[spinners] wildflowers || rheya

“Mum, please—” Magnolia whined in obvious satisfaction when her mom asked her for what seemed to be the hundredth time about where she was going and who she was going to meet up with. When JR had decided that he would attend camp in the summer, the teenager had assumed that it finally meant that her parents would pay her the sort of attention she had wanted from them since the  golden child as she had dubbed him in her head, had been born. Unfortunately, the teenage girl had not expected her parents to treat her like a little girl instead. “Ugh—” the young witch rolled her eyes as soon as she was allowed out of the house, “I’m not a baby,” she muttered to herself, as she eventually found her way to London, grateful to spend some quality time with her friends even though it would probably be short-lived if her parents were actually serious about that ridiculous curfew they had given her.

They were treating her like a prisoner, she decided, an idea that did not sit with the free-spirit especially when she had never done anything particularly awful to make her parents distrust her. Even in those instances where she almost got herself in a bind, she had Mavis and Josie that looked out for her the way she looked out for them. Then, there was also her older sister, Rheya, who she had promised her parents to check in with while she was in London. Magnolia didn’t mind the idea at all, things were definitely much more fun when her sister was involved. And she spent time with cute, older boys like her bandmates which Magnolia had never opposed to spending time with. Though she had probably made it obvious by now, the teenage witch had a bit of a crush on one of the band members.

It had been a short meet-up but summers were always busy in one way or another. Either way, her group of friends decided to meet again in a few days, there seemed to be a good party going on that they might be able to sneak into. After a quick bite and a little shopping, where she had bought the cutest hair bows she had ever laid eyes on, she made her way to Spinners, making a dramatic entrance with her hands in the air as she announced her arrival.

“Rheya, your most favorite sibling ever has arrived!” she announced with a laugh, making her way over to her sister in excitement. “You busy? Wanna hang out?” she asked, “I got you something, hair stuff,” she added, looking into the bags she was carrying before finding the one she was looking for and handing it to her sister, “I even got a discount for telling the shop owner dad used to play for the Griffins, he had his picture on the wall,” she grinned triumphantly.

She thought about asking her sister if the band would be around but felt that it was probably better to wait a bit in case Rheya got suspicious of her motives. Regardless of what they got up to, Magnolia knew that as long as she was with her sister, they’d have fun.

@Rheya Hawkins

Now that things were really moving with the band Rheya was spending less and less time working at Spinners but she made sure to take at least one shift a week if she could. Spinner himself was pretty lax when it came to stuff like that, most of his employees were part-time and transient in general. The music shop upstairs was the least busy part of the place, it was downstairs that really needed full-time staff, so Rheya's job at the storefront was pretty easy. Most days there would be a handful of customers the whole shift but it gave her time to listen to all of the new albums, she loved to learn about different genres and artists, and it gave her plenty of time to socialize.

She'd sold a couple of records, a pipe to a kid she was sure had just graduated from Hogwarts, fed the chameleon, and spent the rest of the afternoon changing listening to the new box of records and CDs Spinner had brought in. When she heard the door open and a voice she instantly recognized she smiled brightly and hopped down from the counter she'd been sitting cross-legged on. White high top Air Force 1 sneakers squeaked against the worn wooden floor as she crossed the room quickly to meet Nola halfway. "Never too busy for you," She spoke as she reached to give her little sister a hug, the oversized band teeshirt she wore like a dress brushed against her upper thighs, Rheya never wore pants.

The young witch stood back as she watched the teenager dig through her bag and hand her a package of bows and clips and Rheya smiled, pulling her into a second hug. "Thanks, Nola, super cute." She said as she laughed at her sisters admission of how she bargained for a better price. Nola was nothing if not clever and Rheya would be lying if she pretended not to have used their dad's fame for things when she was her age. She tried to avoid it now, wanting to make a name for herself with the band, even though she'd rather not be recognized individually. Rheya loved being a part of Oliver's band but she didn't want her own fame, she played drums in the back, and she was good with that. Besides Senna and the others looked so much better shining in the spotlight.

