No one ever claimed that life was simple. No one ever claimed that it was easy either. But you can try to simplify life; look at the facts and act based on the facts. I live my life by the book. I look at the facts surrounding a situation and make educated, well thought out decisions based on the information at my disposal. Sure, I think with my gut from time to time, but information gives me a feeling of security I can’t find anywhere else.

I guess my parents’ influence is part of what made me the type of person I am. Although, Parvati is nothing like me, so I’m not sure exactly how things like that work. We grew up in a traditional Indian, wizarding home with our parents and older brother Sanjay Jr. Our parents were very strict with us, and it never felt like anything I did pleased them. Junior, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to do anything wrong. He was the perfect Indian son. He’s now engaged to the perfect Indian woman and working with our father at his financial advising firm. If I hear my father say one more time how proud he is that Junior’s going to take over the family business, I think I may pull my hair out.

Parvati and I were very close when we were younger. We had our subtle differences, but we were each other’s best friends. Hogwarts changed all that. We went our separate ways and flourished with separate lives, separate classes, separate friends. (Although I do have to say I think I was a slightly better judge of character with my friends.) The distance between us was large and noticeable during the year that Hogwarts was closed. We spent the year locked up at home, yet we still weren’t able to renew the bond we once had. After much begging, my parents agreed to get me a tutor (after they completed a thorough background check, of course) to help pass the time, but Parvati wasn’t interested in taking lessons with me. I tried to get her to come read or research with me, but I got the feeling she would rather wear my books as a hat than actually read them. I’m sure she thought that I was insane for spending so much time studying when we had the year off of school, but she didn’t see how many letters I exchanged with my friends. One friend more than the others, but I’ll get to that in a minute. The sad truth is, the only thing I gained from that year off was a strong desire to get out of the house, and the country.

I’ve left something important out, but it was intentional on my part. Something very painful happened during the year off and I don’t ever think about it unless I absolutely have to. My best friend, Mandy, was killed that year when Death Eaters attacked her home. Her whole family was murdered. I wish I could have gone to her funeral, but my parents refused to let me out of the house. I just wanted to say goodbye to my closest friend. Unlike Su and Morag, Mandy and I were quiet and cared a great deal about our studies. Lisa tended to bounce back and forth between the two sets of best friends, but she definitely did not prove to be anything close to a replacement for Mandy.

Going back for my seventh year at Hogwarts was hard, especially after Mandy’s death. Looking back at all the facts, I’m not sure it was the best decision. After being pent up for so long, I wanted to get out, not be confined somewhere new. I tried to make the best of it, but I’m not sure how successful I was. As much as it pains me to admit it, the best thing about coming back was getting to see Anthony Goldstein. I hate that I allowed myself to get excited about seeing a bloke. A true moment of weakness. But I’m deviating from my point. I’d always known him, especially since we were prefects together. But it took the death of his father after Christmas in sixth year for us to really grow close. He needed help with some writing, and I was the prime candidate to help him. We spent the summer exchanging a countless number of owls, and after Mandy’s death he was there for me like I had been for him. When I saw him again my attraction for him hit me like a ton of bricks. He asked me to the first Hogsmeade weekend, and we were officially together after that. We were practically inseparable; people even went as far to call us the “perfect” couple. It was a fun time in my life, possibly too fun. My friends thought we’d be together forever… in reality, we were together about six months.

As much fun as I had with Anthony, and as much as he had become my best friend, I realized he was having a negative impact on my school work. When I received a ‘D’ on a Transfiguration essay and Professor McGonagall asked me if I was feeling alright, I knew that it was time to face the facts: Anthony was bad for me. I didn’t have any choice but to end our relationship. If I wanted to get a great job out of the country, I needed to focus all of my attention on my studies. I started to ask for extra work in my favorite classes (since I was ahead from all the tutoring I had) and before too long I was on the right track again. I’m proud to say I passed my NEWTS with flying colors, earning an ‘O’ in Charms, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes, and an ‘E’ in Transfiguration, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Herbology.

