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last online May 3, 2024 12:53:49 GMT -7
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Feb 12, 2017 23:54:43 GMT -7
Post by parvati patil macmillan on Feb 12, 2017 23:54:43 GMT -7
Marcus's death was still raw in Parvati's memory when she read that Pansy had died in Azkaban. Over the past few days, she had tried to withdraw herself from anything that wasn't necessary to her duties as counselor or Head of Gryffindor House. Even when all she had known was that Pansy was being held in prison, she had wanted to reach out to the Flint children, but she couldn't find the emotional strength to do it. What was she supposed to tell them? They already had a roundabout connection, by way of Ernie's being the biological father of Dusti and Rosaria, but that was no reason for Parvati to be mourning Marcus.
They must have seen her with him at the Yule Ball, which would require either more of an explanation or less of one, depending on how they had taken it. Parvati knew that it wasn't the most scandalous thing to have happened in the history of the world, but it had done enough to raise some eyebrows.
Regardless, it was her job to be supportive of the students, particularly when there had been a significant tragedy in their lives. Having their father murdered and their mother imprisoned for his murder before winding up deceased in her cell certainly qualified.
Initially, Parvati had considered sending owls to all four of the Flint children. It would have been quieter that way, but, with the eldest out of school, she didn't think that it would be feasible to gather all four on a Hogsmeade weekend, particularly when they were now orphaned.
She had been about to step out of her office to go to the kitchens for dinner—making her noticeably absent from the High Table—when she had noticed a blonde young woman approaching the direction of her office. It was one of the Flint twins, and her demeanor (which was the only way that Parvati knew to tell one girl apart from the other at a glance) suggested that it was probably Dusti.
“Dusti?” Parvati made her voice loud enough for her to be able to tell that she was being addressed, though it was far from the strength of her usual tone. “Have you got a moment?” she asked. “I… wanted to speak with you, if you don't mind.” She would know what it was about; Parvati's manner was too somber, her robes too dark, her kohl-rimmed eyes visibly tired.
@dusti
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last online May 4, 2024 7:02:28 GMT -7
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Feb 15, 2017 22:36:46 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2017 22:36:46 GMT -7
Dusti had just left Albus. Not exactly feeling good, or even okay, but at least well enough to function somewhat normally. At least she'd stopped crying and a spell had covered those red circles around her eyes, hiding any hint of the previous tears. She refused to let anyone know she'd cried. Not now, not ever and most certainly not for her parents. She had to act like none of this was affecting her, because she was Dusti Flint. She was cold. She was callous. She was defiant. No one could know about the weak and terrified girl deep down that only her late father (not biological) had been capable of seeing.
So, she acted like it didn't affect her. She would raise her head and square her shoulders and be the girl everyone knew her as. And pretend like she couldn't hear the whispers. Like she couldn't see the expressions from her fellow students that ranged from disgust to sympathy. She'd ignore her fellow students with her usual icy stare.
Dusti just wanted to pretend like none of this had happened, and she'd been doing a good job at it in the few minutes she'd been apart from her boyfriend... until she heard the school's counselor call out to her. It shouldn't have surprised her. It was the woman's job to... well get involved when students were struggling. Two dead parents would warrant the woman's concern. Dusti didn't want it though. Madam Macmillan was the ex-wife to her biological father. The one that had known about her and Rusti's existence since they were born but never wanted to play a role in their life. Never had the decency to even tell them, or even his wife. This... connect made Dusti uncomfortable.
So, hands stuffed into the pockets of her robes Dusti stopped walking, mere feet from the Hogwarts staff member. "Why?" She answered, her usual snark and sarcasm noticeably absent. Dusti just couldn't muster her usual emotional response right now,.
parvati patil macmillan
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last online May 3, 2024 12:53:49 GMT -7
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Feb 15, 2017 23:49:55 GMT -7
Post by parvati patil macmillan on Feb 15, 2017 23:49:55 GMT -7
“Why?”
