Parvati slammed the door of her car shut, and, as there were Muggles everywhere, she locked it with her keys, balancing her shopping bags on her hip. She had started to run up the stairs to Padma’s flat, when a shout from behind her made her turn, nearly overbalancing.
“Hey, Parv! Is that you?”
It was Harry. A thin, serious Harry, who had a long white scar down the side of his face, in addition to the one on his forehead. Parvati screamed and let her bags drop down the stairs, and threw herself into his arms, overjoyed to see him. It was not often she saw anyone she knew from her year at Hogwarts any more, and she had always liked Harry. After they had hugged, he helped her to pick up her shopping, and she invited him inside.
“You’re lucky I’m here, Harry! I usually come the first week in every month “ but Denis needed to take off for his sister’s wedding, so I came a week later instead! Come in “ I just went to Portabello Road and got fresh spices, so I am doing Tandoori Chicken tonight. It will be so nice to have someone to appreciate my cooking. Why don’t you open the nibbles, and we’ll get caught up?”
While she cooked the meal, which smelled delicious, they caught up on each other’s news. Harry’s, she had heard some of. After his defeat of Voldemort, Harry had gone off the rails. Mrs. Weasley, braving the Muggle world had searched high and low for him, finally finding him drunk in a Muggle alley. She had dragged him back to the Burrow. It was there that he had started to mend, although Parvati saw he was still rail thin. She served fizzy flavoured water, keeping the bottle of wine hidden in the fridge. She did not know if Harry was an alcoholic still, but better that he not be tempted.
He and Parvati now talked over lost friends and family. They had not seen each other for over five years “ since the end of the war in fact, so there was a lot to talk about.
The attack on Voldemort had cost a lot of lives, and the resulting war had lasted over three years. Three years he had evaded Harry, and after his death, there were still two years of troll attacks, random Death Eater violence and damage control.
Dumbledore was gone, along with Arthur, Fred, George, Bill and Percy. Parvati’s own parents had been killed, along with her older brother. Firenze would be famous as the last of the centaurs. Voldemort had razed the Forbidden Forest, having his Death Eaters send stinging hexes at Grawp, until he was out of control. If there were any centaurs left, they had not been found, and Aragog had died, along with most of his brood in the giant’s trampling. Many of the Hippogriffs had also died. Whatever Grawp had not trampled, had been burned. Hagrid had been heartbroken at Grawp’s death in the flames, and had been badly burned trying to rescue him.
Ron had died too, saving Harry. He had thrown himself in front of a killing curse that Voldemort had intended for Harry, after Harry had tripped and fallen down the stairs after a particularly intense dueling match. Even now, Parvati could remember it. She always relived it in her nightmares in slow motion. She had been holding Dementors at bay with her Patronus, along with Professor Lupin and McGonagall and several other Aurors and students, so that the others would have a fighting chance. Dementors had caused a lot of deaths, (from both sides impartially) as they had preyed on the wounded that were the most vulnerable during a battle. Voldemort had been on a balcony, and Harry lying on the ground. Ron, who had been a magnificent leader, had not even thought twice before flinging himself over his friend. The sacrifice had hurt Voldemort badly enough that Harry was able to vanquish Voldemort at last, after three years of hard fighting.
How much worse the horrors of that day must be for Harry, who had loved Ron as a friend and a brother? It was that day that Hermione died too. Hermione’s death had been a terrible tragedy and a thorough waste. As she saw Ron’s body fall, she had let out a cry (which had actually halted action for a few seconds as friends and Death Eaters alike turned to watch her), and launched herself across the battlefield, until she reached Ron’s side. Hermione did not even make any effort to use her wand, or to defend herself as she knelt down at Ron’s side to reach her hand to his face. It was as if she had totally forgotten where she was. She had never touched Ron “ a dozen blasts caused her lifeless body to collapse over his before her hand was halfway to his face. Even now, the look of wild agony on her face while she had run to Ron caused Parvati’s eyes to fill with tears. It was her agony, and Ron’s sacrifice that had made Harry turn to Voldemort with a white face, and given him the courage to do what he had to do.
Luna had killed herself suddenly and accidentally. She had a brilliant idea, which had not entirely worked, but people still spoke of her, as her sudden burning flash had brought down over a dozen Dementors with her, and won a decisive battle. Magicians worldwide were trying to reproduce the charm she had made up on the spot, which involved a blazing Patronus that could dissolve a Dementor. Nobody had ever done it before or since.
