Ablaze (Sav)

[parvati patil macmillan]

November 2025

Receiving the news that she was going to be a grandmother years before she had ever anticipated to have that conversation was something to which Parvati was still adjusting. Sav was taking responsibility for himself and over the situation, the exact details of which she still wasn't completely clear on. She was going to be a grandmother at barely forty-six, and she had never felt older. It was surreal to realize that that—like so many things that she hadn't expected to happen before it—that was really her life. But she had adjusted to all the rest, and she was sure that she would come around more and more to the idea in time.

It was a Wednesday evening, mostly so that Parvati could avoid interfering too much with Sav's schedule, and she had opted to go into Hogsmeade to her flat rather than host him at the castle because she didn't want to cause a commotion amongst the students just because her son the Puddlemere United player happened to be there.

Parvati hadn't gone with any of the "make a cuppa and fret over things left and right" routine, mostly because she wasn't exactly nervous about it and couldn't be bothered. There was tea around if Sav wanted it, but it was, by far, the least tense she'd felt about a conversation that she'd had with Sav in quite some time.

Probably because she had had time to sit with the news, she felt more relaxed, and she had the WWN playing faintly in the background as she sat on the sofa. "I just wanted to chat someplace that wasn't the tearoom, this time," she clarified with a small smile. "I didn't want to start a mob at the school just because a Quidditch player happened to be there, and I didn't just want to use owl post or something… I don't want it to be that we're only talking when it's something massive."

@sav

[Deleted]

His mother had invited him over for a chat that Wednesday evening and he had agreed. His Quidditch schedule was kind of all over the place so it was kind of surprising that it even worked out. But since it did, he didn’t really have any reason to decline her invitation. He had almost asked Ana if she wanted to come along, but he didn’t want to subject her to his mother just yet. He was sure they would be around each other enough over the next 18 years at least. She explained why she had asked him to meet her at her apartment rather than the school or someplace public. He nodded, though he wasn’t really sure anything would happen at the school. They were almost all people he had gone to school with, after all. He had only graduated last year. “Sure. I agree.” he nodded when she said that she didn’t want them to only talk if there was something massive to talk about. However, Sav couldn’t help but wonder if there was something going unsaid. Something that she did want to talk about. “So how are you, then? How’s the new year going?”

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

November 2025

Sav started off by asking her how she was and how the new year at Hogwarts was going. It had been about two months since it had started, and things had settled back down into a routine for most people, including Parvati herself. She was grateful not to be dealing with any more of the logistics related to Zombie Island, though, she had to say. It was more moving pieces than the students really seemed to give the staff credit for, and she hadn't been very enthused about the whole thing, regardless.

Before long, it would be time for the students' winter holidays, which would hopefully give her more time to catch up on life outside of Hogwarts, too, Parvati thought. At one point, she had toyed with the idea of going to India for a visit since the travel restrictions from the Ministry were no longer a factor to consider, but there was too much else that had come up in the interim.

"It's going well," Parvati answered Sav, which it really was. "Touch wood, but, you know, it's not too bad." She smiled. "There are some new members of staff this year," she added. It felt like an awfully high turnover rate, but some things couldn't be helped. "Some former Curse-Breakers, even," she noted, "and all of the new staff are quite young." It made her feel even older, even without her colleagues' knowing that she was preparing herself for grandparenthood. "The students seem to enjoy it, though," Parvati laughed lightly. "I don't know how much some of them have been focusing, exactly, but…" She had been the same in school, so she couldn't really judge them for getting a little distracted.

@sav

[Deleted]

His mother told him that the term was going well and went on to explain that there were a lot of new members to their staff and that they were actually fairly young. Sav nodded along, he already knew that the castle had a decently high turnover rate for staff. There didn’t seem to be a lot of qualifications for teaching magic so it seemed to be a stopping point for a lot of witches and wizards who went on to other jobs soon after. It was probably something good to have on your resume. Maybe he’d consider teaching flying there once he was done playing professionally. Why not? However, by the time that would happen his own child would likely be attending school. He decided not to think of that right now. “I think it’s nice for them to have people that they can relate to teaching them. It’s easier for them to want to listen when it’s not just some old wizard lecturing.” at least he felt that way. He didn’t go great in school, but his best subjects were always with teachers who kept it interesting and who didn’t expect more than they knew the students were capable of delivering. "And your job, are you getting more students this year given the events of the summer?" he asked. It seemed like the world had all but recovered from the explosion, but everyone moved on in their own time.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

November 2025

"I think it’s nice for them to have people that they can relate to teaching them. It’s easier for them to want to listen when it’s not just some old wizard lecturing."

