Gift for certifieddork: Bedtime Stories, Part 2 (Parvati/Lavender)
Title: Bedtime Stories, or How Parvati Patil Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love a Woman
Author: ozma_katiebell
Recipient: certifieddork
Rating: NC17
Word Count: 14,653
Warnings: None
Summary: When Lavender requests a bedtime story, Parvati spins a tale of war, friendship, yearning and love. Lots and lots of love. (Parvati/Lavender, other het and slash pairings mentioned)
Disclaimers: I wish, I wish, I wish it was mine.
Notes: Thanks to S for the speedy beta work and to others who have let me bounce ideas around and generally pick their brains.

Part 1



Their relationship got easier after that, in a lot of ways, but more difficult, too. It was great not to have to pretend, but the Princess was a very nosy girl, wanting to insert herself into Rani's 'other' life in ways that sometimes made her uncomfortable. When they went out together, her friend's eyes were always on her, watching her interactions with women (and men) as if she was studying her for Magical Creatures. She asked appallingly intimate questions about what it was like to make love to a woman, and Rani tried to deflect, or at least to do more summarizing than providing gory details. It shouldn't have surprised her that her friend still seemed anxious to get her set up and settled, but her clumsy attempts at matchmaking provided a few uncomfortable moments.

A few weeks later, the Princess had managed to talk Rani into a double date. They giggled in much the way they had all through fourth year at the moment that Alastair realised what exactly was going on. Rani was a bit surprised that her friend hadn't told him before that, but she was pleased that either the Princess was more discreet than Rani realised, or not at the stage in her relationship with Alastair that they shared everything. Perhaps there was some satisfaction in that.

Six months passed in much the same way. One day Rani got the visit she'd been dreading, though not exactly the way she had pictured it. She got a note from Alastair, asking him to meet her for drinks after work someday. In any other circumstances she might have worried that he was trying to make a pass at her, but in his case, she only had a niggling worry that he was going make a case for his previous crude proposals.

Turned out, he wanted her to go shopping with him. For an engagement ring. Which was sort of sweet, actually; he seemed so anxious to get it right, but at that moment, Rani wanted to throw etching potion on his handsome, hopeful face. Instead, she smiled and hugged him and led him down the Alley to Smelts and Bezels. Two excruciating hours later, she made her solitary way home, where she polished off half a bottle of Godric's Gin and the better part of a tray of Honeydukes Heavenly Hazelnut truffles.

She spent the next three days with her nerves on high alert, wondering when she was going to get that long-dreaded visit from her best friend. Alastair hadn't mentioned how he was going to pop the question, but she supposed it was taking some time for him to set the whole thing up.

The first two nights, she sat at home waiting for it, by the third night, she was certain that if she spent any more time within her own walls she would go mad. So she went to the cinema as a treat, and the music and costumes and joyous spirit of the film lifted her own spirits. At least at first. It fact, she was feeling so hopeful that she decided to walk home, even in a downpour, hoping that home would seem welcoming and calming, rather than a symbol of her isolation.

But every step closer got her thinking with dread about the next few months, of being forced to play the joyful maid-of-honour while inside she'd want nothing more than to curl up and cry. She began to wonder why she'd not taken a chance when the Princess asked her--could the inevitable rejection have possibly hurt more than this? It was all well and good to think that one was doing the right thing, that a confession of her feelings at that point would have been very bad manners when the object of one's affections was already happily ensconced in a relationship, and the healthiest one she'd had in years. No, her friend deserved to be happy, she deserved to have someone who saw her as she was and loved her for it. So what if Rani suspected that no one would ever know her girl as she did, that no one could ever love her so completely, that no one else had taken such care of her for so many years, that no one...was as utterly devoted. And pathetic. It had been the right thing to do, she knew it. She'd missed her chance years before, if there ever had been one. So lost in thought was she that she came upon the very object of her musings quite suddenly, and she resembled nothing so much as a drowned rat.

