Written in the Stars

Chapter Two

The Party

Parvati looked into the mirror, gasped and promptly fainted.

She was dreaming again. That same room as before, the ten people in it and the cold oncoming dread. She felt her skin tingle and she wanted to warn the people in the room but they couldn’t hear her. She knew what was coming. The high evil laugh and the dark forms overtaking the screaming people. And then they turned and looked at her with pain filled eyes just before they were silent forever.

"Parvati? Parvati? Wake up." Parvati slowly opened her eyes. There were hazy figures standing around her. She tried to sit up but there was a pain in her head.

"What happened?" She asked groggily.

"You fell asleep or something." She heard her sister’s voice say. Everything still looked fuzzy to her eyes but she could make out Padma, Hermione, and Mandy Brocklehurst standing there.

"What are you two doing here?" Parvati asked, looking at Hermione and Mandy.

"Mummy said we could have friends over." Padma said, reaching out her arm to help her up. Parvati carefully got to her feet.

"But I didn’t have a chance to invite anyone over. I saw my mirror…and then everything just went black."

"You passed out?" Hermione asked concerned.

"I-I don’t know."

"And when you didn’t come downstairs, mummy figured you were trying to get out of having someone come over so she told me to floo one of your friends. I picked her because I can’t stand Lavender." Padma said with a shrug. Then she suddenly got a rare look of sisterly concern on her face. "What was in your mirror? You passed out?"

Parvati sat heavily on her bed. "It was…this-this face. This horrible face. It was red, like burned skin and there were horrible eyes." She shuddered just thinking about it.

Padma exchanged a look with Mandy. "Are you sure you weren’t imagining it? It sounds pretty horrible. You know you have those dreams, maybe-"

Parvati silenced her with a panicky look. She couldn’t say anything in front of Hermione.

"Um, maybe you were dreaming. I’ve had some very scary dreams." Padma put in lamely.

"It wasn’t a dream." Parvati said firmly. It hadn’t been a dream but there had been a dream after that. It was horrible. She wasn’t sure what to be more worried about, the face in her mirror or the dream.

"Hmm." Hermione said pursing her lips. "Well, are you feeling okay? Do you need us to get your mother?"

"No, no don’t do that." Parvati said quickly. "I’m fine." ‘Or I will be in a minute.’ She thought to herself.

"Maybe that face in the mirror was caused by a poltergeist." Mandy spoke up shyly. "Do you have any ghosts in your house?"

"Just my dad." Padma said doubtfully. "And I don’t think he would come up here and scare Parvati, even though she did act pretty awful last night."

Mandy shrugged. Mandy Brocklehurst had been Padma’s best friend in first year at Hogwarts. Parvati actually liked her. She had the personality of a one would expect a Ravenclaw to have, smart and nice. Unfortunately, the house also had a lot of people who thought they were smart and better than everyone else. Mandy was a quiet and shy girl with dark blond hair and big green eyes but she was completely passive and she did whatever Padma told her. Padma still liked her a lot but she tried to hang around Cho as much as possible now since she was Terry’s second cousin. Cho was a year ahead of them but she and Padma had become quick friends, it didn’t surprise Parvati, they were a lot alike.

"Well, if you’re okay…." Padma said. "We’re going to go to my room and work on the plans for the party."

"I’m fine." Parvati assured her and she and Mandy left.

"So, I take it you didn’t really want company." Hermione said, sitting on the bed.

"Oh, no it’s not that." Parvati said, not wanting to hurt Hermione’s feelings. "I just haven’t been feeling well."

"Oh." Hermione said. Then she seemed to perk up. "I got your letter." She said and Parvati sat up eagerly. Hermione looked pensive. "I have been searching through my books but I don’t have the collection I would like, my parents and I only go into Diagon ally once a year. I’ve found tons of shrinking spells but none that would work on a live creature and still keep it alive. It’s really a fascinating idea though, what made you think of it?"

"Well," Parvati said, feeling a bit discouraged. "I could show you but it’s probably not something you would approve of. First we can stop in my father’s study and see if he has any books on shrinking spells."

"Okay." Hermione said looking intrigued. They left the room and Parvati led the way upstairs to her father’s study. It was a spacious room with a soft carpet and several armchairs. Her father’s old marble desk stood over in the corner and his bookshelves were lined with hundreds of books.

"Wow!" Hermione said excitedly. "This is great. Does your father use it often."

"Well, he can’t anymore." Parvati said. "He floats in here once in awhile but he has to have me or Padma look up stuff if he needs it."

"Oh." Hermione blushed slightly. Most people did upon hearing that her father lived with them as a ghost. It was a bit weird but he had plans and they didn’t involve crossing over and leaving the living world anytime soon.

"We should be able to find something in here." Parvati said. She took a match from the mantle and lit the huge fireplace in the corner. "Do you know what books we should look in? You are the smart one."

"Well, we could look in Magical Drudgery" Hermione said, scanning the books and handing a thick dusty volume to Parvati. "And I’ll look in Metamorphosing of the 19^th century. A bit out of date but many of the important spells were discovered then."

They carried their books over to the Oriental rug in front of the fireplace and began scanning the books. Magical Drudgery was a very dull book and Parvati could barely keep her eyes opened as she looked for a section on shrinking spells.

"Have you found anything?" She asked Hermione after about a half an hour.

"Not yet." Hermione said without looking up. "But I think I’m getting close. So what exactly do you want to do this shrinking spell on?"

"My horse." Parvati said.

Hermione looked up at her. "Your horse? But why? Would a horse really fit in at Hogwarts?"

"But I can’t leave her here!" Parvati cried. "The others all pick on her and she is my best friend in the world and I am taking her whether you help me or not. If I have to look all summer, I’ll find a spell to do it!"

Hermione looked a bit surprised but then smiled at her. "Well, I do like a good challenge. I thought Lavender was your best friend." She added, looking back at the book.

"Well, Lavender is technically but there are things I just can’t tell her. And well, I don’t know."

Hermione looked a bit wistful. "You know, I always wished I could be more like you guys."

"Like us?" Parvati asked, shocked. "But you’re so smart and you have two best friends who would do anything for you. I don’t think Lavender would give up her lipstick to save my life. And all we do all day is spend hours gossiping and studying those pointless crystal balls with Professor Trelawney Trust me, you wouldn’t enjoy it."

