Title: "Pumpkin Eaten"

Author: Lash_Larue

Pairing(s)/Character(s): Lavender Brown/Pansy Parkinson

Rating: M

Summary: The war left different marks on many, some more visible than others.

Word Count: 3,135

Warnings/Content: Girlsex, pumpkin…

Disclaimer: The characters belong to JKR

Author's/Artist's notes: Setting is post Voldemort, Harry and his contemporaries have gone back to finish school.

"Pumpkin Eaten"

Lavender Brown sat alone at one of the smaller tables that Professor McGonagall had transfigured from the dining tables and arranged around the great hall for the Halloween dance. The feast had been marvelous as always, and now most students were dancing, or just paired off listening to the music and enjoying the thought of two days without classes and no homework.

"We should all take some time to be thankful for what we have gained, and respectful of those who have been lost," McGonagall had told them at breakfast when she announced the small holiday. "One lesson we should have learned is that nothing can be taken for granted. Not even life itself." She looked over at the headmaster's chair, the one neither she nor anyone else ever sat in, and resumed her seat. Breakfast had finished in silence.

There was plenty of noise now, however, and despite being alone Lavender was enjoying the party. Except when she looked over at the table where Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione were sitting. She reached beneath the thick curtain of her hair and touched the cursed scar that ran from the corner of her left eye to the point of her chin in a ragged crescent.

"Mind if I sit here?" came a voice. Lavender turned to see Pansy Parkinson standing there.

"Might as well, I have to admit you haven't been such a bitch this term," Lavender replied as she arranged her hair over her damaged face.

"Thanks, wars change people, sometimes for the better. I brought you some pumpkin juice," Pansy said as she sat and slid the cup over to her.

"Nice of you, I love pumpkin. Mum used to get mad at me when we were making jack 'o lanterns because I'd smear the pumpkin insides all over my face. I loved the feel of it. Too bad there's no alcohol in it, though."

"I can fix that," Pansy assured her, pulling a flask from her bag. "Ogden's best, just the thing to warm a girl up." Lavender held out her cup and Pansy poured a generous slug of whisky into it. Lavender took a cautious sip.

"Damn, that stuff has a kick," Lavender admitted.

"Takes a minute to settle in, it'll be smoother next swallow." Lavender nodded, and her gaze fell again on Ron and Hermione.

"Weasley's not worth hurting over, Brown. He was an idiot to dump you, and Granger is an idiot for taking up with him," Pansy said softly.

"Ron's not so bad, and it's not ihim/i I'm hurting over really. It's just that now that I look like something from a horror film, nobody will want me. Ah, screw it, I'm just feeling sorry for myself, others got worse." Lavender took a big gulp of punch. "You're right, smooth as silk." She drained her cup and stood. "Kill that one and I'll get us refills," she suggested. "You want a pumpkin pasty or anything?"

"Thanks, and yes, a pasty would be great. I love pumpkin too, and it's not like I have a great figure to worry about."

"I'll be right back, then we can listen to the music and talk about how much we suck, right?"

"Sounds like a plan," agreed Pansy. Lavender took her cup and left.

"Would you like to dance?" a nervous fourth year Slytherin boy asked Pansy.

"Thanks for asking, kid, but the rumor you heard isn't true. I don't put out. Besides, I've already got a date," Pansy indicated the returning Lavender, and the boy's eyes bulged. He fled.

"What did you do to the kid?" Lavender asked, returning with the refreshments.

"Told him you were my date, I hope you don't mind. I figured it would run him off. Besides, it'll be fun to hear the stories that come from that," Pansy explained. Lavender debated being angry, decided that it was funny, and threw back her head and laughed. She hastily rearranged her hair to hide the scar.

"Why do you do that?" Pansy asked her. "Why cover the scar?"

"You have to be kidding, Parkinson, it's hideous," Lavender said bluntly.

"It's apparent, yes," Pansy began, "because the rest of your skin is so perfect, but frankly, I think it's hot."

"You're either taking the mickey or you're as big a bitch as you ever were," Lavender said in a tight voice. Pansy quickly raised her hands, palms out.

