Closed Differing Twins

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie was lingering in the Great Hall, breakfast was over, and Aurora had long left to go do something else at Rosie's insistence that she was perfectly fine. Even though she really kind of wasn't. She just also knew to a certain degree she was being a bit ridiculous, but he had been a good friend and she had spent a lot of time with him, so she was just perhaps a little sad that he wasn't around. She knew that she could manage without him, but it felt hard and a little wrong. It was nice to have her twin but it was important to have friends outside of that. Aurora had Soren and she'd had Xinyi. It didn't help that Xinyi had an identical twin whom she saw in Gryffindor. In fact she spotted him at the table now, just a few seats up from her. She didn't know much about Xinyi's twin, only what Xinyi had told her...not all of it that positive. But she moved her things, "You're Xinyi's brother right? Can I sit with you?" she had questions, she was writing often enough but perhaps he was telling his brother more than he was telling her. ​

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jingyi had been quite right in thinking that his fourth year was going to absolutely suck now his brother wasn't here. The whole castle felt... emptier somehow. Even though he and Xinyi had never really spent a lot of time with each other, it still felt strange to not at least have his brother around. Even though he knew he wasn't here, Jingyi still found himself looking around hoping to catch a glimpse of his twin. It was ridiculous. Though breakfast was over, Jingyi still found himself sitting in the same place, resting his chin in one palm and poking at some leftover food on his plate. He found that he wasn't really very hungry anymore. Though a sudden voice and movement next to him caught his attention, already opening his mouth to tell whoever it was to bugger off, but paused when he heard his brother's name. "What gave it away?" He muttered, turning his eyes back to his plate. He didn't say anything about the girl sitting there, just shrugging a vague shoulder. It was not like he cared.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie looked at the boy and frowned at his words, but he'd already glanced away. She sat down next to him regardless of the fact that he hadn't allowed her too. It was the gryffindor table. "I'm Rosie...I'm his friend...," she replied, her voice a little quiet. She didn't know how else to introduce herself to him, if it was even that worth it to introduce herself. She had always only known Xinyi's twin from what he'd said and a number of those things had made it seem like perhaps he hadn't cared too much. "I just...do you know how he's getting on? Did he get sorted into Gryffindor again?" she asked the questions quickly, a keenness to it. She'd sent letters but wanted to be sure that Xinyi wasn't just saying he was fine when he wasn't. He'd tell his brother right....​

 

[Jingyi Huang]

When the girl introduced herself as his friend, Jingyi felt something uncomfortable in his gut. "That's nice," he did offer quietly, "That he has friends." It was more than Jingyi could really say, anyway. While he had people he could talk to, he didn't really have anything in the way of 'friends', no one he hung out with all the time, at least. The person he usually spent the most time around was Xinyi, but of course, he wasn't there right now. And then the questions about how his brother was doing and Jingyi awkwardly curled his hands, digging his nails into the soft palm of his hands. He almost felt tears as he hunched his shoulders, but managed to hold them back. "I.... I don't... know. He hasn't told me." Xinyi appeared to still be under the impression that Jingyi didn't care.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie frowned slightly at the response, but she nodded. "Yeah...I'm his best friend, my sister is also his friend," she explained perhaps unnecessarily. She didn't know why but this boy made her nervous. In a way that Xinyi never had but she knew there had to be some people who were nervous around her and not around Aurora. Twins were different people. Rosie glanced at him, noting that perhaps he seemed a little upset. But she couldn't take back her questions. "Oh," was all she said. "Why not?" she asked, if a little curious but mostly she just wasn't sure what else to say and if she should tell him what she knew. Xinyi had never said it but perhaps he didn't want his twin to know anything but she also couldn't imagine that being the case. ​

 

[Jingyi Huang]

"Best friend," he repeated. You would think that being twins he would know if Xinyi had friends or best friends, and who those people happened to be. But, as it turned out, he knew very little about his brother and what he actually got up to, and who he happened to hang out with. Jingyi really and truly felt as though he had gone and pushed his brother away. Far enough never to get him back again. And of course, his best friend was worried about him, asking questions that Jingyi just didn't know the answer to. "Because apparently, I don't care," he responded bitterly, hunching his shoulders as he bit down hard to try and stop the tears. "He thinks I hate him and don't care about him."

