MCBAIN, Kenna

NICKNAMES/ALIAS: Her grandparents call her “seedlings” and “kid”.

AGE: Twenty-four. June 8 2005

HOGWARTS HOUSE: Gryffindor

WAND: Holly, unicorn tail, twelve and ¼ inches, whippy

PLAY BY: Zoe Kazan


GENERAL APPEARANCE: Kenna has a relatively normal body-type. A bit on the slender, shorter side, she can come off as small and meek or tall and strong depending on her mood. Her hair is naturally dirty blonde, and she sometimes lets it return to that color, but she tends to keep it a wine red. She has soft, pale skin and bright, blue eyes. She’s always thought her nose was on the longer side but decided to get a nose stud as an excuse to admire that feature. She wears glasses to read, and has a pair of awful, blue bedazzled angular frames that she finds adorable, and everyone else thinks are horrifying. She’s a fan of pastel colors, and considers herself an autumn. She usually applies a light layer of makeup, and loves to wing her eyeliner. Her voice is soft and sugary, but often grows loud and coarse as part of her job. The biggest temptation in her life is to smile.


TRAITS:
Affectionate
Anxious
Awkward
Compassionate
Curious
Emotional
Energetic
Free-Spirited
Fussy
Goofy
Imaginative
Independent
Indie
Kind
Loud
Warm


LIKES & DISLIKES:
+Animals
+The food industry
+Coffee
+Autumn
+Children
+Sports
+Real estate

-Violence
-Greed – political conservatism
-Deception
-Dry climates
-Waste
-Most popular music
-Name brands

GOAL:  
+Do something more satisfying/helpful for work
+Maintain order in her friend group
+Pay back her grandparents for all they have done
+Buy her dream house


FATHER: Dougal McBain, halfblood.

MOTHER: Flora McBain, nee Arnold, halfblood.

SIBLING/S: Rory McBain, brother, three years older.

OTHER:
Magdalene Arnold, maternal grandmother. Goes by Gran, Maggie, Maggie-Gran (Rory) and Granny Mags (Kenna).
Angus Arnold, maternal grandfather.
Remy Dumay, good friend and ex-husband (marriage law).
Yuri Volkhov, very good friend and former love interest.
Kip Parsons, like a brother.

SPECIES/BLOODTYPE: Halfblood.

SOCIAL STATUS: Lower middle class.

OCCUPATION: Manager of the Ugly Pigeon bar, which is owned by her brother.

PETS: Monk. A goldfish.
Pablo. An orange tabby cat, just leaving kitten hood.
Pilot. A two year old Scotch Collie.


EARLY YEARS: Kenna was born into about as average as a family one could find. Dougal McBain, half-Scottish and half-English, was taken with the countryside his whole life and would have been a farmer had Flora not reigned him in. Flora, daughter to restaurateurs (though that’s a liberal use of the word), had an obsession with food that kept them from staying too far from the family restaurant. By the time Kenna was born, Dougal and Flora had opened their own catering business, with Dougal handling day-to-day operations and the finances, as well as working at a local hardware store. Flora handled the rest, from menu creation to human resources. The two compromised and settled on a small parcel of land with a little cottage so Dougal could have his garden and Flora didn’t have too far to travel for deliveries.

Her parents were loving, but they were a bit inattentive. They had a tendency to make everything into a spectacle, Flora in particular, and were often too focused on each other to have much of an effect on their children. Her elder brother thrived in this environment, always being the ring leader of the neighborhood kids. Always too young or, the worse offense, too much of a girl, Rory’s friends never accepted her.

It was her gran who came to her rescue. The Arnolds were no longer running a restaurant, but they kept the boredom at bay with Angus now working at a local grocer’s market and Maggie as bartender. Maggie snapped up her granddaughter and often took her into work, where her duties ranged from making pastries to making drinks. Maggie had a way of commanding attention and respect simultaneously, and had been Kenna’s lifelong role model, loud voice and commandeering temperament and all. Angus just snuck her candy.

Kenna’s magic manifested early, though it was small. Subtle changes of color in cups, a knack for making grandad’s slippers disappear. Rory was furious, for he had only shown signs the year before. No one seemed to make a big deal of it besides him and Maggie, the latter quietly assuring Kenna that she was meant for great things.

Maggie had noticed a trend in the McBain household. Rory, a bit too charming and turning into a troublemaker, was the apple of his parents’ eye simply because they never really took a look. Kenna, who seemed unspectacular in comparison to her brother who had begun reading early and had been the star of the neighborhood’s soccer team. At school, Rory was a lovable prankster who told the funniest stories and the teacher’s couldn’t get enough of. Kenna’s reports never had comments in them, just a quick summary of her academic successes, which were mild. But Maggie saw something in her little seedling that was not being watered.

