Notes: Just some Padma/Lavender fluff. ::looks around:: Thanks to thisredrock for being a beta.

"You'll never guess what happened today!" Parvati exclaimed. She never cared about things like keeping quiet in the library. Madam Pince gave her a stern look.

"What." Padma didn't even bother making it sound like a question. She knew Parvati would tell her anyway. She always did.

"Dean Thomas asked Lavender to go with him to the Three Broomsticks next week." Padma watched her sister twist a lock of hair, a bad habit they both shared.

"So she agreed and now you want to go with me?" Padma kept her voice cool and casual, bordering on sarcastic.

"Padma! An older Hufflepuff asked her last week, too!" Now Parvati was raising her voice.

"What are you going on about?" Padma looked down at her half-finished essay. It really needed to be done by dinner; she knew she wouldn't have time later.

"Why doesn't anyone seem to know you two are, you know, serious?"

"Because we're not," Padma informed her sister.

"Yes, you are! You two are perfect for each other, and you've been spending so much time together..."

"Yes, because she's fun. That doesn't mean we're declaring our love for each other."

"But, you love her!" Parvati protested.

"Parvati, please." Padma was becoming impatient. "She's sweet and funny and a good kisser, but that doesn't mean I can't live without her. Now, if you don't mind, Snape will be very angry if I don't finish my essay."

Parvati stared at her sister for a while, before getting up to go get ready for dinner.

-

"Are you okay?" Parvati asked softly. Padma nodded and looked over at the lake. Some First Years were trying to tempt the giant squid with a half- eaten sandwich. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Y'know, because of Lavender."

"Oh, that." Padma tried her best to sound surprised, as if she had forgotten all about it. "Doesn't matter."

"Are you sure?" Parvati asked, putting her hand on her twin sister's shoulder.

"Positive," Padma said, and looked down at her Herbology book. N.E. were coming up, and Padma was starting to feel like she had taken on too many subjects. The stress was really starting to get to her, and she had no time to see Lavender any more. So it was a good thing, really. Her parents would kill her if she could less than E's on her N.E. . Well, maybe they could deal with A's, but they wouldn't speak to her for weeks. She couldn't fail her parents. She just couldn't. Padma put her finger in the book to mark the spot. "You like Neville, right?" She said it casually, but made it clear she wanted to steer the topic away from Lavender.

Parvati sighed, but then giggled and hid her face in her hands. "I do, I do!" Padma fell over giggling, too, and the two of them discussed whether or not Parvati should get together with Neville.

-

"Can you believe Lavender and Seamus are together again?" Parvati asked. "I thought that was just going to the Yule Ball together, not anything serious... I wonder if they'll get married!"

Padma rolled her eyes. Now that they had finished Hogwarts, Parvati apparently thought it was time to get married. iLavender and Seamus? They seemed wrong together/i, Padma thought. iLavender deserved better./i

"So what are you doing tonight?" Parvati asked.

"I've got a date with Terry Boot." Padma smoothed her hair. She was letting it out tonight, which felt odd, because her hair was usually in plaits or ponytails.

"Why is everyone dating people from Hogwarts?" Parvati whined. "I need someone. Maybe I should get back together with Neville. He was really sweet. I don't know why I broke up with him..."

Padma looked in the mirror, and, pleased with what she saw, said, "Listen, Parv, I'd better get going." Tonight, she would have fun.

-

She saw plenty of people over the years, but they never worked out. Stewart Ackerly (probably because he was too young and immature), Orla Quirke (too weird- really, those two would be better off together), Oliver Wood (too into Quidditch and not enough into getting her into bed)...

Now she was seeing Terry Boot, who was smart, sweet, funny, and good- looking, and knew just how to treat her. Padma really couldn't understand why she wasn't head-over-heels in love with him. She also heard, through Parvati, that Lavender was also back with her Hogwarts guy; Seamus Finnigan.

She had been with Seamus for a while, before Padma, just as Padma had been with Terry. i He doesn't deserve her/i, Padma thought. iHe's much too childish, doesn't understand her./i

"I really think Seamus changed," Parvati had said. iWell, perfect/i. Padma was glad. iAt least Lavender would be happy, right/i? She only wished she had the courage to go up to Lavender and tell her that herself. iBut she's the Gryffindor, not me/i, Padma argued with herself. She stared at herself in the mirror. She was wearing midnight blue dress robes, with a white strip down each arm.

"Looking sharp," her mirror said.

"Thanks," Padma replied. Another night, another date. Lavender would think this wasn't dressy enough. Lavender loved getting dressed up, so Padma had tried to take her out many times, just to see her have fun and dress up. She would even go to the library a couple days before; if just to find a charm that would make sure her robes wouldn't wrinkle the whole night, or to kept her hair up. It had always been worth it, to make Lavender smile.

