A/N: This was written for the Sibling Rivalry Challenge by My Dear Professor McGonagall; my pair was Parvati and Padma Patil. McGonagall's comment to the ghosts is a quote from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 7 "The Sorting Hat," by J. K. Rowling.

Gemini Divided

September 1, 1991

I had been looking forward to this moment all summer—well, forever, really—but now that Padma and I were actually at Hogwarts, I was overwhelmed with nerves.

"What if we're not in the same house?"

"Of course we'll be in the same house. We're twins."

That's my sister, calm and confident. I'd never seen her hesitant about so much as a hair ribbon.

Behind me, a brown-haired girl was mumbling under her breath. She seemed really nervous, too.

Several people screamed, and we turned around. Ghosts were streaming through the back wall. There were ghosts at the family estate outside Surat, but we'd never seen this many at one time. I tuned them out, too nervous to worry about someone long dead. Padma and I were home-schooled, it had never occurred to me we might be separated for lessons.

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

I queued up behind Padma and we followed the professor—I can't remember her name—and the other first years into a large hall filled with older students. Why hadn't Mum and Dad mentioned how many students there were at Hogwarts? Four long tables of them, and she was leading us all the way to the front. She set down a stool and a hat and the entire hall waited in silence. Then the hat burst into song.

I listened as the Sorting Hat described its job and a bit about the four houses, and then the professor (I should've asked Padma, maybe she heard what the giant called her) began reading names from a list. Hidden by the folds of our robes, I reached for Padma's hand. Hers was sweaty, too.

Students had scattered to all four tables (the nervous brown-haired girl looked quite pleased to be sorted into Gryffindor) when the professor called, "Patil, Padma!"

I let go and waited, hardly daring to breathe. Where would the Sorting Hat put her?

"RAVENCLAW!"

Padma sat down at the table second from the left.

"Patil, Parvati!"

I passed a few students, picked up the hat, sat down, and tried it on. It sank down onto my nose. I thought of all the people who had worn this hat over the centuries and resolved to wash my hair tonight.

"Ah, twins!"

I jumped. I wasn't expecting the hat to talk in my ear. Or was it thinking inside my head?

"Always interesting, two people similar but different. You're a sharp one, just like your sister; a strong sense of justice, tempered by compassion; and what's this? An independent streak?"

I squirmed. This was very unsettling, having one's thoughts read by a hat.

"You might do well in Gryffindor. They're a bit short on girls this year."

No, I want to go with my sister!

"Are you sure? I see here that earlier this summer you were hoping Hogwarts would give you a chance to be your own person instead of just one half of 'the Patil twins.' Being in separate houses would facilitate that."

Well, that was true. Even our parents referred to us as "the twins" and we shared everything. People gave us the same gifts; we even had the same friends. Maybe if I went to a different house we could explore our own likes and dislikes, have our own friends, be Padma and Parvati for a change.

You think I'd make a good Gryffindor? I've never thought of myself as daring.

"It takes a great deal of courage to know what you want and go after it, especially when it defies expectations."

Well, it's not like we'd never see each other. We were both first years, surely we'd have some lessons together.

All right, then.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

I had to pass Padma to get to the Gryffindor table. She looked shocked and a little frightened, and as our eyes met, I knew she had expected me to follow her, whichever house she went to. For the first time ever, I made a decision for myself, and it hurt the other half of me.

()()()()

September 2

My dormitory mates and I—Lavender Brown and Hermione Granger, the anxious brunette—came down to breakfast together and were waiting for Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House (thank you, Percy Weasley) to distribute our timetables. Padma had already gotten hers from a tiny wizard I assumed to be Head of Ravenclaw but she was still seated at the Ravenclaw table.

I snatched the parchment from Professor McGonagall and hurried out of the Great Hall, Padma on my heels. We found a quiet spot in the curve of the marble staircase.

"What happened?"

I swallowed. "The Hat said it thought I would do well in Gryffindor."

"Didn't you tell it you wanted to come with me?"

I nodded and fudged the truth. "It said it thought this way was better, with each of us given a chance to be our own person. This way we can be Padma and Parvati, not just 'the Patil twins.' "

Padma thought this over. I could tell she was intrigued by the idea, too. "But we don't have any lessons together, Parv."

What? I examined my previously ignored timetable. Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, History of Magic, Potions with the Slytherins, and Transfiguration. I stared from the parchment to Padma, stricken.

"We have Astronomy with the Hufflepuffs and Transfiguration with the Slytherins, but nothing with the Gryffindors. If we eat and sleep with our house, when are we going to see each other?"

Since I had chosen to be a Gryffindor, I should start acting like one. "Well, there's breaks. And we're taking the same lessons, just separately, so we can still revise together. And we'll have the weekends."

"Penelope, she's our fifth year prefect, she said lots of students have friends in other houses. She said we would just need to learn each other's schedules and arrange places to meet."

"See? We'll work it out. It'll take more than an old hat to separate us!"

"Well, I can think of one good thing." Padma's eyes went from the red and gold Gryffindor badge on the front of my robes to the gold ribbon I'd woven into my plait; her ponytail was trimmed with a blue and bronze bow. "At least people will be able to tell us apart!"