Author's note: I had intended for this chapter to come after the one in which Dora and her family celebrated the New Year. However, I felt inspired to write a Katie chapter (and yes, she'll have at least one more, although not for some time), so I posted that instead. Here is the chapter that was "previewed" before!

To Dora, the last two days of holiday passed in a blur. Before she knew it, Dora was finishing packing up her trunk, solemnly eating a breakfast of porridge, and, finally, holding her mum's hand as they Apparated to King's Cross.

They were among the first to arrive. King's Cross contained a closed off area, invisible to muggles, for witches and wizards to Apparate. How this had been possible without the knowledge of the muggle world, Dora didn't know. It was quite different, after all, from creating a barrier for the Hogwarts Express. That was not so very different than creating a Portkey. But an entire separate area? Perhaps, more people worked in muggle jobs as witches and wizards than she knew.

In any event, Dora could only see a handful of other people. This was not indicative of vast amounts of students staying behind at school. Dora knew that it was mostly the fifth and seventh years who did that, and likely not even half of the classes. No, they were early, by at least half an hour, but this was hardly a bad thing. Her mum was always very prompt, which was either due to her personality, or her own parents had ingrained as a child. Perhaps, a bit of both. Dora had always been grateful for it, because she was rather like her father-so, without Andromeda to keep them on schedule, they'd be consistently running late-and it also meant that she never needed to wait for her parents to arrive at the station when it was the beginning of the holidays.

Today, being among the first meant there was the added benefit of being able to exchange their final goodbyes in the absence of Dora's friends. She was fourteen, now, far too old to be crying in public simply because she was going back to school for a handful of months.

Not even. Easter fell at the beginning of April this year, and the break encompassed the week before and after the holiday. Really, Dora needed only to wait three and a half months before seeing her mum and dad again, which would be less time the initial wait from the beginning of term to her Christmas holidays.

She was suddenly very glad she'd decided to return home for Easter.

Now, they exchanged hugs, despite doing so continuously throughout the morning.

"We'll see you in a few months, honey," Andromeda promised, after releasing her. She looked rather teary eyed.

"Yes, and we can't wait!" Ted added, giving Dora another fierce hug. "Not even four months before we see you again, mousie!"

Dora smiled at the nickname. It was just one of many her dad had coined for her. Then, a few tears escaped her eyes. "I'll be all right," she promised, seeing their concerned looks. "I just...I always get homesick the first day back."

This declaration resulted in more hugs, and it was almost a relief when Polly and Becky arrived, families besides them. It meant she had to act brave, after all.

Besides, she was happy to see her closest friends again.

No one was wearing their school uniforms yet, and their casual robes weren't tailored to show off their waists, but Dora wouldn't have been surprised if her friends, like her, had become a bit smaller during the two weeks off. While the girls hugged each other in greeting, their parents exchanged pleasantries with each other. Out of the corner of her eye, Dora could see that Polly's mother was rather more subdued than she'd been when Dora had last noticed her-back during the summer holidays-but perhaps she was sad to be losing her daughter until the Easter or summer holidays.

After everyone said a final goodbye to their parents, they headed onto the train, trunks in hand.

This time, neither struggled with being out of breath by the time they reached their compartments.

Dora was about to ask how their Christmas holidays had been when Demelza and Morwenna came by.

"Mind if we sit with you?" they asked at once, grinning.

"Go ahead!" Dora and the others returned, with smiles.

After helping lift their trunks onto the overhead bins-which, having been charmed to be feather light, didn't remove the difficulty of getting them to fit in the small space-they all settled on the seats.

"Whew!" Demelza laughed. "Hope that bringing them down will be easier."

"We won't have to-the school does that," Polly reminded her.

Demelza made a face. "Shows what two weeks off does to my memory."

"It is a holiday, after all," Becky laughed. "I finished all my schoolwork in the beginning, just so I could forget everything and enjoy myself."

"That's right! Your older siblings stayed at school," Dora recalled, turning in her seat to face her. "How was it, being an only child for once?"

Becky giggled again, and her face reddened. "Oh, it was lovely. Is it horrible that I'm already looking forward to their NEWT year? I just know they'll spend the holidays at school, and I can have my mum and dad all to myself."

"Their NEWT year is our OWL year, don't forget," Morwenna teased. "Might not be as enjoyable as this year was."