Leaning up against the counter she pushed long braids behind her shoulder and considered putting one of the new clips in right now. "You have great timing, Celeste should be here soon and then I'm off for the day, you eat yet?" She combined the statement and the question altogether in one, her eyebrows narrowing at the last, but planning to buy her sister lunch either way. Rheya could eat four lunches in one day, if the day called for it, so she hoped Nola wouldn't be opposed.

Magnolia smiled as her older sister hugged her, very happy to finally be spending time with her after what seemed like an eternity since they last time they had time to meet up. Between school and outings and Rheya’s band commitments and just general life as an adult woman, it seemed as if their meetings were always limited. But that definitely didn’t stop her from wanting to find ways to spend time with her favorite sibling, especially more so when JR was so close to coming back home from camp. Not that she hated her little brother by any means the two just had a harder time getting along with each other, that was all.
 
“Yeah, had lunch with the girls but—” she started, before breaking into a smile, “I could always go for second lunch, especially if you’re buying,” she continued, “I’m running low on allowance money,” she confessed. It was of no surprise, as soon as they young witch got her weekly allowance it was almost as if she couldn’t find a way to spend the money fast enough.

But Magnolia figured that looking her best took a significant amount of effort and took great pride in the fact that while her parents helped her pay for things like clothes and accessories as needed, Magnolia also took responsibility by putting the money she got from them to good use. Of course, that didn’t stop her from thinking they ought to be more lenient with their pockets, being a girl was tough and it was certainly more expensive being a pretty one.

“You’re not meeting up the band for lunch are you, because if you are then I’m totally interested in joining that too,” she added enthusiastically, just in case. Rheya probably knew that Magnolia had developed a little crush on Jonesy and the young witch often found reasons to meet the band for the sake of saying hello and engaging him in meaningless small talk and giggles. But the young witch also hoped that her secret wasn’t as obvious, though Magnolia had a hard time keeping that stupid grin off her face when she was around him, much like she was whenever she was around any guy she liked.

“Have anything in mind for lunch? I heard there’s a good Mexican place around or maybe Indian?” she considered, turning around to fiddle through the records in the store as they waited. “Been up to anything fun lately?” she asked. Magnolia had been looking for plenty of reasons to spend time with her sister but knew that as the band started to build, she had less and less time on her hands.

Rheya gave her sister the makings of a disapproving frown but it quickly turned upward when she agreed to a second lunch. There was always room for second lunch, especially with the metabolisms the Hawkin's girls had been gifted with. "Course I'm buying," She interjected while Nola was still speaking like sisters do, and then the conversation became many wrapped into one. Leaning back she laughed at Nola's statement and eyeballed the bags she'd come in with. "I'd never guess how," she teased before laughing again. "Oh, would you?" The older witch said with a twinkle in her eyes, knowing Nola had ulterior reasons for why she wanted to see the band but not pointing it out exactly. She was still hoping her younger sister would find a wizard her age to get into trouble with, but she wasn't going to break her heart by telling her she was too young to date any of her bandmates. Where Kaelyn would have shot Magnolia down outright, tried to teach her a lesson, Rheya preferred to let her sister make her own way in the world. Make her own mistakes. Life was an adventure, right? And it wasn't like she was pushing her to do anything unsafe, just letting her live a little.

"Ohh Indian, absolutely, how about that place on a fourth that added way too much curry powder the last time?" Rheya had loved it, even though it had nearly burnt her tongue off. "So good," she mused as she rubbed her stomach and returned to the counter and register. It was nearly time to feed the chameleon and she started to pull the little bin of treats out from the counter. "Just the usual, but I want to hear about you Nola," Rheya smiled at her and then picked up Camille, who barely noticed, from her fake tree, and set her on the counter. "Wanna' give her some treats?" She offered the bin to Nola as she looked up at the little clock behind a wire grate up on the ceiling, it'd been broken a couple of times and the repairs were starting to wan again but still it ticked along.

