Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)
Warnings: canon character death
Prompts are at the end.
Word Count: 731
They don't mean to keep their relationship a secret.
Despite everyone else's assumptions, hints, and (in Seamus' case) innuendos, they've never actually been dating, all the way until seventh year. For most of that time, they don't even know that they're attracted to each other. Sure, maybe they have a huge fight the day before Lavender accepts Seamus' invitation to the Yule Ball, and maybe neither of them actually have a crush on Firenze, and maybe Parvati starts a sudden close friendship with Hermione the day after Lavender and Ron start dating, and maybe both of them have wondered, with everyone's teasing…
Okay, fine. So maybe it's obvious, in hindsight.
But nothing actually happens, until the night before the winter holidays. They've just barely managed to duck into a concealed passageway to hide from a small group of Carrow acolytes on patrol that, somehow, haven't noticed the sabotage in the Trophy Room, right behind them, and their bodies are pressed so close together as they finally breathe, once the patrol passes, and then they meet each other's eyes, shining that bright, beautiful bronze and framed by tawny skin and sunflower curls, gleaming that vivid, clever hazel set in golden-brown skin and silky charcoal hair, and they realize that their mouths are actually quite close together-
And then suddenly, they're kissing.
But then Luna's taken, in plain sight, off the train, and none of them are fast enough to stop it. And then they find little Orla Quirke, brutalized in the washroom, beaten and cursed and shoved in there when they were all distracted by Luna's capture, and none of them are Healers but Hannah's been studying with Madam Pomfrey all semester and-
She says that Orla might not see, ever again.
And when they get back, Michael gets himself caught releasing Siofra Quirke, Orla's little sister, from a 'detention', and the newer DA members that flocked to them at the start of the school year start to trickle away, eyes filled with horror and fear at what the Carrows did to Michael, and, well, it just never feels right, to tell anyone.
"After the war," Parvati whispers, in the dorms that aren't only theirs but might as well be, because the only other Gryffindor seventh-year witch left is Fay, who's always with her Hufflepuff friends because the Gryffindors are the Carrows' biggest target.
"We'll tell them then," Lavender agrees.
That's if they win, of course, if Harry Potter manages to kill him and end the war, but that's a given because if they lose, there won't be anyone left to tell. But neither of them say that, because it's always once they win, when they win, that's said aloud. For the younger students' sake, the DA veterans, leaders, sixth- and seventh-years say, though it's really for all of their sakes, because the only thing staving off their fear is their hope, and because, maybe, part of them all thinks that there will still be a happy ending.
And then Harry comes back. "I think it's time," Lavender says, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione emerge from the Hog's Head passage, and Parvati nods, because one way or another, the war will end today. Even if Harry himself doesn't see it, because then they're securing the school against You-Know-Who so that Harry can search for the object. Well, they're given the option to evacuate, of course, but it's not even a choice.
Parvati wonders how she used to be Pansy Parkinson's friend when the girl tries to sell out Harry, as they follow Professor Lupin, Arthur Weasley, and Kingsley Shacklebolt to the entrances about the grounds. Lavender doesn't let go of Parvati's hand until the shields around the school fall, as the Death Eaters and their allies charge, and then-
She wants to watch her girlfriend's back, but this is chaos like she's never seen before, curses that miss by a hair's width that hit the person standing behind her, giants and monstrous spiders trampling anyone who falls, dementors at the fringes paralyzing anyone who stumbles near.
Parvati doesn't find Lavender until the ceasefire. And part of her will hate Hannah Abbott for eternity for not (doing the impossible and) saving her.
'After the war,' she'd promised, but she'd thought that either they'd tell, or there wouldn't be anyone left to tell, not that-
Not that there'd be nothing left to tell.
They hadn't meant to keep their relationship a secret. But Parvati never ends up telling anyone.
Winter Seasonal Challenges
Days of the Year & Religious Events: March 12th - Plant a Flower Day: Write about a canon character with a floral name.
Black History Month: Crispus Attucks: Write about a death that is significant in some way.
National Weddings Month: (word) Proposal
Crochet Week: Slip Stitch: (plot point) joining something
Penguin Awareness Day: Royal Penguin: (emotion) agitated
Colours: Charcoal
Locations: Room of Requirement
Crystals and Gemstones: Black Agate: (house) Gryffindor
Tarot Reading: The Fool: Write about someone following their heart.
Slytherin OTPs: Lavender/Parvati
Writing Club: December
Record Collection: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus: (action) Kissing
Time Machine: Trope: Huddling for Warmth
Showtime: A Major Award - (setting) Trophy Room
Amber's Attic: Kiss under the mistletoe
Elizabeth's Empire: (action) cuddling
Liza's Loves: Write a fanon pairing, or something that's become so popular in fanon, that people have to stop and try remember if it's canon or fanon.
Bex's Basement: Avalanche: (trope) Huddling for warmth
Angel's Archive: Last Holiday - (scenario) taking a vacation
Scamander's Case: (color) brown
Film Festival: (plot point) facing one's fears
Marvel Appreciation: The Hulk - (colour) Bronze, (trait) Childlike, (trait) Powerful, (action) Catching something/someone, (emotion) Rage
Lyric Alley: Your hands touching me
The Forecast Says… 15th. Snow: Confident
EnTitled: The One Where Joey Loses his Insurance - Write about someone working whilst unwell/hurt
Christmas Fair
Christmas Eve Boxes: Teddy - Fluffy Reindeer: (character) Parvati Patil
Snow Globe Maker: Crystal Ball: (character) Lavender Brown, Giant Squid: (location) The Black Lake
Ugly Sweaters: Design - Santa - (Trope) Secret Relationship
Treasure Hunt: Female Character: Lavender Brown
Advent Calender: Door: Setting - Hogwarts dorms
Gift Wrapping: Unicorns - Lavender/Parvati, Ribbons: (object) Radio, Bows: (trait) Optimistic
Nativity Play: Mary - (dialogue) "I think it's time."
Holiday Crackers: Trinkets - Trunk
Naughty or Nice: Naughty - (trope) Bed Sharing
Hot Chocolate Station: Cocoa Flavors - Cheesecake Hot Chocolate: (color) bronze, Toppings - Whipped Cream: (character) Parvati Patil
Fill a Christmas Stocking: Candles: (word) romantic
Write Letters to Santa: Prompt 1 - Merry Christmas, Santa: (plot point) a kiss under the mistletoe
Snowball Fight: Padma vs Parvati: [Object] Lipstick
Big Dinner Bash: Meats: (object) Beef: Pillow
Toy Making: Broomstick - [Trope] Locked in
Christmas Party: Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon: (word) peace
Paper Snowflakes: 2nd Cut: Pairings - ParvatiLavender
Pop Figures: Disney - Wall-E: (plot point) Watching a film / (emotion) Hope
Stickers Club: Smaug - Hobbit: Item/location: Secret door or passage
Goodbye to Hogwarts: Head of Gryffindor - Write about being out of your depth