“Good morning!”
Harry opened his eyes to see Parvati sitting at the edge of their bed with a tray of tea. Her wet hair caressed her navy-blue shirt, which she had worn with grey capri-pants. As usual, the vermilion was present on the parting of her hair. “It’s six o’ clock, honey,” she said. “We must start getting ready. I brought the tea, so that it would wake you up properly.”
Harry went to the en suite, brushed his teeth and came out. Parvati handed a cup of tea to him before pouring some for herself. Harry sipped and as the warm liquid trickled down his oesophagus, it gave him a feeling of refreshment. He smiled at Parvati, still feeling slightly guilty about the previous night. She smiled back brightly, and got up to look at Naina.
“I’ll just change her clothes, she can remain asleep, I guess,” said Parvati, as Harry put his teacup aside and walked to his wardrobe to get out a towel and a set of robes.
“Do you think we will need Muggle clothing?” he asked.
“Not unless we’re going there on wheels,” replied Parvati.
“I think we’ll be taking the car,” Harry said more to himself than Parvati. He sighed and put back the robes, pulling out jeans, a grey shirt and a jacket instead. He took the shirt and jeans and went into the bathroom for a shower.
By the time he came out again, Parvati had taken Naina and had gone somewhere else. Harry put on his jacket and, looking at the mirror, waved his wand to get off the stubble on his chin. Harry then combed his hair (it was pointless, anyway, as his hair still stood on all directions stubbornly). Coming out of the room, he found Ron, Ginny and Anthony sitting, puffy eyed, with cups of tea in their hands. Naina was sleeping on one armchair” Parvati had gotten her ready and wrapped her up in her usual sheets. Padma and Hermione were not visible yet. Wondering where they were, Harry took Naina in his arms and sat down on the armchair. Just then, he heard the sound of laughter coming from outside.
Harry got up and walked out, to see a weird sight. Padma was on the grass, her body forming a back-arch like a bridge. She had propped herself up using her hands and legs, and looked like a human figure of an overturned ‘U’. Hermione too, lay down on the grass and tried to prop herself the same way, and managed at last, her whole body shaking as she did so.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Parvati said, smiling. “That is called ‘Chakrasan’. I’ll show you ‘Surya Namaskar’ now. That is the way to bow to the sun.”
Parvati stood straight, and Harry positioned himself in such a way that he could have a better view of what she was doing. Parvati joined her hands in front of her chest and took a deep breath. Then she shot her joined hands upwards and bent backwards, so that her body was making a sort of backward arch. After that, she bent forward, touching her feet with the tips of her fingers. Getting both her feet back and touching the grass with her palms, Parvati did a push- up and then did a mountain-like formation with her body. She toughed the tips of her fingers to her feet again, did the back arch and then joined her hands in front of her chest, taking more deep breaths.
“That was amazing,” said Hermione. “What’s that supposed to do?”
“Do it once daily and you’ll never grow fat,” Parvati replied.
Hermione grinned and started trying out the new exercise, while Harry went out and hugged Parvati. “Doing yoga?” he asked.
“Yeah,” answered Parvati. “Wanna try?”
“No, I just came to…” Harry looked down at her eyes, put his hand on her neck and leaned forward. His lips were already on hers before she pulled away.
“Harry, everyone’s watching!” Blushing a deep scarlet, she ran off into the house, leaving Harry with Padma and Hermione, who began to tease him at once. God, she’s so shy, he thought, and followed Parvati into the house.
The group left at around six-thirty, distributed in Anthony’s, Harry’s and Ron’s cars. They reached Bath when there were five minutes left before seven. Romilda and Irene were already there. Harry, Ron and Anthony introduced their wives (and children, in Harry’s and Ron’s cases) to their colleagues.
They took the key from the watchman and went into the guest house, keeping their suitcases in their own rooms. Jessica, Jake and Naina were left to sleep in their parents’ rooms. Parvati, Padma and Hermione offered to make breakfast and in no time, all the adults were sitting at the enormous dining table, which was laden with toast, bacon, eggs, cocktail juice and milk.
