Flower Plait
Title: Flower Plait
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Romance/Angst
Length: 2920
Pairing: Padma/Parvati
Summary: It started with a glimpse in the crystal ball and spiralled into something so much more.
Note: Written during fem_exchange for joeyjames. Huge thanks goes to my beta strigoia.
It wasn't surprising that Parvati's parents refused to let them return for their seventh year at Hogwarts. It wasn't surprising, but that didn't mean she liked it. From the letters Lavender sent her, there weren't many people at Hogwarts anyway, and the ones that were spent their days in fear. If Hogwarts had been broken into once, it could be again. It was only a matter of time.
And Parvati believed that Hogwarts would be broken into again because she had read tea leaves and they confirmed it. Great peril would fall at Hogwarts. What else could it mean?
She could only hope that Lavender would be on Christmas hols or finished with school by the time that happened. It was possible. Wars lasted a long time.
But she needed to make sure Lavender would be fine because it wouldn't do for her best friend to die on her. Therefore, she pulled out the crystal ball she had picked up at the family trip to Diagon Alley last weekend. The ball glowed prettily and Parvati made a mental note to tell her parents she wanted some shiny jewellery for Christmas. And maybe she would get her belly button pierced.
"Not Divination again," a sharp voice groaned behind her. Parvati rolled her eyes and sent a half-hearted glare at her twin. It always amused her that Padma had a sharp, smart, almost boyish sounding voice while her own was light and happy. It was the main way that people could tell them apart. It was the reason they never had the opportunity of switching places when they were little like so many other identical twins could do.
"Divination is --" Parvati started.
"The best subject in the world. It tells you everything if you only know how to harness its power. It's an art form," Padma mocked, plopping onto the floor before Parvati, the crystal ball glittering between them. Padma spread her legs out so her sock-clad feet pressed against Parvati's thighs.
Parvati hissed, "I'm trying to see into the future. Mind going away? You're distracting me."
Padma huffed and shook her head wearily. "You're not stupid, Parvati. Why do you insist on wasting your talents with drudgery like Divination?"
She would never understand. Divination was hope and talent. It was magic at a height so different than what most wizards and witches could do. Only a select few could. And Professor Trelawny said she possessed the sight. One day she would be a world famous Seer and people would come from as far as the Bahamas to see if she happened to predict their future.
Padma dropped her upper body to the floor, giving a dull "Oof" when her head hit. She pressed a hand between her legs, keeping her skirt down.
The sunlight shone through the window and created a glare on the top of the ball. Parvati focused her attention near the bottom and thought very hard about Lavender and her safety. She ran nimble fingers over the crystal, careful to make sure her long nails wouldn't scrape it. She needed to paint them. Maybe purple.
She shook her head and focused all her attention on the task at hand. Suddenly she became aware of something in the ball. It was working! It was slightly distorted because of the roundness of the object but she could make it out. And she blushed. Was she seeing Lavender in the privacy of her bed?
A hand rubbed over the clitoris in the crystal ball, glimpses of pink and liquid showing through the fingers. But wait, Lavender had blond hair and the curls down there were black, rather like her own hair.
A heel dug into her thigh and she narrowed her eyes at the ball, trying to ignore everything going on around her so she wouldn't loose the image. "Sorry," Padma grunted. Parvati didn't answer.
A finger was now moving in and out of the slit. Maybe Lavender had dyed her pubic hair. Either way, Parvati couldn't ignore the tingling in her own clitoris. She contemplated slipping a hand down her knickers but Padma was still in the room.
Then again, they used to touch themselves while the other was in the room. Sometimes they would give each other tips. Despite their drastically different voices they sounded the exact same as they climaxed.
Another hand reached between the legs of Lavender and pressed at the top of her clitoris, rubbing then pushing between the skins, and suddenly it hit Parvati. The hand was dark and Lavender had milky skin. She jerked her head up to find Padma sprawled out, her hands between her legs. Embarrassed, Parvati had to squeeze her eyes shut and take a few deep breaths before speaking.
"You're not wearing any knickers," she pointed out dryly.
Padma shrugged. "You're my sister. We used to do this around each other all the time."