The Princess was pacing in front of Rani's flat, always keeping a couple of yard's distance from the outer walls. Rani wondered why the hell hadn't she had the sense to stand in the doorway, at the very least. And then it occurred to her that maybe she couldn't. Because on that first night after Alastair's purchase, somewhere halfway down a bottle of gin, Rani had come across one ant too many and cast a ward around the perimeter of her flat. It also occurred to her that she hadn't seen her landlady in all that time, and she wondered what she had done when she found herself repulsed by the idea of her own home and having a sudden urge to visit relatives or go grocery shopping. She'd definitely have to do something about that. But how long had her friend been standing there, anyway? Hours, it looked like.

The relief when she finally spotted Rani was written all over the Princess' face, and if Rani's heart hadn't already been twisted and squeezed, it would have certainly become so then.

"What are you doing?" Rani cried. "Come inside, you'd think a Healer would have enough sense to stay out of the rain."

"I tried," she said. "But then I found myself turning around, craving a pizza or wanting a nap, and just when I remembered why I wanted to come over again, I turned back. Then I changed my mind again--I've been trying to come over for two days, but it's only tonight that I realised what happened. Have you warded your flat against me? Are you trying to avoid me, Rani?" she asked.

"No, no, of course not," she replied, covering her friend with her umbrella even though it felt risky being so close. She would get through this. She must.

"Come on, let's get you some tea," she said, ushering her friend into the flat with a hand on her arm. The physical contact was necessary to be able to get the Princess past Rani's own spell, but she prayed the other girl couldn't feel the way her fingers trembled. Once inside, she got a fire roaring to life within seconds, and helped her friend peel her jacket off, stealing a moment to inhale the Princess' familiar natural scent mixed in with rain and perfume. She knew she had to wait for the news, but every passing second drove the stake deeper into her heart.

Still nothing, though, and her friend rubbed her hands together and set to work drying her hair, which had dripped into small puddles on the colorful carpet of Rani's hearth.

"I'll make some tea," Rani finally said, adding, "With Firewhisky, maybe." She wondered if she ought to just bite the bullet and pull out a bottle of champagne instead. Admittedly she hadn't looked at her friend's hands, because she was afraid of what she'd see winking back from the left hand. The image of the ring was already burned into her brain, so there was no point adding to the torture. It was a lovely ring, and just her friend's style. Rani had made sure of it.

"How's Ali?" she called from the kitchen in a deceptively cheerful voice. Might as well give her an opening, right? No sense prolonging the agony.

"He's fine," was the reply, said through chattering teeth. Levitating the tea tray in front of her, Rani moved back into the sitting room. She had to catch her breath at the picture that the Princess made in front of the fire, with her hair loose and backlit by the flames and her blouse nearly opaque from the water.

"I was wondering when you were going to come over," she said, handing her a cup of tea and shaking her head at the almost electric current that seemed to pass over her body as their fingers touched.

"Were you?" the Princess asked, looking puzzled. "Then why did you-"

"Never perform household charms drunk. The bug situation was getting out of hand, and I--well, I forgot to make exceptions to my charms. I hope I didn't manage to lock out my landlady, too."

"Drunk?" The Princess raised her eyebrows. "You?"

"Don't ask," Rani replied. Let her think she'd been out
partying, or anything but drinking alone and mourning her lost chances. She didn't press further, and there was a short stretch of companionable silence as they set about business of tea preparation.

"Where were you tonight?" The Princess finally asked after a few sips of tea and an involuntary shudder as her body began to react to the warmth of the fire.

"Cinema," Rani answered, wishing the Princess would just get on with it.

"With Maddy?"

"Hmm?" Rani had to think for a moment. "Oh, no. She's... er, moved to Seattle.
Or was it San Francisco? I wasn't really listening."

"Oh. Susan, then?"

"No," Rani said, growing a little bewildered. What on earth was the girl waiting for?

"Someone new?"

"No--I went alone. Why?"

'Just curious," she said, and Rani wondered if she was imagining the sly smile on her face. What was this, some sort of sick competition? 'I'm marrying a Senior Undersecretary and my friend can't get a date for a movie.' She knew she was pathetic. But it wasn't as though she couldn't have had a date tonight, if she'd wanted. Right?

