Written in the Stars

Chapter Five

Love, Lies, and Quidditch

The stress of the day tumbled down upon Parvati and not for the first time that day, tears rolled down her cheeks. Professor Dumbledore handed her a handkerchief and she took it gratefully.

"Parvati," he said kindly. "I did not mean to be so blunt as to frighten you. However, this is a very grave matter. And we need you to tell us anything you might know, anything at all."

Parvati looked up, she trusted Dumbledore with her life, but he might not believe her. "I donÂ’t think it would sound plausible to you," she said.

Snape got a triumphant look on his face. "I think perhaps, Professor that she is mad. She sits and stares off into space, looking like she is trying to hypnotize someone all the time in class and she had that bizarre article written up about her. Perhaps I should call St. Mungos before all the students in this school are in danger."

"I highly doubt that is necessary Severus," Professor McGonnagall said sharply.

"IÂ’m not crazy!" Parvati burst out. "It is not my fault."

SnapeÂ’s lip curled. "The words of an innocent person, those are."

Professor Dumbledore gave him a look, and he fell silent. "Now, no one is trying to say you are crazy Parvati. We simply need answers, plausible or not. Why were you out of bed?"

"Headmaster, I have some Veritaserum in my cabinet, that is the only real way to be sure she is being truthful."

"That is not necessary. I think Parvati will tell us the truth," Professor Dumbledore said, looking down his long nose at her.

"Fine," Parvati said, in a resigned tone. "IÂ’ll tell you. I went to bed early, putting a dreamless sleep charm on myself, but I couldnÂ’t fall asleep, just as I was starting to I woke up having a strange feeling, I was freezing and there were goosebumps all over me. I knew something wasnÂ’t right. I left the bedroom, and went down the corridors, it was very cold." Parvati wondered if someone had slipped her some Veritaserum, she shouldnÂ’t be telling them all of this. "Then, I was thinking of going back to bed when I heard the screaming. I ran towards it. Then I ran into Professor Snape and he made me come down here."

"Why were you putting a dreamless sleep charm on yourself Parvati?" Dumbledore asked.

"Because," Parvati whispered. "I didnÂ’t want to have the dreams."

"What dreams?"

"The future dreamsÂ…everything bad. And then it will happen. What is there to live for if everything is going to be bad in the future?"

"Headmaster," Professor McGonnagall said in a low tone, but Parvati still heard her. "Miss Patil has always been fond of Sibyl Trelawney, perhaps she is putting these preposterous ideas in her head."

"Quite the contrary," Professor Dumbledore said. "Parvati is a prophet."

Professor McGonnagall and Snape looked shocked. "But Albus, surely you do not believe those silly articles."

"I knew long before those articles were published. You see, she is in the prophecy. And her mother brought it to my attention when she was born that she had the mark of a seer."

"What prophecy?" Snape demanded, looking quite livid.

"You know what prophecy Severus," Dumbledore said, giving him a piercing look.

Snape and Professor McGonnagall went noticeably paler. Parvati didnÂ’t know what they were talking about. She was not in a prophecy. She was a prophet.

"So, you believe me?" Parvati asked in surprise.

"Yes, I do. But what you are doing is dangerous. A person can die if they are not able to dream. And, your dreams are fortunate, you might have known about your classmateÂ’s untimely fate and been able to stop it, but you would not allow yourself to dream so you could not know until it was too late."

Parvati put her head down, she hadnÂ’t thought of that. It was her fault the person had died. "Who-who was it?" she asked softly.

"Lisa Turpin, from Ravenclaw," Professor Dumbledore said, the twinkle out of his eyes. "It was your sister who found her, being smothered by a Lethifold."

"A Lethifold?"

"ItÂ’s a dangerous creature that looks much like a cloak; they sneak to peopleÂ’s beds in the night and smother them to death, then eating them," Professor Dumbledore replied. "They are mercifully very rare but somehow, one is on Hogwarts grounds. They havenÂ’t been spotted since the fall ofÂ…"

He trailed off but they all knew what he was talking about. "Did it-did it-eat Lisa?" Parvati asked hesitantly, not sure she wanted the answer.

"No, your sister startled it, she had read up on them and did the Patronus charm on it, and it scuttled off. Unfortunately she was too late," Professor McGonnagall said, blinking a bit much.

"Oh," Parvati whispered. No one spoke for a few moments and she sat there shivering in her nightgown.

"IÂ’d like you to spend the night in the hospital wing," Professor Dumbledore finally said.

"Why? IÂ’m fine," Parvati insisted. She hated everything about hospitals, including the school hospital.

"Because you have been tampering with dangerous mind control Parvati. No one is supposed to go without dreams. How long have you been doing this spell on yourself, truthfully?"

"Since the end of July," Parvati mumbled.

"Did you not know how dangerous it could be?" Professor McGonnagall asked looking shocked.

"Well, honestly I didnÂ’t care!" Parvati burst out. "Anything was better than knowing people were going to die and being able to do nothing about it!"

"But you did," Professor Dumbledore said. "You warned the Weasleys."