Seamus and Lavender, who had got married as childhood sweethearts during the war, were gone. Lavender had been three months pregnant, and they had been at home, on one of Seamus’s short vacations from the front. Blaise Zabini, Ernie Macmillan, and countless other students and fully trained Aurors had died in combat. Dean had lost a leg. Her own twin, Padma, was in St. Mungos in a healing coma, as her brain had been overcome with the horrors that she had witnessed while trying to help. After the war she had suffered deep depression, and fits of near madness, which were very frightening to behold. Parvati had looked after her as best she could, but the healers had decided that it was better to put her into a dreamless sleep for a year than to let her carry on as she was. It was not sure whether she would ever recover fully, but her brain patterns seemed more normal now. Parvati visited her once a month, whether or not she could spare the time from her rapidly growing business, but Padma would have to remain immobile until she could wake naturally. She did not know if she was visited or not, but Parvati missed her twin desperately, and needed to see her.
The look of Hogsmeade had changed forever. Zonko’s was gone, along with their proprietor, and so was Honeydukes, an institution that had lasted centuries. In Diagon Alley, Mr. Ollivander’s wand shop had been blasted, and would need to be repaired. It was feared that Mr. Ollivander himself had been hit, as he had never been seen since. Knockturn Alley was a ruin that was already becoming a tourist attraction.
Mrs. Weasley had taken over the running of Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes, and it was becoming obvious where the twins had inherited their sense of humour. Charlie and Ginny had seen a side to their mother they had not known she possessed. Mrs. Weasley had also expanded to open a sweetshop area, as there was a need there that was not being filled. She currently had a manager (one Stan, formerly from the Knight Bus, who had gone to night school and studied hard to earn the privilege) at Hogsmeade, and managed the Diagon Alley premises herself. In spite of losing her husband and five of her sons, Mrs. Weasley had never given up. She had practically adopted Harry, and was helping him now, and Harry adored her.
The look of the Ministry had changed. Ginny had taken over where Hermione left off, and was now campaigning for better rights for Magical Creatures. She ran the “Equal Rights for Magical Creatures” office at the Ministry, which senior ministers had at first taken as a joke, but were now learning to respect. House Elves had been given rights. They were adamant about not being paid, but they now had an extra wing at St. Mungos, and any family owning a House Elf had to provide adequate health care, a reasonable working environment and pension and time off every week, which the elves could take or not, as they wished. Since they could not be persuaded to stick up for themselves, the Ministry carried out twice yearly checks on institutions and private houses that owned them.
Ginny had also campaigned hard so that Goblins could now run for Minister of Magic, which had caused a bit of consternation, but was now seen as a good thing by many people, goblins having a reputation for fair dealing, hard work and strict truth. After all, they ran Gringotts. Ginny now had her hands full with trolls and giants who wanted to vote, but could not reasonably be trusted.
There were a few truly happy stories. Harry was able to tell Parvati that Lupin and Lilah (whom she had not seen since she and Draco broke up) were married, and Lilah was pregnant with their first child. If it were a boy, they would call it Peter James. Lupin was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts again at Hogwarts as the new legislation for werewolves was already in effect. The Ministry administered carefully monitored applications of Wolfsbane to registered werewolves, and it was worth the nuisance of going into the Ministry every month to be able to hold down a job securely. Lupin now wore new robes, looked less tired and better fed and his Muggle trousers were a thing of the past. The Hogwarts House Elves now wore his old sweaters, more gratefully than Draco had.
Susan Bones was now working as a junior assistant in the Ministry, but she had already been noticed, and it was rumored that if she went on as she had started, she might be a candidate for Minister in ten years or so. Neville Longbottom, after surprising everybody by managing to live through the war, had found a loyal and loving wife (from Hufflepuff, of course, a girl a couple of years younger than him) and settled down in his grandmother’s old house, where he pottered around the garden inventing new plants, blissfully potion and stress free and occasionally giving rambling lectures as a guest at various wizarding universities. His greatest faux pas to date being that he delivered a lecture to art students at a Muggle university totally by mistake. It was probably going to be the most memorable lecture the art students at Thames Valley had ever received. It spawned a new movement dubbed “The Muggle Era”. None of the students had ever heard the term before, but on a Ministry official’s running up and informing him of his mistake, Neville had said quite loudly “Muggles! Why really! So they are!” By this time the students were so enamored of the shy young professor who could do such amazing tricks that they took the term as an endearment, and printed it on everything they could find, so that wizards doing their shopping at high street stores were confused to be confronted with slogans such as, “Be a Muggle, Muggles Are Cool”, and “Play it the Muggle Way”.
