light footed

Juniper chuckled, running her hand through her hair. Her friend was right; Sirius and Juniper had been a bit slow to define what they were, but she supposed that part of her had known, had always known, from that first moment they’d met on Sirius’ birthday. But much as she adored him, for now she wanted to focus on Riya. She had missed Riya more than she could imagine and while she appreciated that she was able to tell her friend about how her life had turned out, she found herself more in awe of Riya’s presence. “I wish I could hug you,” she admitted, offering the other woman – the ghost – a wry smile and a quirk of her lips. “Your girls will probably give this little one quite the education in raising hell,” she remarked, her gaze moving slightly to the abdomen that had yet to protrude. “There’s still time, but I think your two are going to be as different as night and day.”

She could tell that they were going to be close, just as she’d seen them now, but Juniper found that she’d be surprised if they were the type of twins who relied upon each other in a way that could be considered rather codependent. It gratified her, to know that her own child would fit in with them now, but Juniper did her best to focus on the woman in front of her, on the words that Riya was saying, on what she was revealing. “Peter,” she responded, the name feeling heavy coming from her lips, almost as if her mouth was filled with cotton.

It would be easy, for her to learn more about what happened to Lestrange, to act rashly. But she listened to Riya instead, knowing that she had to think about more than just herself now. There was the baby, there was Sirius, and she did not want to jeopardize any of that. “I can do that,” she responded, her head tilting in a heavy nod. “I promise you I’ll go to Kingsley. He’s been a big help in other things,” she mused, thinking of how she’d procured Ringo from his family’s breeding operations. “Why is everything such a mess?” she inquired.

"Really? Maybe one will be like me and one will be like Pankaj, that could be interesting. I like the idea of one of them running around and causing trouble for the teachers, carrying on my legacy. It will be just like having the two of us back there again, that's good." Riya hummed, having the odd moment of realizing she was jealous of people she hadn't thought about in years, all because they would get to see her kids grown up when she wouldn't. When she was alive, Riya used to look at her girls and wonder if either of them would be interested in history like she was, if either of them would enjoy the incense in the air of divination class and ask people to read their palm. "I'm so mad that I'm not going to be able to be there for you when your kid comes into the world."

Riya hadn't realized that she was going to say it until the words were already in the air, but it was true. She and Juniper had been pulled apart by life for so long and only really found each other again after she'd had the twins and now she wasn't going to be there to listen to Juniper complain about cravings, she wouldn't be able to hold her hand and tell her she did a good job after giving birth, she wouldn't be able to laugh at Juniper's disgust over diapers or calm her down if the baby had colic, one of the few baby problems that Riya lived long enough to identify. She'd never thought before of the way her death would affect those around her, but she couldn't help but think of it as she looked at Juniper.

Somehow it only felt right that it was Juniper who would manage to put her death to rights and Riya smiled at the thought that Kingsley had been a help to Juniper. Good man. "It's a mess because it would be boring otherwise," Riya said, quiet and insistent as she drifted closer to Juniper, careful not to touch since she knew she wasn't warm flesh and blood, but a chilling ghost. "Come on, darling, you know me. Do you really think I was ever made to die peacefully in my sleep?" No, of course she wasn't. "I'd hug you right now, too, if I could."

Peter understood what she was saying, and part of him knew it a long time ago that he would die a good man or die a coward. Still, he didn’t know if the guilt would make him a good man or not. He didn’t think so. His hands reflexively took the dog tags that sat on his chest, not really knowing what to say for a moment. 

It wasn’t solace, but there was a bit of inevitably in the action. He was talking to a ghost, someone who didn’t fear death anymore. Someone who he could tell and move on. He didn’t have to be brave - not really. No one would have to know he was a coward, but he already couldn’t look himself in the mirror. 

He couldn’t stop the smoke from filling up rooms he was in. The ignition to a fire he didn’t start, but was consuming his life. He’d read a philosopher once that said that hell was other people, but Peter had done a hell of a job by himself. Sooty hands touching clean surfaces he’d never be able to clean.

