For the Battleships Challenge at HPFC forum.
Padma won't say it out loud, but the Carrows taking over Hogwarts became something good in the long run.
It was thanks to them that inter–house relationships got better. There were no Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, or Ravenclaws (sometimes there weren't even Slytherins), only Hogwarts students and teenagers who were pushed into a war they didn't want.
They helped each other in ways no one could have predicted. Well, Harry Potter had tried to tell them what it meant to be constantly in danger, but back in their fifth year no one had really understood.
Now they did, and Padma was glad because it gave life, safety and peace a completely new and understated meaning.
The Carrows taking over Hogwarts also gave her Susan.
The first time they met (actually met and talked to the other beyond social niceties) was when Padma had been tortured by Alecto Carrow. She had been protecting a tiny little Hufflepuff called Miranda Hook.
Padma had been so hurt she had to call the nurse, but Madam Pomfrey was forbidden to tend to her on threat of being fired.
"Don't worry, Madam Pomfrey," Padma said through the lingering pain that echoed in her nerves bones. Her muscles, oddly enough, were almost numb. "Better I suffer a little than you going away when we need you the most."
Susan had been there. Padma remembers the awe in her wide eyes and how her brows furrowed in determination.
"Guide me through the process, Madam Pomfrey. I know I can do it." She said.
"It's unethical, but our only choice, Miss Patil," said the nurse almost pleading with Padma to accept the treatment at the wand of a barely trained girl of her age.
"I could bear the pain," Padma said and was met with two identical looks that proclaimed her insanity. "But I bet Susan will be gentle."
Susan Bones blushed at that, and though Padma didn't mean it like that, she thought about her reddened cheeks and shy smile while Madam Pomfrey sat on her desk and recited the process of looking for nerve damage and other potential problems.
Susan mumbled what Madam Pomfrey said and set to work with a diligence only Hufflepuffs could have. She cast spells to scan, brought potions for Padma to take and spread herbal ointments on Padma's arms, all the while repeating to herself what Madam Pomfrey recited calmly.
Once Susan was done, she smiled at Padma and it was such a melancholic smile that Padma immediately jumped for a hug.
"Thank you," she said and Susan blushed again.
"Thank you for being my test subject," the girl answered with unexpected wit.
Padma laughed for the first time in what felt like an eternity.
Madam Pomfrey looked over and said she should spend the night. Padma nodded and looked at Susan.
"Are you staying tonight?"
Susan shook her head. "I'll be here tomorrow."
It sounded like a promise.