:: Falling into Memories of You ::

By Reid Clark

Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don’t claim to own any of these characters, as they are based on J.K. Rowling’s work.

Pairings in the fic: Fred/Lavender and Draco/Lavender. Those are the main ones but there are also minor ones to the side like Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione.

Notes: Lavender is not necessarily Lavender Brown. She is just another Gryffindor girl in Harry’s year. I imagine her to look like Jessica Alba in the picture below. Also don’t freak if it’s not all true to Harry Potter, it’s my version so there.

**Ok I hope you like it! And if you read it give me feedback! I love comments!**

For the first time in her life, Lavender had fainted. Not from excitement but from fear. Her glossy brown hair lay cascading down her shoulders over her slowly rising chest, mixing with grains of wet sand. It was the taste of salt in his mouth that woke Fred. He shook his twin brother, George, and they surveyed the scene. The three of them were lying on a wet beach in the middle of the night. No stars were out but Fred could just make out Lavender’s silhouette lying in the sand. Fred felt a painful throbbing in his shoulder and his head. He saw that George had a large bleeding cut above his eyebrow. “Where are our wands?” George asked feeling the cut and wincing. “I think they might have rolled away somewhere.” Replied Fred rising but instead of looking for the wands he walked over to Lavender and knelt down. “She’s alive.” He said squeezing her wrist. He looked over at George who was busy looking around seaweed covered rocks nearby. “Here they are.” He said calling over to Fred. “Well, what’s left of them anyway.” One wand was buried in the sand and the other was splintered against the rocks. George grabbed his wand out of the sand and walked over to Fred. “I reckon yours is gone” he said. Fred was holding Lavender’s head in his arms. “I reckon we were almost gone too.” He replied. George cleared his throat, “Does she still have her wand?” he asked. “Wh- oh yea. She does its right here.” Fred answered pulling Lavender’s wand out of her pocket. They sat there for a minute or two reflecting. “We should probably find the nearest place and we’ll get help there.” So Fred and George took turns carrying Lavender as they made slow progress walking down the beach looking for some sign of welcome. Fred wiped the sweat off his brows. He had just given Lavender to George and was feeling weak. In fact George was pale and shaky. Before he knew what he was doing the sand dunes and ocean were spinning around him and he wavered. George set down Lavender as he saw Fred fall. “Fred? Fred!?” shouted George splashing water onto Fred’s limp face. “Come on, not you too!” George kept shaking Fred but it only made him more tired. Everything became foggy and he, too fainted.

The sunlight shined warmly on Fred’s eyelids as they flickered open. George was still asleep. His first thought was Where is Lavender? He looked around and when he didn’t see her his heart began to race. Shielding his eyes against the sun’s bright reflection on the waves he looked out to sea. With a sigh of relief he saw her sitting on a rock a few yards out. She sat hugging her knees with the foamy waves splashing all around her. Her long hair was billowing in the morning breeze. She could see that she must have swum there because the water was still dripping off of her. Fred splashed into the waves and felt his shoulder sting. Ignoring it, he dove into the warm water and swam toward the rock. He realized his clothes were clinging to his skin, pulling him down so he kicked off his shoes and pulled off his shirt. (ooc: hey, it was a convenient way to get him shirtless. Haha) He reached the rock and pulled him self up next to Lavender. The droplets of water rolled down his toned chest as they sat there for a moment in silence. Lavender looked up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I should have n-never brought him to the order.” (ooc: She’s talking about the Order of the Phoenix, and in case you don’t know, its like an organization to try and stop Voldemort) She sobbed. “He is dead because of me.” Fred, who had not noticed her tears until now, reached his arms around her shaking body. “Baby, its gonna be all right. He died doing what was right. It’s not your fault. I got ya.” “Don’t you baby me!” she sobbed. “We aren’t together anymore and just because he’s d-dead doesn’t mean you can have me now. N-nothing will ever replace him....Nothing.” she finished. Nothing could have ever prepared her for how she felt now. Her ex-boyfriend was trying to win her back and the love of her life had just died, taking her heart along with him. I could have prevented this she thought angrily. The guilt burned deep inside of her and her lip trembled. She sat there feeling angry with herself until she almost forgot Fred was still beside her. He stroked her hair and she suddenly remembered where she was. She looked into Fred’s eyes. “Look at you.” She said with disgust surprising herself. “What?” he said. “You’re trying to win me back. You don’t care that he d-died. You just want me back.” She said accusingly. She knew that he was only trying to comfort her but she felt so angry at the world right now she didn’t care what came out of her mouth. “What?!” he said again pulling away. “You know nothing of what we were. You sit here and put your arm around me. You can’t just have me back.” Her words were coming out in a rush now. “You hated him! Hated him! Just because you thought he was never good enough for me. Fred. We aren’t together anymore. You can’t just guard me from what you think is wrong for me!” Fred looked at Lavender with hurt mingled with confusion. Fine. Fred thought. I saved your ass! I should have just left you on the shore to be washed away. He pulled himself up and without a word dove into the ocean and made his way back to shore his heart breaking. He wasn’t the only one with a broken heart. Lavender sat in shocked silence. She couldn’t believe she had just told him off like that. He still likes you. Why are you being so hard on him? Said a voice inside of her. But he was a thing of the past. Her heart didn’t belong to him anymore. Lavender closed her eyes holding back warm tears and a bittersweet memory surfaced in her mind.

