Notes: Not originally intended to be an April Fool's joke, but suddenly I decided it was funny, how much effort I had been putting into it, and thought it deserved to be a joke. Or at least a game I was playing by myself.

Summary: Four lover-ly tales of Prefect Harry, each from the perspective of a female counterpart. Because if Harry truly does have courage, a decent mind, talent, and a thirst to prove himself, of course he'd use it all to get a girlfriend.

Time to play Prefect Potter Shuffle. Rules: Harry must be a prefect, paired with a female prefect, romantically or otherwise. Hermione can't be in the same House as Harry. 10 points for each unique House that Harry is in. 20 points each time Hermione is anywhere other than Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. 30 points if friendship melts a Slytherin heart. Individual bonuses may apply.


Prefect Perspectives

A Harry Prefect Fanfic by

Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)
POV 1: The Patil Puzzle


Padma Patil leaned back in her chair, only allowing herself to relax ever so slightly as the other prefects gradually began to drift out of the room. It never failed: of the twenty-four or so that were required to attend, less than half bothered to linger and socialize. On one hand, she didn't blame them: it was late, few looked forward to these meetings, and she could name a host of other things she'd rather be doing. On the other hand, this was one of those less fun jobs that came with the badge, and she wasn't about to trade it in for anything.

Shaking her head, Padma glanced to her immediate left, where Hermione Granger was carefully gathering up her things. Not wanting to startle her, as that had happened more than a few times, Padma waited for Hermione to realize that she was being watched. Thankfully, Hermione did not jump or squeak, this time.

"Got the minutes for tonight, Hermione?" Padma asked, already knowing the answer. Padma never needed to ask, and Hermione never really needed to be asked.

Hermione immediately passed over the requested parchment.

"Thanks, sweetie," Padma said, giving her a fond smile.

Hermione blushed and quickly turned away.

Padma continued to smile, until she caught Neville Longbottom frowning at her, and then let it fade. "Have a good night, you two."

Neville didn't respond as he turned to leave, but Hermione, submissive as always, quickly nodded and hurried after him.

Not for the first time, Padma marveled at the transformation. She was one of the few that still remembered when Hermione had been a bossy know-it-all. That had lasted maybe a few minutes, until Draco Malfoy and his thugs cornered her on the Hogwarts Express and made it very clear what supposedly all of Hogwarts thought of "mouthy little Mudbloods" who didn't know their place.

By the time the Sorting Hat landed on Hermione's head, the damage had been done, and the only thing she cared about was never standing out again. So it had put her in Hufflepuff. Oddly enough, Hermione was still a standout there: prefect for three years, best marks in her house in decades, and so many wondering why she hadn't been in Ravenclaw. But Padma knew. In Ravenclaw, Hermione would have been celebrated as the best of them, against her wishes. But in Hufflepuff, her pleas to be invisible were accepted. Quiet pride, that's what they embraced her with. Every Hufflepuff knew Hermione's name, but they said it in whispers. Just like Hermione did.

And Neville, never her boyfriend, always her protector. He had been a slow bloomer, but with Hermione's patience and tutoring, he had eventually blossomed into the closest any male Hufflepuff in their year would ever get to being her equal. It wasn't just the much improved marks. Between the duelling club and playing Keeper at Quidditch, Neville had lost a considerable amount of roundness, and replaced it with muscle. Even Gregory Goyle had been known to flinch away from him at times, and if Goyle had sense enough to do that, it had to be obvious to everyone: Neville was ripped. Slow to trust, however, and with good reason, but Padma liked to think that she, above all others, would have gotten a free pass.

Although she understood exactly why Neville might be wary of her in particular where Hermione was concerned. But Padma honestly did like Hermione. Hermione was one of the few who actually seemed to like prefect meetings, or at least taking notes during them. Padma could always count on her to record the minutes exactly and write up detailed summaries of everything that had been discussed. Malfoy still sneered and muttered from across the room, but even he didn't have the guts to blatantly insult Hermione in such a gathering. And he certainly wasn't going to risk Neville thrashing him, if for no other reason than every Slytherin present knew better than to set that particular firework ablaze. Neville would gladly get expelled in defense of Hermione's honor, no matter how much she would have wished otherwise. And if that was going to be the result, anyway, he'd make sure that the crime was good and worth it.

