Muggle London was a source for constant amusement for Ron and Ginny. Although they rarely admitted it, they had inherited their father's love of all things Muggle. Ron was a bit more accustomed to the Muggle world, thanks to his travels with Harry and Hermione over the past year, but Ginny was constantly pointing out little things that caught her fancy such as televisions in shop windows or the fact that Muggle cars could not magically make their way through traffic.
Harry found Ginny's wide-eyed enjoyment of her surroundings to be very endearing and he loved explaining things to her as they made their way from shop to shop. Harry spent a good deal of time shopping for new Muggle clothes. His wizarding robes were very comfortable but having spent a good portion of his life in Muggle attire, Harry felt slightly more at ease in a pair of Converse trainers rather than dragon skin dress shoes. Not to mention the fact that most of his clothes to that point were still hand me downs from Dudley and Harry just wanted to have clothes that he would be the first to wear for once.
Another reason for venturing out into was the complete lack of recognition from the crowds around them. Ever since May, when the news had gotten out that Voldemort had finally met his end, Harry had been leery of being out amongst the wizarding public. He understood that he was famous; really he should say more famous then he had been before, but sometimes he just wanted to be a regular bloke. Out amongst the Muggles, he could have exactly that.
The four young people wandered from shop to shop having as much fun as the possibly could. Hermione was keeping a list of clothes and trinkets that Ginny was particularly fond of for Harry so he could return later and buy them for Ginny's birthday. Harry figured that since he had more money than he knew what to do with he was going to spoil her rotten this year to make up for all the time he had been away from her.
"Harry," Ron said in a harsh whisper as they exited one store.
"What?"
"Look over there," Ron said pointing to a poorly lit alley on the other side of the street.
At first Harry did not see anything out of the ordinary about the dirty little alleyway. Then he noticed something moving in the shadows. At first Harry thought it was a large dog or something rooting around in a trash bin. It was only when a bit of reflected light played across the figure that Harry realized to his horror, that it was a person digging through the garbage. What was even worse, he recognized what they were wearing as the school robes of a Gryffindor. With barely a glance at the traffic, Harry took off at a sprint, the other three right behind him.
"Hey," Harry shouted at the unknown person in the alleyway. "Wait a minute."
"Don't hurt me," screamed the figure as they turned and ran further into the alley and away from Harry and the others.
Casting a meaningful glance at Hermione over his shoulder, Harry ran after the ragged figure. Hermione had understood what Harry wanted instantly and the moment she was in the shadowy alleyway, she cast a Muggle Repelling charm on it so that they would not be bothered. Harry had known that after years of friendship Hermione would know what to do and he immediately Apparated to the other shadowy end of the alley to do the same.
Seeing Harry standing in their way, the fleeing stranger stopped dead and looked around for another escape route. Deciding to run back the way they had come, they ran straight into Ron. The two people collided and bounced off each other. Ron, being the larger of the two, merely stumbled a bit but the frightened stranger fell heavily to the ground crying.
"Leave me alone," sobbed a young woman's voice from under a mass of filthy matted hair.
"We're not going to hurt you, you git," Ron said wiping a trickle of blood from his lip where he had bitten it when he collided with the young woman.
"Ron," asked the young woman in a tremulous voice. "Is that you?"
A pair of tear filled eyes looked up at Ron through the curtain of matted hair. Harry walked up behind the young woman and noticed immediately a smell of stale sweat and foulness that made his eyes water. Ron noticed none of this because he had recognized those eyes from weeks of seeing them up close as he was snogging the young woman they belonged to.
"Lavender," Ron said in a hoarse whisper. "Oh God, Lavender, what's happened to you?"
Harry was shocked, and glancing at Hermione and Ginny he could see that they were as well. Lavender Brown had always been a beautiful young woman that took great pride in her appearance, never leaving her dorm room without checking to see that she looked as nice as could be. Yet here she was in a filthy Muggle alley looking as if she had not seen the comfort of home in months.
"They're all gone," Lavender sobbed as she suddenly stood up and flung herself at Ron, holding on to him as if he was the only real thing in the world.
"What you talkin' about, Lavender," Ron asked uncomfortably as he tried to comfort the sobbing girl in his arms. "Who's all gone?"
The stress of the situation, however, had been too much for the sobbing young woman. Ron was pulled to the ground as Lavender's body went suddenly limp. Harry and Ginny rushed forward to help Lavender as Hermione tried to help Ron back to his feet.
