The End
The War was finally over, but the fighting was not over yet for Padma. No, she was still fighting, but it with her self. She had to watch has Ginny talked to the Boy Who Lived as if they were still together. Did he not realized that when He had dumped her for the second time, that She had been the one that comforted Ginny. When Ginny had gotten beaten by the Carrows, it had been her that took care of the wounds. Sure, He was the Chosen One, what could she offer to Ginny? She was nothing compared to the Great Harry Potter.
Padma gave one more hug to her sister, she had lost her best friend during the battle after all and walked to sit beside Luna. No one believed that they were close, and before the girl had come back, Padma would never have talked to her. Now, she knew that Luna was the type of person you want at your back. She would fight for those she loved and now, Padma was among those special few.
"Hey Luna," said Padma trying not to look at Harry, Hermione and the Weasley.
"Hello Padma," said Luna, "you should be with your sister, she has suffered a great lost, but then again, you have suffered one too." Luna was the only person who knew about Ginny and Padma's relation. After all, it had all started because of her.
"You think that she will pick him?" asked Padma feeling her heart shrink in her chest.
"If I would have piked you over him," continued Luna in her dream like voice, "I would be beside you, not at his side." This was also what Padma believe, but she had needed someone to tell her. This broke her heart and rose to run away from the Great Hall.
_ The Confession
Padma had run for a while without a destination in mind, but finally ended up at the Owlry. Padma climbed the stairs to enter a secret room where her and Ginny had spent some time alone. This was where they had shared their first kiss. Padma went to the hedge of a glassless window and looked toward the Black Lake enjoying the view and the memories that she and Ginny had created her.
"I hope you are not going to jump," said a voice behind her. Padma recognized the voice right away and turn to see Ginny enter the room.
"The thought never crossed my mind," said Padma not sure why Ginny was here. She hoped and wished that she was here to tell her that everything would be alright, but she was not expecting it.
"Looking at the view again then," said Ginny coming to stand beside the older girl.
"Yes," said Padma hating being so close and let so far form the woman she loved. "So, have you told him yet?"
"Told Harry?" asked Ginny knowing quite well who Padma was talking about. "No, I can't tell him..."
"So I'm just a dirty secret that you hide in the shadow?" cut Padma not wanting to look at Ginny or Ginny to see the tears." Before Padma could turn and run away, Ginny caught her lover's arm.
"You did not let me finish," said Ginny pulling in Padma into a hug. "I can't tell him yet, or my family. Right now, my mother needs normal. Being with Harry is normal for her. She lost a son today. I lost a brother and I can't bare losing you either Padma. I love you..."
Ginny could not believe that she had finally told Padma how she felt. She had known for a while now, but she had been afraid that those feeling were just a transfer of how she felt for Harry, but after seeing him again, she was sure that all she had ever felt for him was a school girl crush. He was nothing to her, but a brother of a sort. She knew that telling him that she did not love him would destroy him, but she was confident that Harry would find someone else. Secretly, she hoped that Luna would now find the courage to tell him how she felt about him. They would be good to each other.
"You love me?" asked Padma taken aback
"Yes," said Ginny kissing Padma softly on the lips.
"I love you too," said Padma kissing Ginny more intensely.
_ What now
Ginny came back to the Burrow from her training and found her eldest child drawing on the floor in front of the chimney with some of her cousins. As soon has the five-year old noticed her, she jumped in her mother's arm.
"Hey there my little lotus," said Ginny holding her daughter. "Where is Grandmom?"
"Helping Maji with Yasmin and Malati," told her daughter cuddling in her arms. This surprised Ginny: her mother had not approved of Padma, but she could not have refused her grandchildren. The woman lived for them and it had help the regal woman welcome back Ginny in the family when it was announced that Kamala was going to be born. Ginny and her three daughters were welcomed any time, but Padma had never to her knowledge come to the Burrow without her.
Taking Kamala with her, Ginny went to the kitchen and found her wife at the table crying while her mother was holding a fussy two month old Yasmin while Malati was in Luna's arms.
"What is wrong love?" asked Ginny putting down her eldest daughter and taking her wife in her arms.
Padma did not say anything, but sobs on the shoulder of her wife. The Quidditch player turn to her mother for an explanation, but it was Luna who gave her a letter.
