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Hermione knew she was a girl when she was nine-years-old. Her classmates looked at her funny when she said she wanted to wear skirts and grow her hair long, and when she asked her teachers why all she was met with were smiles concealing laughter and boys don’t wear dresses, dear. In the car ride home, her parents noticed something was upsetting her. They went to the library that weekend and sat for hours reading every book they could find about being transgender, and her father hugged her tight and said that no matter who she wants to be, she will always be his child.
Two years later, she jumped on the Hogwarts express with her hair in pigtails, a pleated skirt, and a grin.
For Harry, it took longer for him to realise that he didn’t feel at home in his own body. The first eleven years of his life consisted of him being called a freak for reasons he couldn’t understand and living in fear of his uncle - he didn’t really have much time to think about his own identity when his relatives were so determined to pretend that he didn’t even exist. It wasn’t until he was halfway through his first year at Hogwarts where he realised that it felt like something sharp had lodged itself in his stomach on the rare occasion somebody called him Harriet instead of his nickname, and he finally had a home and people who cared about him, people who didn’t call him a freak and oh God, what if he was a freak and these new friends would hate him as much as the Dursleys what if -
It’s his third year when he decides to tell Hermione and Ron. He had already cut his hair during second year (when his aunt saw him she yelled and he didn’t get dinner for a week, but it was worth it - it’s not like they liked his hair anyway, the dark mop ‘too much like his father’s’ for their liking) and he had long since eradicated every feminine piece of clothing from his belongings (it didn’t take long, seeing as most of his wardrobe consisted of hand-me-downs from Dudley). Second year was also when he started asking Hermione if she knew what was up with him, and she gave him book after book and hug after hug without ever asking any questions. Hermione cries when he tells them even though he’s sure she already knew and hugs him so tight that he thinks he might burst. Ron just thumps him on the shoulder and says that he’s too ugly to be a girl anyway, but the look in his eyes is reassuring and kind and Harry thinks that maybe for once, life is going to let him be happy.
Ron knew since he was six. he cut off all his hair with his mum's scissors, almost giving her a heart attack, and demanded that everyone call him Ron from now on. His brothers made fun of him at first, but eventually they got bored and they started including him in their games. On the first day of Hogwarts, he's scared that the staircase to his dorm will throw him down (he's heard lots of stories from the twins about trying to sneak into the girl's dorms) but his mum says that if it does, he should yell at it until it lets him up. If that doesn't work, she says he should write to her and she will come and yell at it, and Ron grins because if Molly Weasley tells you to do something, you do what she says. He meets a dark-skinned girl with messy hair who turns out to be the girl who lived, which is awesome, even if she does prefer to be called Harry. He glares at the girl who comes into their train carriage looking for a toad and she glares at him back, before smiling at Harry and walking away. He forgets about her and talks to Harry about how awesome this year is going to be. When he makes his way up the stairs without getting thrown on his butt, he barely notices Harry having problems across the room. The stairs going up to the girl's dorms wobble where Harry stands, making her cling onto the railing for dear life. Ron glances in his dorm to see one spare bed. He looks back over at his new friend, and calls them over.