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Draco Malfoy ([info]_dm) wrote in [info]veritaserum_rp,
@ 2012-07-30 00:47:00

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Tonight I can write the saddest lines
who: Parvati and Draco
when: Post-dated pre marriage
What: Parvati runs into Draco, alone at a pub, for the first time after their break up.

Write, for example,'The night is shattered
and the blue stars shiver in the distance.'


It had been the most anticipated acquisition of the year, worth a sizeable fortune. Draco's company was set to buy a lucrative diamond mining company in South Africa, popular among the most elite jewelers because of their exquisite selection of colours and thus wildly popular amongst the purebloods. But that wasn't the reason this company was so highly publicized. They were all over the papers because they had succeeded in organizing the wizarding world's first independent ethical certification system for precious stones. Hence, Draco would be increasing his company's own corporate social responsibility whilst tying itself to a fashionable and cutting edge innovator. It was a win win.

And yet, somehow, along the way, Draco managed to--

"--royally fuck everything up. Give me another," he waved his hand to his bartender. Aside from the badgering he would get at a more popular and posh establishment, Draco chose this pub because he had known the bartender for years and could trust him to keep his mouth shut. Not that he was telling the bartender anything that hadn't already been reported, anyways. The most humiliating part about the news was how arrogant Draco had been in his interviews. He had basically declared the deal a shoe in. But last minute, the company had claimed a different direction, with a different company, would better suit their vision.

The aforementioned pub was in a safe neighborhood, with good, satisfying food, but was unfortunately located underneath a suspicious looking hat shop. Draco was thus the only patron in the place, sleeves rolled up, hair greasy, eyes blood shot.


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[info]_prettyparvati
2012-07-30 05:18 am UTC (link)
It hadn't been too long a day at St. Mungo's, she had had a good lie-in in the morning and then dropped into St. Mungo's just before dinnertime to see a few patients and write up a few charts.

On her way back toward her flat, Parvati decided to stop and pick up some food for a late dinner. She walked quickly past the Italian, Old Wizarding and French restaurants. God knows she couldn't control herself with their delicious portions. The pub seemed a good bet, she could get some simple chicken and fries.

Walking in, she barely noticed the hunched blonde before striding in and ordering the meal with a smile. It was only when the bartender turned to notify the kitchen staff that she looked around and her heart immediately stopped.

Goosebumps jumped in fear onto her arms as she fought to quell the rapidly rising nausea at the sight of her ex boyfriend.

He looked terrible. Not at all like the wizard who had just a few days earlier arrogantly declared another victory for himself. It was this fact alone that gave her Gryffindor courage a chance to replenish itself.

Because, unlike, him, she looked beautiful.

Her outfit was impeccable, the gold healer star fixed on her lapel just above her generous chest. She was slenderer than usual, having gone on a fitness kick with Dina that for once they had manage to stick with, and her face was flush with the type of life only a good romance could give someone. "Draco?" She attempted, "How are you?" Parvati was proud of herself. The nervous tremble in her voice was barely noticeable.

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[info]_dm
2012-07-30 05:32 am UTC (link)
As a clear voice rung through the tangled, smokey haze of his brain, Draco felt like he had been slapped with a gust of wind.

He didn't say her name. He could only squint slightly at her, as if she were a mirage to him. With good timing, the bartender slid a fresh tumbler of whiskey just beyond his finger tips. Edging his wrist forward so that his fingers could curl around the dark amber liquid, Draco exhaled evenly through his nose.

"I--" he stopped. His voice was too dry, his lips had stuck together slightly before parting. Self consciously, Draco felt his misery expose itself on his face. He didn't need to run his hand across his forehead to feel its sticky sweat, like a greasy porcelain. He didn't need a mirror to know how radiant she looked in comparison to his broken down self.

Pausing to compose himself, Draco straightened up and tightened his hold on his tumbler.

