Changes

by malko050987

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and no profit is made from this.

A/N: Many thanks to LunaMoon224 for betaing this for me. Very much appreciated, Luna. HBP is ignored here. Wrote this fic when I became frustrated at the lack of H/T fics. I am working on I Want Out, but will only post when it's complete. I do not have an estimate of when that will be. The same applies to Escape, although I might have to re-write parts of that. DH might turn me off the HP fandom, but if HBP didn't' do it, I doubt DH will.

Summary: Halloween has never been a regular holiday for Harry. The Halloween in his seventh year is no exception. Harry/Tonks, gender-bending, femslash.

Warning: Gender-Bending: This fic will have a male being turned into a female. If such things are not what you prefer to read, go away now. Femslash: This fic will feature a femslash relationship, a relationship between two females. Also mentions of slash.

Hermione smiled gratefully at her boyfriend when he took her bulging book bag and slung it over his shoulder. Taking his hand, she pulled him towards Gryffindor Tower.

"Why do you need so many books?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Well, I want to finish all the homework I have, so I don't have anything to do tomorrow evening, since it's Halloween and all," she explained. "Plus, if I know them right, Harry and Ron will need at least a few of those books, and then there's a couple I took because they seemed interesting..."

"You're nutters. You know that, right?" he told her, fighting a smile as she turned to him and pouted – a very effective ploy to make him kiss her, which he did.

They were interrupted a few minutes after that, by a red-faced, panting Ron. "Hermione," gasp, "come," pant, "to tower," wheeze, "Harry said." With that, he let himself fall to the floor, catching his breath.

"Ron, in English please," Dean said. He was a bit uncomfortable around Ron since he was Hermione's ex-boyfriend. Ron had been friendly to him though, which had been a relief. It had been even more of a relief that Harry was friendly to him.

Dean had been there at the Final Battle, as it was called by the Wizarding world. In reality, it had been an outing of the DA, to celebrate the Halloween in his sixth year. Harry had somehow rented a house in Hogsmeade, and with the help of the DA members who had graduated, prepared a party.

Voldemort and almost all his Death Eaters had decided to attack Hogsmeade that night. And the entire world had seen why exactly angering Harry was suicidal. Ginny Weasley had been placed under the Imperio at the beginning of the battle, and Voldemort tried to possess her again. Since at the time she and Harry were dating, Voldemort had thought it would break Harry's spirit to see her controlled and used by him and his minions.

Harry had literally exploded, sending curse after curse and Voldemort. In five minutes, Voldemort was dead, and the Death Eaters were rolling on the ground, clutching their arms. Then the wizards from Hogsmeade had their own revenge. None of the Death Eaters survived the night, except for Snape, who had been revealed for a spy in the summer before that.

Hermione squeezed his hand and started pulling him down the corridor, following Ron.

"Harry has been casting lots of spells around his bed all evening," the redhead said, obviously amused.

"Why? What spells?" Hermione asked.

"Well, mostly warning and protection wards. I think he was looking up the Fidelius when I left to get you."

"But why does he need me? Harry's better than I am at wards," she said. When it came to wards or protection magic, Harry was the best the world had seen in centuries. He even worked with the Hogwarts staff on the castle wards every month. The wards were positively humming these days.

"I'm not sure, he just told me to get you as fast as possible," Ron shrugged.

They quickly arrived at the Tower, and Hermione motioned Dean to drop her books on her usual table. She was about to head to the seventh years boys' dorm when Harry ran downstairs. He ran to her, grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the staircase to the girls' dorms.

"Hey, Hermione, how good to see you!" he exclaimed. "I need your help with a ritual, can you get Ginny as well? I'll go get Padma and -"

Hermione wrenched her arm free. "RITUAL?!" she yelled. "Do you have any idea how dangerous those are?" she hissed, pointing him towards the nearest couch.

He walked there, head down. Sitting next to him, she took his hand, which made him turn his eyes to her. "What ritual do you want to perform, Harry? And what's with the wards you've been casting?"

"Well," he began earnestly, "it's the Protection Ritual. That's why I need you and the rest of the girls. Then with that ritual as well as the wards, I should be safe for the next few days."

Hermione rubbed her temples. "The Protection Ritual? Why would you need such a powerful druidic ritual, Harry?" The ritual was easily the most powerful ritual the Druids had come up with. Unfortunately, like many of the druidic rituals, it had very strict requirements for it to work.

