Author's note:
Despite dividing the dance chapter into two separate ones (this being the second one!), I still ended up writing quite a lot! However, I so believe it was necessary to include the information for the storyline, as well as for the character development. Enjoy!
The third year females weren't the first to gather in the Hufflepuff common room to have their pictures taken, but they certainly weren't the last. Professor Sprout, wearing lovely butter yellow dress robes, was very organized, and as soon as she suspected everyone attending the dance was present, spoke in a magically magnified tone amid the noise.
"Hufflepuffs! If I may have your attention!"
Immediately, the room quieted down.
"It's not required to have your pictures taken, but if you change your mind later, I'll only be in the common room from eleven until twelve, as I need some rest tonight!" she said, with a light laugh, and the Hufflepuffs all responded in kind. "Now, then. For those who wish to have their photos taken now, please line up according to your year. First year female students first, then males, and so on. After you've had your individual photo taken, you may proceed to the Great Hall. Have a lovely time, but do remember that your behavior reflects on your fellow students, your house, and myself as your head." She gave them a more serious look, and Dora remembered her father telling her that muggle students used to believe that their teachers had eyes in the back of their heads, as well as the front. Her head of house probably didn't, but you never could tell.
The crowd dimmed as at least half of the Hufflepuff boys opted out (for now, anyway) of getting their pictures taken. Only a small handful of girls made this choice, and rather the less dolled up ones at that.
Dora was impressed by how quickly Professor Sprout made the line move. She didn't rush any of her badgers, and was careful to take a few photographs for the sake of variety. All the same, if Dora had to make a guess, she'd have calculated that each student didn't take more than a minute. Standing between Morwenna and Becky, she guessed that she was about thirtieth in line when the queue began. The students began to chatter almost as soon as Professor Sprout began to click on her camera.
"Is your sister going to the dance?" Dora asked, keeping on eye on the line and the other on her best friend.
Becky laughed. "Only out of duress, as she'd say. Mum says that if she's going to stay at school for the Christmas holidays, she expects evidence that she attended both the dance and the Christmas feast. She expects the same from Brian, too," she added.
"They're still studying for their OWLs with the same intensity?" Dora guessed.
"Even more. They hardly make an appearance in the Great Hall for meals." Becky rolled her eyes. "I don't know what they're so worried about. They've been taking the practice tests since the beginning of their fourth year. Almost passed them midway through. Now, they're getting at least Exceeds Expectations on the written part. Can't really grade the practical, I expect. You can either perform the spells, or you can't."
"That's..." Dora trailed off. "Do they want to go into a job that requires a ton of top grade OWLs?"
"Brian does. He's set on being a Healer at St. Mungos," Becky answered. "Katie's less sure what she wants, but she says it can't hurt to have options. Honestly, Dora, I'd be surprised if she receives anything less than an Outstanding in any of her lessons. But," Becky added, with a shrug, "the OWLs are just the beginning. It starts all over again with the NEWTs."
"Is everyone as focused as they are?"
"I doubt it. I'm sure they're working hard and all of that, but not to the extent that the only way their parents would allow them to spend Christmas at school to study-and you know that's all they'll be doing-is to practically blackmail them into having a bit of fun," Becky noted. "But they've always been very, very driven. I don't know why they weren't put in Ravenclaw."
Dora nodded. She'd met the twins during her time at Becky's house, after her first year at school. They were, of course, about to enter their third year. While they didn't have their nose in a book the entire time, they certainly studied more than Dora.
That was, come to think of it, likely the year that Katie had to start wearing a corset.
"Oh yes, it was," Becky said, without thinking about it. "And that was part of the reason for her being so upset. Katie said that if she was going to be laced halfway to fainting point, she wouldn't be able to focus on her studies, and would fail out of school."
It sounded rather dramatic, but if Katie had felt about corsets the way Dora had felt about bras, she could understand.
"She has been a bit happier about them this year," Becky added, softly. "I'm not sure why. Maybe she's had two years to get used to them, and Mum's very good about not pushing her to lace tighter than she can manage." She shrugged, then laughed. "Oh, Dora, it's your turn!"
And so it was.
"Miss Tonks!" Professor Sprout greeted her warmly, as she stood by the fire. "You look lovely, my dear. That style suits you, as does your hair. Very mature!"
