Stay here, it's ok to cry
Pink Sheep RPG
Lavender was at the breaking point.
It had been a few hours since she'd left Mara, brows drawn, with the sight of the packed suitcases she was carrying. When Lavender had tried to explain herself, she had done nothing but frown and cross her arms. Lavender had stood firm, refusing to delay her departure.
Memories of her last moments there continued to haunt her. She told herself that it was better this way, better for everyone, but she still found smiling difficult. She could still smell the perfume of the island.
She knew that she could never go back. She needed her life to be peaceful, and unmarred by stormy emotions and rollercoaster love affairs.
It was too soon to test her ability to think about him without pain. Later, when the ache dulled, when the memories faded, she would try. When she allowed herself to think about him, it would be to remember the good things.
It hurt.
She'd held it together on the plane, and throughout the reunion with her mum and dad - she was sure her mum knew something as she'd gotten quite a few sidelong glances - but if she didn't let it out, she was going to explode.
Parvati had always been her rock in the past, so she found herself standing on Padma's doorstep, waiting for someone to answer the door so she could cry on her bestie's shoulder.
Padma glanced towards the door from her spot in the living room, the mock up of next week's issue spread out across her coffee table. She honestly had no idea who would be knocking; Parvati, Mandy and Lisa all just walked or Apparated straight in, and she wasn't expecting anyone.
Rising from the sofa, she padded her way to the front hallway and opened the door.
"Lavender?" she asked in a confused tone. She took in the girl's bloodshot eyes, and her concern instantly turned to worry. "Are you alright?"
Lavender hugged herself, fingers digging into the fabric of her shirt. If she didn't hold herself together, she was going to fly apart at the seams. "Is Parvati here?"
"No, she isn't," Padma said slowly. "She moved out a few weeks ago. Didn't she tell you?"
"She moved?" Her hand trailed up to comb through her hair in a move that was purely agitation. "No, I-I've been in Greece. Where did she move?"
"She moved in with Harry Potter," the other woman said. For reasons that still escape me.
"Harry Potter? Well, where does he live?"
"I honestly don't know," she said, shrugging. She hated lying to the other woman, especially when she was obviously in pain, but Parvati had to wheedle Harry into letting Padma know the location of his home. Not that Padma could blame him, obviously.
"Oh." Her face fell. "Could you owl and let her know that I need to see her?"
"I will," Padma reassured her, nodding. "I promise."
"I..." she trailed off. "Thanks." She turned to go down the stairs, trembling with every step. She just needed to hold on a little longer. Just a little longer, just until she got home. She could do it.
She Apparated into her flat, reset the wards and went to bed, curling up over the covers.
------
Parvati practically flew out of Grimmauld Place when she saw Padma's owl. Somehow, in the whirlwind of moving out she had forgotten to owl her change of location. Of course, she couldn't give Lavender her exact location, Harry was twitchy enough as it was, but to completely forget? That was out of line.
Making sure to grab enough toys and other occupiers of Kiran's attention span to ensure the friends at least an hour of uninterrupted time. She also made sure to grab plenty of food. It was hard to get out of the habit of cooking for a few people and Harry sometimes took notice of the food and sometimes he didn't. It wouldn't be missed.
She clutched Kiran's hand in one of hers and balanced the pans of food in the other. With her foot, she kicked the door a few times and waited for a response. When none came, Parvati kicked again. "Lavender Estelle Brown, if you do not come to the door this minute, I will not be held responsible for my actions!"
Lavender didn't want to move, but she also knew her friend, and knew that she was quite capable of kicking the door down if she wanted to. So she groped along the duvet for her wand and gave a careless wave, making the door open.
When door swung open open, Parvati breezed through, Kiran toddling behind her. Setting the pans down on the counter in the little galley of a kitchen, she installed her son in the front room, making sure there was plenty to distract him. "Can you sit here for a bit, sunbeam, while Mama and Aunt Lavender have a grown-up talk?"
Kiran looked up at his mother and nodded.
"Thank you, dear one." She knelt down to give him a kiss on the forehead before she moved into the bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she waited for her friend to speak first.
Lavender felt the bed dip when Parvati sat down, but she didn't turn, continuing to stare at the wall, even as her eyes welled with tears. "I did the right for me, leaving. I did the right thing." The tears started to fall, and she reached up to swipe them away. "So why does it hurt?"