Unfortunately, the only other people who were slow to leave were the ones that Padma really wished had left first: Harry Potter, Pansy Parkinson, and Padma's twin sister, Parvati.

Harry was again leaning against a wall, and Pansy was again directly in his face, looking as if she wanted very much to devour his lips, followed by his entire head, if she could. And Parvati was again looking disgusted and jealous and heartsick all at the same time.

Everyone knew that Parvati was madly in love with Harry. But Harry, for reasons best known to himself, insisted on them remaining friends. Which would not have been so hurtful, except for the fact that Harry, while very much a free agent, was actively encouraging repeated amorous encounters with Pansy, and she needed no encouragement from him at all. Which made the fact that she was getting it even more sickening.

Pansy did not love or even like Harry. She liked his status, his fame. Harry was not stupid, he had to know this, and even if he didn't, every last Gryffindor must have told him by now. Including even the most cowardly of first years, certain that Pansy had bewitched Harry with a dark potion. This was a distinct possibility, as Pansy had earned her decent Potions marks. Yet, anyone who knew anything about Severus Snape, knew that if he discovered a student that hoped to seduce Harry Potter through skills they had sharpened in Potions, expulsion would be too kind a punishment in Snape's eyes. For the offender, and for Harry, for inspiring the crime in the first place. And despite her numerous faults, Pansy was not quite that stupid.

Unfortunately, Parvati had elected to take the phenomenally more stupid and ineffective route of pining for Harry from afar. As well as from right next to him, since, as the seventh year Gryffindor prefects, they sat side by side at meetings. Even Ginny Weasley, who sat behind Parvati, had never appeared quite as lovesick for Harry. Although, in Ginny's defense, Harry's ignoring her had been because he was preoccupied, not because he was purposely ignoring her, like he was with Parvati. And now that Ginny was dating, quite happily, word was that she and Harry got on just fine. Parvati tried the the same tactic, but it only resulted in several disgruntled boys who did not like being constantly compared to Harry. Especially since they never came out on the winning side of the comparisons.

All of this would have been slightly more bearable to witness, if only Parvati were not so very obvious in her feelings. But no, Padma was "the smart twin" and Parvati was "the pretty twin"... which did not mean that Padma was not pretty, or that Parvati was not smart... but it was heavily implied all the same. And honestly, Padma, who currently lacked a significant other, did not feel very pretty at the moment, and there was no way in hell that Parvati could possibly feel smart just now, either.

Padma narrowed her eyes, and Parvati jumped slightly as she felt the familiar but unexpected brush of her twin's magic against her own.

"Don't do this to yourself, Parvati. It's torture just watching you, so I know it's twice as bad for you."

Padma had gained special permission from Professor Flitwick to train in Legilimency, hoping it would bring her and Parvati even closer. What she found, however, was that her Legilimency was completely ineffective on someone she'd shared a womb with. Instead, she could easily and clearly project her own thoughts into Parvati's mind, which allowed for a brand of "twinspeak" that people joked about, but in this case, it was entirely real and magic-based. Parvati was not quite as proficient in it, but the desire to hold unspoken conversations with her twin had driven her like few other things could, and she was improving faster than Padma ever could have hoped.

"That's easy for you to say, Padma. Harry isn't ignoring you!"

Padma smiled indulgently.

"I think even famous Harry Potter would have a tough time ignoring the Head Girl, Parvati. But I can't force him to talk to you. And you're missing the point. You, sitting there, watching him flirt with that cow, isn't helping anyone but Pansy."

"But if I try to interrupt, Harry will just tell me that I'm being a pest!"

Padma frowned.

"Did he use that exact word?"