They were dancing. No music was playing but they were dancing. Snowflakes fell from the night sky gently around them. They twirled around the courtyard almost an hour, the snow swirling around them. His breath came out in puffs of misty fog and he held onto her tightly. His blonde hair had fallen from its usual slicked back style and hung sexily over his forehead. His dark brown eyes gazed into her’s and she felt as if she was lost in this moment forever. He could see every little snowflake clinging to her eyelashes. He moved his hand slowly down her back. She was falling fast. Faster than she ever had before as he cast his spell on her. She was sure this was quite unlike anything she had ever felt before. Fred never made me feel this way, she thought. The snow had stopped falling and the courtyard now shown softly white in the moonlight. He stopped twirling her and everything fell silent except for their breathing. She is so gorgeous in the moonlight. He thought. He’s so sexy. She thought. They moved closer. What if I just kissed her? They were now so close that she could see all of the freckles on his nose. Lavender’s knees were shaking when he leaned in a kissed her. Despite the fact that it was about 15 degrees outside a warmth rushed through her body. She wanted this moment to never end.

 But it did.  They were interrupted by a rustle in the bushes. They let go of each other and looked apprehensively at the shrubbery. “You better get back to your dorm, its late.” Lavender wasn’t ready for this abrupt return to reality but then again its not like this could last. I mean it’s just an infatuation, she told herself. He kissed her quickly and began to make his way up the icy steps out of the courtyard, disappearing behind a stone pillar. Just like that he left. Was she dreaming after-all? An icicle fell near her feet and she snapped back to reality. Okay, so it was real. She thought. She slowly made her way back to the castle taking the long way around the frozen lake. The surface was steely grey and solid under the moonlight. She was almost to the castle steps when she heard a crunching noise as if someone was running past her in the snow. She spun around, but couldn’t find the source of the noise. Then she saw the footprints imprinting themselves into the powdery white steps. Thoroughly creeped out, her breath coming out in foggy puffs, she stood perplexed. Did someone just pass by me? She thought. The entrance hall’s great wooden doors opened about a foot and then closed. Lavender apprehensively entered the hall and looked around. It was dimly lit by magically hanging candles, their light glinting off of the knights of Amour that lined the hall. She pulled her pea coat closer to her body and made her way toward the stairs that would take her to her dormitory. She knew that if she was caught in the corridor this late at night she would surely be serving a week’s worth of detentions if not more. Just as she gripped the banister she noticed a track of rapidly melting slush on the marble floor. It was obvious someone had just passed her by. I bet it was the invisible person. She thought. Lavender hesitated and then began to follow the footprints. Surprisingly they lead to a statue of a grim looking witch with one eye. “Shit!” an unseen person muttered and a wand fell out of thin air, onto the ground and rolled toward Lavender. Lavender thought it was the One-eyed Witch at first but then to her surprise a boy materialized in front of her.

