Written in the Stars

Chapter One

Birthdays and Nightmares

Parvati Patil sat bolt upright in bed. Breathing hard, she glanced around herself with wild eyes. She relaxed back onto her pillows when she realized she was safe in her own bedroom.

"Just a dream," she muttered, smoothing her dark hair, which was damp with sweat. She shakily got to her feet and pulled back the heavy draperies over her window. It was early; the sun had just risen. Rather than go back to sleep and have more bad dreams, Parvati decided to get up. She pulled on plain blue robes and plaited her hair.

She didn’t turn on any lights so she wouldn’t wake anyone else and crept through the dim house to the kitchen. She was suddenly startled by the light flickering on behind her and she dropped the bottle of butterbeer she was holding.

Lalita Patil stood framed in the doorway, her long black hair tumbling around her shoulders. "Mummy!" Parvati said in surprise. "I didn’t’ know you were up."

She raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you doing awake so early during holiday?"

"I couldn’t sleep," Parvati said hesitantly.

Lalita’s eyes suddenly glittered. "Bad dreams again?" she asked eagerly. "What happened this time? Anything different?"

"No." Parvati said, hoping she sounded convincing. "It wasn’t that. I just went to bed early last night. You know, early to bed, early to rise."

She narrowed her eyes. "You need to quit fighting this Parvati." Her eyes shone, they usually didn’t when she was talking to her older daughter. "You should be proud. I am."

Parvati looked away and began mopping up the butterbeer. She desperately wanted to make her mother proud but she wasn’t sure she could pay the toll required to do so.

"Parvati," her mother started but the kitchen door opened again and Padma walked in. She was still in her pajamas and looked as if she had just gotten up.

"Oh, did we wake you darling?" Their mother asked affectionately.

"No." Padma said with a yawn. "An owl was tapping at the window. A letter from Terry."

Parvati rolled her eyes. Terry Boot was Padma’s boyfriend and they never stopped hearing about how great he was around the Patil household. He was nice looking, with dark brown hair and blue eyes, but he was stuck up, mean, and conceited. Her mother adored him though and he was constantly at their house visiting Padma.

As Padma and her mother started talking, Parvati silently left the room. They didn’t even notice.

For as long as Parvati could remember, Padma had been the wanted, favored child. Parvati did love her twin but sometimes if was very hard to love Padma. Their father had died several years earlier and Parvati had never been close to him or her mother. Things were run strange around her household. Her father showed up sometimes and instilled plenty of fear in all of them so they would do whatever he wanted. Parvati’s mother was the primary one who raised them though. Parvati’s mother had never been mean to her; she was just a disappointment compared to Padma. From birth Padma had always been just a little bit prettier, just a little bit smarter, just a little bit more charming. And that little bit made a huge difference. Naturally her mother loved Padma more. Everyone did. Then they’d started at Hogwarts. Disappointment number two, Parvati had been sorted into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw, her mother’s old house. Of course, Padma had been placed in Ravenclaw. The strange thing was that Parvati was happy in Gryffindor. She’d met her best friend Lavender Brown there and everyone else in her year seemed to like her. Some of them treated her a bit like she was a dimwit but it was much easier to giggle with Lavender over boys than have no friends at all. Most people ignored her. This was fine with her, because the fewer people she knew, the fewer people that could find out her secret. She would be hated if anyone knew her secret and would probably be booted from Hogwarts. No one knew the real Parvati Patil and she intended to keep it that way.

Parvati spent most of her holidays at home riding her horse or reading. She spent as much time as possible outdoors so she could avoid her mother’s constant prying and Padma’s friends who were always at the house. Parvati lover her beautiful chestnut mare Isis more than anyone or anything. Her parents had always had horses on her father’s land and she and Padma had been able to ride before they could even walk. Parvati usually packed a lunch and rode out into the woods. She could spend her day there doing her homework and practicing spells; or reading. The woods seemed to block magic sensing or interference because she and Padma had been able to do spells there since first year and they had never gotten a ministry warning.

Isis always listened to Parvati perfectly, but that wasn’t why she loved the horse so much. Isis loved her just for who she was and that was why Parvati loved her. To gain anyone else’s love, even her parents and sister, she had to do something that pleased them. Isis just loved her and Parvati loved her for that.

