Ten minutes after Lavender left:

A/n: Here it is! The final Chapter of Shades of Purple: Lavender! I'm sososo sorry that it took to long. Real Life interrupted and filled my days with school and friends. But I've finally got my act together and worked on what's really important: Harry Potter fanfiction.

Aaaaaand! I've decided on a name for the evil bunny that has chewed my brain to nothingness. Ophelia. It was suggested by Luminescent Pearl and I really liked it. Thank you, Luminescent Pearl! :: pats Ophelia on the head::

Warning: In case you have not noticed from the last two chapters, this story is F/F SLASH!

Disclaimer: I don't own them. My evil bunny doesn't own them. But the Goddess J.K. Rowling does.

Thanks: Once again, many thanks go to my friend Nikki (aka Ides of Diamonds) who has been a constant inspiration and source of help throughout this series.

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Shades of Purple, Chapter Three: Lavender

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"Caught a light sneeze caught a light breeze

Caught a lightweight lightning seed

Boys on my left side

Boys on my right side

Boys in the middle

And you're not here

I need a big loan from the girl zone

Building tumbling down

Didn't know our love was so small

Couldn't stand at all

Mr. St. John just bring your son"

Caught A Light Sneeze – Tori Amos

**********

Ten minutes after Lavender left:

Parvati rung her cloth napkin in her hands. She took another sip of Butterbeer and arched her neck to see over the head of a particularly tall woman. No sign of Lavender.

Ten minutes later:

Parvati lifted up her glass to take yet another sip of Butterbeer, only to find that the glass was empty.

"Miss, would you like another drink?" Parvati looked to the left and saw Nikki.

"Um… yes please." She answered. Nikki whisked away her glass. Parvati picked up the napkin again and started to ring it in her hands again. It had a small rip in it.

A half hour later:

The napkin lay in tatters on the table in front of Parvati. Seven empty glasses that once contained Butterbeer were lined up next to the tatters of the napkin. Parvati knew that Butterbeer wasn't that strong…but she had had seven of them, and she was half way done with her eighth, and her vision was kind of blurry. Heh. Blurry. That's a funny word. Blurrrrrrrry.

Parvati's head slumped into her hand. Through her blurry vision, she could make out a figure coming up to her. Her head snapped up and she struggled to focus, to make out who was there.

Instead of seeing the beautiful blue eyes of Lavender, she saw the dark green ones of Nikki, her waitress.

"You told him, didn't you," Nikki smiled sadly, sitting down.

Parvati nodded, half-wishing Nikki would leave, half-wishing she would stay, "Guess you were right...I shouldn't have told her at all...our friendship is gone..."

Nikki blinked. "Her? Wha…OH!" She gasped, finally putting two and two together. "Well…um…Why did you want to tell her?" asked the waitress.

"She...seemed like she would understand." tears were pouring down from Parvati's eyes.

"What made you think so?"

"She was so kind...we're...we were best friends. She told me once that I could say anything to her and she would understand."

"Maybe she really meant that; you just have to give her some time to get used to it."

"What if she never does?"

"Then that was the way things were supposed to be. I'd go find her and talk to her if I were you."

Parvati squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shut out the pounding in her head. She drained her mug of Butterbeer and stood.

"I didn't mean right now!" Nikki said, alarmed. "You're...well, drunk!"

"I'll be fine," Parvati slurred, making her way to the door. "Thanks for everything."

"Well...," Nikki touched her shoulder. "Be careful. And, for what it's worth, I saw your friend run in the opposite direction of Hogwarts."

Parvati nodded, thanking the woman again, and walking out of the restaurant.

*************

Parvati stumbled around, not too sure of where she was going. It was very dark, and she was in an unfamiliar territory. She blundered like that for what seemed like hours, until her outstretched hands hit something solid. A wall.

She walked on, this time with her hands running along the wall. It was a small comfort. Something made by man-- this meant that people were around. Right? Parvati couldn't digest one thought in her intoxicated mind, so she just kept walking.

Then, she was no longer standing. Her foot got caught, and before she knew what was happening, her face hit the ground. Parvati cried out in pain. Her left cheek stinged. She brought her hand up and brushed it over the bruised place gingerly. It came away wet and crimson with blood.

Parvati reached up to the wall again, and pulled herself up. But right when she put all her weight on her legs, she fell right back down. Her right leg ached severely. It sent jolts of pain throughout her body, like electricity through a wire.

Parvati started to sob silently. This isn't fair. She thought miserably. She tried to look up again, but all she could see was black and small bits of a pale purple. She reached up slowly and grabbed a bit of the purple. She brought it close to her face; near enough so it was out of the unfocused haze of her vision. It was… a flower. A Lavender flower. Small and pretty and perfect.

Images of her best friend invaded Parvati's mind. Her best friend Lavender. The wonderful Lavender, the girl named after the color and flower. The girl with hair like rays of sunshine and eyes like the ocean. The girl who made her happy so easily. The girl who so effortlessly attracted Parvati to her. The girl who made her heart jump each time she looked at her and smiled, touched her hand, whispered to her during class. The girl who Parvati loved.

