Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling. And, unfortunately, I am not her.
Lavender Brown reached for a chocolate frog from the table beside her. The box was a Christmas present from her old friend Parvati. Lavender sighed, wishing Parvati could have been at Hogwarts, so that she would not be spending the entire holiday sitting in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room. She had no one but a pair of fourth year boys for company.
However, Parvati’s parents had not allowed her and her sister Padma to return to Hogwarts this year. One could hardly blame them either; following the death of the Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore at the hands of Death Eaters within the school, the wizarding world was in turmoil. Dumbledore had long been considered the greatest wizard alive, and with him gone and Lord Voldemort out in the open, nobody felt safe.
Parvati and Padma were not the only ones who had not returned to Hogwarts this year. Only half of the seventh year Gryffindors had come back. Lavender had the girls’ dormitory to herself as the only other seventh year girl, Hermione Granger, had not turned up at all this year. Oddly enough, there were still two beds in the dormitory, so Lavender suspected that she would return sometime.
Hermione’s two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, had been mysteriously absent this year as well. If the rumours Lavender had heard were to be believed, the three of them were off fighting the Dark Lord. Another boy in their year, Seamus Finnigan, had not returned this year either- Lavender knew what his mother was like and was unsurprised by this- so the only two in the boys’ dorm were Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom.
Most of the few students who were attending school that year had chosen to go home for the holidays. Lavender’s parents, however, both worked for the Ministry and were overwhelmed with work, so Lavender had decided to remain at Hogwarts. She could do with some time alone to think anyway.
She had changed a lot this year- her first years at Hogwarts had been carefree and fun. Now, however, the school was radically different. She read The Daily Prophet every morning, fearing the worst -- deaths were not uncommon, and all she could do was hope that no harm came to any of her loved ones. She worked harder in all of her lessons than ever before; the seventh year was the final at Hogwarts, and after that she would be out in the world on her own, and what a dangerous world it was these days. All in all, Lavender Brown had changed. She was more serious and hardworking than she had ever been, and was achieving surprisingly good results.
She was also lonely.
This emotion came at her particularly hard as she sat by the fire. It was Christmas day, and yet she was here all alone. The two fourth years were off somewhere… having snowball fights, or raiding the kitchens, or whatever fourth year boys do in their spare time, she thought. She slowly nibbled on the chocolate frog, surveying the card, which featured Circe. She swallowed the last mouthful and tossed the wrapper into the fire as she stood up, deciding to go for a walk.
She exited Gryffindor Tower through the portrait hole, and wandered along the corridor deep in thought. She barely registered where her feet where taking her until she noticed a familiar tapestry. It featured Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by two trolls in tutus. She turned to face the opposite wall. Why not? she thought. They were good old days… She took a breath and paced past the wall…one…two…three times, thinking “I need somewhere to relax…I want the room we had for the DA…”
She wasn’t sure if this would get her in or not, but when she turned around for the final time, the great wooden door had appeared. She pushed it open and found the room she had visited often in fifth year; there were shelves lined with books about jinxes, counter-curses and defensive spells, and a floor with several cushions around the edges. Just like at Christmas back in fifth year, the room was decorated with tinsel and baubles of red, green, and gold.
Suddenly she heard a voice. “You had the same idea, then?”
Lavender turned to see a Ravenclaw boy sitting on a cushion, a large book (150 Defensive Spells by Cornelia Jiggs) on his lap. She recognized him as another ex-DA member.
“Oh…yeah…I’m sorry,” she said. “Don’t worry, I’ll go…” She turned to leave.
“No, no, it’s fine,” said the boy with a friendly smile. “Please stay.” He motioned to the cushion next to him, and Lavender went and sat down. The Ravenclaw closed his book and slotted it neatly back on the shelf. “Lavender Brown, right?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Lavender, “and you are Anthony Goldstein.” The boy nodded.
“Funny, isn’t it…it’s our seventh year at Hogwarts, yet we know each other only by name,” he said. “But then, we’ve never had any classes together, have we? Not until N.E.W.T. level anyway.”
“No,” Lavender replied. “We Gryffindors had double Potions with the Slytherins for five years.” She pulled a face and Anthony laughed.
“We had it with the Hufflepuffs. They’re okay. We always had Herbology with the Slytherins, but at least we had that with Sprout not Snape.”
“Sprout’s nice. Having the Slytherins AND Snape in the same class was a nightmare!” said Lavender.
“So what N.E.W.T. classes are you doing then?” asked Anthony.
“Oh, Divination, Defence…” the two got into a long discussion about their subjects- which were the easiest and which were the hardest, who was the best teacher, and who gave the most homework. Eventually, they started talking about other things, like Quidditch, then Hogsmeade, and the DA.
“Remember the first meeting at the Hog’s Head?”
“And Zacharius Smith-”
“And the Weasley twins-”
“Oh, they were hilarious!” Lavender giggled as she recounted an incident in the Gryffindor common room involving the two pranksters, a mysterious hat and an unsuspecting second year. As the two fell about laughing, Lavender realised that she was actually having fun. She flopped backwards onto her cushion.
“You know, I’ve really had fun today!” she said. “This is the first time in ages I’ve had anyone to talk to…really talk to.”
Anthony leant back as well and nodded. “Yeah, it’s been good.” The pair sat in silence for a minute. Then Anthony sat up suddenly. Lavender followed suit.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. Anthony didn’t reply, just pointed upwards. Lavender tilted her head back and looked at the ceiling. Right above them hung a single piece of mistletoe.
She slowly looked down again, into Anthony’s light brown eyes. Gorgeous eyes, she thought. She barely noticed him moving towards her…and she was moving too…their lips met in a soft, gentle kiss, and Lavender felt her whole body flood with warmth. It was only a few seconds, but Lavender felt as though the kiss would last a lifetime.
When they pulled apart, she just sat there for a few seconds, gazing into Anthony’s eyes.
“Wow…” she said with a smile. “Who would’ve thought that this Christmas day wouldn’t be so bad after all?” They both laughed, and then sat in silence for a few more moments.
A sound in the distance jolted Lavender back to reality. She suddenly realised that they must have been there for hours. A glance at her watch confirmed this and she jumped up.
“It’s almost time for the feast! I need to go back to Gryffindor Tower!”
She and Anthony headed toward the door, but before they left, Lavender stopped and faced him. “Would you like to go for a walk around the lake with me tomorrow? We could meet in the entrance hall after breakfast.”
“Yeah…” said Anthony. “Yeah, I’d like that. See you tomorrow then.”
Lavender grinned and swept away, turning back only to say a bright “See you tomorrow!”
Author's note: I hope you all enjoyed it! Please leave a review. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season and particularly a very merry Christmas!
~ Ravenclaw 24
(Oh, and a big thank you to my Beta, skiving_snackbox!)