"Yes!"

"On second thought, I think I will make him talk to you."

"No, Padma! If Harry thinks you're fighting my battles for me-!"

"Then he'd be absolutely right. This time, and this time only. Nobody calls you a pest but me, and I've more than earned that right. He hasn't. Especially not if he thinks chasing after Pansy Parkinson is a good idea. He could at least be smitten with someone tasteful. It's awful of me to say, but if he were making eyes at your best friend instead, that would be a huge improvement."

Even Parvati could not deny that much. And at least Lavender Brown would be open to sharing Harry. Although that probably had less to do with Harry being involved, and more to do with Parvati being involved. Padma was almost certain that if Lavender woke up one morning and unexpectedly found herself twisted up in bedsheets with Parvati and Harry, her only real complaint would be that she could not recall the wondrous sequence of events that led up to such a happy accident.

"Padma, please! Don't say anything to him!"

Padma gave her twin a cold look.

"If he truthfully prefers Pansy to you, Parvati, he's lucky if talking is the only thing that I do to him."

Parvati watched in growing despair as Padma crossed the room and stood rather close to Pansy, something no one present enjoyed.

"Clear off, Parkinson," Padma ordered, with more force than was needed. "I've got Head Girl business to discuss with Harry. You'll just have to carry out your... head girl business later."

Pansy turned bright red, but perhaps sensing she had nothing better to retort with, merely turned her nose up at Parvati and left the room. After a warning look from Padma, Parvati also reluctantly left, but with several backward glances at them.

Harry was not pleased. "You really shouldn't have done that, Padma."

"You really should have better taste, Harry. I don't care how low your standards are, you can do better than her."

Harry frowned at her. "Did Parvati put you up to this?"

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe Parvati isn't the only one disgusted by the sight of you two pawing at each other? I refuse to believe that this is the first time that someone has been brave enough to mention it to you."

"I didn't hear a no."

"Fine. No, Parvati did not put me up to this. She was very much against me talking to you, actually."

Harry looked surprised. "And why is that?"

Padma shrugged. "Because she thought you would still think that she did put me up to it."

"That's not what I think." Harry was frowning again. "Now I'm thinking that she still doesn't know."

"Doesn't know what?"

"What we both agreed that you would tell her months ago."

Padma frowned. "What are you talking about, Harry?"

"Oh, you're really going to play this game again, Padma?" Harry asked, shaking his head. "Okay, fine. I'll play along. I was thinking that Parvati might not want you to talk to me, because maybe you finally told her why I really won't date her. I was thinking that maybe Parvati wouldn't want you anywhere near me, if she knew what you promised you would tell her by now. I was thinking that you respected your twin sister enough to tell her the truth, rather than risk the truth leaking to her, incomplete and twisted, through the rumor mill. I was thinking you'd rather show her your knife before you stabbed her in the front, rather than let someone else stab her in the back with it."

"That's lovely imagery, Harry, really."

"Stop ignoring the issue, Padma. You haven't told her. We agreed that you would by now. You lied to me. You're still lying to her. Tell Parvati the truth, or I will."

"And what truth are you going to tell her?"

Harry glared at her. "I'm going to tell Parvati that I can't date her, because I can't get her sister out of my head. I'm going to tell her that I fear the day that I'll whisper your name in her ear. I'm going to tell her that I've been hopelessly in love with you from the moment she let me dance with you at the Yule Ball. And I'm definitely going to tell her that the biggest reason is because nobody has shared my bed since you left it, and I know it's the same for you, and it's not just because we were each the first to claim that particular honor."

"Sleeping with you is an honor, now, is it? You certainly think highly of yourself, Harry."

"If I think highly of anything, I think it of the fact that I was honored to be your first, Padma. And I was honored to have you be mine. Even and especially if you don't feel the same, it doesn't change how I feel. And it doesn't change that Parvati doesn't know, and she deserves to. Especially if she's going through hell and blaming me and Pansy for it."