_ What was
Ginny recognized the writing right away. It was Parvati's writing. Any time Parvati wrote to them, Padma would read it once and throw it in the fire. The way the Patil took the news that their daughter was in love with a woman made the reaction form Molly Weasley looked like she had accepted it. They had kicked her out and disowned her, not before trying to make her straight, beating her and having a good Indian wizard all but force himself on her. When Ginny found out what they had done to the love of her life, it took George, Ron, Bill and Harry to stop her from going to the Patils and hex them all.
It had always surprised her that Harry had been the first to accept that she could never love him, well with Bill. He had realized that he had hurt Ginny to often and that she had found love and comfort somewhere else. He had been to one who had help Ron and Hermione accept her and her new lover. Bill had accepted it right away, something about Gabrielle liking girls too and the fact that his Veela wife would leave him if he even had a bad thought toward homosexual, not that he would.
It took a while for George to accept her, not because he had a problem with homosexuality, but because he was so lost after Fred had died. Charlie and her father had never stopped loving her and when she had been forced to live at Shell Cottage, they had come to visit her often. Percy and her mother had been the only ones to have problems with her and Padma, but they were accepting it.
_ What will be
Ginny pushed back the memories and looked at the letter in front of her and her heart had dropped. Padma's father had died a week ago and was refusing that Padma come to the funeral. Parvati almost accused Padma for her father's death.
Ginny hugged her wife more fiercely.
"Did you read the letter?" asked Ginny to her mother.
"Of course I did love," said Molly Weasley. "Do you mind taking Yasmin, I'm going to start supper." Ginny took her daughter in her arm while keeping Padma close to her.
"Do you want us to leave?" asked Ginny knowing to well that her mother hated Padma.
"No dear," said Molly.
"But why?" asked Ginny.
"Because the letter made your mother realized that she was not better than the Patils," said Luna. "That she was hurting you by pushing away Padma, that they were hurting you too and that she hated that."
"Always more observant than most has usual Luna," said Molly to the woman she now regarded like her daughter.
"Thank you Molly," said Luna. "Oh the baby kicked." Ginny giggled at the change of subject, remembering to well that Padma had done the same when she had been pregnant with their own children. This also made Padma smile, her wife had the most wonderful family.
_ The Unexpected Guest
It was the Christmas eve of the first year at Hogwarts for Kamala, Lily, Rose, Fred and Dominique, but also Ginny has the new fight instructor and Referee for the Quidditch matches and everyone was at Padma's Tea Shop. She had bought after the War from Madam Puddifoot and had re-painted at Ginny's insistence. Now it was the colours of Ravenclaw, Griffinddor and the Holyhead Harpies.
Ever since Padma had been accepted in the Family, they had their big celebration at the Tea Shop since there was more room and a bigger kitchen then at the Burrow. Molly, Padma, Penny, Fleur and the two elves employed by Padma took care of the cooking while the 'men' took care of the children.
The Weasleys were not the only one present, Neville, Hannah and their two children, Fleur's parents and sister, the Potters, Andromeda, Teddy and Hagrid where there too. Ginny felt accepted and loved here. She felt like this was a meeting of Dumbledore's Army, but with presents. She did not think anything could be better until there was a knock on the door.
Has Padma was busy and that the shop was closed, Ginny opened the door ready to hex whoever had disturbed Harry explain for the seventh time why they were lucky to have a home cooked meal not like that year hunting the Horcruxes. Ginny was surprised to find Parvati and her two children standing there.
"I did not know where else to go..." whispered Parvati trembling in the doorway.
_ The Truth
Ginny wanted to hate this woman, but seeing a woman that looked just like her wife trembling because she was wearing nothing more than a silk Saki made Ginny's heart drop. Ginny opened the door more to let her wife's sister come in and the light form inside illuminated the face go Parvati. Ginny saw the bloody lip, the black eye and the broken nose. Ginny observed that Parvati was not moving one of her arm and looked like she was favouring one leg more than the other. To be quite honest, she looked just like Padma had looked when she had run away to the Burrow after the beating she had received by her parents' order. Ginny had remembered how ashamed Padma had been so she closed the door.
"Follow me," said Ginny guiding them to a second door that led to the second floor where Padma, herself and the kids lived. In the siting room, Ginny started a fire since all three of her guest looked like they were freezing.
