Lavender Brown hadn't ever really given much thought to how she would die.
Even in the deepest, darkest realms of her mind, where the taboo topic was allowed to roam freely with the few serious worries the young girl had, the thoughts weren't particularly vicious. When she was forced to talk about it, she would always smile, and say she would die in her sleep, years from now, with a husband, and children by her side as she finally left this world for good.
Lavender and Parvati had always had conversations of this calibre late at night, snuggled tight in their beds in the Gryffindor tower. They would ponder about whom they would eventually marry, what their children would be like, just as every average teenager did. They would confide in each other, as best friends do, about how much they hoped their children would follow in their footsteps; get their Hogwarts acceptance letter at the grand old age of eleven, be sorted into Gryffindor, where they would find friends, lovers, and maybe even soul mates. They would grow up, and have a family of their own. Their children would carry on the legacy, making their parents proud just as Lavender and Parvati had been proud of them, all those years ago.
These were the conversations that sped through Lavender's mind as she ran. Through the castle; the one place where she truly felt safe, watching the walls crumble around her. Through her home for the past seven years, through the place where she had found friends, lost love and learned the most. Down the stairs she stumbled, almost taking off into the air as she hopped from the last step, flying past the portrait of the Fat Lady. Her heart panged as she wished for nothing more than to step through the small arch again, to see all of her friends sitting around in the common room, taking up the plush chairs so that the first years had to congregate somewhere else. She wished she was back in the Great Hall, the chattering and laughing of at least three hundred students thundering in her ears as she piled her plate high with some of the best-tasting food imaginable. She wanted to be sat in her bed in the girl's dormitory, laughing with her friends as she got ready to start a new day. She even wished to be back in Potions class. The stuffy silence of Professor Snape's old subject had seemed unbearable to Lavender at one point, but compared to the current war, it was heaven on earth.
She sped along the third-floor corridor, blocking spells as they were aimed at her. A killing curse flew mere inches from her head, disturbing her perfect curls as it soared past. She sent a stunning spell back, throwing herself behind a plaster bust. With a crash, the bust shattered, coating Lavender in a pale white powder as small, cracked pieces rained down. Another curse was aimed her way, the shocking green light startling her into action. She stood from her hiding place, and began to aim every spell she had ever learned in her enemy's direction. Determined to succeed, she blocked anything sent her way with a precision that had never shone through in Defence against the Dark Arts class.
People had always wondered why Lavender had been placed in Gryffindor. She didn't show particular bravery in any sense of the word. Although not intended to be malicious, some of the girls she shared a dormitory with made remarks about this fact, teasing her about her naïve personality. The girls in Slytherin, however, were much nastier, making remarks about how the Sorting Hat should have put her in Hufflepuff, and how she was pretty much useless. Superficially, she over-dramatized, wailing and crying about the remarks, but deep down, all she felt was bitter resentment towards the girls who loved nothing better than to wind her up, just for a show.
However, none of that girl was left as she directed her wand at the dark force in front of her; multi-coloured sparks finding their mark. Cute, innocent little Lavender was gone, and had been replaced by a woman who wanted nothing more than to show the world that she was a true Gryffindor; true, strong, and above all, courageous.
The first shock came when the curse actually hit. Landing straight in the centre of her chest, the scarlet beam of light knocked her over, pushing her backwards. She had been so intent in her duelling that she hadn't noticed how close to the stairs they had gotten. It was over in a matter of seconds; her back nudged against the handrail, the force from the spell forcing her upper body over the edge. She was falling; the upward pull of gravity no match for her weight. Blonde curls tumbled past her eyes as she felt cool air push on the back of her neck, almost as if it were trying to help her; push her back up, so she could finish the battle.
And then she hit the ground with a sickening crack. Pain forced its way through her nerves, bringing tears to her eyes, which she held tightly closed. Fire spread its way across her limbs, increasing in degrees as she attempted to move.
She felt breath mist its way across her face, but didn't dare to open her eyes. In her mind, she was back in the dormitory; the putrid breath that was now terribly close to her mouth was a foul-smelling candle that her mother had sent her for Christmas one year.
"Pretty little thing, aren't you?" someone chuckled, pulling her hair back from her ear. Lavender blocked out the voice, focusing on the flickering of the flame in her mind.
As the flame in her mind jumped, the burning in her body increased. Higher and higher the temperature soared, reaching fever pitch before long. Lavender struggled feebly, attempting to pull herself away from whatever was causing the pain, but she had lost all control of her body, and all she could do was wait for the inevitable to happen.
A loud smash, followed by a dull crack resounded in her ears, ringing on for much longer than it should. She cracked her eyes open slightly, the world swimming in her vision. Through the waves, she made out a crystal ball, rolling away from her. A body was slumped impossibly close to her, blocking her view of her saviours. She heard someone calling her name, but the darkness already tugging at the edges of her sight had taken over, and Lavender tumbled into the darkest realms of her mind.