“Oh, wonderful,” said Harry, as Parvati sat next to him. “Did you make the bacon and eggs?”
“Yeah,” she replied and smiled at Harry.
“You know,” said Harry, lowering his voice, “you’ll have to pay for what you did this morning.”
“What?” Parvati asked. A smile was playing on her lips.
Harry smiled, too and bent forward, placing his lips on hers, putting a hand around her nape. She did not pull away, but kissed him back, as he enjoyed every second. He did not recall there were people watching them until someone wolf-whistled.
Harry pulled away, to see all his colleagues, Hermione’s and Padma’s eyes on Parvati and him. Ron wolf-whistled again, and started clapping. Parvati’s face turned a boiling crimson, while Harry felt colour rush up his own cheeks. There was silence for sometime.
“Ahem, I think we should check one of the victims’ house today,” said Romilda, cutting through the awkward pause. Everyone looked at her, and Harry felt momentarily relieved that all eyes were off him and Parvati. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Ginny was looking everywhere except at the place where he and Parvati were sitting.
“Yeah,” Ron agreed with Romilda, as he reached for the butter dish. “Hey, why aren’t you eating, Irene?”
Harry looked at Irene. She was sitting with her arms crossed and not touching a thing. “I don’t like home-made food,” she said.
“Well you can-” began Parvati, but Irene interrupted her.
“I told you I don’t like home-made food, so why don’t you just shut up and mind your own business?”
Parvati raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She returned to her eggs.
“Maybe we can order some food from a restaurant,” Romilda suggested.
“I don’t want to eat.”
“Why are you in such a bad mood?”
“Please, Romilda, I’m not hungry.”
“Is take-out all you ever eat now?”
“No.”
Romilda raised an eyebrow. “Then I don’t see what the problem is now. I know you like bacon and eggs. I remember when we were at Hogwarts.”
“Okay, to be specific, I don’t like food made by Parvati Patil.”
Parvati’s fork fell on her plate with a clang. She looked at Irene, narrowing her eyes. “When have you ever tasted anything made by me? And my name is Parvati Potter now. So, I’ll be glad if you kindly use that name.”
Harry had never seen Parvati angry in his life. Irene clearly seemed to have broken through all shields of indifference and calmness that Parvati had created around herself. But why was Irene behaving like that? What was her problem? Why did she have this sudden grudge against Parvati? Irene’s strange demeanour bewildered Harry, and her attitude angered him. How dare she talk to his wife like that!
Just then, he heard Irene’s reply. “I don’t know, but the way you behaved with Harry made me lose my appetite for the food you made.”
“Alright then, don’t eat,” snapped Parvati. “And just so you know, I’m going to make food everyday, from now on. Let’s see how you do. And I don’t think I behave wrongly with Harry. He loves me and I love him. We’re married, and I don’t think I need any tips on the chemistry between us or anything.”
Harry looked at Parvati. Her eyes were narrowed in anger and he had never seen such a deadly expression on her face.
Irene opened her mouth to retort, but held it back. She extended a hand towards her glass of cocktail juice and muttered something like ‘Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley.’
Harry thought he knew what she said, and sincerely hoped that Parvati hadn’t heard the last remark. His hopes, however, were drowned, as Parvati raised her next question. “What did you just say?”
Irene looked up from her drink. “I said that Harry Potter still loves Ginny Weasley.”
“Oh yeah? Then I’m afraid it is our problem. I don’t think it has anything to do with breakfast. And you are completely out of question. Do not interfere with my private life.”
“I’ve seen you romancing your husband… I don’t think you should. Not when he is not loyal to you.”
There were several reactions at this point. Ginny let out a hiss, and glared at Irene, while Hermione and Padma seemed on the verge of slapping Irene left, right and centre. Ron and Anthony raised their eyebrows, and Romilda scowled at her friend. Harry felt the colour drain from his face, while Parvati seemed to be radiating heat.
