Parvati Prevails

Chapter Ten: Rain and Reasons

The sky opens up

Over me and you

And you don't seem to mind

That we're soaked through

You kiss me in the rain

I forget what I'm moaning about

And I know I wouldn't be the same

Without you

I laugh at my own jokes

And what I deem to be clever wit

And you don't seem to mind

That I'm so stupid

You kiss me once again

I forget what I'm babbling about

And I know I wouldn't be the same

Without you

Ginny Weasley unwillingly opened her eyes. Sunlight was glaring at her in the face, and she stirred and made to get up.

'Ow!' gasped Ginny, surprised by the pain jolting through her body.

'Finally awake, Weasley?' said the voice coming from the next bed. 'Took you long enough.'

'Oh no,' Ginny moaned. 'Not you.'

'Funny,' observed Draco, with what could only be described as a playful tone. 'That's what all the girls say in the morning.'

Ginny clenched her eyes and her fists. 'This is unbelievably shit.'

'Yes, every new day is a shitty day when you have to wake up poor and inferior,' was the comment from the next bed.

If the ache in her bones hadn't been so bad, forget about wands, Ginny would have leapt up and strangled Draco Malfoy with her own hands.

'I didn't think you could get any less unpleasant, Malfoy, but it seems you reach all new levels of bitterness in the mornings,' she replied instead through gritted teeth. 'I guess I would be too, if I had to wake up ugly and unloved.'

Draco laughed. It might have been a genuine laugh as well, if Ginny hadn't known that he was incapable of such a thing as mirth.

'You're drugged up on pain-relief potions, aren't you?'

'A little bit,' Draco admitted, twirling something between his fingers.

'Malfoy!' cried Ginny. 'Is that my wand?'

'Yes.'

'Why do you have my wand?'

'I took it while you were sleeping, in case you woke up and decided to hex me.'

'Well, you weren't wrong! Give it back!'

'Are you going to hex me?'

'Are you a complete and utter git?'

'When you put it that way, I guess I'll hold onto it for a while longer.'

'I swear to Godric, if I could move at all you would be dead by now, you asshole!'

'Murdered in my pyjamas? You're cruel, Weasley.'

She refused to say anything more. Draco allowed himself a smirk, and was quietly smug as Ginny lapsed into a furious silence.

After a while, Ginny spat at him, 'You deserve to rot in hell.'

'We're having a moment here, Weasley. Let's try not to ruin it with words. Besides, I've barely had any peace all night; did you know that you snore abominably?'

'I HATE YOU!' she screamed, unable to take anymore. 'AND I DO NOT SNORE!'

'What is going on here?' Madame Pomfrey demanded, bustling in through the door.

'Nothing,' muttered Draco and Ginny at the same time.

'Well, try and keep it down. You're scaring first years down the hall.' She handed Ginny a small glass half-filled with dangerous-looking, dark liquid. 'Take this, it'll help with the pain.'

'I don't mind the pain,' said Ginny. 'It's him I can't stand.'

'Well, you'll be up and out of each other's hair by this afternoon.'

Ginny downed the potion and hoped desperately that it was some sort of poison that might kill her quickly. It couldn't be any worse than suffering for a whole day in the company of Draco Malfoy and she doubted she'd survive that anyway.

*

When Parvati and Harry had stepped out of the dungeon, they'd found a whole group of Gryffindors surrounding the unconscious Draco and Ginny.

'Parvati!' cried Lavender, rushing forwards to hug her. 'It's Hannah, isn't it? That bitch!'

'She's inside. Harry stunned her,' said Parvati. 'Someone run for a teacher.'

'We'll go get McGonagall,' offered Dean. He and Seamus quickly headed back up the stairs.

'Harry, are you alright, mate?' asked Ron, white-faced. He had been crouched next to Ginny and now stood up.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' said Harry, gesturing to his strapped-up leg. 'I did that thing that Lupin used on you.'

Ron nodded, and Hermione touched him lightly on the arm. 'Ginny and Malfoy will be okay,' she told them. 'I don't think it's anything serious.'

'What happened to you guys?' asked Neville.

'Well I don't know most of it,' Harry confessed. 'Malfoy just told us that Parvati was in some sort of trouble and we came down here.'

'I don't get it. How did he know Hannah was the stalker?' Parvati wondered.

Harry shrugged. 'I'm not sure. By the way, why are all of you here? I didn't tell anyone before I left Gryffindor tower.'

