Struggling Through New Beginnings

Chapter 16-17

Chapter 16

Parvati sat in her chair in the rear of the room near the door and drew tiny hearts on the edge of her parchment. She glanced around the slowly filling class and wondered where Hermione and Ginny were. She had waved at her sister when she’d entered the room, but Padma stayed with her Ravenclaw friends and moved to sit in the front right side of the room. Since the war, they hadn’t been as close as before it; almost like they had changed roles. Where Parvati had been known as the “fun” sister, and Padma the “smart” one, the war had taken its toll, and now most would see them as the “studious” one and “flighty” one, respectively. Padma had come to realize that grades and studies were not as important as finding love and having a life, and she’d dedicated herself to those pursuits. Her innate intelligence would help her maintain her grades, but she would never again give up a date for a night of studying. Her favorite new phrase was, “Life’s too short and uncertain.”

Several Hufflepuff students filed in and Parvati smiled at Susan Bones and her boyfriend, Wayne Hopkins, and nodded a greeting at Hannah Abbot. The soft smile stayed on Parvati’s face as she recalled telling her sister over the summer that boys could wait. It was time to become more serious and focused, as it was her last chance to learn what she needed to be able to make her way in the world. Together they planned to open a day spa in Diagon Alley that catered to witches and wizards wanting a little pampering and escape from their everyday lives. But, the war had shown Parvati that life could change very quickly and she wanted to be prepared for any eventuality.

Glancing down she noted that she’d circled her hearts and added a few tiny letter T’s to them. Her smile bloomed as she thought she could possibly have more than she’d planned this year. Who would have thought she would ever have an interest in a bookish, almost geeky man, like Theodore Nott? But, something about his eyes made her feel a bit breathless. She had dated enough to recognize the signs of attraction, so she was sure of where they stood, but for the first time since she was twelve, she wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. In previous years she would have flirted shamelessly until the object of her affection fell at her pretty, little feet and begged her for a date. But, she knew most Slytherins didn’t beg. She also knew she was no longer a child. As her mother had told her and her sister from the time they’d turned thirteen, ‘every date was a potential mate.’ And, now, faced with potentially dating someone she could actually picture herself being with a long while, she was stymied.

That brought her to the next small problem. He was a Slytherin and even though she knew he hadn’t fought on the dark side, his father was known to have been a high ranking Death Eater. Her parents would not take kindly to that, even more than her father would hate the fact that he was not Indian.

Just as she put a tiny h next to one of the T’s the object of her musings walked in the room with Draco, Blaise, Greg and Pansy. She briefly noticed the lingering anger on Blaise’s face, the blank slate that was Draco’s look, the worry on Greg’s, and the distant look on Pansy’s. But, she was drawn to the small smile that threatened to erupt into a full fledge grin when she looked into Theo’s eyes. It didn’t dawn on her to play coy, or look away, she simply stared back with a matching smile and watched him move toward her.

“Is this seat taken?” he asked softly when he reached her.

She slowly shook her head no and her eyes widened when he very formally asked, “May I?” with a small bow.

“Of course,” she breathed as she surreptitiously turned her parchment over.

“Have you had a nice morning?” he asked as he sat down next to her.

“Just fine. And, yours?” she asked, her voice a bit more breathy than normal and she felt her hands tremble slightly when his quiet voice washed over her. As they continued to talk, she gripped her quill tighter to keep her hands from shaking, but felt slightly better when she noticed the tiny bit of sweat on his brow. She never noticed the others sit down behind them, or their interested looks.