"So you're so in love with me that you have to settle for Pansy Parkinson?!"

"No, I'm settling for Pansy because she's got influence. Slytherin boys who see me as her property aren't going to stab me in the back. Slytherin girls who see her claws in me will keep theirs away from me, mostly. If I have to appear interested in Pansy to make that happen, so be it. I can stop the second I graduate. Which solves one of my problems, and none of yours, Padma. Just tell Parvati the truth. Or do you want her to continue believing that I prefer Pansy to her? That can't be good her self-esteem."
"Harry, you don't have any siblings! They don't just forgive things like this!"

"All the more reason not to hide it from Parvati for as long as you have. If you're really afraid that she'll hate you, I'll tell her that I seduced you."

Padma snorted. "Parvati would never believe that."

"Why not? She's in love with me. Why couldn't you also find me irresistible?"

"Because I obviously don't."

"Anymore," Harry added softly.

Padma glared at him.

"Padma, if you felt strongly enough to confront me about this, it must be killing Parvati. But me turning away Pansy isn't an option yet. Parvati finding out that I don't care for Pansy is. I don't care which of us tells her, but I do care about Parvati, even though I don't want to date her. She's a good friend, and I'm sure she's a good sister. So let me be clear: I'm all for telling Parvati the truth. Or whatever version of the truth eases her pain. But what I don't want is for things to stay as they are. And you clearly don't want that, either. So how do you suggest we fix things?"

"Do you truly love me?" Padma asked slowly.

"I do," Harry said simply.

"And are you a true Gryffindor?"

"Yes, but why ask that now?"

Padma looked away. "I have an idea. It's awful, but it will work. It will require some sacrifice on both our parts."

"And I assume it's more more complicated than, and yet still in no way involves, telling Parvati the truth."

She glared at him. "I seem to recall," she said softly, "something you told me at the Yule Ball."

Harry stared at her. "That I would follow your lead."

"You said the same thing when we-"

"Made love," Harry supplied.

Padma blushed. "Are you now saying that you won't follow my lead anymore?"

"What I'm saying is it seems to me like you're choosing a very roundabout way to hurt your sister even more."

She sniffed. "I wouldn't expect a Gryffindor to understand the machinations of a Ravenclaw. I just need to know if you'll do as I say."

"Who am I to refuse an order from my Head Girl?"

"I-I'm not your Head Girl, Harry. I'm everyone's Head Girl." Then she paused, realizing how wrong that might sound.

Harry grinned. "You keep telling yourself that, Padma."


Parvati frowned at her twin. "You want to do what?"

Padma leaned closer. "I want to give you an erotic dream of Harry."

Parvati's frown deepened. "Padma, I've told you: I already have those. They aren't helping. Just the opposite."

"This one will," Padma insisted. "Because it's manufactured, and reinforced with a Soothing Charm. I just need a few days to get it ready, and then I'll implant it in your head."

"And you don't think that'll be awkward, me walking around with a fake memory of the night I shagged Harry in my head? What if I try to recreate it?"

"He should be so lucky. And you'll still know it's fake, Parvati. The point is that it won't be a source of pain, like all your other thoughts of Harry are."

Parvati still looked doubtful. "You really think this will help me?"

"I really do." Padma squeezed her sister's hands. "You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course. And it's not that I doubt you can do it. I just... I don't know about this, Padma. It feels wrong. Like I'm betraying Harry somehow."

Padma shook her head. "When this works, you will be a lot more pleasant for Harry to be around. Don't you think he'd want that? You'll be able to accept his more... questionable tastes, because you'll at least have that one night. You'll know it's fake, but it won't feel fake."


Padma needed only two days to complete the false memory. Although what she actually needed was two days to edit the copy of the real memory. She was the only person who knew specific details of both Harry's and Parvati's nude bodies, so those changes were easy enough. Although, she did have to make sure that Harry's body included several "guesstimates" that were completely inaccurate. Too much accuracy in that area, if Parvati did ever manage to spend the night with Harry, would be telling.