They had danced once. At the Yule Ball, when Lavender needed a break from Seamus' constant attentions and Parvati needed a break from Harry's evident uninterest. It had drawn stares from everyone around them, the two girls dancing together. Lavender had just given her a look that said, "Fuck 'em," and pulled Parvati closer. Parvati and Lavender had swayed to the music, the haunting melody of a Weird Sister's song called Fall.

Appropriate, Parvati had thought. Because when she danced with her friend, when she had looked into those pools of blue, she fell. Hard. She had fallen for Lavender, the girl who had been her friend ever since her first day at Hogwarts. The girl who had been there for her through everything. The girl who was the reason she was where she was

now. It was Lavender's fault that Parvati was half-drunk and lying on the ground crying. And Parvati wanted to hate her for it. She wanted to be seething with rage at the girl who had run away and left her all alone at a place she barely knew. She wanted to hate her. But she didn't. She didn't hate Lavender, she loved her. She loved the other girl with so much passion that it hurt to think of a life without her.

Parvati wanted to hate Lavender, but she loved her too much. And she…she had to find out, if Lavender loved her back. As much as she wanted to lie on the ground and cry until someone found her, she knew that she had to go back. Because if there was any chance, and slight possibility, that Lavender loved her, Parvati had to try. She had to chase the dream. The dream that Lavender would love her.

Parvati reached up to the wall once more, and grabbed hold, slowly and painfully, she lifted herself up. She transferred all her weight onto her left leg, and slowly hobbled away, using the wall for support. She used all her strength to walk, to get to her Lavender love.

*********

The Next Morning

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"Waaaaaaaaake up!"

Parvati's eyes snapped open when something smashed into her. Immediately a sharp, stinging pain shot through her. She groaned and rolled onto her side, holding her head in her hands.

A second voice joined the first, "Ginny, stop bouncing on the bed. Can't you see that she's hung over?"

The Something rolled off the bed, and the Second Voice nudged her slightly. "C'mon Parvati. You've got to get up. Breakfast is starting in fifteen minutes."

Parvati groaned again at the thought of getting out of the bed. The warm, safe bed. Bed was good. Bed was protection. "I couldn't eat if I tried," grumbled Parvati, finding her voice. It sounded raspy.

"Good, you're alive." Parvati turned her gaze to the voice. It was Hermione, slightly blurred along the edges. "You don't have to eat, just show everyone that you're alive."

At this time the Something, which Parvati gathered was Ginny, decided that she couldn't stay still any longer without questioning Parvati about her time in Hogsmead. "What do you remember about last night?" she asked eagerly.

"Ugh…too much." Parvati said as she sifted through her mind of what happened when she got back to Hogwarts. She had walked into the girl's dormitory, determined to talk to Lavender. But Lavender wasn't back yet. So Parvati had lay down on her bed and waited. She must have fallen asleep. Good one, Patil, Parvati thought as buried her face under her pillow.

Hermione bit her lip. "That bad?" she reached for the pillow to pull it off of Parvati's head, but Parvati latched onto it with her own hands, as well.

Hermione was dragged into a tug of war with Parvati, the pillow as the prize. "Jeez!" cried Hermione. "Aren't hung over people supposed to be weak or something?" Ginny watched with obvious amusement. "Ginny, don't just sit there! Help me!" Ginny just grinned and leaned back.

At that time, Parvati let go of the pillow and Hermione flew off the bed and skidded on the floor. Ginny dissolved into a fit of giggled. Parvati pulled the blanket over her head.

Hermione stood up and dusted herself off. Then she picked up the pillow and headed for the door. When she passed Ginny, who was still laughing, she hit her sharply upside the head with the pillow and stalked out the door.

**********

Parvati sat on her bed once Hermione and Ginny left, sulking and generally drowning in teenage angst. Her rough black hair was falling over her head, shielding her face from the world. I should get up, Parvati thought. I should take a shower, get cleaned up, do my homework, talk to Dean, do *something*. Parvati wiped her eyes and stood up. She needed a shower.

Parvati walked into the bathroom that was connected to the girl's dorm. Unlike that dorm, which was a familiar scarlet, the bathroom was white. The showers, the floors, the sink-- everything was white. Parvati felt like a tall blotch of dark skin and hair against the pure white. Lavender always looked beautiful though. It was true, too. Lavender's pastel pink skin and golden hair shined against the glimering white, making her look like a

goddess.

Parvati, though, preferred the dorm. She liked the dark reds, crimsons and scarletts with gold highlights occasionally on the edges of bedside tables or embroidered into the comforters. It reminded her of her home. Her parents were particularly fond of darker colors and mahogany wood furniture.

Parvati took a long shower, forgetting her troubles, just thinking of water, soap, and shampoo. It soothed her, and she stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed. She could think clearly now, and had the sense to know that the world was not coming to an end after all. I'll just find Lavender and talk to her, she thought as she wrapped a towel around herself and walked out of the bathroom. And if she doesn't feel the same way, we can still be friends. That wouldn't be too bad.

