October 15th, 1888 — Honeyduke's
Quincey Honeyduke

Billie dashed down the street, her skinny legs a blur as she raced to her destination.  To many, it might seem as if the child was in some sort of rush, but, really, she just delighted in running.  Her destination wasn't too far from the wand shop as it was, and she always wanted to see if she could break her speed record.

That morning, while she had mentally checked off all the people she liked to peek in on, she'd stumbled across the name of someone whom she'd decided she hadn't seen in ages.  It hadn't been that long, but Billie didn't have the best concept of time.  Then again, it always felt that way with the people you liked best.  And Mr. Quincey Honeyduke fell under that category.

When she arrived at his rebuilt shop, she paused a moment to remember she probably shouldn't just barge in.  Raising a fist, she knocked wildly upon the door before tugging it open and sticking her entire face around the edge.  "Mr. Honeyduke!!"  She shouted so even someone hard of hearing would notice her presence.  "I've come to help ya with things!"

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

This rebuild was chugging right along, so well in fact that Quin couldn't complain at all. After the structure of the building checked out, he'd pretty much gotten his butt in gear so fast he could have honestly made a go at being  carpenter. Of course, Charms had been one of his better classes, so it was working in his favor at this point. Miss Potts was all contracted to start on the mural on the wall to the left of the till, he'd just about put the rest of the shelves up, but was currently putting more cases together by hand (swinging a hammer was fun alright?) when he heard the thump on the door, followed quickly by Billie's loud greeting.

Quin chuckled to himself, standing from his position behind the stack of wood he was using to build shelves, dusting his hands on his pants. "Billie, just in time, I could use a second set of hands right about now. How good are you with a hammer?" He could regret this, but it was Quin, he'd was probably just as wild with tools as Billie.

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When she heard Quin's voice answer back, she shouldered her way inside and scurried over to join him. It hadn't been more than a week since she'd last been there, but long enough that she had noticed quite a few new additions to the shop that hadn't been there before. She eyed them impressed and gave Quin an encouraging and pleased grin.

"'M pretty good with a hammer! I only hit my thumb once or twice now." At least she was honest? And that seemed like improvement to her, so she was convinced that meant she was pretty good. Billie wasn't about to mention that sometimes her nails ended up crooked, bent, or generally off-kilter. He could find that out on his own.

The first time she had tried, the shelf she'd been asked to help hang had fallen once any sort of weight had been added. She had also nearly broken an older boy's toe after she'd hit a nail so hard that the hammer had ricocheted right out of her little hands and toward his foot. Now, she wasn't that overzealous, but accidents did happen.

"When ya finally gonna re-open? Ya look almost ready!"

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

"Excellent, I need some help putting these shelves together." He was totally going to regret this, but that was neither here nor there. Truthfully after learning that Billie was Gideon's daughter he made sure to keep an extra eye out for her and keeping her around the shop was the easiest way to do that most of the time.

Using magic would probably be easier, but this was far more fun. He would however, be using magic to hold the shelf while Billie swung the hammer. His hands and fingers were far too valuable of a tool for him to chance. With a flick of his wand he poised all of the pieces together, concentrating on keeping anything from moving. "Don't hit your fingers, Gid- you da will kill me." He chuckled at his own correction. He was still wasn't over that.

"Right there then," He motioned to the nail he was levitating into place with is free hand for Billie to use the hammer on. "Hoping by Halloween, should be set to go by then." He answered her question belatedly, realizing it was a hope and a prayer, but he'd do it if it killed him. He needed an income again.

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Billie watched as Quin used magic to hold everything in place. With a gasp, she turned her head and body every which way as if trying to fully inspect the shelf. She didn't quite understand magic. She knew that adults and older children had wands they performed spells with, but everything was just too new for her to fully wrap her head around the whys of it all.

If one thing was certain, she was easily entertained by the magic world. "Whoooa. How didja...?"

It took her a moment to remember what she was meant to be doing. She hurriedly picked up the hammer and scrunched up her nose, "I ain't gonna get my fingers." Or, well, she hoped not. It wouldn't hurt that long, anyways.

