Acceptance:Students/Amaryllis Kyrkos

Index > Students > Acceptance:Students/Amaryllis Kyrkos

**Name:** Amaryllis Kyrkos

**Year/Age:** Sixth Year / 16

**Chosen House:** Hermes

**Why you think the character should be in that house:** Amaryllis has always thought it was her responsibility to do all the things Basil couldn't because she was lucky enough to escape the Cystic Fibrosis he inherited; this has led to a thrilling, sport-filled ride, and she gets him to write down his bucket list so he can be with her in spirit.

**Species:** Witch (no special abilities)

**Blood Status:** Half-Blood

**Appearance:** Her FC is Isabelle Fuhrman.

**Personality (more than a paragraph):**

Amaryllis is a thrill-seeker – for better or for worse, she’s always searching for those new experiences that make her feel alive, bring on the adrenaline rush and the reminder that you need to breathe to survive. One of her foremost priorities is friends and family, not because they’re her rock but because she can be theirs; she asks not what they can do for her but instead about what she can do for them, even if that results in her own detriment. She is unselfish, she has learnt to do a lot of things to provide for Basil when she’s not off on her next great adventure. Part of her feels like it’s her responsibility to take on the experiences Basil is unable to complete due to his condition, she gets him to write down his bucket list so he can be with her in spirit. To those around her it can seem like she is always smiling, a legitimate ray of sunshine who can never be dampened by adversity, taking on anything no matter how reckless.
Yet beneath the surface is a vulnerable young woman nobody sees – a young girl who is weighed down by guilt, anxiety, depressing thoughts. Amaryllis, who loves too much for her own good, almost feels as though she is stealing Basil’s opportunities away from him, pushing his face in it as such. Because she will always be the kid in the photos winning awards for sports or travelling the world or having your arm in a cast because you took a bludger to the arm for the first time. She feels like she’s boasting even though part of her knows she’s only trying to help.
She’s guilty because she feels like it’s unfair that he took on the condition and she didn’t. She was the stronger twin with opportunity – this is why she puts so much effort into providing for him. If she could take the Cystic Fibrosis herself then she would do it in a heartbeat. Amaryllis is paranoid that he’s bitter because she is well and fit and doesn’t have to drink potions and wear a vest several times a day so that she can breathe. She’s paranoid that he’s upset that he can’t do some things that she can because his illness can inhibit him. But she hides all this behind a smile and an attitude that she can always do things for others.
Amaryllis to this day struggles with issues of beauty, body image, identity, and self-worth. But she feels like she has no right to complain because her lungs aren’t legitimately trying to kill her. She doesn’t recognise that her problems have merit too – she might have an amount of confidence on the outside but it’s just to convince her family that she’s fully recuperated. The only way is down and her depressing thoughts have only mounted since her friends transferred to Durmstrang.
The issues with her family, large reunions, and being tangled in friends and enemies alike have only increased her anxiety – but she can’t withdraw from it lest they notice she’s not okay. She's falling in love with a girl and she's scared of rejection and piling her problems on someone else.

**History (more than two paragraphs):**

Vivian and Nicolas Kyrkos were a happy couple - happy being the word Amaryllis wants to *be*. She's the product of champagne and a honeymoon suite, and the eldest of two twins - one healthy, the other sick. Her twin brother Basil inherited the Cystic Fibrosis dominant gene - she did not. Her first sign of magic was bouncing when she fell off a broom from a ridiculous height, a beautiful explorer, while he saved his own life. She was close to him and tried to do whatever she could to help him from a young age, from bringing him food to bringing him his vest and potions to his bedside, even lying there next to him when he was having an attack and wearing his vest to calm down. He eventually got an interest in drawing - and not something more dangerous, much to Amaryllis' relief.
When they got their letter a parrot landed on their birthday cake. Their pride - their parents' pride - was intense. Amaryllis was just happy Basil would be able to go with her yet she was concerned all at once. It hurt to be put in a different cabin to Basil but she'd have to come to terms with it. Yet she was kept awake by nightmares of Basil having an attack without her to help him. The 'squad' they met was wild and she was almost scared of their influence on her brother. She eventually warmed to it, though.
It was when she was thirteen that her guilt and anxiety over her not being sick and Basil being sick came to a head. Her boggart exposed her fear of Basil hating her, and of losing him, it opened many sore wounds. She assured him she was fine. (A lie.) While Basil drew she explored. Threw herself into dangerous situations to try and make her feel something other than a heavy heart. She pushed her body to its very limits after she got the adrenaline kick she wanted – running, cycling, any of it. After that she cared for Basil at the expense of her own self-care; she was so scared of losing him that it cost her sleep at night, and still does. She’d cry alone when she knew her parents weren’t around.
This combined with her lack of desire to eat when she was anxious led to a weight scare, she was dangerously thin and was thus hospitalised for some time until the Healers were able to get her to a weight that was safe for her. Her parents became more protective but since this was over the summer she managed to make sure her friends never heard about it – she pretended to comply but as soon as she was back at school she was back to her old reckless habits. Suddenly her parents had to be worried about both their children. She ran off at one point because she felt that the time they were spending making sure she was okay reduced the amount of time they had for Basil. It was about then that she began to fall for a girl - but her thoughts and the way her parents had to spend time on her made her feel *guilty* and worthless so she never acted on those feelings.
For fifth year she appeared to be recuperated but she chose to return to her habits - she became a chaser for the Quidditch team and it was then that she suffered a head-on collision with another player who had intentionally flown at her so she would drop the quaffle. She plummeted far too far and the bones she broke took long recuperation. That reduced her confidence in the air so she tried to find other things to commit herself to. Basil made sure she ate so there wasn't another scare of that kind, but it was several months before she was walking the same way she was before. Girls in their year (they were enemies of the squad) called her a cripple amongst many other names concerning appearance that drove her to put far too much stock in the way that she looked. It was leaked around the school because they had figured out her sexuality which they didn't hesitate to use as a weapon.
When she was able to walk again it was uncertain steps but the girls were *always* on her back. They locked her in a room with an old boggart the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher hadn't dealt with yet. They'd also begun to mock Basil as they'd noticed that would hurt her more than any other remarks they could throw. It was then that Amaryllis Kyrkos *got into a fight*, breaking one girl's nose and knocking another out. This led to detention upon detention but she didn't care. It did get her a reputation for being violent. But they didn't call her names again - and this was the first time in a while she felt strong. She learnt martial arts over summer in secret with a friend and has continued this in hidden rooms since. She does her best to still appear as outgoing and happy as she always has tried to be - but the thoughts are coming back and she knows Basil is worried about her, she feels as though the facade may be breaking.
She's still struggling but she can't think of dying because she knows that Basil *needs*her even if she doesn't feel like living is doing her any good at all.

## Comments

Amaryllis Kyrkos has chosen the House of Hermes. Congratulations!

They say I'm insane, I say it's *just a game*.~*Jaye*