Days and Days (Rusti)

[parvati patil macmillan]

TW/CW: Loss of a child, bereavement

December 21, 2026

Parvati hated thinking of everything in terms of its being the first of anything without Shreya. The holidays were even more of a reminder, from Diwali back in November through to what should have been a happy Christmas. Instead, the weeks had dragged on, and Parvati felt some sort of obligation to do something. She knew that she couldn't handle the socialization in which she ordinarily would have thrived. The parties and even the passing conversations on the street or at the Ministry still filled her with such dread. She could still feel people walking on eggshells around her. That her daughter had died shouldn't have drawn people to her like some sort of magnet, but everyone was so quick to offer their condolences even when Parvati didn't really feel deserving of them.

It was made even more complicated by the mess that was her family life. She and Ernie alternated between talking more frequently than was typical and then not speaking for long stretches of time. There was nothing "normal" anymore. Putting her head down and doing her work was easiest, but she had to throw in the occasional Healer appointment just to feel that she had a grip on her own sanity.

Ordering a wreath from the florist was made less frustrating by the fact that that florist was Rusti, one of the few people around either Diagon or Horizont Alleys who would be understanding of her not being in the "holiday spirit" without the overwhelming pity. What Rusti was to her anymore was complicated—one of her ex-husband's illegitimate daughters and her late daughter's widower's mutual half-sister (via different parents, that was). It was, in a word, strange, but Parvati had come to expect that about her life.

Luckily, the trip to Forget-Me-Knot Florist was uneventful, and arriving later in the day to pick up the wreath surprisingly didn't mean that she had shown up at the shop's busiest. There were customers already inside when she entered, but Parvati hung towards the side of the door until Rusti had finished helping them with whatever they were there for. She shrugged her cloak off so that it wasn't on her shoulders all the way and waited, glancing at a bouquet of white lilies.

aurelia edith flint

[aurelia edith flint]

▲

The wreath order for Parvati Macmillan was one that Rusti had been dreading all day. Making it wasn't complicated by any means, but their mutually shared and extremely messed up family certainly was. She had disliked interacting with the woman even while at school, when her parents had died and everything came out about how Ernie Macmillan was her and her sister's father, not Marcus Flint. To make matters even worse, and that was apparently possible, her brother (half-brother, technically) had decided it was an excellent idea to start shagging Parvati's daughter, who was also her half-sister, and then married her. All of this had happened in her own 'absence' from reality. Because nothing said mourning the disappearance of your younger sister like fucking her other half-sibling. And then Shreya went and died in the burning of Hogwarts. Rusti knew she was supposed to feel something, but they'd never had any meaningful interactions whilst at school, and their only similarity was sharing a scumbag of a father. She literally couldn't win no matter who her father was.

But none of that was Parvati's fault, and Rusti knew that, she just disliked the interaction that could possibly come from it. There were still social situations she was trying to overcome because of her upbringing, and dealing with too much compassion felt horrifyingly fake to her even if it actually wasn't. She still hadn't gotten to the point of wanting to accept that fact that she, her sister, and Parvati had all drawn a bad hand in this really fucked up game of life, and that they were sort of on the same side as much as that seemed impossible at times.

The customers today had been frequent enough that she had almost forgotten about the pick up that was supposed to happen. While collecting sickles from a customer for another wreath order, she saw Parvati enter the shop. It would have been so much easier to ask Penelope to help her, but Rusti decided that this was something she had to do.

"Afternoon," Rusti called out to her, trying to keep her tone as neutral as possible. "Did you want one of those as well?" Referring to the bouquet of white lilies she had seen Parvati looking at. A flick of her wand and the correct wreath would be summoned from the shelf behind her and onto the counter. No need to be inefficient.

parvati patil macmillan ● 402 ● song by artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[parvati patil macmillan]

TW/CW: Loss of a child, bereavement

December 21, 2026

It didn't bother Parvati that she wasn't the only customer in the shop. Rusti had a business to run, and Parvati was happy to see that it was doing well. Making a name for herself beyond what happened to her parents—and then her supposed death on top of that—was good for her.

"Afternoon," Rusti greeted her when she saw her there. She didn't sound particularly warm about it, but neither was she hostile. Apparently having seen that she was looking at the bouquet of lilies, she added, "Did you want one of those as well?"