No, the harder part was making sure the memory felt false. Because nothing about that night had felt false to Padma. And if too much of that authentic feeling leaked through to Parvati, that could be a disaster.

Padma's original (and quickly dismissed) thought had been to use a Pensieve and share it with Parvati, but all Parvati would need is to do a little research to learn the truth. The second she knew that a Pensieve was used to store memories, she might realize exactly how her sister just happened to have a ready-made memory of a Patil twin sleeping with Harry.

In two days, Padma had the false memory ready to implant. But it took closer to two weeks before she could finally bring herself to give it to Parvati. She told herself that she'd been checking it for flaws. And indeed, she had reviewed it many, many times. So it wasn't entirely a lie.

It just felt like one.


Parvati's friendship with Harry improved almost overnight. They could soon be seen together, laughing and talking like they used to. Pansy didn't like it, but Parvati was suddenly all too happy to clear off when Pansy wanted to be alone with Harry. If anything, the only one who suddenly seemed somewhat bothered by that was Harry.

Padma's mood also improved considerably, now that she didn't have to worry so much about Parvati. Of course, Padma still didn't have a boyfriend, and would have even settled for a girlfriend, if it came to that. As Head Girl, Padma always got plenty of invites any time there was a social activity planned, so it wasn't as if she didn't have her pick of dates. It was just that they all seemed to lack anything that would hold her interest beyond that one night.

So it was more than a little humbling when, at the next dance, Padma found herself paired up with her date for the evening, one Lavender Brown, who seemed suspiciously thrilled to have any Patil on her arm. Padma supposed an overenthusiastic date like Lavender was better than an unenthusiastic one like Ron Weasley. Although Lavender had found an excuse to kiss Padma three times before they even cleared the entrance hall, and Padma would not have considered any of them chaste, nor would she have allowed anyone but Parvarti's best friend, or Parvati herself (or yes, even Harry) to get away with that much. But Lavender was a good dancer, clearly had experience dancing with girls, and confessed that she and Parvati had practiced with each other, so it wasn't even close to being awful.

And Padma found herself admitting, reluctantly, that while she was never going to be in love with Lavender, it was nice to have a fun date who both had Parvati's approval and was no danger to Padma's virtue. They made tentative plans to accompany each other during the next Hogsmeade weekend, and Padma insisted that she wouldn't mind if Parvati was their third wheel, then wished she hadn't, because that made them sound like a couple, which Lavender seemed to like even more. So with a final kiss that lingered a bit more than Padma would have preferred, Lavender practically floated back to Gryffindor Tower, and Padma went to bed wondering if the entire evening might very well be considered a wondrous sequence of events that resulted in a happy accident.

And in any case, she couldn't deny that she both was happy and felt like she'd just survived an accident.


The happy accident ended, rather abruptly, when Parvati and Lavender had a huge row, the cause of which was wholly mortifying only to the Patil twins.

Apparently, Lavender and Parvati had been practicing kissing each other, which in itself was not that unusual, and especially not for them. But things had gotten a bit spirited, and suddenly Lavender moaned a name that was not Parvati's, which would have even been acceptable, if only that name had not been Padma's.

Lavender was in tears constantly, although Padma often found herself wondering if the true reason for Lavender's upset was finding herself entirely Patil-less. In truth, Padma felt sorry for Lavender, and did not blame her in the least, but she also couldn't support anyone but Parvati in this fight.

Parvati was mad at Padma for a grand total of five hours. She remained a bit snippy around her twin after that, but Padma chose to overlook this. They both knew perfectly well that Parvati had been the one to suggest that Lavender be Padma's date in the first place, but there was nothing to be gained by pointing that out. Even so, Padma made it very plain that Lavender hadn't meant to hurt anyone, was clearly hurting worse than either of them, and that it would be a shame if Parvati lost her best friend over an innocent mistake.