"Because leaving's always the hardest part?" Parvati pulled her legs under her. "I didn't get out of bed for days when I came to the decision that Michael and I should split ways. The pain hurt worse than anything, but it get's better. I promise. Not today or tomorrow. But eventually."
She rolled and pressed her face against Parvati's leg, letting her tears fall silently. And then once she had started, she couldn't seem to stop. Her shoulders shook as she wrapped her arms around herself and sobbed out her shattered heart.
"Oh, Lav." Parvati leaned down and with some maneuvering, was able to gather the blonde into her arms. "Who hurt you in Greece? Who do I have to go and hex?"
"Gabriel Theoharis," she said between sniffles as her sobbing eased to crying. "I was so in love with him." She followed that statement with a deep sigh. Before she knew it, words were tumbling out. She left out almost nothing, from beginning to end, to the new beginning, when he'd come back into her life.
Parvati felt her chest constrict as Lavender shared her story. While Parvati's time abroad had not been completely filled with sunshine and rainbows, there had been moments of enjoyment. Bright spots. "He'll never see it coming. Nobody expects the mother with a small child," Parvati promised. "Just one little hex, but it will be most painful, I can promise you that."
She let out a watery laugh. "I'm sick of hurting, Parvati. Why can't I find someone who won't hurt me?"
"I don't think there's a potion that'll do that, love." She tried to crack a smile. "Well, there is, but that usually ends badly. Remember Romilda Vane and Harry in our sixth year? I don't think you want something like that blowing up in your face."
"No, I don't want that." She wanted Prince Charming, from all the bedtime stories. What she needed was to grow up and to quit believing that he existed, somewhere out there.
"Of course not," Parvati soothed. "But you don't need him, Lavender. I know it's not what you want to hear, but you don't. If he's not around to see how amazing you are, well," she glanced around to make sure Kiran couldn't see or hear her, "fuck him. He doesn't deserve you anyway."
"That's kind of what got me into this mess in the first place," she replied with a grimace. "I love him, Parvati, but we were just not good for each other."
"Okay. Rephrase. He can fuck off. Gabriel whatever his name is does not deserve one Lavender Estelle Brown, got it?"
"I think it might take a while to sink in." She sniffed, using her sleeve to wipe the remaining tears from her eyes.
"Well it can sink in over food. Come on." Brushing some of Lavender's hair out of her face, Parvati tugged her up out of bed and led her into the kitchen. "I brought food. You have no excuse. There's tons."
"I have a perfectly good excuse. I'm jet lagged, I'm tired, but I'm not hungry." She was whining and dragging her feet, sounding no older than Kiran at the moment.
Parvati sniffed, letting her friend know exactly what she thought about her friend's whining. "Sit." She pushed her friend into a chair. "Food will make you feel better. I promise."
Kiran, attracted by their voices, toddled in. "Mama's serious," he told Lavender as he tugged at the hem of her shirt, holding his arms up.
"Food doesn't work that way for me, sweetie," she replied, reaching down for Kiran and snuggling him close. She closed her eyes and nuzzled him, loving the baby-smell and the way he felt in her arms.
"You're going to at least try," Parvati bustled around the kitchen, her voice taking on a very mum type tone. "You won't know until you try."
"I have tried, I'm just not a foodie, like you." She tickled Kiran, hoping for a laugh.
Fixing a small plate, Parvati put it in front of her friend, taking Kiran from her. "There, something small and bland, as much as it pains me to serve it to you. But Lavender, you're too thin." She fixed her friend with her best mum look. "Eat."
Her stomach growled angrily, making her flush since she couldn't remember when she'd last eaten, so with the long-suffering sigh of a martyr, she picked up a fork and took a small bite. "There, happy?"
"And another." Parvati raised an eyebrow. She had heard the growling stomach. Apparently, as a mum her hearing had gotten better.
Lavender only rolled her eyes and took another bite. "I'm not a child, you know."
"Then stop behaving like one and eat," the brunette said breezily as she began to prepare a plate for herself and, invariable, Kiran, who was still situated on her hip. "We both know you're hungry, Lav."
Lavender made a face and took another bite. She wasn't hungry, not really. She just forgot to eat when she was, or she couldn't be bothered to step away from her canvases long enough. Still, the subject had to be changed. "So, Harry Potter?"
"What about him?" Setting Kiran down on the other chair, Parvati leaned against the table, picking at her supposed lunch while Kiran went after whatever he wanted. She wasn't too fussed at what he ate at the moment, as long as he was getting all his nutrients.
"You live with him, why?"
