Padma Patil

Thanks for the owl--exams are off to a good start and I'm sure it'll all be fine.

But your news! So you finally convinced Mum about Inderpal? That's wonderful, Pavs. How? I know you said it happened right after our birthday but tell me all about it! I want to know everything.

I just hope that doesn't mean she's holding that Mr Gowda in reserve for me, you know? I guess we'll handle it if it happens.

So when did you set the date? Not til I get home, right? I can't wait to see you and we'll talk for days and days.

So who do you think wrote to that Wagstaff bloke?

Sloper or Capper?

Incidentally, I saw that you wrote to Daphs. Is she okay? She's seemed so quiet lately, and that's not like her at all.

Also, I've been meaning to say, thanks for not making me feel like a dolt for inviting you to Camelot when it was your mum's wedding. I knew it was but I thought since it was in the evening you might not have much to do beforehand. I should have known better! Anyway, even if you couldn't come, I wanted you to know that you'd have been welcome.

And I thought you really handled your mum's wedding and all of that really well. I mean, not that you'd do anything otherwise, but I saw some of the reports about it in Dish and it all looked well grand. Is Cooper nice? He seems nice. I mean, not like some terrifying stepfathers like in a novel. Really normal.

Oh, so what did you think of the mural? I thought it came out all right but there's something...I dunno, sort of common about it. I think traditional portraits are so much more elegant, don't you? But it's also sort of nift the way it sort of changes depending on whether you're looking at it when the staircase is sideways or straight on. And from the 2nd floor instead of the 1st. It's going to take some getting used to, I think.