Parvati herself was not doing badly. She had a booming business near Hogsmeade, in an old farmhouse where she actually lived when she wasn’t visiting Padma. She had managed to buy it out of the money her parents left for her, after working out her five-year apprenticeship as a Magical Creatures Healer. There she carried on her Mending Magical Creatures clinic with her partner Don Jones (two years above her and formerly of Hufflepuff) who did all the big animal work. The fields were big enough to house dragons and Hippogriffs, and Parvati had some quite regular customers. She also tended the smaller animals from the Hogwarts Magical Menagerie, and Hagrid was a constant visitor, especially when Don had dragons around.
Dennis Creevey had transferred his apprenticeship to her as soon as she started her business and was an enthusiastic and energetic assistant, who could be trusted to help run things if she were absent for a few days (after all, she was only an Apparition away). Her only gripe about her business was that she had to keep her nails short “ but they were beautifully polished.
The flat in London was actually Padma’s, although Parvati paid the rent. She stayed in the flat when she came up to London to visit her sister.
Parvati and Harry talked until the shadows grew long. It wasn’t surprising that they ended up on the bed kissing passionately. They were not in love - just two friends who had known nearly unbearable loss - and each wanted the comfort the other could bring. Harry’s breathing grew ragged, and he pulled off his shirt, revealing more scars in the moonlight. He was too thin still Parvati couldn’t help noticing. He traced the long scar down her face that could not be quite hidden by makeup, with extreme gentleness, making tears sting her eyes. He pulled Parvati’s shirt over her head, marveling at her silky skin, running his fingers down her arm. She shuddered, and encouraged, he reached around to undo her bra, but Parvati had a disconcerting image of Ginny flash into her mind, and she stopped him, sitting up, and putting up a hand. “Sorry Harry,” she said shakily. “I can’t do this. I wish I could, but I can’t.”
Harry bit back an expletive. He was, however, very fond of Parvati, so he swallowed his ire and after a few hard moments, his arousal, and slid around to sit behind her, putting his chin on her shoulder, and his arms around her waist. After a while, sensing that he only meant to bring comfort, she relaxed back into him. Harry reached up for the chain that hung around her neck, with the ring dangling from it.
“Its Draco, isn’t it?” he asked flatly. “He is the reason? That is why he is the only person we haven’t talked about today.”
Parvati bit her lip, and nodded. Harry snorted. “He’s an idiot. You know that he never even got together with Ginny as he said he was going to.”
Parvati waited until she knew her voice wouldn’t shake. “Do you know what he is doing now, Harry? Draco?”
Harry waited a beat, and then said reluctantly, “I’m actually lodging with him. He turned out all right at the end, although he has been working bloody hard to fit in. He is working as an Auror “ one of the best - as he knows how Death Eaters think. He wanted me to work with him, but I have seen enough bloodshed to last me a lifetime. All I want now is peace.” He stroked the hair off Parvati’s brow, and tucked it behind her ear hopefully. “It has been over nine years Parvati. Don’t you think it is time to move on?”
Parvati reached up to stroke Harry’s face. She knew how he must feel, but it wasn’t good enough for her. She kissed his jaw, gratefully, and stood up, pulling her shirt back on. “I love you Harry. You are a very good friend. And if you want a tip, you would be less lonely if you speak to Ginny more”.
Harry started. “Ginny! She had a crush on me for so long. I thought I wasn’t free to do anything about it, because my life wasn’t really my own. Of course, I was wrong “ and I know that now, but I don’t think she can ever forgive me for that. I was trying to keep her safe.” He frowned. “I was trying to keep everybody safe. But I failed.”
Parvati smiled to herself, noticing he had not denied feeling anything for Ginny, but said sharply “Stop it Harry! If you want to indulge yourself in a pity party, I am not going to help.” She waited until he was looking at her, a little hurt, and then kissed him again, softly, full on the mouth, not with passion, but with deep gratitude.
“I think you are wonderful myself. You did more than most people could ever have done. The world is safe again now for Muggles to live in. Don’t blame Ron and Hermione on your shortcomings.” Her voice quavered, but grew stronger. “Ron chose to save you, and there is nothing you could have done to stop that. It was his right. Hermione probably didn’t even know what had happened. All she could see was Ron. Harry, it isn’t your fault, and you have to stop thinking it is before you ruin the life he saved.”
Leaving Harry looking thoughtful, Parvati made coffee in the old fashioned Muggle fashion, with some magical upgrades as to speed. “Padma saw something,” she said abruptly. “She knew it would be one of the Weasleys that saved you. Dumbledore read the signs wrong. She told him it would be one who loved you that saved you, and I think he thought immediately about Ginny. He didn’t think about Ron. Ginny has loved you for a long time, you know Harry.”