Today of the endless summer, Padma was having friends over so Parvati wanted to be as far away as possible. She found a leather bridal and found Isis out in the meadow. Feeling finally free, Parvati slung her bag over her shoulders and clambered on Isis’s bare back.

She nudged the horse into a fast gallop and they were flying through the fields and Parvati was happy. This was one of the rare times she could forget her worries and really live. Lavender always said she should try out for quidditch or fly more if she liked horseback riding so much but she was afraid of heights and brooms weren’t the same. A broom wasn’t a real living thing. Flying that way was just too impersonal.

Parvati slowed Isis as they went into the woods. She had a certain grassy knoll right next to a creek where she usually sat. When she reached the spot she stopped Isis and dismounted. Isis began munching on clover. There was no need to tie her up because she never left Parvati’s side.

Parvati shrugged her bag off and opened it. She had long ago put an expansion spell on it so she could carry whatever she wanted along with a lightweight charm so it wasn’t heavy. She took out a soft blanked and spread it on the grass. She lay down and stared up through the trees at the cloudy sky, relaxing. She was very tired but she didn’t want to sleep because she knew she would have the dreams. This was where she could relax and rest and it would be an ideal napping place if she didn’t have to dream. Having an idea, Parvati reached in her bag and pulled out her charms text. After several minutes of scanning she saw a spell to induce a dreamless sleep. She eagerly pointed her wand at herself and said, "Sloemorde Estava!"

Hoping it had worked, she lay back down and allowed her eyes to close. Soon she was floating in a gray nothingness and it was a great relief from the nightmares that regularly plagued her.

She woke up some time later feeling refreshed. She glanced up at the sky and figured it must be getting towards late afternoon. She sat up and saw Isis lying down next to the blanket. Parvati smiled at her and grabbed her satchel. She took out her lunch, two chicken sandwiches, a package of chocolate frogs, and a flask of chilled pumpkin juice. Then she took out Isis’s lunch, a flask full of oats and several apples. Isis was certainly spoiled; most horses didn’t get lunches packed for them.

Parvati started to eat while thumbing through an O.W.L. preparation book. She was determined to do as good as Padma on the O.W.L.’s if not better. She had already begun studying for them.

"Hope we aren’t interrupting," a familiar voice said.

Parvati looked up and inwardly groaned. Terry was astride Padma’s snow white horse with Padma behind him. Padma’s friend Cho Chang was with them looking nervous on a fidgety gelding.

"How did you know where I was?" Parvati asked, unhappy that her place was no longer secret.

"Followed the smell," Terry said as she dismounted. Parvati glared at him as he laughed unpleasantly. "Oh, I’m just jesting Par." He helped Padma off the back and let Cho struggle off her dancing horse by herself.

Parvati, who was not extremely fond of being called ‘Par’ just frowned at them. "Well that’s not a very friendly greeting." Padma sniffed.

‘How gentleman like.’ Parvati thought irritably as Terry lifted Padma over a muddy area so she wouldn’t get her satin shoes dirty. Padma was not dressed for the woods. She was wearing fancy pink robes and she had her long hair in an interwoven bun with tiny butterfly clips.

Cho was dressed up too but Terry didn’t offer her any help. Parvati saw with some satisfaction that they had to tie their horses up. Isis opened her eyes sleepily and snorted at the intruders. Parvati patted her soothingly and dumped the oats out for her.

"Is that what you came out here to do?" Terry asked condescendingly. "Have a picnic with your horse? I would think you might come to meet your boyfriend of something normal."

"No," Parvati said stiffly. "I would not meet any of the guys I know here anyway."

"That’s because you’re in Gryffindor," Cho said, turning her small nose up.

"Well you didn’t mind flirting with Harry Potter all of last year," Parvati pointed out grouchily.

Cho smiled angelically. "Well, it is good to appear to be close friends with Harry, you know."

"Why? So you can back stab him?" Parvati muttered under her breath.

"Well," Padma said. "The reason we actually came looking for you is we need to plan our birthday party. August fourth isn’t far away. Just a few days from now."