Still, maybe Riya was right. Maybe he couldn’t stop the stains he left or the things he’d done.  Still it didn’t make it better. He was still holding charred bits of things he couldn’t put back together. Even if he lived until he was eighty there was nothing to put his life back together. No peace he could find. There wasn’t an solace in this but there was hope he didn’t have to live with all these regrets.

“It’s right awful isn’t it?” Peter said softly almost drained. He wasn’t even rightly sad over his life anymore. “To put a person in a situation where trying to live its it’s own form of selfishness. ‘suppose that’s inevitable in a war.” 

“I’m still not a brave man. I don’t think I’ve really ever been, but I think I’m cowardly enough that I don’t want to live with myself knowing that I could have stopped something. I’ve got no courage left so that’ll have to do I guess.” 

"That sounds like some kind of fancy philosophical quote." Riya said, a breezy tone coming to her voice before she could adjust herself to fit the somber tone of the conversation. She couldn't help it, she'd married a ravenclaw and she was used to hearing quotes and theories. Back then, her reaction had been to roll her eyes and push forward without any thought to caution, but she couldn't exactly do that any longer.

"Being selfish isn't bad. If we were never selfish, I bet we'd all be miserable because we never bothered getting anything that made us happy or made life worth living." Riya continued before remembering that just maybe she shouldn't be advocating selfishness to someone that had admitted to her that he'd turned spy out of fear. She thought that for a moment, then discarded the thought because Peter was going to make his own choices, he was going to do what felt right - or no.

That wasn't accurate at all, was it?

If Peter made his own choices, he wouldn't be a spy. If Peter did what felt right to him, he wouldn't be making nearly as long of a confession to her, now would he?

Letting out a fond sigh, Riya put her hands on her hips and spared only a moment to think of how strange it was that she could feel her curves below her palms, but walk through a solid wall if she so chose. "Peter, having someone tell you to jump doesn't mean you have to. Run off, you don't have to be brave. If you could do anything that you want, what would it be? Really. Think about it and then tell me something. What's stopping you?"

She made it sound so simple and that likely wasn't fair, Riya knew it wasn't, but that was how life had always been for her. She would board trains on a whim and got a tattoo because she liked the idea, she was impulsive and didn't know what it was like to hold back.

A laugh escaped her lips. “You are,” Juniper responded with a shrug of her shoulder and a pleasant smile. There was something freeing about seeing Riya, about knowing that her friend was still here in some form, even if only for a night. “It would have been,” she agreed. “You could have helped me make sure I didn’t do anything stupid. But Sirius and I have kind of just fallen into things. It wasn’t so much that we made decisions as it feels that one day we just woke up and we already were, you know?” She ran her hand over her stomach once more, not wanting the entire exchange to be maudlin – who knew how much longer they had now? A smile rose on her lips. “I can’t wait for the girls to meet this little one, though,” she said.

Though Juniper had been the one to ask the question, now that it was here in front of her she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. Even if Riya were to receive justice – whatever justice was – she would never see her children grow, would never again visit a pub with Juniper in the daytime, would miss out on so many things that parents often took for granted. As she listened to Riya speak, she felt her temper and ire rising. Juniper sucked in a breath and when she exhaled, it was slow and deliberate. “LeStrange,” she finished the thought with a shake of her head and a flare of her nostrils. “I can’t…” she choked on her words as she shook her head again. “I hate him,” she finally said.

"Sounds like you were as slow and steady as an avalanche," Riya commented in amusement, thinking about the slow gathering and shift of snow that eventually led to the crash. It was sort of funny in a way because of how opposite it had been to her own courtship, something that Riya thought of in terms of a whirlwind, but as long as Juniper was happy and safe, that was the important part and Riya didn't have any doubt that Juniper could take care of herself. "Do you know how happy it makes me to think about our kids being able to raise hell at Hogwarts like we did?" Riya asked before shaking her head, giving a grin. "Of course you know.  Looks like our legacy isn't going to end, darling." 

There had been days when Riya sat at home and felt bored out of her mind as she watched her kids squirm about like worms on the rug, waiting for them to grow older so she could take them on adventures and see what traits they inherited from her and which came from Pankaj. Now she wasn't going to see any of that, but there was something reassuring about knowing Juniper was watching after them, that her kids would grow up with Juniper's and that they could have that kind of friendship when they were older.

