Moonlady ((Gabriel))

[Emmy Parker G6]

“Just cover for me!” Emmy hissed at Emma as she shoved her feet into her sneakers and pulled her jeans over the tops of them. She stood from her four poster and looked at her sister sitting up in her own bed, a book on her lap, her back against the headboard. Her twin looked radiant in the glow of the candle that was floating above her head to cast a light down on her book, while Emmy looked… like the ill twin. “I dunno, Em.” Emma sounded like she didn’t want her twin to get in trouble, but Emmy knew she knew she couldn’t stop her. “Emma, I do everything for you, just do this one thing for me. Please?” Emmy pulled her black jacket on over her shoulders and pulled her blonde hair from underneath the collar as she looked at Emma who she knew was caving. Within five minutes, Emmy was making her way down from the Gryffindor Tower to the entrance hall that had the grand double doors in it. She pushed open the huge oak door on the left and stepped out into the clear night without a sound. The door closed behind her and she looked at the sky with a sigh. “And she shall lift her eyes to the moon and let the coolness of the beautiful shape in the sky engulf her and make her feel complete. For it is in this beautiful shape that she shall find her soul and she shall be reborn.” Emmy recited with an emotionless voice as she turned her gaze to the full moon. She did not feel the completeness that the passage described, nor did she feel she found her soul and was reborn. “What bull,” she mumbled before sauntering down the steps toward the Forbidden Forest.

Yes, it was against the rules to go into the Forbidden Forest, but Emmy wasn’t ever one for rules. She entered the forest as she pulled her blonde hair over her right shoulder and braided it so it fell softly over her right shoulder without much weight to it. As she continued deeper into the forest, the moon disappeared behind the thick canopy of lush trees. “And the moon shall disappear, leaving her split in half again with nothing inside but a hollow thrumming noise. For in that instant, she shall die again.” Emmy had read that passage somewhere, she wasn’t sure where, but since it had struck her as something fascinating it had imprinted itself in her mind. Now, she could recite it from memory. Emmy cleared the branches of a tree and entered the clearing that she had been in plenty of times before. It was the one thing that Emmy liked about Hogwarts. The fact that she could be alone in some place where her parents couldn’t get to her, Keith couldn’t stare at her with that gaze of his, and where Emma couldn’t remind her of how short life really was. Like she needed to be reminded of how short life was. Emmy could feel death at the corner every day. She just didn’t know if it was for her or for her dying sister. That was one mystery that Emmy did not want to solve. Now in the clearing, Emmy could look up and see the moon again because the trees weren’t blocking her view now. “And the lady in the moon shall remain forever gazing down upon the shattered soul that was once her counterpart, her half, her soul. For this reason, the Moonlady takes a leave for three days and there is no moon light, she leaves to grieve her lost soul, her lost counterpart, her lost half.”

Emmy wondered how it would be to lose her sister. Would she feel like she was missing a part of her? A half of her? Would her soul be nothing? She crossed her arms as she stared up at the moon, fighting the urge to smoke her worries away like she always did. She didn’t know how long she was staring at the moon, but it was long enough for her senses to sharpen to any disturbances around her. Which was why when a twig snapped somewhere behind her, Emmy didn’t flinch. “You might as well come out, I know you’re there.” She called in a dull and emotionless tone, not in the mood to argue.

[Gabriel Roche S6]

Gabriel’s new camera just came in that morning. Before the owl had even landed Gabe had ripped the package from its talons. He didn’t even finish breakfast, instead he ran off with his new treasure, cautiously avoiding all females in his path. The thing was lovely, a better quality then its predecessors (major-ly on account of the fact that he had combined his and India’s money to purchase it). He immediately loaded up a new bit of film and exited the castle. He spent the whole morning testing out his new toy. His lunch break would be consumed with developing the pictures. To do this he had made use of the room of requirement; it made a lovely dark room. All the pictures turned out perfectly, but they were missing something. They were missing that special assortment of emotion behind them that made him love photos. His whole morning therefore, had been spent in vain. Gabriel made his way back to this dorm room and collapsed on his bed, preparing himself for what he hoped would be a better evening.