So one night, at the weekly family dinner that was always held at the Arnolds, Maggie made a startling announcement.

Clink. Crunch. Cough. “What did you put in these potatoes, dad? Is that-“

“I had a prophecy about Kenna.”

Kenna stared at her grandmother, who had just popped a green bean into her mouth. She turned her eyes onto her parents who were both staring on confusion, her mum especially. “What? Mum, you’re not a Seer.”

“So we thought,” Maggie said, looking like a sage as her blue eyes turned to her daughter.

“Maggie, that’s um…” her father was struggling. “Are you sure it wasn’t a dream?”

“Don’t imply I’m senile, Doug, it won’t work well in your favor. Does no one want to hear it?”

“It was about Kenna,” Rory joked. “No thanks.” He smirked at his parents. Within a month, he would be at Hogwarts, so he felt like he had quite a say in such matters.

Angus was letting out a sigh. “Maggie, I told you-“

“I had a prophecy that Kenna here is going to have such adventures that books will be written about her. That she will be underappreciated her entire life until she proves herself a hero. That she will be known as a woman of magnitude. The prophecy said the colors of her life will darken into magnificence.” She speared a bit of beef. “How do you like that?”

Maggie would hear no words of defiance and insisted that they talk about other subjects if they were not going to listen to her wisdom. Kenna mulled over the thoughts, disappointed to find that her role model really was turning senile, as her parents discussed the conversation (which they called an episode) that night when they returned. Kenna was sent off to bed while Rory was allowed to stay up – one of the privileges of being the eldest – and she drifted off to sleep, secretly enjoying the idea of being special.

The next day she woke up, her hair was dark red. Her parents couldn’t explain it, for her magic had never manifested itself into physically changing her own image, a drastic step from the magic she had been emitting. Kenna couldn’t help but repeat Gran’s words. “The colors of her life will darken into magnificence.” Rory was furious and claimed it all to be some giant coincidence, as did her parents. But they all couldn’t help but believe it in their heart of hearts.

And so did Kenna. Kenna believed it with all of her heart, and refused to allow anyone to change her hair back, too proud of it. One day, she could be important.

Now, of course, Maggie had orchestrated the entire thing. But we’ll get back to that later.

Once Rory left for school, Kenna came into her own. Armed with the private knowledge that her inadequacy now would pay off later, she developed a tough armor to criticism and a quiet certainty in herself. She kept the prophecy a secret, quietly fearful of ridicule though she told herself it was best not to boast, and suddenly, Maggie’s plans worked. Kenna’s grades got a bit better, her teachers were taken with her comments in class, and Kenna even made a few schoolyard friends.

HOGWARTS YEARS: Kenna sat under the hat, fully expecting Hufflepuff. It was what made sense. Her mother was a Slytherin, her father a Hufflepuff, and Rory a Gryffindor. Between the three, she was certain her temperament was closer to her father’s. The hat said next to nothing to her, prompting her to ask “hello?” which, of course, incited giggles from the Great Hall. But the hat hummed and then announced she was a Gryffindor. Her shock was apparent, and the Deputy Headmaster had to usher her towards her table, where her brother also sat shell-shocked.

She found a crowd of friends. Her Hogwarts years were relatively normal. Nothing particularly exciting happened to her. She bounced between friends and interests, never quite sticking the landing. She had a particular affinity for Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology, the “practical” subjects in her opinion, and actually had a bit of a knack for History of Magic. She considered herself a girl out of time, intrigued by the vintage aesthetic and the charm of times past.

Kenna developed an unwelcome habit of getting involved in other people’s issues. Not out of nosiness, but her desire to help. She watched carefully and saw which students were picked on and mistreated, and she was always quick to intervening, asking them to sit with her at lunch or help her with homework. More than a few times, she got herself in tough situations for it, but she always managed to get past it. It was around this time she began to channel her interest in sports as the Quidditch commentator, since she could ride well but couldn’t do so without both hands firmly on the handle.

Just mere months before her fourteenth birthday, tragedy struck. Her parents were leaving their restaurant, arguing as usual, when a car left the curb and struck them. Her father passed instantly but her mother fought for a three days before her injuries overcame her. She and her brother were both there for it, having been taken out of school to be with family, and the moment shook Kenna to the core. Rory was almost cold in his strength, and quickly attempted to take on the responsibilities of burying his parents. Maggie, however, wouldn’t allow it. Though she had lost her only daughter, and a man she certainly considered to be a son, she proved again that nothing could shake her.

