Author Note: The train ride and a few bits more. I know events move slowly but there will be huge jumps in the timeline coming up in a few chapters. Just so much going on right now that its difficult to jump over without later stuff having to be basil expositioned.
===xxx===xx(Chapter begins)
Harry had finished his breakfast and was sitting, waiting on Sirius to arrive. Vernon had gone into his work early and Dudley was on his way to his own school. That left Harry alone with his aunt Petunia. As she had usually not been one to hold conversations with Harry he was watching out the front window.
She was sitting quietly looking like she was thinking of how to say something that was on her mind. "Harry." She finally said causing him to look back at her. "I want you to know that I did care about my sister. When she died I was hurt very badly and blamed you for some of that."
Harry was surprised, "Oh. uh. ok."
Petunia exhaled deeply, "I know too little, too late. That doesn't make up for a decade of, the treatment you received."
Harry nodded, "I understand." He managed to say as he was trying to figure out her reasoning when he heard a car pull in the drive and a quick set of beeps issued forth. Ginny rushed through the door, "Sirius is here!" She excitedly shouted.
"Well your ride is here so you had better go. Good luck." She said and turned to go upstairs.
Harry grabbed his things, "Thanks." He said and followed Ginny back outside, only opening the door to go through it. He paused admiring the long sleek sports car Sirius was walking towards him from.
Sirius helped him grab his thinks putting them in the back of the car. "Hey why such a gloomy expression when you came out. You'll be back on the train, among your friends soon."
"Just Aunt Petunia was trying to be nice I think." Harry said getting into the classic two door car. Looking over his shoulder Harry laughed as he saw that the interior had been expanded like the Weasley's car.
"Yeah she's been a bit modified. A friend of mine was holding onto her until I got back." Sirius chuckled when he noticed Harry's expression.
"Still its a nice car." Ginny said hovering in the back seats.
"Nice car? Caaar? This is no mere caaar." Sirius said sarcastically. "This my dear young lady is a 1968 Jaguar E type Fixed Head Coupe. It has a 4.2 liter inline six under the hood that has been tweaked and stroked to put out more horsepower than stock, giving a zero to sixty of 5 seconds flat my friends. Along with a few other fun filled toys that any self respecting marauder would need." Sirius bragged. "It is the sheer physical embodiment of speed and power. There are women who would wish to be this sexy. There are men who would pray to be this powerful. Listen to that engine roar, a pride of lions are jealous my friends."
"Okay its a very, fancy, nice car." She said from the back seat.
Sirius huffed with an air of faked annoyance, "Ghosts. So hard to impress." He said starting to drive. Hitting a few chrome buttons on the dash.
Harry noticed that the car was moving quite quickly and without anyone noticing that they were violating at least a dozen traffic laws a minute. "Uh Sirius can they see us?" Harry asked as they blew past a traffic patrol car at what had to be a hundred.
"Nah. Not really. We have a somebody else's problem field up." He said flicking around and then over a few cars in the way. "Like I said she's pretty tricked out."
"Okay, now I'm getting more impressed." Ginny squealed from the back seat as they drove along a retaining wall to get around some stopped traffic.
Harry had to admit the ride was rather thrilling and with the seat belts a lot more stable and safer feeling than on the knight bus.
Sirius put an 8 track in the dash player and soon Queen was blasting from the speakers as they barreled down the highway other drivers momentarily annoyed by the speeding cherry red car but soon forgetting about it as it was not their problem.
Arriving at the station Sirius parked and turned to Harry, "Look before we go in. Remember Albus may not be bad but I'm not entirely sure he's got your best interests at heart. I know he's not at the school anymore but he has a lot of friends and people who still believe in him."
Harry nodded, Ginny frowned and declared, "I'll make sure that nothing happens to Harry or Hermione."
"Okay good. Andromeda is a good woman. She'll help you guys if you need it. Otherwise she'll keep her distance to avoid showing favorites." Sirius pointed out.
"Got it Sirius." Harry and Ginny said.
===xxx===xx
Harry and Sirius had stood talking for a few minutes about trivialities, until other students started showing up. Then he got on the train after being on the receiving end of a hug from his godfather.
"You be good kid. But not too good eh?"
"Right."
"Oh yeah. Hey almost forgot. Here's your Hogsmeade pass. Minerva sent it to me to sign." Sirius said handing over a folded piece of parchment.
"Okay. Thanks." Harry said. Boarding the train as Sirius strolled over to talk to Xenophilus Lovegood.
Harry found Ginny and Luna sitting in a compartment chatting so asked if they minded him joining them.
"No. Although I did not notice I was coming apart." Luna said unblinkingly.
"Uh. You're not." Harry said with a confused frown.
"Good. It would be rather problematic if I fell to pieces." She said then ghosted him with a smile.
"You're making a joke." Harry laughed, "Good one."
"Yes. People expect me to be quite irrational though so those kind of jokes are difficult to pull off." She shrugged. "Ginny was saying you had a very good summer."
