Finding Heather

Year 4 Chapter 5

Author's Notes: The biggest change I'm going to make to this book from canon is the removal of any mention of SPEW. It's not that I have any particular issue with the thought behind Hermione's quest for house elf rights, it's more the way she handles it. The biggest factor in me leaving it out is mostly due to the fact that it has little to no bearing on my story.

JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and all the trademarks that go with him. Lucky her.

Chapter Five

For the remainder of his visit at the Burrow, Harry did his best to spend time with Ron over the girls, either playing quidditch with him, the twins, and Charlie or losing repeatedly to him at wizard chess. Whatever mood had overtaken Ron was gone by the next morning, and nothing more was said about it by either of them. Harry was still wearing his new underwear everyday like Hermione had challenged, and putting the bras on was becoming easier by the day. It had helped when Hermione had suggested that he do up the clips in the front of his chest, then turn it around and put his arms through the straps. He didn't know if he'd be able to keep it up once they returned to school, but since he'd been able to keep it up this long, he was hopeful. The thought of going back to boy appropriate underwear wasn't one he relished. Finally, the evening before their return to Hogwarts came, and the mad scramble to find their belongings began in earnest. Harry was taking advantage of the fact that Ron's bedroom was empty to ensure that his small stash of girl's clothes, freshly washed and smuggled back to him by Hermione, were safely hidden under the invisibility cloak and Dudley's revolting jumper. Each item had Hermione's name on the laundry tag, so all Harry would have to do at school was to dump anything he'd worn into the laundry chute when no one was looking and it would get returned clean back to Hermione. Apparently the laundry chutes in all the dormitories emptied into one location, so no one would wonder why girls underwear was mixed in with the boys clothes. The trip aboard the Hogwarts Express was wet and grey. Rain poured from the moment they left the Burrow until they sat down in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. The sorting, Harry's first since his own, went on far too long in both his and Ron's opinion, with their stomachs grumbling loudly. It wasn't until after they'd eaten, Harry not quite as voraciously as Ron, that he really started paying attention to what was being said. Dumbledore's announcement that the Interhouse Quidditch Cup was cancelled for the year shocked out of his stupor. Aghast, he stared at the head table where Dumbledore stood, not entirely willing to believe his ears. The announcement that came next didn't mean as much to him as to others in the hall. The Triwizard Tournament was taking place that year. Harry, while interested at exactly what that was, still didn't think it made up for losing Quidditch. Talk that night in the dormitory was about nothing but the Tournament. Ron, Seamus, and Neville knew perfectly well what the it was, being from wizarding families, and they stayed up late into the night discussing it. When Harry excused himself to shower, the others exchanged wry glances, and soon the scent of flowers came wafting out of the bathroom. Unseen by Harry, Ron glowered at the smell and slammed his curtains shut around his bed. It couldn't be said that the first week of term wasn't interesting. The very next evening, after a long day of classes, which included an unfortunate Divination class, Draco Malfoy was turned into a ferret by the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Mad-Eye Moody. On Thursday, Harry finally got the response from Sirius he'd been waiting for. To his dismay, Sirius told him he was coming back to the country. Friday, a large poster was put up announcing that groups from the two wizarding schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, would be arriving in two months on the thirtieth of October. A renewed excitement for the upcoming tournament filled the school, and extra effort was put in to tidy the castle. Thankfully in all that excitement, Harry and Hermione found time on Saturday to have girl time. That morning at breakfast Harry was sitting with her and Ron at the Gryffindor table, having just finished discussing his response to Sirius, when Hermione turned to him and asked if he had any plans."Not that I can think of. I need to get started on that Transfiguration homework we got set yesterday." He replied, catching her raised eyebrows."Well, I'm going to the library for a while, want to come with me?" She asked, giving him a pointed look."Absolutely" he replied quickly."Ron, what are your plans for today?" Hermione turned towards him."I dunno, I was thinking a game of exploding snap. I mean, we've got ages to do that homework, don't we." He answered, swallowing a mouthful of sausage.Giving him a look of slight disdain at his eating habits, Hermione asked "So, you don't want to come to the library with us?""Nah," he answered, 'You two go on ahead." Doing his best not to rush from the hall as soon as they were done eating, Harry managed to refrain from sprinting until he was safely hidden in one of his secret passages, pelting for Gryffindor Tower. In his dormitory he grabbed up his school bag, emptying most of its contents into his trunk. He kept the books he would need to complete the assignment, and was actually looking forward to studying again with Hermione. Ever since he had developed that habit, his marks in classes, including Potions, had come up, and he wanted that trend to continue. He met Hermione at the bottom of the girl's staircase and the two headed off. She had brought her bag, and Harry thought it looked a bit too full