The bad thing was, without Anthony school got to be fairly miserable. He didn’t seem to miss me at all (seeing as how he was all over Lisa Turpin almost immediately after we had broken up), so I pushed him to the back of my mind, writing off our relationship as a learning experience. I was isolated in my house; Su and Morag just weren’t the type of company I liked to keep and Lisa was obviously no longer considered a friend. No one else seemed to understand why I dumped Anthony when we appeared to be so happy together, but not many people had the same career goals as me. I started to pull away from everything other than my classes. Actually, you might even say my ambitious goals separated me from my classmates that didn’t understand me. It was worth it in the end when I got the job offer of my dreams.

It’s important to explain that during my year of tutoring, I developed a fascination with Egypt and the research of Melinda Roberts. She’s the most brilliant witch I’ve ever read about, or had the pleasure of meeting. Her knowledge and research on Anubis is untouched. Muggles think he was a God, but he was really just a wizard that took advantage of muggles. It’s all amazing, really. Legend has it that he somehow stored his powers to one day pass on to an heir. It gives me chills to think of the great power he had being unleashed on the world. If the stories are true, he was more powerful than Voldemort could have ever dreamed of being.

I was completely shocked when I received an offer to be a research assistant under Melinda in Egypt. It’s a very low paying job, but it’s my dream. To be able to immerse myself in her world was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. So, as soon as I finished Hogwarts I packed up my things and took a portkey to Egypt. It’s one of the few decisions I’ve ever made with my heart, and I’ve been here ever since.

My life here started out fairly normally. I was overwhelmed by the work at first, but I quickly caught up with the rest of the team and proved myself capable. The team is full of interesting people, some almost twice my age, but one person in particular made a special impact on me.

On my 19th birthday a Spanish man by the name of Diego Reyes invited me out to dinner to celebrate. We had become friends fairly quickly when I first moved to Egypt, since he was the person there closest to my age, but something changed that birthday. I’m not ashamed to say I fell in love with him. He’s everything I’ve ever looked for in a man: handsome, brilliant, comes from a good family, treats me like a goddess… I could go on forever if you couldn’t tell. I can’t even talk about him without smiling. I don’t know what I would do without him. On my 20th birthday he promised me that when we left Egypt and had better paying jobs, we would get married. From that moment on, we practically lived like we were already married.

Unfortunately, in life with the good also comes with the bad. Not too long after our unofficial engagement, Diego and I were both promoted. I was promoted from a Junior Researcher to a full fledged Researcher, while Diego was promoted to Senior Researcher. The bad news was that meant he traveled to Spain once a month to make contact with some of our investors. He’s become my entire life, so it’s torturous every time I have to say goodbye to him, even if it’s only for a week. He has my heart, and he always takes it with him.

Melinda is the best mentor anyone could ever ask for. She listens to all my ideas and theories, and encourages me to follow my instincts. It sounds fairly simple, but as someone who tends to ignore their gut feelings, she’s made an impact on me. She’s almost been like a second mother to me. Of course, I talk to her much more than I talk to my real mother… or father… or sister… or brother… or friends…

Okay, I’ll admit it, I’ve not been a very good daughter, sister, or friend. I think I’ve only been home twice since I came to Egypt, and both of those trips were in my first year here. I still owl my parents regularly, and Junior checks in on me from time to time. Parvati, on the other hand, I’m honestly ashamed to call my twin half the time. I thought she was going to Paris to make a name for herself like I did in Egypt, but it seems that all she cared about was chasing boys. Of course, that didn’t turn out well so now she’s back at home. She needs direction in her life, but it’s not my job to find it for her.

But I don’t know exactly what has been keeping me away from home… I have a good life now and I don’t want to rock the boat. My family will have to meet Diego eventually if we’re going to get married. I’ve actually started to think about leaving this job, despite how much I love it. I’m ready to start my life with Diego, and that means leaving Egypt so we can afford to start our life together.