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Lavender awoke to chaos, and it seemed to be the one constant in the coming weeks.
People were yelling to each other, quick words just barely louder than the din of the Great Hall.
Why was the Great Hall so loud?
Lavender’s eyes ached as she pried them open to survey her surroundings. She could just make out people’s legs running past her, swishing black robes occluding her vision every so often.
She doesn't know how long she lay there, the only measure of time the blinks that leave her eyes burning slightly.
I should be panicking, She thought. She couldn't feel anything other than her eyes and lips, which she could tell were cracked and bleeding. On any other day, this would have been cause for great concern, but this didn’t seem like any other day.
The last thing Lavender remembers is someone yelling out close to her head, and then someone shaking her shoulder. She didn’t have the energy to respond.
/ / /
This was the quietest moment Lavender had in weeks. Somehow she missed the constant movement of Hogwarts, being transported between rooms of the castle for renovations and whatnot. This was, as she realized, the first time she’d been alone in two weeks.
The silence was glorious.
That is, until the itching started. At first, it was just a quick scratch, but the itch did not go away. Lavender scrubbed at her hand, willing the prickles to go away.
Please, just a couple more minutes.
She realized then just how long her nails had gotten while at the castle. She wanted to stop scratching, but the incessant prickling at the back of her hands won’t go away.
She’s bleeding now, and fuck , why did it smell like that?
Lavender realized too late what she’d done, and slammed her hands down on the dusty, rotted table to stop the scratching.
But it was too late, because the smell of blood was thick in the air now, and it called the creature inside her forward.
Lavender sat, rooted to the spot, watching hair sprout from the bloodied skin on the backs of her hands, the black coarseness of it spreading up to her elbows, and then her shoulders, until suddenly the itching and the growing stop.
A tear slid down her cheek, but she could not wipe it away because her fingernails were now long and black.
The calm feels wrong, somehow, maybe because she knows it’s the last moment of peace she’ll get all night.
Lavender screams when the first bone breaks.
The book Madame Pomfrey gave her said that the turns would be painless if she took the wolfsbane potion.
The book lied.
Lavender spends the rest of her turn on the floor of the Shrieking Shack, contorting in pain as each bone in her body breaks and then reforms again.
/ / /
When she comes to, she’s laying in blood.
She’s just glad it’s hers.
Everything aches, mostly her legs. Then there’s the source of the bleeding, the gash marks that were torn into her abdomen.
Good to know her wolf was aggressive.
Lavender slouched up against the wall. It took almost everything in her not to pass out, but eventually the darkness clouding her eyesight faded.
Forcing her breaths in and out, she raised her arm and concentrated on the trunk in the far corner of the room.
“Accio Emergency Medical Kit.”
Lavender expected it to not work, but instead her magic crackled around her, more tangible then she could ever remember it, and the small red kit flew put of the trunk and hit her in the chest, smacking against the very wound she most desperately needed to heal.
“Of course.” She groaned, wincing at the sharp spikes of pain shooting through her chest.
Madame Pomfrey found Lavender fumbling uselessly with a bottle of dittany and a bandage.
“Mrs. Brown, what on earth happened here?” Pomfery was looking around the room in horror, surveying the mess. The walls has slash marks in them, and the desk and bookshelf in the corner were completely destroyed.
Lavender didn’t have the strength to respond, merely she gestured weakly towards her abdomen.
Madame Pomfrey gasped again, and quickly pulled out her wand to stop the bleeding.
/ / /
Madame Pomfrey was in her office, talking to McGonagall. Lavender was in the medical bay.
So why could Lavender hear their conversation so clearly?
“The poor girl has a wolfsbane allergy, Minerva. I had Remus Lupin in that shack for eight years, and never have I seen so much damage done to it!”
“I’ve no idea what to do, Poppy. You know this isn’t my specialty. You need to transfer her to Mungo’s, or another facility more equipped to help her.”
“Do you know what that place would do to her if they knew? I once-“
Lavender threw one of her pillows over her head, not wanting to hear the rest. When the fabric came in contact with her face, she hissed and recoiled.
The pillow had blood on it.
She stared at the pillow for a couple seconds before fumbling for the hand mirror on the bedside table.
Lavender was much more beat up than she thought it was. There were smaller scratches around her neck and chest, but her face was something entirely different.
Three slashes were torn across her cheeks and nose, in places still oozing blood.
There was a time in which Lavender would have been distraught over the obviously permanent scars, but now she didn’t feel anything.