Parvati drew her lips into a line. She knew that people had been talking; she'd tried to ignore as much of that talk as she could without permitting the rumors to run wild. Dusti was probably just as tired of it as she was, even though she didn't know that half of it.
“I just wanted to check in on you,” Parvati replied, trying to sound casual since their voices were able to carry in the corridor. “Routine… You know…” After she'd spoken, she mouthed what she had wanted to say. Just enough air had passed through her lips to consider it a whisper. “Your mum and dad.”
Silently, she stepped back, holding her door open in case Dusti wanted to come in. Partially, too, it was for her own sake; she didn't want to break down so publicly.
@dusti
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last online May 4, 2024 7:02:28 GMT -7
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Feb 20, 2017 9:12:45 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2017 9:12:45 GMT -7
Asking why really hadn't been necessary. Dusti knew why, it was obvious. Both her parents were died. Via murder and who knew what had caused Pansy to die. Probably knowing she'd do thoroughly screwed up her children's lives that her heart gave out in joy. Dusti's hard to read expression didn't change as Madam Macmillan spoke, answering the wuestion even though she didn't need to and then went into her office the door held open in anticipation of Dusti's cooperation. Dusti exhaled before letting herself follow. She was so exhausted emotionally that she didn't even attempt to put up an argument. Dusti's sudden cooperation was extremely uncharacteristic of the normally rebellious and defiant teenager.
Upon taking a seat in one of the chairs, Dusti folded her arms protectively across her chest and looked in the opposite direction of the older woman. "There isn't anything to say about it. They're dead and that's that." Dust tried to muster her usual icy tone but failed. It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself.
parvati patil macmillan
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last online May 3, 2024 12:53:49 GMT -7
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Feb 21, 2017 12:14:58 GMT -7
Post by parvati patil macmillan on Feb 21, 2017 12:14:58 GMT -7
Dusti went inside the office, and Parvati held the door open for her, closing it once she, too, was inside. While Dusti went and sat down, Parvati grabbed her wand and pointed it at the door, speaking the incantation quickly yet softly. “Muffliato!”
Setting her wand onto her desk, she sat down at her desk chair, which she turned to face Dusti. “There isn't anything to say about it,” the young woman said. “They're dead and that's that.”
“I know,” Parvati replied gently in spite of her own voice's nearly breaking. “I know…” There was no changing it. It was difficult for her because of Marcus alone; Dusti had lost the parents who had raised her.
The Hogwarts staff were equipped to help as much as they could, and Parvati was sure that Astoria had already spoken with the girls, if not with their brother in Ravenclaw at the same time. She didn't envy Astoria for being the one to have to break the news to them, if the Daily Prophet hadn't done it first.
“…Would you like anything?” Parvati offered after another moment. She wouldn't blame Dusti if she was lacking an appetite. “Tea? Biscuits? Chocolate?” They weren't particularly healthy options, but they were something that might have been able to take Dusti's mind off of everything.
@dusti
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last online May 4, 2024 7:02:28 GMT -7
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Feb 28, 2017 15:23:14 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2017 15:23:14 GMT -7
A silencing spell. Immediately Dusti's fight or flight instinct awoke. Parvati didn't want to be overheard. For Dusti that wasn't good, because the last time she'd been alone with the woman she'd been tellin Dusti that her ex husband was really Dusti's father. How ironic. Between two fathers and a mother none of them wanted her or could at least be decent human beings.
To Dusti's shock Parvati didn't push it. Didn't try to make force the issue of Dusti announcing they were dead and that it didn't matter. Instead she offered something to drink or eat. Normal Dusti would refuse immediately. But this Dusti? The only trying to figure out how to even function and breath? Well, she'd already proven to be pretty cooperative. "Tea's fine..." she quietly answered as she averted her gaze once more.
parvati patil macmillan (Is this after Parvati spoke with Raleigh?)