Harry gloomily banged a spoon against the table. “She gave up on me years ago, Parvati. She goes through boyfriends like some girls go through chocolate. She certainly isn’t pining for me! I think you’re wrong.”
Parvati poured out the coffee, squirted whipped cream from her wand liberally on the top and handed a mug to Harry. “I see her fairly often. We got closer after the war, when both of us had lost so much. She doesn’t actually talk about you, but none of her boyfriends have stuck,” she pointed out. “But sooner or later, if you don’t hurry up, she will find somebody. She is only twenty-six yet, and has a very busy career, but I know she does want to settle down. And she does meet some very nice men. One of them will erase your memory in time.”
Harry sat down at the table and stirred sugar into his coffee. “That is the whole point,” he said wearily. “I know you mean well Parvati, but Ginny grew up with a wonderful family, and would make a wonderful mother. I ran through all the money my parents and Sirius left me. I signed my house away to the Order, because I couldn’t stand the memories it brought me, and I have no job prospects because I have been drinking. I don’t want to tie her down to a rather screwed up guy that doesn’t have a clue. I have no idea how to bring up children. I can’t lock them all in the downstairs cupboard.”
Parvati stroked Harry’s hair back from his head, and sat on the table looking down at him. “Harry, you are selling yourself and Ginny short. You are rather wonderful you know. I know you would have the strength to overcome your upbringing, however miserable it was. And Ginny would help you. She is tremendously strong. I admire her tremendously. And she grew up with the life that you want, and could reproduce it. Mrs. Weasley would help too. I don’t think she would interfere, but she would help you if you asked. Harry “ don’t leave it too late. You, of all people deserve to be happy. Don’t you think that you could make someone happy? You have so much to give. And remember that marriage takes a lot of work, so if you are prepared to work you have a better chance than people who aren’t. And you know your shortcomings and don’t expect it to be perfect.”
Harry pushed back from the table so violently he nearly spilled his coffee, and raised his hands. “Woah! You are talking marriage here, and I haven’t even spoken to the girl for a while! She may not even accept if I do ask her out! She knows I am a washed up bum.”
Parvati smiled into her coffee. “You were the one who mentioned ‘tying down’ and ‘bringing up children,’” she pointed out. “You know I am a confirmed matchmaker. I’m just following your train of thought! And about that job “ have you…”
Harry cut her off. “Actually I do have plans. I wasn’t quite telling the truth when I said I hadn’t been working “ I have been working quite hard the last year. I will tell you, but you have to be quiet about it in case it doesn’t work. I don’t want a stressful job. I want peace and quiet and I want to be doing something useful. I spoke to Dean, and he and I thought we would fix up a wand shop like Mr. Ollivander’s.” He blushed a little as Parvati stared at him. “OK, you think it is a bad idea.”
Parvati’s brain started working again. “No, Harry!” she said earnestly, “Actually I think it is a very good idea! But I thought you needed a special magic for that? I mean; to be able to fit the wand to the person?” She waved her own wand disparagingly. “Mine doesn’t work nearly as well as my old one, although I had it made from the same wood.”
Harry smiled a crooked smile. “Well, I have been doing a lot of study recently,” he admitted. “And I have been studying the art of wand placement. I would place you at unicorn hair and white walnut sapwood now.” He noticed Parvati’s eyebrows winging upwards, but remained unfazed. “Your personality changes, you know, as you grow up. Normally your wand would have changed with you, but you lost yours, and had to get a cheap one. It just isn’t the same.”
She was quiet a minute, and thinking she was still skeptical he went on, “Dean carved Draco’s new wand, you know. Dragon heartstring and African Blackwood instead of ebony. Remember how good he was at art? It seems to be even better with carving. Draco’s new wand has curved dragons, a little like his other only I think it is even better. Dean chooses and buys the wood, and it is my job to provide him with the cores and sell the wands.” (Here, Parvati raised her brows. She wouldn’t really describe obtaining Dragon Heartstrings as “peaceful” but then Harry was Harry.) “Draco swears by his new wand, and he does a lot of fancy things with it. Dean does ornate silver, gold, wood or ivory inlay. He is very good at flowers or unicorn etchings, and can polish either a turned piece, or leave it looking natural - whichever suits the owner. The only thing is finding the capital to fund the restoration of the shop, and to set us up with a stock of wood. Dean has half the capital, and I know Mrs. Weasley would back me like a shot, because the joke shop is doing so well, but I want to do it on my own. I have had two loans rejected so far, because I am seen as ‘unstable.’ I think I have found a bank that is willing to go for it though, so keep your fingers crossed. You could be our first customer.”
