The sun shone brightly through the window, rousing the sixteen year old Hermione Granger from her bed. She was the same as she had always been. Same bushy hair, same boring brown eyes, same chubby figure. Good part of all this... it was the first day of summer and there was two and a half months to fix all of those things. Hermione squeezed herself into a slightly too small black one piece bathing suit and grabbed a towel, intent on swimming laps.
Funny thing is that that was at the beginning of summer. Now, only two weeks away from her final year at Hogwarts, she was rushing out of the door to make a trip to Diagon Alley. Her mother, Diana Granger, was waiting in the car.
"So you're going to pick me up at 7:00, right?" asked Hermione as she pulled on her seatbelt. Her mother merely nodded as they set off to London. It was a short and silent drive, the radio humming quietly. The Leaky Cauldron came into view and Hermione got out of the car. Pulling her jacket tighter around her, she opened the gate between two worlds. Her footsteps stopped her at the entrance of Knockturn Alley. Did she really want to go in there? YES! She rushed into the alley and glanced around before venturing further. She needed to get to Lady Meta's to finish her change. Hermione's eyes scanned the stores and spotted the shop at the end of the darkened corner.
"Can I help you?" a richly clad witch asked snobbishly, looking out from behind the desk where she sat. She looked at Hermione, calculating every move she made."
"Yes actually, I need to get assessed and remade," Hermione said professionally. The woman smirked and stood to assess. She felt naked as the woman's eyes scanned over her critically, taking in every blemish and attribute. After a few minutes, it was finally over. At least the assessment was.
"You need dark blonde hair, violet-grey eyes, full lips, a cute nose and thick eyelashes with perfect eyebrows." The lady smiled a tad bit viciously. "That's going to be 600 galleons."
"Ok, do what you need." Hermione said as she sat down in the chair. The woman, Lisa her nametag read, took out her wand and some potions. She pointed the wand at Hermione's hair and muttered a few words. A tingling spread across her head and then a sharp pain hit her. Lisa opened Hermione's agape mouth and poured a violet colored concoction down her throat. A searing pain passed through her whole face and the world faded to darkness.
The first thing Hermione saw was the witch, Lisa. She was standing over her with ice-cold water. She got up and looked into the mirror. Sure enough, she saw a dark blonde girl with silky soft straight hair that had a variation of blonde highlights in it, violet-grey eyes and a slender figure. She counted out the money for Lisa and hurried from the store. Everything that she had gotten done was permanent. Hermione decided that with her new look, would be new clothes, and a new pet.
Muggle London was a metropolis. Hermione bought short skirts, tight tops, shoes, boots, low-rise jeans, belts, and a few pairs of warm clothes. She also got a tattoo of a paw print on her hip and a small pair of angel wings on her back. In the magical menagerie, Hermione perused the many pets that one could have. She looked past the owl, the toads and the rats. Cat! It took hours or maybe just one, to find what she was looking for. A Katdelin. A Katdelin is a cat with wings that can communicate with you in your mind and detect those people who lie. Hers was pure black, with violet eyes, paws and wings. She quickly paid for the Katdelin and exited the store. Hermione checked her watch, noting that it was close to seven. She waited in the Leaky Cauldron for her mother to come and pick her up.
Sleep came easily, curled up in bed with her new kitten resting next to her. A small smile touched her lips as her dreams turned to reality. Tomorrow she was going to stay with the Weasley's for the rest of the summer, which wasn't that long. She couldn't wait.
The loud yells of her mother woke Hermione up pretty quickly. She crawled out of bed and headed to her bathroom, turning on the hot water and stripping down. The water washed away her worries and calmed her down. She lathered soap up and down her body, the scent of vanilla and brown sugar filling the room. She washed and conditioned her hair before stepping out and drying off. Hermione brushed her teeth and applied lotion. Walking over to her bedside chair, she pulled on the clothes she had set there last night.
"Mom! I'm going to the Weasley's right now, could you help me with my trunk?" Hermione called holding Montreal, and kicking her trunk down the stairs. It landed at the bottom with a large thud. So much for that idea. She rushed down and her mother smirked at her, hauling the trunk to the fireplace. Her mother kissed her goodbye and told her to write before Hermione took a pinch of floo powder and shouted, "The Burrow!"
Hermione landed with a dull crash on the carpeted floor in front of the fireplace at the Burrow covered in a light coating of soot. She got up and noticed that everyone was staring at her. She smiled brightly, brushing the dust and dirt off of her, hoping to be remotely clean.
"May we help you dearie?" Mrs. Weasley asked, breaking the silence. The boys were gaping with their mouths open as Ginny smiled knowingly. Hermione had told her of her summer plan. Harry finally regained composure and smiled warmly at her.
"It's me, Hermione," she laughed. There was more silence. They took in the dark blonde hair, violet-grey eyes, slender body and the clothes. She was wearing light blue stonewashed low-rise jeans, showing her flat stomach and a shirt that clung perfectly to her curves. Fred and George arched their eyebrows inquisitively. Harry looked on in disbelief and Ron seemed to have lost ability to speak. Mrs. Weasley smiled.
"Boys, do take Hermione's things upstairs to Ginny's room."
Fred and George got up and hauled the trunk away, allowing Harry and Ron to greet Hermione. They both got up and pulled her into a bone crushing hugs, nearly suffocating her in the process. When they broke away, Hermione stepped back and looked them over. Harry was about six foot with his usually messy jet-black hair and sparkling emerald green eyes. His body was perfectly muscular due to Quidditch. She mentally thanked wizards for the game. Ron was around six feet four inches with shiny red hair that was slightly mused and brown eyes that looked far away.
"You guys look great," she exclaimed. She impulsively hugged them again.
"We could say the same about you," Harry told her. "What caused this change?"
"Yeah, what happened Hermione?" Ron agreed.
"I felt like I needed a change... don't you like it?"
"We like it," Fred and George said as the descended the stairs. Fred walked over to her and looked into her eyes. He smirked as he felt her breathing quicken. He leaned in and kissed her lightly, barely brushing his lips against hers, but that simple touch left her wanting more. Her eyes opened and Fred flashed his prankster grin and walked away, a stunned George followed. Ginny burst into giggles and Harry, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley seemed too shocked to say anything.
Fred had kissed her. What did that mean? Hermione groaned quietly. She hated being confused.