"Ali and I broke up," the Princess added. Rani was too busy trying to process the absolutely unthinkable words to notice the way that the Princess seemed to be searching her face for some sort of reaction.

"But you're...you're getting married, aren't you? Isn't that why you're here?"

"No, no--I mean, he asked me but I said no. He didn't really take it all that well, actually, so I told him to sod off. Wait, how did you know?"

"I helped him pick the ring."

The Princess smiled at that. "Oh yeah? It was gorgeous, I should have known."

"Then why-" Rani said, almost at the same moment that the Princess said, "but wait-"

The Princess continued. "You--I mean, you wanted me to marry him?"

"Of course I did," Rani replied, and wondered why the Princess' face seemed to fall at that. "I mean, he's great, and he loves you a lot, and you love him and...whatever did you say no for?"

"You think I should have said yes?"

"What the hell are you asking me for? Do you love him or not?"

"Not," the Princess said, after a time. "Or at least I'm not sure, though I didn't tell him that. I just said I wasn't ready."

"But...this isn't more about the...about your injuries, is it? Because I would think at this point that you know that it doesn't matter. I mean, you deserve to be happy, and you're beautiful, and special and I..just wish you would stop selling yourself short."

"So you really think so?"

"Think what?"

"Beautiful, you called me beautiful."

"Well, of course you are, but that's not the point, the point is that you-"

"I'm asking you, Rani," she said. "Because none of this has much to do with Alastair and whether or not I was in any position to marry him, which I wasn't. Besides being far too young, and heavens, I hardly knew him--it's been less than six months. But I spent a good portion of those six months wanting someone that wasn't him. And that's a very bad thing to happen before the wedding, don't you think? Bad enough after, but before--well, we wouldn't have stood a bloody chance. Not when I was trying to work out if I've been in love with my best friend all along."

"You...you...what?"

"I mean, I know I love you, that's not even in question, but I don't know--I felt sort of cheated, not knowing that you were an option in... you know, other ways. It was very rude of you, depriving me of years of time wasted that could have been spent on sexual experimentation. And then you give me a kiss that sent my world upside down, only to tell me
immediately after that I'm not your type. And you call me a tease."

"I'm not a tease," Rani said indignantly. "I just-"

"Yes?"

"You're boy crazy. That's who you are. That's what you're about."

"Thanks. Thanks a lot for that," she said, and though the pout was familiar enough, the predatory gleam in her eyes was something Rani had not ever thought to see directed at her. "I'd like to think I'm a bit more complicated than that."

Rani allowed herself to look at her friend, finally really look in a way she hadn't for years, knowing that everything in her heart was probably shining in her eyes. She couldn't help it; her chest was filling with something that felt suspiciously like hope.

"You still haven't answered my question," the Princess said.

Rani had seen this body language before; the biting of the lip, the curling of the hair around her finger, the shoulders thrust back as far as they could go. What sort of alternate universe had she stepped into? "Yes, I did, I said you were beautiful. And I meant it. No one else has anything like your heart, your spirit, your smile. No one can make me laugh like you, saying just what I meant to say but even better. No one else can be the most annoying, self-centered creature in the universe and still manage to be just...perfectly wonderful. And no one else gets me the way that you do, not even my sister.

"Well, apparently I missed a thing or two, didn't I?"

"That's only because I did everything in my power to make sure you wouldn't find out."

"That you're bent?"

Rani finally overcame her temporary paralysis then, moving off the sofa and toward her friend on her hands and knees. Her mouth had gone dry and she licked her lips, wondering if she was going to be able to work up the nerve again. However, the look on her girl's face was encouraging--she was moistening her lips and watching Rani move closer. A faint smile had spread over her face that was sort of at odds with the question in her eyes.

"That I love you," Rani said, finally close enough to reach out and touch her friend tentatively, grazing her cheekbone with her thumb.

"I knew it," she replied, her mouth widening into a brilliant (and perfectly smug) grin.

"Of course. You'd like it if everyone on earth was in love with you," Rani said, laughing softly.

"True," she conceded, reaching up to run her fingertips down Rani's hair. "But I suppose I can settle for just one, so long as it's you."

