An hour later Freddie had transformed what felt like a million times and she was getting frustrated. She still hadn't managed to transform with her clothes. She'd managed to keep her socks on once, but she had no idea how she'd done it, it had been a fluke. She'd fallen several times while trying to land on her human feet as she transformed, and she'd twisted her ankle once severely. Snape had mended it with a simple spell, but she was feeling more and more frustrated, tired, and sore.
"I need a break," she said finally, using her wand to magic her clothes on for the millionth time. One silver lining was that she'd mastered that spell in the last hour. She had her clothes on in a split second. She sank into the chair, exhausted, and picked up the cup of tea she'd abandoned earlier. She quickly downed the contents, desperate for relief, not caring if it was cold.
"I could have warmed that up for you," Snape said, his lip curling in disgust. "How can you drink cold tea?"
"I don't care about the tea, my bones feel like they're splintering into a million pieces," she mumbled dejectedly. "...Maybe we should reschedule this thing at the Ministry. I'm just going to make a fool of myself."
"We are not rescheduling and you will do no such thing," he said firmly. "You're doing really well. Your transformations are getting quicker, smoother. And you almost stayed on your feet the last time."
"Yeah but I fell against your desk," she said, rubbing her elbow ruefully. "And I still can't keep my clothes on."
A quick smile flashed across his face then he cleared his expression. She knew he was trying to be supportive. Her stomach growled all of a sudden. It was so loud that Ziggy, who was sitting in loaf-form on a shelf next to a jar of beetle eyes, sat up with a "mrrrrrrow?"
"Are you hungry?" Snape asked her.
"Obviously," she said, intending to sound playful but it came out grumpy. And reminded her of him, though she didn't drawl the word out like he did.
"I can get Noelle to bring us some lunch. I forgot you did not eat breakfast," he said smoothly, ignoring her snarky tone.
"I don't want to eat, I need to keep practicing. I've got less than two hours to get this down and it needs to be perfect."
"It doesn't have to be perfect, Winifred," he said, his tone surprisingly gentle. "You are doing your best, that's all you can do. And it is miles beyond anything anyone else your age has done in this century."
"I want it to be perfect," she said, shaking her head. "I need to go get some of my books from my dorm. Maybe there's some tips or a trick I'm missing."
"Okay," he said with a nod. "Go get them and by the time you get back there will be food waiting. You can eat while you read if that is what you prefer."
She got to her feet and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. She shared a glance with Ziggy and mentally told him she would be right back. Whether he understood her or not she didn't know, but he didn't leap from the shelf to follow her.
"Who knows," Snape said as he removed the enchantments from the door so she could leave. "Perhaps having a full stomach will make it easier for you."
"Maybe," she said doubtfully, staring down at her boots as he undid the last spell.
"Hey," he said and she felt his hand on her chin, tilting her face up. "Chin up. You are doing fine."
She could tell that he wanted to give her a kiss, just a quick one, to reassure her and she wanted that too. But he didn't. He brushed her jawbone with his thumb then let his hand fall. Freddie sighed and opened the door.
"I'll be right back," she said and hurried out, closing the door behind her.
She made her way through the crowded Common Room and managed to avoid seeing anyone who would want to talk to her. She knew Amelia would be dying to see her Animagus form, but she didn't want to transform back and be naked in front of her friend either.
Useless, she thought as she slipped into the dorm, feeling stressed out and disappointed in herself. A useless, pathetic Animagi who can't transfigure her clothes or even land on my own two feet!
You are being too hard on yourself, Winifred, said Snape's calm voice in her head, startling her. She immediately felt defensive and somewhat embarrassed that he'd caught her off guard. And in the middle of her little pity party.
Get out of my head! She snapped before shutting him out hard with her Occlumency. She knew the force with which she'd kicked him out had probably hurt him a little and she felt a twinge of guilt. But the benefit of having her Occlumency in place is that she felt calmer, or at least number. She focused on going through her trunk for the Animagus books she had. Addressing Animagi by Patrice Hawkins was in a stack of books on her bedside table and she grabbed that as well. It was the signed copy she'd gotten at Flourish and Blotts over the summer. It wasn't a textbook like the others but a firsthand account written by Hawkins and she thought it might be useful. She'd read it through at least three times since she'd gotten it, but she couldn't remember if Hawkins addressed the clothing issue.
She shoved all the books into her bag and was about to leave the dorm when she stopped and went back to her trunk. She'd been thinking earlier that she should change clothes, something simpler and easier to put on. But also something that would be fancy enough to wear to the Ministry of Magic. She glanced at her watch, dreading how close 4 o'clock was getting, and began to dig through the clothes in her trunk. She threw several items over her shoulder onto the floor. Definitely not jeans, no pants, it needed to be a skirt or a dress. A dress would be the ideal thing.
She found a black velvet dress near the bottom of her trunk that she didn't remember buying. She unfolded it on the bed to look at it. It was long-sleeved and had a plunging neckline that would show off her cleavage without being too slutty. And it had built in support so she wouldn't have to wear a bra. It was perfect and she wondered where she'd gotten it but she didn't have time to dwell on it now.
She used her wand to iron the wrinkles out of it and started to get undressed. She paused with her shirt halfway off and decided to transform out of her clothes. No one was in the dorm and she was supposed to be practicing. She closed her eyes and slipped into her Animagus form in just a few seconds. It was getting easier to do and she didn't have to concentrate so hard, but it wasn't getting any less painful. The half cup of pain-relieving tea had only helped a little to relieve her soreness. She wasted no time in transforming back and she was disappointed but not surprised to find she was stark naked.
With her Occlumency at work she was able to brush off the disappointment easily and she slipped the velvet dress over her head. The sleeves were a little tight but she could deal with it. It was ankle-length which was good because she wouldn't have to wear leggings or stockings beneath it. She picked up her underwear from the mess of clothes on the floor, then she had a thought.
One less article of clothing to worry about, she thought to herself, grinning a naughty grin as she dropped her panties back onto the floor. And maybe it'll make up for booting him out of my brain so roughly.
She used her wand to put her boots back on because it was quicker and it meant she didn't have to lean over while she was so sore. She debated taking her dragonhide jacket, but it didn't really go with the dress. The velvet seemed warm enough anyway. The dress didn't have pockets so she found the purse she'd purchased over the summer and put it in her bag with her books. She put her coin pouch in the purse, just in case she needed it, then slung her bag and headed out of the dormitory.
A few heads turned in the Common Room as she passed through, mostly boys admiring her dress, though none of them dared to comment. She was both relieved and slightly concerned when she didn't run into Amelia.
I thought she would have tracked me down by now, she thought as she left the Common Room. I wonder where she is...
But she didn't have time to worry about Amelia either. She could practically hear the clock ticking on her watch as she hurried down the corridor, every second bringing her closer to her meeting at the Ministry. She needed to be perfect and she didn't have long to get that way.