Life Goes On- The Third Chapter

Chapter 2

"Parvati?" He asked, smiling at her in a friendly way; the movement felt oddly unfamiliar and awkward. She nodded, her own smile reaching from ear to ear.

"Hey, Harry, how are you?"

It was an innocent question, yet it stabbed at Harry deeper than Parvati Patil could have imagined. He struggled to form a coherent answer.

"Well-" He shrugged, grinning at her, trying to hide the pain he felt.

"Oh, I haven't seen or heard about you in ages! I've been travelling, you know, moving from place to place- I've just spent the last two years in New Zealand; you know, you're hardly ever on the news over there. It's funny, don't you think, considering what you did? Before I saw the world, I thought that everyone kept up to speed with your life. Apparently not, hey?" She rambled, waving her hands around, her dark eyes shining with excitement.

Harry jerked out of his daydream long enough to hear her finish her speech, and he smiled.

"That's good, at least they're moving on from me. So, if you've just got back from New Zealand, how come you're here?" He asked her, and she blushed slightly.

"Oh- to tell the truth, I was looking for you. I knew you wanted to be an Auror when you were at Hogwarts, so I took a wild guess and tried to find you here. And I did." She avoided his gaze as she said this.

"Well, ok-" Harry paused, trying to think of what to say. He didn't really want to talk to anyone, but he didn't want to be rude, and she had been looking for him in particular… "Do you want to come to my office? We'll be able to catch up better in there. I can get you some tea, maybe...?" He trailed off, and Parvati nodded, smiling.

"So why'd you leave New Zealand? Sounds like you were happy there." He remarked, and she nodded.

"I was happy… it's really nice there. But I missed seeing familiar faces, and you know, with the moving place to place, I hardly knew anyone." She said, and Harry felt a little bit of pity for her. She had been lonely; but she'd been able to escape, to move on. A privilege he had been denied.

They walked on in silence for a while, as a constant stream of wizards milled around them. Parvati looked sideways at him.

"So how's Ginny? I heard you had kids?"

Harry drew in a shaky breath. How was he supposed to say this?

"I- We divorced. Two years ago." He mumbled the words, hoping if he said them quietly, that they wouldn't hurt as much. The words felt weird on his tongue. So final, so absolute. Parvati drew in a breath, looking mortified with herself.

"Oh- Harry, I'm so sorry."

Silence fell.

"You do have kids, don't you?" Parvati asked, a faint note of concern and embarrassment in her voice, and Harry knew she was trying to cover up the awkwardness that seemed to hang in the air, suffocating them. Harry nodded, and turned his mind to his children.

"Yeah, I do- three. James- he's nineteen- and Albus, who's eighteen, and Lily's sixteen. They grew up so fast, it's hard to believe."

Harry opened his office door, and stepped back to let her through; she smiled as she passed him, and stepped into the room.

"Wow. I thought they'd be younger than that, but hey, I suppose we're the old ones now. Late thirties…" She grinned at him.

"Yeah, you got that right." Harry chuckled, shutting the door behind him; moving around to the front of his desk, he leant on the edge of it. "Are you married? Kids?"

"No. I just never found the right guy."

"Were you looking in the right places?" Harry teased her; he felt slightly happier that he'd kept the conversation going. In those few short minutes of conversing with her, he felt younger, more free…

Parvati grinned at his question, but then her face fell.

"I dunno." Parvati murmured, looking directly at him. Harry smiled tensely, and looked down at his feet.

Silence fell again. Harry retained his gaze on his feet, not knowing what to say. He wished she'd break the silence; he could feel the emptiness creeping up on him again.

"Harry-" Parvati looked at him, her brown eyes wide and hopeful. Harry held her gaze, waiting for her to continue.

"Would you be interested in going out for dinner tonight? I'm meeting up with Dean Thomas and Cho Chang, remember them? I was...I was thinking, uh...would you like to make it a double date? I mean, just as friends, though, right?" As she finished, she blushed again.

"Well, I dunno-" Harry started to say, but then he saw her face fall. Feeling guilty, he tilted his head to one side and tried to look pensive.

It wouldn't be too terrible, going out for dinner with her. And he hadn't gone out in ages, it might do him some good.

"Yeah, ok. It'll do me some good to be out and about." He replied, trying- and probably failing- to look cheerful and excited at the prospect. But his acting wasn't needed, as Parvati was beaming at him, clearly delighted that he'd accepted, no matter how reluctant he may seem.

"Ok, great! So, shall I pick you up? At eight?" When he nodded in response, Parvati stood up, picking up her handbag, which she'd laid on the floor, and headed for the door.

"See you later then, Harry." She announced cheerfully, and smiling at him again, she left the room.

Harry turned away as the door clicked shut behind her. The room already felt strangely cold and empty.

He closed his eyes, already feeling the familiar, empty despair washing over him.

A/N:

I really hope you like it, guys; I'm starting to get really excited about this story. Thanks again to the lovely person who first suggested this -writer's name- , and set my writer's brain in motion.

Vote/Comment/Fan….make my day! I love you all!