A/N: Written for the International Wizarding School Championship.
Uh, yeah, this kinda wrote itself and got a bit dark...oops. Also very AU.
School: Beauxbatons
Year: 4
Theme: The Three Broomsticks - Betrayal
Special Rule: Purple - Power
Main Prompt: 9.) Lavender Brown [Character]
Side Prompts: 8.) "Looking back, [s]he could not tell you how [s]he got here" [First line], 10.) Revenge [Word]
Word Count: 1035
Looking back, she could not tell you how she'd gotten here. How could she, Lavender Brown, have let all this happen? All she'd done was fall in love with Won-Won—er, Ronald Weasley. And what did she get in return? A broken heart. And a bad attitude.
"Psst. Lav. You're, um, staring," Parvati Patil whispered, sliding next to her on the bench.
The voice shook her out of reverie, and Lavender realized that she was, in fact, staring. At him. And her. That curly-haired swot who was sitting far too close to him for them to be just friends. Lavender wiped away a few stray tears of anger and stabbed her sausage with her fork. The girls ate their breakfast in relative silence, the buzz of their classmates' chatter and the slight rain pouring off the roof providing a minor distraction for the two.
After Parvati finished her pancakes, she flipped her long black hair over her shoulder. "C'mon, Lav, let's get out of here. It's a Hogsmeade weekend today."
"Nah, I'm okay," Lavender said, pulling on a loose thread of her jumper.
"Really, Lav, let's go!"
Something within her snapped. Lavender was done with it all. Being just a pretty face. Being used to make another girl jealous. She was a bloody Gryffindor, after all.
"I said no, Parvati," she said, voice turning deadly.
She stood up and stalked out of the Great Hall, letting her feet lead her farther and farther away. Her thoughts were full of menace, poison coursing through her veins in lieu of blood. She stopped as she nearly walked smack bang into a wall and paused, not immediately recognizing where she was. The corridor was dimly lit; the only light was supplied by a torch on the wall behind her.
The stone walls curved, narrower and narrower, and bent sharply to the left as she walked hesitantly down the hall. It smelled faintly of mildew and damp earth, stinging her nose. A cold breeze blew from the direction she was walking in, making her shiver but quickly shrouding her in darkness; the flame from the torch had gone out. A touch of fear coursed through her but was soon replaced by the venom of her anger. Immediately, the hall was illuminated by a dozen violet flames, lighting her path. She strode forward, knowing somewhere deep within her that her pent-up anger and hatred were feeding this fire.
After what seemed like a short eternity, the hallway emptied out into a circular room, just as dark and musty as the rest of the passage.
Lavender could sense that she'd descended very slowly, which explained the smell of wet dirt that now encased her. She walked forward in the slight light of the flames from the hallway and almost screamed when she felt something encase her calves, preventing her from being able to walk forward. It started to grow up her body, creeping up her spine and tangling itself into her formerly beautiful braid. As it snaked its way over her face, she realized that she was being encompassed by branches—rose branches.
The more she struggled, the tighter they wound into her body, and the tighter they wound, the more the thorns pressed into her skin, cutting through her and encrusting her with dark rubies of blood.
She slacked her body and the vines loosened their grip, but only mildly—they still held her in an impenetrable grasp. Knowing that struggling would only anger the plant more, she stayed as still as possible, halting even her breath, but it did not relax any more.
Finally, the frustration and anger got to her. She screamed. Once again, she felt the rush of adrenaline and venom course through her body, like white lightning. Her vision went dark; all at once, it felt as if flames were encasing her and like she was drowning in a frozen lake. Then, suddenly, she was free. The vines shrivelled in on themselves, and Lavender stumbled forward, her vision coming into focus.
The sharp, angry poison that had been streaming through her arteries suddenly became clearer. It was power, in its purest and simplest form. And it craved revenge.
Blood.
It desired the Mudblood Granger's blood.
Granger had taken away the love of her life, and now she would destroy Granger.
She walked forward with a renewed confidence and anger, knowing deep within her that whatever was in this room would help her in her search.
The dim room suddenly got darker, and Lavender snapped her fingers. Purple flames jumped off the tips, allowing her to see. She'd never been able to cast wandless magic, let alone wordless magic, so she was a touch shocked when the flames sprung to life and danced around. The room was bathed in a deep indigo light, revealing shelves carved into the damp earth, holding vials of all different shapes, sizes, and potions—most of which Lavender had never seen.
What held her attention, however, was the raised pedestal in the centre of the room: it was tall and woven from the same vines that had bound her not five minutes before, and the shape was reminiscent of a candlestick. Lavender walked up to it, mesmerized—the newfound power had seemingly put her in a trance.
The pillar held a book, and she almost scoffed—this would be just the sort of thing Granger would love.
Lavender flipped through the book, quickly realizing that it was a key to the potions held on the shelves. She started at the beginning, looking for any potion that could help her get her revenge.
After what seemed like a lifetime, she found a page on something labelled as simply "Sectumsempra Solution—For Enemies." Not knowing what it was, just that she was supposed to take it, Lavender shrugged and went looking for it.
She found what she was looking for in a murky green-purple potion held in a squat little bottle, and the labelling seemed oddly familiar. Not giving it a second thought, Lavender popped the cork off and downed it in one gulp. All she felt was the same liquid power that coursed through her body, only more intense.
Lavender smiled.
Revenge.
That's all she knew before it went dark.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed! If you did, please review! I'd love to hear from you!