This is one of many submissions to the Prompt Relay Challenge in the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges forum. For those of you not familiar with the challenge, there are ten stages we have to write for, each stage having anywhere from five to twenty-plus story prompts we must fill before moving onto the next stage.
Stage Six: Golden Trio Era
The first thing she noticed was that she was no longer cold. The ground felt warm beneath her, the hard stone of the castle courtyard missing. It wasn't soft like a bed or a cot, however. She could see the brightness of the room from behind her eyelids, but couldn't tell what direction the light was coming from like you can when in a room. The air was still, but not stale. The smell of blood and death seemed to have disappeared along with the noise of battle. Where am I? Squinting from the brightness around her, Lavender Brown slowly opened her eyes.
The room, if you can even call it that, was stark white. No visible walls, no doors nor windows. A free standing archway stood not far from where she lay, reminding her very much of the arches at King's Cross. However, it felt like she was looking at everything through a fog. Lavender rubbed her eyes in an attempt to clear them, but her vision remained unchanged. Beyond the arch she could make out what looked like a bench with a figure sitting on it.
Fully sitting up, she called out, "Hello?" only to receive no response. Shaking her head, she gave herself another moment to gather herself before standing on shaky legs. It was only then that she realized the pain of her battle wounds was missing. Lavender quickly reached up to rub her neck, but the terrible bite she had received from a very human Fenrir Greyback was gone. Pulling her hand back to examine it she found no blood. What magic is this?
Confused and determined for answers, the witch slowly approached the figure sitting on the bench. As she got closer, Lavender gasped harshly and took a step back, unwilling to believe her eyes.
"Professor Dumbledore?!" she exclaimed.
Albus Dumbledore sat peacefully on the wooden bench, dressed in all white. He looked much healthier than the last time she had seen him in her sixth year, both hands appearing to be fully restored. "Hello Miss Brown." Albus greeted her in his same wistful voice he'd always had. "I have to admit I was not expecting to see you here. Actually I am feeling quite mixed about it."
Stepping forward once more, the young witch swallowed her growing dread. "Where are we? What is this place?"
"Please," Dumbledore smiled sadly, "have a seat."
Doing as she was told, Lavender took a seat on the bench next to her old headmaster. Her dead headmaster.
"Now to answer your first question, we are in a train station of sorts. You were a bright girl, I'm sure you guessed as much, am I correct?" Lavender nodded slowly. "As for the matter of what this place is, there are many names for it. I like to call it the 'In-Between'. On one side of the platform, where you came from, is the world we knew. The war is still raging, at least for now; your friends are still fighting, and still dying. On the other side of the platform," Dumbledore raised his hand to motion to the walkway that faded into the lighted fog behind him, "is the next world. The world we all must go to in the end, or else choose to haunt the world for millennia. This is a crossroads, Miss Brown. And I am here to help guide all those souls this war is taking from the earth."
Lavender sat quietly for a moment as she absorbed this new information. Dead? She couldn't really be dead, could she? But she could…and it made sense. There was no way she could have survived that neck wound. She knew that. But still the information refused to impact her.
Dumbledore sat patiently as she tried to take it all in.
In the end, however, she just couldn't. "I'm sorry sir," She started, shaking her head. "I just don't know what to do with this. I can't believe it." Her hands started shaking from the shock, large tears falling unnoticed down her round face.
"Do not cry Miss Brown." The old man smiled softly at her. "It is natural to feel confused and uncertain. Take as long as you need to. I shall sit with you. I'm sure more will be coming soon."
Lavender sat back, wiping her wet face. She willed herself to take deep calming breaths, and soon the tears ceased.
They sat in silence for what felt like a while before Dumbledore spoke again. "As saddened as I am to see you here with me, I am quite proud. You are so filled with promise, a beautiful girl with great talent and passion. A pureblood who could have married into many wealthy families if you chose to do so. You, however, died fighting for what is right and what you believe in. You fought to make the world a better place. And even in death you fought for the light. While admiring his kill, Greyback was met too distracted to notice the killing curse thrown at him." He turned to look at her, whispering "He cannot hurt or turn anyone anymore."
Warmth from her headmaster's words filled her. At least she didn't die in vain.
"Now," he started, his voice perking up, "Can I interest you in a lemon drop?"
Lavender laughed whole heartedly as Dumbledore reached into his pocket to pull out the sweet candies.