"Thank you, ma'am," Dora answered, with a smile.
"Now, let's try a few different poses...first, stand on the right side of the fire. Good. Now, smile."
Click.
A few photos later, and it was finished. Dora rather wished she could have seen how she looked in the camera before her head of house had them developed, but she thought they likely turned out well.
She joined her fellow third years in a corner of the room, knowing that they were going to wait for all eight of them to have their pictures taken before leaving for the dance.
Becky looked lovely, of course. Sarah looked very pretty, and rather wistful. Elizabeth's smile seemed to light up the room. Finally, there was Hannah, whose blonde ringlets and light purple robes seemed to radiate an almost doll look to her. Dora knew that she'd been insecure about her twenty-inch waist, but even that looked tiny next to the volume of her skirts.
Once she joined the group, they left the Hufflepuff tower and gracefully, yet with enthusiasm, descended the staircase to the Great Hall.
Everyone was eager to see what awaited them. There had been no shortage of rumors about this dance for weeks. Traditionally, dances had been reserved for fourth year students and above, but this one would be open to all students. Even first years. You didn't even need to have a date to attend! It seemed like ideal planning, too, to have this dance the night before the start of the Christmas holidays. The carriages to the Hogsmeade train station wouldn't arrive until noon the following day, and if you stayed up too late, at least you didn't have immediate lessons or homework to do.
Then, there was the speculation among Dora and her fellow third year Hufflepuffs just how many girls had been training their waists, and what the results would look like. Their school robes were so loose and flowing that a girl could be tiny or enormous, and it wouldn't show very much. Bellatrix might have worn a sash to emphasize her tiny waist, but either she had been in the minority then, or times had changed. You could get the general impression of whether someone was thin or not by their face and robes...but this dance would show just who was "traditional enough"-in the words of Morwenna-to wear a corset and train their waist.
After all, dress robes were intended to be tailored, and whether your waist was 25, 20, 15, or somewhere in the middle, people saw. There was simply no hiding behind loose robes, not here.
Even Sarah and Elizabeth, whose robes had been fit to their precorseted measurements, had added tight sashes to show that they had taking to corseting. It didn't have quite the same effect as altering the robes, but in the event of parental interference on that front, they had decided to forego any physical altering of their dress robes.
Besides, the muggle borns looked lovely. Sarah's dark brown hair was a mass of perfect ringlets, with a few tied back in a blue ribbon to stay away from her face. The rest reached the middle of her back. Her skin was rosy, and radiant with excitement and (Dora expected) the knowledge that she looked radiant. Her pale blue robes, light as the day sky, swirled and swished as she moved.
Elizabeth's lighter brown hair was swept up in a fancy knot, with loose waves to make it seem, in her own words, "Less extreme, rather like a ballerina." Her light green robes included small hints of white, giving the appearance of sparkling. The sleeves were puffed just a bit at the shoulders. The skirts included numerous layers, extending the skirts a few inches from the floor, making Dora think of the princess movies her cousins used to watch. And while no one would think to look at Elizabeth's black shoes, they clicked gently as she moved.
It rather felt, Dora realized as they all walked down the final set of stairs, like finding out who else had been in a secret society. She grinned at the mental image.
She, and others, gasped when they saw the Great Hall transformed. Oh, it might not look like the Black Ballroom where Andromeda and her sisters had been taught to dance, but it was a lovely contrast to where they ate their meals and the older students took their OWLs and NEWTs. The starry sky felt so real, and the enchantment actually made it so that individual stars appeared to twinkle at times. Fairies flew all over the room, in groups and by themselves, adding another level of sparkle to the hall. Ivy decorated with lovely icicles covered the walls, giving Dora the impression that, in spite of the warm temperature, she was standing outside of a grand palace.
The Great Hall even smelled rather lovely and homey-a woodsy smell, and enhanced by a warm fire. Her eyes then traveled to the parts of the Great Hall more level with her frame. To her delight, yet hardly surprise, tables were filled to the brim with delicious food and drinks, ranging from water to pumpkin juice to-she now knew the scent well-butterbeer. Of course, there was no firewhiskey or other alcoholic drinks, even for those of age.