Parvati jumped down from the table, pleased to hear the pride in his voice. “Well, let me know as soon as you can, because I really need a new wand. I would quite like Dennis to have one too “ his old one was really cheap, and doesn’t act quite as well as it should. Don was grumbling too. He does most of the dragon work. When you are looking after dragons you really need a good wand!”
Harry didn’t accept her offer of a bed for the night, but said he would go back via tube, since he was too tired to Apparate. Parvati felt a little lonely after he had left. Ginny had the right idea. She should be seeing lots of men, not pining after one, especially the one who had hurt her so badly and left her so long ago. She fingered the ring around her neck, but she had left it there so long that she found she could not take it off. In fact, when she tried, a thin screaming ran in her ears, and she felt shaky and ill. Parvati put it back around her neck, a little shaken. Perhaps it was the ring which had kept her from forming an attachment to anyone else all these years, although, looking back, it was as likely to have been the long hours she put in studying and setting up her business. With the war, it was amazing that she had managed to finish her training as early as she had. Whatever it was, she would have to go to a curse breaker to have the ring removed from her person. First thing tomorrow. Padma would not even notice if she were late.
Draco lay in bed and wondered when Harry was coming home. Now Harry was lodging at the Malfoy Mansion, Draco felt responsible for him. Ever since Harry’s breakdown, he had been worried every time Harry came in late, listening to see if his footsteps were even. He wouldn’t wait up for him, knowing Harry would hate it if he did, but he couldn’t sleep until he knew Harry was back.
As usual, his thoughts turned to Parvati. He hoped she was happy in whatever she was doing now. He would always remember her, but he knew that what he had done had been for the best. He was so lost in reverie, that he didn’t hear Harry come in until Harry had shouldered his way into Draco’s room, turning on the light, and standing over him with his fists clenched, looking severe.
EPILOGUE PART II
Parvati walked up the well-known steps to St. Mungos with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She felt like this every time she came here. She hated seeing her twin lying, her face unmoving, barely breathing, as the healers attempted to heal her brain. She missed her sister unbearably sometimes. To her surprise, she was not the only visitor. Draco Malfoy sat in the chair next to Padma’s bed. He held her hand, and was talking to her in a low voice. Parvati’s temper flared a little, and she stalked into the room, the scar on her face seeming to scream its presence. She was tempted to angle her face away from him, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
Draco jumped, and had the grace to blush. Parvati noticed that he looked more like his father than ever. His long white fair ponytail fell almost to his waist, and his unrelieved black robes were almost Death Eater in style. Parvati ignored him as she found a vase to put flowers in for her sister. If Padma ever woke on her own, Parvati wanted the flowers to be the first thing she saw.
“I was waiting for you,” Draco said uncertainly, standing up. Parvati noticed his eyes traveled to her neck.
“I see,” she said crisply. “You have been talking to Harry. I had a curse-breaker take off the ring this morning. It is in my bag if you want it.”
She opened her bag, and began to look through it. She found and held it out to him at the same time as he said, “No, actually I wanted you to keep it…” Parvati held it out to him, her head high, and her eyes slightly amused. In the end his eyes fell, and he took the ring from her, defeated.
She walked around him to sit by her sister, and tell her the things that she had been doing that month with her business, hearing him move towards the door. She spent half an hour with Padma, and was expecting Draco to be gone, as he was so quiet, but when she looked around he was still there. “Get better Padma!” she said. “I will see you again soon “ I just need to settle some business first.” She turned to Draco a little haughtily.
“I assume you want to speak to me, since you are still here? How about lunch? I know a nice little place around the corner.” For a moment, she thought she had him, but then his brows contracted.
“You really want to shout at me in public?” he asked.
Parvati stopped in her tracks. She kept her voice light and amused. At least, she hoped it was light and amused, “Why would I want to shout at you? I don’t even know you that well any more.”
Draco looked as if she had hit him, and for a moment she felt a little guilt, but she was right. She hadn’t seen him for eight years, and he had been going out with a succession of different girls then. It hurt like it was only yesterday. She took a deep breath. “I really don’t think we have anything to talk about.”
Draco took her arm as she started to walk again. It was a very possessive gesture, and Parvati tried not to let his nearness trouble her. Draco spoke in a conversational tone. “I did speak to Harry, or rather, Harry spoke to me. After he had hit me a couple of times, he told me some very interesting things. I was hoping you would come back to the Malfoy mansion with me so that we could talk. Otherwise I will have to follow you home, or to Padma’s flat.”
