Like Lions Do

When Parvati laughed, Terry had a hard time not giving in to his urge to growl at her. Good for her that she was so happy, but he was bloody miserable! She didn’t need to stick it in his face now, did she? Then he caught himself, shaking his head slightly to stop the thoughts. Terry wasn’t the sort of person who wished bad things on others, whether he was in a rough spot or not. Who was he becoming? “No,” he sighed. “I can assure you: It was that bad.” He smiled at the witch, wanting to turn away from the subject that already consumed him. “I think I’ll pass, thanks. Sorry about this,” he said, gesturing at his body. “I’m not usually this bad to be around. It’s just been a rough few days, you know?” He laughed painfully. “Anyway, how have you been? I haven’t kept up with Pads as much as I should have.”

#swipedterry #just getting to my parvati replies #so sorry for the wait

Parvati decided it was her mission to cheer up Terry. Usually she had a naturally brightening effect on others, but it seemed that the wizard really was down in the dumps. “No divination then.” She conceded, the friendly smile firmly planted on her face. “You're not bad to be around; we all have bad days, I completely understand.” Parvati had been rather down due to her fight with Lavender, but since they reconciled she was back to sunshine and lollipops. “I've been good, staying positive anyway.” She answered honestly because really how good can one be considering the circumstances? “Me neither to be honest.” Parvati giggled. “Haven't seen her in a while.” They were so used to spending time apart at Hogwarts that they rarely sought out each other's company; the reassurance that they would always be there if needed was enough.

Lavender pulled out her loose change, dropping it on the counter as two large white mugs full of herbal tea were pushed towards her. “Fucking Ron Weasley.” Lavender narrowed her eyes and gave a cluck of annoyance at the mention of him. A whole year since his reaction to her coming out to him had crumpled his features. Asshole. “He is sort of psycho. Is here okay?” She nodded at a table for two by the window, the two mugs in hand and shaking dangerously.

#swipedlavender #sorry it took so long #finally getting to my parvati replies

Parvati added her coins to the mix, she always carried around change in case she felt a craving for her favourite beverage. Parvati swiftly ditched the subject after noticing her friends less than savoury reaction to the mention of the redheaded Gryffindor. She'd forgotten that their relationship hadn't exactly ended on good terms; it felt like such a long time ago. “It's perfect.” She replied, more so because it looked like Lavender was about to pour the tea on the floor than the actual location itself.

“Bullocks. You’d think they’d’ve sack her by now. Can’t imagine having her as a co-worker, I’d sooner eat dragon dung.”

#swipedron #finally getting to my parvati replies #sorry for the wait

“Tell me about it; thankfully I've only had to endure her pathetic drivel a few times. I'd say dragon dung is a bit far, but I suppose she was never on my case like she was yours.”

Secret Cupid - Ron Weasley

@r0nwheezy

What to get Ron Weasley? Now that's a question and a half. Parvati thought this whole secret cupid thing would be fun however, she was stuck with the most impossible person to buy for. The only thing he seemed to get excited about was food, and that barely even counts. It took a lot of thought to come up with something, but she was up for a challenge. In the end, she decided on a quidditch jersey. Thanks to her parents' connections, Parvati had managed to get the entirety of the Chudley Cannons to sign a custom quidditch jersey, complete with ‘Weasley' written on the back. Honestly, it wasn't particularly hard to do, considering how low the Cannons were in the league, but she hoped he would appreciate the sentiment. Not that Ron Weasley was particularly sentimental. Parvati also threw in dinner for two at Nouvelle, the only classy way to gift someone food. She hoped he'd take Hermione on a romantic date, they could really use a push in the right direction.

#swipedscsurprise #swipedron

Having not spent much time with Padma’s twin, Terry felt a bit strange. Padma had been one of his closest friends, but the only things he knew about her sister were what she’d told him. He still remembered the awkwardness that arose from being the two Indians in Ravenclaw and how everyone automatically paired them together. It wasn’t like that with Parvati though, which he found helped calm his nerves, even as he felt uncomfortable around a new person. “No, please!” Terry practically yelled, eyes widening to twice their normal size. “Merlin, no more fortunes.” He stared into his tea cup, again reminding of the disastrous results of his consultation with Lavender. “Do you know of anything that’ll help me forget a fortune?”

Parvati realised that she knew next to nothing about Padma's friends from Hogwarts. They had, for the most part, stayed separate at school. Not for any reason in particular; they just both had good friends and liked to have separate identities. She'd barely associated with anyone in Ravenclaw really, so she considered her conversation with Terry a learning experience. “It can't have been that bad.” Parvati laughed at his extreme reaction, some people just didn't get divination. Ravenclaw's specifically seemed to have trouble with the subject. “I mean there's always obliviate, or we can have another try?” She wiggled her eyebrows with a huge smile.

#swipedterry

“That’s fair,” Lavender grinned. At Parvati’s suggestion, she felt excitement lifting up her spirits even more. “I’d love that. I’m sick of having to do it for myself.” Arm still linked through her friend’s, she moved up to the cashier, her free hand already moving to her pocket to find loose change. “Two fruity Herbal teas, please. With the leaves.”