After years of rigorous skin routines, trips to the apothecary, home-brewed potions and carefully applying product, Lavender finally didn’t care.
She set the hand mirror down again.
/ / /
“Lavender, you alright?”
The voice was sharp and clear in her mind, so she spun around to face Parvati.
“Yeah I’m fine, it’s just... the noise. Little overwhelming.”
The Great Hall was even more full than usual, seeing as families of those who fought were there.
Lavender didn’t know why they were still here.
If it was up to her, she would have fled a long time ago. She doesn’t want to remember what happened here, but she can see how it must be thereaputic to some, helping repair the grounds.
“Do you want to eat somewhere else?” Parvati asked, her eyes wide with worry.
“Yeah sure. Let’s go.” Lavender stood, wanting the worried look to go away even more than she wanted to leave.
They picked up their plates and slipped out, unnoticed by families more absorbed in their own worlds.
It was odd, walking in silence with Parvati. Usually they were gossiping about something or another, they even found ways to talk about something scandalous when the Carrows were roaming the halls in seventh year.
But somehow this was different. Something had changed between the two of them.
The alcoves of the lesser-used hallways had always provided refuge to Lavender and Parvati, and today was no different.
They climbed in, tucking themselves between the stone slabs. Lavender’s legs were crushed at an uncomfortable angle, and Parvati smiled a little.
“We’re getting a little too old for this.” She says, looking up at Lavender.
Her heart clenched a little. “We’ll find a bigger alcove next time.”
Parvati nodded and began to eat.
Lavender felt a little bad. She wasn’t herself, nor had she been for a while.
“Listen, I’m just going to say this.”
Parvati looked up from her plate.
“I was turned by Greyback.”
Parvati went slack-jawed, which resulted in some food tumbling out of her mouth.
As Parvati wiped at her face, Lavender felt more awkward in her presence than she had in first-year, when they had barely known each other.
When she was done, Parvati looked up again. “I... didn’t want to ask, I saw you were mauled by him, I just didn’t know if...”
Lavender looked down. “Listen, while you were home, there was a full moon. The wolfsbane potion didn’t work, so it’s going to be difficult. I understand if you-“
Parvati had launched herself across the small gap between them, wrapping her arms firmly around Lavender.
“I’m here. No matter what this means, I’ll be here every step of the way, okay? This won’t change anything.”
Lavender felt her throat swell up, and she squeezed Parvati’s shoulders tightly. “I don’t know what to do anymore.”
Parvati pulled her closer. “We’ll figure it out.”
/ / /
The train ride to and from Hogwarts had always been one of Lavender’s favorite times. She spent them talking with her friends, discussing boys mostly. Lavender always found these conversations to be tedious. In about third year, Padma had started to talk about Anthony Goldstein. Lavender then realized she should have a crush. Not someone too popular, lest she make a fool of herself getting rejected, and not someone too outcast, so her status wouldn’t go down.
Now, thinking about all those times she had been on the Hogwarts Express, this seemed like a bleak way to end things.
The train was sitting on the tracks, waiting for the few students that were boarding to trickle in. Lavender was among the last to leave, along with those who decided to stay and work on reparations. The train was grimy, instead on gleaming, seeing as cleaning it hadn’t been a priority in the last year.
“C’mon.” Parvati had slipped her arm around Lavender’s shoulder, her hands squeezing Lavender’s shoulders reassuringly.
“Alright.” They boarded together, and sat down in the same compartment they always did.
Lavender pulled out the blanket her mother had knit her back in sixth year and spread it over both her and Parvati’s knees.
As the train started to move, she slipped her hand into Parvati’s and watched the turrets of Hogwarts slip away over the horizon for the last time.
Lavender always thought she’d cry her last day of seventh year.
Instead, she sat, watching the mountainside speed past with a numbness that was bone-deep.
/ / /
Lavender rented a flat. She still had savings form her vault, and despite her mother’s reassurances, it felt wrong to stay in the same room that she had grown up in. The frills and old wallpaper felt suffocating.
Those days seemed a million years ago.
The flat had thin walls, creaky sinks, and a thin layer of grit covering everything.
Lavender had never felt so free in her life.
Parvati showed up at 1:00, armed with numerous spray bottles and rags, her hair tied back with a bandanna.
She smiled when Lavender opened the door, raising her bucket. “Let’s do this.”
They spent about five hours scrubbing, scourgifying, mopping and wiping, but at the end of it all, the apartment was deemed clean by Parvati.
“It’s really quite nice, you know.”
