*(A/N)* Hey there! How was everyone's Christmas? Mine was great, as usual. Here's the story, um, I had something else to say, but I can't remember right now. Maybe I'll be able to by the ending....

Chloe Patil at Hogwarts: Chapter 19

Chloe stepped off of the Hogwarts Express and breathed with deep relief. The train ride had been incredibly boring. She'd sat with her sisters, which had turned out to be a big mistake. All they talked about was the dance. Parvati recreated her scene with Frederick so many times that Chloe thought she would vomit, while Padma gave hints about things that probably had never happened between her and Harry with small smirks. Of course neither of them had even thought of asking Chloe if she'd had a good time or not.

Her deep breath quickly turned into a yawn. Her sleep the night before had been mediocre, and with all the noisy chatting in her train compartment, she couldn't sleep there either. At the time she'd been to lazy to move to a different compartment, but now she was wishing that she had.

"Chloe, DARLING!!" Came a shrill cry from directly in front of her. Chloe stopped in mid yawn, and opened her eyes wide, just in time to see her mother rushing towards her to give her a big hug. She had just enough time to close her mouth and hold out her arms before her mother reached her. She wrapped her arms around her tightly, then let go, making her way towards Padma. Chloe's father followed much more calmly, picking up the small bag in which Chloe was carrying a few various things (homework and such) and giving her a big smile. Chloe returned it gratefully.

Soon the five of them were heading towards the car, parked just outside the station. Chloe climbed into the back, and was pushed towards the middle by Padma. She plopped down, did up her seatbelt, and listened to the conversations going on, watching the familiar landscape around her as they drove by.

"Had the most wonderful time at the dance..."

"Caught Parvati..."

"Shut up Padma!"

"What were you doing, Parvati?"

"Looking at the, um, stars...yes...the stars. Frederick's deeply interested in the stars!"

"Oh, the stars in your eyes?" Padma said dopily, mockingly covering her heart, and fluttering her eyelids.

Parvati attempted to hit Padma, but caught Chloe in mid-blow.

"Ouch!" yelled Chloe, covering the cheek that Parvati had hit.

"Sorry, Chlo. Although you deserve a hit too, I heard a story about you!"

Chloe reddened. "Don't you dare!"

"CHLOE WAS SNOGGING WITH HARRY AT THE BAAAALLLL!!!" Shrieked Parvati, just barely ducking a blow to her nose sent by Chloe.

"PARVATI!" She roared, grabbing her sister, but unable to do any harm under the restraint of her belt. She looked over at Padma guiltily, giving a small smile. Padma glared at her, then looked ahead. The whole car went quiet.

"Padma, dear...Didn't you go to the Ball with Harry?" Her mother asked quizically, breaking the silence.

"Yes." Padma replied sharply, as Chloe whined, "Mother!"

The car went quiet once more.

"You ruin everything, Parvati." Chloe mumbled.

"Don't blame me, if you hadn't done it in the first place, you wouldn't be in this mess." Parvati replied hotly.

"You didn't have to go blurting it out like that! Besides, let's talk about some things that you've done, like stealing fifteen galleons out of mom's savings jar so you and Lavender could go to the premiere of Atlantic and drool over the actor!" Chloe yelled.

"THAT'S NOT THE TRUTH, YOU LYING LITTLE-" Parvati shrieked in dismay, but was interrupted by the bellow of their father.

"ENOUGH! That's just enough." Everyone shut up bitterly. "We'll discuss this later." He added in a dark tone.

Chloe sat in the car, pouting with her arms crossed. What a Christmas vacation this was going to be. It had started out bad enough, that's for sure. This morning she'd had to get up early in order to be able to catch her train. She'd tried to be quiet, and had thought that she'd done a good job of it too. Roz, however, was not satisfied. She had, apparently, been waken up by Chloe's "banging around", and stuck her head out of the curtains to tell Chloe off for being loud. Chloe responded in being extra noisy when she was around Roz's bed.

The car pulled into the driveway of the Patil home. Padma was out the door the second her father hit the brake, followed closely by Chloe. The trunk was popped open, and all three girls eagerly grabbed their bags, racing up the steps to the house. Parvati reached it first, banging open the door noisily. Chloe followed. The two of them kicked off their shoes, then raced up the stairs to their rooms. Chloe glanced back, noticing Padma wasn't with them, and saw her sister taking her time getting into the house, a look of misery upon her face. Chloe felt a pang of guilt in her chest, and swallowed several times to be rid of it.