to just be holding school books. His excitement rose with every step they took down to the second floor, bypassing the door to the library, and entering Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom. As dilapidated and unused as ever, Harry remembered the last time he'd been in here with Hermione at the end of the last term. Here he'd been able to get completely transformed, trusting that no girl in her right mind would use this toilet. Checking to make sure Myrtle wasn't in any of the stalls, Hermione cleaned one of the benches against the wall and started emptying her bag. She set out several more bras and knickers, one of her old uniforms, the clothes she had bought for him at Gladrag's, and two pairs of girl's trainers. Next to these was put a green zipper bag, slightly bigger than his money bag. The bench was full of clothes, and Harry loved just looking at it. "Here you go, Harry. Here are your clothes, and the bag is your new makeup case. I also put a few bottles of nail polish in there." She said, gesturing at the items and emphasizing the words 'your clothes.'"Wow Hermione!" He said, taking it all in, "This is amazing!""I'm glad you think so. I have one more surprise for you." She pulled out her wand and aimed it at his face before he could reply."Capillus Incrementum" She cried, and Harry felt a tingle and a rushing sensation all along his scalp. He felt hair tickle then cover his ears, eventually reaching long enough to brush against the back of his neck. When Hermione lifted the spell, Harry raced to the mirror and saw that her hair was now long enough to rest on her shoulders. It still stuck up oddly in places, but the length of it did much to pull it down."Hermione" he whispered, reaching up to feel the black hair that was framing his face."I take it you approve?" She asked, coming up behind him and taking in her handy work."It's fantastic" he said, still whispering."Well, stop starting and get dressed. You do remember how to do make up right?" She laughed at him, giving him a small push towards the bench. It took Harry almost an hour to get ready because he obsessed over every little detail. He briefly considered wearing one of the outfits he had gotten in Diagon Alley, but seeing as Hermione wearing her uniform, felt it was right that he did as well. Many of the articles he had read over the summer came back to him as he was applying his makeup, and he repeatedly opened his diary to consult them. In the end it wasn't perfect, he still wasn't very good at it and was out of practice, but it did the job well enough. Next was the nail polish. He chose green, remembering the dress in Diagon Alley. Once his nails were dry, it was magical nail polish and dried quickly, he took the uniform into a stall to change, easily sliding into the familiar outfit. It was newer than the one from last year, and fit even better. Emerging from the stall, he saw Hermione idly reading an article he'd left out of his diary."Wow" she said looking up. "Harry, if I didn't know, I'd never guess you weren't a girl."Slowly crossing the room towards the ring of mirrors, Harry was speechless. Standing there wasn't the boy in a skirt he'd remembered from last year. Looking back at him was a young girl of thirteen or fourteen in Gryffindor school robes. Hermione was looking him up and down approvingly. 'Ginny's going to lose her mind when she sees you." She said."She is?" Harry replied. Ginny hadn't said much to him during the last few days at the Burrow, which was in part due to the fact that Harry had spent so much time with Ron. "Of course! She's been badgering me non stop all week about when she can see you all dressed up.""Does she know where we are right now?" He asked"Yes, I told her what we were up to but I told her that you would have to say it was ok before she could come along." She answered, "I wanted to make sure that was what you wanted.""I know I've said this but you're amazing, Hermione." Harry said, smiling at her reflection in the mirror."If you want you can go get her. I think you're right. She should be a part of this." Hermione left to go get Ginny, and Harry sat down on the bench, pulling out the Marauder's map to watch her progress. Sure enough, pacing in her dormitory alone was a dot that read Ginny Weasley. Checking constantly to make sure that no girl was heading in this direction, Harry pulled his diary over to him, tucked the article Hermione had been reading back in, and started to write.Saturday, September 6, 1994Dear Diary, I'm sitting here in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom as a girl, and I don't even recognize myself. I swear make up is a more powerful magic than they teach us here. You can't see my scar at all. I don't even look like a boy! Hermione just left to get Ginny, so she can meet girl me. Hmm, I wonder how exactly I should talk about girl me. It feels like I'm talking about someone who isn't Harry Potter, and I love that because just sitting here it's so nice to not worry about being me anymore. I wonder If it's this nice to be a girl all the time.Soon Hermione opened the door from the corridor and told him to go wait in a stall, as she wanted Ginny to get the full effect. Sliding back into the same stall he had used to change, Harry heard the door open, to sets of footsteps enter, before the door was closed again. Through the door he could hear someone whispering excitedly, which he presumed had to be Ginny. "Harry, come on out." called Hermione.Slowly opening the door, heart pounding in his chest, he stepped out into view. He immediately wished for a camera to take a picture of Ginny's reaction. Her face went from an expression of exited expectation to her jaw dropping in a heartbeat. Cautiously Harry walked towards the two girls, smiling slightly, waiting for one of them to say something. Finally, Ginny