August 3rd, 1890  — Twilfitt & Tattings, High Street, Hogsmeade

Since it was the busy season, Billie and Gideon had very few choices as to when they could duck out to retrieve some of her school supplies together.  If she had it her way, she would have chosen to get fitted for her school uniform right before the shop closed for the day.  However, it seemed they were to forgo and slightly prolong the time they usually set aside for their midday meal to run such an errand.

When they arrived, the shop was somewhat quiet.  She didn’t recognize any of the other customers, which suited her well.  It didn’t help her nervousness that she’d agreed to also be fitted for a few casual dresses for school.  It wasn’t likely she’d be able to wear trousers at Hogwarts without causing a stir, even in her leisure time.  Though, she was still determined to try.

"Gideon," Billie whispered in a loud fashion.  "Are the boy’s uniforms this uncomfortable?"  She doubted it.  The woman who had initially been helping them had ushered Billie to another location in the store where she was a bit less hidden.  It seemed another seamstress would be fitting her robes. 

Billie took the opportunity to whisper something else, "I swear she stuck me with pins on purpose."  She had truly been trying to remain as still as possible, but her body felt itchy, especially from the less familiar fabrics brushing against her.  It was maddening, really.  She didn’t feel like herself, and she altogether looked like a skinny, gawky boy who had decided to try on his sister’s ill-suited clothing for laughs.

At least they were almost done. 

Clad in the generic Hogwarts girl’s uniform, Billie awkwardly and impatiently stood awaiting the last step to their errand.  By then, the activity in Twilfitt and Tatting had picked up, the buzz of additional chatter loudly reaching her ears.  She chanced a look behind her and very quickly whipped back around.  Merlin fucking Christ, she recognized someone.

"We should have gone to Diagon Alley."  Billie blurted out, panic in her widened, blue eyes as she looked to Gideon.  Turning so that her back was mostly to the room, she tried to will herself to disappear.




-Open to Gideon Ollivander
-Open to 1 person who knows Billie at least somewhat well and would be surprised at the reveal.  (Friends, enemies, people she has worked for, etc.)

-Potentially open to 1 other who either falls under the previous category OR is nosy/gossipy/opinionated who overhears. 

  

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

Bertie had been too anxious the last time he had gotten fitted. Only barely able to stand still, the measurements had ended up all wrong. It had gotten to the point that the tailor had asked them to come back another day when Bertie was calmer. Which meant having to get measured all over again. Surely Archie didn't have this many problems!

Alas, here he was. Another fitting to go and a stern look from his mother to let him know that he needed to stay still. Walking in the door, he still had a pout on his face about the whole fact that this had to be done again. That is, until he saw a familiar face. At first he brightened up a bit. While he wasn't sure if Billie would call him a best friend, Bertie liked to spend time with the fellow incoming first year. It didn't matter that their 'social circles' didn't align. Fun was fun and a friend was a friend.

Happiness soon turned to confusion when Bertie finally realized what Billie was wearing. "Billie?" He squeaked out. He hadn't meant to sound that shocked. But it was certainly shocking.

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Magic by MJ

"I'm sure she didn't mean to," Gideon assured Billie as they moved towards the front of the shop, though he didn't understand exactly why they were moving. The workers here clearly had some sort of system for efficiently fitting the dozens of students coming in for new robes, but it was lost on him, and it had been long enough since his own school days that he couldn't really guess how much longer this was going to take. He was keeping an eye on his watch, of course, because he needed to get back to the shop soon. Taking a long lunch break during August was, frankly, absurd for a wand maker.

He could have sent Billie out alone with a shopping list, honestly; she was competent enough to accomplish that. Given the precise nature of their errand today, though, he knew he couldn't have asked her to go alone. She might still be upset, and she'd have no idea how to even begin requesting dresses and female-fitted uniforms. Of course, neither did Gideon, but at least he could pretend to know what he was doing.

He was looking for the tailor when Billie apparently saw someone she knew. Gideon tensed, unsure what to do. Billie had made it clear she wasn't enthused about this, but since Gideon didn't recognize the boy who'd said her name, he didn't know why she'd reacted that way — or what she might want to do about it. He instinctively stepped between the two children as if by momentarily blocking the boy's view he could afford Billie real privacy, but of course that was ridiculous.

He knew she'd have to tell people she wasn't a boy sooner or later, but it hadn't occurred to him that someone might stumble upon them and remove her ability to determine how the reveal was made. He offered Billie a stricken look, but what could they do? They couldn't just run out the door and back to the shop when she was wearing yet to be purchased robes full of pins.