"You don’t sound as if you enjoy it very much." Hermione said piercingly. "But not necessarily that stuff. I mean people always think I’m weird because the only real friends I’m close to are boys. And I don’t care that much about having a boyfriend and how I look. Sometimes I would just like to be one of the girls, that’s all."

"Well, you’re my friend, Hermione."

"I know, we talk and all but we’ve never been close. I was shocked when I heard from you this summer."

"Well, you were the smartest person I knew." Parvati said. "So I wanted to ask you about the spell, I mean was I supposed to ask Lavender? She’d probably accidentally send me a spell to set my horse on fire."

They both laughed. Lavender was very nice of course, but she wasn’t very high in the brains department. "Why don’t you show me your horse?" Hermione said, shutting the book suddenly. "It would help me in researching if I know the exact size and all."

"Okay." They left the books where they were and left the study. Parvati took her to the pasture where all the horses were.

"Come on." Parvati said, opening the gates. "She’s somewhere out here."

Hermione looked nervous. "Maybe you could just go get it. I don’t really want to go out there with all of those horses."

"Oh come on Hermione!" Parvati said, grinning. "I’ve never seen you scared to do anything. You aren’t afraid of hippogriffs and skrewts but you won’t go in a pen with horses. Don’t worry they won’t hurt you." Parvati grabbed her hand and pulled her into the pasture.

The other horses came up to them, but when Parvati didn’t offer them any treats, they headed away. Isis came running right to them. Parvati smiled and threw her arms around the horse. "This is Isis." She told Hermione.

"She’s lovely." Hermione said. Isis nudged her hand and Hermione lost her nervousness and stroked her neck. "I can see why you want to take her with you." Hermione said laughing, as Isis pushed at their pockets, looking for treats.

"So do you think we’ll be able to do it?" Parvati asked hopefully.

"We should be able to find something." Hermione said thoughtfully. "Would you mind if I borrowed a few of those books? I could bring them back on your birthday."

"Sure."

"The thing is." She added. "If I find a spell, then we would have to do it at Hogwarts, otherwise we would get a ministry warning and I don’t see how we’ll be able to get Isis there without anyone noticing."

"Oh, we don’t need to worry about that." Parvati said. "The woods must block it because me and Padma have done magic there for ages and we’ve never gotten a warning.

"Really?" Hermione asked interestedly. "I wonder why that would be. Do you have any protection spells around your house?"

"I don’t think so."

"Hmm. Could you show me the woods?"

"It’s a long walk. We could ride there quickly."

Hermione looked at her a bit uncertainly. "I don’t know. I’ve never rode before."

"Oh, it’s easy." Parvati said airily. "Come on. It’s not near as scary as riding on a broomstick."

"Isis!" Parvati called, with a whistle. Isis’s ears perked up and she bent her front legs and knelt down. Parvati slid on and tugged Hermione on behind her. "Just hold on to my waist." Parvati told Hermione as the horse straightened up. "And we’re off."

Parvati kept Isis at a slow trot so Hermione wouldn’t get scared but it was a long way to the woods and it would take ages at this pace. "Would you mind if I let her run a bit?" Parvati asked Hermione. "Because at this rate we’ll never get there."

Hermione went a bit pale but she nodded her consent and tightened her grip on Parvati’s waist. Isis took off, flying through the pastures. Hermione lost her balance a few times and started to slide off but Parvati pulled her back up. Parvati knew Isis would never let either of them fall off anyway, but she didn’t want to scare Hermione.

Soon, they were traveling into the woods and Parvati stopped the horse. She slid off and pulled Hermione off after her. "So how was your first riding experience?" She asked.

"It was actually pretty fun." Hermione admitted. "I mean, I was scared most of the time but it is really was great. That must be what Harry feels like when he flies in quidditch." Her eyes fell to the woods around them. "So this is it?"

"Yes. We just figured there was a bit of magical obstruction in this area so the ministry couldn’t sense anything."

"And do your spells always work?" Hermione asked thoughtfully.

"Yes." Parvati pulled her wand out of her robes and pointed it at a tree branch. "Wingardium Leviosa! See they work." Parvati said as the branch lifted into the air.

Hermione looked around as though she expected to see a ministry owl at any minute. "That’s weird." She muttered when nothing came. "I’m going to consult my books about that. It shouldn’t be that way."

Parvati shrugged. "Well, we’ve never complained. Shall we head back now?"

"Sure." Hermione said, sounding a bit distracted.

Isis lowered herself so they could get on and they were off again. Hermione was silent the rest of the way back. ‘She was probably preoccupied with her thoughts.’ Parvati guessed.

When they got back to the house, Parvati turned Isis loose and she and Hermione went back inside. They went to the library and Parvati gave Hermione the books to take home. She talked Hermione into staying for supper and they went to her room until dinnertime.

They talked for awhile and to her surprise, Parvati was able to keep up a normal conversation. She had always figured she would never be able to keep up with Hermione intellectually but she was easy to talk to and not nearly as concerned with studies as one might expect. Hermione told her all about what it was like to be friends with Ron and Harry, who were probably the most famous boys in the school. She had inquired about being friends with Lavender but Parvati honestly told her there wasn’t much to tell.

"Do you and your sister get along well?" Hermione asked. "I am an only child and I always wished for a sister."

"Well, it is not all it’s cut out to be." Parvati said dryly. "People always think it must be great to be twins but sometimes it can be really annoying. Padma and I aren’t much alike and we don’t get along very well. I mean, I love her and all but she’s so perfect it tends to get on one’s nerves."

"No one is perfect." Hermione argued.

"No, but she is so close it’s scary." Parvati insisted. "And it’s not as if she even tries. She never studies and she doesn’t try on her homework but she’s just naturally smart. I on the other hand, have to work very hard to get as good of marks as I do and I still am not going to be made a prefect."

