A/N: Hello, readers :) Thanks for stopping by. This fic is in answer to the 'Pick a Plotline' competition by dancingwithrainbows over at the HPFC. The challenge was to pick a number and be assigned a typical HP plotline. Mine was de-aging. Each drabble is exactly one hundred words and features a different character dealing with de-aged Hermione (whose age is noted after the character's name). I present to you, 'Stages.'
1. Minerva – newborn
Minerva would probably have found this a lot more amusing if she hadn't been her favorite student.
She raises her eyebrows at Ron. "And you're saying it was a potion that did this to her?"
"More like the scent of a potion."
She sighs. "Luckily for you, she'll grow up quickly."
"You mean you can't fix her?"
"No, Mr. Weasley, I cannot fix her. She'll have to grow up again. Which also means she'll have to have constant care, which I expect you to be a part of."
Hermione cries in his arms; he nearly drops her, and Minerva sighs.
2. George – five months
The babe is a model of peace. To be honest, George is jealous of her.
Because everyone else had needed to work that day, George had volunteered to stay home and watch her. It isn't too hard, really, because all she needed was an occasional bottle and a pair of arms to hold her.
He peers down at her sleeping form. He admires the tiny eyelashes and miniscule fingers. Her perfectly formed ears. He thinks of his own missing one and of Fred.
He sighs and wishes that life were always as simple as it is in that very moment.
3. Molly – a year and a half
Hermione cooed in her high chair and waited expectantly for Molly to bring her the banana mush.
Molly had been certain that she was done raising children, was content to sit back and play the role of the doting grandmother. Ah, well, she thinks as she spoons the mush into the child's mouth. A woman can dream, can't she?
Once she is finished, Hermione sits patiently in the chair while Molly bustles around the kitchen and cooks for everyone else. She hums to herself and bangs her spoon absentmindedly, and Molly looks at her with the fondness of a mother.
4. Percy – three years old
She scares him more than anything.
Hermione toddles around his room, peering curiously at his bookshelves and into his drawers. She seems fascinated by the sound of his quill scratching against parchment.
Finally bored, she takes a book off his shelf and carries it over to him, waiting until he notices her to hold the book up to him.
He smiles and offers her his hand, and he leads her to the comfy chair in the corner, where she climbs into his lap and listens while he reads to her.
It is then that he decides that innocence isn't terrifying.
5. Bill – six years old
Her inquisitiveness is so uniquely Hermione.
She traces the scars across her face with her fingers, frowning. "What are these from, Billy?"
He contemplates his answer for a long time. "There are some people who like to hurt other people, 'Mione."
"And someone hurt you, Billy?"
"Yes, someone hurt me."
Her eyes fill with sadness and she frowns. "But I don't think anyone should hurt you, Billy. I think that person should 'pologize."
Bill smiles down at her and places a kiss on her forehead. "Sometimes people don't say sorry. You still have to forgive."
She nods, pretending to understand.
6. Charlie – eight years old
She chases him around the garden, screaming, laughing, threatening that "she's gonna get him!" He dodges her easily and turns around to grin at her.
"Mione, you have to catch the dragon! Don't give up on me now!"
She runs at him with renewed vigor, yelling madly when she finally cuts him off and tackles his leg. "I got you, you big silly dragon!"
He falls to the ground and lifts her up. "The dragon is angry! He'll get you for this!"
She laughs wildly as he tosses her in the air and catches her. He's grinning just as widely.
7. Arthur – nine years old
She follows him out into his shed, and he doesn't even notice her until she begins to tinker with an old socket. He watches her with equal parts trepidation and fascination; she knows what it is but still looks at it with wonder.
"Are you starting to remember, Hermione?" he asks.
"A little bit," she answers. "This is—a socket?"
He smiles. "Yes."
She puts it down and wanders around the shed, picking up different objects and quizzing herself. Lightbulb, screwdriver, umbrella.
"I wish I was grown up again," she says suddenly.
"I know, 'Mione."
She sighs, her eyes sad.
8. Ron – eleven years old
"Alohomora."
The lock clicks and she enters his bedroom, her lips spread in a smile.
"That was great, 'Mione," he says.
She sits on his bed and stares at the wand in her hand. "I remember doing better spells, though," she sighs.
"So do I," he agrees. "But you're not ready for that, yet."
"Hmm." She crosses the bedroom and begins to leave, then turns back. "Do you remember when we met?"
He rubs his nose self-consciously and grins. "How could I forget?"
"We were this age. I was eleven."
And with that, she leaves, shutting the door behind her.
9. Ginny – twelve years old
"Can you do my hair again, Gin? It's nicer when you do it."
Ginny smiles and beckons her in, where she sits on the floor and sweeps her hair back behind her. The older girl begins to braid, and Hermione shuts her eyes, thinking.
"I wish I could go back to Hogwarts," she says suddenly, and Ginny pauses.
"You'll be back, 'Mione. As soon as you grow up again, you'll be back."
"I'd like to be back now."
Ginny smiles, finishes the braid, and releases her. "I didn't think I'd ever see the day when you were jealous of me."
10. Harry – fifteen years old
"The good news is, you've almost grown up," he says to her. They walk slowly around the garden, her eyes watching him.
"You're tired."
"Yes."
"They're overworking you."
"Probably."
She stops him and touches his jaw. "You should go. Get some rest."
"But I'd rather be here."
That makes her smile, and she curses herself for the blush that rises in her cheeks. "I'd rather you be here, too." She is silent, pensive; then she frowns. "Will you please kiss me now?"
He laughs. "You're still too young for that."
She groans and he places her arm around her waist.
11. Hermione – eighteen years old
"I was starting to think I was going to die of young age."
Harry and Ron laugh, and she can finally laugh with them without feeling like a little girl. She has missed this more than anything: spending time with her friends and not weighing everyone down. She is in control of her magic, her life for the first time in eighteen (compressed) years.
"If it makes you feel any better, you were an adorable child," says Harry.
"Except for when I had to change your diaper."
She blushes red but laughs, and Harry's hand finds its way to hers.
fin.
A/N: Hello again! Thanks for reading. Leave a review? Maybe tell me which drabble was your favorite? (Mine was…Percy's, I believe :D)