DISCLAIMER: Really?

HIDDEN CHANGES

Chapter 18

Hermione stood in front of Alex's cot with Xavier standing behind her and Draco standing next to her. Hermione raised her wand as she stepped closer to the pale locks of hair. Her hand shook as Madame Pomfrey sat Alex up strait so Hermione could cut the long tresses and Draco sat in a chair next to his brother so Hermione could compare. She swallowed and began to cut Alex's hair looking from Draco back to Alex to make sure she got it right. It wasn't until she was actually finished that she realized how much they looked alike. Draco was almost a carbon copy of Alex except for the fact that Alex was slightly taller.

Madame Pomfrey set Alex back on the bed as she wrapped a traveling cloak around her. Severus looked to Xavier and passed him some Polyjuice Potion.

"Remember it only lasts an hour so be sure to drink it. Don't smile at anyone…"

"I got it, act like the bastard you are and drink every hour." Xavier grumbled.

Hermione gasped in dismay and pointed to the potion, "I didn't know you had that! Why didn't we just force feed it to Alex? He is going to be mad at me for cutting his hair!"

Snape turned to her, "Do you really think he would be healed well if we changed his body around? That could cause more damage you silly chit!"

Xavier growled at his brother, "Don't call her that!"

Severus glared at his brother, "I can call her whatever I want to you overgrown cat!"

"I'd rather be a cat than a bat you jerk!"

Hermione and Draco watching the two grown men fight like children before Draco leaned over, "Is this what we look like when we are fighting?"

Hermione shrugged as she heard a smashing sound from behind a curtain, "Stop poking me!" She pulled back the curtain to find that Sirius had replaced Remus in trying to heal Bobby. Bobby was a healer's nightmare. He was moody, irritable, disobedient, and most of all rude.

Hermione walked in, "Bobby! If you don't cool your jets your arm will never get better and I will have to cut it off. Have you ever seen a three legged cat?" Bobby shook his head no. "Well they are weird looking! Do you want to look like that?"

"Well, no I don't but…" Bobby whined.

Tanya staggered over using a cane, "Bobby, honey please sit still and let him fix you. I hate to see you like this. Plus I can't let you see Cassie, who still can't move from the bed and wants to see you, until we fix that arm."

Bobby looked to Tanya sadly and hung his head in shame mumbling, "Hurry up you old mutt."

Sirius scoffed and crossed his arms defiantly until Hermione glared at him. "I am not old."

Hermione looked at him, "Of course you're not."

Severus Snape peeked around the corner, "Looks old to me."

Sirius yelled, "You are older than me you slimy git!"

Xavier looked to his half-brother, "Stop acting like a jerk! I know it is hard for you who is a professional asshole all the time!"

Madame Pomfrey stormed over, "You three cut it out now! I have to take Mister Malfoy to the hospital now. Xavier, drink that potion!"

Xavier glared, "I don't want to look like him," jerking his head to his half brother.

Hermione looked up at him, "Xavier! Alex needs to get there as soon as possible! Stop acting like a wanker and drink it!"

Xavier looked to Hermione in surprise as Sirius and Severus snickered. Xavier did a mock bow and downed the potion. They watched as Xavier's hair became greasy and his complexion paled. Xavier looked at his half-brother, "My name is Severus and I am a giant git!"

The real Severus rolled his eyes, "You have me down perfectly now take Alex to Mungo's"

Madame Pomfrey led the way to the hospital wing's fire place while Xavier levitated Alex.

Draco ran forward, "Umm Sir! Thank you for taking care of him for all these years and… well please make sure he comes back safe."

Xavier looked to him in his Severus Snape form, "I would smile and be nice but I am afraid this body would break if I did anything remotely kind." Xavier nodded his head and followed Poppy into the fireplace disappearing from view.

Draco sighed and looked around, "Where am I supposed to hide?"

Severus walked over gripping his godson's shoulder, "We are going to work on potions in my private lab since neither of us can show our faces for a few day."

"I do something nice and Gryffindor and I don't get to even skip working?" Draco snapped as he was led from the Hospital Wing.

Severus turned to him, "I don't reward acting like a brave fool."

Hermione watched as the door closed behind them. She turned to Sirius, "you know they actually seem human sometimes."

