circles ★ billie

february 2004

It had been more than a month since the breakup, a month!, Mavis had reminded herself when she realized it was high time to cheer up Billie. She had made it her sole mission for the weekend, which was luckily a Hogsmeade one, and the little witch was not going to take no for an answer. She had been patient and remarkably soft-spoken when she approached the Ravenclaw earlier at breakfast. "Come with me to Hogsmeade this afternoon?" She had asked, sitting quietly and keeping her hands to herself as she waited for an answer. Mavis put on the show of her life being calm and collected in an attempt to convince Billie to join her, and it took everything in her power not to holler when she finally accepted.

The Gryffindor was fully aware of how she was perceived, loud-mouthed and stubborn, and for the most part, she didn't mind. She was loud, but only out of necessity. The Gryffindor common room was a boisterous place, and small quiet girls did not fit in. There wasn't a lot that Mavis could do about her height (a proud 5'1"!); she could decide her volume. Alone, around Billie, she could be more reserved, and Mavis was adaptable when she remembered.

Waiting in the courtyard for her Ravenclaw friend, Mavis braided and rebraided her long black hair twice, swapping out the red elastic band for a sparkly orange one she'd been surprised to find in her coat pocket, and whistled. Finally, (she tried to remain calm), Billie came into view. "I thought we could do some light shopping and then get some lunch." While Killian seemed to know everything there was to know about Billie Fay, Mavis had realized she had not been paying enough attention these last few months. "What is your favorite food?" She asked as the group began the trek up to the Hogsmeade village. It was crisp outside, the February air biting at the tips of her exposed ears — she should have worn a hat, Mavis could hear Michael's voice in her head — but at least it wasn't snowing.

@Billie Fay

Billie couldn’t say no. It was a bit of a problem, really.

She’d been avoiding the girls, but not for any particular reason other than the obvious one. She’d been avoiding everyone, even Barbara who slept in the bed beside hers, and Killian, who she saw for prefect related things at least once per week. It was easier to stay in her dorm, to study alone, to get changed after school finished and stay in the tower until bedtime. Yes, it was easiest like that. But. She couldn’t say no to Mavis when Mavis asked her directly. Billie wasn’t even completely sure it had been phrased like a proper question. Come with me, the Gryffindor had said. Not would you like to…?

At least she got to wear the pale green beret Kendrick had given her for Christmas, she thought. She hadn’t really been outside since they’d been back at school, Herbology class excepted. Billie hesitated by a window to check its placement on her (short!) hair, and kept walking as she adjusted it slightly. She found Mavis waiting for her, which was honestly a little unusual since Billie was always early, to everything. “Hello,” she said, a small smile appearing on her face as the other girl immediately launched into plans for the day. Shopping and lunch? Sounded exhausting. “Sounds lovely,” she said, nodding.

“Er, aside from dessert?” she asked, feeling a little dazed to be talking to Mavis, one on one, heading towards Hogsmeade in a big group. She felt a small twist of regret as they started walking away from the warmth and safety of the castle. But, as per usual, politeness won out. “I’m not sure, pasta? A Sunday roast? I’ll be happy with anything,” she added with a small smile. “What’s yours?”

When Mavis said light shopping, she meant going to at least four different stores before taking a small break and then visiting four more. Though, the teenage witch was certainly adaptable; if Billie were only interested in shopping in a few stores, she would meet her in the middle. So long as Scrivenshaft's was on the list, that was non-negotiable.

As they began to head toward the shopping village, Mavis asked Billie some preliminaries and was immediately pleased by Billie's qualifier. Mavis waited for Billie to finish answering before jumping in, but it just about killed her. "Okay, so my favorites are spaghetti, chaat, and like the spiciest curry you can find." Mavis had originally begun asking her mum to make Chole to watch her parents try to handle the spice; troublemaker was one of her many moods, but now she truly enjoyed it.

Looping her arm with the Ravenclaw witch, Mavis circled back to what Billie had said first. "You are absolutely right, Billie, okay, so favorite dessert too, then?" Because honestly, it was insane to think they could be categorized together. Dessert was its own thing, Mavis agreed. Mavis tucked a bit of hair back behind her ear; the little flyaways were the only evidence of the bangs she had let Magnolia cut for her over the summer.

