Deceit

[Estrella Drage]

To anyone taking notice of them, the two eighteen year old girls were probably a comical sight, fighting to keep from tripping over the robes that drowned them. Estrella grinned good-naturedly at Courtney as they stopped just before Bleak Street, ducking into an alley so they wouldn't stick out in the everyday hustle and bustle of Obsidian Harbor. Surely, there were stranger sorts about than two young women in oversized robes, but they didn't want to attract attention to what they were about to do.

Rummaging through pockets that were definitely not meant to match her much shorter arms, Estrella pulled out two brown squares. Handing one to her friend, she snickered, "Ready when you are."

 

[Courtney Potter]

Courtney thanked her lucky stars that she was now the shopkeeper of Gladrags Wizardwear, if she hadn't been shopkeeper, she would not have been able to snag a set of particularly large student robes. Courtney giggled at the sight of Estrella wearing the large clothing, especially when Estrella dug through her pockets for the candy. Uhm, does she think her male counterpart is part-giant? Courtney accepted the piece of fudge that was handed to her and held it up to her right eye for an inspection. "Looks delicious! Let's eat it at the count of three. Okay? One....Two.....Three!"

At three, Courtney did not put the fudge in her mouth. Instead, she watched and waited for her good friend to be the first to consume the candy.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Flashing her friend a wicked grin, Estrella popped the candy on three. It tasted fine; not the best fudge she had ever had, but she really couldn't complain about it. She chewed it thoroughly, rolling her eyes in amusement as she realized that Courtney had hesitated. Swallowing the candy, she let it make its course down her throat and waited for something to happen.

And happen it did. The last time she had tried the fudge was when she was twelve, so the change itself was a fairly new experience for her. Her eyes still widened at the sight of her chest disappearing all together, her whole body expanding and growing. What really did shock her was the fact that she kept gaining height. She stared down at Courtney as the gender finally run its course- she was done evolving from Estrella into something that she wasn't.

She had thought Jaken's school robes would be a nice fit; even bigger on her, maybe. The exact opposite had happened. Not only was she filling them, they were an inch too short. "Oh man, he's going to kill me," she muttered in a voice that was not her own. The Slytherin robes were apt to tear in different areas if she moved too much. Well, they would have to do. They had no time to go to Gladrags and find bigger robes, and Estrella figured that since she had pretty much walked off with a set of her fiance's robes, she would put them to use.

Smirking down at Courtney, she said, "Eat that quickly, or I just may have to force feed it to you."

 

[Courtney Potter]

Courtney punched the air in triumph as Estrella swallowed the fudge on her count of three, the little prank was a success. Before eating the candy herself, Courtney decided to wait for the fudge to take full effect on Estrella. The results were rather shocking to Courtney as she watched her friend not only transform into a male, but grow a few feet in the process. The only person Courtney could think of comparing Estrella to was the man she ended up sitting beside at the graduation ceremony.

Courtney chuckled as she stared at Estrella for a good few minutes. The fudge recipe must have been tweaked since the last time Courtney tried it, because she did not remember the changes being quite as extreme. With a teeny bit of hesitation, Courtney tossed the piece of fudge in her mouth and swallowed it. Eh, I’ve had worse, she thought as the odd aftertaste lingered in her mouth.

Instead of growing a few inches in height, Courtney felt herself get wider. As her long hair shortened, she felt itchy on certain areas of her face. After giving her face a scratch, Courtney realized that she had grown a goatee and sideburns. Her robes were still rather long, but not quite as loose as they had been earlier. With a grin, Courtney winked at Estrella, “Ah see, no need for forcefeeding! Let‘s go cause some kind of trouble, eh!”

 

[Estrella Drage]

Sticking her tongue out at Courtney, Estrella watched as her friend went through the same transformation; well, she made the gender switch. The brunette giggled as she stared back at a male version of Courtney, complete with goatee, sideburns, and only a bit taller. A swipe of Estrella's new hand revealed that she(well, he) was clean shaven. She knew that she would probably freak out anyway if she saw her own reflection. Good thing there were no mirrors around.