The next five minutes Parvati could do nothing but stare into the crystal ball. It stayed as clear as glass. Padma climaxed, her fingers coming away wet and sticky, and it was much too hot in the room. Then she walked out of the room, tugging her skirt down as she went.
She was twinning flowers in her plait when Padma barged through the door. Parvati finished adjusting the flowers then looked at her reflection in the mirror. It looked nice. Behind her was Padma, her eyes red, creases on her forehead, and tears streaming down her face.
"What is it?" Parvati asked, turning and catching Padma when she fell into her arms.
Padma let loose. She bawled loudly, her knees so weak she sagged in Parvati's grip. Quickly Parvati wobbled them over to the bed and they fell onto it. Padma's cries pierced the air and Parvati wondered when their parents would return from work.
"She's dead," Padma gasped once her tears had subsided enough to talk. It was then that Parvati noticed the rolled parchment in Padma's clenched fist. She peeled the parchment out and Padma's arms twisted around Parvati's waist and under her shirt. She buried her face in Parvati's breasts.
The letter informed her of Padma's best friend, Lisa Turpin's death. Parvati wanted to ask why she died and if she had been at Hogwarts when it happened, but Padma was shaking against her and she could find out information about Lavender's safety later, after she comforted Padma.
By the time their parents came home Padma was asleep and Parvati had to explain quietly as to not disturb her because there was no way she would be able to leave the room; Padma was twined around her so tightly it was uncomfortable.
Parvati couldn't fall asleep all night, not with the spot of drool dribbling onto her breast and the leg wedged so skilfully between her legs, snug against her clitoris. Carefully she rocked her hips. It felt so wrong to be humping Padma's thigh when she was sleeping and upset, but it felt so good that Parvati couldn't stop herself, even when Padma woke.
"You're weird," Padma's groggy voice resounded around Parvati's breasts. But she was mouthing her nipples through her pink shirt so Parvati didn't move away.
All too soon, Parvati reached climax and fell asleep. The next morning she woke alone, the sounds of the shower running down the hall.
At dinner, blind to their parents' eyes, they shared a secret grin.
"Let me," Padma said and Parvati released the eye shadow container, letting it fall into her sister's outstretched hands. She hadn't been aware that Padma could put on makeup.
It turned out she couldn't.
The left eye was darker and the right eye was smeared half-way down her cheek. Then Padma leaned over with lipstick, making Parvati wonder if she should run away.
Mustering her courage, she muttered, "Do your worst."
And Padma did. She grinned maliciously and stroked the red tip over Parvati's lips. It sent shivers down her body. She was burning even though the bedroom window was covered in frost.
"Did I ever tell you you're pretty?"
"We are identical."
"So we are," Padma said with a giggle that Parvati didn't hear often. It made her want Padma even more. But they hadn't done anything since that night one month ago. Would Padma push her away?
Deciding she wasn't sorted in Gryffindor as a mistake, which Ron Weasley liked to say, she kissed Padma, the red stick smearing a line along her collarbone.
"We shouldn't," Padma said but she pressed Parvati to the bed and thrust their hips together.
Soon their clothes tangled collectively on the floor and all Parvati could think about was watching Padma touch herself. She said so and Padma frowned in confusion. Then she laid on her back and reached a hand between her legs, fingers disappearing in fine black hair.
Parvati almost came right then and there.
Watching Padma's face contort into pleasure with her mouth gasping open and eyes squeezed shut, Parvati couldn't help but crouch between Padma's stiff legs. She reached a tongue out and licked Padma's finger. Padma tasted sweet and left a slightly bitter taste in her mouth that she wanted more of.
With Padma's fingers and Parvati's tongue it didn't take long for Padma to arch off the pink and purple comforter, muttering in a low voice that made Parvati's knees buckle.
Drowsily, Padma pulled her up and kissed her. Padma's fingers reached deep inside her, farther than she thought possible. As Parvati looked deep into her sister's eyes, the fingers stroking her insides, she knew she was in love. No one could be more perfect than her Padma.