When he woke up he had a sneaky suspicion the sun had set, and when he checked his alarm he was proved right. Truthfully though he needn’t have bothered, the time was obvious, for he was not along in the dorm. All his fellow roomies were asleep in their beds. Gabe didn’t bother explaining himself as he threw on his casual clothes: jeans, t shirt, sweatshirt; what was the point? It’s not like anyone was really going to check the dorms or do a head count. Gabriel reached past his green and silver house gloves and grabbed his own black ones. He shoved his hands into the fingerless gloves, convenient for photography, and then grabbed his black coat. He pulled it over his sweater and quietly left the room. Gabriel dressed like this year round, no matter the weather. It might have been 90 degrees outside and he’d still be bundled up; he got cold easily. It wasn’t hard to get out of the castle; no one was patrolling the ground floor. Gabe took caution shutting the front doors, not in the mood to risk alerting someone to his adventure.

He made his way across the grounds. The moon was bright enough that he could even snap a few pictures without his flash. Traversing the forest at night was no trouble; he’d done it numerous times. But when he heard a voice in the trees he found himself startled. It wasn’t just hearing the voice that scared him, it was the tone of the voice. It was a girl’s voice and Gabe immediately clung to his camera. After a few moments he realized how stupid he was being and moved toward the voice. He wasn’t planning on spying. Last time he did that he lost a camera. On the contrary, his plan was to be very straight-forward; then he stepped on a branch. Why did he always do that? The girl commanded him to show himself, and seeing as he had no other plan, he stepped into the clearing.

“Well, I wasn’t really trying to keep myself a secret.”

She was pretty and for once in a great while Gabe’s voice seemed normal, not like its usual “filled with hate” sound.

[Emmy Parker G6]

Emmy didn’t turn to look as the person stepped into the clearing, her eyes remained on the moon and all its splendor; as if it would do something miraculous. No such luck. It was just a big bright circle in the sky. Nothing stupendous. She looked at the newcomer as he spoke. When he was done, she merely shrugged; “Good, ‘cos you would suck at it anyway.” Perhaps it wasn’t the nicest thing to say, but Emmy really didn’t care. There was a whole lot in this world that Emmy didn’t care about, and whether or not some guy thought she was being rude was one of them. She uncrossed her arms to tuck her hair behind her ear as she eyed him. She had seen him around and she knew his house, but that was it. She wouldn’t even bother to figure out the rest. He didn’t play an intricate part in her complicated life. He probably didn’t even know her name. He probably didn’t even know her house. She didn’t blame him. Emmy was nobody to anyone outside her family. But even if she were someone, she knew there would still be people who didn’t give a damn about who the person was. Emmy was one of those people. Even if this guy was somebody, he was nobody to Emmy. And that was all that mattered. However, something compelled to her to stay; even though she wanted to leave. Emmy had no issues with just leaving him to his own devices, but something made her stay. Perhaps it was the idea that she had been there first, or perhaps she just wanted contact with the outside world… outside her family, anyway.

She looked at the camera in his hands and tilted her head, “You a photographer?” she asked with a tone that had the appearance of her not caring what his answer was. She was good at that, at hiding her intrigue in certain things merely because she didn’t want people to know she cared. The only person Emmy showed any real emotion to was Emma, and that was because they were two halves of a whole. Emma knew if she was lying and would ask what she really wanted, and Emmy couldn’t lie again. With people she talked to that weren’t Emma, though, lying was a gift. She could weave words into stories, fairy tales, which she forgot over time. It didn’t matter, though, because she would only weave another story – this one as amazing and elegant as the first. The pattern would continue and Emmy wouldn’t ever grow tired of it. Lying was an art, and Emmy was an artist. At least in this aspect, she could understand other forms of art. Photography being one of them, especially since Keith dabbled in it before moving onto something that stimulated his mind a bit more (namely cocaine). Emmy had taken the pictures he had taken and transformed them into an art all on their own. She never picked up a camera, though, she knew she didn’t have the eye for pictures. She didn’t have the hand for writing either, that was Emma’s talent. She didn’t have the voice for singing, that was Carol-Ann’s talent. She didn’t have the memory for astronomy, that was Campbell’s talent. So what did she have? Oh, yes, lying.

“So, not that it’s any of my business, but you come here often? You know, traipse through the woods, and snap a few photos and a few twigs here and there?” Emmy’s tone of voice now went from uncaring to teasing and she sent him a small smirk before looking up at the moon again. Still nothing.

[Gabriel Roche S6]

Gabriel walked fully into the clearing and took a casual stance, leaning against a near by tree. He always seemed to lean against trees, maybe subconsciously it made him feel at an advantage, and maybe he knew that his casual arrogance really ticked people off.