Lavender flopped over onto the ground of the bare apartment, exhausted. “You don’t have to lie.”
Parvati rolled her eyes and sat down next to Lavender, with a great deal more dignity.
“It just needs some decoration.”
“It has creaky floors, and small rooms, and there’s an ugly rug permanently stuck to the floor.”
“That gives it character.”
Lavender snorted. “Sure.”
They ordered food from a restaurant across the street and ate it on the living room floor, talking about their friends from school.
/ / /
Lavender’s face was crisscrossed with scars, some pink and new, others faded and old.
In fifth year, she would have gone to the apothecary immediately to get some dittany lotion, but somehow now, they seemed... right.
Like they were a part of who she was.
So every morning, when she got up in the morning and looked in the mirror, she traced the map of lines on her face and reminded herself that she wasn’t any less because of what she was.
Parvati had told her this. She had been immensely supportive over the last few months, researching, brewing and reassuring Lavender. She was also the one who brought up an idea that Lavender liked.
A lot of their year decided to work for the ministry. Some in the accounting department, others in law enforcement or magical transportation.
And then there were the Aurors. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, predictably, decided to spend their careers fighting dark wizards. Less predictably, was Draco Malfoy, who had been pardoned of all charges after the war.
Lavender took a little comfort in knowing that at least she wasn’t going to be the only one facing troubles in the department.
/ / /
She apparated into the ministry directly from her home, where Parvati had wrapped her in a crushing hug and told her how amazing this was.
As she walked through the halls, Lavender made sure to keep her chin up and her posture rigid. Being a werewolf in a ministry department was going to be hard enough, and she didn’t need to give anyone any reason to doubt she could do this.
Lavender was already unsure enough without the opinions of others.
“I’m here for the Auror orientation.” She said to the woman at the welcome desk.
The witch didn’t look up from her desk, merely shuffled some scrolls around for a couple seconds. “Name?”
Lavender fought to keep the stammer out of her voice as she replied. “Brown.”
The woman checked something off a list and pointed deeper into the department. “Room 34b, on your right.”
Lavender nodded and set off briskly in the direction of the woman’s bony finger.
So far, so good.
The conference room was decorated with tiny floating streamers, packed with senior aurors and trainees, such as herself. As soon as she entered, the chatter quieted a little and then loudened significantly when people recognized her.
“ Really, a werewolf??”
“quite brave, I heard-“
“unfit for the workplace.”
She inhaled in and scanned the room for a familiar face, and surprised herself by walking briskly towards Malfoy, who was standing alone towards a far wall.
“Brown.” He said, nodding at her minutely.
She returned the gesture. “Malfoy.”
“They’ll talk about you stand over here.”
“They’ll talk either way.” She said, and they stood in silence for the rest of the orientation.
/ / /
“Is he still brooding and mysterious?” Parvati asked her as soon as they had settled.
“Who, Malfoy?”
“Of course Malfoy.”
Lavender stabbed at her Pad Thai. “He’s... normal. Just normal. Looked like anyone else.”
Pavati frowned. “That’s disappointing.”
“What, it’s so terrible he’s not constantly trying to kill people?”
Parvati snorted through a mouthful of curry. “No, that he’s lost the bad boy aura. How about Harry, at least? He still hot?”
Lavender rolled her eyes. “He wasn’t there. Neither was Weasley.”
“So there’s no attractive guys in your group?”
“I care less about the men and more about how difficult this is going to be.”
Parvati set down her carton. “We’ve talked about this. You’re going to be great.”
“Hopefully, because you know if I’m not, they’ll fire me with zero remorse.”
Parvati picked up her curry again. “I know it’s going to be difficult, but you have me.”
Lavender smiled across the kitchen floor at her best friend. “Thank you.”
The kitchen table was moved into the flat, along with the rest of the furniture, a couple months ago. But every time Parvati showed up at Lavender’s door with takeout, she plopped onto the floor, just as they had on Lavender’s moving day. Lavender didn’t mind when her already sore joints ached, because of the way Parvati looked with her long, silky hair spilled over her shoulders and her back curved slightly.
/ / /
Lavender watched as people arrived in the parking lot. Some pulled in with cars, presumably muggles, and others arrived with the crack of apparition.
The usual volunteers were warding the edge of the forest, reinforcing the borders over and over again with repelling, barrier and cushioning spells. The others gathered in the trees, some sitting down to talk, or exchanging pain potions.
