Triwizard Revisited

Triwizard Revisited

Harry took a couple of tentative steps forward and then stopped, his nerve failing him again. He felt Ron's hand on his shoulder.

"Go on, Harry," Ron murmured to him in a low voice, "you've got to ask her sooner or later, you know. Best get it over with."

Harry turned and scowled at him.

"It's easy for you to say, now you're all sorted," he snorted. "You weren't so blasé about it a week ago."

Ron grinned widely, like the cat who'd got the cream. After the initial panic in the boys' dormitory when the Yule Ball date had been announced, Ron had remembered very quickly this time that Hermione was, indeed, a girl, and had marched up to her and demanded that she partner him. She for her part scolded him severely for the manner in which he'd asked, accepted without pausing for breath, and left him to puzzle over what all the fuss was about.

Over the following few days, the sinking feeling in Harry's stomach had grown, as he watched all the other Gryffindor boys find partners for the Ball: Seamus was going with Lavender, Dean had asked Padma Patil from Ravenclaw, and even Neville had a partner - breaking with tradition, Ginny had asked him to partner her, rather than the other way round.

That left just Harry without a partner for the Ball, and only one logical person left to ask. He glanced back over at the dark-haired figure in the corner, who was intently reading a Divination textbook, and sighed. Much as he liked Parvati, much as he knew she would be good company at the Ball and could dance to boot, he was not relishing asking her in the slightest. There was too much history, too much stigma attached to the event. In fact, the only person who would have caused him more trepidation to ask was Cho Chang. Fortunately, he knew she already had a partner.

Ron gave him a gentle thump on the shoulder again.

"Go on, Harry, ask her. She's by herself - you won't get a better chance."

Harry took a deep breath, balled his hands and resolutely made his way across the common room towards her. His legs felt strangely leaden, and the journey across the room seemed to last a small eternity. At last he came to a faltering halt in front of her chair. Parvati looked up at him, and he felt the blood rush to his face.

"Hello, Harry," she smiled at him. "Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah, fine," he mumbled in reply, his heart starting to hammer against the inside of his ribcage.

An awkward silence followed, during which Harry shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and Parvati looked up at him inquiringly.

After a while, she said, " Look, why don't you pull up a chair and sit down?" and motioned to a nearby chair.

He grabbed the chair, pulled it across and perched himself on the edge of it, too tense to sit back.

"You obviously have something you want to say, Harry," she said in what he took as a soothing manner, "so why don't you just come out and say it?"

Harry blushed even more furiously. "Oh, yes - right," he stammered. "Um - well - you see, I haven't got a partner for the Yule Ball yet, and - er - I'd heard you hadn't either. So I was wondering if, well, if we could team up..." His voice trailed off.

Parvati raised an eyebrow and regarded him coolly.

"You're asking me to go to the Ball with you?"

"Um, yes..."

"Even after the disgraceful way you treated me last time?"

"Ah..."

Harry's fears of an outright rejection appeared to be realised, so he decided to cut his losses and run.

"I know I didn't behave too well back then, and I'm sorry, but I thought we'd got past that. And if you've got someone else you'd rather go to the Ball with, then that's good."

He made to get up, but Parvati put a restraining hand on his forearm, so he settled back down in the chair.

"As it happens, I haven't," she replied with a sigh.

Her hand was still resting on his arm, and Harry felt strangely warmed by that. Yes, definitely a positive sign, he thought.

"But if I did go with you, then there wouldn't be any of the Beauxbatons boys to rescue the evening for me this time. Hmm..."

Harry's heart sank again. Then he saw hint of a smile playing round the corners of Parvati's mouth and a glint in her eye as she thought. Finally she straightened up, as if she'd decided something.

"You need to understand what women want far better than you do, Harry," she said.

Harry was puzzled: Was that a yes or a no?

"So are you coming to the Ball with me?"

"I will come to the Ball with you, Harry - on condition that you successfully complete three tasks for me."

