Chapter 10
Stand

Every second Dean was battling with his feelings.

He knew that he shouldn't do this, Parvati was still just recovering from her traumatic last marriage to Theodore and he knew that even if he told her about the feelings that he was still harbouring for her from when they had dated, she would never be able to return them. Not after what she'd been through. So Dean kept his feelings close to his chest and tried not to let any of them show as more than close friendship when Parvati was awake.

She seemed to sleep increasingly often and was unable to stay awake for extended periods of time. Really the only times that she woke up were to go to the toilet and eat. Dean saw the fact that she was eating as a good sign, he had read about too many people that didn't eat after they had gotten home from the hospital and made themselves very ill by doing so. Dean was also glad to see that she was putting on some of the weight that she had lost during the three days that she was trapped in the cellar with no food or water.

"Dean," Parvati mumbled in her half sleepy state. Dean shot up from the couch and was over to her side in a heartbeat.

"Yeah," he said, taking her hand with a smile.

"I just want to say thank you," she mumbled, "Thank you for doing all of this for me. You're a great friend."

Dean smiled, "What brought this on?"

"I would still be with him if it wasn't for you. Thank you for giving me the courage to get out."

"That's okay," Dean said, more than slightly confused, "Are you alright Parvati?"

"Yeah," Parvati said, "Just a little hungry though."

"Same," Dean said, suddenly realising that his stomach was grumbling and he remembered that his last meal had been nearly eight hours ago, "I'll get something to eat. Do you want anything in particular?"

Parvati shook her head, "Just food."

Dean nodded and walked into the kitchen. Picking up the list of things that Parvati wasn't allowed to have because they would either trigger her or they would give her some reaction because of the medication that she was on.

Secretly, he was torn between not wanting Terry and Padma to ever come back from Wales so that she could stay with him for longer and wanting them to come back so that they could help him destroy his feelings for her because he knew that she could never return them.

He quickly threw some cheese on toast under the grill and flicked his wand at it, setting the machine to cook it faster and just the way that he liked it. He glanced back over at Parvati who still looked beautiful, even with the healed scars that decorated her face. He didn't know how anyone could stand to hurt such a beautiful face.

The grill dinged and Dean levitated the toast out of it and onto two plates before levitating the plates over to the coffee table.

"Here you go," Dean said as he sat down on his couch. Parvati looked at the toast and laughed. Dean was completely taken aback, this was the first time that she had laughed in ages. He literally couldn't remember the last time that she had laughed.

"Do you live off cheese on toast, Dean?" she asked with a smile and Dean realised that all he had eaten in the three days that she had been home with him was cheese on toast. He hadn't exactly had time for anything else.

"Sorry," He mumbled, "Do you want something else?"

"No," Parvati said, "It's fine, I like it."

"Are you sure, because I can-"

"Dean, I said it's fine," she said and he realised how much more beautiful she was when her angelic smile crossed her face. Dean grinned back at her.

"When do you think Padma will be back?" Parvati asked, swallowing her first bite of toast.

"Oh yeah," Dean said, remembering what he had meant to tell her when she woke up, "She flooed a few hours ago, she and Terry will be back on Wednesday and they said that they'll come and stay here if you want to stay here."

Parvati looked at her lap and whispered, "I want to stay here."

"Are you sure?" Dean said and Parvati nodded without hesitation.

"Is that okay with you?" Parvati asked.

"It's always okay with me," Dean said, "If you ever want to talk to or be with someone, you can count on me Parvati, because I'll be there."

Parvati smiled again making Dean's heart flutter, "Thank you Dean, you've been way to kind to me. I don't deserve it."

"What?" Dean said, completely taken aback as to why she would say this, "Of course you do."

"No, I don't," Parvati said, "Especially after what did to you."

"Of course you don- wait what?" Dean asked, still incredibly confused, "What did you do to me."

"I broke up with you," Parvati said, "I broke up with you for no other reason but the fact that you weren't interesting enough for me."

Dean knew all of this, but it didn't stop him from loving her in the slightest, it just made him sad.

"So?" He said, "that's all in the past now."'

"But I still did it, you have no motive to be nice to me but you still are," she said.

Dean set down his plate and got up from the couch, moving over to take Parvati's hand in his.

