Don't know what to do
Character: Padma Summary: Padma doesn't quite know what to do...
The Floo call from Harry had stunned Padma. Sirius - gone. She hadn't known him well, mostly through Faelan and Harry, but to have him suddenly gone like that... Her heart ached for both of them, but most of all for Faelan. She quietly offered to come by, but Harry glanced over his shoulder and shook his head. Padma acquiesced, but tossed and turned all night, restless with wanting to comfort Faelan and knowing that there was little she could do to help ease his, or anyone else's, pain.
She was getting ready to set out to Haven's Loft the next day when the owl came to her window, dropped a small box in her hands and raced away. Curious, Padma opened it, only to drop it in horror. A small animal, head missing, rolled out of the box. Using her wand, Padma got the bit of parchment away from the carcass and read it.
I'm back. And this time you'll be the one dead.
A few flicks of her wand had the grisly contents, including the bloody parchment, back in the box; she sealed the box with all the preserving spells she knew and then ran to throw up in the toilet. Kneeling on the tile floor, shaking, Padma tried to think what to do. She couldn't go to Harry, or Faelan, or anyone. They'd just lost Sirius, and she couldn't...
Maybe it wasn't him. Or maybe it was, and he'd sent it before Sirius fixed everything, and so he was gone.
Yes, that had to be it.
Not feeling up to going to Haven's Loft, Padma busied herself in the store and with her rare book restorations. The day after the box incident, she let Brenna take the store while she cooked up a storm in her flat, putting each dish in a container and spelling it to stay fresh for a while. After packing it all in an wizard-space bag, Padma headed up the hill to Haven's Loft.
When she got there, the house seemed deserted. Padma put the food in the fridge, noting that the boys probably wouldn't need to fix meals for the next few weeks at least, and went to see if she could find Faelan.
Not that she knew what she'd say if she found him.
But he wasn't there, and soon Padma found herself sitting on Faelan's bed with parchment and quill, trying to think of something to say that didn't sound foolish. Finally, she transfigured the parchment into a lotus blossom, set it on his pillow, and left.
He would understand. If he needed her, she would be there.