Written for Hogwarts Challenges and Assignments - Term 11, Assignment 6: Psychiatry, Task #1: write about a familial relationship interfering with a romantic relationship.
Warning: much angstier than my usual fare.
Goodbye Love
So far, the breakup was not going at all how Seamus had planned.
"Let me see it," Lavender demanded, holding out her hand.
He frowned, trying to make sense of her request. "See what?"
"That speech your mum wrote for you!" Lavender shouted. "Everything you've just said to me—it's all her!"
"Me mam didn't write any sort of speech!" Seamus shot back, shoving his hands into his pockets. "This wasn't even her idea!"
The lie hung heavy in the air between them. Lavender sighed quietly, pulling a curtain of brown hair across her scarred face.
"You think I haven't noticed her disapproval, Seamus? You think I haven't seen the way she shudders when she looks at my scars?"
"She doesn't—" he began.
"She does!" Lavender cried. "And you know what? I get it. I really do. But I thought you were the one person I could count on to love me in spite of my condition."
Seamus hung his head, ashamed. He did love Lavender, truly, but his mam...he couldn't go against her wishes, even if he was a grown man now. She had raised him alone after his father walked out, working multiple jobs and making more sacrifices than Seamus could even fathom. She meant everything to him, and if the fact that Lavender was an unemployed werewolf was a problem for her, then it was a problem for him, too.
"I'm sorry, Lav," he said hoarsely, finally looking back up at her. He flinched at the pain in her hazel eyes. He had known this would hurt her, but he hadn't realized just how much. "I never meant for things to end like this—"
Lavender laughed mirthlessly. "Save it, Seamus. Maybe you didn't mean for it to happen this way, but it did. It did...and now I have to live with it."
As Seamus watched, all of the energy seemed to drain out of her and she slumped against a wall for support.
"Why was I not good enough for you?" she asked.
"It's not that," Seamus hurried to explain. "It's just...we wouldn't be able to have a family, and I'd have to support you completely. What kind of life would that be?"
"One where we're together," she said simply.
"I know, but...I can't. I don't want that for myself," Seamus said, hating himself for twisting the knife further into her heart. In that moment, he knew — he was ten times the monster she would ever be.
"Just go, then," she whispered, as a single tear fell onto the carpeted floor.
Seamus reached for her, but she shrank away. "I'm sorry," he said again, letting his hand fall back to his side. He was saying it more for his own benefit than hers — he knew it wouldn't even come close to fixing the damage he had wrought.
Lavender was crying silently now, and Seamus took that as his cue to leave before he caused any further distress.
"I'll stay in touch," he said lamely, though Lavender surely knew that was a lie, too. "Take—take care, Lav."
She didn't respond to that, but he hadn't expected her to. He gave her one final look before turning and walking out of her flat for the last time. As he Disapparated back to his own place, he tried to console himself by imagining how his mam would react to the news. She was going to be so proud of him.
Word count: 575
A/N: I came up with the idea for this after thinking about how quick Seamus was to not believe Harry in OotP. Granted, at that time he was 14 or so, and he's older here, but I liked the idea that he was really close to his mother and wanted to take her side in things. Also, it doesn't mention it within the story, but I imagine Lavender shares the flat with a roommate (maybe Parvati?), because she wouldn't be able to afford it on her own.
