Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Harry Potter and I know I never will. I wish I did. Hey maybe I can make a ton of money and buy it off of JKR! That'll never happen. (
Harry gulped nervously as he made his way down to the Great Hall along with all the sixth year students and the rest of the seventh year students. Professor McGonagall was going to be announcing the big project that the sixth and seventh years would be working on the entire year. He was nervous because she had mentioned that this project was nothing at all like anything you would expect. He had no idea what was waiting for him when he got to the Great Hall. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know. However, he thought he was better off then his best mate Ron, who had turned as pale as a sheet. He knew that Ron was more nervous about what was to come than he was but he couldn't help feeling that he was going to be the one worse off in the end. After all, didn't it always seem to turn out that way? Hermione, his other best friend, was happily walking along beside them, a wide grin on her face. Harry had no idea why she wasn't nervous. He got the sudden impression that Hermione, as well as the other sixth and seventh year girls, knew exactly what was to come. That would certainly explain why she was extremely happy rather than nervous like him and Ron.
Taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself down, Harry followed Hermione into the Great Hall where many of the other sixth and seventh year students had already gathered. Professor McGonagall stood in front of the staff table, waiting for all the seventh years to file in and take their seats. The rest of the staff stood around her and Harry gasped when he spotted Mrs. Weasley amongst them. He looked at Ron who went even paler if that was possible, and then looked back up at Mrs. Weasley, wondering what they could possibly be doing that would require her assistance. She smiled at him and waved. Gulping again, Harry waved back.
Across the hall, Harry's biggest enemy, Draco Malfoy, was just seating himself at the Slytherin table along with his cronies Crabbe and Goyle and the rest of his posse, Pansy, Nott, and Blaise Zabini. Unbeknownst to his friends, Draco was very nervous about this big project but he tried his best not to show it. After all, he was their prince, he couldn't let them know that he had let his guard down enough to let nerves pass through. He did everything he could to try to ignore the butterflies floating around in his stomach. It was not in a Malfoy's nature to be nervous and Draco knew that if his father ever found out, he get the beating of a lifetime.
Draco's friends on the other hand, were not fairing so well at hiding their nervousness. Crabbe and Goyle were clumsier than usual and Zabini who was usually very talkative, was now very quiet. Nott's face had taken on a green tinge color and he looked as though he were about to be sick. Pansy, on the other hand, was perfectly happy. She kept glancing at the boys and giggling but refused to say anything when they asked her what on earth she was giggling about. Draco, after just one time of asking, knew immediately that she wasn't going to tell them so he didn't ask again. The other four weren't quite as smart as he was though and continued to ask every time she giggled what was so funny.
When all the students had taken their seats, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. It was then that both Harry and Draco noticed that there were several viles filled with a dark liquid lying on the staff table behind her. As soon as she had cleared her throat, the talking in the hall died down and the room fell silent. There was something about the silence that Harry found even more unnerving than anything else. He wished the girls were still being all giggly because that actually made him feel more at ease.
"Now," said Professor McGonagall, speaking at last. "As you all know, we will be starting a little probject this year. Let me tell you that you must participate in this project if you wish to pass this year as it is worth a large part of your grade. This project has been newly established this year. Now," she went on after pausing for a few moments. "I am sure you boys have noticed by now that the girls know more about the project than you do but let me tell them, they shouldn't be laughing. There is absolutely nothing for them to be so happy about as they only know half of the project. They have not been told the other half." Several of the girls who had been smiling, dropped their smiles almost at once. A lot of them seemed to become just as nervous as the boys and one girl actually vomitted on the spot and had to be taken out of the room temporarily. When she was brought back in, Professor McGonagall continued.
"On the table behind me, you will notice several small viles. Each of them is filled with a very powerful potion that will aide in step one of the project. You will notice that they are separated into two piles. One pile is for the girls and the other pile is for the boys. This is because the potion differs slightly depending on the sex of the drinker. There is a vile here for each one of you." Seeing the frightened looks on many of the students faces, she quickly added, "I assure you it is not harmful in any way."
"Oh yeah, that's a relief," said Ron, not really believing what Professor McGonagall had said.
