Arisa woke to find herself staring at the bathroom door and congratulated herself on a job well done. Now that Voldemort had a target for his anger he would concentrate on finding her leaving Harry Potter/Salazar Slytherin to do as he pleased. She looked down at her transfigured robes. Such a lovely dress, to bad it had to go back to that horrid black sack they considered a robe at this stuffy school. Her right hand caught her eye. Ewww! She had dried blood on her hand. Wet blood she didn't mind; it was the dried, flaking blood that settled in every line in the hand that bothered her.

She turned around and ran the hot water. Arisa looked into the mirror. She looked as young and fresh as always. A perfect woman, she should know; she did design every part of her body. Rather, she did as Salazar.

Arisa decided to take the chance and strode out the bathroom door, makeup bags in her arms. She walked down the stairs into the common room and piled the bags on the table next to the low burning fire. It was unintentional, but this would turn out to be a good prank in the morning. They might even get to see Lavender Brown without makeup on. A phenomenon that hadn't happened since they were twelve.

Back up stairs in the boys dorm Arisa threw herself on her bed. She looked down at her body again admiring the attractive curves. Bracing her hips in her hands she lifted her legs up into the air to admire the strength and shape of her muscles in the moon light from the window. She really liked being a woman, and if it wasn't for periods, which still scared her and idiot men hitting on her she would stay this way.

Arisa laughed and kicked out at the air. Though she could never really forget that she was a man, the spell that turned her into a woman still proved to be useful. Arisa closed her eyes and began the transformation back into Harry Potter.

Harry lay on his bed staring at the curtains above him while his thoughts rearranged themselves into a more familiar pattern. I'm going insane. I was a woman, and I liked it. He also thought idly about the man that he had killed as Arisa, but that man was a Deatheater. Harry couldn't make himself care.

qqqqqq

The next morning Harry was quiet at breakfast. Ron kept trying to drag him into the conversation, but Harry managed to claw his way out of it. Yesterday had been a bad day. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep.

"Harry, Harry," he opened his eyes to see Ron waving a pastry under his nose. "What are you going to be for the ball tonight?"

"Not going, have work to do."

"What not going?" Ron snatched the pastry back just as Harry reached for it, and crammed it into his mouth. "Work?" He asked mouth still full. "How can you work at a time like this?"

"How can you make yourself understood with a whole pastry in your mouth?" Harry countered in mild fascination.

Ron shrugged and swallowed. "Lots of practice. But really, Harry, what are you going to do?"

Harry lowered his voice so that only Ron could hear. "I have to go play the evil wizard for the Slytherins. Ya know, hide out in their lair, jump out and yell surprise." He looked up at the head table to see Dumbledore staring at him. "Would you do me a favor?"

"Sure Harry, anything."

"Good, I need you to transfigure me into a kitten."

Ron's head snapped up from his breakfast. "Now? … I mean… why?"

Harry cocked his head to the side. Ron, having been carefully schooled in this subtle movement over the past week and a half, turned to see Dumbledore looking right at him. He froze sure that the Headmaster could read every thought in his head. "I want him to spend the day looking for his helpless Golden Boy. As a cat I can disappear quickly, and they'll have to spend a lot of time searching this big old castle for one little kitty." Harry's voice was low and his lips didn't move as he spoke. Though he did flinch when the castle poked his mind at being called old.

"Now?" Ron asked, not really getting the jist.

"No, later while we're practicing."

"How will you change back?"

"That's easy. I think." Harry pushed back on the bench with his knees, moving Colin Creevy just far enough from the table to wonder if his arms had gotten shorter while he wasn't looking, and stood. "Let's get going. Draco already left five minutes ago."

"What and ruin his, 'Your Late' speech." Ron also stood and pushed the bench back a smidgen farther. "Let's hurry and ruin that speech." He and Harry walked right by a perplexed Colin who was staring worriedly at his hands.

Out in the hall Ron stopped and patted his robes. "I forgot my wand."

"What? Honestly Ron…" Harry trailed off shaking his head. "I sound just like Hermione."

"Wonder what she's been up too lately?" Ron said nodding his head in agreement.

