round face had gained a newly pained look, and fresh tears welled as she intently regarded her friend, almost begging for an answer.
Parvati pulled her friend into a hug. "Oh, Lav, it doesn't make you crazy or unreasonable," she sighed, patting her friend's back as the crying girl buried her head against the other's shoulder. "You know what, don't listen to them. Just because other people mask their emotions or opinions doesn't mean you have to. There's nothing wrong with wearing your heart on your sleeve. Just you be who you are."
…
A/N: Written for Aiiimy's "Misunderstood" Challenge on the HPFC. (My character was Lavender.) As a side note, just to be clear, when Parvati says "You know I love you" that's intended to be entirely platonic. Constructive criticism is always appreciated!
Disclaimer: I don't own Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, etc.