Irene smirked at the reaction. “Harry loves Ginny. I know it. Face it, Patil, your husband’s not worth it. Listen to me; give him a divorce and you’ll be happier.”
“THAT’S IT!” There was a sound of breaking china; Parvati was on her feet and had thrown one of the milk jugs on the floor. “IRENE STANCE, YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS TO TEACH ME THE RIGHT AND WRONG THINGS IN MY LIFE-”
The sound of crying started issuing from Harry and Parvati’s room. Naina was awake. Parvati closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, but I don’t like to argue with anyone. Please do not provoke me any further- eat whatever is not made by me. I still don’t understand why you’re so worried about the loyalty of my husband.” Parvati pointed her wand to the mess on the floor and cleaned it up. She sat down and finished her plate at breakneck speed as if nothing happened. Then, finally gulping down her juice, she hurried away to her room.
There was a heavy silence in the kitchen. Harry looked at Irene, whose face was blotchy. He couldn’t even look at Ginny. His hands and legs seemed to be numb with anger, and he wanted to rage and storm at Irene for all she had just said. But he heard Hermione’s commanding voice from the other end of the table. “Apologise.”
“No,” said Irene hotly, glaring at everyone on the table.
“Apologise,” spat Ginny, pulling out her wand. Hermione brought out hers, too.
“I did not do anything wrong.”
Hermione raised an eyebrow and pointed her wand right at Irene. “You have a serious lack of judgment then. Almost clinically insane, in fact. Apologise, or you’ll pay.”
“I’m an Auror, Hermione Granger,” said Irene, looking at Hermione smugly. “I know more spells and hexes than you can ever think of, even in your dreams.”
“You may be an Auror, Irene, but if you’re forgetting, I helped defeat Voldemort and had faced the foulest of his minions. So please don’t underestimate me and apologise to Harry and Parvati. You have insulted both of them.”
“I won’t.”
“You-” Ginny waved her wand. There was a flash of light, and in a second, Irene’s incisors were growing longer and longer- past her lips- to her chin and down. She screamed in terror.
“Apologise!” Ginny snarled, glowering at Irene, her wand still pointing at the other woman. Ron and Anthony were looking at her appreciatively, while Padma, Romilda and Hermione were also spitting fire with their eyes at Irene. Harry was delighted to see vixen’s teeth grow like that.
“Go and apologise to both of them,” said Romilda, as she got her wand out, too.
Irene nodded frantically, as her teeth threatened to touch the floor. Ginny waved her wand again and her teeth began to shrink back to their actual size. Once Irene was back to normal, she stood up and came to Harry. To his surprise, she did look contrite and even shaken. Was she that afraid for her teeth? “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all that,” she murmured.
Harry frowned at the woman. “I want you to apologise to Parvati, not me. I love Parvati and only Parvati. I won’t have you speaking like this to her ever again. Please remember that I’m senior to you.”
Irene sighed, rolled her eyes and sat down to complete her breakfast, giving Harry an urge to thrash her for the entire attitude. Just then, Parvati came down, to get Naina’s toys.
“Irene has something to tell you,” said Hermione, calling Parvati. She stopped in her tracks as Irene looked at her.
“I’m sorry. What I said and did was wrong.”
Parvati raised an eyebrow at the mumble. “It’s alright. Apology accepted.” Her voice still had a tinge of anger in it, and Harry could swear that she was stomping slightly, as she levitated the toys upstairs to their room.
Irene, who had begun to self-serve kippers, spoke again in a huffy voice. “I’m sure Patil’s cooking will not be worth a damn.”
“You can sure say that,” replied Padma, speaking for the first time since the argument had commenced. “But you know, there’s a proverb in Hindi, ‘Bandar kya jaane adrak ka swaad’. Can you guess what that means?”
Irene shook her head. “I don’t understand Hindi,” she gritted out.
