Jeete Hain Chal (Gauri)

[parvati patil macmillan]

April 19, 2025

Parvati received the occasional owl from her parents, but it was rarely more than to ask how she and her children and Padma’s youngest were doing at Hogwarts, filling her in on whatever the latest news was with them, and so on. There really wasn’t much more to it than that, though it was admittedly a nice break from some of the other correspondence she had—owls back and forth with other members of staff, Ouroboros communications that she had to be clever about, and the like. What she hadn’t anticipated was that her mother would be writing her about… a Muggle. Apparently, her mother’s late non-magical cousin in India had two (now adult) children, a wizard son and a Muggle daughter. The Muggle daughter—who, unless Parvati had gotten the generations mixed up somehow, was her second cousin—was apparently living in London, and would she mind meeting her for coffee.

Parvati wasn’t sure how word had gotten back to her mother about some Muggle relative she didn’t really know she had, but she didn’t question it. She had grown up calling more people “aunty” and “uncle” than were actually related to her by blood, and she had more than a few unlikely contacts of her own. She was happy to oblige, provided that it would be on a weekend and, thus, less likely to interfere with her work. A few more owls back and forth with her mother, and Parvati had arranged to meet her cousin at some chain coffee store near Charing Cross on the Saturday evening after the Flower Festival, the day before Easter.

Luckily, the clothes she was wearing and the henna on her hands weren’t too out of place in a Muggle setting, and she had just enough Muggle money in her purse to pay for whatever she ended up buying at the coffee shop. As she stepped inside the store, though, she realized that she didn’t have the slightest idea of what the woman looked like, only that her name was Gauri. At least she knew that much, she thought, looking around for any sign of her.

@gauri
OOC: Okay, so this song is from the saddest damn film ever, but here it is.

[Deleted]

Guari was just dressed in casual clothes today, not wanting to stand out too much for the moment. Her make up was immaculate and carefully painted as always, though. That was kind of her trade mark. The blood red lipstick and incredibly harsh black lines on her eyeliner - she never left home without that look. If someone ever saw her without that, they probably wouldn't recognize her.

Her cousin, however, wouldn't recognize her at all. Gauri had no idea what she looked like either, but hoped it would be pretty easy once she arrived at the coffee shop. As she stepped inside, she found that Parvati was the only person of Indian descent there at the time, which Gauri took as a small blessing... unless it wasn't Parvati and her cousin was running late or something. Either way, she walked straight up to the woman with the henna and gorgeous clothes. "Parvati?" she asked, her voice a little louder than she meant it to be. She was never good at being gentle.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

April 19, 2025

"Parvati?"

Unless it was sheer coincidence that someone else was also looking for someone with the same name as her own, Parvati knew that she must have found her cousin. She turned at the sound of the younger woman's voice and saw that the woman she was facing was also the only other person in the coffee shop who resembled her. Parvati smiled softly at her; although dressed casually, the woman who she assumed was her cousin had made up her face and was wearing red lipstick.

"Hi. Gauri?" she asked, her voice warm as she spoke. She knew how awkward it was for her to be meeting some family member she'd never heard of for the first time—and a Muggle, at that—and imagined that it must have been the same for Gauri, too.

@gauri

[Deleted]

Parvati confirmed it was her by saying 'Gauri', which made her breathe a sigh of relief. "Hi, hi. Hello," Wow, three greetings. Great. She cleared her throat, "it's lovely to finally meet you. I'm sure you've had a lovely life here in England," she commented, trying to be social-able. She wasn't even sure the best way to get started with ordering coffee, sitting down, having a conversation. Good gods, conversations were hard for her. "Are you in contact with Skanda? Because of, well, you know," her magical brother would probably have loved to get any connection to magical family he could, seeing as he was so stuck up about it. But, at the same time, he probably thought himself better than Parvati for all sorts of reasons anyway... that was Skanda for you.

parvati patil macmillan
(FOUND A THREAD I NEEDED TO ANSWER AH SORRY BOO)

[parvati patil macmillan]

April 19, 2025

"Hi, hi. Hello," Gauri confirmed, looking and sounding visibly relieved to have found her. "It's lovely to finally meet you," she told her. "I'm sure you've had a lovely life here in England."

