A/N: I own nothing, just the ideas. Thanks to my Helpers: Nova5621 and CoquetteKitten. Now for the next chapter:

2

Changes

Harry dressed quickly, his mind racing. What had happened to Hermione? He had been injured worse that she had, why would she turn when he hadn't? Either way he had to get to her. He pulled on his trainers. He couldn't fly, couldn't drive, the trains were done for the night. He wondered if a bus… A bus! The Knight bus! He grabbed his emergency bag and his wand. The bag was Hermione's idea, an emergency grab-and-go bag for when he had to run and didn't have time to pack. It contained 50 galleons, 200 pounds, six bottles of water, a bunch of snacks, several magical and mundane maps, and his cloak. Pausing to ensure he had the essentials, he ran for the door.

SLAM.

Harry staggered back as his door refused to open. Damn Uncle Vernon and his blasted locks he thought. Pointing his wand at the door, he whispered "Alohomora" and heard a satisfying series of clicks. Opening the now unlocked door, he raced down the stairs. Bursting out the front door, he waved his wand as he ran to the curb.

Bang. The huge purple triple decker rolled into view. Harry hopped on before it even stopped.

"Welcome to the..." Stan started his speech, but was cut off.

"Hi Stan, no time, I need to get to Crawley, 17 Astoria lane." Harry interrupted, slightly winded "Here's 3 galleons to make it the next stop."

"Hiya Neville, everything ok?" Stan asked concerned.

"No, my friend is in trouble, need to help." Harry wheezed. "Can we please go now?"

"Right-O Neville," Stan turned to the driver, "17 Astoria lane in Crawly Ern, quickly now, we're on a rescue mission!"

Harry staggered as the Bus lurched into motion. Stans' hand shot out as a turn sent him towards the entrance. "Steady-on there Neville. Don't worry, we'll getcha to yer friend now."

"Thanks" Harry muttered, grabbing a railing before the bus lurched again.

"No worries there, Neville." Stan replied, "Here comes your stop now."

With another surge and a bang, the knight bus appeared in Crawley. Harry rushed off before the bus stopped, calling his thanks over his shoulder. The bus surged and banged away as Harry paused to get his bearings. 17 was in front of him, 15 to the right and 19 to the left so that meant… Harry turned to the right, heading down the way and pulling his invisibility cloak on as he ran. Stopping in front of number 9, his wand drawn, he took stock of his surroundings.

The neighborhood was quiet. No one seemed to be up, no coppers or any indications of a disturbance. He'd expected a lot of attention if a werewolf turned in a muggle neighborhood. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, something wasn't right. He slowly circled Hermione's house, noting it was a nice house but not retaining any details as he was looking for what was out of place. He didn't find anything. No signs of a rampant werewolf or any kind of a struggle.

Cautiously, he approached the door. No signs of damage, nor of recent repair from spells. One of his new abilities since the incident was he tended to be able to feel if magic had been done recently. Hermione had helped him figure that one out. It had taken them a few days down by the lake, away from the ambient magic of the castle, which tended to overload his sense, but he'd finally tuned it. At least enough to tell if it had been performed.

He cautiously tried the door, it wasn't locked. Opening the door quietly, he slowly entered the house. Nothing was disturbed. Nothing seemed out of place. He calmly reached out with his heightened senses, noting each smell and sound he could. The peoples scents, Hermione and two older people, one male and one female, probably her parents. There was a ambient smell of food, and Crookshanks, but also another smell, feline, familiar but not one he knew. He only heard one person in the house, above him he thought, but it was muffled.

Reigning in his senses, he slowly approached the stairs. He'd gotten to the landing before he heard it. Sobs. Hermione's sobs. Abandoning the cloak, he took the stairs two at a time, following the noise. Where is she? He thought desperately, looking between the four doors off the hallway at the top of the stairs. Right side he realized instinctually, then threw open the closer door. Bathroom, next door He thought, then paused. Looking further into the bathroom he saw her. There, huddled in a corner, Hermione was crying. She was curled up, shaking as she sobbed.