"But no one else, do you know that I knew Cedric was going to die?" Parvati burst out and instantly regretted it. Strange looks spread over her teachersÂ’ faces. Parvati felt hot tears rolling down her cheeks as she stood up. "And that makes me just as bad as the person that killed him. And I still didnÂ’t tell anyone because I was too scared!"

"Parvati," Professor Dumbledore finally said. "Why donÂ’t you go to sleep and get some rest, we can talk about all of this when you are feeling better."

"IÂ’m not going to the hospital wing," Parvati said stubbornly, feeling quite shocked with herself; she had never talked back to a teacher.

"Yes you are," Professor Dumbledore replied firmly and Parvati knew not to argue. "You are feeling very stubborn and disagreeable right now, but we are all here to help you."

He escorted her to the hospital wing himself and told Madam Pomfrey about the dreamless sleep charms. Madam Pomfrey immediately forced Parvati into a bed and drew the curtains shut around her telling her to sleep.

Parvati could hear the nurse and Professor Dumbledore having a whispered conversation behind the curtains. She sighed, how could things have gone wrong so fast? She tried to stay awake, but the events of the night sunk in on her and she allowed herself to fall into that comfortable gray emptiness.

When she awoke, the sun was streaming through the window in the Hospital wing. She sat up, and shielded her eyes. Madam Pomfrey bustled over before she could even move out of the bed. "How are you feeling?" she asked, handing her a steaming mug of something.

"IÂ’m fine," Parvati replied, she really didnÂ’t see what the big deal was. She had been doing the dreamless sleep charm for ages and nothing had happened to her.

"Hmm," Madam Pomfrey said in a tone which indicated she really didnÂ’t think Parvati was fine. "Well, drink that."

"What is it?" Parvati asked suspiciously.

"It will make you feel better. Not dreaming can cause one to hallucinate and have great lack of energy and emotional draining. This is a simple Traeka Potion. It will clear your mind and give you back your energy; not that it was good for you to have another dreamless sleep last night. Now drink."

Parvati gingerly took a sip of the steaming liquid. It tasted like tea with ginger and honey in it. She finished the mug. "Can I go now?"

"All right," Madame Pomfrey said, pursing her lips. "Come to me tonight and get a sleeping potion. You need your rest."

"I do not want to take a sleeping potion," she protested.

"That is too bad, itÂ’s for your own good," Madame Pomfrey replied without missing a beat. "Now, run along to the dormitory and change. ItÂ’s lunchtime now."

"You let me sleep?" Parvati cried, leaping out of the bed. "That means I missed Transfiguration. Professor McGonnagall is going to be furious."

"DonÂ’t worry about it. The headmaster specifically asked me to let you sleep as long as you could."

Parvati took off out of the hospital wing. So much for her goal of perfect grades this year, sheÂ’d already missed a class. She entered the empty Gryffindor Common Room and dashed up to the dorm, lest anyone see her in her nightgown. She hurriedly pulled on new robes and brushed her hair, plaiting it quickly. She snuck up on Ebony who was peacefully sleeping in her cage.

She reached her hands in gingerly, not wanting her to awaken. She shrieked as a sharp beak clamped down on her finger. Parvati told herself not to throttle the bird and instead grabbed her and held her tightly. "That wasnÂ’t funny Ebony," she said through gritted teeth.

She carried the protesting raven downstairs and into the common room. It was empty and she sat down trying to talk some sense into Ebony before Potions class. She didnÂ’t much feel like going to lunch anyhow, she was sure news had spread about her being out of bed the night before and she didnÂ’t feel like dealing with questions.

She thought again of the death of Lisa. She hadnÂ’t really known her well, just heard Padma talk none too nicely about her. She vowed from that moment forth, she would not avoid her visions. It was partially her fault that the girl had died and she knew it was hers for CedricÂ’s death. If only she hadnÂ’t been so afraid and self-absorbedÂ…she couldÂ’ve stopped it from happening. She thought she might cry again but then it seemed she was all cried out.

It was time to go to Potions before she knew it and she trudged down to the dungeons early. There was no one in the classroom thankfully and she slid into her seat still clutching Ebony. The other students filtered in and she could feel eyes burning questioningly and accusingly into her back. News seemed to spread fast. Luckily none of her classmates were rude enough to ask anything.

Of course she hadnÂ’t counted on the Slytherins. Pansy and Blaise walked in talking loudly about how they had heard a student was out of bed just before the murder. Truly, they didnÂ’t even have their facts straight, it wasnÂ’t a murder by a human it was by a creature.

At that moment, Snape came into the room in his usual bad mood. He ordered them to start working on their potion. Everyone had done as he asked and brought their pets to class. Parvati kept a close eye on Ebony while she and Harry started mixing ingredients.

No one talked much, the entire class including Slytherins seemed to be in a somber mood. Of course, no one had ever died at Hogwarts during their time except last year and it wasnÂ’t in the school. The assumed safest place in the world was now rumored to not be so safe. It was bound to be upsetting.

