Closed Good Enough or Not?

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity knew Emery never talked to her about anything important, and she honestly didn't mind that, but it still felt a little strange and hurtful to hear he was dating someone from a random person gossiping instead of Emery himself. Apparently, the person he was dating was pretty cool, which Vanity couldn't understand. Why would anyone cool want to hang out with her nerdy brother? Let alone kiss him? But Emery had somehow scored a handsome Quidditch captain, and although Vanity was still expecting the boy to come to his senses and dump Emery any moment, she also figured she should probably make use of the situation while she could. After some digging, he found out Emery's boyfriend also had a younger sister who was in her year. Vanity figured that she might be cool as well, and it might be a good idea to befriend her. Or at least, to see if she was good enough for the attempt. Vanity made her way over to the Gryffindor table at lunch time and took a seat across from Marama. "Hi, I'm Vanity. Our brothers are dating, which is weird, right? But I figured I'd get to know you." She said, trying for a sweet smile.

 

[Marama Te Rangi]

Marama had never really seen much point in school gossip, but it had definitely been strange in the last year, hearing it directed to her brother. She had always thought that... whatever the weird thing he had going on with Emery was, it was none of her business - she couldn't quite tell what Rāwhiti saw in Emery as a friend, but they seemed happy at least. But now they were dating, and there had been plenty of gossip about it. For her part all that she really cared about was that her brother was happy, and judging by how much of the holidays he had spent mooning over Emery and begging to floo over to their house, that was definitely the case. So she did her best to ignore the chatter around the school and mind her own business, focusing on her own life. That was, until Vanity sat across from her. She knew, of course, that Vanity was Emery's sister - it was hardly a common surname - but somehow she hadn't put together that this meant the two of them actually had something in common, not a fact she had ever expected to be true. "Oh, for sure!" She answered with a cheerful smile, not quite able to keep the surprise from her face and voice. There was never anything wrong with being friendly, but she couldn't quite set her preconceptions about Vanity's reputation aside. "It is pretty weird, right? I never really got their whole.... thing."

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity watched Marama closely as she responded. She was pretty enough, she supposed, though she could definitely do with a few more accessories or a better hairstyle. But she knew some people liked the more casual look. Vanity raised her eyebrows slightly when the Gryffindor described it as weird. She agreed, but she hadn’t expected that the other girl would say it. She wondered what she made of Emery, Vanity guessed he didn’t make any effort to be less off-putting even to his boyfriend’s siblings. ”Right?” She agreed. “They’re so different. And they don’t even like the same things. At least, I doubt your brother is a gobstones fanatic like mine.” She rolled her eyes. “And Emery hates quidditch, you should’ve heard him when I joined the team.” Vanity left out the fact that she had mostly joined the team just to piss him off, she didn’t need to know that.

 

[Marama Te Rangi]

Marama laughed at Vanity's observations, relaxing a little. There was a tone to the other girl's voice she didn't love, but it wasn't like she was actually saying anything bad. "Oh yeah Rāwhiti never really got into Gobstones, he always used to think it was boring when we were kids. He does actually know how to play now, but I'm pretty sure he does it wrong with Emery just to annoy him." She shrugged, grinning slightly. "But yeah, I can't picture your brother ever voluntarily going to a Quidditch match. No offense." She added quickly with a small laugh. "Nothing wrong with that, just doesn't seem like his thing. They've got such opposite obsessions, but I guess they bonded over being weirdly intense about their things."

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity laughed softly, shaking her head. "He's right, it is boring. And no one should be as into it as Emery is." She said, having no problem reinforcing how weird Emery was, because he was weird, and surely this girl could agree. If she had to make fun of her own brother to make a friend, she wouldn't lose any sleep over it. "It really isn't his thing, he never goes to my matches anyway." She said, though she knew he went to his boyfriend's, which was honestly a little insulting. "So is your brother very intensely into Quidditch then?" She asked curiously. Maybe Marama had a good point, but at least Quidditch was fun, Vanity could understand being intense about it, even if she herself wasn't.

