Disclaimer: I just want the Weasley Twins... Rowling can have the rest.
Sitting bolt upright in bed, Ginevra Weasley wasn't sure if it had been the high pitched yelp of some animal in pain or the loud, threatening roar of another animal that had woken her from sleep. All she really knew was that she was now awake. Stumbling out of the bed, which turned out to be one of the ones in the Hospital Wing, Ginny slipped out from the privacy screens and stared blankly at the scene before her.
Leaning against each other, deep rumbling laughs echoing in their chests, were two massive creatures. Nearly seven feet tall and solidly muscled, Ginny could only assume that due to the ginger hair beneath black stripes and the sheer identical properties of the two that the tiger creatures were her twin brothers. She blinked, observing the way their tails swished playfully and the faded gray stripes that she could see on their faces and arms. She thankfully couldn't tell if they had stripes everywhere and sent a silent thanks to whatever deity had decided that clothing was a good thing to have.
The twins were standing over a white furred, wolfish seeming Malfoy and a decidedly smaller bird of another brother. While the twins laughed loudly, showing off elongated feline fangs, and Ron practically chirped with mirth, Ginny shook her head. For some reason she felt as if she should turn and run away from the boys. But that was silly, and definitely not good to do around the twins. Running would only result in pranks.
So, considering that Ginny was wise enough to know that if they were all in the Hospital Wing and if the others had been changed, chances were that she had as well. Drawing herself up, she padded over to the mirror apparently set up for their use and, ignoring the boys, stared at herself.
Raising her hand to lightly touch the mirror, Ginny's expression was blank. Her entire body seemed to be covered with a deep, dark reddish brown colored fuzz. She couldn't see a trace of her freckles at all anymore. Her hair was a darker blood red and, using one almost paw-like hand to brush the strands aside, she saw that beneath the curls, her ears were smaller and rounder. Ginny's brown eyes remained unchanged as she looked at the tiny trace of a muzzle complete with a soft black nose and long black whiskers.
Tracing th reflection of her face, Ginny eventually lowered her gaze. Her fingers had faint traces of webbing when she spread them and a quick glance at her feet revealed that her new paws had the same webbed look. A sharp turn and a soft inhalation later and Ginny was looking at the thick reddish brown tail that reached her ankles. Brows furrowing in concentration and she managed to make the thick tail swish. She grimaced, an expression that only deepened when she saw the sharp little teeth now filling her minuscule muzzle.
The boys had stopped scuffling and laughing once they realized she was there and were silently staring at the changes in the youngest Weasley even as she observed herself. Finally, she broke the silence.
"I'm going back to bed. Wake me when this dream is over."
And that was just what Ginny did. She turned, padded softly back over to the screens she had emerged from and disappeared once more. The sounds following her departure fit with the concept of someone going back to bed.
Clearing his throat once his sister was gone, the rumbly, almost purring voice of George Weasley followed. "Ok, what exactly were you guys mixing in that bathroom that didn't blend well with our potion?" He turned his gaze to Ron, not seeming to notice that his twin Fred was circling him as if he were inspecting himself in a mirror.
Whatever Ron would have said in reply was cut off by a loud scream that was half feline screech causing all attention to jerk in the direction of the screens across from Ginny's cot. The twins, surprising even their selves, growled softly in response to the feline scream, their eyes narrowing as they started toward the screens surrounding the bed. Ron slowly backed up while Draco finally realized he was still lying sprawled on the floor from where the twins had knocked him and stood.
One hand reaching out to open the curtain, Fred's voice was a mixture of concern and something else when he spoke. "Are you ok in th-... ACK!"
Unable to complete opening the screen, Fred found himself knocked flat on his back as something solid slammed right into his chest. The slam was bad enough, but the thing wasn't content to just lie atop him. It was clawing at the stunned Fred, snarling and, judging from the rowls of pain from the tiger twin, kicking and biting as well.
Several stunned moments later and George tackled the violent creature from the side, rolling with it across the floor and struggling to subdue the beast. It wasn't until he had the thing's arms pinned behind it's back and managed to haul the writhing thing to its feet that they recognized the creature.
"Hermione?"
"Granger!"
It probably shouldn't have surprised them that whatever had happened to them had affected the normally composed prefect the most. After all, the explosion of potions had happened practically right in her face. They had all suffered various animalistic reactions upon awakening, but that didn't explain why her reaction was so violent. Nor did it explain why she continued to thrash in some combination of fear and rage in George's hold.