Harry stared at her in disbelief.

"Three tasks? What sort of tasks?"

"Oh, just tasks to prove that you want to take me to the Ball, rather than just some decoration on your arm. Let's call it an education in the ways of womankind. And a chance to prove yourself."

Harry gulped. He didn't really like the sound of this at all, but if he wanted Parvati to partner him for the Yule Ball, what choice did he have?

"Okay, what do I have to do?"

She smiled at him, a dazzling smile that lit up her face, and ran the hand that was still resting on his forearm down to cover his hand.

"Your first task, Harry dear, is to bring me breakfast in bed tomorrow morning at eight-o'-clock. I'll tell you what the second task is then."

Harry nodded: That sounded easy enough.

Parvati got to her feet and picked up her book. "I'm off to bed now, Harry. See you in the morning."

He watched her go, her long, black hair swaying from side to side as she walked.

Halfway across the common room, she turned and called back to him, "Remember Harry, my room, 8am, and don't be late!"

A buzz of whispers broke out all over the common room, and as she disappeared up the staircase to the girls' dormitories, the problem with what he'd agreed to do hit him...

* * *

"Isn't anything in my life ever simple?" declared Harry to Ron and Hermione later that evening after the common room had started emptying out.

Ron shook his head in a sympathetic manner. "Dunno mate, you just seem to attract complications - seems she's expecting a knight in shining armour or something. Perhaps you should find someone else to ask to the Ball."

"Too late for that," groaned Harry, running a hand through his already dishevelled hair, "I'm sort of committed now."

"I can sort of see why she's doing this, Harry," said Hermione gently. "You don't exactly have an unblemished track record when it comes to girls - you and Cho were on totally different wavelengths, and you did ignore Parvati at the Yule Ball back in the fourth year. I'm not sure I approve of these silly little tasks she's set. But like you said, you've given your word now, so you might as well make the most of it and do the best you can."

"Breakfast in bed sounded so easy when she first said it," said Harry with a sigh, "but how am I supposed to get up that staircase to the girls' dorm without - well, you know what it did when you tried, Ron."

"Yeah, I sure do," said Ron darkly, remembering the humiliation he'd suffered when that siren had sounded and the stairs had melted and slid him back down.

"I wonder if the stairs would recognise me as a boy if I wore my Invisibility Cloak?" Harry mused, thinking hard. "Or Hermione, perhaps you could take the tray up for me?"

"I'm certainly not doing that!" replied Hermione, frowning at him. "That's bending things too far - she wants you to take her breakfast in bed, not me. And I don't think the Invisibility Cloak idea would work either. The stairs would be able to tell from the pressure that someone's there who shouldn't be. And it's not as if you want to publicise the fact that you have that Cloak to the entire school."

"Three tasks - it's just like the Triwizard Tournament all over again," said Ron.

Harry stared at him for a moment.

"Say that again, Ron."

"I said it's just like the Triwizard Tournament all over again," answered Ron, looking puzzled.

"That's it!" exclaimed Harry, his eyes lighting up, "That's exactly what it is! And that's where the solution lies too!"

"What do you mean, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"The first task was dragons last time - how to get past an obstacle to get to what I needed. The staircase is the obstacle this time. Last time I used my broom ... and I can do the same again!"

"Brilliant, Harry!" Ron said enthusiastically. "You can fly up to her window with breakfast, open the window with a nice easy spell and fly right in."

"That could work," said Hermione, rather more reserved about the solution than Ron. "But carrying a tray of food and drink on a broomstick might not be as easy as you think. Perhaps we'd better do a trial run."

Harry fetched his Firebolt from the dormitory and brought it down to the common room. Hermione was busy collecting an assortment of items like vases and empty glasses onto a tray.

"Alright, Harry," she said, "we don't have a lot of space for you to move around in here, but it should be enough to get the general idea. Let's imagine that these objects are the breakfast things and see if you can get them to the other end of the room in one piece."