Sirius hummed to himself, "Nah Snape is always a bastard to me. Alright you pubescent teen I fixed your arm. It is good as new."

Bobby grunted a quick, "thanks," as he walked over to see Cassie who was being tended to by Remus. Tanya hobbled over behind him with Hermione pulling up a chair for Tanya to sit in.

Remus looked to them, "She will be fine, but she will be weak for a little bit. I am not sure how fast you Kanimas heal, but I assume it will be a day or two."

Tanya looked over, "How long will it take for my leg?"

Remus looked to the ceiling thinking, "Half an hour if you sit still, but seeing that you are probably as stubborn as Hermione and want to walk around two hours."

Cassie opened her eyes and smiled to Bobby, "Hey Bobby, can we play on the swings when we get home."

Bobby took Cassie's hand with teary eyes and held it to his cheek, "Yeah, we can do whatever you want as long as you get better."

Cassie smiled to Hermione, "Miss Mione, you didn't get hurt did you?"

Hermione walked over, "No, you protected me. You were very brave in doing that, but you really had us worried."

"I am sorry," Cassie looked to Tanya, "Can I stay home from school tomorrow?"

Tanya nodded, "Don't worry about that."

Remus peeked around the curtain and motioned for Hermione to come over with a note in his hand. Hermione went to her professor and waited for him to say whatever he had to looking nervously at the letter.

Remus sighed and whispered, "Alright, Dumbledore decided to check on the house you were staying in, don't ask me how he found it because I don't even know. Anyways, it seems like the front of the house, kitchen, and living area is all destroyed by fiendfyre. The good news is that most of the possessions are okay like the electronics and clothing. There was one dead Death Eaters and one dead Kanima at the scene."

Hermione thought for a moment, "Do you know which Death Eater it was, because I remember that one of them called the other Avery."

Remus looked at the note, "It is a lower rank Death Eater. His name is Octavius Rookwood must be related to Augustus Rookwood, so the one that got away was Avery. Jag better watch out Augustus is very vengeful."

"Jag?"

"Mooney is to Remus as Prince Jag is to Xavier"

"I hate analogies but I get what you are saying." Hermione looked to Remus as Sirius walked up to them asking, "Are they allowed to stay here?"

Remus thought for a moment, "Do you really want them to stay here? I mean, we don't know who has their eyes on Hogwarts at the moment, this could be a huge set up."

Hermione huffed and asked, "Well, where can they go then?"

Remus quickly glanced at Sirius who wasn't really paying attention, "Well they need a wizard to protect them."

Hermione smirked, "Do we know any really strong wizards with a big house?"

Sirius turned to look at them curiously, "Hey! I am a strong wizard! What are you talking about?"

Hermione hummed to herself, "No, I don't know if you can do it. Professor Snape may be the better choice."

Sirius sputtered in outrage, "I don't care what it is! I can do anything better than Snivillus! I take on whatever this job is."

Hermione smiled a large smile as Remus hid his smile with his hand, "Promise?"

Sirius Black stood up tall and said, "Of course!"

Hermione hugged him, "I'll go tell them they are staying with you!"

Sirius looked puzzled, "Wait what?"

Remus glanced over, "She played you."

Sirius frowned, "What did I agree to?"

Remus smiled, "Oh let's just say you have adopted a few kittens that are the size of lions."

Sirius smacked his forehead, "She was never going to let Snape take care of them. That was a low blow."

Remus patted his friend on the back, "You may have an energetic child and a moody teenager, but look on the bright side, they come with an attractive woman."

Sirius snickered and held his hands up in surrender, "Well that is the only upside."

Tanya hobbled over to the pair of men, "Which one of you is Sirius?"

Sirius smirked and pointed to Remus, "He is serious, but I am Sirius?"

Tanya gave him a blank look obviously not in the mood for games. Remus sighed, "I am Remus actually."

Tanya nodded and looked to Sirius as Bobby walked up beside her, "Do I get my own room?"

Sirius looked at her leaning on one of the Hospital Wing's bed smirking, "Only if you want it, beautiful."

Tanya blushed as Bobby growled and yelled, "Pervert!"