Suddenly, as Parvati was adding fluxweed there was a terrible racket from the table. She spun around and saw Ebony viciously attacking HarryÂ’s owl. Harry reached down to separate them and before Parvati could warn him Ebony had pecked his hand several times bringing the blood. He knocked backwards and their entire cauldron tipped drenching Parvati and him with the half-done potion.

Snape strode over to them, looking furious. He reached down and yanked the fighting birds apart, holding them at arms length. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

Parvati was about to respond when Ebony saw her chance and pecked Professor Snape right on the ear, and refused to let go. He let out a bit of a strangled scream and yanked hard on the raven. Ebony finally let go, taking a bit of his ear with her. He turned to them, his face furious and ear bleeding.

"Detention," he hissed. "Potter and Patil, detention tonight, with me. You are both excused from class."

His low tone was even more dangerous than if he had been screaming. Parvati quickly grabbed her stuff and took Ebony from Snape before he could hurt her. She ran out of the dungeons, not slowing until she was a safe distance from the classroom.

Parvati looked at Ebony in shock. "I thought you were going to behave." The raven closed her eyes lazily. Parvati sighed. Wonderful, now she was in even more trouble. She went up to the Gryffindor common room for the second time that day and sat down. She had Divination later on but there was still an hour left of Potions class.

She went upstairs to the dorm and took care of Isis who seemed to be adjusting to life at school fairly well. Ebony didnÂ’t seem at all sorry for what she had done and went over to her perch, looking quite content as she tore into a rat treat.

Parvati was looking forward to Divination, it was really her only class where the teacher liked her and it was easy. Most of Professor TrelawneyÂ’s tools were so fake she never saw anything real. It was simple to make up bad things happening and also quite fun. Of course, when it was the real thing it wasnÂ’t any fun.

She was sitting back in the common room when she saw the portrait hole swing open. Parvati looked up and saw Lavender fly in in a blur. "Parvati!" she cried landing next to her on the couch. "I canÂ’t believe Ebony bit Snape! It was so funny."

"Why are you out of class?" Parvati asked in surprise.

Lavender shrugged. "I told him I had to go to the bathroom and never came back. I wasnÂ’t going to let my best friend sit up here all alone"

Parvati smiled. She had been wrong to think Lavender liked Seamus better than her. "Thanks," she said.

"So, what do you want to do, we have an hour before divination," Lavender said bouncing up. "I know, letÂ’s do each otherÂ’s hair!"

It wasnÂ’t the most interesting activity in the world, but Parvati agreed, Lavender had been kind enough to leave class and risk SnapeÂ’s fury to spend time with her. So, she sat patiently while Lavender yanked and burned and curled her hair for an hour. She never ended up doing LavenderÂ’s hair.

"Oh drat, we have to go," Lavender said. Then she brightened. "You can do it later."

They gathered their stuff and headed off to Divination. Professor Trelawney was no where to be seen as the students took seats on poufs around tables. Finally she drifted into the room, wearing several gauzy veils over her face.

"Good afternoon," she said in a distant voice. "How are all of you my dears?" Without waiting for an answer she swept into the center of the room. "I was extremely pleased to see that I was able to train one among you to be a true seer."

Parvati turned red as it dawned on her. Professor Trelawney drifted over to her. "Parvati my dears, is a true seer. And it was under my guidance and help that her true powers came out. I only hope that there may be another among us but we are rare."

The rest of class went quite awful. Professor Trelawney gloated for a while about her excellent training of seers and then told them to start doing crystal gazing. She insisted Parvati tell the class what she saw in the crystal which was nothing. Of course Professor Trelawney didnÂ’t believe her and gave her a very disappointing mark.

Parvati was relieved when divination ended. To think, it had been her favorite class. Even worse, she received a detention notice at dinner, to serve with Professor Snape at midnight. Lavender told her she should just skip it, but she didnÂ’t want to end up in more trouble.

After dinner, most of the Gryffindor students headed out to the Quidditch pitch where the team was having try outs for a new keeper and reserve chasers. Parvati took a seat in the stands where she was joined by Hermione, Dean, Ginny, and several other Gryffindors.

"Why arenÂ’t you trying out?" Hermione asked of Dean.

"Too much to do already, being a prefect, and I am more interested in football than Quidditch, playing it that is. But I love to watch it."

"Oh." Hermione turned to Parvati. "Are you okay?" she asked in a low voice.

"Fine," Parvati said, attempting a weak smile. "Why wouldnÂ’t I be?"

"I donÂ’t knowÂ…but you just seem like youÂ’re upset about something." Hermione shrugged. "Maybe itÂ’s just me. But you know, if you ever need to talk, then IÂ’m here."

"Sure," Parvati replied, forcing a cheerful look onto her face. "But IÂ’m really fine." She turned around and looked down the field. The Gryffindor Quidditch team members seemed to be arguing over who didnÂ’t have to be captain.

Finally they seemed to settle it by playing rock, paper, scissors and Fred lost. Therefore, Alicia named him the new captain and he looked quite ticked off about this.

"Alright, everyone," he called out to those trying out. "We need a new keeper and reserve chasers and beaters, since all of us will be gone next year except for Harry. So, weÂ’re going to have a mock game here, us against you." A bit of an evil smile spread over his face.

