tabby :: you have stolen my heart

[PIPER OPHELIA KIRKE]

outfit

Surely, chocolate frogs were the answer to everything. It was a very lucky thing that it was a Hogsmede weekend. Piper didn't really make a habit of sneaking out of the castle, and she would have hated to have to do so today. As it happened, though, she'd just gotten an owl from home to inform her of the dinner her parents had arranged for herself and the son of one of their many friends. No doubt, he was what they considered a fine specimen. Most likely, the guy was older than her. Probably a very stereotypical male. And someone she wouldn't be the least interested in. Piper had never understood what was so difficult to understand about the fact that she liked girls.

Her very first (and possibly only) stop when she reached Hogsmede was Honeydukes. She wandered around the shop piling a basket high with different types of candy. It was primarily filled with chocolate frogs, but she figured a little variety wouldn't hurt. As she rounded the shelves, she found that she'd stopped paying attention to the people around her. Given the way that people seemed to flock to the candy shop, that was a very bad idea, and a moment later, she'd proven why. Piper groaned as she bumped into someone who was probably paying as little attention as she had been. She dropped her basket and her candies scattered everywhere. Frowning, she dropped to the floor and began to gather them. If she'd thought it was entirely her fault, she would have apologized first, but she was sure it wasn't so the candy could come first this time.

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[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

OUTFIT

Tabby loved when they had Hogsmede weekends, it let her get out and out in something that wasn't her uniform. She had nothing against uniforms really, but she liked to be fashionable. Tabitha knew she might have been overdoing it, but she wore her pink heels with bows and a classy little jacket over her ruffled top and faded jeans. She felt like a princess as she went out into the town, the world was her oyster. Of course, she saw James in the distance and blushed, remembering him catching her making out with a girl in the bathroom.

She decided to go to honeydukes, she had a thing for caramels. Inside was a madhouse, as usual, and as Tabby made her way to the area she knew had caramel treats, she saw someone go down, there things spill over the floor. Since she had her hands free, she stopped down to help her out, which was a bit difficult in these shoes.

As Tabitha got closer she recognized the girl as a friend of hers. It was hard not to be friends with people of your year and house of course. They often ran in slightly different circles due to her being a prefect and Piper being on the quidditch team. "Hi Piper, you okay?" She asked, helping the girl up.

[PIPER OPHELIA KIRKE]

Given the way people in busy stores typically behaved, Piper wasn't exactly expecting anyone to help her pick up her things, but she was surprised when a familiar voice asked if she was okay. A slight blush tinted Piper's cheeks, and she let out a chuckle. "Oh, you know, I like the ground. We're old friends," she told Tabitha, allowing the girl to help her up. She dusted her hands off on her jeans and offered Tabby a smile. "Besides, if I wasn't on the floor, I might not have noticed your shoes. Which are fantastic, by the way." It was true. Tabitha seemed to have an impeccable fashion sense. She even made the school uniform look good.

Once she was safely on her feet and had most of her items back in her basket, Piper decided she might as well see if her friend wanted to shop with her. "Were you planning to spend some time alone today or would you like to come with me? I mean, I don't have anyone to shop with and I think company would be nice..." She was starting to ramble, so she firmly clamped her lips shut before she had the opportunity to ramble on about the owl her parents had sent her.

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[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

Tabitha let out her bell-like laugh. Piper always had a funny way of looking at things, like being friends with the floor and all. Tabby watched her stand and brush off her hands, her hair wild and sexy. Tabitha didn't of course say so, as she didn't know if Piper knew about her being gay. It wasn't a total secret, she'd had a few girlfriends, and her close friends knew. But she wasn't going to pop up and say that she looked hot for someone who had just face planted.

"Thanks!" She said when Piper complimented her shoes. Tabitha was a huge fan of heels, especially in fun colors,m and you couldn't get more fun than bright pink with bows really.

