Bit of Ivory

the day that a great friendship, one never before seen by men and HP fans, was forged.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, on this day exactly one year ago, Rachel sent Emily an instant message for the first time.

Because of the fastidiousness of Emily in saving her IM conversations, this historic event has been captured. Before it can be viewed, however, a little background information would be helpful.

Emily and Rachel’s first official interaction was on the After the End Yahoo! Group. Another member had posted his opinion that AtE!Ginny, while cool, was very unlike canon!Ginny. This opinion was, of course, unpopular, and began quite a discussion about Ginny’s character, eventually involving Arabella herself. Rachel, a relative newbie in the group, offered an opinion, part of which is quoted below:

When I think about CoS, I can see why Ginny could be seen as annoying. I don’t think its unfair to believe Harry would think so too. What twelve year-old boy would want to have a giggling fan club follow him around school providing ammunition for his enemies’ jokes? I’m thinking not many.

Emily, being a self-proclaimed Ginny defender, could not let this slightly-mistaken view passed unchallenged, and wrote a lengthy post rebutting the statement. Her reply to the above statement follows:

But. . .But. . .But. . .Ginny *doesn’t* follow Harry around giggling. We’ve never seen her do this. Not once. Not in CoS, not in SS, nowhere. Not once in
any book has Harry even come *close* to intimating that Ginny follows him around. Ginny demonstrates very early in her acquaintance with Harry that she
knows he doesn’t like attention. “Leave him alone, he didn’t want all that!” It was that comment, BTW, that prompted Draco’s “Potter, you’ve got a girlfriend!” The only other comment made about Harry and Ginny by Draco is Draco’s “I don’t think he liked your valentine much,” which is completely unprovoked. I personally don’t think that Ginny sent the valentine. We don’t see her reaction to it until *after* the valentine is over and done with– not until the diary shows up to we see her side of it at all. We just know that she was there, and that Harry was embarrassed the she was there (probably more for her sake than for his, I think). The fact that Ginny knows Harry doesn’t want attention also leads me to believe this. Why would she send Harry a *singing* valentine if she knew he didn’t like to be singled out? Sounds OOC to me. Besides, she’d already been possessed by Riddle for months at this point. I doubt she had the time, the will, or the energy to expend on making up a singing valentine for Harry.

Under Emily’s gentle guidance, Rachel’s slight mistake was corrected. For a time, their intercourse seemed at an end.

Then Order of the Phoenix was released. In the aftermath of the advent of that tome, Rachel was searching online for someone to discuss it with. As she was searching the After the End member list for someone who was online on Yahoo! Messenger. Emily’s was the first name she recognized. She downloaded Y!M. This is what followed:

