Written in the Stars

Chapter Three

A new term

The rest of the summer went by quickly. Parvati kept in contact with Hermione, but she had not found a shrinking spell that would work yet. She spent a week at Lavender’s house shortly after her birthday. It hadn’t been much fun. Lavender had talked endlessly about Seamus and the relationship she hoped they would have. They’d done little else, and Parvati found herself longing for the days she had spent riding and reading.

She had managed to avoid her visions for the most part. Though, while she was at Lavender’s there was no way to do the dreamless sleep charm on herself. She’d had the reoccurring dream about the ten people being attacked. She knew who they were, but she refused to admit it to herself, it would make it all too real.

She spent her spare hours searching musty old books for shrinking spells and trying to place the identity of the mysterious wizard she had saved from the dementor on her birthday. Before she knew it, her Hogwarts letter arrived and her mother planned a trip to Diagon Alley the weekend before term began.

Padma had spent hours in front of her mirror because she would be seeing her classmates at Diagon Alley. She had of course, been made a prefect, and Parvati of course, had not. Parvati wasn’t in a good mood and she had worn her oldest, holiest jeans with the shirt Angelina had bought her. Her mother didn’t like the shirt at all and had declared it distasteful. So, to irk Padma and her mother Parvati wore it. It worked quite well; they walked quickly ahead of her, as if pretending she didn’t know them. This was not very sensible reasoning, as she and Padma were twins.

Their first stop as they flood-in was Gringotts wizarding bank. The ride down to their vault was always something fun, and Parvati would have worked at Gringotts just to take the cart ride all the time. Of course, that could never happen, she wasn’t a goblin and her parents wouldn’t approve either.

Padma and her mother both looked a bit sick as they stepped into their "school vault". After he had died, her father had had his account divided into several different vaults. One was entirely for their schooling because their father spared no expense for this as he claimed it to be "the foundation for later life." He had been head boy at Hogwarts in his time.

Parvati quickly filled her purse with galleons and a few sickles as Padma did the same. After another wild ride, they separated outside the bank.

Their mother always left them to do their own shopping, thought that independence would lead to responsibility. Parvati walked down the rows of shops and into Madame Malkin’s robes. She hadn’t grown more than an inch over the past year, but her mother always insisted on new robes every year.

A blond shop girl had her stand on a stool so she could take her measurements. "You, know we have a great new shipment of Gladrags wear." She told her.

"That’s okay." Parvati replied. "I just need school robes and a uniform. Oh and a set of dress robes."

Parvati, as usual, bought more than she had planned. She was too easy to convince, she knew, and she hated refusing friendly people. She had bought new school robes, uniforms, and midnight blue dress robes. But she had also bought several Gladrags wool robes in winter colors, a new winter cloak, and three new shirts. The girl had been sorry to see her go since she could be talked so easily into buying things and tipped well.

Her next stop was Flourish and Blotts. Parvati pulled her supply list out her pocket. Fifth years needed a few new books.

"I need The Standard Book of Spells Grade Five by Miranda Goshwak, Preparing for the O.W.L.s by Alfred Sniterbock, A Beginners guide to Medicinal Magic by Brehanna Bartholomew, and A Fifth Year Review by Leonard Roulent." She told the clerk. He found the books for her and she placed them in her lightweight bag. It was a good thing she had brought it, A Fifth Year Review was a complete review of the past five years and it weighed a ton.

Parvati left Flourish and Blotts and tried to figure out if she needed anything else. She had a cauldron already and her other school supplies, but there was something she was forgetting…. She remembered when a first year stumbled by laden with supplies. Her wand! Her wand had been poking out feathers and it was splintered in a few places. She needed to get a new one.

Parvati hesitantly went into Ollivanders. Mr. Ollivander scared her a bit and she wasn’t too eager to go in the shop alone.

"Hello?" She called, looking around. "Mr. Ollivander?" She jumped as she stepped out of the shadows.

"Miss Patil." He said, a smile on his bony face. "Lovely to see you again. How may I help you?"

"I-I need a wand." Parvati stammered. "Mine is splintered a bit."

"Ah! Phoenix feather and ebony wasn’t it? Twelve inches. Good combination." He pulled the familiar looking wand off a shelf. How he knew where everything was, Parvati didn’t understand. "Give it a wave."

Parvati took the wand and brought it swishing through the air. "Nothing happened!" She said in disbelief.

Mr. Ollivander stared at the wand. "It is the right wand." He said musingly. "Try it again."

Parvati waved the wand around hopefully, but still nothing happened. "I don’t understand it." She said, pulling out her old wand. "I’ve had this wand for four, almost five years and it has always worked." To prove her point, she waved the wand around and gold sparks shot out of it.

"Perhaps." Mr. Ollivander said, rummaging around the shelves. "Perhaps, but this hasn’t happened in years."

"What?" Parvati asked, a bit frightened.

"You have outgrown you wand." Mr. Ollivander said. "Very rare indeed, but if a witch or wizard gains power or goes through a proportional magical change, it occasionally happens."

"But, I haven’t done anything new." Parvati said dumbstruck. "This wand still works for me."

"That is because you have had it. You don’t need it anymore. It only works on command. It is no longer the wand for you." Mr. Ollivander said, pulling out a handful of wands.

"But-but, couldn’t you make this work? I don’t want to change to a different wand." Parvati said, feeling as if she were loosing an old friend.

"It is not meant for you." Mr. Ollivander insisted. "It is time for a change. Very extraordinary." He murmured as he firmly put a wand in her hand. "Try this one."

Parvati wearily went through the process of finding another wand. It must have been an hour before a wand finally erupted into silver sparks.

"Aha, we’ve found a match." Mr. Ollivander said happily. "An interesting combination. Unicorn hair and holly. A bit smaller than your last one, ten inches. But it seems to be suited for you."

Parvati glanced at the new wand. It was a soft pink color and felt different in her hands than her old wand. Things were happening to her, she couldn’t help but feel and she didn’t like it.

"Thank you." She told Mr. Ollivander, paying him for the wand.

"It was my pleasure." Mr. Ollivander said, bowing. "And if that wand stops working for you, don’t hesitate to come back."

"You think it will stop working?" Parvati asked nervously.

He shrugged. "Do not worry about it, my dear. It is just a precaution."