Then, there was the food! Even though everyone had eaten dinner barely a couple of hours ago, the Hogwarts staff must have realized that many students would either be hungry again, or had been too excited to eat a proper meal before. Rich holiday foods, too, along with more simpler fare. And the desserts! Dora was very glad she'd decided not to test her limits, because she would simply have to indulge a little in the abundance of sweets before the night was over. Why, someone who wasn't wearing a corset could easily spend the evening sampling the assorted foods and drinks, and forego the dance altogether. Which might be what some of the younger students, especially boys, would be doing, come to think of it.
Once Dora drew her gaze away from the table, she took in the other festive decorations adorning the hall. Mistletoe, of course, and lovely wreaths, and an enormous Christmas tree that even Hagrid must have needed help to bring in. No, wait, there were three trees, all in varying parts of the hall, each as large as the last!
There were also tables and chairs set up around the corners of the room, in case you didn't want to eat at the food tables, or simply wanted a place to sit down. There were even couches and squashy armchairs. It seemed that the Hogwarts staff had thought of nearly everything.
Speaking of which, Dora could make out some familiar faces of her teachers, all clad in dress robes. Snape wore his usual black robes-you might have thought he could have worn Slytherin green, for a change-but even from afar, she knew they were dress robes. His hair, though, remained hanging around his shoulders, evidently immune to shampoo. Dora allowed herself a small grin before glancing away. Professor Burbage, on the other hand, looked especially young and pretty in light blue dress robes, and she'd styled her hair so it was curly and fell down her back. The Muggle Studies teacher usually wore her hair tied back, and seeing it loose made Dora realize her teacher was likely younger than her own mother. Professor Flitwick did not look more attractive, exactly, but very festive in his gold robes and mistletoe garland adorning his head. He looked positively joyful.
The rest of the staff looked mostly like themselves, only dressed up. Professor McGonagall wore Gryffindor colors of red and gold, Professor Trelawney looked rather like an insect in silver glittering robes, and Dora saw a couple of other unknown faces who, she supposed, were the ones who taught Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures.
Dora could have passed several moments taking everything in, only the sight of her fellow classmates, all looking around the hall with a dazed expression on their faces, brought her mind back to her, and their, original question: who was wearing a corset, and how much progress had they made?
She couldn't recognize everyone by house, but many of the girls stood in groups, and there were familiar faces that she could discern.
To an extent, anyway.
The first and second years, of course, had their natural waists. Well, perhaps a couple of the second years were about thirteen, and had either begun wearing one or would soon, but if so, they were laced in so slightly that it would've be reflected in their dress robes. Really, Dora realized, you could almost tell which of the girls who weren't by the way they stared openly at the older students who were obviously corseted. Just briefly, of course. They would turn their gaze away after a moment or so, recognizing that staring was always rude. The younger boys, on the other hand, were either too transfixed or unknowing to observe this rule. A few of the older Slytherin girls-Dora guessed their waists to be around sixteen inches-gave the younger students rather haughty looks, as though they were clearly superior for their waist sizes.
Dora fought the urge to roll her eyes when she saw this. After all, her own waist was seventeen and a half, and if she worked hard, she might equal or surpass those Slytherin girls in a year or so.
Then, they'd be the ones staring!
Were Dora to make a guess, she would have said that at least two thirds of the girls at Hogwarts were corseted to some degree, and half of those girls had been training down their waists. Not that it was always easy to tell. A girl could be naturally small and approach the twenty or twenty-one inch mark on the first day. Others could train hard for months and still not reach twenty inches.
Watching the other girls and seeing where their hands or their dancing partner's hands fell on their waists (a trick her mum had taught her), she would have said that seventeen to eighteen was the middle range of the student body, with the oldest students hovering much, much lower. In fact, she realized that a couple of seventh years could very nearly span their own waists, meaning they were no larger than fifteen inches. Then, there were some seventh years (Dora guessed) who allowed their boyfriends to span their waists-and there was still room to spare.
Yes, fourteen and fifteen was certainly not unheard of measurements for the most devoted corseters among oldest students-but when Dora was close enough to see their expressions, she knew they were far from at ease.