"Oh, that ain't too far away!" She commented before she took her first swing with the hammer, completely missing the nail. It landed with a thud against the wood, and she cringed. "Erm, 'm jus' gettin' warmed up!" She insisted and tried once more, actually hitting the nail this time. She gave Quin a proud look, as if she'd somehow proved that she was an adept carpenter.

Really, though, she was excited.

I mean, who didn't like to hit things?

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Quin couldn't help but to chuckle when Billie got right into it, and missed of course. "Hopefully, I think we'll be ready. I've been baking and cooking my fool head off. Once all of these are together and the paint goes up we should be alright." It would come together. Thank Merlin magic worked again. It wasn't a shortcut for everything, but it was helpful.

"Atta girl, keep going." He gave her an encouraging smile, waiting for her to finish one nail before levitating the next into place. Watching her react to magic was fascinating; he could so easily sympathize, having grown up in the muggle world himself. He had probably worn a look identical to hers for the entirety of his first year at Hogwarts. "Just you wait kid, you'll learn it all at school, just like I did." He chuckled.

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"If ya need anybody to...taste test, I can help ya with that, too. Okay?"

Her response to his comment about cooking and baking was immediate. The offer of her further help came with very little forethought. Even if she failed at carpentry, she excelled at eating. If only that would get her far in life.

She finished hammering in the first nail and moved onto the next, grinning at Quin like a fool. Billie was obviously enjoying herself, but her smile faded suddenly when she heard what he'd called her. A girl. While she didn't mind that Gideon had filled Quincey in on their secret, she was less than pleased that her father had informed him about everything.

Part of her wanted to shout that she wasn't. That she didn't want to be. The truth of her gender stung. She knew the facade couldn't last forever, but she didn't want to be a girl. She didn't want to be proper. Or frowned at when she tried to climb trees or ask questions. Or wear terrible, uncomfortable dresses and play with dolls instead of sticks that she imagined to be swords.

Originally, she had transformed from Wilhelmina to Billie for her safety, out on the streets alone. It was more beneficial to be male when it came to landing odd jobs. The longer she'd embarked on the masquerade, the more she'd realized she enjoyed it. The more she felt like herself.

It took her a few moments of quiet hammering to speak again. Quin's comment about school brought about more worries since she wasn't academically at the same level as many children her age. And she feared having to re-enter the world as a girl at that time.

"That's a long time 'till then, though!" She couldn't stand having to wait to learn everything! School wasn't for another 2 years. Her usual cheerful demeanor returned, and she hammered away, energetically, the nail going in slightly slantways. "Miss Potts says it's fun. She let me look at some of them books they have 'bout plants. Do ya get to learn 'bout makin' sweets there? That where ya learned it?"

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Laughing, Quin nodded at her request. "You are definitely my number one taste-tester, I could never forget that." Trusting a kid's pallet for sweets was the only way to go as it happened to be most of his customer base after all!

She grew quiet for a few minutes and Quin worried he'd somehow upset her, but ended up bouncing back after coming back around to Hogwarts. "Yeah you've got a couple years before then." Finding out how that progressed would certainly be amusing. The ruse she currently ran about under would eventually change and  he had to wonder just how she would deal with it.

Chuckling at the mention of the Potts family Quin nodded along; they were just as quirky as he was and everybody knew it. Perfectly lovely family though. One of the middle girls was doing the mural on the wall for him.  "Aye, that it is." Quin had nothing but fond memories of nearly poisoning his friends and years at Hogwarts. "Nah, though I will tell you the secret of getting into the kitchens before you go." Every good Hufflepuff knew that little tidbit and Quin had been keen on having access to the kitchens while in school. "My own dad is a confectioner, so I learned how to make candy growing up, though my whole family are muggles." It had broken his sister's heart when no letter for Hogwarts had shown up for her and it had put a huge strain on their relationship.

"But I learned about potions and charms and transfiguration which is what I use to make the candies more magical in nature even though I knew nothing about it beforehand." Learning that Billie also spent time with the Potts girls made Quin smile to himself. If there was a group of girls for Billie to get in with, that was certainly the right one. "You learn all kinds of things though, some of the best years of my life, to be honest."

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With a gleeful giggle, Billie raised the hammer in triumph when Quin referred to her as his number one taste-tester. It seemed to appease what small amount of pride she had.

