Parvati squinted, though she didn’t truly need to in order to know what was on the flyer. She’d caught sight of Neville’s name and that was enough to understand. It reminded her of nights running alongside Luna through the castle, writing Dumbledore’s Army, Still Recruiting on the walls. Neville at the front, the nervous boy somehow turned fearless. They’d felt like ghosts. He was never supposed to be a ghost. “I wish I didn’t. I’ve tried to forget but ...” Parvati shrugged, helpless. She didn’t need to tell Luna that some things were unforgettable. It was a truth they shared, but not the only thing. The fear in Luna’s words was something Parvati knew intimately, but she listened rather than give in to panic. She hadn’t known the whole story about Xenophilius Lovegood then, but she would have been furious if she’d heard it, to know how weak yet another adult had been. 

“You know what I really remember most?” Parvati asked, her voice hushed. “Looking at the adults, at the teachers. Professor McGonagall. You weren’t a Gryffindor so I guess you don’t know what she was to us, but we thought she was invincible. As unmovable as her hair, which honestly, you’d think she used a Permanent Sticking Charm on, it was so tightly wound.” For a moment Parvati’s voice had turned light, exasperated, as if she was still now scornful of the Professor’s complete absence of style. This was something of a digression, though, so she moved on. “That year though ... I just wanted to scream at her, fix this. Do something. End it. At all of them. I didn’t get why they couldn’t just make it better, why it felt like it was all on us.”  She gripped her palms in her fingernails tight enough to leave marks and wondered what accusations would lie unspoken in her son’s eyes. “Now we’re the adults.” And they were no more capable of fixing it than their own parents and teachers had been. There was little comfort she had to offer Luna now. 

@parvatibrownpatil​ asked me to shuffle my playlist and use my favorite line of the next song as a starter              ( meme // accepting // unfinished sympathy by massive attack )

“I don’t know where this one came from.” Her voice airy, distant, as she held up one of the flyers that had come down on the crowds when things had gone dark. Luna had scanned the contents during the remainder of the speeches, unable to look away, eyes continually coming back to the name Neville Longbottom. The irony wasn’t lost on Luna — her friend had once made Hogwarts feel safe again, and now that he was gone, that too, had gone. She looked at Parvati, eyes wide, lips pushed together. She didn’t want to speak about the flyers, despite all the concerns she felt at their messages, as well as a certain pride. They could talk about them later, at an Order member; there was something else stirring inside her.

“Do you remember, how it was for us?,” she asked in stead, never one to beat around the bush. “To live in a castle ruled by Death Eaters? And rebel?” Luna spent a moment folding the flyer, slipping the square that was left in one of her pockets. Her mind was racing, thinking about how her and Parvati’s children were stuck in a similar world, now, how they might be fighting this war, too. A desperation settled in her stomach. “I understand why my father gave up Harry, now, back then.” A pause. Now even Luna struggled with the truth, despite the fact that it always forced its way out. “If Lorcan or Lysander were to get hurt — I’m not sure what I’d do.”

who: @dcwnings sent  🎶 for me to use my favorite line of the last song I listened to as a starter ( save yourself // birdy ) where: hogwarts great hall when: january 12, memorial service

“Look what we’ve become - empty hearts that spare no one.” Her hands shook, whether with grief or fury as she met Pansy Parkinson’s eyes, Parvati didn’t know. There were times she couldn’t believe they were here again. Fighting this war again. Being at Hogwarts made the feeling worse - she could look around and in an instant be back at what they’d thought was the final battle, so many years ago. Only when she saw Pansy, aged past the girl she’d been, did it become apparent that time had gone by. “Not even the children. I’m sorry for your loss, Parkinson. He must have been one of your students.” 

 It wasn’t the Polignac boy that Parvati grieved over, not really. She was just thinking about Raphael in his place, and that was enough to make her eyes cloud over with despair, tipping the balance of emotions over from anger to pain. 

who: @laments sent 📺 for me to use a line from the last TV show I watched as a starter ( love, victor ) ( roxas ) where: hogwarts, great hall when: january 12 

It was hardly the most risky mission she had ever been a part of. Parvati had been involved in far more dangerous things. But she was always more afraid when other people were risking themselves. Her stance was a defensive one, just in front of the alcove where some of the Order were preparing the fireworks. A threat could come from anywhere tonight. Even the students, young as they might be. Parvati knew well what students could do, and so it was with alertness that she watched an approaching wizard in Slytherin robes. Magic would be too noticable, another distraction was necessary. 

