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Gryffindor...It's Just A Name | ||||
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Category: Post-HBP Characters:Other Genres: Angst, Drama, General Warnings: None Rating: G Reviews: 7 Summary: *** The author has been reminded via the e-mail address on file that this story is listed as incomplete and has not been updated since 2005 *** An 8 part ficlet, one chapter for each seventh year Gryffindor character. Eight different people, Eight different problems. Each takes the time to take a look at themselves and discover what it really means to be a Gryffindor, and whether or not they've got the means to make it. Parvarti, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, Neville, Hermione, Ron and Harry explore their pasts to explain their present and to help reconfigure their future. Hitcount: Story Total: 3038 |
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Chapter 1: The Other Half The other half. For my first eleven years of life that’s all I was. Not Parvati. Never Parvati. Always Parvati and Padma, or Padma and Parvati, or even the girls and the twins. Even our own parents and friends couldn’t always tell us apart. And every single time we had been called by the wrong name, a tiny part of us had died. It’s odd growing up with no separate identity. No matter how hard we tried to separate from each other, it was deemed as a phase, and soon the girls would be back to normal. There were times that we got desperate. When we were 6, Padma and I decided to take drastic measures. Padma cut her hair and I put on earrings. Unfortunately we hadn’t done this with the wisest of choices. Padma used our father’s razor and ended up shaving her head. She was lucky. I, on the other hand, didn’t want to get into too much trouble, so I decided not to pierce my ears. Instead I Magic Glued my mother’s priceless sapphire earrings to my ears. Needless to say, it was a very uncomfortable floo to St. Mungo’s. But what was more fustrating, was that after my ears were put right - and we got a right scolding - our parents told the healer that their girls always had to do everything together. It was only too often that we heard things like this. I believe that there was a time before Hogwarts that we gave up. We decided not to care. Not that that helped. Your heart doesn’t change its opinion just because your mind does. As much as we played the part of the perfect twin sisters, it still stung to be considered just a half of one whole person. Not as though I expect you to understand. When has anyone ever understood? Sometimes you begin to wonder if you really are a separate person, no matter how much you try to be different. If I changed bodies with Padma, would anyone know the difference? We were almost identical in appearance and our personalities shared many similar traits, but on the inside, we knew they were different. We had our own thoughts and ideas, though nobody ever thought to ask. And you’d be surprised as to how much that hurts. Like you only share one opinion between you. Like it doesn’t matter what you think, as long as Padma spoke up first. If one of us disappeared, would anyone notice? And then we came to Hogwarts. Padma was sorted first. It was no surprise that she was sorted in Ravenclaw. She was always the more intelligent one. Not that anyone knew which of us was smarter than the other, nobody knew we were different. Apparently there was nothing to be different about. We were the same, weren’t we? Then I got under the ancient hat. Not that I was worried, I mean I was going to be sorted into Ravenclaw anyways. Padma was, so, so should I. Our parents had trouble telling us apart, so why should an old hat be able to do something no one else had ever done before. That would be magic. So there I was, sitting in front of the entire school, with a shabby hat on my head. And there I was, knowing that this was no place new, that my sister was still going to going be judged by her twin. And so was I. Ahhhh, another set of identical twins, gasped the hat in deep hoarse voice. I thought I’d seen the last of them for a while after Fred and George. I paid no mind to another comparison to yet another twin. Interesting, interesting. You’re a person of great determination and intelligence. You would indeed make a good Ravenclaw, as you seem to have expected. But - ah yes I see it now- there’s something else, a great thirst to prove yourself. That being said, you must belong in...GRYFFINDOR! The last word he spoke, which the whole Great Hall had heard, were the last words I comprehended for several hours. My elation, however, was short lived. The next day, my father’s barn owl swooped down knocking over my glass of pumpkin juice. As I expected it to, of course; it was probably a note of congratulations. Instead, only a sentence was written on the parchment. It must have been a mistake, I’m owling Dumbledore. A simple line that almost emotionally killed my sister and I. Whether we wanted it or not, we would always be seen as the same person, even if we were two. As time went on, I obtained certain freedoms I never experienced at home. Or at least I thought I did. I think that for a while I just pretended that at least here people always thought I was someone separate from my sister, and her from me. But I think I always knew, knew that if the time came the only one who would know that it was me would be me. And Padma. I soon proved this theory. I dressed like Padma, and did my plait just like hers. I walked down the hall confident that at least my best friend would recognise me. It was then that Lavender tapped me on the shoulder. “Padma, if you see Parvati, tell her I have some really juicy gossip about Eloise Midgen for her.” It was only then that my suspicions were confirmed. I sighed, nodded, and walked away. Back to be me, I suppose. But then again, even when I was my sister I was me, and when I was me, I was her. I started to think we really were just the same person, only with two names for convenience sake. I think what was one of my most interesting experiences was when I actually met Fred and George Weasley. They were the first unexplainable pieces of magic that I first encountered at Hogwarts. They finished each others sentences, called themselves Gred and Forge, and it seemed to amuse them each time someone confused who they were. It took me a while to figure out why they didn’t seem to care that that’s all they were. Just Fred and George, no just Fred and no just George. It was because they weren’t separate anymore. They had lost their separate identities. Somewhere along the line they had given up, lost hope that they were ever going to be seen as anything other than twins. They were what I was soon to become. Hopeless. I started to give hope. I continued to act normal, whatever normal was. This time when someone called me Padma, I didn’t bother to correct them. It began to sting less and less. It’s coming to a point where I really don’t care anymore. My whole life had been about being her and myself, and now, my whole life was going to be about being the both of us. So you see, the Sorting Hat really had made a mistake.I should have been put into Ravenclaw. I’m no Gryffindor. I’m not brave. Those who are liars can not be brave. If we were brave we could face the truth. So I guess Gryffindor is just a name. A silly eleven lettered word. The sorting hat can be wrong, it’s often wrong. Take a look. Do you really think everyone belongs? Naive. That is what you are. Very few here are brave enough to stand up for what they believe in. We are all cowards. Hiding behind one facade or another. A/N: Sorry it’s short, most of the chapters will be longer. Also the standard disclaimer, none of this is mine, just the little plot bunny. So there will be 8 chapters, one for each 7th year Gryffindor. Please read and review, that’s what makes me write faster. Also thanks to my beta, steva34, for editing my story. |
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