"If the girls are okay, Peter must have helped them." Which meant that she must have succeeded in saving Peter, or at least causing enough of a distraction for him not to be killed next. She had no way of knowing what happened after her death, but at least she remembered who did it, or one of the culprits. Who knew, maybe the man with Rabastan had even been his brother, but that wasn't something Riya could swear to. "Go to Kingsley." She said immediately. "Kingsley Shacklebolt, the auror. Tell him what happened to me and give him a kiss for me, won't you? I don't know how long I'll be here or else I'd do it, but he can help do something about this."

“You shouldn’t,” Peter said simply not looking at her for a moment. “I don’t know how much heroism I’ve got in me. I don’t know how much I can do before it all settles in Riya. I’m not a good hero. I’m not built for it. ” 

It was a fear he couldn’t help but focus on. He’d chosen to protect the twins that time, but he was terrified that wasn’t always going to be the case. He’d already handed off names. It seemed like he was tip toeing closer to a line he couldn’t get back from. 

“I’m scared,” Peter said simply. “Traitors don’t last long Riya, and they don’t go quick. He’s - the thinks he can do Riya. It’s not natural. My mom used to tell me that my dad talked about how unnatural war is, and I didn’t believe him until - I don’t understand. I don’t understand how someone can know what they can do and not be scared. I don’t have it in me to not be scared.” 

He’d broke down when they’d taken him the first time, and the idea he could end up back there was enough to drive him insane if he thought about it for to long. “I just - I don’t want to go through that again. It’s killing me and if I tell people I’m going to wind up dead. I’m not a brave man.” 

What was is that made a hero? That wasn't a question that Riya could answer because she didn't know. Had she been a hero or just a fool for thinking that she could change things? The death eaters would likely call her a fool if not worse because she was a muggleborn that dared think she had the right to magic, that thought she could fight them. But the order? Well, who knew, maybe they were making her into a martyr, a muggleborn mother that died for the cause.

"Courage, dear heart." She murmured, something she'd heard from a book, something that had been murmured to her time and time again through the years by her parents, delivered with a kiss to her forehead. She'd never been able to say it to her own children, but at least she could say it to Peter.

"I don't know what makes a hero, but I know this. Everyone gets scared. You have to be scared before you can be brave."

There was a particular form of cruelty in knowing that for all the soothing words she could say, she couldn't hold him, and Riya Patil was certain she was far better at holding someone through their upsets than talking them through it, but no matter how Peter felt about her death, she needed to try.

"Peter, people are dying no matter which side you're on. I'm proof of that. So if you're dying from keeping secrets and if you'll die if you don't tell them, then all that's left to do is decide which one you'd rather die for." Head tipping to the side, Riya gave him a sad look before shaking her head. "No one said this would be easy, Peter. There's a lot of things in this life you can't control, but what you die for is one of them."

Peter stopped for a moment, trying not to hyperventilate at the thoughts surrounding him. This couldn’t be real and even if it was, it didn’t matter. She only knew who he had been, not who he’d become. Maybe at one point she could look at him and say that he was worth it but he wasn’t. He was silent with her talking, but there was a point at the end that he couldn’t help but shake his head no. He couldn’t handle this feeling anymore. She didn’t know that he was awful. That he was a coward. 

“ No Riya don’t forgive me. I -I Riya, I didn’t know what to do,” He said feeling the tears coming to his eyes before he could stop. He hadn’t told anyone, but even now he couldn’t help but speak even if it scared him. He didn’t even know if it made sense what he was saying. “They blackmailed me. The twins were there - I didn’t want them to. They were going to kill them. I joined them Riya. They made me a spy, and I didn’t want to but they kept threatening me.” He said his voice fading for a moment not able to look at her. 

“I tried running and they just found me. I -I it was horrible,” He said not able to look at her but the words falling out of his mouth before he could stop it. “They keep pressuring me to give them more information and Riya I can’t do it anymore. I can’t keep anyone safe anymore. They keep asking me and it’s horrible what they can do. I thought I was going to die there, and no one was going to come get me. I don’t know what to do anymore. Riya, you can’t forgive me. I don’t deserve it.” 

