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Chapter 34 – When Lightning Strikes

As each day went by at the Potters', Hermione felt like she was stuck in a waiting limbo. As much as she was enjoying her days in the sun with James and Sirius down in West Country, there was always the ever-present feeling that there was more that she should be doing. But what could she do? Dumbledore had not written yet and it also wasn't as though she could force a storm. So, Hermione had to find other things to do to occupy her mind. There were times when she was enjoying herself so much at the Potters' that she'd forget what she was supposed to be looking forward to. That was, until any time an owl showed up for her.

Every time she opened and unfolded a piece of parchment, there was a moment of panic wondering if it would finally be news from Dumbledore. So far, it hadn't been, and she begun to wonder if he was going to keep his promise to her about keeping her in the loop. She was starting to think she was right about him only wanting her to stay put and behave; that news may never come.

There was a relentless debate inside of her head on whether or not she should write to him and ask. It made Hermione truly begin to understand how Harry had always felt. The constant pressure of bearing the weight of the future; the feelings of abandonment by those you viewed in the highest of regard… She had completely underestimated the anger Harry had felt during their fifth year when Dumbledore had been ignoring him. It made her appreciate and miss Harry more than ever.

There was one afternoon where three letters arrived at the same time for her, and she thought that Dumbledore must have finally decided to write her. But then she saw the handwriting on the outside of the letters. Hermione couldn't even be disappointed, because that would have involved her having any sort of expectation to begin with.

At least she had the letters from her friends to fight off her annoyance. Carefully, Hermione opened the first one and began to read:

Dear Hermione,

I hope your holiday is going well and you're enjoying your time with James and Sirius! I'm so glad you agreed to come spend time here next month! I worked everything out with my mum and dad; they've so excited to meet you, I've told them so much about you. My sister is taking courses in London so you're free to have her room. Or we can sleep over in my room like a slumber party, but we have plenty of time to figure all that out!

Better yet, now that I'm of age, I was finally able to get the Ministry to allow my muggle fireplace to be connected to the floo. I know you can't apparate, and I don't trust myself enough to do side-along yet, so now I can come and pick you up for the visit if James is alright with me dropping in for a bit.

I look forward to seeing you soon!

Lily

Hermione grinned down at the letter. James would be thrilled to have Lily show up at his house. She could imagine the look on his face when she'd tell him. Or maybe it would be more amusing to just let Fleamont and Euphemia know and have James be surprised when Lily randomly showed up. There would be plenty of time before that date to figure out a plan there.

Hermione moved onto the next letter.

Dear Hermione,

I hope this letter reaches you and that you aren't dead, because I sure would be by now if I had to stay with Sirius. Or maybe he would be dead… who knows? Well, this started off way more morbid that I had anticipated, sorry! What I mean to say is that I miss you and can't wait to see you. I have so much to tell you! Marcus finally met my parents… I won't say too much here because I'd rather tell you in person, but it was all very exciting! Also, maybe at some point this summer you, me, and maybe even Peter can go and take the Apparition Test again together. Well, Peter for the first time. Wouldn't that be fun?

Your friend,

Mary

A humorless snort escaped Hermione. Well, she certainly wouldn't be going with Mary to attempt her Apparition Test again. Even if she were allowed to, the last person she'd voluntarily do anything with would have been Peter Pettigrew. It was the last thing she thought would be fun. There had to be some excuse she could come up with to turn Mary's offer down…

Below her name was a quick postscript, and Hermione quickly read on.

P.S. I've enclosed a copy of the photograph we took while leaving the castle. There's also the one of Sirius losing his bet, please enjoy that one a little extra!

Mary had managed to fix the photographs to the bottom of the piece of parchment with a sticking charm, which Hermione quickly reversed.

The first one was the group picture. Hermione stared down fondly at picture where she stood sandwiched closely between Remus and Mary. Just the sight of it made her heart feel like it was growing. When had she become so sentimental?