"I don’t care what we do," Parvati said, hoping they would leave.

"Well I figured that," Padma said. "But you do need to help me make a guest list. We have to get the envoys out and Mummy just reserved post office owls."

"Fine," Parvati said, knowing Padma wouldn’t go away otherwise.

"Alright," Padma said bossily. "Get out a quill and piece of parchment." Parvati dug and eagle feather quill and roll of parchment out of her bag.

"Terry and Cho are invited of course. And Mandy Brocklehurst can come but not Lisa Turpin. Oh, and Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini."

"I don’t want them coming!" Parvati interrupted.

"Well, Blaise is our cousin and we’ve known Pansy forever," Padma argued. "Besides, I’m not censuring who you invite. So write it down!"

Sighing, Parvati added their names to the list.

"Draco Malfoy and Patrick Nott," Terry put in. "They’re chaps of mine."

"Fine," Padma said waving her hand. "Not too many more, we want to keep it exclusive. I suppose we’ll have to invite Angelina since she’s family. I think that’s it. Who do you want to invite Parvati?"

Parvati sucked on her quill. She couldn’t invite Harry because she didn’t want to put him in danger at her house so that left out Ron Weasley also. She couldn’t invite Dean because he was a muggleborn and she didn’t want to put him in danger. "I’ll invite Lavender, Seamus, Ginny Weasley, and Hermione." ‘That should be safe.’ Parvati thought. ‘Seamus and Ginny were purebloods and she’d keep an eye out for Lavender and Hermione.’

Cho wrinkled her nose again. She seemed to be good at that. "You have messed up taste in friends."

‘Friends,’ Parvati thought sadly. ‘No one really knows me.’

Padma let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fine, Parvati. But let me tell you, no one is going to be happy that you invited muggleborns."

"You mean mudbloods," Terry said with a shudder.

"Well, we’re going to go now," Padma said, snatching the parchment.

They got on the horses and turned to go. "Bye Par!" Terry called. Parvati was sure he knew she didn’t like to be called that. After all, he didn’t call Padma Pad.

Parvati finished her lunched and transfigured the garbage into flowers she laid on the grass. "Well, Isis, are you ready to head back?" Parvati asked the horse.

Isis got to her feet and gave a disdainful snort. "I don’t want to either," Parvati said as she packed her books and blanket back up. "But Dad is coming to dinner tonight and we haven’t seen him since the summer holidays of last year."

She climbed onto Isis’s warm back and they were off. The ride ended much too soon and Parvati reluctantly took the bridle off and turned Isis loose.

Isis looked at Parvati before slowly walking towards the other horses. She didn’t fit in either. The other horses were always picking on her. Parvati downheartedly turned away and walked back to her house. She enjoyed going to Hogwarts every year because she could get away from her family but she hated leaving Isis behind and missed her desperately. If only she could take her with her.

Parvati was suddenly seized with an idea. She dashed in the house, to her room and dashed off a letter to Hermione, the smartest witch in their year. If anyone knew the answer to her question it would be Hermione. Then she tied the parchment to Ebony’s leg.

Ebony was her raven and she opened one golden eye and gave her a sleepy look. "I’m tired right now."

"Please Ebony!" Parvati begged the large black bird. "Hermione just lives in London. It’s not far. I’ll give you an owl treat when you get back."

"I am no an owl," Ebony said firmly but she flew to the window and perched on the sill. "I want a rat when I get back." Parvati shuddered as the raven flew away. She hated watching Ebony tear into live rats but they were all she would eat.

Parvati wished she could just have an owl like most people in the wizarding world but her mother insisted on ravens. They were faster than owls but they could talk and you had to argue with them for ages to get them to take a letter anywhere.

Parvati went to the dining room where Padma and her mother sat. Parvati quickly slid into a chair, hoping her father hadn’t arrived yet.

"Your father is late again," Lalita Patil announced in an annoyed voice. "I still think I should have married someone from home." Her eyes fell over her daughters. "Then you two wouldn’t look so peculiar."

