Brief Encounters

Beauregard had never cared much for clothing or style. He usually just wore jeans and a plain t-shirt. However, one of the perks of living with such an artsy family such as the St. Holmes is that they often sewn their own clothes. At eight years old when Bo first arrived, he had stuck out his tongue at the notion, but eventually his gentle cousin convinced him to allow him to design a special outfit for him and the results had been miraculous. Beauregard's 'Sunday best' felt like reflection of who he was on the inside, as sophisticated and unusual as he had felt.

Nonetheless, Beauxbatons was a boarding school and one which required a uniform, so all those outfits him and Malachi had come up with were for nought, since he could only wear them on weekends and wanted to stick with the comfortable clothes for those days. Heaving a sigh, he entered the robes shop to be fitted for what would be his boring everyday wear. He'd look like every other boy in school with his powder blue clothes. It sort of bummed him out but he knew he didn't have much of a choice anyway.

"Stand right here," The tailor had told him and the eleven obeyed, stepping onto the platform. Being measured wasn't too bad, but once the robe was on and being probed to size, Bo received a sharp pin-prick to his side which made him cringe. He refused to let out a cry of any sort, however, and instead focused on the wall length mirror in front of him. He stared at his own visage for a moment before realizing there was someone next to him. His eyes panned to their reflection in the mirror and he was alarmed to discover they were looking right at him.

"Hello," He uttered, his body rigid, trying not to mess with the tailor's work. "How are you?" He inquired as a decency. What did one say to someone to unfortunately shared the situation of being fitted for robes as him? Soon they'd be done and he wondered if he would ever see them again. "Is this your first time as well? I don't usually have things professionally fitted." He added.

Harley had grown. Again. She was no longer the strangely tall height of 5'9" (which for her age was, in fact, tall), but had managed to grow another two inches since the last time she was measured for her uniform, which meant getting stuck with sewing needles again. She didn't mind the pin-pricks too much, but was bothered more by standing around and waiting for a long period of time with nothing to do.

So she entered the store reluctantly with a bag of coins in her satchel. God, she hated the dress code. Skirts and blouses and stupid hats weren't her thing, and she honestly doubted it ever would be. Surprisingly, there was someone already on the podium being measured, and by the small flinches on his face, she knew that he was getting stabbed by the pin. Harley hadn't seen him around before, so she guessed he was a first year. He looked oddly familiar, though, but she couldn't place it.

It took a while for her to register that he had spoken to her, so after an awkward cough, she smiled. "Hello to you too. I'm Harley. Harley Fenwick, and I'm as good as I can be, I suppose. You?" By now, she was near positive that the boy in front of her was related to someone she knew. "Oh God, I wish it was my first time. That way I wouldn't know how utterly horrid the tailoring process is. No offense," she added quickly, so she wouldn't offend Mr. Nightingale. He did beautiful work, really, but she just wished there was a more painless way to outfit people. "I'm a fifth year now at Beauxbatons."

Beauregard didn't mind the pinpricks too much. They came as a shock each time but the pain went away soon enough. He nodded in response to the girl's introduction, thankful that she was at least sociable and decent enough to not make him stand in awkward silence. "Beauregard St. Holmes," he replied, feeling that when one offered their name, it was expected of him to return the favor. "But call me Bo, please," he added, preferring the shortened version of his first name. He doubted it mattered

"I'd think you'd have been a bit more prepared for the process then," Beauregard commented, realizing then that this would not be the last time he stood on a podium where a stranger often misplaced needles into his side. He was bound to grow out of this set of robes and be back for another at least once. Beauregard sighed.

He felt a bit daft that he hadn't picked up on the fact that the girl was older than a first year nearly immediately. Perhaps he just hadn't considered it but saying that this wasn't her first time should've hinted him. "Beauxbatons? That's the school I am going to." He looked down at his uniform, powder blue and matching hers. Obviously. "You said you were a fifth year, yeah? My cousin is a fifth year. Maybe you know him? Malachi? Red hair? Bit flamboyant?" He inquired. He hadn't heard Malachi talk about a Harley, but then again, it wasn't often he hung out with his cousin.

Harley raised and eyebrow and smiled. "Another St. Holmes? So that makes you the third kid to come here, right? Anyways, pleasure to meet you Bo." Although she knew Malachi, she never heard him talk about his family. Granted she never talked to him much at all, but she overheard the occasional conversation in the dining hall.

"I suppose I would. Nothing prepares you for standing on the podium for ages with nothing to do, though. This is my second time back here since my first year, and every time seems to be a bit more boring than before," Harley stated. She often tried to convince someone to come with her and keep her company, she had even bribed them, but in the end no one came along. She couldn't blame them. If someone were asking her, she would refuse too.

She laughed softly and said, "I figured. Not everyone comes around here for a blue uniform." If it were up to her, she would change the colour of the uniform and make it something a bit more natural. Like black. Hell, if it were up to her, they wouldn't have uniforms. She understood, though, and ever complained aloud about them. "Yeah, I know Kai. He's in my house. Montagnard."

The girl, Harley as he learned her name to be, seemed surprised by his surname and n doubt acquainted with what family he had going to school already. Bo bit his lip before responding, "and more to come." His family was rather large, he had noticed upon adoption. He was used to being the only kid in the family but now with the St. Holmes, he had three other siblings to deal with and he still didn't entirely have a hand on it.

He nodded in understanding. Thus far, this whole experience had been rather dull, save for the shocking moments when he felt a tiny prick. It seemed to him like one of those necessary evils where one had to just grin and bear it. He couldn't, however, help himself from sighing as she said she had returned twice since her first year. "I can't imagine how many times I'll end up back here." For once, his growth spurt sounded like an evil just waiting to happen to him.

He smiled nervously as she remarked that the uniform thing made it obvious what school he was going to but didn't say anything about it. He nodded upon Harley's use of his cousin's nickname, determining that she did in fact know him and felt a bit more at ease. "Right. Houses. Should be interesting to see where I end up." He didn't entirely understand the system of houses and why they needed to be divided up by personalities.