"Celest better hurry up but if she shows up late, give her your best scowl for me yeah?" The witch teased, winking at her younger sister and listening to her stomach growl loudly.

“Perfect, I am always in the mood for a bit of spice,” she replied with a smile. Spicy food had never really agreed with her but it certainly didn’t stop her from eating it and Nola would often take it a step further to see just how much she could tolerate. The last time they had eaten at the place Rheya was referring too, Nola had had a stomachache for three days but still couldn’t stop thinking about how delicious it had gone with the honeyed naan they had enjoyed. She figured that as long as she ordered enough lassi to last throughout the meal, she’d survive the spiciness. “Then we can go out for dessert afterwards, we might need it!” she suggested, setting the bag down.

“Me? Just you know, waiting for JR to get back from camp, enjoying having all the house to myself,” she said with a happy grin, “not enjoying the attention from the parents though,” she added as an afterthought. In Nola’s eyes, her parents had never really seemed strict but that had all changed this summer. It was nice being the middle child, she figured, and really wanted that position back as soon as possible. “Hm—” she looked over at Camille a little suspiciously, “Last time I tried to feed her she almost bit my finger off,” she said dramatically, raising her index finger to further establish her point, “Or is this a trick?” she eyed her sister suspiciously. Nola really did love animals but figured they didn’t always love her. Nola had puppy-level energy though, so in a way she figured she understood why she was drawn to puppies and kittens.

Nola looked over in the direction of the door, wondering if she’d see Celest and intent on fussing about it should she be late. “I thought you’d be the boss by now, you know, making everyone run around on your time,” she smiled, setting the bag of accessories down on the counter. “Wanna see what I got you?”

"Yes, dessert afterward," Rheya grinned, even though they fought like, well, sisters. Sometimes, it seemed like Nola and Rheya were always on the same page when it came to cuisine. She listened closely, that same smile still lingering on her features, as Nola spoke about how her summer was going so far. Rheya could certainly understand what she meant by having all of their parent's attention. Rheya had never really experienced that, but she could remember the shift when their father had retired enough to imagine what it was like for her younger sister. Especially with Jr, the apple of their father's eye, gone for the month. She pretended to shiver before chuckling.

"Yeah, but beats being back at Hogwarts, right?" Rheya said before she really gave it much thought. She was pretty sure they did not see eye to eye on the academic establishment, but Rheya figured Nola had a whole lot more fun at Hogwarts than she ever had. Instead of lingering on their education differences, the witch pulled away from the counter and began getting the treats and things out for Camille. Rheya's braids fell off her shoulder as she shook her head at Nola, "Girl, its no trick, Camille is hungry." She gave her a nod like it was a serious thing they were talking about, but Camille had barely moved the entire morning. She was a pretty lethargic chameleon, all things considered. "Jus' open the box up at least, she'll come to get some when she's good an' ready,"

"Besides, if you stick your finger in her face, what do you think she will do?" Rheya teased, giving her baby sister a playful wink.

Turning back from the clock, Rheya sighed and leaned her hip against the glass counter. Sooner or later, she'd probably have to stop working at Spinners again, but for now, the money was good, and the upstairs apartment was cheap, so it all fit. The band was making waves now, real ones too, and Rheya had this uncanny feeling like they would get out of the kiddie pool soon. That meant more shows, more recording sessions, and less time for part-time jobs. Less need too. "Not me, I never want to be the boss," Rheya admitted without an ounce of sarcasm in her voice. "Too many responsibilities, I like being part-time; it is easy." Rheya liked it when things were easy.

"Oh, yes, show me?" She asked, perking up as the bag hit the counter.

