This is, um, a bit weird, to say the least. It was written for an unusual pairings challenge- but I can't remember who's or which one, so sorry for that! Not my best piece ever, not going to lie. I'm not sure if I like it or not - it is bizarre - so your opinion would be loved (:
Severus Snape and Lavender Brown should have no reason to get along, or even to associate. Even in death they retain their characters: the foolish, silly girl and the lonely, heartbroken man.
They sit amongst the saints and sinners in this strange after-life; the young woman who committed suicide because she couldn't bear to see her maimed looks in the mirror every day, and the man who lived in life in secrets and lies, eternally paying for one foolish, hot-headed comment.
They are tying themselves down, restricting their own freedoms. Friendship is happiness, happiness is escape. And escape is feared and exalted in the same heartbeat: it is something that threatens to destroy them, but also to liberate their souls.
He glares at her, and she coughs pointedly. They recognise each other, but refuse to acknowledge it though – after all, why make the effort to become acquainted with a not particularly bright past-student; or a severe, unfriendly ex-teacher.
They have more in common than they think they do though, as they bind knots in their hearts and minds trying to avoid even the merest of conversations. Side by side they sit, looking ahead, to each other, glaring, coughing, looking ahead again. It's almost ritualistic by now; the time isn't the same in this sort-of-heaven. There is peace, a chance for new beginnings, new friendships, Merlin knows they both need it.
And then... one day there is a miniscule difference in the atmosphere. They each thaw a little, though they don't know why. The tangled loops of their minds unwind just a little, untying just a small amount. He still glares, and she still coughs; but it means nothing now. They do not reach out that last miniscule amount though. His heart is full of LilyLilyLily – yes, of course even after all these years - and there's no room for another flower-named girl, not even in an entirely platonic sense. He has dark hair, and so did that beast of a werewolf that maimed her. It's a tentative link, but it's enough to spook her and unnerve her, especially combined with the ugly snake-shaped scar on his forearm. No amount of remorse on his part will ever remove that from his skin nor his memory. They sit side-by-side, thinking the same thought in very different ways.
This is a friendship that could be so much, so why is it so little?