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last online May 3, 2024 12:53:49 GMT -7
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Mar 2, 2017 20:23:26 GMT -7
Post by parvati patil macmillan on Mar 2, 2017 20:23:26 GMT -7
“Tea's fine…”
It was easier not to think about everything else, but compartmentalization outside of Occlumency could only accomplish so much. To Dusti's response, it took Parvati a moment to process what she was doing. Everything seemed to be moving so slowly, and she watched Dusti's expression as she looked away.
Parvati nodded, relying again on her wand to summon the cup, saucer, teabags, and milk. She was surprised that she had managed that much, though she had to conjure up a table first for them to be of any use to Dusti. “Here.” She had arranged the supplies for the tea on the table before them, then spouted water into the cup for Dusti, which she then heated.
“You, um… You can prepare it however you'd like,” Parvati added, hoping to break the silence between them aside from the occasional noise of her bangles as they shifted on her wrists. She had a few different varieties of tea laid out, though there wasn't anything special about the milk or the sugar.
@dusti OOC: Already mentioned this to you on Discord after your post, but, for reference, prior to it.
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last online May 4, 2024 7:02:28 GMT -7
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Mar 14, 2017 14:02:43 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2017 14:02:43 GMT -7
The 'issue' at hand hadn't been brought up yet. About her parents. That was what Madam MacMillan wanted to discuss after all. The... niceties wouldn't change that fact. It'd just delay the inevitable. The tea was set up quickly, and madam Macmillan was telling her that she could prepare her cup how ever she wanted. Silent, Dusti looked back just long enough to reach out and take the cup meant for her and dropped a random tea bag into it. She didn't care what it was as she leaned back into the chairand stared down at the cup, watching the tea slowly change the color of the water. "You should just ask me. You want to know how I'm holding up and make sure I'm okay." She started to say, as she stared at the tea. "I'm not. My mother was a murderer and home wrecker. She screwed your husband and helped ruin your marriage. But that wasn't enough for her, because she wouldn't be satisfied until she destroyed her own as well and left us with her blood soaked legacy." Brutal but honest. For Dusti this was extremely uncharacteristic. She never spoke like this to anyone besides Albus. Never... opened up to them.
"But why does it matter? Because I'm not even a Flint. But at least my brothers only have to worry about two parents not wanting them, because at least those two are dead. I still have to deal with another parent, still alive and well, that's wanted absolutely nothing to do with me because chasing after my psychotic mother and screwing the consequences was better." Dusti looked up finally, her eyes dark as she stared intensely at the teacher. "So please, tell me how the hell I'm supposed to feel even remotely okay."
parvati patil macmillan
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last online May 3, 2024 12:53:49 GMT -7
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Mar 14, 2017 20:24:29 GMT -7
Post by parvati patil macmillan on Mar 14, 2017 20:24:29 GMT -7
“You should just ask me,” Dusti began. “You want to know how I'm holding up and make sure I'm okay.” That was only the start of it, as Parvati listened as Dusti said that she wasn't okay and explained her reasons for her current state.
Parvati didn't think that she had needed Dusti to spell it out for her. She knew because she wasn't okay, either, and couldn't claim to be. As Dusti knew (and mentioned), it had been Ernie's infidelity that had broken up her marriage to him. That the Flint twins were actually his children had been a detail that had come after the divorce itself.
Dusti elaborated that at least her brothers' parents were both dead; she still had her biological father whose attitude had been that—in her words and not Parvati's—“chasing after my psychotic mother and screwing the consequences was better”.
”So please, tell me how the hell I'm supposed to feel even remotely okay.”
By the point that Dusti had finished speaking, Parvati thought that she understood completely. It had been the most that Dusti had ever spoken to her, too, she was certain.
“If I knew,” Parvati shook her head and spoke in earnest, “I'd tell you.” As far as she was aware, there was no quick fix. Time was probably the best thing, though it would never be able to change the past. “If it helps,” she added in attempt to make some sort of a joke, not that her tone really suggested it, “I'm not a fan of my ex-husband, either.”
