Characters: Ronald Weasley, Lavender Brown

Pairings: Ron/Hermione, Lavender/?

Rating: T for Teen

Notes: A simple plot bunny. And I like Lavender and Ron.

After All

The sounds of loud voices, of cheering, of crying, of victory. These are the sounds that causes Lavender Brown to awaken from her slumber. The blonde girl is disoriented, her head spins as she tries to remember who and where she is. Suddenly, her memories come back, flooding her mind, and she tries to sit up, but pain shoots through her, forcing her back into the bed.

'Bed?'

Her eyes scan the room and Lavender realizes that she is in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts Castle. There are other beds, other bodies, and she knows that she was moved here after her fall from the balcony.

'The balcony.'

She shuts her eyes, tears threatening to fall as she recalls the events of the last few hours, but before she begins crying she hears some shifting and watches as a figure rises from the side of one of the beds. The figure is tall and although she cannot see him in the darkness, Lavender quickly recognizes the silhouette of Ronald Weasley.

Ron travels quietly towards the exit and Lavender knows that things are awkward between them but she must know if Parvati lived, if anyone else fell during the battle.

"Ron?"

Her voice is rather raspy and she winces, but she knows it's recognizable. Ron freezes and she half-expects him to make up some excuse about fetching someone, but instead he shuffles to her bedside and pulls up a chair.

"How do you feel?" Ron asks, and his voice sounds tired.

Lavender ponders the question for a while before responding. "I can't feel my legs."

Ron flinches slightly. "You took a nasty fall, shattered a lot of bones in your body. Madam Pomfrey stabilized you but there were so many injured that she simply couldn't get around to completely fixing you just yet, so you were moved here."

"Am I paralyzed?"

He hesitates. "I don't know."

She accepts the answer and silence falls between them. "Why-" she begins but her throat is too dry. Ron waves his wand and conjures up a flask of water, which she gratefully accepts, drinking deeply. When she's finished, Lavender places the cup on her bedside table. "Picked it up from Hermione?"

"More or less," Ron replies.

"Are you two together?" Lavender asks. It's a quick, blunt question, made more uncomfortable by the fact that they are a former couple, former lovers.

"Yes," Ron eventually says.

"Everyone knew it was going to happen. Congratulations." It is a sincere statement and Ron takes it as such. Some of the tension surrounding the two lifts after this mutual understanding. "Who are you visiting?" Lavender asks, rewording her unfinished question.

"My mum," Ron says.

Lavender looks at him worriedly. "Is she okay?"

"Physically, yes," Ron says. His eyes close and he takes a deep breath. "We lost Fred."

The news is like an unexpected blow and Lavender's breath hitches. She remembers the smiling prankster, his humor and enthusiasm, and her eyes begin to water. "I'm sorry," she says quietly.

Ron nods, accepting her condolences. "Madam Pomfrey gave her something for her nerves, and she's sleeping now."

"So...we won."

Ron smiles. "Yes, we won."

And Lavender knows it's time to ask what she's been dreading to ask, the question that has been eating at her mind, at her heart.

"Parvati?"
"Alive," Ron says and Lavender releases a breath she had not realized she was holding. "She wanted to visit you but right now she and her parents are looking for Padma so she'll probably-"

"Padma's dead." It hurts her to say it so bluntly, to let Ron know the truth. She knows Padma would have been registered as 'Missing.' There'd be no body to find, after all. Not after what had happened.

Ron sighs, and he looks older than he has looked in his entire life. "I never got to apologize to her for being a terrible date to the Yule Ball."

Lavender tries her hardest not to cry, but a single tear still escapes her eye.

She relays the event. She starts when she had been fighting a masked Death Eater alongside a Gryffindor. Coote was his name. She and Coote had managed to push the Death Eater back and then Coote had done something to make a stone pillar crush him to death. However, they had been quickly separated by a volley of spells coming their way. Lavender had run as fast as she could, throwing Stunners over her shoulder, unwilling to utter the vile Killing Curse. She had almost crashed into an ally and realized with joy that it was someone she knew: Padma.

They were by the balcony. Padma had turned around, for a Death Eater had followed them, alone. Rowle, Lavender remembered. They had dueled Rowle, struggled, and finally Padma had hit him with a Body-Bind Curse. But they had been wrong. Rowle had not been alone. In that single instant, in that fraction of a second where they had paused to catch their breath and congratulate each other, Fenrir Greyback appeared from the shadows.

Lavender saw him grin, saw him charge, saw her own shock mirrored in her friend's face, saw him tear Padma in two with his bare hands, saw him lick his lips, tasting the blood, the blood that was on her, that covered the floor, the walls, the balcony, his face, her hair, and she had exploded.