"I swear I'm not, listen…" Pansy could be seen searching for the right words. "That scar – that scar shows that you stood and fought for what you believed in. The only place I would have gotten one would have been on my back, there's a reason I'm not in Gryffindor." She shrugged. "I'm not precisely ashamed of running out, nor of wanting to give Harry to you-know-who. I was scared out of my wits. I'd iseen/i him kill people. There are worse things than Cruciatus or Avada Kedavra, he boiled a muggle in his own skin in my living room. My father made me watch. It was kind of hard to feel very superior after that." Pansy paused to take a bite of pasty and a sip of spiked pumpkin juice, Lavender just watched her silently.

"So no, Brown. I'm not taking the mickey. You never got the credit the four over there and Longbottom did, but you fought." Pansy reached out slowly and tucked Lavender's hair behind her ear. "And every time I see that mark on your beautiful skin I'm reminded that I benefited as much from what you did as anyone else. So yes, it's hot, and people should see it to remind them, so they don't ever forget the price that some people paid." Pansy raised her cup to Lavender and tossed it off.

"I don't know what to say," Lavender admitted, "no one has ever said anything like that to me before."

"Well they should have. What would you say to a walk? It's not so cold out, and frankly, this band kind of stinks."

"You're right, they do. I thought it was just me," Lavender admitted, "a walk sounds like fun."

They were nearing the doorway when Pansy felt a hand on her shoulder.

"What are you up to with Lavender, Parkinson?" demanded a red-faced Ronald Weasley.

Before Pansy could reply, Lavender rounded on Ron furiously.

"And just what business is it of iyours/i where I go and who I go with, you freckle-faced git? Even if we were still going out I'd go where I pleased with whoever I wanted to go with," Lavender hissed.

"But she's in Slytherin, she wanted to give Harry to Voldemort!"

"Get over yourself, Ron, and grow up," Lavender suggested, and she took Pansy's hand and turned away. Ron stared after them for a moment, then went to get some punch.

"What's got into Lavender?" he asked Ginny, Harry, and Hermione. Harry covered his face with his hands, and Ron noticed that Ginny looked angry and Hermione looked positively livid. "What?" Ron asked blankly.

"You're on your own this time, mate," said Harry as he stood up. "Ginny –"

"Later," Ginny said flatly, and Harry walked away shaking his head.

The howlers from his mother were absolutely nothing next to the ripping he got from Hermione and Ginny, and after a few extremely uncomfortable minutes during which he somehow found the sense to keep quiet he found himself alone at the table.

"Women," he muttered.

"Boys," spat Hermione as she headed back to Gryffindor tower.

"I'll say this for my brother," Ginny told Harry as they danced, "he sure makes you look good."

"The perfect wing man, but a right git at times," Harry agreed.

"It's lovely out," Lavender commented.

"Much nicer than inside, let's head to Hagrid's, you've GOT to see something," Pansy said. She pulled Lavender into a trot, and soon enough they were at Hagrid's garden.

"Merlin! Even for Hagrid, that's a big pumpkin," Lavender gasped.

"Too big to take inside, quite a sight, isn't it?"

"It reminds me of one of those fairy tale houses in children's books, Pansy."

"You're right, it does… say, I've an idea…"

Pansy drew a door on the pumpkin with the tip of her wand, and then mumbled something under her breath. Then she took hold of the knob and opened it, bowed to Lavender and extended her hand graciously.

"Won't you come in?" Pansy invited, illuminating her wand. Lavender giggled a bit, but took Pansy's hand and they stepped inside the pumpkin together.

"The floor is really slippery," Lavender said, moving cautiously in the light from Pansy's wand.

"I guess it would be," Pansy admitted, "you want to leave?"

"Not just yet, it's kind of pretty in here in the wand light, and it feels secure, somehow."

"Well, I doubt anyone is going to wander in, the door disappeared when I shut it," Pansy told her.

"Good, I find that I have had all of crowds that I care for for one night. You know, even the smell isn't so bad, a bit earthy, but sort of clean. Is there any firewhisky left?" Lavender asked.

"Yes, and we've surely got plenty of pumpkin juice on hand, could you transfigure us a couple of glasses out of seeds? You're better at that than I am."

"Of course," Lavender replied, and she handed the newly produced vessels to Pansy, who used her wand to fill them partway with juice before adding the whisky. She stuck her wand in the side of the pumpkin as a lamp.

