Disclaimer: Not mine, never been mine. I'm not making a single knut.
"You have all done very well so far. I must say that I'm very pleased and impressed to your level of dedication," Professor McGonagall was saying. "I confess, I did not believe that we would reach transformation by the end of the school year, but it looks like we will."
"Are we ready now, Professor?" Harry asked with excitement in his eyes.
"Oh no, we're just progressing faster than I thought. Have you all been keeping up with your meditating?"
There was a round of "yes, professor" from the three students sitting on the Transfiguration classroom floor.
"Excellent. Today, we will be doing a deeper form. We will actually be attempting to change certain features. This means, if done correctly, you may get some idea of what your animal will be."
"I always thought you never saw until the time comes to change. Like a big surprise," Draco said.
"A common misconception. However, do not be fooled by the slight feature change today. It is obvious that you will wish to speculate over it, but do not read too much into it or get your hopes up. When I first tried this, I had sprouted whiskers by the end of the session. I admit that I fancied myself a lion or cheetah for some time," she said as she smiled slightly at the soft snickers from her students. "I thought I was going to be a ferocious beast. Imagine my surprise when I changed for the first time into a little kitty."
Hermione, Draco, and Harry were laughing full out by this time.
"You must've been disappointed. How did you deal with that?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, I was. But in the first few weeks after your first full transformation, you're supposed to change at least 5 times a week for about 2-3 weeks to get your body used to it and not revert back. I did it every single day for 3 weeks and as I roamed my neighborhood or house, I realized that being a cat had its advantages and I should just be lucky I was able to pull off the transformation. Now, I'm extremely happy with my animal." She looked around at their faces. "Many people get disappointed with their animal for the first few days. However, I have never heard of someone who did not learn to love it by the end of the 3 week period."
Hermione, Draco, and Harry looked at each other with increasing excitement. They couldn't wait to get to that stage. At that moment, something silvery and bright burst through the closed door as if it weren't there, and lightly trotted up to the professor.
"The potion is complete. I'm just bottling it, and then I will be up there. Give me less than 5 minutes," the beautiful doe said in a deep unmistakable baritone and disappeared.
The classroom was silent for a few moments as the three students stared. Two of them stared at the spot where the doe had vanished, the other stared at Harry.
"You ok?" Draco asked, cocking his head.
Harry blinked rapidly and seemed to shake himself. He turned and gave Draco a fleeting smile. "I'm fine. I had just never seen her. I had heard that she was his patronus, but…," he said and trailed off.
"Who?"
"Lily Ev-Potter." Snape said, leaning against the doorframe and holding a box. He looked at McGonagall. "Do let me know if Draco's body starts elongating and sprouts white fur. I missed him being turned into a ferret his 4th year and would love to see it."
Hermione and Harry roared with laughter as Draco flipped him off, the tense moment broken.
"Severus, would you mind showing them your animagus form? I believe they tire of seeing me become a cat, and I would like to give them more chances to see a transformation in action," McGonagall asked.
"You never told me you were an animagus!" Draco said.
Shrugging, Snape replied, "You never asked."
"Well, can you show us? The only anamagi I've ever seen have been Professor McGonagall and Wormtail," Draco sneered at the name.
Snape gave a long, suffering sigh and shrugged himself away from the doorframe, stepped into the classroom, and shut the door. He put his box down and said, "I suppose."
The three friends watched in silence and awe as their Potions Master closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He slowly opened them again and, without warning, jumped lightening fast at the students on the floor who all fell back on their hands trying to get away from the animal their professor had changed into mid-jump.
Professor McGonagall, who had been watching the friends instead of Snape, was rolling on her desk with laughter at the looks on their faces.
Hermione had been the closest one to the door, and therefore the closest one to Snape. Her Potions Master was currently staring her straight in the eye, being about eye level to where she sat. Hesitantly, she reached up and softly pet the huge black panther on his head.
His eyes closed momentarily and a sound almost like a purr came out before he realized what he was doing. When his eyes snapped back open, he grinned (which, on a panther, looked frightening) and leaned back slightly, tensing his body.
"Severus," McGonagall warned, still wiping her eyes from laughing so hard.
