Good Night, Lavender

It had been touch and go whether the school would reopen at all. After the attack by Death Eaters and the murder of the headmaster, many families felt it was not safe to send their children back. Others felt that Hogwarts was at least as safe as anywhere else they could go.

Hermione surveyed the seventh-year girls' dormitory, with its familiar hangings and the big, comfortable four-poster beds. The trunks had appeared, as usual, at the foot of each girl's bed, but this year there were just two.

'So it's you and me then, Lavender…'

'Looks like it. I didn't think Parvati would be here. They didn't even stay for Dumbledore's funeral, did they? Before they went home, Parvati said there was no way her dad would let her or Padma come back to Hogwarts now.'

'And what about yours?'

'My mum and dad? They're not too happy, obviously, but my dad thinks I'll be as safe here as anywhere. And yours?'

'Much the same. It's different for mine, of course; they know there's nothing they can do to protect me against magic, anyway.'

'There are going to be loads of people missing,' said Lavender, 'the train seemed half empty.'

'Harry's not coming back. I don't think Seamus was on the train, but I've seen Dean and Neville, oh, and Luna. And Ron, of course.'

The mention of Ron's name was followed by a sudden, awkward silence.

Hermione went on, 'Ginny's stayed with Harry. They sorted themselves out over the summer and they're a couple now. Her mum's furious, she wanted her back at school but Ginny wasn't having it. Ginny can be pretty stubborn once she's made her mind up.'

Still, Lavender didn't speak.

Feeling the awkwardness, Hermione ploughed on, 'There didn't seem to be many Slytherins on the train. Obviously Malfoy won't be here, but I didn't see Crabbe or Goyle either. Or Pansy.'

At last, Lavender spoke. 'Are you and Ron…?' The whisper tailed off into silence.

Oh God, she doesn't know!

'Yes, we're together. I spent half of the summer at the Weasleys' and we…well, Lavender you must have realised…' Oh, nice one Hermione, that was really subtle!

Floods of tears streaming down her face, a sobbing Lavender shook her head and ran, bumping heavily into the doorpost on the way out of the dormitory.

'Lavender, wait! Please! I'm sorry…I thought you knew…' Hermione ran out after her room-mate, but Lavender was not in sight.

The school assembled in the great hall, beneath the light of a thousand floating candles. The hall was as impressive, and as warm and welcoming, as ever, but there was no doubting the subdued, if slightly expectant, atmosphere. There were gaps at the staff table, including the now empty seat that had been Dumbledore's for as long as anyone could remember. The house tables, too, were sparsely populated, some more so than others. On the Hufflepuff table, thought Hermione, there seemed to be about three-quarters of the usual number of students, but Ravenclaw and Gryffindor had barely half and Slytherin no more than a third.

A stony-faced Lavender sat about as far away from Ron and Hermione as it was possible to get, avoiding any chance of eye contact.

Professor McGonagall rose to her feet and signalled for quiet.

'Welcome back to Hogwarts, every one of you. For the present, I am Headmistress, and likely to remain so for some time. These are difficult times; many of your friends are not here, and we will miss them. It is because we knew that some of you would not be coming back, at least for the present, that we have not sent you your timetables for the new school year nor appointed fifth-year prefects, but tomorrow, now that we know who has returned, we will do both of those things.'

'I am determined that we will carry on this school in as normal a manner as is humanly possible, and we will start, as is our tradition, by welcoming our new arrivals.' The professor nodded towards a side door, and a very small group of young, nervous, first-year students were led toward the sorting hat on its stool.

'When I call your name, please come to the stool and put on the sorting hat.'

'Bode, Ariadne…'

'You've got to talk to her, Ron.'

They had just finished settling in the new first-years. Gryffindor had three - twins Arnold and Edwin Mason, who seemed quite excited at having the first-year boys' room to themselves, and little Ariadne Bode. Hermione had put Ariadne in with the second-year girls, after reminding them how some of them had felt on their first night away from home, and a stern warning that they would answer to Hermione if they were not kind to the new girl.

'What's the point in me talking to her? It won't make any difference now. And I wouldn't know what to say to her, anyway – you know how useless I am at all that stuff.'

'You have to talk to her, Ron, because you treated her badly and she's hurting. And I can't tell you what to say. If you go to her with an apology that I've written for you, that will be adding insult to injury. And she will know, you know; she might be soft but she's not stupid.'

'Maybe you should think about how you would feel if someone treated Ginny the way you have treated Lavender.'

'And you have to do it today, Ron, because I have to share a room with her!'

Later that night, Lavender sat on the edge of her bed, in a cotton nightgown, looking straight at Hermione.

'He apologised.'

Hermione looked up.

'Ron. He apologised. He said he had let me think that he was committed to me when he wasn't, and he realised that it was a very unkind thing to do. He said he knew he'd behaved badly and he was really, really sorry.'

'And did you believe him?'

