I don't own Hellsing or Harry Potter, and I'm not making any money from this.
The Astronomy exam Connie had taken the night before marked the official end of first term. Since they had been released from class at nearly 1am, she decided not to bother with an alarm and just sleep until her internal clock woke her up. When her eyes finally cracked open, she found that it was 2:37 in the afternoon. Aside from her things, Hermione's belongings were the only ones in the room that hadn't been touched. The other girls had packed up and left for the holiday without her hearing a thing. She must have been really tired.
Even though she was awake, Constance didn't feel an immediate urge to get out of bed. She rolled over and threw an arm over her eyes to block out the light streaming in from the windows. If she were home, she'd have never been allowed to sleep this late unless she were sick. Rebecca, the woman who had been hers and Mihnea's nursemaid when they were little and who now served as their governess, would have come in to wake her up by 10:00am, if not earlier. If her attempt was unsuccessful, Jackson would come in next to give a stern warning that getting out of bed was in her best interests. After that, her father would come into her room with a bowl of ice water to dump on her head. After enduring that once, Constance quickly learned to get up by the time their butler came to fetch her.
But she wasn't home. She was stuck here in this castle which, while a wonderful place and filled to the brim with interesting things, wasn't really an adequate substitute. Without classes to keep her busy, there wouldn't be much to do. And with Harry, Ron, and Hermione off doing their own thing without her, she would be pretty much left to her own devices. Mihnea... she could search out Mihnea to do something with him, but she imagined he would take advantage of the break to return to the nocturnal schedule he kept at home. He probably wouldn't get out of his bed until closer to nightfall... Ugh, this holiday was going to be awful.
She dozed lightly for another hour or so before finally forcing herself out of bed. What she was going to do to pass the time, she had no idea, but she had to get up and do something. Constance pulled a pair of faded jeans and a light blue cashmere sweater out of her wardrobe, then put them on before heading down to the common room.
There wasn't a soul to be seen anywhere. Goodness, just about everyone in Gryffindor must have gone home. It was eerily quiet. The only sound came from the crackling fireplace. Since she'd missed lunch and supper wouldn't be served for a couple of hours yet, there was no point in going downstairs. So she curled up in one of the massive armchairs set in front of a table and passed the time by playing solitaire. She had completed six games and was working on a seventh when she heard a voice behind her.
"You look like you're having loads of fun." it said sarcastically.
It was one of the twins, but she couldn't tell which one until he hopped around in front of the chair and crouched down on the other side of the table. Connie looked him over.
"George, why are you wearing Fred's sweater?" she asked. "You know it doesn't work with me."
He looked down at the bright red 'F' emblazoned on the chest of his hand-knitted sweater. "Just because it doesn't work on you, doesn't mean it wont work on everyone else." he replied smartly. "So today, he's Gred, and I'm Feorge." he folded his hands on the table and rested his chin on top of them to watch what she was doing with the cards. "What's this? Some kind of muggle game?"
One of her brows slowly went up. First, they were switching names altogether, and now they moved on to switching only the first initial? At least they're creative about it, she thought.
"It's called solitaire." she told him. "Wizards don't play card games?"
George pointed at her lines of cards. "Not like that. How are you supposed to play a game by yourself?"
"Um... that's the whole point?" she replied. "It's solitaire. Like 'solitary'?"
He looked like he thought it was the strangest thing he'd ever heard. "Huh. Muggles sure come up with some weird things..." he pulled his head up from the table and rocked back on his heels. "So, are you completely wrapped up in that, or do you want to do something more interesting?"
Constance found it a teensy bit strange he was asking, but the idea of doing something more interesting than playing cards by herself was enough to capture her attention.
"Like what?" she asked.
He tapped his chin like he had to think about it. "I don't know. Maybe... come to Hogsmeade with me?"
That made her sit back in the chair and blink. It wasn't just the idea of what he suggested, but how he worded it. The fact that he was doing this on his own rather than Fred being involved was equally suspicious. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Are you asking me out on a date, George Weasley?" she asked.
"That depends." he replied with a shrug.
"It depends?" she questioned, confused. "On what?"
"On what you say." George told her, looking completely serious. "See, if I ask you out and you say no, then I have to live with the shame of rejection. But if I just ask you to go somewhere with me and you say no, then it's completely different and I don't have to feel like a loser."
He'd actually put some thought into this. Connie wasn't quite sure whether to think it was funny, or just be confused.