"Oh." While Riya wasn't exactly a stranger to heartbreak, it felt like an entirely new sensation as the words spilled out of Peter, his situation something that somehow Riya felt that she'd caused. "Oh, Peter. You sweet boy."

Oddly, Riya felt as though dying and being separated from her kids had helped her settle into motherhood now that she was no longer responsible for taking care of two kids and bored all day. Perhaps it was because she knew that she wasn't going to be there for any of the boring moments or the exciting moments, but as Peter kept rambling, seeming desperate to explain before she could cut him off, the only word Riya could use to describe how she felt was maternal.

It was strange. When she was alive, she would have looked at someone Peter's age and simply wanted to party with them, but now she saw someone that seemed like they were lacking support and perhaps that was a sort of clarity that came with being dead, maybe she was numb to her own doom. "Too late," Riya informed him lightly, still trying to process his words. "I've already forgiven you. I can't take it back now."

She could and she would have if she felt wronged, but she didn't. "Peter, you saved my kids. You picked them." As far as Riya was concerned, that meant that Peter had already saved someone because it wasn't like her children were capable of defending themselves. She hoped Pankaj knew, hoped that maybe someone helped Peter realize that in those final moments of her life, Peter had been a better parent than she had because she'd brought her kids with her into danger while Peter had kept them safe.

Riya didn't regret saving Peter, but she could have left the baby stroller before going to investigate, could have disguised it to help protect her kids, but she'd always thought she was invincible. Oh, hindsight.

"Tell them. You're only a spy if the Order doesn't know, but if they do, you're a mole. You can be a good guy, Peter, it just takes some honesty."

There was a peace in this, in being able to tell her best friend – her dead best friend – what had happened in her life of late. While Juniper hadn’t expected to ever be given the opportunity to do so, she would not squander it now that it had been given. Her lips quirked and there was a lightness in her gaze that would not have been there in another situation. “Yeah,” she said, the smile on her face genuine. She had gotten over her initial shock by now and Juniper found that she was so incredibly excited about the changes that were to come. “Haven’t told Sirius yet,” Juniper admitted with a shrug of her shoulder. It was one of the reasons she’d wanted to check on the twins today, if only because she wanted her own child to grow up with them, to be as close as Juniper had been with their mother. “Nah,” she said with a shrug. “Just trying to deal with everything in my mind. It’s tough, not having you here anymore,” she admitted.

She nodded as Riya spoke about how she died, though she did her best to keep the tears at bay. In a way, that was the night her relationship with Sirius had been so solidified, though it wasn’t a thought she wanted to entertain for too long. “Do you…” she asked slowly. “Do you know who did it?” She wasn’t sure she wanted an answer, but now that the subject had come up, Juniper couldn’t push down the natural curiosity, the righteous anger that burned in her at the thought. She exhaled, heavily, and the smile she gave Riya was quite wan. “He’s the one,” she responded. “Domesticity isn’t so bad, not when the two of us are learning it together.”

"That's because I'm irreplaceable, there's no one else like me," Riya confirmed with a wink, the oddity of making light of her own death something strange that she wasn't entirely sure how to process, but Riya had never been the sort to take anything too seriously and she wasn't about to make Juniper feel bad about the fact she was dead considering the woman had to live with it every day. "But you? You're one of the toughest women I know, I know you're still out there kicking ass, darling. Bet it would have been fun to compare notes on how settling down was going." It was nice to know that she was missed. Not that Riya had even doubted people would miss her, but this was a bit like attending your own funeral and getting to hear all the nice things people were going to say about you.

Somehow even though they were talking about her death in conjunction with the new life Juniper was growing, it still surprised Riya when Juniper asked who killed her and Riya closed her eyes as she hummed, thinking about it. "Death eaters. I was going to set up a nice date night for Pankaj because it was Valentine's day, I'd actually gotten advice from Gilderoy Lockhart on it. I saw Peter... and I tried to help him. It was fast, but..." But the more she thought about it, the easier it was to remember, like letting your eyes adjust to the gloom and managing to see things in the dark. "Rabastan." Riya breathed out, eyes opening in surprise. "I heard the name Rabastan." Which wasn't exactly a common name, which meant that the death eater had to have been Rabastan Lestrange.

