Written for:
February Event at Hogwarts: (quote) "To be your friend was all I ever wanted; to be your lover was all I ever dreamed." - Valerie Lombardo, and (object) card/love letter.
200 Characters in 200 Days: Lavender Brown
If You Dare Challenge: 539. Heart's Truth
Chocolate Frog Cards Challenge: Brian Gagwilde - include a chess game.
Writing Bingo: (romantic pairing) Lavender Brown/Pansy Parkinson
Valentine-Making Challenge: Green Ribbon - Write about a Slytherin.
Words: 786

Heart's Truth

When Pansy discovered the Room of Requirement, she knew exactly what she wanted to do with it. She brought Lavender there as soon she could, on a lazy Saturday afternoon in February. The weather outside was warmer than usual for the season, so students were making the most of it, leaving the castle to students like Lavender and Pansy, who did their best to not be seen together in public.

The space given to them by the magical room was, for all intents and purposes, perfect. Cushions strewn in a corner to lounge on, a fire blazing in the hearth, a small bookshelf. There was even a table full of snacks and drinks, and a large desk they could finish homework on. It felt like a home away from home for the girls, and a safe space.

They soon busied themselves with a game of Wizard's Chess - not because either of them particularly loved chess, but because it provided a backdrop to their idle chatter.

Pansy looked up at Lavender with a smile as she moved her Knight to take a pawn.

"What are you smiling about?" Lavender asked, her cheeks flushed pink at the direct attention.

"I know it's not Valentine's Day yet, but I wanted to give you this," Pansy announced, reaching into her bag to pull out a red envelope. She held it over the chess board for Lavender, who took it with a polite thank you and a lopsided grin.

Lavender carefully opened the envelope, taking out an elegant white card, decorated with two interloping pink hearts, each topped with a bow - one red, one green. She opened the card and began to read the words aloud.

"My Lavender. To be your friend was all I ever wanted; to be your lover was all I ever dreamed. Happy Valentine's Day. Love Pansy," Lavender whispered, smiling at the sentiment. "It's beautiful, thank you."

"I'm glad you like it," Pansy grinned back.

"Is this a quote?" Lavender asked, reading the words through again, her smile dropping slightly.

"I never claimed to be a wordsmith. Yes, it's a quote," Pansy replied, rolling her eyes.

"I thought it was. I was confused by the past tense," Lavender admitted, the chess game forgotten.

"What do you mean?"

"'To be your lover was all I ever dreamed,'" she read again. "It makes it sound like it's over."

Pansy said nothing, only let out a strange little giggle and looked away, as if something made her uncomfortable.

"What?" Lavender prompted.

"Nothing. It's not past tense," Pansy defended. Her smile had faded now, too, to be replaced by a strange hardness in her ice blue eyes, as if there was something she was trying to keep to herself.

"No, there's something. What is it?"

Pansy sighed. She knew Lavender. She wouldn't give up and drop it. Instead, she'd work it up in her mind until it was something way bigger than either of them, a life-changing secret, a deal-breaker.

"Well, one day this will be over, won't it?" Pansy asked, practical and logical, dismissive of her own emotions.

"What?" Lavender asked, heart on her sleeve as she stared on in shock.

"This. Us. It can't last forever. We've got real lives to lead," Pansy's eyes softened a little this time, as if she was aware that she'd begun to break someone's heart.

"I thought… I thought this was real life," Lavender argued weakly.

"What? Fooling around in secret? Fear of being found out? Knowledge that our friends, and families, and allies, and everyone would disapprove? This isn't real life, Lav. We're on opposite sides of a war, in school houses that hate each other, surrounded by prejudice and judgement. I'm expected to grow up and marry well for the sake of my family. Produce heirs. You're the brave one, not me," Pansy explained, her voice starting strong and adamant and fading to a sad resignation.

"I thought we could face all that if we were together. I thought we could be okay. Just because things are expected doesn't mean they have to be," Lavender replied.

"For you, maybe, but I'm a Slytherin. That's my heart's truth. I have ambition to be something, to make my parents proud, to be looked on with good grace and favour. I don't have the courage to consider any other future. I'm sorry."

There was silence for a while as Lavender took in Pansy's words and tried not to cry.

"So, this is it then?" she finally asked.

"It doesn't have to be," Pansy said so quietly, Lavender almost didn't hear it. "We still have now."

"I don't know… I don't know if I want today if it doesn't come with a tomorrow."