Dora liked her aunt, even though she was at least ten years older than her father, and a lot more like her mother than him. Aunt Susan was rather more firm and organized than her dad. She wasn't strict, exactly, or not to Dora, but she was outspoken about doing things in the "right" way. She also knew that her aunt was doing her a favor. It was a good thing that Aunt Susan had two daughters of her own, both older than Dora, and had been through the ordeal of bra shopping with both of them.
Aunt Susan arrived at 1:30, precisely, to the surprise of exactly no one. As the three members of the Tonks family had finished their lunch, all Andromeda had to so was shoot a cleaning spell in the direction of the dishes, and another one to put them away. Household charms were Andromeda's specialty-she could even make the socks fold by themselves!
"Hello, Dora!" she greeted her niece, pulling her into a hug. "How are you? How has school been?"
The entirely truthful answers would be "nervous" and "good, except my teachers have no sense of humor and keep giving me detentions!"
Dora knew enough to say neither, opting to smile and say, "Good! How are Gracie and Rachel?"
Aunt Susan beamed. "It's Grace, now," she said, with an amused smile. "They're both doing well. Excellent marks at school, of course, and enjoying their summer holidays."
"As with our Dora," Andromeda answered, placing a hand on Dora' shoulder, and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "And we want to thank you for coming all the way out here and helping us."
Ted nodded. "It's certainly beyond our purview."
"I assure you, Andromeda, it's no trouble at all," Aunt Susan reassured them, smiling. "When you phoned to tell me that Dora needed her first one, I couldn't believe how quickly she was growing up. I'm sure we'll have this taken care of today, but I'm happy to come back if we need to go to more shops."
Dora really, really hoped this would not be the case. Even one day-well, afternoon-of bra shopping felt like several hours she'd never get back.
She'd rather be in Snape's Potions class. At least with all of his rudeness, you could learn something useful.
Aunt Susan handed Dora a bag, which she explained contained an assortment of girls' outfits to choose from. Dora went to her room and perused the contents before deciding on a blouse without sleeves (something she could never get away with wearing outside of her house) and a full skirt that covered her knees, but not much else. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and thought she looked just like a muggle, then changed her hair to purple and back to feel more like herself.
That was where the fun ended. The afternoon seemed to stretch on forever. As Dora had feared, Aunt Susan had them go to several shops, and Dora was to be measured in front of a complete stranger in each one. It was uncomfortable, and it was embarrassing. Her own father hadn't seen her with this little clothing since she was five years old, and now, someone she'd never met was running a measuring tape around one of her two most intimate areas. At least she was able to keep her skirt on...and the sales clerks were all females. By the time they'd visited the fifth shop, Dora nearly lost all sense of embarrassment. She felt rather like a muggle robot as she obeyed the sales clerk to undress, stretch out her arms, and wait as she wrapped a tape measurer around her breasts.
Then, out came the bras. She was to try on each of them, and some were outright itchy and painful, which she rejected. Dora also knew that she didn't want to wear anything that contained wires after the first two, which helped narrow down the search a bit. But on and on they went, and off again, and nothing was even remotely comfortable, but Aunt Susan bought the ones that were the least uncomfortable for her to try on again later. By the end of the day, Dora had what would likely become a rash just above her right breast, a headache, and an overwhelming sense of defeat. It seemed that no matter what bra she chose, she was going to be uncomfortable from the moment she put it on in the morning to the moment she could take it off at night.
For the rest of her life.
Well, maybe by the time she turned 100, she could get away with going without bras.
Still, it was going to be a long 87 years.
Dora politely rejected her aunt's offer of stopping for ice cream on the way home (muggle ice cream had nothing on the wizarding kind, and she would have had to be in a good mood to pretend to enjoy it), so it was rather a silent car ride home.
"I know you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the choices, Dora," her aunt began, as she navigated a turn, "but if you wait a day or so, and then try them on again, I think you'll find a few good choices. Once you have your favorite, I'll come back around to return the others and buy six or so extras of the one you like."
"Thank you, Aunt Susan," Dora replied, automatically, as she watched a muggle walking her dog.
Animals, she noted dully, didn't have to wear bras. Maybe she could become an animagus, and stay like that for several hours out of the day.
Or just live by herself. Of course, she'd still have to work, and every wizarding job likely required bras...
Dora felt like she could tear out her hair in frustration.
Aunt Susan might not have had a sense of how defeated her niece felt, but her parents certainly felt her bad mood as soon as her aunt left the house. Her mum pulled her into a hug, and her dad suggested they have all of her favorite foods for dinner, with a huge helping of chocolate ice cream with caramel bits and brownie bits mixed in, which was her all-time favorite dessert.
Dora tried to smile, and excused herself to go upstairs and change into her robes. The shirt and skirt were becoming increasingly uncomfortable, especially with so much of her leg on show for everyone to see. Before pulling on her robes, though, she examined the mark above her breast. It was hot, red, and itched. All signs of a dreadful rash.
When her mum came in a few minutes later, as Dora was laying on her back on her bed, she showed it to her.
"Oh, dear," her mum murmured. "Well, that's easily fixed with a salve. Good thing I made some last week."
"Why'd you have to make some?" Dora asked, leaning with her back against the wall.
"Poison ivy," she explained, making a face. "Hiding in the rosebushes, no less."
Dora made her own face, in sympathy. "Ouch."
"Ouch, indeed." Andromeda kissed the top of Dora's head. "Stay put, and I'll be right back."
The salve felt nice and cool against Dora's skin, and the near rash disappeared mere seconds after her mum applied it.