"Yeah it was." Harry agreed. The three of them started chatting as other students came walking by. Some of them doing a double take when they saw Ginny in the compartment. A few expressing their sympathy to her while others seemed unsure of what to say.
Hermione showed up and joined them with her giving Harry a light peck and a hug. Neville came aboard a few minutes later.
"Ron and his brothers must be running at their usual late speed." Hermione observed looking at her watch. Ginny was sticking her head through the wall of the car every few seconds looking for her family.
Harry was sitting in the middle seat looking past her out the window when he saw the familiar redheads coming across the platform only he blinked several times as he thought one of them was wearing a dress with long hair down to her shoulders. It was definitely a her too as the chest protrusions were covered but obvious. Molly Weasley walking with the girl as if giving her last minute instructions.
"MUM!" Ginny hollered and flew through the wall.
Luna and Hermione both looked out the window as they noticed Harry had frozen with his mouth open slightly like he was in shock. Ginny's cry had let them know the Weasleys had arrived. Neville had shrugged and was fidgeting with his notebook.
"Who is that girl with the Weasleys?" Luna asked sounding more confused than customary.
"I have no idea. Although I don't. See. Ron." Hermione had slowly said each of the last words in that sentence as she stared at the girl with a critical eye. "No. No. they wouldn't have done that would they?" She asked turning towards Luna. "You've known the Weasleys longer would they turn Ron into a girl?"
"The twins might find it funny. Although I suppose even they might not extend a joke that far." Luna watched the various Weasleys boarding the train. Percy with his Head Boy badge on prominent display. The twins moving quickly. What had to be Ron was getting a last minute hug from their mother and reluctantly boarding the train. Ginny and Molly having a tearful farewell as the train began to move.
Ron came into the compartment and plopped down on the seat beside Harry who was still staring in shock. Ginny came flying into the compartment and hovered near the ceiling.
"Yeah I know I'm a girl. Get the jokes out of your system now." Ron grumbled in her higher pitched voice.
Luna looked sympathetically at her, "Why would we joke about this. Or is this something we are supposed to joke about? I don't quite understand."
"Yeah maybe you could explain why you're a girl." Harry said in a funny tone. "Then we'll know if we should laugh or not."
Ron took a deep breath then glared down at her chest. "How do you deal with these things?"
Having mentioned them Neville and Harry both glanced then blushed while the girls shook their heads. Although Ginny was chuckling.
"Oh laugh it up ghostie." Ron rolled her eyes at Ginny.
"Sorry its just funny. Mum said she woke up like this because she prayed to Merlin to have a daughter." Ginny tried to compose herself but failed.
Hermione got a very confused look, "Prayed to. Merlin?"
"Yeah mum's a Merlinist. Someone who believes in the divinity of Merlin. After Ginny well."
"After I croaked." Ginny snorted.
"Yeah after she snuffed it mum started praying for a daughter. Yesterday morning I woke up like this." Ron said waving her hand in front of herself to indicate her feminine physique.
"Wow. That's pretty unusual. I've never heard of this before." Neville said.
"So what did the healers say?" Hermione asked.
"I dunno. They didn't take me. Dad called Dumbledore to come over and he checked me out. Said I had changed my pattern somehow and was now a girl. A really real girl." She slumped back in the seat grumpily. Legs stretched out in front of her.
Hermione cleared her throat, "Uh Ron you kinda should at least close your legs or cross them if you're going to sit like that."
Looking across at Neville who was doing his best to look at the notebook in his lap Ron sat up, "Uh sorry Nev."
"Right. Its okay." Neville croaked with a strange smile then going back to his notebook.
"Harry why are you still staring at me?" Ron asked turning to glare at Harry.
"Just trying to figure this out. Have you tried to not be a girl?" He asked just before he felt Hermione smack him across the back of the head.
"That's not how this works."
"Yeah I did try. Cause I don't know how I became a girl much less how to go back." Ron sighed mightily causing Neville to tear the page as he turned it. Everyone glanced at him for a moment before Luna cast a repair spell on the book with a polite nod of thanks from Neville.
"Actually Hermione if Ron had developed metamorphmagus powers it is possible that she could force herself to change her form at will. So yes it could work that way." Luna calmly explained.
Hermione looked at Luna with a surprised frown then considered it for a moment. She leaned up and kissed Harry on the back of the head, "Okay Sorry Harry that wasn't as stupid a question as I thought."
"That's okay." Harry shook his head as this morning was becoming very confusing even more than normal.
"So how do I do that?" Ron asked hopefully.
"I don't know. I'm not a metamorphmagus." Luna replied.
"Then why did you say that?" Ron's voice became raised a bit.
"Because I know what a metamorphmagus is, not how to use their ability." Luna continued to speak in an even calm tone.
Ron gave an incomprehensible growl as she sat back in the seat.
"Uh so are you still mentally you?" Harry asked carefully.
"I think so. I mean. I dunno. I think I am." Ron huffed, "I just don't know." She buried her face in her hands and started crying.
Harry was sitting next to her and froze. Crying girls were not something he had experience with so he sort of patted her on the back with a half-hearted "there there."