"I'm... unwinding." He wondered if she could smell the cigarette smoke on him. "What are you doing here?"

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[info]_prettyparvati
2012-07-30 05:55 am UTC (link)
Parvati often would daydream of seeing Draco like this: a moment when she could feel in control, as she so often felt out of control when they had been together. She had imagined being beautiful and happy, and him; not. She had thought with great relish how she would lord over him, a beautiful benevolent angel. Yet, in this moment, Parvati felt only a twinging at her heart. It was a testament to how much she had loved this boy, that even after all he had done to her, she still didn't appreciate seeing him like this.

Also, he stunk of cigarette smoke. The acrid smell made her want to sneeze.

Sitting awkwardly on a barstool nearby, she blinked. "Just wanted to pick up some food. I had a late shift - too lazy to cook. I live a few blocks down." Then realising the statement would be odd, since Patil Manor was over a hour away, continued, "My parents gave me a flat to stay in while I do my residency. I don't have a full time house-elf."

"You...um, look ..." She sucked on her bottom lip trying to think of a delicate way of putting it, "not so well ... are you okay?"

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[info]_dm
2012-07-30 06:06 am UTC (link)
"Your residency?"

There was so much to process. Parvati, not living at Patil Manor. Parvati, working as a healer. Parvati, looking more beautiful than he could bear.

Although Draco was just as arrogant as he had been while he was still with Parvati, he was a little less selfish. At least, less selfish enough not to crumple at her feet and to beg for her comfort. He knew that he didn't deserve that.

"Do you not read the news?" Too late, he realized how that might come off. But hopefully the exhaustion in his eyes would communicate that this was not his intent. Taking relief through a sip of his drink, he stared down at the counter. He was sure that if he kept his eyes on her, the shock he felt would be too clear. Shock at how good she seemed. He had always remembered her as a pretty girl: wide eyed, demanding, innocent. The thing that frightened Draco about Parvati was how much it seemed like she needed him. He hadn't been able to handle that sort of responsibility. He could scarcely handle himself, how could he give her what she wanted? That was his reaction at the time. Parvati seemed like she wanted so much from him, and he felt so unable in response.

But now, as she stood in the gloomy candlelight of that pub, she seemed like she didn't need him at all. In fact, she seemed like she didn't need anyone at all. She was poised, assured, and so graceful. At once, he felt so young and foolish. Ironically, he felt so inexperienced in front of her suddenly.

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[info]_prettyparvati
2012-07-30 06:19 am UTC (link)
"Yes, I finished Healing. St. Mungo's took me as a resident, but I hope to fast-track the program to be a consultant by the end of the year." Parvati explained. It was very far from the life she thought she would have led when she was at Hogwarts. Although it wasn't her dream: Married to Draco, she was finally genuinely happy with her career and her boyfriend. She didn't look around corners or expect a sudden change in her fortunes anymore. Not since that day at Malfoy Manor when everything had fallen apart.

It was better that Draco did not crumple, for if time had proven one thing, it was that Parvati had too much care for him to turn him away.

At his sharp comment, she blinked a few times, annoyed. "Yes, I do. I was trying to not be rude by bringing it up. I imagine that is why you're currently drinking away your sorrows?" Parvati seemed coldly mature at this moment, "It's not particularly constructive of you."

"As far as I understand it, the general consensus is that it's just a setback for you. You can learn from your mistakes, you needn't spiral." Her lips were pursed, knowing full well Draco's tendancy to angst. "You...."

She fell silent then, hating herself for instantly trying to make him feel better. He had barely spoken two words to her and yet here she was, with that eager instinct to shower him with praise and faith.

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[info]_dm
2012-07-30 05:35 pm UTC (link)
The information struck Draco deeply, and a resultant wave of guilt throbbed at his temples. Had Parvati stayed with him, he would have most likely demanded she not finish her training. Or start it, really. And yet, hearing she had completed medical school made him presently proud of her. Sitting in the dark pub, he couldn't remember why he had been so against it before.