That was probably true, and Parvati, who nodded slightly, could easily sympathize with that. Back in her day (a phrase with which Parvati had no plans to begin a sentence), she and her schoolmates had had Professor Binns as their History of Magic teacher. Binns had been more than just old; in fact, he was dead. He had been an incredibly boring teacher, enough so that he nearly put the students to sleep in most of his lessons, and even rarer than managing to keep all of his students awake was his ability to remember their names. She'd been called "Miss Pennyfeather", which she didn't know how he would have gotten out of either "Parvati" or "Patil". Even getting mistaken for her twin sister in Ravenclaw had been better.

"And your job," Sav added, which made Parvati that she wasn't actually one of the old people he'd been going on about before, "are you getting more students this year given the events of the summer?"

Parvati nodded more firmly. He was right in his guess that she had been seeing more students than before, either because they were at the match and had seen the explosion for themselves or because they had been affected by it in some way, not the least with the losses of people that they had known. It had hurt her, too, and deeply. "I am," she replied, offering him a sad smile. "I'm so glad Shreya convinced me to go to St. Mungo's to see a Healer," she mentioned. She hadn't known just how much she had needed it until she'd been prescribed and had begun taking potions regularly. It was something that she had never felt that she had needed in her youth, even after the war. They had all picked up and moved on, which might not have been the best approach after so much trauma.

"I don't know, but I think that's part of what's made me feel so strange about becoming a grandmother," she admitted to Sav, watching him as she spoke. "Hermione will never get to meet her grandchildren in the future… There's Laurel Fawley's little girl…" Time would pass. Things would change. She couldn't stop it but had to accept it somehow. "And I know that I'm lucky, really, that I get to experience this."

@sav

[Deleted]

His mother admitted that she was getting a lot more students through her office this year and he sighed along with his nod of understanding at the general situation. It was tough - in an ideal world, her position wasn’t needed, it was created just over the past few years given the new world they found themselves in and it was unfortunate. But it was good that she was there for those who needed her. Even if it meant having his mom at school when he was there. She added then that she was glad his sister made her go to the healers and he nodded, he had heard about that, just briefly, but he hadn’t asked too many questions. Though he was glad it had helped. “Good. I’m glad you went too…” he admitted.

She continued to say that the events over the summer are part of the reason that she felt so weird about being a grandmother; it was still strange to hear her say that. It was weird to think about it too. Though it was something that was always on his mind. She explained that Hermione would never see her grandchildren, and others, as she mentioned, would be missing other relatives. Sav nodded, “It’s not fair at all.” he agreed. Of course it wasn’t. It wasn’t fair that anyone who died would never be able to experience what any of the living were getting to experience, having a family, expanding one, even just going on day-to-day. No part of this was fair. “We’re all Lucky - that’s one of the reasons we’re making this a positive thing. It’s a happy thing.” Sav explained again.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

November 2025

It was occasionally disarming to put into perspective everything she'd been through and everything she'd lost, and Parvati knew that it was better not to dwell on it. Sav expressed his gladness that she'd gone to seek professional help at St. Mungo's, which was something that—in hindsight—she realized that she probably shouldn't have put off for as long as she had. Sav clearly understood, too, how lucky they were, and he said as much. It was a happy thing, at the end of the day, that a new life would be brought into the world.

"Enough of my whinging," Parvati smiled, changing the subject from the more depressing side of things. "I'm not going anywhere," she reminded him. For what little she had a say in it, she wasn't planning on having anything happen. "I know I sort of—I didn't quite know how to take things at Madam Puddifoot's, but you're doing alright?" she checked with Sav, not fussing over him as much as she might have. "Well, you and the girls, I suppose…" It was new territory for her, the arrangement that he apparently had with Katherine Kowalski and Iliana Krum, but she wanted to show him that she was really supportive of the three of them, if that was what they wanted for their lives. "You're all doing alright?"

@sav

[Deleted]

It seemed like ages had passed since their last conversation at the tea house, though it had only been a few weeks. Things were different now and he suspected this would be far from the last time that things changed over the course of both this pregnancy and his life. Both he and Ana had been left completely heartbroken by this change, but it was slowly getting easier to manage. Kathrine was the first woman he could say he loved, and she was gone. “We’re okay… actually, it’s just Ana and I now.” he explained. “Katherine needed to move back to America…” he added, knowing she would ask what he meant by it. He didn’t feel the need to go into the exact details since it wasn’t entirely his story to tell, but he was sure his mother would want to know regardless.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

November 2025

Sav explained that they were okay, but his tone suggested something else, too. He said that it was just him and Ana and that Katherine had needed to move back to the States. Something must have come up, by the way Sav said it. It didn't quite sound as though it was because of the whole pregnancy situation, and international travel had resumed again; they weren't being kept within the British Isles like before.