Mira and Victoria, the couple she had met her first turn here, smiled when they saw Lavender, and jogged over to where she was standing past the treeline.
“Hey, Lavender. Ready?” Mira said, hugging Lavender quickly, making sure not too squeeze too hard. The night would be painful enough for the both of them.
They both looked underweight, which worried Lavender a little. She had grown fond of the both of them the last couple months.
Mira was wearing an old t-shirt, and Victoria a holey sweater. It didn’t make sense to wear anything fashionable to a turn.
Lavender snorted and hugged back. “Not really. Don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”
Victoria smiled. “You’ll learn to live with it.” The scars on her face were illuminated in the dying sunlight, an indication of how many turns she had endured. Despite being a muggle, Victoria, along with about twenty other werewolves in their group, met with the rest of them.
Usually a werewolf could take their wolfsbane and be in control during the full moon, but wolfsbane prices from the ministry were too high for some, like Victoria and Mira, who were struggling as it was.
“How much time do we have left?” Lavender asked, looking up to the slowly dimming sun.
“Bout an hour and a half.” Victoria said, looking at her phone. “Or at least I think. My phone is always on the fritz near the full moon. Think it’s all your guy’s magic going haywire.”
“Yeah probably. Heard anything about Greyback’s pack?” Lavender knew Mira had friends in the Control of Magical Creatures Department.
“Yeah. They went on another spree, so we should have a couple new people this month. It’ll be easy to spot them. Look over there.” Mira was pointing to a man who had just apparated beyond the wards, and was looking around awkwardly.
“Wait, I know him.” Lavender said, shocked at the sudden appearance of Draco Malfoy.
“You do?” Victoria asked, standing on her toes to look at Malfoy. “How long will he last?”
“Malfoy!” Lavender yelled to him.
Malfoy turned in her direction and walked over to where she was, stopping in front of the ward’s lines.
“What happened to you? Why are you here?”
Malfoy was looking around as if he were about to be attacked at any second. “I’m a volunteer.”
Mira was squinting at Malfoy with suspicion. “Aren’t you that Death Eater?”
Malfoy shuffled his feet awkwardly.
“It’s fine.” Lavender whispered under her breath. “Let’s just go.”
Lavender and Victoria nodded to Malfoy and they ventured farther into the forest.
“So he was in some classes with you?” Mira asked as soon as they were out of earshot.
“Yeah, we were. I have no idea why he’d volunteer to set up the wards though. Maybe the ministry sent him?”
Victoria frowned. “I will never understand wizard politics.”
Mira sighed. “These groups don’t generally benefit the ministry. They’re the only ones that sell wolfsbane anymore, and these groups offer an alternative to it. We’ve had them knocking around here before.”
“Well us muggles don’t have that option. It was never offered. Instead, we get drowned as babies, or killed later on.” Victoria explained, not without a trace of venom.
Mira rubbed her girlfriend’s shoulder calmingly.
Over the next hour or so, more of their friends joined them. They mingled and chatted, trying to distract themselves from the itching and aches that came in the hours before the moon.
When it was completely dark, several circles gathered, sitting on the mossy floor together. Some held hands, others stood alone. Lavender found the transformation to be better with her friends.
/ / /
Lavender awoke to the usual aches. Something was poking into her cheek, and with a small amount of difficulty she found it was a branch. She silently took account of her injuries. It didn’t seem too bad this month, mostly just aches and bruises. Mira was a couple feet away from her, still unconscious. Lavender could see every notch of her spine below her tangled auburn hair.
She hauled herself up and looked up into the trees. There were blankets hung neatly on branches, one in every tree. The unfortunate thing about spending the turn with a pack was that you usually ruined your clothes in the process.
She could hear volunteers beginning to make their way into the forest, so she grabbed the two closest to her. One she pulled over her own shoulders, and she approached Mira with the second one.
To her horror, there was a substantial amount of blood seeping from a wound on Mira’s chest. The blood was staining her pale skin and the forest floor beneath her.
“Hey!” She shouted to the volunteers. “I need some help over here!”
A woman Lavender recognized vaguely from the past months came running over with a medical kit. “Is she a witch?”
“Uh...” Lavender was caught off by the question, her head was still murky and clouded from the night before. “Yes, yes, she is.”
The woman wasted no time, pulling Mira onto her back and pulling her wand out.
“She’ll be fine, just a lot of blood loss.”
Lavender nodded and willed her heart to stop pounding.
“What’s wrong with her?”
Victoria looked terrible, her curly hair tangled with twigs, her eyes wide with fear, clutching a thin grey blanket to her chest.