"Spying on us for Dumbledore, hence the cat." Ron scrunched his eyebrows trying to remember what a cat had to do with all this. Harry sighed, "To the tower."

Inside Gryffindor tower the wailing could be heard coming down from the girls' dorms. "What is going on?" Ron asked Ginny, who was standing at the foot of the stairs leading up to the girls' dorm as if fortifying herself before entering a battle field.

"Lavender woke up this morning and couldn't find her make-up." She answered. "She screamed so loud it woke up everyone in the tower that decided to sleep in. We found the make-up on one of the common room tables, but now she's clutching it to her chest and howling."

Harry bit his lip to keep from laughing. He knew exactly what happened to Lavender's make-up. "It can't be that bad. I mean she can go one day without make-up right?"

Ginny turned lifted her chin. "You have no idea what you are talking about. Lavender Brown without her make-up is a ghastly sight. I've seen banshees that looked better. All she really needs to do is stop sneaking out every night and actually sleep, but she would rather look like a hag." She took a deep breath and charged up the stairs. Ron and Harry looked at each other then up the stairs where they could hear Ginny yelling for Lavender to pull herself together, slather some concealer on, and go eat.

"Well, that was interesting. I never knew Ginny had such strong feelings about that kind of thing. She's almost as disapproving as mom about 'fooling around'. Be right back." Ron bounded up the stairs after his errant wand because it was, of course, the wand's fault that it wasn't with him where it was supposed to be. "Found it!" He called from their room.

Harry crossed his arms. "Well, hurry up, right now Draco's preparing his 'You're

Really late speech'."

"Damn it!"

When the two Gryffindors finally got to the Room of Requirement, they found a seething Draco. The blond crossed the room in what had to be some kind of record, and planted himself directly in front of Harry. Not to close, Harry had the tendency to knock him to the ground if he got to close. "Where the hell have you two been?"

"Ron forgot his wand." Harry replied blandly. He then stepped aside leaving Ron to deal with the tirade to come. "But before you rip out his spleen; it is time for you to pay your part of our bargain."

"Huh,"

"Tonight is the night of the dance."

"Oh, yeah. How did you plan on going about that? I'm not stupid. I know you've been watched and not just your pet mudblood." Harry quickly grabbed Ron preventing what would have been a spectacular flying leap at Draco.

"Calm down Ron. After I'm gone you have most of the day to beat the crap out of him. Just make sure he can still walk and talk when you're through with him." Harry ground out glaring at Draco. He and Hermione may not be on the best of terms now but she was still very important to him. "Right now, I need to explain my plan."

"What no evil cackle?" Draco sneered.

"No," Resist urge to kill. "I know that I'm being watched."

"Yeah like now." At Draco's words Ron started and turned around in a circle looking for intruders. "Not like that you idiot, the walls have ears."

"Yes, they do?" Harry replied with a secretive smile. He then raised his voice. "Dearest? Would you please make sure no one is listening in on us, please?" The castle purred happily in his mind; it loved playing these games, and it had been so long since it had had someone to play with rather than toy with. And for good measure the castle also erased the last twenty minutes in the Room of Requirement from the spying spell, anything for one of those who built it.

In a rare moment of companionship Draco leaned over to Ron and whispered in his ear. "Who is he talking to?" Ron only shrugged his shoulders and the two of them stared at Harry under the mutual assumption that Harry had gone insane.

"I'm only talking to the castle." Harry said without turning around. This statement did not do anything to reassure the other two boys. "The point is now we can speak without being overheard."

"You're doing it again," Ron said.

"What?"

"Talking like an old man."

"Bite me."

"That's better."

"Anyway, we are going to practice, same as always. Except this time Ron is going to 'accidentally' transfigure me into a cat. Then I run away and you two run to tell everyone that Harry Potter is currently lost in the castle as a cat. I should through them off for the day. Then you let me into the Slytherin dorms after everyone has gone to the ball."

"But what about you," Draco asked. "You'll be a cat."

"I can change myself back." Harry said with the up most confidence. "I think."

Draco raised his eyebrow. "You think?"

"I'm going off a theory really."

"Theory?" Ron chimed in.

