The Social Riot Machines – Chapter Nine

The weeks following Harry's pact with Ezra were nerve-wracking at best, and his encounter with Draco made him even more anxious than ever. Rumours had flown around the school about both his quitting of the team, and his tussle with the Slytherin. His housemates were not impressed when he eventually returned to the common room sporting an ugly black bruise on his cheekbone. Since the last letter from his friends, there had been virtually no contact with anyone back home, and Harry was beginning to get worried. On a whim, he sought out Jasmin once more, and determined that she too was without contact with her brother. She did reveal in his last letter to her, he mentioned several upcoming pieces of coursework, and so it was probable that he was concentrating on his schoolwork for a while. Whilst they were talking, he managed to find out more about the Visual Kei scene in Japan, and what he heard was somewhat encouraging, though it didn't allay his fears in the slightest. He had decided that if he was comfortable with the clothing that was no doubt going to arrive soon he would begin working on a stage name and choosing a colour to dye his hair. Harry had been informed that lighter colours were considered more feminine, but didn't know if it was worth the trouble it would earn. It would definitely attract a lot of attention, unless he re-coloured his hair before returning to the school. In addition to his own personal issues, there was the rather complicated issue with Umbridge slowly worming her way into every student's life, making most of Harry's peers extremely uncomfortable about talking in the corridors.

With the formation of the Inquisitorial Squad, headed by a very reluctant Draco Malfoy, detentions with the woman had become more frequent as infringements of the Educational Decrees imposed upon the school were reported more often than not. As it was mainly Slytherins in the Inquisitorial Squad, it was very hard to escape their notice, as sly and cunning as they could be. Members such as Crabbe and Goyle were easy enough to circumvent. Sometimes, out of the corner of his eye, Harry would notice his impromptu escort up the music rooms. Evidently, the most important member of the Squad had been assigned the most important job –keeping tabs on Enemy Number One. It gave Draco an excellent reason to be seen in Harry's company, and nobody suspected a thing. Everyone else was to scared of Umbridge to mention Harry had a blonde ghost.

As he contemplated his situation cynically, he failed to notice the door being pushed open, and the lanky figure of Jasmin stepping through. It didn't even fully register until she poked him in the side, Startled, he sat up straighter and caught sight of the gift bag clutched in her hands.

"These came this morning," she informed him quietly, "along with a letter, which is both hideous and hilarious."

As she sat beside him, he took the letter from the bag, ignoring the clothes for the time being, and began reading.

ジャスミンとハリイ,

I'm so sorry I haven't written to you for weeks, but there have been a few problems here. First of all, in advance, I'm fine now but it's been difficult. A few weeks ago, I fell off the drum stool, which was why I was fiddling around with it (you know, when I cut my finger?) and hurt my hip really bad. I was limping around for about a week. When I was at school the day after, one of my teachers apparently became concerned and talked to the welfare people, and I got taken into their counselling room. So I was in there for a couple of hours, and during that time there was an absolutely awful woman talking about how the older people I hang around with (read: Jake and Matt) are a bad influence on me, and that they were probably abusing me in some way and I was too stupid and or enamoured with Alex to notice. I of course denied being picked on in any way by anyone, because at the time, I wasn't. I was told I had to have almost daily sessions because I obviously had unresolved issues that were going to 'hinder my social and educational advancement' or some bullshit like that. I didn't show up to them for a while.

Another one of my teachers got annoyed that my mum never goes to the parent/teacher meetings that the school hold about me every two weeks, so he asked me really loudly, in front of the rest of my maths class why that was. He seems to think I'll understand him better if he talks louder. Stupid fucker. I then had to explain to him that my mother can only speak Thai and Japanese, so it would be pointless for her to go and sit like a fucking lemon in the meeting. So then people realised I'm half Thai. I got asked a lot if I was a transsexual/transvestite and of course I said I wasn't. Because I'm not. The teasing continued for a week, until I got tired of it, and told my head of year. He told me that I probably didn't understand what they were actually saying, and what they were actually saying to me was nothing to worry about. Seriously what is it with the assumption I don't fucking understand English? I'm a fucking straight A student, you don't do that if you don't understand everything!