“Well you’re probably right, I’m not so good at hiding things.” That was a lie. Gabriel had become quite adept at hiding things; not himself so much as his emotions. In the past few months (since Lisa), Gabriel had developed an impeccable way of hiding all of his emotions that made him tolerable. He found ways to hide his happiness, his passion, his love. He hid away his fear and his concerns, he even found ways to hide his loneliness; mostly by convincing himself he was happier alone. All in all Gabriel Roche had become a rock of negativity; rarely was any other side of him in view. He reminded himself of this as he stood against the tree, staring at the pretty but unconcerned girl in front of him. You’re a rock Gabriel, it’s the only way to live.

The girl asked about his camera and Gabriel tried to match her attitude as he tilted the thing in his hands and glanced down at it. “Yeah, you could say that. I take pictures anyways.” He shrugged slightly and looked back at the girl, not wanting to seem too awkward about the whole meeting. She didn’t seem to care about him at all, and he didn’t want to seem foolish by caring too much. He tried to look off at the forest around him, or up at the sky to suggest he didn’t care who she was either, but his eyes kept trailing back to her. What can you say, he’s a boy.

When the girl spoke again Gabriel caught himself in a small smile. No, no Gabe, we’ll have none of that. Instead he sent back her smirk and shrugged again. “I come around here often, the woods make good pictures. This spot though, no. I heard you talking so I came over here.” He shrugged again and adjusted the zoom on his camera; it was a nervous habit, but Gabriel didn’t get nervous, so what was he doing?

“What about you?” He asked, prying his hands from the camera and shoving them in his pockets instead. “You come here often?” He wanted to ask her what her name was. He wanted to tell her his. For the oddest and most disconcerting reasons he wanted to do quite a few things but he held his tongue.

[Emmy Parker G6]

“Many people aren’t. They just pretend that they are, but really all they are ‘hiding’ is there for the world to see.” Emmy said casually as she tugged on her braid subconsciously. It was a habit of hers that she had picked up from when she was younger. Actually, technically, it was her sister’s habit that she picked up from when she was younger. Emma would tug on Emmy’s braid whenever she wanted to get her attention or was afraid of something. Now, it felt weird not having her hair tugged whenever she had it in a braid. Realizing she was doing this, she pulled at the elastic band that was holding her braid in and then raked her fingers through it. Emma didn’t need to be with her every second of every day, did she? Not even in thought, right? Emmy was trying to convince herself that being her own person for awhile would be alright, it wouldn’t be fatal to her twin, nor would it be disastrous for her family. It was much harder than most people thought it out to be. It was difficult for Emmy to think she could be anyone outside of Emma’s twin, Emma’s lifesaver. Emmy was connected to Emma in all ways imaginable. Which, in Emmy’s point of view, sucked and kind of… made her feel safe, connected in a sense; to someone who would never leave her. Except. Emma would leave her wouldn’t she? Eventually. Eventually the leukemia would take over. Eventually. The word that was Emmy’s terror. Eventually.

Emmy watched him as he answered and she eyed the camera. “I would say that makes you a photographer. Well,” Emmy took a step closer to him and tilted her head, “do you take them for art? Or because it’s something to fill your time with? I think, that’s what separates a photographer from someone who likes taking pictures. The photographer can’t live without the camera, can’t breathe without their art being expressed someway through a lens. The random person who just likes taking ‘pretty’ pictures with their camera, is one that can forget to develop a roll of film for years and years.” Emmy tore her gaze away from the camera in his hands and looked up into his eyes, “And with a camera as nice as that one, I think I can safely say that you don’t let rolls of film collect dust in the bottom of some drawer.” Keith had been the latter more so than the former. After awhile he hadn’t cared about his photos. Actually, if Emmy hadn’t taken them to get developed – they would have gathered dust in his drawer. It didn’t matter, though. The moment she saw them, she pocketed them in her bag and waited until she got home to burn them over a candle. They weren’t pictures she would have liked to show Emma. They were all of the twins. Emma so happy, and Emmy so not happy. She pulled her mind from her memories and took one more look at the boy before turning her attention to the moon again. She was positive now that she was only using the moon as means of a distraction.

