Boys Will Be Bugs

Chapter 106: Clinic

His friends felt like they needed to celebrate Remus's news, so naturally a party was thrown in the common room. The difference was, however, was that it was a party that Remus actually wanted to attend, involving quiet music that he enjoyed listening to and very little alcohol in order to avoid anyone becoming too loud and rowdy. Technically, it wasn't even a party to an outsider's perspective, it was just a bunch of Gryffindors sitting around smoking and listening to David Bowie, but Remus knew what it signified, and he appreciated it.

"Are you nervous?" was the main question he received, and he insisted that he wasn't, but he admitted privately later on that he was absolutely terrified. He was scared of something going wrong, before, during or after. He was scared about what his chest would look like, and whether it would be how he imagined it.

"What if it looks terrible?" he said. There wasn't much response that could be given that would relieve his fears in any way, so his friends just had to assure him that anything was possible with magic, and his chest would most likely look fine. Remus still wanted to be prepared, though, so the following day he asked Selene if he could talk to the guy who was going to be performing the surgery, and she said of course.

"I was going to take you to him way before the surgery anyway so you could get all the information first," she said. "It's not a good idea to jump head first into something without knowing exactly what it is." The weekend wasn't far off, so on Saturday, Selene took him to the clinic. He asked Sirius to come along with him, for support, and the three set off for London, where the clinic was situated.

It was located in a tiny alleyway, just off the bustling city, but hidden from muggles and wizards alike, a little bit like Diagon Alley, but even more protected. According to Selene, it was one of the few hideouts in the country for people who were looked down upon by the rest of the wizarding world, and one of the places that Selene helped to support. Remus was interested in looking around, but his mind was so focused on the clinic, that he didn't pay too much attention to the other buildings or the few people who hung around outside. A few of them smiled and waved at Selene; clearly she was a familiar face.

The clinic was rather inconspicuous, and looked like any other building in the alleyway. Upon entering, it appeared to be just a regular clinic for general medical purposes, but Selene explained that this was simply for added protection. It was really only designed for healthcare that tended to transgender people specifically, and Remus was keen to find out more about it, having never stepped foot in a place that cared so much about people like him before. Selene allowed him and Sirius to look around the lobby while she fetched the owner, and they circled around the room looking at all the posters. The real purpose of the place had been hidden very well, so he couldn't find anything that was out of the ordinary, and eventually they sat down on the plastic chairs near the window and waited.

"How're you feeling?" asked Sirius.

"Nervous," replied Remus, running his hands up and down his thighs to keep himself calm. Sirius squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. A few minutes later, a man came through the corridor leading to the rest of the clinic, followed closely by Selene. Remus stood up.

"Hello," greeted the man. "Remus, isn't it?" Remus nodded and shook his hand. "My name's Kay Huang." He smiled, and it didn't take long for Remus to start warming towards him. It was hard not to. Kay had a nice smile, and a very interesting style. He had quite long hair and wore colourful earrings. His nose was pierced, as was his lip and eyebrow, and he wore blue eyeshadow that was disrupted by smatterings of silver glitter.

"It's nice to meet you," replied Remus, once he'd found his voice enough to speak to him.

"You too, Selene's told me all about you."