Becky looked unbothered. "Perhaps. Still, it's not as though we need perfect marks in our OWLs. It's only Potions that requires an Outstanding to continue, and I'd never manage that in a million years. My other marks are good, so I can manage Exceeds Expectations without the sort of study Brian and Katie are putting in. If they don't manage all Outstandings, I'd be shocked."

"How does the marking system work with those exams, anyway?" Demelza wondered. "I know that Outstanding is the best..."

"Yes, you need full marks, or nearly that, to receive an Outstanding," Becky explained, and she seemed rather pleased to be able to know the answer. "Next is Exceeds Expectations, and there's a far more amount of leeway there. According to the practice OWLs Brian and Katie have been taking, anything between eighty percent and ninety-four percent is Exceeds Expectations. Acceptable is passing, and it's from seventy percent to seventy-nine percent. Poor isn't passing, of course, and it's in the sixty to sixty-nine percent range. Anything below a sixty is Dreadful."

"Why would they distinguish between Poor and Dreadful?" Demelza wondered, eyebrows raised. "It's hardly the same as our end of term exams, where a poor mark can be cushioned against a high one."

Becky shrugged. "I haven't the least idea why they have two divisions of failure."

"So, Snape demands nearly full marks for the privilege of continuing to study with him? Sounds about right," Dora commented, with an eye roll. The others snickered. She might dislike him the most, but Snape had no fans among her fellow Hufflepuffs. "I don't reckon anyone else demands that?"

Becky chewed her upper lip in thought. "I know that McGonagall requires an Exceeds Expectations, but it's Transfiguration. That makes sense, to demand a better than average knowledge of the lesson in order to continue. Katie told me she heard Flitwick say that he would prefer only students who achieved an Exceeds Expectations or greater, but he'll allow anyone who passes to continue. Oh, and you also need Exceeds Expectations to continue with Arithmancy and Ancient Runes."

Polly sighed, then leaned back a bit in her seat. "Oh, do let's not talk about the OWLs. We're only in our third year. I expect we'll have more than our fill when the time comes."

"I agree. So, how was everyone's Christmas holidays?" Morwenna asked, looking around the compartment with a broad smile.

Everyone answered in the affirmative, and stories began to spill out over each other. Dora noticed, however, that Polly had a rather strained look on her face, and didn't utter one word.

"Polly?" she asked, quietly, once the volume had tapered down. "Did you have a good holiday?"

Her friend sighed. "Mostly. It was better in the beginning, because Mum was happy with my progress. She said that she hadn't expected me to get to eighteen and a half inches, since I was barely nineteen when I left," she began. "Only, things went sour because I didn't want to lace down further than eighteen and a half during the holidays. And for good reason! Our house elf always makes lots of good food, and I wanted to enjoy it!" she added, rather defensively. "Mum kept shooting daggers at me whenever I took a second helping of something, or put more on my plate that she would have liked. I never had to unlace, and I'm still at eighteen and a half, but I'd hear her mutter under her breath. Nonsense like, 'You can't eat like a hippogriff and expect to dress like a lady!' Or, 'In my day, feasts were only for the males. Women were laced too tightly to enjoy the food, and they accepted it for the sake of looking their best.' Or, and the one that muggle humans used in the last century...it's French, and it's about having to suffer to be beautiful." Polly rolled her eyes again. "I'd had just about enough by the time Christmas came around, but when I still didn't want to lace down after that, Mum told me on New Year's Day that if I didn't achieve seventeen and a half inches or less by the end of the next term, she'd take drastic measures."

Dora was sure her shocked expression matched those of her classmates. "What sort of drastic measures?"

"She hasn't decided for sure on what she called an 'appropriate consequence to my slothfulness,' but I reckon she's leaning towards rescinding my permission slip to go to Hogsmeade. Not this term, mind, but for next year." Polly looked around. "And yes, she can do so. Ivy said that she knew of other girls whose parents rescinded permission. Mum says it's mostly sweet shops, and that's temptation for girls like me."

Morwenna's face reddened. "Well, we'll just bring you back even more sweets, if it came down to that!"

The others agreed, loudly.

"Hopefully, it won't." Polly managed a small smile as she looked around. "So. Reckon I can manage nearly a full inch off of my waist before the end of June?"

It was rather a tall order, considering that Polly's current waist was eighteen and a half. An inch would be nothing if she was starting to train that very day, but the longer you trained, the harder it was to diminish. It was why Dora, in spite of being nearly at seventeen inches, wondered if she'd ever reach her mother's fifteen inches. There was a limit imposed by your body, and even magic couldn't remove that.