"Not particularly constructive of me?" Draco's eyes narrowed a little bit. Miserable as he was, he wasn't a doormat yet. "Merlin forbid that a man drink after a bad day at work." Was that almost a drawl? "This isn't a spiral," he added, feeling that familiarly defensive sensation enter his blood. "It's blowing off steam." He relented though, when he recognized she was (in her way) trying to be nice. Taking a pen from his brief case, he began to idly doodle on the liquor soaked bar napkins. Anything to keep his focus reigned in.

"You don't need to rationalize for me, Parvati," he said, glancing up at her. His pen dented angry strokes of blue onto the soggy napkin paper. Indeed, this would have been a good time for her food to arrive, and for her to say her goodbye. But Parvati's take away was nowhere in sight, and an awkward silence stretched out.

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[info]_prettyparvati
2012-07-30 05:53 pm UTC (link)
In those days, Parvati had believed in fairy tales, of having a prince take care of her forever. Now, having met the real world, she realised that although dreams were one thing; having the means to take care of yourself was important. She would never again need someone the way she did when she was little, or at least, she would never again seem as if she did.

Draco was always, always a defensive soul. Jacob was different. The tall brunette had his flaws, but he always waited until Parvati was able to muddle through whatever she had to say before jumping to a negative conclusion.

A long silence stretched out after his outburst and Parvati stood awkwardly looking at that familiar body, hunched and stabbing a napkin with a quill.

"I...I didn't mean to insult you." She sighed, "But I think I knew you very well, and when you blow off steam you don't usually look quite so....distraught."

A small hand landed tentatively on his shoulder in an awkward pat. "Did you want to talk about it?"

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[info]_dm
2012-08-02 02:29 am UTC (link)
Yes, Parvati was very right. Draco was and always would be a defensive soul.

"Well yes, I do look a little distraught because today's events are a little unusual," Draco replied, drawing angry circles across the bar napkin. "But I'm not going to go on some bender and gamble away my fortune, if that's what you're thinking."

He tensed, realizing they were slipping back into old patterns: Draco lashing out because he felt like Parvati was treating him like a ticking bomb. Taking a deep breath, he looked at her. Ah, mistake. Still just as beautiful. He hated the look she had in her eyes though, because he identified it as pity.

"There's nothing to talk about," he added quickly, and the next words stumbled from his lips before he could stop to think about them, "I'm glad you're happy. I... I want you to be happy." He looked slightly ashamed and looked away once more.

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[info]_prettyparvati
2012-08-02 02:40 am UTC (link)
"Well," She began, mildly amused, "That wasn't what I was thinking. If there was one thing you can keep safely it's the institution of the Malfoy fortune. You're responsible like that." Parvati offered, "I'm a bit more worried that you'll gamble away your sanity."

The small hand that had been at his shoulder moved to her chest, resting on her heart in an earnest gesture before curling into a fist. "Oh, well I suppose you'd rather talk to someone else, of course. You're private, I understand. Where is your-" She couldn't managed to voice the words. "-Your...Freya." It was silly of her to have asked, of course he'd want to talk things over with someone he loved; not his ex.

Parvati blinked a little at his statement and a flush heated her face, making her eyes tingle as if she wanted to cry. "Yes, um...Thank you." Yes, a part of her always thought that Draco wanted to see her happy, but yet didn't want to do anything to make her that way. He'd hated to see her cry, but almost hated her for making him hate that.

"I'd like to see you happy as well." She returned, "It took me a long time to want that, though, but I do. So," She gave a little funny smile, "Tonight is definitely a dissappointment."

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[info]_dm
2012-08-02 02:55 am UTC (link)
Gamble away my sanity? How much left do I have? Draco wanted to replied melodramatically. But he didn't, he remained silent and only looked at his ex-girlfriend grimly. The bartender cleared his throat uncomfortably and went back to the kitchen to check on Parvati's meal.