"So it's only a date if I say yes?" she asked, making sure she understood him.
He nodded. "Pretty much, yeah."
Wow, this had to be the strangest situation she'd ever been in. She thought about it a moment. Did she want to go on a date with him? Of the two of them, she actually got along with George a teensy bit better. She'd never expected him to ask her out though. But... he did tend to make a point of talking to her more often than Fred did... Why on earth had she not noticed that?
"Why should I agree to go with you, then?"
"Let's see." George said, then held up his fingers to begin listing things off. "Fred is off seducing some Hufflepuff girl, leaving me one-ly. You're obviously one-ly too, and one-ly people should stick together so they can be one-ly together. But most importantly, I am both funny and completely adorable."
Despite the humor he was putting into it, he did have a point. Fred waskind of known for being a ladies man. And at that moment, George was being pretty damn adorable. She couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"See?" George said, pointing at her. "You're laughing already. Bet your muggle card game can't do that, can it?" he then clasped his hands together in front of him and gave her a puppy dog eyed look. "Pretty please? With cherries and licorice snaps on top?"
Damn those damn puppy eyes. That wasn't the least bit fair. Connie made a face. "I don't much like cherries or licorice."
"Hmm... Raspberries?"
"Too tart." she replied.
"Pineapple?" he asked, trying again. "Oranges, peaches, coconut, apples, grapes, or peppermint swirls?"
Now that was just cute. He was going to name off everything he could think of until he found something she liked. She laughed again. "Strawberries." she told him. "I like strawberries."
"Strawberries it is!" he declared. "Pretty please with a mountain of strawberries on top?"
Constance tried to reign in her giggling fit by taking a deep breath of air. She allowed herself to drop against the back of her chair and cocked her head to the side. "Fred dared you to do this, didn't he?"
"No." George replied a little too quickly. When he saw one of her brows go up, he coughed. "I was going to ask you anyway." he told her. "He just bet I wouldn't do it before Christmas."
That sounded like something they would do. Making bets to get money out of every small thing they could. She looked up toward the ceiling and thought about it.
"How much money do you have on this?"
"Thirty galleons." he replied.
Holy hell, that was a lot of money for them to put down on a date. Either Fred was expecting to her to say no, or he really wanted her to say yes. Or George was so sure of himself that he wasn't worried about losing. That was kind of... weird and sweet all wrapped up into one. The amount made her feel a bit better about what she was going to do.
"Okay, I'll go out with you." she told him. "On one condition. You have to use the money from this bet to pay for it."
He gave her a big grin and bit his tongue between his teeth. "Why'd you think I was betting on it in the first place?"
Ah, so the whole reason he'd been taking bets on them was so he could fund whatever it was he had planned. Constance's dad would probably think that was funny. She wasn't quite sure what her mother's opinion of it would be. She agreed to meet him by the stairs leading up to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom in about an hour. George had to go find his brother to collect his 'winnings', and Connie had to put on some shoes before she could go anywhere. After selecting a pair of sneakers from her wardrobe in the dormitory, she wondered how he intended to get her to Hogsmeade without anyone catching them. Just walking off the grounds wouldn't work because they would be seen by a teacher. But Fred and George were just as good about sneaking around as she and Mihnea were, so she figured he had a plan.
So George had finally grown a pair and asked Connie out on a date, Mihnea thought to himself. He'd noticed the boy's growing interest in her for months, but didn't say anything about it. He didn't really have a problem with either of the twins – aside from their habit of randomly making things explode in every class he had with them. But this was his cousin he was making a pass at. He'd not seen anything that showed he was good enough for her. Of course, he'd probably never think anyone was good enough, but that was beside the point. He seriously hoped this would just be a minor thing. Dating meant getting closer to someone than the simple bonds of friendship required. Getting close to someone meant opening up and trusting them with things... letting them know things about yourself that others didn't know. For people like the two of them, that was a dangerous thing. One of the many reasons why he hadn't bothered going after a girl himself. (Not that there were any girls worth going after.) For the moment, that wasn't an issue to be concerned with. Mihnea was more worried about George getting too close to her for his comfort. Like... putting his arm around her or something. That sort of thing was a gateway drug to things like cuddling. Or kissing. If George Weasley so much as thought about kissing his cousin, he would rip his intestines out through his nostrils. He had to keep an eye on this 'date' until he was absolutely certain that Weasley wasn't going to try anything he'd have to beat the shit out of him for. Connie would kill him if she knew he was following them, but she'd get over it. He didn't intend on her finding out anyway.