"Sav, I'm sorry… Has something happened?" Parvati wondered, frowning slightly. She was more familiar with Sav's relationship with Katherine, so it was a surprise to her. Then again, she didn't have much contact with most of the American families—not in the way that she knew the children of the same people with whom she'd attended school. It made it difficult at times, certainly, but it was different when it was her son's girlfriend. "I mean, she hasn't left because of Ana's pregnancy, has she?"

@sav

[Deleted]

Parvati expressed her sorrow over Katherine leaving and then asked a little bit more about why, asking also if Ana’s pregnancy had anything to do with it. Sav shook his head. “No - Kat was actually really cool about that.” he admitted. It was something he loved about her. She had grown a lot during the time that they knew each other. He had grown a lot too. They had been good for each other in that way. “It was just something she needed to do for her.” he said. He wanted to be selfish and have her stay, he knew Ana felt that same way. But Katherine did what she needed to do, and Sav was proud of her for making that decision. “So now we’re just adapting.” he nodded. It was what it was and life was moving on, as hard as it had been on them, they had to keep going. Sav was trying really hard to get better about letting things go.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

November 2025

"No—Kat was actually really cool about that," Sav answered her about why Katherine had left so suddenly. So at least it wasn't because Sav had gotten Ana pregnant, which must have made things easier for all of them that that wasn't thrown in the middle of it. "It was just something she needed to do for her," he explained. "So now we’re just adapting."

Parvati smiled a little at Sav. It didn't sound as though it had been particularly contentious, and she imagined that it had to have been hard for Katherine to stay in a country that wasn't her own. And the Americans hadn't had much choice in staying, with the travel restrictions in place. It was either that or going through some bureaucratic nightmare with the Ministry to be allowed out. "Good," she replied gently. "I'm glad that it wasn't… you know." Of course it wasn't the same as what she had experienced with her divorce, but it still must have hurt not to have Katherine around. It was hard to adjust to so many things at once; Parvati sympathized with that. "Sometimes, adapting is all you can do," she added. "But I'm so proud of how well you've dealt with all of this, Sav, I really am." He had matured. "I don't want you to think that you're so grown-up that you can't ask me for help if you need it, either. Because I'm here, and I wouldn't be offering if I minded any of it."

She hadn't wanted to go into so much detail at Madam Puddifoot's, but she could while they were in private. "I can't speak for the Krums, obviously, but I know how Viktor is about these sorts of things… and obviously your dad is—Merlin, I won't get started on that—but I've got one of those mobile phones now…" It was such a Muggle thing, and she'd barely touched it, but it was faster than communicating by owl post. "If Ana ever needs anyone to go to her antenatal appointments with her or anything… I don't want you to worry about managing your Quidditch schedule and all of that."

@sav

[Deleted]

Sav knew that his mother had a hard time with the whole story of the pregnancy when he had first tried to explain it to her. She was from a different time and he couldn’t blame her for not being prepared to hear that her son had two girlfriends and that they were all in a relationship together consensually. Not to mention that Wizards were constantly way behind the times in comparison to muggles. However, she said that she was proud of him for how well he had been adapting but then added that she didn’t want him to think that he couldn’t ask her for help. He nodded, but he wanted to cringe. He knew he could ask her for help. He knew she would help in an instant, though he wasn’t sure that he really wanted her help, or any help really. This was a situation that he and Ana had got themselves in and he had no plans to try to pawn off his responsibilities on anyone.

“I’ll be going with her.” Sav insisted quickly. “She’s more important than my Quidditch schedule.” Last year Sav would have never said that any person was more important than Quidditch. There was nothing more important than the game. But life had changed. And while he of course planned to continue to play, he would do what he needed to do to put his little family first whenever he could. “But thanks mom, I know we can ask if we need anything, and I’ll pass that on to Ana too.” he added, not wanting to leave it on a tense note.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

November 2025

Sav cut in immediately at her offer to accompany Ana to any of her appointments if she needed it, explaining that he would be going with her and saying that it was more important than his Quidditch schedule. Parvati was glad that he was so adamant about having a role in fatherhood, but she hadn't offered her assistance to imply that he didn't want to or wasn't going to be engaged as a father-to-be. She just knew that he was busy and couldn't very easily set aside his career; that was all. He thanked her, at least, and said that he knew that they could ask her if they were in need of anything, which he added that he would pass along to Ana, too.

"Sav, I really wasn't trying to… suggest anything," Parvati said with a shake of her head, trying to clear things up with him. "I'm really happy—I am—that you love Ana and want to put her first. And I don't want you to think for a second that I'm not," because Ana would need Sav's support, and Parvati was sure that she was glad to have it. Besides, he was an adult, and it wasn't her intention to coddle him and keep him from taking responsibility for his own girlfriend and child. "I just… I know how overwhelming it can be," she reminded him. She had been pregnant before, after all.