'Lavender figured it out,' said Hermione.

'What? Lavender how do you know?' cried Parvati, surprised. Had she been the last one to figure out the identity of her own stalker? It was fairly embarrassing.

'Er,' said Lavender, looking awkward. 'Sometimes...I just know stuff.'

They waited for her to explain.

'Well...I guess in a way I can sort of see things before they happen.'

'You're a Seer?' cried Parvati, deeply disturbed. 'And you never told me?'

'AHAH!' exclaimed Ron jubilantly. 'That's how you beat me at Chess! I told you, Hermione.'

'Well, she didn't exactly cheat, Ron.' Hermione rolled her eyes. 'That's pretty impressive, Lavender. How far into the future can you see?'

'Yeah, do you know if I'm going to pass my Newts?' asked Ron eagerly.

Lavender was looking a bit flushed. 'No. Not very far, maybe ten minutes or so. And only if I'm concentrating on something in particular. I was worried about Parvati, you see.'

'Is that why you're so good at finding things that we've lost?' mused Hermione. She had that expression on, Parvati noticed, her 'I'm-making-amazing-connections-in-my-amazing-mind-muahahaha-you'll-never-keep-up!' expression. Padma wore it often.

'I guess,' Lavender conceded.

'I still can't believe you didn't tell me!' said Parvati, hurt.

'I'm sorry, I didn't think it was all that important. But I knew you were going to get mad, so here,' Lavender handed Parvati her handbag. 'Draco brought it over from Malfoy Manor, but he left it in the carriage.'

'My lip gloss! My wand!' sighed Parvati happily. 'Lavender, I love you. So much. You are fabulous.'

'I know,' said Lavender.

'You still haven't told us how you ended up here, though,' Hermione reminded.

So Parvati proceeded to explain to them the details of her night; how she'd been stunned on arriving back at the castle and woken up in the dungeon. She relayed the conversation between her and Hannah as accurately as she could, only leaving out the part where she'd thought Hannah had been in love with her, of course. Then she described how Harry had shown up, stunned Hannah and then how she'd fallen in the trap hex. Lavender and Neville gasped when she mentioned the snake, .

'I wonder how she managed that,' speculated Hermione. She sounded genuinely intrigued but Parvati wasn't really surprised at the things that interested Hermione anymore. Honestly, House elf rights!

At that point Dean and Seamus returned with Dumbledore, McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey.

'Poppy, could you please transport Mr Malfoy and Miss Weasley safely to the Hospital wing and take care of them?' ordered Professor Dumbledore after he'd surveyed the gathering of students before him.

He then moved forwards to tap his wand against Harry's injured leg, causing the bandages to instantly fall away.

'Thank you,' breathed Harry.

'You're welcome. Now, Harry and Parvati, if you would kindly follow me to my office and tell me all about this-'

'Wait, what about Hannah?' interrupted Parvati.

'Hannah?'

'Yes, she's stunned inside, Professor. She...er, sort of kidnapped me before.'

'I see...' Dumbledore turned to the others. 'And what are the rest of you doing down here?'

Under his gaze, the Gryffindors turned sheepish.

'We thought Harry might need some help, Headmaster,' Hermione offered.

'Well you should all return to your dormitories, seeing as Mr Potter is perfectly fine,' instructed McGonagall sharply.

They all turned to leave quickly in case she decided to deduct House points. Lavender gave Parvati's hand comforting squeeze before she left and whispered quietly, 'You can let go, you know...I think Harry can stand up on his own now...'

Parvati, stricken, instantly let go of Harry's arm and leapt away from him. Everyone turned abruptly to see what the problem was.

'Parvati?' said Harry, alarmed.

'Er...' Parvati wringed her hands desperately. 'I was...um. Nothing. Just thinking about those snakes, that's all...'

Harry gave her his bemused raised-eyebrow look. Great. Now he thought she was both emotionally unstable and obsessed with serpents. Not even in the figurative sense for the latter, either; at least that would have been semi-understandable.

Perhaps not any less embarrassing, though.

Dumbledore coughed, and turned to McGonagall. 'Putting a fellow student's life in danger is a serious offence. Minerva, please make sure Professor Sprout looks after Hannah tonight. We'll contact her parents tomorrow morning and discuss the situation then. Harry, Parvati?'

'We're coming, sir,' answered Parvati as Harry nodded. No doubt, she thought with a sigh, this was a story she'd have to tell many more times over the next few days.