There were plenty of pros and cons where location was concerned. On one hand, Magnolia liked the freedom of being home. She could go wherever she wanted (within reason and as long as she respected her curfew), sleep in during the week, rearrange her records collection, and spend time with her favorite sister and the other adults she had met through her. On the other hand, at Hogwarts she could stay up late with her best friends, talking about boys or makeup or the books she pretended to like, and learn new stuff. Contrary to popular belief, Magnolia actually liked learning new things, she simply couldn’t be bothered to do her homework or keep up with her studies. There was so much going on at Hogwarts, and being on top of the rumor mill was a job all in itself. “I dunno,” she shrugged in response to Rheya’s question, “s’pose it is but you know, I miss my mates, dad won’t let me stay out past curfew, and sneaking out ain’t as easy as it used to be,” she explained.

It was nice to know that Rheya wasn’t that type to rat her out to their folks. “I’m good,” she replied with a small giggle, eyeing the chameleon suspiciously but refusing to get near it. Rheya was right, she’d probably bite the finger off of someone who was waving treats in her face but the experience had been enough to teach her the lesson. She’d stick to the animals she did understand like her apathetic cat, Queen Victoria would never try to bite her finger off, though she had scratched her up before when she had tried to tickle her belly. Apparently, she didn’t really care for that gesture.

“Guess you’ve got the band stuff anyway,” she figured, a much better job that working at a records store. But it was a job that Magnolia would have been interested in. She was still too young to think about work but she’d considered spending a summer shadowing her sister or getting work there herself. Either way, she appreciated her freedom for now.

Smiling at Rheya’s invitation to show what she had purchased, she set the bag down on the counter, taking out a series of individually wrapped hair accessories and a small bag of blue braid accessories.

“This one’s a bit more my style, yeah?” she pointed at the hair clips, “but figured these might be cool enough for my sis, I’ve got you some beads too, got you some yellow ones too, house pride and all that,” she grinned. “We should go shopping before the summer’s out, I want to get some dresses but when mum goes she always makes me get the ugly stuff,” she complained.

"Does he still double-check all of the window charms before going to sleep?" Rheya asked of their father, remembering the lengths she had gone to sneak out at Nola's age. Back then, she had to watch out for Kaelyn, too, though Rheya wondered if JR would tell on Nola if she saw her breaking the rules. She laughed at the thought; the little wizard would probably blackmail her or something creative. "Just tell me next time you want to go out late, I will come to get you," She smiled, tongue between her teeth, and laughed. Their parents didn't exactly trust her, but they rarely told her no anymore either. Rheya was old enough to take care of herself; she had proven that, so what could they say?

When Magnolia started bringing things out of the bag, Rheya's eyes browsed over the clips; they were adorable and would look so cute in Nola's smooth long hair, and when she saw the bread cuffs and squeaked. "Nola, these are freaking cool," She explained, lifting them and running a tattooed finger over the gem at the end. Absently her other hand twisted around one of the braids hanging by her ear. "Thank you," She said as she set them down and moved around the counter to wrap her sister in a hug.

"Do you have time for shopping today?" She asked as she pulled away, finally hearing the door opening and slamming shut, followed by Celest's swearing. "Oi, what took you so long?" Rheya turned to ask the other witch, her hands on her hips and a don't mess with me attitude all over her face. "Yeah, okay, owl, next time, girl, we were worried," Rheya warned her like a mother hen before the warm smile returned to her face. "You owe me for covering," She informed her as she moved quickly to punch out, finish counting the til, and then grab the see-through sham of a sweater she wore when it was not too hot and not too cold, and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Ready, Nola?"

“He does,” Magnolia nodded in agreement, remembering again just how much she hated that her father was overprotective to a fault. Though the girl suspected that it had something to do with her big sister’s past track record, and it probably didn’t help that the Gryffindor basically idolized her older sister (and not the right one, apparently). “Still trying to work my way around it, though,” she added enthusiastically, knowing that if she was ever going to study, it would have been towards something like breaking the charm on the windows without her father noticing. She knew he had the best intentions but really, at fifteen, she was old enough to go out without a curfew and she would continue arguing with him on the point until he agreed with her.