Ginny went to a linen closet and found to extra blanket and brought them to the siting room. She wanted to start healing Parvati's wounds, but the older woman pulled away.
"Take care of Agni first," said Parvati. Ginny knew Agni well. He was a second year student at Hogwarts and was a back-up chaser for Griffonddor. One look at him and she knew that his right arm broken. She made him lift his shirt and noticed some bruises on his chest.
Ginny was fuming. Who hits a child. A Death Eater and a dark wizard would. She wanted to go after whoever had hurt Parvati and Agni, because they might not consider her family, but she did.
Ginny healed the bruises, but she could do nothing for the broken bones, she was never good with healing spells. She cheeked Parvati and found more bruising and broken bones. She healed what she could and went to the bathroom and come back with the potion first aid kit that Padma keep there. Ginny swore under her breath: Padma had not labelled any of the potion, but the Dittany. That made sense, Padma was always taking care of the wounds Ginny and the kids got, she rarely got anything, but burns in the kitchen and the Dittany worked perfectly for that. She had to go get her wife.
Ginny rose and started toward the door.
"Where are you going?" asked Parvati.
"I'm going to get Padma," said Ginny, "I don't know what potion to use for your wounds. She will. Also, I will get Luna, she will heal those bones in seconds."
"Why would they help me?" said Parvati. "Why are you helping me?"
"You came here because you needed help and I'm not one to refuse it," said Ginny, "Luna is not like that either. Plus you are Padma's sister. I don't care if you like it, but you are family, and I take care of my family. So now can I go and get them?"
_ Love
Ginny went down the stairs. There she went throw a second door has to not go around outside. Since this door opened in the kitchen, Padma noticed her right away.
"Is everything all right?" asked Padma to her wife.
"Can I steal you for a click?" asked Ginny. Padma's face dropped, but came closer to her wife.
"What is wrong Ginny," asked Padma worries heavy on her voice. "Are the kids okay?"
"They are fine," said Ginny realizing that she had panicked her wife. "Your sister is here." Padma looked more surprised now then worried.
"What is she doing here?" asked the Indian woman.
"I think her husband hit here and her son," said Ginny. "She left in a hurry and they are up stairs in the sitting room. I heal what I could, but you don't labelled the potions and I don't want to give them a headache potion or a sleeping potion."
"I'll go take care of them," said Padma taking off her apron. "Can you go get Luna, she is a powerful healer."
"I was going to get her next," said Ginny with a smile. Padma come down the few steeps she had climbed and kissed Ginny. "I love you Gin!"
_ Help
Padma made her way up stairs and found her twin sister and her two children siting on the sofa. Padma started to take care of what Ginny had not been able to take care of and was glad when Luna joined her and healed the broken bones. Ginny had come back also and she took Padma's young daughter to their twin's room on the third floor for a change of clothing. Ginny came back in the siting room with something for Agni to wear (some of James clothes that he left during the summer) has well.
When Parvati was all healed up, Padma guided her through the master bedroom to the suite bathroom for Parvati to freshen up while Ginny and Luna brought the kids downstairs. Padma help her sister take off her Saki and then she started to put some lotion in her sister's hair.
The two sisters did not talk for a good fifteen minutes until Parvati broke the silence.
"I'm sorry Padma," said Parvati, "I should have supported you. At first, I thought you were trying to take the attention away from Lavender's death. When I realized that you loved Ginny, I thought or rather dad convinced me that if I supported you, men would think that I was like you. When dad died, he forced me to write that letter and mom sent it after he died. I'm sorry. I wanted you there, you were his daughter too. After that, I wanted to come to you, but I was always afraid that Ginny would hex me or something."
"Ginny would not have hexed you," said Padma to her sister. "Especially if you came at the Tea Shop. She knows it would be bad for business, and we have five kids. All the knuts we can get are helpful. Not that we are poor, Ginny was one of the best paid players in the end and she made pretty good money has a coach.
What Happened Parvati?"
"My husband has been hitting me since Agni went to Hogwarts," said Parvati after a few more minutes of silence.
_ What Happened
Padma did not understand, last she cheeked, Parvati's husband was a wizard working for the ministry.
"My first husband dead in a magical incident," said Parvati when she noticed the questioning look on her sister's face.
"I did not know," said Padma flatly.