“Harry?” she asked uncertainly. It was no other than her fellow 7^th year Gryffindor, Harry Potter. He was sweating and his cheeks flushed pink. “Oh! Lavender, um...” he sputtered. “Did you... did you see?” she asked nervously. “See what?” Harry said a little too loudly and very unconvincingly. She had never found her self in a situation as awkward as this and Harry surely felt the same. What was he supposed to say? Oh yea! I saw you snogging Draco Malfoy. Yea, I’m sure that would go over well. But to Harry’s surprise she said “Okay, I know you saw us, but please don’t tell anyone.” She looked at him with pleading eyes. “Oh, of course, not a word” He wiped the hair out of his eyes. “Your secrets safe with me.” He added. They stood there for a moment in awkward silence. Lavender’s eyes traveled to Harry’s side and she saw that he was clutching a silvery bundle of fabric. “Is that an invisibility cloak?!” She didn’t even try to contain the amazement in her voice. They were really rare. “Oh yea.” He said. For a moment he had forgotten about it. “It used to be my dad’s.” Why was he telling her this?  “Then Dumbledore passed it on to me.” As he said Dumbledore’s name, a strong wave of emotion shot through him. It had only been a few months since his headmaster had been murdered by Snape. Then he remembered that it was almost Malfoy that had killed him. His temples began to throb. He now saw Lavender in a whole new light. She was sneaking off with the guy who almost committed murder. His change of mood must have been obvious because Lavender said, “I’m really sorry about that” she paused. “I know you were close” So she was sorry. Maybe the rumors were true. Maybe Malfoy had reformed. Maybe his time spent being supervised over the summer had paid off. He decided to trust her. “Thanks” he muttered. There was a slightly awkward pause; a lot of these seemed to be happening in one night. “What are you doing by this thing anyway?” asked Lavender eying the statue. He didn’t know what made him tell her but somehow he felt like he could trust her. “Okay, I’ll tell you but you’ve got to promise to keep it to yourself.” She tried to make her face as serious as possible to prove she was trustworthy. “If you tell anyone… even your best friend.. It could be dangerous.” He added. “Okay, okay gosh. What is it?” but now she felt she didn’t necessarily want to know what it was. If it was so dangerous maybe it would be better if she didn’t know, but before she could stop him he said. “This statue is actually the entrance to a secret tunnel that leads to Hogsmead.” “You’re Joking!” “No.” Harry said seriously. “It is. And the reason I’m sneaking into it tonight is that there is a meeting for the” he lowed his voice. “The Order of the Phoenix.” “The what?!” Had Harry gone mad? Just then they heard footsteps. “Oh shit.” Harry grabbed Lavender by the arm, muttered a spell under his breath. And pushed her into a gaping hole, now revealed behind the One-eyed witch. She slid down a slimy tunnel with Harry right behind her. They tumbled onto the ground. “That was close” she said. “Who do you think that was?” “Probably Filch” said Harry, illuminating the tunnel with his wand. “I hate to say this, but, well, I’m kind of late to the meeting.” She stared at him. “So um, Filch should be gone soon. And I guess you can sort of wait here…” He trailed off. “What? Wait here?” She exclaimed. “This is far too creepy, I’m coming with you.” A voice inside of Harry’s head kept saying bad idea, bad idea…. “Okay fine. But lets get something straight first.” He paused. “You do want Lord Voldemort to be destroyed right?” Lavender shuddered at the name. But still she thought it was a silly question. “Yes, of course I do.” “Good. Then follow me.” Said Harry. As they made their way up the tunnel Lavender couldn’t help thinking. We aren’t actually going to be fighting You- Know –Who are we? I’d rather face Filch. But then again he said it was a meeting…. Before she knew it they were climbing a very long set of stairs. Her nervousness faded as all her willpower went into reaching the end. And then she saw a trapdoor above their heads. In a few minutes time they were standing in the basement of Honeyduke’s. “Now we’ve got to apparate.”  Said Harry wiping the sweat off of his face with his robe. “Um, this is really bad, but I haven’t passed my test yet.” To Lavender’s relief instead of laughing Harry told her to grip his arm and hold on. Okay, side-along apparation ( OOC: I can’t remember what it’s called) This shouldn’t be so bad. Before she knew it Lavender was standing in the midst of what looked like a house party. “This is the meeting spot for the Order.” Said Harry smiling at the people around him. Lavender vaguely recognized the people that greeted Harry. Some of them included her former teacher, Professor Lupin. He was now, as no one could possibly fail to notice, covered in scratches and cuts. His left eye was black and swollen.  (OOC: yea, he’s still living with the other werewolves, working for the Order ect…) Harry motioned for her to sit upon a bright yellow couch. As she and Harry sat down she realized that they were in what seemed to be a beach house. This is so surreal... thought Lavender.  There was a stack of brochures for muggle attractions such as “The Pavilion” and “Crocodile Joe’s Put-Put”. “Its only temporary but winter rates are excellent.” Said Harry jokingly. Lavender must have looked confused because he added “It’s a muggle beach house...” “Oh I know. It’s just... wow. All these people are in this club?” As she looked around her she saw Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and a few other students she vaguely recognized.  Then she saw Professor McGonagal. “Oh no.” She said. Then to her surprise McGonagal approached and warmly shook Lavender’s hand.

