Be Careful What You Ask (Gen Ficathon)
Title: Be Careful What You Ask
Author: humantales
Rating: Children
Disclaimer: I wish they were mine, but the characters belong to J. K. Rowling.
Summary: Written for the Second Gen Ficathon. My assignment, from lostlikealice, was Trio-era. Parvati and Lavender (and anyone else) after the end of Lavender/Ron.
As they were walking to Charms, Parvati pulled Hermione away from Harry and Ron for a moment. “Please, do me a favour and stay out of our room Saturday after breakfast.”
The other girl looked puzzled. “Why?”
“Because I’m trying to cheer up Lavender and she’ll just stay upset if you’re around.” Parvati hoped this would be enough to convince Hermione. It should; she was usually very reasonable about such things.
“Oh.” Hermione looked blank. “All right, but I didn’t have anything to do with her break-up. Ron barely knows I’m a girl.”
Parvati was about to correct her, but then thought it over. She was going to have enough trouble with Lavender; she really didn’t need to have to work on Hermione as well. At least, not until later. With a feeling of satisfaction, she nodded, future plans already whirling through her head. “Thanks. It’s probably for the best and all that, but she really is upset.”
Hermione snorted. “That’s because she didn’t realize that Ron is a moron. Especially about girls.”
“Can I tell Lavender that? Without telling her you said so,” Parvati added quickly.
“Go right ahead.”
Friday evening, as they were getting ready for bed, Parvati looked over at Lavender. “How about spending tomorrow doing make-overs?”
Lavender smiled, not quite as brightly as usual, but it was a smile. “That sounds like fun. You?” The smile now looked false.
“No, but thanks for asking,” Hermione said. “I’m behind in all my classes; I’m sure I’ll need to spend all day in the library. Maybe another time?”
“We’ll have to think about what we can do with your hair,” Lavender said, her voice empty of emotion.
“Another time,” Parvati interrupted, hoping to stop the nasty comments before they really got started. Their room was finally calming down; she didn’t want her two roommates getting nasty with each other again. “So, what should we do first?”
In the end, they couldn’t start until the afternoon. Lavender had an essay for Transfiguration to finish that she’d been putting off and Parvati needed to read over her notes for Defence Against the Dark Arts. Finally, they came back from the Great Hall and made themselves comfortable in the room.
“The first thing we need to do,” Parvati said, “is to remove all evil influences from the room. Let’s start with photographs.”
Lavender’s eyes lit up. “Perfect! We can begin with the Ritual Burning of Ronald Weasley Photographs!”
This turned out to be much harder than Parvati would have expected. Lavender thought she looked good in all the pictures she had with Ron in them. They finally found four in which Lavender was making silly faces that she would agree to burn. She put the rest back into her photo album, with Ron’s face covered up. “After all, just because I look stunning doesn’t mean I have to look at him.” Parvati agreed with her.
The next part, at least, was fun. Lavender created one fanciful hairstyle after another for Parvati. “When I get married, you have to do my hair,” she said while admiring one creation that she thought made her look rather like the goddess after whom she was named. It was too bad, she thought, that it was too elaborate, and too prone to accidents, to wear every day.
“I’d be disappointed if I didn’t,” Lavender said, laughing. “I know Padma will probably have to be your maid of honour, but I want to be the one to make you look beautiful.”
As they started on facials, they discussed all the different boys they’d dated. Since, between the two of them, they’d dated almost all of the sixth and seventh year Gryffindor boys, this was rich and fertile territory. By the time they were experimenting with different make-ups, Lavender was happy again. Parvati knew it wouldn’t last, not entirely, but Lavender was no longer looking miserable every time the subject of boys came up, especially one Ron Weasley.
Finally, they’d done as much with hair and make-up as was possible. Parvati was trying to think of what to suggest next when Lavender said, “Let’s tell each other’s fortunes. See what wonderful things are in our futures.”
It didn’t take very long to agree on Tarot readings. It wasn’t Lavender’s best Divination tool, but it was Parvati’s. Lavender’s first question, “Will I get over Ron quickly?” was answered as quickly, and definitively “Yes!”, as she could have hoped for.
Then, she asked, “What can I expect in my future?” The answer wasn’t as cheerful and optimistic as Parvati had hoped. After all, she was trying to cheer Lavender up, not depress her with the trouble everyone could see coming. Of course, she insisted that the Two of Cups meant that she’d find her soul mate in the near future, while Parvati thought it meant that she and Ron would, eventually, be able to be friendly again. Lavender certainly didn’t think that was a very cheerful interpretation.
When they finally got to her reading, Lavender insisted that she saw Parvati leaving school, and soon. “But you’ll be all right,” she insisted, “so it’s not anything horrible. Maybe you take an early apprenticeship or something.”
At that point, Parvati was ready to stop with the readings and go off and do something else. Lavender, however, had one more reading she wanted to do. “It’s not about me,” she said, when Parvati tried to talk her out of it. “I don’t care if it comes out badly.”
Lavender’s question was “What is in Ron Weasley’s future?” As Parvati began laying out the cards, her blood ran cold. The Knight of Cups, that always seemed to mean Harry whenever Parvati read the cards, was there. Most of the cards were either Swords or Major Trumps. As the reading continued, Lavender’s face grew paler. Finally, Parvati lay down the last card, the Tower. The two girls looked at each other and, without discussing it, gathered up the cards.
“I think it’s time to cleanse all our Divination tools, don’t you?” Lavender asked, her voice shaking. Parvati agreed.
That night, the card had a prominent place in Parvati’s dreams. Over and over again, she saw a figure falling from a tower and wondered what was going to come tumbling down.