"We'll help," Demelza offered, "and we'll make it as comfortable for you as possible."

Polly looked relieved. "Thanks."

"Polly?" Becky spoke tentatively. "If you don't mind my asking, what's your mother's-er-goal for your waist? By the end of your training, I mean?"

"Fourteen inches before I receive my NEWT results. Before, it was fifteen, but Ivy's made it to sixteen already-she's in her OWL year, same as Becky's siblings-and Mum thinks she'll make it to fourteen with ease. So, if I don't achieve the same measurement, Mum says I won't have lived up to my potential." She rolled her eyes. "As though she can talk. Mum barely reached fourteen for her wedding day, and only for a few hours at a time. She was fourteen and a half the rest of the time. And she started out a full inch smaller than I did. Dad says he'll talk some sense into her, and I expect he wants to, but she's the one who makes the decisions in the family."

"And if you don't reach fourteen inches?" Demelza countered.

"Then I'll hear about my failure until she dies." Her face took on another sour look. "Sometimes, to hear her talk, I reckon Mum would rather me fail all my lessons than not achieve fourteen inches before I finish school," Polly explained, dully.

"That's ridiculous!" Dora sputtered, feeling the anger rush to her face. "Training your waist should be an enjoyable experience, not a series of benchmarks to work through while you can hardly breathe."

"It was that way for most of the wizarding world up until the time of our grandparents, and even some of our parents," Morwenna said, mildly, and there were nods all around. "Your mother was a Black before her marriage-she'd know a thing or two about it."

"I know. She's told me stories about her training, which she said was easy compared to what her own mother went through," Dora answered. "But she's nothing like her mother or grandmother. Why, when she noticed I was starting to develop when I came home last summer, she gave me the choice between bras or corsets. Also, if she pressures me, it's to not lace tightly, and to remember that my worth comes from more than a small waist."

"Reckon she could pass on that insight to my mother?" Polly asked, her tone both sour...and, perhaps, hopeful.

"She spoke to my mother," Becky put in, with a smile. "Back when she was having me sleep nearly as tightly as I was laced during the day. Everything changed after that conversation, and for the better. She's always asking if I'm comfortable before I go to bed. She's also gotten loads better at lacing me in."

Polly's hopeful look increased.

"I'll write to my mum," Dora promised. "You can look over my shoulder, and have full say on everything I put to parchment."

Polly squeezed her friend's hand. "Thank you, Dora."

She did notice, however, that when the food trolley came around, Polly didn't purchase anything.

Whether this was because she had no pocket money, or was already planning ahead, Dora had no idea.

There was no feast to mark the beginning of the next term, just a regular dinner. After that, everyone headed to their towers to begin unpacking and-Dora was sure-finishing up homework assignments.

The common room was brightly lit, and the fire blazed in a welcoming manner. All the same, it was far from crowded, as most students seemed eager to return to their dormitories. Dora and her friends were among them, eager to begin unpacking and chattering about their holidays. As they chatted, they removed their robes and placed them in the individual armoires allotted to them. Dora was grateful that none of her robes, especially her dress robes, had wrinkled. It was, no doubt, her mum's doing.

Chatter continued long after they finished unpacking, with the girls gathering in chairs in front of their own fireplace. It was not unbearably loud, but loud enough that smaller groups formed to better keep track of what was being said. Dora, now with Ivy on her lap, listened to Morwenna and Becky talking about their family traditions. Most were similar, and Dora supposed it came from living in a pure blood family. Becky's wasn't as old as Morwenna's, or so they thought, but pure blood by most standards, all the same.

Dora didn't have an opportunity to speak to her fellow muggle born roommates, but she couldn't help but notice that they seemed to be in particularly high spirits. It wasn't until they changed for bed that the others learned why.

Morwenna and Demelza, of course, spotted it first.

"You did it!" Demelza squealed.

"You convinced your parents!" Morwenna added, clapping her hands, then pulling Sarah into a hug. "Oh, that's wonderful!"

Both of the muggle borns grinned, although Sarah's was the widest.

"Tell us everything!" Dora insisted, and the others agreed.

The muggle borns exchanged looks, and then Elizabeth nodded to Sarah.

"You go first. My mum didn't need a great deal of persuasion, as you know," she said, handing Sarah her dressing gown.

"All right." Sarah smiled again. "Well, she rather noticed I wasn't very happy when I first came home, and we had a talk the first night. Mum rather apologized, and asked to see me laced up the next day. I reckon she wanted to see for herself that I wasn't about to faint...

