CHAPTER 1
Harry glanced over at the blonde Slytherin sitting on the other side of the potions classroom. His skin was a creamy white, his hair was so light it was nearly white but now had darker, sun-kissed highlights and hung gracefully in his face. His chin was prominent but not unpleasantly so and his eyes were a beautiful shade of blue-gray, the color of the sea after a storm. Harry sighed, turning his eyes back to his potion, which had already taken a turn for the worse.
The Health Potion was supposed to be a crystal pink and smell of lilacs but his was now a lime green that smelled of puke. Why hasn't Snape cleared my horrid potion yet? Harry though to himself, glancing at Snape, who was currently complimenting Blaise on his 'perfect' potion even though his was purple. Snape abruptly turned to look at him, a piercing gaze that startled Harry into dropping the powdered unicorn horn he was measuring. He quickly picked it up and dumped it into his cauldron, not checking to see if it was the right amount.
His potion immediately started to sizzle quietly and then, quite suddenly, it exploded with a loud 'BANG' and thick white steam quickly filled the entire room, obscuring all vision. Harry was blown back with a thud. He felt a strange tingling sensation spread throughout his entire body and shook his head, trying to clear it. The smoke cleared and Harry heard an audible gasp. He looked around, confused.
'What are you all staring at?' he asked, his voicing sounding a bit odd, even to him. His voice had never been a bass, or anything, but it sounded a little higher than usual. Hermione came forward and pulled him to his feet. He felt very different, lighter, thinner, differently proportioned, and he felt something swaying and brushing against his back as he moved.
'Um, Harry?' she whispered tentatively, so only they could hear. 'I don't know exactly how to tell you this, but…you're a girl,' she said, looking at him in a funny way. Harry glanced down at his body and, with a shock, couldn't see past his chest; he had breasts…big ones. His T-shirt hung loose and it was lucky he was wearing a belt because his jeans were nearly falling off his new, petite frame.
'Potter, go to the hospital wing and see if you can get this sorted out,' Snape said, just barely suppressing a derisive chuckle. Harry looked around and saw that most people were going just that; laughing. Only two people did not seem amused by his predicament. One was Ron, and the other, surprisingly, was Malfoy. Malfoy was staring at him in a very odd, indiscernible way. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide.
'Come on, Harry,' Hermione urged, pushing him in the small of the back to get him out the door. Ron followed behind nervously. 'I'm not sure what you did to your potion, Harry, but I don't know if Madam Pomfrey will be able to fix it anytime soon,' Hermione said, stepping up to walk beside him, Ron coming up on the other side, looking very uncomfortable, avoiding his eyes.
'What's up, Ron?' Harry asked. Ron still didn't look at him when he spoke.
'Well, you know, it's just sort of awkward,' he replied, his voice sounding a bit strained. 'I never have been all that savvy with girls, or anything, so…now that you're a girl…it's just really awkward, okay?' Harry nodded, looking down, discomfited as well.
Hermione cleared her throat and led Harry by the hand into the Hospital Wing. She flagged down Madam Pomfrey, who pushed Harry down on one of the many crisp white beds and began to examine him, asking loads of questions about the potion, what went wrong, how he felt now, what he planned to do. Harry didn't have many answers. After an hour, the examination was through and Madam Pomfrey instructed Hermione to lend Harry some of her clothes until Harry could buy his own clothes, female clothes.
The walk back up to Gryffindor Tower was silent and difficult for all involved. Harry was very confused with the rush of female emotions he was getting, as they were all completely new to him. Ron was, as was mentioned, very ill-at-ease with Harry's new femininity. Hermione was a little uncomfortable as well but more curious as to how well the others would handle it. They clambered through the portrait hole, relieved to see that everyone else was still in class, and Hermione dragged Harry up to her room.
'Okay, Harry,' Hermione said, sitting him down on her bed. 'You need clothes. I'll lend you some of mine, but we need to talk to McGonagall about letting us go to Hogsmeade or somewhere to get you some of your own because me and you are proportioned a bit differently so they might not fit exactly right but with a little tailoring they will probably work. First you will definitely need some underwear and a couple of bras. We will certainly need to buy you some of your own soon because mine won't fit you too well,' she said, giggling a bit and eyeing Harry's new and impressive chest. 'I think you're about a C cup. I'm a B. I'll explain sizing later. Then you need shirts. Do you want short sleeved or long?' Hermione asked holding up a few choices.