Rani finally closed the distance between them, almost afraid that she would wake up before their lips could touch--the way she had in a thousand dreams. But she didn't wake up, and her girl was solid in the flesh and wonderfully soft to the touch. Her hair smelled of orange blossoms and she tasted of tea, and the soft moan that she let out when Rani's tongue touched her own sent shivers down Rani's spine. She pulled her close, finding that the Princess's back was hot from the fire and an odd contrast to the dampness of her front as Rani pressed even closer.

"Show me," The Princess said, and Rani smiled, stroking the damp fabric of her blouse and marveling at the reaction of the cold-sensitized skin underneath. The graceful line of her neck, the sharpness of her jaw, the shadow between her breasts, just above the top button of her blouse--all the things that Rani had seen and coveted on a near daily basis, could now be explored. How was it possible, after everything? "What exactly is it that you want from me?"

"Fuck me," the Princess said, a little breathless at this point, the tone of her voice and her words sending a jolt of want to Rani's center. "The way you said you would, if ever..."

"Well, I never did say exactly how I would, Rani said, finally cupping the very breasts that she'd been trying to avoid looking at ever since the Princess had got them. Her fingers caught on the moisture clinging to the fabric as she stroked her thumbs back and forth, finally drawing a nipple between her fingers and rolling it. She was rewarded with a quiet sigh and a shiver. "Though I confess, I’ve thought about every conceivable way I could do it." She knew Lavender never could resist talking about herself, or rather hearing people talking about her, but at least by gauging her reactions Rani might get an idea about what she wanted.

Naturally, the Princess didn't let her down. "You've fantasized about me?"

"Of course."

"How?"

"Oh, lots of ways," she said. The blouse was going to have to go, of course--if only to prevent her from catching pneumonia, Rani thought reasonably, reaching for the buttons with trembling fingers. Her girl's skin was cool to the touch and puckered with goose pimples as she peeled away the wet silk, trying to process the fact that she was allowed to look after all this time, to look her fill and touch and maybe even taste. "Sitting in the common room, sharing one of those big chairs in the corner and a blanket. Reaching under your skirt while you squirm and whimper, pretending to read a book when really, your legs are wide open, you're soaked and you're practically begging for more contact. Pushing your knickers aside, playing you with my fingers until you have to bite your lip to keep from moaning out loud."

That one had hit the spot, apparently, because the Princess had laid back on the rug, moaning and rubbing her thighs together. Rani tossed aside the wet blouse and began to stroke the cool flesh of the Princess' stomach and chest, mesmerised by the contrast of luminous skin and shadow, the dip of her navel, the gentle rise and fall of her breasts as she breathed . The Princess arched her back and Rani could no longer resist the urge to taste. She bent low, moving down the Princess' body, running her lips and tongue over the damp flesh, breathing hot air over a nipple that had contracted in the cold and was poking up through ridiculously sexy black lace, and from her own line at that. Had she dressed up for her, Rani wondered? As she looked up, the knowing look on the Princess' face told her that perhaps she had, giving proof to Rani's oft-stated point that a good frame made even a masterpiece look better.

She bent lower and sucked the nipple through the lace, pulling a gasp from the Princess that echoed as a stab of lust through her own body. Trying to ignore the urges she felt, she moved to the other one, teasing with her tongue, knowing it wasn't nearly enough contact to satisfy, but thoroughly enjoying the way that the Princess arched against her and groaned in frustration.

She began to tug down the straps of her bra, but Rani stopped her. "Let me," she said, and peeled it off slowly, kissing every bit of soft, cool flesh she uncovered. "This is sort of like another of my favorites. I'm running through raindrops with you, kissing while soaking wet, just like in the cinema. Peeling your wet clothes off, licking the water off your skin. Or in the shower, hot and steamy, my face between your legs, tasting you while the water runs through my hair. You're hanging on to the shower head because your legs are too weak to hold you up and your screams are echoing off the tile." The Princess whimpered at that, shivering as Rani dipped her tongue into her navel. Her boots had been tossed in the doorway but Rani reached under her skirt and began peeling down her tights, finding resistance in the damp fabric, but none from the Princess, who arched her back and wiggled her hips to help. From what Rani could see, the knickers matched the bra, highlighting a gently rounded arse and soft thighs, just the perfect balance between lush curves and firm muscle.