*

'So now what?'

'I don't know,' Parvati wailed at her twin. 'I was hoping you could tell me.'

'Me?' exclaimed Padma. 'Why?'

'Because you're always telling me what to do.'

'But you never listen,' Padma pointed out.

Parvati's head hit the desk. They were in the library during the lunch break, sitting in a corner as far away as possible from Madame Pince. Parvati had just finished filling Padma in on the details of last night's events.

Today had been a lot less thrilling than the night before, but Parvati hadn't been able to relax yet. In her first class she had been summoned to the Headmaster's office; apparently Hannah's parents had decided that she should take a short break from her studies. Dumbledore had suggested to Mr and Mrs Abbott the name of a professional Healer who specialized in psychological treatment. Parvati was extremely relieved; it was one less person she had to deal with.

She'd been avoiding Harry and Draco all day. At least Draco was in the hospital wing and she wasn't planning on visiting him until all her classes were finished. Harry, however, she saw frequently. They'd exchanged nothing other than awkward hellos since leaving Dumbledore's office together.

Parvati just wasn't sure what she could say to him.

'Padma!'

'I couldn't begin to tell you what to do. I've never even come close to being in your kind of situation.'

'Yeah, well, you've never come close to going out with two guys at once, either, but that didn't stop you from giving out advice when I was doing it.'

'This is slightly more complicated.'

'Yes, I'm desperate. Why do you think I'm asking you?'

Padma placed a hand on her sister's shoulder and intoned dramatically, 'Listen to what your heart is telling you.'

Parvati gave an angry, strangled cry. 'I hate you...'

'Listen, all I can tell you is what I've always told you.'

'That I shouldn't wear turquoise because it's not my colour?'

'No. Don't do anything stupid.'

'You do realise that's like asking the Pope to give up his Pope-ness, don't you?'

Padma looked at her perplexedly. 'What the hell are you talking about?'

Parvati really wished she knew.

*

Draco was already leaving when Parvati met him in the hospital wing corridor.

'Weasley's gone. She's probably back in Gryffindor tower,' he told her.

'I came to see you.'

'Oh,' said Draco.

'How is Ginny?'

'She's head over heels in love with me now.'

'So not very well, then.'

'It's a common fatal illness.'

'I know,' said Parvati. 'That was a terrible joke, by the way.'

'How are you?'

'Do you really care?'

'Parvati-'

'Look, I know you didn't have a choice...what I don't quite understand is, if you were using me for information on Harry, why didn't you ever ask me anything about him?'

'I was waiting for the right moment,' shrugged Draco.

'You had plenty of opportunities.'

'Blaise, Pansy, the others...' He looked uncomfortable, almost ashamed at this point. 'They've used a lot of students for information before. You...were my first.'

'I'm flattered,' replied Parvati sourly.

'And anyway,' Draco added, now directing his unwavering clear gaze on her. 'I had a feeling you wouldn't tell me a word of anything you knew about Potter.'

'It's because I'm honourable.'

'No,' said Draco. 'It isn't.'

Parvati had a feeling he was accusing her. She decided to ignore it. 'So why were you so nice to me?'

He looked startled. 'I wasn't!'

'Before though, as if you really liked me...'

'I do like you,' he stated simply.

'I've been thinking...'

'Are you sure?'

She scowled. 'This is really not the time to insult me.'

Now it was Draco's turn to sigh. 'Parvati...I really am very sorry.'

'You should be.' Parvati folded her arms. 'Like I said, I've been thinking. It was a shitty thing to do. I understand, I think. But it doesn't mean I'm going to forgive you.'

Draco stepped in close. Despite herself, Parvati felt momentarily panicked and her breath caught in her throat.

She wasn't sure afterwards why she let him do it, or what it really even meant - if it meant anything at all. Draco's lips were only pressed on hers for a moment, soft and dry. It still burnt, a stamp in bubbling wax or as if he had branded her his own.

'I think,' Draco said kindly in her ear after pulling away, 'that you already have.'

She turned and looked at him appraisingly. 'Well then, since you're such a shitty snog, Malfoy, let's hope that you make a better friend.'

It was blatantly untrue, certainly, but Parvati didn't care.

Feeling immensely pleased with herself, she made her grand exit with incredible dignity-meaning this time she didn't trip over or walk into any doors.

