In a way, summers were always one of the best parts of being a Hogwarts student. Before, they would return home maybe once every two years, but having Padma and Parvati at Hogwarts made their parents nostalgic like they had only been when they had first come to England.
So Parvati's summers were spent under the Bengal sun, dressed in thin clothes and surrounded by poets and authors, wands constantly at the ready to protect against the torrential rains that were typical during Indian monsoons. It was the one story that would never fail to make the rest of the Gryffindors jealous – in a country where magic was so intertwined with religion and custom, there had never truly been any need for a Ministry of Magic like there was in Britain, and a large part of her memories of Bengal involved lights dancing on the marshes as they were directed by Padma and her.
It was a rite of passage in India, in Bengal – the Aleya had existed in the marshes for as long as the muggles could remember, and their existence meant that a bored teenage wizard didn't do something that couldn't be explained away by faith and religion.
Bengal was as much home to Parvati as London and Hogwarts were.
The first time she returned the India after the war, the heat reminded her uncomfortably of the Incendios the Carrows had directed at the students. They had jerked their wands away at the last possible moment, and as the sun rose higher in the sky, she couldn't help but feel the heat of magical fire on her skin again. And sitting in silence surrounded by poets and authors made her want to scream in frustration, because the last year had taught her to speak whenever she got a chance, and besides, the cries of rebellion were still stuck in her throat, fighting their way out.
But she still returned the marshes, and as the sun rose and the lights came out, there was still one piece of home that Voldemort hadn't been able to steal away from her.
an: the aleya are marsh lights that are seen in Bengal, India - basically, an Indian version of the will-o-the-wisp phenomena.
this collection is going to focus on the patil twins - at least one of them will appear in each chapter. each chapter is self-contained, and there will probably be several different aus referenced here - the major binding agent of the collection is the characters.
i hope you guys liked it! as always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)