===xxx===xx
Draco had arrived at the platform after a very odd morning for him. Sirius Black was sitting at the breakfast table with his mother. The two of them laughing and cheerful. So much different than his father and mother's behavior. The two of them were far more formal and stiff in front of him.
Sirius had left after giving his mother a far too indecent kiss which his mother refused to explain or discus. Leaving Draco frowning and to Floo to the platform alone.
His fellow Slytherins sat around him quietly talking among themselves as he was scowling at all of them and the world. He was watching out the window when the Weasleys came through and fortunately seemed to be the only one of his group to notice that there was another girl Weasley instead of Ron with them.
Finally after the train had been moving for a bit Draco stood up causing everyone to look at him. "I think I'll go take a walk. Anyone with me?"
Theodore chuckled, "Gonna go flirt with your boyfriend?"
"What's that supposed to mean Nott?" Draco sneered angrily.
"Oh just how every year you gotta go make sure Potter is on the train and greet him with your usual witty repartee." Nott said with a shrug, "Not exactly impressive enough to cow him into submission. So that must mean your heart just isn't in it."
"Pansy can tell you I'm not a poof!" Draco growled.
Pansy snickered, "You kiss pretty good but that's as far as we've gone Draco."
"Well what do you want me to do bend you over here in front of everyone?" Draco growled.
Pansy laughed, "As if you would."
Theodore held his hand up, "Okay no one wants to see that. Just go have your little rendezvous with Potter. We'll wait for you."
Draco stared at Nott who casually looked back, unperturbed and almost bored. "Fine. We'll finish this discussion later." Draco started to turn. He noticed his minions had not moved so he paused to stare at them. The two of them looked at Nott who shrugged. Crabbe got up to stand by Draco as did Millicent but Goyle sat beside Nott sneering at Draco.
"Fine. C'mon." he said to the two.
===xxx===xx
Draco slid open the door to the compartment Potter and his friends usually sat in. He stopped staring at the redheaded girl sitting on Potter's right.
"What the hell did you do Potter? Since you got the one killed you turned the other one into a girl?"
"Oh shut it Malfoy." Ron commanded him. "I'm not in the mood."
"Oh so its that time already?" He sneered crossing his arms and leaning against the door.
"I'll make sure you bleed before I do." Ron shouted standing up and getting in Draco's face. The tips of her bosom brushing Draco's chest caused both of them to look down then take a half step back.
"Yeah sure. Whatever Weasley. You may be better looking now but you're just as stupid." Draco managed to sneer.
"You're just jealous I have better hair than you do." She said flipping it.
"I'm not here to banter wit with an unarmed person. I'm here to serve notice to Potter. This year you're going to suffer." Draco declared.
Harry looked up at Draco then recoiled in mock horror, "Oh no. How horrible I shall suffer."
Ginny giggled as Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry's theatrics.
"I'm being serious Potter. You need to watch yourself things are changing."
Ron grumbled, "Don't I know it."
"Yeah like your minions appear to have changed. Where's Goyle?" Harry asked winking at Millicent.
Millicent leered back at him as she flexed her arm muscles.
"Goyle is busy doing other things." Draco huffed.
"You mean you trust him off the leash? Wow." Harry said breathlessly.
"Like I need minions to take you out Potter."
Ginny flew down beside Ron with her eyes glowing red as Harry and Hermione stood up. Neville paused a moment then joined them followed by Luna.
"So which one of us are you going to take on first Draco?" Harry sneered to Draco. "You're not as big a deal as you think you are."
Draco huffed then spun and walked into Crabbe. "I would like to leave now." Draco deadpanned at Crabbe.
Crabbe looked at him for a moment then went "Oh." and started walking back up the corridor. Followed by a disgusted looking Draco.
Millicent paused for a moment then said, "Be seeing you Potter."
Ginny shook her head, "He's already taken Millicent. Back off."
Millicent looked at Luna, Ron and Hermione. "Some choices. Suit yourself." She said then followed the other two Slytherins.
Once she was gone Ron slammed the compartment door shut.
Harry whistled, "Remind me never to do that again."
Hermione looked at Harry sarcastically, "What flirt with Millicent?"
"Yeah. I just saw my life flash before my eyes."
Ginny hovered beside Ron looking concerned. She was still standing with her head against the door. "You okay big bro? Er Sis?" She asked in concern.
Taking a deep breath Ron nodded, "Yeah. I think so."
"Do you want to talk about it? It might help you feel better." Hermione asked.
Ron slumped in the seat glumly, "No. I just wanna try and pretend this hasn't happened. I have no idea how much more I can deal with."
Luna sighed, "You will deal with as much as you can Ron."
"Yeah. Can we just try and figure out how this year is going to go?" Ron sighed.
"Well we have three new professors so that should be fun." Hermione said.
The rest of the journey was the six of them discussing all they knew about the new professors.
===xxx===xx
Draco went to an empty compartment and collapsed on the seat. Millicent and Crabbe looked at each other then followed him into the compartment to quietly sit on the seat across from him.