Harry mounted the Firebolt and took the tray from Hermione. He pushed off and hovered - and one of the glasses toppled off the tray and landed on the carpet. By the time he reached the staircase, very slowly, most of the items on the tray had either fallen over or fallen off.

"Well, that'll never do," said Hermione, shaking her head. "You might get to the dormitory, but I doubt Parvati would have much breakfast left to eat."

"It's really difficult to hold the tray and steer the broom properly," complained Harry. "I wonder if there's a way to stop the things sliding around on the tray as well."

"And that's without having a hand free to open the window too," added Ron.

Hermione furrowed her brow in concentration.

"A combination of a few simple spells and charms might do it," she said finally.

They tried a few different things and settled on a Sticking Spell to fasten the tray to the broom handle and the items onto the tray itself, and a Cushioning Charm to prevent the contents of the plates and glasses from spilling. Hermione made sure Harry knew the counter spells to use once he reached the dormitory.

It was very late when Harry finally went to bed, but at least he felt quietly confident that, as long as the weather wasn't too bad, he could actually do this task.

* * *

At half-past seven the following morning, Harry looked out of the window and was pleased to see that, although it was cold outside, the weather was clear and not at all windy. He wrapped his winter cloak around him, picked up his Firebolt and wand, and made his way down to the Great Hall. He felt very conspicuous loading up a tray with food and pumpkin juice from the table and walking out again. There weren't too many people around at that time, but even so he got quite a few strange looks, particularly from his fellow Gryffindors, who had no doubt overhead Parvati's comment the previous evening. He did consider grabbing a slice of toast for himself, but his stomach churned uncomfortably at the thought - he was now feeling decidedly nervous.

Once out in the Entrance Hall, he found a quiet corner, put down the tray and drew his wand. One Sticking Spell later and the plate, bowl and glass were firmly secured to the tray. Then he went outside, mounted his broom and fastened the tray to the front of the broom with another spell and then Cushioned it.

He checked his watch: it was four minutes to eight. Just about spot on time.

Gingerly he pushed off the ground and hovered. The tray and its contents held firm. Harry sighed with relief. Slowly he rose higher into the air, keeping close to the castle walls. He scaled the side of Gryffindor Tower, located his own dormitory and then circled round the tower until he found the window to the sixth year girls' dormitory on the other side. He peeked in and saw Hermione, already fully dressed, pacing up and down the room. As soon as she saw him, her face broke into a grin, and she hurried away from the window. He steadied the broom and pulled out his wand.

"Alohamora!" he incanted, and the latch to the window instantly unlocked, and the window swung open.

He now realised there might be another problem: the Hogwarts windows weren't particularly large. The only other time he'd done anything like this was rescuing Sirius from the Dementors on Buckbeak, and then Sirius had climbed out onto the Hippogriff's back. Would the broom fit through? He turned the Firebolt round to face the open window and sized it up mentally. The tray was just narrow enough to fit through, but getting him through on the broom too was going to be a tight squeeze.

He edged forward as slowly as he could. The tip of the broom handle went through the window, then the tray, with just a couple of millimetres to spare each side. Harry drew up his legs and lowered his head as much as he could, but it was no good - the top of the window frame was still level with his eyes, and without putting his face right down into Parvati's breakfast, he couldn't get through.

Harry hovered there, the Firebolt partway through the window, for a minute, wondering what to do. And then he had an idea. He backed out slightly and swung his legs forward, clasping the tip of the broomstick between his feet. He put his hands behind him on the broom handle to support himself, as the broom again inched forward into the room. His feet were in, the tray was in, his legs were in... As his waist drew level with the window frame, he lowered himself backwards, so that he was lying along the full length of the broomstick. He could hear the gasps and giggles of the girls inside the room. He had never ridden a broom in this way before, and he was desperately willing it to still do what he wanted.

