Author's Notes: I'm going to put this as an M rating just to be safe, so read at your own risk. Many other gender bending/trans fanfics have used this idea, so I hope you'll forgive me using it too, but I felt it was too good of an idea for helping Heather discover who she really is. I won't lie I found the names and pronouns confusing me a bunch in this chapter. So, to help when you see the "hphphphphphphphph" Heather will refer to herself as Hermione, and will refer to Hermione as Harry, with male pronouns. That's the easiest way I could figure out to do it. When you see the "hphphphphphphphph" again it goes back to the correct character having the correct name and pronouns.
I'm going to give a huge shout out to the Harry Potter Fandom Wikia, because for some reason I have more difficulty with keeping the timeline straight on this book and it's a fantastic resource. If you haven't already and have a few hours to spare or can't sleep, go get lost in it. It's a good time.
As Always, the world of Harry potter does not belong to me. It belongs to JK Rowling who I'm sure would hate what I'm doing with her characters. Oh well.
Chapter Fourteen
When Harry woke on a weekend in late April, his body was tingling with excitement. After Dumbledore had left, Hogwarts had become even gloomier to him than ever. He hadn't had much excitement for anything for weeks now, but today was different. It was the day that he would be taking on Hermione's form with the Polyjuice Potion. It had been months since she and Ginny had made the offer, but the mountain of homework and Hermione's prefect duties had delayed her being able to start brewing the potion. The anticipation and apprehension at what they were doing today had made the month-long brewing process feel like it had taken years. Down in the Great Hall, he tried to eat breakfast, but his hunger was driven away by the prospect of their plans for the day.
As soon as could be managed Hermione excused herself from the table. Harry waited an agonizing fifteen minutes before he followed, talking to Ron idly about the upcoming quidditch match against Ravenclaw. There was no practice today for the team, Ravenclaw had gotten the pitch reserved first, so Ron was going to write an essay for Snape he'd been putting off. In the bathroom, which they'd chosen to use instead of the Room of Requirement for brewing, Hermione had laid out a set of each of their clothes on one of the benches, along with two goblets and flasks. It had been a while now since Harry had been in here, far preferring his haven.
At the sound of his entering the two girls turned and looked at him. Ginny looked excited, but Hermione had an expression of nervousness. Harry figured the thought of turning into him was going to be strange for her. "Ok, Heather," Hermione said when he'd closed the door behind him, "here's how this is going to work. Obviously, we can't have two Hermione Granger's running around the school for the next hour, so you're going to take on my form while I take on yours. Once you take your potion and change into my clothes, come back out so we can get used to being each other. We've got enough potion to last for several doses. I have these flasks so we can keep taking the potion as long as we want to today."
"Just like Crouch did last year." Harry said.
"Exactly. Now, I think we should lay down a few ground rules." At this Hermione's face turned a shade of pink, "Obviously we are going to see what each other's bodies very…. intimately, but let's respect each other's privacy alright? I'm not going to say no touching anything because I want you to experience what having a girl's body is like, but just…" her voice trailed off as her face went from pink to bright red, "just be respectful, ok?"
Nodding, and also turning pink at the implications of what she had said, Harry pulled two hairs from his head and put one each in the goblet and flask. After Hermione had done the same, they both took their goblets and moved into separate stalls. Hermione's potion was a pretty forget-me-not blue. Remembering how horrible Crabbe's potion had tasted, Harry chugged the entire goblet in one go. Surprisingly, it didn't taste anywhere near as bad as Crabbe had, though he still wouldn't call it pleasant. Immediately he felt the effects start. His face began to bubble, and his hair shot out of his head and down to his shoulder blades, changing from black to brown and becoming much bushier. His height barely changed but he could feel his arms slimming and his figure redistributing slightly. The biggest changes were his chest and private region. Two breasts formed and grew quickly out of his chest, the weight slightly making him shift his balance. Down lower he felt everything changing to accommodate his bodies new form.
As soon as it had started, it seemed, it was over. There she stood in Harry's clothes, but she didn't feel like Harry anymore. Quickly she stripped off his clothes and looked down. It was strange having her view of her feet be slightly blocked by breasts, not that Hermione's were exceptionally large or anything. Hands trembling, she touched her new body, feeling how soft her skin had become. Tentatively she traced her hands over her groin area wondering at what was missing. Hearing Hermione's stall door opening she quickly rushed to pull on the clothes that had been given to her.