Hermione looked a bit guilty. "Not that it’s your fault." Parvati assured her quickly. "It’s just that Padma is and I’m not. Comparison you know. Padma is a bit prettier too. I know, we’re twins but she is. And she doesn’t even try. She is just very, I don’t know, gifted I guess. But she has a boyfriend and all and a lot of people like her even though she isn’t very nice. I try to be nice to everyone and I still get treated like a brainless imbecile. I don’t really mind, but Padma just makes things much harder for me. So to answer your question, we don’t get along well at all."

"Parvati, we never mean to treat you like your stupid." Hermione said.

"Well of course you don’t mean to." Parvati said matter of factly. "But I suppose I ask for it, hanging around Lavender and being a divination freak. It isn’t your fault."

"No we don’t." Hermione argued weakly. "We all like you."

Parvati looked a bit melancholy but she kept her tone even. "Never once, have you or Harry or Ron asked me to study with you or sit with you at a quidditch match, or even be partners in class. I just got used to it. Dean and Seamus are pretty much the same but they are closer to you guys than I am and Neville is sort of an odd man out. Like me."

"You have tons of friends." Hermione said, still trying to argue but sounding less sure of her case every minute.

"Friends that I occasionally talk to or say hi to." Parvati said. "But don’t dwell on it Hermione, it’s not your fault."

Hermione looked upset and Parvati felt bad about pushing the issue. "Hey, do you want to play mancala?" She asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"What is that?" Hermione asked.

Parvati pulled a worn wooden box off her shelves. "It’s a wizarding game. Based loosely on an ancient muggle game I think. But anyway, it’s a lot of fun. Angelina and I used to play it all the time."

"Angelina Johnson?" Hermione asked. "Isn’t she a few years ahead of us?"

"Well, yes but she used to come over often because we are second cousins on my mother’s side and she was never one to play with Padma. Now that she’s older we don’t often speak though."

"Wow, almost everyone in the wizarding world is related." Hermione said bemusingly.

"Not everyone. But a lot of us are." Parvati agreed, opening the box. It opened into two sides and there were six holes on each side and a container at each side. "You usually play it with biting gobstones but Ange and I came up with rules to make it more interesting." She explained, taking a bag from her shelf. "These are all the worst flavors of Bertie Bott’s every flavor beans we could find. We have about five hundred in here. There’s booger and earwax and all kinds of awful stuff." She poured four beans in each hole before putting the bag away.

"Now the rules of the game. The object is to get the most beans in your container and to get rid of all the beans on your side of the board. You pick up the beans and drop them in order in each hole until you run out. If your last bean ends up in the compartment, you get another turn. Also if your last bean lands in an empty hole opposite your opponent’s beans you get their beans. Understand so far?"

"Sounds easy enough." Hermione agreed.

"Now the fun part." Parvati said with a wicked smile. "Whoever has the most beans in their container wins. Then the loser has to eat any beans they have left over in their holes. The game ends when one person has no more beans on their side."

"Eww!" Hermione said. "Those horrible flavored beans?"

"I told you it made it interesting." Parvati said grinning. "So are you game? It’s a game of strategy."

"Count me in." Hermione said.

The first game, Parvati easily won, since she had played so many times and Hermione was stuck eating six disgusting beans, one of which turned out to be saliva flavored. But the next round, Hermione gave her a run for her money. Parvati narrowly won that one Hermione eating two bad beans, and the third game Hermione won and Parvati had to eat three bad beans, something she hadn’t had to do in years.

It was fun though and they were still laughing and enjoying themselves when Padma came in to tell them it was dinnertime.

"I still can’t believe you beat me." Parvati was complaining as they went to the dining room. "I haven’t lost at mancala in years. Padma won’t even play with me anymore because she once had to eat a grease flavored one. But she was too easy; she always made the same moves. But usually I can beat most people because I learned to cheat and trick people from Angelina and she was a master at the game."

"Well, I am just good at using logical thinking." Hermione said. They sat down at the table with Padma and Mandy and waited for their mother. She swept in a few minutes later, rushing about the room.

"Your father and I won’t be joining you for dinner tonight." She said, throwing on her traveling cloak as she spoke. "There is an immediate situation, and, well, I have to go right away. I probably won’t be back before midnight so can you two see your friends home safely? The floo powder is on the mantle and there are plenty of matches."

"We’ll be fine mummy." Padma assured her.

"Okay. Be good girls." She said, kissing Parvati and Padma each on the cheek. "Goodbye Mandy, it was nice to meet you Hermione. Cheerio!" With that she left the dining room and the house elves popped in with food.

Parvati expected Hermione to complain about the elves being servants but she didn’t. ‘She probably didn’t want to make a scene in someone’s house.’ Parvati thought.

Parvati poked listlessly at her veal and pumpernickel. She didn’t seem to have much of an appetite anymore.

"So what did you guys do all day?" Padma asked.

"We went riding for a little while in the woods and played mancala." Parvati answered.

Padma looked a bit green around the gills. ‘Probably remembering the grease flavored bean’ Parvati thought. "I hate that game! Anyway, Mandy and I did a lot of planning for the party. What do you think about me setting Mandy up with Patrick or Draco?"

Hermione coughed into her glass and Parvati knew it was because of the mention of Draco Malfoy.

"I think Mandy’s too good for either of them." Parvati said flatly.

Padma gave her a dirty look. "They are Terry’s friends and any friend of Terry’s is a friend of mine. Besides, they are both very good looking. Mandy should have a boyfriend anyway."

Mandy didn’t say anything and Parvati knew she would just do whatever Padma told her.

"Are you friends with Malfoy?" Hermione asked disbelievingly

"I suppose." Padma said absently. "We used to sort of be friends with him when we were little. And Terry likes him a lot."

"I didn’t use to be friends with him." Parvati said hotly. "I couldn’t stand him."

Padma raised her eyebrows and smiled patronizingly. "Really Parvati? I don’t suppose you remember that summer when we were nine? I could refresh your memory."

"Shut up Padma." Parvati said warningly.

"I don’t know. I think it might be quite an entertaining story." Padma said teasingly. "I’m sure Mandy and Hermione would like to hear about your little summer romance."

Hermione’s eyebrows shot up. "You and Malfoy had a romance? I thought you hated him Parvati! You told him off in first year."

"I do hate him." Parvati said firmly. "Padma is just being stupid."