Rory resented this and, despite Angus’ gentle attempts to reign the hot-headed boy in, he really changed the dynamic of the family. He moved out immediately before heading back to school to finish off his final classes. Kenna couldn’t stand the thought of going back to school and was allowed to test out of the year, since they were so close to the end of term. She was certain she had flunked the exams, her misery had been so heavy, but her marks came back as exceptional – she could never learn of the tactics Maggie used to ensure this.

That summer was horrible. Rory had thrown himself into some job at the Ministry and Kenna had to watch her childhood home be sold off. She moved in with her grandparents and Maggie recognized Kenna’s pain was deepening every day. One day, Maggie woke Kenna up early and demanded she get dressed quickly. Kenna did so in a daze and was apparated off to the middle of nowhere, in a beautiful wooded mountain. Maggie fixed a helmet on her head, put her on a bike, and told her to keep up. Kenna followed Maggie down a mountain, never able to catch up, incapable of being heard so she could ask what she was doing there. So she just followed. And they went down cramped paths and rocky terrain, and soon Kenna couldn’t help but let her gaze linger on the broad mountains, the felled trees, and the babbling waterfalls.

That trail lasted for three hours. Kenna’s muscles were cramped and crying out, body slick with sweat and lungs ready to explode when Maggie finally pulled off. Kenna immediately began demanding for an explanation when Maggie pulled her into a hug. She walked her to the edge of an overlook and they looked down into a picturesque canyon

“It takes great pain to be a part of this great world.”

Maggie let her granddaughter sob out all of her grief. They had a light lunch and took some hydrating potions before getting back on the bikes. They made the trek again, and Kenna marveled at her gran’s strength. They arrived home and Kenna sat in a cool bath for an hour. Her gran came in that night to tell her how proud she was of her, and how she knew that, if anything, these horrible events in her life almost confirmed that she was meant for greatness. A kiss on her forehead and her gran left Kenna to have her last rib-shaking cry about her parents.

Kenna never saw Maggie cry. That didn’t strike her until much later.

Things didn’t become easy overnight. Back at school, most of Kenna’s hard-earned friends didn’t know what to say to her. She threw herself into her work, instead, and tried to keep up with her activities, but she knew she was slipping. One kid who had always had an interest in seeing her mad finally made a comment about her being nutty now that her entire family had ‘abandoned’ her. She didn’t realize she had the strength to pin someone against a wall, nor the volume to bellow that she would end him if he ever spoke her name again.

Kenna preferred to express her strength through gentility. But she learned the benefits of her Gran’s type of strength.

Feeling as though she now had tools on either side to get through life, she found her life as a student get better. Her grades improved, her friendships strengthened, and she found herself striving to laugh and smile more. Rory was now more of an active member in her life, having come back with sincerity to reconnect. He was making some money, though he would never admit how he was making so much, and he made her life with her grandparents more comfortable.

Kenna graduated with decent grades and the never-failing conviction that her adventure was just beginning.

ADULTHOOD: Upon graduation, Kenna’s instinct was to travel. Perhaps it was the healing that her Gran’s trip into the woods had brought her, but she felt the need all the way down to her bones.  Angus encouraged her to take a year off and just enjoy her youth at home, and Rory insisted it was too dangerous for her to go alone. It was her grandmother who defied everyone, vocally championing Kenna’s choice. The day she left, her grandfather slipped her some money, saying that while he was worried about her, he couldn’t help but agree with his wife – she had always been right.

Three months in, and Kenna was feeling pretty stupid. She had settled on the California coastline, in the city of Santa Cruz, and nothing had happened to her yet. She was working a crappy job as a waitress and had become rather disillusioned to it all. Her letters back home were upbeat and positive, and she only confessed some of her misgivings to her grandmother, though the matriarch fiercely reminded her that an adventure was out there.

It was almost a movie. On one of her days off, she went to the pier to try to enjoy the world she had found herself in. A storm attacked the pier very suddenly, and she nearly tripped into the sea when the crowd pushed past her to find cover. A hand caught her and pulled her through the crowd until they found a broken down ride to hide out in. It was only then that she got a glimpse of her savior, a kind-faced man with eyes that squinted when he thought and circular glasses that he claimed to hate.

When the storm cleared, neither had the good sense to exchange information. But a week later, he happened to walk into her restaurant. It was with dazed eyes that the dreamers introduced themselves to each other.

