Title: A Reparo Can't Fix This
Rating: T
Challenge: The 'Pick Seven' Challenge and the Kiss of Judas Challenge.
Characters/Pairings: Parvati Patil, Blaise Zabini, Lavender Brown. Lavender/Blaise, Parvati/Blaise.
Authors Note: I'm happy with this even if it may be a bit screwy. :)
i. ribbon
He asked her out on a Friday afternoon with a letter accompanied by a red rose. It was the first of Parvati's collection.
Parvati had been fastening a ribbon into Lavender's hair in the dorms and gushing about her latest crush. With every compliment Parvati paid him, Lavender turned her head to roll her eyes with a sigh. If it had been anybody other than Blaise Zabini, Lavender would have probably squealed and begged for more information, but this time she didn't.
"And he is so adorable, and says that I make him laugh - and you know how hopeless I am at being funny, don't you?" Parvati said with a grin, attempting to get a laugh from Lavender.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Simultaneously, the girls both looked up and shared a glance through the reflection of the mirror after turning to look at the owl at the window.
Lavender waited for Parvati to tie the final knot in her ribbon before she went over to the window and pushed it up, letting a cool breeze flow in as well as a spotted brown owl. The owl stuck out it foot and she untied the string, taking the letter and rose. She then shooed the bird out of the dorm, and promptly shut the window.
She looked down at the letter and read the name on it, then the name on the back. She looked up at the other girl. "Parv, it's for you. It's from Zabini."
ii. cold hands, cold feet
Lavender can recall the first time they met, and it wasn't on very pleasant terms.
She had been walking back to the common rooms during second year, regretting the fact that she had left her mittens in her dorm that morning and muttering irritably about Parvati pushing her into that puddle earlier, causing her socks to soak right through.
Somewhere between calling Parvati a number of names her mother would no doubt disapprove of and complaining against the weather beneath her breath, she found herself colliding with a very firm thing in front of her and falling.
As she looked up, she realised it was not a thing. It was a person. A very Slytherin person.
"Watch where you're going," the boy had muttered, not even bothering to give her a hand up.
Lavender gave a very unladylike scoff. "I should watch where I'm going? You were the one that knocked into me!"
"What a little comedian," snarled the boy.
"Doesn't make it any less true," Lavender shot, scrambling to her feet. She stuck her tongue out at him, "And next time, open your bloody eyes!"
iii. history repeats itself
The first time it happened, it was an accident. But the second time, it was not.
Hands roaming over body, lips every where they could touch, eyes falling closed in ecstasy. Moans escaping past lips, groans from the back of their throats, whimpers as knees were made weak. Chairs being knocked over, desks being cleared with one swipe, papers fluttering to the floor.
Their first snog was dangerous in a McGonagall's classroom, and their second snog was careful in an abandoned classroom where they wouldn't have the chance of getting caught. Both were rash and impulsive and wrong but at the time it didn't matter.
What Lavender and Blaise had wasn't just a few stolen kisses here and there, it was almost a hate-fueled passion which they ended up regretting in the morning.
v. tomorrow is something we remember
The morning after snogging Blaise in the classroom a second time, the guilt really hit Lavender.
It was like someone punching her in the stomach to give her a rude awakening. To be quite frank, it felt like shit. And the feeling got even worse when she saw Parvati at breakfast, so happy and oblivious to what was happening behind her back.
Lavender attempted to send her a smile and a bright wave back but it was half-hearted an image of what would happen if Parvati ever found out flashed through her mind. The image was of a heartbroken, crying Parvati at night sobbing into her pillow with Lavender having to listen.
As Lavender headed over to the Gryffindor table, she shivered not only from the cold, but also from the guilt which was sending chills through her body.
It was in that moment that Lavender decided to break it off once and for all.
iv. draw the line in the sand
"No. This is not happening. Not again," Lavender insisted firmly, her eyes falling close as he pushed a piece of hair behind her ears. She opened her eyes slowly, shaking her head. "No. I refuse to let it happen again, Blaise. It's sick and horrible. I feel sick every time I see her now. I want to tell her."