She watched the way Remus had pulled her arm at the beginning of the photo so she would be closer to him, and how she had smiled up at him. Seeing her reaction to being near him made her stomach flutter. Oh god, was she always that obvious or was she looking too much into it? She wondered if Mary had noticed it as well before she sent it. No wonder she had given Sirius and Remus the wrong impression – well, not necessarily wrong, but definitely not appropriate. But seeing Remus's smiling face as he looked at her just hurt more as Hermione realized just how much she had been missing him the last few weeks.

Everyone else in the photo was grinning at the camera, with Hogwarts standing in all its grandeur in the background. It really was a beautiful shot, even if Sirius had stuck his tongue out playfully at the end as he hung onto James's shoulder. James and Lily stood front and center, standing closer than Hermione had ever seen them. She wondered if it was the first time they had been photographed together, or if Mary had gotten other shots of them in the last few months. Either way, it was something she was sure Harry would want to see. Maybe one day she'd be able to permanently remove Peter from it. He was standing on the edge after all, it wouldn't be too difficult.

The second photo made her burst out laughing. It started right as she had pulled on Sirius's sleeve, and she watched the look of horror form on Sirius's face as her words had sunk in. It was as though he were cycling through all the stages of grief at the same time. That moment of realization on his face was absolutely priceless, and Hermione was grateful for the permanent reminder of the moment.

There was only one letter left unread, and Hermione had saved it for last.

Dear Hermione,

Have James and Sirius been hogging Archimedes lately? I feel as though our letters are far fewer than normal. I feel bad borrowing my family's owl a lot, especially since my father is so busy with work at the Ministry with everything happening in the world right now with the war. I feel as though owls are coming and going constantly for him, so it's always a joy when one arrives for me from you.

Thank you for asking about Flourish and Blotts, it's nice to have someone in that house not tease me for having a job. (I say that with love of course). Work has been busy, but I don't really mind. The busier it is the faster time seems to go and then I can write to all of you. It also helps to have some pocket change. Hopefully we can all meet up in the upcoming weeks. I'll have to work something out with James whenever I can take off from work so we can all see each other. It's only been three weeks since I've seen you all but that's entirely too long. If you're ever find yourself in Diagon Alley, you know where to find me.

Steal Archimedes more often if you can. I miss you and hope we can see each other soon.

Yours,

Remus

P.S. There are whispers of a big storm approaching. Keep me posted about your transformation. Just remember, I believe in you.

The last four words echoed through her head and she felt a squeeze at her heart. He believed in her. The words shouldn't have had such an effect on her, but they did, and she smiled down at the letter. She let her fingertips slowly graze the length of the parchment where his quill had written so eloquently. Three weeks was definitely far too long.

Hermione set the letter down on the desk with the other two and sighed. What she hadn't received, was a letter from Dumbledore. She wasn't sure what to make of that; if it was a good sign or not. Either way it was unsurprising. She turned in her chair to look out the bay window. Remus had been right about one thing. Dark clouds had begun rolling in, casting a grey haze over the lake out in the distance. It left the island that was far out in the water barely visible, and Hermione could feel both excitement and nerves building in her stomach. There certainly was a storm brewing.

~o~

"Hermione! Hermione wake up!"

Hermione jolted up in her bed from just as a great flash of bright light illuminated the dark room. She let out a small yelp as a crash of thunder vibrated through the bed. From the other side of the room, Hermione could hear someone pounding on her door and she quickly lit the gas lamp on her bedside table. Warm light flooded around her just as another crash of thunder shook through her bones. In one swift movement, Hermione was on her feet and wrapping her dressing gown around her pajamas. She grabbed her wand that rested beside the bed and hurried towards the door.

James and Sirius were both waiting for her in their own pajamas, looking tired and disheveled, but with matching looks of excitement as they pushed past her into the room. Sirius quickly cast a silencing charm around them.

"Lightning storm!" enthused Sirius, pointing towards the window just as another flash lit up the night sky. "Time to go!"

"During the storm?" gaped Hermione. Adrenaline had begun making its way through her body, overtaking the groggy tiredness she had just felt from being rudely awakened. "Shouldn't we wait for it to stop?"

James was already shaking his head before she had finished speaking. "The wind is worse than normal. If we don't go and get the phial now it could get blown over if branches fall on it. Or the wind could blow the foliage away from the entrance of the hole in the tree. It could get knocked over and shatter and we'd have to start all over."

