The Second Life of Lavender Brown

When Lavender woke up, she was in St. Mungo's, and nearly passed out again just from the relief of being alive. She could feel most of her body tingling as her skin and muscles grew back, but she still didn't remember enough about the attack to know what had happened. When she woke up the second morning, a middle-aged mediwitch held her hand and slowly explained about the battle, about Greyback. Lavender cried for hours, eventually wearing herself out and falling into fitful sleep. She woke on the third morning, her face still streaked with tears, to find a perfectly composed young blonde woman by her bedside.

"Good morning, Lavender. My name is Emilia Kingston." The woman spoke with a faint smile.

"What do you want?" Lavender stopped herself from making eye contact, not wanting to give the woman any reason to stay.

"I'm just here in case you want to talk."

"I don't. Can you leave?"

"If you wish." She stood to leave, "But if you decide you want to talk to someone who understands what you're going through, instead of just another mediwitch, I'll be back tomorrow."

A few hours later, another woman arrived. This one looked as dishevelled as Emilia had looked composed, but Lavender still wasn't in the mood to talk.

"What do you want?"

"I'm just here to give you this." She set a smoking goblet on the table by her bed. "The full moon is coming."

"Well, I have it. So you can go." Lavender turned her gaze to the window, hoping she'd leave.

"No can do, hon. I have to see you drink it. It's a safety thing." The witch smiled cheerfully as she sat down in the vistor's chair.

"I'm fine." Lavender hoped the crack in her voice didn't give her away.

"It's not your safety we're worried about."

Her words brought back the reality of it all, and Lavender had to fight to keep back the tears. She closed her eyes to keep herself in control, and when she opened them again the other witch was sitting against the side of her bed. She dug through one of her many pockets and pulled out a handkercheif.

"It'll be okay. You're one of the lucky ones."

The tears came again, and Lavender grabbed the offered handkerchief and scrubbed at her eyes. When she stopped, before she rubbed her face raw, she tried to change the subject.

"Aren't you young for a mediwitch?"

"I'm just a potion brewer. And I'm more then a few years older then you. I was in seventh year when you started school."

"You were in Hogwarts? I thought you looked familar."

"Hufflepuff. Agatha Prewett. Aggie."

"Lavender Brown."

Aggie smiled and handed Lavender the goblet. "Drink up. I have potions to distribute to this whole floor."

Lavender swallowed down some of the potion, gagging slightly as it hit her tongue. "How often do I have to take this?"

"Em... About three times, in the week before the full moon should do it. Maybe more, we'll have to see."

"How long do I have to stay here?"

"Well, your physical injuries are healed, for the most part. At least until after the full moon. Just for observation."

Lavender finished the potion and handed back the goblet.

"I'll come by and check on you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

The next time she woke, a new goblet was on her table, and the blonde stranger was back.

"You don't need that, you know." Emilia nodded to the potion.

"They said it was important." Lavender was still avoiding eye contact. There was something about this woman that she couldn't place, but it made her want to keep her guard up.

"They don't trust you. If they did, they'd let you go."

"It's not like that... It's for safety."

"Whose safety? Not yours. If they cared about your safety, they wouldn't want you to take something that could damage you." The woman had pulled the chair closer to the bed, leaning in to speak quietly.

Lavender stared at the goblet. "I thought the potion was safe."

"Who knows? It hasn't been around long enough for anyone to know for sure. It's just another way for humans to show you they don't trust you. If they trusted you, if they really knew you, they'd know you wouldn't hurt someone just because of the wolf."

"I... I."

"It's not your fault." Her voice was becoming more urgent. "They want you to believe you can exist with them. But you can't. They'll never trust you. They'll say they will. And when you're here, and they can restrain you, then they'll be alright. But once you leave, once they can't control you, then you'll see what they really think about you. About us."

A sharp voice broke her monologue. "Visiting hours are over."

Aggie Prewett stood in the doorway, staring at Emilia with an emotion Lavender couldn't place. The blonde woman stood gracefully, and leaned in to whisper to Lavender before leaving.

"I'll be back tomorrow, if you have any more questions."

As soon as she left, Aggie ran across the room and handed Lavender some tissues.