 

[Marama Te Rangi]

Marama giggled, begrudgingly agreeing with Vanity though she wouldn't put it quite so bluntly. "I mean, it's fine if you've got nothing better to do, I guess?" She shrugged. She winced a little when Vanity said Emery never went to her matches. "Ouch, that sucks." She couldn't hold back a small laugh at the Slytherin's next question though. "He owns figurines of every player the Kea and Macaws have ever had, his whole room is full of them. He's got folders full of collectible cards and a snitch signed by Blake Van Houten. People think he's really cool just because the thing he's a dork about is sports, but he's still a giant dork."

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity shrugged, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "It's fine, I don't really care." She said breezily. It had stung a bit at first, but if Emery chose a boy over his siblings it just meant he was a bad brother and it had nothing to do with her. Vanity smiled slightly as Marama explained how obsessed her brother was with Quidditch. It did seem a bit... extreme, but honestly, it was still a way less weird thing to be obsessed with than gobstones. "Alright, but at least people know who Blake van Houten is." She said, wondering idly if that snitch was locked away somewhere secure. It would be cool to have. "Emery's always talking on about people no one has ever heard of, and he has so many gobstone sets... like ones in glass cases because they're so rare or vintage, I can't even breathe near them without him getting mad." She said with an eyeroll, neglecting to admit that she had stolen plenty of his gobstones over the years. "So I think he still wins the giant dork award."

 

[Marama Te Rangi]

Marama couldn't hold back a small giggle as Vanity described her brother's collections, picturing them. "I mean, it is kinda cool having rare sets, I guess?" She shrugged. "But... that does sound pretty dorky, sorry." She added with a small laugh. "I guess that's what they like about each other though? Like, I don't get what it's like to be such a huge geek about something like Rāwhiti is, but your brother does. Probably nice to have." She added with a small shrug.

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity slowly raised her eyebrow as Marama said she thought it was kind of cool to have rare sets. “Is it?” She asked, smiling slightly as the girl then said it was pretty dorky. It was! And it was surprisingly fun to talk to Marama, who really seemed to get it. “I guess.” She said when Marama mentioned it was probably what they liked about each other. “I still say your brother could do better though, honestly.” She said with a shrug. “What do you like to do?”

 

[Marama Te Rangi]

Marama shrugged and smiled, relaxing a bit more as the conversation went on. Whatever people thought of Vanity, it didn't really seem to be all that accurate. "Hey, as long as they're both happy." She shrugged and smiled. She shrugged again when Vanity asked about her hobbies, biting back the instinct to try and go with whatever the coolest thing that first came to mind was. Trying to make yourself seem cooler than you were was such a waste. "Swimming, mostly. And sailing. And rowing." She added with a small laugh. "My dad's a fisherman, so I'm always out in the water. It's so weird here, not being able to just go to the ocean whenever." She admitted. The lake was fine, but there was nothing like salt water. And she hadn't even been able to bring her kayak with her. "How about you?"

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity twirled a strand of hair around her finger and sighed. Marama did seem a bit too nice for her taste, she wouldn't have minded trash talking her brother a little more. "Yeah, guess so. Still think it's kind of amazing he managed to get with one of the most popular kids in school though." She said, Raawhiti was cute and a Quidditch captain, Vanity knew more than one person who was jealous of her brother which was just weird. She listened as Marama said what she liked to do, a little surprised. "Oh, that sounds... cool." She said. Vanity liked the beach, but she was more the type to wear a cute bathing suit and tan in the sun with a magazine or something. Marama seemed an entirely different type. "I guess the lake is the closest?" She said, wrinkling her nose. The lake always seemed a little dirty to her. Vanity considered the question she got in return. "Well, I like fashion.. makeup, stuff like that." She said. "I play Quidditch, as I said..." She hesitated for only a moment. "And I like to paint and draw, sometimes." She rarely told people about that, but for some reason she wanted to tell this girl. She hoped she wouldn't regret it, at the first sign of judgement she was ready to take it back.