"My Freya..." Draco echoed, remembering the silvery blonde witch he used to date. "We," for some strange reason, he smiled a little, "broke up." Maybe he smiled because it was such an easy break up. After all the depth and torment he and Parvati suffered together, it was strangely laughable at how meaningless and light his relationship with Freya had been. "She saw me today though, in passing when I was at the Ministry." Draco's other ex-girlfriend had merely squeezed his arm, nodded at him in a consoling sort of way, and continued walking. Being a man, Draco didn't realize that Parvati might want to know more about Freya, how their relationship was, or how they broke up. He took another sip of his drink, instead.

As Parvati said that she wished him happiness, he felt a tightness in his chest. He didn't like the feeling, it was so unfamiliar. He didn't know how to handle it.

"Whatever," he said lamely, trying to push her away again. "You don't have to be so good, Parvati. It's stupid if you want that for me. You should save your energy for your new boyfriend." Draco sounded accusatory.

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[info]_prettyparvati
2012-08-02 03:13 am UTC (link)
"Oh." Parvati returned calmly, as she inwardly danced a dance of victory over the grave of Draco and Freya's relationship. "What happened? Are you alright?" She wondered why he was smiling.

Frowning, the Gryffindor girl grew fiery at his words. "Excuse me? What is wrong with you?" That little hand found his shoulder again, but this time to shove it. "Why wouldn't I want that for you? I wanted that for you before you even knew what the word meant: when you were so knee deep in all that darkness-" Her voice caught and she stopped. "It's nothing about how good I am, but how much I think you're worth. You know what, Draco? You are spiralling. You push away everything around you like a child, snapping and tantruming when you feel like it. You self-sabotage constantly. I'm trying to be nice and you just have to act completely bipolar. That company would have chosen you if you hadn't acted like such a dick about how the partnership was a cinch. For everything in life you need to give a little to get something back."

Her face was angry and flushed, feelings hurt. "And don't you dare say that: 'new boyfriend' like that. We both know that if hadn't been for you there never would have been another boyfriend. Jacob treats me well and if you truly want me to be happy then you wouldn't make it seem like I'm the one wronging you."

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[info]_dm
2012-08-02 03:53 am UTC (link)
"I'm fine," Draco shrugged. "We didn't end because we fought or anything. We just amicably drifted, I guess."

He was a little stunned as she shoved him, though.

"How am I self-sabotaging? I didn't want to lose that company," Draco shouted. "You tell me I'm worth so much, but then you paint me in such broad strokes-- that I'm always snapping and tantruming, doesn't that contradict how worthy you think I am?"

Ah, this is why they broke up.

"Maybe I did act too arrogant in my interviews, but that's what you expect me to do, Parvati." The chicken was probably done by now, but the bartender and cookstaff had the good sense not to barge in at this moment. "You said you loved me and you said I was so much better than I thought, and yet at the first sign of anything you assumed that all hell had broken loose. How was I ever supposed to get better?" He had meant the last sentence to come out in a powerful demand, but instead his voice choked a little.

"I don't think you're wronging me for dating Jacob," Draco eased back a little bit. He was being honest. "I think that is very wise of you."

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[info]_prettyparvati
2012-08-02 04:11 am UTC (link)
Amicably drifted. Parvati didn't even know how that worked.

Here they were, shouting at eachother. Such a familiar moment, but she felt oddly unprepared. Suddenly, it was as if this was some weird fantasy, as if Parvati had been going over one of their arguments in the past and placed it in modern day.

"No, it doesn't! Because that angry, snapping Draco isn't really you! It's your defense mechanism, Draco! You still haven't managed to let go of it! We aren't in Hogwarts! There is no war! Not everyone approaches you with ulterior motives. And if they do: Then you should have realised long ago that I'm not one of them."

