For my darling Sophie. Happy birthday, bb.

Word count: 1344

A note on pronouns: Despite Phoebe being a trans man, I still use she/her throughout most of the fic, mostly because I like the idea of him not realizing he can change them.

"What if your brother doesn't like me?" Moira asks, and it's probably the hundredth time she's asked such a thing in the last hour.

Phoebe glances at her girlfriend, unable to resist an amused smile. "You worry too much, my love," she says.

Moira scowls. It should be illegal to look so beautiful while making such a sour face, but there she is. "And you don't worry nearly enough. Typical man!"

Phoebe beams at that. Moira is the only one who understands that, despite the body she inhabits, despite her delicate features, she is not a girl. When Phoebe had told her as much, Moira hadn't questioned it for even a second. She had simply confessed that Phoebe was a handsome boy, and that had been the end of that.

"Don't look so smug! It's a valid question. I'm not… Well, I'm…" She gestures toward herself.

"Oh."

Phoebe isn't sure what she had assumed Moira was so worried about, but it makes sense now. She recalls the scandal, all the whispers. Aloysius Flint went away to Africa nearly twenty years ago for his studies, and he had returned with a bastard child with skin far too dark to be simply European. Those whispers always followed her, and, despite her pureblood status, she's been looked down upon, regarded as something awful. How could she not be worried now?

With a sigh, Phoebe pauses and takes her girlfriend's hand. "You have nothing to worry about," she assures her, leaning in and pressing a chaste kiss to Moira's lips.

"Someone might see!"

"Let them see. When have you ever known me to be a good and virtuous lad, hmm?"

That does the trick. Moira seems to melt now, relaxing like nothing's happened at all. "Are you sure we'll be safe? Your family won't come looking for you?"

Now it's Phoebe's turn to tense. Has her family pieced it together yet? Her mother had refused to listen whenever Phoebe would insist that she isn't a girl. Perhaps her mother's denial will keep Phoebe's place on the tapestry. At the very least, the shame of having two disgraces for children (four, counting Alexia and her depravity, and Licorus and his love for men; somehow, Hesper is the closest they have to normalcy, and she's nearly unhinged herself) would keep her mother from blasting her off the tapestry.

But will they look for her? Perhaps. It will only be a matter of time before the whispers begin, and Phoebe knows her family cannot stand the thought of another scandal. Not after Alexia or Eduardus.

But she won't worry Moira with things like that. Not now. Maybe not ever, not until there's no choice. For now, she just smiles and pulls her girlfriend close, brushing her thumb over Moira's cheek. "Everything will be fine, my love."

…

"Phoebe? Sister, dear!" Eduardus' dark eyes brighten, and his face lights up the moment he realizes that it is, indeed, Phoebe at the door.

Phoebe makes a face. "Actually…" She swallows dryly. How will Eduardus react? Surely it won't be nightmarish like with her parents. After all, Eduardus lives among Muggles now. If anyone understands what it's like to be different, surely it will be him. "I'm a boy. I'm your brother."

A woman Phoebe doesn't recognize appears behind Eduardus. "Bit like Martha, isn't it?" she calls. "You know she used to be a boy, but now she's a girl."

"A boy named Martha?" Phoebe asks, tipping her head to the side.

"No, love. She was called Joshua before."

Phoebe wonders if she could do that, if she could change her name as well. It's such a strange thought; after all, she has only ever been Phoebe. Who else would she be?

"Brother…" Eduardus nods. "I take it Mother was not happy?"

Phoebe laughs. "Mother insists she has a beautiful daughter, and the hag didn't mean Hesper." Beside her, Moira clears her throat, and Phoebe blushes guiltily. "Right! Yes. This is Moira Flint."

Eduardus' brows raise. Surely he heard the same whispers Phoebe had about Moira. Phoebe studies her brother's face, relieved to realize he isn't at all bothered by it. "Heard your father's wife is a bit of a…"

Moira scowls. "She is."

Is it really possible that things are finally looking up? Eduardus and Moira seem to have hit it off, and the woman inside, who Phoebe can only assume is her brother's wife, seems pleasant enough. It's the first time she's allowed herself to relax in what feels like a lifetime, as if a weight she hadn't even known was there, has been lifted off her shoulders.

"And will you two be joining us for dinner?" the woman asks, reappearing with a smile on her face. "Eddie never gets visitors from his family. This is quite the special occasion."

Phoebe bows her head politely. "If you'll have us."

"Of course we will," Eduardus assures her. "Wait until you have Amy's cooking. Finest cook in the village."

"Oh, hush." Amy blushes and waves him away, but Phoebe can see how delighted she looks by it.

…

That night, as Amy and Moira sit in the house and chat, quickly becoming the best of friends, Phoebe joins Eduardus outside. Eduardus pinches a bit of tobacco from a pouch and stuffs it into a pipe before lighting it.

"Does she know you're a wizard?" Phoebe asks.

"It was a bit of a shock, but she doesn't mind it now," he answers before taking a drag from the pipe and exhaling a cloud of smoke. "Not that I mind, but why are you here? I can't help feeling this isn't exactly a social visit."

Phoebe sighs and shakes her head. It's true enough. Although seeing her beloved brother had been a little source of extra happiness, it isn't the only reason. Of course he would have figured that out. Clever as he is, Phoebe always suspected he should have been a Ravenclaw. She looks up at him. "I didn't know where else to turn," she admits. "Finding you wasn't exactly easy."

He laughs. "I made it difficult on purpose."

She nods. Of course he would have. Eduardus has good reason for not wanting to see their family or anyone else connected to the Blacks. All of them had been mistreated in some way by their parents, but Eduardus being framed for Alexia's murder and banished to keep him from telling the truth…

Still, he is her brother. Once upon a time, he had been her most favorite person in the world. How could she go to anyone else but him?

"I ran away the second I turned seventeen," she says. "But I don't have a plan. I have no idea what I'm doing at all, and I am terrified."

His lips quirk. She imagines he must have been frightened too when their mother sent him away. At least Phoebe had spent a few weeks trying to string a plan together; at least she knew her dear brother was out there, and there was hope for her. Eduardus never had that.

"We don't have much room, so we can't put you up for long," he says. "But it's easy enough to make a living here, and I'm sure you two can have yourselves a place in no time. I'll help."

"Do you think I could meet this Martha woman too? I… I don't want to keep looking like a girl and having a girl's name."

"I think Martha would love to meet you. She always said she couldn't be the only person like this."

With a smile, Phoebe throws her arms around her brother, hugging so tightly and so suddenly that he drops his pipe, the remaining tobacco spilling onto the ground.

"Oops."

"No worries. Come on. Let's look through my closet. I'm sure I can find you some clothes fit for a fine young man."

As Phoebe follows him inside, she- no, he, because he can change; he can be a boy after all- can't help but smile. Maybe there's hope for him after all.