Blaise let out a short, disbelieving scoff. "And you think she'll just forgive you?"
"Yes."
"Bullshit. The world doesn't work like that. If you do something shitty to someone else, they don't just forgive you."
"Parvati's my best friend. She'll forgive me eventually. She can't stay mad at me forever -"
"- Really now? She's your best friend?"
"Yes!" Lavender's voice raised as she stepped towards him gamely. "She's my best friend. I love her, and she loves me, and she will forgive me if I tell her."
Blaise arched an eyebrow at her. "No, she'll say she forgives you but she never will. She never trust you any more. And will you be able to tell her face to face when it comes down to it? When she screams at you and slaps you and calls you all these names you've always said your not? If you think she'll truly forgive you, then you're pathetic. A pathetic little bitc -"
A slap which left a bright red hand print across Blaise's face managed to shut him up, and he touched it gingerly.
Lavender's hand stung, but she ignored the pain and spat out at him, "I'm pathetic, Blaise? You're pathetic. You're a greedy, narcissistic bastard who deserves everything bad that comes to you. You do not deserve me, and you definitely do not deserve someone as brilliant as Parvati."
Blaise opened his mouth to retort, but Lavender was already pushing past him to the door. She turned at the last second. "And you know what? I hope you rot in hell, Blaise. Because that's where you belong."
vi. artificial light
It was the artificial light at the end of the tunnel. It makes you think that all is well and you're saved, but then you encounter another problem called your best friend.
Lavender had been the one to call it off, and it was like a weight off her shoulders. It had been such a relief to not wake up each morning and feel guilty-wracked, but there was still something she needed to do, and that was tell Parvati.
She had planned to write her a letter until she had gotten fed up because honestly this was not the Gryffindor way of dealing with things. You had to face things head-on without a moment to think of the consequences.
And so, Lavender looked at her letter which she had already put in the envelope before she dropped it in the bin and collapsed against her bed. She doesn't know when, but she found herself falling asleep. She awoke to Parvati clutching a letter, and pale-faced.
"Lavender. What is this?"
Oh shit.
vii. if you wanted honesty (then you've got it)
"Blaise kissed me. Twice," Lavender's voice still echoed in Parvati's head. "And... and I kissed him back. I am so sorry, Parvati. I wouldn't have but... but it's just... no-one's kissed me like that after the war - not even Seamus. I am so sorry."
Parvati sat by the lake, face buried in her hands until she felt something lightly touch her back and she stilled. She looked up, already guessing who it was. "Blaise."
"Lavender told you," Blaise stated knowingly, feeling her back tense beneath his hand, "didn't she?"
"Yeah," Parvati muttered, raising her eyes to look out across the water. "She told me, Blaise."
"Parvati, I am so -"
"- I don't care."
Blaise looked confused. "I... I'm sorry?"
"All I want to know is why you had to kiss her when you were dating me."
"Were? No. Parvati, we're still dating, aren't we?"
Parvati turned to him incredulously. "You snogged my best friend, and not just once, but two times."
"I have a good reason for that. I promise."
"Well, now I'm not sure I want to hear it -"
Blaise interrupted, "- Lavender's the forbidden fruit. She's there, and you can have her if you're daft enough to pick her and take a bite. That's all."
"That's all? She's the forbidden fruit?"
"She means nothing to me."
"Lavender's beautiful, despite what she says," Parvati murmured quietly.
"And it is amazing how complete the delusion that beauty is goodness."
"I beg your pardon?"
"A person can't be beautiful and good. It's an impossibility."
Parvati's nose crinkled as shook her head. "No, Blaise. That's where you're wrong. Lavender is good and beautiful. As a matter of fact, she's the most beautiful girl I know. Inside and out. And if you can't see that then I'm sorry, but you're not worth it and you don't deserve another chance."
"Parvati, please."
"No," Parvati decided, pushing herself up to her feet. "You hurt me beyond repair and there's... there's just some things that can't be mended by a reparo. My heart is one of them."
"I'm sorry."
"Goodbye, Blaise."
And with that, Blaise watched as his ex-girlfriend walk away from him and their relationship. And then, he realised how much he missed her already.