"Because it's Halloween," Harry replied.

"Halloween? What's Halloween got to do with it?"

With a frown on his face, Harry knocked on her forehead, the way someone would knock on a door. "Hermione? Anybody home? It's Halloween! Something always happens on Halloween, and I usually get hurt during it."

She stared at him for a full minute before starting snorting. "Harry, Voldemort is gone. So are almost all of his followers. Nothing bad will happen to you tonight." At his downcast expression, she sighed and continued. "Okay, I'll help you with some wards, but I am NOT doing that ritual. The requirements are just silly."

He hugged her, exclaiming, "Thanks, you're the best!"

--

Half an hour later, Hermione kissed Dean goodnight and waited for her female dorm mates to say goodbye to their own boyfriends before heading up. As she waited, she looked through the tower, and something struck her. Harry was alone.

She had Dean, Ron had Lavender, Seamus had Parvati, Neville had Ginny, Colin had Romilda – everybody had somebody, except for Harry. Although he had dated her for a few months during his sixth year. He had dated Ginny as well, for a few weeks. Padma had been his girlfriend for a month, before they decided that they were much better as friends. She knew for a fact that he had also dated a Slytherin during this summer, but nobody knew who it was, and Harry wasn't telling.

He was just standing at the bottom of the boys' staircase, looking at the room with longing. The expression was very familiar to her, as if she had seen it on someone else, but she couldn't recall who.

With a decisive nod, she went to him and gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Things will be fine, Harry. We will finish school and go on with our lives. No more Dark Lords and evil bigots."

He smiled at her gratefully. "I hope so. I very much hope so."

After squeezing him one last time, Hermione followed her friends up to their room. Sleep came easily, since she had exhausted herself by casting wards.

--

The following day passed normally, if one ignored Harry's newfound paranoia. Hermione couldn't wait for Halloween to pass so Harry returned to his regular self.

As the feast drew to an end, Harry started relaxing a bit, to everyone's relief. They went to the common room as a group, taking their usual seats.

"Well, I'm off to sleep," Harry said at a bit past ten, stretching. "I overdid it a bit on the wards yesterday."

Among various goodnight calls, he went to his bed, falling asleep in minutes.

--

Hermione sleepily waved a hand at her alarm clock, silencing it. After a minute of luxuriating in the heat and comfort of her bed, she got out, wrapping a dressing gown around her shoulders and heading for the girl's bathroom. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes on the way, thinking of the shower that waited for her.

She was glad that she had gotten used to waking up early, much earlier than any of her classmates. She liked having silence in the morning, and she preferred long showers.

Her plans were ruined the moment she entered the bathroom. Somebody was there already. At first glance, Hermione's sleepy mind thought it was Parvati. As she blinked some sleep away, she realized that it wasn't. She was wearing an emerald T-shirt and a pair of men's boxers decorated with snitches, the sort she had seen on Harry while they'd been dating. She also realized that the girl was cursing with a fluency that made her blush.

"Erm... excuse me?" she said hesitantly.

The girl whirled around and Hermione gasped.

"I told you something bad was going to happen," the girl said.

"Ha-Harry?"

"The one and only," the girl said with a sigh, dropping to the floor and leaning her head against the tiled wall. Hermione, still attempting to wrap her mind around the fact that Harry had been turned into a girl, took the opportunity to study Harry's new body.

The legs were toned and finely muscled, the way Harry's had been, but definitely female. Hermione blushed slightly as she stared at Harry's torso. His new assets fit his new body perfectly. It seemed that Harry had been turned into the equivalent of what his male body had been. And according to Witch Weekly and most of the female population of the Wizarding world, his body had been perfect.

His hair, usually short and untidy, now reached mid-back, and Hermione still saw the trademark Potter rebellion in it. It curled slightly, and a strand fell in Harry's face. There had been modifications to his face as well; the nose was smaller, more delicate, and the cheekbones had been reshaped. His eyes were still in the almond-shape that his mother had, and their color seemed even more powerful, something Hermione had thought impossible.

"Stupid bloody Halloween," Harry said with a bitter laugh. Hermione chuckled nervously.

She suddenly remembered something. "Harry!"

"Hmm?"

