In the End
Summary:
"Face it, Chang. We're all just rejects in the end."
A Lavender Brown/Cho Chang One-shot.
Written for 2012 Mew & Mori's Weird Pairing Competition.
Lavender Brown survived the Final Battle by only a thread. But she was not a survivor, she was a victim. She knew that. She knew that no matter how hard she tried, she would likely never get past what had happened.
She was a werewolf and a castoff, and no one could tell her everything would be all right. How could anything be all right when her family wanted nothing to do with her, society put her as less than human, and her friends abandoned her for the comfort of others.
And if she was honest, it was Ron's rejection that hurt the worst. He was the only one to ever say that he would love her forever.
And then he didn't.
Cho Chang survived the Final Battle with only a few scars. Her family supported her, her friends rallied for her.
But her family stayed as far from the war as they could, her friends refused to join her in the Final Battle.
They didn't know what she knew, they hadn't seen what she had, they couldn't feel the way she had felt.
She went to Harry, hoping that he would once again be able to understand how it felt. And he did his best to comfort her, he truly did. But he had made it much too clear that they would not work out.
He was with Granger and the Weasleys. And they all laughed and played and enjoyed themselves. He was able to move on.
And she could not.
It was no surprise to Lavender that Chang could not move on. She'd been slow to move on from Diggory, had she not?
It wasn't as if the two had ever been friends. She had carried a modicum of respect for Chang in school, but that had been washed away with the battle, with her old life.
Finding Chang in a dive of a bar in Surrey wasn't something she had expected, but wasn't terribly surprised about.
Though she was sure she'd been to the bar before, Lavender wasn't afraid to admit she wasn't even sure what it was called. It was as normal as bars went, and very much a Muggle one.
When she walked in, she noticed the pretty little witch sitting on the stool farthest from the door. She was surrounded by half-drunk men who fancied a nightcap or a quick shag, but Lavender figured the girl could handle her own.
She was wrong, of course. Within an hour, a filthy man who smelled like week-old cat piss and stale cigarettes put his hands on Chang and the stupid girl froze in abject terror.
Lavender could have let the man take Chang into the alley for a quick fuck or whatever the idiot wanted, but she found she couldn't.
Lonesome witches needed to stick together, didn't they?
Or maybe they didn't.
"Hands off, piss breath," Lavender snarled, wrapping her hand around the man's arm and pulling him backwards.
"You want to start something -" the man started to speak but stopped cold when he saw that Lavender was not, in fact, a buff man, despite her grip. The man's eyes widened when he saw how little and fragile Lavender looked.
"Get lost," she scoffed, letting his arm loose and stepping back.
He fled, and she felt quite satisfied.
"Chang, if you're going to go to a bar like this, you should probably grow some skin. You know, like thicker than you had just now."
"You know who I am?" Chang's voice squeaked awkwardly. She had obviously intended to go somewhere where no one knew her.
"Of course I do. You were only a year above mine. I'm guessing you don't remember me?" Lavender asked.
"Brown?" Chang's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yes, it is I, Miss Brown. At your service, my liege," Lavender replied sarcastically, shooing away the man who still sat in the stool next to the girl.
"But your parents. . . they said you. . . had died," Chang rasped out. The girl looked understandably confused.
"Sorry, Chang, but not everyone had parents as understanding as yours. Once they found out I had been, let's say, contaminated, they decided I was dead." She sat down in the now empty stool, slapping a handful of money on the bar.
"What will you be having, Miss Brown?" the bartender asked her. Lavender grinned widely.
"Whatever Chang's having. More alcohol."
He slid a mojito in front of her soon afterwards.
"Why did you help me?" Chang looked over at Lavender, her eyes wide.
"Nothing is the same anymore, is it? Who else can understand that?"
"When did you get so smart?"
"I'm not smart. Just. . . tired. Do you want to get out of here, Chang?"
Impulsive, dangerous. But maybe Chang would understand.
Chang looked at her - stared right at her. It felt like hours to Lavender.
"Let's go."
