After the Rain by Candy Rayne
Disclaimer: Here's the million dollar question: how much would I get sued for if I did say I was J.K. Rowling?
"After the Rain"
It was raining.
Pouring, actually. Raindrops attacked the two seventh years running through the streets. To all who looked, it probably seemed like a miserable evening for the couple. But Seamus was having the time of his life as he hurried toward the castle, pulling Parvati by the hand. She, too, was grinning.
"Where are we going?" she asked, as he took a sudden turn away from the castle.
"Er. Well, it's not the castle."
"Obviously."
"And…well–please don't hurt me—it's not a very dry place either." He cringed. "Just someplace special."
"WHAT? We're in the middle of a storm, getting drowned for Merlin's sake, and Romeo here decides we need to go 'someplace special.' Honestly, the day I fell for a blockhead like you…" But she was smiling, curious despite herself.
"Just wait…" Seamus said, turning around with a familiar twinkle in his eye before pulling her ahead.
They ran and ran, soaked to the skin by the relentless showers. Finally, Seamus stopped short, covering Parvati's eyes.
"Can we get on with it?" She grumbled, a bit irritated from all the unnecessary running, and that too away from the coziness of the castle.
"Hold on…" He led her forward, hands on her shoulders, careful that she didn't trip. They turned a corner, and again they stopped.
"All right. You can open your eyes."
"This had better be good."
"Oh, trust me. It is."
And with that, he took his hands off her eyes.
"The LAKE? It's raining cats, dogs, and Merlin knows what else, we're absolutely drenched, and you drag me here to see the lake?!" A furious stomp of her foot and she was on her way back to the castle.
"Wait, no! Parvati, don't go!" He grabbed her slender wrist and had quite a time getting her to turn around. "Just give it a chance!"
"Oh, fine." She stared grumpily ahead at the inky waters of the lake.
"Should I be seeing something? I mean, it really is amazing how the rain falls from the sky, into the water, and look, now there's even more water! Hey, it's all around us! Soaking us! It's—"
Parvati's next words died on her lips when, without a sound, Seamus turned her so that she faced the opposite side. And Parvati stared wordlessly as she looked at the sight beyond.
In the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool was forming. But not just any whirlpool. This whirlpool was like the gentlest swirling pensieve. It flowed softly into its own center, calm in comparison to the storm raging around it. In fact, it was moving slower than the vicious waters everywhere else.
And floating, gliding, out of this phenomenon was a fleet of swans. They were darkest ebony, unlike any Parvati had seen before, and moved with fluid, elegant sweeping motions of their outstretched wings. Eyes glittered like onyx above the impossibly perfect curves of their necks, and they made not a sound as they moved across the water.
"But…What…" Seamus put a finger softly to her lips and held her close.
Ahead, one swan had stopped to preen, and as it did, the waters around the bird stilled. Parvati gasped. In the moonlight's glow, a magnificent, pure white swan shone back at the couple. The reflection was completely and utterly a contradiction to the ebony swan's very existence. It opened a whole world of questions and mysteries in Parvati's mind, yet at that moment, it seemed so right. Almost as if anything less than amazing wouldn't be expected from the dazzling creature.
The swan continued to preen for several minutes, its radiant twin mimicking every move with crystal clarity. Then, not realizing the effect it left on the two shadowed wizards, the swan glided back to join its kin, who were making their way back to the whirlpool. And just as swiftly as they had appeared, they were gone.
It seemed like the world was quiet now, even with the wind and rain roaring all around. The swans had a left an eerie, yet gentle softness in the world around them. Parvati turned to look at Seamus, and her wide eyes said all. They sat silently at the edge of the lake, his arms sheltering her, and for a while, the world was beautiful. The vast, shining lake was beautiful, the dark, menacing clouds were beautiful, and the rain was beautiful. It fell lightly now, lightly enough to brush their faces like the lips of an angel. Oh yes, the rain was indeed beautiful.
--
Parvati woke up with her head against the windowsill.
Her soft breathing had fogged the glass, but once it cleared, she could see the storm raging outside. It had been going at it for half a day now, with no evident sign of letting up. It was days like this that brought it all back.
How happy they'd been that day. Only a few months had passed, yet it seemed like such a faraway place, a different, simpler time. A time where Seamus and Parvati still ran through the rain and laughed, batting raindrops at each other and attacking an unsuspecting Draco and Pansy with flying puddles. Where they could seeing Draco grope for his wand ridiculously before realizing Seamus had it, and then they were running, running, running away. She smiled at the memory.
Parvati looked outside to see the rain lightly pattering against the window. It was, against all odds, slowly clearing up. Minutes passed, and soon only the gentlest raindrops sprinkled the grounds. Dusted the lake.
Three months. It had been three months since that last day together. Would it have been any different if they'd known? She wished with all her heart that things hadn't taken such an ugly turn. But there was an odd comfort in knowing that that memory, at least, couldn't possibly have been more perfect.
It still hurt so much. The fact that things had been going so well, that things were finally looking up. A happier couple there had never been. Classmates had sighed over them in the common room. Not intense like Harry and Ginny, no, nor were they verbal sparring partners like Ron and Hermione. They were perfectly imperfect, completing each other in a way that just made sense. Parvati—not the giggly airhead that she'd once been, but a spirited, witty witch—was the perfect complement to Seamus's playful Irish spirit and laughing eyes. When Seamus made the oddest, most hilarious jokes, Parvati was always there to laugh with (yes, and sometimes at) him.
She remembered nights in the shadows of the common room; moonlit walks along that forever-special lake. And their first kiss.
There had been no awkwardness, no drawn-out pretenses. That was what she'd always loved about Seamus. The Common Room's occupants had been in stitches as he elaborated on his latest endeavors, which included a playful Giant Squid, Wingardium Leviosa, and a very wet Draco. One minute Parvati was laughing up at him with everyone else, the next his arm had swooped down and drawn her up to him. He'd probably felt her lips smiling even as he kissed her in full view of the Common Room. Sure, she'd smacked him on the cheek afterwards. Hard. But only before pulling him back and returning the kiss heatedly.
The rest of their days were characterized by cheeky grins from Seamus, answering eyebrow-raises from Parvati, and mutual mischief.
It was always like that, though.
One minute you're gliding along; the next you're standing in the rain, watching your life fall apart.
Watching Seamus. Falling, falling.
Parvati turned away from the window. It was raining again.
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