Harry blocked out aunt Petunia’s screeching as he fled to his room and locked the door behind him with a flick of his wrist. It wasn’t so much a room as it was the Dursley’s attic, but he had done his best to make it a place where he felt somewhat at home. In the beginning there had been nothing in there but a thin, slightly mouldy mattress covered with moth eaten, no-longer-white sheets, a very old and small -also slightly mouldy- wooden cabinet which was threatening to fall apart any second and an actually pretty nice antique looking desk. The Dursley’s would’ve never left that one to him if it wasn’t for the ghost living in it’s drawer. Well, at least Harry assumed it was a ghost that was making these weird noises and was struggling against the small confinements of desk, sometimes so fiercely, it managed to make the whole piece of furniture tip over. Harry hadn’t managed to get rid of the ghost yet, but he had built some kind of construction, fixing the legs of the table tightly to the ground and he had gotten so used to the noises by now, he didn’t wake up in the middle of the night due to them anymore. On top of the desk he kept some ripped sheets of parchment he had snapped from Vernon Dursley’s trashcan, a falcon feather he had found in the woods a few years back and had been using as a quill ever since and a marmalade jar full of makeshift ink he had mixed himself with the weirdest ingredients until it had looked black enough. He had strengthened the cabinet with another wooden structure and it now held all of Harry’s ugly hand-me-down clothes inside, as well as a dirty mirror - also discovered in the woods - on top of it, without a problem. The nasty sheets he had replaced with a handmade patchwork quilt he had put together from all the fabric leftovers of the countless dresses he had sewn for his lovely aunt. There had been some leftover leftovers that he had used to make a small pillowcase which he had then filled with dried leaves. He was still looking for something he could replace the mouldy mattress with. He was so sick of that smell.
With a sigh Harry sank down onto the mattress and buried his face in his hands. Petunia was still screeching incoherent things from downstairs. Slowly, he rubbed his palms down his cheeks and winced at the stubble he felt there. With a lump in his throat he hoisted himself up again and walked over to the mirror, bending over a little so he could see the reflection of his face and not the one of his stomach. It had gotten worse. The barely noticeable shadow on his jaw from a few months ago had turned into an almost beard which was growing in ugly patches. It looked horrible and the less patchy and more full it became, the more Harry hated it. He had liked having smooth cheeks and Harry didn’t actually have the money or time to visit a barber. Dudley on the other hand seemed to be greatly jealous of Harry’s ability to grow facial hair. His bully cousin was as baby faced as ever. To be honest, in this particular case Harry would’ve been more than happy to give Dudley his will and switch places. But that wasn’t really an option, was it? Harry sighed again and turned away from the mirror just to nearly die of a heart attack.
There was a literal fairy standing in his room. Literally. A glowing, robe-wearing, human-like being with waist long, wavy, blond hair, bright blue eyes and the widest, most honest smile Harry had ever seen on a person. He would’ve asked it a question, but the shock had rendered him speechless. So the fairy beat him to it, greeting him in a high, dreamy voice.
“Hello, Harry! My name is Luna, patron saint of all queer magic users everywhere! Always here to your assistance! It’s the most wonderful pleasure to finally meet you!”
Harry gaped at it - or ‘her’ he guessed from the name - with wide eyes. “I- What?”
“I’ve felt you struggling with your identity for a while now and today it was the right time. The moon told me so! I know this is a tough and heavy road but I will lead your way throughout, if you wish so. So, what pronouns should I use for you?” She tipped her head to the side and glanced at him with her sparkling eyes, obviously awaiting a reply.
“Pronouns?”
“Yes, pronouns. You know. He, She, They, It, Xe-“
“Wait, there’s more than just the two?”
“Of course there is! I personally love all of them! You can use for me whichever you like. But I have a feeling you don’t feel all too comfortable with your current pronouns anymore.”
“I mean, yes, but- Just- what is going on here?”
“Oh, sweety, I’m sorry. This is a lot to take in for you. It’s going to be fine, I’ll explain everything to you. Let’s sit down together, shall we?” She plopped down onto the mattress, causing a waft of mouldy smell to rise from it. She grimaced, pulled a wooden stick with delicate, pretty ornaments carved into it from her robe and drew something into the air with it. Immediately the smell was gone. Harry made wide eyes again. He had never seen anyone perform magic with a wand before and never had his attempts to get rid of the mould worked so effectively. He himself only knew how to lock and unlock doors with magic and to alter fabric colours a few nuances and it had taken him years of practice to be able to perform these effortlessly and reliably. “Come on, sit,” Luna repeated. Harry did as he was told.
“You want to know why I am here. Naturally. You see, I came here because you called me! Or at least you would have called me if you had known I existed. I came to offer my assistance!”
Harry cleared his throat and finally managed a complete sentence. “Assistance for what?”
“What do you need assistance with?”
“Nothing? I don’t know.”
“I’m sure there is something I can help you with. Maybe we Could make you feel more comfortable in your own body. Give you a word for the way you feel about your gender? Or maybe I can even help you with your feelings for the handsome Malfoy heir?”
