Hi lovlies

I am so very sorry that I haven't been posting on any of my stories lately but I have had such a busy couple of months it has left me drained of any energy to go to college, let alone the imagination needed to write chapters! I have tried my best with this one although I'm disappointed as to how small it is. Let me know if you guys don't like it or you have any ideas for me :)

Thank You! :*

Standing in the guest bedroom Hermione stared at the woman in the mirror. Gorgeous brown hair was pulled back with a slight bump to create volume at the front, while the rest of her hair piled up at the back of her head with long tendrils of curls falling back down to reach the middle of her shoulders. The dress itself was silver and had a sweetheart neckline that was made of a shimmery lace and had faint leopard print in darker silver that went down to the waist line. The skirt was a fishtail design with black lace over the top.

Once she had finished checking her outfit, Hermione noticed there was a white letter on the dressing table.

Dear Miss Granger,

Now that you have your costume on, we ask that you follow these instructions. Apparate to the boat house at 7.30pm, but do not try and get to the castle as someone will be there to take you. Everything will be explained once you have arrived.

Kind regards
Headmistress McGonagall and the Founder of Phoenix Memorial

Hermione frowned slightly, she hated surprises. She checked the time and realised it was time to leave. Sighing heavily, she gathered her purse and her invitation and turned on the spot vanishing in an instant.

She arrived in the boathouse to find it decorated with fairy lights strung all around the beams. Bits of shimmery fabric also hung from the walls giving the building an exotic feeling to it.

"Good evening Miss Granger, I'm glad you could make it." Came a voice from behind her.

Hermione spun round reaching for her wand instinctively. She saw a tall woman with blonde hair that reached just past her shoulders. She was wearing an elegant strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline. The dress was beige in colour with black lace over the top. The overall look gave her an air of majesty, control and importance. She had her hands up in a gesture of surrender, meaning no harm. Hermione lowered her wand and apologised.

"No need to apologise Miss Granger, old habits die hard as they say" the woman smiled and held out her hand.

"I am Joanne Murray, the Founder of Phoenix Memorial."

"Nice to meet you." Hermione took her hand and shook it graciously.

"Now before we head up to the castle, I need to explain a few things.
Your costume, as stated in the invitation, is a portrayal of a snow leopard. This is because we feel it describes you as a person. You are observant, independent and quiet, yet you show power when necessary. As I am sure you are aware, high elf costumes are made in pairs and due to the elf's magic, the paired costumes can only be worn by soul mates. Your soul mate will be here tonight Hermione. But, your soul mate may not be who you expect, and so past prejudices may cloud your judgement. To avoid this, I have developed a system with the faculty of Hogwarts to ensure that everyone gets a fair chance. I ask that you trust me and the staff with your safety and let the night take its course."

"I have two requests." Said Hermione quietly. "If Ronald turns out to be my soul mate, I ask that you let me make my donation and leave before seeing him. He and I have had a very destructive past and I do not wish to be with him again. The second request is, if he isn't my soul mate; keep him as far away from me as possible." Hermione was shaking by the end of her requests.

Joanne gave Hermione a sympathetic smile and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"My dear I can assure you that Ronald is not your soul mate. I will have words with the head of security and see what we can do about keeping him away from you, I might even ask him to add in a few... special touches if he does try anything to cause you physical or emotional harm."

Hermione smiled gratefully at her and finally relaxed, ready to enjoy her evening.

"Shall we head up to the castle then Miss Murray?" Hermione asked brightly.

"Oh, just one last thing dear, in order to find your soul mate, the faculty have created a temporary animagus spell. This spell will turn you into the animal form of your costume. Once you have changed, I will lead you out of the boat house and then you are free to roam the grounds until you find your pair. Don't worry, there are spells in place to prevent any animals from moving too far into the forest or attacking each other, the faculty, or pairs who have already found each other." Joanne smiled sweetly.

Before Hermione even had a chance to panic, question or even breathe, Joanne was starting the incantation. Circling her wand above her head once, then bringing it down and in front of her face in a swoosh like motion, Joanne said

"Стани вътрешните същества."

Hermione felt a tilting sensation and her spine elongating. Before long, she was on all fours in front of a very proud looking Joanne.

"You make a beautiful Snow Leopard Miss Granger" She said appreciatively.

Hermione tried to say thank you but the sound that came out of her mouth was nothing like she had expected, it was more like a muffled rumble. Joanne chuckled and said

"My dear you can't talk in this form! You can understand people talking to you and what not, but you can't reply normally, you are an animal you know."

Joanne conjured a large freestanding mirror for Hermione to see for herself. In the mirror stood a large and unbelievably white snow leopard. Hermione was shocked to see the remnants of herself in this gorgeous creature. The hair around its face seemed thicker and more curly and her eyes were gold but had a more honey hue, just like her human eyes. Her legs were long and agile and her tail wasn't as heavy as she thought it was going to be. She moved it experimentally and yelped when it came round and almost hit her in the face.

A chuckle from her left reminded her that she was still in the presence of Joanne and so she tried to act as normal as possible and sit down like she had seen other cats, head in the air as if you were beneath them. Unfortunately, she wasn't quite used to the added weight that came with being a big cat and the four legs didn't help either. She ended up falling onto her face a couple of times before she managed to move herself into a sitting position. Joanne, still smiling walked over and started to scratch behind her ears as a reward.

Ooh that feels good. No, she can't stop, please don't stop? Ah there we go, a little to the left?

Hermione was a little shocked to learn that in the process of Joanne scratching behind her ears, she had managed to lay down, roll over and was now having her chin tickled. Shaking her head abruptly, Hermione got up quickly, still a bit wobbly but not falling on her face.

"Miss Granger, this body is very different to your human one and you need to get used to it. This is why the other guests will be roaming the grounds, as it helps them get used to the motions and senses of their new body. Just now when you tried to sit down, you fell twice..." Hermione's ear twitched at the mention of those falls, she didn't like failing.
"That is because you were thinking with your human brain. Let the animal instincts take over, you are allowed to lose a little control sometimes."

Hermione heaved a sigh and relaxed. Almost immediately, she picked up on new sensations and smells. Even with the fairy lights, the boat house was still quite dark when she was human, but with her new eyes, she could see everything. She could smell the alluring scent of the food that the house elves were surely perfecting in the kitchens, as well as the unbelievable stench of fish. As a human, the boat shed only smelt mildly of seaweed, as a leopard though...

Godric! How did I not notice this before? I think I'm going to faint it smells so bad!

She was so distracted that when Joanne coughed slightly behind her, she jumped with a big bushy tail that she had no idea how to flatten.

"I am really sorry Miss Granger, but I'm going to have to ask you to exit the boat shed and move up the hill towards the castle as the next guest is due in a couple of seconds. If you have any questions, my main advice would be to follow your instinct. However, if it is a life or death situation, some of the specialists involved with the animagus side of tonight's festivities will be roaming the ground in their own animagus forms, you will know they are staff as they will have a white light above their heads. You can ask them questions even as an animal as they have also incorporated a linguistic spell, allowing them to understand anything and everything that is said to them in all languages. Including grumbles and mumbles from snow leopards" Joanne smiled as Hermione huffed indignantly at the obvious remark of her earlier attempts at talking.

Turning around slowly so as not to fall on her face again, Hermione walked out of the boat house as dignified as possible and started up the hill.

Update:

Sorry if I confused you all, I meant to post this on Wednesday but realized I had forgotten to mention something. Apologies!
Kelly xxx