When she woke up the day after the champion selection, it still felt like she was asleep. This whole situation she found herself in was so utterly surreal, it felt impossible to come to terms with it. In her head, it made more sense to think that she was still dreaming. She? Lavender Brown? The mysterious fourth champion?
An almost hysterical laugh was threatening to claw its way out of her. She didn't know what crimes she must have committed in her previous lives, but the recent punishments went a little bit far. First, her beloved Binky passed away last year and now this. Lavender Brown, fourth champion, and no one knew how.
Though Harry, apparently, had suspicions about the why.
Maybe next year she'd start getting grey hair. That'd complete the chaos her life was descending into.
The most important thing through all of this chaos was, however, that Parvati had immediately believed her when she had said that she didn't know how her name ended up in the goblet. The first question asked was, of course, a 'how did you do that?!' – she would have asked the same if their roles were reversed – but once Lavender insisted that it was not her who put her name there, Parvati believed her, as did the rest of the girls. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to handle anything else.
A pleasant surprise was that Harry Potter was the first to come to her and tell her that he didn't believe that she cheated her way into this tournament – she had definitely caught a few of those whispers yesterday evening.
She didn't know all that much about him, which wasn't really surprising. His social circle consisted of almost nobody but Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley after all. Still, there were almost always rumours surrounding him, and, admittedly, sometimes it was hard to discern what was true and what wasn't. A thirteen-year-old capable of the Patronus? Unlikely. A one-year-old surviving the killing curse? Also unlikely and yet he was living proof that it was true.
Over the past three years since they had started Hogwarts, they had barely talked at all and he rarely, if ever, strayed from his two sidekicks. He always seemed a bit awkward and shy, and, for the life of her, she didn't know where the idea of his supposed arrogance and thirst for attention came from. She was thirsty for attention – she didn't even bother hiding it – but Harry was barely able to look her in the eyes when they got paired for the odd group projects. He was just a cute little oddball.
So, she had been genuinely and honestly surprised when he had decided to wait for her and talk to her about that whole goblet debacle. Maybe he felt guilty, maybe he was concerned, she couldn't tell.
She had to admit, it came off as really self-centred that he thought he was the initial target. Please. Could this even be some evil plot? Maybe it was just a prank? But the Weasley twins didn't make it past the age-line, and she had literally nothing to do with them at all. But then again, he was the Boy-Who-Lived, and weird stuff seemed to be happening around him all the time. She had no clue what to make of this whole thing.
He actually seemed nice enough though. He had lent her a shoulder to cry on after all when she had needed it, as uncomfortable as he seemingly was around her.
She forced herself to sit up in her bed. Facing anybody right now was really low on her agenda for the day, but there was little she could do about it – they still had classes, after all.
Her morning routine was meticulous and she followed it religiously. From the moment she showered to the moment she completed it with the finishing touch: her hairband for the day, which today was coloured lavender, true to her name. The results always proved her right in the end, if her beautiful looks were anything to go by.
"How are you feeling, Lavender?"
She looked away from her hand-mirror to see Hermione hovering in front of her bed. "Honestly? When I woke up I was this close to breaking out in hysterics, but now I feel a bit better."
"Oh? How come?" Hermione asked, looking genuinely curious.
"By following my perfect morning routine of course!" she replied with a giggle. "It's like...meditation. Following every detail, step by step is really relaxing." She then returned her attention back to her mirror. Safisfied with her charms-work, she put it away before getting up from her bed and putting her bag over her shoulder.
She was still waiting for Parvati to finish brushing her hair, which apparently prompted Hermione to keep talking with her.
It wasn't like she had a problem with that. Hermione talking with her, or any of the other girls in their dorm, really, was simply surprising. She had tried including her in their activities – be it 'slumber parties', simple chats, or trying out new makeup brands. Whatever she tried, Hermione kept declining, which was okay.
But – and that annoyed her to no end – going and badmouthing her dorm- mates to 'her boys', just because she didn't approve of what they did for fun was a big no-no. So, she had stopped trying and simply didn't bother with anything more than being civil with the bushy-haired witch.
