your beautiful
festive smile
It felt like yesterday when she had opened her eyes weakly to find Professor Snape at her bedside, Cybele thought as she woke up on the first of September.
Cybele was overwhelmed to see that she created a small commotion in the Great Hall the first evening. Fred, George, Lee and Caroline had purposefully arrived in the first carriage to be with her and had refused to leave the Ravenclaw table even after the Sorting had begun. The fifth-year Ravenclaws all hugged Cybele lengthily; Ben had even twirled her in his arms like Draco had in the hospital wing. The other Ravenclaws were eager to welcome her and the rest of the school to catch a glance at Sleeping Beauty, as this had quickly become her new nickname.
If only they knew who was the Prince charming who woke me up, Cybele thought playfully when she heard it.
It was very strange being around everybody again. First of all, everybody had changed so much. Everybody looked taller; boys and girls actually looked different from each other. Cybele realized they had all still been children before her accident and she regretted the good old times. Fred, George and Lee were downright men now and she almost felt shy in front of them. Everybody seemed happily oblivious of it, however, as they hadn’t had to get used to it overnight.
Caroline and Cybele decided to shop together on Cybele’s first Hogsmeade weekend, which was scheduled for the end of September.
‘Fair Fortune,’ Cybele told the monk’s portrait and she stepped into the Hufflepuff common room, where nobody minded her. She made it directly to the girls’ staircases and the fifth-years’ dormitory where Caroline was still getting ready.
‘Hurry up! We’ll be allowed to leave in ten minutes!’ cried Cybele, quite excited by the prospect of discovering Hogsmeade.
Caroline was so often late that Cybele had long ago taken the habit to come and fetch her at her dormitory rather than having to wait up for her at every corner of the castle.
The two other girls who had still been in the dormitory were going out as Caroline greeted her friend. Caroline looked at Cybele sternly.
‘You’re wearing these shapeless black things again! Seriously, don’t you own any other clothes?’
Cybele looked abashed, but not as much as Caroline did when she heard her answer.
‘I don’t own any clothes.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, except my Hogwarts uniform, of course.’
Caroline was gapping, not understanding.
‘You know, I just appear the way I want,’ or used to, ‘I just, you know-’ Cybele simply flicked into a jean and black T-shirt to demonstrate her point. She didn’t have to hide her powers to her closest friends now; that was one positive side effect of her accident.
Caroline still didn’t close her mouth but let it twist slowly in an awed smile as the possibilities were crossing her mind.
‘You can do that and you’ve been wearing oversize black outfits for the last month?’ she asked in a vaguely scolding tone.
‘Well, if you want to know, there’s not much I look decent into, lately,’ Cybele snapped, aghast. ‘Can we go?’
‘What do you mean, not decent?’ Caroline asked in disbelief.
Cybele didn’t like at all the turn this conversation was taking. She wanted to go out, discover the wizarding village, the sweet shop and meet their friends at this famous café they were all talking about; not discuss her little potato-shaped spot of bother.
‘I’m just so, so, like, fat now, you know, so what can I do? Anyway, let’s go!’
Caroline laughed out loud.
‘Fat? Haha, yeah, right, you’re a downright fat!’ She giggled.
Cybele really didn’t see what was funny about it. Caroline had grown tall and elegantly thin, she was looking graceful in shorts and a fashionable T-shirt. Cybele wouldn’t have minded at all if she had woken up like that. She said exactly that to Caroline.
Her friend looked at her seriously. Of course, she realized, Cybele had had to wake up in her teenage body from a day to another, she couldn’t imagine how that could feel.
‘Cybele, I’m laughing because what you say sounds preposterous to me,’ she explained. ‘You’re not fat at all! You just have curves; that’s normal. I actually whish I had some.’
It was Cybele’s turn to gap.
‘You want to switch? You know, I probably have the power to do that,’ she offered.
Caroline merely smiled.
‘You know, I may wish I was different, but all in all, I’m at peace with the way I grew up. I’m just me. And so you should. I know it must be a shock to wake up so changed but you’re gorgeous! Trust me on that; why do you think they all call you Sleeping Beauty?’
‘I wonder… Hey, maybe because I’ve been sleeping for months!’ Cybele answered, dripping with sarcasm.
Caroline gave her a scolding look again.
‘More than half of the school has never even heard about the Muggle fairy tale, Cybele; the nickname just worked because you’re so cute!’
Cybele sighed and looked at herself, unconvinced. Caroline conjured a mirror.
‘Please, let me help you wear something decent and we go, deal?’
Cybele looked up and saw her new oddly-shaped self in the mirror. She would let Caroline make her wear whatever, so they could just go and enjoy the trip, she decided.