They snuck out to Hogsmeade through a secret passage beneath a statue near the DADA classroom. Mihnea hadn't known about it and he made a mental note of where it was for the future. The winding tunnel led straight to the cellar of Honeydukes. When the two of them climbed out, the Mihnea had to allow them to get a little ahead of him so they wouldn't see him exiting as well. One of the things about visits to Hogsmeade was that there were so many adults within the village itself, the teachers didn't usually bother to chaperone the students. The villagers could take care of making sure they didn't get into trouble. With Constance's birthday only a few days away, she could tell anyone who asked that she was already thirteen, and no one would say anything about her being there.
It turned out to be a pretty boring expedition for him. After browsing through Honeydukes and Zonko's to make several purchases (there was no way for a Weasley to go to Hogsmeade without making a stop at the joke shop), Connie and George wound up taking a table at Madam Puddifoot's coffee shop to talk. It was hardly worth listening in on, Mihnea thought. His cousin was pretty much telling Weasley all about muggle joke shops and the things they sold. He was keeping watch from a shadowy section outside, half listening to Connie explain the details of how a hand buzzer worked, when he felt the gentle tug of Pixie finding something interesting.
Mihnea's cat was the first animal he'd ever been able to communicate with or mentally control without having to be taught how to do it. It was probably because she belonged to him and actually opened her mind up rather than him having to coax or force his way in like with other animals. It came in handy. Pixie, as intelligent as she was, could go just about anywhere in the castle without being hampered by anyone and if she found something unusual or interesting, she'd let him know. She couldn't 'talk' in the sense of using words, but she would let him see through her eyes and hear and smell things that she encountered. And while he was standing outside of the coffee shop in Hogsmeade with the sun beginning to set, he got a mental view of his common room down below the Black Lake. Pixie was laying on the floor with her head poked out from behind a sofa, watching Malfoy have a conversation with his two 'bodyguards', Crabbe and Goyle. Only, these two boys didn't smell like Crabbe and Goyle to his cat. When Mihnea paid closer attention, he found they smelled weird to him too. The odor was familiar, but they weren't members of his house. It took him a moment, but he figured out where he'd encountered those scents before. Connie's friends, Potter and Weasley. What the bloody hell were they doing in his common room looking like Crabbe and Goyle?
He shook his head to clear away the mental images he was getting and glanced back into the shop. Constance was fine. George obviously wasn't planning on doing anything other than talking, but if he tried anything Connie would probably slap the shit out of him. He could afford to leave her and see what her little friends were getting themselves into. It was too interesting to resist going to check it out.
Mihnea waited until he was outside of Hogsmeade itself to break into a run toward the castle. He could get there so much faster that way, even without using that secret passage he'd just learned about. When he entered the courtyard, Pixie was standing in one of the many doorways, waiting for him. He walked right up to her and looked down.
"Where are they, girl?" he asked.
Pixie meowed at him, then took off down one of the hallways. He followed her through doors and up staircases until they reached the second floor of the Gryffindor section of the castle. It seemed Potter and Weasley had finished whatever they were doing down in the Slytherin dormitory and had come back up here. Mihnea slowly walked down the hall, listening for any snatches of sound he could pick up. Further down, in a room that appeared to be a girl's bathroom, he could hear both of them and the Granger girl talking amongst themselves. It sounded like they were arguing about something.
"Hermione, you should probably go to the hospital wing." he heard Potter say. "I mean... is there any way to fix this on our own?"
"I can't go to the hospital!" Granger exclaimed, panicked. "What would we tell them? Just look at my face!"
"Your face?" Weasley asked, sounding like he was trying not to laugh. "Look at your tail."
Tail? Mihnea thought. Okay, he just had to see what was going on. Picking up speed, he walked right through the door of the girl's bathroom and crossed his arms over his chest.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
The three younger Gryffindors all gasped, and Harry and Ron both stepped toward each other to hide Hermione behind them. That was an unusual thing for them to do...
"What the bloody hell are you doing up here?" Harry demanded. "This is Gryffindor tower!"
Mihnea arched a brow. Most people weren't brave enough to talk to him that way. Maybe knowing that he was on their territory made Potter think he could get away with it.