Parvati’s father was from Ireland and her mother from India so it was an odd combination on she and Padma. Instead of being tan, they had very fair skin but without freckles like their father. They had long dark hair and dark almond shaped eyes like their mother but it was accompanied by small slightly pointed Irish noses and small mouths. They didn’t look Irish or Indian but something else. It upset their mother. She said it ruined any chance of heritage. Parvati was privately glad her father had them live in Ireland’s rolling meadows and hills rather than in India. Everyone in India was poor and monotonous. They didn’t do many spells but every time a witch or wizard used magic they instantly had to kneel and pray to Shiva the Hindu goddess. She knew this from visits to see her grandparents.

Her father appeared just then. His pearly white form drifted over to the table. He sat in the head chair as usual. Nobody spoke for several minutes. Their father didn’t look particularly frightening, especially as a ghost but Parvati and her sister knew how foreboding he could be.

"Well," he said after a long look at each of them. "How has my family been?"

"We’ve been fine." Lalita said quickly. "Parvati and Padma’s birthday is soon. We’re going to have a party here."

"Mmm." He acknowledged this. His eyes flickered to his daughters. "What about you two? How was your year at school? Padma?"

"It was okay," Padma said. "We had the Triwizard Tournament so there was no quidditch. Parvati talked me into going to the Yule ball with that horrible Ron Weasley because she was going with Harry Potter. He was an atrocious date by the way. He didn’t even dance with me. But I couldn’t go with Terry because he was home for Christmas. But I did very well in my classes and Professor Flitwick says I will probably be made a prefect."

"That’s wonderful," he said beaming at Padma. "And how about you Parvati? Do you think you will be a prefect?"

"Probably not," Parvati said, knowing it would be another big disappointment. "Hermione Granger has the best marks in our whole year and she’s in Gryffindor."

Padma scowled. "Well, I don’t think mudbloods like her should even be allowed in Hogwarts."

"Don’t say that about her!" Parvati snapped at her sister. "You’re just jealous because she’s smarter than you."

"Of an ugly little mudblood? I hardly think so," Padma said coolly.

Parvati opened her mouth to reply but the house elves came in just then with dinner. She glanced at the roast chicken and pasta but she wasn’t up to eating. She picked up her glass and took a drink of the iced pumpkin juice. Her father didn’t eat of course, when he came to dinner he talked the whole time.

"Well, maybe if you study a little harder Parvati you will be up to par with Padma next year," he said. Parvati glowered at the table. She already had marks that were almost as good as Padma’s but her parents wouldn’t care because she wasn’t at the top of her house. "What are you going to do for your birthday?" he asked when she didn’t respond.

"Oh!" Padma said excitedly. "We’re going to have a party here. We’ve just invited about ten people so it won’t be too crowded and we’re going to have food in the gazebo and we’ll have music and dance. It will be really fun. But not everyone will be happy." Padma got a look on her face that read clearly ‘I’m so miserable.’

"Why not?" Lalita Patil asked worriedly. "What’s wrong?"

"Well," Padma said in a tearful voice as Parvati rolled her eyes disgustedly. "Parvati has invited two muggleborn people and all of my friends hate those kind of people. I tried to talk her out of it but she won’t listen."

Her parents gave Parvati an upset look. "Now Parvati, maybe you could just not invite-" Her mother started but Parvati cut them off furiously.

"That is not fair! I don’t like half of the people she invited but I’m not trying to keep them away. Lavender is my best friend and Hermione is my roommate and I’m having them both come and that is final. If I can’t have them come I won’t even come to the party."

"Well really Parvati!" her mother admonished. "There is no need for you to shout."

"There is so a need to shout!" Parvati said vehemently. "You always let Padma have her way about everything and I’m not going to suffer for it this time."

"Now see here young lady," her father said in a serious voice. "You aren’t to speak to your mother or me in that tone of voice. Now apologize and we can talk about this rationally."

"No," Parvati said quietly. She was terrified about standing up to her parents but she was so tired of being treated like she wasn’t important and her feelings didn’t matter.

"What did you say?"

"I said no dad! And I meant it. I am not going to apologized when I didn’t do anything wrong. Padma is the one who should be apologizing for insulting my friends. I am having them over too and there is no punishment you can give me that will make me apologize and have a miserable time at my own party!" After yelling this last bit, Parvati ran from the dining room and to her own bedroom. She collapsed on her walnut four poster bed and cried into her pillow until she was too exhausted to do anything but lay there limply, her face streaked with tears.

