snack time || Mandy & Parvati
Parvati wasn't really sure why she'd never gotten to know Mandy Brocklehurst better. Actually scratch that, yes she did. The friendly Ravenclaw girl was friends with her twin sister. Now, it wasn't as though she had a personal policy of never being nice to Padma's friends or anything -- hardly. In fact, she knew a lot of such friends and had no problem joining in. But hanging out with those people without her sister was, well, separate business entirely. Michael Corner, the boy she "studied" with in the library (aka flirted with and occasionally snogged) didn't count because the two of them were friends in an, ahem, different way. So perhaps the unspoken policy was less overlapping social circles and more of one...not to encroach on each other's territories?
After all, Parvati didn't want to share her close friends with Padma, either. If her sister and, say, Lavender started spending quality time together without her, that would just be weird. It probably wouldn't ever happen, so there wasn't anything to worry about there, but it was the principle of it all rather than the practice.
And yet...
There she was, heading down to the kitchens with Mandy, talking about things. And not hating it, not even really feeling guilty. Alright, maybe a little guilty, but that had more to do with her "incident" involving one of the other girl's friends. That aside, it was just nice, you know, to be able to do normal stuff like sneaking down to the kitchens for her favourite food, especially times being like they were. Clones and everything, running about and no one knowing who was who. It messed with a person's head, and understandably so. Being paranoid and touchy was an expected response, wasn't it?
But not her -- Parvati didn't want to be paranoid. She didn't want to wonder if her sister or her best friend or the people she shared a dorm with were really waiting to turn into creepy-ass snakes. So she tried her damned hardest to pretend none of it was happening, except it was a feat that got harder and harder every day. The more difficult it became, the harder she tried. And Mandy had called her tough for it, something Parvati hadn't expected to hear, ever.
The two girls chattered absently as they made their way down to the dungeons, where Parvati eventually reached up to tickle the pear in the painting which led to the kitchens. The sight of excited house-elves made her feel happy --even if it was only house-elves, you know, at least some in the castle weren't losing their damned minds.
"Chin naan is amazing, I swear," she gushed, sitting down on one of the handful of chairs off in the corner. It would be a little while before there was anything to eat. Well worth the wait, in her opinion.
"My mum thinks it's a bastardisation of our culture or something but even she likes it," Parvati continued, laughing. "I'm glad you wanted to tag along, by the way. I don't think we've ever really talked outside of class or without Padma."