  

Bertie’s shock had Billie going pale in the face. She wasn’t close with the youngest Diggory, but she knew him well enough to realize he would immediately recognize her. They ran about with the same groups of Hogsmeade kids. She even considered him fun. However, she had no doubt that he would say something to the rest of them. It was game over. Any control she felt had just been snatched from her.

Billie didn’t have a best friend, or anyone she trusted with her secrets aside from Gideon and maybe Quin. She tended to keep people from growing too close by letting them kick around in the category of surface level friendships. It was a defense mechanism to avoid the inevitable hurt that came about when they chiseled past the surface and arrived at the real her. The much less brave and broken her. That was how it had been in the muggle village she’d grown up in. Billie had never been the best at being a girl, nor had it been easy to hide the fact that she was freakish in other ways. After all, the local priest didn’t conceal his opinions about her damned soul. Nor did him or her mother shy away from publicly punishing her for things she didn’t even understand.

Was history destined to repeat itself all because of her own stupidity?

Billie did the most mature thing she could think of, she pretended as if she’d been suddenly stricken deaf and hadn’t realized he was speaking to her at all. She pretended to fiddle with the front of the robe she was wearing, hoping the next tailor would arrive soon.

In a very low voice, hopefully only loud enough for Gideon to hear, she murmured, ”Don’t we need to get back to the shop, now?” She felt helpless, trapped, even while Gideon tried his hardest to shield her from the boy. It was all in vain, and the damage was done. She was incredibly grateful her father had accompanied her today, even if he was just as in the dark about female clothing as she was. The fact he had set aside the time, even though he was utterly slammed with business, meant more to her than she could ever express. It was impossible to run errands when everyone’s shops operated on relatively the same schedule. Just having him there for moral support provided her with some relief.

Especially after this new development.

  

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

For the life of him, Bertie couldn't understand why Billie was dressed that way. Was it for a joke? A dare? A prank? He couldn't understand. It didn't help when Billie went about outright ignoring him.

Fitting forgotten, Bertie made his way over despite the exasperated protest from his mother. "Billie? Why are you dressed like a girl?" Bertie was simply a child of his time. He couldn't possibly understand.

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Magic by MJ

Gideon understood what Billie was getting at, but they could hardly leave while she was still wearing unfinished merchandise. He signaled a clerk and gestured at his daughter impatiently. The woman nodded that she understood and moved away quickly, presumably to fetch the tailor responsible for the rest of the fitting, but who knew how long it would take for that person to arrive? If Billie was looking to be rescued, the tailor would not be the one to rescue her.

Gideon was willing, but what could he actually do? Billie might be upset if he told this boy her secret before she was ready to reveal it... but on the other hand, there might not be an option at this point. The child seemed to be half a step away from figuring it out himself; he'd recognized her clothes as girls clothing, and there really was only one explanation for why Billie was buying it. It was unavoidable. Billie probably knew that, even if she was at a loss for words. So she couldn't be cross with him for saying something, could she?

"Well, why are you wearing that?" he challenged the unfamiliar boy, his tone implying both that the original question had been rude and that its answer should have been obvious. "I expect your Hogwarts letter told you to buy school clothes, same as ours did."

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No, this young boy of the times had no clue as to why Billie could possibly have need to wear a dress. So instead his focus came to the man who elected to snap at him for his question.

Thus, he became the villain in this story. A mean old man making a boy wear girl's clothing. "That's not very nice of you. Making him wear girls clothes. Can't you see, he's embarrased?" Bertie couldn't possibly understand the circumstances, but his mother began to put two and two together as she gasped suddenly, bringing Bertie to look between the two adults in confusion and hints of frustration.

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Magic by MJ

Billie opened her mouth to answer Bertie, but Gideon, thankfully stepped in. The tone in which he asked Bertie the question nearly had her laughing, but the feeling of the world closing in on her prevented such a thing from happening. Perhaps, the tendency to make smart-ass comments was somewhat genetic.

No, she wasn't angry. Not at Gideon, at least. She was annoyed at herself for getting herself into this mess and damn Bertie Diggory for not allowing them to purchase such a vile uniform in peace. She was thankful her father was there. She wasn't sure if she'd have the courage to stand up for herself, otherwise. Nor did she think she would have been able to restrain herself from just punching the kid in the nose and taking off.

If Bertie had let it go, she might have forgiven him, but, once he launched his attack on Gideon, Billie decided she wouldn't stand for it. "I am not embarrassed. You should be embarrassed for asking such rude questions." She snapped, though her tone was disconcertingly calm. "He's not making me do anything. We have to wear a uniform, and this is the one my letter instructed me to wear. If you're too dim-witted to realize why, then perhaps you aren't ready for school."

