Open It is what is on the inside that counts

[Penny Wills]

Penny tried to act as if she had her life together when, in fact, she did not. The sixth year had felt like she’d been grasping at straws so long that they had turned to threads of dust. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was failing at everything, her studies, friends, and she did not have a boyfriend. She was seventeen and never even kissed a boy, it was embarrassing to say the least! The Slytherin couldn't see anything going her way and could barely make it two minutes before feeling the crushing pressure that she was supposed to be doing something about these problems sometime soon!

Feeling that the mounting pressures were becoming too much, Penny withdrew herself to the antiquated bathroom where privacy was almost always guaranteed, where she could do what she liked without an audience. She leaned forward over the handbasin and bore her gaze into the dusty reflection looking back. In nearly every way Penny was the spitting image of her deceased mother with a pale complexion and long waves of blonde hair framing her face. The colour of her eyes was the only feature that she had inherited from her father's side. Though she might have once thought she was pretty, Penny couldn’t help but think any potential beauty was lost with how utterly rotten she felt on the inside.

Penny felt she had to change something about the way she looked in hope it would change who she was as a person.

She was going to cut her hair short.

Penny examined her waves of blonde hair, threading her fingers through each lock. She decided cutting to shoulder length would be perfectly agreeable. She gathered a handful of her hair and held it out in front of her with one hand and raised her wand with her other, using the mirror as guide, she cast "Diffindo" cutting her hair in a single swift motion.

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper didn't know what was wrong with her.

She had just finished another fruitless animagus lesson, one in which she had spent a whole hour trying to grow three measly feathers. And then once she'd finally gotten the feathers to sprout, she hadn't been able to make them go away. In the end, she'd had to pluck them out, leaving behind three angry red blotches under her collarbone. Harper wasn't just failing to progress in her training; she was regressing. Last semester, she had effortlessly turned her arms into wings. Now she couldn't even grow feathers without panicking. All the self-assured confidence from last semester had simply evaporated.

That scared Harper — and not just because she desperately wanted to be an animagus. Transfiguration was supposed to be her thing. It was her best subject, the only type of magic that made any logical sense, and she'd already spent more than two years taking extra lessons trying to master the subject and learn to become an animagus. What was she supposed to do if she failed? She couldn't lose this, not after losing football, which had also once been her "thing." From the ages of three to 16, Harper had built an entire identity out of her skill and devotion to the sport, and she'd lost part of herself when she'd been forced to quit. She couldn't go through that again with transfiguration.

Harper knew she was too young to be going through a quarter-life crisis, but that didn't stop the itchy feelings that clawed at her chest. As soon as the lesson was over, she fled the Transfiguration classroom and headed for an old bathroom on the floor that was usually empty. Except today, it seemed. "Oh." Momentarily disoriented, Harper stared at Penny for a second too long before snapping to attention. Her brain seemed to do that a lot these days. "Hey Penny." She gave the girl a small smile. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone to be in here. I can—" Her gaze had wandered to the wand and fistful of hair Penny was clutching, and her eyes widened slightly, "—are you using magic?"

 

[Penny Wills]

Casting the Severing Charm that close to her neck was quite terrifying but it worked, sort of. Penny had cut off a straight line of hair at the shoulder, albeit the straight line was at a 30 degree angle and touch up would be required. She had started so she had to finish.

An unexpected interruption that followed caused Penny to freeze instantly, wand and hair in her hands. Keeping her head still, Penny's eyes fixed on Harper, a look of shock with a splash of embarrassment having been caught like this. ‘Go away', her thoughts silently replied, but nearly every defensive maneuver within her fell away and she forced her muscles into a smile. Harper was a friend of sorts after all.

Penny let out a soft laugh and nodded her head, which right now felt particularly unbalanced. “Yes, I'm giving myself a haircut.” The reply came and went and then a familiar tenseness rose up in her gut – the same sort that always did when she didn’t know what to do or say next. "Wh-what are you doing here, Harper? You know nothing works in this bathroom, right?" Taking the time to look at Harper properly, Penny saw that she looked more tired than usual and perhaps stressed.

 

[Harper Alston]

It was a stupid question. Harper knew that as soon as the words left her mouth. Penny was obviously giving herself a haircut. Still, Harper couldn't help but be a little surprised by her choice in method. Severing charms didn't strike her as safe or precise, and she tried not to think about what might happen if the Slytherin's aim was even a little off.

At Penny's question, Harper hesitated, wondering if she could feign ignorance before deciding that wouldn't be believable, not after spending over five and a half years at this school. "I know. I just needed—" some space to be alone. But she couldn't say that, and not just because it would be rude. Harper had never been good at admitting when she was struggling. "—a mirror," she finished lamely. That was kind of true. Harper took a few steps forward and turned so that she could study her reflection.

For a few seconds, Harper just stared at herself in the mirror, unsure what to do. She wanted to pull at the collar of her shirt and inspect the irritated skin where she had plucked the feathers, but she didn't want Penny noticing. It wasn't long before she was looking back at the other girl's reflection. "Are you sure you don't want me to get you a pair of scissors?" Realising she didn't actually know where she could find a pair of scissors, Harper amended her offer. "Or a knife?" Even that had to be safer than a severing charm.

 

[Penny Wills]

Penny smiled and shrugged at Harper's answer, it was fair enough, there were not enough decent mirrors at Hogwarts. Penny focused back on her hair, gathering some of it in her hands ready to cut again. She was visibly surprised at Harper's offer to use the muggle way. She shook her head, "I had considered those then decided that I am better at using a wand these days." She admitted, "Don't suppose you know of a better cutting spell though? This one is a little dangerous." Harper was better at spells than Penny and may have an idea that she had not thought of.

Though there was a small chance of decapitation, Penny was being careful to aim her wand correctly. She did not want to cause her own casualty, although that would be just her luck. Her ghostly soul would surely remain in this bathroom like some kind of weird hybrid between Nearly Headless Nick and Moaning Myrtle - her with a perpetually bad haircut to add insult to fatal injury.

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper did feel a little bad for lying to Penny, but she also didn't want to drag the girl into her problems. Besides, it looked like Penny might have her own issues to deal with, judging by her decision to chop off her hair with a wand instead of waiting a few weeks to see a hairdresser over break. She nodded at Penny's explanation even if she couldn't really understand it. The idea of using magic on herself still unsettled Harper even after five and a half years in the wizarding world. Maybe that's why she was having trouble with animagus training.

She considered the question, grateful for the distraction. "No, I guess not," Harper admitted after mentally running through a list of spells. "Unless you're trying to get rid of all of it. Then you could vanish your hair or I could cast an instant scalping hex on you," she said with a small smile. "There's also the hair lengthening charm, which I guess you could combine with one of those spells, but I don't know if it'd work if there's no hair to lengthen in the first place." It was a little strange that they'd been taught the hair lengthening charm, but not a hair shortening one. Or maybe it was tucked away in the back of a textbook, and she had missed it. Harper pretended to study a zit on her chin in the mirror for a moment before glancing at Penny. "Anything in particular prompt this new look?" she asked gently, ready to back off if needed. But they were friends, kind of, and she felt obligated to at least check to see if Penny was okay.