Author: humantales
Rating: Children
Disclaimer: I wish they were mine, but the characters belong to J. K. Rowling.
Summary: Written for the Second Gen Ficathon. My assignment, from lostlikealice, was Trio-era. Parvati and Lavender (and anyone else) after the end of Lavender/Ron.
As they were walking to Charms, Parvati pulled Hermione away from Harry and Ron for a moment. “Please, do me a favour and stay out of our room Saturday after breakfast.”
The other girl looked puzzled. “Why?”
“Because I’m trying to cheer up Lavender and she’ll just stay upset if you’re around.” Parvati hoped this would be enough to convince Hermione. It should; she was usually very reasonable about such things.
“Oh.” Hermione looked blank. “All right, but I didn’t have anything to do with her break-up. Ron barely knows I’m a girl.”
Parvati was about to correct her, but then thought it over. She was going to have enough trouble with Lavender; she really didn’t need to have to work on Hermione as well. At least, not until later. With a feeling of satisfaction, she nodded, future plans already whirling through her head. “Thanks. It’s probably for the best and all that, but she really is upset.”
Hermione snorted. “That’s because she didn’t realize that Ron is a moron. Especially about girls.”
“Can I tell Lavender that? Without telling her you said so,” Parvati added quickly.
“Go right ahead.”
Friday evening, as they were getting ready for bed, Parvati looked over at Lavender. “How about spending tomorrow doing make-overs?”
Lavender smiled, not quite as brightly as usual, but it was a smile. “That sounds like fun. You?” The smile now looked false.
“No, but thanks for asking,” Hermione said. “I’m behind in all my classes; I’m sure I’ll need to spend all day in the library. Maybe another time?”
“We’ll have to think about what we can do with your hair,” Lavender said, her voice empty of emotion.
“Another time,” Parvati interrupted, hoping to stop the nasty comments before they really got started. Their room was finally calming down; she didn’t want her two roommates getting nasty with each other again. “So, what should we do first?”
In the end, they couldn’t start until the afternoon. Lavender had an essay for Transfiguration to finish that she’d been putting off and Parvati needed to read over her notes for Defence Against the Dark Arts. Finally, they came back from the Great Hall and made themselves comfortable in the room.
“The first thing we need to do,” Parvati said, “is to remove all evil influences from the room. Let’s start with photographs.”
Lavender’s eyes lit up. “Perfect! We can begin with the Ritual Burning of Ronald Weasley Photographs!”
This turned out to be much harder than Parvati would have expected. Lavender thought she looked good in all the pictures she had with Ron in them. They finally found four in which Lavender was making silly faces that she would agree to burn. She put the rest back into her photo album, with Ron’s face covered up. “After all, just because I look stunning doesn’t mean I have to look at him.” Parvati agreed with her.
The next part, at least, was fun. Lavender created one fanciful hairstyle after another for Parvati. “When I get married, you have to do my hair,” she said while admiring one creation that she thought made her look rather like the goddess after whom she was named. It was too bad, she thought, that it was too elaborate, and too prone to accidents, to wear every day.
“I’d be disappointed if I didn’t,” Lavender said, laughing. “I know Padma will probably have to be your maid of honour, but I want to be the one to make you look beautiful.”
As they started on facials, they discussed all the different boys they’d dated. Since, between the two of them, they’d dated almost all of the sixth and seventh year Gryffindor boys, this was rich and fertile territory. By the time they were experimenting with different make-ups, Lavender was happy again. Parvati knew it wouldn’t last, not entirely, but Lavender was no longer looking miserable every time the subject of boys came up, especially one Ron Weasley.
Finally, they’d done as much with hair and make-up as was possible. Parvati was trying to think of what to suggest next when Lavender said, “Let’s tell each other’s fortunes. See what wonderful things are in our futures.”
It didn’t take very long to agree on Tarot readings. It wasn’t Lavender’s best Divination tool, but it was Parvati’s. Lavender’s first question, “Will I get over Ron quickly?” was answered as quickly, and definitively “Yes!”, as she could have hoped for.
Then, she asked, “What can I expect in my future?” The answer wasn’t as cheerful and optimistic as Parvati had hoped. After all, she was trying to cheer Lavender up, not depress her with the trouble everyone could see coming. Of course, she insisted that the Two of Cups meant that she’d find her soul mate in the near future, while Parvati thought it meant that she and Ron would, eventually, be able to be friendly again. Lavender certainly didn’t think that was a very cheerful interpretation.
When they finally got to her reading, Lavender insisted that she saw Parvati leaving school, and soon. “But you’ll be all right,” she insisted, “so it’s not anything horrible. Maybe you take an early apprenticeship or something.”
At that point, Parvati was ready to stop with the readings and go off and do something else. Lavender, however, had one more reading she wanted to do. “It’s not about me,” she said, when Parvati tried to talk her out of it. “I don’t care if it comes out badly.”
Lavender’s question was “What is in Ron Weasley’s future?” As Parvati began laying out the cards, her blood ran cold. The Knight of Cups, that always seemed to mean Harry whenever Parvati read the cards, was there. Most of the cards were either Swords or Major Trumps. As the reading continued, Lavender’s face grew paler. Finally, Parvati lay down the last card, the Tower. The two girls looked at each other and, without discussing it, gathered up the cards.
“I think it’s time to cleanse all our Divination tools, don’t you?” Lavender asked, her voice shaking. Parvati agreed.
That night, the card had a prominent place in Parvati’s dreams. Over and over again, she saw a figure falling from a tower and wondered what was going to come tumbling down.