The following morning, after breakfast and a nice shower, Dora was pleased to discover that she had reached a shade under 18 and 1/4 of an inch. The 18 inch mark was growing nearer and nearer, and she might be there by the time she returned to school! Out of curiosity, she put her hands around her waist, trying to see how close she could get to encircling it. There was still a gap of at least a few inches, which she found to be a bit disappointing, but she reckoned that she wouldn't have even come close to this before she started. Not, Dora realized, that it would have occurred to her to try.
She noticed that her parents were being rather more affectionate when it came to her mum's waist. They'd always kissed in front of her, but Dora couldn't remember a time when her father had encircled her mum's waist in front of her. Perhaps, Andromeda had asked him not to, in case it made Dora ask questions and put undue pressure on herself to achieve the same thing at a much earlier age. Dora had always been slender, but there was quite a difference between a slim twenty-three inch waist and a fifteen or sixteen inch one.
Besides, Dora thought with gratitude, Mum never tried to make me wear a corset, much less waist train. She'd have been happy if I had gone with muggle bras.
Dora knew that she wouldn't have been, and she would have missed out on the lovely world of being hugged by her corset all day and all night long, which seemed as good a reason as any to wear one. The sheer comfort, especially compared to the bras, was still something she felt she was experiencing for the first time whenever she or her mum laced her up.
Of course, Dora couldn't spend the day admiring her appearance. While it was still summer holidays, and when she still had a bit of time before Becky would arrive, she decided to make the most of what time she had to begin reviewing for the upcoming term. Having completed two readings of "Unfogging the Future," Dora decided to attack some of the texts for Muggle Studies. She spent the morning in the sitting room, relaxing against a high backed chair that usually went unused, reading the rest of her Muggle Studies textbook about the life habits of British muggles. It was very interesting, and there was a lot she hadn't known. She wondered how much her dad would have, had she asked him.
"Would you like to see my ball corsets?" Andromeda asked, during lunch. "I thought you seen rather interested last night."
"Could I...try one on?" Dora asked, hopefully.
"You may," her mum answered, cautiously, "but I'll lace you into it, and much looser than your using ones." Dora's face must have shown some disappointment, because her mum added, "Trust me, Dora. You'll thank me afterwards when you can still can breathe properly."
Dora nodded, and took another small bite of her eggs.
"I reached eighteen and a quarter this morning," Dora mentioned, about a half an hour later, as she watched her mother remove the longer corset from the box and perform the necessary spells to make take it out of preservation mode.
"That's wonderful, sweetie! Who knows, you may reach eighteen before you leave for school," her mum praised.
Dora, grinning, removed her yellow robes, and her mum smiled at the sight of her corseted waist.
"My word, you are getting small," she said, softly, before wrapping her arms around her in a warm and secure hug.
Dora hugged her mum back, leaning into it for several minutes, and letting her head rest on her shoulders. Finally, she let go, and then Andromeda did. That was something she appreciated about her mother. She never let go of her daughter first.
Then, Dora turned her attention to the new corset. The ball corset, as her mum called it, was utterly surrounded by ribbons, although there were less around the lower part, and more along the front and the bust area. Dora supposed that when your gown was to be as tightly fitted as possible to display your waist, it would be foolish to add any decoration that would add to the waistline. She could see, just by looking at it, that the corset was certainly longer than the one she currently wore. Holding it, too, made her realize how rigid it was. Why, it practically stood up on its own!
Dora might have chosen to wear a bra had her mother shown her this on the first day of her training. Good thing she had over a month of experience behind her, and besides, she would only be wearing it for a bit today, and maybe (although probably not) at her dance. It was mostly an experiment to see how it felt, and if she could manage a more restrictive corset.
"Ready to try it on?" Andromeda asked. "I know, I know. It's positively surrounded by ribbons," she said, teasingly. "I can certainly remove them before you wear this in public, should you choose to do so."
Dora laughed. "I know. Yes," she added. "I'm ready."
"If it feels too tight, please let me know," her mother cautioned, and Dora nodded.
Her mother loosened the ribbons around the eyelets, and then placed it over Dora's body. Dora set to work on the clasps, which were rather smaller than her daily one, but not impossibly so. Even loose, she could feel the structure around her, imposing the straight posture she was used to, but to a much larger extent. After all, the ones she wore during the day and night contained the steel bones only on the front and back, with firm stitching around the sides. This had boning all over, and Dora could certainly feel it around her frame.
Andromeda worked slower than usual, stopping after every half inch to make sure Dora was all right. She answered yes, and she was, but as soon as the fabric and steel tightened around her frame, she could feel a sense of pressure all around that, up until now, she was only aware of after upon lacing (or being laced) below twenty inches. The corset extended from her breasts (as usual) to below the lowest part of her hips. Not so low that she couldn't use the loo, thankfully, but had it been a few inches longer, that might have been a problem. She now felt pressure growing stronger around her back, her stomach, and her sides in a very firm hug.
It was a stronger hug than she was used to, although not exactly unpleasant. Just as Dora was beginning to wonder how tight the corset was, her mum tied off the laces and came to stand in front of her.
"Are you all right?" she asked, gently taking Dora's chin in her hand and tipping it up.
Dora tried to take a deep breath-but only managed about half as deep of one as she would have liked. The steel bones in the corset pressed against her the whole while, reminding her that they were there to keep her waist-and her entire upper self-slim. Well, except for her breasts, of course, and she was certainly getting most of her air from that part of her body.
"I...think so," she answered, uncertainly. "I can't breathe as deeply as I would like, but I don't feel faint."