Rani slid a palm up the Princess' thigh, still lavishing attention on her breasts and belly. "Or better yet, watching you through the shower curtain, or listing to you on the other side of the bed curtains, knowing that you're touching yourself and thinking of me. You know that's why I couldn't share a flat with you. I have a nasty habit of calling out your name in the middle of the night. Plus, I didn’t want to be stuck in my bed, night after night, listening to you moan with someone else while I couldn't do anything but wank over it."

"You make it sound as if it would have been a parade," the Princess said through gritted teeth, shuddering as Rani's fingers inched closer to the top of her thigh.

"Even if it was only one, it would have been torture."

"Just like me listening to you and Theo in the next hammock."

Rani stopped momentarily, searching the Princess's face, waiting until she opened her eyes. "That was torture?"

"Well, it bothered me. More than a bit."

"Really?" Rani said, and found herself smirking as her fingers began moving again. When the Princess opened her legs in an obvious invitation, Rani swallowed thickly, but still continued to tease, moving closer and closer to her goal but always stopping short. Finally, she let her fingertip run very deliberately between the Princess's legs, enjoying the shiver and moan she got in response. Rani moved up her body, kissing the Princess once more before stroking again, with more fingers and more pressure, and then again, finally rewarded with lace gone damp and her fingers squeezed between soft and strong thighs.

"Do you want me to stop that?" she whispered, using her free hand to brush the damp tendrils of hair off her girl's face.

"Heavens, no," the Princess said with a throaty moan, stretching her arms above her head and finally, finally opening her eyes. Whatever she saw in Rani's face seemed to give her pause, for her eyes opened full stop and she reached up to tuck the curtain of hair hanging on one side of Rani's face behind her ear. "You can keep doing that...forever, I think. Especially if you keep looking at me like that."

"Don't you think you'd get sore, eventually?" Rani laughed softly, letting a finger stroke the edge of the knickers, almost, but not quite moving them aside. The Princess exhaled sharply, blinking. Rani repeated the movement a time or two more, finally letting her middle finger venture beneath the elastic, at which point it was her turn to exhale because the Princess wasn't just damp, she was absolutely soaked, and Rani felt compelled to investigate further, stroking every bit of hot, slick flesh she could reach.

"Off, now," the Princess demanded, but before she could reach for her knickers, Rani was there, tugging them down along with the skirt, and with none of the patience or finesse she'd planned on displaying. Well, it wouldn't have lasted much longer, anyway, not when she was sitting there between the Princess' legs, with her best girl spread out like a feast before her, all pink and white and sharp angles and lush curves, looking up at her with her heart in her eyes, everything she'd ever wanted within her grasp.

So she grasped, and she took, and she tasted. Surrounded by the scent though she'd grown quite familiar with as an adolescent, always hanging about what they called 'their' corner of the dorm, or clinging to the clothes that she'd lent to the Princess or even in Potions, there just beneath the surface, hardly noticeable under the strong odor coming from the cauldron they shared, but just enough to drive her crazy. And now it was potent and heady and everywhere, clinging to Rani's fingers and lips and her face. The Princess' soft thighs surrounded her, and her fingers were in her hair, alternately stroking and clutching. She began grasping at Rani's blouse and her toes were unsuccessfully attempting to pull down Rani's skirt, but Rani shrugged off her efforts, unwilling to be distracted as she ran her tongue over slick folds, drawing the loose skin into her mouth and sucking, licking in and out of her, hearing her girl thrash and swear softly as Rani teased her clit with the tip of her tongue and even more loudly as she scissored her fingers inside her.

"God, fuck, wait," the Princess protested, just as Rani began to feel her squeezing around her fingers. "Need to touch you," she added, but Rani was either determined to have her screaming before she could change her mind or enjoying herself too much-

The latter, more likely.

You're interrupting me now?

