Hello all. This oneshot is a departure from my usual work, but the idea was too good not to use.

This idea came to me from reading an interview in which J.K Rowling talked about her favorite character, Hermione. And it got me thinking... what would Hermione do?

This takes place a few years after the defeat of Voldemort. Enjoy!

Mary Potter gazed into the mirror, breathing deeply.

Her hair was long and dark and messy, no matter what she did it never sat quite straight, and yet also wasn't naturally curly enough to be called proper curls. It defied every bun, braid or band which she had ever tried to apply to it, and barely behaved even when bound in something as simple as a ponytail.

Mary flicked it out of her eyes, bright green eyes, which were dark and mysterious under her glasses, but with a mischievous sparkle which defied the difficult life she had led and the dangerous work which she had recently began: that of being an Auror, the peacekeepers of magical Briton.

The flick of her hair also revealed her scar, narrow, red, shaped like a bolt of lightning. But the story behind that scar hardly needed any recounting.

"Are you ready?" Ginny Weasley asked softly from the door.

"I'm not sure." Mary sighed and closed her eyes.

She felt a gentle kiss on her cheek, the by now familiar kiss of her new wife. Despite all the dark times they had gone through together she couldn't think of a time when she had needed Ginny's reassurance more than she did right now.

"What if they… don't accept me? Can't accept this?"

"They will. I know they will." Ginny said reassuringly. "They love you. I love you. And if my brother puts his foot in his mouth I'll slap some sense into him, and then my mom will too. You know it."

Mary laughed slightly. "I hope you're right." She opened her eyes and looked into Ginny's eyes. "Thanks. Thankyou for everything."

"Now go out there and tell them what's what." Ginny gave her one last kiss on the nose and then leaned back against the sink.

Mary sighed and got out her wand, the beautiful old phoenix feather wand which had done so much for her. She touched it to her temple and removed the transfiguration for hopefully the last time.

The jaw became more square, the hair shortened and grew even messier, if that were possible. She grew taller and after but a moment Harry was looking at himself in the mirror.

It wasn't that he hated what he saw, it just felt wrong. Like wearing shoes on the wrong feet. Having a cold breeze running down his spine, or a splinter in his finger which was too small to remove no matter how hard he looked for it.

Being in a female body didn't feel perfect either. The hair still got in the way, wearing bras was confusing, but there was a deep sense of rightness to it somehow. He knew it was where he belonged.

Harry had always felt like if his life had been a book, then it would only have been right for the book to have a female author. He'd never really wanted it that way, but now that he was out of school and no longer in fear for his life he'd at last been able to put his finger on what it was that needed to change in his life. The thing that had always needed to change.

"Go on. Go." Ginny said with a smile. "Are you going to take your St Mungos surgery ticket to show them?"

"No." Harry's voice caught in his throat. "No, I'll just tell them."

"You booked for midday, they'll be waiting at the café already. You know Hermione always keeps my brother on time."

Harry laughed. "She sure does. Okay… wish me luck."

"If I've done it once I've done it a thousand times already. But good luck." Ginny said, waving.

And Harry turned on his heel and the world blurred around him, taking him from his home into a little café on Diagon Alley.

The street outside was bustling with activity, as Diagon Alley always was. The proud shape of Gringotts Bank was visible in the distance out the window, but the café was quiet. Before the arrival of Harry there were only two customers.

Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger were seated at the table, Ron nursing a firewiskey, while Hermione had a so far untouched butterbeer in front of her with a second one placed opposite and intended for Harry.

Harry didn't think he could eat right now, even if he wanted to.

"Hey, Ron. Hermione."

"Harry!" Hermione rose to her feet, moving over and hugging him. "It's good to see you! How have you been? You look a bit pale."

"Give im some room." Ron said, taking another sip before getting up himself and giving Harry a hug as well. "All good mate?"

"Yeah… I'm okay." Harry said.