“I would when it’s not supposed to be here,” Peter said softly. He wasn’t even sure he could look at her. It had been - blimey it hadn’t even been a year. He could still remember valentines day and crashing down. Part of him wanted to scream that it hadn’t been worth it but he just shook his head slightly. He couldn’t even seem to joke back with her. Even if he had wanted to try the words would have turned bad in his throat. 

“You shouldn’t be.” He saw the movement for her reaching out and he actually looked at her. Blinking slightly he tried to steady himself. He wanted to say something more but he just kept going on that fact. 

“I got - I guess you’d know but I got the twins out. I -” He didn’t know what to say. That he’d signed his soul away that day. Even if he wanted to leave or run that they’d gotten trapped so throughly that they’d found him the one time he tried. If he went to the auror’s he’d be framed for her murder. They’d taken his wand to put up the dark mark after all. That he’d been pushed to an edge. If there was a life he was supposed to lead it’d been taken from him. Her sacrificed didn’t seem to mean much, not with everything she had lost. 

“You shouldn’t have died Riya. Not for me. I’m too much of a coward to have been of any use to help. I’m not trying to - make you feel bad but I - I wish you were still alive. You didn’t deserve that. You didn’t deserve to die because I’m a coward.” 

"Peter Pettigrew, don't you dare." 

There wasn't any anger in her voice, there wasn't any hate and or resentment and it was perhaps one of the most quietly stated things she'd ever said to Peter. How she wished she could touch him. "You were worth it to me. I didn't try to help you because I thought you'd save me. Honey, I never held back from doing something just because I didn't have back up. I lived my life and I went out fighting, I'm not going to complain about that."

After all, it wasn't like anyone ever made her join the order, it wasn't like they expected a mother of two to go out there and fight, but Riya had wanted to. She craved the adventure of it and hadn't been satisfied to sit at home and knit. Riya wasn't even sure how to knit and motherhood hadn't been part of her life long enough for her to settle into the role, instead all she wanted was the taste of freedom of being able to do things again without being weighed down by her stomach.

"You saved my kids, you think that's not worth something to me?" The truth was that Riya had put them in danger without a thought and maybe she'd managed to help save Peter's life, she didn't know, but Peter had managed to save two, as far as she was concerned. "You got them home to Pankaj, we're even." 

Maybe she didn't deserve to die, but that was true of a lot of people and the death eaters didn't seem to care. She was a muggleborn in a magical world, she'd embraced the risks and ran with them.

"You didn't deserve to die, either. It's okay, Peter. I forgive you." She'd never blamed him in the first place. 

Riya’s question made Juniper chuckle. Her mouth twisted into a smile and she shook her head. “Uh, no,” she responded, one hand instinctively going down to her abdomen. “Quite the opposite, actually.” She bit her lip and shrugged one shoulder. It was not exactly the way she would have liked to have told her best friend the news, but Juniper had resigned herself to the fact that she’d never have been able to tell Riya at all. Lips twitched. “They’re good,” she said as she discussed the girls. “I’m not as good about visiting, but I’m trying to get better. It’s been hard, y’know? They look…so much like you sometimes.” She shrugged once more but blinked a few times to keep from crying any more than she already had.

Nodding, she listened to her friend and chuckled. “Of course I’ll teach them how to cause trouble. They’ll need to teach this little one, too. Don’t worry – they will know exactly how bold we were.” She thought of some of the adventures she’d gotten up to with Riya; though the other woman had seemingly grown up while Juniper was still a bit of a vagabond, theirs was a bond that was impossible to break. “Nothing’s been the same since…well since you were killed.” She wondered, sometimes, who had killed her friend, but she doubted Riya would remember and she did not want to spoil whatever small time they had. “I’ve been with Sirius since…well, since last year.” She offered Riya a small smile. “He moved in a month ago. Things are good with us, really good. Jasper doesn’t seem to like him but…” she lifted her hands up in a what can you do? expression.