It took almost a month for Parvati to admit the truth of those statements. Lavender was overjoyed to have her best friend back, but Parvati insisted that she find someone else to practice kissing with, and Padma now required that any time she spent with Lavender also included Parvati. If Lavender was disappointed with these arrangements, she never said so. Indeed, having both Patils on her arms might have been something out of her wildest fantasies... though Padma was sure the one about Lavender, Parvati, and Harry, was wilder still. But she didn't want to give Lavender any ideas.


"Well, that's everything," Padma said, looking out at the mostly eager faces. "I trust you all know your assignments for the Hogwarts Express. Please submit your recommendations for next year to your Head of House as soon as possible. As I may not get a chance to say this later, it's been a pleasure serving with all of you. Have a good summer, everyone."

She expected the applause, but not the bouquets of roses that everyone else in the room suddenly conjured in their respective house colors. Padma couldn't help noticing that Draco's green and silver roses were particularly more vibrant and fetching than Pansy's were, but wasn't sure whether to blame that on Pansy's intense dislike for her and shoddy spellwork, or Draco's usual flair for showing off. Possibly both.

Hermione quietly provided a large box to carry all the flowers in, obviously having known there would be a need for it in advance, and began to collect them while Padma said her farewells. There was a slightly tense moment when Draco handed his bouquet to Hermione, who hadn't been expecting it and froze. Neither of them moved for several seconds, and when Draco raised his wand, Padma was not the only one in the room who reached for hers. But Draco merely tapped the bouquet with his wand, instantly turning the flowers to Hufflepuff yellow and black. Then, with a nod to a startled Hermione, he walked out of the room. The tension (and Pansy) left with him.

Padma wasn't sure why she did it, but before Hermione had completely recovered, Padma pulled her into a tight hug.

"P-Padma?" Hermione squeaked. "W-What-?"

"You should have been Head Girl," Padma whispered against her ear.

Hermione froze. "N-No," she murmured. "I'm not-"

"You would have been," Padma insisted. "If he hadn't... if I had just... if you were..." She trailed off, then shook her head. "You would have been, Hermione, and I took advantage of the fact that you weren't, and I should have helped you, and I'm so sorry that I didn't, and you've been so good to me, and if I could have named you Assistant Head Girl I would have, but-"

"Padma, please don't," Hermione interrupted, finally returning the hug. "It's okay, really."

"No, it isn't!"

"I forgive you."

Padma drew back and stared at her. "You do? Why?"

Hermione smiled. "Does it matter why, so long as I do?"

"It matters to me! You've been overlooked enough!"

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "I didn't get everything that I wanted, but neither did you. And I don't know that I could have gone through what you did, and held it together the way you did. You're stronger than me, Padma. You deserved to be Head Girl, and that's why you were chosen. I was just happy to be in your shadow for a while, and I don't regret it. You're easy to hide behind, you know." She offered her hand to Padma. "It's been an honor."

Padma brushed the hand aside and hugged Hermione tightly again. "You'll stay in touch, won't you?"

"Of course," Hermione promised, hugging her back. Then she turned her head, pleasantly surprising Padma with a kiss to her cheek. "I know you might be a bit busy looking after the natural one, but if you ever wanted another sister-"

"If you are implying," Parvati said loudly, draping her arms around them both, "that I need looking after, Hermione, I'm afraid I'll have to take that personally."

Hermione stared at her, thoroughly embarrassed. "O-Oh, I didn't mean-"

Parvati grinned and tweaked Hermione's nose. "You've really got to lighten up if you're going to be one of us, darling. It's not easy being a triplet, believe me. A quiet little thing like you, Lavender will be all over you, and no one will be able to hear you scream."

Suddenly, all three of them were laughing so hard that they had tears in their eyes, and Padma wasn't sure that laughter was the entire source. But they eventually calmed down, and Parvati ran over to pounce on Ginny from behind as she was hugging Hannah Abbott.

"She's doing much better now," Hermione noted.

Padma nodded. "Yes, she is."