"No I’m not." Padma said, giggling. "It was so funny! Pansy remembers because she was so mad. Come on Parvati, let me tell them. It’s not that bad."

"No." Parvati said grouchily. "That’s one of my worst memories.

"Come on Parvati." Hermione joined in. "I promise not to laugh."

"You’ll laugh." Padma promised.

"Please…." Mandy wheedled. "I want to know."

"Oh fine." Parvati heaved a sigh. "Embarrass me Padma if it will entertain you."

"Okay." Padma said happily. "When we were eight or so, my parents decided that we needed to see other people besides each other, you know they were worried about that twin separation thing so they decided to have a play group in the summer so we would go three times a week to Angelina, my cousin’s house. It was me, Parvati, Angelina, Pansy Parkinson, Draco, Vincent Crabbe, Greg Goyle, and Hannah Abbot. And we would play I guess, mostly we just sat around outside and were bored to tears. But the next year, Angelina wasn’t there anymore because she had started Hogwarts and was spent most of the time with her friends from there. It was when it became really popular to say you had a boyfriend and all, so all of us girls decided that we needed to have a boyfriend. Of course most of us liked Draco because the other two options were Crabbe and Goyle and nobody really wanted to have them for a boyfriend. He was aware of course that we all liked him, except for Hannah because she had a boyfriend that lived on her street and it just made him even more stuck up. He is very conceited, I admit that. Well, he stretched out deciding whom he would ask to be his girlfriend for weeks until he decided and asked Parvati. She was thrilled and she got so excited about having a boyfriend she wrote all over everything P.P. + D.M. and told everyone she knew that he was her boyfriend. Pansy was so jealous because she has always had a thing for him but he just didn’t like her. I didn’t mind that much because I figured he would break up with her pretty quick."

"I can’t believe you were thinking such traitorous thoughts!" Parvati interrupted.

Padma shrugged with a smile. "Well, it did sort of turn out like I thought didn’t it?" Parvati fumed silently and Padma continued with her story. "So, Parvati walked around with her head in the clouds for days and she and Draco would sit outside and hold hands and stuff. I can’t believe we got so excited about that kind of thing but we were a lot younger. Anyway, about two weeks after they had been declared a "couple", he broke up with Parvati and asked me out. I said yes, even though I wouldn’t now, because Parvati was heartbroken. And she cried for hours and was really mad at me. I finally felt bad and told Parvati I would break up with him but she came up with a better idea."

Parvati and Padma exchanged mischievous smiles. "This is the funny part." Parvati explained. "It was just so embarrassing for me, to loose my first boyfriend that way."

"What way?" Mandy asked.

Padma looked at Parvati. "Well, I don’t know if I should say. It was very mean."

Parvati shrugged and smiled. "Well, they’ll get a kick out of it and it doesn’t bother me so much anymore."

"Well, he told her he wanted to break up and she argued with him about it and she popped him right in the face. Angelina’s house has these huge apple trees around the yard and when she hit him, Draco picked up an apple and threw it right at Parvati and it busted open on her face. She had to run get my aunt because it gave her a bloody nose."

"Malfoy is such a jerk." Hermione said looking unsurprised. "You should have busted his nose."

"We got our revenge." Parvati said.

"Well, first we tried to get Draco really confused." Padma said. "I didn’t break up with him and then on and off me and Parvati started switching places and he would hold my hand and I would pretend to be Parvati and think we were going out again and then she would pretend to be me and then change her mind and say she was Parvati. It worked like a charm. He couldn’t tell who was who and he got frustrated and mad. Finally after doing that, I asked him to come with me into the woods for a walk. Parvati followed us and when we got out there, we started throwing apples at him. It was really funny because he was trying to dodge us and he got apple juice all over his clothes and fell down in the mud. We didn’t really hurt him but he got really embarrassed, which was what we were going for. Then we were running off and Parvati got this really proud look on her face and said ‘You don’t mess with the Patil sisters!’ It was so goofy it was funny. Ever since then though, he’s hated us. He swore to get revenge just before we quit going to the playgroup. But he never has. He talks to me a little bit because I’m Terry’s girlfriend but he won’t speak to Parvati except to insult her."

"Oh, that was just what Malfoy deserved." Hermione said laughing. "I loved that ‘Don’t mess with the Patil sisters’ thing Parvati."

Parvati blushed. "I used to be such a dork."

"You still are." Padma said affectionately. At times like this, Parvati and her sister could really get along but she knew the sisterly peace would not last.

"Oh, wow. It’s getting really late." Hermione said, looking at her watch. "We’ve been talking for an hour. I’d better get home."

"Okay." Parvati said standing up. "I’ll take you to the floo powder. Are you going home Mandy?"

"No. She can just stay the night tonight." Padma called. "You’d better go call your mom Mandy."

Padma accompanied the three of them to the study fireplace. Mandy’s mother’s head appeared in it and she consented to let her spend the night. Parvati gave Hermione the books to take home and handed her a handful of floo powder. "How is your fireplace hooked up to the floo network anyway?" Parvati asked curiously.

"Oh, I go to Ron’s almost every year and Diagon Alley and all so I told mum and dad it would be a lot less stress if we just had it hooked up so the ministry did it."

"Oh. Well, I’ll see you next week."

"Yes, and I’ll look up that thing for you. Goodbye Parvati. Bye Padma and Mandy. It was nice meeting you." Hermione threw the handful of powder into the fireplace. "Home." She said clearly and she was gone.

Parvati stifled a yawn as she told Padma and Mandy goodnight and headed to her bedroom. She changed into a nightgown and lay down in her bed. She wished she could do the dreamless sleep spell but she wasn’t in the woods and the ministry would detect any magic she did here. She let her eyes close and hoped she wouldn’t dream.

It seemed like she might actually be having a good dream for once. She was standing in a grassy field, the wind softly blowing her hair. Then the vision began. She realized she wasn’t in her own dream she was viewing someone else’s real life. A tall young wizard came running breathlessly into the clearing. He was running from someone Parvati knew, or something. Then IT came out of the trees. Parvati felt as if she were freezing and knew instantly what it was. It was a dementor. But this didn’t seem right. That young wizard wasn’t anyone in Azkaban. He wasn’t much older than she was. Parvati wished she could move to help him but she was only a spectator in this. She couldn’t move or speak or even be seen. The wizard fell down, clutching his head and screaming in pain. The hooded dementor clutched his robes and pulled him up to it’s face. Parvati saw razor sharp teeth clamp down and then she was spinning….

