Things to discuss [Professor Skies, Billy] on Transfiguration

Reighleigh Mae Thorn

May 31, 2023 11:57 PM

Things to discuss [Professor Skies, Billy] by Reighleigh Mae Thorn

OOC: Ray is not showing in this post. BIC:

Ray wasn't holding Billy's hand when she knocked on Professor Skies' door. She wished she was because it definitely made her more comfortable to be close to him, but also he was part of the reason they were in this mess too, and she didn't want to make things worse than they already were about to be. She did give him one last glance before the door swung open and Professor Skies was ahead of them. Normally, Ray wasn't one to be especially subordinate, but in this case the idea of curtseying briefly crossed her mind. She'd blame it on recent pageant experience but that was actually why they were there anyway so it wasn't not true.

"Thank you for seeing us," Ray began as she took a seat, her voice meeker than she wanted it to be. The transfiguration professor had regularly assigned hours for class discussions and for head of house discussions and for deputy headmistress discussions; Ray was pretty sure this fell under the last category but it was hard to say for sure and she was grateful for a little privacy for this conversation either way.

They made it through the usual pleasantries quickly, none of them especially prone to idle chatter about the weather, and Ray could feel a certain shift in the energy in the room when it was time to come to the topic that they'd made the appointment for. Again, she resisted the urge to take Billy's hand; she settled for nudging her foot closer to his under the desk where it would hopefully go unnoticed by the deputy headmistress. Nerves were uncomfortable for Ray so she pushed them aside in favor of her usual mode of sassy and haughty, although it was smoothed some with a veneer of respect for the professor.

"I'm pregnant," she said flatly. "I thought that you'd probably need to know. I'm due in March or April."

22 Reighleigh Mae Thorn Things to discuss [Professor Skies, Billy] 1525 1 5

Billy Cobb

June 01, 2023 9:08 PM

Yes, things. by Billy Cobb

It was almost as if he had eaten every flying insect on the mountain. Billy's stomach was all sorts of writhing and contorting. He really hadn't felt anything like it before. He didn't much care for it. He also knew that he absolutely not let Rey know about it. He could be calm and cool and full of smiles for her. That last bit was the easy part, those he couldn't help. He gave her a good smile when she glanced his way just before the door in front of them swung open.

Rey took the lead, that was good. He always got the impression that Professor Skies was never really happy whenever he opened his mouth, but maybe that was just his imagination. Rey didn't seem particularly keen on holding hands, but she did move her foot closer to his and he shifted his over against hers. Even that small bit of contact did a little to quell the tempest in his innards.

Then Rey dropped the news flat out on Professor Skies. There weren't really any other way to do it really. He thought he should say something here, add something supportive. "I helped." Billy gave Rey an encouraging smile before turning back to Professor Skies. Those few nights over the summer were not ones he was going to forget anytime soon.

2 Billy Cobb Yes, things. 1519 0 5

Selina Skies

June 05, 2023 5:44 AM

Do we have to? by Selina Skies

If looks could kill, the foetus under discussion would have found itself abruptly fatherless as Billy chimed into the conversation. Selina didn't tell him that this was no time for jokes because, as usual, it was hard to tell whether he was joking or whether he thought he was genuinely making a useful contribution. Or the in between of being one of those people who felt it was necessary to say something regardless of whether his brain was connected to his mouth when he said it.

"I think 'partially responsible' would be a better term," she said, giving her words the kind of force that suggested she was physically drilling them into a highly resistant material.

She returned her attention to Ray, aiming for a neutral but serious expression. There was no amount of lecturing or blaming that could rectify the situation. Tempting as it was to knock their heads together to try to knock some sense into both of them, it wouldn't actually change things. The only option was to deal with the consequences. Which included the fact that Ray, a child herself, was the victim of a set of circumstances that had her in way over her head. It was a balancing act between seriousness and sympathy...

"When and where did this happen?" she asked, specifically choosing that over 'how' lest she got an unwanted biology lesson from Billy. She held up a cautionary finger to him to make it clear it was Ray she was looking to for the answer. "And do your parents know?" She suspected the answer was 'no' as she really hoped they would have written to give her a heads up had that been the case but it was something she needed to know.