Her expression remained neutral, despite the emotions that rumbled inside of her. Gideon received the slightest guilty expression for being mean, but Bertie only received a stare.

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

Gideon wouldn't have been the sort to scold Billie for being mean in any case — unless she had been intentionally cruel, he supposed, but not when the person on the receiving end more or less deserved it. Even if the boy hadn't deserved it, Gideon was inclined to give his daughter as much leeway as possible given the circumstances. She was dealing with her entire world changing, and none of this was easy for her. He would have let her get away with death threats, if that was what she needed to get through this interaction with as little psychological trauma as possible. As it was, he didn't think her comment went too far — it was almost funny, or would have been if the stakes hadn't been so high.

He gave Billie an encouraging look and considered giving her an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder, but decided against it. She may have let him hug her recently, but he didn't think she would be interested in physical contact in a public forum like this. Besides, he didn't really know where that thing she was wearing was pinned, and it wouldn't help matters at all if he reached over to touch her shoulder and accidentally stuck her with a needlepoint, or knocked one loose and caused her sleeve to fall off in the middle of the store.

  

Confusion was not a new trait for today. Neither was frustration. But hurt? Bertie could not possibly understand why he was being treated like the bad guy here. Not only by this man, but by Billie himself. Or... herself as it seemed to be more evident as time went on. But... Billie had always been introduced as a girl, had never corrected a soul.

What made it sting all the more? Bertie was never the type to exclude girls from spending time with him. Maybe a playful joke about not climbing too high or running too fast, that was just something everyone did, he was raised to be so used to such a thing. But he was never mean about it. To then be - what? - lied to by a person that he considered a friend? Who else knew? Certainly this man. But their friends? The whole town? No, that was too large of a conspiracy.

No, Billie had lied to everyone, Bertie was sure of it. Yet it was Billie who thought that h-... she had the right to be defensive. So the hurt turned to anger, as the young boy's eyes began to fill with tears. "You liar! I hate you!" He yelled, for what else could one of his age think to do in an era where this was not a normal concept. One that leaves him prepared to do little more before running from the shop, leaving his mother calling out for him.

Bertie couldn't imagine how his mother had left things at the store, though he soon heard her call out to him as he ran through high street, so she must not have stayed long. But he kept running. He didn't want to stop. Couldn't get himself to stop.

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Magic by MJ

Bertie's retort was not quite what she expected. While Billie had already realized that people would likely hate her for being a liar, she wasn't prepared for Bertie to flee the store altogether. In fact, she was so flabbergasted that any words she might have shouted at his retreating form were securely lodged in her throat.

Why had he ran? Even she had stood her ground. Yes, the pins were a contributing factor, but the exit she had wished to make would have been more calm. At least until they were back in the shop.

Mrs. Diggory remained to glare at the pair of them for a few moments before pursuing the boy. Once they both were out of sight, Billie turned to Gideon, her expression more baffled than hurt. At least until she started to notice the stares they were receiving from the others in the shop, and the whispers. Her lips dropped into a frown, a single sentence sliding ominously from her lips, "He's going to tell everyone." Any chance of her doing it her own way was gone. 'What are we going to do?' was left unspoken, hanging in the air between them.

Thanks to the hullabaloo, the tailor finally clued in and headed in their direction to finish up.

  

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

Well that was... dramatic. Gideon let out a weary sigh as the boy and then his mother disappeared out the front door. He didn't even know what to say at first. He certainly couldn't argue with the truth of what his daughter had said.

"Yeah, probably will," Gideon agreed. No sense in patronizing her by trying to lie; she'd see through it and it wouldn't prove comforting. There wasn't a good way to salvage this situation that he could see — the only way it could have gone better would have been to have avoided this interaction all together. Which perhaps could have been done if Billie had told her friends proactively, rather than waiting for them to find out and react, but it was too late for that now. He couldn't blame her, either, for wanting to hang on to the familiar a while longer. What she was doing this summer was harder than anything he'd had to do in his life.

Hesitantly, Gideon suggested, "Unless you tell them first. But that's up to you." Maybe she could salvage the situation somewhat, but if she wanted to go home and curl up in bed until it all had run its course, her wouldn't hold that against her. Poor kid.

The tailor arrived and Gideon fixed her with a glare. She couldn't have come five minutes earlier and saved them this mess, could she? Honestly. They'd go to Diagon Alley next time for sure, and not just to avoid the other Hohsmeade children.

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