"Well, where do you propose we go?" Estrella intoned deeply. "Is it off to the Silver Stink for us?" She stepped out of the alleyway, staring down the unfriendly place that was Bleak Street. The gender fudge had two advantages; no one would recognize them, and offered some small measure of protection. Two unaccompanied females would not fare so well in a place such as this as a pair of the opposite sex would. Even so, she patted down her pocket, a habit that ensured her wand was still at her side.

 

[Courtney Potter]

Courtney wasn't too thrilled that she only grew about an inch, and ended up having to roll the sleeves of her robes and pants up. She watched as Estrella felt about her face in search of facial hair and smirked, her friend looked rather comical wearing robes that were a wee bit too small. "Too bad we didn't bring a magical camera, I would have if I knew we would end up this attractive," Courtney laughed at her statement, figuring they definitely looked more awkward than anything else.

"Absolutely, The Silver Stink!" Courtney replied, as the two girls did have some unfinished business to attend to there. What she recalled from her last visit to the store was not pleasant; dragons, dragon eggs, evil shopkeepers, and stealing. Well, I guess the stealing wasn't so bad, we did come out with some interesting stuff. "What do you say we pick up this time? Magic Carpets?"

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella snickered at Courtney, her(rather, his) face lighting up in amusement. "So what, you could blackmail me?" she snorted. Being a male, especially at this age, was a strange experience. She found herself resisting the urge to explore the body that wasn't hers more in depth. Instead, she grinned wickedly at Courtney. "I suppose we should have names; just so we don't raise any more suspicion than we need to."

It would be interesting to find out if they could go into the store without any hassle. The shopkeeper was definitely a nutter. Maybe he was behind bars by now? She definitely hoped so. "Magic carpets sound good to me- though maybe we should acquire them legally." Giggling, she remembered the stuff they had carried away last time. Small, boring items that they were lucky they hadn't gotten in trouble for possessing.

 

[Courtney Potter]

Courtney snickered, "Blackmail you? No way! I need some pictures to hang up in Gladrags, the walls in the break room are sad and empty." Figuring that Estrella would have some snarky comment to make about hanging up photos in Gladrags, Courtney quickly moved on with the topic change to names. "Names are a good idea, as long as we can come up with a name for each other." Courtney still had a few tricks up her sleeve, and coming up with a silly name for Estrella would be all too fun.

"Aquiring carpets legally, well that just isn't as fun," Courtney fake-pouted. "Nah, I'm kidding. I don't really want to get into trouble with the ministry, and my sales at Gladrgs should provide enough money to purchase some kind of cool contraption."

 

[Estrella Drage]

Grinning wickedly, Estrella moved past Courtney and looked out of the alleyway they were in. It was all clear to Bleak Street, which was merely steps away. "I'd say you look like an Oliver," she commented, blurting the first name that came to her mind. "So, Olly, I'd say carpets are pretty cool; that is if they aren't laced with poison or something. I wonder if they'll throw in a free dragon egg?" She rolled her eyes, finding it strange to even walk. The woman who was masquerading as a man was not used to such long strides. It did not help that Jaken's robes didn't fit; she feared that the slightest wrong movement would tear them to shreds and leave her completely starkers.

 

[Courtney Potter]

"Oliver, Olly, Oliver.." Courtney repeated the name to herself a few times, it would take a while to get used to being called by a male's name (even if she did have a goatee). She stared at the giant, oops, Estrella for a few moments in search of the perfect name. The name had to be something funny, maybe even something that poked fun at how extremely tall the girl had turned out to be! "Well, if I'm Oliver, you must be Longfellow."

Courtney cracked up at Estrella's suggestions, "Well Longfellow, if the carpets are poison we can always chuck them back at the awful shopkeeper who sold 'em to us. And screw the free dragon egg, we better end up with a free dragon... or motorcycle." The fact that the short walk to Bleak Street was clear of pesky folk was a relief, the fewer people they had to deal with, the better. Bleak Street looked just as sketchy as Courtney remembered from her last journey there.