-

Parvati insisted, or at least tried to. She always did. Parvati had decided she should have a party to get together all of her old Hogwarts friends and acquaintances, or what was left of them, at least. And Parvati decided that Padma and Lavender should get together sometime before the party "to catch up".

Padma tried to convince Parvati that she was busy, but she knew Parvati wouldn't buy it for a second. Work at Florean's ice cream parlor didn't take too much time (she was still deciding if she wanted to be a Healer or an Auror. She cursed herself for getting the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s needed for both, telling herself it would have been much easier to decide if one of the options were closed to her. She couldn't see herself deciding any time this century), and she was taking a short break from dating (or so she was telling people). In short, free time was not something she needed. But she still made sure her "no" to Parvati was sharp.

She was very surprised when Parvati said, "Okay, no big deal. You'll see each other at the party, anyway. So, help me with the guest list." Something was fishy, indeed. Padma picked up Parvati's guest list and added some names.

-

"So how have you been?"

"Great, and you?" iOh, no/i, Padma thought. iSmall talk/i.

"Great. I heard you went out with Stewart Ackerly."

Padma wrinkled her nose. "Only a few times."

"Why?"

"I think he's be better off suited for someone else. Someone else I've dated."

Lavender giggled. "Who?"

"Orla Quirke."

"She was a Ravenclaw, too, wasn't she?"

"Yes, a few years younger than us. The same year as Stewart."

"No!" Lavender shrieked. "And you think they should be together?" Padma loved making Lavender laugh, so she talked more about Stewart and Orla.

"She talks a lot. And he listens a lot. And they seem to be interested in the same things- as each other, not me."

Lavender got serious. "I'm sorry."

Padma shrugged. "It's all right, really. I suppose it just wasn't meant to be."

"Yeah..." Lavender trailed off.

iParvati probably planned this/i, Padma thought. iShe probably isn't planning to get back, and she probably invited Lavender here./i

"Lavender? Did Parvati ask you to come here?"

"Yeah, she told me she had to give me-" Realization dawned on Lavender's face. "You don't think she planned this?"

"She told me to meet her here."

"She's not going to come?"

"My guess is no." Padma sighed. Her sister was devious. She should have been put in Slytherin. Then again, she used to be pretty innocent. Padma wondered when that changed.

"So, you and Seamus got back together." Padma tried to get the conversation moving again, after a few minutes of silence.

"Oh, I don't know. He's a fun guy, but I can't see any future with him," Lavender said.

"Why not?"

Lavender just shrugged. A few minutes more were passed in silence. "We had fun, didn't we?"

"Yeah, when we were in school, the three of us were always together..." Padma knew that wasn't what Lavender was talking about.

"That wasn't what I was talking about."

"I know." Padma was silent for a few moments longer. "It really was fun. I loved you, I think," Padma said quietly.

"What happened? You never wanted more. You never wanted to get serious."

"I did, I was just afraid to admit it, I didn't want to force you..." Padma bit her lip. She really shouldn't be saying all this. But Lavender noticed, as always.

"Go on. What do you mean? Are you serious?" Padma nodded, a tiny nod, so maybe Lavender would miss it. "I've thought about you a lot, over these past few years," Lavender whispered, moving closer to Padma, locks of her hair falling between their faces. Lavender pushed the hair aside, pushed it behind her ears.

Padma's heart was beating faster, now. iShe's too close, too close, too close. And she has such great hair.../i Padma had always envied Lavender's straight, silky, light hair, as opposed to hers. Her hair was thick and dark and had always been a bit wavy, so it had to be kept long. Lavender could do whatever she wanted with her hair and it would always look great.

"You know I want to kiss you," Lavender whispered.

"I know," Padma whispered back. She needed to move away, she Ireally/I needed to move away, but before she knew what she was doing she was kissing Lavender, over and over and enjoying it like she had never enjoyed a kiss before.

-

Padma and Lavender were lying down on Parvati's couch, covered in a blanket, hugging and whispering sweet nothings in each other's ears when Parvati walked in, carrying big brown bags. She grinned when she noticed them. "It worked, didn't it? You're back together?"

The truth was, they hadn't talked about it. They kissed, made out a bit; they talked and laughed, but didn't talk about the future. Padma's heart started beating fast again, while she tried to decide what to say. As it happened, she didn't need to.

"Yeah, I think we are," Lavender said casually. She stood up, but not before kissing Padma's forehead. "Do you need help setting up the party?"

For once in her life, Padma felt calm. It didn't matter if she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do with her life, or if she hadn't talked to her former best friend since Hogwarts ended, or if Parvati annoyed her at times, or even if she and Lavender didn't last. At that moment, everything in her life felt complete.