Padma smiled. “It means, how will a monkey know the taste of ginger? It eats only bananas, doesn’t it? The value of ginger will always be unknown to it.”
“Excuse me, are you calling me a monkey?”
“Oh yes, I am calling you a monkey. That’s the name which should be given to people who cannot respect others. And that’s my sister you were talking about. I think she was right. Breakfast has no connection with how romantic she and her husband can get. You are just blabbing nonsense, without tasting it at all. And, I think you were arguing pointlessly. It looked as though you never got anyone to argue with for a long time, and just decided to begin a valueless ramble.”
Irene made a sort of growling noise and went off to her room. “Good one, Padma!” Harry said, loudly enough, so that Irene could catch his words. The rest of the breakfast went without much event although Hermione looked stunned and looked after Irene’s retreating back with a pensive expression.
After breakfast, Harry went to his room, to see Parvati entertaining Naina. “Hey,” he greeted, seating himself next to her.
“Hi Harry,” Padma sounded weary.
“What’s up?”
“You know very well, Harry, I don’t want to talk about it.”
There was silence. “Ka, kha, ga, gha, anga!” said Naina, suddenly.
“What was that?”
“Hindi consonants.” Parvati carried Naina and started walking out of the room, but Harry caught her hand.
“Wait.”
“Leave me alone, Harry. I’m in a bad mood, okay?”
“Hey, you know, there’s no point being mad at me. Whatever happened at the breakfast table was not my fault. And didn’t Irene apologise?”
Parvati looked back. Harry realised that he had never seen such an expression on her face. She looked ready to fly off the handle, but she spoke calmly. “Sometimes, saying sorry is just not enough. She insulted you and I can’t take it. I don’t know how you’re able to bear it. And please, please leave me alone till my anger wears off. I wouldn’t like to yell at you, because I respect you a lot.”
Harry sighed. “Fine, do whatever you want. I’m leaving in another hour. We’re going to one of the victims’ house. Just don’t crush Naina in your rage.”
“I know how to control my temper, thanks.” She left the room, leaving Harry to gawk at her. He had never seen her so angry all his life; she was an expert at remaining calm. She never even gritted her teeth, even if she was furious from inside. She always relaxed and let it all go. But today… what was it that made her so angry?
The answer came to Harry with a pang. Whatever happened at the breakfast table was his fault. He shouldn’t have stared at Ginny like that, the other day. But what could he do? He couldn’t decide whether he loved Ginny or Parvati! How could he be in love with two people at once? What the hell was happening to him? Was he cracking up?
Harry brought his knees to his chest and hugged them, looking down. He was definitely losing it, he decided. A person could fall in love only once and with one person. His life seemed to be something different from the usual drill.
“Harry?”
Harry looked up to see Hermione standing at the doorway. “Hey Hermione, come in.”
Hermione went in and sat next to him. “What happened, Harry?”
“We had a row, what else?”
Hermione’s eyes widened. Harry and Parvati had never fought before. “Oh Harry… what for?”
“I dunno; she was angry about breakfast. It wasn’t exactly a row, but she’s never been annoyed with me.”
“That Stance had no business talking like that. Did you tell Parvati about Padma’s reaction?”
“It wasn’t the right time to tell Parvati about all that. But Hermione… I’m worried.” Harry buried his face in his palms and took a shuddering breath.
“What is it, Harry?” Hermione asked, rubbing Harry’s back slowly.
“I think I’m falling apart… I think I’m going mad. I’ve never been through such trauma. When I see Ginny, I get this odd feeling which I used to have when we were together. At the same time, I love Parvati. You know, I feel like running away somewhere, now. I just feel like leaving everything and going someplace where all this won’t be there to trouble me. I never felt so helpless even during the war.”
He removed his hands to see Hermione looking at him sympathetically. She pulled him into a hug. “Everything will be all right, Harry. Just give it some time. Your life will get settled once again, I promise. You need to sleep. Just rest for a while. I’ll call you in half an hour, okay? Relax.”