"It doesn't matter that you still did it, Parvati. Even if you weren't forced to marry him and you were looking for a place to stay I would've let you in because that's what friends do," Dean said, "I've forgiven you for that and right now I just want to see you well and safe."

"I don't know if I can forgive myself," Parvati sniffed.

"Please," Dean said, "Forgive yourself for me?"

Parvati looked up, tears in her eyes and nodded, "Only for you though,"

"Thank you," Dean said, and before he could stop himself he had lowered his head and kissed her hand. Parvati withdrew it as if she had been burned, looking petrified. Dean immediately realised his mistake.

"Oh god, Parvati, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that, that was so out of line. Oh god I don't even know what came over me."

Parvati was still looking at him with an expression of utmost horror on her face.

"Please Parvati, I'm so sorry."

Parvati seemed to pull herself together slightly, "Th-that's okay," she said, her voice shaking, "Just don't do it again."

Dean nodded fervently, mentally kicking himself for letting himself get so careless. He had promised himself that he wouldn't show any romantic feelings towards Parvati, and he had failed. He didn't know what had happened or what had compelled him to kiss her hand. Maybe it was just the heat of the moment that he had done it in. Maybe it was because of the fact that she was apologising for falling out of love with him and all that did was just make him fall even harder. Love was like fire, you get too close and someone always gets burnt. Dean had just experienced yet another burn.

"Are you sure that you're going to be alright here by yourself?" Dean asked as he pulled his coat on and started rushing around, trying to find all of the things that were necessary for work.

"Yeah," Parvati said, "I'll be alright. You said that Padma was coming around sometime today didn't you?"

"She should be here now," Dean said grimly, looking at his watch. As soon as he said that there was a tap on the door. "Speak of the devil," Dean muttered , opening the door to reveal Padma standing there with Isaac.

"You took your time," Dean said.

"I had to catch the knight bus!" Padma said irritably, "I can't apparate or floo with Isaac."

"Yeah whatever," Dean said, "I've got to go or I'll be late."

"Alright," Padma said as Dean pushed past her into the hallway, "I'll see you when you get back then?"

"Yeah," Dean said, "bye!"

And like that he had disappeared down the staircase.

Padma shut the door behind her and turned to face Parvati, a smile spreading across her face as she did so.

"Hey," she said happily, moving across the room to hug her sister, "How are you?"

"Recovering," Parvati said with a slight smile.

"That's great," Padma said, sitting down next to Parvati on the couch, "Recovery is good."

"Yeah," Parvati said, "I still can't sleep without the sleeping potion though."

"I don't blame you," Padma said, passing Isaac over to Parvati as she held her arms open for him.

"I just see him everywhere Pad," Parvati said, "In every shadow, in every nightmare, in the corner of my eye."

"Have you talked to Dean about this?" Padma asked as Parvati cradled Isaac in her arms.

"No," Parvati said truthfully, "I don't want him to think I'm weak."

Padma sighed in frustration, "Parvati, the only way you're going to face your demons is if you talk about it to someone."

"I don't want to," Parvati said, "I don't feel comfortable talking about it with him."

"Why not? He's one of your best friends," Padma said, cocking her head to the side.

Despite the fact that Parvati knew that there was nobody in the flat apart from her, Padma and Isaac, she still glanced around furtively before leaning in and whispering in a low voice to Padma, "He still loves me."

Padma's mouth dropped open, "No way," she said in surprise, "Really? After all this time? Now that is what I call dedication."

"This isn't funny Pad," Parvati said, "I don't love him as anything more than a friend."

"Yeah, now you don't love him as anything more than a friend but give it a few years and you'll be surrounded by children," Padma joked. Parvati's breath hitched in her throat as memories started to flood back. She didn't know how Padma mentioning having children related to this but she suddenly felt scared and insecure. The shadows started appearing in the corners of her eyes again and she started to twitch, becoming increasingly paranoid.

She saw Padma put a hand to her mouth, "God, Parvati, I'm so sorry, forget that I said it."

"No," Parvati said, "I don't know what's wrong with me, don't be sorry."

"There's nothing wrong with you," Padma said, putting a hand on her sister's arm, "I get that having children brings back bad memories for you."

"I don't understand," Parvati said, furrowing her brow.

Padma raised an eyebrow before shaking her head, "Anyway, have you made a decision?"

"About what?" Parvati asked, evidently confused.

