WHO: Parvati Patil and the Ministry WHEN: Friday evening WHAT: Parvati receives some unexpected visitors and an invitation Rating: Low
The dreams weren't going away, in fact they seemed to be stronger than ever and now exacerbated by Parvati's fears, she kept seeing the faces of the people she loved being hurt. She managed to get through the day though, somehow, smiling and chatting to her customers as usual. But when the door shut behind the last one of the day and she flipped the sign from open to closed, the smile vanished and she leaned against the counter, rubbing her eyes.
She stayed there for what seemed like ages before moving to start clean up, but her movements were arrested by the evening paper - delivered earlier and tossed to one side. Now Parvati saw the headline and she picked it up, unfolding the paper so she could read the speech. Horror crept across her features as she absorbed the words and she was trembling by the end, dropping the paper onto the floor and collapsing into a chair, head down on her arms and sobbing bitterly. This wasn't what she'd fought for on that terrible day!
An insistent knocking penetrated her sobs and Parvati looked up, the tears still falling, and looked at the door. Two men stood outside, wearing Ministry robes, knocking again and indicating for her to open up. Fear surged through her and she jumped to her feet, knocking over the chair and then almost tripping over it as she backed again. Heart beating frantically, she stared at them, damp eyes wide. Had they come to take her to be branded? Had her association with the DA been found out? Or were they just going to brand every pureblood. She was tempted to run away and keep running, but she knew that would be futile.
So it was with trembling hands that she opened the door. However, the Ministry men surprised her by smiling and apologising for their intrusion. Miss Patil, they said, had been invited to the Ministry as certain people were anxious to talk to her. She had nothing to fear and would she like a moment to freshen up? It was all very polite, but there was an undercurrent of 'come or else' in their tone.
Confused and still nervous, Parvati nodded. If this was an abduction to drag her off for branding it was the friendliest ever. Her was curiousity piqued and suspicions also raised. However, just as she had used a fluffy silly image to fool the Carrows and their supporters in her Seventh year, she slid on her pretty, pleasant mask and invited the men inside, gave them some tea and asked them to wait for a few minutes. With that she went upstairs and opened her journal intending to write a note to the DA. Then she saw Hermione's message and worry flared again. Merlin, so there really was a mole. Of course, she knew that, but still... Parvati exhaled and quickly wrote a message to Hermione. If she disappeared then someone needed to know where she was.
That done, she changed and put on some fresh make up before returning to her 'guests'. As they led her out of the door, she wondered if she would see her shop again.