"Ah, Mr. Weasley," said Professor McGonagall, turning to face Ron. "Perhaps you would like to be my volunteer to show your fellow students exactly what this potion does." Ron gulped. He shrank back in his seat, clearly not intending to do anything of the sort. Professor McGonagall, however, seemed to decide that he had no choice fore she said, "Now, Mr. Weasley," in such a firm voice that Ron gave a yelp and leaped up out of his chair, hurrying to stand next to her. He was still very pale and now he looked as though he were a ghost.
Harry glanced across the hall and saw Malfoy smirking. He knew that Malfoy was just going to love tormenting Ron about whatever it was that potion did. It was that fact that made Harry very determined to do this project. He now planned on outdoing Malfoy so he wouldn't have anything to gloat about anymore. This was his opportunity to bring Malfoy down and he would stop at nothing to do it.
Harry turned his eyes back to the front where Professor McGonagall was now reaching for a vile from the pile on the left. She picked it up and turned back to Ron. Holding it out to him, she said, "Watch very closely students. When Mr. Weasley drinks this potion, he will undergo a very dramatic change. The same thing that will happen to him, will happen to each one of you in turn as I call you up in pairs." She turned to look at Ron and said, "Before you drink that, and since you are up here now, I think it only best that we bring your partner up here to drink her potion as well."
"Her? I'm going to be working with a girl?" The whole room laughed and Professor McGonagall turned a sharp eye on them. They stopped laughing abruptly and looked back at her, fear dawning once again on their faces.
"Yes, you will be working with a girl Mr. Weasley." She turned to face the rest of the students. "You will all be working with a member of the opposite sex actually. Boys will work with girls and girls will work with boys." She looked back at Ron. "And now for you partner Mr. Weasley." Turning once again to the room at large she said, "Miss. Parkinson, will come up here please?" Draco and his friends, as well as the whole Slythering table turned to look at Pansy. Her face was bright red, not out of embarassment but rather out of anger. Reluctantly, she got up out of her seat and approached the staff table. When she reached it, Professor McGonagall took a vile from the pile on the right and handed it to her.
"Um...professor," Pansy began, "Do I really have to work with him?" She added an emphasis on the word 'him' and gave Ron a very disgusted look. Professor McGonagall persed her lips and folded her arms across her chest.
"Unless you would like a zero on this assignment Miss. Parkinson, you will have to work with Mr. Weasley. Do I make myself clear?" Pansy nodded weakly. Although she was a Slytherin, she wasn't about to cross Professor McGonagall. "Good. On the count of three, I want both of you to drain your vile." Ron looked down at the mixture in his hand as though he was sure it were going to kill him if he drank it while Pansy merely looked down at hers with a disgusted look on her face. "Right then, on the count of three now you two. One...two...three!" Both of them plugged their nose and drain the vile's contents in one gulp.
Almost instantly, Harry could see a change going on in his friend and the Slythering girl and his eyes widened in surprise. Pansy's short dark locks became even shorter as they straightened and spiked up out of her head. Ron's red hair, on the other hand, had begun to grow rapidly, lengthening itself until it reached his waist so that he was now sporting long waistlength flaming red locks instead of his short tousseled do. Then, something even more astonishing began to happen. While Pansy's chest seemed to shrink to the point where it was obvious she didn't have one anymore at all, Ron's grew out to a size that was unmistakeably a C cup. His body became very slender and curvy like an hourglass model. Pansy's body became very rough and masculine. Her shoulders got very broad and her arms toughened up with what had to be muscles. When Harry saw Pansy's uniform become that of a guy's and Ron's uniform become that of a girl's, he suddenly realized what the potion in the vials must do. It transformed a person of one gender into a person of the opposite gender. His best mate Ron, had now become Ronnie which was short for Veronica and Pansy might as well call herself Pan. Harry gulped as he realized what lay ahead. 'And this is only step one of the project?' he asked himself, gulping a second time.