Eyebrows flying up as her eyes dropped down to the hand Juniper had on her abdomen, it didn't take much for Riya's brain to connect Juniper's statement with her body language. She was dead, after all, not dumb. "Juniper," She practically purred, looking as if she'd just been given the juiciest piece of gossip, a look that it had been quite common between them back at Hogwarts. "Ar you telling me you have a bun in the oven?" No matter how long she was going to roam the earth, Riya doubted they would have time to go over her complicated feelings over motherhood and Riya wasn't going to get into it, instead focusing on being happy for Juniper. "Developing an evil queen syndrome? Come on, don't hate Snow White for being young and pretty." She knew what Juniper meant, she could only imagine what it would be like to look at a little piece of what you lost and Riya kept her voice gentle, wishing she could hug her.

While Riya knew Pankaj would look after the girls, there was some part of her that rejoiced knowing they'd have a mischievous influence like Juniper in their life and that they could grow up to be thick as thieves with Juniper's child. "I went out the way I wanted to. Fighting death eaters and keeping someone save. At least my girls made it out, I don't have any regret if they didn't get hurt." She remembered laughter, remembered wanting to keep Peter safe, little details coming back to her. "Look at you, settling down and being domestic. I never thought I'd see the day." And maybe she really hadn't, but that didn't merit thinking about. "You liking him is the important thing. So he's the one, huh?"

Peter had seen Riya around, but it was more in the memories he didn’t want to deal with then actually seeing her corporal like she was now. It was in the flashes he’d convinced himself weren’t real. She was dead, and he was still alive. Yelling at the memory wouldn’t change it. Wondering why she’d done it wouldn’t bring her back to ask her. He’d pushed Riya to his dreams - or his nightmares he wasn’t quite sure the difference these days. 

That’s why he wondered if he actually just lost it. He wouldn’t be shocked. People lost it all the time to being under stress. He wondered if talking to her would make him more insane or feel any better. He wondered if she’d start yelling at him like he did to himself. 

“I - you aren’t real are you? Fuck, feels like I’m in Hamlet. Uh Batteries. Yeah I know how they work. Mum uses them sometimes. Are you real this time or am I dreaming again. You would’ve passed on.” 

"Of course I'm real! Just because I’m not solid doesn't mean I'm not here. You wouldn't call the wind imaginary, would you?" Riya asked with a laugh before she caught on just how Peter had phrased things. "Wait, this time? Peter, have you been dreaming about me that often? Aw, I'm flattered."

Despite her teasing words and the smile playing around her lips, Riya didn't really believe Peter had been having those kinds of dreams about her - or at least not exclusively, considering the circumstances when he'd last seen her alive. "I did pass on. I'm not sure what I'm doing back here, but I'm back and I'm so glad to see you."

Drifting closer, Riya reached for Peter's face and caught herself, stopping before she could touch him. "Sorry for the chill, darling, keep forgetting. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to get around like this, I can go right through walls just like drafty old Binns!" It was tempting to move through something to demonstrate, but she didn't want Peter fainting or slipping off. "I was worried about you, you know. I'm glad you got out of there." She'd wanted to save him, after all.

Juniper hadn’t expected to see Riya, though the sight of her best friend – even as a ghost – was not unwelcome. Her brow furrowed and she wiped at her eyes. “I’m thrilled to see you,” she whispered, her lips twitching at the corners. “It must be the bloody hormones making me cry.” She shrugged her shoulders as she took in every bit of Riya she could see. “You’re always gorgeous.” The smile didn’t make it to her eyes, though Juniper did her best. “I was just visiting the twins,” she explained. “And I wished you could see them.” She exhaled slowly, aware that she was speaking in fragments. But she didn’t worry that Riya couldn’t understand; they had always spoken each other’s languages.

There was no easy way to answer Riya’s question. Juniper bit her lip slightly. “I don’t know,” she said softly. “But I can’t imagine it’s permanent. Ghosts don’t usually take so long to materialize and I never got the impression you wanted to come back like this.” She pushed her hair back behind her ear. “I’m not going to waste any time I have seeing you, though.” One side of her mouth lifted up into a half-smile. “I’ve missed you so much.”