Parvati woke up with tears in her eyes. She couldn’t take this anymore. She was so tired of seeing people die. It was still dark outside but she couldn’t take anymore terrible visions. She glanced at the clock on her wall as she got up. It was 2:30 in the morning. She quickly got her cloak and satchel. She silently walked out of her room and to the front door.

She went out to the pasture where she saw Isis standing up and sleeping. "Isis, wake up." Parvati whispered. The horse’s eyes immediately opened and she whickered questioningly.

"We’re going to the woods." Parvati said, clambering on her back. She didn’t even bother with a bridal, just held on to Isis’s mane as she took off. The cold night air hit Parvati in her face and she almost lost her balance a few times but Isis righted her. When they were in the woods, Parvati dismounted and spread out the blanket she kept in her bag.

"Sloemorde Estava." Parvati said, pointing the wand at herself. Then she relaxed and lay down on the blanket. It was cold so she put a warming charm on Isis and herself before falling into a dreamless sleep.

The rest of the week went by uneventfully. Parvati spent most of her nights out in the woods, sneaking there after the rest of her family went to sleep. It wasn’t a very comfortable place to rest, she always woke up with stiff achy joints and twigs and dirt in her hair but it was worth it not to have the dreams. She knew she wasn’t being very courageous, refusing to use her "gift" to help other people but she couldn’t take the stress and sorrow of seeing these things happen. Her worst fears had occurred when she found herself recognizing people in her visions and she didn’t want that responsibility of perhaps changing a person’s life.

Before she knew it, it was August 4. Their birthday party. Padma woke Parvati up at dawn and told her they needed to get everything ready. Parvati groggily got out of bed and changed into a pair of faded old jeans and a tee shirt.

Padma was in the kitchen ordering the house elves around when Parvati joined her. "I want warm butterbeer and cold pumpkin juice." She was saying, glowering at the elves.

"But miss it is being easy if you have all cold or all hot drinks." One of the elves said timidly.

"I don’t care if it is being easy." Padma mimicked the elf’s squeaky voice. "That’s what I want and I gave you the menu days ago, why couldn’t you have brought this to my attention earlier?"

The elves didn’t answer and Parvati was sure it was because they didn’t want to tell her they were too scared of her to say anything. "Good." Padma said. "Then everything is going as planned with the food. Everything else," She said, rolling her eyes at Parvati. "Is messed up. Cho and Mandy were supposed to be here by now to help with decorations and they are running late. Mum was also supposed to help because she can use magic. She had another "emergency" and she had to rush off. She said we could just do things the muggle way! Can you believe that?"

"But we don’t know how to do most things the muggle way." Parvati said.

"I know that." Padma snapped. "But tell that to mummy! We’re going to have to call Mandy. Hopefully she’ll know what we can do. She takes Muggle Studies."

They went to the fireplace and Padma agitatedly struck a match and lit the fire. It sprang up in flames and she tossed in a handful of floo powder. "Mandy Brocklehurst!"

After a few minutes of Padma impatiently tapping her foot, Mandy’s blond head appeared in the fireplace. "Oh, hello Padma, Parvati. I should be on my way shortly. I’m running a bit behind. Mother didn’t wrap my gifts and she headed off to work so I’ve had to scrounge up wrapping paper."

"We need your help." Padma said. "Speaking of forgetful mothers, mummy went off and said we had to decorate the muggle way! You take muggle studies so what can we do? Cho isn’t here yet either."

"Oh." Mandy wrinkled her forehead. "Give me a bit. I’ll stop by a shop near my house. I think I have our solution. You guys just make sure everything else is ready. I’ll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay." Padma said a bit happier. "I’ll leave the fireplace lit."

"Bye." Mandy disappeared.

"Come on Parvati." Padma ordered. "We’re going to go make sure everything is ready. Then I have to get dressed and take a bath." She took Parvati’s hand and pulled her out the back door.

Their backyard had pretty purple grass, which their gardener kept well trimmed. There were tons of tigerlilies and sunflowers around the gazebo. Lavender had told Parvati and Padma that it was good luck for the next year to come if they were around the flowers of their star sign on their birthday. Padma didn’t like Lavender very much but she was superstitious and had insisted that the gardener use them in the floral arrangement.

The big white gazebo had several tables set up on it and Padma’s huge radio was set up. There was a big lake on the right side of the yard; they occasionally swam in it in the summer. Their mother had done a purifying charm on it so it would be clean. There were silver lanterns set up around it. Padma glared around the yard. She was such a perfectionist Parvati knew she would never be satisfied.

She set Parvati to work putting purple tablecloths on the tables. She wanted them to match the grass. Yellow and Purple were apparently the colors of choice. Padma turned on the radio and the WWN came on. Parvati started singing along to the song by the wizarding group the Heartstrings.

Pretty soon, Cho came walking over and Parvati saw Padma yelling at her for being late. Then she put her on candle duty. Cho stomped over to the table and set two gifts wrapped in gold foil on it.

"I have to light two hundred lanterns." She told Parvati. "Without magic!"

Parvati gave her a fake sympathetic look. "Maybe you should change into some different clothes. You don’t want to ruin your good ones."

Cho had her chin length hair perfectly curled under and was wearing an emerald colored dress that matched her eyes. "I won’t get dirty." Cho assured her. "I never do."

‘It wasn’t fair.’ Parvati thought. Not one strand of Cho’s hair fell out of place and Padma looked as cool as a cucumber. But after lugging around chairs, putting tablecloths on, and helping Cho light lanterns, Parvati was sweaty and her hair was in messy knots.

Finally Mandy showed up and told them to go inside and get ready. Padma reluctantly left her and Cho to the job of finishing the work and went inside with Parvati. Parvati took a luxurious bubble bath, not looking forward to getting out and going downstairs. At least Hermione and Lavender would be coming. She had only invited Seamus because Lavender had been hinting that she liked him.

