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End Of Fifth Year
A lone figure sits on a rock at the edge of the Black Lake.
Just like the year before, when her world tilted -instantly and unexpectedly- on its axis.
It was quiet for the moment. The other students are taking their end of term exams. The girl has been exempted for a few days due to a recklessly cast spell that's completely changed her life forever.
Lavender Brown gazes at the image in the rippling water of the Black Lake, brown eyes stare back at her.
Flawless brown skin, neatly cane-rowed hair, full lips slanted and trembling slightly.
A gust of wind ripples across the lake, lifting a lock of hair and blowing blonde strands across her eyes; she closes them, blocking out the image.
One moment of rejection...
"Just because my mother saw fit to marry your father, does not mean we're sisters!"
The pale-skinned girl -Victoria- had sought companionship from her 'elite' muggle neighbours, despite her mother's pleas to stop. It made Lavender's sis- stepsister's viciousness over the years even more unbearable.
One moment of need...
"Victoria got full marks on all her exams! We made an excellent choice sending her to Beauxbatons, didn't we darling?"
One moment of hope… shattered.
"No one judges skin colour here. Just the blood thing."
The first time her world shifted, the day her stepmother had visited Hogwarts, brought devastating news about Lavender's father. The last person in her home that loved the Gryffindor girl for who she was... gone forever.
One moment of shame...
One Valentine's Day, years ago, the boy she'd had a crush on said she wasn't his type. Lavender had heard that before.
One moment of insanity... burned into memory.
Drawing out a moving photo of her stepsister, the witch opened the book she'd found in the library. Standing before a full-length mirror; lifting her wand, and casting the modified spell. Unlike Victoria -who was a brunette with brown eyes- Lavender now had blonde hair and light blue eyes.
"Stop worrying, Parvati, it's just for a few hours. It'll wear off."
It didn't.
Lavender had raced to the infirmary, but the spell couldn't be undone. Beseeching the Mediwitch for help, knowing she could not bear the ridicule of her classmates -not to mention her stepmother and stepsister. The Headmaster had approached her with the only solution.
One moment...
The girl in the water... no one will remember her anymore. As far as everyone's concerned, Lavender Brown as she looks now, is how she's always appeared.
Two figures stand side by side, looking down at the girl staring once again into the lake.
"Living with a body not her own... I believe she's beginning to unravel. Can nothing more be done for her, Albus?"
"I'm afraid, Minerva, that Ms Brown's fate now lies at the heart of just one being. As she's found another use for magickal water besides scrying, we can only hope that her unravelling has been restrained. For now."
Tears stream from her eyes as the brown-skinned girl in the water stares longingly back at the young witch.
"Lavender!"
Parvati races toward her, and with a casual wave of her wand, her face is free of tearstains, her makeup immaculately done. Lavender turns to her best friend -who has flopped down onto the rock beside her- with a cautious smile.
"I'm so glad you're finally out of the infirmary, the dorm's been dull without you. How are you feeling? I don't even remember you being sick with the flu..."
A flash of anguish briefly flickers across Lavender's face, but Parvati -too thrilled about having her friend at her side again- chatters non-stop and doesn't notice anything amiss.
Burying her pain, Lavender sighs, standing as Parvati mistakes the reddening of her face for overheating, and suggests they return to their dorm.
As her best friend wanders ahead of her, Lavender looks one last time at the girl in the water. With a burst of inspiration, she conjures a glass bottle and fills it to the brim with liquid from the lake.
"What's that for?" Parvati asks, walking backwards as she regards the bottle, a mixture of amusement and curiosity in her eyes.
The girl in the bottle smiles boldly.
"Beauty experiments."