Not that they had approached the too tight, minutes away from fainting territory. More likely, they would have to alternate between dancing and resting so as to remain conscious for the duration of the dance. Perhaps, she mused, they were secretly wishing for the end of the dance, when they could at least loosen their corsets, if not discard them entirely. Dora suddenly felt rather sorry for them. This dance should be something to revel in, an occasion where-rather like the fairytale princess, Cinderella-the end would come far too soon. Being an inch or so smaller, even for a special occasion like this, could hardly be worth the discomfort.
Even if they did look nearly as beautiful as her mum.
Dora turned to her friends. "Everyone all right?"
They nodded, taking their eyes away from the minute older students who were currently dominating the dance floor.
"I know they look lovely," Becky murmured, "but I keep hoping they don't faint."
"They won't," Morwenna said, her voice just as low. "You can see it in their faces. It's taking nearly all of their concentration to appear at ease, especially with their partners, but they're hardly in the 'too tight' territory. They'll manage all right if they pace themselves, and rest after every other dance or so."
"That's how my mum managed. It was necessary, but it rather worked in her favor," Dora said, smiling.
"Naturally. Makes it a challenge to secure a dance," Demelza noted, with a light nod. Then, she grinned. "I ought to try that trick."
Some of the other girls giggled.
After the older students began to leave the dance floor, the younger ones-relatively speaking, as they were still primarily fourth and fifth years-took over the empty spaces. Dora could see the sharp contrast between the smallest of the seventh years and the ones of the younger students. None were under sixteen inches, but many had surpassed the respectable eighteen.
"Let's have a seat while we watch," Hannah suggested.
The others nodded, and they found a couple of long couches that were close enough to the dance floor to give them a full view, while far enough away from them to be able to chatter.
Not that they did very much of that, at first. It was lovely just to watch the dancing. The girls were so graceful in their movements, even when there were slow songs that consisted of mostly swaying. She reckoned that it wouldn't be as interesting if they had been in their black school robes. The girls' dress robes were as varied as they were lovely, and ranged from very traditional to the newer styles such as what Dora wore. Most used single colors, technically speaking, but sewn in a way that made them appear to consist of more than one. Other, very new styles, did have lines of embroidery along the sides. Some were high cut, reaching to the top of the chin, while others were so low that you could see the top of the breast. And given that dancing was exercise, there was quite a bit of heaving bosoms that was particularly emphasized from this cut. Dora thought it nearly bordered on indecent, and was glad that her own robes reached just below her collarbone.
Then, perhaps a half an hour after they had first entered the Great Hall, it was time for the younger students to take the floor. Few of them had partners, though, so some Gryffindor girls took the lead and began to dance in a group. At the approving noises of the professors, others joined in-including Dora and her friends.
Eight at a time was a bit much, so they separated into two groups of four. Sarah, Elizabeth, Morwenna, and Demelza were the first group. Dora, Becky, Polly, and Hannah made up the second. The dance was quite easy, often known as the "Circle Dance" and consisted of dancing in a wide circle with your hands around your partner's shoulders, rather than their waist. It could be romantic-Andromeda had emphasized-but was mostly fun. In fact, witches as young as five had learned it by imitating the dance if they saw it performed, and for all of Dora's clumsiness, her mum had taught it to her at that age without difficulty.
Dora smiled at the memory of doing the "Circle Dance" with her mum, and then her dad would join in, and they would spin around and around until they nearly fell from dizziness.
The next dance was also not exactly a slow dance in the romantic sense, but one which hardly required a great deal of exertion. Rather perfect for girls who were wearing tight corsets.
Other dances followed with a similar tempo, and then, the musical group (whose name Dora couldn't remember) began to play another slow song. And after a light tap on her shoulder, Dora spun around to find herself face to face with Charlie Weasley.
"Could I have this dance with you?" he asked, grinning at her.
Dora nodded before she could process what her classmate had asked her.
She knew who Charlie Weasley was, of course. Recently made a Seeker for the Gryffindor team (they had lost the first match to Slytherin, although Charlie had caught the Snitch-but the Slytherin Chasers had played an exceptionally dirty game, as had the Beaters, come to think of it...), he was in Dora's year. Their houses had Herbology and Charms together, and she had worked with him on occasion for the former. Nice, very friendly, reasonably good-looking, and had a group of friends who were around him a lot. He wasn't the oldest Weasley-that was Bill-but Dora knew that he was one of seven kids, and six were boys.
