June: Nightmare

"You're like my sister Tessa, 'f course I was gonna do it," Giovanni muttered, words slurring into each other. "I jus' wish you coul' finally be happy, instead of all this... All this horrible stuff that's been happening t' you. Left and... Left and right."

Giovanni took the glass, swallowing its contents before the glass slipped from his hand and shattered on the ground. The bottle, which had stopped refilling a few glasses prior, was finally empty. The door at the end of the room swung open, revealing a figure standing in the doorway.

Nicolas staggered into the room, cane scraping across the floor. He was still dressed in girl's clothing, which felt like a punch in the stomach; and he knew that he could still see-- the cloth wrapped tightly around his head like a blindfold was a testament to that fact.
The first thing that hit him in this new room was the rancid stench of whiskey. A lump formed in his throat. He already knew what was in there. "Oh, God, Giovanni, why?!"

Vincent sighed, wrapping Ricardo in a hug. "Let's go..." he mumbled, kissing the Gryffindor softly.
--
The real Philip watched from afar. As Jack leaned into the other him, the figure changed and in the blink of an eye, had become a different person, it seemed. Philip got a little closer, chest tightening. He couldn't quite tell whose lips Jack was touching, but whoever it was, he sure was a hell of a lot handsomer than himself. Philip watched as the the two kissed and he couldn't help but notice that Jack seemed to be enjoying it. He looked away, a mix of emotions swirling through him. Surely this couldn't be right, but at the same time, it was very clear what he had seen and Philip was surprised to find that it hurt.

Meanwhile, the other Philip stared at Jack for a moment before growing angry. He'd failed, and now he would go hungry tonight. His form shifted until he grew monstrous. "No! I am Philip! Trust me, Jack! I've been cursed by the fire. Please trust me!"

Ricardo froze, tears trailing down his face now, and he stepped away from Vincent. The lump in his throat made it difficult to vocalize exactly what he was feeling; the horror at who he was, the sudden fear about what that would mean, the pain of his family's rejection. Coming out to his friends had felt like a mountain being lifted from his shoulders. Coming out to his family was more like a slap to the face, literally and figuratively, and a sudden revulsion at himself.
--
Jack felt fear begin to claw at his senses, but he forced himself to remain calm. He knew that he couldn't win this way. Since the accident, he knew that he couldn't win anything with any sort of physical fight; he would never be able to again. So he became a strategist. And the best strategy at the moment, as much as he hated it, was to play along and hope that the shapeshifter bought it.
"No, no," he said quickly. "I don't know what came over me. Of course you're Philip. How could you not be? You're handsome... And strong, and I love being with you." Fear made the words shuffle out of his mouth awkwardly, note here near as smoothly as he had imagined. Buy it, please, buy it, believe me...

Her eyes widened slightly as she realised that he must have seen her in this place before. Giovanni had acted the same way. "N- no, it's really me." Tentatively, she took a step closer. "We... Giovanni and I, we were looking for you."

Nicolas stared in her general direction warily, hands wrapped around his cane like a bat. "Prove it. Tell me something only the real Tessa would know."

Tessa grasped for something - anything to prove it to him, and gestured wildly with her hands. "I don't know! Uhh..." She huffed. "The first time I realised I liked you was that day in the common room when you'd lost your binder. Jane was there, and I guess I figured out that I was jealous of what you two had." Her cheeks were slightly pink, perhaps inappropriately so for their situation, but it was something she hadn't told him before.

Nicolas slowly lowered his cane, tears welling up in his eyes. "It is you," he whispered, stumbling over to her. "I can't believe you're here. I... I thought..."

Nicolas froze. "Giovanni. It's the real him here, isn't it? Oh, God, he's been drinking again, hasn't he?" Nicolas heard the shrillness that fear was starting to give his voice. He hated it; this place felt as if all of the changes made to him by the hormone treatment were all reversed at once.