Happy Birthday is Overrated ((Emmy))

[Ryann Taylor G6]

Birthdays. Ryann hated them. For most, it was a day to act completely selfish as others showered them with gifts and treated them as though they were royalty. But for Ryann, birthdays were nothing more than another day that just so happened to increase your age whether you liked it or not. Special treatment made Ryann cringe, and so when it came to her birthday, she made it a point to keep it a secret. The only people who knew were her family and her roommates who happened to see the card that her mother had sent her laying in the trash after Ryann tossed before writing to remind her mother that she had yet again forgot how much Ryann hated birthday cards. If you want to send money, she would say, just send the money. I don't need no fancy card to remind me that it's my birthday.

As Ryann came back form her final class, she sauntered through the fifth year girls' dormitory entrance and collapsed on her bed with a grand sigh as the weight of her bag helped to pull her down. After starring at the ceiling for a few seconds, she sat up and lifted the strap of her bag over her shoulder before realizing that she wasn't alone. "Oh, hey Emmy," she said, a bit shocked to see her roommate laying on her bed. Ryann could always tell the twins apart because of their hair. Not to mention, she knew which one slept in which bed, however that was not always a reliable way to tell who was who, as it wasn't uncommon for them to share each other's things. Determining which was who was easiest if you looked at their hair, Ryann thought. It just so happened that Ryann got along with Emmy better than Emma. The two of them just seemed to have personalities that clicked better than Ryann and Emma. Emma was a bit too happy, perhaps, for Ryann. Whereas Emmy seemed a little more low-key and realistic. Of course, Ryann couldn't judge, as she was sure that Emma must constantly go through a lot with her cancer and all. Needless to say, Ryann was sure Emmy went through just as much with all of the things Emmy had shared throughout the years.

"Bad day?" she asked as she stood from her bed and crossed the room, taking a seat at the foot of Emmy's bed. "I could attempt to make it better by letting you know the gossip I heard in Charms class today. Apparently there is a fifth year Gryff who has been hanging around with Gabriel, the fifth year Slytherin guy who everyone thinks is kind of creepy. Personally, I just think he's unique, but I've never really met the guy." Ryann gave Emmy a wide-eyed grin as she shrugged her shoulders. "Any clue who that could be?" Ryann wasn't sure, but she knew it wasn't her. She doubted that it was Emma, and it wouldn't have surprised her if it in fact was Emmy who the rumors had been going around about. "Your secret's safe with me," she teased, still only assuming that Emmy was the girl in question. "You wouldn't believe though some of the things going around that are probably not even true."

[Emmy Parker G6]

“Em, I’ll be fine, please don’t worry,” Emma whined as she pinned another stick on gem at the corner of her eye. Emmy looked at her twin from her four poster, her arms crossed under over her chest. Emma was getting ready for a date, and Emmy couldn’t help but scowl. Honestly, did her sister really think that this was a good idea? Obviously. “What if you get sick?” “Emmy, seriously, I’ve been out with him before you know.” “Yeah, I do know, and I remember that when you passed out he was too shocked to do anything about it.” Emmy continued to scowl as her sister stood from the vanity table and twirled around in the mist of perfume she had just sprayed into the air. “He’ll know what to do now, silly boy – he hadn’t ever dealt with someone who had passed out before,” Emma ruffled her hair slightly to make her curls fall more naturally down her back. With a sigh, Emmy shook her head and looked back down at her book, knowing full well she wouldn’t get Emma to change her mind. Fine, whatever. It wasn’t like Emmy was her sister’s keeper. No, Emmy, that’s exactly what you are. Emma grabbed up her handbag and pushed it onto her shoulder before blowing air kisses to her twin and rushing out of the room. Emmy’s eyes remained on the book in her hands even though the words were going in and out of focus. Jane Eyre, a book that she had read numerous times over, was just not letting her mind focus in on the story line. Emmy snapped the book shut and threw it onto the nightstand beside her four poster. It didn’t matter, anyway, she could have recited that book in her sleep.

She looked at the entrance to the dorm when she heard someone approaching, half hoping that it was Emma realizing she didn’t feel up to going out. When Emmy saw it was Ryann, she shrugged and sat silent on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Ryann collapsed onto her own bed, and Emmy smirked when she finally realized that Emmy was in the room, too. “’Lo,” Emmy replied indifferently. It wasn’t that she detested Ryann, actually then, Emmy liked Ryann a lot more than she liked most of the girls in her year. Emmy just didn’t socialize much, and since she had socialized with Gabriel only days before… her socializing counter was full to capacity. She didn’t say anything when Ryann asked if she were having a bad day and moved to sit at the end of Emmy’s four poster. She just stared up at the ceiling, “It’s the usual. I am my sister’s keeper, and what good is that going to do if she won’t listen to a word I say about staying in when she wants to go out?” Emmy looked at Ryann when she said the next bit. “Charms… charms… third hour… I skived that off today…” She didn’t think Ryann cared much which classes Emmy skipped, but it was just a random thought that showed she was showing some interest in the topic. But even as she spoke, she froze. Ryann had been talking while she was talking, and she mentioned Gabriel. Emmy felt her heartbeat quicken as Ryann continued to talk, but the words that came out of her mouth didn’t even reach Emmy’s ears. Well, except for one word. “Unique is quite an understatement,” she whispered.