"Well, it is obvious who is going to win!" Hermione said, looking disapproving.

"La mort viendra à nous tous, amis deviendra des enimies," Parvati muttered under her breath. She looked up then, wondering what it meant.

"I didnÂ’t know you spoke French," Hermione said, giving her a peculiar look.

"I donÂ’t."

"You donÂ’t?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Um, I meanÂ…only a little bit," Parvati quickly covered.

"OhÂ…well you sounded very fluent then."

Parvati didnÂ’t bother answering that, she turned around and stared absentmindedly at the Quidditch practices, but her mind was elsewhere. What did that phrase meanÂ…she had gotten that prickly feeling just before she had said it and it seemed like it hadnÂ’t come from herÂ…it couldÂ’ve been another predictionÂ…

Her thoughts strayed to the sentence as she tried to work it out, but it all seemed so confusing, she didnÂ’t know a word of French. The Quidditch trials were over soon enough and the team went to confer.

Lavender dashed over to Parvati. "Did you see me? Katie actually said I would make a good chaser!"

"Chaser? ThatÂ’s great Lavender." Parvati hadnÂ’t really been watching very closely, she did notice though that Lavender could fly well, not knowing the Quidditch terms was a bit of a problemÂ…but one that could be fixed without much work.

Seamus walked over at that moment, looking a bit down in the mouth. "I donÂ’t think I made it," he said glaring.

"Why not?" Parvati asked.

"You mean you didnÂ’t see?" Dean asked. "You must have really had your head in the clouds Par."

"DonÂ’t call me that," Parvati said irritably, why did people take to calling her such a despised name?

"Sor-ry!" he replied a bit rudely. "Some people are so touchyÂ…anywho, Seamus was trying to be a keeper and every single Quaffle got past him."

Seamus scowled at his best friend and Lavender looked upset. "You mean we wonÂ’t be on the team together?"

"You arenÂ’t going to be on the team now either!" Seamus snapped at Lavender. "If you make it, youÂ’ll only be reserve." He stomped away and sat down on the far end of the stands, glaring at the Gryffindor team.

"HmmÂ…I wonder what his problem is," Lavender mused, then she tossed her blond curls and beamed at everyone. "I am so happy about this, just wait until I tell my Mum and Dad, they will be so happy."

"But Lavender, they donÂ’t know what Quidditch is," Parvati interjected.

"Oh well, they will still be thrilled for me!" Lavender said, grinning. "Oh my god! They are about to tell us!"

She sat down quickly, her cheeks flushed with excitement. "Alright," Fred said. "WeÂ’ve got the team members. Our new keeper is going to be Ron. Then we have for reserve chasers Colin and Lavender and our reserve beaters Natalie and Dennis."

Seamus got up and stormed off the Quidditch field. Everyone watched him go. "WellÂ…we couldnÂ’t really put him on the team," Harry explained apologetically. "He was terrible as a keeper, even a reserve. He shouldÂ’ve tried out for one of the other positions."

"Oh, heÂ’ll be fine," Lavender assured them. "I told you I would make it Parvati!"

Parvati congratulated Lavender as everyone headed up towards the school. They went to the common room and everyone settled down to study or play chess or other games, some just to talk. Parvati sat down with Lavender and Harry to watch the mini chess tournament that was going on. Ron and Dean were the best so far.

Before she knew it, the midnight hour was closing in and Parvati had to go for detention. She dreaded serving it with Snape especially. She reminded herself to really punish Ebony for this.

She and Harry bid everyone goodbye and headed down towards the dungeons not talking. When they got there, an irritable looking Professor Snape was waiting for them, and Parvati noticed that his ear seemed to be missing a tiny chunk. "You are to be cleaning out all the old potions vials," he said curtly pointing to their right.

Parvati turned to look. She held in a sigh as she saw three huge tables full of gunky potions vials, most of which still had hardened ingredients sitting in them. She took out her wand and looked over despairingly.

"No, no Miss Patil, you are not going to be using your wand."

"What?" Parvati asked looking up.

"You are going to clean these the muggle way."

"But that will take hours!"

"You should have thought of that before you misbehaved," Snape said, a smile forming on his face. Parvati wanted to point out that it had been her raven that had done wrong, but she wasnÂ’t going to argue with Snape anymore.

"Give me your wands, Patil, Potter," he ordered, and they handed them over. Then he swept out of the dungeons, promising to be back in a short time. Parvati walked over to the huge piles of vials and looked down at them, wrinkling her nose.

Harry walked over next to her and looked down. "I suppose we had better get started."

"YeahÂ…" she agreed, picking up one and dipping it into the water Snape had so kindly supplied.

They worked steadily for the next hour and a half and Snape still hadnÂ’t returned. The pile on the tables was slowly starting to look smaller. "Why donÂ’t we take a break?" Harry asked. "He probably wonÂ’t be back for awhile."

Parvati agreed with this suggestion and sat down in a chair. Her hands were already sore. "WeÂ’re never going to get done," she said.