She continued hammering away, easily amused. Who knew such a simple thing like driving nails into wood would be such a good time. It did well as an outlet to disperse some of her endless energy. She had always found herself unable to sit still. Her move to Hogsmeade hadn't helped. Now, she was just eager to experience everything life had to offer.

"Ya will? Sounds like a real good thing to know. Where ya get the food from." She stated with a serious nod. Although she was well-fed with Gideon, she just couldn't shake the need to know where her next meal was coming from. She even found herself still hoarding bits of bread in her pockets or tucked away other places. It was a difficult habit to break. Living on the streets and having a mother who would deprive her of sustenance had created a lifelong preoccupation.

"Oh, I didn't know ya was a muggle, too." She didn't tend to ask since it seemed, to her, that most people had some sort of magical background. Or, at least, they seemed more experienced, anyways. "Maybe that's why ya ain't stuck up." Not that a few of her other non-muggleborn friends were.

Canting her head to the side with interest, she watched Quin for a moment as he explained. "Oh, so ya make somethin' that's all reg'lar better with magic?" She hmm'd thoughtfully and struck the next nail with a wide, semi-toothless grin, "Def'nitely wanna learn how to do tha'!"

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Quin was nearly as easily amused as Billie as she hammered away at the shelves, Quin just silently levitating the next thing into place for her to pound together. They were not so dissimilar in their energy levels or inabilities to sit still, that was for sure and Quin had never quite grown out of it. The only time of day he could be found sitting down was at the end of a long day when he physically could stand up no longer.

"O'course I will," Quin reassured her with a goofy grin. "You won't have to worry about food at Hogwarts, it just appears out of thin air, right onto the plates in the Great Hall. You can eat until you pop." Quin had, by no means ever starved in his entire life, even before Hogwarts, but if he remembered right, he'd eaten so much in his first week of school he'd made himself ill. "The kitchens are just for a late night snacks, though the house elves are fun." There was always an adventure to be had at Hogwarts, that was for sure!

Her comment about him not being so stuck up made Quin laugh out loud, a bark of appreciative laughter ringing throughout the empty shop. "I'll take that as a compliment, and yes, my entire family, aside from me, are muggles. Was quite the shock when the Deputy Headmaster showed up at my house telling me about Hogwarts. Was also hard for my sister who didn't get to go. You'll see what I mean soon enough and learn all the magic you want." She was quick, she'd be fine.

"Alright that one looks done, let's move onto the next one." Truthfully Billie hadn't done too bad of a job, Quin really wasn't all that fussed. "Or we could go bake some cinnamon buns?" He offered as an alternative.

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Billie gasped at the same time her hammer thudded into the shelf. It probably sounded as if she had hit her thumb, but the sudden stream of words that exited her mouth proved that wasn't the case. "Outta thin air?! How the flippin' heck does it do tha'? All cooked and everythin'?" She was so amazed by Quin's explanation about food at Hogwarts that she neglected to censor herself. Not that she even noticed.

She took a moment to mumble random phrases in amazement to herself before grinning again. Maybe school wouldn't be so bad. Or, at least, wizard school sounded much better than muggle school.

"Ya parents weren't mad or nothin' that you're a wizard or nothin'?" She questioned, a curious tilt to her head. She could understand his sister being disappointed. She would be too if the tables were turned and her brother was the one with magic, and she wasn't. Though, it made sense now since they didn't have the same father.

Billie smiled proudly at shelf they'd put together. Hopefully, it would hold actual weight, but she wasn't concerned about that fact.

"Cinnamon buns?" She gave Quin a wide-eyed look and appeared conflicted. Hammering or cooking delicious, sweet things. Now that was a tough choice. "I haveta pick?" She clearly couldn't decide.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

"All cooked and everything. That my friend is the beauty of magic." Quin laughed as he straightened up and stretched out stiff limbs. He would certainly be excited to get back into baking full time instead of constant carpentry. Her question about his parents' reaction to his Hogwarts letter also had him chuckling. "I don't think so? It was a good explanation for all of the things I accidentally kept making move or explode." It had been harder when Emery hadn't gotten hers though.