'Um…depends on the day. Just throw in a couple of each, I guess,' Harry answered vaguely. Hermione tossed a few shirts into a suitcase and pulled out some skirts and a few pairs of pants.
'Short skirt or long?' she asked. Harry gave her a 'look' and Hermione nodded, throwing in three longer skirts, about knee length. 'Shorts, Capri's, slacks or jeans?' Harry chose one pair of slacks, two pairs of jeans of different shades of blue and one pair of white Capri's. 'Now shoes.'
'What's wrong with my trainers?' Harry asked, not wanted to give them up. They were comfortable.
'Do you think those will match with any of these outfits?' Hermione asked, giving Harry a knowing look. 'What's more, they probably won't fit anymore. Girls typically have smaller feet than boys do. I think these trainers might fit you and so will these flip flops and these sandals,' she said, throwing them all in the bag. 'Now go put these on,' she said, tossing a pile of clothes to him. He carried them to Hermione's bathroom.
Harry shut the door and at last looked at himself in the mirror. He was hot! He still had the same eyes he had always had but his ebony hair was now, instead of short and messy, long and sleek with a slight curl to it. It fell to just past his shoulder blades. He had high cheekbones and soft features. He had a very nice body with all the right curves in all the right places.
Harry took everything off, careful to avoid looking at himself while doing so; even though he had a girl body, he was still in the male mindset and he didn't want to excite himself. He pulled on the panties and struggled with the clasps on the bra but finally pulled it on right. He slipped on a V-neck sweater with ¾ length sleeves and the white Capri's and looked at himself in the mirror again. Still hot.
Harry walked out of the bathroom, carrying his old clothes and fidgeting with the hem of the shirt. Hermione handed him white sandals, beaming at him, and he pulled them on. He stood up and stumbled a bit. He wasn't sure if he would ever get used to high heels.
'Oh, Harry, you look wonderful,' Hermione said, bouncing on the balls of her feet and clapping her hands. 'You really make a lovely girl,' she teased, giving Harry a sly look and winking at him. Harry rolled his eyes but smiled.
'Thanks, Hermione, for lending me all this stuff,' Harry said, holding onto the wall for support. 'I'm not sure I like the high heels, though. They're a bit hard to stand in. When will I have to meet the others again?' he asked nervously.
'I don't know. Lunch?' Hermione suggested, shrugging and sitting down on the bed, patting the place next to her. Harry sat down and looked at her expectantly.
'Okay, there are a few things about being a girl that you are going to need to know,' Hermione began, sounding a little uncomfortable. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before starting to talk again. 'You are going to bleed…in an odd place…once a month for as long as you are a girl.' she said quickly. Harry gave her a questioning look and she continued, though reluctantly.
'To be more specific, you are going to have to go through the menstruation cycle. I'll give you more details later. Or, I'll just give you a pamphlet I got when I was ten. You'll need to wear these pads to keep it from staining anything,' she said, sounding a bit pained and handing him a packet of pads and an 'About You' pamphlet. 'Put them in the bottom of your underwear.' Harry took the pads and nodded, a bit grossed out.
'So am I going to be in the boys dorm or this one or what?' Harry asked, standing up and looking around at the room. It was more or less the same as his old one with the addition of some more girly touches by the occupants.
'I don't think you'll be staying with the boys but I'm not sure if you're ready to stay with the girls,' Hermione deliberated, pulling him down the stairs and into the empty common room. 'I think we should ask McGonagall to give you your own room for now.' Harry nodded and slumped against the mantle piece, exhausted by the day's unusual events. Just then, Ron came loping down the stairs, stopping dead when he saw Harry.
He stood like that for a moment, just staring openmouthed at Harry.
'Wow, Harry, you…you're hot!' he said, sounding very tongue-tied indeed. 'I mean, I know that sounds weird and all but it's true.' Hermione put a hand on his arm and pulled him down to sit on the couch beside her.
'Don't make her any more uncomfortable than she already is, Ron,' she said reasonably.
'Her? She? Is this still Harry we're talking about?' Ron asked.
'Well, technically, Harry is a girl now and that means he is a 'she' so we might as well get used to calling her as such,' Hermione said, placing the emphasis on 'her'. Harry plopped down one of the squashy armchairs by the fire and sighed.
'This is going to take a lot of getting used to,' he moaned. 'So should we go down to lunch now and avoid the crowd or make a grand entrance in the middle?' he asked.
'Let's go now,' said Ron, standing up and rubbing his stomach, 'I'm starving anyways.' Hermione stood up and rolled her eyes, beginning to shove Ron toward the portrait hole.
