Pretty Little Girl
By Montley
"Tears are for weaklings," Alecto Carrow snarled as she pointed her wand at the whimpering girl lying on the floor below her. "Crucio!"
White hot pain flooded through Lavender Brown's body, stabbing every single vulnerable spot in and on it, striking her deep core. It was as though the spell was made of pure knives living to seek out her weaknesses. She tried holding back her tears through the pain, for the more she cried, the more Alecto would curse her, and she would have to endure more agony that she felt she could no longer bear. Her weakened body was lifted upwards in the air, slamming back down on the firm ground. She groaned loudly, tears attempting to leave her dim, saddened blue eyes. The feeling made her wish to crumble into dust and be blown away into thin air.
Alecto walked towards her and bent down towards her face. Her cold breath touched Lavender's nose as the Death Eater cackled nastily. She drew a small dagger from her black robes and smirked maliciously. Lavender closed her eyes, wishing for it to be over already, for it all to finally be over.
"Pretty little girls who do pretty bad things deserve a pretty bad punishment," Alecto snapped as she seized Lavender's arm in her tight grasp. Quickly, she lifted Lavender's robe sleeve up to her pointy, thin elbow. She pressed the icy blade against Lavender's fragile and pale skin, slowly slashing it open, blood beginning to seep out. Lavender flinched in pain, tears finally flooding silently down her cheeks as Alecto cut open her skin three more consecutive times. Blood flowed from her arm, staining the floor and her robes, her tears joining within the puddle.
Alecto snatched her arm again, marking her cruel hand with Lavender's blood as she forcefully pulled the girl off of the cold, stone floor. She gripped her hand on Lavender's mangy, blonde hair and sneered, "Leave my presence."
Lavender was pushed towards the door, and she stumbled out, her head feeling dreadfully woozy. She could still feel Alecto's eyes on her as she opened the office door, blood still dripping from her freshly wounded arm. She stumbled out of the office, leaning on the wall of the corridors for support. Every layer of her body hurt, the white hot knives from the Cruciatus curse still resided inside her skin, sparking up and making her grimace in pure, sharp pain.
As she reached the corner, she held onto the wall desperately as she began to weep silently to herself. Shakily, she brought her injured arm to her face, examining the multiple cuts. The blood was crimson against her now sickly pale skin, and she slid onto the ground, accidently rubbing blood on the wall as she went. She tried to reach for her wand in her robes, but she then remembered she had let Parvati watch it for her, in case Alecto would want to confiscate it. She recalled to herself that everyone was in the Room of Requirement, but now that seemed too far away. Her head woozy, her arm mangled, she did not think she could stand up again. She left herself silently weep, waiting for someone to help her, even Filch if he were around.
A piece of broken glass was on the floor, and she reached out for it. She lifted it near her face, and it showed her reflection within it. She stared at herself; the stain of blood on her cheeks, the tired bags under her dull blue eyes, her once beautiful hair, mangy and tangled with blood stains, and her skin a sickly pale which used to have rosy, warm cheeks. She was no longer reminiscent of the girl she used to be. Out of anger she threw the piece of glass away from her, and it skidded down the long and empty corridor.
"Pretty little girl." Alecto's nasty voice haunted her. Lavender knew she was not pretty in the slightest since she returned to Hogwarts. Everything she had been before had dissipated into nothingness, leaving her stuck, waiting for it all to finally end.
"Pretty little girl, pretty little girl, pretty little girl!" the death eater's voice kept teasing over and over again in her hand. She lifted her hands and pressed them against her ears, but the voice resounded again and again and again. She curled her legs towards her stomach, closed her eyes and held onto them as the voice haunted her relentlessly.
"Lav…Lav!" a persistent voice said in a shouted whisper. She slowly opened her eyes as the person shook her. She saw Seamus Finnigan crouched down in front of her with a nasty new burn surrounding his eye and small cuts and many bruises on his once handsome face.
"Seamus," she said slowly.
"Yeah, it's me," he answered with a slight smirk.
"What happened?" she asked pointing to his eye with her uninjured arm.
"Had detention with Amycus, he sent a curse at my eye. It felt like boiled water," Seamus responded, smiling as though the burn was an award well deserved.
"I have some burn-healing paste back in the room, I have some," she told him.
Worry then gleamed in Seamus' eyes when he noticed her arm. Carefully, he lifted it towards himself without saying a word. He stared at it as he struggled with finding his wand in his robes. It appeared as though there was nothing in his hands, but it still seemed as though he were holding it.
"Where's your wand?" she asked curiously.
"Right 'ere," he replied with a smirk, twiddling his hand a bit. "Neville cast a disillusionment charm on it, so Carrow wouldn't take it."
She nodded her head and felt Seamus' wand tap against her arm. One by one the cuts on her arm sealed with no flicker of pain. When he was done it was as though there had never been a single cut on her arm. She let herself smile at him graciously as he sat down next to her and flung her arm around her shoulders. She tucked her head in the crook between his neck and arm. She felt him give her a soft kiss on the top of her hair. They were silent, but all Lavender could think of was Alecto, her screeches, her curses, her taunts. Tears continued to pour out of her dull, blue eyes.