She cast around for ideas, mind working frantically, before the one subject Parvati could always talk about at great length presented itself, “I sponsor a manatee named Jessica,” she blurted out, stepping into the students’ path. “It’s a Muggle thing, a wonderful program. Muggles have so many clever ideas, it’s quite inspiring. I’m starting up a similar practice at my unicorn sanctuary. Would you be interested in sponsoring a unicorn?” 

who: @laments sent 🎧 for me to shuffle my playlist and use the first line of the next song as a starter (buck) ( save yourself // birdy ) where: hogwarts great hall  when: january 12, memorial service

Parvati started looking around for Hannah the moment she saw Buck Longbottom alone at the memorial. When she couldn’t spot her, she moved towards him, determined not to leave the kid alone.  “Love shouldn’t cost a thing,” she began, “Except it does. When we lose someone.” Everyone who’d known and loved Neville knew that; he had been and still was a tremendous loss. Parvati had always felt protective of him, ever since they’d been first years and he’d been so completely defenseless, a gentle and kind boy against the cruelty of Malfoy and the like.  

Maybe she’d forgotten that boy, in the years in between, when Neville had become so formidable. Maybe she’d stopped trying to protect him. And now he was dead. If only to make up for how they’d all failed him so completely, she could at least look out for his son.  “I’m sorry you have to be here. I know today must be hard for you. If you want to get out of here for a while, I’ll cover for you.” 

who: @bushyhair sent 🌈  for a random encounter where: grimmauld place when: january 12, before the memorial service

It wasn’t charming illegal portkeys that made Parvati pause. It had been a long time since breaking the law had been enough to make her blink. Yet despite being relieved to think they were giving the children at least some sort of safeguard, her throat was tight with fear. “Are you sure this is going to be enough to protect them?” she asked, a tense, disapproving crease in her brow. 

They’d known each other since they were eleven and she knew she’d never made anything easy for her former classmate. Sometimes it was difficult to look at Hermione and not see that annoying little girl who never stopped lecturing. Sometimes it was easy to look at her and depend on Hermione to save them all. Either way it left Parvati begging for reassurance. “Our children are going to be alone at Hogwarts. My son. And we all know what they got up to last time.” 

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❝ and for his askance, as he considered women feeble, weak creatures, was that only a female could kill him. imagine his surprise then, when the Goddess Kali appeared, a necklace of demon heads like his around her neck, her power far overshadowing his. ❞ Merlin’s beard, what is ( PARVATI BROWN-PATIL ) doing out at this hour? For a ( HALF-BLOOD ) who is ( 47 ) years old, ( SHE ) really ought to know better. You know, I hear that they’re aligned with ( THE ORDER ), but that could be just a rumor. I do know that they're ( CISFEMALE ) and a ( GRYFFINDOR ) alum who works as a ( MAGICAL CREATURE CONSERVATIONIST ) though. They're very (STEADFAST) and (ROMANTIC) but also quite (ALOOF) and (JUDGEMENTAL), which could be why they remind of (READING TAROT CARDS AND GAZING INTO CRYSTAL BALLS, STARING AT THE STARS BUT WORKING ON THE GROUND, SKIN TURNED TO PORCELAIN TO IVORY TO STEEL, BEARING THE NAME OF A GODDESS KNOWN FOR BEAUTY AND POWER). Some people say they’re the spitting image of ( JANINA GAVANKAR ), but I’ve never heard of them. Word on the street is that they're ( THE GUARDIAN ) and their prophecy is ( PROPHECY #33. ), but only time will tell if that's true or not. [ JESS, 23, SHE/HER, AEST ]

Though born in one of the wizarding cities of Mumbai, the Patil family moved to London when Parvati was five. Their parents were exceptional healers who had been offered a prominent research position at St. Mungo’s for several years. It was only after the threat of Voldemort had passed that they were comfortable in taking the offer, moving their family to London, where the twins grew up in the heart of Wizarding society. As important Senior Healers, the Patils were frequent presences at Ministry functions and their twin daughters had a wide aquaintance with pureblood and half-blood wixen of their own age before starting school. . 

