Work Text:
Tears were hot on her cheeks; lines of fire running down into her hair.
Somehow she was on the floor. Her tears were only hot because her skin was cold.
A few feet away, half of Rabastan LeStrange’s face leered up at her, the rest burned away by the fiendfyre.
It came back to her – the chaos as the Death Eaters broke through the ward, the screams of the children as the others tried to get them to safety. She had chosen to stay behind with a few others to give them a chance.
There hadn’t been pain, but the memory of a flash of purple light from the spell seemed to wake that part of her. She cried out, her voice thin and weak and when she coughed some kind of hot liquid came from her lips.
The pain was incredible, but strangely distant. Like the memory of her sorting, or Dumbledore’s funeral. She couldn’t feel her right arm below the elbow but was strangely okay about it.
The pain was shrinking, the world softening at the edges.
She was tired, but there was so much to do. She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn’t obey.
Then she was there, all shiny black hair and rich, chocolatey-brown eyes.
“Pad… ma?” Lavender asked, unsurprised that one breath couldn’t manage that beautiful name.
Padma smiled as she cuffed a small speck of blood from her nose. “What a mess we’re in.”
“Are you… okay?” Lavender asked, pausing to pull in a shuddering breath. “I thought I saw… the killing c-cur…”
Padma hushed, brushing a strand of hair away from Lavender’s face. “You just rest.”
“I think… I’m hurt, Paddy.” Lavender said as another tear leaked from the corner of her eye.
Padma scoffed, “Don’t be silly, we’re just waiting for the others to get themselves together. Then we’ll get going.” She sat next to her, drawing Lavender’s head onto her lap.
The pain was gone now. She felt cold. Padma’s beautiful hands were on her face and in her hair.
Tears were running down both their faces now.
“You know, I never told you…” Lavender said, having to pause to catch her breath which was becoming harder with each second.
Padma’s face, the face Lavender had adored since their first meeting on the Hogwarts Express seven years ago was torn between sorrow and a smile. “I know. I know Lavvie, I’ve always known.”
She stroked Lavender’s face with fingers of fire which soaked into her, filling her with a hot, golden light.
“I’m sorry I c-couldn’t save any of them. Tell them all, won’t you?”
Padma nodded. There was a golden halo around her now, the rest of the world faded into greys and blacks. She just shook her head, “It’s okay. We’ll save the rest of them together. You just rest.”
Lavender managed to nod, little more than a spasm. “I… I…”
Padma smiled again as more tears cut clean tracks down her soot-blackened face. “I know, I love you too.”
Then she leaned down, filling Lavender’s mind with that golden light and setting her lips aflame.
It was the realisation of almost a decade of dreams, of sighing breaths in the night.
It was the culmination of her being, the closing of the loop between them.
It was beautiful, the sweetness of her mouth.
It was everything she had ever dreamed of.
It was powerful and full of light.
It was all she needed.
It was wonderful.
It was.
It.
I…
Padma waited until Lavender’s last breath eased out of her before standing.
“Thank you for that,” Harry said. He looked terrible, his face streaked with blood and soot.
“It seemed the least I could do, after everything she did for the cause.” Padma said, smiling sadly.
Harry turned and knelt by the other Padma – the real one - closing her glassy eyes gently. “Thank you Padma, you were amazing – you saved more than a dozen people tonight.” They had died side by side, their hands pointing as if reaching out to each other.
Padma – the one standing – shook her head a few times and felt the long black hair recede into her scalp as she grew taller, becoming himself again.
When Harry stood, Padma was gone, replaced with plain old Regulus Black. “They danced around each other for years, you know.” Harry said sadly.
“It was the least we could do for both of them, in a way.” Regulus said, smiling sadly.