"I told her not to come. It's too soon."

"It's fine." Lavender stared down at her hands.

"No, it's not. It's a good thing I came to check you'd drank your potion when I did."

"Do I have to take it?" She began shredding a tissue with shaking fingers, glancing up at Aggie as she answered.

"Yes, you do. At least while you're in here. Once you've gone, then I can't make you do anything, though I want you to keep with it. But in here, you have to. Otherwise, we can't let you leave."

More tears were trailing down Lavender's cheeks, and Aggie reached into another of her pockets and pulled out more tissues and chocolate.

"Here ya go."

"I think I need to sleep."

"Of course. Just drink the potion, and I can go."

Lavender grabbed the potion and quickly swallowed it down, letting the goblet fall from her hand on to the blanket.

"Okay?" Aggie's concern was obvious.

"I guess."

"I'll see you later, okay?"

Lavender's reply was almost inaudible.

Two days later came the full moon. A few hours before sunset, two men arrived with restraints. Lavender didn't say anything as they strapped her arms and legs to the bed. Aggie arrived two hours later, just as the sun began to dip, to bring her the last of this month's Wolfsbane.

"Are you okay?"

She flexed her arms in the restraints. "Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters."

Lavender laughed harshly as she shook her arms. "Doesn't look like it does it? I thought you trusted me?"

"I do, Lavender. And I trust the potion too. But nobody knows what could happen. We could have underdosed you, or you could have a strange reaction to the potion. We have to think of everyone else."

"Can't you just lock the door?"

"We could. But then you could still hurt yourself. You've seen what happens to werewolves when they haven't taken it! And we don't know if we've given you enough yet. What if you end up clawing at your..."

She stopped abruptly as Lavender started to cry again. Searching through her pockets, she couldn't find any tissues, so she tried to wipe the tears away with her sleeve, but Lavender pulled her face away.

"I'm sorry, hon. I know this is hard. You just have to go on, as bad as that sounds. Not everyone made it out of Hogwarts... As bad as this is, it's better then being dead."

"Is it?"

"It is." Aggie squeezed her hand tightly. "You have to keep on believing that."

Lavender laid her head on the pillow, looking past Aggie at the wall. "I think I need to sleep."

"Just finish the potion."

"What does it matter, if I'm chained down?"

"It matters. It's the only thing that keeps you being you."

"I'll be fine."

There was a hard edge in Lavender's voice now, and Aggie realised there was nothing she could say.

"I'll be back tomorrow, okay?"

This time, there was no answer.

Lavender didn't wake up the next morning, her body worn out from the transformation. Aggie waited by her bedside as long as she could, but when Lavender finally awoke, it was to Emilia instead.

"I tried to warn you."

"I thought... I'm sorry. I thought they trusted me."

"They don't though. They never will, Lavender. They can't comprehend what you're going through, who you are. As far as they're concerned, you're just an animal."

"What am I supposed to do know? I can't go home, not like this."

"I know a place. You'll be safe there, no one can hurt you."

"And I can't hurt..."

"Of course not."

"Where?"

When Lavender finally left St Mungo's, it was with Emilia. As she left, Aggie came to say goodbye.

"You know I don't have to let you go, right? You didn't drink the third potion, I could have you kept here indefinitely."

"So, why don't you?" There was more then a hint of challenge in Lavender's voice.

"Because I don't think it'll help. Locking innocent people up is never the answer."

Aggie buried her hands deep in her pockets and glanced at Emilia as the other woman waited just outside the door.

"Are you sure this is what you want? There are other places..."

"Not like this. Not with other... I need this, Aggie."

"I know..." Aggie stood back. "If you need anything, anything at all, I'm always here."

Lavender gave Aggie a genuine smile. "Thanks."

"And... You'll need this." She handed Lavender a pewter bracelet.

"What is it?"

"It's for the werewolf registry... I don't like it either, but it's the law."

"Fine." But instead of putting it on, she simply left the bracelet pooling in her palm.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

As soon as they rounded the corner, Emilia took the bracelet and contemptuously tossed it in a waste-paper bin.

"You don't need that where we're going."

She took her hand and the Apparated away.