'Yes, I think so. I asked him if you had told him what to say, and he said you hadn't. He said you told him it had to come from him or it wouldn't mean anything. And he said you told him to think about how he would feel if someone had done it to his sister.'

'Good.'

'He said a lot of other stuff, too.'

'Oh yes?'

'Yeah. About how he loves you to bits. How he's loved you for ages, probably for ever, but he was too thick to realise it. And even when he realised, he didn't know what to do about it. And how he wanted to make you jealous, and I was there, and…'

Hermione blushed. 'He said all that?'

'Yes. You're very lucky.'

'I know.'

'I sort of knew, really. It was nice, you know, me with a boy that all the girls fancied, but I always knew it wasn't really me he wanted. It was just a bit sudden when you said that you…'

I know. I wasn't exactly tactful, was I? I'm sorry.'

'It's OK.' Lavender paused. 'I didn't shag him, you know.'

Hermione tried hard not to wince. 'I know. He told me.'

'Well, he was telling the truth. I probably would have done, though, if he'd wanted to.'

'So he didn't want to?'

'No. We snogged quite a lot.'

'I remember.'

'And we did do a bit more than just snog … but I could tell he wasn't really up for it.'

'Quite.'

'Oh God, no, that's not what I meant!' Lavender blushed. 'I mean no, well I didn't mean, you know, up as in, well, you know, up!'

'I know.' Hermione blushed deeper than Lavender. And Lavender giggled. And then Hermione giggled too, and almost at once the tension between the two girls evaporated.

'So what about you and Ron …have you…you know?'

'No, and I don't see any need to rush. We've been friends for years, but it is different now. In some ways we're really only just getting to know each other.'

'You know, you really are so lucky. I just wish someone would feel about me the way Ron does about you.'

'I'm sure someone will, Lavender, some day.'

'Well I'm not so sure. I mean, I attract boys all right, but they just never seem to see past my tits.'

Hermione winced again. 'Well, you do make your, er, assets a bit obvious, you know.'

'Yeah, I suppose, but that's just using what I've been given, isn't it? I mean, I'm not smart or clever, like you, and I'm not beautiful and a brilliant make-up artist like Parvati. So I make the most of what I've got.'

'Yes, but you do it so obviously, Lavender. Mind you, who am I to give advice? Look at me; I've had one boyfriend in my entire life, and he took two years to notice that I was a girl and then two more to work out that he fancied me!'

'Well that's just Ron, isn't it?' She paused. 'But go on; what do you think I should do?'

'OK then, how about this: when you're not in school uniform, try hanging around in jeans and a jumper, instead of the tiny skirts and the tight tops. After all, you're quite pretty, you've got nice hair and you're much cleverer with makeup than I am. You could look really nice, and even under jeans and a jumper, you've still got the sort of figure that boys drool over.'

'Oh come on! Jeans and jumper, well, it's just not me is it? Everyone would think I'd lost it; I'd be a laughing stock.'

'I don't think so, Lavender. I suppose there'd be a few comments, but I really don't think anyone would be laughing at you.'

'That's easy for you to say. And anyway, what if I do it? What if I do go all modest and cover up? What then?'

'Well, we don't know, do we? But here's what I think might happen: I think you probably won't attract quite so many boys, but what you just might do is attract a boy who likes you for yourself and not just for your cleavage.'

There was a longish silence as Lavender wrestled with the notion of hiding her best features.

'I'll sleep on it. Night Hermione.'

'Night Lavender.'

The prefects' rounds done, Ron looked round the common room to make sure he and Hermione were alone. 'What do you reckon's come over Lavender, then?'

'How do you mean, Ron?'

'Well, for the last couple of weeks she's just looked sort of different, you know? Don't get me wrong, but I think she's starting to look like the sort of girl you could take home to meet your mother!'

'Hermione, you awake?'

'Yes, Lavender.'

'You know Archie, in Hufflepuff?'

'Tall, fair boy, a bit shy?'

'That's him. Last week he smiled at me in Potions. And then when we had to bring all those specimen jars back from Herbology, he carried my bag for me. And this afternoon he asked me to go for a walk with him down by the lake.'

'Did you go?'

'Yes, and it was really nice. We just walked, and talked about stuff; we did hold hands a bit, but I didn't snog him or anything.'

'Sounds like a nice boy.'

'I think he is. He wants to go for another walk, and he said he would like it a lot if we could help each other revise for our NEWTs. I think he really likes me.'

'And you like him?'

'Yeah, I do - I think I like him quite a lot. He's ever so considerate, and he's really interesting - he talks about all sorts of things, and he's not at all pushy or anything.'

'So he can see past your tits?'

'Well, yeah, actually…'

'That's fantastic, Lavender; I'm really pleased for you.'

'Thanks.'

'Hermione?'

'Yes?'

'Next time you're doing anything special I could give you a hand with the makeup, if you want. I could help you make your eyes look really nice, stuff like that.'

'That's very kind, Lavender, thank you. I'll take you up on that.'

'That's OK. Good night.'

'Good night, Lavender.'