Potter

Chapter 79

"Lavender, I'm so sorry."

"She- she didn't deserve this! This wasn't- How could this have happened?" Lavender cried, eyes bright with the tears that were spilling down her red cheeks. "She was there- I was right there- I was holding her hand-"

"You couldn't have done anything." I comforted as soothingly as I could, quieted by my own grief. "The killing curse is-"

"I could've pulled her out of the way! I could've jumped in front of her!" Lavender insisted through a choked sob. "I could've done something! Anything!"

"I know. It's going to be alright, eventually." I murmured, giving her hand a small squeeze and trying not to cringe when she squeezed back tightly. Reaching up with my free hand, I brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes with a frown. "I'm going to get you a calming potion, alright? That will help for now."

"O-o-okay. Thank you, L-lily." Lavender sniffled, letting go of my hand so she could lean back into Seamus. He wrapped his arms around her quickly and pressed his lips to her hair, murmuring something I was too far away to hear. Standing up, I working on stretching out my fingers as I moved down the aisles, stopping only briefly to make sure wounds hadn't reopened on other survivors.

Rising from an Order Member I had helped earlier, I smiled when I caught sight of George, as weary and dirty-looking as the rest of the fighters, but alive all the same. He smiled when he saw me too, opening his arms in a warm gesture. Hurrying over, I didn't hesitate to hug him tightly.

"You alright?" He asked as I released him, moving my hands up to flit around his face, gently examining a cut on his cheek and a bruise by his temple.

"I'm fine. Sad news, though." I said quietly, dropping my hands with a sigh. "Parvati was killed. Lavender just brought her body in- she had to carry her all by herself from the Astronomy tower."

"Oh hell. Merlin." George said, eyes wide. "Does Padma know?"

I gave my head a small shake, heart aching. "No- she went out with Michael to look for more people in the rubble. I've no idea when she'll be back."

"Well, make sure someone gets to her before she stumbles across the information. Merlin, losing a sibling- a twin- I can't even imagine." George said, giving a small shudder at the idea. "No one deserves that. Especially not Padma."

"There's gonna be a lot of hard times for her. We'll be there though- she won't go through it alone." I said firmly, patting George on the shoulder as I passed him. "Stay safe, George."

"You too." He chimed over his shoulder, and I gave a small wave before heading to the table where a station had been created for potions and any other first-aid acquirements that could be considered useful. I brushed shoulders with Theo as I stepped up, reaching over his arm to grab the calming draught. He clucked at the lack of personal space, but it didn't keep him from asking for help.

"What would you recommend for a dementor-shocked Ravenclaw? I'm not sure the calming draught would be a brilliant idea just yet-"

"Chocolate." I said without thinking about it, reaching over to grab a piece of the dark chocolate we had gathered especially for dementors and hand it to him. His eyebrows raised, but he shrugged, turning on his heel.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome!" I called back, watching him leave. I broke a piece off for Lavender, hoping it might help a little, when an urgent hand came down on my shoulder, spinning me around.

"Potter, something's happened."

The calming potion slipped from my fingers.

"Harry."