Harry nodded grimly. "I think he picked out the worst thing he could think ofÂ…this will have us here all week, not just tonight."

Parvati sighed. "I think I have blisters."

"Let me see." Harry reached over and surprised her by taking her hands and pulling them up to his face looking at them. Parvati blushed and he seemed to realize what he was doing and he blushed dropping her hands. "I think theyÂ’ll be okayÂ…still soft and-" he mumbled breaking off and looking down at his feet.

Parvati was silent as she stared down at the floor herself. That had beenÂ…something completely different for her. She had gotten a butterfly feeling in her stomach, as if it were doing a leap. And that wasnÂ’t normal, she had gone to the yule ball and everything with Harry, never getting a butterfly leap like that. Something wasnÂ’t right there.

She looked up and just at that moment Harry did too and they were looking directly into each otherÂ’s eyes. She opened her mouth to say something and so did he. She laughed and the tension was broken. "Go ahead," Parvati said, not feeling nervous anymore.

"WellÂ…umÂ…" Harry looked at her nervously still. "I just sort of wanted to apologizeÂ…for last year when we went to the Yule Ball. I was not very nice to you. It was just I thought you were sort of a wellÂ…"

"Ditz? Imbecile? Flake? Dolt?" Parvati asked. "YeahÂ…I told you before itÂ’s the opinion I built up myself, so most people do think so."

"WellÂ…why would you want them to think so?"

"BecauseÂ…that way no one ever really second opinions me," she tried to explain. "IÂ’m safe. Look at how much you and Ron and Hermione stand out and look at how much danger you get into. I just want to stay out of the spotlight and danger and all."

"You shouldnÂ’t really do that," Harry said. "I mean, if you hide all of the time, sure you may be safe, but then no one would get to know what a great person you can be."

"You think I can be a great person?" Parvati asked surprised.

"SureÂ…Why not?" he mumbled looking down again.

"Well, your Harry Potter, you always are off fighting evil and such just because you want to help the world, you arenÂ’t ever selfish or anything. And I am always selfish and worried about my own selfÂ…itÂ’s just surprising you would actually think I could be a good person."

He looked up at her. "Of course I think so. And everyone is selfish at times, I even am, donÂ’t fool yourself into thinking I go off and fight all that evil because IÂ’m such a good person, most of it is because I get sucked into it, or forced to fight. I would probably be very selfish and let other people fight the battles if I could."

"I donÂ’t think you would Harry," Parvati said.

"You sound so certainÂ…why do you think so?"

"Because," she said simply. "You are a hero, thatÂ’s what you do, itÂ’s your job for life."

He blushed. "IÂ’m not really a heroÂ…"

"Yes you are."

He stood up. "I guess weÂ’d better get back to work."

"YeahÂ…" She sighed looking around at the hundreds more of beakers and vials. She started to walk towards the table when Harry surprised her by touching her shoulder. She turned around and found herself staring up at him.

"I justÂ…want to tell youÂ…I donÂ’t think you are at all selfish, you saved Ron and I and the WeasleyÂ’s lives and I think if worst came down to worst you would always do the right thing," Harry said, and then to her shock he bent down and clumsily brushed his lips across hers.

Parvati was shell shocked and just stood there for a moment, but then he kissed her again, more gracefully this time and moved in closer to her. Parvati tentatively kissed him back and she felt herself feeling the frogs leaping in her stomach again, and her knees getting weak. ‘This must be what it’s like to get truly kissed’ she thought to herself.

Unfortunately their little romantic interlude was cut short by someone from behind clearing their throat. They quickly leapt apart and Parvati looked that way, her face burning. It was none other than Professor Snape looking quite livid.

"So, doing a lot of work are we?" he said, walking up close to them.

"UmÂ…we were justÂ…" Harry stumbled on the words.

"Oh I could tell what you were doing Potter, and it certainly wasnÂ’t serving your detention."

Parvati wanted to hide her face in her robes but she didnÂ’t dare. "I can see I will have to make you serve your detentions in separate since you obviously canÂ’t keep your hands off one another."

"It was just a kiss!" Harry said, flushing. "No ones hands were anywhere."

"IÂ’m not going to take your word for that Potter. Now you stay here and work on these vials, Miss Patil, you are going to label the ingredients in my store." Parvati didnÂ’t look back at Harry as she followed Professor Snape into his office. He gave her labels and a quill and she got to work.

Several hours later, she finished, and her hands were all cramped up. "You may go now," Snape told her curtly. "And 10 points from Gryffindor for not doing your original assignment correctly.

Rather than argue with the injustice of this, Parvati left quickly. She didn’t see Harry in the potions room and she figured he must have already finished and went back to the dorms. She walked through the corridors feeling light on her feet. She knew she was probably being silly, but this seemed like such a wonderful light feeling, maybe it was love? Then she brought herself back to earth; she didn’t need to make such a big deal out of one kiss. ‘Or two kisses…’ She thought to herself, and a goofy smile spread over her face.