"Because as much as I love my sister, we cannot live together, especially in a flat the size of hers. And he offered." Parvati took a quick bite and swallowed. "You know how he is."
"Not really, no. How is he?" She darted a quick glance at Kiran to make sure he was looking at his plate before she leered.
"Lavender," she hissed. "It's not like that. Not like that at all. I barely even see him. I clean his house and cook meals that he rarely even eats. Truth be told, I even think he forgets he has a roommate."
She smirked and leaned back in her chair. "Uh-huh. Sure."
"Lav, wipe that self-satisfied smirk off your face," Parvati snapped. "I haven't had S-E-X since he was an infant." Not to mention I haven't had good sex since Michael. "And this is Harry we're talking about. Too noble for his own good. He stopped Kiran from running into oncoming traffic and by the time I caught up to him, he was holding my baby like it was the most natural thing in the world."
"Whatever you say." She believed her, she'd be an idiot not to, because this was Harry they were talking about, but she liked watching Parvati squirm.
"That's right," Parvati said primly. "And you can take another bite. Don't think I didn't notice you just playing with your food."
"You should see a Head Healer about this ridiculous obsession you have with feeding me. It simply can't be healthy."
"I hate to break it to you, Lavender, but you're just the latest on my ever increasing list of people I feel the instinctual need to feed. Neither Harry nor Padma have escaped my wrath either."
She scowled and took another bite. "It's an obsession, I'm telling you."
"Sorry," Parvati said, not sounding regretful at all. "My genes must have mutated as soon as I became a mum."
"I guess." And she would have to guess, because at this rate, she would never be a mum. That thought hurt more than it should have.
Parvati's mouth settled into a thin line. Unsure of what to say, she laid a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder, lending support, good thoughts, love.
She pushed the plate away, all traces of appetite gone. "Thanks for coming over, Vati. I needed someone to talk to." It was a kindly meant pat on the head. A dismissal. She wanted to be alone now, to get nice and drunk on all the ouzo she'd brought back.
Collecting the discarded plate, as well as her own that Kiran had picked nearly clean, Parvati moved to the sink, washing them quickly before setting them out to dry. Putting the rest of the food away, she turned to her friend. "If I come back in two days and find that you have not touched any of the food I left, there will be consequences, you hear me? I know you're not particularly hungry, but you need to eat something."
"I'll eat something, I promise." She stood to hug the other woman, lingering over it for a moment as she fought off the urge to burst into tears.
Squeezing her friend, Parvati pushed away the urge to nag her. Lavender had a mum and Parvati was not her. "That's all I can ask, Lav. That's all I can ask."
"Thanks for coming over, it really means a lot."
The brunette pulled back slightly, slightly perplexed. "Was there any doubt?" she asked. "I mean, I know I haven't been the best of friends, but I'd come for you Lav, I always will."
Lavender didn't have the heart to tell her that after three years with no word, she had a multitude of doubts that were only slightly assuaged by the visit. "So, I'm guessing I'll see you in two days?"
"Yes." Parvati nodded, grabbing a cloth to wipe off Kiran's hands and face. "Would you like me to bring you anything? Sober-Up perhaps?"
A small smile ghosted over her lips. "Yes, please." She wasn't going to bother being sober enough to buy one of her own for a while.
With a flick of her wand, all of Kiran's toys were shrunk and back in her bag. Parvati turned towards her friend. "Alright. Two days time, I'll be bringing Sober-Up and for Merlin's sake, Lavender, eat. You'll make yourself sick if you drink on an empty stomach."
"I know, mum. I will."
"Now, now." Parvati waved her finger, her voice teasing. "That was Parvati the woman talking. Do you really want to know about the time I drank a whole bottle of wine on an empty stomach?" She had been in Paris at the time and her latest beau, Jean-Paul, had seemingly forgotten to mention his wife. "It was not a pretty morning."
"I believe you, and I'll eat." She dragged a hand through her hair, then scrubbed them over her face. "I'm so tired, Parvati."
"Then sleep, dear one." Parvati knew her friend probably wanted her to leave, but she still had to make an effort. "Do you want us to stay? Keep you company while you sleep?" Keep the boogie men at bay?
"No, that's fine. I've taken enough time out of your day already." She crouched to smile at Kiran, reaching out to ruffle his curly hair. "Bye, Kiran."
"Bye-Bye!" Kiran waved at her.
You're not a burden, Parvati nearly retorted, but held her tongue. "Two days."
"Two days."
[Summary: Lavender comes home and cries on Parvati's shoulder.]