"Friends?" Pansy proposed, extending her glass towards Lavender.

"Friends," Lavender confirmed, and she touched Pansy's glass with her own. They drank in companionable silence. "What's up with you and Draco these days?" Lavender ventured, and Pansy snorted.

"Nothing. Frankly, we were only kind of pretending to keep our parents off our backs. We're not even good friends, he thinks I'm a bitch and I iknow/i he's a douche." Lavender laughed out loud, and Pansy joined her.

"His loss," Lavender said.

"You really think so?"

"Yes," Lavender assured her. Pansy cleared her throat.

"You know, Lavender, I didn't just wander over to your table tonight. I was hoping to catch you alone," Pansy admitted.

"Why?"

"I wanted to tell you the things that I told you. I've been trying to work up the nerve for a while now, but I really didn't have any reason to think you'd listen, or even care what I thought. But when I saw you sitting by yourself, carefully hiding that scar, I just couldn't stand not to tell you."

"The scar really doesn't make you ill?" Lavender asked, clearly wanting to believe that.

"Not a bit," Pansy promised her. She extended a hand towards Lavender's cheek. "May I?"

Lavender nodded mutely, and closed her eyes. Pansy's fingers gently traced the shining curve of the scar.

"Does it hurt when I touch it?" Pansy whispered, fascinated by the feel of it.

"No," Lavender answered softly, "it's a little bit numb compared to the rest of my face, though." Pansy's fingers moved from the scar to the unblemished skin of Lavender's cheek.

"It's not as warm as the rest of your skin," Pansy observed, leaning closer.

Lavender's breath caught when she felt Pansy's lips gently kissing the scar by her eye, and she was unable to move as the kisses trailed it around and down to her chin.

"May I?" whispered Pansy, and without waiting for a reply her lips found Lavender's.

Lavender was surprised, and surprised that she was not more surprised that Pansy was kissing her. But she was absolutely shocked at her own reaction to the gentle kiss. Of all the people at Hogwarts, it was Pansy Parkinson who did not cringe at the sight of her scar, who saw more than disfigurement in it. A cold knot in her heart snapped, and warmth flooded through her.

She dropped her glass and wrapped her arms around Pansy, kissing her back fiercely. Pansy whimpered and welcomed Lavender's tongue into her mouth, discarding her own glass so as to take Lavender in her arms. They toppled over, landing on the squashy, slippery floor of their pumpkin house.

"Are you okay?" Pansy asked.

"What's happening here, Pansy?" Lavender asked breathlessly.

"I'm not sure. I mean, I know what iI/i want to happen, I've wanted it for some time now. But you're a little drunk, are you sure you won't regret this?" i"Damn a conscience,"/i Pansy thought bitterly, i"bloody inconvenient."/i She waited anxiously for an answer.

"Let's find out," Lavender replied, and her fingers pulled at the fastenings of Pansy's robes.

Pansy was amazed at Lavender's reaction to her advances, having been fully prepared for anything from a gentle rebuff to a violent curse. It did not take her long to adjust, however.

"Did you plan this?" Lavender asked, having just discovered that Pansy was naked beneath her robes.

"More like wished for it," Pansy panted, trying to deal with the buttons on Lavender's blouse.

"Just tear it off," Lavender urged, "I never liked this thing anyway…"

"Merlin, you're beautiful, Lavender," Pansy said as she knelt, looking at Lavender lying there naked and spattered with pumpkin.

Lavender replied by rising to her knees, scooping up a handful of pumpkin and smearing it over Pansy's chest, then running her hand down between her legs and pressing firmly.

"Nnnhhh," Pansy moaned, arching her back. When her eyes opened Lavender took her hand and filled it with pumpkin, looking expectantly at her. Pansy stared as she smeared the slippery stuff over Lavender's breasts, watching the orange-pink juice run over the creamy skin, weighing them in her hands before lowering her mouth to first lick and then suck one of the hardening nipples into her mouth. Lavender held Pansy against her as she shifted her legs and fell onto her back, writhing and crying out as Pansy pulled the nipple with her teeth.