"After the letter about dad," explained Parvati, "Ginny sent me a Howler making it quites clear that the only letter I could send was an apology letter." Padma had to smile, her wife was very protective and Padma liked that.
"After that I left the magical world a little bit," explained Parvati. "In the Muggle world, I meet this man who seemed nice and all. He was good to the kids and we got married. I guess I should have told him that I was a witch, but the incident that had killed my husband destroy my wand and I never bothered to get a new one.
"Then Agni got his letter from Hogwarts and he flipped. He would beat me up and locked me up in the house. Merlin Padma I left Astor with him. What if he hurts him?"
"Who is Astor?" asked Padma, but she had guessed that it was one of Parvati and that man's child. Padma was not going to leave her nephew or niece with a wife beater.
_ The plan
An hour later, Padma, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Charlie, Bill and George were standing outside Parvati's house.
"So what is the plan?" asked Ron to his wife.
"Padma goes and gets Astor," said Hermione. "I will be with her the whole time so that man thinks that it's Parvati."
"Why would we do that?" asked Ginny. She did not like to put Padma in danger.
"Because he will most likely be more aggressive if he thinks she is Parvati," explained Ron, who remembered the procedure for removing magical children from a household where the Muggle parent rejected the magic.
"Why would we want that?" asked Charlie.
"Because if he gets aggressive or makes a treating toward the magical world I can remove his memories," said Hermione flatly. "I don't like it, but some time it is for his own protection. Ginny should be the one forcing him not to move out of the siting room. Ginny has the muscle and it will anger him off that she is a woman."
"So when you come back in the sitting room with Astor, I will be there" confirmed Ginny relived that she could protect Padma if he tried anything.
"The rest of you grab everything that belongs to Parvati and the kids," continued Hermione. "Any question?"
_ The Gifts
They found Parvati's husband in the siting room like Harry's spell told them. The plan went exactly like they wanted and they even got to erase the memories of the man, after Ginny got to punch him a couple of times for trying to hurt Hermione and Padma. The one thing that they had not found were Christmas presents.
"We should get them Christmas gifts," said Charlie, before they went back to the Tea Shop.
"It's not like we can go to a shop or anything," said Padma who thought the same thing. "They are all closed. I got some pastries that I could give them."
"Fleur got some French chocolate at home that I could get," said Bill.
"I got some extras of the gifts I'm giving to your kids," said Charlie.
"We could get some stuff from our shop," said George and Ron.
"Luna has a kitten that is looking for a good home," said Harry. "I could also get an owl, it would not have a cage or anything."
"We got an extra cage," said Ginny warping an arm around Padma. "I could also go to Gwenog's Quidditch shop. Agni needs a broom and I know his sister would like to know more about Quidditch. I'll grab the same gift I got for Milo for this little one. I'm sure that telling Parvati can stay with us is more than a perfect gift for her." Padma kissed Ginny to show her how proud she was of her wife.
"I got books," said Hermione. No one was surprised by Hermione's gift idea, but they all know that Hermione would pick the perfect books.
_ Family
When it was time to open the Christmas gifts, Parvati was afraid that her kids would miss out, but she was surprised when they got their first gift. At the end, Parvati was crying. Padma noticed and brought made her follow her to the kitchen.
"You okay Parvati?" asked Padma to her twin.
"You gave them gifts," said Parvati. "I rejected you and you and they all gave them gifts. You help me get away from that man. Why?"
"We are family," said Padma simply. "That is what you do for family. When I came down to ask Ginny to help me get Astor back to you. I know that her brothers would come with her because they love her and they love me too. I was surprised that Hermione went with us, but we are both Weasleys now. They took me in and they were always ready to welcome you, you just had to make the first steep."
"How could I repay you guys?" asked Parvati.
"They will thing of something," said Padma. "Babysit their kids or help out at the shop. Has for me..."
"I will do anything you want me to do," said Parvati with conviction. Padma smiled to her twin.
"Perfect," said Padma. "You start the day after Boxing Day."
"What will I do?" asked Parvati surprised.
"You will read the future in tea leaves of course," said Padma, "this is a tea shop after all." Both sisters laugh together and exchanged a hug.
"Yes, this was the perfect Christmas," thought Ginny. "I knew I made the right choice when I ran after Padma after the end of the War."