Parvati cursed Harry under her breath. Well-meaning idiot! She didn’t see that she had much choice however. Draco was perfectly capable of following her, and starting a row in front of Dennis, so she accepted a little of Draco’s floo powder out of the leather pouch that swung from his waist, and followed him into the fireplace.
The Malfoy Mansion did not look as it once had. The walls of the room Parvati landed in were white with heavy old black beams, and the wooden floor shone with polishing. There was a cream carpet and soft black leather sofa. It looked rather bare, and very masculine. On the mantel, there were various art pieces, mostly dragons, although there was one cast iron griffin too. Draco excused himself, so Parvati peeked into the mirror. Her hair was in a neat plait, and her make up was perfect, as always. You could almost not see the scar. She was wearing one of the new lightweight silk robes that were fashionable this summer, buttoned from the neck to the waist and flared (a little like an old fashioned riding habit in Chinese style). It was scarlet, and embroidered in gold. Her gold earrings and necklace matched perfectly. She was satisfied with what she saw, but furious with herself for checking.
She was admiring the gorgeous Elizabethan-style rose gardens through the window when Draco reentered in his shirtsleeves, carrying a tray.
“I remember you like pumpkin juice, but I don’t have it in the house, as I can’t stand the stuff, so I had the house elves make lemonade instead. Or there is butterbeer or coffee if you prefer.”
Parvati sat on the edge of the couch, with her ankles crossed under her, clasped her hands around one knee and murmured politely “Lemonade is fine.” She watched him pour it for her, into a tall frosted glass. He placed it on a coaster in front of her, and she looked up at him, trying to be as cool as the glass in front of her.
“Now, how can I help you?”
She should have remembered Draco never played fair. As soon as she had asked, his warm lips were on hers. Parvati had waited for so long, she didn’t have a chance. She practically went up in flames. When she came to her senses, her hair was loose, and tangled around Draco’s fingers, he was half lying on her, and she was underneath him, her robes crushed underneath his weight. He saw the instant shocked recognition entered her eyes, and he was ready for her when she started to struggle against him.
Parvati felt almost desperate. She had given herself away so totally, and she felt humiliated beyond belief. If she ever saw Harry again, he would regret the day he had been born. Draco was laughing delightedly, and Parvati saw red. The next thing he knew, he was holding down a snarling black panther, who writhed in his grasp, claws out. He let go, hurriedly, and Parvati, thoroughly rumpled up, sprang off the couch in a twisting leap, that still had more panther to it than Parvati. She caught a dragon off the mantel with her wand and hurled it at his head. Draco just managed to avoid it, before it smashed into the wall beside his head and the next ornament caught him on the shoulder as he tried to dodge. He managed to deflect the next two, before gasping out “OK, enough!”
She faced him, breathing heavily, practically spitting still, her wand still in her hand. Draco rubbed his shoulder, eyeing her a little nervously. The cast iron griffin was solid. He was surprised she had managed to heft it that far, even with magic. He didn’t want to think what other damage she could inflict with her wand. In a completely Slytherin type move, seeing she was off balance, he called “Expelliarmus!” and her wand shot into his hand. He put it in his holster with his as a precaution, keeping his eyes on her as she hissed at him.
“Parvati. I am sorry. That was a mistake. I shouldn’t have kissed you.” He couldn’t stop his delight at her reaction to him, and found he was grinning like a maniac again. “I have just wanted to ever since Harry came and threw me out of bed early this morning.”
He watched Parvati’s eyes narrow, and bravely took a step closer.
“I thought I had burned all my bridges long ago where you were concerned, and didn’t dare even trying to think of getting back in touch.” He considered coming another step closer, but Parvati still looked dangerous, even if he could stop her transforming in time.
She almost spat at him. “Yes, Draco! And you managed to slip me a cursed ring to make sure I wasn’t going to touch anybody except you! Harry just jolted your memory, and I guess you want a reunion for old times’ sake? Are you that desperate? Aren’t there any unmarked girls you could seduce instead?”
Draco felt the blood drain out of his face, and an ice-cold pit in his stomach. He had forgotten the ring. “I didn’t know the ring was enchanted.” He was almost trembling he wanted her in his arms again so badly. Damn the ring! He hadn’t even thought “ why should he? Yet it was something he was not surprised that his father had done to his mother. Parvati was still watching him with narrowed eyes, and it occurred to him that her reaction to him had given him any information he needed; yet she did not know what he felt or wanted. He looked straight at her. “I was a fool to let you go all those years ago Parvati. I don’t care about the scar. I never did. I was just trying to push you away, and I said the cruelest things I could think about to say to get you to leave me. I have thought about you ever since, and I want to be part of your life, if you will let me. I truly didn’t know the ring was cursed. I would never have given it to you if I had known.”