Lavender was at the breaking point.
It had been a few hours since she'd left Mara, brows drawn, with the sight of the packed suitcases she was carrying. When Lavender had tried to explain herself, she had done nothing but frown and cross her arms. Lavender had stood firm, refusing to delay her departure.
Memories of her last moments there continued to haunt her. She told herself that it was better this way, better for everyone, but she still found smiling difficult. She could still smell the perfume of the island.
She knew that she could never go back. She needed her life to be peaceful, and unmarred by stormy emotions and rollercoaster love affairs.
It was too soon to test her ability to think about him without pain. Later, when the ache dulled, when the memories faded, she would try. When she allowed herself to think about him, it would be to remember the good things.
It hurt.
She'd held it together on the plane, and throughout the reunion with her mum and dad - she was sure her mum knew something as she'd gotten quite a few sidelong glances - but if she didn't let it out, she was going to explode.
Parvati had always been her rock in the past, so she found herself standing on Padma's doorstep, waiting for someone to answer the door so she could cry on her bestie's shoulder.
Padma glanced towards the door from her spot in the living room, the mock up of next week's issue spread out across her coffee table. She honestly had no idea who would be knocking; Parvati, Mandy and Lisa all just walked or Apparated straight in, and she wasn't expecting anyone.
Rising from the sofa, she padded her way to the front hallway and opened the door.
"Lavender?" she asked in a confused tone. She took in the girl's bloodshot eyes, and her concern instantly turned to worry. "Are you alright?"
Lavender hugged herself, fingers digging into the fabric of her shirt. If she didn't hold herself together, she was going to fly apart at the seams. "Is Parvati here?"
"No, she isn't," Padma said slowly. "She moved out a few weeks ago. Didn't she tell you?"
"She moved?" Her hand trailed up to comb through her hair in a move that was purely agitation. "No, I-I've been in Greece. Where did she move?"
"She moved in with Harry Potter," the other woman said. For reasons that still escape me.
"Harry Potter? Well, where does he live?"
"I honestly don't know," she said, shrugging. She hated lying to the other woman, especially when she was obviously in pain, but Parvati had to wheedle Harry into letting Padma know the location of his home. Not that Padma could blame him, obviously.
"Oh." Her face fell. "Could you owl and let her know that I need to see her?"
"I will," Padma reassured her, nodding. "I promise."
"I..." she trailed off. "Thanks." She turned to go down the stairs, trembling with every step. She just needed to hold on a little longer. Just a little longer, just until she got home. She could do it.
She Apparated into her flat, reset the wards and went to bed, curling up over the covers.
------
Parvati practically flew out of Grimmauld Place when she saw Padma's owl. Somehow, in the whirlwind of moving out she had forgotten to owl her change of location. Of course, she couldn't give Lavender her exact location, Harry was twitchy enough as it was, but to completely forget? That was out of line.
Making sure to grab enough toys and other occupiers of Kiran's attention span to ensure the friends at least an hour of uninterrupted time. She also made sure to grab plenty of food. It was hard to get out of the habit of cooking for a few people and Harry sometimes took notice of the food and sometimes he didn't. It wouldn't be missed.
She clutched Kiran's hand in one of hers and balanced the pans of food in the other. With her foot, she kicked the door a few times and waited for a response. When none came, Parvati kicked again. "Lavender Estelle Brown, if you do not come to the door this minute, I will not be held responsible for my actions!"
Lavender didn't want to move, but she also knew her friend, and knew that she was quite capable of kicking the door down if she wanted to. So she groped along the duvet for her wand and gave a careless wave, making the door open.
When door swung open open, Parvati breezed through, Kiran toddling behind her. Setting the pans down on the counter in the little galley of a kitchen, she installed her son in the front room, making sure there was plenty to distract him. "Can you sit here for a bit, sunbeam, while Mama and Aunt Lavender have a grown-up talk?"
Kiran looked up at his mother and nodded.
"Thank you, dear one." She knelt down to give him a kiss on the forehead before she moved into the bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she waited for her friend to speak first.
Lavender felt the bed dip when Parvati sat down, but she didn't turn, continuing to stare at the wall, even as her eyes welled with tears. "I did the right for me, leaving. I did the right thing." The tears started to fall, and she reached up to swipe them away. "So why does it hurt?"
"Because leaving's always the hardest part?" Parvati pulled her legs under her. "I didn't get out of bed for days when I came to the decision that Michael and I should split ways. The pain hurt worse than anything, but it get's better. I promise. Not today or tomorrow. But eventually."
