"It's late, Padma."
She turned around on hearing the voice echo from the walls of the nearly empty Room of Requirement. She found herself facing a very concerned-looking Anthony Goldstein.
"Why are you here, then?" she asked, almost suspiciously.
"I was worried, when Lovegood said she couldn't find you," he says, quietly.
She nods slightly, acknowledging his response, before turning back to the dummy in front of her, to resume her spells.
"You won't achieve much like that, you know," he says, interrupting a second time.
She pauses again, and her hand drops to her side.
He walked towards her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"I know you want to help in the DA, but this isn't the way to do it. You're tired, and you'll wear yourself out."
"There's a War going on, even if people don't acknowledge it. I want to do what I can for Harry and the Light side," she replied, resolutely.
"You can't hurt yourself doing that!" Anthony raised his voice slightly.
"We've lost so much already. Getting hurt won't matter if I can help! Why doesn't anyone understand? Not my parents, not Parvati, not Luna, not you!" Padma whispered weakly in response, falling to the ground.
Anthony knelt down.
"I do understand. I just care too much about you to watch you do this to yourself," her replied, wrapping his arms around her comfortingly.
She nodded quietly, seeing that she wouldn't be able to win in the argument.
"Tomorrow morning," he continued, "we could come here after Transfiguration, and duel. That way, we can both improve on our weaknesses and develop our strengths. But you'll have to promise me that you won't be shooting spells at a Repelloed dummy by yourself at night. The charms could reflect and hit you instead, and that would be dangerous."
They'd find a way, she told herself as she walked back to the dorms. Just as long as they stuck together.
Notes: Written for the 500 Different Pairings challenge
Pairing: Padma/Anthony
Word count: 326
I'm not quite satisfied here, but well. I know I went a little OOC with them, but hopefully it's not too much.