He ignored the two of them as he sat staring out the window. That was disturbing on multiple levels as he was still trying to figure out why he almost lost his entire train of thought when Ron push those, those things, up against him. The firm round things that distracted him and then that face. That freckle skinned blue eyed face with those full lips.
Gah was he seriously getting a crush on a blood traitor who was a guy, used to be a guy? He needed to crush this train of thought as he was loosing power in Slytherin house. He needed to focus on that. Not Ron Weasley's new attributes.
"Okay you two. What's going on with Nott and the others acting like I'm not even there."
Millicent shrugged as Crabbe continued to stare at him blankly. "Well Nott's heard your dad isn't in the picture any more." She said.
"What are you talking about?" Draco frowned.
Crabbe chuckled. "Dad said yer mum's about to get plucked. Since yer dad ain't around to protect her."
"Oh that's rather crude and my father has been busy working for the dark lord this summer."
Millicent frowned, "But Nott said his dad was negotiating with her until Sirius Black got free from prison."
"Yeah then she jumped into Black's bed according to dad." Crabbe grunted. "So looks like yer gunna get a new daddy.
"He said that did he?" Draco glowered as he stared at the two of them.
Crabbe suddenly shut up and looked at the floor. Millicent stared back but said nothing else.
"My mother is a pure woman who loves my father. He is going to deal with all those who spoke against him when he gets back. You'll see." Draco declared with finality.
===xxx===xx
Sirius was sitting in the cafe thinking when the Grangers came in. He saw them and started smiling.
"Ah Dan, Emma. Hello. How is Hermione?"
"She's fine. Excited, maybe a little nervous." Dan admitted.
"Well this year should be better. And she's got a strong mind so she'll be fine." Sirius said pulling a chair out for Emma.
"Thank you. So this year should be better?" Emma asked.
"Well my cousin is there. She'll look out for them. Plus the defense instructor is a former auror, aka law enforcement. So he'll be on the lookout for anything going wrong. Plus Minerva's a good woman. She may have been snowed by Dumbledore but she's now in charge and takes her position very seriously." Sirius explained.
"Well that's good to know. I suppose. Since we've only met Professor McGonnegal we are a bit apprehensive now after finally getting Hermione and Harry to come clean with everything that's been going on." Emma stated.
"Oh I don't blame you. I'm afraid that Dumbledore may not be quite as on top of things as he used to be."
"So it's possible he has developed dementia or some other medical condition?"
Sirius looked around the cafe. "Can you come back to my place to continue this? Its not the sort of discussion to be having in the middle of a cafe."
"I suppose that would be possible." Emma agreed.
===xxx===xx
Sirius was chuckling as the Grangers settled into the big wingback chairs in his library.
Dan looked at Sirius with a bit of concern, "What's so funny?"
"Oh you are the first muggles who have come into this house in about two hundred years. Mum would have had an absolute fit over this." Sirius replied, "Brandy?"
"No thanks I'm going to be driving back." Dan replied as Emma also politely shook her head.
"Ahh. Okay. More for me." Sirius said pouring him a large glass.
"So you were saying that Dumbledore might not be on his game?" Emma asked.
"Yes. Once upon a time he was one of the best in the fight against darkness. He fought the Big V to a standstill. He held the magical world together with his inspiration. Kept the Ministry from falling. He was regarded as the second coming of Merlin." Sirius explained.
"A real sort of Churchill kind of man." Dan suggested.
"Oh yeah. They even wanted him to be Minister but he declined." Sirius sighed.
"So what makes you think he might not be on his game?" Emma repeated herself.
"You have to understand that Voldy did this all before. He was losing then it seemed like Dumbledore stopped fighting to win. He started offering the people who call themselves Death Eaters a chance at 'redemption' which they did not want. They wanted to win. To exterminate all muggle-borns and enslave all muggles." Sirius frowned as he looked back at his memories.
"And this change in Dumbledore what caused it?" Dan asked leaning forward.
"We had a few things happen about the same time. Fleamont and his wife Euphemia died. They were Harry's grandparents, James' parents. Great people, she had him late as a miracle baby. Albus was a real good friend of the Potters and I think he was Jamie's godfather come to think of it."
"Well the death of a close friend might cause a falter but I'm pretty sure you lost other people if you were at war." Dan said thinking.
"Yeah we did. We lost quite a few before then. Gideon and Fabian were on a mission when they got jumped. They got torn apart by a half dozen Eaters, poor Benjy Fenwick though. What they got back of him fit in a mason jar. That all happened in 79 too. We lost a lot more in the final months of the war. When Albus pulled his hand and fought to give them redemption. Then when he got that blasted prophecy about Harry he focused on James and left the day to day running of the war to Alastor. He fought to take prisoners, when he could. Otherwise if they didn't give up." Sirius gave a grim smile and nod of his head as he left the rest of his comment unsaid.
"This prophecy Harry mentioned." Emma asked.