The gloves fit snug on her small hands, clutching them lovingly. Parvati gazed at them adoringly. They were beautiful: colourful and bright. Rainbow stripped to show her love for Padma. Padma would love them. She would see them and she would understand that it was Parvati's quiet way of saying she loved her with all her heart.
"What are those?" Padma asked, lips curled, the moment Parvati walked in the front door. She was looking at the gloves in disgust.
Parvati shoved the bag containing another identical pair in her purse. She had been hoping Padma would wish one for herself, so she could show her love for Parvati.
"Rainbows are the symbol for homosexuality," Parvati stated. The gloves felt like they were suffocating her, trying to cut off circulation.
Padma nodded condescendingly. "Yes. So why are you wearing them?"
"Well, you and me. We --"
"You're incestuous, not lesbian," snapped Padma, "There's a difference."
Parvati clenched her fists together but the comforting bite of her nails was not to be found through the gloves. With a huff she stomped to her room. The moment the door slammed shut behind her the gloves hit it.
Sobbing silently, Parvati curled under the blankets. There wasn't a difference. It was still love.
The next morning both pairs of gloves were missing.
After the rainbow gloves fiasco Parvati pulled out her Divination cards and shuffled them. She needed to know if being with Padma was the right thing to do. Would Padma ever understand her? Did Padma love her?
The cards kept coming up with everything imaginable, but happiness was most frequent, coming up three times. Maybe they were confused with the war going on.
"The obituary section takes up two pages today," Padma said the moment Parvati entered the kitchen. She pulled them both a cup of tea and sat beside her. "Mum and dad already left for work."
That's all they ever did; work. Perhaps they figured that she had Padma and Padma her so they didn't need anyone else. They were good enough for each other. Or, that's what Parvati liked to think because Padma was all she needed.
She softly pressed her thigh against Padma's, but she didn't respond.
Padma, on the other hand, liked to say their parents were never cut out for kids. That their work was their children and biological didn't mean a thing to them. Padma was very bitter towards them. Parvati just wanted to cuddle in their arms, like when she was little, before Hogwarts.
"No one I know," Padma announced, sliding the Prophet in front of Parvati, almost upsetting her tea.
Parvati didn't bother to look in it. Padma was all she needed. Who cared about everyone else?
At least, that's what she liked to tell herself. The truth was she was too terrified to look at a long list of names, knowing they were the dead. What if someone she knew was in the list? It was the reason she'd stopped conversing with all her friends. It was easier to think they were leading a happy life without talking to her than to wonder why a response to her latest owl was taking so long.
Why couldn't the world be smiles and nail polish and flowers? Why couldn't someone get to killing You-Know-Who already?
"You disgust me," Padma said, cradling her cup and taking a sip. But she gave Parvati warm smile and the moment the cup hit the table her tongue was in Parvati's mouth.
She was instantly forgiven about the gloves. It was a stupid thing to be angry about anyway. Padma had other ways of showing her love. It was the reason they hadn't ended up in the same Hogwarts house.
"I love you," Parvati whispered, crawling into Padma's lap and ignoring the way the oak table cut into her spine.
Padma moaned and clutched Parvati's arse. Parvati wished they could make love on the table.
She got her wish.
Fingers carded through her hair, pulling it together and into a long plait. She tried not to shiver. She loved when someone played with her hair. And the fact that it was Padma just made it all the better. Every time a nail scraped against her scalp she had to clench her thighs together tighter. Padma seemed to notice this because she kept doing it.
"There." Padma brushed dislodged hair off her shoulders, then down her chest. She cupped her breast and Parvati was never so happy that she'd been woken and not allowed to dress. All she had on were the knickers she'd worn to bed.
"You're so beautiful," Padma breathed, pinching Parvati's nipples and making her arch against the chair.
"You look the same as me. Narcissistic," said Parvati, even though she thought the same way about Padma.
Padma' hands left her skin and Parvati watched her bend over in the mirror. "Shut up, you." She straightened, a bunch of flowers from the pots in the living room windowsill in her hands. "Or I'll do something with this flower here" -- she held up the one with the longest stem -- "that'll shock the magic right out of you."
"Go ahead," Parvati squeaked, desperate to feel her sister's hands on her.