Padma rolled her eyes, "About the baby, are you keeping it or getting an abortion."

"What baby?" Parvati asked, starting to become frustrated. Padma's eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh my god they didn't tell you," Padma said, her eyes becoming as wide as galleons.

"Tell me what?" Parvati said, her voice breaking in frustration.

"How could they have not told you? Honestly, I leave you in their care for the remainder of your stay in hospital and they don't even have the decency to tell you that you're pregnant," Padma spat angrily.

Parvati's jaw fell open in shock as her heart started to beat faster and faster, "I'm not pregnant," she said slowly, "Nu uh, no way."

Padma's brow creased with concern, "I'm really sorry to break it to you this way Parvati, but it's true."

"No it's not," Parvati said, standing up and storming over to the full length mirror, there was no noticeable bulge in her stomach, "I'm not pregnant Padma!"

Padma looked at her sympathetically, "Look, I'm sorry to say it like this but I've seen the memories. He raped you Parvati, without protection. What do you think is going to come out of that?"

"What?" Parvati said, tears welling in her eyes, "Did you just say you'd seen my memories?"

Padma seemed to regret her outburst immediately, "Yes," she muttered.

"How?" Parvati said incredulously, "How have you seen inside my head?"

"A pensive, projected onto a wall at the trial that convicted Theodore Nott. How do you think we got him convicted so easily?"

"You took my memories without my permission!" Parvati shrieked.

Padma cringed, "We had to Padma, nobody else knew what had happened to you apart from the arse and you. We couldn't get his version of events because he had messed with them."

"Why couldn't you just knock him out and extract them like you did to me?" Parvati yelled, tears starting to fall down her cheeks.

"That's exactly what they did," Padma said, "but he permanently did something to them in his head. They weren't the real version of events. Parvati he would still be loose if we hadn't used those memories."

"Did it ever occur to you that I might want some privacy?!" Parvati yelled through her tears, "The whole damn wizarding world knows about my life and now the whole of the Wizenagamot knows how it all happened."

"I'm sorry!" Padma said as Parvati collapsed onto Dean's couch, sobbing, "I'm so, so sorry but would you rather him be loose in the world or in Azkaban rotting with the dementors? You weren't there at the trial, Par, he was a freaking psycho maniac, trust me I was glad to see him dragged off by the dementors."

Parvati looked up at Padma with puffy eyes, "A-am I really pregnant, Padma?"

The look in Padma's eyes was identical to that of her sister's, "Yes," Padma said, "They told me after you'd been in the hospital for six weeks. They said you were about four weeks."

"But that would make me five months by now," Parvati said, "And I haven't gotten any bigger!"

"You have though," Padma said, "Sorry, not to be a bitch or anything but you have gained a lot of weight since I last saw you."

"The last time you saw me, I was lying in a hospital bed almost dead from dehydration and starvation. Of course I've put on weight since you last saw me!"

"Parvati, I know what I heard and the healers are experts. If you don't believe me we can go there now and get it confirmed. Would you like that?" Padma asked.

"Yes!" Parvati exploded, "I would like that very much so that if I am pregnant, I can get a bloody abortion!"

"Fine!" Padma said, "Grab your coat and we'll go."

And with that Isaac started to cry. Both Parvati and Padma's attention snapped back to him, having forgotten that he was there in the heat of the argument. Parvati remembered how she felt when Isaac was born. She hadn't loved anyone more in her life. He was the cutest thing that she had ever laid eyes upon and it had been then that she had decided that she had wanted children of her own. But this was different. She couldn't have Theodore's baby. Not now, not ever.

AN: Well I think it's safe to say that I hate my brother. He stepped on our modem and it broke which is why this chapter is so late. Not happy.

Anyway. I saw the Perks of Being A Wallflower today because I had no internet (yes Okay, I know it came out like three months ago in England and America but Australia sucks so it only just came out like three days ago here.) and it was SO AMAZING YOU SHOULD ALL GO AND SEE IT! I just yelled OTP out at any romantic moment in the movie that involved a character named Charlie and a character named Sam {who is played by Emma Watson in case you didn't know}

AND! WOW GUYS! This story got so much response in the last chapter! I love people right now.

Anyway, I'd love it if you could spare me the time to review. They will be appreciated forever and always.

Until Next Time

~The Original Horcrux~