And that was about the extent of it. Dora didn't dislike him, but she knew more about him than she knew him. Houses didn't interact much outside of lessons, especially not boys with girls. Not unless you had a brother or sister in another house.
Why, then, would Charlie ask Dora to dance? And not just any dance, but a slow dance designed for couples?
She was glad he was a decent dancer, or so it appeared from this one. The steps were rather easy, just walking to the side and back, and the males either encircled their female partner's waists or, thankfully in Dora's case, rested on her shoulders. She did the same. They were standing so close that she could smell the shampoo he'd used, as well as the mint leaves (or perhaps mint candy) to make his breath nice.
"Charlie?" she asked, in a low voice, about halfway through the love song.
"Yes, Dora?" he returned, smiling at her.
Making her feel warm.
"Um, I was just wondering-why'd you ask me to dance this one?"
Charlie laughed-a bit self consciously. "I, well, I reckoned that with, er...you might find some of the others a bit demanding."
Oh.
Ohhhh.
He had assumed that she'd laced tightly for the dance, and would find a regular one to be a trial.
Dora smiled. It was sweet of him.
"Oh, well, I would have been all right, but thank you! That was thoughtful of you, Charlie," Dora answered, still smiling and hoping that he knew she meant it.
He grinned. "Oh! Well, that's good! We could try another dance, if you like, one that's a bit...faster," he added, with the briefest glance down at her waist.
Dora nodded, feeling her face redden. "Yes, I'd like that."
So, after that dance ended, a faster one began, a sort of a waltz, and Dora managed it without any trouble. She felt awfully light on her feet, even, and while her corset felt like its usual hug, there was no restriction on her ability to breathe freely.
Charlie noticed, and his smile was even more broad.
Perhaps he might have asked Dora for a third, but immediately upon that dance ending, another boy asked for her hand, and she accepted. Charlie looked a bit disappointed, but gave her a small wave as he went in search of another partner.
Dora didn't learn the boy's name, and he didn't speak much during the dance. It was a bit harder to remember the steps, but she managed with relative ease.
Then, remembering Demelza's plan, and not finding her silent partner to be very interesting, Dora excused herself from the floor, planning to spend some time with her friends. Demelza and Morwenna both had partners, but the others were standing by the food table, although neither were eating. They grinned when she approached.
"You were dancing with Charlie Weasley!" Sarah exclaimed.
"Twice! And one was a slow dance!" Elizabeth reminded her.
"I know! But it's not like that. He reckoned I would have trouble with a faster one. I didn't," she added, rather impishly, and grinned.
"He's a Quidditch star," Hannah said, almost reverently. "Nearly won against Slytherin."
"Are you going to start seeing each other?" Becky asked, grinning widely. "He's very good looking!"
Dora shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe, if he asks me."
"You could go to Hogsmeade together!" Polly suggested. "If the next trip isn't too far off."
"I suppose," Dora agreed. "If he asks, I mean, I wouldn't say no. But, really, it was just two dances."
"Two in a row!" Sarah reminded her. "And the dance isn't even an hour in."
"That's true. Say, aren't you going to dance?" she asked.
"In a few minutes. We fancied getting a butterbeer. You want one?"
Dora agreed, suddenly feeling very thirsty.
At Hogsmeade, the delicious beverage came in bottles. Here, it was in a bowl, labeled the way all the drinks were. Dora took a small goblet and filled it halfway, then drank slowly, savoring it.
"This is also a prime spot for seeing who in our year has made the most progress," Hannah remarked, after a few minutes. "You can really get a good look without making it obvious you're staring."
Dora laughed. "And who might that be?"
"Sandra Nelson and Olivia Twyford are nearly at sixteen, but they're laced, as my mum would say, within an inch of their lives," Becky began. "Not literally, of course, but they're terribly uncomfortable, poor things, and I heard Sandra tell her friend Amanda Bones that if the dance goes past ten, she's leaving, because she can't bare it longer than that."
"Poor things," Dora murmured, with sympathy. "I don't see why anyone would push themselves so hard, especially just for a school dance."