"Right. It said Harry would vanquish the dark lord. So James and Lily had been convinced by Al to go into hiding. Under a spell called the Fidelius. It's an old spell that has some limited use. It hides a secret so deeply in a person's soul that it cannot be ripped from them involuntarily. You'll turn the person into a vegetable first."
"And yet they were found out." Emma stated.
"No. They were betrayed by a foul little pestilent rat." Sirius hissed slamming the glass on the table causing some to slosh. Composing himself as he had caused the Grangers to jump a bit he cleared his throat and continued. "James was more agreeable to the plan that Albus came up with than Lily. She wanted to go hide in the muggle world. As you may have noticed a lot of wizards and witches do not understand muggles. James overrode her as head of the family. He also came up with the plan to try and lure out the traitor we thought was in our group by letting people think I was the secret keeper and letting Peter, the one who turned out to be the traitor, be the real keeper."
"So he lost focus of the big picture and became more concerned with keeping Harry and his family safe once he had the prophecy." Emma stated.
"Yeah thing is though they became sitting targets. Sure the Fidelus removes all trace of the knowledge of whatever secret you hide under it but you have to rely on the secret keeper. If they willingly betray you then you're a sitting duck. Al knew we had a leak in the organization. He thought it was Remus, I thought it was Peter and so did Lily. But Albus convinced James it was Remus and that was that. James convinced me we could trap the traitor with his plan and still get away. Being young and cocky I let him convince me. Lily fortunately took precautions." Sirius took a long drink of his brandy.
"What sort of precautions? I'm still trying to understand how all of this works." Emma explained.
"I'm not entirely sure. I know she consulted with Pandora Lovegood several times. She was a spell researcher for the Department of Mysteries and pushed the boundaries a lot. Lily was no slouch either so the two of them working together came up with something as a backstop should Jamie's plan fail."
"Which it did." Emma pointed out sympathetically.
"Yeah it did. I got called out to deal with Bella and her little circle of fanatics but they got away. By the time I got back Hagrid was pulling Harry from the wreckage and getting ready to take him off. I just lost it and went after Peter. I admit it I screwed the pooch on that one and let my temper get me. I should have done my duty and fought Hagrid for him but Hagrid is another one of Al's pets. So I wound up getting framed for a dozen murders and Petie still got away." Sirius fell silent with a heavy sigh.
Emma looked at Dan who nodded, "Well I think we can understand what happened with you. Now are the kids going to be safe with this Hagrid still at the school?"
Sirius frowned, "Hagrid may be loyal to Albus but he won't hurt children. He's a big softie under all that fur."
"You'd bet Harry's life on that?" Emma asked pointedly.
Sirius nodded quickly, "Yeah I would."
"Okay. So what can we do to help?" Dan asked leaning forward.
"I'll get you a way to contact me or Remus, that way you can watch out for anything strange. Watch the muggle papers and if anything strange, unusual, weird happens. Someone approaches you from our world. Let us know. If you can. There's not really a lot we can do, maybe put a soft mind-shield over you two. We can't do anything too heavy or it would be noticed." Sirius seemed to be half talking to himself and to the Grangers.
"We'll do what we can to help. We just want to make sure Hermione is safe and given all the chances she can to succeed."
"Good, glad to hear it." Sirius smiled honestly. "Now lets get busy."
===xxx===xx
The train had arrived on time as usual with no disruptions. Ron's new figure attracted a lot of attention and snickers from some. A few crass comments from a few were responded to in kind by Ron.
Hagrid calling for the first years greeted them warmly and politely to Ron. Saying he had heard about her changes and hoped she was settling in well enough.
Flitwick met them at the front doors when the carriages pulled up. "Ahh Miss Weasley. The headmistress was informed of your situation and has arranged for the matron to check you over after the welcome feast."
"AFTER the feast? Great. Okay as long as we can figure out how to fix this." Ron grumped.
"This isn't the worst that could have happened." The diminutive professor said, "I remember one time a student tried using an engorgio spell for immoral purposes and when he wanted to reverse it used a reducto instead of a reducio. That was rather unpleasant I'm sure."
The males walking near the professor shuddered in sudden empathy. Ron just snorted.
"Well I mean you're healthy and all in one piece so it could be worse." Flitwick shrugged.
Ron grunted, "Maybe" Then went to the Gryffindor table. Ginny hovered overhead a bit.
Lavender stared at Ron for a long moment then shrugged and went back to her conversation with Parvati. Ron's
The first years were brought in and went through their sorting after the hat sang its song. Minerva then stood up and called for attention. She began to introduce the new professors.
When Neville saw Andromeda he froze. He stared at her in confused horror and recoil into his seat. Ron and Lavender were sitting on either side of him and shook him gently to get him to come back from his state. He nodded in a cold sweat. The other professors did not seem to have any effect on him. Especially as Francis Muldoon seemed to be this quiet older gentleman with a sweater and a smoking pipe.
After the feast Ron practically jumped out of her seat, "C'mon we need to get to the hospital so I can get checked over."
"Alright calm down Ron. We'll get there." Harry said. "You okay Neville?"