"Hermione?" He asked softly, "Are you ok?"

Hermione stopped shaking, startled by the intrusion. Looking up she stared at Harry, disbelief in her large, chocolate eyes. Harry stared back. Back at her large eyes. At her fur covered face. At her cute feline nose. At her whiskers and her mobile ears. At her bushy brown tail. She looked almost like she had after the polyjuice mishap second year. Almost, but better somehow a voice in his head thought.

"Harry?" She asked, fear etched into her voice, "How?"

"You sent for me, remember?" he answered softly, lowering his wand. "You sent me Hedwig, you called for help."

"I did?" Hermione's eyes skirted around, "I only remember the pain. What… How did you get here?"

"Knight Bus, I don't recommend it." Harry answered, lowering himself down to her level. "The important thing is you're ok, you're not turning."

"You thought I was turning?" Hermione said confusedly, "You thought I was turning and you just came right over?" Her voice was edged in anger by the end.

"We promised each other, remember? No matter what, we'd be there for each other." He pulled her gently to him, and she curled into him, "If anything happened we'd take care of each other and our families. Even if we turned, we'd help each other."

"But…"

"Shhhh." Harry soothed her, "You're not a werewolf, you're not going to hurt anyone. Well, at least not anyone you don't want to." He grinned a bit, "Actually it's kind of cute."

"Harry…" Hermione threatened.

The stairs creaked behind them, and both went silent. Another creak, someone else was here. Grabbing up his wand, Harry turned, moving between Hermione and the door just as another wand came into view. Praying silently for forgiveness if they were friendly, Harry gathered himself.

"STUPE…"

"Wait!" Hermione called, pushing his wand out of the way. The wand retreated, and Harry caught the clue Hermione had seen. A flash of a familiar Tartan. Calming his rattle nerves, he took a deep breath. The scent he caught confirmed what they suspected.

"Sorry Professor McGonagall, you can come up now." Harry called. "You caught us by surprise and I'd rather have to revive someone friendly than fight someone who isn't."

"I understand Mr. Potter," Minerva McGonagall allowed as she came into view. "Though I'm curious how you came to be here, what matters most is Miss Granger here."

"I'm okay Professor," Hermione said quietly, still hiding behind Harry.

"I understand you are better now Miss Granger," The Scottish professor agreed, "But both myself and Madam Pomfrey would like to examine you so we can determine what happened."

Hermione tried to bury herself into Harry's back at that. Turning, he wrapped her in a hug and whispered to her, "It'll be ok, I'll be right here with you." He held her gently, and her breathing calmed. A moment later, she relaxed and began to purr.

"Professor, how did you get here?" Harry asked over his shoulder.

"Miss Granger's parents went to the Leaky Cauldron, got Tom to contact me. I apparated straight here after waking Mr. Weasley and sending him for Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black. Since they informed me they thought she was turning, having a coherent werewolf and a Grim to help subdue her seemed prudent."

"Subdue?" Harry asked suspicious once again.

"Yes Mr. Potter," McGonagall returned shortly, "A werewolf, especially a freshly turned one, in a muggle environment would be a massacre. Subduing the individual and getting her away from anyone she could hurt would be critical. I'm sorry but if she had turned, no one would have been safe, not even you."

"Professor," Hermione asked softly, "I would never hurt Harry."

"I understand you believe that dear," She sighed, "But you wouldn't have been yourself."

"I know that professor," Hermione said more confidently, "I was fighting it, trying not to give in to it. And I was slowly losing. When Harry got here, I was fighting the… the wildness. I could feel it, feel its pull, and felt it winning. But when Harry got here it went away. I can't really describe it, it was like it knew Harry. Or Harry was a part of it."

"Are you saying his presence affected your condition?" Minerva asked, "That when he got here the change you were fighting settled?"