Piper started to ramble and Tabby just laughed. "Sure, I was trying to get over to those caramels over there, I'm a sucker for those." She said, pointing over a few aisles at a self with caramel treats in the shape of sea shells.

[PIPER OPHELIA KIRKE]

Piper was probably much more excited than she should have been when Tabby agreed to shop with her. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was a little lonely, and in addition to being excessively pretty, Tabitha was easy to get along with. She grinned when the girl pointed toward the aisle with the caramels. "C'mon," she told her, grabbing Tabitha's hand. "I happen to be a pro at navigating this crowd." Of course, her recent face-plant disproved that theory, but the two of them did manage to make it to the shelf unscathed. It took Piper a couple of seconds to realize that she should have let go of Tabitha's hand the moment they'd made it to the shelf, and she tried to pretend she wasn't blushing as she dropped the other girl's hand. "Right. Here we are," she mumbled, quickly shifting her gaze to the rows of caramel.

She glanced at the rows of candy, as though she needed to add more to already full basket. A moment later, her thought process was interrupted by the sound of a guy's voice. Piper frowned and glanced toward Tabitha. A fairly good looking guy that Piper didn't recognize was standing there. She frowned as she heard him ask Tabitha if she was busy for dinner. So much for company, she thought, grabbing a handful of caramels and adding them to her basket before she inched closer, actually eager to hear what Tabitha would tell him.

[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

Oh course, Tabitha didn't point out that her crowd skills were less that wonderful due to her spill, but she was hardly one to point out something like that, it would be humiliating, and Tabby wasn't that mean. Piper had grabbed her hand and Tabby hid a smile at the simple gesture. It was friendly and nice. They reached the aisle without much issue and she eagerly grabbed up a box of shell caramels, sweet and salty, some had pretzels inside. She turned back to Piper when there was a boy standing in her way.

She would admit he was handsome, and he might also be nice but she had to turn him down. Tabby wasn't one to lead on anyone. He looked slightly nervous and she smiled kindly. "I'm flattered but I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree." She realized it was a muggle expression but it seemed maybe he got it. he did look behind Tabby at Piper, which was misleading given they were just friends, but whatever he figured out. He mumbled some apology and wandered away and Tabby looked at Piper with a "yikes" expression. "He seemed so sweet."

[PIPER OPHELIA KIRKE]

Truthfully, Piper had been sure that Tabby would go out with the guy. He was attractive enough, and he seemed to be pretty friendly. But, the more that she thought about it, the more Piper realized she couldn't remember Tabby dating any of the guys they knew. Maybe she was just really focused on her studies. Or maybe she didn't date guys for the same reason that Piper didn't. But maybe that was too much to hope for. Piper shook her head and, a moment later, realized that Tabby was looking at her again and the guy was gone. She blushed at the realization that she'd been too invested in her own thoughts to realize that she was probably supposed to be speaking.

"Yeah... Uhm... I'm parched. Would you like a butterbeer?" she asked, thoroughly aware that the comment was unrelated to whatever Tabby had been saying. Without waiting for an answer, she shuffled back into the crowd, completely unaware that as she did so, the letter she'd received from her parents that morning fell out of her pocket.

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[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

Tabby chuckled, she seemed to have roused Piper from some other train of thought. Something must have distracted her, which was perfectly allowable given tabby's concentration had to go to nicely turning down that boy. "Sure, butterbeer is good," She said, following Piper to the check out queues. Hopefully the three broomsticks wouldn't be as crowded as it was here. Hogsmede always became a total crush of students when they were let out of the castle.

In the shuffle, she saw a but of parchment fall out of Piper's pocket and reached for it, careful not to fall over on her heels--or get pushed. Tabby then of course had to catch up with her friend again, but it didn't take too long and she squeezed into line behind her. It was too risky to hand it back just now, so they paid for their sweets and ducked out into the crisp warm fall air.

It was nice to have breathing room again. Tabitha pulled the paper out of her pocket and held it out to Piper. "You dropped this in there, I figured it was better not to loose in in the shuffle while we were on line."