And then, she had ended up as the second pleasant surprise after Harry Potter. That Hermione had willingly come up and joined their whole dorm- room to be there for her had been really sweet. Apparently, Harry had talked to her. Hermione had really promised to read up all she could about the tournament. Lavender had no idea what they got out of it or why they bothered, but she wasn't stupid enough to decline offered help.
"I've been thinking," Hermione began, chewing lightly on her bottom lip, "we could try starting with teaching you basic defensive spells first. Harry's really good with the disarming charm, for example."
What a drag. "You are wasting no time, are you?" She cocked her head to the side a bit in thought. "I've heard Harry can cast a corporeal Patronus. Not sure from whom, though. If I remember correctly," she muttered and squinted her eyes in concentration, "Malfoy heard it from somewhere and he told Parkinson, who told Greengrass – you really can't tell that girl anything – who then told Lisa Turpin and from there it just kind of blew up and I ended up hearing it from Megan Jones. So, is it true?"
"I-what? I mean yes, he can, but that's not important right now. Probably later." Hermione dismissed it with a wave of her hand.
"How isn't it important right now, though?" Her best friend Parvati joined their conversation. "What if Lav has to fight dementors in the first task?"
Her eyes bulged at that thought and she panicked a bit. "Yeah, what if I have to fight dementors?"
Hermione's brows furrowed in thought. "Would that even be allowed? I mean, they are guarding Azkaban."
"Do you want my soul to be eaten? Do you want my soul on your conscience?" Why was she even discussing this right now?
"I'll talk to Harry," Hermione said with a sigh, finally having relented.
"You do that, Hermione," Lavender said with her arms crossed over her chest.
She really hoped she wouldn't have to fight dementors. They were just ew.
She wasn't sure what she should have expected when entering the Great Hall, but it definitely wasn't the glares from quite a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws and most of Slytherin.
"They do realize I didn't want that tournament thing, right?" she muttered to Parvati, who just gave her a comforting pat on her back.
It didn't really help.
She sat down on a chair with a huff and a bit of a pout before loading her plate with breakfast and starting to eat half-heartedly. This whole tournament thing was such a downer and she really wanted to see her parents right now. There were apparently quite a few students who believed that she'd cheated herself into the tournament – not so many that it mattered a lot but still enough to be an annoyance.
Why would she? She didn't need that glory or whatever. She was not suicidal, she was popular, and, most importantly, she was beautiful. She needed lots of things, but extra attention? No, she definitely did not want for any more of that.
...at least not in this kind of way. After all, she wouldn't say no to getting attention for rocking the latest witch's robes for this fall season.
"Ignore them."
She looked up from her food to see Harry and his entourage sitting across from her – Weasley with bright red ears. Odd place to blush.
"There's not much else I can do now, is there?" She huffed in annoyance.
"Look," he continued, "I get this kind of thing from people all the time. Remember second year? When suddenly everybody thought I was the Heir of Slytherin and out to kill every muggle-born and half-blood? Just ignore it. People are fickle like that, and honestly, you'll just learn who's worth keeping around and who isn't."
"Ugh, this is a nightmare!" She couldn't help but complain. "People used to love me!"
"It's alright, Lav, you'll just show them in the tournament. They're probably all underestimating you right now."
Lavender looked at her best friend and opened her arms for a hug, which was reciprocated by Parvati. "You are the best friend ever!"
A cough brought her attention back to their guests.
"Hermione said you want to learn the Patronus charm," Harry said.
"I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it? If they make us fight dementors." She shuddered at that thought.
"The principal is easy," Harry explained. "I can show it to you, but actually pulling it off is really hard and what most adult witches and wizards struggle with."
"Okay," she said with a smile.
"Where do you want to do all that training stuff, though?" Ron wondered. "You think McGonagall's going to let you use an empty classroom or something?"
Harry thought for a moment. "I'll talk to her...oh look, Hedwig's back."
She followed Harry's eyes and saw the gorgeous snowy owl look for her before landing on the table between them, holding out a foot with a letter from her parents. She quickly untied it and scratched the owls head in thanks before unrolling the parchment.
Her chin trembled when reading her parents' reply, and she leaned into Parv after finishing it.