Parvati hurriedly thanked him again and left the shop. She strolled along, lost in thought, and didn’t even notice when she bumped into someone.

"Sorry," She said, picking up her new wand which had fallen on the ground. She looked up and saw Hermione Granger smiling amusedly at her.

"Oh, Hermione." Parvati said. "I didn’t even see you."

"You looked as if you were spacing out." Hermione agreed. She wasn’t alone, Parvati realized as she stepped back. Harry and Ron were with her.

"I just, nevermind." Parvati muttered. She would have liked to talk to Hermione about the wand situation but not while Harry and Ron were with her.

"I have good news." Hermione said, a broad smile breaking out on her face.

Parvati’s eyes snapped to attention. "You found it?" She asked eagerly.

"I did." Hermione said, her eyes shining. "It was right in front of me all the time."

"You’ll have to come over." Parvati said, making plans in her head. "Sometime before term begins. Mummy will be thrilled that I’m having friends over."

"Okay," Hermione said. "I’ll call on you sometime tomorrow."

"Alright." Parvati said. "I’d better go, Padma is probably done with her shopping by now. Goodbye."

"When did you two get so friendly?" She heard Ron ask as she walked away.

She found Padma at Florean Fortescue’s ice cream shop sharing a sundae with Draco Malfoy. Parvati scowled and walked over to them. She didn’t know when they had gotten so friendly. They seemed to be talking earnestly but when Parvati came over they immediately fell silent.

"Are you done getting all of your school things?" Parvati asked.

"Yes." Padma said. "I am, I just ran into Draco and we decided to stop for some ice cream."

"Oh." Parvati said, giving Malfoy a dirty look. "I would have chosen better company.

"That’s why I wasn’t with you." Malfoy said pointedly. "It amazes me that the two of you are twins. I’ll see you later Padma."

"Yeah, I’m sure she’ll look forward to it." Parvati said sarcastically.

He gave her a look that might make most people turn away but Parvati wasn’t afraid of him. "See you later Malfoy, steer clear of apples."

"I’ll be seeing you Patil, you can count on that." He hissed and stormed off.

"Oh, Parvati!" Padma huffed. "Why did you have to do that? I’ve been trying to make nice with him."

"Whatever for?"

"Because, he’s one of Terry’s best friends. You know the other boys in Ravenclaw aren’t his friends, Draco and Patrick are."

"He should have been a Slytherin."

"Perhaps," Padma said, standing up. "He is quite ambitious. But he is smart too so he got put in Ravenclaw. I don’t know how you ended up in Gryffindor, Parvati. Mum and Dad were in Ravenclaw and Slytherin."

Parvati rolled her eyes and didn’t answer. "Do you need any help?" She asked, changing the subject.

Padma was struggling with quite a few packages and gratefully handed some to Parvati. "What did you buy?" Parvati asked. "You already had most of your school supplies."

"Oh, I know. They had this great new shipment of Gladrags wear though and the prettiest dress robes, I had to get a few and I decided I needed some new clothes anyhow."

"Did mummy say where she was going to be?" Parvati asked, scanning the street.

"Yes, I saw her in the Apothecary. She said just to floo on home. She had to run. Another emergency I daresay."

"Oh." They made their way to the floo point near the Leaky Cauldron. "Home." Parvati called as she went through the fire.

That evening, she went out to the woods and practiced a few spells with her new wand. It worked fine, but it just felt different. She’d had her old wand for so long, it was strange getting used to a new one.

The very next day, Hermione, true to her word called via floo. Parvati hurried to the study, where Hermione’s head sat in the fireplace.

"I don’t know how this doesn’t seem the least bit odd to you." Hermione said, looking around. "The muggle way to call someone is by telephone and you certainly do not poke your head through the wires."

Parvati shrugged. "Mandy told us how strangely muggles converse. She takes muggle studies. I don’t know. I suppose it’s just what you are used to."

Hermione shook her head. "Anyhow, I finally found the spell. It was in the book I borrowed from you Magical Metamorphosing, and I just kept bypassing it. It lists one for a human and that should work for her."

"Okay." Parvati said excitedly. "Well, we should try to do it right now. Go ahead and come through."

"Well, I’ll have to ask my mum." Hermione said. "She shouldn’t mind, wait here and I’ll be back."

Parvati waited anxiously as Hermione’s head disappeared. After several minutes, the flames in the fireplace flashed to green and Hermione stepped through.

"Sorry I couldn’t tell you more yesterday." Hermione said, as Parvati put the fire out. "But I didn’t want to say anything in front of Ron and Harry. I’m not sure this is entirely legal."
"Well, if we get caught I’ll take the blame." Parvati said as they left the study.

"Oh, don’t be silly." Hermione replied smiling. "Are we partners in crime or not?"

Parvati smiled back. She didn’t think Lavender would offer to take the blame had it been her. "Okay." She agreed. "We’ll face the worst they can give us. Which is probably potions with Snape."

"Oh, I’m sure they could do worse." Hermione said solemnly. "I mean, there’s detention with Snape, Draco Malfoy, and Millicent Bulstrode all at once."

They burst into laughter. "Oh, that would be awful." Parvati said. "Hold on a minute, okay? I have to run get something."

She hurried to her room and got the miniature stable, her bag, and her new wand. "Okay." She said. They went out to the pasture and silently rode Isis out into the woods. Parvati’s nerves were in a jumble and she was sure Hermione’s were too.

They rode out to the clearing by the creek and dismounted. Isis stood very still as if she knew something important were going on. Hermione nervously pulled out the dusty book and her wand. "Okay," she said.

Parvati took her own wand out and looked at Isis. "This can’t hurt her can it? I mean, if it goes wrong?"

"I don’t think so." Hermione said reassuringly. "It should work fine because people have as complex a body system as animals. Here is the spell." Hermione turned to a marked page.

"Resilio Abhorreo." Parvati said. "We just say it? There is no potion involved or anything?"

"Yeah, sounds easy enough." Hermione said. "At the same time shall we?"

"Yeah." Parvati grabbed Hermione’s hand and pointed her wand at Isis a bit fearfully. "Resilio Abhorreo!" They said at the same time.

At first nothing happened. Then Isis seemed to glow, miraculously she rapidly began getting smaller and smaller. "How small will she get?" Parvati cried as Isis shrunk to below her knees.