@dusti
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last online May 4, 2024 7:02:28 GMT -7
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Mar 14, 2017 21:04:16 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2017 21:04:16 GMT -7
Dusti didn't know what she was expecting to hear in response to her question. Maybe some sort of answer that would fix everything. That would help Dusti forget how much this all hurt. It shouldn't. She didn't want to hurt. Because it meant she cared. About those monsters she called her parents. Why the bloody hell did she care about them and the fact that they were both dead? Despite this extreme emotional confusion though, and having laid all of her feelings out Dusti refused to cry again. She'd already cried enough already to the only person she felt comfortable enough being that vulnerable around. She wasn't going to let it happen around a teacher.
She didn't get that answer though. Instead, Madam MacMillan only admitted that she didn't know. But hey, at least she didn't like Dusti's biological father either. Dusti clenched the cup in her hands tighter, her emotions raw and overwhelming still. "I hate him." She whispered as she slowly looked down at the cup again. "Merlin, I hate someone I've never even seen...." Dusti had never met her biological father. Never seen him. She didn't even know what he looked like. She and her sister must take after him though because there wasn't much family resemblance between her and the those that had raised her.
parvati patil macmillan
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last online May 3, 2024 12:53:49 GMT -7
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Mar 15, 2017 9:32:09 GMT -7
Post by parvati patil macmillan on Mar 15, 2017 9:32:09 GMT -7
“I hate him,” Parvati could hear Dusti whispering into her teacup about Ernie. “Merlin, I hate someone I've never even seen…”
“I don't blame you.” Parvati didn't understand why any of this had had to happen, either. “I still don't know why he kept it a secret.” If it had been to keep their marriage together, that hadn't worked out in the end. “When I think about how… different my life might have been, if only I had known…” She certainly wouldn't have been led to Marcus, but that wasn't even the most significant thing. “My sons are younger than you and your sister,” she considered. It was enough of a challenge to be a single mother now, with her sons' being old enough to understand the world. Parvati didn't think that she could have managed to get through their infancy and childhood on her own.
“I can't imagine how it must be for you, Dusti.” Ernie was still alive. There was still that connection there, however frayed it might have been. “But everything you're feeling? It's valid. I promise.” The anger, the frustration, the feelings of betrayal—all of it.
As for Dusti's never having met—or even seen—the man who was biologically her father, Parvati felt that she should at least offer. “Would you like to see photos of him?” They wouldn't be the real thing, but they would give Dusti a face to put with the name of a father she didn't know.
@dusti
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last online May 4, 2024 7:02:28 GMT -7
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Mar 30, 2017 19:30:17 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2017 19:30:17 GMT -7
What a secret....
Dusti stared down at her cup, not moving at Madam Macmillan spoke. The woman had been married to her father. Her biological father. ".... How... How long were you married..?" To her biological father. How long of a marriage had her mother destroyed? At the mention of her sons... of Dusti's half brothers she flinched and looked away. She'd been avoiding the sixth year boys all year. Trying to stay as far away from them as possible. Because she had no idea what to tell them. Hey, guess what? I'm your sister because you're father is just as big of a cheating scumbag as my mother. Yeah, that'd go over great.
Closing her eyes, Dusti let out a deep breath. Almost in relief that someone was saying her feelings her valid. That it was alright to feel this way. She didn't respond though, unsure what she could say about it. As for... for the next question... Dusti's eyes flew open and she stared wide eyed at Madam Macmillan. A photo of her father... She swallowed, but slowly nodded. To at least know what he looked like... She should at least know what her father looked like, shouldn't she?
parvati patil macmillan
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last online May 3, 2024 12:53:49 GMT -7
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Mar 30, 2017 21:08:40 GMT -7
Post by parvati patil macmillan on Mar 30, 2017 21:08:40 GMT -7
Unaccustomed to hearing such a concerned tone from Dusti, Parvati was left to pause for a moment when she was asked for how long she and Ernie had been married. “Nineteen years.” They had been married for nineteen years—eighteen, if not for the length of time it had taken to be granted the divorce.