Hermione's stomach seemed to sink further into her body. "But the only way to get to it is by flying…"

James was still frantically shaking his head. "We'll apparate!"

"But I failed my test!" she said, with her heart hammering in her chest.

"We can get it for you," said Sirius, looking at James. "We'll bring it right back."

"No! This was my idea; I have to be there!" she insisted.

"You can't fly in this weather, Hermione, you'll get yourself killed!" said Sirius, rolling his eyes.

Hermione looked out the window with wide eyes as the rain fell in a downpour, the sky illuminating under flashes of lightning. Rain pounded into the window, and Hermione couldn't tell what was louder, the rain or the whistling wind.

"You're right, we can't fly in this…" she said under her breath.

"You'll have to stay here," said James.

"No! Is there not another way?" asked Hermione.

"What if we summon it?" suggested James, looking around brightly.

"And risk it getting smacked by some blowing branch or hitting something and shattering?" said Sirius.

"Right…"

Sirius was still looking at James, waiting for answer but James had a distant look in his eyes. Slowly, he began pacing around the bedroom, rubbing his chin as he was lost in thought.

"Okay so we can't fly… summoning it is risky… we're certainly not swimming it, and you can't apparate…" started James, who then stopped to look at her. "So we'll do side-along!"

"Have you done that before?" Hermione asked nervously.

"No, but what other choice to we have? You don't want to stay behind and we're running out of time and options!" exclaimed James.

She knew keeping the phial on the island had been a bad idea. The fact that Dumbledore had made her fail her Apparition test of purpose made her even angrier. Now she had to risk having both of them get splinched for this. But she wasn't going to let them leave her behind again. Not anymore.

"Okay," Hermione said with a big exhale. She knew James was right and there was no time to waste as the storm continued to rage outside. "Let's do this."

James grasped Hermione's hand and looked down at her, hesitating slightly. There was fear in his hazel eyes and Hermione gave his hand a quick squeeze and he nodded down at her.

"Alright, Padfoot. Let's go."

Immediately there was a popping sound and Sirius was gone, and Hermione felt James tense up beside her.

"Don't let go," he said, with a slight tremble in his voice.

A huge burst of lightning struck through the sky outside at the same moment Hermione felt the familiar pull of apparition.

Immediately she knew that something was wrong.

It all happened so fast. What was probably mere seconds seemed more like minutes. Hermione's arm felt like it was stretching away from her has she desperately tried to keep her grasp on James's hand. The way she was moving felt different, like she was getting pulled in multiple directions rather than squeezing through a tube in one. Her head felt as though it were about to split down the middle and her entire body tensed up as if prepping to explode.

Oh god, were they actually about to splinch themselves?

A muffed yell came from beside her, but everything was black and Hermione couldn't see James. He sounded so far away, but she could still feel his hand in hers. Fear paralyzed both her body and mind for a moment before an idea struck her. There was no way she would let James get hurt because of her. If it worked, she would have less than a second to time it perfectly or she could get herself killed.

Hermione focused her mind on the island, visualizing how it looked. In her mind she could see the mudbanks and tress on the small island, and she focused hard on them, willing herself not to think of the lake or the storm.

Before she could lose her nerve, Hermione did what James had told her not to do: she let go of James's hand.

There was a brief feeling of being yanked before Hermione heard the crack of herself apparating. Her body lurched and she felt the squeezing sensation before a new feeling took over completely. There was no feeling of solid ground like she had expected, or the sound of thunderous rain around her. The only sound was the high-pitched tone ringing in her ears.

Everything went cold and gravity felt suspended. It felt like her entire body had been submerged but floating at the same time. Her heart nearly stopped from fear and she tried to scream but when he mouth opened, water rushed in. White hot panic flashed through her body, and she opened her eyes to darkness as she thrashed around, unmoving.

She was in the lake, and she was drowning.

Hermione's legs began kicking but she had no idea which way was up or down, for all she knew she could be swimming in the wrong direction. It was exhausting, and between trying to swim and holding her breath, her head began to feel fuzzy. Her lungs burned from the effort.

Dear god, she was actually going to drown.

