Rae held open the door for Kirilee, and gave the shopkeeper one last disapproving look before letting it swing shut behind her. This was why she usually took Alex everywhere with her. Abled people were the worst, and Alex was always the one who stood up for her. At least she'd managed to stand up for Kirilee today. "I'm Rae," she signed, unsure if Kirilee knew her name. "You're K-i-r-i-l-e-e, right?" she finger-spelled, not knowing her sign name. She was pretty sure she was correct - there was only one girl at school with selective mutism - but it seemed more polite to ask.
Kiri smiled at Rae for holding the door opening for her - and for rescuing her from the shopkeeper. She'd better not tell Sky about this or he'd flip his shit. "Rae is a lovely name," she signed back, glad she'd told Kiri her name. While Kiri knew a fair amount of students at Hogwarts from just listening to them, she was much better at her and Sky's years, as well as the Gryffindors and Slytherins. Rae, she was pretty sure, was a 6th year Ravenclaw. "That's me," she replied, pleased that Rae knew how to spell it and all. It wasn't exactly a common name. "Thanks again for saving me." She made a disgruntled face about the awkwardness of the situation before Rae had come along.
"Thank you!" she signed, glad she'd bothered to finger-spell Rae first. Her sign name was Light, which probably wouldn't get any compliments. She wondered if Kirilee had a sign name. Probably not, unless she'd met other Deaf people. There weren't any others at Hogwarts. "You're welcome! I think he's new. He's not the usual person; that one's much nicer." Clearly he needed some customer service training. "Do you want to get a drink?" she asked, pointing at the Three Broomsticks.
Kiri nodded in acknowledgement - she wouldn't know, as she avoided shops as much as possible, in the case that something would happen. This had clearly just been proof that she had the right idea. "Do you go there often, then?" She wondered; it was a lovely bookshop and she'd like to not avoid it forever. "I'll try not to let him put me off if the usual person is nicer." Kiri looked up to make brief eye contact with Rae before nodding again. "That sounds nice." She didn't feel as awkward around Rae as she usually did around strangers (or most people), which was a refreshing change.
"I do! I usually take A-l-e-x-" she finger-spelled the name then her sign name, A and 'loud'. She talked about her a lot, so she may as well teach Kirilee her sign name. "-to shops, but not in there. She hates books." Rae often joked that Alex hated listening to other people, even if it was written down. She smiled, encouraged by the eye contact. As a disability activist, she knew not to be offended by lack of eye contact, but it was still a good sign if someone did feel comfortable with it. "Great!" Crap, this meant she'd have to order. She did miss Alex when she wasn't around.
Alex, Kiri was pretty sure, was one of those scary Ravenclaws that made her relieved that most Gryffindors were pussycats, not lions. She was amused that her name was A and 'loud' and wondered what she thought of that. "A Ravenclaw who hates books? That's a surprise," she signed. Of course, Ravenclaws liking books was a lazy stereotype, but Kiri would have thoughts most of them had at least one topic they liked reading about. Once they were in the Three Broomsticks, Kiri realised that Rae would have to order, unless the staff happened to know sign which was incredibly unlikely. "I'm sorry to make you order, let me make it up by paying," she offered, finding some galleons from her bag.
"Alex likes to defy stereotypes," she signed. She couldn't believe that she hadn't known there was another sign user in school. WSL was relatively new; they'd relied on BSL for a long time before some Deaf activists had pointed out how many words the wizarding world had which they had to finger-spell. Her parents had started learning it and teaching her it the moment they knew she was losing her hearing. She wondered if Kiri's had done the same once they realised she was selectively mute. Some people taught their babies sign language, in the Muggle world, to help them communicate when they couldn't speak yet. She thought that was pretty cool. "Don't worry," she signed, waving off the galleons, and steeled herself for a moment before going up. Luckily, it was Madame Rosmerta, who knew her, and she felt comfortable enough to speak her order. She returned triumphantly with two Butterbeers and gestured to a table.
"Good for her," Kiri signed back. Kiri often felt that she defied stereotypes as she was a coward in Gryffindor, but it was probably a little early to unload that trauma onto Rae. Kiri was glad Rae was understanding her signing, knowing that she probably wasn't the most proficient, given that she rarely had anyone to practice it with and had only started learning it when she was in her first year of Hogwarts. She smiled brightly when Rae came back to the table, planning ways to pay her back for the drink. "Thank you," she signed emphatically.
Rae nodded in agreement. She didn't do much to break stereotypes, considering her love for learning and her good grades, but she approved of stereotype-breaking. Existing as a young Deaf person was definitely breaking a stereotype: people always seemed surprised that young people could lose their hearing, and that she didn't have a cochlear implant. Being Deaf was seen as something that happened to old people. "You're welcome," she signed with a bright smile, sitting down opposite her.
Rae had a lovely smile, Kiri noted. Not knowing what to say next, she looked around the pub. People-watching was one of her favourite hobbies, which was why she knew such excellent gossip. She smiled as two what looked like third years sat down at a table near them, interacting incredibly awkwardly. "I think they're on a first date," she signed, gesturing slightly in their direction. They were certainly both blushing a lot. Merlin, she was glad she'd never had to do the awkward first date.
Rae sipped her Butterbeer, feeling a little awkward now they had finished their earlier conversation. Following Kiri's gesture, she looked over at the couple, and had to hide her smile behind her drink. Their body language was screaming awkwardness. "I hate first dates," she signed to Kiri. She'd never got much beyond them. Not that she'd had many dates; she'd thought it was because she was Deaf, but she'd slowly started to realise that the main reason people didn't ask her out was Alex. They were just too scared of Alex to even approach Rae. This had fully dawned on her when a guy had come up to her to ask her out, and Alex had bristled like a hedgehog and asked him about three hundred questions. That date did not transpire. She didn't really mind, though. Especially since seeing Alex and Dax together, she'd thought it was would be nicer to be friends first.