Hermione looked a bit pale but her voice didn’t waver. "Resilio!" She cried, and Isis stopped shrinking. She was about six inches tall and looked up at them in shock.

Parvati quickly bent down and scooped her up. She only weighed a few pounds at the most and could fit in the palm of her hand. "Isis, are you okay?" She asked, carefully stroking the tiny horse."

Isis whinnied and looked about her, looking a bit terrified. "It’s the change of balance." Hermione explained. "She is used to things being smaller to her. Now everything is huge. She’ll get used to it in time. But the spell worked perfectly. The only thing is, you have to say Resilio when you want her to stop shrinking."

"What would happen if you didn’t." Parvati asked.

"Then whatever you were shrinking would shrink out of existence." Hermione said grimly. "That’s why this spell isn’t very legal."

"Oh." Parvati said, hugging the miniature Isis tight to her.

"And, if you ever want to reverse the spell, you just say Finite Incantatum like always." Hermione said, picking the book up.

"Okay." Parvati said. It would be nice to ride her at Hogwarts but she hardly thought anyone would keep quiet about a horse running through the halls.

"Oh, and your birthday present." Hermione said.

"What?" Parvati asked, confused.

Hermione picked up the miniature stable and pointed her wand at it. "Grenade' Estelio."

"What did you do?" Parvati wondered.

"I transfigured it all to be real." Hermione replied. Parvati looked a bit closer and saw that she was right. The previously plastic stalls were made of smooth wood and the grassy paddock had real grass and tiny trees in it. The stream was real water and the miniature bales of hay were real also.

"Oh, Hermione!" Parvati said happily. "It’s perfect! Thank you."

"Well, I thought she would need some place to stay and you can’t very well give her normal sized food."

Parvati sat Isis down into the paddock. Isis ran about it and looked much happier than she had since they had shrunk her. "It’s just her size." Parvati said.

"Shall we head back then?" Hermione asked, looking up at the sky. "You said it was a long walk back."

"Oh, it is." Parvati said. "I should have thought to bring another horse. We could have brought Snow White."

"The fairy tale character?" Hermione asked looking a bit puzzled.

"Oh, no, it’s Padma’s horse." Parvati said. "We had better get back because it will be dark soon. Summer is almost over now."

"I know." Hermione said. "I had a pretty good vacation but I am happy to be going back to school. There is so much to learn this year, with O.W.L.’s and all. Plus we get to begin Medicinal Magic."

"I know." Parvati said. "I will be happy to see everyone again." She left Isis in the stable and put it in her satchel. They started walking out of the woods and Parvati saw the sun beginning to set.

"I wanted to ask you something." Parvati said.

"Yes?"

"Have you ever read, or heard anywhere about someone outgrowing their wand?"

Hermione wrinkled her forehead. "Hmm. I think there was mention of it in my book on wand making. Viktor gave that to me for Christmas and it’s a fascinating read. Anyhow, there was a section about how if one gains power or radically changes or something of that stature, they may outgrow their wand. Why?"

"Because, I was at Ollivander’s and-" Parvati started but she was cut off by a sudden pain in her head. She sank to her knees and clutched her forehead. Behind her eyelids, she saw the vision again and it was clearer than ever.

"Parvati! Parvati! Are you okay?" She heard a voice calling through the fog. "Parvati!"

The vision finally receded and she opened her eyes. She saw that she was lying on the ground, her bag a few feet away from her and Hermione kneeling anxiously beside her. "I’m fine." She managed to croak out.

"What in the bloody hell happened?" Hermione demanded. Parvati could see that she was very upset.

"It was one of my visions." Parvati said with a sigh. She ignored the dizziness and stood up. Her head hurt and she guessed that was from falling down. "We have to go." She said, and was surprised at how calm she sounded and felt.

"What do you mean? Your vision? And where do we have to go?" Hermione asked shakily.

"To Ginny’s house." Parvati replied. "We have to warn them, they are all in danger."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. "What are the Weasleys in danger from?"

"You Know Who’s minions. The Death Eaters and Dementors." Parvati replied, trying to recall everything she had seen in her vision.

"What?" Hermione looked mad. "Are you trying to play a trick or something because this really isn’t funny!"

"No!" Parvati said vehemently. "I am dead serious. I am not joking. Trust me Hermione!"

"The Dementors aren’t even on his side." Hermione said, looking at her suspiciously. "They are keeping his minions in Azkaban."

"No they aren’t!" Parvati said desperately. "They have turned right back to his side. How else do you explain that one here on my birthday?"

"I thought your mum said it was here because it was after an escaped prisoner."

"No! I am not lying about this! I would not joke about something so serious. You have to believe me." Parvati said pleadingly. "Please, they will kill them."

Hermione finally seemed to believe her. "How long do we have?"

"Just a few minutes I think." Parvati replied. "I’ve been seeing it for a month but I have never had a vision when I wasn’t sleeping and it was strong. I think it must be soon."

"Harry and Ron are there." Hermione breathed. "We have to get there."

"We’ll never make it back to the house in time!" Parvati said hopelessly. "It’s at least an hour walk."

Hermione looked about them and pulled out her wand. "You’re sure about this Parvati? Because I am going to do a spell that isn’t at all legal, but if it’s an emergency it’s okay."

Parvati nodded and watched as Hermione pointed her wand out in front of them and muttered several incantations under her breath. She jumped in surprise as a door materialized in front of them. "What’s that to?" Parvati asked.

"To the Burrow." Hermione replied. "It will take us right in one of their doors."

"Okay." Parvati said nervously.

Hermione anxiously opened the door and they saw swirling darkness inside. "Are you sure this will take us to their house?" Parvati asked dubiously.

"I’m positive." Hermione replied. She took Parvati’s hand and they stepped in the door.

Everything was suddenly whirling and spinning around them and Parvati felt a thickness in the air overcoming them. It felt like she was going to suffocate and then, the spinning stopped and they were standing in a messy bedroom facing two stunned looking boys.

"Oh, hi Fred, George." Hermione said.

"Erm, Would you mind telling us what you’re doing in our bedroom, Hermione?" One of them asked questioningly.

"Oh, that." Hermione said, looking a bit embarrassed. "You are in danger. Your house is going to be attacked by death eaters and Dementors."

