Frozen Roses (open)

[weaslebee2]

Emily knelt on the stone path that ran through the garden, examining a bed of roses. They were coated in frost, if it weren't for the fact that she knew they would die, she would have thought that they were pretty. Curse the frost, it killed everything. Emily plucked a rose from the bush, cutting her finger on a thorn. She didn't mind, her skin was resistant to pain, she was a candy-maker, so consequently she burned herself on an almost daily basis. A few beads of blood dripped onto the frost-coated grass. Emily thought nothing of it, just a minor wound that would mend itself with a little time. She fingered the frozen petals. One of them snapped off, fluttered to the ground and rested beside the droplets of her blood. Emily sighed, wishing that she could stay for Christmas.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella inhaled deeply as she walked through the garden. She could smell the new frost, burrying the old plants that would regrow come spring. But she also smelled her sister, Emily, who was kneeling next to some roses. Gabriella approached, the smell of blood growing stronger. Emily had cut herself. "Em," Gabriella said, sitting next to her. "You're bleeding."

[weaslebee2]

"Yeah, I know." said Emily, wiping her bleeding finger off on the exposed grass. The frost was beginning to melt a bit as the sun got stronger. "Damned thorns." she said quietly. Emily had a bit of a problem with language, she operated without a filter. It astonished her when she was chosen to be a prefect.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella chuckled under her breath. Her younger sister certainly said whatever was on her mind. Their parents had been very surprised when she had become a Slytherin, but somehow Gabriella had expected it. Slytherin suited Emily in a strange kind of way. She wasn't mean, but she was bold. "So what are you doing out here?" Gabriella asked, ignoring the blood scent that still lingered.

[weaslebee2]

"Lamenting the frost, and the fact that Mum's forcing me to come home for Christmas." said Emily, straightening up. As with everyone else, she dwarfed her older sister by a couple of inches. She felt like a giantess sometimes, but then again, she supposed those women were about twenty feet tall.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella raised her eyebrows. Hermione rarely forced anything, especially with her children. But she did like them to come home for the holidays. Gabriella briefly noticed that Emily was now well above her, but it didn't bother her. Many people were taller than her. "You don't want to go home then?" Gabriella asked.

[weaslebee2]

Emily arched an eyebrow, one of her little talents, and another thing that drove their father crazy. "Are you feeling all right in the head?" Emily said teasingly, then without waiting for a response continued talking. "It'll be like summer all over again. Dad hates me. Don't say it's not true because you know it is."

[igloogirl]

Gabriella smiled. She knew it was true. "Well, that makes two of us," she replied, looking down at the ground now. Her mother had once said that her father only yelled at her because he loved her and wanted to protect her. But that had never made much sense to Gabriella, so she didn't believe her mother on that one.

[weaslebee2]

"Oh please," Emily said sarcastically, with a small roll of her eyes. "Ever listen in to one of our quarrels? He drags you into them all the time, says that he likes you better and whatnot." It seemed that almost every time they had a shouting match Ron would drag Gabriella into it. "He only gets mad at you because you're in love with Isaac." Emily added.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella raised her eyebrows. She had never really listened before, but then again, Emily and Ron hadn't spoken in a while, which meant they hadn't fought in a while either. "But have you ever listened to one of ours?" Gabriella asked. "I'll say something about how I'm of age and therefore an adult and then he'll shout something and then finish with: 'Goddamnit, you're not you're mother!'"

[weaslebee2]

"No need to listen in, really." said Emily, shifting her weight to her left foot, then to her right, and then back to her left once more. "Your voices get raised do loud you can hear them from the backyard." Emily shoved her hands into her pockets, hiding all the scars from her cat's claws and burns from candy-making.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella almost chuckled. She and her father were pretty good at fighting by now. It reminded Gabriella of the stories of the Weasley boys getting in trouble with Molly Weasley. Gabriella had been told that she could shout nearly as loud as Molly. "Well, yes, I suppose that's a fair point," Gabriella replied.

[weaslebee2]

Emily couldn't help but smile just a little bit. But as always, her teeth remained hidden. Since she had gotten every last shred of her appearance from Hermione (except for her massive height), she had some pretty bad dentistry. Her grandparents on her mother's side were insisting that she get braces, when all Emily wanted to do was fix them with magic.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella noticed the smile. It had been a while since she had actually seen Emily's teeth come through her lips. Gabriella knew why. Emily was quite self-conscious about the way her teeth looked. "Oh Em, just change them if you want," Gabriella said, completely changing the topic.

[weaslebee2]

"But Mum won't let me!" Emily protested. "Her parents have too much an influence on her, she wants me to get braces." She supposed she could do the spell herself. Sure, Hermione would be furious with her, but Ron was already, what would the difference be if they both were?