A/N: I don't own Harry Potter
This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Assignment #9 Exobiology - Task #2:Planetary Science - Write about something or someone changing or evolving
Word Count: 1195
Warning: mentions of injury, war.
The evening sun was starting to set, a fiery orange ball in the previously blue sky. It was fitting, at least in her opinion. The blue sky was the peaceful life she'd once dreamed of having. The fire taking it over. She snorted softly.
Everything always seemed to end up with fire, with flames. The Room of Requirement had burned into unsavable ashes. The world she knew had burned to the ground in one night. She shuddered remembering the battle. She hadn't made it to the end before being injured, unable to fight.
Things weren't the same. Things could never be the same. Part of her wondered as she stared out at the sky, was she the same? She'd asked herself this question over and over since that night. She wasn't sure she really had an answer yet.
She still had the same two arms, the same two legs. She still had her mind, she knew she should be thankful for that. Some people never recovered from the battle, at least not mentally. There was a whole new wing in St. Mungo's for people whose minds were addled by the battle, by the war. She knew her face wasn't the same.
There were long horrid scars crossing her once perfect face. Her left eye was cloudy, a milky white color. She couldn't see out of it any more, even if she wanted to. They hadn't been able to fix it. The damage had been too great.
She knew she couldn't see as well with just one eye. She constantly missed steps, or tripped over ridges in the floor. It had something to do with her depth perception. Eventually she would learn to live like this, eventually her mind might start to compensate for what she'd lost.
"Lavender? Are you hiding up here again?" Parvati's voice asked. Lavender didn't answer, maybe it she remained silent her roommate,her former best friend, would stop looking and move on. The war had destroyed their friendship, destroyed anything that might have been. Lavender felt that loss more drastically than she did that of her sight, of her looks.
She heard Parvati's footsteps coming up the the stone stairs. She leaned against the stone wall, still looking out at the darkening sky. She folded her arms across her chest. Apparently, remaining silent hadn't discouraged Parvati from looking for her. She watched Parvati reach the top step and step out onto the balcony.
"Lavender, there you are. I've been searching the castle for you," Parvati exclaimed. Lavender glared at her, at least she was pretty sure she was glaring. Could one glare with only one eye?
"Why?" she asked, watching Parvati. "So you can tell me how horrid I look? So you can mock me again? I don't want to hear it. I thought we were friends."
"We are friends? What are you talking about, I never said anything like that!" Parvati stated, looking at Lavender.
"Really? I heard you talking to your sister, about how horrid my scars are, about how I'm a monster now? Does that ring any bells?" Lavender asked, taking a step from the wall towards the edge of the balcony. Parvati blinked, looking at the ground.
"You heard that?"
"Yes, I heard it. I can't believe I thought we were friends, friends don't do that to each other," Lavender whispered, feeling something warm running down her cheek. Apparently her damaged eye could still cry.
"I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean it like that. And I wasn't even talking about you, not directly."
"Then who?" Lavender asked. "You said people who are damaged like that, that anyone injured by a werewolf becomes a monster, just like them," Lavender snapped. "I remember you saying the same thing about Bill Weasley when he got attacked. You said that scars were disgusting and you can't believe he didn't cover them up."
"There are spells," Parvati mumbled. Lavender snorted.
"See, even now you're saying the same thing."
"It's different!"
"How?"
"Because it's you, Lav. I mean, yes, there's scars and your eye... but I still care about you. I found a spell that could make your eye at least look normal, if you're interested. Your eyes were always your best feature, so beautiful."
"A spell? You came looking for me to tell me you found a way to hide my injury, to hide who I've become?"
"You...Lavender... I..."
"Just go, stop looking for me! I don't want your help, I'm not that same person, the one who cared about stupid things like that. I may not like how I look, but it's part of who I am, I'm not hiding it!" Lavender screamed, causing Parvati to scramble back down the steps, leaving Lavender staring out at the almost inky blackness of nightfall.
She let the tears fall down her scarred cheeks, wondering what Parvati would tell Padma, would she laugh about Lavender's looks now? Would they avoid her? She hoped they would. She didn't care about how close they had been in the past.
She should have realized Parvati only wanted to be with her if she was pretty. Parvati had always liked pretty things. Lavender let out a small barking laugh.
"At least I don't have to worry about being apart of someone's collection, no one collects broken things," she muttered, leaning against the edge of the balcony.
"You're not broken," a soft voice commented. Lavender spun around, finally seeing someone standing against the far wall, directly in her blind spot.
"What do you want?"
"I came up to see the moon rise. It's such a clear night. It looks so magical how the silvery light turns everything different. It's like it's all new," the voice answered, stepping closer to Lavender. She let out a sigh of relief when she realized who was speaking.
"Luna. I should have known... You always did have a habit of turning up at the strangest times."
"I show up when I'm needed I guess. I kind of overheard a bit of your fight, I wasn't trying to."
"It's okay, I think everyone's heard the same things about me, since you know, the battle."
"True, but they're not true. I mean, you're not a monster. You're different, yes, but in the same way the world is different in the moonlight. Still beautiful, still magical, just with a different sort of shine," Luna said, taking a place over looking the sky next to Lavender.
"That... actually kind of makes me feel a bit better," Lavender whispered, looking over at Luna, at how her blond hair seemed to shine in the moonlight.
"Good. Feeling sad and sorry for oneself is fine for a bit, darkness can't exist without the light. Same as joy can't exist without the sadness. Would you care to watch the moon rise with me, Lavender?" Luna asked.
"I think I would enjoy that," she answered, reaching over and putting her hand on Luna's. Luna glanced down at their hands and nodded.
"Wonderful, things are always better when shared with someone special," Luna commented as the pair turned their eyes to the sky, watching the world change from day to night, from fire to darkness.