The Reducto spell had sent Greyback flying over the balcony. Her ears pounding, she had aimed at the fallen wolf, the cursed words on her lips, before she was forced to duck as Rowle blasted half of the balcony apart with a spell. The next spell was deflected and struck Padma's body, turning it to ash. They dueled, her and Rowle, and she was furious, and she was winning, and she was aiming to kill, and then Rowle had charged her, and she was so surprised that she didn't react fast enough. He had grabbed her, pointed the wand at her, they had struggled, he aimed it at the floor, to blast her apart, and she did not know what she was doing but she was casting a Shield Charm that would only deflect half the curse. The blast was deafening and she felt herself and Rowle flying, saw the world spin, and felt the ground as she slammed into it.

And then darkness.

When she's done, Ron is looking pale and Lavender wants to throw up as she remembers the blood on her. As if reading her mind, he says, "It's gone."

She turns her head away from him and looks at the ceiling. "Who else?"

Ron looks at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Who else died?"

Ron opens his mouth, then hesitates.

"Please, Ron."

He sighs and begins to reel them off. "I haven't seen all the bodies, but so far, a lot. Fred, Anthony Goldstein, Madame Hooch, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan, Jack Sloper, Wayne Hopkins, Colin Creevey, Professor Sinistra, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Ritchie Coote..."

Ron stops at Coote's name and glances nervously at her. Every name feels like another blow, making her feel heavier, but the mention of Coote causes her to shut her eyes tightly. He had been a nice boy, a brave boy.

Ron starts again. "There's also Michael Corner, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Cho Chang, and Terry Boot."

It's as she feared. She knew, she knew, that she'd lose someone else, that Padma wouldn't be enough. Ron notices that one of the names has affected her. "Lavender?"

"Was it worth it?"

The question is abrupt, but she must know, she has to make sure that there's some trade-off for him not being here anymore.

Ron stays silent and Lavender suddenly grows angry, angry at herself for being taken out, for not protecting Padma and Coote. She feels angry at Ron, because he won't answer her question, and she's angry at him for dying even though it makes no sense.

'Was it worth it?"

It's a shout now, and Ron winces.

"Was it-"

"Did you read Rita Skeeter's book on Dumbledore?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with-"

"The Greater Good."

She blinks. "Excuse me?"

He looks at her. "Terrible phrase, isn't it? Grindlewald used it to justify all of the terrible things he did. It's a dangerous phrase, now that I think about it."

Lavender remains quiet.

"However, there's some truth to it, depending on how the phrase is interpreted. Why did you stay and fight?"

"Why?" Lavender asks. "Because it was the right thing to do."

"Why?"
"Because no one should be forced to suffer like this. No one should be oppressed like this, live in fear like this!"

"Exactly," Ron says. "And you fought for that dream, for that better world, knowing fully well you could die. We all did. That's our 'greater good'."

Lavender remembers his face, his easy smile as Ron continues to speak.

"Tell me, Lavender, if you had died tonight, but your death helped the survivors reach this new world, and you looked at them down from above and saw a world where children could live happy, where Muggles and Wizards co-existed in harmony, where all the fear and death had gone way, would you say it was worth it?"

Her eyes burn with tears.

'You're staying, then?'

He grins at her. 'Of course. It's time to step up, time to bring forth a new era.'

She giggles, despite the sense of impending doom. 'Dork.'

He leans down and captures her lips, and she closes her eyes. When they break apart, she whispers, 'Please don't die.'

'Come on love,' he says, 'think positive.'

He hugs her one last time and moves to join the group heading to the grounds. 'I'll see you after we've won.'

"I have a feeling," she says finally, "that he would have said the same thing. That it's worth it."

"Damn right." Her mouth twitches through her tears.

"I don't remember you being so deep when we were dating," she comments.

"That's because we mostly-"

"Snogged and shagged, yeah," Lavender finishes for him. "But I bet Hermione's rubbing off on you." He laughs and she suddenly feels absolutely exhausted as her eyes begin to close. 'Take care of her. She's a good girl."

"I will," Ron replies. He gets up from his chair. "I'll let Parvati and her family know about Padma and that you woke up."

He moves to leave, but she grasps his hand. She can barely see him through her heavy eyelids. "Thank you, Ron."

"No problem."

She squeezes his hand tightly. "I was dating Terry, you know?" Tears are freely streaming down her eyes, and Ron does not know if she's aware. "Since the middle of the summer. We talked about getting married and he gave me a promise ring. I lost it during the battle..."

"I'm sorry," he whispers. Lavender's eyes are closed and her grip slackens.

"You're a nice guy," she mumbles. "Goodnight, Won-Won."

"Good night, Lav."

She's already asleep. Ron stares at her one last time and makes his way out of the Hospital Wing, unsure of what the future will bring. He walks down the hall, past the shattered status and armors, and into the corridor where Fred met his end. He had comforted Lavender, but he hopes his words are not empty words. Because, he thinks ruefully, staring at the damaged grounds, the broken castles, the row of the dead, he too can't help but wonder if it was completely worth it after all.

A/N: Even our Golden Trio has their doubts. Drop a review and constructive criticism please!