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie watched Jingyi closely, she wanted to know why, and upon what he said, she thought about all the things that Xinyi had told her about his brother. About how she hadn't really wanted to believe that a twin could ever be like that. How she had thought that he should express his feelings to him. She hadn't realised that perhaps Xinyi hadn't really known that his brother had cared, and perhaps that was a different problem but it just made her feel even worse. Rosie reached going to put an arm around Jingyi's shoulders, his tears making her cry, though she'd been just one step away from it. "I'm sorry," she apologised quickly, she wouldn't tell that he was wrong, because she couldn't know what was the truth and what wasn't, she could just be a friend to her best friend's twin. There wasn't much she thought she could say and could just provide a shoulder for him to cry on. ​

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Merlin, he was being pathetic, wasn't he? It was very rare that Jingyi actually cried about anything. He couldn't actually remember the last time he had actually cried about something. Not properly, anyway. But just thinking about the conversation he had Xinyi had had over the holidays just made all those awful feelings come creeping back and just made him feel like an absolutely horrible person. How could he push his brother away like that? "What are you sorry for?" He didn't want people to feel sorry for him, he didn't deserve sympathy. So, he tried to choke back the tears, clenching his hands under the table for a moment until he could properly compose himself. Then, he straightened his back. "I mean, it's my fault for pushing him away, anyway," he added, trying to ignore how the guilt was eating him alive. "I've never been a good brother. Doesn't matter now."

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie was feeling pretty bad about making Jingyi so upset, even if she too was feeling back. She realised that this probably wasn't her fault, but she had needled for information, she had been feeling bad and wanted to talk about it. "Because I made you feel bad," she said with a tone where she very genuinely meant it. She did feel bad, and knew apologising was for the best. But she reached an arm out. "Can I touch you?" she asked, not wanting to do so without his permission. "It's okay, there will always be time to repair things, and I'm sure you're a good brother," Rosie knew that she had only heard stories from Xinyi and they hadn't necessarily been positive, but she knew too that from this perhaps they hadn't been true. ​

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jingyi chewed on the inside of his cheek, shrugging his shoulder just a little. "It wasn't you." He was feeling sad about things anyway, the girl hadn't really made anything worse. Jingyi had just been doing surprisingly well at holding it together before now. And then the sudden question. Jingyi blinked, glancing over at the younger girl for just a moment. "Oh, um... I guess?" Not many people would ask something like that and would just go for it. Not that it would make him feel better, but he would feel bad for turning her down. "I don't know how to fix anything," he did have to add with a sigh, "Xinyi almost doesn't want to listen. He think's its his fault even after I said it was mine."

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie nodded a little, "I know, but, still," she replied, knowing it wasn't the best apology she could've given, or the most reasoned one, but she game it and that was that. She placed her hand on his shoulder and gave a little squeeze. If this was Xinyi she might've given him a hug or held him a little but a hand on the shoulder had to be enough for this. She felt bad that Xinyi was blaming himself and she felt bad that Jingyi felt like he was to blame too. "Xinyi is very stubborn," Rosie said quitely. "Maybe this will good for him...," she hoped it would be. ​

 

[Jingyi Huang]

At least she was right about one thing, Xinyi was stubborn about some things. It was something that the two of them at least seemed to share, though it might be the only thing. Though it did make it rather hard in these kinds of situations. "I know it might, but..." he huffed out a sigh, shifting his shoulders as he thought about his words. "I'm still worried. What if he doesn't get on with any of his classmates? What if he gets bullied? I'm not there to protect him this time. I don't think he would tell me if he was getting picked on."

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie considered what he said, could admit that she had thought it too. Xinyi was a good many things, but she knew he wasn't perhaps the best with bullies. But she also had a bit of faith in his ability to deal with things, to make friends and be okay. She also knew that her sister would've been the same with her. Probably overly worried even though she'd be fine. ”I think it's natural for you to be worried and want to protect him, but I think Xinyi can take care of himself,” Rosie said, picking her words carefully. Perhaps this was part of why he'd left to be able to see if he could be on his own, to have the opportunity to be on his own. ”And if he has a bad time, we'll just pick up the pieces when he gets back,” ​

 

[Jingyi Huang]

In the past Jingyi could still remember the countless times he had told his brother to 'man up' and fight back against bullies. And the countless times Xinyi had not done that meaning Jingyi had to step in and punch them for him. It certainly didn't do him any favors in his parent's eyes. To this day he was still pretty sure they thought he liked fighting and was just trouble by how many times he ended up in the principal's office for causing a fight. And now, now Jingyi wished he had just protected his brother better and told him he wasn't bad to be different. "I've been protecting him all my life. Before coming to Hogwarts he was really bullied, I've taken more punches for him and gotten into more fights protecting him than I can count. But now... now I'm not there."

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie realized a little out of her depth she was with this and this situation. Though she was by all accounts them meeker of her twin and her, Rosie had never really been bullied extensively. People who'd made fun of her had quickly stopped. But she considered it, considered Aurora's position as protector, how deeply she had always fought for Rosie, fought to make sure such things didn't happen to her. The Gryffindor gave a little sigh.

