Hello everyone!
I hope you've been doing wonderfully! No news from me. Just enjoy the new chapter!
If you're new to this story, make sure you hop on over to my page and read the prequel In the Name of Being Honest! If you've been there, done that…then carry on!
As always, read, review, and enjoy!
"I am absolutely disgusted," McGonagall declared, her tone dangerously calm despite the muscle that twitched in her forehead and her mouth in a thin line, "never in my years at Hogwarts-"
"We were just trying to help-" Neville started, but he was quickly cut off by the professor.
"Be quiet, Longbottom. I'm not quite sure how you can defend yourself after getting into this mess."
The common room was silent as Lavender exchanged awkward glances with Parvati and Seamus. Ginny, Luna, and Neville had gotten caught attempting to sneak into Professor Snape's headmaster office right before dinner to steal the sword of Gryffindor.
They were reamed in front of the entire Great Halll, all of the students then being sent to their dormitories after a minimal supper. Slytherin sent dark glares over to Ginny and Neville as they made their way, heads hanging, to the Gryffindor table to be dismissed. Despite their best efforts, it was a miracle that they were merely let off with a trip to the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid.
Lavender was certain they would be, at the very least, hung by their ankles in Filch's office, with the Carrow siblings slinging various curses at them. The Gryffindor house breathed a sigh of relief when Professor Snape announced their punishment over the empty plates. Lavender had glanced over to Amycus Carrow, who had clenched his fist in anger at the decision of his superior.
It was silent for another moment or two before McGonagall sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. She collapsed into the nearest armchair, rubbing her forehead. "I know this year has been tough for all of you," she started, sighing deeply as she glanced around to the students who had gathered in the common room, "for the upperclass students, you know this is not the Hogwarts you have grown up in. For the younger students…I hope to Merlin you are able to see how great Hogwarts could be one day."
She paused again, raking her eyes over each of her students, before landing on Neville and Ginny. "But stealing from the headmaster in the name of Harry Potter is not how we take back our school. Setting off fireworks on the grounds is not the way to resist the new authority."
At mention of the fireworks, Lavender shifted uncomfortably where she stood. Seamus flashed a bright grin, winking in her direction. Professor McGonagall stood from her chair, raising her chin as she continued to speak.
"We are Gryffindors. We will hold our heads high and we will continue to fight the injustice You-Know-Who has brought upon our wizarding world. I, and I hope many of you are as well, am ashamed by the part our Ministry has played in the rise of You-Know-Who. Our country has been a beacon of freedom to the wizarding world in the past decades, including being one of the first Ministries that allowed the marriage of muggles and magical people. I hope you will not remain silent as your friends, your classmates, and your fellow countrymen are rounded up and brutalized in a world that has recently fought so hard for equality-"
"Here, here!"
"Yes, Professor McGonagall!"
She took a deep breath. "But you cannot help win this war, you cannot be a voice in this dark world if you are dead." The silence was deafening once again, the clapping that had started died down in an instant at her last words.
A shiver went up Lavender's spine as McGonagall looked over all of them again, her stare hardening. "Be smart, be vigilant, and don't try to win this war on the whims of childish pranks." The guilt set heavy over Lavender's chest, remembering all of the times she had snuck out with Seamus. He didn't seem too bothered by it. "I will send down the kitchens for dinner to be brought up. You are welcome to the library and various classrooms for studying, but I hope that you will deter from testing the boundaries of this castle. The Carrows are not in an inviting mood." She glanced at Neville and Ginny over the tops of her glasses before departing.
The room instantly relaxed, many of the students turning back to their own conversations.
Lavender turned to Parvati, picking her bag off the floor and tossing it over her shoulder. "I'm going to go to the library, I've got some things to catch up on."
Parvati shrugged her shoulders. "I'll come with you. I've been putting off my charms essay like crazy and I-"
"No," Lavender rushed out, taking hold of Parvati's shoulders, "really, I- I mean, I just want to be alone right now. It's nothing personal, it's just-"
Parvati glared at her best friend, crossing her arms over her chest and popping her left hip to the side. "You've been doing this an awful lot lately," she said, raising her eyebrows dangerously high on her forehead, "slinking off in the middle of the day, doing research with Ginny of all people-" she tossed a nasty look over her shoulder to the redhead, "you're doing something-"
Lavender chuckled, trying to downplay the argument that was inevitable. "Parvati, it's nothing. It's just home-"
"Don't you say it's just homework!" she screeched, garnering the attention of half the common room. Lavender flushed in response, desperately trying to hush her best friend, "No one has as much homework as you claim to have. And, for Merlin's sake, you've stepped into the library more often in the past MONTH than you have in the last SIX YEARS at Hogwarts!" She paused, her glare growing deeper. "I'm supposed to be your best friend. I want to know what you're doing."