Harry nodded and lay down, rolling sideways and closing his eyes. Hermione, in the meantime, got up and walked to her room. Ron was sitting there, browsing through a file. He looked up and grimaced at Hermione. “How are they?”
“They had a row,” Hermione replied. “Harry said Parvati was angry.”
“Whoa,” said Ron. “An angry Parvati? I can hardly imagine that. She must have been really, really furious to even look angry. How’s Harry feeling?”
“Horrible, of course, he wouldn’t be delighted, would he? He said he’s worried. He thinks he’s going crazy. I’ve never seen him like that since the days of the war, Ron; he looked ready to break down. I’m scared for him… I hope this case finishes quickly and Harry returns to his normal life. As such, life has given him more than what he has ever bargained for. Orphaned so early in life, forced to grow up really fast, compelled to commit murder… don’t you think he deserves much more than that? I’ve never seen anyone who has suffered more than him.”
“I agree, Hermione,” Ron said sadly. “But we’ll definitely try to solve this whole case quickly, so that we can all live normally. I think chasing Death Eaters was better than this load of shit.”
Hermione smiled and leaned forward, matching her lips over Ron's, but he pushed her away lightly. "Not now, Hermione - the kids are in the room."
"They're sleeping, Ron. Come on, just once?" she asked, teasingly.
"Sorry, but I've got work - you know I'll be leaving in an hour."
Hermione nodded sadly. Harry and Parvati had just rowed and would be back together whenever Parvati would cool off. But Hermione’s situation was taking a different turn. Ron seemed to be losing his affection for her. He kept avoiding her in a way. At least Harry or Parvati did not avoid the other person. They were better off.
Heaving a sad sigh, Hermione went out and sat on the porch swing. Rocking back and forth gently, she remembered the fun she had with Ron, before their marriage. Those days were much better, much brighter. Now, Ron’s enthusiasm about having her as his wife seemed to be wearing off completely. He seemed to be tired of her.
“Hey Hermione!”
Hermione looked up, to see Parvati walking towards her, wheeling Naina in a pram and clutching several bags of grocery. She came forward and sat on the swing beside the brunette.
“Hi,” replied Hermione, smiling at Parvati. “Where have you been?”
“Oh, there’s a lovely Muggle supermarket nearby. I wanted to buy vegetables, actually, and was looking for a greengrocer, but the supermarket’s really good. Besides, Harry said he wanted chicken franks for dinner today and I got some chicken. I was also isolated from everyone, so now at least my frustration is gone.”
“Cooled off on Harry then?”
Parvati looked at Hermione, bewildered. “Gosh, I was not angry with Harry! Why?”
“You definitely took off some amount of your temper on him.”
“Crap, did he feel bad? I know he’s become slightly sensitive since the war.”
“He’s asleep. It took me some time to calm him down. It seems-” Hermione bit her lip. She did not want to tell Parvati about the predicament Harry was going through.
“It seems-?”
“Nothing, nothing…”
“Is he in a dilemma as to whether he is in love with two people at once?”
“Huh?” Hermione looked up. “How did you know?”
“You’re barely an Occlumens, Hermione,” replied Parvati, smiling weakly.
“Well then, yeah,” Hermione said quietly.
“I knew this would happen, Hermione,” said Parvati sadly. “I told him to think twice even when he proposed to me. I am a criminal now. I have committed a terrible crime… I have split them.” She looked down.
“Oh, it’s not like that,” Hermione assured the other woman. “Harry… Harry loves you.”
Parvati did not say anything, and just looked at Hermione. “I guess I’ll go see Harry,” she sighed and walked into the house transferring all the shopping bags into the kitchen magically and pushing Naina’s pram ahead of her.
She entered the house and wheeled Naina into the children’s room, to let her play with her stuffed animals. Then walking back to her own room, she went inside, to see Harry sleeping on the bed. He was snoring quietly and his mouth was slightly open. She started feeling very guilty for removing her frustration on him. She sat next to him, her light body making a small impression on the mattress of the bed. She started running her hand softly on his arm. “Harry?”