"So, after breakfast the next morning, Mum watched as I laced myself in, and she could tell that I wasn't uncomfortable. Still wanted to keep an eye on me for a full day, so Elizabeth came over to keep me company."

"And I spent the night, too," Elizabeth added, with a laugh. "Neither of us fainted."

Everyone giggled.

"Mum was convinced, and the next day, we went to Madam Barnatte's to be fitted. I got four corsets--two that are eighteen inches, and two that are sixteen. But she said I won't manage to close the sixteen for ages, and definitely not without sleeping in them. But," Sarah added, "Mum says she'll think about letting me get ones to sleep in after she sees how I'm managing."

"And my mum thinks they're lovely and entirely safe, so long as we're comfortable and don't push ourselves," Elizabeth added, "so she'll likely persuade Sarah's mum to allow her to start sleeping in them before too long."

"Well, let's see them!" Morwenna encouraged. "And not just the ones you have on, which are beautiful!"

So Sarah and Elizabeth went to their wardrobes, and carefully, the corsets got passed around and were appropriately admired.

"They're lovely!"

"I love the blue ribbons!"

"And those embroidered roses! They look so real!"

"They fit you so nicely!"

"Are you comfortable, yet? Have you broken them in properly?"

"Do you have sleeping corsets, too?"

On and on the compliments and questions went, until the girls paused for breath and the muggle borns could answer them.

"Yes, they fit very nicely! I feel the hug so much more, now!" Sarah answered first, with a wide grin. "Rather stiff at first, but oh so comfortable now!"

"We got them on the same day, and Madam Barnatte gave us a timetable for seasoning them," Elizabeth added.

"Which we followed to the letter," Sarah answered.

"It took three whole days-"

"But they were just stiff, not difficult to breathe in-"

"No, not at all!"

"And right before Christmas Eve, they settled on us and fit brilliantly!" Sarah concluded, still grinning, as she let out a contented sigh.

"They're so comfortable," Elizabeth gushed. "I hate to take mine off at the end of the day."

"Yes, I can't wait until I can sleep in one," Sarah agreed. "Not only will it mean getting a smaller waist, I expect it will feel wonderful to wake up in one."

"It is, but it takes at least a few days to adjust," Hannah cautioned. "I had some rather difficult nights before my body acclimated."

The girls' attention turned to Hannah then.

"Your parents agreed?"

"Oh, that's wonderful!"

"How are you managing, now?"

"Can we see them?"

Hannah held up both hands, smiling, to prevent the onslaught of more questions. "Yes, I already began. It was difficult in the beginning, a lot more than I would have expected, and my mum stayed with me...but now, I'm perfectly comfortable." She laughed. "I don't think I would ever want to go back to not sleeping in them, even if I could achieve the same measurements by just wearing one in the day. Dora, you're right-it's such a lovely feeling to wake up in the hug, and being held."

Suddenly, there was a loud noise. No, two loud noises.

She glanced around the room to see her kitten, Ivy, in what looked like a face off at another kitten.

This one was black and white.

Some of the other girls began to giggle, and Dora couldn't keep the smile from her face. Both kittens were nearly small enough to pick up in one hand, yet they had their tails raised and gone all puffed up as they hissed at each other.

Demelza crossed her hands over her hips. "Matilda!" she scolded, as she lifted her up. "Is that any way to behave?"

The kitten-Matilda-gave Ivy a final hiss before giving Demelza her full attention. Ivy turned to look up at Dora, then began meowing piteously.

More giggles, especially as Dora knelt to pick her up.

"You naughty thing," she chided. "What did Matilda ever do to you?"

"Oh, that's just how cats are when they meet another for the first time. Fluff yourself up and hiss for the first day or so. Mark my words, they'll be playing together and grooming each other by the end of the week," Hannah explained, with an eye roll.

"I hope you're right," Demelza murmured, as Matilda rolled over in her arms and hissed again in Dora's direction. "Wouldn't like to go all term with the two hissing at each other."

"Me neither," Dora agreed, making a face. Glancing at her friend, she asked, "Christmas present?"

Demelza nodded, smiling broadly, as they both sat by one of the window seats. "Mum's not very fond of cats. Kept asking if I wouldn't prefer an owl, instead. But we have school owls for mail delivery, and a family one when I'm not at school. Anyway, Dad kept asking me questions, like if I preferred a boy or a girl...what color or colors did I most like, that sort of thing. I've always been partial to girl tuxedo kitties, and now I'm the proud mama of one!

