"Remus, please, you need to help us. I don't know what to do - how to fix this -" Lavender's dad paced in front of the fireplace, shouting over the women screaming in the next room.

"What happened?" Remus was already clearing away his papers.

"We didn't mean it - didn't say that! - but Lav's got it in her head that we don't want her here anymore." He stopped, rubbing his head anxiously. "She's leaving, Remus."

.

"Lavender?" Remus knocked on the door gently.

"Yeah, yeah, it's not locked!"

Remus pushed the door open and stepped in the room. Clothes and books were strewn everywhere, and Lavender was in the middle of the mess packing hurriedly. Remus sighed, shutting the door. "What do you think you're doing?"

Lavender laughed, waving her hand maniacally. "Packing! They don't want me here, Remus! I'm a 'burden' and I don't 'do anything.' Don't do anything!"

"I'm quite sure your parents do not wish for you to leave -"

"Maybe not consciously!" She jumped up and started pacing furiously. "But I see it in their eyes - they can't stand the sight of me! She tells me I look 'lovely.' Lovely! It's the scars, Remus! They can't bloody stand them! Can't bear to look at them!"

"Perhaps they remind your parents of the hurt their beloved daughter went through," Remus tried, folding himself into a surprisingly empty chair.

"Perhaps it reminds them of the monster I turned into," she shot back. The two stared at each other. Remus looked away first, and Lavender was kneeling by his chair in an instant. "I didn't mean that," she whispered.

Remus leaned forward. "You are not a monster, Lavender."

"No, and neither are you." He didn't answer. Lavender sighed, folding her arms over his leg and resting her cheek on them. "I can't stay with them anymore. I can't keep waking them up because I'm screaming, or pretending I don't need my meat raw, or watching them flinch when they look at me. I know its hard for them, but it's hard for me too!" She was pacing again. "Eighteen years of being obsessed with 'pretty,' and look at me now." She laughed darkly.

"Lav -"

She shook her head. "That's not the point. The point is, I need to learn to like myself again, and I can't do that here." She started packing again to emphasize her decision.

Remus watched her silently for a while, but stood when her hands started to falter. He pushed himself from the chair and started enlarging her suitcases. "Where, then?"

She blinked up at him with slightly shiny eyes. "I was - I was thinking New York."

"America?"

"Yeah."

Remus sighed. "Why?"

"Because there I can disappear," she smiled. "A crowd of a thousand people. A new start. Music, business, entertainment, opportunity. I want that." She stood up, and grabbed his hands. Her eyes were glowing, and he couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "I want to stay out late and not have my parents worried sick. I want to be a freak in the middle of a city of freaks and be beautiful again. I want -" She ducked her head shyly. "I want to shave my head."

"You - what?"

"I don't know; I want a new look!" she defended.

"You could try bangs!" he suggested. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his torso. He hesitantly hugged her back. She tilted her head back and held his gaze from a mere 6 inches away.

"I know you think I'm going mad, but I'm finally thinking clearly. This is what I want. This is what I need. I need to do this."

Her eyes were so, so close to his, and the words just jumped from his mouth before his brain could scream, "Bad idea! Abort! Abort!"

"I'm coming with you."

"You - what?"

Written for the Shipper's Dictionary Comp. Inspired by the amazing Prompts Galore! on HPFC and written while listening to "Headphones" by Matt Nathanson.