She walked into her room, gazing around with relief. Home. Finally. She dropped her bag on the floor, and hastily made her way towards the bed, where she saw a couple letters laying on the end of it. She picked them up as she sat down, looking over the envelopes. Ms. Chloe Patil, probably from her grandmother and father Pierce, and Mademoiselle Chloe Patil. She eyed this one curiously, recognizing the French immediately. Probably somebody from Beauxbatons. She tore it open eagerly, and out slid a card.

On the front was a picture of a Muggle family sitting around a Christmas Tree. She knew it was Muggle as the people on the front weren't moving. She wondered where whoever had sent the card had acquired this. Opening it she read,

Chère Chloé, (Dear Chloe,)

Joyeux Noël! (Merry Christmas!)

M'écrivons quelque temps! (Write me sometime!)

À bientôt, (Until then *I think*)

*Candace

It was a card from her former best friend. Chloe was surprised, and touched to see it. On the inside of the card was a letter to Chloe from Candace describing school, the rest of the girls and her new boyfriend. ("A sixth year, Byron Straub. Do you remember him?" Chloe did, he was one good looking guy.) Along with that was a letter from Beverlie Mansion, her other best friend, and a couple pictures of the three of them. One of them when they were in second year, just before they boarded the plane taking them to Beauxbatons, and the other had been taken just this year, during summer vacation.

She was about to rip open the second letter, but was interrupted by her mother, who was standing at her doorway.

"Oh!" Said Chloe, startled. "How long have you been there?"

"Just a few seconds. What're you up to?" She asked curiously, coming to sit down beside her.

"Reading my letters." Chloe answered, holding up the pictures sent by Candace. "Look, Candace and Beverlie sent me letters and pictures."

Her mother picked them up and gazed at the pictures smiling. "That's cute. What a nice idea. Are you planning on writing them back?"

"Oh yeah." Chloe answered. Her mother stood up.

"Come downstairs in a few minutes. I've got some food out for you three, no doubt you're hungry."

Chloe, feeling her stomach rumbling, agreed. She stood the card on her desk, propped the pictures up beside it, and headed down towards the kitchen.

~*~

"So, you've had a good term then?" Lucius Malfoy asked, interrupting the silence that had been upon the limousine he and his son were riding in.

"Sure." Draco answered dryly. "Miss me?" He asked sarcastically, knowing what the answer would be.

"Haven't had the time to." His father responded, pouring himself a glass of brown, clear liquid. The smell of alcohol filled the air. Draco sighed, looking out the window. Then, remembering something, he looked back at his father.

"Have you gotten the Quidditch field at the Manor underway yet? We play Gryffindor first week back. Not that I need the practice, but I don't want to get out of shape. If somebody would buy me a god damn Firebolt, then I wouldn't have to worry, would I?" He asked coldly.

Lucious tutted his son. "Language, Draco. Please, while in your mother's presence, try to uphold her view of you as an angel. I don't think the poor woman can bear the realization that her husband and son both are corrupt. Yes, I have built the field, quit whining, and why should I waste all those Galleons on Firebolts when I've already bought your whole team Nimbus 2001's?"

"Potter-" Draco began.

"Don't you worry about Harry Potter. He's got enough in store for him, believe me. In fact, let the little runt beat you all year, it'll build up his confidence, and God knows he'll need it before he dies."

Draco stared at his father, horrified. Let Harry Potter beat him all year? The thought of it.

Suddenly Lucius grabbed his forearm, grinding his teeth in pain. He turned to Draco, who stared back lazily.

"Tell your mother I'm gone..."

"to do the bidding of the Almighty Lord Voldemort?" Draco said sarcastically, smirking. His father slapped him across the face.

"Do not speak lightly of the Dark Lord, my son. You think that's pain?" He asked, as Draco's hand reached up automatically to cradle his red cheek. "Just wait." Then off he apparated. To where, Draco had no clue.

He lowered his hand slowly, determined that next time, he would let the pain endure, prove to his father that he could bear it. Next time he wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing it hurt.