As deft as she had become at putting on bras in the two years she had been wearing them, it was a wonderfully new experience to have breasts to support with one. Hermione's arms felt slightly awkward to her, and she arranged the uniform correctly over her new body. Once she was done, she released the lock on the door and stepped out into the room. When she saw her face looking back at her from another body, she was wracked by a sense of vertigo. In the mirror over the sink, she looked at Hermione staring back at her.
"Heather?" asked Hermione in her voice, "How are you feeling?"
"I don't quite know how to say it." Heather responded, marveling at Hermione's voice issuing from her mouth.
To that Hermione laughed and said, "Tell me about it."
After thinking about it for a minute, Heather looked at both of them and said, "It feels, right."
"Well, Hermione," said Ginny to Heather pointedly, standing up and walking over, "you're now a full girl, at least the next hour or so."
"Right," said Harry-Hermione, also walking to her, "So let's get all our names right. As long as you're in my body, you're Hermione. I'm Harry. Whenever we talk to each other we need to remember that."
hphphphphphphphph
"So, what do we do?" asked Hermione, still loving how her voice sounded.
"What do you want to do?" asked Harry, grinning at her.
"Why don't we go to the library for a little bit. We don't need to do any homework, but it will be good to get you out around other people as a girl." Suggested Ginny.
Hermione agreed, and the three of them set off up the stairs to the library. With the coming of spring most students had taken to spending their time out on the grounds by the lake, so the library was emptier than normal. Most of the inhabitants were fifth and seventh years who were studying for their impending exams. Hermione was at first extremely uncomfortable, forgetting that she didn't look like Harry Potter. The usual stares and whispers still followed them, but for once they weren't directed at her. Harry looked apprehensive as well, not used to being a boy. Several times he had to break stride as he adjusted to the aspects of his new body. Thankfully, he seemed to be ignoring the whispers better than Hermione usually did.
The three of them took a table, waving at or greeting other students if they called out to them. Slowly the knot of anxiety in Hermione's stomach loosened up and she started to enjoy herself. They talked casually about nothing in particular, Harry trying his best to talk about Quidditch with Ginny. It was a very strange experience to see the face that was usually hers looking so flustered and confused. Just as Ginny decided to have mercy on Harry and turned to talk to Hermione, Luna appeared at their table. Hermione hadn't seen much of her since the D.A. had been discovered.
"Hello" she said in her somewhat dreamy voice.
"Hello Luna," replied Ginny. Neither Hermione nor Harry felt safe talking at the moment. "What are you up to?"
"Just doing some research on Blibbering Humdingers." Said Luna. Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione stamped on his foot and gave her a look. The last thing she needed was Harry alienating one of his friends just because he wasn't himself right now.
"Sounds interesting." Said Ginny quickly to cover Harry's gasp of pain.
Luna didn't respond but was looking back and forth from Hermione to Harry. Hermione wasn't sure why, but she was almost positive that Luna could somehow detect that they had swapped forms.
"Luna is something wrong?" asked Ginny, also noticing something wasn't right.
"No." Luna said slowly, looking closely at Hermione. "I thought I saw something in your eyes Hermione, but I was wrong. I wondered if it could be a wrackspurt."
With that she turned and walked away. Collectively the three of them let go of a breath that they hadn't realized they'd been holding.
"Do you think she could tell?" asked Hermione.
"That's not possible." Said Harry, "there's no way to tell who we are."
"Except with the Marauders Map" added Harry.
With their first hour almost up, both Hermione and Harry went to their respective bathrooms to take another dose. While she was in there a need to relieve herself came over Hermione. Feel extremely uncomfortable doing that in a form that wasn't hers, she emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later, her face slightly red. When she explained to Ginny and Harry what had happened, they both giggled. For some reason they found it hilarious.
"There's something I want to try" said Harry, "Let's go to the Room of Requirement."
On the seventh floor Hermione paced back and forth in front of the blank stretch of wall. I need a place I can fly; I need a place I can fly; I need a place I can fly she thought over and over. After her last pass she turned and saw the door appear on the wall. Pulling it open they entered into a room the size of a massive cathedral. It was completely empty, with the exception of a rack of broomsticks right inside the door.