recovered herself enough to speak."Harry? Is that really you?" Her eyes were roaming all over him, trying to take in everything at once."It's me" he replied. Her eyes continued to stare him up and down, taking in his hair, make up, uniform, and finger nails."You make such a beautiful girl!" She cried, her excitement overcoming her initial shock. "You really think so?" Harry asked, "I do! You look so natural." Ginny said, still rooted to the spot. "You've got to teach me how to do eyeliner like that!"Harry had tried adding little wings at the outside of his eyes, something he'd read about in a magazine. Grinning sheepishly, he looked to Hermione, "It makes me really happy to hear that, both of you.""Of course! And now we can talk for real like we couldn't over the summer." At that moment however came a loud splash from a toilet at the end of the row. Pearly and transparent, and ghost exited the stall and turned to face them."What're you doing here?" She asked, looking at Hermione, "Come to make more potions and then forget about me?" Moaning Myrtle, who haunted this bathroom, was the perpetually sad ghost of a girl who had been murdered here fifty years ago when Tom Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets. Ever since, she had lingered here in the toilet where she had died, occasionally setting off floods into the corridor outside. Hermione, who was the only person Myrtle recognized, tried to placate her."No Myrtle, we didn't forget about you! We've just been very busy since then.""Oh, is that right?" Myrtle sniffed, her pale eyes watering with ghostly tears, "So what brings you here now? And who are these other girls."Harry, who was terrified to speak, had a slight internal thrill at being mistaken for a girl."Myrtle, this is Ginny," Hermione said, pointing her out, "And this is, uhh,""Yes? Said Myrtle, "Who is she?"Harry could see wheels turning very fast in Hermione's mind, but decided there was no use in hiding it. Especially not if they wanted to keep using the bathroom as their clubhouse of sorts. It would only be a matter of time before Myrtle found out anyway."I'm Harry, Myrtle." He said.Myrtle drifted forward until she was uncomfortably close to Harry. "Harry? But that's a boy's name. Harry who?""Harry Potter." He said, surprised at the calmness of his own voice. He raised his bangs to show were the barest imprint of his scar could be seen through the make up close up.To everyone's surprise, a smile broke out on Myrtle's face. "Harry? You're dressed like a girl!""I am" he replied simply, waiting to see what her reaction would be."Well, you aren't the first boy to use my toilet to dress like a girl, but you definitely do it the best." Myrtle said, turning to look at Ginny next before returning to hover over her usual stall."T-thanks Myrtle" Harry said, swallowing a little hard."Is it ok if we use your bathroom to let Harry be a girl, Myrtle?" Hermione asked,Myrtle looked surprised at the question. "You're the first person to ever ask me that." She looked at Harry again before continuing on. "Well, since he makes such a pretty girl, I guess I don't mind.""And you won't tell anyone about this?" Harry added, voicing the fear he'd experienced since the ghost's arrival."No, I won't" said Myrtle, diving back into her toilet. "Have fun, girls." Turning to look at each other, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief. "I guess we have permission," said Harry, who began to giggle in sheer relief."I'm glad, because this is the best place we have to do this" replied Hermione "That's true, its not like we can take him up to our dormitories" added Ginny. The girls and Harry settled onto the benches, where Ginny started perusing the articles that Harry offered her."Harry," began Hermione once she had finished putting his new clothes into his school bag, "how did you do with what I challenged you with at the Burrow?""I did, and it had some good results" he laughed, looking at Ginny's confused expression."I suggested he wear a bra and knickers every day he was with us over the summer. That's why he was wearing one at the Cup when you felt it." Hermione added. Ginny nodded. "Based on the fact that he didn't grab one when he got dressed today, it would seem that our little lady over here is still wearing them daily." she said, sending a sidelong glance at Harry. When he nodded, both girls grinned."Good, then from now on I think you should wear one every day, knickers too. You have enough now to be able to wear a fresh set everyday. No more boy underwear, young lady.""Ok" said Harry, both nervous and excited."On top of that, you should start shaving your legs. Girl's our age don't have hairy legs, even if they can't be seen under our tights. It feels and looks better, both of which are equally important things to consider about anything girl related. So every three days you need to shave your legs. I'll give you what you need for that." Harry nodded, thinking about that. He hadn't grown much body hair yet, so that sounded like an easy thing to do. "The last challenge I have for you is a bit more personal. I know you boys can stand to pee, but girls can't. So, I want you to always sit when you use the toilets."Harry turned a bit red at that suggestion, but nodded again."I'm glad you like my ideas. I know last time we talked you said you wanted to only be a girl part time, but I figured you could do little things like that to help make you feel like a real girl."The three girls sat down on benches near the mirrors and talked, Ginny pulling out her make up kit and trying to copy Harry's eyeliner. Harry felt happier than he'd thought possible. He now had two friends, and a ghost, that accepted him as part girl, and even though he wasn't sure how anyone else would react if they found out, for the moment this was all he needed.