Emmy sighed and raked her fingers through her hair at Ryann’s last words. “It isn’t much of a secret, though. I just don’t want people to get the idea that I’m too amiable,” she smirked over at Ryann, a hint of amusement in her eyes, “because then they won’t be afraid of me anymore, but whatever.” She looked at her fingernails, picking at her nail polish – pretending to be deeply engrossed in it. “Just… out of curiosity… what are they saying?”

[Ryann Taylor G6]

As Emmy mentioned her sister, Ryann gave a look of understanding although she really was far from understanding the whole situation. She could see by the way Emmy acted that the situation with Emma tore her up in more than one way. Still, Ryann had no clue how to approach it, and so she offered the small bit of an understanding glance that she could.

Ryann found it quite interesting that Emmy seemed somewhat apathetic to their conversation until Gabe was mentioned. At that, she made a comment at which Ryann chuckled a bit. "That's just true of guys in general though," she said with a smile. At Emmy's next comment, Ryan responded with a slight look of guilt. And then, after Emmy asked what the rumors were, Ryann proceeded to explain. "Well, as far as people losing their fear of you, I wouldn't worry about that." Noticing that Emmy was picking at her fingernail, Ryann stood as she continued to explain the situation.

"Basically, the rumors were that you were so jealous of all the attention that your sister gets because of her cancer," she rifled through one of the drawers of her dresser before pulling out a small glass bottle of thick black liquid as she turned and went back to Emmy's bed. "Here, I found this at Hogsmeade. It'd charmed to not flake off as fast." Ryann handed the bottle to Emmy before getting back to the story. "So then," she continued as though she hadn't even stopped in the first place, "when they started saying that you probably had given Gabe a love potion in desperation for attention, that's when I chimed in."

Ryann gave Emmy a quick look of hesitation before going on. She didn't think Emmy would mind, and in fact, thought she would probably find it funny what Ryann had told the gossiping girls. Still though, she only knew bits of Emmy and her personality, and so that was why she was hesitant at first of telling her. "I told them," she started with a sigh, "that I had found all kinds of potion making books on your bed and that, if they didn't be careful, you might use the permanent hair-loss potion on them that I was sure you were brewing."

Ryann gave a quick shrug before standing and walking over to her dresser to find a more comfortable set of clothing. "So, like I said, you don't have to worry about people not fearing you any more." Ryann gave Emmy a small smile hoping that she would find the humor in it as well. After all, Ryann had only said it so that they girls would stop spreading rumors.

[Emmy Parker G6]

Emmy shrugged, “I s’pose you’re right. As long as I can hold a steady glare, I’m sure they’ll continue to hide in fear.” She smirked again and stopped picking her nail polish off her finger nails long enough to see Ryann get up and get something from a drawer, all the while explaining what the rumors were. She raised an eyebrow at what was being said. That’s completely insane. Emmy was in no way jealous of the attention Emma got. She liked her solidarity. Emma could get the limelight all she wanted, she could prance around and toss her hair and giggle like the obstinate flirt that she was; as long as Emmy was allowed to spend her nights reading Jane Eyre or some other book with a great value. The idea that she was jealous of any type of attention, much less the kind her sister received, was completely idiotic. She broke herself away from her thoughts as Ryann handed her a bottle of black polish telling her it’s charmed so it wouldn’t flake off so soon. Emmy smiled a thanks and shifted herself so she could begin to polish her nails as Ryann continued to talk.

She didn’t say anything about the love potion theory, because in her mind it didn’t even render a defense. It was as idiotic as something could get. Honestly, Emmy couldn’t care less if she was permanently invisible to the world – so why would she brew up a potion (a love potion, no less) to get attention that was unwanted? Well, it just goes to show that girls can’t live without gossiping about something that is completely none of their business. She opened the polish after shaking the bottle and then went to work on painting her nails, listening to Ryann talk about how she told everyone that if the girls didn’t watch what they said, Emmy would use a hair loss potion she was brewing on them. At this, Emmy laughed out loud, her smile bright. “Oh no, not their glorious hair! That’s monstrous! Why in the world would I do that?” She looked at Ryann who had moved back to her dresser, still smiling, “Thanks for saying that, now my reputation can remain intact and I don’t have to worry about hiding those potion books anymore.” She smirked at this part, letting Ryann know she was completely joking; although she did have potion books under her bed as gifts from Keith who thought it was neat that she could make love potions or whatever. Keith failed to realize that making a love potion was extremely difficult up until sixth year, and even then it was a hit and miss task.

Emmy returned to painting her nails, letting the silence settle in a moment, before laughing lightly. “Love potion, hah, that’s a good one. You know, I think I might just let them go on and think that. It’s much more interesting than what really happened.” She smiled and blew on her right hand finger nails, looking up at Ryann again. “We merely ran into each other in the Forest and talked. Nothing huge. He’s pretty cool, not like the rest of the people who know about the Parker twins and compare me to Emma. Because he met me first, he talked to me… not to me through Emma, if that makes sense. Most the time people are easily taken with Emma, too easily in fact, that they don’t even realize that I’m there – and if I am it’s ‘so sweet of me to be with my sister so often just to make sure she’s safe.’”