"We need to get her someplace safe," Ginny said to Harry as the kneeled over the unconscious young woman.
"I know," Harry agreed as he slid his arms under Lavender's limp body and lifted her. "Hermione. Lift the charms on the alley and then you and Ron meet us back at home Grimmauld Place."
"Wouldn't St. Mungo's be better, Harry?" Hermione asked as she and Ron gathered up all the packages they had dropped.
"Maybe later but right now I want to know what the hell is going on here," Harry said fiercely. "Hold on to my arm, Ginny."
Ginny nodded and held on tightly to Harry's arm as he Apparated them all to the stoop outside Grimmauld Place. Letting go of his arm, Ginny unlocked the door and opened it so that Harry could carry Lavender inside.
"Kreacher," Harry called stepping inside.
"Yes, Master Harry," Kreacher said in his deep bullfrog voice as he appeared before them.
"Get me a basin of hot water and some clean clothes, and hurry," Harry said carrying the unconscious Lavender into the parlor and laying her down on the nearest couch. "And bring me some tea and food as well."
Kreacher nodded and disappeared with a loud crack as Ginny stepped over to the couch and helped Harry as he tried to make Lavender comfortable.
"Merlin, Harry," Ginny said in a whisper, "she smells like she hasn't had a bath in weeks."
"I know," was all he could say as he brushed Lavender's matted hair away from her face.
Other than the grime of hard living, Lavender looked the same as she always had. Harry thanked God that she was not scarred as Bill had been after being attacked by Fenrir Greyback. That did not concern him nearly as much as why she had been evidently living life on the streets of Muggle London.
"Here you are, Master Harry," Kreacher said as he placed a platter with everything Harry had asked for beside his master.
"Thank you, Kreacher."
Harry looked up as he heard Hermione and Ron enter the room. Both wore expressions of deepest concern as they walked over to peer down at Lavender's sleeping form. Hermione was holding tightly on to Ron's hand as he looked down at his former girlfriend with a worried expression.
"She going to be ok?" asked Ron quietly.
"Ron," Lavender said weakly as her eyes fluttered open.
"I'm here, Lavender," said a very concerned Ron as he kneeled down beside Lavender and smiled at her.
"They're all gone, Ron," she said weakly as she stared at his face.
"Who's all gone?"
"Everyone," Lavender said as she sat up and wrapped her arms around Ron and started crying again. "My whole family is gone. They killed them all."
Ginny gasped at the news and Hermione rushed out of the room to use the fireplace in the kitchen to floo someone in order to confirm what Lavender had said. Harry reached over and wrapped an arm around Ginny to try and comfort her, but he could feel the anger building in him as it used to before Tom's shard of soul had been destroyed.
"I just wanted to go home, Ron," Lavender said through her sobbing. "I didn't want to stay at Hogwarts. I just wanted to go home so I snuck out and Apparated home as soon as I could."
"It's ok, Lav," Ron said as he tried his best to sooth the crying young woman. "You're safe here with us now."
"It was gone," Lavender continued as if she had not even heard Ron's words. "My house was nothing but a pile of rubble. I didn't believe it and I cried out for my family. They didn't answer me but I found them anyway."
Fresh sobs wracked the young woman's body as she fought to catch her breath. Eventually she seemed to gain a little control over herself but when she looked up at Ron, her eyes shone unnaturally bright and Harry was shocked to see that Lavender's lip was bleeding where she had bitten down on it to stop crying.
"I found them, Ron," she whispered. "They were all dead in the back yard. Had been for a while it looked like. I wanted to die too but I was afraid to do it."
Ginny was crying into Harry's shoulder now and Harry could feel his anger building by the moment. It was then that Harry saw Hermione walk back into the room leading Mrs. Weasley. The two women looked over at Harry. He could see from the look in Hermione's eyes that she had confirmed Lavender's story, and he motioned for them to wait before they approached further.
"I didn't know what to do or where to go," Lavender said sounding very weak and confused. "So I started walking. I lost my wand somewhere but I didn't care so long as I kept walking. I ended up here in London after a few days and I've been walking around here ever since."