Her voice was becoming dangerously shaky as Draco's own choked. "It wasn't the first sign, Draco." She replied dully, "It was the last. After everything we'd been through-" Flashes of the past seared themselves on Parvati's eyelids: A dance in the gardens, a shove against the stables, Draco's eyes dark with a deatheater's spell, misunderstandings and a heart breaking. "Keeping the artifacts related to your dark past meant more to you than me."

"I thought I was your future, but I knew that day that you didn't think that way. And...and you'd never get better with me chorusing that into your ears. You have to learn that you can be better, that you are better, on your own in order for you to achieve it. I had to assume hell broke loose, because with the absence of heaven, what else was left?"

"Maybe I did expect you to act arrogant in your interviews, but that's only because you haven't proven me wrong yet, Draco. I really wish you would." He didn't see, but a tear dropped down her cheek at that. Fingers were quick to flick it away. "Maybe one day you will and I will be proud of you, I promise."

"Yes." Parvati composed herself, "Yes, I think so. He is ..." She couldn't help but smile at the thought, "Jacob."

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[info]_dm
2012-08-02 04:26 am UTC (link)
As Parvati assaulted him with so many words, so many feelings, Draco snapped.

"This is why we don't work!" Suddenly his eyes were frightening and dark. "This is why we aren't together, okay? Because we are not compatible." His words flew out in articulate and hurtful syllables. "Yes, I put you through a lot, and I'm sorry. I was sorry each time, and I'm still sorry. But I guess I needed to be with someone who wasn't so invested in me, then! Someone who didn't need so much from me back. Because you needed me to be strong. Even when everything was happening, you needed to be exempt from everything bad I was feeling. I took some of my anger out on you, around you, because you were so close to me. And you thought that if I loved you more, that that wouldn't happen. But I could have not reacted in any other way than I did, back then." Draco's eyes flickered over the memory of his father, his lineage, his alliances.

"You wanted everything to be like a fairy tail. You thought you could change me, but you can't change people Parvati. It seems like you've learned that," he acknowledged her statement, about him needing to learn things on his own. "You thought that if I loved you enough, I could just give up those artifacts. It wasn't and isn't so simple. Even if it's bad, I can't do it." Not yet, at least. "I understand where you were coming from, but--"

He stopped himself.

"There's no reason for us to fight. The point is, I couldn't be who you needed me to be, and you're with someone who can give you what you want." He exhaled. "I don't want to fight you. I never want to fight with you. I'm sorry. You should go home, though." He ran a hand through his hair. "Go home, Parvati."

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[info]_prettyparvati
2012-08-02 04:55 am UTC (link)
Her chest hurt. That familiar hollow feeling beating at her, her heart thrashing wildly trying to escape the disaster inside. Parvati's dark brown eyes were bright with tears.

"Draco," She breathed, watching his temper rise and fall like a baby dragon, squalling fire everywhere just because he could. "I know we aren't compatible. You spent years explaining that to me and I fought stupidly and childishly because I was so blind with emotion. It's not that I wanted to change you; I just wanted you to be happy."

And she meant that.

"I thought I could make you happy, but that's not what you needed. I couldn't heal things for you. I never wanted to be exempt from what you felt, but I wanted you to help me understand instead of lashing out at me. I didn't want a different Draco, I just wanted a happy Draco."

"It doesn't matter now, don't you see? I'm not telling you these things because I want you to be with me, I'm telling you these things because I want you to understand yourself and grow as a person. Draco, you come to a conclusion that someone views you a certain way and nothing, nothing will change your mind about that. I understand you couldn't give those artifacts up, but you have to understand that in that moment I couldn't give up any more of my life to try and support yours. It wasn't that you loved me enough to give them up, but that I knew then, you just didn't love me enough period."

"But that was a long time ago." She smiled oddly, "And tonight isn't the night for our story to be retold, it had its day." She looked around for the waiter who had long since vanished into the backroom in case spells were to be cast. "I don't want to leave you here like this, Draco, it feels sad. Let's at least be friends."