"We should get you some more cute clips for your hair too," The Gryffindor had noticed that she hadn't seen Billie wear a single one of the clips she'd given to her for her birthday, but Mavis was undeterred.

“Oh,” Billie said politely, nodding. She didn’t like spicy food, and assumed people that did had a very different experience to hers, because… Why would people want to eat something that hurt? Very mildly spiced food was okay, she supposed, but it made her sneeze! And that was embarrassing! She had a sensitive palate, or something.

“Oh,” she said again, the filler word giving her just a beat to think of an answer. Mavis hooked her arm around Billie’s. “Ice cream?” she said, a little questioning lilt in her voice. Mint chocolate chip ice cream specifically, she thought, the imaginary coldness and minty taste coming hand in hand with memories of tubs of it melting beside her in summertime while she made out with her boyfriend on the porch. She tried not to let her expression change at the thought.

Ice cream sounded so boring as an answer, though, and she suspected that Mavis’ answer would be an actual dish, so she felt compelled to give a second answer. “Mille-feuille?” She offered, “You know, er, napoleons?” She glanced at Mavis to see if she knew what she meant. “I like most desserts,” she added with a small smile.

She touched her hair self-consciously with her free hand, then adjusted her beret unnecessarily. “I think I might attempt a hair-growing potion,” she admitted, looking ahead. They were nearly at the village now.

"Ooh, Napoleons, yes, we can work with that," Mavis said quickly, her hands clasping together in front of her with excitement. The gesture didn't last because soon enough, she was talking with her hands again and smiling brightly. "Gotta' love those layers, pastry, cream, pastry, cream." As she spoke, Mavis layered her hands on top of one another repeatedly. When Billie had initially mentioned ice cream, Mavis wondered if they could find something more fun, but the French dessert had taken the cake.

There was something inherently exciting about a girl's day, not to mention the freshness of one spent with Billie. It would be there first, so of course, Mavis intended to make it memorable. Unfortunately, sometimes the witch's idea of memorable was a bit…. much. She tried to remain calm, to remind herself to at least meet Billie halfway when it came to volume, and took a deep calming breath.

When Mavis mentioned clips for Billie's beautiful new haircut, she was surprised by the other witch's reply. "You don't like the new cut?" She asked, knowing that Billie had seemed a bit hesitant about it but not having realized she regretted the choice; Mavis gave her a sympathetic half-smile.

Billie smiled a little at the funny little building motion Mavis made, like her hands were the layers of pastry and cream she was describing. That was a Gryffindory thing, she’d decided. None of the Ravenclaws she knew — not Barbara, not Rowen not — well, none of them spoke with their hands like that. It seemed that all of the Gryffindors did.

Mavis seemed surprised that she didn’t like her hair, and Billie felt surprised in turn, thinking that it was pretty obvious that it didn’t look good on her. Rowen had been very convincing when she’d said as much, anyway. “Don’t you think it’s a little short?” she asked genuinely, resisting the urge to fix her hat again. She clasped her hands together in front of her as they walked to stop herself from fidgeting self-consciously.

The pair were nearly at the village now, and the blonde looked ahead. "Where to first?" she asked, feeling hesitant to suggest anything. "Light shopping" was first on the agenda apparently, but she'd let her friend lead.

“No, I think it’s brilliant!” Mavis replied excitedly and reminded herself to calm down again. She was so eager to become best friends with Billie that she had forgotten for a moment to keep her volume at a reasonable limit. Mavis forced a breath, in and out, and then nodded. “I mean, I think it shapes your face well.” She said it in a far more respectable tone and smiled politely. Being calm and using an indoor voice was not her regular resting pulse, but Mavis was determined.

“But if you don’t like it, we could always pick up some hair-growth potions?” Mavis had never used them before, but she had heard decent things from the girls in the dorms. Potions could never be as good as letting your natural hair grow out, but thanks to magic, it came damn close. And she would hate to know Billie was walking around hating her haircut when there were options.

“Yes, shopping first, before we get too tired, you know?” Mavis grinned again, absolutely beaming as they continued down the path to Hogsmeade village. “I’ve brought all of my savings, just in case,” Mavis received a small allowance from her parents, but mostly she’d spent the summer babysitting to get enough sickles for the term. By now, most of it was well spent, but she still had a pocket full of coins. Enough for any number of indulgences.