Neville nodded, "Yeah I think so. I'll be fine."
Hermione raised her eyebrow but said nothing other than, "Very well we'll see you when we get back from taking care of Ron."
Neville nodded and followed the others to the Gryffindor tower.
"I wonder what that was all about" Harry asked but got no response.
===xxx===xx
The matron had sighed when she saw the three of them but just shrugged. "Alright Miss Weasley come over and sit down. MR Potter you may remain but you'll stay on the outside of the curtain."
"Okay I understand."
The headmistress and the new transfiguration professor came in while Ron was being examined. They nodded to Harry then joined him in waiting.
After almost a half hour the matron pulled back the curtain and Ron was sitting in her dress crying on Hermione's shoulder.
"Well Poppy?"
"As Miss Weasley has said Mr Potter can know this I can say that Miss Weasley is a girl. Her entire physical anatomy, magical pattern, she is as female as you or I Minerva."
The Headmistress raised her eyebrow, "And how would that come into being?"
"I'm not entirely certain. There are a few potions and rituals that could have done it but they would have left residues. Not to mention they would have been noticed." The matron was shaking her head.
"Well. And the effects are permanent?" Professor Crater asked.
"As far as I can tell. There does not seem to be any magical residue left of an active spell or potion. So unless whatever changed her in the first place occurs again she will remain like this."The matron declared with a sense of baffled finality.
"No offense intended Miss Pomfrey but do you mind if I run a few checks?" Professor Crater asked. "I have never encountered spontaneous transformation like this except among metamorphmagus."
"Please feel free. I have not either and this seems a bit late in life for that kind of magic to develop." Poppy said, "I welcome a second opinion on this."
"True and first changes are rarely so complete and total either." Minerva pointed out.
"This is quite interesting. Miss Weasley." Professor Crater said coming over, "My apologies for any discomfort but do you have any other members of your family able to shift like this?"
"No. My sister is a ghost though." Ron said glumly.
"I doubt that would affect your physical changes." Professor Crater said. "Do you mind if I conduct a few tests?"
"Why not?"
Crater took that as an assent so ran her wand over Ron several times causing various glows to occur but in the end she shook her head. "Well I think you're not a metamorphmagus as you would have changed in response to a couple of those things I did. This is quite odd."
"Yeah but can you guys change me back?" Ron pleaded.
"We could, however we would need your parent's permission to do so." The matron said. "And there might be a few side effects but it could be done."
Ron sighed deeply causing Harry to glance out the window suddenly. "Great. Mum's so excited I'm a girl she'll never go for that and dad's too scared to argue with her right now."
"Well there isn't much we can do about this. Especially since we are still not entirely certain how this came about in the first place. Its as if you had never been male at all." Crater said.
"Are you sure?" Minerva asked.
Crater nodded, "Oh yes. Her magical aura shows no sign of being altered. This required some very powerful and skilled magical manipulations. Anytime there is a change in a person's form their auric pattern reflects it. Echos and ripples remain for years afterwards. This is what lets us restore a person when they have situations like this." She frowned then turned back to Ron, "Are you certain you've always been male?"
"I had a swinging cod up until yesterday morning." Ron growled.
Minerva pursed her lips, "There is no need to be crude young lady. And that is no confirmation as with the right spell or potion so could anyone in this room."
"Well mum never had me examined like this before. She just had me and then dad registered it with the Hall of Heralds."
"So who was the attending midwife?" Crater asked with a frown.
"I dunno. You'd have to ask mum."
"Mum always told me it was someone named Phyllis Crane. Professor Dumbledore brought her over to take care of things." Ginny said floating into the room.
"Where've you been?" Ron crossly inquired.
"Well sorry but Myrtle wanted to welcome me into the ghost club here. We were talking about something." Ginny said with a huff.
"Oh great. You're socializing while I get poked and prodded and tested." Ron whined.
"I think that will be enough Miss Weasley." Minerva stated calmly.
"Sorry Ma'am. Sorry Ginny." Ron said abashed.
"You are undergoing some emotional distress so we can overlook the behavior for now. However it seems barring a miraculous recurrence of whatever changed you, you will remain a female. So you will need to at least act somewhat like it." Minerva declared.
"Will you talk with my folks about this?" Ron asked.
"I will speak with them, I also would like to speak with this Phyllis Crane do you know how to contact her?"
Both Weasley girls shook their heads.
Minerva nodded, Another circumstance where Albus Dumbledore had been involved that later turned out oddly. She was not thrilled with this. She had been contacted by Sirius Black asking her to tell him of anything odd involving Albus. She wondered if it wasn't time to actually speak with Mr Black.
===xxx===xx
Albus Dumbledore was standing in front of the large window overlooking the North Sea. The crashing waves on the rocks below made a recurrent thunder. He turned and sat at his large desk. The house was an old Gothic manor house he had acquired several decades ago on the Scottish coast.
He looked around the room he had set up as his office and frowned. Fawkes gazed back at him in placid boredom.
