Word Count: 468
Lavender tosses in her sleep. Parvati doesn't know if that's what wakes her or not. Since the war, neither of them have been able to sleep through the night. It's been three months, but the memories are still so fresh. She wonders if the pain ever really goes away. Padma tells her to have faith that the universe will sort things out; Parvati thinks the universe needs to get its shit together.
Lavender's soft whimpers change, made sharper by panic. "No!"
"Lavender? Lav, wake up!"
Lavender bolts upright, eyes wide with fear. "I'm bleeding!" she cries, frantically searching her scarred skin, like the wounds might have come open, like Greyback might have done more damage to her somehow.
"It's okay. It was just a dream."
Maybe that isn't quite right. Her own nightmares are rarely just silly monsters, dark figments of her imagination. Truth be told, she misses those days. It was such a simpler time when nightmares weren't memories, when a bad dream didn't mean having to relive the worst night of her life.
"He was there," Lavender whispers, and she says it over and over again. "Greyback, Parvati. He was there."
"He wasn't. Not this time."
She wishes her words could work some special magic, and Lavender would be okay again. All Parvati wants is to see her girlfriend happy. This isn't right. Lavender deserves something better, something more.
"Hey," Parvati says softly, brushing Lavender's curls away and tucking them behind her ear. She traces her fingers gently over the violet satin of Lavender's pajama top. "It's going to be okay. I promise."
Lavender purses her lips. "How?"
If only Parvari had the answer. She hates not being able to fix everything and take her girlfriend's pain away. "I don't know," she admits. "I'll help you. I know that much. You are so precious to me, Lav, and I promise I'm not going anywhere."
Immediately after the war, Lavender had desperately tried to push her away. Parvati had refused to give up. She will forever hold on to hope because that's all she knows to do anymore. It's a crazy world out there. The darkness is fading, but there's still so much grief and uncertainty.
But Lavender won't have to go through it alone. Parvati leans in, pressing a kiss to her girlfriend's lips. "Let's go back to bed, okay? I promise I'll keep you safe. Nothing will harm you."
She can't make the nightmares stop, and she doesn't know how to take away the pain. It doesn't matter. She will do whatever it takes to make sure Lavender will be okay. There's no promise that it will get easier, but she will try.
As they lie back, sinking into the pillows, holding one another closer, Parvati finds herself smiling. There's hope for them after all.