Pansy moved atop her, inserting a thigh between Lavender's legs and fitting her breasts against Lavender's larger ones. She ran her slimy fingers into Lavender's hair and reclaimed her lips, the pumpkin and the whisky flavoring their tongues while they ground against each other. Pansy traced the scar with her tongue, and then kissed Lavender's eyes softly, looking deeply into them for a long moment before her mouth began a relentless trail down the length of Lavender's trembling body. Pansy's tongue swirled in Lavender's navel while a hand urged her legs apart, and then Pansy's tongue slid down through the juice-matted blonde hair, and over the swollen clitoris before wedging itself deep between Lavender's other lips.

Lavender shook and dug her fingers into the pumpkin beneath her, and her hips bucked as Pansy sucked on her lips and clit.

"Is this okay?" Pansy asked, her index finger lightly caressing Lavender's entrance.

"Ohgodyes, please, Pansy!"

She gave a soft cry when the slender finger entered her and curled inside of her, and when she looked down she saw Pansy looking up at her face while she bathed Lavender's pussy with her tongue as she fucked her.

Pansy added a finger, and Lavender clutched greedily at them, her breath coming in short pants now. Pansy felt Lavender's hips jerking, and when she felt the shuddering begin and the grip on her fingers clamp down in tightening spasms she sucked Lavender's clit into her mouth and joyfully experienced the feel and the sound and the taste of Lavender as she came.

Long moments after Lavender had melted beneath her Pansy felt a tugging on her hair, and she slid up beside Lavender and was embraced.

"I don't care about 'why' right now, but I want you," Lavender whispered, kissing Pansy's ear, and then running her nose over the curve of her jaw. "May I?" she mumbled against Pansy's lips.

"Please do," Pansy begged.

A new taste was present in the kiss, and Lavender thought that it blended marvelously well with the whisky and the pumpkin, and she found herself desperately wanting more of something like that. If Pansy was at first a bit disappointed at her breasts being ignored, the enthusiastic activity between her thighs pushed it to the back of her mind, and the fingers that soon rolled her hard and pumpkin-slicked nipples between them drove it right out of her thoughts.

"Too much?" Lavender asked in concern when Pansy gave a sharp cry as Lavender pressed a finger into her.

"It's okay, I just don't usually –" Pansy fell silent when Lavender rose up, afraid that she had ruined things, but an instant later she moaned as Lavender pressed a great handful of slippery stuff against her swollen pussy and began to massage the tender flesh. Pansy's eyes drifted closed, and her hands slid to her own breasts as Lavender's warm hand slid over her mound. She felt Lavender moving between her thighs, and then she felt a different and warmer pressure that made her open her eyes.

Pansy looked down to see blonde hair blending with the black that covered her sex, slicked up with pumpkin and the fluids from them both as Lavender ground her pussy against Pansy's. Lavender slowly lowered her upper body and molded herself to Pansy, and the kiss she gave Pansy then was once again a little different. Pansy matched Lavender's efforts, and their synchronized breathing echoed within the vast pumpkin, accompanied by the wet sounds of their bodies merging.

The last thing that Pansy saw before her orgasm took her was the bouncing of Lavender's breasts when she rose up on her arms to increase the pressure, and the look of almost pain on her face. A face that was rendered even more beautiful in Pansy's eyes by the scar that stood out starkly against the flushed undamaged skin. She wanted to speak, to tell her, but-

"Lavender, I – I – ohgod. Ohgodohgodoh-" a hiss escaped through her teeth as Pansy went rigid, and Lavender continued to rub against her, gradually easing the pressure, but continuing the kissing of their other mouths gently, even after Pansy had gone liquid.

Lavender lay beside Pansy and embraced her, and before very long Pansy turned in Lavender's embrace and kissed her.

"Figure out what's happening yet?" Pansy whispered.

"I'm working on it, I just need a few more clues."

Hagrid was startled in the morning when a door appeared in the side of his largest-ever pumpkin, and two smiling and thoroughly pumpkin-covered girls emerged from it.

"Good morning Hagrid," Lavender greeted him.

"Lovely Halloween feast," Pansy remarked.

Hagrid could only manage a nod, and he stared after them as they walked hand-in-hand towards the castle. He looked back at the pumpkin.

"Best not ter know, I expect," he muttered to himself. "Still, I don' suppose I ought ter be making pies out o' this'un."