All these girls were in Ravenclaw, and both of the tight laced ones were pure blood. Amanda was a fellow half-blood.
"They likely see this as the beginning," Hannah offered. "Neither might be of the Sacred-Twenty Eight, but if you can get small enough and are a pure blood, well, it's not like they can keep marrying each other's families forever. Not when most only have one or two kids," Hannah explained. "Lacing as tight as you can bear it for the first dance...it's a starting point. And most of us are nearly fourteen, which isn't so very far from seventeen."
"I suppose," Dora allowed. "But I can't imagine marrying so young, even if my parents were about that age. And I certainly wouldn't want to feel the pressure of getting extremely small just to marry into a family like that."
"Charlie's part of one of those old families," Polly pointed out, with a sly grin. "So are you, by your mum."
Perhaps, but given that everyone except Uncle Alphard had disowned her mum when she married a muggle born, Dora didn't think she could put much faith in the Black bloodline.
Even if she'd wanted to.
Marriage seemed very far away, and it had never been her goal to marry into a pure blood family simply for the sake of it.
When she married, she reckoned she wouldn't care one whit about blood status. Neither would her parents, she was sure.
"Bully for him," Dora retorted, with an eye roll. "So, who else in our year can hardly breathe?"
They spent another few minutes eying their classmates, especially the Slytherins, and rather gauging the competition.
No one was below Morwenna's seventeen, but a few had already reached eighteen. More looked to be in the nineteen to twenty range.
Which rather made sense, as Dora expected that most had begun over the summer, and had waists around twenty-four or twenty-five inches to begin with. Going from twenty-five to nineteen would be quite an accomplishment in six months.
After returning to the couches, plates of food in hand, Dora saw a familiar girl walk over to them.
At first, she didn't recognize the smiling girl with a waist around eighteen or nineteen inches, accentuated by lovely robes of rich blue, and with her hair loose with the exception of two thick braids forming a crown on the top.
"Katie!" Becky nearly jumped up and hugged her sister. "I was afraid you wouldn't show up."
Katie laughed as she returned her younger sister's hug. "I expect studying can wait a day. Besides, you know Mum would never forgive me."
Becky chuckled, then turned to the others. "This is my older sister, Katie."
Everyone else rose, rather more gracefully than Katie's younger sister, but wearing smiles as they introduced themselves. Katie hugged each of them in turn, as was proper for a pure blood girl. Sarah and Elizabeth received her hugs with a bit of surprise, but reciprocated all the same.
Becky pulled up a chair from a half occupied table. Katie smiled at her younger sister and sat down gracefully, her robes covering her matching slippers.
"You all look so lovely," Katie said, in an almost maternal tone. "Are you enjoying your first dance?"
Everyone answered eagerly in the affirmative, and after some small talk, Katie made a gesture towards Becky and Dora to follow her.
Dora cast a surprised glance at her friend, who simply shrugged in response. They followed the older girl into a corner filled with small couches. Aside from a couple of older students looking at each other in the way Dora's parents often did, it was vacant of other students. Becky and Dora sat on one of these couches, while Katie sat across from them.
"Dora, I haven't seen you in ages, so I realize it's rather late, but I wanted to thank you," she said, in rather a quiet voice.
"To thank me?" Dora echoed, completely perplexed. "For what?"
"I kept telling our mother that she was pushing Becky too quickly. You know," she added, gesturing towards her own reduced waist, "and with sleeping. Becky was terribly pale for days before she came to visit you, and I was sure she'd come to hate waist training as much as I had. I tried to get our mother to see reason, but she said that Becky was only struggling because she was new to sleeping corseted, and I wouldn't know anything about that." Katie's face darkened a bit. "I was relieved at how much better Becky looked when she returned home."
"And happier," Becky added.
"That too," Katie confirmed, with a smile. "Becky said that your mother managed to get our mother to see sense."
"Oh!" Dora smiled. "Well, then, it's really my mum you should thank. I didn't have much to do with it, really."
Katie shrugged. "You told her, didn't you? And you'll let her know that I'm grateful?"
"I will," Dora promised. She put an arm around her best friend's shoulders. "I hate to see any of my friends in any pain."