"What did your parents say?" her best friend asked.
"They are just really worried about me and they said they'll try to find out just how legally binding this whole thing really is." She sighed before continuing. "They obviously don't want me to be a squib either. They are thinking about suing the tournament committee for this and other than that they told me to hold on and keep going. Ugh, my life is over." She then looked at Harry from Parvati's shoulder. "My parents also told me to tell you that you shouldn't feel guilty or something, in case you are right about me being accidentally in this tournament instead of you. My dad also…" She sat up straight again to read the letter once more, looking for the passage about Harry. "...he said…'He sounds like a fine, young man and we are grateful that he is so willing to help you and stand by you'. Yeah, that."
"Thanks, I guess...anyway, I've got to write my own letter now," Harry said uncomfortably after clearing his throat.
"Snuffles?" Hermione asked, which Harry confirmed with a nod.
"Who's that?" Parvati asked with a raised brow. "Sounds kind of like a dog or something."
"You aren' 'at 'ar o'," Ron said with his mouth still full. Ew.
"Right," she said with a wrinkle of her nose. "Well, time for class."
Her first day of classes after her name came out of the goblet was horrible. In every class, there would be this small group of students whispering and talking about her, and it was annoying her to no end. There weren't a lot of students doing that, but that small group of maybe four or five in every other class were obnoxiously obvious. They had no clue about how to gossip efficiently. That almost annoyed her more than the fact that she was the topic of their gossip.
For the first time since Binky's passing, she wanted to go home. She felt terrible.
At least the Gryffindor tower brought her some reprieve.
But the attention here, while opposite to what she experienced from the other houses, was still not what she wanted. She wanted them to fawn over her looks and her perfect skin and her talent with cosmetics. She didn't want attention because she was an unwilling fourth participant in some barbaric blood-sport! That was so not her thing. At all.
Not even twenty-four hours had passed and her life was flipped completely upside down. Before the goblet made her a champion, her biggest worry had been who'd end up asking her to the Yule Ball.
Now, her biggest worry was what was going to kill her during the first task.
If it was a creature, she hoped it wasn't anything big enough to eat her. That'd be no way for her to go.
With a sigh, she put away her Transfigurafion homework and leaned back against her chair.
She had no clue what to do and could just hope that her dad would somehow get her out of this mess.
Letting her eyes roam around the common room a bit, she saw Seamus winking at her. After that disastrous Hogsmeade 'date' last year, he still didn't get the message. She scoffed at him and rolled her eyes, then went on to grab her bag and head upstairs to her dorm-room. She just wanted this nightmare to be over.
And she wanted Binky back and she wanted to go home. She wanted to pretend none of this ever happened. That'd be neat.
But she couldn't.
She was about to reach the stairs when Harry appeared next to her again.
"Are you stalking me or something?" she teased him with a quirked eyebrow, a grin threatening to break out at his wide eyes and nervous stuttering. She knew he meant well and appreciated it, but he was kind of very...single-minded about it.
"I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean...oh, bollocks…"
She now openly laughed and pulled him towards a corner where they wouldn't be standing in everybody's way. "I was just joking. Now, what is it this time?"
He was thinking for a moment, apparently trying to get his furiously flushed head back to functioning order. "Oh, right! I wanted to tell you that I've written that person and asked for spells that could be useful and what else could help you."
She nodded. "Okay. You do realize you told me yesterday and today during breakfast you'd write this...Snuffles?"
He squirmed a bit while trying to come up with a response, and all the while she kept on smiling at him with a teasing glint in her eyes.
"I…yeah, you are right, kind of…"
"You know, I think you just like talking to me a lot." She now gave him a full grin. "Can't blame you there. I know I'd enjoy talking to me if I were in your place."
He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, unsuccessfully trying to say something. Finally, he gave up and just left to go back to his friends.
Parvati, who had seen the whole thing from the bottom of the stairs to their dorm-room, just giggled. "I think you broke that poor boy."
"He'll recover." With a giggle of herself, she followed her best friend up the stairs.
Teasing the Boy-Who-Lived made the end of her day a lot more pleasant.