Slowly, little by little, the broom moved forward. His chest was level with the window frame, then his neck, then his eyes. At last, he knew the broom was completely in. He cautiously pulled himself upright, taking care not to knock the tray, and breathed a sigh of relief. He'd done it.

All the girls clapped and cheered him, as he dismounted and took in his surroundings. He could now say he was one of the few Gryffindor boys - maybe even the first - to see the inside of the girls' dormitory. It was very much like the boys' dormitory: five four-poster beds with the rich, scarlet hangings, but the décor was somehow lighter and airier, with flowers on a stand in the corner, and paintings and ornate mirrors on the whitewashed walls.

"I knew you could do it, Harry!" said Hermione excitedly, almost bouncing on the spot.

Harry looked around the room for Parvati. She was sat up in a bed at the far side of the room, pretty as a picture, her long, dark hair in a plait that hung loosely over the shoulder of her dusky, pink nightdress. And she too was smiling.

He performed the counter spells to remove the tray from the broomstick and carried it over to her.

"Your breakfast, milady," he said, far more confidently than he felt, as he put the tray down on the edge of the bed.

"Thank you, kind sir," she replied, almost formally. But then her coy demeanour slipped, and she added enthusiastically, "That was quite some entrance, Harry - spectacular even! You were amazing!"

Harry felt himself blushing.

"Um, thanks," he said awkwardly. "Look, I'd better go and grab something to eat myself before lessons start. Didn't you say you had another task for me?"

"Oh yes, I did," replied Parvati, suddenly looking more serious again. Lavender and the others giggled. Hermione stood by the door listening intently.

"What I'd like you to do next, Harry, is find out what my three favourite things in the whole world are, and bring my most favourite thing to me. 'Things' could be objects, animals, people or concepts, causes and ideas. You're going to need a bit more time to do this one, I think, so let's give you until Sunday - that's three days. Meet me in the common room downstairs straight after lunch on Sunday to tell me what my three favourite things are and give me the one dearest to me. And, of course, you can't ask me what they are."

Harry wondered where the catch was going to be with this one, but couldn't immediately think of one. At that moment he was just relieved he'd got through that window in one piece.

"Okay, Sunday after lunch, then," he said, heading for the door.

"Wait, Harry!" she called after him.

"What?" he asked, turning back to her. "More conditions?"

"No," she replied. "If you go that way, you'll set off the stairs - you'll have to go back the way you came..."

* * *

Over the next few days, Harry spoke to everyone he could think of who knew Parvati, starting with Hermione and the other girls in that dormitory, for any information about her he could glean from them. He even searched through the archives of The Daily Prophet in the library for any mention of the word 'Patil'. Madam Pince, it turned out, had every copy of the newspaper for the last thirty years, all meticulously catalogued.

The picture he began to build of Parvati was actually quite different to the way he had perceived her up to that point. He had always thought of her as a stereotypical 'girlie' girl: giggly, never serious about anything, more interested in make-up and jewellery than anything else. He also knew she was a pureblood witch and had assumed it meant she had grown up in that closeted way, knowing virtually nothing about the world outside her little corner of the magical community, like so many others at Hogwarts.

He discovered that although she was indeed pureblood, Parvati was far from blinkered in her outlook. Her parents had fled to England from India before she and Padma were born, to escape the wholesale persecution and killing of witches and wizards in their province. Her grandparents and other relatives had not been so fortunate. But even when the Patil family had established themselves in the UK, they had not always found it easy to gain the acceptance of the wizarding community in their new country. Harry found reports in The Daily Prophet from a decade before about Mr Patil being hexed and left unconscious on his doorstep with tendrils sprouting from his face, and slogans of 'Go back where you came from' being daubed on their door in blood. Ministry officials had never managed to track down the culprits. Because of the reticence of their magical neighbours to associate with them, Parvati had mixed with the local Muggle children instead and had even attended the local primary school.

