Hearts Grow Into Hearts ** (OPEN)

[Deleted]

open!
<3

Astoria needed fresh air. She had been the one appointed to tell the Flint children of their parent's deaths. Both of them, within only a few days. That was probably the worst news of the week, while the good news was that she had been given a promotion to Deputy Headmistress. Unfortunately she had to give up her spot as the Slytherin Head of House, but she still got to teach Astronomy, which she was happy with. She would miss her Slytherin's, but she knew she'd see them often. Even more now than before, possibly.

The fresh air she needed ended at the pond, where she sat on a bench, legs crossed with her furry coat on. Astoria took out a piece of paper from her pocket, her fingers gently brushing the edge of the paper. It was crinkled, and not so white anymore. A small smile grew, and she opened the paper. It was a letter from her husband, from many many years ago when they were only in their 20's. Astoria missed him dearly, as they don't see each other often. Her finger traced his name, Draco at the bottom of the paper.

[parvati patil macmillan]

If the first week of January alone was any indication of how the rest of the year would turn out, Parvati was admittedly concerned. Already, there had been too many deaths and too many changes of which to keep track. She had plans to meet Raleigh Flint in Hogsmeade in a few days' time, and everything until then just seemed like one source of exhaustion after another.

She needed to step outside, even if it was just long enough to give her a change of scenery before going back indoors. The weather wasn't warm at all—which would have helped tremendously if it had been—but that was wintertime. Once outside, Parvati decided that she would take a walk; it would keep her from freezing or from thinking about anything—and especially not Marcus's death—for too long.

When she reached the pond, she saw that someone was seated on the bench there. Astoria Malfoy had only recently accepted the promotion to Deputy Headmistress from Head of Slytherin House, though Parvati had to imagine that the additional responsibility that entailed hadn't made things wonderful for her, either.

Seeing that her colleague was holding a letter in her hands, Parvati remained quiet long enough to gauge how to approach. She sat down upon the bench, too, though she left some space between herself and Astoria, in case whatever the other woman was reading was private.

Seeing Astoria smile, however, Parvati had to smile, too. “Good news, this time?” she guessed, sure that her voice and visible lack of sleep were good indicators of how much of a relief that would be. They didn't need any more bad news, and anything that could be a source of happiness was refreshing.

@jill

[Deleted]

parvati patil macmillan
<3

Astoria hadn't heard Parvati walking and coming up behind her. But she looked up at her as she sat down, and her smile got a little brighter. It had been awhile since Astoria had spoken to Parvati in particular, so it was nice to see her come and give her company. However Astoria also tended to stay in the castle and not roam the grounds so it was unusual to see her out here.

Her colleagues words made her laugh quietly as she looked down at the note. "Oh, no. This is an old letter, over twenty years old. But it's one of our first letters and it always makes me smile when I miss Draco." Astoria smiled and folded the letter back up, placing it in her robe pocket and facing Parvati more clearly. "How are you, Parvati?"

[parvati patil macmillan]

“Oh, no,” came Astoria’s response. As saddening as the year had been so far, there was laughter, however tinged with an understanding that things weren’t getting any better. “This is an old letter,” she explained, “over twenty years old. But it's one of our first letters and it always makes me smile when I miss Draco.”

Parvati couldn’t imagine how much of a challenge it must have been for Astoria and Draco to maintain their marriage, with her being at the school. That was one thing that she didn’t have to worry about, she thought; her marriage had fallen apart without the addition of distance, and any relationship that might have been with Marcus had gone with his death. Hogwarts was its own microcosm so much of the time, and it was easy to get wrapped up in it. Managing to break through that took effort—an effort that she had been willing to make with Marcus.

She nodded a little at Astoria, who had since folded her letter. Her colleague also had an infant daughter at home. Astoria had Scorpius at Hogwarts, of course, but being separated from her child when she was still so young… Having both of her sons at Hogwarts at eleven had been hard enough.

“How are you, Parvati?”

It took Parvati a moment to come up with her response, despite its having been such a simple question. “I’m alright,” she replied. “How are you?”

@jill

[Deleted]

parvati patil macmillan
<3

In all honesty, Astoria felt like the distance between her and Draco made their marriage easier and stronger. When they were together too much they ended up arguing more than ever, and the time spent away was good. No matter how much she missed him, it was like beginning their relationship over again every time they got back together. So seeing this letter and reading it made her heart cringe, but it was a bittersweet emotion.

Her question had welcomed a short silence from Parvati, but Astoria kept her smile straight and awaited an answer. Generally she knew if that question required so much thought, the person speaking usually wasn't as great as you might think. "Oh, just alright? Is everything going well with class and the children?" Astoria turned more, crossing her right leg over her left. "I'm good, truly. Very happy."

[parvati patil macmillan]

Parvati had hoped that she hadn't come across as sounding as worn-down as she was, but she knew from Astoria's questioning her response that she hadn't done the best job of hiding it. “There's just so much going on,” she gave as her explanation, which, although not an elaboration by any means, wasn't a lie. “Everything is alright with the students and my boys, though,” she nodded, wanting to assure Astoria that there wasn't anything about which she needed to be concerned, especially after how happy she had expressed that she was.