“Just a cut, Victoria. She’ll be fine.”
Victoria nodded and sat down next to the healer, slipping Mira’s hand into her own.
Lavender looked around to see that most everyone was up now, some flocking around those who had turned for the first time last night.
A few quick words with a volunteer informed Lavender that nobody had been seriously injured.
She exchanged reassurances to some, checking up on her friends, before dissapparating.
/ / /
“So what, he’s all charitable now?”
Lavender and Parvati were sitting on Parvati’s bed. It reminded Lavender of how they spent their evenings in the Gryffindor common room.
“I guess? I thought it was part of his court ordered community service at first, but our group isn’t a Ministry-Approved organization.”
Parvati sighed. “Enough about Malfoy. He’s boring now. How are Mira and Victoria?”
Lavender rubbed at her head. “We had a scare with Mira. She’ll be fine though. Just another scar. “
Parvati nodded, the look on her face pensive. “It isn’t fair, really, how the Ministry is charging so much for the wolfsbane. I know you’re allergic, but for people like Victoria and Mira...”
Lavender nodded. “I know. But nobody in the ministry cares about poor werewolf women, much less poor werewolf muggle women.”
Parvati sighed again. “Well, at least you’ve all figured out a way to turn reasonably safely.”
Lavender nodded.
Later that night, when the aches from the day before set in (they were always worse the night after), she fell asleep on Parvati’s bed, only vaguely aware of the other girl slipping under the covers beside her.
/ / /
Lavender’s first six months as a Junior Auror passed quickly. Since she had fought in the Battle Of Hogwarts, her time tailing the Senior Aurors was cut in half, and she was a real life Auror now. granted, she was still to be monitored closely by her superiors for and other year or so, and she wouldn’t go on a mission for another couple months, but the time had finally come. It still didn’t feel real.
Parvati had insisted on throwing her a party. It was small, with only some of their closer friends from Hogwarts, and none of the other Aurors in her year. She hadn’t gotten close to anyone, save the occasional stilted conversation with Malfoy.
Now, her first day as a real Auror. Her black robes were exchanged for red ones, and she wore them with pride. Her desk was crammed between the wall and a filing cabinet, but Lavender could care less, Because it was hers . She, to her immense surprise, was paired with Harry Potter.
He spent the entirety of her first day staring at her from across their desks. Around midday, she gave up trying to keep her composure.
“What?” She said harshly as she caught him staring at her for the fourth time in the last hour.
“Sorry, it’s just... you seem different.”
Lavender thought about this for a second. She supposed that she must look different from when Harry had seen her last.
“Okay, sure, but I can’t focus on my paperwork if you’re staring at me.”
Harry held his hands up in mock surrender and went back to his work.
Lavender refocused her eyes on her paper, but her mind wandered back to Harry’s words.
You seem different.
Lavender could see how she must look different. Her hair had been too difficult to take care of during and after the turns, so she had lobbed it off on a random impulse. Parvati had squealed when she saw, and then scolded Lavender on how she didn’t ‘layer’ as she burst through the floo with every pair of scissors and charm she knew.
But Harry hadn’t said she looked different. He had said she seemed different. What was that supposed to mean?
/ / /
The words haunted her all the way through the day and then back home.
As she apparated back into her living room, she really lost herself in thought.
Some unknown time later, she emerged from her trance-like state and walked to her room to pull an old photo album from her closet. It was a gift from Parvati in fourth year, and was full to the brim with animated photos, all of treasured memories.
Flipping through the pages, Lavender’s attention was drawn to one phot in particular, of her, Parvati, Padma, Susan, and Hermione. The five girls were in one of the Gryffindor dorms, laughing hysterically at something. Lavender watched herself cover her mouth to laugh, something she was always insecure about.
Was. You were insecure about it.
When had that changed? Lavender couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment, but it had happened. There had come a time when she had decided that her laugh wasn’t something to be ashamed of.
Lavender flipped the page. Again, she saw herself with Padma, by the Great Lake. She tossed a rock across the surface, and Padma laughed when it didn’t skip. Lavender shoved Padma, who was still laughing, and the image restarted.
Would Lavender do that now?
The next one was of Lavender and Hermione. Lavender remembered the when the photo had been taken. Parvati had insisted on it, so that they could document themselves right out of the OWLs testing. Hermione had been gushing over how she thought she had done well on the transfiguration, which Lavender knew to this day she had failed.