So I actually went to a counselling session and explained what was going on. Her response made me fucking angry let me tell you that now. She essentially told me that deep down, I probably knew that Alex wanted a girlfriend, and not me, and that I knew he pitied me because I'm some piteous freaking wretch, so I try to make myself more feminine so that he'll continue to be my boyfriend even though he doesn't want to be. She also insinuated that he might also be with me because I'm a fucking cock whore or something to that extent. I got really, really mad. I'm a 6ft 6" rugby player! HOW THE FUCK AM I BEING FEMININE? I practically screamed that in her face. I then told her (somewhere in amongst the torrent of swearing) that if Alex wanted a girlfriend, he'd have a girlfriend. Not a boy with long hair because in my opinion, that's not quite the same thing. So I threw some stuff, swore a lot, ran away from the teachers that inevitably came to restrain me (were they expecting to catch me?) and walked home. My mum called my dad as soon as I arrived, and he also came, just when the phone rang. I told him what happened, and he shouted at the deputy head, it was quite funny actually. So I was excluded for a week, and then I got a stomach bug, so I was off for another few days. Sorry if I worried you!

So, in the bag is the dresses you asked for, as well as the other things, and a couple of gifts from Jake's sister Abby, I hope you enjoy them!

Lots of love, from Ezra!

Quite honestly, Harry was more than a little appalled by what was written in the letter. It did, however, relieve him to know that his friend's problems were in the process of being resolved. Diffidently, Harry pulled the clothing out of the bag, and inspected each of the items. He found the two dresses easily, they were of the t-shirt style and would probably reach a third of the way down his calf, and seemed as if they would be loose enough to hide the fact that he didn't have a waist. Personally, he didn't believe the dresses were all that bad, so he continued looking through the other items, and found that they too weren't as overwhelming as he was expecting. There was also a pink and black horizontal stripe sweater which he would've worn it around school if it were less obviously feminine. After that was a shabby, beaten up and patched shirt that made Harry grin, convinced he had already found his favourite item. It was an item he would most definitely get away with around his peers, and he almost looked forward to wearing it.

"You have good taste," he conceded quietly, and pulled the last item out of the bag. It was a fairly typical pleated red plaid skirt, nothing too special though Harry did wonder how much of his legs it would actually cover, it looked rather short.

"You might decide otherwise when you see the other thing I chose," Jasmin admitted sheepishly.

Alarmed, Harry tipped the last objects out of the bag, and read the packaging. A few tubes of makeup scattered across the floor, and he grabbed what he thought were tights. Emblazoned across the cardboard were the words '70 denier opaque black hold-ups'. He nearly backed out of everything. Everything else, he felt as if he could cope with, and if anything he had been expecting tights, not stockings.

After another few minutes, he found his resolve once more, and nodded, accepting his self-imposed fate.

"I also brought up some boots, they're quite popular in Japan, but look out of place here, so I haven't worn them. They have a chunky sole, kind of like Martens." Jasmin informed him, her soft voice rousing him out of his thoughts. "I'm sure you can figure everything out, I have an essay to write, so I'm going to the library." Jasmin bade Harry goodbye, and left the small room in silence.

Uneasily, he began to remove his school shirt, praying internally that nobody would show up for a surprise visit. It probably wasn't the best place for such activities, Moaning Myrtle's bathroom might be a better place, but he disliked the idea. If she became upset –or unusually cheerful- she might blab about the shameful things she'd witnessed. It was unlikely anyone would arrive, as far as he was aware Draco had both prefect and inquisitorial duties, and he'd been inspected the day before, so theoretically Snape wouldn't burst in at an inopportune moment. Hermione was in the library, and Ron was training, so neither of them would bother him. It was icy in the room, and he had to rub his arms to warm up. Trying to forget about his anxiety, he slipped his arms into the tattered blouse and buttoned it up. It fit him well, as when he looked down on himself, he found that the material sat on his hips in just the right way, giving him the appearance of a tomboyish girl. Overall, he didn't know if he was pleased or disappointed in the result. On the one hand, it meant that he was one step closer to being able to travel with his bandmates and not put them in quite so much danger as if he were without a disguise of sorts, on the other, it meant that he didn't really have a valid reason to not go through with it, other than his own discomfort with the idea. Gaining confidence, he stepped into the skirt and pulled it up his legs, zipping it up when it was at a sensible height. Harry had been correct in his assumption that the skirt wouldn't reach very far down his legs. He supposed it was very iconic of the punk style though, wearing short skirts. Curiously, he tore open the hold ups, and unrolled the nylon material. He thought it was a weird feeling against his fingers, and didn't know if it would unnerve him. Harry slowly slid his left foot into the stocking, and was displeased at the sensation of his nails catching on the synthetic fabric. Once the stocking was situated, he put on the other, taking less time to do so.

