I was walking through the Great Hall to sit down for lunch when I heard, "Hey, Padma!"
I turned around at the sound of my name. It was my sister, Parvati.
"Guess who I just talked to?" she practically shouted.
"Calm down," I said. "Who?"
"Harry Potter!" She exclaimed. "And guess what he asked me?"
I had an idea of where this was going now, but I played along anyway.
"What?"
"To go to the Yule Ball with me! I'm going with a champion!" She was grinning from ear to ear.
"That's great!" I said. But I was a little irked, and jealous. As neither of us had gotten dates yet, we had been going to go together and hang out, which we hadn't done too much lately.
"So I guess our plans are off then, huh?" I said jokingly. But instantly, her eyes darkened.
"Oh, so you're jealous of me? I finally get the guy, and you're mad?" she fumed.
"No—Parvati—that's not what I meant! I—"
But she ignored me.
"Well, you won't be alone anyway. I got you a date too."
"I'm not jealous, Parvati, I- what?" I gasped.
"Yeah, I got you a date. When Harry asked me, he asked if I could find a date for his friend, too."
"Wait- who? Who is it?" I breathed, all jealousy forgotten. But then I realized... Harry's friend... That must mean...
"It's not... Ron... Is it?" I asked anxiously.
But my fears were confirmed as Parvati grinned evilly.
"Yes, Ron Weasley. Harry wanted to help poor Ron, who hadn't gotten a date yet either. And I said you would love to go with him." She smirked, evidently pleased she had gained the upper hand.
"But Parvati! Why would you do this? Why would you say yes without my consent? And how did you end up with the champion?" I almost screamed. Most of the Great Hall could hear our argument by now. I glanced around, and yanked her down at the Ravenclaw table.
"Thanks a lot, Parvati! You took away my chance of finding my own guy to go with. Who knows, I might have found a guy I really liked. But no. Now I'm stuck with that lump of a boy, Ronald Weasley! So much for helping each other!"
My tirade, which had started out in an angry whisper, had risen in pitch and was once again audible to all in the near vicinity. Dropping my voice back to a normal level, and still not giving her a chance to answer, I said, "Thanks a bunch, sis" and stormed out of the Great Hall to find a place to hide.
. . .
After spending some time moping in an abandoned classroom, I decided to go talk to Ron and see if he really wanted to go with me. As I assumed he didn't, but was just desperate, I needed a tactic. After thinking for a moment, I came upon a plan. I quickly got up and started running towards the Gryffindor tower with an evil grin plastered across my face.
I found Ron on the way, luckily not with Harry or that Granger girl he hangs out with. Right before he gave the portrait the password, I shouted out to him,
"Hey, Ron!"
He turned at the sound of his name.
"Oh hey, Parvati!" Then, a puzzled expression came to his face as he studied me more closely. "Wait, you're not Parvati..."
"Yes Ron, I'm Padma, her twin. And your date to the Yule Ball."
He blanched at this, then gulped. "Oh. You."
"Yes Ron, your date" I sighed, impatient with his slow grasp of the situation. "But not for long."
At this, he looked alarmed.
"But I thought you agreed to go with me! I need a date! How will I get—"
"Slow down, Ron" I interrupted. "Just because I won't be going with you doesn't mean no one will. Now, I have a plan, so how about you listen."
I yanked him down the hall away from his common room entrance.
"A plan for what?" he asked. I ignored him.
"You don't really want to go with me, right?"
"Well . . ." he stammered, but I cut him off.
"Right. And I, frankly, don't want to go with you."
He looked slightly offended at this, but he motioned for me to continue.
"So, what if I went with Harry, and you went with Parvati?"
He brightened considerably at this. "Parvati wants to go with me?"
Hmm. I hadn't expected this. "Umm . . . not exactly. I didn't ask her."
"Oh." His face fell.
"But I'm sure she'd love to!" I said quickly.
He still didn't look convinced. "So are you saying you want to switch dates without telling them?"
". . .Basically."
Looking skeptical, he said, "I still don't know if this is a great idea. . ." his brow furrowed in thought.
"But will you do it?" I interrupted impatiently.
"I guess," he sighed.
I grinned as he turned to walk away. This would be fun
. . .
I woke up the next morning and immediately grinned, remembering the events of the day before. I yawned and stretched before quickly dressing and rushing down to the Great Hall. I felt so sneaky and. . . Slytherin. It was not a nice feeling. I jumped when Parvati came over to the Ravenclaw table. "Hey," she said quietly. "Look, I'm sorry about yesterday. . ."
"It's all right," I said, trying to not look guilty. But she wasn't paying attention.
"No, I'm really sorry. I should never have set you up for the Yule Ball, especially when I know you would never choose to go with him. It was a terrible thing for a friend to do, let alone your sister and twin," she hung her head, looking ashamed. I couldn't make eye contact, as I started to panic. What was I going to do? This wasn't part of my plan! I sighed to myself, and made up my mind.
"Really, Parvati, its fine. I'm really happy that Harry asked you. I know he was just looking out for a friend when he asked if I could go with Ron. . . so I'll go with him. You'll have an awesome time." I smiled at my sister, who slowly lifted her head, still digesting what I had said. "Really? . . ." she breathed.
"Yes," I said firmly. 'Now go, I have a free period first, but you'll be late to class!" She smiled once more, and gave me a tight hug before sprinting away. I sighed again, but went over to Ron, knowing what I had to do. Sisters were more important than any guy.