"You're in a girl's bathroom." he pointed out. "And I believe you and Weasley there were just in my common room."
As they gaped at him in shock, Mihnea caught sight of a small cauldron sitting on the floor in front of the sinks and the subtle scent of a potion they'd been brewing. Polyjuice, he recognized. He'd smelled Snape brewing it for one of his seventh year classes before. So that's how they changed forms.
"Let me guess." he said, turning his attention back to the boys. "You brewed polyjuice to sneak into my dormitory to find out who the heir of Slytherin is."
Their mouths fell open even wider, if that were possible. "How... how did you know...?" Ron sputtered.
Mihnea ignored the boy and looked over their shoulders. Granger was crouched down behind them, still desperately trying to hide. He couldn't make out anything but her bushy hair and... cat ears? Without saying a word, he strode forward and pulled Potter and Weasley apart. Hermione gasped loudly and shrank back, trying to cover her face with her hands so he couldn't see what she looked like. But he could see enough of what was wrong without looking at her face. Every inch of her skin was covered in fur, and she had cat's ears and a tail. Even her hands had succumbed to the change. It looked like she was hiding behind a set of paws.
"What the bloody hell did you do to yourself, Granger?" he asked, wondering how she'd wound up that way. Polyjuice potion didn't work for animal transformations, and this one was incomplete. She still looked somewhat human.
"I... I don't know..." she said haltingly, as if she weren't sure whether she should be talking to him or not. "I thought I did everything right..."
He should leave them there to sort through the mess themselves. It was none of his business, and if a bunch of second years were stupid enough to attempt something as advanced as the polyjuice potion, they could deal with the consequences on their own. But... they were Connie's friends. And the fact that Granger had actually made the potion work – albeit a little too well – was impressive. He had no idea why, but he felt the urge to help her. Maybe it was because she had half turned herself into a cat. Hehad always been a cat person...
Mihnea shook his head slightly. That was... weird. He pushed the oddball thought to the side and sighed. If he was going to fix Granger's undesired feline transformation, he was going to be in for a long night. They would have to backtrack and figure out exactly what she'd done wrong and he would have to brew something from scratch to combat the effects. The polyjuice potion took a month to make properly, so brewing something to nullify it would normally take an equal amount of time. But there were ways around that. If he used a touch of sorcery, he could cook something up in a few hours. He'd have to do a little mental manipulation on the three of them to distract them from noticing what he was doing, but it could be done.
"Okay, the way I see it, you have two choices." he told Hermione after a moment's thought. "You can go to the hospital wing and spend weeks in there while they try to figure out what happened and how to fix you, or you can tell me exactly what you did so I can fix this right here before anyone finds out. Your choice."
Hermione's paws dropped, and her yellow slitted eyes blinked at him in confusion. "You're... you're not going to tell anyone about this?"
Mihnea sniffed. "Does it look like I'm running off snitch on you?" he asked. "Do you want to fix this now, or not?"
She stepped back, looking like she was made nervous by his tone. "I... want to fix it now."
Mihnea nodded. He figured as much. He searched out his cat and found her sitting to the left of the doorway.
"Pixie, go get my black bag with the red cross on it." he told her. "If anyone stops you, bite the hell out of them."
Pixie meowed in understanding, then ran off. Mihnea then looked at Potter and Weasley. "You two go down to the kitchens and get some food."
They both looked at each other in confusion. "Huh? Why?" Ron asked.
"The longer you stay under the influence of polyjuice, the more energy it saps out of you. Now go do it!" he snapped.
The boys jumped, then ran out of the room to do what they were told. It didn't take long for Pixie to come back into the bathroom dragging the requested bag behind her. He started pulling out potion ingredients while Granger cleaned out the mess she'd made of the cauldron they'd used. Potter and Weasley came back with a plate loaded down with food a few minutes later. They passed it over to Hermione, and she listed off everything she could remember about how she'd brewed the potion while she ate. With all the information he needed, he set to work discerning some way to create a potion to fix this mess she'd gotten herself into.
A.N: In defense of Connie going out on a date at her age – I recently read a study that said that a disturbingly large percentage of girls have engaged in some kind of sexual act by the age of eleven. If girls that young can run around doing things like that, then they can date. Ginny got her first boyfriend when she was thirteen in the books and Connie is only a few days away from being thirteen, so I think it's acceptable.
And Mihnea isn't a complete asshole all the time. He is fully capable of being nice when he wants to be. :)