Lavender sighed, grabbing a hold of Parvati's upper arm and dragging her toward the portrait hole.
"What are you doing?! Get off me-"
The portrait shut with a snap behind them, instantly deafening the common room of students who had just started to eat the dinner McGonagall had sent up.
"Will you just be quiet? Merlin. I'm going to tell you what's going on, if you would pipe down!" Parvati instantly clammed up, gazing at Lavender with expectant eyes. Lavender sighed. "You're going to think I'm crazy." Parvati merely raised her eyebrows in a betting manner. "Okay fine. Awhile back I was researching for my Transfiguration essay when an article fell out of the book I was grabbing off a shelf in the library. It was this article about Sirius Black's death and it mentioned how he was preceded in death by his fiancée and how his daughter remains missing-"
"Yes, I know this, you ran off one mumbling about going back to the library-"
Lavender rolled her eyes, she knew it was a questionable idea telling her best friend about all of this. "Yes, yes I know. That day I went to the library and found another article, just this tiny paragraph really, announcing the death of his fiancée. Back in…when was it? 1981. Anyways, Ginny followed me. She- she knew Sirius Black when he was alive, she overheard us talking about it. She wanted to help me with the research, we've been trying to find the name of his daughter, but for some reason we can't find it."
Parvati held up the door to the library, lowering her voice to a whisper. "And why does this matter to you? This was…what? 16 years ago now? What does it matter?"
Lavender shrugged her shoulders, dropping her book onto the nearest desk with a thud loud enough to attract the attention of Madam Pince. She grimaced as the librarian turned back to her own book, continuing to glance up every so often to see if Lavender would disrupt the library again.
"I don't know why it matters. It's just…it feels strange to me. It feels…familiar. I can't explain it. All these years of my tea leaves being the same- family secrets and a betrayal. Parvati…I can't help, but feel like they're somehow connected. I can't tell you why, I can just tell you my gut feeling."
Parvati licked her lips, surveying her best friend. "Well, what can I do?"
"Wh-what?"
Parvati dumped her own bag on the desk, turning back to Lavender with a grin. "I may not understand it either, but you've been looking for answers for years now. Who am I, as your best friend, to turn down your feelings of a possible lead?"
Lavender smiled, truly smiled, for the first time in weeks.
….
The two girls were giggling to each other, their elbows interlocked, as they clambered through the portrait hole together just before curfew began. The common room had cleared out already, many of the students slipping to their beds after filling up on the feast McGonagall had sent up.
Lavender grabbed a small plate and lead the way back to an empty table, clearing off the leftover crumbs with a swipe of her wand. She carefully set down her plate of food with one hand and dumped the books she was holding in the other. Parvati had suggested they check out a few books containing various articles from 1981, so they would have more time to look through them after curfew began.
"Lavender!"
She swung around, her heart skipping a beat as Seamus jogged to her from the staircase leading up to the boy's dormitories.
"I've been waiting for you to get back. I've been wanting to talk to you about something."
Lavender smiled, her heart lighter than it had been in days since Parvati offered to help her. "What's going on, Seamus?"
He leaned nonchalantly against the wall closest to her, gazing at her with his brown eyes. He took a deep breath, running his fingers through his sandy hair. "Listen, I've been thinking a lot about this. I realize…it may be coming out of the blue for you…" Lavender waited patiently as Seamus took another breath, this one wavering as he let it out. "I've been wanting to tell you this for…for years now. What Professor McGonagall said…it put things into perspective for me. Lavender, I love you."
Her jaw dropped open, her heart jumping into her throat at the words that stumbled out of Seamus's mouth. She had been waiting since fourth year to hear them, especially through sixth year when she had made the mistake of dating Ron Weasley. As the thoughts swirled through her brain…as she began to come to the realization of the war, of the part she decided to play in the DA, in Sirius Black and how that seemed to consume her free time…
"Seamus, I- I can't."
The smile slid off his face as his cheeks grew pink with her response. "You can't?"
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she slowly shook her head. "This…this isn't a good time. Can't you see that? With the war, with the DA, with-"
"I think there is no better time," he interrupted, a coldness seeping through his tone, "but if that's the excuse you need to make for not feeling the same way-"
"Seamus, that has absolutely NOTHING to do with-"
"-Then so be it."
He turned on his heel, marching past Parvati, who had witnessed the entire thing with wide eyes. Lavender slumped back into her seat, pressing her leaking eyes into the palms of her hands. He couldn't understand, she couldn't understand. She thought it just wasn't their time.