Closed Opening Up

[Charlie Madison]

When a weight sits on your shoulders for your whole life, you don't notice it until it's gone. That was how Charlie had felt for the last few weeks, at least. Ever since coming out to Phoebe, everything was easier. Life felt right for the first time, like a lost puzzle piece had finally slotted into place, and for the first time, the picture was clear. Charlie had even caught themself singing at work, their heart finally so light with the freedom of it all. Before talking to Phoebe, Charlie had been terrified of telling their family, but ever since then the thought had seemed almost silly. Charlie's family was one of people who had all chosen one another, and they knew, deep down, that no member of that group would ever break that bond.

But that lightness didn't make the prospect of the conversation any easier. It was a relief that Charlie didn't have to be the one to try and get the whole family together, Mum having quickly organised a family lunch while Finn was on holiday. As much as they loved their home with Phoebe, Charlie felt good about coming home, seeing everyone in the same place again like they were all supposed to be. They had spent most of the lunch just basking in that feeling, letting themself settle in to the comfort of a familiar family afternoon. That was, until something Emily said reminded them, and they cleared their throat, anxiety bubbling behind the stoicism of their face. "I actually, uh, have some kinda important news. I've been... thinking for a long time, and I'm, uh... I'm not a girl. I'm nonbinary, and I wanna... use neutral pronouns now. So, they and them. So... yeah." Charlie trailed off with a small shrug, nerves curling at the center of their chest despite their best efforts to stay calm. This was home and family, but the territory was new all the same, and they had never found it easy to be so open.

 

[Maria Madison]

Adopting older children came with benefits and disadvantages in equal measures, but one of the things Maria struggled with most was how little time she got with her children. It had been a relief when Odette had decided to stay home for a while after finishing Hogwarts, but one by one Maria's children had all been leaving the nest, and it wouldn't be long before Finn was ready to move on too. She got so little time with all of them, and Maria was determined not to let those bonds fade with time. So she spent time with her adult children as often as possible, as well as seeing Finn at school regularly, and during the holidays she made sure to always get everyone together, remember that they were all one family. She had just been enjoying the companionship of her entire family, laughing lightly at a comment Emily made, when Charlie spoke up. Charlie had always been the quietest of Maria's family, which meant Maria listened closer, knowing all too well where that quiet came from. She knew from Charlie's tone that this was important, and as they explained the knowledge settled into Maria's mind in a way she had never expected. She had plenty of training around caring for trans clients, and had met with many a trans or nonbinary young person throughout the course of her career, but hearing Charlie say the words out loud felt right, settling something that Maria didn't even realise had felt wrong for a long time. She stepped out of her seat and approached Charlie, crouching down to pull them into a warm hug, the kind she knew Charlie always wanted but never felt like they could ask for. "I'm so proud of you." She whispered, rubbing their back gently and thinking of all the times Charlie's discomfort with femininity had felt so clear. Maria had written it off as them being a tomboy, but now everything felt clear, made sense. "Thank you for telling us. If we ever make any mistakes, you can always say something." She added, releasing Charlie with a gentle rub to their arms.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette was honestly glad for the family lunch. Since breaking up with Margo and moving to a new place on her own, she had been by herself a lot. She didn't necessarily mind that, but it was nice to be with her siblings and mother for a bit. Finn was home for the school break, and Odette was happy to see him. Out of all her siblings, she saw him the least, and she enjoyed hearing his stories about Hogwarts, even if they were pretty strange. She had been trying to follow a story he was telling her about crystals when suddenly Charlie spoke up. The announcement was sudden and pretty abrupt, but that wasn't unexpected when it came to Charlie. Odette blinked a few times, processing it. She glanced at Emily and Finn, wondering if they had known about this. Maria went over to Charlie and gave them a hug, but Odette was still trying to wrap her mind around this. "Does that mean you're changing your name?" She asked, almost without realizing it. The question had just slipped out. "I mean, it would be fine." She added hurriedly. "This is all fine." She then added.

 

[Emily Madison]

When she was young, Emily had never thought she had a problem being alone. Nobody had really been a constant in her life until Charlie, between problems with her birth mother, being passed between other family members, and her time in foster care or homes for troubled youth. Charlie had been her first real friend, and from then on the two of them had been a duo. Just the two of them against the world, it had always felt like. From there the family had grown, and Emily had found herself for the first time in her life with constants, with people who were always there for her, rather than the transient passing friends she had collected beforehand. And then, she had grown up. At the time, Emily hadn't thought much of moving out of her mum's place. She was an adult now, she had a pretty steady job lifeguarding and teaching surf, and it felt like the natural next step.

But then had come the actual experience of living alone. Even with flatmates it was nothing like being surrounded by a big loving family, and Emily had found herself missing her mum and siblings constantly. She saw them as often as she could, but with everyone having busy schedules it was never as much as she wanted. So having everyone all together in the school holidays was a dream come true, something Emily had longed for for a long time, and she had been enjoying every minute of it, making animated conversation with her family throughout the whole thing. Though Emily was the family chatterbox she wasn't entirely unobservant, and she had noticed over time that Charlie was being even quieter than usual. So when Charlie spoke up she listened, wondering what the news was. And whatever Emily had expected, it wasn't this. It was a relief when Mum got up to hug Charlie and Emily had more time to think about her response, glancing at Odette as she voiced some of the confusion in Emily's own mind. She had thought of Charlie as her big sister for a lot longer than the term had been official, and changing that... Emily was long used to their tomboyish style, but this felt... bigger, different. She didn't know how to feel. But taking another look at Charlie's face washed all of those questions away. Whatever Emily didn't understand about this, she could learn. But right now seeing how happy Charlie looked, that was all that mattered, and she knew that ultimately she could adjust to just about anything that made them so happy. She grinned, reaching past Mum to take Charlie's hand and give it a gentle squeeze of support, nodding along with Odette. "Whatever makes you happy, we'll do." She said much more softly than her usual boisterous tones. After seeing them so miserable for so many years, Emily knew she could change anything to make Charlie happy.

