Her parents' deaths had been, among the many war deaths, the casualties in the minds of the consciousness. In the midst of everything, even those who were there had barely noticed, and maybe it was for that reason that Pansy hadn't told anybody. Not even Daphne.
But Lavender knew. Of course Lavender would know. Their mums... old schoolmates.
And now everything was coming back to and washing over Pansy at once: guilt, bereavement, devastation, pure and utter hatred.
Pansy, cool, collected Pansy, could feel hysteria coming on. She wanted to fall apart. But she was not alone, and hell if she was going to lose her composure in front of a little Gryffindor bint.
Not even Lavender.
"You're right," she said, after what had felt to her like ages of silence, and she was appalled to hear that despite her best efforts of control her voice was still choked with unreleased sobs. "You can't possibly imagine how I must feel."