He saw her lovely mouth fall open in shock and disbelief. He sat down on the sofa again, and patted the seat beside him. “I promise not to jump you again. Come and sit down.”
Parvati, her head whirling, moved almost zombie-like around to sit on the couch again. She wondered if this was some bizarre charm or illusion. And she wanted to be jumped again. Her whole body was hot and cold by turns, and she noticed the top buttons of her robe were undone, although she could not remember that happening. Draco was looking very uncomfortable however.
He waited until she sat down, and then, clasping and unclasping his hands, started to speak.
“I know this is very old history, but you do deserve an explanation. What I did to you was terrible, and I did not give you the reasons behind it, because you would never have accepted them. You wouldn’t have given up on me, and I was not ready to tie you down. I realized that I was very damaged by my upbringing. It took a lot of work to realize that I had serious problems, and needed to readjust my personality if I ever expected to have a real relationship, however much I loved you. I couldn’t control you, and although I told myself I didn’t want to, I found myself acting like my father did to my mother. When it hit me that I didn’t like you having any friends I realized that was a huge problem. So it was probably for the best that I did what I did. I couldn’t have been very faithful or balanced when I was seventeen. I used to get jealous “ I was jealous for a long time of Harry, even after we had broken up. I know now you were not interested, but I think then that I might have gone over the edge if you had dated him. I was right when I said I wasn’t ready for a relationship. I wasn’t right to be cruel, but I couldn’t think of another way to get you to leave me. I have taken a long time to get to where I am now. In fact, if you want to take me back I can warn you I am still definitely not an easy person, although I am much better than I was. I am still selfish and domineering at times “ or so Harry says.”
She was silent, but not frowning. Encouraged, he took her hands. “Parvati, I was scared of how I felt about you. I have had girlfriends since you but I have always chosen girls that I knew I could never be serious about. I never had the slightest inclination to marry any of them.” He was now running his thumb up and down the back of her hands, sending shivers down her spine.
What he was saying made sense. Of course she had dreamed about getting married and living happily ever after, but he was right. If they had got married very soon, she would have been juggling a husband with emotional problems, her apprenticeship and perhaps even babies at the same time. And loving him as she did, there would have been nothing less than total involvement for her. She wouldn’t have thrown herself into her studies and had the opportunities that she had made herself if all her energies had been centered on helping Draco. Possibly “ even probably - he would have been less of a person, having her to lean on. And he was right. She would not have let go “ she would have been convinced that she could help him.
All the same “ eight years! They would both be different people. They had been through so much. She couldn’t really fall right back into his arms. What about her pride?
It seemed she had none. Draco was still talking, but Parvati wasn’t really listening any more. Her hormones had taken over, and she could only hear a buzzing in her head that was getting louder and drowning him out. This wasn’t a dream. This was real. He loved her still, and he had always loved her. He wanted her back in his life.
She looked up and found him looking earnestly at her. For a few moments their eyes connected, and Draco faltered. He cleared his throat to go on, but Parvati stopped him with a kiss. His immediate reaction to her was a thrill. She moved over to straddle him, and trailed kisses down his neck and across his shoulder, slipping the band from his hair and threading her hands into it. She could feel him probing into her mind “ he was still such a Slytherin! She smiled against his mouth, opening up so that he could see everything.
Draco couldn’t believe it. He had never hoped to approach Parvati again, and here she was in his lap, actively pulling his shirt over his head. When Harry had yanked him out of bed at midnight, he had not believed him. How could somebody as warm and loving as Parvati possibly not have somebody in her life? That was until Harry had, quite literally, knocked some sense into him. He had felt hope in a way he had not felt it for years. Oh, he had had women. Lots of them too, but none of them had inspired him with the love (or even quite the lust) that he had felt for Parvati.
Now Parvati’s hands were at his belt, and all his thoughts but one flew out of his head, and he picked her bodily up and carried her into his bedroom, his teeth on her jaw, and his hands breaking open her top, forgetting completely that he had both wands in his holster.
Some time later that day, he slid the now de-cursed ring onto her engagement finger.