She wasn’t sure why she didn’t just leave, it wasn’t in her nature to stay and socialize. Oh, well, it didn’t matter. This “socialization” would not go any further than a polite conversation. Emmy quickly looked over to the boy as he answered her next question. She watched him a moment, and then shrugged. “Maybe I should be quieter next time.” Normally she would have been upset that someone had heard her recite… well… anything, but she didn’t seem to care. When he asked her the question in return, Emmy looked around the clearing. “Not really. Well, okay, I lied.” Which really wasn’t all that new. Emmy was a master at lying, after all. “It’s the only place at this school that I can tolerate. It’s also the only place my sister won’t follow me to.” She shrugged, as if this were no big deal even though she knew that if Emma ever heard those words from Emmy she would die. It was just the way it was. Emmy looked at the boy again, “What’s your name? I can’t keep referring to you as ‘the boy’ in my head, it gets bothersome.”

[Gabriel Roche S6]

The girl kept looking up at the moon and so inevitably Gabriel looked up too. Ever stopped in a hallway and looked up at the ceiling for a long time? Soon enough people all around you will be searching for whatever’s caught your interesting. It’s basic human curiosity. It was just a moon, not any different from any other moon, but for some reason this girl was continuously distracted by it. Gabriel looked back at her. Why this moon was so interesting to her he did no know. He wanted to believe he didn’t care, but, it was basic human curiosity.

Gabriel looked down at his camera again as she spoke of the difference between a photographer and someone who liked taking photos. Gabe had never thought about it before. He did what he liked, he didn’t decide who he was, he just was. “I guess I’m a photographer then.” He shrugged slightly as he thought about it. He didn’t let rolls of film sit around and collect dust; they rarely sat undeveloped for more then a day. And that was the max. Why would he do that when he could develop them himself here at school?

“I take photos to capture feelings.” He shrugged again and looked back at her. She had let her hair down he noticed; he liked it. It was simple. Gabriel had a thing for extravagance, but he liked the simplicity of her blonde hair. “I hear you about the whole, “only place you can tolerate thing”. There are very few people not too chicken to go in this place.” He looked around the forest and laughed. “Screw that, I’d prefer a werewolf’s company to most of the dumb kids here.” He smirked slightly and then thought about it. He was making jokes. How odd was that, and they weren’t cruel jokes directed at her, or snide jokes directed at her. That was unlike him.

“I’m Gabriel.” It wasn’t a big surprise she didn’t know him, he figured she wouldn’t be one to go out seeking the latest school gossip, which he’d be involved in. “What’s your name? I cant keep referring to you as “her” in my head. It gets bothersome.” He wasn’t mocking her…ok so maybe he was, just a little…all in good humor of course.

[Emmy Parker G6]

Emmy didn’t look back up to the moon like she would have done if she hadn’t been so intrigued with the boy. She held his gaze a moment as a breeze blew by and sent a shiver down her spine, or at least she blamed the breeze. She scowled slightly and tucked her blonde hair behind her ear before turning away from the boy and looking up at the moon again. Her mind ran in circles around what kept her interest on the moon besides her not wanting to stare at him. The moon wasn’t too interesting, it was round. Bright. Nothing spectacular about it. Perhaps she liked the fact that no matter where you were in the world, the moon was always the same. Maybe not always up at the same time, but it was the same. And Emmy liked that thought, the idea that she could look up and see the moon and know that Emma (if she were living) could see the same exact moon from the dorm window. It was a tie that kept Emmy with Emma always. She had never liked to be too far away from her sister for too long. Even if she wanted to live her own life time and again, Emmy couldn’t bare the thought of being away from Emma and something happening. Well, that didn’t matter, because she would know if something happened. Unfortunately, she would know. She smiled softly at his comment about the students at Hogwarts as she pulled out her wand and pointed it at the ground. She muttered something and there was a spark before a fire appeared where her wand had been pointed, a fire that appeared to be burning on nothing. It was just flame. She tucked her wand away and sat down, turning back to look up at him, “Take a seat, I don’t bite, and if I do it’s not hard.” Emmy sent him a bright smile as she leaned back on the palms of her hands, her head tilted up to the moon again.