Dusti agreed that she wanted to see photos of her biological father, and Parvati smiled at her nod. Maintaining some positivity about it all, in spite of having lost Marcus, only seemed like the right thing to do. “Here.” She waved her wand and summoned out a thick book that was clearly a family photo album and held it in her lap for a moment, silent. Opening it, she found the first photograph of her and Ernie that she had put in it.
It had been their wedding day, the both of them smiling for the camera. He had been in dress robes and she in a dark green paithani sari with gold embellishments, though both had been wearing mundavalya—strings of pearls that hung from their foreheads—and large floral garlands around their necks. She had waved at the photographer even as she and Ernie had held each other in an embrace, her hands and arms adorned with an intricate henna design and green glass bangles. Of all of it, Parvati imagined that Dusti would probably take notice of the nath on her nose. If she wore a nose ring at all anymore, it was one that was barely visible.
She passed the album over to Dusti, wondering how it was possible that that moment had been captured so long ago. “You can look through it,” she invited. There was nothing in there that Parvati minded her seeing. “That first one,” she explained softly, “was taken at our wedding.”
@dusti
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last online May 4, 2024 7:02:28 GMT -7
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Apr 5, 2017 14:43:04 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2017 14:43:04 GMT -7
Nineteen years. The twins would be turning eighteen next month. Which meant.... At the latest he'd started to cheat on Madam Macmillan shortly after their wedding. How long he and her mother had been involved.... Well she'd probably never know that. Nor did she want to.
Dusti felt.... almost afraid. As strange as that sounded. Afraid to know what her biological father looked like. Because it'd make all of this... real. He'd be her only living parent. The only one left. But he'd never be her father. Even if they ever did make contact. Which, part of her was sure that would never happen.
So when the album was brought out and handed to her? There was a moment when she didn't look down. Didn't dare finalize what she'd begun. After that initial moment though, her gaze slowly, painfully slow, turned downward. It was their wedding day. Dusti knew it before it was even explained to her. Unable to help it, she stared. As if she couldnt' tear her eyes away from the photoalbum in her hands. "We look like him." Was all she managed to say. The only thing that seemed to matter in that moment. At least they finally knew where the light hair came from.
parvati patil macmillan
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last online May 3, 2024 12:53:49 GMT -7
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Apr 5, 2017 23:27:14 GMT -7
Post by parvati patil macmillan on Apr 5, 2017 23:27:14 GMT -7
Parvati waited as she left the album in Dusti's hands. Short of actually extracting her memories and placing them in a Pensieve, she was handing over almost twenty years' worth of memories to Ernie's biological daughter, whom Marcus had raised. She had nothing to hide, and she didn't mind if Dusti asked questions. It was just so strange, thinking about how one man was divorced from her and the other one was dead.
“We look like him,” was all that Dusti said.
She was right, and Parvati had known it since she had first told the girls about what she had discovered in those letters. Dusti and Elizabeth, while not identical to one another, had both managed to look more like Ernie than like Pansy. Giving Dusti a nod in response, Parvati tried her hardest to stay unaffected by it. Maybe it was only because she had been married to Ernie for nearly twenty years, but there really was no way to deny the resemblance.
“Yes,” she replied, pausing. “You do.” What else could she say, when it was true? She looked back at the album, thinking. “There are some more recent ones… towards the end,” if Dusti wanted to see those. Parvati knew that those would be a far cry from the wedding photos, both because of how they had aged and because of how tense things had become between them.
The last one that she could recall having put in the album was one of the four of them—herself, of course, plus Ernie and their own twin sons. It hadn't been an awful photo—or she wouldn't have included it—but, looking back on it now, she was almost certain that Dusti would be able to see the cracks that had been there, the forced smiles as they stood apart and waited for the camera's flash to signal that they could stow away their pretense for the next time.
@dusti
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