13 Selina Skies Do we have to? 26 0 5

Reighleigh Mae Thorn

June 12, 2023 1:02 AM

I'd love to not. Shall we go? by Reighleigh Mae Thorn

OOC: CW: Vagueries of adult activities mentioned. BIC:

Normally Ray was all about Billy Cobb, but in the moment he chose words and said them and the ones he chose were the ones that came out of his mouth... well, suddenly Ray was very much on Professor Death-Glare's side. She put a hand on her face to hide the embarrassment - Billy's contribution wasn't the details she really wanted to discuss today - and shook her head at him when he glanced her way. She chose to assume the venom in Professor Skies' words were aimed at him, although she was sure the professor wasn't thrilled with either of them.

"Summer break," Ray said quickly, lest the professor think they'd done anything expellable. They had tried to, of course, but there was no physical evidence of that misdeed and Ray wasn't about to admit to something she didn't have to. "Are you asking like.. where... uh... like Tenessee? Or the hotel or...?" Perhaps Billy was wearing off on her because Ray couldn't for the life of her think of a better answer than the couch and the shower and the park bench and.... That probably wasn't what the professor was asking.

Her cheeks flamed at the question of her parents' knowledge, although she was sure the plural form was to refer to her parent and Billy's parents, not necessarily both of Ray's biological ancestors. It was the first time she'd wondered about whether her mom and dad had ever sat together like this, breaking the news of a baby neither of them wanted and neither of them was going to love. Ray promised the little parasite in her belly right then and there that she'd love it fiercely, no matter what. One hand moved protectively to cup her stomach despite absolutely no presence of a bump to cup, and it was probably hormones that made her want to cry and vomit and laugh all at once. Merlin she just really wanted like a grilled cheese sandwich or something.

"I'm sorry, do you have crackers?" she blurted, suddenly feeling like puking was the most likely of her needs to be met in the next few minutes if she didn't eat.

"My mother doesn't know," she confirmed, not leaving space for any other parental figures to be included in that. "She went on a trip before I found out and wasn't back before I left for school," she added a bit more quietly. It was hard to sound defiant when you were relaying details of absent parents, although Ray was a bit glad that her mom hadn't been around much during the summer. "I don't have a doctor," she added with a small grimace, remembering the terrifying walk past protestors into a Planned Parenthood clinic where she'd made a few very hasty, very important decisions the moment she'd seen a tiny gummy bear on an ultrasound machine. She did shout a good hail Satan at one of the protestors on her way out though. "Does Ms. Willow... do wizards have ultrasounds?" her tone shifted from hesitant to curious as she realized she was about to have a whole magical pregnancy, and her voice got louder still as panic set in again. "Do wizard babies do weird stuff inside? He's not going to shapeshift or something right?!"

22 Reighleigh Mae Thorn I'd love to not. Shall we go? 1525 0 5

Billy Cobb

June 12, 2023 9:09 PM

I don't know that it's up to me by Billy Cobb

Based on the reactions he was getting from the other people in the room, Billy assumed that he had said the wrong thing at possibly the wrong time. It happened. Rey didn't look happy, but at least she didn't look as mad as the Deputy-Headmistress. Maybe being quiet for a bit would be a good thing.

So, he sat as Professor Skies asked Rey questions and as Rey answered them. She seemed to be searching for good answer for the where question, and Billy caught himself quickly before he helped her again. He didn't think Rey looked great moving on to answering the last question and when she asked for some crackers, he reacted. His hand plunged into his robe's snack pocket and he pulled out a few crackers to offer to her. There were also a few cookies and some fruit bits, all of which he had snagged from the remnants of the orientation snack table as they had headed in to find Professor Skies. The first years had just moved on to their tour and it hadn't gotten cleaned up yet. It never hurt to have snacks in your pocket was a lesson he'd learned from Gus early on.

