Summary: A caterpillar always becomes a butterfly, sometimes it just takes a little time.

Rated: K

Genre: General

Competition/Challenge Block:
Written For: The Houses Competition (Year 7); Monthly Challenges for All (Year 4)
House/Class: Slytherin/Herbology
Task (Prompt): Additional Drabble (Theodore Nott)

MC4A: FPC (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still); Star; Demo (Spinning Plates; Machismo; Tomorrow's Shade); Hunt (Trans); Link; Sp Bingo (2B - Garden); In a Flash; Bucket Listing (Y); Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Green Ribbon; Rowl in Her Grave; Rian-Russo Inversion (Y); Tiny Terror (Y); Gender Bender (Y); Lunar Era; Magical MCx2; Old Shoes (Y)
Word Count: 1,000
Beta(s): Butterflies765, Cupcakeyyy, VanillaAshes

Author's Note: This is set Pre-Hogwarts. Thea/Theo is trans because why not?

Warning Tag: Gender Dysphoria

When a Caterpillar Becomes a Butterfly

Ever since Theadora Nott could remember, she'd never felt quite right with herself. If she had to describe it, she'd say it felt like being born in the wrong skin. Her social group at the tender age of seven consisted of other pureblood children, but she preferred to linger around the boys more than the girls. They talked about more interesting things, in her opinion. Thea didn't have a favourite teacup or dress to share with the girls; instead she liked sharing her favourite tutoring subject or magical creatures with the boys.

That was, if they ever listened to her.

Whenever she did have to wear anything fancier than day robes, it always had to be dresses. The simple white undergarments she knew the boys wore under their fancier attire were more appealing, though. Stockings were the only things that came close to trousers, yet she still hated them.

She knew that her parents had always wished she were a boy, but they still treated her with respect and care that was needed to nurture a presentable lady for marriage. It was the pureblood way, of course.

One of the other things that always bothered Thea was her hair. She wasn't allowed to cut it because the more there was, the nicer the hairdressers could make it for parties. It always bothered her whenever it wasn't braided or in some sort of updo. Not only was it heavy, but it always got in her face. It got caught on everything from doorknobs to house plants, and she thought she looked ugly when staring at herself in a mirror with it draping all around and over her shoulders like a tattered curtain. The colour was a boring lightish brown and wispy, making her hazel eyes look more murky brown. She hated it.

"Your hair looks really nice, Draco," Thea said one day during a play date.

She admired the boy's platinum blond hair. It was freshly cut, the sides were a little shorter than the rest, but it was hard to tell without really looking because Draco's skin was so pale.

"Thanks, I guess," Draco said, tilting his head slightly.

He went to direct his attention to the other boys, but Thea didn't want him to leave.

"Want to play wizard's chess?" she prompted.

"Maybe later," Draco replied without a second thought.

Thea huffed, agitated by her friend's dismissal. "Would you talk to me more if I were a boy?"

Draco paused, turning to look at her with those sharp silver eyes. He thought about her question, she could tell.

"Yeah, probably," he responded, shifting his feet. "I like you, Thea, but the others think it's… that it's weird that I talk to you so much. It would be easier to hang out, anyway."

She ran from the garden and to her room after that. She hated conditioned socialization.

It wasn't difficult to find a pair of shears in the manor. Her mother was a seamstress and had plenty in the sewing room. Thea waited until it was very late, picturing Draco's short hair cut and wondering what it would look like on her in the meantime. When it was safe, she snuck a pair of fabric scissors back to her room where she sat in front of the mirror and cut every lock of hair until it looked like how Draco's did.

For the first time in a long time, Thea felt happy. A smile crept across her face.

Of course, the following morning was met with a lot of outrage from her parents. What little girl had short hair? To conceal the crime Thea had committed, she was forced to wear wigs until her hair grew to a respectable length again. It was worth it, to say the least.

But it didn't stop her from approaching Draco the next time she saw him. "Could I talk to you?"

He raised a brow and glanced around, getting looks from his other friends. Letting out a sigh, he waved them off before looking at Thea.

"I guess."

She took him to a secluded part of the garden where a bench rested under a large tree.

"This is weird," Draco said, "They're going to think we're up to something."

"I wanted to tell you something, something important," Thea explained, taking a seat on the bench. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone."

"Why me?" He worried his lip, nervous about what it could be.

"Because, despite your lack of acknowledging it, we are friends. You're my only real one."

He nodded then, agreeing to listen. "Alright."

Thea pulled off her wig then and tossed it on the bench beside her, giving her scalp a good itch. It felt so nice to not have to carry a pound of hair on her head anymore, and the soft breeze felt refreshing. Draco stepped back in mild shock at the revelation.

"Y-you're a boy?" he stammered.

She—well, he now—smiled at that. "Yeah, for the most part."

Thea tried lowering his voice some as he spoke, but made a note that it would need to be practiced more.

Draco looked completely bewildered. "But... your parents…"

"What about them? They've always wanted a boy anyway. So why does it matter?" Thea questioned. "Does a butterfly get asked why it isn't a caterpillar anymore?"

"No…"

Silence settled for a moment, allowing Draco to process everything.

"So… what is your name then?"

Thea hadn't thought about that… but he was named after his father who he planned to tell next. He'd be understanding and accepting of this new revelation. Pleased, at most because he finally got the son he yearned for.

"I always liked Theo. What do you think?"

Draco tilted his head in contemplation, giving a smirk after taking in his friend's new haircut. "I see you decided to copy my hair, Theo. It suits you."

It may take a long time, but Theodore Nott's transformation had started, and he couldn't wait to get his wings.