[ABLEISM TW] Suddenly living in what seemed like an entirely different world, a very dreary and colourless one  in comparison to the warm and bright home she’d been used to, was difficult for Parvati. She struggled to learn a new language - unlike her sister, Padma, for whom it seemed to come easily. It was a pattern that would follow them throughout their entire childhood and make the experience of being a twin a painful experience. Parvati was a slow, painful learner, ultimately preferring to talk in class rather than work, while Padma usually had her head to the books. Parvati’s behaviour was really a delaying tactic, she didn’t just dislike school, she found it near impossible. It took years to discover she was dyslexic and even then no-one in the family said the word. Dyslexia was something Muggles had, not wixen.  It didn’t help that Parvati’s mother, belonging to an important Indian pureblood family, had married a Muggle-born. While their family was relaxed about blood purity and intermarrying, her pureblood cousins nonetheless saw her supposed learning disorder as a consequence, a Muggle taint, and would frequently tease her about it. [END TW]

So it wasn’t spoken about. Rather they just begun categorising the twins: Padma was the quiet, smart one, while Parvati was the social, pretty one. It didn’t take long before Parvati entirely believed this. At Hogwarts, it was no different. Like all the other first years, they were actually categorised - Padma to Ravenclaw, the smart house, and Parvati, to Gryffindor. It hurt receiving this confirmation of what she’d suspected for years, particularly when people were so astonished to see twins sorted to different houses. Siblings usually went together, everyone said. Weren’t all six of the Weasley brothers, including a set of twins, Gryffindors? As much as she tried to convince herself that Padma hadn’t been good enough for Gryffindor, Parvati knew the truth was that she hadn’t been good enough for Ravenclaw. After spending time with her housemates, it became quickly apparent to her that Gryffindors weren’t really known for their intelligence. Considering she had long since believed she lacked intelligence, Parvati accepted her place there. Truthfully, she belonged there for other reasons, always bold and defensive of others, she was the first Gryffindor first year to stand up for Neville Longbottom against the Slytherins. From a young age, Parvati took up her role as a protector, someone who can’t stand to see others hurt. This would continue for the rest of her life. 

Being in different houses meant she and Padma rarely had time to spend together. They went from being attached at the hip to mostly seeing each other from across tables at the Great Hall, as they exchanged skeptical looks regarding the bland English dinner served. But the real reason they spent less time together was the close bond Parvati had established almost immediately upon meeting Lavender Brown. They were instant best friends - perhaps because their third roommate, Hermione Granger, was so offputting and unlikable. Parvati and Lavender, however, shared a love for ‘girly’ things, dissecting an issue of Witch Weekly on the first train ride together and never looking back. Together, they could giggle and gossip and talk about anything. While Padma might have felt replaced, Parvati never saw it that way. It wasn’t a sister substitute she was getting in Lavander, but a best friend. Someone she always wanted to be around, someone she felt connected to beyond words - even if she didn’t quite understand why yet.   

While Parvati was someone who didn’t like bullies and was vocal against them, her love for Lavendar and distaste for Hermione meant she ignored the way the close friendship between two of the Gryffindor girls ostracized, and at times, was deliberately cruel, to the third. Though she claimed to find Hermione bossy and annoying, Parvati would never admit that she was jealous of Hermione’s intelligence and how easily schoolwork seemed to come to her. For Parvati, it remained anything but. She struggled with reading in particular, made worse by how often schoolwork at Hogwarts used Latin words. In addition to Marathi and English, having to decipher a third language felt like an insurmountable task. So Parvati’s preference were for classes that were practical more than theoretical. For the first few years, this mostly meant Defence Against the Dark Arts. Come third year, Parvati found a new subject to love with all of her heart. Divination. Finally, she could say she loved reading, when it meant reading crystal balls and tarot cards, reading symbols and images. They made sense. And Parvati was good at it - finally, she was considered the smart one by someone, even if it was Professor Trewlawney, who everyone else laughed at. Parvati believed completely in everything Trewlawney said, considering the witch her favourite teacher. 

Fourth year was when everything changed. The war began, of course, but really, what Parvati was worrying about most at the end of the year was whether the boy from Beauxbatons was really going to write to her, as he’d promised. She wanted a boyfriend, it was what she was supposed to have, but there was something intensely comfortable about the idea of a boyfriend in quill & parchment form. Someone who lived in France, that she’d never have to see again, but all the same, she could say she had one. Unattainable boys were the only ones Parvati really liked, hence why all year she’d singled out Harry Potter as her crush. When Lavender had told her she was going to the Yule Ball with Seamus, Parvati had felt strange about it, though she hadn’t known why. She’d tried to be thrilled when Harry had asked her out and some part of her did feel special, that the hero of their year had chosen her, that everyone would be talking about her, looking at her. Of course, that didn’t last long considering Harry had paid about as much attention to her at the ball as he might have to a lacewing fly. 