The wedding had to wait until Padma came out of her coma, and was allowed to leave the hospital. It took another six months, but Parvati and Draco found they had a lot to do to coordinate their lives, and relearn each other. Draco found that Parvati giggled and bounced less, and thought more. As Draco had said, she found him older, wiser and less abrasive. He did not try to manipulate her too much, or lose his temper when she spoke to Harry. His voice had forever dropped the whining sound that he used to have when he wanted something, and when he laughed, it was a full rich baritone rather than the nasal snigger.
Parvati had moved into the Malfoy mansion, and it was already decorated, Draco teased, like a harem, with hanging silk curtains and large coloured cushions on the floor with gold tassels. Actually he didn’t mind. Before Parvati, his home had struck him as rather sterile. Now it was full of life and colour, and things he could tease her about. Parvati Apparated to work each morning, and Draco had accepted a position within the British Isles whereby he would not be posted too far from home, and was looking forward to some well-earned domestic bliss.
Padma would never be the girl she used to be, and her eyes were solemn, but she was able to live life again. In fact, she was actually happiest with Professor Snape. Parvati did not know that he had been a regular visitor at the hospital, until Padma woke up. They seemed to have a bond that had been formed when Padma had found Snape at the Castle of Vandalls, which had even transcended the coma. Snape, in true Snape-like fashion had not thought that fact worth repeating to the Healers. Padma now lived at Hogwarts, consulting to Headmaster McGonagall, and was, more often than not, to be found in Snape’s quarters, which Parvati found very strange. Even stranger was the fact that her sister called their Potions master “Severus” and Parvati and Draco found themselves having to invite him, not only to the wedding, but also to family dinners with Padma. Parvati at least, did not think she would ever get over her fear of Snape, She certainly could never see herself calling him ‘Severus’. Snape himself felt unable to forgive them for being the people to rescue him, and was only polite for Padma’s sake.
Parvati worried at first, because Snape was so much older than her sister, and she did not trust him but once she had spoken to Professor McGonagall, she worried less, although it still seemed rather unnatural. Padma had aged beyond her years with what she had been through during the war. She had not only suffered herself, but she had suffered other people’s grief and agonies. Professor Snape had actually transferred some of himself to her while they were connected and so she was actually now nearer Snape’s mental age than Parvati’s. Padma would never speak of that to Parvati. The worst of Snape was something that had happened, and was over. No, Professor Snape was not a nice person, but he had been shaped by his surroundings. Padma would not have him criticized.
Parvati grieved bitterly for the loss of her sister, with whom she would never have the same relationship. Gone were the days the sisters could giggle and gossip together. Padma had learned the penance that comes with being a true Seer and telepath. She had used her gift too recklessly when she was younger, and it had turned to rend her. When she spoke now, she sounded more like Firenze, cautious, knowing the danger the future can bring. She felt comfortable with Severus, because he too, had become intimate with the pit of hell.
Padma gave Parvati her chart, which hung in pride of place in the Malfoy master bedroom, but now she only consulted on weighty matters.
It was a small wedding, unless you counted Hagrid as a few guests.
Harry attended as the best man, with Ginny, who acted as chief bridesmaid, Padma having declined, being still weak. Harry already looked healthier and happier. He and Dean owned most of their wand shop now, which was called simply ‘Harry’s Wands’, Dean not wishing his name to appear. Harry was tired of ostentation. He was surprised to find that he didn’t mind the publicity when their shop opened however. It was publicity he felt was well deserved, and came from something that he had initiated and carried through to completion, and not just the result of an accident of birth, or what he had been fated to do. Of course his previous publicity did help as people were curious to see the shop and wands, but for once he felt his scar to be a bonus.
He had already paid off a hefty part of his bank loan. He had his quiet life, if one could be said to have a quiet life around a fireball like Ginny and a booming and often dangerous business, (some of his exploits to find the perfect dragon heartstrings, and unicorn hairs were already undergoing publishing in his rather humorous and soon to be very popular book) and his wands were already as famous as his scar ever was. Ginny had taken him “on trial” but the trial seemed to be proceeding very well, and Ginny, who had once confessed to Parvati that she thought she would never find the perfect man, was obviously both adoring and adored.
Lupin and Lilah were there with little Peter, Lupin looking a little worn as the phase of the moon caught him at a bad time, but very happy. Padma and Snape both attended, and so did Don who brought his wife and two children. A Hippogriff that was to transport the happy couple to their honeymoon destination ate dead ferrets from a nosebag in the vestry. Dennis Creevey sent best wishes, but was looking after the clinic.
And there let us leave them. Young people who have endured much, and need some time to enjoy their now fairly secure world and each other.
Transfiguration Is Not Easy by Buckbeak22
Chapter Notes: If you like sad endings, don't read this one.