Draco's chuckles and mock-indignant yelling followed her down the hallway. 'That was such a low blow Patil! You're a hideous liar, by the way! Bitch, how dare you walk away from me?'

Smug bastard, Parvati reflected with a smile. Try and stop me.

*

Instead of waiting for Harry to find her, Parvati decided that she would go looking for him. This was partly because she felt guilty for ignoring him all day and also because she had a sneaking suspicion that if she didn't go talk to him first, he wasn't going to come to her.

'Such a coward,' Parvati muttered.

'Hypocrite,' accused Lavender.

'Just because you can see the future doesn't mean you should make life more confusing for people who can't by using big words.'

'So let me get this straight.' Seamus leaned in eagerly. 'You've broken up with Malfoy and now you need to know where Harry is?'

They were all grouped in the Gryffindor common room, lounging on the chairs when Parvati had walked in and asked if anyone had seen Harry. Naturally, everyone was being extremely nosy about it.

Parvati tapped a foot impatiently. 'I want to talk to him, Seamus. We're not going to have mad, passionate sex on the Astronomy Tower.'

'But you want to, right? Right?' pressed Seamus.

'Shut up, you pervert,' ordered Ginny, clouting him on the head with a cushion.

'You're in a bad mood.' Seamus raised his eyebrows suggestively. 'Why, Gin, isn't Malfoy a considerate lover? Though I can't say I'm surprised, really.'

'Ron!' cried Ginny in desperation.

Ron, who was curled up opposite Hermione on a couch not far from them, called out threateningly, 'Finnegan, if you mention one more word about my sister and that fucking ferret I swear to Godric I will Vanish away your balls while you're sleeping.'

'Sure..."Vanish", or just cop a feel?' laughed Seamus gaily.

'Seriously, mate,' said Dean in a pained voice. 'Stop.'

'Alright, okay, I'm sorry. No more jokes about Ginny and the fucking ferret...that was the last one, I promise.'

'Ron, Hermione-have you guys seen Harry?' asked Parvati.

'I think he's down on the Quidditch pitch,' Ron replied.

'Trying to work off some of that frustration, I think,' said Dean to Ginny in a quiet voice.

'You spend too much time with Seamus,' Parvati sniffed at Dean.

'Well why not? I'm loveable and amusing. And pretty.' Seamus grinned at her, as Parvati snorted. 'Don't you think so, Lav?'

Lavender patted him on the head fondly. 'Very pretty.'

'I'm so glad that I live with a bunch of bloody insane idiots,' Parvati told them, backing out of the room.

'Yes. She's finally found a place where she belongs,' said Seamus, as the Gryffindors rolled their eyes and pretended that they hadn't smiled.

*

Harry wasn't, as Parvati had expected, flying in circles around the pitch (or whatever it was that Quidditch players did when they practised). Instead he was sitting in the stands, staring pensively at the opposite stands.

Apparently deeply absorbed in his thoughts, Harry didn't notice Parvati approaching. That might have been because he wasn't facing her. Also, that time after Draco had said she walked like a herd of elephants, Parvati had spent hours attempting to achieve a lighter tread. It had driven the girls in her dormitory mad when after taking two steps she'd stop to ask, 'Did you hear that? How about now?'. They always said no and she never believed them.

'Muggles,' she said.

Harry jerked around, surprised and then nonplussed. 'What?'

Parvati sat down. 'You asked me what I was afraid of. Muggles.'

There was a moment in which Harry stared at her in disbelief, then his expression bubbled suddenly into laughter.

'God, for a moment I thought you were being serious.'

'I'm not that funny when I'm serious. Only moderately amusing.'

'You're funny all the time,' said Harry.

She was good at taking compliments. Honestly, she was.

'Funny weird, not funny ha ha, right?'

Or not.

'Right,' Harry agreed. 'But you still haven't told me what you're really afraid of.'

'Oh you know, the same things as everyone else. Loneliness, failing my NEWTs. Hannah Abbot and...Blast-Ended Skrewts.' She stopped to reflect. 'Poetry that doesn't rhyme. Growing up. Seamus. Sock puppets.'

'Seamus is very scary. I don't know about sock puppets though...'

'You wouldn't be so confident if one bit you on the nose when you were four.'

'When one what?'

'Never mind. So what about you?'

'Me? I'm not afraid of anything,' Harry declared with a boyish grin. 'Well, I used to be. Now...I don't know.'

'The war?'