"What about you, Dora?" she concluded.

"It was a surprise birthday gift," Dora admitted. "Never much fancied cats, but Ivy's growing on me. Taken to sleeping on my bed, and trying to wriggle herself into my corset laces."

"Oh, yes, Matilda does that as well." Demelza shook her head at her kitten, then gently touched her on the nose with a single finger. "Dad did say I can charm the laces to give her a spark-not a very sharp one, just enough to scare her off-but she usually leaves them alone when I shoo her away." Demelza laughed, now stroking a sleepy Matilda with one hand.

Dora's kitten was less prone to being held, especially in the vicinity of another kitten. After tolerating it for all of a minute, she bounced herself off of Dora's robes, and began to explore the room.

Matilda remained curled up in Demelza's arms, eyes closed contentedly as the girl stroked her head.

"Say, does anyone know what to do about food and, er, litter boxes?" Sarah asked, frowning just a bit.

"Annie says the house elves see to that," Elizabeth offered. "They're prone to give cats extra attention while they do their chores around our rooms, too."

"And who wouldn't, you little precious thing?" Demelza cooed.

Matilda opened her eyes once, then closed them.

Before long, everyone made their way to bed. Ivy returned to Dora's bed, then curled herself against her side. Only her head peaked out from under the covers. As Dora listened to Ivy's purrs and relaxed under the covers, she thought again about Polly.

The two had been friends since their first day, having met on the train and bonded over being half bloods with one muggle born parent. Both had grown up immersed in the wizarding world for as long as they could remember. Although Dora had meant to have Polly stay over for part of their first summer holidays, she'd ended up being invited by Becky's family instead. The next year, of course, Polly hadn't been able to visit after their trip to Diagon Alley. She hadn't minded, as they spent plenty of time at school together, but it also meant that Dora hadn't seen much of Polly's family. What she knew mostly came from Polly.

Dora was rather beginning to dislike Polly's mother. From viewing her children as lesser because they were half bloods, never mind it had been her marriage that made it so, to constantly pushing Polly to have a smaller waist, it seemed that Mrs. Robert was one of those mothers who could never be satisfied. Rather like her maternal grandmother, Dora suspected. It was one thing to expect generally good marks and few detentions, both of which Polly managed well enough. It was another to expect a waist size that she'd barely managed herself, that might be too small for Polly, and that would likely take years of constant effort. (Dora's mum hadn't managed to get below fifteen, after all!) And to threaten to take away Hogsmeade should she fail! Thinking about this made Dora's blood boil.

It was terribly unfair. Training your waist should be a lovely experience. Right now, as Dora lay laced to eighteen and a half in her mum's overbust, she felt as though she were wrapped in a lovely warm, secure, and snug hug. Yes, the steel was unyielding, and she could not bend at the waist, but she could breathe deeply with ease, and move about just as freely.

She felt safe, far from feeling encased in a steel body cage. This was how it should feel, regardless of how large or small your body was laced. No one should feel uncomfortable, especially when you were about to fall asleep.

But she'd seen Polly insist that Demelza lace her a half inch tighter to sleep, which had been her mother's recommendation to achieve smaller measurements, and now she wondered if her friend was struggling to rest as a result. Her friend's bed was at the other side of the room, too, so Dora had little idea how she was faring. Dora sighed. She'd find out in the morning how her friend had managed.

She'd also work at penning a letter to her mother after lessons.

Dora shifted slightly, careful not to disturb Ivy. Slowly, sleep came, and she next opened her eyes to find the morning sun peaking in through her curtains.

Author's note:

The information regarding what scores correspond to OWL grades are based on the general grading system in the United States. I expect that you need a nearly perfect score to achieve an Outstanding, and other scores allow for more leeway. If anyone disagrees and can find a credible source to refute this, please let me know, and I will credit you.

I did some research into what constitutes "pure blood" in the Harry Potter world. While I suspect that a family like the Black's would use the "one drop" rule, many others believe that if none of your grandparents are muggle, squib, or muggle born, you qualify. Therefore, if all eight great grandparents have magic, even if one or more are muggle born, you are pure blood. Again, I suspect that definitions vary according to which magical family you ask.

Up next: House rivalry and pure blood politics come into play.

Thank you to those who have left helpful feedback, and thank you in advance to those who do so after reading this chapter (hint, hint)!