Ron and Hermione both looked at him, and all three of them knew that he was less than okay.

"I have something to tell you." Harry said, gesturing to the table.

Hermione nodded, sitting down first, with the other two just a moment behind her. "What is it?"

Harry swallowed, feeling a lump in his throat, then he breathed deeply and spoke. "I feel like I'm… not a man…"

There was a moment of silence, and Harry was surprised to see not shock, but recognition on Hermione's face.

"I read about this." Hermione began.

"Tell us in a minute. Harry is talking." Ron said, touching her arm.

Harry was staring at them. "You knew?" He shook his head. "You can probably explain it better than me."

"Well I have read about this. Imagine if you were a girl polyjuiced into a boy, or a girl polyjuiced into a cat-"

Harry and Ron both laughed slightly.

"Or a boy transfigured into a girl. You'd obviously want to go back to what you were meant to be, right? Souls in the wrong bodies. It's an uncommon problem, but sometimes it can even happen without magic being involved at all. Some people are just born in the wrong body."

"Right." Harry nodded. He was looking at Ron especially. He had hoped, really hoped, that Hermione would understand. But Ron he wasn't so sure. And now Ron was leaning forwards, the look on his face showed he was desperate to ask a question.

"So you want to be a girl?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded.

"Do you mind if I still call you mate?"

Harry was caught off guard for a moment, surprised by the question. He nodded. "Yes, of course."

Ron nodded in satisfaction. "That's good enough for me then."

"We've talked about it already." Hermione said. "We both noticed something was going on, and we're glad you finally trusted us enough to talk about it."

"You knew?" Harry asked, surprised.

They both nodded. "We're your friends. Of course we knew."

"So what would you like us to call you?" Hermione asked.

"Uh, Mary. Mary Potter."

"That's a nice name." Hermione said encouragingly.

"I'll try not to forget it." Ron said, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's okay if you do. Just… thanks for trying. Both of you, I can't thank you enough."

"Can we see what you're going to look like?" Hermione asked. "I heard rumours about you booking a surgery at St Mugos."

Harry buried his face in his hands. "The Daily Prophet is going to eat me alive."

Hermione shook her head. "We'll stick with you and we'll sort them out."

"You bet we will." Ron said, smacking his fist into his palm threateningly.

"You don't need to worry about it Ha- Mary. Sorry. We'll take care of the Daily Prophet. You can be your true self around us if you want to be." Hermione flicked her wand, and a slight shimmer filled the window as the glass became a one way mirror temporarily.

Harry smiled and touched his wand to his temple, sighing in relief as the transfiguration took hold.

Mary smiled at them both, brushing her hair out of her green eyes.

"You look lovely!" Hermione exclaimed. "Mary, you're lovely."

Ron nodded, not looking quite so convinced. "Yeah... This is going to take some getting used to."

Mary blushed and shrank back in her seat slightly, but nodded. "That's fine…"

"We'll work on it." Hermione said firmly. "Promise you'll work on it Ron."

"I will work on it." Ron said with determination. "You have really nice hair, Mary. It, uh, looks good."

"Thanks Ron." Mary said, trying not to let her relief show on her face. Even in her wildest dreams she hadn't dared to think it could go this well. Hermione really did always come through, Mary was incredibly lucky to have a friend like her. And Ron was trying so hard, Mary could see him focusing and choosing his words carefully. She was so grateful to them both.

"Friends, no matter what?" Hermione said.

"Friends until the end, Hermione, Harry. Mary! Sorry…"

"It's okay Ron." Mary said warmly. "Friends until the end!"

There was a moment of peaceful silence.

"Hey Mary, there's a Chudley Cannon's Quidditch match on next weekend. Want to come?" Ron asked.

"You bet I do!" Mary said.

I put this together pretty quickly, but I hope you liked it. I don't have any more of this story planned, but if you want to create something like it yourself then feel free.

Just remember: Love is stronger than hate, TEwRF!

-4Dragons