Ever so slowly the stem traced a burning trail between her breasts, down her stomach, to dip under her knickers and into the moist wetness. Parvati opened her legs wide, wincing at the sharpness of the stem but loving it all the same.
Suddenly Padma dropped the flower and it landed on the seat, between Parvati's aching legs.
The rest of the flowers were being twisted in her plait and Parvati let out a little moan every time a stem brushed against her scalp. The sensations were overwhelming.
"We can't do this anymore," Padma said clearly.
Parvati tried to catch Padma's eyes in the mirror but Padma was looking at the dresser. Parvati's voice cracked, "What do you mean?"
Padma took a deep breath, hands falling to her side. "We are sisters. It's taboo. We aren't supposed to be like this together. People will talk. Mum and dad will find out soon, you're bollocks at keeping secrets. We're supposed to be sisters and that's it. Not lovers."
Parvati wished she was wearing clothes. She felt too exposed. Why hadn't she seen this in the cards? "Who cares what others say?" she asked, knowing the answer. Padma cared and by the look Padma gave her in the mirror she'd thought correctly. "But I love you," she pleaded.
"I love you too." She squeezed Parvati's shoulders briefly. "Like sisters. Oh, don't cry, Parvati, it's very unbecoming."
But she couldn't help it. Who else could she love as much as she loved Padma? Who else knew her so well? Who else could get under her skin and make her swoon at the same time?
"You had to have seen this coming. Siblings don't belong together in this way. It was doomed to fail from the beginning. You will find some nice boy, or girl, and forget all about this in a bit. Don't worry."
Parvati, however, knew that wasn't true. She would never love someone the same way she loved Padma: undyingly.
The door clicked and through the mirror Parvati saw Padma had left, back to her own room, or the kitchen. Maybe to owl some friends. It didn't matter. They'd see each other all the same for dinner.
In her room, darkness falling through the windows because of the coming storm, the daisies in her hair contrasting her emotions, she made a vow. For the duration of the war she would allow herself to desire her sister, but after... After the war Padma would be nothing but a family member avoided except for emergencies and Christmas.
She knew she would break the vow.
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Romance/Angst
Length: 2920
Pairing: Padma/Parvati
Summary: It started with a glimpse in the crystal ball and spiralled into something so much more.
Note: Written during fem_exchange for joeyjames. Huge thanks goes to my beta strigoia.
It wasn't surprising that Parvati's parents refused to let them return for their seventh year at Hogwarts. It wasn't surprising, but that didn't mean she liked it. From the letters Lavender sent her, there weren't many people at Hogwarts anyway, and the ones that were spent their days in fear. If Hogwarts had been broken into once, it could be again. It was only a matter of time.
And Parvati believed that Hogwarts would be broken into again because she had read tea leaves and they confirmed it. Great peril would fall at Hogwarts. What else could it mean?
She could only hope that Lavender would be on Christmas hols or finished with school by the time that happened. It was possible. Wars lasted a long time.
But she needed to make sure Lavender would be fine because it wouldn't do for her best friend to die on her. Therefore, she pulled out the crystal ball she had picked up at the family trip to Diagon Alley last weekend. The ball glowed prettily and Parvati made a mental note to tell her parents she wanted some shiny jewellery for Christmas. And maybe she would get her belly button pierced.
"Not Divination again," a sharp voice groaned behind her. Parvati rolled her eyes and sent a half-hearted glare at her twin. It always amused her that Padma had a sharp, smart, almost boyish sounding voice while her own was light and happy. It was the main way that people could tell them apart. It was the reason they never had the opportunity of switching places when they were little like so many other identical twins could do.
"Divination is --" Parvati started.
"The best subject in the world. It tells you everything if you only know how to harness its power. It's an art form," Padma mocked, plopping onto the floor before Parvati, the crystal ball glittering between them. Padma spread her legs out so her sock-clad feet pressed against Parvati's thighs.
Parvati hissed, "I'm trying to see into the future. Mind going away? You're distracting me."
Padma huffed and shook her head wearily. "You're not stupid, Parvati. Why do you insist on wasting your talents with drudgery like Divination?"