Remus was right, she never should have tried this… Just thinking of Remus made her heart ache. If she drowned doing this, he would surely blame himself, even if he had nothing to do with it. She wished she could see him one last time and tell him that it was entirely her fault. She wished she could see the others as well. Would she never see her family again? Harry and Ron? After everything that had happened?

Then, in her head she could clearly hear Ron's voice coming to her, yelling, "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

Hermione pulled her wand through the water until it was in front of her and silently thought, Lumos!

Light burst in front of her and her heart lurched with hope, but it was short lived. All she was able to see was her own arm holding her wand, the rest of the lake remained black around her. How far down into the lake had she gone to still not be able to see anything? If she had been able to see where the surface was, she could have lifted herself out of the lake with her wand, but in the darkness she'd only risk propelling herself in the wrong direction.

Another pang of terror made its way down her body and the light from her wand went out. Everything felt very still in that moment, almost peaceful. In the blackness, she couldn't even tell if her eyes were open or not, not that it mattered anymore.

But they must have still been open, because there was suddenly a bright white light coming towards her. It was approaching so quickly, but Hermione was having trouble keeping her eyes open and they fluttered closed.

Something grabbed the back of her dressing gown and then she felt herself flying through the water. When her head finally broke the surface of the lake, air had never felt so good to breathe and a huge gasp escaped her body. Wind and waves slapped into her face and she could feel icy rain beating down on her like shards of glass as she coughed and spluttered, gagging on the water she was trying to force out of her lungs. She clung weakly onto the body next to her as it dragged her through the rough water until she felt the mud on the lake bank. Then she was released.

Gravity felt extra heavy as she flattened herself into the mud, desperately trying to breathe. Beside her, also sprawled out in the dirt, was another dark figure that she couldn't fully see from the night storm. Hermione laid her head down against the muddy shore and just took in as much summer air as she possibly could, not even bothered by the pelting rain coming from above, beating down on her harshly.

Another bolt of lightning streaked through the sky followed by a loud clap of thunder, and Hermione whimpered feebly. The dark figure next to her was groaning slightly but she had no energy to investigate. It took what felt like eternity for Hermione's chest stopped heaving before gaining enough strength to look around for whoever pulled her out, but she saw nothing. The light that had accompanied her savior was gone.

Then, a strong hand gripped her shoulder from behind, and before she could prepare herself, there was another crack and suddenly she was being pulled through space again.

With a crash, she landed into a hard wooden floor of a brightly lit, dry room. Blinking rapidly, she looked down at her soaked and mud-covered dressing gown and pajamas. Hermione was shaking as she tried to sit up to examine herself. Nothing seemed to be wrong with her, other than the soreness in her throat and chest and the ache from her rapidly beating heart.

James was sprawled on the floor beside her, clutching his elbow. There was a long gash above it that was bleeding down his arm, and his glasses were fogged and wet from the rain. He tore them off his face when he got sight of Hermione before quickly pulled himself onto his knees, crawling towards her.

"Oh thank Merlin," he said with a thick voice, and placed the hand of his good arm on her shoulder.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL HAPPENED?" bellowed Sirius, who was standing in front of the two of them, panting wildly.

His entire person was drenched from head to toe, and he dripped muddy water onto the wood paneled floorboards. Black hair was plastered to his pale face that was ever whiter than usual. It was obvious he was trying hard to look angry as he stared down at the two of them, but his eyes betrayed him. Hermione could see both his body as well as his bottom lip trembling.

Before either of them could say anything, Sirius launched forward onto his knees and pulled them both into a bone shattering hug.

"You both had me scared to death!" he exhaled.

"I-it's my fault…" stammered out Hermione, feeling the breath get squeezed out of her from Sirius's hold. She hadn't even realized she was trembling until Sirius's arm was around her tightly. "I should have stayed behind. W-we didn't all have to go. It was so stupid!"

It had been so foolish! They were all lucky to be alive, and she had been the one to put them in the situation in the first place. She had nearly gotten them killed, and for what? To satisfy her pride? Her face burned from the shame of it.

"We were all stupid," said James with heavy breaths as he leaned into Sirius's embrace with his good side. "But we're alive."