Her friends at Hogwarts all told Harry that she valued loyalty and friendship very highly, and that she was very close to her family. Now that he understood a bit of her background, he could see why. She was not a total extrovert, but certainly wasn't shy and retiring either, and quite outspoken on things she felt strongly about. And although she was nowhere near as academically minded as her sister, she was still an able student, getting reasonable grades in most subjects. He also found out some other things about her that surprised him: she was a passionate Quidditch fan and had supported Puddlemere United ever since her father had first taken her to a match at the age of six; and she was very musical, playing both the piano and the clarinet. Hermione told Harry that Parvati always had her clarinet with her in term-time, and that she would often play to calm herself down if she was feeling upset or stressed. The bangles and rings she wore were not all they seemed either.

"She likes them, sure," said Lavender, when Harry talked to her, "but they're more cultural and sentimental than anything. You know that large sparkly green bangle she always wears?" Harry had to admit he didn't. "Well, it used to be her grandmother's - it's a family heirloom. She hardly ever takes that one off."

The more Harry heard about Parvati Patil, the more he warmed to her. She had depth to her he'd never noticed before, but she was fun to be around too. Not to mention very pretty. He found himself watching her across the common room, as she chatted and joked with friends, or as she thoughtfully sucked on the end of a quill while working. Occasionally she'd notice him watching and catch his eye and smile, and he'd hurriedly look away again.

* * *

By Sunday morning, Harry had spoken to just about everyone who knew Parvati bar one: her sister Padma. It wasn't for lack of trying - after all, who else could categorically tell him what Parvati loved best? But she just hadn't been around, even at meal times. So when Harry glanced across to the Ravenclaw table at breakfast that morning and saw that Padma was there, he knew he had to seize the chance. As soon as she rose to leave, Harry jumped and sprinted across to intercept her near the door.

"Padma!" he called as he approached her. "Hang on! Do you mind if I have a word with you?"

Padma looked him up and down appraisingly, in the way that both the twins did, and then answered, "Sure. Parvati told me you'd probably want to talk to me."

They stepped clear of the doors to the Great Hall, and Harry explained the task Parvati had set him.

"I'm pretty sure that bangle of your grandmother's and her clarinet come into it somewhere," said Harry, "but I'm stuck on what the thing dearest to her is. It's got to be something she has here at Hogwarts, otherwise I wouldn't be able to bring it to her, but I don't know what. Do you know what it is?"

Padma shook her head thoughtfully.

"I think you're definitely on the right track with those first two, Harry - the clarinet and the bangle are both favourite things of hers - but I'm not really sure I can help you with the third. Sorry."

She wasn't going to help. Harry's heart sank.

"Well, if you'd been setting this task, what would the thing you loved best be?" asked Harry in desperation.

"Now that I can answer," replied Padma. "Parvati is dearer to me than anything else in the world."

Harry's eyes widened. Of course!

"Um, Padma," Harry said slowly, "how would you like to see the inside of the Gryffindor common room this afternoon?"

Padma smiled at him.

"Okay," she answered, "it'll be interesting to see how the other half lives."

"If you meet me here straight after lunch, I'll take you up."

Feeling greatly relieved that he'd finally solved the puzzle, Harry made his way to Quidditch practice. Now all he had to do was figure out how to get Padma past the Fat Lady...

* * *

Padma was waiting for him in the Entrance Hall when Harry came out of the Great Hall after lunch. He had purposely made sure he was one of the last out, so that the way back to the common room wouldn't be crowded.

"I've never been into Gryffindor Tower before," said Padma chirpily. "I'm quite looking forward to the experience."

"I'm going to need you to put these on before we go up, I'm afraid," Harry told her, and produced a cloak with the Gryffindor crest and a scarlet and gold Gryffindor scarf from a bag, both of which he'd borrowed from Dean Thomas. "Students from other houses aren't strictly allowed in."