‘Okay, so what do you suggest?’ she asked with as a neutral tone as she could master.
‘Hum, just try out things. That’s so much fun!’ Caroline was starting enthusiastically. Seeing the clueless and utterly unenthusiastic expression on Cybele face, she decided to take the lead.
‘Right, the nice Dockers you always used to wear before,’ she ordered.
‘I tried that, it looks all odd, now,’ said Cybele, complying nevertheless.
‘Yes, it does,’ Caroline admitted. ‘No, look!’ She started to pull and pinch her and there the material to show Cybele how it should be falling. Cybele good-willingly followed her instruction. She was awed by the result; the docker was now following her shapes without grapping at them and it actually looked nice! Caroline proceeded to revamp her grey cashmere with the same satisfying result. She eventually forced Cybele into bright colours.
Cybele was smiling.
‘Thanks!’ she said simply. She could look at herself without feeling depressed. She still made double-takes at the unfamiliar figure, but she didn’t dislike it the way it looked now, with the cherry cashmere.
Caroline made her try several more relaxed outfits before Cybele resumed her moaning about leaving for Hogsmeade. When they hit a jean miniskirt and simple green T-shirt, Cybele was feeling quite herself again in this more childish attire; she made sneakers appear and beamed when she saw her brass watch appear around her neck. It always used to appear when she was ready, and it was back now.
‘Let’s go,’ she said with determination and she walked to the door.
It was a bright and sunny, still warm late summer Saturday, an ideal day to discover Hogsmeade for the first time. Cybele was feeling elated and the girls ran out of Hogwarts’ grounds, Cybele relishing the sensation of being freed from the large covering clothes.
Honeydukes was awesome. The girls went out with packs of sweets and distracted themselves a while trying Bertie Bott’s Every Flavoured Beans, until Cybele picked up a rainbow-coloured one which turned out to be petrol flavoured. She declared at this point that she needed a Butterbeer urgently and they abandoned their shopping to head to the Three Broomsticks.
Fred, George and Lee had just arrived and Lee waved at Caroline from their table. The three boys simply gapped at Cybele and grinned as they approached.
‘Look at you!’ Fred exclaimed happily.
‘Cybele, you look so pretty!’ Lee declared kindly.
‘Yeah,’ George said with a weak smile.
‘It’s Caroline,’ Cybele trailed, not catching anybody’s eyes, suddenly very aware of exactly the amount of bare legs sticking out of her miniskirt. What she had viewed as a simple and liberating outfit back in the Hufflepuff dormitory was, she realized now with horror, a bit sexy. She let her skirt discreetly grow a few centimetres as she sat down.
‘How do you find the place?’ Fred asked proudly. as if he owned the Three Broomsticks.
‘Love it!’ Cybele answered happily. She poured the contents of her fat Honeydukes bag on the table. ‘I suppose it’s on me today,’ she announced; ‘I’ve got a couple of weekends to make up for!’
They chatted happily for the rest of the afternoon, the amount of things Cybele having to catch up on seemingly limitless. They then passed by the joke shop on their way back to the castle. The twins became business-like as they made purposefully for the fireworks section and Caroline, Lee and Cybele were left to wander around in the busy shop.
Caroline and Lee were laughing over a nose-biting teacup and Cybele was trying to figure out the use of a giant rubber foot a bit farther down the same aisle of the shop.
‘Draco!’ she exclaimed as she saw her friend passing.
Draco looked sideway and saw Cybele, but never greeted her back. He gapped and somehow his legs didn’t stop. As he went on straight, still looking sideway, he hit a massive display of Frog Spawn Soaps which collapsed all over him as he fall dawn.
He stood up back hurryingly, looking around to check nobody else had seen that. Well, Caroline and Lee had, and received a nasty glare for it, but luckily nobody else, in this corner of the shop. Cybele, who had rushed to his help, started pulling up the display back.
‘Merlin! Are you all right?’
‘Yeah yeah,’ Draco answered, trying an embarrassed laugh. ‘So, how have you been?’ he tried to ask coolly, oblivious that he still had a Frog Spawn Soap stuck under his right ear. He stopped his babbling abruptly, though, when Cybele started trying to brush gently something from the front of his shirt.
‘Oh, no!’ she exclaimed, ‘it’s ripped, look.’
Draco looked down at his shirt and at Cybele’s hand.
‘It’s ah- right,’ he stammered, ‘it’s just a skirt… shirt!’
Silence.
‘Gotta go!’ Draco eventually ran for it.
Cybele turned back to her two friends to see them exchange a knowing smile.
She had quite enough of miniskirt wearing for the rest of her schooldays, she decided, as she changed into her newly fitting Dockers and a coloured sweater later for dinner.