Shaking her head as she offered Rusti as much of a smile as she could, Parvati declined politely. "No thank you," she replied gently, seeing that Rusti was summoning over the wreath that she had ordered. "Just the wreath, please." Parvati didn't know what she would have done with the arrangement of lilies. She didn't even need the wreath. Buying it was more of a compulsion, a way of attempting to put her life back together amidst her grief.

"Actually," Parvati reconsidered quietly once she had already approached the counter and gotten out her purse to pay, "I'll take the lilies, too, Rusti." The flowers were pretty, too pretty to leave there, and they would end up dying eventually anyway. "How much do I owe you, darling?"

aurelia edith flint

[aurelia edith flint]

▲

She didn’t know why she felt like drawing this out longer than necessary, but instead of summoning the wreath from the wrack it hung on like she had with every other person’s wreath so far, Rusti physically walked over and looked for it. Putting her wand down actually felt strange, because the action had become such a normal thing to do for the past few weeks.

The wreath in question had specifically been kept on one end so that it was easier to retrieve, mostly because she didn’t want this one out of all the wreaths to get tangled up. A broken piece of merchandise meant having to redo it and then having to confront Parvati again. Maybe the walk to the end of the store to get the wreath was her own way of telling her that she didn’t want to be hostile and that of all times, now was the one where she had to be absolutely on her best behavior. While she knew she didn’t owe Parvati anything, and vice-versa, there was so much weird in their collective families that just existing in the same space felt stiff and uncomfortable. Especially when it shouldn’t have.

As she slid the wreath off of the wooden knob it had been hanging on, she heard Parvati say that she actually did want the bouquet of lilies. Nodding that she understood, the wand was finally put to use and one of the bouquets gently slid out of where they were being held and bobbed over to the counter, landing next to the wreath. When it came to the cost of both together, Rusti faltered. “Err…nothing.” The thought to not charge for this wreath in particular had been jumbling around in her head for a while, though she didn’t think she was actually going to act on it. She was still trying to recuperate from the months at the start of the year when she’d been gone, and while getting back slowly, every sickle counted. But Parvati and her family were far more broken than her stupid store was, and she knew exactly they were feeling. “It’s a Christmas gift. From me.”

parvati patil macmillan ● 360 ● Home From Home by Roo Panes

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[parvati patil macmillan]

TW/CW: Loss of a child, bereavement

December 21, 2026

Surprisingly, Rusti replied that she owed her nothing. "It's a Christmas gift," she stated. "From me."

"Rusti…" Parvati spoke almost as if hushing her. "Are you sure?" It couldn't be that much more expensive with the lilies added on, and she didn't mind paying for her purchases. She had gone into the shop with every intention of paying, after all. Maybe someone else would have tried to demand special treatment for whatever reason—and that was something that Parvati imagined Pansy might have tried if she were still alive—but she didn't need it. The wreath wasn't an extravagant one; it was just a nice decoration.

Parvati didn't put her purse away, though, as she continued speaking. "I-I don't want to impose if you and your siblings have plans already," she hesitated, "but you're welcome at my flat on Christmas if you'd like." It at least felt right to offer. Even if it wouldn't be the world's greatest Christmas celebration (and certainly not that year), it would be something. "And if you'd like your space, I understand that, too." She couldn't make them be anywhere they didn't want to be.

aurelia edith flint

[aurelia edith flint]

▲

"Yeah..." Had there been other customers in the shop, she may have not gone through with this. Showing favoritism towards some but not others was the best way to lose regulars to the new place that opened in Diagon a few months ago. That still irked her, because prior to her mishap, she had an iron grip on all the floral needs in the shopping districts. Someone thought they'd take advantage of her mysterious disappearance and steal all of her customers. Throughout her body switch, she quietly seethed in the background. She even wrote a few slanderous reviews on their business page from Isla's magic phone. Being stuck with another body had its perks, weirdly enough.

Regardless, if she had been busy, she wouldn't have been able to do this. It was awkward enough for her because she still didn't know how to approach Parvati and the Macmillan family, even more so now. How cruel was it that she had "died", but hadn't really, only for Parvati's own daughter to pass a few months later? Rusti knew it wasn't fair and she didn't want to suddenly become adopted as a replacement. That was just one of the many things that quickly passed through her thoughts as she processed what the woman was offering.