Too late though, for Snape had already pounced, jumping over a startled Hermione and landing mere inches from Harry's face, who yelped and scrambled backwards.
An almost hacking type noise came from the panther, who rolled over on his back and side to side. It was obvious that Snape was laughing his ass off.
Draco, who had finally gotten over the shock of a panther pouncing at them, was looking at his godfather in awe. "Well, I guess this animagus makes sense," he laughed. "Great for stealth and blending in."
The panther changed back into their teacher, even though he was still on his back laughing. Getting up, he grabbed the box and handed it to McGonagall.
"Here you are, Minerva," he said, still smiling, and then walked out the door.
XXX
"Well, I'm obviously going to be some type of feline…," Harry said about two hours later as they headed up to dinner.
Harry had grown whiskers during the meditation and lesson. Hermione's hands had turned into paws, but no one had an assumption as to what she could be. Draco was basically walking on cloud nine after realizing that his nose had hardened into a beak. He knew of no ferrets that had beaks.
"I'm going to die if you become a kitten or something," Draco said as they entered the Great Hall.
"At least you both know around what you'll be. Do you know how many animals have paws?" Hermione laughed.
"I know we aren't supposed to get our hopes up or dwell too much on it, but McGonagall was right; it's hard not to speculate," Draco replied. "I wonder what kind of awesome bird I'll be. Maybe I'll be a bald eagle, or a condor; something huge or ferocious."
"Or maybe you'll be a pygmy parrot or a pretty pink flamingo," Harry said conversationally as he grabbed for the plate of chicken.
"Hilarious," Draco said while Hermione and Harry laughed.
Hermione reached for her pumpkin juice and noticed that the laughter had broken off and Draco was abnormally still next to her. She glanced up at him and followed his line of vision until she saw the owl coming towards them with a package.
The owl landed with a thump in front of them and promptly took off again. As Hermione reached for the box, however, Draco smacked her on the hand.
"OW! What was that for?"
"Are you mental?" he hissed at her. "You didn't even scan it for curses!"
Harry was nodding furiously beside him and poking at the box with his wand.
Rolling her eyes, Hermione let out a short laugh. "Guys, it's cool. It's my dress for the ball."
"What?" Harry looked confused.
"I decided to owl order my dress for the ball instead of get one at Hogsmeade." She tapped the box with her wand and instantly shrunk it to the size of a matchbook and pocketed it. "Speaking of which, have you bought dress robes? It's this Friday."
"I still have my old robes; I'll be fine," Harry said, waving it off and digging into his food. He looked up at his friends with a full mouth to find them staring at him incredulously. "Wha?"
Draco looked torn between disgust at his boyfriend's manners and wanting to kiss him for being cute.
"Harry, you wore those in your FOURTH YEAR. They won't fit you now," Hermione said.
"I'll do an extension charm or something on them. I'll be fine."
Hermione and Draco just shook their heads and laughed.
XXX
"SHIT!"
Hermione just rolled her eyes at the sound of Harry's voice and Draco's laughter from the common area of their rooms. She was in the middle of charming her hair when she heard him, so she threw on a satin nightie (since it was closest to her and she was only in her underwear) and walked out to the commons room.
"What happened?" She was staring at Draco who was rolling on the couch laughing in just a shirt and his dress robe pants, looking like he was in the middle of getting dressed as well. Harry was standing in the middle of the room looking pissed.
His dress robe pants were a mess. One leg was tattered and so short it was above his knee, where as the other was long enough to pass his foot and drag on the floor.
"I obviously can't fix fucking robes, that's what," Harry snapped at her. He apologized a moment later when he saw her raised eyebrow. "Sorry. But I'm screwed."
Hermione sighed. "Harry, why must you be difficult? First, you could've just bought new robes. Second, if you insisted on keeping these, you could've fixed them in an easier way."
"Oh yeah? How?" Harry asked skeptically.
"DOBBY!" Hermione yelled.
A loud crack was heard and the elf stood in the room.
"What can Dobby do for Hermione?"
"Can you fix Harry's robes? He doesn't know what he's doing."
Dobby looked at Harry and started laughing, which got Draco going again.
"Oh, Master Harry, you should've called Dobby. Dobby could have fixed them quick." Dobby snapped his fingers and Harry's pants rightened themselves.