Harry watched anxiously as professor Mcgonagald approached Lavender. Would she be angry at him for not approving her arrival with the order? To his surprise she greeted Lavender with a smile and beckoned her to sit down, explaining how excited she was to have another student involved in the order. As Professor Mcgonagald rambled on about how the Order was what she was most proud of Harry went to the kitchen to get something to drink for Lavender and him. Harry was opening the fridge door when he heard a loud crash. "NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!?!" yelled Lupin, mostly out of shock, as Neville had somehow managed to jinx a large bowl of awfuly scented poutpourri to combust all over Remus's robes. "Nothing ever changes around here does it?" said a familiar voice to Harry's left. "Ron! Im sorry Im late..." said Harry, trailing off. "Its ok mate, come over to the living room, they're about to start." said Ron through a mouthful of Pumpkin Pasties. Harry poured two glasses of tea and sat down on the large yellow couch with Hermione, Lavender and Ron. Arthur Weasly walked up to the mantle place in the center of the room as everyone took their places against the wall and on various chairs, most of them conjured by magic. Immediately the chatter in the room died down as Mr. Weasly began to talk. "Thank you all for coming to the November meeting of the Order." Then he took role. "As you all know, times are getting darker. Its good to know we have such a dedicated group, a group that would die for each other and that will choose the what is difficult and not what is easy in order for good to prevail." he paused. "Now we must address some foreign issues." Kingsley Shaklebolt brought up a scroll of parchment to Mr. Weasley. For almost an two hours the meeting continued in that fashion, often broke up by some debate or argument. At last as people started to doze off Mrs. Weasley said that the students should be getting back to Hogwarts. So everyone said goodbye and goodnight and Harry, Ron, Luna, Neville, Hermione and Lavender all walked back up to the castle through the tunnel. "I hope you wern't terribly bored by that." said Hermione to Lavender. "Oh no! I had no idea there was a secret organization like this. I want to be a member!" Harry hadn't expected this from her. For some reason that he couldn't put a finger on, he didn't want Lavender to be in the order. He didn't want her involved. It was too dangerous. But he felt it would be stupid to say anything about it so he offered to take her to the next meeting. As they were climbing out of the tunnel Harry couldn't help but notice how beautiful Lavender was. After parting ways Harry, Hermione and Ron made their way to the Gryfindor tower. Harry kept looking back over his shoulder at Lavender. "What are you looking at Harry?" asked Hermione. "Nothing" Harry said. "Nothing..." As Harry climbed in bed that night his thoughts were on Lavender. He knew he had a thing for her. But he couldn't. At least he wasn't supposed to. Thats the reason he had to cut ties with Ginny. If the enemy knew who he cared for then he would use that person against him. He didn't want Lavender involved in the order or his life. Still, he couldn't help dreaming about her as he slept.