"How did you get in here?" she questioned. The bathroom was on the same staircase that the girls' dorms were, and had alarms and safeguards that made the ones on the staircase look childish.

"I walked," he said, with a small grin that struck Hermione as particularly pretty. 'The boys will be all over her,' she thought, forgetting for a second that it was Harry, the boy that she had first slept with, the boy she loved with all her heart. It was, she realized, the way Ginny and Padma felt about him as well. 'And the Slytherin girl, I bet,' she thought. They all loved Harry, but they had all realized that they didn't have what it took to keep him for all their lives. So now they were very good friends, and the girls were all dating.

She knew that Harry cared for all their boyfriends, and that he was happy that they were happy. But so far, Hermione knew of nobody who could make Harry happy. Nobody she had met at Hogwarts had the necessary fire to keep him interested. She dearly hoped that once he finished Hogwarts he could find somebody good for him.

Of course, provided that he managed to get out of whatever had happened to him.

"What do you mean, you walked?" she questioned sharply. As a very distant branch of the Gryffindor family tree, Harry had several privileges at Hogwarts that only a few people shared. However, the gender-restricted areas did not fall under that category.

He, or rather she, shrugged before answering. "I couldn't enter the boys' bathroom, so I rushed here. The alarms left me alone," she explained. Pleading emerald eyes turned to Hermione. "What's wrong with me, Hermione? What magic can do this? How do I change myself back?"

She could clearly see that Harry was afraid, and it scared her. It had been a very long time since Harry had been scared of something that wasn't related to Voldemort. And even longer since he was scared for himself, and not other people.

She shuffled forward and put her arms around Harry, her cheeks pinking at the way his new body felt through the thin clothes they both wore. "It's going to be fine, Harry. Get ready for the day and we'll go to McGonagall first chance we have. This has to be some sort of transfiguration, and she'll be able to fix it."

She felt Harry nod, and she stood, heading for a sink. She didn't have time for a shower now, especially with Harry's emergency. She quickly washed her face and waved her wand at her hair to brush it, turning to leave so she could get dressed.

"H-Hermione?" Harry was sitting there looking extremely embarrassed. 'She looks cute when she blushes,'Hermione mused.

"Yes, Harry?"

"Doyouthinkyoucanlendmeatightt-shirt?"

It took her a second to puzzle out what his rush of words had meant, but she smiled at him and nodded. Of course. He only had T-shirts that were loose, and with the changes in his torso, it would just attract stares. "Wait here, I'll bring you a camisole. It should be enough."

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said giving her a brief hug.

She ran to her room, quickly got dressed and left, taking one of her camisoles with her. She handed it to a still blushing Harry, squeaking and turning around when he just took of his T-shirt and struggled to put on the camisole. She listened to the rustle of fabric for a minute before a frustrated huff was heard.

"Merlin, these are much easier to take off." After a brief pause, Harry's voice came again. "Hermione, can you help me?"

She turned and made quick work of adjusting Harry's camisole, absently noting that he blushed full body, and that he was tanned, giving his skin a light gold color.

"There," she said when she was done. Harry smiled gratefully at her as he put the t-shirt over the camisole.

They climbed down to the common room, and Harry went to get dressed in some of his clothes. They rushed to McGonagall's office, hoping to fix it before all the school saw Harry-the-girl.

"Ms. Granger, what is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall questioned as she opened the door of her office. She had obviously been interrupted while she was getting ready for the day, as her hair was loose, but she was in her usual teaching robes.

"It's me, Professor," Harry said.

McGonagall's eyes went wide as she looked at the girl, recognizing Harry almost instantly. Her eyes narrowed in anger. "Mr. Potter," she said sharply, "gender switch potions and spells are highly illegal and warrant an expulsion. I really thought better of you, Mr. Potter."

"I didn't use any of those, Professor!" Harry protested. "I just..." he trailed off. "Can we go somewhere more private?"

With a sniff, the strict Professor motioned them inside her office, pointing to a couple of seats. "Now, explain."

"I went to sleep at about ten last night, and woke up like this at six in the morning. I thought it was a prank at first, but nothing could have gotten past the wards set around my bed," Harry said. "I promise that I didn't use any of the gender switch spells or potions."

"Besides," Hermione interjected, "None of those can get past the girls' bathroom alarms. And they all make you look like a certain person, not like a female version of yourself."