'I guess. Disappointment, maybe.'

'Yeah. Letting other people down.'

'Letting yourself down,' he added.

'Well, if you don't end up saving the world, I promise I won't resent you for it.'

'Er, thanks?'

'It's not any trouble; I'd probably be dead anyway.'

Harry rubbed his hands thoughtfully through his hair, leaving it even messier than it was before, tangled black peaks.

'Um,' she said, snapping her eyes away. 'Have you seen Ginny yet?'

'I did before. She seemed pretty fed up with Malfoy at the time though; they were ignoring each other.'

'Oh?'

'Yeah...speaking of Malfoy, last night he said-well he didn't really say it was Ginny-that is she sort of-'

'Harry.'

He reluctantly met her amused gaze. 'Sorry. None of my business, right?'

'Actually I was going to tell you to shut up so I could speak.'

'Ah. Carry on.'

'The thing is...' Parvati wasn't sure how to phrase the next bit. 'I ended it because Draco was using me.'

'Using you? You mean he and you-you didn't-?'

She almost giggled at the shocked expression on his face.

'No. No. He was with me only because of Lucius Malfoy.'

'Draco's father wanted him to associate with a Gryffindor?' asked Harry dubiously.

'Yes. For information. Orders from the Death Eaters, I'm pretty sure.'

'And they want information? Information on what?'

'You.'

Head in hands, Harry let out a muffled, 'Fuck.'

'Mm, I'm glad we didn't,' said Parvati uneasily. She was disconcerted with how the news was affecting him more than it had bothered her.

Then she cringed, hearing her own words. Cracking bad, inappropriate jokes was such a terrible way to handle awkwardness...

'I can't believe it.' Harry stared at her until she was quite afraid.

'Um, Harry?' she said tentatively.

'I feel like this is all my fault,' he confessed hollowly.

'That's because it is.'

'I'm really sorry, Parvati.'

'You know, I really don't enjoy apologies-I'd prefer gifts, actually.' Parvati rolled her eyes as she spoke. 'I was only joking.'

'But-'

'Please don't make a big deal out of it. I'm not.'

'How can you let something like that go? Just forget about it? Aren't you a little bit mad at him?'

'I haven't forgotten, I'm just choosing not to worry. You can't make a fuss about everything in life.'

'But...' Harry faltered. 'You usually do!'

'About important things, yes,' Parvati explained.

He gave her a semi-frown. 'You have really screwed up priorities.'

'I care a lot about shoes,' she said flatly. 'When they go missing, it stresses me.'

'Bloody hell,' sighed Harry. 'Footwear is just a practicality-you need them to keep your feet from getting wet when it rains...like now.'

Parvati squealed and jumped up as a fat, cold raindrop landed on the back of her neck. It trickled icily down her skin.

'Crap!' she gasped. 'I'm wearing my new sandals! Don't laugh-help me!'

'Calm down.' Harry was having difficulty keeping a straight face. 'Come on, we'd better hurry back before it gets any worse.'

They were halfway through the garden path when the rain started falling heavily.

'But it was perfectly nice before!' wailed Parvati.

'Not really, it was quite cloudy.' Harry appeared perfectly unmoved by the violent downpour. But then again, thought Parvati resentfully, he didn't have expensive, delicate shoes to worry about.

'How come neither of us have cloaks? We're going to have to stop, I can't even see anymore!' she called over the heavy pattering of water on the footpath.

The nearest tree wasn't exactly an ideal resting place, but it was the best shelter they could find in their current condition. Parvati was pressed up against the trunk as much as possible to get away from the rain, she was actually standing on one of the large, gnarled roots that stretched up quite a bit above the ground. Standing like that, they were almost the same height.

'You've gotten quite tall,' Parvati remarked absently.

'Really?' he replied dryly, then with a smirk, 'you haven't.'

'I'll have you know, Jacques says I'm a perfect height.'

'Perfect how?'

'Perfect height for kissing.'

Harry scrutinised the top of her head. Parvati wanted to die on the spot; that line was meant to be delivered coolly, confidently, and now the obvious blush staining across her cheeks was ruining the intended effect.

'Step down.'

'I'll-I'll get wet,' she protested weakly.

'You've already been rained on.'