Parvati sighed contently, it was nice to spend some time with her best friend again. “I know what you mean, you can only do it so many times before it gets old.” She pouted slightly. “You know, the other day Ron tried to tell me that herbal tea isn’t really tea? He seemed sort of psycho.”

#swipedlavender

swipedastoria-blog

“I was unaware the boring ones still existed, I got straight to the society pages and Horoscopes– Especially your column. Please, I’m going through some things and I desperately need to know or else I’ll go insane.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere.” Parvati grinned. “What’s your sign?”

#swipedastoria

donovanwilkes

“Aren’t I? The professors at Hogwarts will really be thanking me if I send them up there like this, won’t I?”

“I'm sure you'll be in high demand; they'll recommend your services to everyone.”

#swipedmegan

“Howsit over there anyway? That hag Skeeter still on the payroll?”

“It’s pretty good, I mostly just stick to my own office though. Unfortunately, yeah she is. Nobody wants her there, but she’s rather hard to get rid of. Sort of like a bad smell really.”

#swipedron

Lavender let out a watery laugh. “I missed you too, Vati.” Maybe now that Parvati understood Lavender a little more, she would fight to stay in her life. Pulling away, Lavender’s first smile of the day pulled up the corners of her lips as she ran a thumb under her eyes to catch any tears. “Oh my God, we are so stupid. Totally ruining our mascara.” The only makeup she ever really bothered with anymore. Her arm linked through Parvati’s. “I guess I should pay for your tea.”

A huge grin was plastered on Parvati’s face. A bit of running makeup wasn’t enough to ruin her newly-established good mood as it normally would. “I think I’ll live; just this once.” She teased with an easy giggle. “You pay for mine and I’ll pay for yours.” She proposed. “And then maybe, if you’re feeling up to it, we could read each others tea leaves? It’s a good bonding activity.”

#swipedlavender

“I’m calm! I- I am. But it’s not ‘proper’, it’s just tea.”

“S’alright. Figuring out office mind games comes with the territory I guess. We can’t all be stars of print.”

“Hey, I believe you. You’ve officially enlightened me.” Parvati laughed, despite her serious tone.

“I think I’ll stick to the Prophet.”

#swipedron

A flash of a familiar smile surprised Terry out of his now-constant stupor. He watched Padma speak as if they didn’t know each other, each distant word making him feel worse and worse. “Terry, yeah,” he answered. Upon closer inspection, the woman did seem a bit different from the girl he’d been close to in school. This must be Parvati. He’d only met her a couple times, so it made sense now that she didn’t quite know him. “No, you’re welcome to sit her if you like. Can’t promise I’ll be much company, though,” he laughed through a tight smile. “Parvati, right?”

Parvati smirked slightly at the boy's confusion; he must have assumed she was Padma. Really they hadn't had as much fun as they could've with that at Hogwarts, it would have been a right laugh. “Great, thanks.” She grinned. “Nonsense, I'm rather good at cheering people up. I'll even read your tea leaves if you'd like.” She gestured to his cup with a laugh. “The one and only.” Parvati teased, in attempt to coax a real smile out of the glum-looking wizard.

#swipedterry

When Parvati choked on a sob, earning the pair a few more side glances around the café, Lavender’s anger disappeared. Her features softened, arms falling from where they were crossed indignantly across her chest. Tears of her own pricked at her eyes and Lavender had to look up at the bright light dangling from the ceiling and blink rapidly. When Parvati apologised, Lavender could only take a step towards her and pull her into a hug. “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m so so sorry too, babe. I’m so sorry,” she whispered into her hair. Half of it was an apology for acting like a child but the other half was for changing so drastically she couldn’t recognise herself—but she wasn’t going to make false promises. This was who she was now.

#swipedlavender #sorry no gifs #i can't find like any crying gifs for some reason

Parvati started to cry properly, but this time they were tears of happiness. She threw her arms around Lavender, welcoming the other girls embrace. “I missed you Lav.” She nearly wailed, ignoring all of the stares from the other patrons of the coffee shop. Inside, she was aware that this wouldn't be the end of the trouble between them; there was still a lot to figure out. However, hugging her best friend gave her the hope that perhaps there would be an end, and one day they could be happy again. Perhaps not back to ‘normal' but happy nonetheless.

“Oh. Hey there.”

Parvati had sat down at what she thought was an empty table, cup of tea in one hand and the daily prophet in the other. She jumped slightly when she realised that the table was not actually unoccupied. “Merlin, sorry mate I didn't see you. Terry is it?” She flashed the wizard a bright smile. “I can find a new table, if you'd like?” Parvati offered, her grin accompanied by a charismatic charm. She inwardly willed him to decline as she fancied a little tea-time chat.

#swipedterry

“Herbal shite isn’t tea. Literally, it’s not. Tea is it’s own plant. I’ve got no interest in hibiscus-cucumber water, thanks.”

“It’s also the same unfortunate fate that met one of the other trainees. He was right generous about the whole thing. I cant’ tell if that means I owe him a favor? There’s a lot of weird ministrial etiquette that goes over my head.”