Sometime later she heard her bedroom door open and her mother walk in. She was too tired to even pretend to be asleep. She didn’t look at her mother, she just lay there like a rag doll that had been played with one too many times. "Parvati, are you okay?"

She didn’t answer. Her mother walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you still upset?" Parvati felt her cool hand on her forehead. "You feel a bit warm. Do you feel sick? Maybe you have the flu." She was gone then but she came back a moment later with Parvati’s nightgown. She changed her clothes just like she was a baby and Parvati was happy to be taken care of for a little while. It made her feel young and safe.

Her mother tucked her under her sheets and green quilt. "Parvati, love, you know your father and I love you just as much as Padma. She may seem like she gets all of the attention sometimes but she is the younger of you two by ten minutes and we may worry about her more. You have always been the stronger one."

Parvati looked at her in surprise. She always thought her mother considered her to be weaker and untrustworthy. "But we do love you and we realize you are different from your sister. Different from your father and me also. But that is just because you have your own personality. You can have whomever you wish at your party, it is your birthday party too and we were wrong to let Padma make all the decisions for that. We do love you and I hope you can think about this and find a way to get along with Padma. She loves you too and would do anything for you." She kissed her forehead and turned to leave. "Goodnight darling. Pleasant dreams."

She left, turning out the light and Parvati rolled over on her side. At least her parent’s weren’t going to forbid her to have Lavender and Hermione over. Her mother meant well of course, but she did favor Padma and even she knew it. She closed her eyes and willed herself not to dream. Of course it didn’t work.

The familiar feeling of not being there but of hovering over a room. There were ten people bustling around in the cozy room. They were talking and laughing. Carefree and happy. Then there was a sudden cold feeling in the room and the doors and windows burst open. The laughs turned into screams and there was a high evil laugh and dark forms appeared in the room. There was flashing green and red sparks and some of the people turned and she recognized them. They screamed and there was silence except for the high evil laughs…

Parvati sat up in bed breathing hard. Maybe, she told herself hopefully, it was just a regular nightmare. It couldn’t be true. They had to be very well protected. She told herself this but she was afraid. She needed to tell someone but she didn’t want her secret to be uncovered but if she didn’t tell anyone people could get hurt. Parvati got out of bed and padded across the room. She looked out the window hoping to see Ebony coming with a reply from Hermione but no such luck.

She threw a dressing gown over her pajamas and left her room. She was planning on sneaking out of the house again and spending the day in the woods, but her mother wouldn’t let her if she caught her. She was always encouraging her to do things with other people more like Padma did.

She had made a quick lunch and was ready to go out the door when the kitchen door swung open and her mother stopped her. "Parvati, where are you going?"

Parvati turned guiltily. "Um, nowhere really. I was just going to ride for awhile, work on some of my holidays homework."

She waved her arm airily. "Oh, don’t worry about that now darling. You spend way too much time by yourself. You can do your homework anytime. I know, why don’t you and Padma have some friends over today? I know you will be on your birthday too but it would be fun just to have a few people come visit wouldn’t it?"

Parvati shrugged miserably, once her mother set her mind to something, she always did it. Lalita clapped her hands delightedly. "Wonderful. I’ll get the floo powder and you can call. Would you mind waking Padma up for me? Thank you darling."

She almost skipped out of the room and Parvati sighed and went up the stairs to Padma’s room. "Padma!" She called, knocking at the door. There was no answer so Parvati opened it and went in. Padma was sprawled on her pink canopy bed with her hair in hundreds of small curlers. "Padma, wake up. Mom says we have to have friends over."

Padma blinked her eyes and sat up. "What time is it?"

"I don’t know. Early. But she has the floo powder out and everything."

"Okay." Padma said, perking up at the thought of having her friends over. "I’ll be down as soon as I get dressed."

Parvati shrugged and wend downstairs to her own room. She put on nice red robes and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She went to her mirror to make sure she looked okay. She peered into the mirror and gasped. Then she promptly fainted.