Fred and George stared at them for a minute and then burst out laughing. "Good one Hermione."

"I’m not joking!" Hermione said. "I am dead serious."

Fred and George continued laughing and Hermione sighed. With a tsk-tsk, she pulled Parvati past them and out of Fred and George’s room.

Parvati followed her up another set of stairs and Hermione knocked on an attic door. "Ron!" Hermione called out. "Harry! Are you in there?"

The door swung open and Ron, looking a bit disheveled stared out at them in bewilderment. "What are you doing here."

"That’s not the important matter." Hermione said bossily. "You are all in danger. You need to call the ministry right away, your house is going to be under attack."

"What are you going on about?" Harry asked, appearing in the doorway too.

"I am not going on about anything!" Hermione snapped. "I can see that I am going to have to go directly to your mother or Ginny."

She spun around and ran down the stairs, Parvati at her heels. They went down another set of stairs and came out into a cozy little kitchen. Parvati saw Ginny sitting at a table doing homework and a plump, red haired woman cooking at the stove.

"Hermione!" Ginny said, looking up. "Parvati, what are you doing here?"

"We had to warn you." Hermione said. "Your house is going to be under attack shortly. By You-Know-Who’s people. They’re after Harry, no doubt. But, you must call the ministry for assistance right away."

"Hermione, dear," Mrs. Weasley said kindly. "Are you sure you feel okay? Perhaps you and your friend here should sit down and I could make you some tea."

"No!" Hermione insisted. "Mrs. Weasley, you know me very well, right?"

"Why, yes. You’re like a second daughter to me." She said fondly.

"And, have you ever known me to lie about anything?"

"Well, no."

"So please, don’t think it this time." Hermione begged. "You have to call the ministry or we will all be in danger."

Mrs. Weasley looked torn but then turned to the fireplace and threw in some floo powder. She held quite a long conversation with a ministry official before breaking the connection. She turned back to them.

"They are sending several Aurors over." She told them. "If it will make you feel better. Now, why don’t I make you that cup of tea?"

"But, we should be getting back." Parvati said.

"Oh, nonsense." Mrs. Weasley said. "Why don’t you call home, both of you and you can stay here until this whole thing is figured out."

Parvati reluctantly agreed and told her sister where she was. There was no need to contact Hermione’s mother as she still thought she was at Parvati’s. Mrs. Weasley fussed about, getting tea and cookies.

Ginny, Parvati, and Hermione were sitting at the table eating cookies and sipping cinnamon tea when the Aurors arrived. They stationed themselves around the house in hiding places.

The rest of the family came down to the kitchen, having heard the racket. Harry and Ron still looked doubtful about the whole thing and Fred and George couldn’t get over the fact that it was a joke. Parvati was introduced to Ginny’s other brothers Percy, Charlie, and Bill and her father Mr. Weasley.

Eventually, everyone settled down in the living room to await whatever would happen. Parvati knew everyone was very doubtful but she knew in her heart that her vision was true. She mentally counted everyone in the room. Nine Weasleys and Harry was ten, she and Hermione made up twelve.

As it got later, everyone started to fidget. Finally, Mr. Weasley got up to dismiss the Aurors and Hermione refused to meet anyone’s eyes. Parvati felt terrible, how could she have been wrong?

Then it happened. When he was halfway across the room, the doors all swung open with a gust of cold air and Parvati heard the windows shattering. Glass was flying through the air and she heard screams. It was just like in her vision, except she was there too. It didn’t seem as if the Aurors were going to do any good. Parvati felt a sharp blow on her forehead and she fell to the floor. She didn’t even realize that she had been standing. She looked around through cloudy eyes. She was lying on the red carpet. But then she saw that the rest of the carpet wasn’t red. She was lying in blood, was her last coherent thought.

***************************************************

Parvati could hear misty voices floating around her. There were hushed whispers and people talking. She didn’t know where she was; all she could remember was going to warn the Weasleys and the house being attacked. She hoped everyone was okay.

She wanted to open her eyes but they felt so very heavy. Things were slowly coming into focus and so were the pangs in her body. She felt as if she had fallen off a broomstick from fifty feet or more.

Finally she opened her eyes and saw a hazy world. There were concerned faces looming over her. "I think she’s waking up." She heard a familiar voice say. It was her mother.

"Mummy?" She whispered.

"Yes, darling. Mummy is here."

And there was her mother’s familiar face, the dark eyes wet with emotion. Parvati felt very young as her mother bent down and kissed both her cheeks.

Then, her mother disappeared. Parvati wanted her to come back but she could barely speak. Her throat felt dry and parched. A kind face was now in front of her but it was not one she knew. "Hello, Parvati. I am Dr. Marquette. Do you think you can sit up?"

Parvati nodded absently. Why was she with a doctor? The mediwitch helped her sit up and Parvati felt her muscles groan in objection. She was sitting on a stretcher and she saw the yellow robed mediteam around the living room. She was still in the Weasleys’ living room and there were several stretchers about the room. Her mother pulled her tight in hug and Parvati’s ribs ached. Padma was there too looking anxiously at her.

"How do you feel darling?" Her mother asked, tucking a strand of Parvati’s hair behind her ear.

"Like I fell off a broom." Parvati said, smiling weakly. "Is everyone else okay?"

"Everyone’s alive, thanks to you." A voice said. Parvati looked to her left and saw Hermione standing next to her. She had a few gashes on her face and arms but she looked okay and was smiling.

"What happened?" Parvati whispered. "I remember the windows breaking and the doors opening. Then something hit me…"

"You were right. A group of Death Eaters and Dementors showed up. The windows shattered and cut everyone up and they started in on spells. Everyone was trying to fight them off and the Aurors came in and helped. There was stuff flying all over the room and the chandelier fell from the ceiling and busted on your head. There was blood everywhere and we were so worried." Hermione said, squeezing her hand. "Finally there were stunning spells all around and those of us who were conscious, not many mind, did binding spells on the ones we caught."

"Who did you catch?" Parvati asked.

"The Dementors all vanished, unfortunately." Hermione said looking unhappy. "But we did manage to catch three Death Eaters before they could apparate. Malcolm Lestrange, Jonah Avery, and Peter Pettigrew. But then Peter Pettigrew changed into his animagus form so he got away."