Stunned into silence once more, the boys looked at the transformed Hermione. She was a lot taller, nearly six feet to judge by the way she thrashed against the taller tiger. Like Ginny and Draco, she was covered in soft fuzz, only her fur was a golden tan color. Her hair was longer and even wilder than they remembered and the top of soft, rounded ears were visible. Like the twins, Hermione had a long thrashing tail, golden tan with a dark chocolate brown tip that matched the visible tips of her ears. From her fingertips and toes claws were convulsively extending and retracting as she struggled for freedom.
Her snarl showed similar feline fangs, the sight made only worse by the traces of blood on her fangs and lips. A glance at Fred showed him tenderly touching various scratches and bite marks where the thin Hospital clothing had done nothing to protect his skin from the claws and teeth of the feline Gryffindor. But it was the look in her once chocolate brown eyes that caused Ron to stumble backwards, tripping over his own feet again and landing on his arse. The amber orbs were feral, angry... Hungry.
"Calm down, Hermione!" George pleaded. Though he was holding her easily enough, the thrashing of the girl that, like he and his twin, had added more muscle during her transformation was painful to hold... Seeing as the claws on her feet were managing to get several shreds into his shins. "Please!"
"Stupid Weasle. Its bad enough you've gotten us all turned into... THINGS! But can't you at least shut her up?" Draco's words were half command, half pained as he attempted to protect his more sensitive ears from the yowls and screeches of the banshee cat.
George blinked at the command and, without pausing to think of what he was doing, he tilted his head to the side and bit down gently on the back of Hermione's neck. Almost instantly she stopped her screeching, though she still gave the occasional thrash. Hermione panted, her expression something between submissive and what could only be considered murderous.
Taking in the expression, Fred laughed. "Well, that's using your instincts to subdue a female. Better hold onto her, though. Looks like she'll kill you once she gets free."
The blush that rose on George's face made the gray stripes on his cheeks stand out even more.
Unable to get back to sleep once Hermione had awakened, Ginny had observed the entire incident by way of peeking around the edge of her curtain. She was about to withdraw once more when something caught her attention. "Oh my God, Harry!"
Everyone spun at the sound, first looking at Ginny and then turning in the direction she was looking and gasped.
Though he was much the same height, Harry, like several of the others, had added muscle. His body, while not covered in the fuzzy fur that most of the others had, had paled to the point where Draco's natural coloring looked like a tan. His messy black hair was tipped in silver and made his bright emerald eyes stand out even more... Emerald hues that now had vertical slivers of silver instead of normal pupils. Black cloven hooves, making a heavy clop sound with each careful step he took, trying to maintain his balance. Each of Harry's hands was now missing a finger, giving him four digits per hand. Long, pale ears stuck visibly out of his messy locks. But his biggest change was similar to Ron's. A pair of large black wings graced his back, each of the feathers tipped with silver giving a starry speckle appearance to the graceful appendages.
"Is it just me..." Harry began. "Or did something go terribly wrong the last time we were all together?"
At Harry's words, Hermione had stopped struggling. "George..." Her voice was slightly rough and sent shivers down George's spine before he finally, carefully, released his hold on her. "Thanks, George."
Ginny reemerged from her curtained off section of the Hospital Wing and the seven students stood in a loose semi-circle inspecting each other.
Ron and Harry were sharing thoughtful looks before Ron asked his earlier question for the second time. "So... Do you think we can fly?"
Fred left the circle after glaring at Hermione to swipe a potion for the scratches and bites while George started a debate with Harry and Ron about if they could fly or not. Hermione slumped down, a soft growl trying to form in her throat for reasons she couldn't understand and Ginny stayed off to one side. It was Draco who interrupted the little 'moment' everyone was happening by bringing to mind what the twins had wondered earlier.
"What the hell were you Gryffindor-s..." He adjusted what he was going to say just before turning their house name into Gryffindorks. "Doing anyway? What turned us into monsters?" His fists were clenched, a growl in his throat as he glared at each of the Gryffindors in turn.
"That, Mister Malfoy, is precisely what we would like to know."
At the voice, all seven teenagers turned toward the doorway where Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape stood next to Madam Pomfrey, waiting for some answers.
A/N: So Shorty, since you are my one reviewer, is there anything in particular you would like to see from the story? )