Chapter 16: Whose Secret to Tell

Lavender stepped back from knocking the striker on the door to Rose's flat and nervously fidgeted. It was a Saturday, the weekend, so there was a good bet that the young Mrs. Malfoy would be home. A more cowardly Lavender, the Lavender before the war, would have purposefully stopped by in the middle of the work week and, upon predictably concluding that no one was home, would have happily walked away and let the matter rest.

The Lavender in the present, however, the one who had gone through DA meetings and fought Death Eaters and survived a full-fledged werewolf mauling her, knew that she had to do this – even if, technically, the onus shouldn't be on her to broker this peace talk. Ron had been really upset by what Rose had said at dinner a couple of weeks prior, especially about the unfounded conclusions his daughter had drawn about Lavender. Lavender knew that Ron's relationship with his children, and especially his daughter, was really important to him; when he had told her how Rose hadn't spoken to him since the dinner, she felt the need to make peace.

She was just about at the point where she was wondering if no one was home after all when the door opened.

Rose peeked out, saw who it was, and stiffened uncomfortably, warily. There was a brief silence.

"You're brave, to come here."

Lavender allowed herself a small, pursed smile. She willed herself to remain calm, in the hopes that might diffuse any unnecessary tension that would arise. "I suppose I am," she agreed. "May I come in, Rose?"

For a second, it looked as though Rose was going to refuse, but then she stood aside and admitted her father's… friend into the foyer.

The flat was quiet. Lavender looked around for Scorpius, but there appeared to be no sign of him. Drat. She had actually quite enjoyed the boy's company, the little bit that she spoke to him at the dinner before everything went haywire.

"Is…. is your husband home? I so enjoyed speaking with him at… at dinner."

"No, he had to work. Got called in today."

"On a Saturday?" Lavender frowned, intrigued. "What does he do?"

Rose folded into herself, clearly feeling awkward and uncomfortable. Yet it was also clear that she had inherited some form of manners from her mother, when she replied, albeit quietly, "He's a Healer at St. Mungo's. Calls can come in at such short notice. Scorp works really hard to plan his comp time off to be with me."

Lavender nodded. "And you are….?"

"I have a clerkship with a judge on the Wizengamot."

Lavender pursed her lips. "Indeed. Like mother, like daughter." Rose flushed prettily at this compliment, even as her blue eyes blinked rapidly. The younger woman seemed caught between wanting to act surprised or act…. pleased.

A strained pause, and then Lavender sighed. "Rose, I came to apologize. I should not have been at that dinner."

Rose blinked again, clearly not expecting this apology, even as she nodded her head curtly. "No. You shouldn't have."

"Your…. your dad's been under a lot of emotional stress lately: with your aunt's arrest, starting to process of divorce, I think he… he conflated a few things that should not have…. well, mixed." That could have come out more artfully, but now it was out there, so Lavender sat back and waited.

"Conflated. Such as thinking he could save time by telling me he's divorcing my mummy and introducing you to me at the same time?"

"Your father and I are not together!" Lavender stated this firmly, with an edge to her voice. "We are just friends."

Rose snorted. "Seems like you were more than just friends, though – once upon a time."

Lavender nodded. "That is true. We were. And…" She bit her lip. How to put this delicately? "What I did back then, pursuing him when we were sixteen, was wrong."

Rose blinked again at this, her expression of mistrust faltering. "What do you mean?"

Lavender wrung her hands. "It was wrong, our being together, because the sight of us…. well, it broke your mummy's heart. The entire Gryffindor Common Room, especially most of the girl's dormitory, said that I was barking mad, to want him, much less pursue him. Everyone else had known for years that your parents were made for each other, even if they themselves were too right barking to not see it!" She took a deep breath. "I was young, and immature, and in the end, I don't think I was ready for a relationship like the one I thought I wanted with your dad because I really didn't know what I wanted, and was too young to know what I wanted!" She winced. "Does that make sense?"

Rose shrugged. "I…. I guess…." The redhead was finding it hard to look at Lavender.

Lavender cocked her head and studied Rose. "What is it?"

"I…. I guess it's hard for me to relate to. By the time I was sixteen, I knew what I wanted, and that was Scorpius. We started going out beginning of sixth year."