 

[Estrella Drage]

"Longfellow?" Estrella snorted, raising an eyebrow at her newly masculine friend. She might as well get used to it. Knowing Courtney, she wouldn't call her anything else. "Alright Olly- sounds like a good plan. If we happen to get a motorcycle, you should be the driver. I'd crash us into something." Falling into pace with her friend, she teased, "C'mon slowpoke, new legs? It'll be dinnertime before we get to the shop!" The street was as creepy as she remembered it; if less intimidating. Joking around at least provided a comfort that her wand never could.

 

[Courtney Potter]

Courtney snorted back at Estrella, "Yes, Longfellow suits you as well as Olly suits me." Estrella might have laughed at the name choice, but Courtney knew that her friend secretly enjoyed the name. "I could drive a motorcycle, but it would be way more awesome if we could get two." She gave Estrella a fake angry face for poking fun at her height, although it was indeed odd walking beside such a tall person. "Well, at the speed you're inclined to walk, people might think we're in some kind of rush." Courtney giggled and continued to walk at Estrella's side. Regardless of how creepy and scary Bleak Street could be, Courtney was looking forward to causing some antics.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Sticking her tongue out at Courtney, Estrella smirked as they wandered towards the shop they had wreaked havoc on so many years ago. It was nice, being a guy for once, not being stared at and having to worry about dealing with strangers. No, people kept their distance. Who would want to mess with a pair of young males? She grinned and pushed on. "In a rush to cause mischief?" she interjected, snickering a bit. Her (or rather, his) eyebrow dipped at an angle as she eyed the sign on the all too familiar building. "The Dark Serpent? Man, people down here seem to like things that crawl on their bellies." Stepping up to the window, she cupped her hand over her brow and peered inside. Nothing. Maybe the place was closed down? She was not as courageous to try the door handle.

 

[Luxen Silverback]

click the door to the Dark Serpent slowly opened as a cold bit of wind blew past the two 'boys' and went into the old shop almost taunting them.

 

[Courtney Potter]

Courtney, or, 'Olly' grinned when Estrella/Longfellow asked about being in a rush to cause mischeif. In her newly developed deep voice, Courtney answered, "It's been way too long." After they finally reached the shop, Courtney sighed, something was off. Not realizing that the name had changed until Estrella mentioned it, Courtney made a face. "They definitely do like slithery things around here," Courtney said as she too peeked in the window. "Wonder why a name change was necessary? I mean, it's practically the same thing."

A few moments after Courtney had approached the window to peer in, she heard an odd clicking sound and felt a cool breeze along her shoulders. "What the heck?" The sudden opening of the door did spook her, but she did not intend to let her fear show. Instead, she searched the pockets of her robes and tightly grasped the handle of her wand, if Estrella goes in there, she is nuts!.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella/Longfellow nodded in agreement. Indeed, it had been too long. She had almost forgotten how much she had missed having Courtney around. Although graduation signaled an end to their school years, it brought new paths and opportunites. Freedom, choice, no rules. Well, technically there were still rules, but laws just weren't the same thing as having parents or professors breathing down one's neck and watching every move. So yes, they could go down Bleak Street and say the word 'no' every once in a while.

Shrugging at Courtney/Olly, Estrella/Longfellow shuddered as a breeze lighted past the two 'men' and into the shop. The door opened with a definitive click. Why in the world was she thinking of the Borely Mansion? Glaring at the door, she promptly stepped away from it and farther into the street. There was no way she was going into a dark building. "Call me a chicken, but I don't like my feathers being ruffled all that much."

 

[Courtney Potter]

Olly looked at Longfellow as he took a step away from the old store they were too familiar with and was half tempted to do the same. But how likely was it that two young male students would back away from such an event? Courtney didn't think it was likely, but, she hadn't spent time around Hogwarts New Zealand students for quite a while. "Longfellow, you're going to blow our cover!" Olly hissed, trying to avoid getting any louder than a whisper. "We were bound to run into some type of sketchiness on this street, right?"