"So you have two of them?"

"Yes, but now that the Aurors have seen Peter Pettigrew, they can acquit Sirius Black."

"Why would you want them to acquit him?"

"Oh." Hermione said, putting her hand to her mouth. "I’ll have to explain it to you sometime.

"Parvati, dear, are you ready to go home?" Her mother asked, stepping forward. "Dr. Marquette says you can go."

"Um, yes." Parvati said. "I guess I’ll see you when term starts Hermione."

"Okay." Hermione said reluctantly. "But I want the full story on what happened today when I see you."

"Okay." Parvati promised wearily.

Her mother and Padma helped her to stand up and to the fireplace. Traveling by floo was terrible on her already sore body but she didn’t complain. She went straight to her room when she got home and carefully changed into her nightgown.

She lay down in bed and started to close her eyes when she remembered with a horrible jolt that she had left Isis in the woods. She closed her eyes and tried to replay what had happened in her head. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was lying on the ground, her bag about ten feet away.

Parvati moaned and got up. She couldn’t leave Isis out in the woods all night, being so tiny. She put on a pair of shorts under her nightgown and tiptoed down the hallway. She went upstairs and knocked on Padma’s door.

There was no answer, so Parvati opened it and walked in. She gaped at the sight before her. Apparently, Padma had decided to have a late night snog session. Padma and Terry jerked apart when they heard Parvati enter.

"Parvati." Padma said, looking flustered. "What are you doing here?"

"What’s he doing here?" Parvati asked pointedly.

"Oh, um, I was just telling him about what happened." Padma said. "At the Weasleys’ you know."

"It looked like it." Parvati said dryly. "Anyway, I wanted to know if I could ride Snow White."

"Tonight?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because, I forgot my bag out in the woods and I need it."

"Why can’t you just get it tomorrow?" Padma asked, standing up and trying to straighten her own nightgown.

"Because I need it now!"

"Why don’t you ride Isis then?"

"Because, Isis is in the woods."

Padma looked at her oddly and sighed. "Fine. But I’m going with you."

"No." Parvati insisted. She couldn’t have Padma find out about Isis being shrunk.

"Yes. If you’re going I’m going. You aren’t even fit to be riding tonight. You just had a terrible accident and could have a concussion. All you need is to go out into the woods and pass out again."

"I don’t pass out." Parvati said. "I was knocked out."

"You’ve passed out, been unconscious, if you like, three times this summer." Padma pointed out. "First with the mirror, then on your birthday, and now today. Come on, I’ll get Snow White ready."

Parvati resignedly followed Padma out of the house and to the pastures. Terry was still with them.

"Shouldn’t you be leaving?" Parvati asked rudely.

Terry gave her a withering look and tossed his dark hair back. "I am going with you. You two shouldn’t be alone in the woods at night."

Padma beamed and Parvati thought she might gag. Padma came over to them, leading Snow White and one of their father’s thoroughbreds. Padma leapt right on Snow White and Parvati tried to get on but her sore body protested. Terry sighed and lifted her on, much to her chagrin.

He then donned the handsome brown thoroughbred and they were off. Every bump and move made Parvati’s bones ache but she clenched her teeth and didn’t complain. They quickly reached the woods and Parvati dropped down from behind Padma.

"Where’s Isis at?" Padma asked in puzzlement, looking around the woods.

"She must have went home." Parvati lied. She quickly bent down and picked up her bag. "But I have my bag now. We can go."

Terry was off his horse and he whispered something in Padma’s ear. "Erm, Parvati, you ride Snow White on back. Terry and I are going to ride for awhile longer."

"Yeah." Parvati rolled her eyes and with the help of a tree stump got on Snow White’s back. They galloped out of the woods, Parvati ignoring the pangs in her body. Snow White was a nice horse to ride too but she wasn’t the same as Isis.

When they reached the pasture, Parvati dropped to her knees and pulled the miniature stable out of her bag. To her relief, Isis looked fine, if not a bit rattled. Parvati talked to her crooningly and watched as the tiny horse curled up and went to sleep.

Parvati put the stable back in her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She limped back to the house, feeling if a thousand white hot needles had been poked into her.

She had never been so happy to go to bed and she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. There were no dreams.

Parvati woke up feeling much better than she had the night before. She had a lot to do, with packing up for Hogwarts and getting all of her last minute homework done. Tomorrow was September 1, the beginning of term and they would have to be up early to get to the train station on time. They lived near Belfast in Ireland and it was quite a ways from London where they had to catch the Hogwarts Express.

She got dressed and went downstairs to eat breakfast. Padma was there; looking a bit tired and Parvati wondered how long she had stayed out. "Where is Mummy?" Parvati asked, sitting down.

"She had to run off." Padma replied, rolling her eyes. "She keeps having these emergencies. Do you know what it’s all about?"

Parvati shook her head and reached for a slice of cinnamon toast. "Will she be back soon?"

"She said to get everything packed and she would be back in the evening for us to floo to Blaise’s house."

They occasionally flooed to their cousin’s house the night before term because Blaise lived right near London and it was much easier than traveling by broom across the country. Parvati was glad it wouldn’t be a long trip this year.

Parvati and Padma silently finished eating and then left to pack. Parvati pulled her huge green trunk out of her closet. She blew the dust off it that had formed over the summer. She always hated packing and unpacking for school because it was like moving everything you owned to a different location and living there, then having to bring it all back later.

She piled most of her clothes inside, followed by her school books and other supplies. Lastly, she put Isis’s stable in but stuck Isis gently in her pockets. Ebony was resting lazily on top of the bookshelf and Parvati quickly grabbed her before she could protest. Ravens were such grouchy animals, everytime Parvati had to put her in the cage for school, Ebony would fly to the highest place she could and refuse to come down for ages.

The bird squawked angrily and opened her golden eyes. Parvati was used to her though and quickly locked the cage. Ebony beat her wings against the cage and made a terrible racket. "You’ll never get any of your letters delivered this year." She promised.

"Oh, Ebony, I had to put you in your cage." Parvati said. "You know that. Don’t hold a grudge."

Ebony turned her beak up and refused to look at her. It was just as well. Parvati glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost noon. She and Padma had slept in.

