Disclaimer: Do I own Harry Potter? I'm on FANFICTION, so certainly not.
AN: This is written for HedwigBlack's Weekly Challenge.
"-and then SHE turned around and hexed him with boils so badly that he ended up in the hospital wing!" Lavender told Parvati and they both giggled in a distinctly girly way as they sat eating lunch in the Great Hall.
"Serves him right for cheating on her!" she exclaimed and Lavender nodded.
"Yeah, did you hear who he was cheating on her with though?" she asked and Parvati shook her head.
"I heard that it was supposed to be Granger," she replied excitedly. "She's being a right mystery with who she's taking to the Yule Ball. Personally I'm betting that she's going with Harry."
"Pfft, if it was Harry then she'd have said," Lavender said with a snort. "I mean, she's always with him and Ron as it is. No I'm thinking that maybe she's going with someone else."
"Well who do you th-" Parvati suddenly stopped as she suddenly spotted out of the corner of her eye her twin calmly walk out of the Great Hall in a way that practically screamed trouble to Parvati's eye. Holding up her hand she looked at Lavender. "Sorry Lav, twin stuff, gotta go."
Lavender gave her an unhappy look, but said nothing and Parvati walked through the doors after her doppleganger. With an uncanny accuracy born of years of being a twin, she knew that her sister was upset and with a brief apology to Lavender, she walked out after her.
Stepping out into the hallway, Parvati walked down a few metres before doing a sharp turn left into what appeared to be a random corridor and walked straight into what appeared to be a random classroom where she saw her sister sitting on a chair rocking and crying quiet heavily. She looked up and saw Parvati standing there. Before Parvati could say anything, Padma spoke.
"I caught him kissing another girl!" she practically screamed through her tears and Parvati sat down beside her sister and put an arm around her.
"I caught Marcus kissing one of those frogs on the lips! He was snogging her like there was no tomorrow, he was practically eating her face off!" she continued in a voice that bordered hysterical. "And then he told me that he wanted to end our relationship! And I love him!"
"Pads…" Parvati started slowly, not entirely sure what to say. Her own boyfriend, a Hufflepuff by the name of Richard Collins had unceremoniously dumped her a couple of days earlier.
"And I was looking forward to going to the Yule Ball with him and n-n-now I'll be there without a date at all!" Padma continued through her sobs and Parvati stood up sharply.
"Now THAT will not do!" she said sharply and Padma looked up in surprise. "We're never going to get an opportunity to go to the Yule Ball again. It's going to be something that will never again happen for us at Hogwarts and I want to have good memories of this night. I'll get us a date if it kills me!"
"Parv, it's not worth stressing over," Padma said through her tears. "I'll just…have to miss out."
"Oh no you don't!" Parvati replied, her eyes blazing with passion and Padma was forcibly reminded of why Parvati was the Gryffindor out of the two of them. "We only have what we remember."
"Using Auntie Shreena's words was a low blow Parv," Padma reprimanded with a look of disapproval.
"It's only a low blow if it doesn't work," Parvati countered with a smirk. "And I KNOW that it worked."
"Fine!" Padma snapped, half-exasperated, half bemused. "You can arrange my date for the Yule Ball. If you can."
"Thanks!" Parvati replied excitedly as she hugged her sister. "You won't regret it!"
"I think I already have," Padma murmured as she watched Parvati skip away happily.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
"So I said to Pads that I'd find her a date to the Yule Ball," Parvati told Lavender as they walked into the Gryffindor common room. Lavender gave her friend a sympathetic look.
"And just before the Yule Ball as well," she said sympathetically. "But how are you going to find a decent pair of boys this late?"
"I don't know Lav. All the decent ones are probably taken," Parvati replied, when suddenly Harry Potter (a boy Parvati thought was certain to have a date) was standing in front of her.
"Parvati? Will you go to the ball with me?" he asked and Parvati felt her heart rise as she realised that Harry Potter, the boy she'd been crushing on for most of her third year, was actually asking HER to the ball. Instinctively she had a fit of giggles before replying.
"Yes, all right, then," she said finally, blushing furiously.
"Thanks," said Harry, in relief. "Lavender-will you go with Ron?"
"She's going with Seamus, said Parvati and the two of them giggled harder.
Harry sighed.
"Can't you think of anyone who'd go with Ron?" he said, lowering his voice. 'Presumably so Ron didn't hear, but Parvati thought it was a stupid idea. Practically all the girls in their year expected either Harry or Ron to take Hermione.
"What about Hermione Granger?" Parvati said.
"She's going with someone else."
Parvati felt her eyebrows rise curiously. She was well aware that Hermione Granger wasn't always the easiest person to get to know or like and Parvati's curious mind wanted to know one thing.
"Ooooh – who?" she asked keenly.
Harry shrugged. "No idea," he said. "So what about Ron?"
"Well…" said Parvati slowly, her mind flying back to what she had promised earlier. Ron Weasley wasn't exactly considered catch of the year by any standards, but if the rumours were true, then he surely had to have hidden talents and that made him interesting. "I suppose my sister might…Padma, you know…in Ravenclaw. I'll ask her if you like."
"Yeah, that would be great," said Harry. "Let me know, will you?"
As Harry walked back to Ron, Parvati turned to Lavender and grinned.
"Am I good, or am I GOOD," she said and Lavender raised an eyebrow.
"He is pretty good-looking," she admitted, before continuing. "But…isn't Padma going to want someone a bit less…caveman?"
"Lav, you worry too much!" Parvati said, still grinning. "Just wait, I'm sure we'll have a good time."
"Well if you're sure…" Lavender said dubiously as her eyes settled on Ron Weasley once more.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
The first thing Padma thought when she went down for breakfast that morning, was that Parvati had been wildly successful in getting someone to take herself and presumably her sister to the Yule Ball. Parvati's eyes were alight with excitement and she was practically dancing on her toes as she waited at the Ravenclaw table for Padma.
"Padma, Padma, guess what?" Parvati practically shouted excitedly and Padma looked at her sister with a calm look.
"You've found a date to the Yule Ball?" she asked. "And presumably one for me as well?"
"That's right!" Parvati said as she nodded excitedly. "You remember who I had a crush on last year?"
"Hold on a minute. HARRY POTTER asked you to the Yule Ball!?" Padma replied in shock and Parvati nodded happily. "I would have thought he'd already have a date!"
"Apparently not," Parvati said excitedly. "And I managed to fix up a date for you as well!"
"Really? Who is it?" Padma asked curiously and Parvati smiled.
"It's a surprise," she said, tapping her nose and Padma raised an eyebrow.
"Can't you give me a hint?" she pleaded and Parvati smiled.
"No, that would spoil the surprise," she said with a smile. "Let's just say I think he has hidden depths. Padma smiled.
"Thanks Parv, I know I can always rely on you," she said and Parvati smiled before returning to the Gryffindor table.
"So, did you tell her that she's going to the Yule Ball with Ron Weasley?" Lavender asked and Parvati shook her head.
"I've told her it's a blind date for her," she said and Lavender gave a low whistle and looked over towards Ron, who was practically inhaling his food.
"Well I hope she sees the hidden potential you saw," she said dubiously. "I don't want to have to be cleaning up your remains."
Meanwhile, at the Ravenclaw table, Padma dreamily sat and daydreamed about her mysterious date. In her head, he was a tall, handsome figure, maybe from Durmstrang or Beaubatons. And he would be the perfect partner. She gazed over at Ron Weasley and wrinkled her nose in disgust at the way he was eating. And definitely not like Ronald Weasley, she mentally added.
AN: Poor Ron, I love the guy, but he can be a very typical teenager at times;D