“How are your family?” Parvati asked. The last she knew, Draco was still at home, caring for Lyra. “I don't know how you do it, Astoria,” she admitted aloud. “Being apart from Draco and Lyra like you are…” She was sure that she would have fallen to pieces.

@jill

[Deleted]

parvati patil macmillan
<3

"I'm glad, Parvati. How are those boys, anyways? I haven't spoken to them lately." She smiled. Parvati seemed a bit nervous and Astoria didn't want her thinking she was trying to dive into her personal life. While she now was the Deputy Headmaster, she considered that more of the Headmaster's job than her own, taking care of the other Professor's. Astoria tried to keep her mind on the students and anything else that needed to be done.

Astoria glanced over the pond, seeing a few ducks swimming in a line. She smiled. "The family is good. Scorpius is excelling wonderfully; he truly has always had a knack for studies. And Draco is enjoying time with Lyra, since with most of Scorpius' childhood I was home with him. It gives him a bit more of a chance to do what he wants." Parvati mentioned not knowing how she does it, and she sighed quietly, thinking of the right way to answer. "I try my hardest to think I've got my son with me, and I'm doing all I can to make sure the family is provided for. And I go home whenever I have the time to see the both of them."

[parvati patil macmillan]

Astoria asked after her sons, wondering how they were. “They're well.” That they were doing well in spite of the madness of everything else was a reason for Parvati to keep some sliver of hope. They still had their whole lives ahead of them to learn a thing or two from their mother's mistakes.

As for the Malfoys, things seemed to be wonderful, and Parvati tried not to feel jealousy towards Astoria just because her life suddenly appeared to be so perfect. She listened to the other woman gush about Scorpius and how he was excelling at school, how baby Lyra was being cared for by Draco—all the while reminding herself that perfection wasn't attainable.

Motherhood and work weren't competitions. Would she have loved it if she could say that she had a picture-perfect relationship with her ex-husband and their sons? Parvati couldn't kid herself; of course she would have wanted that, but it wasn't her reality.

Her colleague's advice wasn't as outrageous as Parvati had anticipated, either. “I try my hardest to think I've got my son with me,” Astoria began, ”and I'm doing all I can to make sure the family is provided for.” That was all that any of them could do. “And I go home whenever I have the time to see the both of them.”

“It's… all about finding balance, isn't it?” Parvati commented, trying to laugh as she let go of her momentary resentment. It was easier said than done to juggle it all; she couldn't deny that. Everyone who worked at Hogwarts, they all had other obligations of some sort. “Truly,” she admitted, “I don't know what I would do without Padma.” Her twin sister was her rock, willing to come to the school and stay by her side until she was in a better frame of mind. How many other people would drop everything at a moment's notice?

@jill

[Deleted]

parvati patil macmillan
<3

"I'm glad, truly." Astoria smiled brightly at the Head of Gryffindor house. Parvati had a few issues within her family, as did everyone. Just because they may not be visible does not mean they are not real, and she knew some people didn't understand that. Not every family was as obvious with their issues, or made it apparent that there was something going on. Her and Draco argue, there are some nights she cries herself to sleep because of the stress with school and Lyla, and even Scorpius had his days with his parents. Astoria just knew how much she loved both of her children, and her husband, and knew that while she had a very blessed life, not everyone did.

Astoria nodded with a gentle smile. "Balance is the one thing everyone wants, yes. It can be very difficult to obtain however." Parvati brought up her sister, and Tori gave her a decent sized smile. The twins had gone to school with Astoria; while they hadn't gotten along back then, she was glad that things had changed among their class and the world in general. "I'm sure Padma feels the same for you."

[parvati patil macmillan]

Astoria expressed that she was glad—“truly”—to hear that her sons were doing alright. Parvati knew that she had to remain grateful for that. Perspective.

But it was balance, Astoria agreed, for which they were all striving, though she mentioned how difficult it was to attain. It was strange, sometimes, Parvati thought, to look back on her life. When she was younger, she had always imagined that, when she was older, she would have everything together. How far from reality that had been!

Even if things hadn't gone according to her idealistic teenage plans, it wasn't all doom and gloom. Her bond with her twin sister remained relatively unchanged—the only difference now was time. And it was Astoria who raised an important point: “I'm sure Padma feels the same for you.”

In her stress, Parvati's first inclination was to be hopeful that Astoria was right about her sister, and then she had to wonder why she was trying to delude herself. Of course Padma felt the same way about her—even if she felt that she hadn't been the greatest sister to her in return for all of the selflessness that Padma had shown her.

What she had anticipated would be a conversation in which all that she could do would be to nod and pretend that everything in her life was going right had turned into a reality check—and not in a way that made her think that she would be coming away from the conversation in a worse mood than the one in which she had been when it had begun.

“You're right, Astoria,” Parvati acknowledged with a smile. “Sometimes I forget how lucky I am,” she admitted. There were plenty of people who grew apart from their siblings as they grew older, especially. “I've always had a good relationship with my sister, and I've got her, at least,” even if her relationship with Ernie wasn't stellar.

@jill