The moon waned slowly and Lavender was kept busy with her new work. Leo had spread the word around and new werewolves were coming every day seeking help integrating themselves into society, or those werewolves who had specific goals. Her current task was to set up some form of education for the older werewolves for whom Hogwarts wasn't going to be an option. She had a meeting set up with Headmistress McGonagall three days from then to discuss options for that form of education.
Her first task had been to hire a dedicated potion maker. Lavender had discovered herself to be fairly competent with potion making during the seventh year when they had needed healing potions brewed up but Wolfsbane was a lengthy and complicated process and she was far too busy with the rest of Inhuman Resources to mess around with it. The girl she had hired was a St. Mungo's flunkee, as she had stated proudly in her application, only because potions were far more interesting than people. They had gotten along well and Lavender had helped the girl, whose name was Mancy and who was a few years older than Lavender herself, set up a decent potion lab in an empty warehouse off Diagon Alley. For now the warehouse was also serving as a temporary shelter for werewolves who had come seeking a place to stay. Thankfully, Mancy had nerves of steel, which Lavender had been looking for. She had made no secrets that the job would be working in very close proximity with werewolves, and Mancy had risen to the task admirably.
There were more werewolves who had come forward, around Leo's age and younger, who wanted to attend Hogwarts. She was tempted to put them with Leo so they would all have support, but McGonagall had talked her out of that. It was hard enough for the Board and the Ministry, to say nothing of the parents, to accept one werewolf who Lavender proclaimed a life-saving hero. More than one, at least for the first year, would be too much for the authorities to handle. Instead, Lavender had plans for a younger version of the adult's school, a place for the kids to play catch up so they could enter Hogwarts with others their age. It was another thing to talk with the Headmistress about.
Meanwhile, she had put Leo in charge of the Youth Outreach program that she was making up as she went along. First on her list was to get the kids off the streets and away from the set in their ways old werewolves who wanted to recruit them for packs. That was mostly what the warehouse was being used for until she could figure out something more permanent. Leo was staying there at nights, building up relationships with the young werewolves and boasting about how he was going to go to Hogwarts. Lavender would have called him out on the boasting except then she overheard him talking to one little girl, who couldn't have been more than eight years old, about how he was going to make sure it was safe for her to go, to make sure that no one was going to be mean to her, and that conversation had put a smile on her face all day.
Leo had turned into much more of a leader than she had been expecting, but it had been a wonderful surprise. Today, in fact, he had plans to get everyone together for a family dinner, as he was calling it, at the warehouse. Lavender was excited to go, but first she had to finish her paperwork. It seemed that all she was doing was paperwork and she had already thought more than once about hiring a secretary to push some of it off onto. Much of it was grant applications and letters to wealthy families she thought might want to donate. Despite how frugal she was trying to be, Inhuman Resources was burning through the galleons, and she knew that if they relied fully on government funding they wouldn't be able to help half the werewolves that came through their doors.
And also before the dinner, she had a date.
Well, she amended hastily in her mind, it wasn't really a date. It was the drinks that she and Seamus had agreed on. Lavender had insisted on coffee rather than alcohol, remembering the last time she had been intoxicated around Seamus. She was resolute that she was not bringing him home with her, no matter how much of a kicked puppy act he put on. She reaffirmed that to herself. He was not coming home with her, and she was not going home with him. There was too much at stake for that, if they ever had hopes of having a relationship again. And despite how much she denied it out loud in the mirror, she did want a relationship with him again. She missed him. He missed her, according to Hannah. They had been through so much together, it seemed stupid that their relationship had ended like it did. They had weathered You-Know-Who. They could get past this.
It felt like old times as she brushed mascara over her eyelashes, getting ready in front of her mirror. It was just coffee, she reminded herself, no need to go overboard with the makeup. She kept her hair loosely tied back and falling over her shoulder in golden waves. Wearing a simple light blue camisole under a white tee shirt with a low neckline and jeans, she resolved to be the picture of meeting with a friend for coffee.
She realized suddenly, looking in the mirror, that she hadn't worried about her scars in weeks except to coat them with the salve she used to help them heal. If she looked at her face critically, the scars were still very present and she didn't doubt that people were still staring. But she hadn't noticed them staring, and that was wonderful. It was better than wonderful, she thought with a smile. It meant that she was the best she had been, mentally, since her attack. She was recovering. She was perfect. The smile that crossed her face made her practically glow with pride and she tossed her hair back, flashing a winning grin at herself in the mirror. Time to go meet Seamus.
She tucked her wand into her purse and made sure she had money before she left, stepping out the door into the warm spring afternoon. The sun felt good on her skin and she turned her face up to it as she walked, not noticing the small, excited smile that was on her face as she walked to the coffee shop they had agreed on.
