I've Had Ninety-Nine Lives (But I've Only Lived Once)

Untitled Part 3

Lavender Brown

"This is what you need to do, Lavender." Harry says once time stops moving around them. "You have to let go. You have to let me take over for you."

Lavender glares defiantly at him; she may have been interested in frills and tea leaves when he knew her, but she was Sorted into Gryffindor for a reason.

"No. This is my life, not yours. I'm not letting you live my life for me."

"I won't be living your life," he replies quietly. "I'll be dying your death. Let me do this, Lav. This isn't something you need to experience. Please."

"I'm going to die?" she asks, and it's quiet and sad and hopeless; her voice is small the way it never was when they were alive. Something bitter creeps up Harry's throat when he answers.

"Yes. You're going to die, and it's an awful death. This is what I'm meant to do, Lavender. I'm meant to die for people. I'm meant to die for you. Please let me do this for you."

Lavender presses her lips together, like she's fighting back a sob. She looks up at him, her eyes glittering with tears, her chin trembling.

"I don't want to die."

"You don't have to. I'll do it for you. It's what I'm supposed to do."

"You always believed that, didn't you?" she sighs. "You always thought you had to sacrifice yourself for everyone else. You're still doing it."

"I was raised to die for everyone. I did die for everyone, and I'm still doing it."

"Don't you think you've done enough? Don't you think you've sacrificed enough? You literally die for people; I can't ask you to do that for me."

This isn't the girl he met when he was eleven. This isn't the girl who dated Ron. She is far more insightful than he's ever given her credit for, and he's a bit surprised.

She must see something in his expression, because she smiles sadly, her eyes dark. "This past year has changed me, Harry. It's changed everyone. I'm not the girl you used to know. I've been through far too much to be the same innocent little girl that climbed onto the Hogwarts Express years ago."

He swallows. "I think I'm getting that. It never occurred to me that other people have suffered just as much as I have. Some have suffered more."

"No one has suffered more than you, Harry. No one else dies for people, you know? You've suffered enough already. I won't let you do this for me. I know that it's what you're supposed to do, but I won't let you do it."

"Lavender -" Harry begins, but she cuts him off.

"No, Harry. I'm not letting you die for me. You've already died for everyone else. Besides, I've been having other people do things for me all my life. This is something I need to do for myself. And I'll see you on the other side, right?"

"Yes. I'll be waiting."

It's strange, watching her die again. He's never had someone refuse his offer to die for them. It's strange to not be the one dying, and he feels like he owes it to her to not look away. He's not taking her death for her, so he watches her fall, watches Greyback leap. No one else is watching, not really, so he will. When she finally stops moving, Harry pulls her from her body, guiding her towards the fog of the in-between.

The fog clears, and Harry looks around himself. Lavender's in-between looks remarkably like the boys' dorm in Gryffindor tower. The only difference he can see is in the posters on the walls; rather than boasting Manchester United, these posters have boy-bands inked onto them.