She would never understand. Divination was hope and talent. It was magic at a height so different than what most wizards and witches could do. Only a select few could. And Professor Trelawny said she possessed the sight. One day she would be a world famous Seer and people would come from as far as the Bahamas to see if she happened to predict their future.
Padma dropped her upper body to the floor, giving a dull "Oof" when her head hit. She pressed a hand between her legs, keeping her skirt down.
The sunlight shone through the window and created a glare on the top of the ball. Parvati focused her attention near the bottom and thought very hard about Lavender and her safety. She ran nimble fingers over the crystal, careful to make sure her long nails wouldn't scrape it. She needed to paint them. Maybe purple.
She shook her head and focused all her attention on the task at hand. Suddenly she became aware of something in the ball. It was working! It was slightly distorted because of the roundness of the object but she could make it out. And she blushed. Was she seeing Lavender in the privacy of her bed?
A hand rubbed over the clitoris in the crystal ball, glimpses of pink and liquid showing through the fingers. But wait, Lavender had blond hair and the curls down there were black, rather like her own hair.
A heel dug into her thigh and she narrowed her eyes at the ball, trying to ignore everything going on around her so she wouldn't loose the image. "Sorry," Padma grunted. Parvati didn't answer.
A finger was now moving in and out of the slit. Maybe Lavender had dyed her pubic hair. Either way, Parvati couldn't ignore the tingling in her own clitoris. She contemplated slipping a hand down her knickers but Padma was still in the room.
Then again, they used to touch themselves while the other was in the room. Sometimes they would give each other tips. Despite their drastically different voices they sounded the exact same as they climaxed.
Another hand reached between the legs of Lavender and pressed at the top of her clitoris, rubbing then pushing between the skins, and suddenly it hit Parvati. The hand was dark and Lavender had milky skin. She jerked her head up to find Padma sprawled out, her hands between her legs. Embarrassed, Parvati had to squeeze her eyes shut and take a few deep breaths before speaking.
"You're not wearing any knickers," she pointed out dryly.
Padma shrugged. "You're my sister. We used to do this around each other all the time."
The next five minutes Parvati could do nothing but stare into the crystal ball. It stayed as clear as glass. Padma climaxed, her fingers coming away wet and sticky, and it was much too hot in the room. Then she walked out of the room, tugging her skirt down as she went.
She was twinning flowers in her plait when Padma barged through the door. Parvati finished adjusting the flowers then looked at her reflection in the mirror. It looked nice. Behind her was Padma, her eyes red, creases on her forehead, and tears streaming down her face.
"What is it?" Parvati asked, turning and catching Padma when she fell into her arms.
Padma let loose. She bawled loudly, her knees so weak she sagged in Parvati's grip. Quickly Parvati wobbled them over to the bed and they fell onto it. Padma's cries pierced the air and Parvati wondered when their parents would return from work.
"She's dead," Padma gasped once her tears had subsided enough to talk. It was then that Parvati noticed the rolled parchment in Padma's clenched fist. She peeled the parchment out and Padma's arms twisted around Parvati's waist and under her shirt. She buried her face in Parvati's breasts.
The letter informed her of Padma's best friend, Lisa Turpin's death. Parvati wanted to ask why she died and if she had been at Hogwarts when it happened, but Padma was shaking against her and she could find out information about Lavender's safety later, after she comforted Padma.
By the time their parents came home Padma was asleep and Parvati had to explain quietly as to not disturb her because there was no way she would be able to leave the room; Padma was twined around her so tightly it was uncomfortable.
Parvati couldn't fall asleep all night, not with the spot of drool dribbling onto her breast and the leg wedged so skilfully between her legs, snug against her clitoris. Carefully she rocked her hips. It felt so wrong to be humping Padma's thigh when she was sleeping and upset, but it felt so good that Parvati couldn't stop herself, even when Padma woke.
"You're weird," Padma's groggy voice resounded around Parvati's breasts. But she was mouthing her nipples through her pink shirt so Parvati didn't move away.
All too soon, Parvati reached climax and fell asleep. The next morning she woke alone, the sounds of the shower running down the hall.
At dinner, blind to their parents' eyes, they shared a secret grin.