Finally, she had calmed herself down by the time she reached the portrait hole, and her head was no longer up in the clouds. She went into the portrait hole and started to proceed through the common room when she heard voices. She stopped, and peeked around the corner to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting in chairs talking in low tones. She perked her ears up to listen, ignoring the fact that eavesdropping was very rude and wrong.

"I just donÂ’t think itÂ’s possible," Harry was saying.

"Harry, she did know about the threat and allÂ…and rumor is her parents are in you know whoÂ’s inner circle."

"Yes, but she just seems very niceÂ…and too sweet to do something like that."

"But Harry, even Voldemort was nice and sweet as Tom Riddle, thatÂ’s how he gathered so many followers. Now, the prime reason we became friends with her is so we could keep an eye out to see if she knew anything, or if she was going to become a death eater. Also, her family is friends with the Malfoys, Crabbes, Goyles, Parkinsons, and all the other bad ones, I learned that by talking with her and her sister this summer."

"You never did tell us how you managed to get invited over there Hermione," Ron said suspiciously.

"It was just something she needed help withÂ…homework."

"Still you guys, IÂ’m telling you, maybe she really doesnÂ’t have anything to do with this."

"Harry, she was out of bed last night just before that happened to Lisa, and you read the articles."

"Rita Skeeter also writes loads of rubbish, she did about me and you Hermione, you know that."

"Harry, did something happen tonight? You werenÂ’t in such a defensive Parvati mood before."

"No of course not."

"Well it was a prime time for you to get information, what did you guys talk about?"

"Nothing really, she didnÂ’t say anything about her family or anymore visions."

"Alright, you guys, time to move this up, we need to become better friends with her, IÂ’m sure she confides in Lavender much more."

Parvati had heard enough; tears slid down her cheeks. She had actually thought they all liked her. How could she have been so stupid? Of course they just wanted information, and all of that fluttery feelings had been fake too, they didnÂ’t want to be her friends, they wanted information from her. She walked around the corner and into the room.

Three guilty faces looked up. "Um, hi Parvati," Ron said quickly. "How was detention?"

Parvati stared at them for a moment and then ran. "I think she heard usÂ…" she heard Harry say quietly.

She heard them calling after her but she ignored it. She ran straight up to her room and climbed into bed, pulling the curtains shut and the covers over her head. She let the tears flow freely now, and they ran down into her hair and on her pillow.

"Parvati?" a soft voice called out. She didnÂ’t answer. "Parvati are you okay?" It was Lavender. She heard the door open again and Hermione come in, then Hermione and Lavender talk in hushed tones.

Finally, she must have fallen into an exhausted sleep, and it was full of nightmares, luckily none of them being visions.

When she awoke the next morning, sunlight was streaming through the windows. She supposed someone had drawn back the draperies to try to cheer her up, probably Lavender, at least Lavender was truly her friendÂ…unless she was just trying to get information from her too. That wasnÂ’t what hurt the most, Harry had gone so far as to kiss herÂ…and make her feel for him just to try and find out things. And she didnÂ’t even know that much.

She climbed out of bed and saw that the dorm was empty. She was probably late for classes, not that she cared right then. She changed her clothes and braided her hair mechanically. She didnÂ’t know how she would be able to face everyone. It had been bad enough yesterday, but at least then sheÂ’d had all of her friends behind herÂ…now she didnÂ’t know if any of the people she considered her friends truly were.

Parvati went down the stairs into the common room, which was also empty. She started to worry, hoping she hadnÂ’t slept in too late. If she remembered correctly she had Herbology that morning. She grabbed her things and dashed down the corridors only to run directly into someone. She fell backwards with and oomph and her books scattered. A hand reached down and she gratefully took it, standing up.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," she replied quickly, leaning down to pick up her books. "IÂ’m sorry I ran right into you I must not have been looking where I was going, I was just going to be late for class."

"I think youÂ’re probably already late."

"Oh noÂ…what time is it?"

"The first classes of the day started about half an hour ago."

Parvati sighed, straightening up. "No one bothered to even wake me." She looked up at him. "Why arenÂ’t you in class anyway?"

He shrugged. "DidnÂ’t feel like going."

"Oh, where is George?"

He gave her an irritable look. "We do things separately you knowÂ…people seem to think we are one person and itÂ’s not true."

"IÂ’m sorry," she apologized. "It just always seemed like you were always together, I just assumedÂ…"

"You have a twin donÂ’t you?"

"Yes."

"Then you must know how it feels to be half a personÂ…"

"Well Padma and I were never really so close, only when we were little. We are in different houses and suchÂ…but I do know how that can be, people tend to think twins are not two separate people, just one person divided into equal parts."

He stared at her for a moment. "Are you going to go to class?"

Parvati shrugged. "I donÂ’t know. I hate going in late."

"You may as well not go, there is only an hour or so left. Besides, they never make you do much on the first week back."

"I suppose your right, I may as well stop already with trying to get good grades, I will never get so good as Padma anyway."

He waved his hand. "Good grades, who cares about that, it isnÂ’t going to do you any good later in life."

"Well for a job it is quite important."

"Only boring ministry jobs. Aurors donÂ’t need good grades, sure it helps, but itÂ’s not that big of a deal because they know that actions are more important than studying."