Tears rolled down Ron's face as Lavender fell asleep in his arms from sheer exhaustion. Mrs. Weasley silently walked up behind her youngest son and laid a comforting hand on his neck. Looking up over his shoulder, Ron could only nod as he laid Lavender back down on the couch and stood up slowly. Turning to his mother, Ron suddenly wrapped his arms tightly around the stout little woman and buried his head in the crook of her neck. Hermione stood behind him and rubbed his shoulders as Ron cried softly.
It was seeing Ron cry that made Harry's rage slowly fade away. There had only ever been a handful of times that Harry had ever seen his best mate cry and seeing it now made him feel very sad. Turning to Ginny, Harry hugged her tightly and let his own tears fall as he comforted the woman he loved and could not bear to lose as Lavender had lost her family.
"Harry, dear," Mrs. Weasley said softly as she let Hermione take her place with Ron. "Help me get this poor girl upstairs so we can get her cleaned up and in bed. Ginny, come give me a hand."
Harry nodded and kissing Ginny softly, he stood up and once again picked up Lavender in his arms. He was shocked at how light she felt and he realized that she had probably not eaten a decent meal in ages. Following Mrs. Weasley up the stairs to the large bathroom on the second floor Harry felt a deep sadness welling up inside him.
"Harry," Mrs. Weasley said in a businesslike tone of voice, "stand her up here next to the tub and hold her there. She's too heavy for me or Ginny to move around so close your eyes and keep them closed till I say so. Understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," Harry said shutting his eyes tightly.
Ginny and Mrs. Weasley quickly undressed the young woman as they ran warm water in the tub. Harry heard Mrs. Weasley crying softly at one point and Ginny letting out a gasp of surprise but the two women said nothing until they were done and Harry had lifted Lavender up and into the large tub of steaming water.
"You did a fine job, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said finally. "Now it's up to us so you get out of here and go check on Ron and Hermione while we get this girl cleaned up.
Without thinking Harry opened his eyes to look down at Mrs. Weasley. What he saw made him wish that he had kept them closed. The fact that Lavender lay naked in the water was completely unimportant to Harry. What shocked him and brought more tears to his eyes were the four blood red wounds that stretched from Lavender's left collar bone, down across her breasts and over her belly. They looked even worse because of the obvious signs of infection that spread out from them.
"Oh, God," Harry moaned as he turned away. "Can you do anything about those wounds, Mrs. Weasley?"
"They are cursed wounds just like Bill's," she said sadly. "The best we can do is clean them up and take care of the infection for now."
"I'll send Hermione up with some dittany," Harry said leaving the room so the two Weasley women could take care of Lavender.
Harry hurried downstairs but could not find Hermione or Ron. Walking down to the kitchen he grabbed the bottle of dittany he kept there before stopping and grabbing a brand new set of pajamas out of one of the bags that Hermione had dropped by the door when she arrived. With both items in hand, he headed back to the bathroom and knocked on the now closed door.
"Yes," said Ginny's voice.
"I don't know where Ron and Hermione are so I grabbed the dittany and some clothes for Lavender to wear."
Ginny cracked the door open and took the items from Harry with a sad smile. Harry waited by the door until the women were done drying and dressing Lavender before Mrs. Weasley called him back into the room so that he could carry the still sleeping girl to one of the unused bedrooms. Ginny pulled back the sheets so that he could lay Lavender down and then cover her.
Mrs. Weasley left the room for a moment but quickly returned carrying the tray that Kreacher had brought them earlier. After instructing Ginny to slowly feed Lavender the soup, Mrs. Weasley motioned for Harry to follow her out into the hallway.
"Alright, tell me what happened," Mrs. Weasley said as she closed the door behind them.
Harry told Mrs. Weasley about how they had found Lavender and brought her back to Grimmauld Place when she fainted. Then he told her what Lavender had said about her family. He could see tears fighting to fall from her eyes as he told the Weasley matriarch the news that Lavender's family was all dead but she held them back.
"I see," she said finally. "I'll contact a Healer I know at St. Mungo's to come have a look at her. After that we'll just have to wait and see how the poor dear does."
"Yes, ma'am," Harry said trying to sound calmer then he felt.
"Call me Mum or Molly, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said patting his arm. "You are just as much my son as if I had given birth to you myself. Only Percy calls me 'ma'am' or 'mother' and although I love him dearly, it does make me feel rather old."
"Yes, Mum," Harry said with a weak smile as he started to cry.
Molly Weasley, the eternal mother figure, pulled Harry into her arms as she patted his back and crooned, "There, there, Harry dear. Mummy will make it all better."