"You did a damn good thing today, Lav, saving that first year from being tortured," Seamus commented.
"Thanks," she sniffled.
"Do you know what he had done?" Seamus questioned.
"No, but it doesn't matter, no one deserves what he was going to get. She's a horrible woman," she replied sullenly. "But how'd you get detention?"
"It's kind of funny. You see, the Carrows piss me off too much, and Amycus was ranting about how You-Know-Who's gonna win the war, insulting Dumbledore and Harry," Seamus began with his mouth in the form of a crooked grin. "So I hid my wand under my desk and cast a little fire onto his pants."
Lavender laughed slightly. "That was you?"
"Yeah," Seamus said proudly. Lavender turned and stared at Seamus. He had small cuts and several bruises across his face, visible also on his arms. His blue eyes appeared lost and glossy as he concentrated on the wall across from them. His face was unrecognizable from what it used to be. Bruised and damaged, the only thing that resembled the boy he used to be was his smile, but now that was no longer ever present on his face. She wanted to help him, but how could she when she was lost herself?
Pacing footsteps was suddenly heard coming from up the corridor, and Seamus leapt up, reaching his hand down to Lavender to assist her in standing up. He pulled her up, and they ducked around the corner. He still gripped Lavender's hands in his own, afraid to lose her. He held her against the wall, but then they saw that it was only Professor McGonagall who was walking down the hallway, and they relaxed.
She took notice of them and said, "Make sure you two go to Madame Pomfrey in the morning, and don't let the Carrows catch you out of bed."
"Yes, Professor," both Seamus and Lavender said right before McGonagall turned away with a smile gracing her normally stern features.
Seamus smiled down at Lavender, squeezing her hands in his comfortingly. He leant down and kissed her on the cheek, scared that Lavender would never return his feelings. Her eyes blinked a few times as millions of thoughts ran across her mind.
"Pretty little girl," Alecto's voice teased. "No one wants you; no one wants the pretty little girl."
A lump throbbed in her throat as she then slipped one of her hands out of Seamus' grasp and cupped his cheek. Confusion was apparent on his face, and she sighed.
"Please Seamus, just for tonight, please. We both need to get away, a distraction," Lavender quietly begged, Alecto's voice repeating in her head. Seamus then bent down to her height, and their eager lips met with one swift motion.
Seamus was unnerved and happy, actually happy. He had waited for this moment for as long as he could remember, and he was in sweet bliss as Lavender kissed him. She wrapped her arms around him, running her fingers through his hair as she wept. Seamus tried to dismiss the tears that felt wet against his own cheeks. It made her lips taste salty against his own. He turned her around and held her against the wall. His hands ran down her body, landing on the middle of her waist, and he rubbed circles around it as Lavender parted his lips and slipped her tongue in his mouth.
At that moment Seamus was in Heaven, but Lavender was in hell. She wanted to feel something besides pain; she wanted to feel pretty, pretty enough so that a boy would want her like Seamus seemed to as he kissed her. Prove herself against Alecto's nasty taunts. She would take it as far as she could to prove it to herself. She parted the kiss, hiding her face by planting her forehead against Seamus' chin. She skimmed her hands down his long arms and gripped his hands, pulling him down the corridor with her. She opened the door to a desolate classroom, taking him inside with her.
Inside the room she appeared desperate, her eyes empty as she leapt on him and attacked him with her sweet kisses. They manuevered towards a nearby desk, and Lavender began reaching her timid hands up Seamus' shirt, attempting to rip it off. Instead, Seamus gripped her hands and pushed her away.
"Lavender, I can't do this," Seamus said, walking backwards. He lifted his hands to his head and began pulling at some of his hair.
"I get it," Lavender wept. "It's because I'm not pretty like everyone thinks. I just thought-."
"That's exactly it!" Seamus yelled. "You're beautiful, and you don't deserve this! Shagging in a classroom! What happened to you!"
Lavender opened her mouth to speak again, but no words came out. The word beautiful ran through her mind, but she could decide whether or not to believe the words Seamus said.
"You're lying," she decided. "I'm not pretty, and I'm certainly not beautiful."
"Damn it, Lavender," Seamus snapped, and he walked towards her again. He held her head in his hands and stared into her dull, blue eyes. "You're beautiful, and not just on the outside. You're brave, you're there and an amazing friend. I've wanted to be with you a long time, but not like this."
He came closer and brought his lips to hers one last time for a small peck. He kissed her cheek that was wet with tears and helped her stand. He held her in his arms, and he never wanted to let go of the pretty little girl ever again.
A/N: This didn't turn out how I originally expected it to, but I hoped that you guys enjoyed it! Please leave a review!
Written for:
Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Comp: Instant Darkness Powder
HP Potions Comp: Blood Replenishing Potion
Super Insane Prompt Challenge