Sisters No Matter What (Padma/Luna)

[slashluv18]

Sisters No Matter What
Rating: PG
Pairing (s)/Character (s): Padma/Luna, Dean/Parvati (mentioned briefly), Lavender Brown
Warnings: femslash, EWE
Word Count: 2,205
Summary: Padma and Parvati Patil learn that sisters are there for life, no matter what.

As children, Padma and Parvati were extremely close. Family being important was true for many people of Indian heritage, and being twins, Padma and Parvati took it to the next level.

When they were little girls, they were inseparable. Although they were not as mischievous, they could be compared to the Weasley twins when it came to their closeness. They sometimes acted as if they shared a brain, similar to the Weasley twins. That was when their personalities were very similar, before they grew to be their own people.

When Padma and Parvati were kids, people couldn't tell them apart. They wore the same outfits, they played the same games, and they even spoke in the same tone.

As they got older though, unique personalities began to shine through. While Parvati, at a young age of nine, liked fashion and staring at herself in the mirror, making sure she looked just right, Padma could be found with her nose buried in a book. She loved to learn and had an inquisitive nature. Their father was already saying that while his darling daughter Parvati would probably be a Gryffindor, his other darling daughter Padma was a born Ravenclaw.

Those differences began to evolve into scrimmages, disputes that turned sometimes turned bloody with broken bones.

Padma could still remember their first fight that ended up with a broken arm. They were nine years old and it was wintertime. Padma was looking for her favorite pair of stockings, a pair that their grandmother gave to her as a Christmas present. She couldn't find them anywhere, though.

After looking all over the room she shared with Parvati, she finally sought out her twin to ask about them. "Parv, where are my stockings?"

"Which ones?" Parvati asked, looking nervous for some reason.

Padma rolled her eyes. "My favorite stockings. You know the ones. They're beige with white stars all over them."

"Right." Parvati nodded, biting her lips, a nervous habit she developed almost a year before. "Well, you see, I borrowed them one day, and I—well, I kind of lost them." She finished her confession in a rush.

"You lost them!?" Padma screamed, her fists clenched in her rage. "What do you mean you lost them?"

"It wasn't my fault!" Parvati hurriedly said.

"What do you mean not your fault? You borrowed my favorite pair of stockings, lost them, and didn't bother telling anyone the truth so we might have been able to find them when it first happened. What part of that is not your fault?"

Parvati did not have any good response to that, and she ended up with a broken arm for her trouble. It took a long time for Padma to forgive her sister after that.

They continued to drift apart as they neared the year they'd go to Hogwarts. It didn't help matters when their parents decided to give the girls separate rooms, so they could grow into their own personalities even more.

One day, about a week before they were to go to Hogwarts for their first year, Padma left her room late at night, and quietly made her way to Parvati's bedroom. She cautiously knocked on the door.

A sleepy Parvati opened the door, rubbing her eyes continuously. "What is it, Pad?"

Padma twirled her long hair with her fingers. It was a move akin to Parvati biting her lips, a gesture done out of nervousness. It was also something Parvati picked up on immediately. "Padma, what's wrong?" she asked as she opened her door wider.

When Padma still stood in the hall, looking uncertain, Parvati grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her into the bedroom that was decorated all in pink.

They sat on Parvati's bed, cross-legged.

Padma stared at her hands, and she could feel her twin's eyes on her. "You know, we haven't done this in awhile?"

"Done what?" Parvati asked.

Padma shrugged. "Talk late at night. We used to do that all of the time."

"Things change."

Padma looked up just as Parvati shrugged. "Are you scared about going to Hogwarts?" she nervously asked, hoping she was making the right decision, and Parvati wasn't about to start teasing her for being a baby.

Parvati shrugged once again. "Why? Are you?"

Padma nodded. "What if I let down mother and father? What if I'm a failure? They have such high hopes when it comes to my grades; I don't want to disappoint them."

Parvati took Padma's hand. "First of all, the reason why they have such high hopes for your grades is because they know how smart you are. They know you'll do brilliant when it comes to your class work. All they really want is for you to do your best, and they know your best will be brilliant."

Padma smiled. "Thanks Parv."

"Do you want to know a secret?" Padma nodded, and she leaned forward eagerly. "I'm scared, too."

"Do you want to talk to me about it?" Padma asked. She wanted to help her sister, especially since she hadn't felt this close to her in a long time.

Parvati shook her head. "I can't, but thanks anyways."

Padma tried not to let her disappointment shine in her eyes, but she knew by Parvati's half-smile that she hadn't succeeded.

By the time they arrived at Hogwarts, Parvati was already getting ready to go her separate way from Padma. She had met this girl named Lavender on the train, and they were huddled together, giggling madly over something. It was probably something Padma would find to be unimportant.

The sorting happened the way their father figured it would. Parvati went to Gryffindor and Padma was sorted into Ravenclaw. She sat at the long table and watched as Parvati immediately situated herself next to Lavender, both of them sitting across from another first year, one that had bushy, brown hair and buck teeth. She watched jealously as Harry Potter was sorted into Gryffindor.

One would think that being in separate houses would drive an even greater wedge between them, but that just wasn't true. It might have been true if one of them had been sorted into Slytherin, but there wasn't any real rivalry between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. In fact, being in separate houses, have some space from each other, seemed to bring them closer together.

