Muffled voices reached Lavender's ears from the distance. It was no use, straining to hear what was being said. She felt like she was submerged in water. A gentle hand tipped back a thick, sweet-tasting liquid into her mouth, which was the routine every time she woke up, and almost instantly she fell back into a dreamless sleep.

Lavender was awoken by pain. It was a dull pain, one that was being covered up and muted by something in her system, but it was pain nonetheless. She had no way of knowing how long she had been asleep for. It felt like it had been years since she had last moved. Her eyelids fluttered open, but the blinding light made her squeeze them shut again.

"Lav?" The voice was of a high pitch, sweet and excited and all too familiar. "I think she's waking up! Lavender? Can you hear me?"

Lavender tried to speak, but her lips seemed to be glued together. Her dry tongue felt heavy and alien-like in her own mouth. A warm hand was placed on her forehead, and then someone opened her jaw. She expected the thick liquid again, but cold water filled her mouth instead, some of it dribbling out down her chin. It was as if Lavender had forgotten until now that she had a throat, and she began swallowing fiercely.

"Now don't go and make yourself sick," said a calm voice, stopping the flow of water. "Mrs. Brown, will you please close the curtains?"

Lavender could tell from behind her closed eyelids that the room had gotten darker, and she slowly opened her eyes, gazing around the hospital wing. "Mum?"

"Oh, Lavy!" Her mum leaned over her and kissed her head. Wet tears were pooling in her eyes as she looked into Lavender's face. "I apparated as soon as I got the owl. I was so worried, Lav!"

"So... we... won?" Lavender spluttered, feeling something warm spreading throughout her.

Her mum was sobbing now, one hand to her mouth as if to stifle the noise, her head bobbing profusely. "Yes."

Lavender felt relief and triumph for only a moment, and then the pain took over, causing her to wince. "It... hurts."

"Well, I'll say!" said Madame Pomfrey, fixing the sheets of the hospital bed. "You fell quite a long ways off the balcony. Not to mention your encounter with the werewolf!"

All of a sudden she remembered it, the grey blur of a man running on all fours, the stench of his foul breath as it was only inches from her nose, and the intense pain that was followed by endless blackness.

Madame Pomfrey gently patted her on the left cheek. "There, there, dear, he's gone. You had many broken bones, but I've gone and mended them. They'll be completely healed in no time. You're a true fighter, you know. Must be the Gryffindor in you."

There was information being kept from her. Lavender slowly moved her left hand across her body, reaching toward the stinging pain. She gasped as her fingers met bandages over her chest and right shoulder, and they continued up to the right side of her face.

Madame Pomfrey shook her head. "I handled a situation almost identical to this one just last year with the eldest Weasley boy. I'm sorry to say this, but you will always have the scars. Those I cannot heal."

Lavender shut her eyes, the memories becoming too vivid. Hot breath on her shoulder, ripping through the flesh. Snarling teeth. "Please, Madame Pomfrey. Make me go to sleep again."