 

[Marama Te Rangi]

Marama laughed and shrugged. "Pretty sure Rāwhiti wouldn't be so popular if people actually knew him." She said with a small smile. "No offense to him, he's just not that type, you know." She shrugged. She nodded, sighing heavily. "Yeah, the lake's the best I've got. I go swimming there when the weather's alright, but it's not the same. I would spend the whole holiday at the beach to make up for it if it wasn't winter." She had never understood why Hogwarts had its holidays in the middle of the school year - in the middle of winter - but she was slowly getting used to it, even if she didn't like it. She listened as Vanity talked about herself, interest perking up a little at the end. "Oh, that's so cool!" She grinned. "What kind of stuff do you make? I'm always jealous of people who can draw, I'm crap."

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity titled her head slightly as Marama said she didn't think her brother would be popular if people actually knew him. She said no offense, but to Vanity it sounded like an insult. She wondered if maybe Marama and her brother didn't get along either. It would be something they had in common. Vanity nodded when Marama talked about not being able to go to the beach because it was winter. "I'm lucky, we usually go to Europe for vacations." Vanity said with a slight toss of her hair. It wasn't stricly true, they had gone to France a few years ago and hadn't since, but it also wasn't a complete lie. "I like being on the beach, but I don't love to swim in the ocean. Just... the fish and jellyfish in there." She shuddered. "I'd rather just lie in the sun and work on my tan." She said with a shrug. Vanity sort of regretted telling the Ravenclaw about her drawing as she was obviously interested in it. Vanity shrugged slightly. "Like... nature and stuff." She said, oddly embarrassed to admit it.

 

[Marama Te Rangi]

Marama's eyes widened a little when Vanity mentioned Europe holidays so casually. "No way. I've never even left the North Island!" She said, failing to suppress the wave of jealousy. "What's it like?" She couldn't hold back a small laugh at Vanity's reasons for not swimming in the ocean. "I mean, fish and stuff mostly just leaves you alone, but some times of year you do have to be careful of jellyfish, so that's fair." She shrugged. "I'd get bored so fast on the sand though." She listened with interest when Vanity talked about her art, nodding eagerly. "That's awesome. Can I see them sometime?"

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity couldn't help feeling slightly smug as Marama said she had never left the North Island. She definitely felt a lot more sophisticated after going to Europe. "Oh, it's great. Very cultured." She said with a smile. "We went to museums and things like that." Truthfully, she had enjoyed some of the paintings at the museums. She always wondered how the painters had done things and if it would be possible to recreate it. She shrugged when Marama said she would feel bored on the beach. "It's relaxing." She said, playing with her hair. "But swimming can be fun, for a little while." She conceded. She hesitated as Marama asked about her paintings, not sure if she should let someone see them. "Most of them are at home." She said apologetically. It was a non-answer and it wasn't even a lie. She wondered if Marama would notice she hadn't really answered the question.

 

[Marama Te Rangi]

Marama nodded with interest, perking up as Vanity talked about her travels. "That must be so cool. What's the best place you've been?" She asked, daydreaming what it must be like to have such an elegant life, travelling the world to see art. She grinned and nodded cheerfully. "Swimming's the most fun." She was a bit disappointed Vanity didn't have any paintings to show her, but nodded. "If you do any at school you should show me, I bet they're awesome." She smiled encouragingly. "Waaaay better than my stick figures."

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity was a little annoyed Marama was asking for details, wondering if it would be extremely obvious to her that she only went to France once recently, and a few times when they were much younger but she didn't remember any of that. "France." She said with a smile. "It was nice." She decided to keep it vague, she could always add more details later. She was glad Marama seemed to accept her answer, shrugging. "I will," she said, though she wasn't sure if she would. "I didn't want to be part of the arts club, it seemed kind of tacky." She said with a slight frown.