Author's Notes: Chapter 4 picks up right after Chapter 3. I know in the books that Hermione isn't portrayed as a real girly girl like Lavender or Pavarti, but I think that has more to do with everything being from Harry's perspective. Even though he's not as bad as Ron, I'm pretty sure he still doesn't really see Hermione as a girl for most of the series. So, I took a little liberty here with her character.

As always, I don't own any of these characters, places, events, as they belong to JK Rowling. If I did own them, I wouldn't have a car payment.

Chapter Four

"Ahem" Hermione coughed, pointing at him.

"What?" he asked, looking down at the towel wrapped around his waist.

"I told you to wrap it around your armpits. Girls don't just go walking around showing off their chests." Hermione chided, shooing him back to the bathroom.

Harry adjusted the towel, feeling as though his legs were extremely exposed with it up this high. Back out in the dormitory, he saw that Hermione had laid out another girl's uniform, a few muggle outfits, a girl's dressing gown, some knickers, and two items that Harry didn't recognize. He slowly walked over, feeling somewhat exposed in just a towel in front of Hermione. She wasn't paying him any attention but was perusing the map, most likely to ensure that Professor McGonagall was nowhere near the tower at this very moment. Seemingly satisfied, she laid the parchment down in easy view and looked up at Harry.
"Ok Harry," she said, "Welcome to your new class. I call it How to be a girl. As you can see, I've brought you a few outfits. The uniform is mine from last year. It's gotten a little small but you should still be able to fit it. The same goes for the other clothes. The knickers are yours to keep, I don't want them back." Then she pointed at the two things Harry didn't recognize. "Those are training bras. They're what girls who haven't started growing breasts wear until they need regular bras. I don't need them anymore so I'm giving them to you."
She picked up one of the bras and held it out to him, showing how to pull it over his head. Then she handed it to him, along with a pair of knickers, a shirt, and some pants. "Go put those on and come back out here. And don't spend too long looking at yourself in the mirror." She admonished and pushed him towards the bathroom.

Harry set the clothes on the sink and picked up the bra. It was light blue with white stripes and felt very soft. He pulled it over his head and tried to adjust it to where he thought it should be on his body. The slight compression his chest felt with it on was strange but at the same time comforting. That done, he pulled on the rest of what Hermione had given him. Knickers, a pair of jeans, and a blue v neck shirt. When he was dressed, he turned and looked at himself in the mirror. One again he thought he looked like a girl, mostly. At least now he even had two small bumps on his chest from where the bra pushed the shirt out. He opened the door and walked back into the dormitory to find Hermione folding the clothes she had brought and laying them in his trunk. "Very cute!" she cried upon seeing him and stood up, "Come over here and let me get a good look"
He walked to where she stood and waited while she walked around him. "Hmm, you definitely look good but you need to learn how to walk and stand like a girl. Well, lets finish getting you ready and then head down to the Common Room." She sat him down on the bed and pulled out a small bag. Harry wasn't quite sure what she meant by not being ready yet. What else did he need?

"Now, I only have some basic make up I use, but it should work well enough for you. This will help make your face look a little more feminine"

She went to work applying the make up to his face. The process felt like it took close to half an hour. Harry had lost count of the number of different items used before Hermione finally let him see the final result. Sliding his glasses back up his nose and catching his reflection in the mirror, he had to do a double take and let out a gasp. Looking back at him with his mothers' eyes was a girlish face framed by his shock of black hair wearing his glasses. He both recognized himself and at the same time didn't. "Hermione," he gasped reaching out and touching the mirror, "I really look like a girl."
Walking up behind him and playing with his hair she said "You really do Harry, although we need to find something to do with this hair of yours. Wait here" She returned a minute later with a hairbrush and started running it through his hair. To Harry's surprise, his hair began to behave and somewhat lay down. She was arranging the front when he noticed something.
"Hermione, my scar." He gasped

The usually vivid lightening bolt that always stood out on his forehead was gone.
"That's the magic of makeup Harry" She replied smiling at him in the mirror.