"Christmas is sort of...I don't know how to put it," she mumbled. Awful? Nonexistent? Her parents had always gone off to pureblood parties, and when each child was old enough, showed them off as well. They were supposed to be in tip-top shape at all times, expected to be the perfect children so that their parents peers would consider them for jobs or marriages later. There were always events like these, of course, but once school started it almost exclusively focused on the Christmas ones. Thank Merlin that was done now. Rusti didn't even know what a regular Christmas was supposed to be, outside of the decorations people put up and what she saw in movies. The idealized romcom holiday themed ones were supposed to illicit happy memories, and yet she always came out of them longing for something even half that.

"My sister and I aren't exactly good company..." she added, avoiding making eye contact with Parvati. Not that she should be speaking for her twin at all, but Rusti was pretty sure she had a good understanding of what she did and didn't enjoy. And they'd been raised being told that all the time too. So what was even the point? At least she wouldn't cause any arguments. Her sister though...that was absolutely a different story. Rusti didn't want the two of them to go and then destroy all of the good grace that Parvati was holding out to them. That wouldn't make them any different from their parents; the Flints and Ernie, from what she had heard of her birth father. "But I should check with her first...in case she already has plans for us."

parvati patil macmillan ● 491 ● song by artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[parvati patil macmillan]

TW/CW: Loss of a child, bereavement

December 21, 2026

Parvati had lived through enough people dying to understand that death was painful even for the living, but it was entirely different when it was her own daughter who had died. In all the mourning she had done, no one had told her that it would be torture to outlive one of her children. It wasn't that she wouldn't have Shreya around at Christmas that year; she wouldn't have her there for any special occasion going forward. Having her half-sisters there wouldn't change that, nor did Parvati think that it would. She wasn't trying to replace Shreya, but she could try to turn such a tragedy into something that was less of a nightmare. Or maybe she simply couldn't fathom being alone with the realization that Shreya was dead.

It was a foolish idea anyway, Parvati tried to tell herself as Rusti couldn't quite gather her thoughts on Christmas in general. "Christmas is sort of… I don't know how to put it," she said, though Parvati wasn't sure that she could have done better at describing it if she had been put up to the task. Celebrating Christmas with Marcus and Pansy couldn't have been the most joyous of times. In fact, using the word "celebrating" was likely a stretch.

Understanding the point that Rusti had been trying to make, Parvati nodded her head. The Flint children weren't hers, and they were capable of deciding for themselves what they wanted to do for Christmas. It was an open invitation from her; that was all.

"My sister and I aren't exactly good company…" Rusti continued, but Parvati wasn't concerned about that. It wouldn't be the first time that she had had them over, and she knew how those previous occasions had gone. "But I should check with her first… in case she already has plans for us."

"Of course," answered Parvati. Her response was quick, mostly because she took what Rusti had said as a polite rejection of her invitation. "I'm not planning anything massive, so don't worry about that."

aurelia edith flint

[aurelia edith flint]

▲

Would it actually be that awful to go? There were definitely positives and negatives to it, and the last thing she wanted to do was stroll into a Christmas dinner full of doom and gloom, only making it worse because of her and her sister's bastard existence. She knew that it wasn't their fault for being who they were. There was no controlling that. The part that concerned her the most was Parvati's state. This wasn't going to be an easy Christmas no matter how much the woman thought it might be. Aurelia remembered the first one without her parents. It had been a struggle, and they were absolutely horrible examples of humanity. Simply remembering a 'happy' thought about those terrible years growing up was tear inducing back then. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like grieving a child that was actually
loved. And she sort of didn't want to be there to witness it either. That was too intimate of a moment to intrude on. She and her sister were not replacements for Shreya either. Basically there was a line that needed to be respected for all of their own good. Dinner in general wasn't bad, but this could be. arhat was why she was leaving it up to her sister. She'd have a more definitive answer.

"Ok..." she responded quietly before continuing, "I really will ask her. It's just that we like to make these sorts of decisions together now." It was only the two of them, after all. Things were too awkward with their brothers still, and she knew even less after the island incident. She supposed it was better that way. "I'll send an owl tomorrow since I'm seeing her tonight." Did she really need to keep adding to it? Who was she even trying to convince at this point? Thankfully another customer walked in before Aurelia could keep blabbering on about maybe (but not really) showing up for Christmas. It would save poor Parvati immensely.

parvati patil macmillan ● 334 ● song by artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0