What's the point?

[Sayen Ibrahim]

It wasn't any secret that Sayen Ibrahim hated Valentine's Day and everything that it entailed. Between the pink and the hearts and the girly romance, it was really no surprise that the Gryffindor found the whole thing absolutely ridiculous. An entire holiday dedicated to love? Seriously? In Sayen's mind, nothing could be more pointless, especially at Hogwarts. All of the couples around the school acted stupid enough already; they hardly needed an entire day to indulge their "relationships" or whatever. That stuff was too much work, and it wasn't even worth it in the end, at least not for Sayen. Kissing and such could be cool for a while, but beyond that, he firmly believed that he didn't need anything but friends.

Nevertheless, the signs of the approaching holiday were unavoidable as Sayen made his way into Hogsmeade that weekend. Honeyduke's had out displays of heart-shaped chocolates, Gladrags was advertising garishly pink and red socks, and Madame Puddifoot's was frillier and sillier than ever. Not to mention the smiling, hand-holding students in the streets, who seemed to appear everywhere the Sayen looked. Merlin, people really could be deranged sometimes.

Shaking his head and kicking at the snow on the ground, Sayen turned towards Zonko's, hoping he could find something worthwhile here before he gave up and headed back to the safety of his dorm.

[Picasa Fyfe]

If Sayen Ibrahim thought he was the only one who saw no point in Valentine's Day, he would be quite mistaken. Valentine's Day mean very little to Picasa Fyfe as well, and not simply because she was single. Quite simply placed, the soon-to-be sixteen-year-old didn't understand what was the point of fixating a particular day for couples to demonstrate the intensity of their affection for each other. Wasn't that the point of a relationship - to portray care for each other every day they were immersed in said relationship?

Of course, Pixie was too sweet to voice these opinions to her friends who were actually eager to celebrate it with their boyfriends. Instead, she tried her best to appear enthusiastic and supportive when they drew out intricate plans of what would they be doing for the day, even though she herself would be dateless. Perhaps she would convince Iain to hang out with her in the greenhouses? It sounded the perfect plan to the golden-haired witch. If that too failed, she would try and seek out Jodie and see if the Gryffindor damsel had time to spare.

She had better activities to engage herself with in the meantime, however, such as window shopping now that her birthday was coming up at the end of the month - 29th of February, to be precise. Pixie was never one to bugger anyone to lavish Galleons on her with presents. She received enough from her impossibly gigantic family as was. She did like browsing the various merchandise available in Hogsmeade's stores, inwardly bouncing with excitement in her wonderings of what her family members would be buying her now that she was turning sixteen.

Hence there was Picasa, vivid eyes bright as she crouched at one of the narrow aisles between shelves in Zonko's Joke Shop, examining an array of magical quills on the bottom rack of the shelf. So absorbed she was in the countless choices, she didn't even pay attention to the fact that she had been crouching for far too long than her health could really handle.

[Sayen Ibrahim]

From the riotously colorful merchandise displays to the mischievous sound of laughter to the faint smell of acrid smoke, walking into Zonko's was as familiar to Sayen as going into his own dorm room. A slight grin lifted the corner of his mouth as he let the door fall shut behind him, closing his cynical, moody thoughts of Valentine's Day out behind him in the cold. While hearts and flowers may not have really been his thing, birthday presents definitely were, and he planned on receiving plenty of those come February 29th, which was hardly even weeks away. It was time to start doing some serious browsing so that on the off chance anyone started asking, he would have a list of Sayen's Absolutely Necessary Gifts already prepared for them to choose from.

As he wandered through the shelves, picking up boxes and prodding things, he mentally took note of all the items that caught his interest. Of course, Sayen wasn't really going to give anyone a list of things he wanted, except maybe his best friend Freddie. Obnoxious as he could be, there was no way he would pester his aunt and uncle or cousins for anything excessive; they did enough for him as it was, and he knew they'd send presents regardless. It was just an easy way for him to waste time, and to imagine the kinds of things people would actually buy for him.

Although, come to think of it, what he really needed to be doing was shopping for his sister Sariya, rather than daydreaming about things he didn't need. He was truly terrible at finding presents for other people, and every year at both Christmas and their birthday, he struggled to pick out something decent for his twin. Reluctantly, he shifted his focus, and began to look around with a bit more determination than before. Fireworks... jinxed candy... love potions... magical quills...

Quills! Sari liked quills, right? She certainly used them far more often than Sayen, what with all of her studying, so he figured it couldn't hurt to start there. He crouched down and reached out to examine an automatic spell-checking quill, trying not to get in the way of the blonde girl who was checking out the display as well. At first, he didn't notice anything unusual about the girl, and since he didn't recognize who it was anyway, he ignored her. But as he shifted to shove the quill back onto the shelf, the paleness of her face caught his eye.

"Uh... are you okay?" he asked without preamble, raising an eyebrow. "You don't look very good."

[Picasa Fyfe]

Picasa didn't pay too much attention when someone crouched down beside her to sift through the quills. People came and went all the time browsing products in a store. What that distracted the young witch was when the boy voiced from beside her, which had her eyes widening slightly as she startled and turned her face towards the boy, her hand lifting to her cheek as if by touching her face, she could get an idea of just how pale she looked. Honestly though, Pixie was not used to being spoken to when she was out and alone. She didn't know many people, and if she were to be honest, she was the sort of person that when spoken of, most of her schoolmates would take on a look of confusion and ask, 'Picasa who?'