Nervously, Parvati let him help her down. His hands felt cold and they were noticeably trembling, but he tasted of summer rain, warm and flowing with promise. It certainly wasn't the most breathtaking, romantic moment of her life though; it was soggy and wet and there were leaves and twigs and Merlin-knows-what stuck in her hair. Not exactly the earth-shattering experience she'd fantasized about since she was eleven years old, far less exciting and maybe more special. Afterwards, Parvati would compare kissing the boy who lived to stripping him of all his outer layers and finding out that he was just the same underneath, without the fame and the glasses and the scar.

He was still Harry.

*

The sixth year Gryffindor girls were woken up quite late that night by a loud tap-tapping noise.

'What the fuck?' exclaimed Parvati, sleepy and enraged (never a good combination because you were likely to hurt someone without meaning to that way, or even worse hurting yourself. Like accidentally colliding with those damn bedposts).

'It's the boys,' said Lavender.

'Fucking hell!'

'Parvati!' Hermione scolded.

Thankful for the cover of night, Parvati raised her middle finger in the direction of the other girl's bed.

'I saw that,' said Hermione dryly. 'If you'd open your eyes you'd see there's moonlight streaming in through the window.'

'Fuck,' said Parvati.

A particularly large pebble connected with the window at that point, conveniently reminding the girls of what had interrupted their sleep. They all crowded around and stuck their heads out to see that the boys were doing the same thing. Seamus had his wand out and was still flicking stones.

'Ouch!' cried Hermione, tears springing to her eyes as one of them hit her square in the forehead.

Parvati and Lavender gasped simultaneously as someone yelled, 'You bloody idiot!' and then there came a thumping noise which sounded like Ron punching Seamus.

'Ron! It was only an accident,' Hermione said exasperatedly.

'Sorry Hermione,' apologized Seamus, who was probably a bit watery-eyed himself.

'Are you all right?' she asked worriedly.

'Yeah, good,' replied Seamus, who was a good sport.

'Er, sorry about that, mate,' said Ron, who was clearly only sorry because Hermione was now mad at him.

Parvati rolled her eyes at Lavender, as if to say: You want that for a boyfriend?

Lavender wrinkled her nose in reply, which Parvati was quite sure meant: He's so cute in his pyjamas!

'What do you all want?' demanded Parvati irritably.

'We're bored,' whined Seamus.

'I can't sleep,' offered Harry.

'They woke me up,' explained Neville.

'Seamus wanted to play Truth Or Dare,' said Dean.

'What are you having, a sleepover party?' sniffed Parvati.

'That could be arranged, if you want to join us,' said Ron.

Quickly, before Lavender could cry out Parvati said, 'No thanks.'

'It was Wizards' Truth Or Dare,' said Harry. 'We put a spell on Seamus's wand.'

'You couldn't lie, then?' asked Hermione curiously.

'Yeah, did you know that Ron wants to sleep with Draco Malfoy?' Seamus sniggered.

'I do not! You hexed that wand before my turn, you sick bastard!' cried Ron, another thump sounding afterwards which was definitely Seamus being hit again.

'I think you deserved that one, mate,' said Harry fairly.

'Listen, we have class tomorrow,' Hermione informed them all.

'Only you would be thinking about school at this hour,' Ron told her.

'Go play your girly games and let us sleep,' moaned Delphinium, who was pretty much drifting off on Lavender's shoulder.

'It was Wizards' Truth Or Dare,' insisted Dean.

'I don't care,' she yawned in answer.

'Right, we're going,' said Hermione.

As the girls left to return to their beds, Dean called out, 'Parvati, wait a second.'

'What?' she snapped, turning around and sticking her head back out the window. Harry was the only one still left at the boys' end.

'Harry wants to sing you a song, Parvati!' she heard Seamus call out. 'He doesn't have a ukulele though! Dean! Let him borrow your guitar!'

After that there was a lot of muffled snorting from inside the dormitory. Harry looked rather red.

'I suppose you told them,' she said to him.

'Seamus asked in the game,' he said sorrowfully. 'I didn't want to-you know I wouldn't-'

'I know.'

'Do-do you mind much?'

Parvati considered the question. There was no doubt that by morning everyone would know about it and half of the girls would be calling her a slut behind her back. She wondered how Draco would react.

'No,' said Parvati. 'No, I don't really mind.'

Seamus was making loud and embarrassing smooching noises.

'I think you should hit him,' Parvati remarked. 'Hard. In the face.'

'Twice,' added Harry.

She smiled at him. 'Night, Harry.'

He grinned back.

'Goodnight, Parvati.'

Fin