[PIPER OPHELIA KIRKE]

Fortunately, it seemed that Piper's momentary distraction came at a fairly reasonable time, and Tabby didn't act as though she was behaving too strangely. And she agreed to get a butterbeer, which was more than Piper had really hoped for. Grinning, Piper made her way to the cashier and checked out, only too glad to leave the crowded shop.

When they made it outside, she let out a sigh and stopped briefly to enjoy the sunshine. When she did, Tabitha offered her a slip of parchment, telling her she'd dropped it inside. Piper's face went pale for a moment as she thought about what that letter said. "Thank you," she told her, reaching for the parchment and tucking it back into her pocket. "It's just a letter from my parents," she told her, though her tone was already becoming slightly bitter. "They've taken it upon themselves to remedy my lack of boyfriend. Apparently they've set me up with a 'fine young man' that I'm supposed to have dinner with. Is it so hard to understand that I don't want to date boys? If I'd wanted their help I would have asked for it. But they don't listen to me! They just assure me that I can't possibly be serious! It's miserable!" she exclaimed. It took her about four seconds to realize everything she'd just said, and Piper's eyes widened. "I... didn't say that, okay? Let's just forget it..."

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[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

Tabby listened to Piper's story, giving intermittent commentary like, "parents can be so annoying" and effectively rolling her eyes with a sigh. parents had a tendency to do things like that, straight or not. Her family was pretty good about it, though it did take them a while to get on board with the idea. When Piper admitted that she didn't want to date boys, she said nothing and watched as it dawn on Piper's face that she had said it.

"Its no big deal..." Tabby started. "Didn't you hear me turn down that cute guy? I'm gay too." She said, figuring there was absolutely no reason to hide from Piper of all people, especially if she was feeling weird about being a lesbian. Sisters in arms or something, right?Tabby shrugged lightly, trying to prove it wasn't a big deal and it didn't bother her, which was true. Granted, it gave them a whole layer of flirting that she hadn't considered for them.

[PIPER OPHELIA KIRKE]

Tabby was a really good listener, and the way she responded with exactly the sort of encouragement Piper needed had made it entirely too easy to talk to her. Before she had any idea what she was saying, Piper had outed herself, and she was mortified to say the least. Her cheeks heated up at the realization, and she was pretty sure she began sputtering nonsense. But then Tabitha told her it wasn't a big deal. Almost instantly, Piper closed her mouth and cast a questioning look toward her friend.

It took her a couple of seconds to process what Tabitha told her, and her brow furrowed at the realization. She wasn't alone. And she wasn't imagining things. Tabby really had turned the guy down because she didn't like guys. Piper let out a nervous giggle. "Really? Because I was starting to think I was the only one and it was getting kind of miserable. And I just don't know how many of these stupid dates I can go on before I go completely mental." She'd always thought admitting to her sexuality would be horrible, but it was turning out to be a pretty decent experience. At least she didn't feel like she had to lie to Tabby.

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[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

Tabitha laughed. "No, you are not alone." She assured her, tabby had dated a few girls and knew that they existed, of course, many people--like themselves--hadn't totally come out at school and as such had less luck romantically. It was great to have a friend who you could talk to about this stuff, and how hard it could be.

"Yeah, that really sucks..." Tabby agreed. It wasn't fair of her parents to keep asking her home during the year to meet boys-- even if she had been straight that would be ridiculous. "Oooh oooh!" She said excitedly, using her hands to gesture excitement. In these shoes Tabby couldn't really jump so she just bounced her shoulders a little.

"What if you bring a girl to your date? Like a girlfriend for your parents to meet. Just a friend even, but you can pretend she's your girlfriend. maybe that'll make them shut up." Tabitha said. Her plan sounded a little dumber out loud than it had in her head. Especially given, as James pointed out, guys loved that sort of stuff. Tabby would be more than happy to play that role for her friend though.