Both of them looked... unhappy. Rey was worried and Professor Skies was... well, unhappy probably worked well enough. He couldn't help but ask with a tentative, almost apologetic tone, "Isn't this a good thing? Back home, babies are something to be happy about and celebrated." He tried to grin in a cautious sort of way, he didn't want to make things bad again.

2 Billy Cobb I don't know that it's up to me 1519 0 5

Selina Skies

June 20, 2023 3:35 AM

Yep, goodbye and good luck! by Selina Skies

Selina held up a halting hand when she had sufficient detail from Ray. A tiny weight lifted off her mind. It would become her responsibility to deal with the consequences, but it wasn’t her fault it had happened. That wasn’t enough to make it all okay—she was still worried about Ray, but she could focus on those worries instead of higher level school issues, like rules and the risk of being sued or fired.

Luckily, Billy was able to promptly supply for Ray’s next request, and Selina gave him a crumb of credit for not being entirely useless. He could be sweet, and well-meaning, although it was in the childish way of having crackers in his pocket, and therein lay the whole problem…

“We are going to have to inform her,” Selina said gently, when Ray mentioned that her mother didn’t know. That seemed more down to circumstances than anything else, although the fact that Ray had been left at home alone for an extended period, during the few months of the year when her mother got a chance to see her didn’t speak of her being a priority. “You can help me choose how we do that, but it will need to be sooner rather than later. I think a conversation with Ms. Katey is also in order to answer all your questions about the more medical side of things. Though no, it’s not going to shapeshift.” That was one question she could confidently answer and it seemed best to stop that particular spiral before it went any further.

She tried to tell herself that was a perfectly reasonable question. For those who had grown up outside the magical world, it was always hard to know what to expect. But it did make Ray seem very young. As did Billy’s next question. Selina bit back her instinctive response that normally people Ray’s age weren’t having babies, because she didn’t know whether that was true in Billy’s experience of the world. Certainly, in some communities, it was more common…

“It can be. Especially when the baby was very much wanted or on purpose, which I’m guessing isn’t the case here. There’s also Ray’s education and just… the rest of your lives to consider. You’re very young. Being pregnant is hard, and it’s going to get in the way of school. Having a baby is hard. You’re not exactly established in the world, and ready to take care of someone else.” She said it all gently, sticking to facts about their positions, rather than judgements of their readiness or suitability.

“Is that the plan then?” she asked. Ray had talked in terms of doctors, and Billy was talking in terms of babies as a happy event, which made it sound like they were definitely going ahead. “To continue the pregnancy and keep the baby? Whatever you say to me now, you probably will also have to talk through your thoughts with the counsellor,” she forewarned them.

13 Selina Skies Yep, goodbye and good luck! 26 0 5

Reighleigh Mae Thorn

July 01, 2023 11:17 PM

Nah, I'll keep him around. by Reighleigh Mae Thorn

With a grimace, Ray nodded, knowing the professor was right about the need to tell her mother. She had left her dad out of the mix but truth be told, he'd probably need to hear about it too.

"She'll be thrilled," Ray said flatly, albeit sincerely. "She always wanted me to grow up to give her grandkids and stuff. Like a proper lady." The baby inside her felt more like doom than anything else in that moment but she pushed it aside.

Ray tried to look reassured by Professor Skies' confidence that the baby wouldn't shapeshift, but she knew that the question had come out instinctively and the professor didn't know Billy was an animagus. She'd find a way to ask Katey about that and make it sound like curiosity rather than a need-to-know thing. Although she was pretty sure that animagi weren't ever born that way maybe? She felt like she'd read that somewhere. Hopefully that boded well for her belly.

She tried not to think about everything Professor Skies explained to Billy though. The pain, the scariness, the fear, some more pain, the difficulties, the challenges, the Billy not being here next year while she was.... it was too much to think about.

"Yeah," she said softly. "I don't know why. I can't explain it... I just..." Her hands were on her belly then, caressing a bump that hadn't appeared as the only way she could reach out and hold the baby she hadn't met. "I love him. Or her. Whatever it is. I want to keep it."

22 Reighleigh Mae Thorn Nah, I'll keep him around. 1525 0 5