"I shouldn't have been so stubborn," admitted Hermione dejectedly, feeling her eyes begin to sting.

Sirius pulled away from them and moved back, sitting down on the ground with them.

"Probably not, but it made for one hell of an adventure…" said Sirius, forcing a smile onto his face that Hermione did not buy.

There was another flash of lightning outside the window and Hermione flinched, just as thunder echoed through the floor.

"What even happened?" asked James. He looked at Hermione with a frown. "Why did you let go?"

"I could feel us about to splinch," said Hermione weakly. Her throat still ached and she tried to clear it. "I tried to apparate on my own hoping you'd make it to the island but I must have landed myself in the water."

"Well, I'll tell you what I saw!" said Sirius. "I was waiting on shore and then all of a sudden James is falling onto the beach screaming in pain. You were nowhere to be seen anywhere! I was beginning to think the worst until there was a flash of light before the surface of the lake. So I dove in and I see you thrashing about underwater some metres out in the water!"

"Tha-that was you that came in after me?" croaked Hermione.

"Of course it was! Who bloody else could it have been? Then you went all still… so I grabbed onto you and I used ascendio to get us out. Once I saw you were breathing, I went to get the phial and then apparated us back!"

Any lingering anger Hermione had felt towards Sirius the last few weeks immediately evaporated, and she threw her arms back around him and pulled him close. She held him tightly, gripping his soaked back desperately as she felt him still trembling slightly.

"Thank you," she breathed into his shoulder. Sirius seemed to stiffen for a moment, before returning the embrace. And Hermione truly was thankful. He had saved all of their lives, not to mention successfully apparated all three of them back into her room. It was incredible magic. It was just incredible in general.

When Sirius finally pulled away, color had returned to his face and he cleared his throat before digging into his pocket. When he opened his fist, the crystal phial was safely resting in the palm of his hand. Hermione's heart leapt at the sight of it. No longer was it filled with the ingredients they had added to it nearly three months ago now. Instead, a blood red liquid filled its shape.

"Well, at least it worked," said Sirius, forcing a shaky laugh.

Hermione's hand shot forward and took the phial from his hand, examining it, before beaming up at Sirius. She was so relieved, excited, and thankful in that moment that she could have kissed him.

"Well, at least we didn't almost die for nothing," said James with his own uncomfortable laugh.

Hermione looked back at James just as he winced and gripped his bloody arm.

"James, your arm…" said Hermione, leaning towards him, trying to get another look at it.

"It's superficial," said James. "Just a long scratch. It's not even deep."

"Were you splinched?" she asked fearfully, touching her fingertips above the cut.

James was right, it didn't look deep at all, and the bleeding wasn't too bad. Whatever he had done to it, he was lucky it wasn't worse.

"I don't know… It happened so fast. I might have scratched it on something when I hit the ground," said James, frowning down at his arm. "I apparated into the air and fell from pretty high up…"

Hermione pulled out her wand, which was still wet along with every other part of her and held it up towards James.

"Episkey!" Hermione said, tapping her wand to James's arm.

Almost instantly, the gash was gone, just leaving behind some dried blood and dirt. James grinned gratefully at her.

"Thanks."

"Soooo," said Sirius, rubbing his hands together. "Are we finally going to see what she turns into?"

"We'll test it in the morning. We'll have to go into the forest. I can't have her transforming in the house," said James, turning to look back at Hermione. "What if you turned into an elephant or something and burst through the ceiling? My mum would skin me…"

Hermione could only nod, letting the elephant comment slide. She certainly was not going to be going outside again that night. Another dry cough burned through her lungs and she winced from the pain of it.

"I'll go get you something for that," said James, looking at her carefully. "We should all get cleaned up and get to bed soon. We have a fun day ahead of us tomorrow."

After an extremely long shower, where Hermione spent what felt like forever trying to wash off the mud and grimy lake water that seemed embedded into her skin, she finally started to feel the effects of just how exhausted she was.

