put out the light
i. May 2nd, 1998
Parvati's lungs burn. Beside her, Lavender huffs and puffs, her face red in strain.
"I can't run anymore," Lavender manages, falling to her knees. Parvati groans as her legs give out too.
Behind them, Parvati can hear Death Eater's behind them as the battle rages on. This is a bad place, she knows, as Lavender and her shoot destruction spells behind them.
"We need to keep fighting," Parvati mutters. Lavender nods grimly, firing as stunning spell despite her evident exhaustion. Parvati takes a step towards her as they fall back-to-back. In the distance, Parvati can see Ginny Weasley setting the world on fire as Luna shoots off quick bursts of light.
Within seconds of them getting ready, their pursuers catch up to them. Lavender tenses and Parvati wishes she could hold her hand, but the Death Eaters look daunting and they need both their wits if they are going to survive this.
From the back of the group of Death Eaters, a single one approaches. Parvati's grip on her wand tightens as he steps into the moonlight and his face is illuminated. Then, she feels her stomach sink because his face is too pale and his teeth are too sharp and he's looking at them like they're his next meal.
In that minute, both the Death Eaters charge at them and it hits Parvati all at once that she is not just facing another human being, but a vampire. In between all the chaos and the flashing and the action, Parvati does not even realize.
Lavender Brown screams out in agony, and Parvati turns around to see the painful sight of fangs of fangs sinking into skin.
(In the end, love will win and the good guys will trump and the world will continue spinning despite it all, but Parvati will not remember that. Parvati will spend the entire night in the hospital wing, clutching her girlfriend's hand and watching her transform into something unrecognizable.)
…
ii. August 17th, 2001
In the kitchen, Lavender is singing. Parvati sits on the porch of their cottage as the last rays of sunlight disappear, listening as even the owls stop to listen. Lavender tends to have that effect on people — girls like her have always had the power to rearrange history by their whims.
"Lav?" Parvati calls. Her voice echoes and Lavender's quiets. Parvati can hear her footsteps until she peeks through their front door, golden hair falling into her face.
Lavender holds a candle, her face illuminated. When she smiles up at Parvati, her teeth glint dangerously. If Parvati was still capable of fear, she would have felt it, but that had been lost in the war along with her innocence.
"Have you eaten?" Parvati asks instead, wringing her hands.
Lavender shrugs. "I had something last night."
Parvati sighs in disappointment. Lavender sleeps through the day and awake at night, throwing Parvati's schedule and Auror career in havoc and not allowing her to fuse over Lavender. "You need to be eating more than you currently are, Lav. I'm worried about you."
"It's not like we can afford it," Lavender reminds her gently, sinking down onto the porch too and wrapping an arm around her. "I'm fine, my love. I had some bloody steak and I'm satisfied. But I know that's not really it — what's wrong?"
"If my ancestors were to see how we live in the woods, paycheck to paycheck, they wouldn't be able to look me in the eyes." Parvati kisses Lavender's cheek, stroking her hair wistfully. "Everything should be perfect, right? I should be happy now, but I'm not. We deserved so much more and it was just stolen from us."
"Hey," Lavender chides softly. "We have enough money and space. I just like my food a little bit on the rare side and you have a talent for brooding. Imagine the people you work with in the Auror department, all stuck up and dull. Am I hotter than those little bitches?"
Parvati nods, chuckling a little at Lavender's underestimation. "You are."
"You see!" Lavender says triumphantly, beaming. "We're just fine."
Parvati nods again, leaning down to lie on Lavender's lap. Lavender puts down the candle she had been holding and plants a kiss on her cheek. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
Their conversation lulls after that, but Parvati, for a moment feels at peace. She can hear the crickets chirp as the candlelight turns Lavender's hair from blonde to orange in its flickers. Tomorrow, Parati will wake up exhausted and go to work anyways because nobody will hire a vampire and she refuses to let them starve. Tomorrow, she knows Lavender will disappear inside before the sunlight can return and burn her skin, but she still will make sure to make Parvati lunch. Tomorrow, Parvati knows, will be miserable.
But it will be worth it.
...
Written for:
Sewing 101: Candle, Pain, Gold
Character Appreciation: 16. [Trait] Empathetic
Disney Challenge: Mowgli - /alt/ Write about a brave child.
Dark Lady's Diabolic Liar: Write about someone gaining power unexpectedly
Showtime: The Phantom of the Opera - (action) Singing
Amber's Attic: 9. "I held you the way a boat holds water. I always felt us sinking."
Count Your Buttons: A2 — Vampire!AU
Lyric Alley: Call it a dark, night of the soul
Ami's Audio Admirations: Black Feathers — Write about escaping a monster (human or otherwise).
Liza's Loves: Riches to Rags — Word: Daunting
Angel's Arcade: Tikal the Echidna: (word) ancestor, (color) orange, (trait) passive
Lo's Lowdown: "Everything should be perfect, right? I should be happy now, but I'm not." - Zuko
Film Festival: Setting: Doctor's Office/Waiting room/hospital, Dialogue: "Am I hotter than these little bitches?"
Feline Fair: Russian Blue: Write about a sensitive person