She rolled and pressed her face against Parvati's leg, letting her tears fall silently. And then once she had started, she couldn't seem to stop. Her shoulders shook as she wrapped her arms around herself and sobbed out her shattered heart.
"Oh, Lav." Parvati leaned down and with some maneuvering, was able to gather the blonde into her arms. "Who hurt you in Greece? Who do I have to go and hex?"
"Gabriel Theoharis," she said between sniffles as her sobbing eased to crying. "I was so in love with him." She followed that statement with a deep sigh. Before she knew it, words were tumbling out. She left out almost nothing, from beginning to end, to the new beginning, when he'd come back into her life.
Parvati felt her chest constrict as Lavender shared her story. While Parvati's time abroad had not been completely filled with sunshine and rainbows, there had been moments of enjoyment. Bright spots. "He'll never see it coming. Nobody expects the mother with a small child," Parvati promised. "Just one little hex, but it will be most painful, I can promise you that."
She let out a watery laugh. "I'm sick of hurting, Parvati. Why can't I find someone who won't hurt me?"
"I don't think there's a potion that'll do that, love." She tried to crack a smile. "Well, there is, but that usually ends badly. Remember Romilda Vane and Harry in our sixth year? I don't think you want something like that blowing up in your face."
"No, I don't want that." She wanted Prince Charming, from all the bedtime stories. What she needed was to grow up and to quit believing that he existed, somewhere out there.
"Of course not," Parvati soothed. "But you don't need him, Lavender. I know it's not what you want to hear, but you don't. If he's not around to see how amazing you are, well," she glanced around to make sure Kiran couldn't see or hear her, "fuck him. He doesn't deserve you anyway."
"That's kind of what got me into this mess in the first place," she replied with a grimace. "I love him, Parvati, but we were just not good for each other."
"Okay. Rephrase. He can fuck off. Gabriel whatever his name is does not deserve one Lavender Estelle Brown, got it?"
"I think it might take a while to sink in." She sniffed, using her sleeve to wipe the remaining tears from her eyes.
"Well it can sink in over food. Come on." Brushing some of Lavender's hair out of her face, Parvati tugged her up out of bed and led her into the kitchen. "I brought food. You have no excuse. There's tons."
"I have a perfectly good excuse. I'm jet lagged, I'm tired, but I'm not hungry." She was whining and dragging her feet, sounding no older than Kiran at the moment.
Parvati sniffed, letting her friend know exactly what she thought about her friend's whining. "Sit." She pushed her friend into a chair. "Food will make you feel better. I promise."
Kiran, attracted by their voices, toddled in. "Mama's serious," he told Lavender as he tugged at the hem of her shirt, holding his arms up.
"Food doesn't work that way for me, sweetie," she replied, reaching down for Kiran and snuggling him close. She closed her eyes and nuzzled him, loving the baby-smell and the way he felt in her arms.
"You're going to at least try," Parvati bustled around the kitchen, her voice taking on a very mum type tone. "You won't know until you try."
"I have tried, I'm just not a foodie, like you." She tickled Kiran, hoping for a laugh.
Fixing a small plate, Parvati put it in front of her friend, taking Kiran from her. "There, something small and bland, as much as it pains me to serve it to you. But Lavender, you're too thin." She fixed her friend with her best mum look. "Eat."
Her stomach growled angrily, making her flush since she couldn't remember when she'd last eaten, so with the long-suffering sigh of a martyr, she picked up a fork and took a small bite. "There, happy?"
"And another." Parvati raised an eyebrow. She had heard the growling stomach. Apparently, as a mum her hearing had gotten better.
Lavender only rolled her eyes and took another bite. "I'm not a child, you know."
"Then stop behaving like one and eat," the brunette said breezily as she began to prepare a plate for herself and, invariable, Kiran, who was still situated on her hip. "We both know you're hungry, Lav."
Lavender made a face and took another bite. She wasn't hungry, not really. She just forgot to eat when she was, or she couldn't be bothered to step away from her canvases long enough. Still, the subject had to be changed. "So, Harry Potter?"
"What about him?" Setting Kiran down on the other chair, Parvati leaned against the table, picking at her supposed lunch while Kiran went after whatever he wanted. She wasn't too fussed at what he ate at the moment, as long as he was getting all his nutrients.
"You live with him, why?"