She got out and wrapped a fluffy towel around herself. She went back into her bedroom and dried her hair. She brushed it all out and let it fall in waves down her back. Then she started to go to her closet to find something to wear but a long flat box sitting on her bed distracted her.

She pulled the lid off and saw layers of tissue paper. She pulled the paper aside and pulled out beautiful blue dress robes. They were made of silk and trimmed in golden threads. Parvati saw a folded piece of parchment on the bottom. She pulled it out and smiled as she read it.

Parvati,

Thought you could use these. Sorry about the whole dinner argument.

I will see you sometime next month. Happy Birthday.

Your Father

Still as impersonal as always, but at least he wasn’t still mad at her. Parvati pulled the dress robes on. The silk was very soft against her body. She headed to look in her own mirror but then shuddered. She had been avoiding her mirror since she had seen the face. Instead she left her room and went into the hallway. There was a large jewel encrusted mirror hanging on the wall. The blue robes looked nice with her dark hair. They were floor length with a full lace up bodice. She went downstairs to wait by the fireplace. She and Padma were to greet their guests as they came. Padma was already there in identical robes but rose colored. Parvati wasn’t surprised; her parents often bought them matching clothes. "Who’s here already?" She asked Padma.

"Pansy and Blaise arrived a bit ago. I’m still waiting on everyone else. Did you happen to glance out back? I wondered how Mandy and Cho did with the décor."

"No. I came right here." Parvati said. The fireplace let off a puff of smoke and Lavender leapt out of the fireplace.

"Parvati!" She squealed, throwing her arms around her in a hug. "Happy Birthday! You too Padma!"

Lavender spun around. "Do you like my outfit?" She was wearing a sleeveless purple dress that fell to her knees and she had her long blond hair in spiraled curls.

"You look lovely." Parvati said.

"Oh, so do you." Lavender gushed. "I have your presents with me and I’m going to give you a special star reading."

Padma made a rude gesture at Lavender’s back and Parvati shot her a look. She was spared answering Lavender when the fireplace puffed again and Seamus came out. He was wearing plain black robes but his sandy hair was combed. He appeared to have a mutual interest in Lavender and they walked out to the backyard together.

"I don’t understand how you can be friends with her." Padma said in an irritated voice as soon as they were out of earshot.

"She’s nice. And, interesting to talk to." Parvati said, struggling to come up with something else.

"I bet." Padma snorted. "Hermione may be a mudblood but at least she has some brains."

"Don’t say that about her!" Parvati said curtly.

There were a few more puffs of smoke. Several people must have collided inside the fireplace because there was grumbling. Then Angelina, Hermione, and Ginny came out. Parvati and Padma greeted them. They were all dressed very nice. Hermione was wearing the blue dress robes she had worn to the Yule ball and Ginny in a dark green dress. Angelina hugged Parvati and Padma. "I haven’t seen you in ages. Happy birthday." She had on vibrant pink robes and her long black ringlets were piled atop her head.

"Thank you." Parvati said.

"Well, that’s everyone then." Padma said, throwing sand into the fire.

"But what about Terry and his friends?" Parvati asked as the fire went out.

"They’re flying in." Padma said beaming. "Did you know Terry is going to be the new keeper on the Ravenclaw team this year?"

"Fascinating." Parvati muttered as they went out the back doors.

Parvati gasped as she saw the yard. Mandy had gone all out to decorate. There were streamers hanging up that flashed from yellow to purple and the two tables were laden with bowls and plates of food. There was a huge banner that read "Happy Birthday Parvati and Padma!" hanging and it kept flashing different pictures below it. The lanterns were all lit and they cast flickering warmth over the yard. The radio was playing a song by the Weird Sisters and Cho was dancing with Seamus. Lavender didn’t look too happy about this, Parvati noticed. Mandy had a bubble machine turned on and there were thousands of multicolored bubbles floating in the air.

"Wow Mandy, this looks great." Parvati said, going over to her.

Mandy blushed. "It’s not that good. I mean we could have probably done better with magic."

"No we couldn’t." Parvati said firmly and Mandy smiled. "Oh," Parvati said, seeing Hermione and Ginny behind her. "You met Hermione yesterday and this is Ginny Weasley. Ginny this is Mandy Brocklehurst."

They said hello politely, before Padma dragged Mandy over to talk to Cho. "Happy birthday Parvati." Ginny said.

"Thanks Ginny. I’m glad you could make it."

"Well I was a little bit surprised." Ginny admitted. "I mean we’ve talked a few times at school but I didn’t think you really considered me a friend."

"Sure I do." Parvati said. "Really, you’re the only other person I talk to besides Hermione and Lavender."

There was a "ooh!" as several brooms appeared in the air. Parvati heard Padma shriek happily as they touched the ground.

Ginny gave Parvati an odd look. "I didn’t know you were friends with Malfoy."

"I’m not." Parvati said. "Padma invited him and Patrick. They’re friends with her boyfriend."

Parvati saw Malfoy shoot her a nasty look as he got off his broom and greeted Padma. Pansy was fawning all over him. Parvati turned to Hermione and Ginny. "So, did you-" She started but was interrupted by Lavender storming over to them.

"Can you believe that he is dancing with her?" Lavender demanded.

They followed her glare to Seamus who was still dancing with Cho, but to a slow song now. "She is such a slut!" Lavender fumed. "And she isn’t even pretty!"

"I don’t know." Ginny said softly. "Harry seems to like her a lot."

"Well, he’s stupid then." Lavender snapped. "Hello Hermione, Ginny. Sorry not to say hello earlier but that just makes me so mad." Her eyes lit up then. "I know what I’m going to do! I’ll go ask someone else to dance. That will show him whose boss. Thanks you guys."

They stared after her as she dashed over to Patrick Nott and started talking to him. Parvati shook her head. "Always the same." She said. "Lavender will never change."

The three of them took a butterbeer off the warming rack and sat down at one of the tables. There were tiny floral bouquets in the center of each table. "Mandy really did a great job with decorating." Hermione commented.

"I know." Parvati said. Just then, Angelina came to join them. She was carrying a glass of frosty pumpkin juice.

"So, how’s my favorite cousin?" She asked, sitting down.