Parvati shut her trunk and set Ebony’s cage on top. She turned the light out in her room and went upstairs to Padma’s room.

"Padma." She called. "Can I come in?"

"Go ahead." Parvati opened the door and walked in. Padma was apparently packing. There were clothes strewn about the room and there were books in her trunk.

"Aren’t you done yet?"

"No." Padma replied mournfully. "I can only fit so much in my trunk and I bought all these new robes and clothes. I can’t decide what to take."

Parvati sighed. "I have extra room in mine if you want to put anything in there."

Padma gave her a brilliant smile. "Oh, thank you Parvati. I’ll just put a few things in there if you don’t mind."

Padma and Parvati obviously had different ideas about what a few meant. Nevertheless, they were ready to go that evening, Parvati’s trunk half full of Padma’s stuff and Padma carrying an extra tote. Padma’s raven Sable was in her cage complaining loudly to Ebony.

Their mother showed up then and cooed lovingly to the ravens. They immediately started singing, sounding beautiful and serene when they saw her. Parvati wasn’t sure why but the ravens loved her mother and she loved them. That was why they were forced to have ravens instead of normal owls.

"Are you girls ready to go?" Lalita asked, turning away from the ravens.

"Yes." They replied in unison.

"Alright, we’re going early so it will give you time to visit with your cousins." She said, leading them to the fireplace. Her mother didn’t get along the best with the Zabinis as they were on her father’s side of the family. Her mother seemed to detest the Irish, but she hadn’t minded that her husband was Irish.

Parvati stepped into the fire again and the familiar spinning caused her aches and pains to come back full force. Sucking in her breath, Parvati waited for the spinning and twists to stop.

She finally came out in her Aunt’s front room. Parvati straightened up and waited for Padma to come after her. Her mother showed up then and they went into the kitchen to greet their family.

Their Aunt Gwen swooped Parvati and Padma up in a hug. She was their father’s only sister and they saw her quite a bit. "Oh, you two are getting so big!" She said cheerily. Her voice got a bit cool. "Hello Lalita."

"Hello."

"Why don’t you girls run along and find Blaise and Edward." Gwen said. "I know they’ve been eager to see you."

Parvati snorted but followed Padma up the stairs to Blaise’s room. Blaise had an ugly room decorated in peach. Peach was normally a pretty color, but everything in the room from the carpet to the closet to the lamps was peach. It was very revolting looking.

"Oh, hello." Blaise said. She was sitting in a peach chair reading a book.

"Hello." They replied.

"I guess we’re spending the night with you." Padma said, looking around the room. She smiled at Blaise. "I love what you’ve done with the place." To most people it would look as if Padma were being sincere and sweet but Parvati knew her well enough to see the curl of her lips and the slight flare of her nostrils and could see that she was being crude.

Blaise smiled and stood up. "Thank you. I do so love peach."

‘Obviously,’ Parvati thought.

Blaise tossed her vibrant red hair and walked over to her closet. She pulled out a peach robe with a Gladrags tag on it. "What do you think of my new robe?"

She proceeded to try it on and model it. Blaise was pretty, with wispy strawberry-blond hair and light freckles over her tan face and arms, but peach was not a good color for her. It clashed with her hair and skin tones.

"Oh, it looks great." Padma replied, with her fake smile again. "I am going to be so jealous, you’re going to have to do a repelling charm to keep the guys away from you."

Blaise blushed. "Oh, well, thank you. You’re very pretty too, you just need to wear the right colors and do your makeup a little different and guys would like you."

Padma’s lip was curling more and more. "Yes, well, I so need to borrow some fashion tips from you."

Blaise was completely oblivious to the sarcastic tone in Padma’s voice and she surveyed her carefully. "Well, I could give you a makeover."

"Yeah," Parvati chimed in. "We must be in need of them, considering that book Pansy gave me for my birthday. What was it called? Quick Makeovers for ugly witches."

"Poor Pansy is having delusions." Padma said sweetly. "I’ll have to find a bulldog face reducing charm for her. The poor dear."

Blaise turned red, Pansy was her best friend. "Well, Parvati, I don’t believe we’ve said hello to Edward. If you’ll excuse us."

They left the room and Padma sneered. "That stuck up witch! Who does she think she is? Peach does not even look good on her. Volunteering to give me a makeover!" Parvati let Padma ramble until they reached the door to their cousin Edward’s room.

Parvati rapped on the door. "Come on in!" The door called out. Padma stormed in and immediately started complaining to Edward.

He was a year older than them but usually pretty nice and he sat listening as Padma ranted. Parvati smiled and sat down next to Padma on the bed. Edward grimaced when Padma was finished.

"Well, that’s Blaise for you. She thinks she is the most beautiful thing in the world. Don’t worry about it. You’re only here for one night."

"Eugh!" Padma said. "Anyhow, I’ve been rude. How have you been Edward?"

"Fine." He replied. "Trying to avoid Pansy Parkinson, Blaise keeps trying to set us up."

Padma shuddered. "I really don’t much care for her. I suppose she’s good to have as an acquaintance but if I were a guy, I wouldn’t want to date her."

"How about you guys?" Edward asked, shoving his mop of strawberry-blond curls back.

"Fine." Parvati said.

"Okay." Padma responded. "I didn’t get to see you on my birthday. Sorry I couldn’t invite you but I didn’t want you and Terry to get into a fight."

"Really, Padma, he isn’t good for you to date." Edward said, frowning. "He knows I don’t like him and I’m sure he told you not to invite me."

Padma’s cheeks flushed with anger, she couldn’t stand for anyone to talk bad about Terry. Parvati quickly changed the subject. "What are you working on?"

Edward looked down at the parchment he was writing on. "Trying to finish an essay for Ancient Runes. Do either of you take that."

They both shook their heads. "Well, I’d better finish this but I’ll see you guys at dinner." Edward said.

Parvati and Padma left the room and wandered back to Blaise’s bedroom. "Don’t you think she’s still going to be mad?" Parvati asked.

"No, she gets over stuff pretty quick and she probably didn’t understand half of what I was saying." Padma said airily.

Sure enough, Blaise greeted them amicably, although she did seem a bit put out over the comment about Pansy. Parvati spent the next hour finishing the last of her holiday homework while Blaise and Padma talked and showed off their new clothes. Most of Blaise’s were peach, and by the end of the fashion show, Parvati had sworn against the color.

