Characters: Padma Patil & Parvati Patil Locale: Trafalgar Square, London Date: 25 October 2003 Warnings? Sisterly love!
Though Padma did not adher utterly to the faith that had followed her parents to England from India, she enjoyed the little mysteries, the rituals and the poetry, of every faith she had encountered. Still Diwali, this festival of her family, was her favorite, and influenced only in part by childhood memories.
Trafalgar Square was ablaze, candles and oil lamps burning, spilling their scent into the streets. There were people everywhere, but their songs, breath and chatter were not deafening, but a hum that warmed Padma's skin and resonated in her bones. It was the comfort of friends crowded in her dormitory at school, the bustle of the street markets in Kottayam, gathered family for the holidays.
And it was Parvati, then, sharing a bed in a sleeper car when they were very small and could not agree on who should sleep on top and who should sleep on the bottom, always wanting the same space.
Padma hugged her package for her sister tightly under the Muggle wool coat she wore, waiting for Parvati.