"I suppose," Parvati said, looking down at her books.

His face brightened. "Well if you arenÂ’t going to class, would you like to see something neat?"

"Um, sure," Parvati replied. IÂ’d better take my stuff back to the common room though."

"ThatÂ’s okay, IÂ’ll do it." He waved his wand and did a banishing spell. Parvati hoped her books ended up back in her room.

Fred reached out and grabbed her hand, nearly causing her to jump out of her skin, and set off quickly down the hallway, tugging her along behind him. Parvati lost track of where they were, once they passed several unfamiliar statues and portraits. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"YouÂ’ll see."

After a few more minutes he stopped in front of a statue of a Gringotts goblin. It leered at them for a minute but then Fred pulled out his wand and tapped its head. To ParvatiÂ’s surprise it leapt aside and opened up into a passageway. "How did you know about that?" she asked.

He grinned. "Secret, thanks to the help of the Marauders."

"The marauders?"

"IÂ’ll explain it to you some other time, but for now lets go."

She shrugged and followed him down the passageway. After a moment or two it opened up into a beautiful circular room that seemed to be glittering. Parvati stepped back slightly and saw that it was full of crystalline mirrors. She looked at Fred questioningly. "ItÂ’s a room full of mirrorsÂ…"

He pushed gently on her back. "Go in."

She did as she was told and walked into the room, he following. She stared around and saw them reflected in crystal over and over. "ItÂ’s so pretty," she said, reaching out to touch the walls.

"No donÂ’t!" he said quickly, but not quickly enough. ParvatiÂ’s hand brushed the wall and the mirrors suddenly flashed to black and the floor dropped from beneath her. She let out a shriek as she plummeted through darkness.

She landed, on a cold stone floor, and then was knocked forward as Fred landed right behind her. There was light in the room, and she suddenly realized where they were, her face burned in embarrassment.

They were in the potions room, down in the dungeons. It must have been a hidden passage of some sort. Unfortunately not only was Snape giving them a look, the room was full of seventh year Slytherins and Gryffindors.

Fred got to his feet first, and reached down a hand to help Parvati up. She stood, blushing furiously. "Am I late for class?" Fred asked, with a sheepish smile. "Thought I would make a dramatic entrance."

Several of the Gryffindors laughed but stopped when Snape sneered, walking over. "Very amusing Mr. Weasley. And Miss Patil, why arenÂ’t you in class right now?"

"Looks like Weasley and her were having a little side trip if you know what I mean," Marcus Flint put in nastily.

"Wow Flint, in all these years youÂ’ve been repeating, you still havenÂ’t learned to recognize things," Angelina replied.

Parvati shot her cousin a grateful look. "Well Miss Patil, you certainly do get around," Professor Snape said with an evil smirk on his face. "Last night it was Potter, today Weasley."

Parvati wanted something to respond to that, but she was too tongue-tied, Snape was making things out as if she were doing something completely untrue.

"So," Snape continued, looking as if he were enjoying himself. "You two thought class was not as important as running off to do thingsÂ…Â’togetherÂ’?"

"Well, if we were doing such things I doubt we would have fallen into your classroom," Fred said cheerfully.

Parvati couldnÂ’t believe he wasnÂ’t afraid of getting into trouble. "Well Mr. Weasley, I think it was quite unintentional you came here, you donÂ’t seem to care if you pass your classes or not. And as for you Miss Patil, I know you donÂ’t. You two sit out in the hall right now, and I will take you to the headmasters office as soon as I am done teaching my class," Snape replied irritably, having lost his fun in it when they werenÂ’t as bothered as he would have liked.

Parvati didnÂ’t need to be told twice, she hurried out of the potions room, sinking against the wall in the corridor. The door slammed open again and Fred walked out, sitting down next to her.

"I suppose I should have warned you about touching the walls beforehand."

Parvati flushed. "IÂ’m so sorry, now IÂ’ve probably gotten you in trouble."

He shrugged. "No harm done, IÂ’m always in trouble anyway. Besides it was quite funny to see everyoneÂ’s face when we dropped down from the ceiling."

Parvati sighed. "I just got out of detention last night, and now IÂ’m probably going to have another one. IÂ’m really starting my year off great."

"Snape really seems to have it in for youÂ…why is that?"

"I have no ideaÂ…he never liked me before but now it seems like he absolutely hates me."

"DonÂ’t worry about it, Dumbledore knows how he is."

"I hope soÂ…my parents will kill me if they receive a complaint from the schoolÂ…IÂ’m already enough of a disappointment, that would add to things unbelievably."

"ButÂ…isnÂ’t your dadÂ…em, dead?"

Parvati blushed slightly, she got asked that question a lot. "Well yesÂ…but he still lives with us as a ghost."

"Oi, thatÂ’s differentÂ…" He looked down for a moment, looking almost shy, something very uncharacteristic for one of the Weasley twins. "But I doubt you could ever be a disappointment."

Parvati laughed. "You would be surprised."