When she returned to her room, it seemed like the storm outside had subsided. There was now just rain steadily hitting the window. She saw there were no sign of the puddles and mud on the floor leaving her to believe that James and Sirius must have scourgified the room. There was no longer any trace that three people who had been out in the storm – one who had been bleeding and two who had been in the lake – had just been sitting on that very floor not too long ago.

On the bedside table Hermione spotted two small phials of liquid that hadn't been there before. One red and the other a dark purple; pepper-up potion and a sleeping draught. She mentally thanked James for thinking of that second one. As exhausted as she was, she wanted no chance of waking up before morning.

Downing the contents of both potions, Hermione crawled under the covers and let herself relax into the soft, warm bed. As she went to turn off the light, she could already feel the potions beginning to work. The ache that had been in her chest and throat was slowly subsiding, and her eyelids were growing heavier and heavier. Staring across the dark room, Hermione's eyes lingered on the outline of the crystal phial on her dresser where she had left it before slowly drifting off to sleep.

~o~

The following morning was very grey with light drizzles, but gone was the storm from the night before. There was, however, some remnants from the thunderous rain and strong winds as branches and foliage had blown all over the back garden and the surrounding area. Going to get the potion might have been the right idea after all.

The air was thick with humidity and Hermione could feel her hair stretching out around her as she followed James and Sirius down a foggy, muddy path leading towards the forest on the outskirts of the lake.

"You don't actually think I'll turn into an elephant, do you?" asked Hermione nervously as she followed them farther into the collection of dripping trees.

She didn't know whether or not to be offended by her friends' hypotheticals. First a snail, now an elephant; she hoped they were just grasping for odd examples rather than thinking there was a chance she'd be either of those things. What would it say about her personality if she was either of those?

James and Sirius both turned to look at her behind them and burst into laughter when they saw her face. Hermione just pursed her lips and kept marching through the soaked grass.

The fog was beginning to break, and rain had really made the for everything around them to look just so… green. It was like walking through a world in a fairytale. The grass, bushes, and trees were just bursting with life.

Hermione ran her hands across a bush as she walked, feeling the wet leaves dripping across her fingers. She began to pay closer attention to the details of everything, watching droplets fall from the tress and the way the condensation coated the top of leaves.

The air around the wet forest smelled so crisp, and Hermione wondered if it was similar to the morning dew Remus smelled after transformations. If it was, then she had to agree with him that it smelled so wonderful; like everything was fresh and new. It made perfect sense why Remus would love it, and her stomach fluttered at the idea that the smell of it reminded him of her.

It made her think about what Dumbledore had said about her having to create a life there if he failed this summer. The idea of it wasn't entirely terrible. A new life just like a still morning following a storm; a fresh start. Hermione wondered what starting a life there would entail, and the first thought that accompanied that was wondering if it could possibly include Remus. Would she want it to? Her stomach fluttered again, answering her own internal question. Was there a part of her that did not want Dumbledore to succeed? That, she wouldn't allow herself to think about.

Finally, they reached a break in the trees, and Hermione followed James and Sirius into the clearing. The lake was visible through a collection of trees to the left of them, but overall they were completely hidden away from the rest of the world. It was the perfect place to test out the transformation.

"It's now or never," said Sirius with a smirk.

Hermione took the crystal phial out of her pocket. For the last time, she touched her wand to her chest and spoke, "Amato Animo Animato Animagus."

With a deep breath, she uncorked the phial and drank the blood red liquid with one gulp.

It tasted like nothing, and for a moment Hermione wondered if maybe something had gone wrong. That was until she began to feel it. At first it felt like how she imagined glowing would feel if it had a physical sensation. Warmth was radiating through her body and Hermione suddenly felt powerful, and she was then certain that everything had worked.

Then came the pain.

It came on so quickly and intensely that she screamed and doubled over. Sirius made a move towards her, but James held him back.

Both her wand and the empty phial slipped from her hands and landed in the wet grass, but Hermione paid them no mind. All she could focus on was the blinding pain rushing through her body.

Finally, the pain stopped as it was replaced with the strongest second heartbeat she had ever felt. Trembling slightly, and breathing heavily, Hermione looked up at James and Sirius at the edge of the clearing.

"Do you see it? The animal you'll become?" asked Sirius eagerly.