"Okay." Parvati answered. "If I’m your favorite cousin, how come you hardly talked to me all four years at Hogwarts." She asked teasingly.

"Well, you know." Angelina said, looking a bit embarrassed. "I am two years ahead of you and I don’t see you that often. I just figured you had your own friends. But I always see you in the summer."

"I know." Parvati said. "I was only teasing. I’ve been fine, really. How about you?"

"Same old same old." She said with a shrug. "Quidditch, homework, deciding which Weasley twin to settle down with."

"You’re the only girlfriend they’ve ever had that can tell them apart." Ginny said. "How do you do it? Even I can’t tell them apart sometimes and I’ve lived with them for fourteen years."

Angelina smiled mysteriously. "But you’ve never kissed them now have you?"

Ginny looked horrified at the thought. "Of course not."

"I just can tell them apart." Angelina said shrugging. "It must be a gift because I’ve never had trouble telling Parvati and Padma apart either. Even though I’ve heard from Draco, he did." She added slyly.

Parvati gave her a wounded look. "Must everyone always bring that up?"

"Sorry." Angelina said. "Couldn’t resist. Besides, he’s always moaning on about it. According to him, he’s going to get the perfect revenge on you."

"Why does he still care?" Parvati asked.

"You embarrassed him." Angelina said matter of factly. "So few people have managed to do that in his life, when they do he never lets it go until he gets his revenge. I think you’re on his list of people to kill, you and Harry Potter and the rest of the Gryffindors."

"You aren’t related to him too are you?" Hermione asked, wrinkling up her nose.

"Do I look like I could be related to him?" Angelina inquired. "He looks like a vampire."

"Well, no. But you’re related to Parvati and you don’t look anything alike." Hermione said defensively. "Then how do you talk to him all the time?"

"He lives near me." Angelina explained. "And Mr. Malfoy asked me if I would help him in Muggle Studies. You know the Malfoy’s hate anything muggle but he is obsessed with Draco being at the head of his class. So I’m stuck seeing the little worm quite a bit."

"So which of my brothers do you like better?" Ginny asked interestedly.

"Well, I’m sort of leaning towards George." Angelina said covertly. "I like them both, but I think of Fred as more of a brotherly type. I suppose it’s because he was friends with me for a long time and I can’t think of him as anything else. That’s officially who my boyfriend is, George, but they keep switching places trying to confuse me."

Ginny grinned. "George will be thrilled."

"You don’t think it will hurt Fred too badly?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Nah." Angelina and Ginny both said.

"Fred’s just never found a girl that is going to settle him down." Angelina explained. "Really, he’d rather me be George’s girlfriend, he’s just continuing the switching places and stuff for fun. I suppose he’ll eventually find someone he likes enough, but it isn’t me."

"Who are you going to have replace Wood as keeper this year?" Hermione spoke up.

"I’m not sure. We’ll have to vote on a new captain too. Fred and George won’t want the responsibility and neither do I. So it’s probably between Alicia, Katie, and Harry. Or the new keeper. Let’s just hope they aren’t as obsessed as Oliver." She added fondly.

"I can’t believe you guys are graduating this year." Parvati said. "It seems as if the last four years just flew by. And this year we’ll have O.W.L.’s and then two years later we’ll be graduating. Then it’s off to work at the ministry or somewhere like that. If we even live that long."

"Well that’s a depressing outlook." Angelina said dryly.

"It’s true though." Parvati said. "I mean You Know Who is supposedly back, how much longer do you think it will be before he’s up to his old tricks? Cedric Diggory died last year, it makes you wonder if we’re ever safe, even at Hogwarts."

"We’re safe there." Hermione said reassuringly. "Professor Dumbledore is there and nothing can touch us at Hogwarts as long as he is the headmaster."

"How old is he anyway?" Ginny asked. "I mean, he isn’t going to die anytime soon. Not to sound insensitive." She added, her face burning.

Angelina laughed. "Don’t worry, he’s only a hundred or so. I’m sure he’ll be around for a hundred more years at least."

Ginny smiled and looked relieved.

"Is Harry staying with you right now?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, yes. He had to go home to the Dursleys but a few weeks ago Dumbledore said it would be okay for him to come stay at our house. He and Ron were a bit worried about letting me come here. They made sure you were really going to be here and it wasn’t a trap."

"Harry’s been very worried about You Know Who ever since he and Cedric met up with him at the end of the tournament." Hermione said dispiritedly.

"It’ll probably just take time." Angelina said understandingly. Then she stood up. "Now this is no way to behave at a party. You don’t sit around and talk about dismal things. And I am insisting you start behaving correctly. You are all coming out and dancing with me."

"I don’t dance." Parvati said.

"Nonsense. You danced at the Yule ball with Harry."

"That was slow dancing." Parvati argued. "I don’t know how to fast dance. I just look stupid."

"I don’t either." Hermione put in.

"Oh come on you guys." Ginny said. "We can all look stupid together."

"Yes, come on." Angelina insisted. She and Ginny took Parvati and Hermione by the hands and pulled them out onto the turf. Celestina Warbuck’s new song was on and it had a fast hippie beat to it.

Parvati and Hermione hadn’t been lying. They didn’t know how to fast dance. Angelina and Ginny were pretty good though and they didn’t look stupid at all. Lavender left Patrick and joined them. Parvati felt a bit foolish but she was having fun and no one had made fun of her.

She knew she had spoken too soon when a cold drawling voice spoke next to her. "That’s some great dancing you’re doing there, Patil."

Parvati turned to see Malfoy sneering at her. "Shut up Malfoy." Angelina said. "Leave Parvati alone."

"And why are you sticking up for her?" He demanded.

"Because she is my cousin and my friend." Angelina shot back. "And it’s none of your business. No one invited you over here."

"I can go wherever I like on this lawn." Malfoy said smirking. "I am a guest at this party, not by your envoy, mind Patil."

"I wouldn’t have invited you." Parvati snapped.

"And I wouldn’t have come if you had."

"Just go away." Lavender spoke up. "We don’t want you over here. We only like cute guys. And you are about as ugly as they get Draco Malfoy."

Malfoy gave her a withering look. "No one asked your opinion. And if you want to talk about unattractive people, why don’t you take a look in the mirror?" With that he strode away.

