Be Careful What You Wish For
A/N: I do not own anything from the world of Harry Potter.
This fic was written for the 'This Means War' competition on the HPFC forum. The prompt for round one was 'Girls Night Out' in which we had to write a fic between 1000-1500 words about a girl's night out during the 'Golden Trio' era. I tried to be original, and in no way do I intend to make out Lavender or Parvati as bad people- it sort of just happened lol. I hope this isn't too bad, I am currently looking to have it beta'd, and I promise once the comp. round is finished I will fix the ending haha.
Also, a big thank you to everyone who had read any of my stories- your favourites, follows, views and reviews have been seen (wow, not to sound stalker-ish lol) and are very, very much appreciated, thank you!
May 2, 1998
If, in that moment, all time had stopped, if the earth was frozen in its orbit, she would have believed it. Her heart seemed unwilling to beat, allowing her veins to turn to ice. It was entirely her fault that she could she could barely recognise the blonde lying at her feet, knocked unconscious by the loss of crimson liquid flowing from several deep gashes. If only she had not made that wish that fateful night, her best friend would not be lying on her death bed.
December 12, 1996
"Guys, open the windows, I think the storm has died down."
"Give me a sec. There, perfect," Fay flicked her wand, allowing the moonlight to stream through the open window, a pool of golden light falling upon the three figures sitting on the maroon carpet.
"Don't move!" Lavender yanked back on the girl's hair, "you don't want to ruin this now. It took me ages to master this the Muggle way and I don't want you to ruin it."
Parvati watched as Fay rolled her eyes, but obediently allowed Lavender to finish what she was doing. When Lavender wanted to play hairdresser, they knew better than to stop her. Currently, her tongue was sticking out from her lips as she concentrated on tying the end of the braid.
"There, perfect! Now you can leave for your dateeeeee," Lavender dragged the end of the word, smiling coyly up at a horrified Fay.
"It's not a date! We're just going studying, really we are," Fay's cheeks were now a rosy pink as she looked towards Hermione for help.
"Not everyone is obsessed with boys, Lavender," the brunette muttered from her bed.
"Exactly. Anyway, you girls have fun on your girl's night out… or in. A shame it had to storm, I might've come to see you in Hogsmeade. Oh well, see you," Fay flew out the door, ignoring Lavender's giggles of "yea, with Seamus by your side I bet."
She let out a sigh, flicking through the tattered copy of Teen Witch that she had managed to sneak in with her trunk on the first day of term; really, Filch was going overboard on enforcing the school's new security measures, confiscating any item he knew the students would enjoy having with them. It was a pity that they could not go out on the one day of the year that Dumbledore had extended the curfew for the fifth to seventh years on their visit to Hogsmeade that weekend; she had been looking forward to a night out on the town. Unfortunately, Lavender refused to get her hair wet in the pouring rain, and now she was forced to sit in their dormitory, fearing when the inevitable topic of Lavender's new boyfriend would be brought up.
She didn't have to wait long as Lavender turned to her, misty eyed.
"I'm going to miss Won-Won now! We were going to meet up at Madame Puddifoots but we can't now," her lips quivered and Parvati braced herself for the girl's well-rehearsed speech on how she could not bear a second without him. "I've always, always wanted to go there with him, ever since we got together that night-"
Parvati looked up at the ceiling, trying to ignore her. Lavender and Ron had only been going out for barely a month, and in that time all the two had ever really done was snog in obscenely public places. She wouldn't really consider it a relationship at all- they had nothing in common. It was only that she had told Lavender to be brave that she snogged him after they won the Quidditch match. She hadn't known that Ron was the one she had been crushing on- she had thought it was Cormac or something; if she did, she would certainly have never encouraged her.
"-there's always Valentine's Day though, oh and Christmas! I might ask his little sister, you know, Ginny, what the Weasleys are doing for Christmas and try to get an invite," Lavender continued to prattle on, making plans for the holidays.
She nodded her head, pretending to listen whilst she thought of how she would be much more welcome in the Weasley household. She had seen Ron's mother and father on several occasions at the station fare-welling or greeting their many children. Neither of them seemed the people to approve of a girl who cared more about her hair than her grades. Although she wasn't as studious as her sister, Parvati believed she was a little more down-to-earth and the perfect girl-friend material.
"Alright, let's do our nails or something. Hermione, do you want to join us?" she turned to the girl who was pouring over her Potions textbook, hoping that she could redirect the conversation.
"Oh yes, you must! Ronnie tells me he likes the pink I have on mine at the moment, but I think your nails could add a little pick me up, don't you think? Those cuticles are dreadful, no offense," Lavender peered at Hermione's nails, unscrewing the lid of a bottle of Madame Mia's Best Nail Potion.
"I'd rather not, if you don't mind," Hermione disappeared behind her curtains, huffing and muttering about the blonde's priorities.
Parvati didn't blame her; as much as she loved the girl, Lavender could be very insensitive. She knew she would've been unnerved if her nail condition was insulted, much like she was when Lavender had commented on her split ends in the third year. However, the girl was never malicious in her comments, often shrugging off the rejection of her advice as she did now.
"Oh well, probably for the best, I don't have that much. What colour would you like Pav?"
"Red, I think."
"Ooh, red like Won-won's hair, perfect! He is such a good kisser, it's no wonder that I love him so much. Keep still, I don't want to smudge my work."
She hadn't realised that her hands were shaking as she shifted uncomfortably on the floor. The thought that her friend was in love with her crush made her stomach feel as though a hundred Cornish pixies were fluttering around inside. She knew Lavender was obsessed with Ron, but the fact that she now believed she loved him, however true that was, made her feel uncomfortable.
The truth was, ever since the Yule Ball, she had admired the ginger, and felt that she might actually love him, if from afar.
At first she had been glad that she had been partnered with Harry upon seeing the hideous frilly robes Ron had been wearing. As the evening wore on and Harry had ignored her, she had found herself wondering what it would be liked to dance with Ron, noticing that it possibly wouldn't have been that bad to be seen with him, ugly robes or not.
Over the last two years, her curiosity had grown where time and again she would find herself wondering what it would be like to be with him, to have him hold her; after all, he wasn't completely inapt in his schoolwork, and he had proven himself to be very brave in his participation in the DA and the events at the Ministry earlier that year. Unfortunately, he was now taken and even if he weren't, she was convinced that he wouldn't want her.
"Are you listening to me? What should I get him?" Lavender whined, snapping Parvati out of her thoughts.
Half-heartedly, she thought of something that Ron wouldn't like, "Oh, um, why not a locket with his name on it?"
"A locket?" Lavender pursed her lips thoughtfully, not realising that she was joking. "What an amazing idea! Oh Pav, you really should get a boyfriend you know! I don't know why you can't, you have such great ideas! You're not that bad looking either, if you'd apply some more makeup here and there."
Parvati felt the smile she faked slide from her face and moved to the window, hoping to cool the angry flush forming on her face. She knew that Lavender didn't mean it, as usual, but it made her feel annoyed nevertheless that she was so oblivious to her own feelings.
A larger part of her, however, felt ashamed, knowing that Lavender was right; Ron would never go for her. He hadn't paid the slightest attention to Padma, her identical copy, and had instead been more than willing to go out with Lavender. If only she wasn't so perky and perfect, she'd have a chance.
Seeing a twinkling star fall in the distance, she absentmindedly wished that the situation was different. She wished that Ron was with her; that he had never gotten with Lavender. Better yet, she wished that Lavender wasn't so flawless, that something happened to her skin, to give her a chance at her own happiness. The star seemed to brighten with these thoughts, allowing her to return to nodding and smiling along to Lavender's monologue.