"You should be able to visualize it if you concentrate hard enough," added James, also looking at her with much interest.

At the mention of that, the image of an animal began to float into her mind. A smile spread across Hermione's face as the animal fully formed.

Perfect.

There was a small voice in the back of her head telling her it was time to transform. Concentrating hard, Hermione's body seemed to just know what to do as the animal's image was all she could see.

The heart that normally beat at a faster rate in the back of her chest was more prominent than even. Soon it was the only heartbeat she could feel at all as it overtook the steady beat of her human heart, forcing that one to now be in the background.

The oddest sensation began to go through her body, and Hermione closed her eyes tightly. Everything about her body suddenly felt extremely loose, like she was about to melt. Then, slowly, she felt her body begin to change.

It was hard to even describe the feeling, it was so out of the ordinary from anything she had ever felt before. It felt condensing, but also like a light, trickling numbness from her head down to the earth beneath her feet.

It reminded Hermione of the time her parents had taken her to Brighton Pier as a child. She had never gone on any type of fairground ride before and her parents had convinced her to try the slide. The feeling of going down that slide, that had looked like a lighthouse, for the first time was a feeling she never knew she could experience. At first the fear had made her stomach feel like it was dropping as she had looked down the spiraling drop, but as she slid down on that old rope mat by herself, it had sent a thrill tingling down her spine.

The sensation of transforming felt almost like that time again, but as if it were happening in slow motion. Incredibly slow motion. Rather than have the adrenaline burst through her all at once, she could feel it slowly moving down her body as she began to shrink down with it. She could feel it moving so slowly, as if crawling, bit by bit, through every part of her. There was a moment when she felt as if she were suspended in air as she felt her body change positions, and then all at once, it was over.

When Hermione opened her eyes again, the entire world felt like it had somehow shifted. She had given much consideration of what it would feel like to look at her surroundings from a different point of view, whether she grew or shrunk, but she never would have fully been able to prepare herself for how disorienting it was.

The world looked massive from ankle level, and everything was now slightly less green. It was as if someone had desaturated the world around her. But everything else was heightened. She could sense the bugs crawling around her and hear the blades of grass surrounding her move with the gentle breeze.

It was so fascinating, and her quickened heart was beating even faster. Wanting to test out more, Hermione tried to take a step forward and immediately flopped into the wet grass. Her body felt so loose, as if she were a wet noodle.

Then two sets of giant feet stopped in front of her, and Hermione arched her neck to look up at the giants.

"No. Way," said Sirius, beaming down at her.

James wore an equal expression of awe as the two, now very large looking boys, towered above her. James slowly bent down and retrieved the empty phial and her wand, tucking them away for safe keeping.

"I want to pet her," said Sirius with determined eyes.

Hermione had tried to gasp in horror as Sirius stepped towards her, but all that came out was a high-pitched squeak. Now was the perfect opportunity to see how fast she could run.

Wanting to escape Sirius's outstretched hand that was getting nearer and nearer, Hermione took off towards the trees in the direction of the lake.

Trying to run on all fours was tricky at first. Hermione had to keep reminding herself that she had to use her entire body now rather than just two legs. After a moment of fumbling through the grass, instinct finally took over. One second she was stumbling and falling the few centimetres into the ground, and then all of a sudden it felt like she was able to fly.

It was the most freeing feeling that nearly brought tears to her eyes – well, it would have it she had still been human. Her body had never felt looser in her life. There was no worry of muscle cramps or twisted ankles and knees. She felt invincible.

The sensation of the wet blades of grass brushing up against her with her short legs keeping her so close to the ground was the oddest feeling, but one that made her feel so alive. She had an energy she couldn't remember feeling ever since she was a small child. It amazed her just how fast she was. Or maybe that's just how it felt now that she was so small, but she felt like she could go on forever.

As she came to the edge of the lake, Hermione came to a stop, breathing heavily from all the excitement. She could hear James and Sirius's enthusiastic voices calling out for her as she looked over the edge and into the water.

Through the gentle ripples, brown eyes reflected back up into her own as she looked down at fuzzy the face of an otter.

A/N: The memory of Ron's quote is from Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 16 – Through the Trapdoor.