"And I'm sure I haven't been the greatest help, either," she admitted. Parvati knew that she wasn't perfect. Even though her children had always been her first priority, they hadn't always seen things in the same light, and she wasn't oblivious to that. "But I don't want to be the reason for your stress." She didn't want Sav and Ana to dread being around her, and she didn't want to be that stereotypical overbearing mother-in-law. "I know I haven't been the best at being open with you and Shreya, but I want you to understand that I've only ever done what I've done as a mum because I love you. And I've never wanted you to go through the same sorts of pain as I've done." Parvati spoke calmly yet frankly, clasping and unclasping her hands as she explained that to him. "I know that you know that I've had my share of trauma, and I know that's not an excuse for anything," she added, because she wasn't searching for Sav's forgiveness, "but I guess I don't know how else to explain that I never once meant for things to be this way between us. I don't want to look back on this in five or ten years, wondering why in Merlin's name I couldn't bring myself to be honest with you."

@sav

[Deleted]

He hasn’t meant to make his mother feel bad about what she said. He knew that she was offering to be there out of her desire to be involved and to help them out with this new stage of their lives. He just didn’t want any part of this to seem like he wasn’t involved, or didn’t want to be. He had no plans to be anything less than a great father to his child. He wouldn’t let what happened with his own father be what happened now. He already knew how it looked, but he wasn’t going to let it turn out that way.

She began to explain that she hadn’t meant anything by what she said and that was sorry for keeping anything from them and being less than honest with him and his sister over the last 5-10 years and she didn’t want them to harbor any resentment about it. Sav did, mostly to their father, and he knew that Shreya did as well, but mostly to their mother. It was unfortunate, but it was almost normal now. “Yeah.” Sav nodded, at first not really knowing what to say. It was hard having these conversations and now learning how to cross lines he never would have touched as a teenager. “Well I think now’s the time to be honest, we’re not kids anymore, we don’t need to be sheltered and protected.” he was going to have a child soon, he certainly didn’t need to be treated like one anymore. “I don’t resent you for protecting us, and protecting yourself. It was a terrible situation and I’m sorry you had to go through that. But you need to know now that you raised adults, capable of protecting themselves.” he didn’t want to hurt her feelings, if anything he wanted to reason with her. To take this sense of responsibility off of her. He and his sister were old enough now to be on their own. They were responsible for their own emotions and actions. And they needed to be help responsible.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

November 2025

It had to have been as uncomfortable for Savtaj as it was for her. Parvati couldn't recall ever having had such a frank conversation with her own parents about much of anything without its having been out of her own frustrations, but she knew that such a conversation with Sav was long overdue. She also appreciated that he was willing to entertain it, because she wasn't sure if Shreya would have been as forthcoming.

He mentioned that he and Shreya weren't kids anymore and that they didn't need to be sheltered and protected anymore. Parvati was gradually beginning to see that; she'd recruited Shreya into Ouroboros, as strange as it still felt for her to have possibly put her daughter in harm's way. Sav's reassurance that he didn't resent her for having protected them—and herself—was welcome, as was his acknowledgment that it had been a terrible situation. She hadn't needed him to apologize for that, though.

"But you need to know now that you raised adults, capable of protecting themselves," Sav reminded her.

It was unusual for her to hear him talking like that, but Parvati understood fully that he wasn't saying that to hurt her or to tell her to back off, in the way that a teenager might. He was right; he and Shreya were grown and capable of protecting themselves. That was the goal of parenthood, though Parvati sincerely hoped that she hadn't contributed to their traumas. She would have Obliviated anything like that, memory by memory, if she had to.

"I know," Parvati told Sav softly, "and I'm really sorry if anything that's happened"—her relationship with Ernie or anything else—"has ever made it seem that I don't love you or that I haven't cared." For Sav, Parvati didn't doubt that a lot of that had been related to his playing Quidditch; primarily, it was his decision to go professional with which she had had some difficulty. "It's really easy for me to overthink things sometimes," she admitted, "and I know that isn't always the healthiest."

Adult or not, she wanted to spare him her bringing up the war in too much detail. Piling that on with no warning wasn't fair to Sav, and she sought a balance in being honest with him. "I'm still dealing with things that happened when I was your age," she shared, "and I know that I've got to make sure that that isn't affecting how I treat you and Shreya." Most of the people of her generation and older were still dealing with the effects of the war, Parvati didn't doubt, in some way or another. As much as it might have been easier for her to throw in the towel on Ouroboros and say that she wasn't going to worry about the world anymore, though, she couldn't bring herself to do that.

Parvati offered her son another smile. "I know you haven't always had it easy, either, Sav," because of her, because of Ernie, and because of the countless things that had happened inside Hogwarts and outside of it, "and I'm not going to think that you're whinging if you want to talk about it."

@sav