”Maybe he feels the need to fight his own battles, or explore what his own battles could look like,” she said with a little soft tone. Rosie didn't mind when Aurora stood up for her, generally because she knew that we just how she was. ”You're a good brother, Jingyi,” Rosie just told him, with surety in her tone. ”It was good of you to protect him, but perhaps it hurt Xinyi to watch you take punches? I know when Aurora gets hurt, sometimes it's like I can feel it too,” Rosie was sure it was just in her head and in fact she felt nothing physical but it just…it hurt. ​

 

[Jingyi Huang]

"Well, what was I supposed to do? Just sit there and watch people hurt my brother? It was not like he ever tried to fight back himself." Maybe if Xinyi had tried to fight back, Jingyi might not have had to step in so much. But his brother had always been soft and not the sort to pick fights with anyone. Not even with his own bullies.

But why was he even telling this girl all of this? They had never even spoken before now and here Jingyi was just dumping all of this depressing information on her when she hadn't even asked. "Just forget it, you know," he huffed after a moment, trying to compose himself, "I shouldn't be bothering you with this stuff anyway." He doubted very much that she actually wanted to be talking about this in the first place.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie gave a little sympathetic smile to him. She knew it would've been difficult for anyone to just stand by and let it happen. "Well, yeah, of course you had to do it then....but we're not little kids now, he's not a little kid," she replied with a little shrug, but she could get it. She let him speak, pulling his hand away and just glancing back at their plates. "It's okay, If I'm friends with Xinyi, then I'm friends with you," she was sure of herself as she spoke. She hadn't known much about Jingyi, but she was glad to now know him a little and to realize perhaps she had been wrong about certain things. "Twins should always stick together," [/B]​

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jingyi flexed his fingers a little under the table, a small sigh slipping from his lips. "I know. But sometimes he still acts like one. I know he won't defend himself if he gets picked on." Xinyi was the sort of person just to let it happen instead of looking for conflict. And if anyone at the British school wanted to pick on his brother, then Jingyi was going to find out about it and he was not going to be happy. Though when the girl called him a friend, Jingyi did have to blink a little in surprise, turning her head towards him. "Friends? But... well I mean... this is the first time we've even spoken. And, I'm not like my brother or anything."

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie gave a little smile, she could see why he would think that he perhaps still acted young, they were still young, but perhaps the view already of him needing protected affected his ability to consider Xinyi not a child. but she wouldn't say anything, hopeful though that this period of time that Xinyi was away would allow them both the distance needed to move forward. She wasn't too surprised he questioned her statement about them being friends. "Yeah, but you care about Xinyi, I care about Xinyi...so, we're friends," she told him. ​

 

[Jingyi Huang]

He didn't get how someone could just call someone else a friend like that. Especially as he had a feeling she was probably going to regret it once she realized he was nothing like his older twin. "Strange thing to be friends over," he did have to mumble a little, averting his eyes for just a moment. But even if he was sure this was not going to be a long-lasting friendship of any kind, he did have to admit it was... nice to have someone calling him a friend.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie gave him a little smile, ”There are stranger things to be friends over,” she said quietly, unsure of if she had meant to hear him mumble it, but she was happy to just let it be said. She knew that it had to be difficult perhaps once Xinyi was back, now that she was friends with Jingyi, but she hoped that the distance would let them heal it a little. ”Do you have a class to get to?” she asked. ”or do you want to…like go hang out…what do you like to do with your time?” Rosie asked. ​

 

[Jingyi Huang]

He was a little surprised the girl had actually heard him, blinking as he straightened up in his seat. "Er, I guess," he just offered flatly, not sure what else to say seeing as he hadn't expected a response in the first place. but now it seemed she was expecting them to hang out this very second. "Oh, um, I don't have a class, no," his schedule was actually pretty light this semester. Just as it had been the previous year after dropping a lot of subjects. "I don't know I just... do stuff." A pretty lame response, but he didn't even really know what he did most of the time. Just sat around being bored, mostly.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie nodded, thinking about what they could do. He didn't have any plans, but Rosie wasn't too sure that she would be able to convince him that the gardens were fun. Perhaps that wasn't what he was interested in. ”I could show you the gardens? I've been planting some stuff?” she offered, they didn't have anything better to do, but she also wasn't sure this was something her new friend would want to do. But it was what she would've perhaps gone to do had she not decided to speak with Jingyi or stick around in the great hall. The weather still wasn't great she was sure, but it was something to go do. ​

 

[Jingyi Huang]

He did realize that 'stuff' was not really the best explanation in the world, but he didn't really know what else to say. When she offered to show him some things she had apparently planted in the garden, Jingyi did have to admit that didn't exactly sound like something he would enjoy very much. But he didn't want to be mean to his new supposed friend, so tried to fake a small smile. "The gardens, um... right... I guess if you want to?" Plants and nature and all that stuff were really not something he cared very much about. There was a reason he had dropped Herbology the second he could.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie wasn't sure that the boy was entirely sold on going to the gardens. She knew it wasn't for everyone and she didn't want him to do something he didn't want to do. "We could always go to the forest...it's being guarded quite a lot, but could still be...interesting," she suggested, if he said no then perhaps the outdoors wasn't what interested in, in which case she wasn't sure what they could go do, but she was sure they could figure something out between them.​