Everyone knew that Lavender Brown was an insatiable gossip. Everyone knew that Lavender Brown thought about boys and fashion more than anything else. Everyone knew that Lavender Brown was a typical teenaged girl who just happened to be magical.

But what people didn’t know was that Lavender Brown wove bracelets from embroidery thread.

It was a craft she had learned at a Muggle primary school when she was eight. Five strands of embroidery thread. Tie them on both ends so they make loops. Pin the knot to your jeans or skirt or whatever. Hook two loops on the middle and ring fingers of one hand, and three loops on the index, middle, and ring fingers of the other. Use the empty index finger to pull the loop from the opposite ring finger through the loop beside it. Pull tight. Move down the loops from the index and middle finger. Repeat.

It was a mindless activity, one that Lavender could do while she watched the television or talked to her friends on the phone. But that was when she was just a little girl who didn’t know that magic was real.

When Lavender found out about Hogwarts, she was excited to go—excited, but a little bit scared. What if she didn’t make as many friends at Hogwarts as she’d had in her Muggle schools? What if she was bad at magic?

She’d still have embroidery thread bracelets. And that night, she wove a new one, one with all her favorite colors. Red, blue, yellow, green, and purple. She tied it on her wrist when she was done and decided never to take it off. Even if she had no friends, she would have her colors.

Of course, her fears were groundless. When she boarded the Hogwarts Express, she had been put in a compartment with twin girls.

“Parvati Patil,� one said. “And this is my sister, Padma.�

“I’m Lavender Brown.�

When Parvati and Lavender were sorted into the same house, it was clear that they were going to be the best of friends. Parvati immediately admired Lavender’s bracelet. “Wizards don’t have things like that,� Parvati said. “But I think it’s beautiful.�

“I can show you how to make them,� Lavender offered. She had all her embroidery thread.

Parvati shook her head. “It’s special. There shouldn’t be more than one. It should just be Lavender.�

*

It was their third year and they were starting Divination. Parvati and Lavender were enthralled by Professor Trelawney and her subject. The future! It was all they could think about. And Harry’s death… well, it was bound to be imminent.

They spent their lunch hours in the tower, listening to Professor Trelawney make predictions.

“A dark shape on the horizon… danger is nearing… the one they seek will be at Hogwarts soon.�

Lavender asked if she could look. Professor Trelawney nodded. Lavender stared into the crystal. There was a shape! A man’s shape! “Is he coming for Harry Potter?� Lavender asked.

“Indeed,� Professor Trelawney said, glancing at Lavender. “My dear, let me see your hand.�

Lavender held out her hands. Professor Trelawney took one. “Yes… a disaster in your future… be careful when it comes to the tender emotions… ah, but you have protection.� Professor Trelawney fingered the embroidery thread bracelet that skill clung to Lavender’s wrist. “Never take it off, my dear. It is your safety.�

*

“Are you sure you don’t mind?� Lavender asked. They were in their fourth year and Seamus Finnegan had just asked her to the Yule Ball.

“Of course I don’t mind!� Parvati said happily. “Seamus has had a crush on you for over a year. Besides, I think I can hold out for someone better.�

“Like who?� Lavender asked.

“Oh, I don’t know… Cedric Diggory, maybe? Or Victor Krum. I’d even settle for Dean at this point.�

They stepped through the portrait hole and were almost immediately accosted by Harry Potter, wanting Parvati to go to the ball with him and maybe find someone to go with Ron. Lavender almost regretted agreeing to go with Seamus. Ron was taller, a little more awkward, but also better-looking than Seamus. Still, a promise is a promise. Ron could go with Padma.

The day of the ball, Lavender and Parvati went upstairs to get ready, hoping to accost Hermione Granger to find out who she was going with. But Hermione was already ready when they entered and left very quickly.

Lavender wasn’t terribly interested in Hermione’s affairs, anyway. She put on her dress robes—lavender to match her name. But she didn’t take off her bracelet. It didn’t really show under the sleeves and she didn’t care what Seamus thought of it anyway.

The ball was wonderful for Lavender, although Parvati said that Harry was a terrible date. Lavender smiled. Maybe Professor Trelawney was right and the bracelet did offer protection from heartbreak.