Oh, all, right, carry on then, I'll shut up. But you have to come closer, so I can touch you while you're telling this part.

We'll never finish the story.

Yes we will. Now. Shoes off, too, and I'll content myself with not touching you above the knees. Where were we?

As a matter of fact, she was enjoying herself rather a lot. Not only that, she knew something that Lavender didn't and that was that with a girl, getting your rocks off didn't absolutely mean that it was over. In fact, more often than not it was just the beginning. So she began moving her fingers with more urgency, using more pressure with her tongue, finally taking her clit between her lips and sucking with increasing pressure, which got the Princess arching up off the floor and screaming, contracting around Rani's fingers, slick and hot and tight and absolutely bloody perfect.

She pulled her fingers out and very deliberately licked them clean, as the Princess watched her with wide eyes and swallowed visibly.

"God," the Princess said, still shuddering, and Rani grinned, propping herself up on one elbow and stroking her friend's thighs in reassurance.

"What's he got to do with it, anyway? I think you're giving the wrong person credit."

"All right, then, fuck. Is that better?"

"Much better. And yes, please. I'd love to. Again. Any time."

The Princess laughed and covered her eyes with her hand. "Anyway, fuck, that was..."

Rani laughed and began crawling back up her body, stroking the Princess as she went and being rewarded with the sexiest little shivers. "I have managed to render you speechless. Must remember this in the future. Next time you start droning on about one of your patients or your mother's cats or how the Head Healer is chasing you round his desk, down I go."

"Oh, shut it," the Princess said, and reached for Rani's face with both hands, pulling her close and kissing her soundly. "Now, I think it's high time you got into the spirit of things and took off your clothes. This is embarrassing, this is. You know how I hate it when people overdress for an occasion. Besides, I've always envied you your ridiculously long legs, and now I want them wrapped around my neck."

"Oh, do you?" Rani said, overwhelmed by the image and suddenly finding herself on her back, with the Princess' clever fingers going to work on the buttons of her blouse. She found she rather liked the contrast of her friend's hands on her skin, especially in the firelight. And even more, she absolutely loved the gleam in her friend's eyes as she looked her over hungrily. (She silently thanked whatever gods were listening that she never left home without putting on decent lingerie and shaving her legs.) But most of all, the feel of her the other girl's fingertips on Rani's overly sensitive flesh, the sensation of bare skin pressed together...well that was nothing short of brilliant.

"Of course. And you're going to have to teach me what you like. And be very, very specific. Can't have you being better at
something than I am, can I?"

Rani laughed wryly and closed her eyes in bliss. Eventually, those determined fingers were joined by soft lips and a clever tongue and a host of other perfectly brilliant body parts, and some time later, as she drifted off to sleep wrapped in familiar arms, utterly drained of energy and emotion, she wondered what on earth she'd done to deserve having had all her dreams come true.

And she did get good at it, didn't she?

It?

You know.

Hmm...passable, I suppose.

Good heavens, Pars, are you channeling Snape or something?

I was just going to suggest that you need more practice.

Hmph. Who was it who was screaming loud enough to bring the house down on us last night? At some point I swear you were speaking Hindi.

Your ego astounds me sometimes.

You know you love me.

Heaven knows why.

And they lived happily ever after?

And they lived happily ever after.

Well, apart from the cold silence from parts of Rani's family.

Yet another thing for them to pretend not to see.

And the cancer scare.

Not to mention the homophobic boss.

And the endless bills.

And the lack of closet space.

And the smelly dog.

And the manic depressive cat.

And the half dozen nieces and nephews. Who’d have thought Padma would be such a baby making machine? Wasn't she supposed to be the intelligent one?

Well, in her defense, she only actually got pregnant three times, not her fault that twins run on both sides of the family. And they are a very fertile lot, aren't they?

Well it was her fault that she chose to marry into that mad family.

You're only upset because that made 'your sweetheart' a sort of in-law.

Only very distant.

And they do make beautiful children.

Very beautiful.

Anyway, I suppose you could say they loved happily ever after.

Yes, I agree, the perfect ending.

Perfect.


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