who: parvati and penny / @thirdwars
where: brown-patil home, unicorn sanctuary
Parvati always felt the call of her home with Lavender and their children when she was away, even for a short time, but she’d felt it so much more urgently, in the last few days than ever before. Despite the fact that all she had been doing was walk the borders of the sanctuary, shoring up protective spells, it had been a long day. The problem, she had identified early, was that casting defensive charms was the worst kind of thing for Parvati to be doing when all she could think about was who she had failed to protect. Her Rafe. It had played out a million times in her mind. The Death Eaters attacking, swarming. Her Rafe falling. It was so vivid in her mind that she could mistake it for a vision, if she didn’t know its awful reality. Even returning home wasn’t enough to lift the bone-deep weariness she felt. She’d intended to just have a cup of tea, and then perhaps go to the hospital for the night, but upon entering the kitchen, she’d caught sight of Penny, tucked up on the sofa, her face morose. “Oh, Penny.”
Everything she was feeling, she knew her daughter would be too. Penny had that kind of heart. As small as she might be making herself now, curled into a ball, she’d never be able to contain her emotions. Parvati sat beside her, arms going around her daughter. She would never be able to hold on tight enough for her liking. “Come here, lovey. Rafe will be out of St. Mungo’s soon, and we’ll bring him home, and we’ll take care of him.” Parvati’s comforting words did little to numb the ache in her own heart. It had been one thing to let her son join the Order - quite another now that she was seeing what the consequences were. Half to herself, she added, “And then I might have a talk with your brother about - well, about what he’s going to do in the future.” It could have been so much worse. If Parvati had her way, Rafe would be leaving the Order immediately. At least Penny was firmly against being part of it.