Ultimately, he came to the conclusion that it wasn't an entirely unpleasant experience, and anticipated it would become easier with practise. Harry also knew that he wouldn't be able to apply makeup without a mirror, and maybe not without help from a female. The nervousness he had been feeling up until that point began to dissipate, and he was left emotionally spent once more. Tiredly, he slipped his feet into the boots Jasmin had provided, and found they were rather to his liking, stiff leather and thick soled, just as she had said. Lazily, Harry seated himself heavily on the stool, and after rearranging his skirt to obscure his more masculine features, started to play. It was a rather slow song, as he didn't have the energy to do anything more.

"Are you alright Potter? You're playing with much less vigour than usual," Draco asked suddenly.

Disconcerted, Harry jumped up, the light fabric of the skirt flailing as he did. An odd look –which Harry interpreted to be disgust- flitted over Draco's features, and the blonde turned to open the door. Panicked, Harry flung himself at the Slytherin, slamming their bodies into the solid wood.

"I swear to god Malfoy, if you tell anyone, and I mean anyone I'll fucking eviscerate you!" He all but screamed. Harry knew he was just making it worse for himself, he would look even more pathetic should word actually get out, especially if Malfoy decided to reveal that particular detail. "I'll fucking throttle you!"

There was a lengthy and awkward pause in which Harry was painfully aware of how stupid he must seem. To his surprise, Draco did nothing to retaliate. He wasn't sure quite what was going through the blonde's head.

"Well?" He demanded angrily, roughly shoving the boy once more.

With a squawk of indignation, Draco slid to the floor. It was only when the boy flushed scarlet that Harry realised he was being up-skirted. Well damn that was awkward, he thought sardonically. Harry didn't really want to know what the other was staring at though.

"Nice view from down here," Draco commented, and Harry couldn't help but smile, despite himself. It was is the Slytherin was commenting on a painting of some scenic landscape. "Look, I'm sure you have your reasons, and if you're willing to tell me later on, then yeah sure, cool. If not," Draco made an unconcerned sound. "May I at least see the ensemble in all its glory?"

Embarrassedly, Harry backed away, and allowed Draco to look over the outfit. With a disturbingly practised eye, Draco circled Harry, and suddenly tugged the skirt up an extra two inches.

"There, much better," he remarked.

"You seem to know a surprising amount about Muggle fashion," Harry observed offhandedly.

"Everyone has a secret hobby don't they?" Draco asked rhetorically.

Harry didn't quite understand why, but he felt as if collaborating with Draco would be an interesting idea. He thought the blonde would be able to provide a useful outsider perspective on Harry and Ezra's plan, and would be an asset to the project, should he agree.

Hello there my lovelies, Tao here! I just want to apologise for the long wait even though I said I would try to make the gaps between uploads shorter. For those of you at that age (in the UK at the least) you'll know that the UCAS (university application) deadline is pretty fucking soon, and well I've been in a panic because I didn't quite know what I wanted to do. That's all sorted now though, and I've only got a little bit more on that to do for now, however because of my grades in the past, I'm going to have to work super hard. I don't know how many of you will actually read this lol. So my mum is also going into hospital soon to have an operation on her foot, and that means I'm going to be a little busy. But as I said before, I will attempt more frequent uploads.

Translation notes!

ジャスミンとハリイ - Jasumin to Harii - Harry and Jasmin.