"I know our mother didn't do it on purpose," Katie conceded, "but as you probably know, I had a very hard time with it, at first. It's been easier, especially with my new ones, but I expect Mum figured that if there was going to be any tiny waisted female in the family, it would be Becky. And I hated to...well, anyway..."
Katie left the statement unfinished, so Dora just nodded, and a question formed in the back of her mind, but she knew that it wouldn't be proper to voice it. Not to a girl who, while she might be her best friend's older sister, wasn't really a friend of hers.
Fortunately, Becky was clearly thinking the same thing, and voiced it.
"Katie? You said new ones?"
Katie looked at Becky as though she was asking something she ought to have long since known the answer to. "I was with you when you were measured, remember? And returned with new sets of corsets?"
"But I thought that was because you had closed your twenty inch ones, and Mum said you needed smaller ones," Becky countered, haltingly.
"That's part of it. But when we were there, Madam said that she had learned of a new design, from the annual conference she goes to. Mostly muggle corsetieres, and I reckon they think the witches like Madam are muggles as well." Katie grinned. "If she dresses in her robes, they must think she's an eccentric or something."
"Go on!" Becky urged, rolling her eyes.
"Sorry." Katie playfully reached over and patted the top of her sister's head. "Anyway, the struggle that I have...well, other girls have it as well. Not as many, because most can handle a two inch reduction in the beginning, and certainly a one inch one." Katie looked a little sad, or perhaps embarrassed, but her face cleared. "So one of the corsetieres from Scotland proposed reducing the thickness of each steel bone, and either adding more along the body of the corset, or not, depending on how small the corset was. She said that she created a couple of variations of this model and used them on a few of her clients."
"And they worked?" Becky pressed.
"Yes, all ten of her clients found them to be a lot more comfortable. Well, when Madam returned to England, she used the same model types that the Scottish corsetiere provided, and created sample ones for people like me to try on. I'm wearing one right now where the steel is half as thick as my old ones, and there are a third more throughout it," Katie continued. "It's a dramatic improvement, I can tell you. I even managed an eighteen inch waist over the last month without noticing any discomfort."
Becky pulled her sister into a hug again. "That's wonderful!"
Katie grinned. "It's a lot easier studying for exams, too."
"Are-are you comfortable, then?" Dora asked, almost shyly.
"Not as comfortable as when I take them off for bed," Katie admitted, "but they're more than bearable. And now, I'm at eighteen inches, and don't have to worry about getting any smaller. Madam says if I keep at this measurement for at least a year, I might not even notice wearing them. And as I don't plan to go any smaller, she says my body will have a far easier time adjusting in the long haul."
Dora thought that not being aware of her own corset would be a rather dreadful thing, but if it was Katie's goal, she could hardly object.
"I'm glad," Dora told her. "I tried bras before corsets. Horrid things. I don't think I could ever not be aware of wearing one."
Katie's face took on a look of pain. "Aren't they? My friend Violet took me shopping for one in my fourth year. I must have tried on at least ten. They felt like insects crawling all over me! And the pinching, and the straps. What are muggles thinking, wearing them? They're tortuous!"
All three girls giggled.
Then, they returned to their couches, and Katie went off to dance with a few very attractive boys.
Other boys approached some of the girls in Dora's year for dances, and they always received a yes.
The rest of the evening was lovely, even magical in the fairytale sense of the word. Dora accepted two more dances from Charlie (neither the slow kind), and several others from a variety of boys in her year. One was even from Norman Rowle, a distant relative of Hannah, and in Slytherin. But he seemed a lot nicer than the players on the Slytherin Quidditch team, and really a decent sort of boy all around. He looked nothing like Charlie, with rather unruly brown hair and a good foot on her, but certainly good looking. Very good looking, in fact.
He even asked if he might send her a Christmas card, and she agreed without thinking much about it.
Then, after they separated, Norman gave her a light kiss on the hand.
Dora felt her heart race at this.
The dance ended just eleven, and even the girls who Dora didn't think would make it managed. She expected there would be groans and sighs of relief once they were in their dormitories and free from their tight corsets.