It was instinct to reach out for Juniper so she could wipe away her tears, but Riya caught herself halfway there when the transparency of her hand reminded her that she was a ghost and couldn't actually touch. "That time of the month, huh?" She teased with a wink, not wanting Juniper to waste time crying and being sad when she could disappear at any moment. "I always knew you were a miracle worker. We've always been the kind of women that make things happen, it's good to know you're picking up my slack."  When she'd been alive, Riya had firmly believed in living without regrets, running forward and having adventures and not being weighed down with 'what ifs'. She'd kept that same mentality even after giving birth, insisting on still taking all the risks she had before and planning to lead her girls on adventures when they were older and it was unexpected how much it twisted at her heart to know that Juniper was keeping an eye on her girls for her, making sure they weren't too careful.

Shaking her head, Riya smiled at how well Juniper knew her. "You're right there. I passed on and went to experience the great after. I could tell you what it's like, but you'll get there - not for a long time, you got that? I need you to make sure my girls know how to cause trouble first. You don't get to short change me on stories when you show up to party with me, dollface." Letting out a laugh, Riya marveled at how easy it could be to still feel alive around Juniper. "I've missed you. How much fun have you been having without me?"

While Riya couldn’t see it or feel it, she knew that there had to be a countdown going somewhere, seconds ticking away and minutes draining from her time to walk the earth again and she wasn’t going to waste it. There were places to go, people to see, and if Riya was going to be roaming around again, she was going to make sure to give closure to as many people as she could, to hear those final messages and give away her final words.

It was pure luck that led to Riya spotting someone she recognized so soon and Riya drifted behind them, using her ghostly skill to sneak up behind them. “Should have known I had too much energy for one life,” She commented, making sure not to touch them so they wouldn’t feel her ghostly chill. “Maybe the afterlife is like an outlet that charges souls up and we’re sent back for a while once we have power again. You know how batteries work, right?” 

“t would be my honor, truly.” He said, smiling at the thought. Babysitting suited him. It was essentially just flattering and amusing a small child for hours. Plus he always had loved children in general.

“If it’s cold, then you just cuddle.” Gilderoy said with a shrug. That had never really been a problem for him. Physical affection was a drug he’d never get enough of, never ever. “See, you can be romantic! That sounds perfectly lovely, I may have to steal the idea and use it on Regulus.”

Babysitters were one of the most valuable commodities in the world as far as Riya was concerned, especially if they were good and she wasn't worried about what they were doing constantly. It was nice to be able to drop the kids off somewhere and go out shopping or take a train ride or just go out and exist without worrying about when there would be a dirty diaper or someone would get hungry and maybe it would have been easier with one, but she had two. One day they would be bigger and they could all go on adventures together, but not yet.

"You're a lifesaver," Riya said, smiling at him brightly. "How about you try it on your guy and I'll try it on mine and we can get together sometime and compare our results, huh? You mean, we can be a power duo that works on romance methods for hopeless cases. It could make a popular column."

Within a few moments of Riya being there, Pandora overcame whatever senses that alerted her about the stranger and was beaming at the woman as best she could. With her words, Pandora carefully understood she had grown up in the muggle world as well. “It is isn’t it? There are different diseases and sicknesses for everyone. The health care is fractured immensely in both directions. I never thought I would either even when I knew Dragonpox was spreading. I’m sure there are spells and other antidotes being made! I would love to participate in that kind of research but I’m afraid it’s not in my wheelhouse. That’s a medical science which I only know so little about.” Pandora sniffled pitifully, the sickness making her sore and wanting to bury her head deeper into the little nest of blankets she had created for herself. She hadn’t left her room in days, just barely able to do little more than roam around to scavenge for food. The woman was a fresh presence and she sat up straighter at the mention of sweets, tilting her head to poke for a glance at it. “I am Pandora Kane and it is a pleasure to meet you! I promise I am not usually sick and miserable. I am thankful for you being here even if I’m not the flatmate you were looking for. My fiancé was a quidditch player and still flys when he can! I should be better with my healing charms. I know a fair share of them but I’m always wanting to push myself. This isn’t the case for spells though. Dragon Pox must take its course and air out just like any other sickness,” Pandora explained happily. “I am so sorry about your child’s sickness. It’s good to have it happen so next time you will be equipped! My mother always tried her best but that’s the best you can do. I haven’t really been, no. But they are so adorable with their little faces and noses. My friend who is a beautiful model has a beautiful son who I sometimes see!”