Seamus was waiting for her outside when she showed up, and she felt her heart thump and speed up as she walked over to him. He was in a light cotton button down shirt and jeans, robe open casually and flapping in the gentle breeze. "Hi," she greeted.
"Hey," he smiled back, holding the door open for her. Lavender walked into the shop and took a seat at a table near the window. She left the seat with its back in the corner for him to take – she knew it made him nervous to have his back exposed. She didn't much like it either, but she was trying to learn to rationalize her fears. She could sit with her back to the door. It was okay.
The waitress took their orders and Lavender stared out the window while they waited, trying not to stare at his reflection. He looked... good. Casual. Carefree but just a little bit nervous, which made her tuck away a grin. Much better than the last time she had seen him, when he was sleep-deprived and worried and overworked. "Has the office calmed down since Max was dealt with?" She asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
Seamus nodded. "A bit, yeah. I mean, it's never going to be a quiet job, but it's always nice when a big case gets wrapped up. What about you? I know your department is new, but I've been hearing a lot about it the past few days."
Lavender smiled. "It's been a whirlwind, honestly. Leo got the word out with the young werewolves and now we have about ten staying in a warehouse while I try to find better accommodation for them. I hired a Wolfsbane maker with a mouth on her sassy enough to keep even the teenage boys in line. Adults are coming forward too – everyone wants an education and a wand. I have no idea how we're going to handle all of that, but I have a meeting with Professor McGonagall soon about it." She chatted at him a while longer about all the things that were happening. He asked good questions that made her think about the answers and soon they were caught up in how to fundraise, because her money problems were very present in her mind.
"I was thinking some kind of dinner party or something," Lavender mused. "Only I'm not sure. I have no experience with any of those kinds of things."
"What about a dance?" Seamus asked. "You planned a great Christmas party for the DA in seventh year. Why not something like that?"
"That was just for us, though," Lavender demurred. "I need to somehow attract rich people to donate lots of money."
"Or attract a lot of regular people who can donate small amounts of money," Seamus suggested. "I think you planned a great dance party. Just keep it in mind."
She smiled at him, happy that he was trying to help. "I will, absolutely."
They fell into silence again before Seamus cleared his throat and set down his cup of coffee. "Okay. I need to say something. I've needed to say it for a while, but I've been putting it off because... well, because I have been."
Lavender swallowed, suddenly nervous. She knew what she hoped he would say, but he would still have to say it right. She was a lot more wary now, a lot more cautious, and she wasn't ready to go diving off a cliff with him like she used to be. That said, she still missed him. Even this, just chatting about work and how to solve various problems, was like a breath of warmth after a long time in the cold.
"I messed up," he started, voice quiet. "I got so caught up in my job that I didn't see how it was hurting you. And it didn't matter how many times you told me. Maybe I just didn't want to see it, because I was so wrapped up in trying to protect you I didn't want to stop and think about what I was actually doing. But then, after everything ended and I left, I spent a lot of time and Neville and Hannah's place. They're so damn happy. He takes time off to be with her and she takes time off to be with him, and they're so happy together."
Seamus stopped and sighed, passing a hand over his face before meeting her eyes directly. She had been right to plan to guard against the kicked puppy look – though he looked like he had been kicking himself rather than someone else kicking him. "I'm so sorry, Lavender. I never meant to hurt you, never wanted to hurt you. I don't expect you to forgive me but I do just need you to know how sorry I am. And I'd like you in my life, even if we're not together. Even if it's just coffee once a week and all we talk about is work."
Lavender was silent for a while. It was clear that he had been practicing that speech for a while. Between his apologies and his earnestness it was beyond tempting to just forgive him immediately, to welcome him back with open arms. If she hadn't resolved so strongly before she headed out to not do exactly that, she would have leaned across the table and kissed him right then and there. "Let's try friends first," she offered eventually. Against her better judgement she flashed him a smile and added, "And then we'll see."
It made her heart ache to see how much that last part made him light up, but she hardened her resolve. She had to be sure he wasn't going to run out on her again. "I'm always going to hold out hope," he warned with a roguish grin that made her heart beat wildly. "Unless you tell me no, there's always going to be a part of me that wants you back. So tell me no if you want to, but until then, I'm hoping."
That made her think for another few long moments. She wanted him to hope in her. She desperately wanted to hope in him. Still, it was more than a little nerve-wracking to think about. He had hurt her last time and she didn't ever want to go through that again. She was silent long enough for his grin to start fading. "I'd never tell you no to that," she said finally. "But it's going to be a long while before I can trust you again."
"Completely understandable," he said instantly. He was looking at her with enough determination to make her heart sing. "And for you, Lav, I'll wait until I die."
A smile crept slowly across Lavender's face as they looked at each other, mirroring the one on his. It felt like the spring air outside, light and warm and promising. It felt like new beginnings and hope.