Parvati pulled aside the curtains of her bed…and screamed.

So did Lavender.

"Ahhh!" Screamed Parvati.

"Ahhh! Screamed Lavender.

"What're you doing here??" Parvati asked frantically, her heart beating ninety miles and hour from the surprise of seeing Lavender sitting cross-legged on her bed.

"I was waiting for you!" said Lavender, also looking very surprised. "Why did you scream??"

"Well, I wasn't exactly expecting you to be here." Stated Parvati.

"I live here." Lavender pointed out.

"Yeah, well I wasn't expecting you to be on my bed."

"Oh." Said Lavender. "Yeah, that wasn't too smart of me, was it?"

"No, it wasn't." agreed Parvati, suddenly realizing that she was still only wearing her towel as she tightened it around herself self-consciously. "I'm surprised you're even talking to me, after you ran out of the restaurant last night."

Lavender blinked. "What are you talking about? I was there."

Parvati stared at her for a few seconds before answering, "I waited fifty minutes for you to get out of the 'bathroom'."

"There was a long line!" exclaimed Lavender.

"Wait," said Parvati, confused. "You actually were in the bathroom?"

"Yeah."

"Then why did Nikki say that you left?"

Lavender looked confused. "Nikki? The waitress?"

"Uh-huh." Parvati nodded.

"You're taking a fifty million year old waitress' opinion over mine??" she asked incredulously.

Parvati pondered that for a second. What was she thinking? She immediately listened to an old lady whom she had never met, and instantly doubted her best friend. What was wrong with that picture? "You're right Lavender. I'm sorry."

"That's okay." Lavender answered, a small smile coming to her face. "I, uh… I read your poem."

"Parvati averted her eyes to the floor. The carpet was very fascinating all of a sudden.

"I liked it." Lavender continued. I especially liked the one part…'My own best friend/Sweet Lavender girl/Indeed, stole my heart/But I can't get the nerve/I don't have the guts/To tell her the golden truth.' I-I really liked that part. It does take a lot of nerve to tell someone that you like them and--"

"Are you going somewhere with this or not?" Suddenly Parvati felt incredibly tired. All of the energy that she had gained from the shower rushed out of her, now on a journey to a land far away from Parvati. "I mean," she restarted, "I just want an answer. I'm totally happy to be friends, and I'd like to be more than that. But I'd rather that you didn't patronize me. So…I'd like a straight answer, please."

Lavender looked a bit surprised, but started talking. "A straight answer…right. Well, this situation doesn't really call for a straight answer, now does it? Ha ha…" Lavender's laugh faded when she saw that Parvati wasn't joining in. "Right. Okay. Bad joke. Um…how do I say this?"

Lavender looked at the wall, the floor, the curtains, anywhere but at

Parvati. "I…I really wasn't that surprised when I read the poem."

That shocked Parvati. "You weren't?"

"Nah. You were always crap at hiding your crushes."

Parvati blushed a bit. She knew it was true.

"But," Lavender continued. "I didn't say anything, because I was one hundred percent sure, and I didn't want to ruin our friendship." Lavender took a breath and started talking once more. "But now I know I'm right, so…" Lavender licked her lips and took another breath. Then, in one swift movement, she leaned forward and captured Parvati's lips in hers.

Parvati gasped and froze in surprise. A blot of electricity went through her body. She felt Lavender's lips, warm and moist. She began to kiss her back, moving her lips against Lavender's. Parvati felt Lavender's fingers move across her face, up to tangle in her hair. Lavender ran her tongue along Parvati's lower lip, making her shiver and open her mouth. Parvati wrapped her arms around Lavender's waist and pulled her closer as Lavender's tongue entwined with hers.

When they finally parted, Parvati said, rather breathlessly, "Wow."

Lavender grinned. "What time is it?"

Parvati blinked and glanced at her watch, which was lying on her bedside table. What she saw made her let out a sharp curse. "It's time for class! We're late!"

Lavender grimaced. "Damn!"

"I'm still in a towel!" exclaimed Parvati. "I'm gonna get changed! Wait for me," with that Parvati turned around and began to run, only to trip over her own feet. She scrambled up and flashed Lavender a smile before dashing off, the sound of Lavender's glorious, golden laugh in her ears.

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End

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"Bachelorette, you climb on rooftops and you

Bachelorette, you can turn dust into champagne

You even dream about her name

Bachelorette, the braves you pain

The pain

Oh, Bachelorette

You tried to show her that she can

But you can never rush

You must remember

You're a car girl, you're star girl

You are at the door

The tide will turn

There's a window

There's a window"

Bachelorette – Tori Amos

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A/n: Ta da! And there it is: the (not so) thrilling conclusion of Shades of Purple! In case you haven't noticed, I cannot write a kiss/sex scene with out some sort of interruption/irony. Today in Divination Lavender & Parvati predicted that if you review, something good'll happen to you. ::hint, hint. wink, wink::