"Thanks Dobby!" Harry said and started to walk away, but the elf froze him in place.
"Dobby is not finished, Master Harry. Dobby is making you look good for boyfriend Draco," the elf said as he walked around Harry's immobile body.
"Apparently, immobilizing someone doesn't stop a blush," Hermione noted conversationaly, and looked at Draco to see him blushing slightly as well. She rolled her eyes.
The elf was done making a circuit around Harry and clapped his hands excitedly. "Dobby knows what to do!" He held his hands out in front of him and slowly dragged them down, as if he was running them down the fabric.
Now Draco was standing up, no longer laughing. His eyes were huge and his mouth looked only a few seconds from hanging opened. Hermione's eyebrows rose close to her hairline and she had to admit, she was impressed.
"How do I look?" Harry asked, twisting his head and body to try to get a better look at himself.
"Bloody fantastic! Dobby! Could you help me as well? I want to look good for Master Harry!" Draco asked the elf, who grinned and nodded.
Harry's robes, originally a green that matched his eyes, now had black piping around the edges. The robe part had been magically tairlored and now fit Harry's new physique perfectly. Dobby had even done Harry's hair, keeping it messy but somehow making it look like he wanted it that way. He even changed Harry's glasses; gone were the round frames of his youth. In their place were more fashionable rectangular frames, making him look extremely attractive.
"Come, Draco, and Dobby will help you too!" Dobby said as he walked towards Draco's room. Draco ran over and gave Harry a huge kiss and dragged him to his rooms as well. Hermione wondered how long it would actually take them to get dressed.
Hermione's dress was a simple, yet elegant one. It was black and fit her like a glove. She bought it with Severus in mind and was determined to make his eyes pop at least once. The neckline wasn't a deep plunge, but instead rounded, almost like a bikini top. From there, it form fit her waist until dropping off, so she could actually move. Even though it was loose fabric, it still somehow managed to cling to her…assests…beautifully. The straps of the gown had fake diamonds in a cluster starting right above her breasts on either side. From the cluster, the fabric started and made itself into a halter top. The back of her dress was non existent until right under the small of her back. Hermione figured the dress had to be charmed for it to form fit in the front but not have a back. Charms were also doing the job that a bra would, since she couldn't wear one with the dress.
"Winky!" Hermione called and the sound of an elf popping into her room was heard.
"Yes, missus? Can Winky help you?"
"I hope so. I want to make my hair look nice but I've never been good with hair. Dobby helped Harry and Draco but I thought a girls' touch would be better. Could you please help me?"
Winky's face split into a huge grin. "Of course! Winky does good hair! You is right not to ask Dobby; Dobby only does boy hair. Dobby woud mess Miss Hermione's hair up something terrible!"
"Excellent! I was thinking maybe half up, half down again-" Hermione started but was cut off by the elf.
"No, no, no, Miss Hermione! That hair is wrong for that dress. Winky will make you even more beautiful."
"Oh. Ok. Well, you're the expert."
Five minutes later, Hermione was glowing in her mirror.
"Winky! This is wonderful!"
"You is showing too much neck to cover it," the elf replied.
"Thank you so much!"
"You is welcome. Winky is going back to help in the kitchens now." The elf apparated away.
Hermione turned and looked at her hair again. Winky had put it up in a simple up-do, and had somehow turned it into wonderful. Loose tendrils of hair were falling perfectly on her neck and around her face, the whole hairstyle held in place with a charm. Winky had even done her make-up perfectly.
She put on the black stilettos that Severus had got her for Halloween, slipped her wand into a holder on her leg, and she was ready.
Walking out into the common room, she heard whistles and cat calls before turning to see Harry and Draco standing by the fireplace waiting for her.
"Shut up," she said, laughing. "Draco, you look great!"
Draco's robes were black with grey lining around the edges. They looked more or less like Harry's, but a different color. His hair was carefully slicked back.
"Thanks. But not like you, Hermione. You look beautiful!" Draco said.
"Really, Hermione, he's right. You're gorgeous," Harry told her, smiling.
"Aw, thanks you guys!" She hugged them both. "Let's get going before Severus gets pissed and we miss the whole ball in detention."