She relaxed a little, the initial astonishment ebbing away, and she curled her lips into a kitten-like, gentle smile at the boy, "I'm fine, thank you," the syllables were coloured with a heavy Scottish accent that betrayed her heritage, "it's natural colouring." She said the last bit in a bit of a jesting manner.

[Sayen Ibrahim]

He stared expectantly at the pale blonde chick, wondering why she looked so surprised at such a simple, not to mention understandable, question. He hadn't even spoken very loudly or anything, as far as he could tell. But she smiled only a moment later, and the slightly ill quality that had sparked Sayen's concern seemed to fade from her features as she assured him that she was fine. He grinned, replying, "Ah, I see." And then, glancing briefly down at his own hand, he added with a laugh, "I guess I've never really had that problem," meaning that nobody had ever questioned his health just by glancing at his complexion. With his Middle Eastern heritage, the tanned tone of his skin never really faded, quite the opposite of this unnaturally fair girl.

He didn't even pause to consider that his comment might sound slightly rude, because it was pretty much like telling her that she looked sickly. Well, honestly, that was a little bit true, but he didn't meant it like that. It was just a joke, like 90% of what came out of Sayen's mouth.

[Picasa Fyfe]

If the young witch were to be honest, she was still mildly surprised that the boy would address her in the first place, least of all continue with the conversation. Then of course, it was not a bad thing, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't a little delighted at the company. The Scottish smiled with a sort of genuine warmth that would prove difficult to replicate, "Believe me, I'm more than envious. You're awfully lucky."

She had that sort of skin that couldn't seem to tan, ever, not to mention the countless scars running up her arms from years of blood transfusions. Granted, right this moment, the boy wouldn't be able to see as she was swathed in winter apparel.

[Sayen Ibrahim]

"Yeah, I have it easy - I've never had a day in my life where I've had to worry about tanning," he joked, although of course, he probably would never have worried about tanning a day in his life regardless of the color of his skin. As far as he could tell, there didn't seem to be much of an advantage to having slightly darker skin, except maybe a lower likelihood of looking sick, like this blonde girl. With this thought in mind, he added offhandedly, "Not like that really matters, though. You look just fine."

He gave a small shrug, and then looked back at the quills on the shelf in front of them. It was an odd sort of comment, perhaps even bordering on complimentary coming from Sayen, but after his suggestion that she looked ill it only seemed right to reassure her that there wasn't actually anything wrong with her appearance.

[Picasa Fyfe]

"Must be good for the beach," Pixie mused demurely, "I always burn." One of the downsides to being so ridiculously pale-skinned. The boy's remark that she looked just fine actually brought a small smile to her lips, although not for anything but simply because she knew. She knew that she didn't look fine. She looked sickly, patient-worthy, no more but a wilting flower plagued by ailment. And that was all right with Picasa because she's came to accept that this was what she was. She appreciated the boy's near-compliment, but she knew better. Yet what could she say? The Scottish was never the sort to be pouring out her heart for another, so a smile was all she could muster. "Replenishing your stationary equipments then?" she asked almost conversationally in a friendly, gentle tone.

[Sayen Ibrahim]

"Well, you know, red's a nice color." Sayen grinned again, completely unaware that his vague sort of compliment hadn't really been received. He hadn't said it just to make her feel better, he had actually been completely sincere, or at least as sincere as Sayen ever was, but he had no idea that Picasa didn't believe him. He just accepted her smile for what it was and went back to examining the merchandise, only looking around again when she asked him if he was stocking up on his stationary utensils.

"Not exactly," he answered, picking up a quill and rolling it between his hands. "Shopping for my sister, since it's her birthday coming up. And my birthday too, I guess. We're twins," he added, in case she needed clarification. "But I'm awful at this gift-giving crap." He shook his head, and then asked, "What about you, looking for anything in particular?"

[Picasa Fyfe]

Sayen's claim lured a light laugh from the frail witch. "No doubt of what house you are in then," she replied a touch mischievously, her vivid blue eyes shining. She was a fan of the Gryffindor house, since her brother, Abel, and one of her closest friends since childhood, Jodie Milligan, were Gryffindors. Her gaze flitted to the movement of his fingers that held the quill, though she diverted it back to the array of colourful quills at his question, a very pale blush rising to her chalky white cheeks. She lightly replied with a small smile, "And not really. My birthday is coming up, too, on the 29th. I like to just browse. It's nice to try and guess and see what might people get you."

[Sayen Ibrahim]

Proud lion that he was, Sayen didn’t hesitate to reply with an equally playful smile, "Do you mean the best house of them all? Because that's the one I'm in." As he spoke, he attempted to switch from rolling the quill in his hands to flipping it around his fingers, an action that worked out much better in his imagination. After he came close to dropping the thing, he gave it up, focusing instead on what she was saying.

“Hey, that’s my birthday too!” Sayen exclaimed, eyes lighting up with enthusiasm over this minor coincidence. Being born on Leap Day meant that he didn’t often find people who shared his birthday, and besides his sister, Picasa was the first other person he’d met who was born on the 29th. “This year I’m hoping that I can convince everyone I deserve more presents, because it’s been four years since my last actual birthday,” he joked.

Just then, Sayen heard a familiar voice behind him, causing him to drop the quill and spin around just to make sure. And yes, he hadn't heard wrong, there was Sariya a short distance away. He immediately stood up and stepped away from the shelf, feeling like somehow she would know he had been shopping for her, despite the fact that nothing he was doing would give that away. "Ah, sorry, I gotta go. Talk to you later - and happy early birthday!" he told Picasa, and without further ado headed casually back around to the front of the store so he could continue his shopping without being noticed by his twin.