"I'll check on it again tomorrow, just in case it returns," she promised, "but it should be gone for good."
Dora sighed. "Wished these horrid bras were."
Andromeda held her close and began to make small circles on her back with one hand. "I know, sweetheart."
She didn't, though. Not unless her mum wore a bra under her corset, and no one was that mad.
"Does it hurt?" she asked, instead.
"Does what?" Andromeda asked, still making circles with one hand.
It felt so relaxing that Dora had to force herself to keep her eyes open. "Your...corset. Does it hurt or anything?"
Her mum laughed. "It took me a bit of getting used to, I won't lie. Especially since, in my family, you were laced as tightly as you could bear it from the beginning. It was called 'tight-lacing,' which is far different from 'waist-training.' I was about your age when my mum started on me. Bella had been training her waist for three years, then. My mum had laced her in on that first day, but Bella took on the task of lacing me. Mind, my mother was still there. Under my mother's orders, she laced me down to twenty inches in my first day, a four inch reduction, and then Mother had the laces charmed so they couldn't be undone without her counter charm. As you might expect, I was quite breathless until my mother allowed me to be loosened an inch to go to sleep."
"You had to sleep in them? From the beginning?" Dora gasped, putting a hand on her side in sympathy.
"Blacks did nothing by halves, Dora," Andromeda reminded her. "Well, even after Mother allowed my corset to be loosened a bit to sleep, I didn't do very much of it in the beginning. I suppose it was a week before I was sleeping normally."
"And then you were all right?"
Her mum hesitated. "At night, I was generally at ease. Mother always allowed us to sleep an inch looser than we were during the day, unless there was a great occasion to prepare for. Bella never allowed her corset to be loosened, but Narcissa and I depended upon it. We were laced...well, not quite to fainting point, but certainly far past what we would have been comfortable with." Andromeda sighed.
"But that was just during the holidays. Surely, you could be comfortable at school," Dora pointed out.
Andromeda shook her head. "Even at school, we were under our mother's rule. She could charm our corsets at a distance...she had very powerful magic. Our training paid off, though. Bella did get her waist down to fourteen inches, and I was at fifteen inches when I married your father. I don't know how far Narcissa managed-she was at seventeen inches when I married, and she was only about fifteen at the time. I'd be surprised if her waist wasn't fifteen inches or smaller."
"What are you now?" Dora asked, glancing at her mother's robes, which had been tailored to show off her waist.
"Sixteen. I had to train again after I gave birth to you, and it's rather harder after you have children."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'd far rather have you than a fifteen inch waist," Andromeda reassured her. "Anyway, without Bella or my mother in charge, I could go at my own pace, and be as comfortable as I wished."
"Then," Dora asked, slowly, "you are comfortable? Right now?"
Andromeda lifted her chin, just a little, so she was looking into her mother's eyes. "Yes. Very."
"How..." Dora paused, trying to find the words. "What does it feel like? Right now?"
Andromeda wrapped her arms around Dora, and held her in a firm, warm hug for several moments. "Like that, Dora. Like a warm hug."
Dora frowned, just a bit, as her mother released her. That didn't sound so bad. Why the need for a horrendous bra, then, if she could wear a corset like her mum?
Dora slowly voiced the question, and her mum laughed.
"I never said you couldn't. I only said that I wouldn't make you, the way my mother did," Andromeda answered, with a smile.
"I reckon I'd prefer being wrapped in a hug all day over a bra that gives me rashes," Dora said, rather irritably.
Andromeda didn't tell her off, simply wrapped a hand around her back. "Tell you what. You try on those bras again tomorrow, and see if they're still that bad. Meanwhile, I'll find my twenty inch and you can try it on." She glanced at Dora-not that she could see much of her body, being covered by robes. "I expect your frame is similar to mine, and if that's the case, you'd be able to wear mine. But if not, we'll have to get new corsets made that fit your frame. Believe me, Dora, an ill-fitting corset is at least ten times worse than an ill-fitting bra."
Dora nodded. "All right. Thank you."
Andromeda hugged her again. "Time for dinner, I should think."
The rest of the evening went far better than the afternoon. Full of her favorite foods, including a second generous helping of her favorite ice cream, Andromeda even summoned the strength to finish off her essay for Potions before heading to bed.
The next morning, as soon as she woke up, Dora went through the arduous process of trying on all of the bras. All sixteen of them.
The only one she could tolerate, and that was a stretch, was a dark blue one that the clerk had called a "sports bra." Dora hadn't the faintest notion of what that meant, but it didn't contain wires that dug into her skin, the straps were only a bit too tight, and the fabric only rode up every five minutes, instead of every minute.
"This," she told her mother, holding up the dark blue sports bra by her thumb and index figure, "is the only one I can even remotely tolerate. And it's positively dreadful."
Andromeda sat next to Dora on the bed and held her close. Dora snuggled up against her for a few minutes, and Andromeda began to run her fingers through her hair. It felt lovely. Then, after a few minutes, she spoke, her voice gentle.
"Well, I found my old corsets last night, and they're all still in very good condition. What do you say about trying on the largest one, and see how you like it?" she asked, kindly.
Dora nodded. "I'll still be able to breathe, won't I?"
"I promise, you'll still be able to breathe," Andromeda reassured her, and Dora could hear the amusement in her voice.
Author's note:
While I agree that getting fitted for a bra will likely result in a more comfortable fit, I don't agree that everyone will feel comfortable even in a well-fitted bra. Even after years of wearing one. Just my two cents!
Next up: Dora discovers that even though wearing a corset is a lot more comfortable than she would have thought, she has a lot to learn about living in them. Fortunately, her mum's there to help.