"You wanted to fly?" asked Harry.
"I figure I should see if it's different as a girl." Replied Hermione.
From the rack she selected a Comet 260, while Ginny chose a Cleansweep Five. Hermione swung a leg over the broomstick, noticing that flying in a skirt was quite different from pants. Kicking off she and Ginny started doing laps around the room while Harry stood and watched, not trusting himself on a broomstick. If Hermione had thought just being a girl was amazing, flying as one was even better. Flying had always come naturally to her since her first time on a broomstick in first year. The Comet 260 was a sorry replacement for her Firebolt, but even still the exhilaration of flying was the same.
Her entire body felt perfectly balanced on the broom, and despite her not having the muscles she was used to having after years of playing quidditch right now, she still managed to make the broom do exactly what she wanted. She was just thinking that she wished there were a quaffle around when one fell out of nowhere and she deftly caught it.
At the sight of what was in Hermione's hands, Ginny flew to one end of the room. With her wand she conjured three hoops of sparkling light and took up position to defend it, as though they were quidditch hoops. Hermione sped towards her and for the next half hour attempted to score. She was only halfway successful, not being in practice as a Chaser. Ginny, who had been the replacement seeker this year was agile on a broom and would have made a decent keeper. Something in the back of Hermione's mind told her it was almost time for another dose, but when they landed both she and Harry decided that this had been enough. Harry wasn't very comfortable in his current form understandably and Hermione didn't want to put her friend through that feeling any longer than she had to.
Unfortunately, as they were leaving the Room of Requirement, footsteps were heard behind them in the passageway and a voice called out. "Oy, Harry, Hermione!" It was Ron.
"Yeah, Ron?" said Harry.
"I've been looking for you. I'm almost done with that potions essay, but I need help with a few things." Ron said, looking between him and Hermione. This was a usual situation. Ever since Hermione had been doing better in their studies, a side effect of having Harry as her best friend, Ron had been relying on her for answers and help rather than asking Harry.
"Alright Ron. I'll take a look at what you have when we get back to the common room." Harry said
"Where are you going?" asked Ron, looking at Hermione.
"Err-library. I forgot my bag down there." She said, making one of Harry's thinking sounds without even realizing. Thankfully, Ron didn't notice.
"Well, I'll come with you then. No point going back without you."
With Ron in tow, they could hardly go change back into themselves, so they all walked back to the library and faked looking for Hermione's bag before she 'remembered' leaving it in her dormitory. Reaching Gryffindor Tower, Hermione walked towards the girl's staircase with severe trepidation. Would the castle's magic see through the potion that she was really a boy? Or if it did, would it see that her magic had shifted. Maybe since the map saw her as a girl, so did the castle. All she knew was that she really didn't want to have to go through the many questions that would be aimed at her if the stairs rejected her.
With a sense of impending doom, she placed her foot on the step and started up. Nothing happened. She took another step, and still no alarm went off and the stairs remained solid. Ginny, who was right behind her audibly let out a sigh of relief and they kept climbing. Ginny led them to Hermione's dormitory, which was thankfully empty.
"What are we going to do?" asked Hermione when they'd closed the door.
"Well, for right now you're going to have to stay Hermione until we can get you both back out of here. You should have enough potion for the rest of the night. I'm just glad you can get up the stairs." Ginny answered.
"I know, I was terrified it was going to kick me out." Hermione said.
"Well, take another dose and head back downstairs, I'll be down in a minute.
It was after bedtime that night that Hermione and Harry were finally able to sneak back out of Gryffindor Tower under the invisibility cloak and get back to their bathroom. Sitting there with Ron had been particularly nerve-wracking for both of them, trying hard not to act too suspiciously. If Ron had noticed anything amiss, he hadn't said anything, however. Hermione had felt particularly awkward getting ready for bed. If she had done anything wrong, none of the other girls had mentioned it, and she didn't her best not to look at anything she shouldn't. None of them seemed to care over much about their privacy, and Hermione could feel her face turning a bit red. Once in the bathroom they changed into the pajamas that the other had worn down there and gathered up the rest of their stuff. They didn't talk much about the day they'd had, both being exhausted from the stress and excitement of the day.
hphphphphphphphph
Before she disappeared up the girl's staircase back in the common room, Hermione hugged him and whispered, "We'll talk soon."