Her mindset had changed from attempting to avoid any friendly conversation and not caring, to enjoying the company of someone other than Emma, Keith, her parents, or the doctors. It wasn’t every day that Emmy actually spoke to anyone without being completely sarcastic with every word she spoke. She was indifferent to everyone and everything, but at this moment she found she could enjoy his company without feeling the need to throw up. “I don’t care enough to get to know if the students here are dumb or not. It’s just the only place that I can… get away from what goes on and not worry about being mistaken for my sister, or not worry about my sister at all, actually.” Emmy stared thoughtfully into the flame with a slight frown on her face, “She tends to quiet in my mind if I’m in the Forbidden Forest,” now she looked up at him again with a small shrug, “and it also means no classes, no getting shoved in the hall, no having to think about O.W.L.s, and no getting annoyed with people who think they need to be overly cheery.” At this Emmy put on her cheesiest smile and flipped her hair with a bat of her eyelashes, before letting her face slip back into its normal scowl. Emmy had the capability of being like every other fifteen year old girl in Gryffindor. She was capable of being like her sister when she was around every boy who fawned over her. She chose not to, though, because she felt no need to be someone who only got attention for her looks or how melodic her laughter was. Emmy wanted attention for her intelligence, but she hardly ever spoke to anyone so that never showed through bright enough.

“Gabriel…” Emmy repeated, rolling the name over her tongue as she let it sink into her memory. She smiled at his mocking of her way of asking his name. “Emmy. Yeah, I know,” she rolled her eyes, “it’s an odd name but I had no say in it. And if I had I wouldn’t have made the only difference between my sister’s and my name one letter. I’m Emmy and she’s Emma.” Emmy really didn’t mind her name, she actually liked it because no one else seemed to have it – at least no one she ever met, which wasn’t that many people; sure. She didn’t like how Emma’s name was three letters identical and one letter different. She also didn’t like how Emma received the ‘A.’ To Emmy that just proved her theory. Her parents think of Emma first, always. Wanting to change the point of conversation from herself, she asked; “What kind of feelings do you like to capture? Happiness, love, and desire? Or confusion, anguish, and depression?” It was an interesting question. Depending on how he would answer it, Emmy would be able to know quite a bit about him.

[Gabriel Roche S6]

Gabriel watched the girl pull out her want and point it at the ground. For a moment, he thought he was going to flinch at the flame, but luckily, his nonchalant attitude was slowly returning; or maybe it was his need to show off. It’s a guy thing. Gabriel might have the occasionally thought that girls were a waste of his time, but certain girls still brought out that natural need to look good; to impress.

Instead of putting out the fire as he did with India, he simply sat down opposite the girl. Gabriel wasn’t afraid of the fire going out of control, mostly because he wasn’t afraid of this girl going out of control. Her calm composure calmed him. It was nice.

He chuckled at her comment and sat back on his hands like she did, but he did not look up at the moon. His eyes stayed on her. He listened to her as she spoke of why she came out here, out into the forest, and he nodded along. They were typical reasons, typical reasons that showed just how obvious it was that they were teenagers. Escape. The grass is always greener in someone else’s yard. Even the child with the perfect life wanted more. It was basic human nature to want, to desire. It is natural for everyone in the world to be unhappy about their situation. But did that make it right? Of course not. Why could mankind not just accept life as it was? Why could they not just be happy for what they had? They were flawed. Gabriel was just as flawed.

Gabriel blinked back his thoughts on humanity’s flaws and realized he had not missed more then a word or two of the conversation and it was probably just and ‘or’. He laughed when the girl mocked an overly cheery girl. She was so right, there were far too many of those kids. It’s funny to realize that even they were unhappy with their lives. Even the man who says he is happy will always want more. In the back of his mind maybe, but he always will want more.

“You go to classes?” Gabe smirked. How often did he actually go to class? He wasn’t sure but he knew he always had better things to do then write papers about pixies. “I’m rarely in class, why should I be when I can be out here?” Gabriel motioned to their surroundings. It was a nice spot, this clearing. He would make sure to remember it. Flawed logic, but a nice spot.

He watched her say his name and found himself smiling back at her. Then he heard her name and immediately committed it to memory, snapping a picture of her and locking it away in his head as well. He had no doubt he would see her again. “Emmy is a nice name. It’s original; I’ve never met an Emmy before. I like it.” He shrugged slightly and found his eyes wandering back up to the moon as she spoke of her sister again. “She’s close to your age I suppose?” He looked back down at her and took a deep breath as she asked her question.

What feelings did he capture in his pictures? That was honestly not as complicated as he liked to believe, but the way she worded it made it seem more complicated. He captured all emotion. Happiness, sadness, desire, depression, love, lust, hopelessness, and faith. How was he to explain? He bit his lip and looked straight across at Emmy.

“I capture passionate feelings. Passion. All forms of passion.” That was the most correct statement he could make. Passion came in a million forms.