Lavender smiled kindly. "Everyone's different, Rosie. Clearly, if your marriage is any indication, you were much more emotionally mature than I was at sixteen."

Rose sniffled. "For all the fat lot of that I showed you at dinner." She wiped at her eyes, finally lifting her face to look at her. "I'm…. I'm sorry I was so horrid to you."

"I've heard worse," Lavender murmured.

"Worse than harlot? I doubt it," Rose muttered. "I guess I just…. I don't want my parents to get divorced…."

"Oh, sweetie – no one does, not at any age…."

"… and when I saw you with my dad, I guess…. I guess I felt threatened. I mean, you're so pretty – why wouldn't he try to move on with someone like you? The fact that it would be a – well, not a rebound, but a rekindling – even better, for him!"

Lavender couldn't help it. She laughed at this. "No one's ever called me pretty in quite a long time, Rose."

"Why the bloody hell not?"

Lavender grinned, almost conspiratorially. "Wanna know a secret?"

"Yeah!"

"OK. Just…. promise me you won't freak out."

Rose nodded.

Shakily, Lavender lifted her hands to her face, and peeled back the skin to her facemask. When her scars were revealed, she saw the moment that it all clicked for Rose and the younger woman drew both hands to her mouth in shocked horror. Yet she didn't scream, and she didn't run. She didn't look disgusted, which meant more to Lavender than Rose could know.

"Blimey! When…"

Lavender smiled sadly, the deformed half of her face twisting grotesquely as the upturn of her lips wasn't made quite complete. "The Battle of Hogwarts. Greyback. I likely would have died that night if your mummy hadn't saved me."

"I think I've read about you!" Rose stated. "In my Hogwarts: A History textbook. The Millennium edition featured a recounting of the Battle, and you were mentioned!"

Lavender blushed. A beat, and then she asked:

"Are you still threatened by me, Rosie?"

Rose slowly shook her head. "No."

"Not even by the fear of someone being your stepmother?"

"Would this someone be you?"

"I don't believe so," Lavender stated, though in truth, she wasn't sure where she and Ron stood, and even less where they might end up. It was clear from the charged moment they had said in his room the night of the dinner that Ron wanted her… and Lavender was beginning to entertain the possibility that she wanted him, but marital boundaries and her code of ethics had made her refrain from jumping the man. Add to that list the fact that swooping in too soon, even after Ron and Hermione got divorced, might break down the tentative trust she and Rose were establishing. "I care for your dad, as a friend. He's been a good and caring one, since we reconnected."

"Do you think that would turn into something…. more?" Rose bit her lip.

"I don't know. But suppose it ever did: would you be OK with that?"

Rose shrugged. "I suppose I'd have to learn to live with it…." Unexpectedly, she burst into tears and flung herself into Lavender's arms. Lavender froze, but awkwardly hugged her back, even as she worked to get the facemask back on.

"Everything's falling apart with my parents! You're here, and my mummy is shagging some Bulgarian ambassador; I walked in on them in the middle of telling Mum about you and Dad, but I don't think she heard me, and…." Rose buried her face into Lavender's blouse. "Oh, Merlin, it was horrible!"

Lavender took in this bit of information, her mind racing. There was only one Bulgarian whom she had ever associated with Hermione Granger, and that was the Triwizard champion who had escorted the bookish witch to the Yule Ball thirty years ago. Viktor Krum…. Oh, Merlin, Ron was going to be devastated.

Lavender patted Rose's head. "There, there, love. It will all work out. Your parents might not…. they might not be together anymore, but that doesn't mean they'll stop loving you, or your brother."

Rose sniffed and lifted her head out of Lavender's blouse. "I know." She wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. "Th-thanks."

"Anytime. Now: you and me…." Lavener pointed between them. "Are we cool?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah. We are. And…. I'm glad Dad's found a friend like you."

Lavender beamed, and the two women shook hands.

The breakthrough and peace she had achieved with Rose made Lavender agonize over her next decision all the more. Rose had blurted out a new piece of information, and even if there had been no explicit understanding that it was to be kept in confidence, Lavender didn't feel like what Rose had seen her mother allegedly doing with Krum was her story to tell. It wasn't Lavender's secret to divulge. Plus, she feared how Ron might react if she did tell him. How Rose might respond if she became aware that Lavender had gone running to her father about the affair his wife was allegedly having.