Cho watched her new companion carefully, soaking in everything about the girl that had changed. She was rougher, her features not as dainty and as breakable as they had been. And there was a look in her eyes. It wasn't just the loneliness. It was something. . . more feral.
Maybe Lavender Brown would understand.
"Let's go."
Within moments, they walked out of the bar together and started down the street.
"I'm sorry, Lavender." She wasn't sure why she said it, but she felt like it needed to be said.
Lavender stopped.
"Don't pity me, Chang."
"What happened to make you so cynical? So mean? You were such a popular girl. Your personality and attitude were infectious."
"You went through a lot of the same hells as I did and you still need to ask me? Face it, Chang. We're all rejects in the end."
"Stop acting like you don't need anyone, Lavender. You obviously do or you wouldn't have asked me to come with you." She couldn't understand where she found the courage to speak like that to Lavender when she was too afraid to push away a drunk Muggle.
"Maybe I thought you needed someone tonight, Chang. If you must know, it's not just my attitude that is 'infectious' anymore. My bite is too."
Despite that she had suspected it before, she wasn't quite ready for the dizzying realisation of what had happened to Lavender.
"You. . . you're a werewolf."
Maybe she didn't care that Lavender was a werewolf. Professor Lupin had been and he was a far better person than a lot of her teachers had been. Maybe, she was tired of being alone.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
Maybe she was tired of maybes.
"Yes, I am. Thank you for pointing out the ob-"
No, Lavender. You're. . . what's the word? Deflecting!"
Deflecting. Yes, that was the word. They were both deflecting. Feelings were too hard sometimes.
"Stop it. Stop acting like you're not lonely, that you're not scared. It's been two years since that all ended. And you've been alone. Because of what happened. Well. . . well. . . well guess what, Lavender? You're not alone now. I'm here. And I am tired of being alone too."
If they'd met just after the Final Battle, maybe they wouldn't both be so messed up now. What was with her and maybe? They didn't meet then. If they had, chances were they wouldn't have understood each other anyway.
"What is wrong with you, stupid 'Claw?"
"I've never met a more sarcastic Gryffindor than you."
Cho thought for a long time, walking in silence with Lavender. It was getting late, her buzz was wearing off, and she was getting tired.
But she didn't want the night to end, not yet. When would the next time be that she could feel so. . . not alone?
"Come home with me, Lavender?"
"Why the hell not? Not like there'll be anyone else who'll ask."
The two of them lay next to each other on Cho's bed, fully clothed but shoeless.
"Why didn't you go and reclaim Potter once everything was over? It's obvious that Ginny Weasley didn't want him," Lavender asked her new friend.
"Why didn't you go get Ron? You were overly crazy for him in school. Creepily so."
"Point taken, Cho."
"Can I ask you a favor?"
Cho had been thinking about it for a long time. When was the last time Lavender was able to do something she loved just for the sake of it?
Lavender was surprised at the question. "Yeah?"
Cho leaned up on her arms and looked down at her.
"Will you do my makeup in the morning?"
In the morning? Why had she said that? She didn't want Lavender to assume she had to stay all night. Not that she minded if Lavender did, she might even enjoy that, but. . .
Then Lavender smiled.
She wondered who else had been able to see Lavender Brown smile in the past two years.
"I'd love to. No one has asked me that in ages."
They'd been talking for quite some time, as if they'd always been friends and hadn't been able to snatch a few minutes to catch up. It felt normal and normal was something Lavender hadn't felt in a long time.
But also, she couldn't help but feel warm around Cho. Was that weird?
"Hey, Cho? Can I ask you something?"
She wasn't sure why she said it, what she was going to ask.
"Yeah?"
Lavender sat up, and folded her legs under herself. She breathed out, not consciously aware that she'd been holding her breath.
Confused, Cho sat up as well.
"Can I kiss you now?"
She hadn't expected she would say it. But once it was out, she felt relieved. How long had she wanted to kiss her?
The other girl blushed but did not answer aloud. She simply leaned over and pressed her lips to Lavender's instead.
When they broke apart, they smiled at each other.
Maybe they would be all right in the end.
End.