Worse was the moment Hermione Granger had come in, looking so beautiful Parvati thought she might lose the power of speech altogether. Parvati had realised then what she might have always known deep down: she was attracted to other girls, not to boys. She just wasn’t ready to admit it. So when the boy from Beauxbatons had come to ask her to dance, she saw him not just as her saviour from boredom at the hands of Harry Potter, but as her way to keep ignoring the truth about herself. She told anyone who would listen how much she liked him and how much he liked her and made plans to keep writing when they were apart. Of course she was horrified when Cedric Diggory died, horrified at hearing Voldemort had returned - but none of that felt real. Not in comparison to the relief she felt at knowing she wouldn’t have to kiss the boy from Beauxbatons again once he was at a safe distance back in France. Or in comparison to how afraid she was about what she had felt towards Hermione at the dance and even worse, the deeper feelings she thought she might have towards Lavender. The wider horror of the war was yet to sink in. 

It wouldn’t until long after she joined Dumbledore’s Army. When she returned in fifth year, Parvati was determined to ignore any romantic feelings she might harbour towards girls. She was also still embarrassed that she was attracted to Hermione of all people, who was still as much of a bossy know-it-all as ever (a crush she would never admit to, even later in life). Joining the DA was an easy decision. Parvati was loyal to her fellow Gryffindors in particular and this soon extended to the rest of their makeshift student army. Her family had always stood against blood prejudice, and for Parvati it was personal, since her father was Muggle-born. Still, at first the DA was more about standing up to Umbridge than anything else. It didn’t feel like a war yet, and Parvati saw Umbridge as yet another bully to take a stand against. 

Sixth year was when things began to feel more serious. Not that she hadn’t believed Harry before, but now that everyone knew the truth ... the existence of war was more credible. Parvati’s parents also began speaking about pulling the girls out of school, of returning to India to escape the end of the war. This Parvati resisted - even though they were no longer running the DA and at this point she certainly didn’t think she or the students of Hogwarts would ever be called upon to fight in the war (except perhaps Harry). But maybe some part of her did know, because she couldn’t stand the idea of leaving her friends. And especially, she couldn’t stand the idea of leaving Lavender. 

It was the year Parvati finally understood her feelings for her best friend, helped by the new bane of her existence, Ron Weasley. Together Ron and Lavender were almost completely unbearable and Parvati could no longer deny she was jealous. She tried to avoid spending as much time with them as possible and felt sympathy for Hermione, who was clearly in love with Ron. Maybe it was better for Parvati, because no one else knew she was in love with Lavender, or maybe it just hurt more because at least everyone also knew that Ron was in love with Hermione in return, whereas she was certain Lavender only saw her as a friend. Most of her year was consumed with trying to hide these feelings. 

Seventh year was when the war was finally, finally real. Though Parvati had managed to talk her parents out of pulling her out of school in sixth year, they had done so after Dumbledore’s death, not even letting the twins stay for the funeral. The family seriously discussed all leaving the country after that, but Parvati still wanted to stay. In the end, they made the difficult decision as a family for her Muggle-born father to return to Mumbai, while their mother would stay at St. Mungo’s and attempt to protect the patients. They believed that with their family’s main target protected and out of the way, the rest of them could stay safe.

Parvati felt as though she became a different person that year. She had always been powerful - DADA was one of her better classes and under Harry’s instructions she’d mastered the Reducto curse (I understand why the movies gave this scene to Ginny but can we give it up for the OG powerhouse, Parvati Patil?). But she’d also always been giggly and a tiny bit shallow, more concerned with herself than with the wider world. This year that changed. While many members of the DA took risks to stand up to Snape and the Carrows, Parvati was right alongside them. In particular, she did her best to protect the younger students, aware that she wasn’t one of the leaders or the heroes, but she could make a small difference by trying to take care of the people who needed her most.  

It was a horrible year and every day she had woke up feeling terrified, but Parvati had felt powerful too, perhaps for the first time in her life. In comparison, her anxiety about her sexuality began fading away and she was encouraged to take a personal risk and finally confess her feelings for Lavender. (Keeping this vague because I’d love to plot out a relationship with a Lavender player!). 

In the final battle, she fought alongside Dean, duelling Travers and Dolohov together. Parvati hadn’t wanted to leave Dean defenseless since he hadn’t had a wand, so she’d made a point of sticking by him. Because of that, she was separated from Lavender and bitterly regrets that she wasn’t there to help her against Greyback’s attack. It remains one of the things that most haunts her nightmares. 