"As you can see, Mr. Weasley has now become Miss. Weasley and Miss. Parkinson has now become Mr. Parkinson. This will happen to all of you. Boys will become girls and girls will become boys. This project is called Switching Roles and it is designed to help you all better understand the opposite sex. Frankly, I am getting tired of girls saying they have it harder than boys or boys saying they have it harder than girls so, as a result, you will all be spending the entire year in a body of the opposite gender. That body will function and work as though you were really of that gender. For instance, boys, as girls, will get that monthly cycle and will be at risk for getting pregnant. Girls, as boys, will experience wet dreams and those perfectly natural sexual urges."
No one in the room spoke. They were all very surprised at what they had just seen and what was expected of them. Boys would become girls and girls would become boys? What kind of project was this? Some sort of sick joke? However, Harry was sure Professor McGonagall had a very good reason for springing such a thing on them and he decided that he wouldn't hate her for it. He decided that he was going to be brave and take this project like a man.
"Each of the pairs will be living in their own little house that has been designed and set up in different parts of the school. Inside, you will find a common room, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. One of the two bedroom however is designed for a third member of your party so neither of you is to sleep in there. That means you will have to share a room but there are two beds in the other room so you will not have to sleep in the same bed." She looked around at them all and saw that most of them were wearing looks out of relief. Hermione raised her hand. "Yes Miss. Granger?"
"Professor, if you don't mind me asking, exactly who is this third member that will be joining each group?"
"I'm glad you asked that Miss. Granger. That brings us to step two of the project, babies." The whole room gasped in surprise and a few people nearly fainted but all were curious how this was going to happen so they kept on the edge of their seats. "As you may remember, I mentioned that boys, as girls, will be at risk for getting pregnant. Well, in exactly one week's time, they are going to experience just that. Since we don't have the time to do a full nine month pregnancy, on the morning of this day next week, all the new girls will wake up eight months pregnant. You will give birth to the child and you and your partner will raise the child as if it were your own and it will be your own until the end of the school year. Unless you decide at the end of the school year, that you would like to keep your baby, it will be put up for adoption to be raised by actual parents. Until then, it is your responibility. Again, this project was designed so that you can better understand each other. At the end of the year, you will be restored to your original selves. Now, when I call your name, please come up, drink the potion, and take your map and house password from Mrs. Weasley who has kindly agreed to teach you all parenting skills, and head off to your house to get acquainted."
Harry watched nervously as students were slowly called to the front and turned into members of the opposite sex; he watched them take their map and password and hurry from the room, trying to adapt to their new bodies. When Harry heard Ginny's name get called, he went very pink and could feel the flush rising in his cheeks but when he heard that she was to do the project with Neville, the flush vanished to be replaced by the redness of anger. He had wanted to be with Ginny. He did his best to wipe the anger away because he really liked Neville and after all, it wasn't his fault.
"Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood," Professor McGonagall called out and Harry jumped. His eyes went wide as he approached the front of the room. He was going to be working with Luna? Oh great, he was going to be in labor with their child at some point and Luna wouldn't even notice because she would be staring dreamily off into space somewhere. "Please note Mr. Potter and Miss. Lovegood," Professor McGonagall said as she handed them their vials, "That when you become a memeber of the opposite gender, your personality will change and you will become a very different person. You will not realize that you were formerly the opposite gender." Harry nodded, feeling slightly relieved. He gulped as he took the vial and drained the potion inside. Suddenly all his worries as Harry Potter vanished from his mind as he instantly became Harrietta Potter, a very pretty girl with long dark hair and creamy white skin. If one didn't know any better, they might mistake her for Snow White.
"Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy," Harrietta heard Professor McGonagall call out and she stopped dead in her tracks. There was one thing that hadn't changed. The loathing Harry had for Malfoy. In the back of his new feminine mind, he couldn't believe they had done this to Hermione. Harrietta put out a hand to stop Lunix and turned to watch as Hermione and Draco, just as reluctantly as Pansy, approached the front. She was very surprised when Hermione, who was a rather plain girl became a very attractive guy and Draco became an equally attractive girl. Harrietta blinked and turned to leave.
"Come on Lunix, let's go," she said, pulling Lunix along behind her as they exited the room.
A/N: Well, finally done with chappie 1. What did you all think? Keep in mind that from this point on, I will be referring to our main characters by their new identities. I'm matching the names as best as I can to their real selves so I won't confuse you with who they really are. Anyway, tell me what you think! Please R&R.