*

Ron Weasley… tall and awkward, but a wonderful Keeper. And a red-head. Lavender liked red hair for some reason. And when he asked her to make out with him, Lavender gladly accepted. Of course, that meant a relationship and Lavender didn’t really know what relationships were supposed to be like.

Snogging, of course. Pet names. Holding hands in the corridors. Never mind that the dormitory was very awkward, with Hermione Granger’s anger at being beaten for the prize filling the room. Never mind that Parvati was obviously embarrassed by the whole thing. Lavender had her one true love and it was a perfect relationship.

Except it wasn’t.

Why did he want to be introduced to Romilda Vane? And who would poison him? And why was Hermione visiting him? Friends… Harry was really stupid sometimes. Friends didn’t stop speaking when one started going out. Friends didn’t have fights about girls or boys or whatever. Friends sat up and gossiped and did nails and wove embroidery thread bracelets…

Except Lavender hadn’t woven a bracelet in years. She had almost forgotten how. She still wore the one she had made when she was a kid, but just because it was the only one in Hogwarts. It was Lavender.

And it didn’t protect against heartbreak.

They came down from the boys’ dormitory. Alone. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Lavender couldn’t help yelling. And pulling out her wand to cast a spell at them. And finally running up the stairs and throwing herself on her bed, sobbing.

Parvati came in a moment later. “He’s an asshole,� she said. “I mean… she’s a bitch, too, but he was using you all along… He’s not worth crying over, Lav. There are other boys… I think Seamus still likes you…�

“I don’t like Seamus,� Lavender sobbed. “I want Ron to understand…�

“Did you ever talk to him?� Parvati asked.

“N… no… we just… I mean…�

“It was all physical. You didn’t know him for what he is. He just wanted a piece of ass and once he had that…�

“I tried to make it work! I did!�

Parvati sighed and pulled out her wand. “Accio, embroidery thread.�

The painted box where Lavender kept the thread she no longer used flew out of her trunk and into Parvati’s hands. “You offered to show me to make them once,� she said. “I’d like to learn.�

Lavender sat up and dried her eyes. Parvati was right, Ron was an asshole. Not worth crying for.

“Choose five colors.�

*

Pain.

Utter, incomprehensible pain.

That’s all Lavender felt. The Cruciatus Curse. The whips. The curses she couldn’t remember the names of through the pain.

The claws. The teeth.

No longer was Lavender Brown an insatiable gossip. No longer was she worried about boys and fashion. No longer was she a typical teenaged girl who just happened to be magic.

Parvati sat by her bedside in St. Mungo’s. They had done their best for her and most of the minor injuries had healed just fine. But her face… her face that had once been happy… her face that had charmed boys without effort… the face once caked in makeup… that face was gone, ripped away by an untransformed werewolf.

She was lucky to be alive, she knew, but she couldn’t face a mirror. The lips that had kissed Ron Weasley were barely there. The eyes that had once watched television while she wove embroidery thread bracelets could barely see. Her nose was deeply scarred, almost gone. Her whole face would be scarred, in fact.

“We won, though,� she whispered to Parvati.

“Yes,� Parvati said. “We won. It’s going to be okay.�

“Did you bring it with you?� Lavender asked.

Parvati pulled out the painted box. “Professor McGonagall is going to send everything else eventually… I mean, there’s so much to be done at Hogwarts…�

“I know,� Lavender said. “This is all I really want.� She reached for the box. Her arm, though it had been slashed, still bore the old bracelet. Of course it did. At the beginning of the year, she had put a charm on it so that it wouldn’t break.

She managed to sit up. Parvati didn’t flinch away from her. Lavender pulled five colors from the box. She took her wand and cut the appropriate lengths. Though she could hardly see, her fingers knew the motions well enough. The bracelets had kept her sane through the year.

Through the loop. Move down. Through the loop. Move down.

Back and forth. She could weave as well with little sight as she could when her eyes were perfect. She would be able to weave if she had no sight at all.

When it was done, she tied the other end and used her wand to unpin the bracelet. She held it out to Parvati.

“For you,� she said. “The third in all of Hogwarts. It’s not just Lavender. It’s Parvati, too.�

Parvati tied the bracelet around her wrist. “Parvati, too,� she repeated.