"Yes professor," Hermione confirmed, "If I didn't know better, I'd say it gave up."

"I see. Well, it's definitely something we need to consider moving forward." McGonagall sighed, "Now, if you're willing, will you come downstairs with me to await Madam Pomfrey and your parents?"

"I…" Hermione hesitated, hiding further behind Harry. "I don't know."

"Miss Granger, there's nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, it should be myself and Madam Pomfrey ashamed. We're the ones that failed to anticipate this, whatever it is. But we are here now to help you through it."

"I guess so," Hermione sighed, "But no sending Harry away."

"I'm not going anywhere Hermione," Harry reassured his friend, then chuckled, "At least not until the Ministry wakes up at least."

"The Ministry Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked, then sighed, "What have you done this time?"

"Well Professor, I kind of had to use magic to escape from my aunt and uncle." Harry informed her, abashed. "I know I'm not supposed to use magic outside of school, but Hermione was in danger and I had to get out… so I used an unlocking spell. I know I'm not supposed to, and I understand I'll be punished, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat if Hermione needed me again, I'm not ashamed of doing it."

"I see," The stern Scottish woman sighed, "And it is understandable. Nevertheless, you really shouldn't…" She paused. "Mr. Potter, I'll admit I'm not as familiar as some, but aren't muggle door locks normally unlockable from inside a house?"

"Well," Harry hesitated, realizing he'd said too much.

"Harry?" Hermione asked, and he heard the suspicion in her voice.

"Professor, Hermione is the" Harry tried quickly to redirect the conversation, only to be interrupted.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" Hermione growled, the room shuddering at her release of magic. "You tell us and you tell us now."

"The locks were on the outside of my door." Harry sighed

"Locks!?" Hermione demanded, "As in more than one? How many Harry? How many locks did that vile loathsome creature put on your door?"

"Six. He added six locks to the outside of my door." Harry admitted reluctantly, then jumped to stop Hermione from storming off, "No Hermione, you can't run off to hex them into oblivion."

"Harry Potter, you will let me go!" Hermione growled, magic tangibly pulsing off of her, "You will then take me to your Aunt and Uncles where we WILL stop this from ever happening again."

McGonagall had taken a step back at Hermione's magical outburst, then paused as the young girl, No, young woman, she thought, took charge of her friend. She also noted the changes more completely now that she wasn't hiding behind Mr. Potter. It was almost like the polyjuice incident their second year, but the result was something more, more complete, maybe more refined. Her Fur was no longer the chocolate it was second year, now is was a silky honey brown a few lighter than her hair. Her large cat eyes were the same dark brown as her eyes normally were, just with slit pupils. Her Hands appears to have stayed relatively normal, though her nails appeared to now be lethal. Overall, despite the tears still hanging on her whiskers, she looked predatory.

"Mr. Potter may have been trying to distract us Miss Granger," The instructor cut in, "But he did have a point about the relative urgency of the two situations." She held up her hand to forestall comment. "I don't disagree with your concern, but your situation is the more pressing. Knowing you as I do however, I will offer you this: If you come down and work out your situation, I will promise to accompany Mr. Potter when he returns to Privet Drive. If our mutual concerns are found to be valid, it will be a short visit to collect his belongings as I will NOT allow him to live in such conditions. Is this acceptable?"

"May I go with you?"

"That will be determined later," She sighed, "I won't say no, but your parents must agree and you will not have your wand if you do."

"My wand?" Hermione paused

"Yes Miss Granger," The professor confirmed, "We already have one case of underage magic. If we have a second, and I imagine a much more severe, infraction, it will not go over well with the Ministry."

"Yeah Hermione," Harry added, taking her hand in his, "The last thing we need is for you to end up in Azkaban for cursing my relatives."

"Fine, no wand," Hermione agreed, squeezing his hand, "But I WILL be going with you Harry."

"We'll see what your parents say," McGonagall temporized, not doubting for a second all three of them would be at Privet Drive by morning.