Fic: Post Apocalyptic Lavender Brown
Characters: Lavender Brown, Elliott Chambers, Susan Bones (mentions of Oliver Wood, Simon Capper, Parvati Patil, as well as a whole bunch of name-dropping! YAY!)
Summary: After Seeing death one too many times, Lavender can't take it anymore.
Rating: PG13

Lavender Brown had long since outgrown any urge to stomp around, shouting at the top of her lungs that it just wasn't bloody fair. How had You-Know-Who bested Harry Potter? How had You-Know-Who even come back for the third time! It didn't really matter; all that Lavender knew was that they were gone. Most of her friends was gone.

Parvati had been one of the first, slipping away as silently as a breeze. She was one of the lucky ones. Padma followed in a hail of green light in her revenge. All of the forerunners to the battle were gone, and no one dared to openly mourn them -- there just wasn't time with all the ambushes -- but oh, late at night, huddled in a battered building, what was left of Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix scattered into groups so that the Death Eaters couldn't find them, they found they still needed their comfort.

Lavender looked up at the sky needlessly. She knew the moon was full and fat, hanging high in the sky, and she let a daydream of Simon Capper wash over her. It was too late for him, even if he was still alive. But in her dreams, his eyes were still alive and laughing, his smile was bright, and he sang into a hairbrush unabashedly to some song about cauldrons that Lavender once knew all the lyrics to.

"Simon!" she called out with a smile, batting at his hands as he shoved the make-shift microphone under her nose. "Quit fucking around! We're in the middle of a war!"

Simon shook his head mysteriously, and the glow of the moon evaded her dreams mercilessly. Simon changed, right then and there in front of her into a snarling black wolf, and there was no cage to hold him. Except he didn't lunge, didn't attack, just stared at her and she could swear she saw the wolf crying before it turned and ran off into the darkness.

Lavender's feet decided to follow, and before she knew it, she was just outside the safety of the shattered building. Off in the distance, she heard howling and saw a sudden blast of light and fire, and her heart felt as though it had been literally ripped from her chest. She let out a wail that might possibly match Ginny Weasley's in anguish at the triple deaths of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Simon Capper was dead; she was certain of it.

There was a hand on her shoulder, and for one instant, she let herself believe that it was Oliver Wood's. She'd turn around to find him tucked away in the same hovel by happy coincidence -- just like three weeks ago. He pulled her to him roughly, holding onto her as tight as he could. They spent the next few hours trying to find some hope in each other. Oliver swore he'd never let her go as long as he lived.

And he didn't, even though "as long as he lived" was only four hours.

"No, no, no," she sobbed, and her fingernails dug deep into Elliot Chamber's wrists. He didn't flinch, not even when Lavender began to fight him, pounding her fists against his chest. She sank to her knees, taking Elliot with her.

"We have to get inside," he warned her, cutting across her sorrow and yanking her across the threshold. "They'll find us."

"I don't... I don't care. I don't want to See them all dying. Elliot, please make it stop!" Her shouting was beginning to draw the attention of the others. Whispered threats bounced right off Lavender. "I just want to die. I just want to die."

Lavender wasn't supposed to last this long; she should have been one of the first. One by one, everyone she'd ever cared about was stripped from her. To silence her, Elliot kissed her. He might have laughed, and she might have smacked him once upon a time, but it did the trick now. But she'd Seen it coming, and she welcomed it. It meant the end was near, and that was a relief.

One desperate, clingy encounter later, Elliot passed out. Lavender sat up with a start, knowing what she must do. Down the stairs and through the door, she found Susan Bones standing watch. She was always standing watch, and, smoothing a hand on Susan's tired cheeks, Lavender informed her that she would keep watch.

"Are you sure?" Susan relished the physical contact, even if it wasn't of the male persuasion. At this point, anything was better than nothing.

"Yes, definitely."

"Well, if you're not well enough..."

"You've been such a soldier, Susan. I don't know how you do it." It was a lie, but it was necessary. "I swear, I'm fine now."

Reluctantly, Susan switched places with the other witch.

With a sad smile, Lavender said, "I'll see you soon, Susan."

A second later, a high pitched whirring sound pierced their ears. It drew closer and closer until there was an explosion. Susan was catapulted against what was left of the door jamb, her back feeling near broken. She glanced up to the spot she had been to make sure that Lavender was all right, but there was only a hole in the wall.