"I promised Professor McGonagall that I would go help," the man said.
Lavender nodded.
"And I'm not letting you go back for a while," he continued.
Lavender nodded again. She was expecting it, anyways. She'd have to find new ways to assure her father she was doing better.
"Obviously, you need Madame Pomfrey," Mr. Brown said, referring to Lavender's ill state, "I'll help, and I'll ask her to come see what the problem is. I'll be back in a few hours."
"Thanks, dad. If you see Dean, Parvati, or Seamus, can you tell them that I'm sorry for what happened?
He was about to protest that it wasn't her fault, but held back at the last minute.
"Sure, Lav. I'll tell them," he agreed, and walked out the door.
Lavender was finally left alone. After the events of yesterday, she couldn't imagine leaving the house or seeing anyone except her father for quite a while. Shame had almost completely consumed her.
Sometime over the night, she had taken ill. No sickness she'd ever heard of or ever had matched the illness she was suffering. It seemed foreign to her father as well. No medicine they tried could cure it, and the tough plague stayed. Mr. Brown was to send Madame Pomfrey at the end of the day to see what was happening with Lavender.
Lavender's fever was incredibly high, but still, she couldn't stop shivering. Every limb ached, and she couldn't move. Lavender eventually decided it was best to remain stationary on the couch, and attempt to fall asleep.
The attempt prevailed, and soon enough, she was asleep, beginning to dream.
Suddenly, Lavender woke up, but it was a strange sensation. She still felt as if she were sleeping. Quickly, she realized that she didn't feel ill. With this reassuring feeling, she pushed herself off the couch, but she felt considerably lighter. When she looked back down at the couch, she saw her body lying there. It was completely odd, and Lavender wasn't sure what to think. Suddenly, Lavender heard a familiar whisper dancing across her ear, and she promptly decided to follow the voice. Abandoning her shame, she walked through the front door to greet the mysterious speaker. The words were not clear to her yet, but she knew she needed to hear them. Every step drew her closer, and after a few desperate twists and turns, Lavender realized she was in an unfamiliar area. After tromping aimlessly through the corridors, she arrived at a familiar place. With a sudden shock, she realized that it was the Great Hall, specifically: the spot where her world crumbled.
The voice spoke louder now, with a deep, growling voice. It was Greyback- she knew it. She had to escape. He couldn't ruin her again. She turned and ran, through the halls, trying to find someone to save her. She kept going, but she was alone. The castle was empty besides her and the taunting voice. The corridors kept twisting and leading her back to the same spot in the Great Hall.
Lavender couldn't. There was not anything she could do. Frustrated, she collapsed on the ground. Maybe Greyback was gone, and she was just trapped. Suddenly, she heard slow footsteps. Lavender stumbled and tried to run, but the room became smaller and smaller until she was caught in a small, doorless and windowless room with a shadow. The shadow came closer and closer, until it dived down to take a bite of flesh…
Lavender could hear screaming when she woke up. After a few moments, she realized it was her own. After a few shallow, fast breaths, Lavender still could not calm down. Mrs. Brown had always made a cup of tea for her daughter after particularly wearing nightmares, and it had always helped. Shaking, Lavender got to her feet and made her way to the kitchen.
Shakily, she filled the kettle and placed it on the stove. She remembered how caring her mother had been. Beautiful and kind; firm, but still loving. She remembered her mother's graceful hands as they added in the tea leaves, always preferring to do it the muggle way, something she'd learned from her closest muggle-born friends.
"There's no reason to whip out your wand for every little thing," her mother would say, when Lavender asked why she didn't use magic all the time like daddy. "Sometimes it's nice to relax and do something slowly."
Lavender wished her mother could be here now. Lavender wanted her mother to come and make everything all better. She wanted her to come and take away all her scars, to make her mind right again.
Tears were threatening to make an appearance. Through everything, Lavender hadn't shed a single tear for her mother. Every tear that left was weeping for lost beauty, for self-pity, or for the unnecessary cruelness of the world. Not one dropped for her mother's lost life, nor her father's struggle to cope with his insane, broken daughter alone.
The kettle started to ring loudly, quickly pulling Lavender out of the depths of her complex mind. She was shaky when she grabbed a mug from the cabinet and slowly began to pour the steaming water into the cup. Suddenly, a loud knocking of the door startled Lavender and caused her to drop the kettle on the floor, water spilling everywhere. The burning water touching flesh made Lavender jump, and she managed to knock over the mug, which now lay in broken pieces over the kettle and the mess of water she'd made.
Lavender had bent over with a towel and prepared to clean the mess she had made, when the knocking came again. With a sigh, she got up and made her way to the door, not sure if she could face whoever was on the other side.