Lavender stuck out her tongue at his back. Parvati smiled to herself. It felt nice to have people defend her. Friends, but what would they think of her if they knew everything about her? She turned to them. "I’m going to go ask Padma something. I’ll see you later."

She turned to go and Hermione ran to catch up with her. "Wait up. I’ll go with you. I feel really goofy dancing with them when they are so good at it."

Padma was at a table sitting on Terry’s lap. Malfoy, Patrick Nott, and Pansy Parkinson were sitting with them. Pansy shot Parvati an evil look as she came up. Pansy and Parvati had hated each other for as long as she could remember. Padma got along with her okay but Parvati hated her. Unfortunately, they were stuck seeing her quite a bit, as she was their first cousin, Blaise Zabini’s best friend.

Parvati made a face at her and turned to Padma. "I wanted to know what time mummy was going to get here."

"Oh, can’t you function without your mummy?" Terry asked in a mocking tone.

"Terry." Padma said, but she didn’t even sound mad. "Be nice. I’m not sure when she’ll be here. She’s been going out on those special calls a lot lately. She said not to wait on her. Speaking of, we need to stay on schedule. It’s time to open our gifts." She stood up and headed over to the long table where their gifts were piled up.

Parvati reluctantly followed her. She hated having attention called to herself. But unfortunately Padma loved it. They sat down at the head of the table and everyone else crowded around.

Padma proudly picked up the first two presents. They were wrapped in identical blue paper. "These are from Blaise." She informed everyone.

Parvati tore the wrapping paper off and opened up a box. Inside was a shiny new book with The Wizard from Damascus in gold lettering. It was apparently a fiction book, and a soft knit hat in a pretty shade of blue. Parvati thanked her and set it aside. She knew that people could never figure out what to get her so she always got weird gifts. The whole gift unwrapping ceremony took ages and Parvati ended up with a book entitled The Guide to quick makeovers for unattractive witches from Pansy, a pack of Alohomora! Bath soaps and bubble bath from Cho, three more fiction books (Story of a Teenage Witch, The Witch in the Roseglass, and Hourglass) from Patrick, Terry, and Ginny, a bottle of acne acid from Malfoy, a shirt from Angelina which read Got My Broom, Got my Quaffle, Don’t need no Wizard (Angelina obviously didn’t realize she wasn’t into quidditch), a box full of Honeydukes best candy and a wand cover with unicorn print from Mandy, a set of Tarot cards and a book called Controlling and Seeing the future from Lavender, and from Hermione a miniature stable. Parvati had been shocked to see it but it was a perfect replica of a miniature barn with stalls and a fenced in pasture complete with tiny plastic bales of hay and a plastic pond and a bathing rack. Hermione had written on a note "For Isis when I give you your real birthday present!"

Parvati thanked everyone again and put her gifts all in a bag. She was always so embarrassed to open presents on her birthday or Christmas.

"Now we’ll have the cake." Padma ordered the unfortunate house elf that was rushing around, picking up wrapping paper.

"Yes miss! I is getting the cake!" It said in a squeaky voice and it disappeared with a pop.

Mandy quickly moved the gifts to the other end of the table so everyone could sit down to eat cake. Parvati ended up between Padma and Malfoy, to her chagrin. Three house elves appeared carrying a gigantic cake with purple and yellow icing.

It took up a large amount of the table and everyone had to scoot back to have enough elbow room. Malfoy was kind enough to give Parvati a bit of extra room by viciously kicking her chair, thus causing it to scoot over. Mandy stuck thirty candles in the center, fifteen and fifteen; they always had more candles on their cakes than any of their friends.

Everyone sang happy birthday to them. "Make a wish!" Angelina advised as they leaned in to blow the candles out.

‘I wish I could help people with my visions instead of sitting back and watching them die or get hurt.’ Parvati silently wished. Then with a whoosh she and Padma blew out all the candles.

Padma cut the cake and passed everyone a piece. Parvati ate a bite because it was bad luck not to taste your own birthday cake and then pushed it back. She wasn’t much of a cake person.

Gradually everyone drifted away from the table as the sun began to set. Parvati was admiring how nice the lanterns looked around the lake when she heard someone cry out for help.

She spun around and started toward the pasture where it had come from. She heard several people calling after her but she didn’t stop. Out in an empty pasture, she saw the wizard from her dream. He came running towards her. "You have to help me." He managed to gasp out.

Then, just as it had in her vision, the eerie hooded dementor came gliding out of the trees. Parvati knew she should be running, getting to safety but she couldn’t move. The dementor glided towards them. The boy was tugging on her arm but she couldn’t move. She felt frozen.

It reached out icy hands and touched her face. Drawing her towards it. Suddenly there was a shout and the spell over her was broken. The dementor dropped Parvati and backed away. She saw a silvery light gliding towards it and it was gone.

"Parvati, are you okay?" There were people hovering over her. Angelina helped her to her feet.

"We thought that it had given you the kiss." Hermione said, her face as white as a sheet.

"I had to come." Parvati tried to explain. "When I heard the screams."

"What screams?" Lavender asked blankly. "I don’t know how you heard anything we had the radio up really loud."

"It was that wizard." Parvati said, turning and looking for him. "Where did he go?"

"All we saw was you." Ginny said looking puzzled.

"There was someone here." Parvati insisted, looking around. "I’m sure of it." She stared into five worried faces.

"Maybe they took off as soon as the dementor left." Seamus suggested doubtfully.

"You’ve had a long day." Hermione said, gently taking her hand. "You need to relax and go to bed."

Parvati sighed in defeat. She knew there was no way to convince them. She wanted to know where that wizard had gone. It was too strange. "How did you get the dementor to back off?" She asked as they walked back to the party.

"Conjured a patronus." Angelina said shakily. "We just learned about them last year in Defense against the Dark arts. It’s a good thing, I was afraid it wouldn’t work because I’ve never done one. Luckily it made a feeble one that got it to back away." She hugged Parvati tightly. "You don’t need to give me scares like that."

Parvati started to tell her about the wizard again but she knew she was wasting her breath. With a sigh, she went back to the party, hoping the rest of her summer would go calmer.