With his hair now lying as flat as Hermione could get it, she let him stand and get another good look at himself in the mirror. Harry couldn't believe how good he looked. His slim frame fit the clothes rather well, and he felt like he almost passed as a teen girl. Now laying down, his hair seemed longer than it had before, coming down just past his ears. He made a mental note to ask Hermione about ways to grow it out later.

"Ok little lady" broke in Hermione, laughing at him pose and twirl in front of the mirror, "lets head on downstairs."
Until dinner Harry and Hermione stayed in the common room, with Hermione teaching Harry how to sit, walk, and hold himself like a girl. Harry was used to slouching in any chair he sat in, which Hermione did her best to break him of. By the time he had finally started to sit up, "Like a proper little lady," it was getting close to dinnertime, and he went back upstairs to change and remove the makeup. Daringly, he chose to leave the bra and knickers on under his boy clothes. Harry was very nervous leaving Gryffindor Tower, thinking everyone could see the two small mounds on his chest but no one stared at all. It helped that all told there were maybe a dozen inhabitants of the castle at the moment. After dinner Hermione told him to get dressed again and then to come downstairs so they could talk some more. Freshly changed, Harry found her curled up in one of their favorite armchairs in front of the fire.
"So Harry, what do you want to do as a girl?" asked Hermione

"What do you mean?" he asked, seating himself in the chair next to her and remembering to not slouch.

"Well, it's clear you like dressing like one. But I wondered if there was anything else you wanted to try."
"I'm not sure honestly," he replied, "I just know I'm really enjoying getting to be a girl with you today."
"I can tell. Before Ron left for the Burrow, he mentioned how worried he was about you. We both were, what with everything you learned over the weekend. It's nice to see you come back out of your head again, and in a new way."
"I'm sorry I worried you, Hermione." He responded, smiling at her, "You're right, I did have a lot on my mind and I still do, somehow dressing like this has let me leave it all behind for now."
Hermione smiled back at him. "So," she said, a eager grin replacing the kind smile, "since you're a girl for now, let's have some girl talk."
"Ok" said Harry, not entirely sure what he was about to be asked.
"Do you think you like being a girl more than being a boy?" asked Hermione after a moment.

Harry hesitated and thought. He was really liking being a girl, but he didn't think he wanted to be one completely. "I don't think so. As much fun as this is, I still think I like being a boy better."
"Ok, and how about boys, do you like them?" She asked, grinning as Harry's face turned pink.

"Like, like them like them?" Harry asked haltingly

Hermione just nodded at him, her grin growing wider at her friend's embarrassment.
"I haven't thought about it. I mean I think I like girls" he said, attempting to hide the blush on his face when the image of the Ravenclaw Seeker flitted across his mind.
"That's fine Harry, you can like who you like, I was just curious. I like being a girl and think I like boys."
Harry, feeling slightly emboldened, asked "So, who do you like?"
Now it was Hermione turn to go bright red at, and she firmly refused to answer. Harry didn't think this was quite fair and kept trying, even trying to guess a few names before Hermione decided that it was time for bed. She scurried away towards the door to the girl's dormitories, and Harry, feeling happier than he'd felt in a very long time went upstairs. As he pulled on the pajamas he'd being given, which were much softer than his normal ones, he did wonder slightly what it would be like to like a boy. He looked around at the empty room, thinking about his roommates, trying to see if he thought any of them were cute, but rejected each one in turn.

Harry would look back many times on the next two days, remembering them as the happiest he could recall all year. The following morning, he woke up in a warm daze, briefly wondering why he was wearing a pink pajamas. As it all flooded back to him, the warm sensation in the center of his chest returned. He got up and showered, using the flowery scented things Hermione had given him, pulled on fresh knickers and a bra, and then his normal clothes over them. Hermione was already waiting in the Common Room, and they walked down to breakfast together. Harry did his best to walk like Hermione had shown him since the corridors were completely empty, making Hermione smirk at him. The Great Hall was looking it's best for the holidays as usual, with twelve towering Christmas trees bedecked with golden ornaments. Harry and Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor Table and Harry began loading up his plate with everything he could. He had stated wolfing it down when he saw Hermione smiling bemusedly at him.
Swallowing, he looked at her, "What's wrong?"
"You eat like such a boy" she said laughing at him.