Choosing not to dwell on that, like he tended to, Quin raised an eyebrow at his tiny companion. "Well, we could make them and then come back to this while they bake, so technically we can do both." He was the master at multitasking- but only with cooking. "What do you say?" These were just for him anyway, and her and Gideon if she wanted to take some home. Not to mention, he never minded a little help in the kitchen.

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Billie shot Quin a questioning look when it seemed his family hadn't been angry that he seemed to be a wizard. It didn't make much sense to her. Perhaps, a small part of her hoped that his muggle family also would have despised it, just so she could find some sort of reason for her mother to have. Instead, it made her even more confused, more questions bubbling in her head. Questions she wouldn't ask.

"Yes! Let's do both! That's a real good plan and things, Mr. Honeyduke!" When faced with the option of being able to do two fun things, of course she was going to choose both. That was a no-brainer.

"Are they gonna be extra cinnamon?" She laid the hammer down for the moment and swung her arms about, as if trying to stretch them.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Quin couldn't help but to chuckle at Billie's enthusiasm. Certainly this had to beat being out in the cold weather at the very least. He imagined she was pretty good at occupying herself, but this came with the end product of food too. Even he, as a fully grown, fully capable adult, always chose the food option. It was a miracle he wasn't much heavier than he actually was.

Straightening up, Quin stretched out long, complainging limbs after being down on the floor for so long. "They can if you want them to."Motioning for Billie to follow him toward the kitchen, he pulled his bright orange apron off the hook and with a found a second behind it. With a flick of his wand he charmed it to be a little smaller and it flew over to Billie to be put on. "Step one, wash your hands." He nodded toward the sink and moved himself to start gathering the things needed for the cinnamon buns.

"Done any baking before?" He questioned as he both summoned things from newly-painted orange cabinets and pulled things from shelves himself. He'd decided to keep the orange in the kitchen after the remodel and left the shop itself to a more neutral color, thanks to his discussion with Miss Dempsey in the past. Once everything was settled on the island counter in the  middle of the kitchen, he moved to the sink himself to scrub up.

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With an enthusiastic, silent cheer, Billie raced after Quin into the kitchen, already dancing on the balls of her feet. Hammering and baking in one day. How was she to know the day was going to turn out to be one of the best ever! She would have to pester visit Mr. Honeyduke more often.

With round eyes, she gasped as the apron shrunk down to her size. It seemed the wonder of it all wouldn't fade for quite some time. She took it with a quick, "Thanks!" and set about tying it to herself in the same sloppy fashion in which she did up her boot laces. It was a wonder they didn't come undone and trip her up more often.

Quin's request for her to wash her hands was met with a groan. Billie's opinions on personal hygiene were fairly well known. After all, when one went from bathing only a few times a year to having to remain washed and fairly tidy much more often, it was a bit of a shock. In her opinion, cleanliness was for prissy girls and rich folk. At least, those were the only people she had known to care enough to wash up.

Despite her protest, she went ahead and washed her hands, being sure to dry them on her dusty pants, of course. She was at least trying to be a more acceptable human being. Trying.

"Kinda. But I mostly jus' had to fetch them things to put in the bowl."

When her mother would cook for the family she'd been employed to, she'd task Billie and her brother with bringing her the ingredients. Joe had been trusted to actually help cook. The one time she had assisted, something had gone awry, and she was blamed, of course. She still wasn't sure if it was bad luck that the buns caught fire, or if her anger had caused it. They were charred beyond recognition.

"Always looked like a lotta fun, though!" She peered at the ingredients Quin had set out with curiosity.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Quin shook his head as he gathered everything on the island, summoning a stool for Billie to stand on beside him ash he then summoned some measuring cups and a wooden spoon. "Come on, I'll teach ya," He chuckled at her enthusiasm. "If I can do it, anybody can." That was for sure. He'd been a bit of a scamp in his youth as well and his dad had managed to teach him quite a bit about maneuvering around a kitchen.

It wasn't so bad, just paying attention and making sure to get the right amounts and a good mix. Billie would be an expert in no time if he had anything to do about it. Then once they'd popped these into the oven they could tackle the other shelves. All in all, it was a good way to keep the kiddo out of trouble and hell, he'd even pay her for the help with the shelves. Hopefully Gideon wouldn't mind that he kept her out all afternoon.

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Sooooooo sorry for the wait! Wrap?

  

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