While they both had their own friends, they also made sure to make time for each other.

In Ravenclaw house, where there were others as studious as herself, Padma seemed to flourish. She was still quiet, but could be found hanging out with other first years.

One day, Parvati and Padma were hanging out by the lake. Padma was helping Parvati with her Transfiguration homework, and Parvati put her quill down, begging for a break.

Padma allowed it, leaning back against the tree in contentment.

"You seem happy here," Parvati mused out loud.

Padma smiled. "I am. I get along with Lisa and Michael so well. They don't seem to mind the fact that I'm so quiet. They just end up doing most of the talking, but it works for us."

Parvati smiled and laid her head on Padma's shoulder. "I'm glad you made friends. That was one of the things I worried most about. You've always kept to yourself and it scared me that you might not be able to make friends because of it."

"Well, I did."

"I'm glad," Parvati whispered.

Padma leaned her head on Parvati's and they stared at the giant squid. Both wore tranquil expressions; both felt at peace.

Although Padma and Parvati were enjoying the reclaimed closeness they shared as small children, there was one person who did not like it. It was Lavender Brown.

When she first got her acceptance letter to Hogwarts, she was looking forward to making a new best friend, a best friend that she could have all to herself, someone she wouldn't have to share. She didn't count on that new best friend having a twin sister. The bonds of twins were nearly unbreakable, but Lavender didn't want to share Parvati. Not at all.

She used trickery to try to get Padma out of the picture. When Padma asked Lavender to pass on a message to Parvati, Lavender forgot to. When Parvati was supposed to meet Padma to hang out or do homework, Lavender suddenly had a major problem that she needed her best friend's help with, causing Parvati to not show without letting Padma know the change of plans.

It all came to a head when Parvati realized it had been almost two weeks that she hadn't seen her sister except when it was during meals or passing her by when walking to classes.

Padma was standing right there when Parvati told off Lavender for her scheming ways. "I don't care what your excuse it, but you tried to come between me and my twin sister. There would never be any okay reason for that. It was just wrong."

"I didn't want to share you," Lavender quietly admitted.

Parvati rolled her eyes. "If anyone was doing the sharing, it was Padma. She has always had first dibs on me as she's my sister. I didn't see her trying to come between us, though." Parvati crossed her arms. "It will be a long time before I trust you again, Lavender Brown. You better make sure you never do something like this again."

Parvati turned away from the sobbing blonde, grabbed Padma's hand, and pulled her out of the room.

They became even closer after that. Parvati did eventually forgive Lavender, but things were strained between them for awhile.

In Padma's third year, she met Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw girl that was in her second year. She heard what other kids called her: Loony Lovegood, but Padma didn't believe her to be loony, just special and imaginative.

They got along very well. When Luna talked in her abstract way, only Padma could understand what she was getting at. When Luna smiled serenely in her direction, Padma felt herself blushing, but she was confused about what that meant.

In fourth year, when she went to the Yule Ball with Ron Weasley, she knew boys would never do it for her. There were all so immature, and in Ron's case at least, jerks. She wondered what Luna was doing that night. As a third year, she would have had to been invited by an older student to attend, but she knew no one had asked her.

What is wrong with people? Why can't they see how beautiful and intelligent Luna is? Padma thought morosely. She blushed lightly at her thoughts where Luna was concerned. As a year older though, Padma was starting to realize what her feelings for Luna meant.

Padma wanted to tell Parvati about what she was feeling, but didn't want to make a big deal if nothing ever came to fruition between the two of them.

Luna and Padma kissed for the first time in Padma's sixth year and Luna's fifth year. It was sweet and gentle, everything a first kiss should be. Luna smelled like cinnamon and it quickly became Padma's favorite scent in the world.

On the way to classes, Padma stopped Parvati. "I need to speak to you. It's important," she whispered.

Parvati sardonically raised her eyebrows. "Our usual spot after classes?"

Padma nodded before she hurried off to Potions.

When the girls met by the tree Padma was twirling her hair. Parvati simply raised her eyebrows as the old habit came back full force.

When they sat down, Padma took a deep breath. "Well, you see... it's like..." she stopped and tried to find the right words.

Parvati took her hand. "Take your time, Pad."

Padma nodded. "You know how Luna and I have been spending a lot of time together?" Parvati nodded. "Well, things between us have... changed." She carefully picked out the last word of that sentence.

"You mean the two of you are girlfriends now, right?"

Padma's eyes widen as they gazed into Parvati's eyes. "You knew I liked girls?"

Parvati shrugged. "I'm not as oblivious as people think I am."

"And you don't mind?" Padma cautiously asked.

"As long as Luna makes you happy, that's the only thing that matters to me."

They hugged. Now that Padma knew she had her twin's blessing, she wasn't afraid of the whole school finding out. She wasn't even afraid of her parents finding out. All that mattered to her was that Parvati accepted her.

Five years later, four years after the end of the war, Luna and Padma live happily together as a committed couple. Parvati is engaged to be married to Dean Thomas and the girls get together three or four times a week, just to have sister time. When Parvati gets married, Padma will be her witness and when Luna and Padma have a bonding ceremony, Parvati will stand up for her sister.

Although Padma's parents didn't take the news of her relationship very well, she was okay, all because Parvati stood up for her.

The girls know that no matter what life throws at them, they will always be there for each other. They will always have each other's backs. And that's what matters.