The Famous Conversation that Started it All

Session Start (Yahoo! – wahlee_98:rachelbeth007): Tue Jun 24 17:06:41 2003
*** (Link: rachelbeth007)rachelbeth007 has added you to their contact list. You may choose to (Link: rachelbeth007)accept or (Link: rachelbeth007)deny this action.. You may also (Link: rachelbeth007)add this user to your contact list or (Link: rachelbeth007)ignore this user.
*** You have been successfully added to rachelbeth007’s contact list.
rachelbeth007: emily…hi i’m not a random weirdo i promise
*** “rachelbeth007″ signed on at Tue Jun 24 17:07:00 2003.
wahlee_98: I know– you’re on the AtE list!
rachelbeth007: yeah cool
rachelbeth007: ok…i’ve been dying to ask you about Ginny..i downloaded messenger for this express purpose
wahlee_98: I’ve just been typing up my critique of H/G in this book.
wahlee_98: Ginny ROX, doesn’t she?
rachelbeth007: indeed…i love that she’ll def. be playing Quid. with Harry next year (seems a sure thing)
wahlee_98: yeah, as a Chaser. I predicted that in my fic.
rachelbeth007: hehe
rachelbeth007: are you putting your critique on the board? or are you prepping for Nimbus?
wahlee_98: I’m posting it to my blog/LJ.
rachelbeth007: ok cool
rachelbeth007: ok…one quick thing…the library scene…
wahlee_98: loved it.
rachelbeth007: yeah….with the chocolate…and him looking at her
rachelbeth007: gave me the giggles
wahlee_98: and her getting him to open up, when Hermione couldn’t. . .
rachelbeth007: exactly!
wahlee_98: and her saying “damn” HEhehehe
wahlee_98: and bringing him CHOCOLATE!!!\
wahlee_98: SO much better than TOAST.
rachelbeth007: ok….my fave. paragraph was at the very end before Pince comes over
rachelbeth007: “perhaps it was the effect of the chocolate”
rachelbeth007: no silly…its Ginny!
wahlee_98: *nods*
wahlee_98: and Ron is an H/G shipper! HA!
rachelbeth007: yeah…though I’ve been reading the F-alley boards a little (useless in general) and H/Hers like to interpret it differently…fools!
wahlee_98: of course they do. They can’t see anything for what it is– did you see the Katie Couric interview?
rachelbeth007: i read the transcript…i’d love to watch it to see the tone/body language
wahlee_98: did you see the real transcript, or the NBC one that cut out the best line?
rachelbeth007: hmm…not sure
rachelbeth007: didn’t know there is a difference
wahlee_98: after JKR said “Harry and Hermione? Do you think so?” she also said “No, it’s Ron and Hermione— that’s where the tension is.”
wahlee_98: it’s not in the transcript that’s on the NBC site.
rachelbeth007: WHAT??
rachelbeth007: i definitely didn’t see that!
wahlee_98: yeah.
rachelbeth007:
wahlee_98: It was wonderful.
wahlee_98: And the LOOK on her FACE!!! Priceless.
rachelbeth007: oh man…can’t wait to see the video
wahlee_98: I’ve got it on tape, but I have no idea how to digitize it at all.
rachelbeth007: i do, but never think to tape anything
rachelbeth007: someone wil post it
rachelbeth007: i’m not worried
wahlee_98: how would I digitize it? Angua and I need to get the look on her face to put on our Nimbus t-shirt.
rachelbeth007: haha…you need the right equipment..we have a media lab here on campus that lets you convert video to digitial
rachelbeth007: so its all about the equipment
rachelbeth007: i’m sure a university would have that stuff
wahlee_98: oh, there we go. too bad I graduated. The Mac lab I had my CHum class in had stuff like that.
rachelbeth007: yeah…did you just graduate? i did and still have access…i’m sure you could get in there somehow
wahlee_98: yeah, I graduated in April.
rachelbeth007: gotcha…well hmmm…that would be classic…i’ll keep a lookout for the full tape on the web
wahlee_98: yeah, I’ve been looking for it too.
wahlee_98: Just posted my thoughts to my blog.
rachelbeth007: sweet…have you read cassandra claire’s on OotP?
wahlee_98: no. I try to avoid that place. What did she have to say?
rachelbeth007: yes avoid it…just pissed me off…and she dissed Ginny a bunch
rachelbeth007: brb
rachelbeth007: anyway…yeah it was pretty harsh about everything
rachelbeth007: make me wonder why she ever liked the books in the first place
wahlee_98: I should read it. Her fic is so OOC that I’m not surprised she doesn’t like new canon. It goes against everything she’s predicted.
rachelbeth007: it took a lot of will power for me not to post a response, but i’m usually not the best person when it comes to HP
rachelbeth007: you should read it
rachelbeth007: need the link?
wahlee_98: well, since she’d just make fun of you, it wouldn’t make any difference.
wahlee_98: no, I know where it is.
rachelbeth007: glad i didn’t…seems she and heidi are pretty notorious
wahlee_98: yes, they are.
rachelbeth007: i just went to your LJ profile…yay Elizabeth Bennet!
wahlee_98: my obsession with Austen is exceeded only by my obsession with HP.
rachelbeth007: haha…i’ll just say i’m obsessed with them in different ways…
rachelbeth007: as cute as Harry is he’ll never have my heart like Mr. Darcy
wahlee_98: oh, it’s Knightley for me. All the way. Especially when he looks like Jeremy Northam.
wahlee_98: P&P is my favorite book, but Knightley is my favorite hero.
rachelbeth007: haha…true…I love him in An Ideal Husband too
rachelbeth007: (not Austen, but still fun)
wahlee_98: oh, yes. and have you seen the Winslow Boy?
rachelbeth007: Indeed
wahlee_98: good stuff. mmmm Jeremy Northam . . .
wahlee_98: always thought he would make the ideal Remus.
rachelbeth007: wow…never thought of that…good call
wahlee_98: oh, JN has been my Remus since I first read PoA.
rachelbeth007: wait…we don’t know who is playing him yet do we?
rachelbeth007: Gary Oldman is Sirius, right
rachelbeth007: ?
wahlee_98: yes, we do. David Thewlis. eewwww.
wahlee_98: well, better go. it’s my sister’s birthday, and I need to give them their presents.
rachelbeth007: cool…i’ll read your stuff…thanks for indulging me
wahlee_98: no prob. it was fun. We’ll have to do it again!
wahlee_98: see you later!
Session Close (rachelbeth007): Tue Jun 24 17:41:47 2003

And they did do it again. Often. So often, in fact, that rarely has a day gone by that they have not had some contact. Many great things have come out of this friendship– grimace/smile t-shirts, fic ideas and titles, and even Wahleecon– all because of a simple Y!M conversation.

Happy Anniversary, Rachel. Here’s to another year.