Lavender returned to the Weasley residence in Ottery St. Catchpole (where even she could admit she was spending more and more of her time lately). She entered the kitchen to find Ron sitting at the table, predictably eating lunch.

She smirked. "I don't see how you haven't managed to eat Hermione out of house and home!"

Ron shrugged, though he did flinch a bit at the mention of his soon-to-be-ex-wife. "She's always known my favorites. We took meals together in the Great Hall often enough."

Lavender sat down next to him, lightly touching his arm while careful not to make the gesture seem too intimate. "I talked with Rose."

"You did?"

"I stopped by her flat. Apologized for even being at that dinner in the first place…"

"You have nothing to apologize for….!" Ron tried to defend her.

"I did. My presence there was wrong, especially in light of you breaking the news to her about your divorce! I just complicated things – Merlin's sake, Ronald, she thought you were already moving on and dating me!"

"And what did you tell her?"

"I…. I told her…." Lavender faltered, suddenly unwilling to say the words she had so easily said to Rose. "I told her we were just friends. For what it's worth, she did apologize to me for calling me a harlot."

"Good," Ron grunted. "She still has to ruddy apologize to me, though, for her embarrassing behavior!"

Lavender chuckled. "I'll leave that between you and her." She rested her palm on his shoulder, studying him affectionately. Finally, she took a deep breath, and, her decision made, plowed ahead.

"Ron…. Rose mentioned something interesting to me. It seems she's been given a lot to be upset about, from you and Hermione both."

"What do you mean?"

Lavender cringed. "Well, apparently after the dinner, she still had in her head that you and I were together, so she went to tell her mum you were cheating on her with me, and she…." She had out with it. "She walked in on Hermione and that Viktor Krum fellow having sex in her office."

Ron seemed to turn to stone. When he spoke next, his voice was little more than a growl. "Why that slick-willie…. Arrogant….. tosser! Thinks he can make moves on my wife, when the ink hasn't even been put to the divorce papers?! I'm going to kill that galloping bear….!"

He actually started to furiously move out of his seat. Later, Lavender wasn't sure what quite made her do it, except to rationalize that she panicked.

Yanking Ron into her lap, she seized his face in her hands and kissed him wildly, furiously on the mouth. Ron froze in surprise, and then softened, relaxing into the kiss and returning it greedily. Lavender was surprised by how willingly she parted her lips for him as the kiss involuntarily deepened, and she shuddered, more than partly out of pleasure.

They broke apart softly, sensuously, Lavender still cradling Ron's skull and staring down at his chest, breathing hard so that her breasts heaved.

"Better?" she gasped. As a distraction, rash as it had been, she could only hope that her snogging him had done the job.

"Loads," Ron breathed.

Staring into each other's eyes, Ron and Lavender started to lean in tentatively. Their lips barely touched in a kiss that was feather-light before Ron abruptly rose up out of her lap and headed for the sink to clean his dishes. Lavender watched him, biting down on her plump and very kiss-swollen lips.

To distract herself from uncomfortable thoughts of what was happening between her and this man, she glanced to the calendar on the wall. Trackings of the lunar cycle happened to be marked with icons in the bottom right-hard corner of the squares. She squinted, then cringed: tomorrow night was to be a full moon.

Then again, maybe it was just as well. She needed a night or three away from Ron to be by herself and think about where this…. whatever-it-was between them was heading.

"I…. I have a full-moon appointment tomorrow night, so I'll…. I'll be away for a couple of nights."

Ron turned back to her from the sink. "I wish there was something I could do to help…." His impossibly blue eyes brightened and he came over and knelt at her side. "I know! Rose and Scorpius and I can help you. We'll come with you!"

"Absolutely not!" Lavender stated firmly, even though she was secretly touched. "I will not be responsible for putting your lives in danger!"

"You are not dangerous," Ron insisted. "You're forgetting, love, that I've had dealings with a werewolf too – Teddy's dad, for instance. Presuming that you take Wolfsbane to prepare for your…. transformation…"

"Yes, I do…."

Ron grinned. "Then it's settled. I want to be there for you, Lav, while you go through this."

Against her better judgment, Lavender felt her eyes fill with tears. "Thank you…"

And she hugged him.