Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Written for the All Year Long Competition using Mandatory Prompts - Romantic Pairing/Genre/Word/Object/Dialogue/Word Count. Bonus Prompts - Mismatched Socks / You're really annoying when you do that / Too drunk to care / Counting stars.
Word count without A/N and Disclaimer - 824
Coming Home
Lavender sat by the fire, an old photograph resting in her hands. Years had passed since it was taken, it almost felt like another lifetime, a happier one truth be told. She was smiling in the picture, and his arm rested lightly around her shoulders. She remembered the picture being taken, sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room, laughing and joking with their friends about Dean being unable to wear anything but mismatched socks. They looked so carefree, so...young.
It had been a long time since she'd seen him, though not for want of trying on his part. After the war, after the attack that changed her life, she hadn't wanted to see him, couldn't stand the thought of pity and disgust staining those shining brown eyes. She had sunk into depression, locked herself away in the cottage her grandparents left in their will to her, too drunk to care that Seamus might miss her, might love her regardless of her new image.
It had taken her a long time to pull herself up, to be able to look in the mirror without hating what she saw. She knew that Seamus would have moved on, would more than likely have a beautiful wife and a child by now. Still, she sat waiting for him, wondering if he had even opened her letter, wondering if he would even turn up.
The fire flared, and she couldn't push the hope that well up down. He looked much the same as he did in the picture, a few more lines on his handsome face, perhaps not as lean as he had been in school, but still, much the same. She stood to greet him, though she was unsure on how to do so. Should she hug him? Perhaps shake his hand?
Seamus solved the problem for her, pulling her into a tight hug. She felt the tears fill her eyes, but she refused to let the fall. She would break down when he left, but while he was still here, she would revel in his presence. He released her, and they sat down. Before he arrived, she had a whole speech prepared, but now he was here, she was completely blank.
"Are you going to explain why I'm here? Your letter was somewhat vague," he said, staring intently at her.
"I...I wanted to apologise to you. The way I disappeared...I was wrong, and it wasn't fair, and... I didn't know what to do. I'm, I mean, when the war ended, I felt...like a monster. The way I looked, the way I felt, it was all wrong and I didn't know how to deal with it. It's taken me a long time to be able to look in the mirror. So, I wanted to see you, to make sure you understand why I left, and to make sure you know how sorry I am that I did. I wish I hadn't. I wish I had never left you."
Lavender took a deep breath. She felt lighter somehow, something she hadn't expected but was glad of. Seamus hadn't taken his eyes off her since she started talking, and he was still looking at her now, a small smile playing on his lips.
"I'm glad you're feeling better. I knew why you left, even if that didn't make it any easier to deal with it."
She nodded and looked down, biting her lip.
"You're really annoying when you do that, you know? How many times did I tell you off for biting your lip?" he asked with a chuckle. She smiled despite herself and glanced up.
She watched as he picked up the photo she had been looking at before he arrived. She watched as he smiled at the picture.
"For the first few years after you left, I told myself that even if you begged me to get back with you, I would say no. But looking at you now, and looking back at this picture, I could never tell you no. In fact, I think if I needed to, I would beg you to take me back."
Lavender smiled. "That won't be necessary, but what made you change your mind?"
"I spend, every night, looking up at the moon, counting stars and hoping upon hope that you could be doing the same and thinking of me. You look, more beautiful now to me that you did then, and I plan to spend every day of the rest of my life showing you just how much I love you. If you'll have me?"
The tears that had threatened her before spilled onto her cheeks, though this time they were happy tears, tears of relief. As she wrapped her arms around him, she got an inexplicable feeling of finally being home, and she was so grateful for that.