“Right? I’ll take you to the shop if we’re ever on that side of town,” she promised, very pleased that her sister liked what she had gotten her and feeling a little triumphant at the same time. Magnolia had her own sense of fashion like all of the Hawkins did, but as it was Rheya’s way (the one with all the artistic genes) the girl thought that whatever Rheya did was that much cooler. “No problem~” she replied, hugging her sister in return.

“Yes! I have so much time today,” she added enthusiastically at her sister’s question, more than happy to go on a shopping trip with her as soon as possible. Their parents would decidedly not be as enthusiastic as the Gryffindor’s spending tended to get out of control when left to her own devices, but it also wasn’t every day that their schedules matched enough to allow for this opportunity. She waved at Celest as soon as she walked into the shop, glad that the girl had finally made an appearance so they could leave. Sure, Magnolia was a fan of Spinners and would probably be there on a daily basis if she could but when it came to shopping, it wasn’t as easy of a decision, Magnolia loved herself some clothes.

“Where to first?” she wondered, gathering her things as they walked out the door, “I’m gonna be a fifth-year now so you know what that means,” she teased. It didn’t mean anything and probably wouldn’t be any different than any of the previous years but the girl remained hopeful. “I should get some new makeup too, I heard that the Lovecraft apothecary is having a back to school sale type thing.”

"Then the Lovecraft apothecary is first," Rheya said as she wiggled her eyebrows at her baby sister. Shopping trips were always more fun when they had plenty of time. Rheya couldn't stand being rushed to do anything, and it seemed like they wouldn't be this afternoon. Now that Celest had finally arrived. She told the other employee a few parting notes, draped the canvas bag Senna had bought for her over her shoulder and held her hand out for Magnolia. They could apparate to Diagon a whole lot faster than taking the subway, and they had lots to do, so any time saved meant more time shopping.

They were transported to the landing zone in Diagon with a zip and a zap, and Rheya smiled at the bustling street. She loved crowds, just not when she was up in front of them, and there was something special about the back-to-school buzz in Diagon that always had her vibing. "Now that you are a fifth-year ~," She said it like it was a song, remembering her sister's words and wanting to make a thing out of this trip, "We will have to get you something adventurous," Magnolia had a great sense of fashion, it wasn't the same as Rheya's. However, there was enough overlap to share clothing, but it was impressive, nonetheless. And Rheya was not exactly a good influence, certainly not the sort her mother or Kaelyn would have appreciated, so it was time for short skirts, tank tops, and strappy sandals.

She led them to the front of the apothecary, surprised by the line that snaked out the front door, and laughed. "Looks like it is a good sale,"

Magnolia was ecstatic at the thought of going on an actual shopping trip with her big sis, but only because the girl had just expected to get in a meal and a chat with her sister if that. These were the sorts of spontaneous events that she did enjoy, especially ones that involved shopping for things. As soon as they arrived in Diagon Alley, the girl looked around, hoping that they wouldn’t have to wait too long in line. The Lovecraft Apothecary wasn’t the only cosmetics haven in town but it was one of the upper tier ones; the teenager was still wearing sparkly eye shadow and glittery lip gloss but when it came to things like skincare, the higher in quality, the better.

“I was hoping for that,” she said with a grin, “because if I have to go on another shopping trip with dad, I’ll give up school altogether,” she said in exasperation. The man wasn’t that bad and he did have his own sense of fashion but of course as soon as Magnolia picked up anything he deemed ‘too short’ or ‘too revealing’ they’d get into it. She fifteen, after all, it was totally okay to show some skin at this point she decided.