Mercifully, their aunt called them to dinner. Parvati hurriedly left the room, happy to get away from her sister and cousin. She sat down next to her mother in the dining room. Her Uncle Pat was at the head of the table talking in low tones to her aunt.

Dinner was leg of lamb and sprouts. Not very appetizing but she didn’t want to be rude and ate a bit. They went to bed early so they could wake before dawn to fly to the train station.

Parvati camped out in a guestroom with Padma and try as she might she couldn’t sleep. She always hated staying anywhere other than Hogwarts or home and this drafty old mansion was cold and noisy. Ghosts kept drifting in and out of the room, curious as to who was there and giving Parvati a nasty fright.

Sometime around midnight she finally fell asleep only to be woken up a few hours later to leave. They didn’t have to catch the train until eleven but in order to go by broom; they had to leave very early so no muggles would see them.

Padma shook her awake and she groggily changed into a warm sweater and fleece pants. It was always very cold in the early morning, especially when zooming through the air.

Her Uncle wasn’t going so Parvati, Padma, Blaise, and Edward, and their mothers met in the front corridor, dragging trunks and animals. Lalita and Gwen quickly did shrinking spells on the luggage so they could put everything in their pockets but Parvati had to hang Ebony’s cage on her broom. Her mother said there was no way to shrink an animal, and Parvati had to hide a smile at this.

She checked to make sure she had Isis securely in her pocket and finally, they were off, zooming through the dark night. Parvati knew most people enjoyed flying but it simply terrified her and she could never have fun. It was almost an hours flight from her cousins’ house and Parvati was feeling thoroughly unnerved when they landed. The sun had just risen so she thought it must be six or seven.

They stashed their brooms in their pockets after Lalita handily shrunk them. Parvati didn’t see much point of taking her broom to school, she didn’t play quidditch but her mother kept trying to talk her into it. Padma was trying out for the Ravenclaw team but Parvati wasn’t comfortable with flying.

They went into a muggle restaurant for breakfast and Parvati felt strange as everyone else stared at them, especially their owls and ravens which were perfectly well behaved. "Why are they staring at us?" Blaise demanded haughtily.

"They live a weird way." Aunt Gwen answered. "Muggles, so we seem strange to them when we are actually normal."

When they were finished with breakfast, they went straight to King’s Cross Station. Muggle London was completely foreign to them and they didn’t want to get lost. So, Parvati sat swinging her legs in boredom for two hours while the train station slowly began to fill with muggle and normal people taking the ten or eleven o’ clock trains.

Parvati was thoroughly annoyed with the strange looks people were giving her by the time they finally passed through the barrier. Her mother wanted to get back right away so she kissed she and Padma goodbye and left.

Most of the compartments on the train were empty, it being so early. Parvati took a seat near the back and pulled her tiny trunk out of her pocket. "Finite Incantatem!" She said and the trunk popped back to its original size. She put on her school robes and took Isis out of her pocket. She petted her for a few minutes and put her down into the miniature stable, making sure she had food and water.

Parvati shut her trunk lid and sat down. She looked out the window and saw that people were beginning to arrive on the platform. She saw Neville talking to his fussy grandmother and a couple of Hufflepuffs she didn’t really know. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was ten forty. Pretty soon, the train would be leaving and they would be at Hogwarts once again.

She was near the back so not many people came in her compartment. She saw Hermione standing on the platform hugging her parents. She lugged everything on the train and disappeared. She saw most of her other classmates arrive, Dean Thomas, Seamus and Lavender, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and the other Weasleys.

Pretty soon she heard the train whistle and start up. She was still alone. Usually, she sat with Lavender but she was off with Seamus no doubt.

They took off and were soaring through the countryside. Parvati got tired of hearing Ebony grumble and put a sleeping charm on her. Not much later, the door to Parvati’s compartment opened and Ginny Weasley walked in lugging a trunk.

"Oh, hi." Ginny said a bit glumly. "Do you mind if I sit with you? The Trinity needed to talk alone."

"Sure." Parvati replied. "The Trinity?"

"Just a threefold of gods." Ginny replied, sitting across from her. "You know, Hermione, Harry, and Ron. It’s nice that they are so close but I hate being left out all of the time."

"They have been through a lot together." Parvati said gently.

"Oh, I know." Ginny said. "But it would annoy you too, even though you and Hermione seem to be as thick as thieves these days."

"She was just helping me with some summer homework." Parvati said quickly.

"Hmm." Ginny said. Then she brightened a bit. "Do you want to play a game of Chess? I just got my own set."

"I don’t have any." Parvati said. Chess just didn’t seem to be her game; she couldn’t figure out what she was doing so she let the chessmen do what they wanted and they seemed to blame her when they lost.

"Well, I have an extra pair." Ginny said beaming. "They used to belong to Percy but he gave them to me since he is much too busy at the ministry to have time for chess."

She pulled a chessboard out of her trunk along with two sets of chessmen. It was really no competition. Ginny won all three games easily; the chessmen were used to Percy and made it clear from the beginning that they didn’t think Parvati was worthy of playing with them.

It passed the time though and they were in the middle of their fourth game when the door opened again and Hermione came in, flanked by Ron and Harry. Ginny didn’t look too happy to see them. "Checkmate." She said poutily, thus ending the game.

"Oh, Parvati, there you are." Hermione said. "I’ve been up and down the train looking for you."

"We walked right in on Seamus and Lavender snogging, and then she didn’t know where you were either." Ron put in.

"Oh." Parvati said. "Why were you looking for me?"

"You promised me a full explanation." Hermione reminded her. "You kept my best friends from possibly being killed and I’m a bit interested in how."

"Oh that." Parvati said nervously. "Well, perhaps I should wait until we are alone."

She immediately regretted it as Ginny got a hurt expression on her face. "Well bugger that." Ron said. "I want to know too. Come on Parvati, you can tell us, we’ve been in the same house for five years. You can trust us."

"Well, maybe we should just go." Ginny said stiffly. "It’s her and Hermione’s business."

"No, Ginny, I didn’t mean it like that." Parvati said. "You can stay. It’s just, you may not want to hear it."