Padma swapped her Ravenclaw scarf for the cloak and scarf offered, and Harry was amazed at how absolutely identical she was to Parvati. He led her up the maze of staircases and corridors until they stood before the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Cauldron Cakes!" said Harry.

The Fat Lady eyed Padma suspiciously.

"I thought I let her in a few minutes ago," she said grumpily.

"Well, perhaps you're mistaken," retorted Harry. "Now come on, let us in."

The painting snorted and swung open, revealing the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, and the two of them clambered through.

Parvati was over the far side of the common room, pacing up and down when they entered. As soon as she saw Padma, she rushed across and flung her arms around her sister. The other students in the room did a double take and gawped at the sight of two Parvatis standing there.

"Oh Harry!" Parvati exclaimed, turning to him, her eyes slightly misty. "You got it spot on - Padma is the person I love most in the whole world. And I get to see so little of her these days too - thank you for bringing her to me."

To his great consternation and embarrassment, she threw her arms round him and hugged him too. He didn't quite know what to do, with so many people looking on, so he sort of patted her awkwardly on the back until she let go.

She stepped back, straightened her robes, grinned at Padma again, and then said to Harry, "You got my favourite thing right. Now what about the other two? What do you think they are?"

"Um, I figured it was probably that green bangle you've got on," he replied pointing to it on her left wrist, "because it was your grandmother's, and also your clarinet."

Parvati nodded and smiled again.

"Right on both counts. You really did do your research well."

Harry felt quite pleased at this compliment from her.

"I'll let you know about the third challenge later," she added. "Right now, my sister and I have some catching up to do."

And with that she turned and steered Padma off to a quiet corner of the common room.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Harry was laying on his bed trying to catch up on some Charms reading, when he heard a slight sound and saw that a note had been pushed under the dormitory door. He picked it up, opened it and read:

Harry,

Meet me in the Room of Requirement at eight-o'-clock this evening for your third and final task. You'll find out what it is when you get there. You won't need to bring anything special with you.

Parvati

xxx

* * *

Harry sped along the seventh floor corridor as fast as he could, checking his watch every now and then as he went. He had been collared by a prefect in the common room, who spent ages complaining to him about his 'reckless action' in bringing Padma there that afternoon and threatened to report him to Professor McGonagall. The bottom line was he was peeved he'd had to change the password to Gryffindor Tower again only two weeks after the last change. Harry had eaten a suitable amount of humble pie to placate him and got away as quickly as he could. The trouble was, now he was late for his appointment with Parvati.

He skidded to a halt in front of the tapestry of Barnabas The Barmy, caught his breath, and then paced up and down three times, thinking hard about Parvati. A door appeared on the wall opposite, and Harry opened it and went inside.

He found himself inside the DA room, laid out just as it had been for the group the previous year. Harry realised Parvati had never seen the room any other way, so that had been what she wanted.

In the centre of the room was a table with a large book open on it, and hovering above it, apparently suspended in midair, was a long, purple quill. When he went across to it, he saw that there was a message on the left-hand page for him.

Dear Harry,

This book and quill is here as my means of communicating with you during this task, as I will not be speaking at all, for reasons you will see soon enough. If you need to ask any questions, then the quill will write out the answers for you.

Parvati.

As he finished reading, the quill came down and began to write something else below the note:

Look behind you!

Harry turned round sharply and saw the Patil twins standing there, both dressed in identical scarlet Quidditch robes. The quill scratched away again, and Harry read:

Your task is to tell us apart. If you can correctly say which is Parvati and which is Padma, then I will go to the Yule Ball with you. We will comply with any reasonable requests you have!

Harry turned back to the twins. Not only were they wearing identical robes, they had made sure everything was identical, down to earrings and the colour of their hair bands. He looked to see if one of them was wearing the green bangle from the second task, but all rings and bangles had been removed.

"Can you turn around, please?" he asked.

The girls slowly turned in unison, while Harry watched intently, trying in vain to spot some difference between them. Harry moved closer to them and walked round them, examining every detail of their faces, hair, hands and clothes. His heart sank: They were totally and utterly identical.