*~*

Chloe sat in the kitchen with Parvati, munching on cheese without even tasting it. The two weren't speaking for obvious reasons. Padma, too, had been there, but the entrance of Chloe resulted in her departure. She hadn't even eaten anything.

"We weren't really making out." Chloe said vaguely, only half aware of what she was saying. "Just a kiss. Not like you and Frederick."

"Yeah, well. I suppose I shouldn't have let Padma hear it that way. Don't know what she's all upset about, she was just using Harry anyway. Maybe she began liking him in the process. Maybe she's jealous, Chloe. Who knows?" Parvati responded dreamily, staring ahead with glazed eyes.

"Yeah. I do feel bad." Chloe confessed guiltily.

"She'll get over it." Parvati answered.

"I suppose." Said Chloe. Then she remembered who she was talking to. It was kind of weird, her and Parvati conducting a civil conversation in which Chloe hadn't rolled her eyes even once. By the look on Parvati's face she was either thinking the same thing, or something she ate hadn't tasted good.

"Could you talk to her?" Chloe asked Parvati.

"Yes. I think I can do that." Parvati answered, nodding her head. Chloe missed the mischievious glint in her eyes.

Then Chloe stood up and headed back to her room. She met Padma in the staircase, but decided not to even bother with her until Parvati had spoken to her. She headed towards her room, and grabbed a quill and some parchment from her bag, then began a letter to Candace.

A half hour later she was finished. The letter was nearly 5 pages long, she had a lot of questions and things to tell. She went down to her father's study to see if she could borrow his owl, and was disappointed when he said it was out running a letter to the African Ministry of Magic.

"Why don't you borrow Padma's owl?" Her father asked brusquely.

"Is the prevention of World War 3 an excuse?" She asked sarcastically, heading out of his office.

She wandered towards the kitchen, hoping that Parvati had spoken to her sister. She stopped at the door and listened to what was going on, not wanting to interrupt just as Parvati was getting Padma to cave in and forgive her.

"Can you believe her? You said that she didn't feel bad at all?"

"Not at all. She told me herself. She said she didn't even really like Harry at all, she was just trying to upset you."

Chloe looked at the door in disgust. What kind of bull was Parvati trying to feed Padma? She barged in.

"That is NOT the truth!" She cried indignantly. The two of them jumped up, startled at her sudden appearance.

"I don't know why I should believe you!" Padma yelled. Parvati sat behind her, giving Chloe a smug smile.

"That teaches you." She mouthed.

"Look Padma, can we talk? Without Parvati?" Chloe asked desperately.

"No." Padma said firmly, heading towards the door. "I'm not going to be able to forgive or trust you for a long time after what Parvati's just told me!"

Chloe blocked it. "I'm sorry!" She cried. "If it would help, I'd tell Harry it was all a big mistake, then never talk to him again!"

Padma stopped trying to push her off to the side, and stared straight into her eyes. "Then why don't you?" She asked, a dangerous tone to her voice.

Chloe gulped. "Because there's got to be some other way..." She trailed off, hoping, praying that Padma wasn't really going to make her take up on her word.

"Nope. Not any I can think of. Choose, your sister, or some guy." Padma said coldly, going through the door to the kitchen and stomping up the stairs.

Chloe stared at the floor. What had she done? Then she turned to Parvati.

"I'm going to get you back for this." She growled threateningly.

"Oh I'd like to see you try!" Parvati said brightly, a fake smile plastered on her face. "Guess you're regretting telling on me now. You do realize that I have to shovel snow for our neighbours in order to pay mom that money back? This is hard labour that I wouldn't have to do if you hadn't opened your big mouth!" Parvati spat bitterly. "Imagine what will happen to these?" She whined, holding up her immaculate nails.

Chloe couldn't help but smile. The few witches and warlocks that lived around them were old, cranky, and considered 7 Knuts to be good pay.

"You'll never make it back." She said gleefully. "That should be enough, but I'm still going to have to make you sorry!" She reminded her, her tone a lot less threatening.

Parvati just flounced away, into the living room. Chloe's glee disappeared quickly when she remembered the inexplicably impossible promise she'd made to her sister, then dragged herself miserably up to her room, shutting her door behind her.

*(A/N)* Ahh, sisterly love.

Review? Thanks!

Next part out later!

*S~B*