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn had always known he was adopted, knew all too well how different his background was to all of his siblings, but it had never really felt like it pertained to him somehow. All of the others remembered other homes, other lives, Emily and Odette had even lived with their biological mothers at one point, but Finn didn't remember anything other than this. He had never known a life without siblings all around him, without Maria right there taking care of him. He knew he had spent his first few years in foster care, but the memories were long since lost to him. So as his home had gradually emptied of siblings, Finn had found himself alone for the first time in his life. He at least still had Mum around at home and school, but he only got to see his older siblings in the holidays, a loss of connection he was still getting used to. Opening up more to his classmates and school friends had helped him feel less alone, but Finn still missed having a big family around him.

So he had gotten used to taking advantage of every holiday possible to catch up with his family, and this one was no exception. He was glad Mum had thought to invite everyone around, and had spent the day enjoying catching up with his family, and pointedly dodging the subject of his Quidditch performance with Odette. He had done his best to take her coaching to heart and practiced hard, but he didn't think anyone at Hogwarts would ever accuse him of being a good Beater. He was enjoying Emily chatting away and keeping the subject off Quidditch (a request he would deny having made if he was ever asked) when Charlie asked for attention, something that surprised Finn. Most of his one-on-one time with Charlie had consisted of the two of them working on their own things in silence, or taking pensive, quiet walks together. He knew Charlie preferred silence to conversation most of the time, and knew to listen up when exceptions were made. So he listened closely, nodding in understanding as they spoke. Finn had done a little bit of research into gender in his own time out of curiosity, wondering what it meant about him that he enjoyed wearing skirts and makeup from time to time. Finn had eventually come to the conclusion that those were just fashion choices, nothing to do with his gender identity, but the reading had given him a lot of insight into the things Charlie was saying, and he could easily see how it made sense that they felt that way. "That's awesome." Finn said with a small grin, giving them a nod of approval. His relationship with Charlie had never been a wordy one, and he knew they would appreciate the small gesture. Finn had always looked up to all of his older siblings for different reasons, and now he had a whole new reason to think Charlie was cool.

 

[Charlie Madison]

Charlie had never expected anything but support from their family, but expecting something and hearing it were two very different things. Anxiety shot through them for a moment when Mum stood up, but as she approached for a hug, Charlie knew immediately that it had been silly. They hugged back tightly, relieved not only that she understood, but by the language she had used. Telling Charlie to tell all of them about mistakes gave a clear message, though Charlie knew it wasn't needed. They shrugged awkwardly at Odette's question, squeezing Emily's hand back tightly. The sudden outpouring was almost too much, far more attention than Charlie had ever been comfortable with and reminding them briefly of being asked to speak in front of the class back at school, an experience that made them so uncomfortable they had fled class entirely in the past. Emily had been the person Charlie was most worried about, always the closest of their siblings, and it was a relief to hear support from her as well, Charlie giving both her and Finn grateful smiles before answering Odette's question properly. "I... don't think I'll change my name. I mean, Charlie's pretty neutral, and it's... kinda already a name I chose, when I was a kid." They answered shortly, thinking with distaste of the officials and foster parents who had insisted on calling them Charlotte their entire childhood, no matter how many times Charlie had insisted on being Charlie. "I'm... I mean, yeah. Charlie's me. That's... always the name I wanted. So. Yeah." They trailed off again, giving another small shrug.

 

[Maria Madison]

Maria knew she had raised four wonderful, caring, understanding children, people she had total faith in in all circumstances, but she had to admit to herself that it was a relief nonetheless to hear their support for Charlie so certainly. She even kicked herself a little for not considering that a change of name was a possibility until Odette asked, though she knew how Charlie had always felt about their name, and it was a relief when they confirmed that they wanted to be Charlie. "Charlie is just perfect." Maria smiled warmly, leaning up to kiss them gently on the forehead. She knew it was a silly gesture to give an adult, but no matter how old her children got, Maria could still see the small kids they had once been, running around her backyard, and her maternal instincts still told her how to be towards those children. Even Odette, who Maria had only met as a teenager, she could still see deep down the unhappy child she had once been, and Maria wanted nothing more than to care for that inner child. A feeling and a duty she knew she would carry for all of her children for the rest of her life, and one she couldn't be happier about. And right now she could see wounds Charlie had carried since their childhood healing for the first time, ones Maria had worried they would carry with them the rest of their life, and all she wanted to do was kiss those wounds and make them better, the way she had with skinned knees so long ago. So she kissed Charlie lightly on the forehead before getting up. "I think this means we're officially celebrating now, so how about a drink? I've got a nice bottle of wine in the fridge, and I think there's some butterbeer left for you, Finn. Who wants a drink?"