There was power in twinhood. Oh, yes. It was an unwritten rule that no breathing male could resist identical twin sisters. Especially beautiful, sexy, vivacious, charming, exotic sisters. Especially the Patil twins, Padma and Parvati.
They weren't as close as one might expect identical twins to be—their different temperaments had, after all, sent them to different Houses—but they were still sisters, loyal to one another, ready to work together.
One of them might get lucky.
They spent three hours in Padma's dormitory, experimenting with every make-up and hair technique Ravenclaw females had ever come up with, looking in the mirror in disgust, and starting over. Parvati and Padma already knew they were the cutest girls in school, but that might not be enough. They had to look perfect.
Finally, they were ready. The house-elf they had asked to spy for them darted into the room, exhilarated from finishing an assigned task. "He is there, he is! In Greenhouse 5!"
"Doing extra credit, I suppose," said Padma.
Both girls sighed.
"He is sooo smart!" Parvati declared. "Well, let's go!"
Yes, the power of twins was amazing.
But sometimes twins could be a crowd. Though they both acted friendly toward each other, tension was high.
And so, at a rather steep staircase, Parvati performed a basic tripping curse on her sister. With a scream and not a few hardcore swear words, Padma tumbled down, down, down to the floor. She groggily sat up, then screamed again.
"By nose!" she sobbed. "Youb bwoke it!"
Indeed, blood poured down her new designer dress robes.
Parvati stood at the top and cackled. "Your nose isn't so cute anymore, is it?!"
She laughed so much that she didn't notice the footsteps behind her until she heard a familiar voice.
"Parvati, you're my best friend in the whole world. I know we promised each other a guy would never come between us, but. . . I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me." And with that, Lavender Brown dumped a pan of treacle tart all over Parvati.
"You tramp!" Parvati screeched. She whirled around and put a Bubble-head charm on Lavender, distorting the effects of her latest make-over.
Fleur Delacour saw the whole thing from the shadows where she hid. With a triumphant laugh, she darted down the stairs, past the feuding Parvati and Lavander, past the hysterical Padma, and toward the door. Her hand was almost on the knob when a voice came from above.
"Die, you Moulin Rouge wannabe!" Cho Chang circled lower on her broom before shooting a stream of something dark and sticky from her wand.
Fleur nearly cried as some of. . . it landed in her perfect hair. But she hadn't been Beauxbaton's champion for nothing! She quickly put up a shield, and the remaining stream ricocheted back into Cho's eyes. Momentarily blinded, she slammed into a wall. When she cleared the stuff away, she realized she had broken a nail. Her life was over. Neville would never want her now.
Hermione Granger was the last to enter the chaos. She sighed impatiently. "Girls, this is ridiculous! We all want Neville, but none of us can have him if we act like this! We'll have to work together!"
As much as the rest didn't want to admit it, she was right. They cleaned themselves up, and an hour later, they were on their way to Greenhouse 5. Altogether.
They were met with a shower of plant pus as soon as they entered, a shower that covered them from head to toe.
"Sorry!" called Neville in his sexy voice. "I didn't think the plant would do that!"
The girls sighed in unison and walked back out, where Hermione was beaten to a pulp.