Tanya smacked Bobby upside the head and shoved him away, "Get out of here," before turning back to Sirius and smiling.

Bobby stalked off and stood next to Hermione saying, "This is your fault!"

Hermione looked at him before watching Tanya blush at the compliments Sirius was handing out, "I know."

"She is like my mom!" Bobby protested.

"I know, but when was the last time she went on a date and have you realized how old she is?"

Bobby froze realizing that Tanya never went on dates, she just went out with her friends and came home relatively early. Bobby had been living with Tanya for five years and she never once brought anyone to the house. Bobby just realized that she was 18 when they came to live with her. Bobby grumbled something indistinguishable and walked over to see Cassie.

Hermione looked to Cassie and Bobby, "Bobby are you well enough to make it back to the house? We need to get all of your things."

Remus stood behind her, "Madame Pomfrey would tie you to the bed if she knew you were taking patients on dangerous missions. I am coming with you, I am sure Sirius won't mind entertaining Cassie and Tanya."

Bobby stiffened and called, "Hey Tanya! Cassie wants you!"

Cassie looked over mumbling, "When did I say that?"

Bobby leaned over, "keep an eye on them."

Cassie nodded as Tanya and Sirius came around the curtain. Bobby stood up and walked towards Hermione and Remus saying, "You know Xavier is going to kill us for going without asking him first."

Hermione waved him off, "We have to do this soon. He is busy right now. I am sure he will understand."

"You mean you will make him understand," Remus sighed.

Hermione smirked as Bobby looked from the teacher to the student, "Pretty much. Oh! Professor Lupin this is Bobby. Bobby this is Professor Lupin."

"He isn't MY professor. What am I supposed to call him?"

Remus smiled, "You can call me Remus."

Bobby stood beside Hermione saying, "Alright Remus. So Hermione how do we get the magic man to come with us? Do we just tell him the location?"

Hermione thought for a moment, "I bet we can get him there by holding his hand."

Bobby nodded, "Xavier did that with me before I was 'turned' into a Kanima."

Hermione looked to Remus, "Alright time to hold hands."

Remus looked to her skeptically and stood in between Bobby and Hermione, "I am sure this is a monumental day where cats and dogs are holding hands."

Hermione chuckled while Bobby mumbled, "Dogs are dirty," before they faded and reappeared in front of the destroyed home.

Remus pulled out his wand as they walked into the rubble, "Bobby, show me what we need to get. Hermione you can handle the downstairs right?"

Hermione nodded, "I will collect everything."

Bobby and Remus headed up the stairs while Hermione walked into the master bedroom wand drawn. She made sure the area was clear before shrinking Tanya's belonging and gathering everything into a bag. The room was unrecognizable when she was done. She wondered if she needed to take the furniture. She thought better safe than sorry as she shrunk the bed, nightstands, dressing table, and dresser.

"What do you mean you don't know how it will work on electronics!?"

"I am just saying that I am not sure if it will work the same after shrinking it."

She walked up the stairs to find Bobby arguing and holding onto his computer tower, "If shrinking my computer breaks it you are going to be sorry!"

Hermione looked at the computer, "It should be fine I shrink my things all the time." Hermione quickly shrunk the computer tower before he could protest.

Remus looked over, "What all did you get?"

"I took everything just an empty room now. I wasn't sure if she needed the bed at Sirius' place."

Remus chuckled, "Not if he has anything to say about it."

Bobby looked over, "What is that supposed to mean?!"Remus shrugged and walked into Cassandra's room. Bobby looked at Hermione suspiciously, "What does he mean by that?"

Hermione smiled and shrugged, "Who knows."

After they finished with everything they went downstairs. Bobby was amazed that everything of theirs was in just two bags. "That is amazing!"

Hermione smiled, "That is what I thought when I got all of Tanya's stuff into one bag. Let's get back."

Hey guys... I recently got a few private messages saying that they wanted to change their vote in the poll from Xavier... to Mr. Alex... I have thought about it and I decided I would re-do the poll because so many requested... I have been swamped with being assiatant director in a play and haven't been able to write the next chapter yet... Please Review so I get motivated I really need them now... A new chapter will be up next week...

Looking foward to those reviews,

Mousie

aka Meg