"We can stand whatever you have to tell us." Hermione said, sitting next to her. "We’ll still be your friends."

"Well," Parvati said a bit meanly. "You weren’t very interested in being my friend before. You didn’t come and tell me about what happened to you guys at the end of last year or the year before and so forth."

Hermione looked embarrassed. "Oh, well, we just thought you were close to Lavender and Dean and Seamus. We didn’t want to intrude."

"You thought I was a dolt." Parvati said flatly.

"Well, no offense but you did seem like it." Harry said awkwardly. "Whenever we did talk to you, you were always giggling and talking about divination."

"I know." Parvati said tiredly. "That is what most people think."

"Well, if you aren’t then why do you act that way?" Ginny asked curiously.

"It’s easier than the truth." Parvati replied. "I don’t want to stand out. Bad things end up happening to you guys because people know that your are very smart or very brave or something important. If I don’t do anything important no one will pay me any mind and I can keep secrets hidden."

"What secrets?" Hermione asked, looking intrigued. "What happened the other night?"

"I am a prophet." Parvati said. "When I was born, my parents knew because I had the birthmark." She pulled up her sleeve and there on her shoulder was a tiny eye. It had intricate detail and looked as if it could see. "I have visions often. It’s always something bad. That’s how I knew that dementor was going to kiss the wizard on my birthday and that your house was going to be under attack. I usually don’t know when something is going to happen because I have the visions in my dreams. But it seems like it has gotten stronger because the other day I had a waking vision and Hermione made the door to get to your house. My parents try to get me to use my inner eye more. They think it’s a gift but it isn’t. It’s a curse. But it seems that the closer people get to me the more I can foresee about them and if I see something it is always bad. That’s why I can’t let people get close to me. You don’t understand how dangerous it is."

"You should tell Dumbledore." Harry said finally. "He would be able to help you."

"No!" Parvati insisted. "You all have to promise never to tell anyone! Certain people," she lowered her voice. "Certain people wouldn’t mind seeing me bumped off. My mother told me I need to keep it quiet especially with what happened the other day. I screwed up You Know Who’s plans and he won’t be too pleased. Luckily none of the Death Eaters or Dementors could figure out that I warned you."

"But Dumbledore…" Harry said, trailing off.

"I’m trusting you." Parvati said. "Please don’t tell anyone. You have to swear."

"Do you want to take a blood oath?" Ron asked playfully. Hermione shot him a sharp look and he sobered up. "Sorry. I won’t tell anyone, you can trust me."

The others chimed in and Parvati let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, thank you anyhow for warning us." Harry said seriously. "It was very courageous, after all we haven’t been the nicest in the world to you."

Parvati shrugged. "Well, I couldn’t not say anything."

"Why is your owl covered up?" Ginny asked and before Parvati could stop her, she yanked the cover off Ebony’s cage.

Ebony immediately began showing off, singing the school song. Everyone found this to be charming. "Oh, what a sweet raven!" Ginny said. "You’re so lucky, she can talk and everything. I wish my mum would let me have one but she read that they often attack their owners."

"She isn’t sweet." Parvati said quickly. "Don’t trust her for a minute. She tries to lull you into putting your fingers in her cage and she’ll take them right off. Ravens are mean. Mummy insists on them though. And you have to argue with them about everything. Owls are much better."

Ebony looked incensed and shot Harry and Ron’s owls a dirty look. "Oh!" Hermione said looking startled. "Doesn’t she like owls?"

"No." Parvati replied. "She won’t stay in the owlery with them either so I’m stuck with her all the time. She thinks she’s better than them but they won’t ever talk to her, so I think it may be the other way around."

"They’re jealous." Ebony squawked. "They wish they could talk and sing."

"Sure." Parvati said, draping the cover back over her cage.

At that moment, the compartment door opened and Draco Malfoy strode in, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

"Of course." Hermione muttered. "It isn’t a train ride without a visit from them."

"What do you want?" Ron demanded.

"Nothing to do with you Weasley." Malfoy said sneering. "I was just looking for her." He jerked his thumb at Parvati.

"Why?" Parvati demanded.

"Certainly not for my pleasure." He replied dryly. "Your sister asked me to give this to you and though I don’t like you, I did want to do her a favor. She’s up with the prefects. Oh, I guess you weren’t made one. I always knew she was smarter." He tossed a folded up bit of parchment at her and she jammed it in her pocket to read later.

"No, but I notice that you weren’t made a prefect either Malfoy." Parvati replied coldly.

"That’s because I am not a teachers pet like Granger. How else could she be made one being a mudblood and all."

Ron was giving him a murderous look. "You had better shut up while you’re ahead."

"Oh, what are you going to do? Beat me up, you and scarhead?"

"Just leave Malfoy." Parvati snapped. "You gave me this, so you can run up and flirt with Padma some more."

His cheeks colored a bit but he didn’t loose his cool. "She is Terry’s girlfriend, a friend of mine. But she has much more class than you. Now you’ve sunk even lower. Hanging about with the dream team now, are you? That twit Lavender was bad enough but at least she was a bit liked."

"Yeah, well at least she has some friends. Not just goons." Harry said standing up and pulling out his wand. "Now get out of here, you remember what happened at the end of last year don’t you? Would you like some more boils?"

"Come on, let’s leave these duds." Malfoy said, turning around and leaving with Crabbe and Goyle. "See you all at school." He added with a smirk.

"Why were you holding me down?" Ron demanded of Hermione when they had gone.

"Because you didn’t need to get in a fight on your first day." Hermione scolded. "We would already loose house points."

"So, are we friends now?" Parvati asked feeling a bit insecure.

"Sure." Harry said grinning. "I mean, there are some things you can’t do without becoming friends. Such as fighting a troll, and taking a chandelier in the head."

Parvati smiled. "So, what’s say?" Ron asked, having gotten a good sense of humor back. "In Malfoy’s words, do you want to join ‘the dream team’?"

"Okay." Parvati replied. "So, what do we do."

"I don’t know." Ron replied lazily. "Don’t worry though, pretty soon we’ll have to go through some danger and save the wizarding world from You Know Who."

"Or almost get eaten by a snake." Ginny chimed in as they settled down to talk as if they had always been friends.

‘Perhaps,’ Parvati thought. ‘This would be a good year.’

She didn’t know how wrong she was.