"Because as much as I love my sister, we cannot live together, especially in a flat the size of hers. And he offered." Parvati took a quick bite and swallowed. "You know how he is."
"Not really, no. How is he?" She darted a quick glance at Kiran to make sure he was looking at his plate before she leered.
"Lavender," she hissed. "It's not like that. Not like that at all. I barely even see him. I clean his house and cook meals that he rarely even eats. Truth be told, I even think he forgets he has a roommate."
She smirked and leaned back in her chair. "Uh-huh. Sure."
"Lav, wipe that self-satisfied smirk off your face," Parvati snapped. "I haven't had S-E-X since he was an infant." Not to mention I haven't had good sex since Michael. "And this is Harry we're talking about. Too noble for his own good. He stopped Kiran from running into oncoming traffic and by the time I caught up to him, he was holding my baby like it was the most natural thing in the world."
"Whatever you say." She believed her, she'd be an idiot not to, because this was Harry they were talking about, but she liked watching Parvati squirm.
"That's right," Parvati said primly. "And you can take another bite. Don't think I didn't notice you just playing with your food."
"You should see a Head Healer about this ridiculous obsession you have with feeding me. It simply can't be healthy."
"I hate to break it to you, Lavender, but you're just the latest on my ever increasing list of people I feel the instinctual need to feed. Neither Harry nor Padma have escaped my wrath either."
She scowled and took another bite. "It's an obsession, I'm telling you."
"Sorry," Parvati said, not sounding regretful at all. "My genes must have mutated as soon as I became a mum."
"I guess." And she would have to guess, because at this rate, she would never be a mum. That thought hurt more than it should have.
Parvati's mouth settled into a thin line. Unsure of what to say, she laid a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder, lending support, good thoughts, love.
She pushed the plate away, all traces of appetite gone. "Thanks for coming over, Vati. I needed someone to talk to." It was a kindly meant pat on the head. A dismissal. She wanted to be alone now, to get nice and drunk on all the ouzo she'd brought back.
Collecting the discarded plate, as well as her own that Kiran had picked nearly clean, Parvati moved to the sink, washing them quickly before setting them out to dry. Putting the rest of the food away, she turned to her friend. "If I come back in two days and find that you have not touched any of the food I left, there will be consequences, you hear me? I know you're not particularly hungry, but you need to eat something."
"I'll eat something, I promise." She stood to hug the other woman, lingering over it for a moment as she fought off the urge to burst into tears.
Squeezing her friend, Parvati pushed away the urge to nag her. Lavender had a mum and Parvati was not her. "That's all I can ask, Lav. That's all I can ask."
"Thanks for coming over, it really means a lot."
The brunette pulled back slightly, slightly perplexed. "Was there any doubt?" she asked. "I mean, I know I haven't been the best of friends, but I'd come for you Lav, I always will."
Lavender didn't have the heart to tell her that after three years with no word, she had a multitude of doubts that were only slightly assuaged by the visit. "So, I'm guessing I'll see you in two days?"
"Yes." Parvati nodded, grabbing a cloth to wipe off Kiran's hands and face. "Would you like me to bring you anything? Sober-Up perhaps?"
A small smile ghosted over her lips. "Yes, please." She wasn't going to bother being sober enough to buy one of her own for a while.
With a flick of her wand, all of Kiran's toys were shrunk and back in her bag. Parvati turned towards her friend. "Alright. Two days time, I'll be bringing Sober-Up and for Merlin's sake, Lavender, eat. You'll make yourself sick if you drink on an empty stomach."
"I know, mum. I will."
"Now, now." Parvati waved her finger, her voice teasing. "That was Parvati the woman talking. Do you really want to know about the time I drank a whole bottle of wine on an empty stomach?" She had been in Paris at the time and her latest beau, Jean-Paul, had seemingly forgotten to mention his wife. "It was not a pretty morning."
"I believe you, and I'll eat." She dragged a hand through her hair, then scrubbed them over her face. "I'm so tired, Parvati."
"Then sleep, dear one." Parvati knew her friend probably wanted her to leave, but she still had to make an effort. "Do you want us to stay? Keep you company while you sleep?" Keep the boogie men at bay?
"No, that's fine. I've taken enough time out of your day already." She crouched to smile at Kiran, reaching out to ruffle his curly hair. "Bye, Kiran."
"Bye-Bye!" Kiran waved at her.
You're not a burden, Parvati nearly retorted, but held her tongue. "Two days."
"Two days."
[Summary: Lavender comes home and cries on Parvati's shoulder.]