She did have to take another breath-really, a half breath, after this, and had the alarming feeling that she would be unable to fill her lungs no matter how hard she tried.
"Mum, I...how tight did you lace me?" she managed to ask.
"Only nineteen inches." Her mum studied her. "But I can see that's too tight. You're positively white. Hold on just a moment..."
Her mother moved behind her, and Dora could feel the corset loosen. Almost immediately, she felt more at ease.
"Take another deep breath," Andromeda told her, and Dora did, with considerably more ease.
"Oh, that's better," she murmured.
Andromeda tied off the laces and measured Dora's waist. "You're at nineteen and a half." She came around to look at her. "Good, you're getting your color back. Take a deep breath. Good. Now, again."
Dora obeyed, of course, and was surprised at how much more comfortable it was, now. All the same, it was a bit disconcerting that she had to wear it almost an inch and a half looser to feel the same way (well, at least as far as breathing went), than her regular one. Which made her wonder...
"Mum, was your day corset much more comfortable after your ball one?"
But her mum shook her head. "No, my mother charmed my day corset so that I had to wear it tighter after a ball. And because it was so difficult at that point, even an eighth of an inch tighter in my regular one felt as tight as my ball one, although perhaps not as restrictive." She shook her head again, and smiled at Dora. "Well, how is it now? Do you like it?"
Dora studied her appearance and took another breath. The extra boning and length made her look almost as small as her regular one laced tighter, and it was not uncomfortable...it did feel like a very, very strong hug. Not entirely uncomfortable, though, not when she was laced at nineteen and a half. Dora rather thought she looked a bit older in this one. Certainly, it pushed her still small breasts up a bit more, giving them a slightly larger appearance than her day corset.
"I think so? I don't imagine I could wear it to whatever dance Hogwarts has, not if I have to wear it over an inch looser than my regular ones..."
"You might be surprised," Andromeda said, with a laugh. "If you wore it instead of your day one for at least a week, and tighten it gradually over that time, you could probably manage your other waist size in this one. Our bodies can adapt rather quickly, even to to a restrictive corset," her mother answered. Then, quickly, she added, "I am not trying to pressure you to wear this, mind. Whatever you wear, you want to feel comfortable, and confident. That would likely be your day corset."
Dora glanced at herself in the mirror again. Laced at nineteen and a half, it really wasn't uncomfortable, and slowly becoming more so. Besides, she did like how she looked...
"Could I wear it until dinner, and then change back to my regular one?"
Andromeda laughed. "You might as well change into your nighttime one at that point. But yes, you may."
Dora dressed again, and it occurred to her that if she ever did wear it for fancy occasions, and if she ever became small enough to wear her mother's beautiful dress robes, she really ought to master buttoning and unbuttoning charms.
It was, Dora quickly realized, far less easy to relax in this one than in her daily one. By now, Dora had mastered making the most of the movement around her hips and her shoulders, so while she couldn't slouch, she could relax far more easily than on the first two days. Such tricks might have taken nearly a week to perfect, but by now, they were second nature. Her new corset was far more demanding of Dora. It held her hips straight as well as her front, and shifting to her side resulting in a bit of protesting poking from those bones. If Dora wasn't quite determined to find a solution, and of course wearing it of her own free will, she reckoned she would have been quite ill at ease for the next several hours.
In the end, she resigned herself to laying in her back and used a Hover charm and a Page Turner charm as needed. Her arms did not grow tired this way, and she could relax and enjoy the hug and the rigid posture her corset imposed without feeling poked and prodded every time she moved-because, well, she did not move. Before long, she was so immersed in the world of British muggles that her mind was elsewhere entirely.
It was dinner before she'd finished the book, and unable to move very well on her own, her mum gently hoisted her up.
"Come, let's get you changed into something less restrictive. Besides, you won't manage to eat much in this," Andromeda said, knowingly.
Once in her bedroom, Andromeda unlaced her with her usual ease. Dora felt a feeling of relief she hadn't experienced since being unlaced on that first night of trying to sleep laced up. At that moment, Dora was rather glad to be rid of it.
Still, she asked if she could wear her day one for dinner, and her mum agreed. It felt almost loose at 18 and 1/4, and Dora thought she might be at 18 any day.
That night, Dora asked if she could try sleeping a half inch tighter, and Andromeda agreed, albeit reluctantly.
"You slept an inch looser when you were my age," Dora reminded her.
"And it was the only time I could breathe with anything resembling comfort," Andromeda reminded her. At Dora's expression, she quickly added, "But you're not me, and I am not my mother. Certainly, you can try sleeping a bit tighter. And if you need to loosen your laces, or need me to, I won't mind." With a hug, she added, "I just want you to be happy and healthy, Dora."
Dora returned the hug with force. "I know. I love you, Mum."
"I love you too."
Author's note:
I initially planned to include Dora and Andromeda making preparations for Becky's visit, but it felt a little like I was trying to cram too much into one chapter. So, that (and likely her arrival) will come in the next chapter.
On a personal note, I've only worn underbust corsets, but from what I've read about historical ball ones, they're definitely more restrictive than regular ones. I'm not really sure why they would go into fashion-if you're trying to get your waist smaller for a grand occasion, wouldn't you want as easy a time with lacing up as possible? But I suppose that was just the way it was done back then, sort of like how some women wear fancy bras for special occasions. Anyway, Dora's not entirely a fan of the more restrictive corset, and is definitely happy to be back in her regular ones-and will almost certainly wear them to the Hogwarts dance!
Up next: Becky's visit.
Thanks for your feedback! Please keep it coming. :)