Jamie had taken a year off law school and taken up filmmaking. He was running around with an old 8mm camera trying to capture love on tape. He was an idealist with high hopes who believed in absolute honesty. He had wanted to be a lawyer to defend the oppressed, but had fallen out of love with it for reasons he couldn’t understand. He liked that Kenna said what she thought and didn’t apologize, unless she was wrong, and then she dove into educating herself because she was just too curious to see where she had gone wrong. He liked that she yelled at sports games and sank into books, and that her face always lit up when she remembered her dress had pockets.

They were very in love for a year and a half. In that time, Jamie attempted finished his schooling, with Kenna as his dedicated study buddy. She visited her brother and grandparents when she could and she found herself oddly keeping Jamie a secret from everybody just Gran, because it was impossible to lie to her. Shortly after their two year anniversary, Jamie’s father became very ill. They travelled to see him on his deathbed, but he passed before they could arrive.

It was the worst she had ever seen another human being. The grief Jamie had over his father, a man he had loved but had a deeply complicated relationship with, seemed likely to destroy him. He finally revealed that his deepest regret was not getting his chance to say good bye.

Kenna presented this problem as a hypothetical to Rory’s new friends, regarding it as a philosophical conundrum. It was Remy who thought implanting a false memory of a good bye could do the trick. It was Kip who explained to her how it was done. Only Yuri thought to suggest any sort of ethical dilemma over such a discussion, but Kenna’s mind was made up. One night, while Jamie slept, she gave him the memory of a good bye, desperate to see him smile again. Of course she didn’t tell him what she was doing. Not only would that compromise the memory… but Jamie didn’t know she was a witch.

It was one of those lies that got ahead of you. They were already in love by the time Kenna realized her dilemma, and by then she was so convinced she needed him that the very thought of risking him was too much. She chose a life, instead, in which she told him she was sick so she could apparate off to Scotland to see her family, turning him into her life.

The new memory destroyed his sanity. He could remember not remembering this, and the fact that this dream-like thought persisted in the waking day began to work against him. He stopped eating, he began seeing a therapist. Kenna researched and researched, but she could not find any solution. She broke down to Yuri, of all people. And he told her the terrifying truth, which she knew – it was time to come clean.

He told her, and I quote reader, “I never want to see you again” and “I couldn’t dream up something worse to do to someone.” The worst was “I never believed I could hate you so much. Especially because I still love you.” He was a destroyed man, and she knew she had fundamentally messed up. She limped home and told her troubles to Rory and his friends. It was Kip who told her what she didn’t want to know – that this was a problem for the Ministry now. He promised her she wouldn’t have to handle it though, and made her promise to never see him.

She told Maggie as little as possible, moving back in during the transition. However, her curiosity grew too great and she went to visit him.

He acted as though he had never met her. The Ministry, to right wrongs, had to delete her in the process. She could tell by their meeting that there was something behind his eyes, the potential to fall all over again. But she had to leave. There would be no second meeting this time. There would be no two years of falling into each other’s interests and arms, no more trips to the pier and lazy Sunday mornings. It was all gone.

Maggie held her when she grieved for the man she was convinced she would marry. Maggie didn’t know who Kenna shed tears for and asked her who had hurt her darling seedling. “I did Gran. It was all me.”

Rory didn’t know what to do, so he bought Angus’ old bar, a funky little building on the corner of a street. He practically gave it to Kenna as a project. He had been interested in the building for ages, having established it as the hang out for his friends, but now it was theirs. Because he was easily distracted, Kenna took on the entire beast on her own, cleaning the place out, reupholstering it, choosing décor. By the end of it, she had restored it to the glory of its years under her grandfather’s care. Seeing him run his hands over the barstools was enough to make her decide this was what was meant for her.

And though her gran was constantly reminding her that she had great things waiting, Kenna took to managing the Ugly Pigeon with a pride and certainty very becoming of her. She nestled into this life, taking up residence in the apartment next door, converting the upstairs parlor into a sitting room for Rory and his friends, and making the bar a home away from home for every patron that walked through its doors.

Some days, though, she thinks of her Gran’s words. And a deceptive part of her body tells her to go seek that Greatness promised her. But another reminds her… honey, you’re not bad at finding it. Keeping it’s a ‘nother thing.


ALSO KNOWN AS: Jackles

RP EXPERIENCE: Some.

HOW YOU FOUND US: Can’t keep soul mates apart, yo.

MAIN CHARACTER: Lily now? Or maybe Ace.

Just saw the new template, but I've been working on her alllll day. Do you want me to fill out the other?

You posted this before the other was complete, so it's fine.

God, I love her. Poor thing. Go ahead and start claims.

Merci!