Dora had no such feelings. She felt rather sad to remove her dress robes and undo her elaborate braids. She looked in the mirror for the last time that night, and saw a lovely, if perhaps a bit less excited and more tired looking, young woman. Yes, Dora thought that she still resembled her mum, at least a little. Turning away from the mirror, she carefully removed her gown and tucked it away into her trunk. With rather less somberness, she removed her dress shoes and stockings before putting her feet into her regular warm slippers. Then, Dora selected a nightgown and spare corset before heading into the bathroom to change.
While there was certainly a difference between being laced to eighteen and a half inches, when compared to seventeen and a half, Dora knew that she had been comfortable throughout the evening. Really, she would probably sleep fine at that measurement, or eighteen, but it was nice to have the extra inch to relax fully. The hug might need feel as nice, but she felt that she had more room to move around, even if it might just be in her head. Dora returned to the bedroom to find about half of her roommates already fully attired in their nightgowns and night corsets, settled near each other and drinking tea.
"The house elves left this for us," Demelza explained. "By the scent, it's supposed to aid in sleep."
Dora smiled as she helped herself to a cup. "Mmm. It smells nice."
"Wasn't the dance lovely?" Polly asked, with a contented smile. "I'm sad it's already over."
"Me too," Dora agreed, with a sigh of her own.
"Hopefully, there will be another next Christmas. And then, we'll be an inch or two smaller!" Morwenna enthused, as she finished brushing out her long hair.
"And with boyfriends!" Demelza added. "We'll be four years by then."
"I wonder if there could be another one this school year," Hannah murmured, as she braided her long hair back for the night.
"I can't imagine they would have one around end of term exams," Dora mused, stretching out in her bed.
"It would give you and Norman and Charlie plenty of chances to see each other," Demelza teased.
Dora threw a pillow in her general direction, and heard giggles in response.
They chatted for awhile longer, comparing dance partners and dress robes and waist measurements, before yawns and sleepiness overtook them.
Dora slept particularly well that night.
Author's note:
I don't believe that marriages within pure blood families are arranged the way they are in some cultures. That being said, I am of the mindset that-at least until online dating became relatively mainstream-there are components to it in most relationships. You meet someone through your faith, your class, friends of family, family itself, and so forth. Of course, there's the option to say no, but there is the element of people who know you setting you up with people they know, who they think would be a good fit.
Given the setting of the Harry Potter books in the UK, and the class structure and aristocracy until relatively recent (under 200 years), I would think that similar elements reside in the wizarding world. Pure blood families who are traditional want to remain that way. And there are the families who are pure blood and the Sacred Twenty-Eight. But without marrying outside of pure blood lines, selections are likely becoming slimmer over the years. So, a "lesser" pure blood family could marry their way in, maybe, if their offspring does everything required, and maybe more. A bit like how, in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth married up in money AND class by marrying Mr. Darcy, and her sister Jane also married up with Mr. Bingley. The exception between the two being that Mr. Bingley was not as high ranking as his friend, and Jane (though without much of a dowry) was extremely pretty and good natured. In the beginning, at least, his sisters had no major objections to such a match.
So, training your waist to minute proportions to marry into the Sacred Twenty-Eight? I don't think it's entirely unlikely.
What do you think?
Regarding Katie...
Her initial situation, with being to manage any pressure from a corset, is a real one. If you look up Lucy Corsetry online, she discusses this. The solution, for those who still want to train their waists or wear corsets on occasion, is the gradual approach that I had Becky describe in the previous chapter. I had intended to leave Katie's story at that-she's reached a point where she can bear it, but doesn't enjoy it. (Which is, I believe, how most females feel about bras. We wear them because it's socially required, but once we're home for the evening, off they go!) After receiving a couple of well-written comments from thoughtful readers voicing discontentment with this outcome, I decided to "update" her story to reflect it. I have no idea if this is a real solution or if it's used in corsetry, but there are numerous models, so reducing the thickness of steal seems plausible. And if not? It's the wizarding world, after all!
Next up:
The girls prepare go to their various homes and celebrate the Christmas holidays. After that, we will take a slight departure from Dora and Andromeda's point of views for three "one shots" of Hannah, Sarah, and Elizabeth's perspective.
If you're enjoying this and have commented, THANK YOU! If you haven't yet, now's a great time to start, if you're so inclined. :)