"Lavender?"

Parvati pokes her head into the girls' dormitory, and Lavender is seated on the edge of her bed, staring into nothingness. She's in her cozy navy blue pajamas, not her usual pink. At the sound of Parvati's voice, she starts.

"Hi," she says, smiling thinly.

"Can I come in?"

"It's your dorm too," Lavender says and Parvati takes that as a yes. She cautiously enters the room and shuts the door behind her. They're alone — Hermione is wherever Harry and — a bitter feeling fills her throat — Ron are.

"Are you okay?" Parvati asks hesitantly, approaching Lavender and when there's no protest, she sits down on the bed next to her.

"I want things to go back to the way they used to be," Lavender blurts out. "I want to be with Won-Won again…I want to go back to that time when we didn't have to worry about Death Eaters and You-Know-Who."

"Me too," Parvati admits, shifting a little closer. She likes Lavender's warmth. "I can't believe we're only sixteen, yet we're going to fight in a war. We're…we're just kids. For Merlin's sake, Padma still plaits my hair."

Lavender doesn't laugh, but Parvati doesn't expect her to. "All this death…Professor Dumbledore dying…makes me think how stupid we were?" She opens her hand and reveals a tube of lipstick. Then she glances at her trunk, which is overflowing with dresses and jewelry. "I was obsessed with boys…well, with one boy in particular, but it seems like he was focused on more important things than me. Because I was stuck in the past. Because I wanted things to stay the same, to have a charming, handsome boyfriend and have the most friends in the school. I was so naive." Now she laughs hollowly, her eyes once again staring blankly at the wall. "I was annoying, I was selfish, and I drove people away. I almost drove you away. You probably were annoyed with me too."

"Actually, I was annoyed with you, but not for the reasons you think," Parvati confesses, staring at the tube of lipstick in Lavender's hands. "But you make me a better person, Lav. I'm better when I'm with you. You make me happy in ways I can't tell you…"

She trailed off, unsure of what to say next, but she certainly wasn't expecting to see tears glittering in Lavender's eyes.

"I…I do?" Lavender whispers incredulously.

Parvati covers her hands with her own. Lavender's skin is blazing with heat and icy cold simultaneously. She leans forward. "You do. You make me happier than anyone else can make me. You're...you're special to me." The confession burns against her lips, but she can't — won't — take back those words.

"Thank you," Lavender says quietly. And then in a burst of emotions, she flung her arms around Parvati. "We're going to be okay, aren't we? Despite Dumbledore…despite the grief and the war and the darkness…we're going to end up okay, aren't we?"

"We will," Parvati promised, "we will because we'll be together."


506 words

Funfair

Christmas Eve Boxes - Teddy - Parvati Patil

Snow Globe Making - Crystal Ball: (character) Lavender Brown

Ugly Sweaters - Additional Features - Lights up - (word) Charm

Advent Calendar - Door: Restrictions - Only female characters

Nativity Play - Mary - (color) Navy Blue

Holiday Crackers - Trinkets - Trunk

Naughty or Nice - Naughty - 21. (theme) Grief

Hot Chocolate Station - Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate: (restriction) no one older than 17; Whipped Cream: (character) Parvati Patil

Write a Letter to Santa - Pajamas: (word) cozy (3)

Snowball Fight - Padma vs Parvati: [Object] Lipstick

Big Dinner Bash - Vegetables - Broccoli: "I want things to go back to the way they used to be."

Toy Making - Book - [Dialogue] "I'm better when I'm with you."

Christmas Party - Carol of the Bells / (genre) hurt/comfort