She fell silent, staring down at her hands. "I canÂ’t believe how much trouble I am in and this is just the beginning of the school yearÂ…"

"Being in trouble isnÂ’t that big of a deal. By the way what happened at your detention last night thoughÂ…Snape said that you were doing something with HarryÂ…"

Parvati flushed, thinking about it. "WellÂ…itÂ’s all a big long story, and a horrible one, you donÂ’t want to hear it."

He shrugged. "Well, weÂ’re stuck out here for the rest of the classes. We may as well talk about something. Besides, it canÂ’t be that bad."

She sighed. "It is that badÂ…but if you really want to knowÂ…"

She opened her mouth to tell him a bit of the preceding events, but it all came pouring out and she was telling him the whole story, from back when she had invited Hermione over in the summer, excluding nothing except for the parts about Isis.

Fred gave her a sympathetic look. "WellÂ…if they did that, it was quite horrible to do. To use someone is rotten. I know how it feelsÂ…"

"You do? How?"

"AngelinaÂ…" he said, looking remorseful.

"Ange didnÂ’t really use you did sheÂ…she liked you and GeorgeÂ…" Parvati said.

"No," he replied glumly. "She went to the Yule Ball and stuff with meÂ…but she really just liked George all that time, I just know it."

"I donÂ’t think she knew who she likedÂ…"

"I donÂ’t knowÂ…maybe your right," he replied, looking a bit down in the mouth still. "Anyway, I think that was a bloody awful thing of them to do, especially Harry. I should have words with him."

"No, donÂ’tÂ…" Parvati said. "I just want to forget all about it." She sincerely doubted she would be able to forget all about it, but she didnÂ’t want Fred to talk to Harry and make things any more awkward than they already were.

"Well I wonÂ’tÂ…but I think heÂ’s a brainless one for not seriously wanting to kiss you, not just for some dumb informative reason."

Parvati blushed; she seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "I donÂ’t know."

He grinned mischievously, looking over at her. "I know I would like to kiss you, too bad Snape interrupted our private moment."

Before Parvati could say anything, he reached over and tugged her over to him, kissing her firmly on the lips. ParvatiÂ’s mind was reeling, from never really having been kissed ever, she had gone to being kissed by two different people within two days, it certainly was making out to be a strange year.

He pulled away and stared at her, still grinning. "Startled you did I?"

"Yes, very much so," she admitted, turning red.

"You donÂ’t seem to realize how cute you are when you blush like thatÂ…" he said, smirking slightly. "YouÂ’d better ease up on that or you might just drive one to do things they canÂ’t controlÂ…"

ParvatiÂ’s eyebrows shot up and she started to scoot away but he reached out and pulled her closer so that she was practically sitting on his lap. "I liked your seat to be right here."

"But the teachers school peopleÂ…" she sputtered nervously.

"DonÂ’t worry about it, IÂ’ll just say you seduced me." He grinned again and pulled her in kissing her again.

Parvati started to resist, but she hadnÂ’t really the energy right thenÂ…and kissing him felt nice, not the complete spark like brief kiss with Harry, but still very niceÂ… At least he wasnÂ’t out to use her.

She entwined her arms around his neck and leaned in closer, kissing him deeply. His lips were soft and sweet and she caught herself up in them, closing her eyes and letting the rest of the world disappear.

"You never do stop do you Miss Patil?" ParvatiÂ’s heart sank as she quickly disentangled herself from Fred and turned around. Sure enough there was Professor Snape, looking at them with a sneer on his face.

Parvati really didnÂ’t think it was fair that he was making her out to be some sort of profligate person, when she had kissed a total of two people in her life, unfortunately he had caught her both times.

She didnÂ’t even bother to say anything in defense, as she was sure of how it looked. "Do you think you might keep your hands off one another for long enough to go to the headmasterÂ’s office?" he asked snidely.

They both stood up quickly. Fred flashed Parvati a calm look and mouthed "DonÂ’t worry."

Easier said than done, her stomach was in knots as they walked along the corridors and finally stopped in front of a stone gargoyle. "Pumpkin Pasties," Snape said briskly and it leapt aside. They entered an empty office then, where there was a large phoenix resting on a perch.

"Sit down and donÂ’t touch anything," Snape ordered. He sat down in one of the chairs and Parvati and Fred followed suit.

After a few awkward moments, Professor Dumbledore walked into the room, looking grave, but not at all surprised to see them. "Hello Severus, Parvati, Mr. Weasley," he said, sitting down across from them.

"Headmaster," Snape said, cutting directly to the chase. "I once again had my class disrupted by Miss Patil, this being the second time in two days. Apparently she and Mr. Weasley were out for a romp and somehow stumbled onto the passage that send them flying directly into my room. And, then I sent them to sit out in the hall and walked out on them osculating."

"Osculating?" Fred said, raising an eyebrow.

Snape gave him an irritable look then turned back to Dumbledore. "I can not have such constant and blatant displays of affection and rudeness. And these two were skipping classes also!"

"Yes, Severus, I will deal with that in a few moments, but there is a more pressing matter at hand right now. Parvati, your mother isÂ…how do I say thisÂ…missing."