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[info]_dm
2012-08-02 05:08 am UTC (link)
"A happy Draco would have been a different Draco," he sighed, his anger subsiding. At that moment in time, he felt that not being with her was the best thing he had done for her so far.

As she continued speaking, he heard the resignation in her voice. Without thinking, he stood. He stood, took a step, closing the short distance between them, and held her by the shoulders.

"I..." his hands ran up slowly, so that they were almost framing her face. "I can never be just your friend." Her perfume. He hadn't smelled it in so long. It mixed with his smoke and oak aged liquor. "I..."

Just then, Parvati's mobile began twinkling and bleeping.

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[info]_prettyparvati
2012-08-02 05:29 am UTC (link)
He looked terrible. Pale, wrinkled and a bit greasy. It wasn't his looks that made her knees weak, it was just him. Every component of his being. The effect Draco had on Parvati was epic and endless. He had always been able to cast such an effect spell on her-

Her mobile fireplace began spitting sparks and noise and Draco's spell was broken. Instead another was woven, stepping away from his partial embrace she blew into the contained box of flames and Jacob Brandon's voice came, quiet but discernible by Draco.

"Hey Babe, where are you?"

"Um, just picking up food, it's taking awhile." Parvati's voice was high, her cheeks flushed. She looked relieved to see him. "I'll ring you when I'm home?"

"Sure. Want company? I can floo over when you're back, no meetings tommorrow!"

"Sure, that'd be nice." She fluttered back, a smile on her lips. "Do you want me to pick you up anything?"

"Already ate." Jacob chuckled, "Do you want me to stay on the line till you get back?"

"No, it's okay. Go put on a nice shirt for me, though. No slobs allowed."

"Mean witch." He grumbled, "Alright then, love you."

She smiled, "Love you."

The fireplace went black and for a moment Parvati just stared at it before turning back to Draco with an air of awkwardness.

After a long moment she spoke, her eyes meeting his. "You can never be just my friend, but you yourself admitted, the way we are, we can never be more."

Her takeout had landed on the counter in a wrapped bag (the staff still too scared to come outside). Parvati shuffled in her purse for the money and dropped it on the counter before picking up the bag.

"You are a great talent, Draco Malfoy. And I have faith that you will one day figure out how to be that happy Draco. I couldn't make you turn into him in the past, but you can make yourself that way, I know it."

She leaned forward with all the allure of a beautiful, benevolent princess and kissed his cheek.

"We mightn't be friends, but let's not be strangers. I'm chairing the Dragonpox ball this summer, will you be there? I expect to see you there: on top of the world. Not all -" She gestured toward his destroyed napkins and empty glasses, "You know."

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[info]_dm
2012-08-02 09:12 pm UTC (link)
As Parvati slid out of Draco's grasp to answer her twinkling mobile, his hands fell heavily to his sides, and they curved ever so slightly-- as if in memory of what they had just briefly held, and would not hold again for a long time.

He couldn't bear to watch Parvati as she spoke to her boyfriend, but his ears hung onto every word. It wasn't the Love you that hurt. It was the familiarity that did.

And maybe, just maybe the fact that he hadn't mustered up the courage to tell her how much he still loved her, also hurt a little bit. Not that it would have done much good. But the selfish part of him wanted her to know. So that he could still have some form of tie to her.

But as she stood up with her take away, and kissed him on the cheek, he felt a wave of sickening humility crash through his hazy anger.

"I heard about your ball," was all he replied. "Unfortunately I have an appointment that day..." he trailed off, sitting back down, establishing the distance between them once more before she was out the door.

Too drunk at this point to handle thinking about the beautiful Gryffindor any longer, he decidedly shut her out of his mind as she left the dark, lonely pub. But as he mulled over his actions in terms of the diamond company, he swore he would get them back, and slowly began drawing violent, passionate circles and geometric shapes on the bar napkins scattered around him in light, artful lines.

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