"Let me," Padma said and Parvati released the eye shadow container, letting it fall into her sister's outstretched hands. She hadn't been aware that Padma could put on makeup.
It turned out she couldn't.
The left eye was darker and the right eye was smeared half-way down her cheek. Then Padma leaned over with lipstick, making Parvati wonder if she should run away.
Mustering her courage, she muttered, "Do your worst."
And Padma did. She grinned maliciously and stroked the red tip over Parvati's lips. It sent shivers down her body. She was burning even though the bedroom window was covered in frost.
"Did I ever tell you you're pretty?"
"We are identical."
"So we are," Padma said with a giggle that Parvati didn't hear often. It made her want Padma even more. But they hadn't done anything since that night one month ago. Would Padma push her away?
Deciding she wasn't sorted in Gryffindor as a mistake, which Ron Weasley liked to say, she kissed Padma, the red stick smearing a line along her collarbone.
"We shouldn't," Padma said but she pressed Parvati to the bed and thrust their hips together.
Soon their clothes tangled collectively on the floor and all Parvati could think about was watching Padma touch herself. She said so and Padma frowned in confusion. Then she laid on her back and reached a hand between her legs, fingers disappearing in fine black hair.
Parvati almost came right then and there.
Watching Padma's face contort into pleasure with her mouth gasping open and eyes squeezed shut, Parvati couldn't help but crouch between Padma's stiff legs. She reached a tongue out and licked Padma's finger. Padma tasted sweet and left a slightly bitter taste in her mouth that she wanted more of.
With Padma's fingers and Parvati's tongue it didn't take long for Padma to arch off the pink and purple comforter, muttering in a low voice that made Parvati's knees buckle.
Drowsily, Padma pulled her up and kissed her. Padma's fingers reached deep inside her, farther than she thought possible. As Parvati looked deep into her sister's eyes, the fingers stroking her insides, she knew she was in love. No one could be more perfect than her Padma.
The gloves fit snug on her small hands, clutching them lovingly. Parvati gazed at them adoringly. They were beautiful: colourful and bright. Rainbow stripped to show her love for Padma. Padma would love them. She would see them and she would understand that it was Parvati's quiet way of saying she loved her with all her heart.
"What are those?" Padma asked, lips curled, the moment Parvati walked in the front door. She was looking at the gloves in disgust.
Parvati shoved the bag containing another identical pair in her purse. She had been hoping Padma would wish one for herself, so she could show her love for Parvati.
"Rainbows are the symbol for homosexuality," Parvati stated. The gloves felt like they were suffocating her, trying to cut off circulation.
Padma nodded condescendingly. "Yes. So why are you wearing them?"
"Well, you and me. We --"
"You're incestuous, not lesbian," snapped Padma, "There's a difference."
Parvati clenched her fists together but the comforting bite of her nails was not to be found through the gloves. With a huff she stomped to her room. The moment the door slammed shut behind her the gloves hit it.
Sobbing silently, Parvati curled under the blankets. There wasn't a difference. It was still love.
The next morning both pairs of gloves were missing.
After the rainbow gloves fiasco Parvati pulled out her Divination cards and shuffled them. She needed to know if being with Padma was the right thing to do. Would Padma ever understand her? Did Padma love her?
The cards kept coming up with everything imaginable, but happiness was most frequent, coming up three times. Maybe they were confused with the war going on.
"The obituary section takes up two pages today," Padma said the moment Parvati entered the kitchen. She pulled them both a cup of tea and sat beside her. "Mum and dad already left for work."
That's all they ever did; work. Perhaps they figured that she had Padma and Padma her so they didn't need anyone else. They were good enough for each other. Or, that's what Parvati liked to think because Padma was all she needed.
She softly pressed her thigh against Padma's, but she didn't respond.
Padma, on the other hand, liked to say their parents were never cut out for kids. That their work was their children and biological didn't mean a thing to them. Padma was very bitter towards them. Parvati just wanted to cuddle in their arms, like when she was little, before Hogwarts.
"No one I know," Padma announced, sliding the Prophet in front of Parvati, almost upsetting her tea.