"I'd certainly hope you're not!" Riya said with a bright laugh, grinning at Pandora as she looked around the bedroom. "Don't get me wrong, I love your room, it's very fairytale, but there's way too much out there to be cooped up by these four walls all day, sometimes I felt like Hogwarts was too small and I used to jump on trains just to see something knew what I was younger. I spent a nice portion of my time lost before I got married, actually, it was a blast." She missed those days sometimes, it seemed like the only adventures she had lately were those filled with going to the shops for diapers, but one day her kids would be bigger and she'd be able to play hide and seek in forests and let them see the ocean. Reaching up almost absent, Riya touched the tattoo on the back of her neck that she'd gotten to symbolize Pankaj and soon shook her head as she got back on topic. "Besides, I bet I'd only be seeing you in St. Mungos if you were always sick. "I only know episkey, really, I'm more of the old fashioned sort, but I'm trying to figure out some spells for baby discomfort. If I can find a spell for relieving baby indigestion, I will light incense and leave flowers for the inventor of that spell for a week," She swore, grabbing one of the cookies from the container and taking a bite. "Were you the first born? It can be hard to know what's wrong with babies because they don't really tell you, you have to figure it out as you go and I didn't know anything about babies, but you're right, I'll know next time. See, I didn't even have any friends with kids, so you're ahead of the game for me with your fancy connections." Riya teased gently, reaching to pat at the rough spot where she assumed Pandora's ankle would be under the blankets. "I'd offer to let you meet mine, but you'll need a clean bill of health first or else I'll never hear the end of it. I swear I know some of the biggest worriers in the world, but I can't talk, it took me weeks before I stopped worrying I'd break my girls when I held them. There's just some things you can't prepare for, I guess. Like getting sick, do you at least have something to keep you entertained in here or are you mostly sleeping?"

It wasn’t out of the ordinary for one of Vic’s friends to visit their flat, but Pandora was overjoyed to have one of them enter her bedroom with concern. Pandora didn’t even know this woman and already saw kindness in her which is why she didn’t think it was strange. “I don’t know if there’s anything worse than flames erupting from my nostrils and feeling pasty from head to my toes,” Pandora confessed with a small little smile. It was something that she already had compared to the other muggle diseases but nothing was paralleled to this. She had been doing her own research on the disease when it first shadowed the community and decided it would be a good chance for her to pursue it as a research article. It being a personal affair was not something she had been expecting, but crossed her fingers in case something more gruesome grew in her. “Entirely green?” Pandora echoed with her mouth parting open in surprise, her hands finding her face as if her face was consumed with the color. She didn’t think the green would be permanent if it did happen to her, but alas it hadn’t. Pandora made a bright smile at the mention of the woman and her children. “I am pleased to note that they are unaffected. And thank you so much! This is so nice of you, I don’t even know you. You make a good stand in healer.”

"That is so strange to me, that the sicknesses for magical people actually have a magical component. Growing up, I never would have pictured that there was a sickness that could make someone snort fire out of their noses. That still sounds like something you would need a spell for, doesn't it? Do you think that means our magic is sick? Huh, maybe things like that are how squibs happen," Riya chattered idly as she ran a hand along Pandora's bedspread, smoothing the fabric out and watching the cat on the corner of the bed with a tiny grin, almost hoping he would attack her fingers or be drawn to the clink of bracelets at her wrists, but napping seemed to be a more pressing concern for him. "I brought you cookies, that's good enough to say we know each other. But I"m Riya Patil, if you never caught my name. I'm a former Gryffindor, former quidditch player, mother of two, and a free spirit, but sometimes my husband uses a different term. I've never taken a healing class, but I learned how to patch myself up if I get in trouble." Or if an order member showed up at her house after getting in trouble, but Riya only laughed at didn't mention that. "Not that I'm good at recognizing when someone's sick. One of my girls ended up with colic and I had no idea what it was, but that could be because I'm bad with baby things, too. Have you spent a lot of time around kids?"