"Yes, the theory that anyone could change themselves back into their natural state with enough will power, no matter what."

"Have you tested this theory," Draco asked skeptically.

"Well," Harry replied uncomfortably, "That's what we are doing now."

Draco smiled a real smile; it was scary. "This could be fun. Can I do it?" He pulled out his wand and started to bounce up and down on his toes.

"No, definitely not. Ron is going to do it."

"Why him?"

"Because I trust him." That shut Draco up. "Okay Sweetie, you can let them spy on us again." Harry continued over Ron's protest. "I want the two of you to attack me at the same time. Don't worry about being so far behind Ron; you can do this."

Ron licked his lips and nodded his head. "Oh don't waste your breath. I'll blow you up before he even lifts his wand." Draco said warming up to his part. He stepped forward and set off a blasting curse. Harry deflected the curse just as he heard Ron cast his spell. Then Harry experienced the first hole in his marvelous plan as his wand fell and hit him squarely on the head. He shook his head and let out a small growl.

"Sorry Harry, I didn't mean for that to happen." This was when Harry realized that he was indeed a cat. He bolted for the door making both boys jump back from where they had kneeled before him.

Draco watched the black streak disappear from the room. "So, who do we tell?" He asked, having never been in a situation where he would actually want to tell a teacher about anything that went wrong.

"Whoever we run into first. Let's go, the hospital wing is just around the corner. Maybe he even ran that way." They walked down the hall together. Draco was making up stories as to why he was walking with the Weasel along the way.

"Madam Pomphry," Ron called, opening the large door to the hospital wing. The medi-witch looked up from where she was talking to a hysterical Colin Creevy. "No Dears, I haven't what' wrong?"

"Madam Pomphry!" Creevy Screeched. "Harry can wait. I have a real problem here." He held up his arms. "They're shrinking; I tell you." Both Draco and Ron frowned at this and experienced another one of those awkward moments where they agreed with each other. Madam Pomphry shook her head and walked toward Draco and Ron. She bumped the table next to Creevy's bed just as he was reaching for a glass of water on the table. "Ahhh! They're still shrinking," he screamed.

"It's all in your head dear," Madam Pomphry called over her shoulder. "Now, what has Mr. Potter gotten himself into this time?"

"Well…" Ron fumbled.

"We were practicing some spells we learned in class when this idiot transfigured Potter into a cat."

"Practicing? Together?" The witch put her hands on her hips. "You were fighting in the halls again were you?" She shook her finger at Draco. "I knew something like this would happen. Why you and that Potter boy can't just leave each other alone… Well, I'd better go tell the head master that Mr. Potter is… what was it again, Dear?" She looked at Ron.

"He's a cat ma'm, and he ran away. We can't find him." Ron whispered.

Pomphry sighed. "I'll go get the Headmaster; you two wait here." She left shaking her head.

"Way to go Weasel. I didn't know you had the capability of lying." Draco said sauntering over to where Creevy was cowering on one of the beds.

"I didn't lie."

"Whatever." Draco turned on the frightened Gryffindor. "What's your problem?"

"My arms are shrinking," was the whispered reply.

Draco raised his eyebrows. "I may have something that could fix that." He pulled a small vial out of his robes. Creevy looked at the bottle warily. It's not going to kill you." He held out the vial for the boy who reached out to grab it. "On one condition," Draco said snatching the vial back. "You become my new henchman." Creevy shook his head; he wasn't that dumb. "Or your arms can go on shrinking." But he was that desperate. He nodded his head with tears in his eyes. "Good, now give me your word."

"Okay," Creevy choked out. "You have my word."

"Good." Draco handed him the bottle. As the boy downed the contents of the vial, and trying not to throw it back up. Draco scooted the bedside table closer to the bed. "Now test it out. You couldn't reach that glass of water a few minutes ago, right?" Creevy nodded and reached out a shaking hand. The glass was well within reach. He smiled.

Ron slapped Draco on the back of the head. "What did you give him?"

"Something from Phomphry's stores."

"Yeah right. Will it kill him?"

"I don't think so." Draco smirked at Ron. "The point is now I have a mole in Gryffindor tower."

"Evil Slytherin."

Draco laughed, "I know."