The Professor nodded. "That is true, Ms. Granger."

"Can you reverse it, Professor?" Harry pleaded.

"If it is a Transfiguration of some sort, it should be reversible. If not by me, then the Headmaster is surely able to undo it." After a moment in which McGonagall retrieved her wand, she motioned for Harry to stand.

"I shall now check for any transfigurations performed on you in the past twenty-four hours. It might feel a bit uncomfortable."

Harry nodded and braced himself. The pale yellow spell hit him, and he felt as if it touched him all over. A second later, the spell ended. McGonagall frowned and cast another one. For the next hour, she cast spell after spell at him, frown growing with each one.

"Mr. Potter, according to these spells, no Transfiguration has been performed on you. You are also free of any appearance-altering magic. I don't now know a spell to check for potion-induced changes, although you are not under Polyjuice. "

Harry dropped in a chair. "What potion can do this?" he whispered.

"I haven't heard of any changing potions except for Polyjuice, but I'll go to the library and check, maybe there is something-"

"Ms. Granger, you should not waste your time with the library. The only potion that can change a wizard's appearance is the Polyjuice Potion. Perhaps the Headmaster can shed light on this mystery. Mr. Potter, you are excused from today's classes. Head to the Headmaster's office and wait for him there. A house-elf will bring you breakfast."

After Harry left, head bowed, McGonagall sighed. "Ms. Granger, please head to breakfast. I shall inform the Headmaster. I suggest you make Mr. Potter's friends aware of the fact that he has been excused from today's classes, but keep his recent changes silent."

"Yes Professor," Hermione said as she left.

--

The day passed impossibly slow for her. She kept wondering what was happening to Harry. She checked the library but not even the Restricted Section had anything that would do what had happened to Harry. She ate a small dinner and headed for the Headmaster's office, hoping to get some answers.

Halfway there, she was joined by Ginny and Padma, who were panting slightly after having run to catch up. All the school knew that Harry had been excused from classes, but only a few knew that he was with the Headmaster.

"What happened to Harry, Hermione?" Padma asked.

She sighed, debating what to say. Fortunately, Ginny saved her from answering. "It's probably something secret if we don't already know, right Hermione?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. Hopefully it will be already solved."

Padma nodded, restraining herself from asking more questions. As they got nearer to the office, they heard a voice muttering sweets and curses.

"Canary Creams! Ruddy old diabetic coot. Mars Bars! Lets just hope he trips on his beard and falls out the window. Fizzing Whizzbees! Maybe I'll make him eat a Dungbomb. Blood Pops! Bloody is what he'll be if he doesn't set a normal password."

Daphne Greengrass was interrupted in her mutterings by Hermione's voice. "Toffee."

The gargoyle sprang to the side and the four girls climbed up the moving steps. "If you tell anybody about this, I'll-"

"You'll nothing, because we won't tell," Ginny interrupted Daphne. She certainly understood why the girl didn't want it known that she had dated Harry. Slytherin House wasn't very happy with Harry, although most respected him or his power. The Greengrass family had a long-running feud with the Potters. It was still very much in force, and only exterminating one family could end it, something Harry's wasn't willing to do, and the Greengrass family couldn't. If her father heard that Daphne had been friendly to Harry, he'd probably disown her. And if he had any idea of what had actually happened, he was likely to kill her for just touching a Potter.

After an unsure glance, Daphne sighed and nodded. "I trust you. But only you four. Thank you."

As Hermione raised a hand to knock on the office door, the Headmaster's voice could be heard. "Please enter, Ms. Granger, Patil, Weasley and Greengrass."

The girls entered and glanced around the office briefly before running to the back, where Harry was. He was sitting in a chair, his posture screaming resignation. A few of the Headmaster's devices were arrayed around him, some of the floating in the air. All were active, either whirling, spinning of belching smoke of different colors.

"Hullo, girls," Harry said. Hermione heard two shrieks and a squeak as the other three saw Harry's new body. He flinched and waved his hand, creating a dense barrier between him and the rest of the office. "Hermione, can you explain?" he called from behind it.

Hermione sighed and turned to the others. "Let's get some chairs."