"Well old friend. It is the first of September once again. Harry and his friends should be back at school once more. So I wonder if he has plucked Miss Granger's feathers yet?"
Fawkes did not reply. The concerns of humans beneath his notice.
"Veronica though is probably going to need his comfort. She will no doubt continue to be confused, especially once Minerva and Poppy tell her she is a female forever." He said rolling the Elder Wand back and forth on the desk in front of him. "Perhaps he can comfort her as well. Plucking her would not be something Harry would consider though. He is far too much like his father. He would still see his former friend Ronald. She will have to find someone else to turn to for that sort of comfort."
Pulling a thick book written in Thulian Runes out of the desk he flipped through some of the pages. Pausing to make notes, or read something. "Now with Sirius helping in the hunt we can focus on the Horcrux. Severus and Remus will no doubt be recruited by young Sirius in this quest. Which will be much easier if I can acquire a few more memories. A few more thoughts from certain people."
Fawkes yawned and stretched. Making a few minor chirping noises and a soft trilling.
"Ah yes I know old friend. We have had one confirmed destroyed by Harry. That was good. You did well in your part. Then there is the other one inside Harry. If only there was a way to remove it without harm to our young friend. Oh well, at least with Miss Granger he should have a normal life and the ardor of teens should ensure another Potter generation. Before the end there. If not we may have to take more direct action." he frowned as he shook his head. "No that will only be last resort. I will give them all the time I can. Tom has not managed to find a body and without his two most loyal followers he will have a harder time of it."
Fawkes trilled and sang a brief cycle before rustling and settling back on his perch.
"Yes. I should put it out of my head. We have much more important things to focus on. We have those who have infiltrated the Ministry we should finally deal with. I'll need some more help though as they have insulated themselves too tightly. Now the others in Azkaban. Yes we can deal with them rather well. It will be quite easy to arrange things."
Fawkes titled his head at Dumbledore. He had been with Albus since the human had been young but he was not sure how much longer he could stay. The human's aura was still clean enough of stain but it was beginning to fray along the edges.
"I need to find the elf Dobby. He will be key in the new plans we have to make." Albus said standing as he made his way to a small pool of silvery mercury which he cast several spells into. Soon shapes had formed floating in the mercury and he smiled. "I found you my little friend."
===xxx===xx
Ron had come back to the Gryffindor tower with Harry, Hermione and Ginny. The four of them greeted by Fred and George.
"Well what did the matron say?" Fred began.
"Are you really a girl? Is this how you'll stay?" George finished.
"Yes guys. I'm a full fledged girl. I'll not be changing anytime soon." Ron glumly said then went to go up the boys stairs.
"Uh Ron. Wrong stairs." Ginny said floating over in front of her.
"Oh yeah." She said turning and trudging up the girl's stair.
As Hermione watched her climb she sighed, "Well that confirms it more than anything else."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"According to Hogwarts a history Godric did not trust boys to stay out of the girl's dorms. So he enchanted the stairs to only permit girls to climb them." Hermione explained.
"Yeah and many a spell or potion has been researched to find a way around that." Fred said.
"But not a trace, or hint of success has been found to bypass the spell."George agreed.
"I better go make sure Ron doesn't freak out." Hermione said with a sigh, "Good night Harry."
"Good night Hermione."
===xxx===xx
Ron froze at the third year dorm. Seeing her name on her battered old trunk sitting by a bed that looked remarkably like the one she had been sleeping in on the other side of the tower.
Lavender looked up, "Hi Ron. So you're a girl now hunh?"
"Yeah uh. Well at least in body. I think."
"You're not going to try and molest us are you?" Parvati asked. Ron wasn't sure if she was hoping or concerned about it.
"No. I'm not even sure I'd know what to do. Mum didn't talk about that."
Hermione came in. "Its really not that much different than with a boy. At least according to the discussions I've had with my mother, and the books I've read."
Lavender chuckled, "Yeah my mum's a midwife so I've learned a lot about babies like how to make them, and more importantly how not to make them."
Parvati shrugged, "Mum's a bit more traditional but Padma and I have studied some of the more erotic tantras and we practice yoga."
"So you guys aren't weirded out by this?" Ron asked sitting on the bed pulling the pillow up to herself.
"Not unless you make it weird." Lavender said.
"So no leering at us in the shower Ron. And no touching, either yourself or us." Hermione declared.
"At least not without permission." Parvati winked at Ron. Lavender rolled her eyes.
Fay Dunbar walked out of the shower in her pajamas. "Its a bold sinful girl you are Parvati."
"Yeah I know. I know." Parvati chuckled throwing a pillow at Fay who ducked. Hermione used her wand to accelerate the pillow back at Parvati who laughed and declared a pillow fight. Ron was soon laughing and joining in.
===xxx===xx
Harry went up to the boy's dorm after saying good night to Ginny to find Neville sitting reading while Seamus and Dean spoke. The big empty slot where Ron's bed had been seemed odd to Harry.
"So its just us four now Harry?" Dean asked.
"So it would seem."
"And he's really a she now?" Seamus asked eagerly. "Like totally and really."