[PIPER OPHELIA KIRKE]

When Tabitha assured her that she wasn't alone, Piper was surprised to realize that she actually began to feel at ease. If she wasn't alone, then she obviously wasn't doomed to actually be alone forever. And, at the very least, she at least had someone who she knew could understand where she was coming from. She was just about to thank Tabby for making her feel a little less like a freak when the girl started to bounce excitedly. Feeling very much like a man, Piper politely averted her eyes from the ripple her friend's breasts caused beneath her shirt. Briefly, she found herself wondering if everything was going to change between them now that they were both out. Would Tabby wonder if Piper was checking her out? Or think that she was flirting when she wasn't trying to?

Once again, her thought process was cut short by Tabitha's words, and Piper was surprised by how quickly she caught up with her friend's thought process. It was a good idea, really. In all her insistence that she was homosexual, she'd never actually offered any evidence for that. She'd suffered through countless miserable dates with suitors her parents selected for her. But she'd never actually confronted them with the idea that she had a girlfriend. Of course, that was probably because she didn't have a girlfriend.

Piper let out a chuckle and shook her head. "See, that would be a fantastic plan except you're the only person who knows I'm.... gay." The word felt strange in her mouth, and she found herself glancing at the people around them to see if anyone had heard. Even if Tabby knew, she wasn't sure she was ready to be out in general. "I mean... Unless you want to... you know... be my girlfriend? I mean, my fake girlfriend. Or whatever. You know... Just help me make my parents believe me?" Piper let out an exasperated sigh. She seemed to be really good at putting her foot in her mouth today.

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[TABITHA JANE WINTERS]

Tabby couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was the only one who knew? "So, you've never been with a girl?" She asked. Tabby kept things fairly under wraps but she'd had 2 girlfriends and her closest friends knew. "And your close friends don't know?" No wonder she felt so alone. Tabby instinctively hugged Piper tightly. Poor girl.

Tabby realized this might be awkward for her friend and let her go with a soft smile, one that grew at Piper's rambling words. "Sure, I can be your fake girlfriend." Tabby wondered how much that would change things, given they were both lesbians and could actually date each other. Tabby didn't want to bring it up, but she filed the thought away, just in case something ever came up.

"When is your 'date'?" She asked, figuring she might have to clear it with the headmistress before she left, being a prefect and all.

[PIPER OPHELIA KIRKE]

Piper was beginning to feel like she was in a fishbowl. Her cheeks turned pink, and she stared at her toes. Was it that big of a deal that she hadn't been with a girl? Or that she hadn't told anyone? "My parents... laughed at me when I told them. I didn't really want to be laughed at again," she explained, though her words were entirely directed at her shoes. She might have added more, but she was cut off by Tabby's hug. Unsure as to whether she ought to hug her back or not, Piper settled for a slight pat on the back. Fortunately, Tabby seemed to catch on to the fact that it might be strange for Piper, and she let her go.

She was used to being laughed at when she made silly comments, but Piper hated the idea that people were laughing at her own stupidity or ignorance. So when Tabby's smile grew as Piper babbled along, she felt her cheeks turning pink again. But she needn't have worried. As awkward as the request might have been, Tabby agreed to come along as her fake girlfriend, and Piper instantly felt a sense of relief. Maybe this plan would actually work. A moment later, she was grinning at Tabitha. "Thanks," she told her, really meaning it. "It's in two weeks. Just here in Hogsmede. Maybe they actually picked someone close to my age or something," Piper informed her. Her parents had a habit of selecting men that were older than Piper, and that made her even more uncomfortable. The idea that they might have set her up with someone she went to school with, though, was a little nerve-wracking.

All at once, she realized that they were still standing outside of Honeydukes. Piper chuckled and started walking. "C'mon. I owe you a butterbeer for this," she offered, not bothering to wonder whether the gesture suggested any implication besides friendship or thanks.

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