“I-“ Harry waited for Luna to elaborate, but she didn’t. She just looked at him with her bright smile and that strangely glowing aura around her. “Yeah, maybe I- How do you know all that?”
Her smile grew even wider. “The moon. They keep me updated on that kind of gossip.”
Harry was a little thrown off by Luna’s casual use of foreign pronouns. They. That had really nice melody to it. It sounded beautiful. Harry wouldn’t mind if others used it to talk about him. To talk about them. Thinking that sentence made Harry’s lips twitch into a grin. It felt good.
Apparently, Luna was also able to read minds. “They/them it is! Great choice, it really suits you!”
“Thanks.”
“Now, what can we do to make you feel more comfortable in your own body?”
Harry thought about it for a moment but couldn’t really come up with a lot. “I don’t know. Maybe get rid of the beard?”
“Hmm… yeah, maybe we’ll do it. But first I think we need to dress you up a little. You do plan to go to the Malfoy’s ball tonight, don’t you?”
“Well, yes. I will just have to be really sneaky about it. I asked my aunt earlier if it was okay if I went and she wasn’t really happy about that. I guess she heard too many rumours about them being wizards or something. You see, the Dursleys aren’t really fond of magic.” The rumours were actually one of the main reasons Harry wanted to go. The reasons they had come up with so they wouldn’t have to admit to themselves that they had a huge-ass crush on Draco Malfoy, but that was beside the point at the moment.
“I see.” Luna made some more complicated movements with her wand before she stood up and motioned Harry to follow. “Okay, we have one great aim for tonight!”
“And that would be…?”
“Well, we want you to have the best night of your life, of course! And our first step to get there, is to make you feel comfortable and pretty. Do you agree?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Luna seemed to be brimming with excitement. “Alright, let’s do it! Close your eyes, Harry! Great! Now let your mind flow, just let it wander. And now imagine yourself at the ball. You’re admiring the huge, beautifully decorated ballroom and you slowly walk down the white marble staircase. And now take a look at yourself. What are you wearing, Harry?”
Harry’s face broke into a smile. “I’m wearing a dress. It’s red, like wine, and the skirt is long and flowy and layered. There are some ornaments with black lace. It has a high neck and-“ Harry’s voice cut off. They couldn’t keep talking like this. Who on earth would let them attend a ball looking like that? It would be completely inappropriate. “Yeah, that’s it.”
Harry opened his eyes and was welcomed back by Luna’s overwhelming presence. “I think I can work with that. Close your eyes again.” Harry did as told. They heard Luna whisper incantations in a foreign language. There was something bubbling in their stomach, but they couldn’t place it. Then a warm breeze was running over their skin, from head to toes. When it was gone, Harry felt the weight of their new outfit compared to before and the sensation of smooth fabric falling about their legs.
“Can I open them?”
“Just a moment.” Luna touched them at the shoulders and carefully lead them two steps to the left. “Now.”
Harry opened their eyes and stared directly into his own bright green eyes. Their mirror was hovering in the air in what was exactly eye-level for them. But that was by far the last of Harry’s thoughts in that moment. They were wearing makeup. And their usually so unruly black curls that they usually wore in a low ponytail were now fixed in a beautiful updo. And- had Luna done something to their beard? They leaned closer towards the mirror to inspect this further and yes, Luna had definitely done something with it! Instead of ugly patches the short hairs were now growing in twisted ornaments, ranking themselves along their jaw in a way that no barber would have been able to do. Harry loved it. They then looked down at their body and realized they were wearing the dress they had just seen in that little daydream. Exactly the same dress. Including the details they hadn’t dared to reveal to Luna. Like for example the narrow long slit going down straight from the opening of the high collar at their throat and closing together just above the end of their ribcage. The silky fabric of the top was very thin and stretched across their torso, bringing out their flat chest and making their defined muscles visible. It was perfect. Tears shot into their eyes but they fought them back down again. Now was not the time to cry. “It’s perfect!”
~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~
Harry was standing at the top of the marble staircase. Below, the ballroom was practically busting of people in pretty ballgowns. Glitter was continuously raining from the ceiling, almost like snow, and there was an amazing smell wafting over from the rich buffet that was set up along one of the walls. A fairly big circle middle of the room was clearly marked as the dancefloor by a magic dome that resembled some kind of shield. Or a giant soap bubble if you prefer that. Anyways, no one was dancing yet, so harry just slowly started descending the stairs. They were glad that they and Luna had settled on regular black dress shoes opposed to the high heels they had worn in their imagination. It would have been guaranteed they stumble and fall down the stairs otherwise. On the second to last step they almost fell anyways as their eyes found Draco Malfoy – who was already staring at them intensely. With a wildly beating heart they finally arrived at the bottom and took a deep breath to regain their composure before walking towards the – by far – most beautiful man in this room. Draco started moving as well, their eyes still locked, and in a heartbeat they were only a few feet apart. Both of them stood still, facing each other, the tension too thick to be cut by anything. Then the one and only Draco Malfoy broke the silence.
“You are the most beautiful human being I ever laid my eyes upon. Will you let me have this dance?”
And they lived happily ever after...