Parvati knew that it was more of a pleasantry than anything, yet the comment struck her. She was curious as to how much Gauri was aware of the things that had happened in the magical world. Did she know that she had fought in a war as a teenager? Obviously she wouldn't have known about Ernie and Pansy and Marcus and that, nor was that a story that Parvati was going to volunteer to her, but it really was strange how little her own relative had to have known about her and her life.

The same went for her with India. She knew what some of magical India was like, and the same went for some of the Muggle world, but Parvati didn't know the next thing about Gauri and her experiences.

"Are you in contact with Skanda? Because of, well, you know."

"Your brother?" Parvati asked in clarification, shaking her head as she replied. "No, I can't say that I am." She had only communicated with her mother, though Skanda's name sounded awfully familiar to her, too. "My mum was actually the one who wrote me about all of… this," she explained, gesturing vaguely, "though I would assume that she's in contact with him?" Muggles didn't just pop up out of nowhere.

"She mentioned you're living here in London," Parvati continued. "Have you only just moved here, then?" Based on Gauri's comment about England, it seemed likely enough.

@gauri

[Deleted]

Gauri nodded at the question of her brother, and breathed a subtle sigh of relief when Parvati said that she wasn't in contact with him. It made her feel better to know that Skanda hadn't poisoned her cousin against her or anything... Parvati added that her mother was the one who made her aware of the family connection, saying that she assumed her mother was in contact with him. "Yes... yes, he probably was seeking other... people like him and latched onto your mother in an attempt to get to know you. He'll contact you, I'm sure of it," she grimaced, already feeling jealous that her brother would probably whisk her new interesting family away from her.

Parvati asked about England and Gauri nodded, "yes, indeed. Very new. We used to visit a lot so it's not entirely unfamiliar to me but I decided I needed some space from the rest of the family... and you have a twin sister? Does she live here as well?" she wanted to ask if the twin was magical too, but she had no doubt that she was.

parvati patil macmillan
(... I lost it again. Honestly, bug me if it's been more than 30 days :,D)

[parvati patil macmillan]

April 19, 2025

The impression that Gauri gave of her brother wasn’t the most positive one, Parvati observed, as soon as the younger woman gave an audible sigh to the news that he hadn’t contacted her. “Yes… yes,” Gauri continued, “he probably was seeking other… people like him and latched onto your mother in an attempt to get to know you. He'll contact you, I'm sure of it.” And, with that surety, Gauri made what could be described only as a look of displeasure.

Parvati knew that she would need to ask Gauri about her brother and why she had worded things as she had, but that probably wasn’t the best way to break the ice with a Muggle relation of hers whom she barely knew. Gauri explained that she was new to London but that she had visited before, which was fair enough. The reason, she explained, was that she had needed space from the rest of her family, which Parvati wasn’t yet sure how to take. (Just who were her family members, aside from her and Padma and their mother?)

“And you have a twin sister? Does she live here as well?”

Parvati nodded. “Yes, I’m a twin. My sister’s called Padma,” she smiled, knowing that she had probably come up in some correspondence along the way, too. “And she lives here,” she answered. It was all very basic, for someone who was her relative. It felt a bit uncomfortable, if Parvati was honest with herself.

“Sorry,” she apologized, knowing that she and Gauri wouldn’t be able to speak as candidly as it seemed that they wished to in public like they were, “but your brother…?” She didn’t know exactly what her question was; she had never heard anything of him before, but there was something that didn’t sit well with her. “Has he sent you here?” Or had Gauri come to warn them?

@gauri

[Deleted]

So her sister was around, and Parvati apologized for their conversation not being able to be more fluid. She asked about Skanda and Gauri noticeably grimaced. She was NOT graceful when it came to hiding her emotions. "My brother has nothing to do with my coming here," aside from the fact that she really, really didn't want to be around him. The kid drove her absolutely insane. "I'd love to get to know your... world more, cousin,"s he stated, calming from her grimace about Skanda.

It was a lovely rest of the afternoon and soon they were talking more like friends and less like strangers. Gauri saw that the two of them could really bond and, maybe, Gauri could be an escape from the troubles of the Wizarding World.

parvati patil macmillan
(the end!)