In the aftermath of the war, Parvati was at a loss for what to do next. She returned to school to finish her seventh year, but she hadn’t come away with especially brilliant results. Her best subject had always remained Divination. She also liked Care of Magical Creatures, with a fondness for animals, especially loving unicorns - Grubbly Plank’s lesson on them had been Parvati’s all-time favourite -  but she hadn’t continued it after OWLs. This was because of Professor Hagrid. Unlike many Gryffindors, Parvati hadn’t much liked Hagrid. It wasn’t because he was half-giant - at least not entirely. Having grown up with dark tales about giants, Parvati did harbour some prejudice, but mostly she found him frightening and a poor teacher, who focused far too much on monsters for her liking. She regretted it somewhat after school when she left with average NEWTs only in Divination, DADA, Charms and Herbology. There was little she could do with those subjects and she once more felt inadequate in comparison to her brilliant sister. 

For a while she had worked as the assistant in a divination shop, but it didn’t feel like her passion in life.  After a few years, she got back in contact with Professor Grubbly-Plank and with the witch’s encouragement, did a Kwikspell course in magical creature management. With this, she started working for a unicorn sanctuary and eventually worked her way up to being the manager, as she is today. The sanctuary provides a free and wild environment for unicorns, which are often hunted illegally, for the magical properties of their blood, and legally, considering their use in wandmaking. Parvati also takes in damaged unicorns and heals them, as well as advocates for the prevention of unicorn hunting. Considering unicorns prefer to be around women, the staff is made up almost entirely of witches. This of course includes all witches, including transgender women, who the unicorns welcome and adore. Parvati cares deeply about creating a safe space for LGBTIQA+ wixen, given her experiences when she was young and felt out of place. 

Parvati now lives on the unicorn sanctuary, with her wife Lavender and their children. (I’d love people to take up the Brown-Patil children! I have no real thoughts on them and would prefer to leave it open for people to create them themselves but just putting it out there that I’d love some kids!

The rise of the second war brought up all Parvati’s old trauma. She is particularly afraid for her family. The deaths of Harry and later, Neville, were each a cause of devastation for her - their old cohort had remained close over the years. She was also terrifed as to what the rest of them would do without the two men who she still looked to as leaders. This was especially true when it came to Harry - still a fervent believer in divination, Parvati never doubted that he was the one referred to as the saviour of them all once again. In her heart of hearts, she believes the Knights did the rest thing in restoring him to life and thinks she might even have done the same. It is clearly fated, after all - Harry is now truly a living revenant and will save them all. The loss of Neville is something that breaks her heart, but she understands the Knights were unaware that it would happen. Frankly, she wouldn’t have minded seeing a Wraith fall in exchange for Harry, as she has no doubt his memories will be restored to him, allowing him to step up as he did before.

However, Parvati remains a member of the Order of the Phoenix, determined to play her part as well. She had joined as soon as it had been restarted, and offered up the unicorn sanctuary as another refuge for the Order, considering how wide ranging and magically protected it was. She currently uses the international contacts she’s gathered from transporting injured unicorns to and from the sanctuary to help targets of the Wraiths get out of England and into hiding, as much of a dauntless protector of others as she has always been. 

Parvati is also fairly certain that Prophecy #33 belongs to her: 

THE GUARDIAN will not be remembered. They will be completely written out of the history books, and the world will ultimately forgot their name. Almost as though they never existed in the first place.

Nothing in it surprised her - she knows her place is to protect others, rather than to play a significant role herself. It’s always been that way and Parvati has long since accepted it. While part of her is bitter over the knowledge that she will once more be ultimately insignificant, not good enough to really make a difference, she knows there are more important things, such as making certain her loved ones remain safe. 

In Indian mythology, a powerful and evil demon was granted a boon. And for his askance, as he considered women feeble, weak creatures, was that only a female could kill him. The Gods all tried their best to destroy this monster, to no avail. He believed this would guarantee his mortality. Imagine his surprise then, when Kali appeared, a necklace of demon heads like his around her neck, her power far overshadowing his, and he no match for her incredible strength, defeating him in record time. What I am trying to tell you is, they have always underestimated us, no matter what form we take. What I am also saying is, we should channel our inner Goddesses and make them rue the day they made that mistake.

Nikita Gill, “Kali” (via littlewickedthingsx)

«What are you doing?» «Follow me.»

Remember what you must do when they undervalue you, when they think your softness is your weakness, when they treat your kindness like it is their advantage. You awaken every dragon, every wolf, every monster that sleeps inside you and you remind them what hell looks like when it wears the skin of a gentle human.

Nikita Gill, “Fire”