Lavender’s smile was forced in the picture, and as she glanced towards Hermione, the facade dropped for a second and Lavender could make out the emotion behind it.
Jealousy.
Shouldn’t she have been happy for her friend? Shouldn’t she had congratulated her?
Lavender stewed for another couple seconds before a wave of realization hit her.
She dropped the photo album on the ground and disapparated on the spot.
/ / /
Of course, when Lavender arrived at Parvati’s, the skies decided to burst and rain like there was no tomorrow.
Lavender was fully aware of the implications.
She knocked on the door, just then realizing that she probably looked horrendous, from the disheveled hair and still being in her Auror robes, which were quickly becoming soaked.
Not like Parvati hadn’t seen her in worse shape.
The door opened and Lavender’s heart clenched at the sight of her in her pyjamas and the glasses she wore when she didn’t feel like contacts.
“Lavender!” She said, warm and smiling as usual, “What are you doing here?”
“Okay so this is going to sound a little insane,” Lavender began, “and that’s probably because it is. But I’m going to say it anyways. Someone I haven’t seen in a while said something weird to me today. They said I changed. And at first I was confused, because I didn’t notice. But then I went and looked at my old photo album.”
Parvati opened the door wider, keeping her eyes fixed on Lavender.
“And I realized that they were right. I have changed. In the last eight months, more has changed in my life than the eighteen years i’ve been alive. But there was one thing that didn’t change. When I was turned, everyone stopped contacting me. Everyone I thought I would be lifelong friends with decided that I had changed to much, that I’m not the same person that I was. But the truth is, I’ve never felt more like myself. And the only person who stuck with me through all of that...” She paused to take a deep breath in and raise her eyes up to Parvati’s face, which was a mixture of confusion and pride. “was you. Just like you said you would.”
Parvati stepped out into the rain. Lavender was completely soaked at this point, and even though her skin was tingling with the cold, she felt overheated and flushed.
Parvati slid her arms over Lavender’s shoulders and caught her eyes before slowly pressing her lips onto Lavender’s.
Lavender would remember a lot of things in her life. When her Hogwarts letter arrived, her sorting, her OWLS, the Battle of Hogwarts, her first turn, and the time Parvati Patil kissed her like it was their last day alive.
/ / /
Four years later
The room was packed with people, most of them clumped together in groups, making small talk.
Lavender squeezed Parvati’s hand, and Parvati squeezed back. She was about to ask who they should talk to, when Hermione waved them over from across the room. She was with Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.
“Oh, this should be interesting. Look how awkward Harry and Malfoy are.” Lavender whispered to Parvati.
Parvati gave her the look that meant ‘we’re talking about this later’ and they walked over to the four others.
“Oh, Lavender, there you are. I wanted to tell you that I submitted a request for a formal review of wolfsbane distribution to the CMCD. I’m certain that it will be passed, and I’ll make sure you’re on the committee.” Hermione said all in one breath, a huge smile plastered on her face. “It isn’t going to fix everything, but it’s a step in the right direction, right?”
Lavender couldn’t help but smile back. “That’s amazing news! Thank you so much Hermione, I’ll let my friends know next time I see them, they might have some valuable input on how we can better distribute the potion to muggle werewolves, they’re all very passionate about the subject.”
“I might be able to help.” Malfoy added, “I volunteer for the same pack Brown is in, and it might do you good to have another set of eyes.”
Hermione beamed at him. “That is a wonderful idea!”
Harry and Ron both looked out of their depth, and listened to Lavender, Parvati, Hermione and Draco discuss ideas for the review.
Eventually the Robards got onto the small stage that had been put in the meeting room to make a few announcements.
He droned on for a record amount of time (Lavender spotted money being exchanged) and eventually got around to the announcement everyone was waiting for.
“And now, the time has come for me to announce the Auror among us with the most arrests this year.”
Lavender, despite herself, held her breath in.
“For the third year in a row, Lavender Brown!”
Parvati immediately launched Lavender into a crushing hug, pulling away briefly for a quick kiss.
People were clapping, and although some were grumbling beneath their breath, more were applauding.
Parvati pulled away, and as the applause died down, Ron stuck his hand forward.
“Congratulations.”
Lavender shook it after a moment’s consideration. Harry also extended his hand.
“Even if you’re embarrassing me, it’s well earned. Congratulations.”
“Well, there’s always next year, Potter.”
Hermione laughed. “You have changed, haven’t you, Lavender?”
Lavender slipped her hand back into Parvati’s.
“Yes, I suppose I have.”