PADMA, YOU LOSER!
Helloooo! I'm Parvati Patil, and I'm gorgeous! Seriously though,
I'm fifteen, in Gryffindor and very popular. Life would be almost
perfect if it wasn't for my sister. My twin sister, Padma. It's bad
enough having to share my model looks with her, as well as my initials,
but we're total opposites!
Padma has a very scathing opinion of me. Just because I don't
like to do anything much except my hair and my nails... honestly, you'd
think that was a crime. I collect Teen Witch magazine, she collects
Transfiguration Today. I riffled through it once, just to see why Padma's
always raving on about it. Very boring, I must say. Far too many words
and not enough pictures. So now you can see how very different we are.
But enough about Padma. Who wants to talk about her? I don't.
I'll tell you about my day. I had the funniest day. I walked into the
Great Hall alone, because Lav (my best friend) had slept in slightly
and was still in the dormitory doing her makeup. I sat down beside
Dean Thomas. He's got a crush on me, you know. But he asked out Padma.
PADMA! Imagine that. Dean and Padma. Still, me being the charming,
lovable person that I am, I was ready to forgive him. I said, "Hi,
Dean."
But Dean looked at me nastily and said, "Oh yeah?" He turned
away and continued talking to Ron Weasley. I was very hurt. I mean,
I'M the one who's meant to give the cold shoulder, not Dean! I found a
different place, next to Seamus. He's Dean's best friend, and has the
most adorable Irish accent. Too bad he Lavender's boyfriend. Well, he
won't admit it but he is, trust me.
I said sweetly, "Hi, Seamus. How's things?" He didn't even
look at me! It was the same with all the boys. Well, all the cute ones.
I finally sat next to Hermione Granger. Hermione's all right. Just.
That hair! Boys hate her. Well, Harry and Ron and Dean and Neville and
Seamus and all the Weasleys don't but everyone else does.
Hermione said, "Parvati, I'm suprised you can even come down
to breakfast with, you know, circumstances."
I told her I had no idea what she was talking about and she
raised her eyebrows and said, "But, Parvati, don't you remember
yesterday? Dean said hello to you and you told him that he was an
egotistical little twerp and to rack off and not to ask you out
ever again. You said it, no, YELLED it in front of all his friends."
I was so shocked and numb. I never said that! Questions buzzed
through my head and I picked the most prominent, "Ego-what?"
Hermione giggled. "The same old Parvati, I see. Got to go,
Eloise and I have to look something up in the library." She left.
Lavender arrived and sat next to me. "Parvie, what did you DO?"
she demanded. "The stupidest rumours... Ginny Weasley said you told
Dean Thomas to rack off. What WERE you thinking of?"
I was still shocked. "I... don't know." I said jerkily.
"Oh well," smiled Lav. "Listen, thanks for the offer."
"What offer?" I blurted.
Lavvie's eyebrows raced skywards. "You said you would help me
with my Transfiguration homework in return for borrowing my pink
lippy without asking," she said in a hurt voice. "You SAID!"
What was with everyone? "I never said any such thing!" I
shrieked.
"You certainly did." Lavender's voice was low and dangerous.
"In the toilets, not two minutes ago. You came in and said. You SAID,
Parv!"
"I didn't!" I yelled. People were starting to stare.
"If you're going to be such a !@#$% then you can eat breakfast
alone, then!" Lavender screamed. She stalked off in a huff.
The Gryffindors went down to Herbology. I stood next to Hermione
and tried to make conversation, but I was wasting my time. She was
talking to Ron and Harry about a chess game or something.
I couldn't talk to Dean or Lavender. I hate fighting with Lav,
but over something I didn't do!
I thought about the morning. Twice, I had supposedly done
things that I would never do in a million years. Then, as we were
leaving for Care of Magical Creatures, Professor Sprout caught me by
the arm and said, "Parvati, I'd just like to thank you for volunteering
to re-pot Venomous Tentacula plants this weekend instead of going to
Hogsmeade."
"But I didn't!" I said, louder than I'd wanted.
"Of course you did," said Sprout huffily. "This morning, in the
Entrance Hall, remember?"
"IT WASN'T ME, I DIDN'T!"
Sprout looked suprised and said angrily. "It WAS you,
Miss Patil! You showed me your name bracelet, remember? The one
with your name in pink and purple beads. You were telling me that
you'd gotten it fixed."
I was seriously freaked out. I DID have a name bracelet like
that once, but it broke in third year and I gave it to Padma. Padma
has a name bracelet too, but it has black and gold beads.
"Oh- right." I mumbled. I was defeated. I couldn't think of
any more good arguments.
At lunch, I couldn't face eating, so I hid in the girl's
toilets. Padma came in, beaming. She'd obviously had a great morning.
She saw me sitting forlornly on the sinks and said sweetly, "Anything
the matter, sis?"
I was about to tell her to get lost but I couldn't stand it
any longer and blurted out the details of my day. She was suprisingly
nice about it. She told me not to worry, and that she was sure I would
make up with my friends. Then she put a comforting arm around my
shoulder.
"Thank you, Padm-" I said, then stopped dead. She was wearing
a bracelet. A name bracelet. But it wasn't hers. It had pink and purple
beads, spelling out the name... PARVATI.
I gaped at it, then looked at her. Padma was grinning evilly.
My mouth fell open, I was speechless. But not for long...
"PADMA, YOU LOSER!" I roared. I tried to slap her, but she darted
nimbly away, down the corridor, away from the toilets, laughing and
laughing, my name bracelet glinting on her wrist.