Harry’s eyes fluttered open and that was when Parvati realised how distressed he looked. “Huh?” he fumbled with his glasses on the bedside table and put them on. “Is it time already?”
“No,” replied Parvati, hugging him. “I’m so, so sorry, Harry. I was sort of, out of my mind. I couldn’t control myself. I’m really very sorry.” She looked down. “I know you’ve been slightly touchy since the war. I didn’t mean to be so rude. I should have had control over my temper… I didn’t.”
She pulled away and Harry stared at her blankly for a minute. “What?”
“I-I was rude, wasn’t I?”
“Rude?” Harry looked confused. “Oh yeah, rude, rude… nah, don’t worry about that, Parvati, you’re human and you just acted like one some time ago. No one is expected to keep their temper under control after such provocation”” He swallowed his comment about Irene, got up, yawned and stretched. Then reaching for a file on his desk, he opened it up and started reading through the newsprints he had collected about the London serial killings. Suddenly, he looked up. “Parvati, do you know how to contact me through your wand?”
“Yes,” replied Parvati. “Why?”
Harry swallowed and said quietly. “I’m worried for you.”
Parvati raised an eyebrow. “What’s there to be worried about, Harry? I’ll be fine.”
“I hope so,” replied Harry. “But-but you know, the murderer… I want you to speak to me every hour, okay?”
“Yes, Harry, I’ll do that. But could you tell me what’s bothering you?”
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Parvati, I have a feeling that the murderer’s next target is you.”
“Mr. Walanger told you that?”
“No… it’s an intuition. I’m very scared for you.”
“Harry,” Parvati kept her hand on his and squeezed it lightly. “Nothing will happen to me. Don’t worry.”
Harry nodded and inhaled deeply once again. He returned to his file, while Parvati took out notes of her own, and prepared for her joint-invention with Hermione. They were on what they considered a break, working on a potion that prevented wrinkles on people’s skin whatever their age without having to stand beneath the full moon once a month, which was the downside of the old potion available on the market. Presently, the phone rang and Parvati picked it up. “Hello?”
“Parvati Patil…” replied a cold, hoarse whisper. The gender of the owner was indistinguishable.
Parvati froze; a chill ran up her spine. “P-Potter, I-I am Parvati Potter.”
The person on the other side gave a laugh. It was definitely a woman, Parvati decided, but it did not sound human. It was not like Voldemort’s laughter or anything, but it was chilling… deadly. “Who-who is th-this?”
There was no reply. Instead, there was a ‘click’ and the tone indicated that the call was disconnected.
A/N: And... so, the plot thickens... mystery sets in... ah, I love confusing my readers and leaving them with terrible, terrible cliffies. I'm a cruel, cruel girl with cruel, cruel plots in my mind! LOL, am I Ginny-ish here too?
Hindi... it's one of the most beau languages that I've ever learnt. It's very expressive and whenever you speak it, the listener always knows whether you are respecting, mocking or being angry at them (provided they know Hindi). I do love this language!
Killer Instincts by Ginny Weasley Potter
Chapter Notes: Pauie rocks!!! She's just AWESOME, AWESOME AND AWESOME. *Huggles Pauie* you're way too good, Pauie! Thank you , thank you, thank you SO much!
I would also like to thank two excellent people: Andrea and Kristy, who helped me with the behaviour and iciness of Ron and Hermione. I'm definitely not married (and don't plan to be), so I obviously couldn't do those parts by myself. Thank you, dears! *Huggles*
Sweet readers, please review and let me know what you think. And Indians, I wanna know whether you like the cultural mix, yaar, I dunno why you people review so minimally! I want reviews this time!
Mods, please note that anything in this fic that complies with Book 7 is not a spoiler. The outline of this fic was already prepared months ago, and if, at any point, there seems to be something similar in DH also, it's purely coincidential.