Her explanations and answering the questions that the girls had took almost a full hour, time in which Harry dropped the barrier and the Headmaster replaced some of the mysterious objects surrounding him. Fawkes made a brief appearance, singing a bit and boosting Harry's spirits up. The Headmaster said he was going to go for a few minutes to look for some books in the library.

Eventually, the girls got used to seeing Harry as he was, and they spent a few minutes quizzing Daphne and Harry on their relationship. Ginny was in the middle of announcing the first meeting of the "Harry took my virginity" club when the Headmaster returned and headed directly to the fireplace.

The five teens waited in silence as he had an unheard conversation before straightening.

"Harry, I'm afraid I have no news," he said, starting to pick up the various objects.

Harry nodded dejectedly. "I kinda figured that out a while ago," he said.

"I will keep looking for a way to change you back, but the magic shows that there is nothing to change. Most intriguing."

"I don't care how intriguing it is! I want my body back!" Harry shouted angrily, jumping to his – her? – feet.

Hermione absently noted that Harry's hair fluttered in an unseen wind.

The Headmaster sighed. "I apologize, Harry. Sometimes I let my curiosity get the best of me. I have called a contact in the Ministry to go to the Department of Mysteries and ask if them for a certain book. Hopefully it will have some answers."

Hermione's eyes glazed at the thought of what could be in that book.

Daphne started to say something when the door to the office burst open and a woman rushed in. "Headmaster, I hope you know that nobody but me will touch this book. I am breaking hundreds of rules just by allowing you to know of it. I hope it's-"

"Ms. Tonks, I assure you that I shall not impose."

The woman's eyes widened at the sight in the office. Her hair changed colors, betraying her confusion and anger. Then she caught sight of Harry, and it looked like a rainbow exploded on her.

"Harry!" she exclaimed jumping and throwing his arms around him, squeezing him tightly as her hair started inventing new colors. Hermione swore that she saw Tonks' ears wiggle.

"Erm, hullo, Tonks," Harry said, gently prying her hands off from him. She looked at him in confusion for a second before her eyes widened again. "Merlin! You just-"

"Turned into a girl, I know," Harry said.

"What? Oh. No, it's not that."

"Huh? Tonks, you're not making sense."

"Harry, you're a Metamorphmagus."

"What?!" five voices called while the Headmaster nodded.

"Perhaps we should get comfortable for this explanation," Dumbledore said.

A minute later they were all seating in comfortable chairs. "So let me get this straight," Harry said. "I'm a Metamorph. And that's why I turned into a girl last night? How do I change back?"

Tonks looked uncomfortable for a moment before sighing. "You can't. Changing your gender is impossible."

"Then how did he change into a girl?" Daphne asked.

Tonks sighed again. "What I'm going to tell you now will never leave this room. I'll want an Oath on that."

With some reluctance, everybody performed their oath, and Tonks launched in her explanation. "At one point, early in the life of the Metamorph, they go through a major change in their base body. Sometimes it's a growth spurt of a few inches. Other times is a change in the bone structure, like legs shortening a bit and the upper body lengthening. One Metamorph had a complete facial makeover, including the bones and everything."

She took a deep breathe before continuing. "A Metamorph can't change their bones. Ever. You can play with your skin and other soft tissue, and if you're very sure of yourself, you can make small changes in internal organs and such. But never your bones."

"Then why did I get changed into a girl?" Harry asked. "And why didn't I show any signs of being a Metamorph until now?"

"The major change I was speaking of happens when your Metamorph powers come into play. Until then, the only changes you can do are accidental, and no other Metamorph can recognize you. Once your power is released, you are recognized as one of us."

"So... me turning into a girl is that major change triggered by my Metamorph powers awakening?"

Tonks nodded and Harry muttered a curse. "Brilliant, just brilliant."

"I'll teach you to control it, Harry," Tonks said eagerly. "And think about it, you'll have a disguise always ready. You'll be able to go out without being mobbed."

He snorted. "That would be a plus."

"And while you're at it, teach Harry about the basic female things. He'll need to know them soon, I wager," Daphne said, smirking at Harry as everybody else started laughing. After glaring at them for a few seconds, he laughed as well, and his hair flashed red. Tonks clapped in delight.

"I'll have you trained in no time!" she exclaimed, pulling Harry to a pair of armchairs in a corner of the office.

The girls said their goodbyes and left, after being reminded not to say anything about Harry's recent change.