'Oh, Ron, is your stomach all you ever think about?' Ron smiled his big, over-exaggerated, goofy smile and nodded, making both Hermione and Harry laugh. Well, not so much laugh as giggle.
'Coming, Harry? Or should I say Harriet?' Ron teased, smiling at him. Harry stuck his tongue out at Ron and stalked past him in mock outrage.
'Hermione, do you have a rubber band, or something?' Hermione nodded and handed it over. 'Thanks. My hair is getting in the way. I'm not used to have more than three inches at a time,' Harry giggled, trying to put his long hair into a ponytail.
'Here, let me do it,' Hermione sighed, taking the rubber band from him and putting his hair into a clean ponytail. 'There. Not a hair out of place.'
'Thanks, Hermione,' Harry said, smiling at her gratefully, relishing the feeling of weight swinging back and forth behind him. As the new trio came within sight of the Great Hall, Harry's nervousness increased tenfold if not more. His stomach felt fit to erupt from the butterflies. He pressed his ear to the doors and heard absolutely nothing inside, so he tentatively pushed it open a crack. There was no one in there.
Harry pushed the doors open and hurried to sit at his usual spot at the Gryffindor table, only stumbling once in the new high-heels. Hermione sat next to him and Ron sat across from him as Harry pulled a plate of eggs and toast toward him and began to eat. It was another ten minutes before anyone else came into the Hall. People slowly began to trickle in from their lessons and a stampede of people followed. Many people found excuses to double back along the Gryffindor table just to get a glance at the new Harry. Ginny, Fred, and George were soon barreling down on them, all goggling at Harry.
'Omigod, Harry, I can't believe it's true,' Ginny cried, bumping Ron out of the way and sitting down across from Harry. 'You actually turned yourself into a girl! How did that even happen? It didn't know that was possible.'
'I didn't either, Ginny,' Harry confessed. He noticed he gesticulated a lot more as a girl than he ever had as a guy. 'I think I added the wrong amount of powdered unicorn horn to my Health Potion,' he said, picking at his food again.
'Wow, Harry,' Fred said, still staring at him.
'Yeah, mate, you're bloody gorgeous!' George said, his voice sounding a bit choked. Harry blushed scarlet and bowed his head so the twins wouldn't see him smiling.
Harry took a look around the hall. He saw many heads turned his way and many necks craning to see but one face caught his eye; that of one Draco Malfoy. He was watching Harry with unwavering intensity and unmasked interest. It made Harry's heart flutter so he turned back to his food once more.
'Hermione, come with me to talk to McGonagall, kay?' Harry said, catching sight of McGonagall leaving the top table. Hermione nodded and led the way over.
'Hello, Professor,' Hermione said conversationally, falling into step with McGonagall.
'Hello, Granger. Er, Potter,' she said, looking at him oddly.
'Professor, we were wondering if we could go into Hogsmeade at some point to get Harry some clothes of his own. And we need a place for Harry to stay. He can't stay with the boys, obviously, but he's not ready to stay with the girls. A private dorm would be best, I believe,' Hermione said, very bravely in Harry's opinion.
'You may go to Hogsmeade tomorrow, seeing as it is Saturday, and, yes, Harry will have his…her…own dorm for the present time,' McGonagall agreed. Harry smiled.
McGonagall led Harry and Hermione to a portrait on the seventh floor, down the hall from the Gryffindor common room, and told Harry that the password was 'conform'. She, also, instructed Hermione to help him get settled and stocked and all that. Harry looked around his new dorm.
It had a sitting room, a small kitchen for snacks and such if he didn't want to go to the Great Hall, a bathroom with a Jacuzzi, and a master bedroom with a canopy bed. The walls and carpets were burgundy, and all the furniture and upholstery and accessories were gold. Their were hardwood accents on the walls and all the furniture without upholstery was a dark reddish wood. It was beautiful.
'Thanks again, Hermione, for helping me get used to this,' Harry said, sitting down on the bed. 'I'll see you tomorrow for that little shopping spree, kay?' Hermione nodded.
'I think there are some PJs in the drawer there,' she said, pointing to the bureau next to his bed. 'Good night, Harry.' With that she turned to leave.
Harry slipped into the PJs, loose flannel pants covered with stars and a short sleeved shirt with a moon wearing a nightcap on it. It was very comfortable. Harry slipped under the sheets and struggled to find a comfy position with his new body. This is going to take some getting used to, Harry thought as he at last drifted off to sleep.