Parvati was up to something, Padma knew that much. You didn't grow up sharing a bedroom and a face with someone and not learn to tell when they were up to something. The problem was, she couldn't figure out what exactly it was that Parvati and Lavender were up to.
Yes, Padma could tell, Lavender was in on this… plot too, or whatever it was. The two of them were giggling their way through dinner - nothing new there. The problem was that they kept glancing over to the Ravenclaw table, at her. It had been pointed out to her by Luna Lovegood, of all people! The girl was clever, she'd give her that, but she'd never been touted as one of Ravenclaw's proudest students. Apparently, however, she was observant in her own way:
"Are your sister and Lavender aiding in the plot against the Ministry? If so, are you involved?" Padma had nearly fallen out of her seat in her hurry to shush the girl next to her, panicked and realizing that these were not words she wanted Professor Umbridge associating with her or her sister.
"Luna," she'd hissed, "what on earth are you talking about?"
"The Rotfang Conspiracy, of course," Luna had continued at a normal volume, batting her big blue eyes quite innocently. Padma felt rather stupid, then. Surely even Umbridge couldn't twist Luna's silly conspiracies into a serious accusation, right?
She glanced up at the High Table, where the very woman was sniffing disapprovingly across her lamb at Professor Sprout. On second that, she had better find a way to shut Luna up.
Padma gripped the pretty blonde by the shoulder of her robes and jerked her in close, hissing into her shoulder. "Listen, Luna, you can't just say things like that - I know you're clever, I know you understand. I cannot let something bad happen to my sister, or to Lavender, just because Professor Umbridge might misconstrue what you're saying."
Luna spoke again, in a mercifully soft, quiet voice, her breath distressingly hot in Padma's ear: "I was only hoping that if the High Inquisitor focuses on a dental theory, she might be distracted from Harry Potter's resistance group." Padma's eyes widened, and she grasped Luna's shoulder tighter, silently urging the girl to continue. She prayed that this only looked to Umbridge like schoolgirl gossip. "I heard from Ginny Weasley, who heard from Hermione Granger. I would ask your sister, if you want to know more."
With that, Luna placed a gentle hand over Padma's and wrung herself free of the older girl's grip. She gave a small, dreamy smile and nodded towards the Gryffindor table. Padma glanced over to see Parvati and Lavender watching her with odd little smirks. She resolved to speak to them as soon as possible and watched them closely for the rest of the meal, waiting to follow them out of the Great Hall and get to the bottom of this.