Parvati didn't bother to look in it. Padma was all she needed. Who cared about everyone else?
At least, that's what she liked to tell herself. The truth was she was too terrified to look at a long list of names, knowing they were the dead. What if someone she knew was in the list? It was the reason she'd stopped conversing with all her friends. It was easier to think they were leading a happy life without talking to her than to wonder why a response to her latest owl was taking so long.
Why couldn't the world be smiles and nail polish and flowers? Why couldn't someone get to killing You-Know-Who already?
"You disgust me," Padma said, cradling her cup and taking a sip. But she gave Parvati warm smile and the moment the cup hit the table her tongue was in Parvati's mouth.
She was instantly forgiven about the gloves. It was a stupid thing to be angry about anyway. Padma had other ways of showing her love. It was the reason they hadn't ended up in the same Hogwarts house.
"I love you," Parvati whispered, crawling into Padma's lap and ignoring the way the oak table cut into her spine.
Padma moaned and clutched Parvati's arse. Parvati wished they could make love on the table.
She got her wish.
Fingers carded through her hair, pulling it together and into a long plait. She tried not to shiver. She loved when someone played with her hair. And the fact that it was Padma just made it all the better. Every time a nail scraped against her scalp she had to clench her thighs together tighter. Padma seemed to notice this because she kept doing it.
"There." Padma brushed dislodged hair off her shoulders, then down her chest. She cupped her breast and Parvati was never so happy that she'd been woken and not allowed to dress. All she had on were the knickers she'd worn to bed.
"You're so beautiful," Padma breathed, pinching Parvati's nipples and making her arch against the chair.
"You look the same as me. Narcissistic," said Parvati, even though she thought the same way about Padma.
Padma' hands left her skin and Parvati watched her bend over in the mirror. "Shut up, you." She straightened, a bunch of flowers from the pots in the living room windowsill in her hands. "Or I'll do something with this flower here" -- she held up the one with the longest stem -- "that'll shock the magic right out of you."
"Go ahead," Parvati squeaked, desperate to feel her sister's hands on her.
Ever so slowly the stem traced a burning trail between her breasts, down her stomach, to dip under her knickers and into the moist wetness. Parvati opened her legs wide, wincing at the sharpness of the stem but loving it all the same.
Suddenly Padma dropped the flower and it landed on the seat, between Parvati's aching legs.
The rest of the flowers were being twisted in her plait and Parvati let out a little moan every time a stem brushed against her scalp. The sensations were overwhelming.
"We can't do this anymore," Padma said clearly.
Parvati tried to catch Padma's eyes in the mirror but Padma was looking at the dresser. Parvati's voice cracked, "What do you mean?"
Padma took a deep breath, hands falling to her side. "We are sisters. It's taboo. We aren't supposed to be like this together. People will talk. Mum and dad will find out soon, you're bollocks at keeping secrets. We're supposed to be sisters and that's it. Not lovers."
Parvati wished she was wearing clothes. She felt too exposed. Why hadn't she seen this in the cards? "Who cares what others say?" she asked, knowing the answer. Padma cared and by the look Padma gave her in the mirror she'd thought correctly. "But I love you," she pleaded.
"I love you too." She squeezed Parvati's shoulders briefly. "Like sisters. Oh, don't cry, Parvati, it's very unbecoming."
But she couldn't help it. Who else could she love as much as she loved Padma? Who else knew her so well? Who else could get under her skin and make her swoon at the same time?
"You had to have seen this coming. Siblings don't belong together in this way. It was doomed to fail from the beginning. You will find some nice boy, or girl, and forget all about this in a bit. Don't worry."
Parvati, however, knew that wasn't true. She would never love someone the same way she loved Padma: undyingly.
The door clicked and through the mirror Parvati saw Padma had left, back to her own room, or the kitchen. Maybe to owl some friends. It didn't matter. They'd see each other all the same for dinner.
In her room, darkness falling through the windows because of the coming storm, the daisies in her hair contrasting her emotions, she made a vow. For the duration of the war she would allow herself to desire her sister, but after... After the war Padma would be nothing but a family member avoided except for emergencies and Christmas.
She knew she would break the vow.