Then he asked them to do a series of actions - walking to the end of the room and back, jumping up and down on the spot, etc. - watching for some telltale sign of difference or distinction between them, but to no avail. He even tried telling them some of Ron's worst wizarding jokes in the hope their laughs would be different, but they merely exchanged glances and smiled sweetly. Every now and then, he thought he sensed more warmth toward him from the twin on the left - something about the eyes maybe - but certainly not enough to base a definitive answer on.

"I really can't tell," he moaned eventually. "Won't you take pity on me or give me a clue?"

The quill twitched and wrote again:

No. 50:50 is pretty good odds really. You could try guessing if all else fails.

Harry sighed heavily. It looked like he was going to stumble at the last hurdle.

"It's not really fair, is it?" he pleaded. "I don't see enough of Padma to notice the differences between you. What you need is some kind of distinguishing mark or something to help the rest of us out."

The twins exchanged meaningful glances, then simultaneously bent down and started hitching the Quidditch robes up their left legs. Harry had to stop his mouth dropping open, as they revealed bare leg almost all the way to the top of their thighs. Then he spotted something.

"So you do have distinguishing marks? Can I have a closer look?"

Yes, and yes

He moved right up to them and examined the tiny marks on their outer thigh, no more than a centimetre long in each case: one twin had a minute tattoo of a flower, and the other had a depiction of a snow-capped mountain. But what did they mean?

"Do they have something to do with your names?" Harry asked, guessing wildly.

Yes, they do

That didn't help Harry much, as he had no idea what the names Parvati or Padma meant. What he needed now was one of those name dictionaries...

Then he remembered what room he was in. He jumped up and went across to the bookshelves across the far side of the room, while the girls looked slightly puzzled. He rummaged through the dusty tomes on the shelves, and sure enough, among them was a leather-bound book entitled Unusual Names and Their Meanings.

Harry seized the book and quickly thumbed through to the letter 'P'. It was Padma's name he found first. The entry read: 'A female name of Indian origin meaning 'lotus flower'.'

Harry's heart leapt. He'd done it! Just to be sure, and also because he was a mite curious, he continued flicking through until he found Parvati's name. The meaning given to her name was 'daughter of the mountain'. That was it for certain then.

He went back to where the two girls were standing watching him with some bemusement.

"Um, d'you mind if I see those tattoos again for a moment?" he asked with a smile.

He made the most of watching them pull the robes back up their legs again and examining the marks again. As he'd suspected the two of them had swapped places while his back had been turned.

Straightening up, he turned to the twin with the flower tattoo.

"You're Padma," he said.

"And you," he said turning to the other, "are Parvati."

The girls smiled at each other and then turned at grinned at Harry.

"You did it!" laughed Parvati. "For a while there, I really didn't think you were going to."

"I wasn't sure I was going to either," replied Harry, a sense of relief sweeping over him. "Those tasks weren't at all easy, Parvati. But, you know, there's a lot more to you than I thought."

"There's a lot more to you than just The Boy Who Lived too," she countered.

"Listen, Sis, I've got to dash," said Padma, pulling her usual Ravenclaw robes over the Quidditch ones. "I've still got an Ancient Runes essay to finish by morning."

"Okay Padma - Thanks for helping me out," replied Parvati. "We need to get back to Gryffindor before nine too, otherwise Lavender will be sending out a search party."

Padma rushed off. Parvati gathered up the robes, the book and the quill and put them into a bag, and the two of them left the Room of Requirement. As soon as they shut the door behind them, the door disappeared.

"Well, Harry," smiled Parvati, slipping her arm through his as they walked along the corridor, "you've got yourself a date for the Yule Ball."

Harry looked down at their linked arms and then across at her pretty, smiling face and replied hopefully, "I might want more than just one date..."

She laughed merrily.

"Three, perhaps?"

* * *

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