A small smile crept along his lips and he looked at his shoes, or anywhere that wasn't at Lavender. He wasn't trying to give her false hope, but he knew what it felt like to not see any light at the end of the tunnel. It had all changed for him, just like it had changed for so many other people.
"It'll get better," he repeated. "Maybe in a month, maybe in a few years. But to answer your question, I think when I had to learn to stand up for myself. That's what Dumbledore and Harry taught me, I think. We don't have to accept things because it's how things are. We can all be heroes, and you are one."