Butterfly Wings, The Loss Of

This is how the faerie story goes.

There is a hero, brave and loyal and determined. There are sidekicks, red hair clashing with scarlet robes and one with a haughty toss of bushy brown hair. There is a rival, littering the path towards the end of the war with a thousand trivial sneers and fights. There is a damsel, red hair falling upon her shoulders as she waits to be saved. There is an adversary, great and powerful and cruel, and far too fearsome for his name to be uttered. And thousands of the Supporting Cast love and hate, kill and are killed.

And there are others. The Forgotten Ones. They are there, but they are not mentioned. They live through the same time of horror and pain as the heroes, but nobody realises that their fights matter just as much. They pave the way for the final conflicts. The occasional moment of glory comes only when they are taken from their bodies by the Curse of Death. And they could do nothing- only sit there helplessly waiting to be slain or saved. They are not heroes. Prophecies do not centre around them.

~*~

Parvati eagerly grabbed her envelope, tearing it open. Pieces of parchment fell out, and she caught one with a Hogwarts seal emblazoned at the top. As she read the first few lines, dreams of charms and curses and magic soared around her mind, and an excited squeal tumbled from her lips.

~*~

"Hmm... Interesting. You could do well in any house. There's ambition, great ambition. But not focused. And loyalty... There's that, when you care about people. Brains enough, but not applied. Which is a pity, because you could do well if they were."

'Ravenclaw, my sister's there, Ravenclaw... She's my sister!'

"But bravery, too. People might not see it, but it's there, my goodness yes. Bravery enough to make history, if you wanted. Yes, I think it had better be GRYFFINDOR!"

~*~

"Harry Potter did it..."

Saviour of their times, and really, if only he'd get rid of those glasses...

"That's twice he's saved us, now, you know, Parv."

Hushed voices, perhaps because so many could not dare to believe that an eleven year old boy could do so much, and didn't want to say so in case it didn't really happen.

"He'll do it again."

Oh, there was confidence. Confidence in a hero who didn't even understand what he was fighting. But then, heroes were always unlikely. It stood to reason that swineherds had to have something to look forward to.

~*~

"Justin's been Petrified!"

"I know that, Parvati! But that doesn't mean Harry did it, okay?"

That was Hermione. Loyalty in a boy hero. She was loyal, to the end. She could have been in Hufflepuff.

"But Peeves said he did. And we all know he can talk to snakes! He's probably been deceiving us all!"

Voices tinted with fascinated horror. After all, it wasn't every day that you got to spend time with someone who was prabably a homicidal maniac. Well, not more than five seconds, anyway.

~*~

"Harry, you did it!"

Even at twelve, Hogwarts could centre around this boy. He could inspire people to build countries, and name them after him.

And, in the background: "He saved Ginny Weasley's life!"

And it wasn't only Colin asking for an autograph.

"Parvati, six months ago you thought he was the heir of Slytherin!"

"Yes, but... He saved her, Padma, he really did!"

~*~

"He saw the Grim..."

Divination, and months of checking teacups to see if it was a month to be asked out by a hero.

"But, Professor Trelawney predicted loads of other deaths, right?"

It never was, unfortunately. But a girl could dream.

"But what about Neville's cup...?"

And thousands did.

~*~

"Sirius Black! He was here! Practically in the same room as us!"

"He must have Apparated!"

"We're all going to die!"

"Honestly, you two! Can't you stop being melodramatic? Everyone knows you can't Apparate into Hogwarts!"

~*~

"I can't believe he did that! I would never have put my name in that goblet!"

Lavender, theatrical and outrageous and not a heroine, but that wasn't the only important thing.

"I don't know... I don't really think he did."

Padma, cautious and unwilling to accuse anyone. Fair-minded, and always exactly one inch taller than Parvati.

"Padma, you're my sister and I love you, but I've lived with Harry for forever, and this is exactly what he'd do!"

~*~

"Parvati? Will you go to the ball with me?"

"Yes, all right, then."

~*~

Hot pink, and shimmering gold bangles and braided hair swirling around the room. It was supposed to be magical, and she should have known, and she knew she was second choice, but that was better than third, or fourth!

Draco Malfoy paid more attention to her than Harry did. But then, he was with a girl in frills and lace. Surely his eyes would wander.

It was supposed to be perfect.

Bloody Cho.

~*~

"And here comes Mr Potter now, bringing his hostage, and... Well, that's surprising."

Second Task, and it was February and cold.

"Aww! He brought that little girl, too!"

And of course it hadn't been her, down in that dark lake! She didn't want to be!

"Lavender, I thought we were part of the We Hate Harry club!"

It would be cold, and she'd probably get pneumonia, and Jacques was right there!

"Yes, but, you know... Malfoy keeps trying to look down my robes during the meetings..."

And Cho could have Harry, and probably Cedric as well!

"Of course he does! He has to put up with Pansy, it's probably a relief to have stunning girls like us to look at!"

But...

"Well, anyway, it freaks me out..."

But, she wished she was.

~*~

"Oh my God! Cedric's dead!"

"Look, Harry's carrying his body..."

"Cho's crying..."

"I hope Harry comforts her..."

"...Parv? I thought you hated Cho."

"Yes, but... I still hope Harry comforts her."

~*~

"Parvati, I heard Harry was expelled..."

"Really? How? Why?"

"Mandy's dad works in the Ministry. Apparently he used a spell in the presence of Muggles."

"Yes, but they wouldn't, right? I mean, everyone knows those newspaper articles about him are complete lies... Right?"

"You never know..."

"But he's Harry Potter..."

~*~

A secret society, almost. It was fun, and this year it was easier to ignore Harry and Cho.

Although she did think that the mistletoe was a rather ridiculous touch.

Anyway, she got back at Cho by accidentally stunning her.

~*~

Summer again, and her Patronus was a silver dragon. Like Malfoy, really.

And Dumbledore had gone.

"But, we can't win without him! We don't even know what's going on!"

A father figure to the masses, even when he was old and tired and everyone knew he couldn't defeat Voldemort, no matter how powerful he was, but he was there. And that was important.

"We have to try, Parvati."

And honestly, nobody could be that brave and determined and not be stupid.

But it looked like Harry had managed it.

~*~

And now, it is all over. A shade of green other than Harry's eyes and Slytherin shoots from the adversary's wand, and Parvati is paralysed. A scream tears from her mouth for a second, and it fades to a ghostly echo. Shadows of killers, all around the building, but Parvati can see no longer from her glassy eyes, the sharp light in the centre of her pupil now fading.

And her butterfly hairclip hits the floor next to her, shimmering and sparkling amid the darkness.