Harry sat back for a moment, looking at the pile of food on his plate compared to the neatness of Hermione's.

"A girl doesn't just attack her plate," Hermione said picking up her fork to eat some eggs. "Watch me"

Harry watched her and picked his fork back up. He tried to copy her movements as carefully as he could, even remembering to sit up straight. He wasn't sure if anyone was watching him but he also didn't care.

After breakfast they went to the library to check out as many books as they could to help prepare for Buckbeak's trial, and then took them back to Gryffindor Tower. Hermione told Harry to go get changed while she pulled two or three tables together and began organizing their research. When he retuned, she set him to work looking at court records for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. It was something of a surprise to Harry to discover that he actually enjoyed the tedious work, though he thought this might have more to do with what he was wearing than a newfound love of bookwork. He was dressed in the same shirt as yesterday but had decided to pull on the uniform skirt instead of pants. Hermione had arched an eyebrow at his choice but just smiled. Within half an hour of putting the skirt on, Harry had come to realize it might have been something of a mistake. Being close to the fire was nice and felt good on his bare legs, but it didn't quite overcome the chill of December that pervaded the castle which found it's way very easily up the skirt.

After lunch Hermione called a halt to further research in order to read through Harry's notes while he read through a copy of Witch Weekly she had found in Pavarti's bedside table. Freshly made up by Hermione, she had suggested one of several articles in the magazine that would give Harry a good basis for understanding make up. She had jokingly referred to this as his "other research." Harry had tried better to watch what Hermione had used and done to his face this time. Flipping through the pages, he found an order form for make up, and wondered if there was a way he could hide anything in his trunk. The image of the mess Ginny had left behind after scouring through his belongings during his second year returned vividly to his mind, although interspersed with the other debris were now bras, knickers, and skirts. Shaking his head, he decided to avoid that risk. Besides, as fun as this was, would he really be able to dress up once the rest of the school came back?

After about an hour Hermione put down the sheets of parchment and looked over at him.

"Harry, if you're going to wear a skirt you need to either keep your knees together or cross your legs." She admonished, eyeing him.
"Sorry," he replied sheepishly, closing his legs and grinning back, "It just felt good"
"Yes, I can see that" she laughed. She picked one of the sheets and handed it to him, "I need you to tell me what that sentence says" she pointed at a line two thirds of the way down the page.
"The Confederation ruled unanimously against the Hippogriff and it was executed" he said squinting at the words.

Hermione scratched out his writing and copied it neatly below. "You know, since you're learning how to dress and eat like a girl, we may as well add writing like one to the list too."
"What do you mean?" Harry responded.

Hermione pulled her notes towards he and set them on the table next to his. "See the difference between mine and yours?" she asked.

Harry could see it easily. His handwriting wasn't as bad as Ron's,but it still wasn't very legible. His notes were covered in ink blots from his quill and compared to the neat lines and curving writing of Hermione looked almost like scribbles.

"Take your time and write carefully" said Hermione, handing him a quill and pointing at the next stack of books they had.

For the rest of the day, they sat in front of the fire, Harry writing out his notes painfully slowly, trying his best to make each letter perfect. It wasn't long before his hand began to cramp with the added exertion. Hermione had to remind him several times to keep his legs closed, eventually handing him a knut from her bag and telling him to keep it held between his knees. By the time Harry went to bed that night his legs were sore from keeping them tightly closed and he wondered if wearing a skirt was worth all of that. Seeing his reflection in the mirror as he began to undress for his shower confirmed that it certainly was.