Grimacing as soon as she saw the line wrapped around the building she sighed, “Yeah I sorta expected it to get this crowded,” she made a face. Standing on the tips of her toes, she tried to see inside as much as she could manage, “Everything’s flying off the shelves, too,” Literally. She could see two older witches fighting for the last of one item in a furious battle of the wills. Turning to Rheya she smiled, “Probably should’ve been here first thing this morning, wanna come back later or you okay to stand in line for a bit? Because I could use your help with some dresses I was looking at earlier,” she shrugged her shoulders, open for anything.

Rheya laughed out loud at the idea of Magnolia going back to school shopping with their father. The man was great, and he had a budget the size of a dragon, but he did not understand teenage witches. Rheya knew this; she'd been on her fair share of father-daughter shopping adventures.

"Merlin, does he still think Black and Red are the only color combinations worth wearing?" The former Griffin was not exactly shy about sporting his old colors, and he made sure every Hawkin's child had a closet full too. As they reached the shop, Rheya scratched at her head in thought; spending an hour in line didn't sound like the best use of their time, but she did want her sister to have everything in the world, so she did some quick thinking.

"One second," She said, wiggling her fingers at her sister as she headed into the store. Her thin frame effortlessly weaving through the crowd, the line, and up to the counter where she snagged two of the latest catalogs, and within a minute, she was popping back out of the shop to Magnolia. "We can browse while we eat and place some orders tonight," Rheya said, holding the catalogs up so Magnolia would know what she meant and then stuffing them into her bag. "Now, let's see these dresses," Rheya said with a smile, holding her arm out to let Magnolia know to lead the way.

“Yes,” she rolled her eyes at the thought of the last conversation she and their father had about fashion sense, which was to say the fashion sense he did not have, “which is fine I love red, too, but black is so not my color, it’s kinda grim you know,” she wrinkled her nose at the thought. Black was chic and sexy, two words that did not describe the teenager at all. Magnolia’s sense of fashion was like that of a child’s that had outgrown her clothes but kept wearing them because they seemed vintage. Vintage was always in, right? One would be hard pressed to find anything in a dark shade in her closet apart from the necessary little black dress and a faux fur coat she had bought herself for Christmas the previous year.

“I mean I know he means well but literally all I wear at school is black, red, and orange, Gryffindor colors are not exactly the best even if they are my favorite,” she added with a smile. Magnolia, like almost ever other student from the same house, was proud of their school colors and at school she wore the combination as much as she could. But outside of school, her tastes were a little more defined and quite different from what she normally wore at school.

Magnolia nodded when her sister told her to wait, “This is brilliant, good call,” she said enthusiastically when she returned with catalogues in tow. As soon as they walked out of the line, the line lurched forward, the girls behind them feeling quite lucky that there would be two less people to wait behind but in all honesty, Magnolia suspected things would run out before many more people made it. Pointing to a store ahead she smiled and lead them in that direction, “So you planning to take me to any parties before summer’s out? Because if you are that may or may not influence what I buy.”

"I'll take you to any party you want to go to, Nola; you know that," Rheya pinched her sister's side with a little giggle, giving her a wink as they walked, and then stuck her hands into the big pockets of her oversized bag. "So long as you don't tell dad, or mum, or Kaelyn, actually, or JR, don't tell him either," She loved their siblings, but Jr was always looking for blackmail material, and Kaelyn had a good heart but was a stickler for the rules. Somethings just had to stay between the two of them. "You should get a long dress and a short dress," Rheya finally said, "But like, by long I don't mean nun-long, I mean like, you know, just past your knees."

"Something classy," Rheya wasn't the type to judge her teenage sister for wanting to look cute and testing some boundaries to do it. Honestly, she'd cheer her on all the way. It was a miracle if Rheya put on pants half the time; at least Magnolia was expecting to buy dresses that were actually dressed, and not just over sized shirts that Rheya tended to wear.

"There is a concert next week at Spinners, you could come to that, it's an underground hip hop group, but nothing wild," Rheya loved all music but especially anything that was underground. The less known, the better; she was a snob when it came to music. Fame made her nervous, but even if the Ollies hit it big, she hoped she could still hide in the back and not be noticed.