"Well his body is a girl but his mind's still Ron." Harry wasn't sure why Seamus was so eagerly interested.
"Oh well. Man that's got to be confusing as ell." Seamus said.
"Yeah. Hey Nev you okay?"
Closing his book Neville nodded, "Yeah just wondering how this new potions teacher is going to be."
"She's Sirius' cousin. He says she's a good person and will help us if we need it." Harry explained.
"Sirius, as in Sirius Black? Mum saw they let him out on parole. How do you know him Harry?" Seamus asked.
"He's my godfather. We talk a lot." Harry explained as he changed into his pajamas.
Neville nodded then glancing at Seamus and Dean said, "Good night." Pulling his curtains closed.
Harry got into bed wondering how this year was going to go. Oddly enough he was missing Ginny's conversation before bed. He hoped she was doing okay as she had not been around too much.
===xxx===xx
Ginny was floating in Myrtle's bathroom. She was staring at the sink that led down into the chamber. She remembered what it felt like to have the spirit of Tom Riddle inside her urging her to do things. To do horrible things. She could remember everything that happened. Everything he did with her body. If she hadn't died she had no idea how she would have recovered from all of that.
Myrtle floated up to hover beside her. "Wondering if you want to go see where you died?"
"I was considering it."
"It doesn't change things you know. Seeing where you died." Myrtle pointed out with a sigh.
"Maybe not for you. I had hopes, and dreams and plans." Ginny scowled.
"And I didn't? Here's a clue honey. I've seen so many girls come in here bawling their eyes out over some boy, or some girl that didn't love them anymore or that got a bun in the oven thinking it would ruin their lives its not even funny anymore. Everyone has hopes, and dreams and plans. Everyone thinks their life is the most important one in the world. Being dead you get a lot of perspective." Myrtle said as sympathetically yet as sarcastically as she could.
Ginny hadn't considered that. "So why haven't you crossed over yet if its all that bad?"
Myrtle frowned, "Because I don't want to." She crossed her arms petulantly.
Ginny frowned, "I'm going to when I get done with my task."
"Suit yourself. I've heard that before." Myrtle shrugged as she began to float back to her U-bend. "You'll loose interest eventually and find a nice spot to haunt."
Ginny sighed and floated back up to Gryffindor tower. She flew through the girl's dorm to see her sister Ron sleeping sprawled on her back as normal. She pulled the blanket up over her. Blowing a random feather out of her hair. She looked at Hermione neatly tucked and curled in her bed. Smiling Ginny floated over to the boy's dorm and settled on top of Harry's bed. Sticking her head through to check on him she sighed softly and whispered, "I'll never lose interest. I promise you Harry. Not until you're safe."
===xxx===xx(Review Responses)
Alaskan-Dracolych: It'll come in later.
RumRunner: Well I would disagree with you on that. But then I had very open minded parents and grew up on a farm. I was exposed to the birds and bees from a young age breeding goats and cows. (As well as chickens and bee hives to be honest) so the amount of knowledge about sex varies based on the maturity of the person and their life experiences. Hermione has studied and read a lot and has two medical people for parents. She is going to be more mature than some of her peers. Snape doesn't care if harry and Hermione get it on just so long as he doesn't know about it. As for Harry he's along for the ride and will adapt. Anyhow have a nice day.
Dennisud: Ronnie will have some roles to play. Right now she is adjusting to being a she. As for Ginny she and Myrtle will have a frenemy relationship as my daughter puts it, but she might have a friend.
Arcticdranzer: Oh yes it is.
Jadesabrexiv: Oh indeed. Molly is firmly in the Saint Albus camp. We will be touching more on that as time goes by. Draco is going to have a world shift indeed. Oh yeah I've read Hornblower and the story of Captain Kidd. The age of sail was both romantic and horrific in many ways. (Funny story our local Am radio station used to have an old Navy guy as the DJ when I was a kid. One winter he got in trouble for telling the listeners to bring their brass monkeys in before morning.) As for Sirius and Narcissa yeah they have an interesting relationship. Ah lovely about the NASA research. Good luck. Oh just FYI for a place to keep off your travel plans there is a lake in Ohio that has hundreds of freshwater jellyfish in it that you can swim with. Its called Mineral Springs. We've stayed there before. You wouldn't like it.
OfficerDonNZ: Draco will be having a world shift as will Ron. Dumbles is having some issues and they are starting to snowball. The forces that will take over the fight are gathering and going to be coming to a head soon. Oh yeah by the end of the story she will have a happy ending. I'm a sap for happy endings.
IdlemanRPG: Narcissa is a complicated character. She is presented in the book as a haughty somewhat snooty bigot. How much of that was upbringing, how much maintaining image as a trophy wife, how much is her. Those are questions I like to ask and explore with each story. One of the reasons I use her more than Lucius. He is rather one dimensional. Not much wiggle room to work with. Even Snape has more wiggle room to play with and still stay closer to canon. Oh and I did put the deaged idea in the notebook. That does sound interesting.