Hermione leaned in and lowered her voice. "Padma, I want to warn you. Parvati... she may not be as smart as you, but she's smarter than you realize."

Padma blinked. "What does that mean?"

Hermione shook her head. "I can't betray one sister's confidence, not even to another."

Padma pouted. "But I'm the one you're more loyal to, right?"

Hermione smiled. "Yes, but... Parvati trusted me, so I can't say. Don't worry, it's nothing bad. Only what you deserve."

Padma frowned as Hermione moved away. She had likely meant those words to be comforting, but they sounded rather ominous to Padma.

Parvati was just completing a ridiculously complicated secret handshake with Ginny that Padma doubted anyone else in the entire school knew (Lavender would be thoroughly jealous, no doubt). Then they hugged again, exchanged kisses, and said goodbye.

"You know, if we keep adopting girls, we're going to be sextuplets soon," Padma warned.

Parvati grinned. "Yes, but naturally, I'll still be the fairest of them all!"

"You wish. You cheat at Exploding Snap."

Parvati smacked her twin's arm. "That's not what I meant and you know it! Anyway, I forgot to tell you, I got an owl from home earlier. Dad says we're each welcome to invite a friend to stay during the summer. I think you should pick Hermione."

"And you're going to pick Lavender?" Padma guessed.

Parvati smirked. "You don't know me as well as you think you do, Head Girl."


Hermione's warning made a lot more sense when she stepped out of the fireplace at the Patil home. At least, it did when she was soon followed by Harry. Padma had a hard time getting the stunned look off of her face, and must not have been fast enough, because Parvati reached over to close Padma's mouth for her.

Padma shot her twin a sharp look that was cheerfully ignored.

"We're so glad you two could make it!" Parvati greeted, pulling Hermione and Harry into a big hug.

"So are we," Harry said, staring straight at Padma, who avoided his eyes and hugged Hermione once Parvati had released her.

"Told you so," Hermione murmured in Padma's ear.

"You could have been more specific!" Padma hissed back.

"This is what happens when your twin knows you've been lying to her for months," Hermione responded.

Padma gasped and looked at Parvati, who stared back innocently with her eyebrows raised. "Um, I need to talk to Parvati for a bit, make yourselves comfortable." Padma grabbed Parvati's arm and dragged her into the next room.

"It's a bit late, now," Parvati said at once.

Padma bit her lip. "I'm sorry."

"Are you?"

"Yes!"

"For what?" Parvati demanded.

"Not telling you."

Parvati sighed. "Padma, you know what the worst thing is? If you had just told me that you and Harry were intimate once, I could have put two and two together. I would have suspected there were some feelings left there. So even if I still fell in love with him, I would have respected that you might not be done with him, or he with you, or that me dating him might just result in me being used as your substitute. But you didn't tell me. And now we're in this mess, and we don't have to be."

"Do you forgive me?" Padma whispered.

"Well, I have to, don't I? It's sort of obvious that we're related. People will talk if we don't get along. But I have a condition."

"Name it."

"In exchange for giving you my blessing to work things out with Harry, up to and including you two dating? I want the full, unedited memory of you and him."

Padma blushed. "Why?"

"Because it's an erotic dream, duh! Why else? And if I have to get over losing him to you, I'm going to need some real comfort. Also, I want to have a better idea of exactly what you two will be doing."

"Parvati!" Padma squealed.

Parvati grinned. "Maybe this will teach you not to lie to me anymore. Now, let's go get you re-Potted."

Padma glared at her twin. "That is not funny!"

"What would you know? I'm the funny twin."

"Funny-looking, maybe!"

"We're twins, we look the same!"

"You wish!"

They were still squabbling good-naturally when Harry and Hermione came to collect them five minutes later.


Patil Puzzle - Scores

Unique House Harry: 10

Odd House Hermione: 20

Melty Slytherin: 0

Twinspeak Bonus: 5

Pansy Head Girl Joke Bonus: 500

Secret Handshake Bonus: 5

Individual Total: 540

Overall Total: 540