Harry's POV

Just when I thought things could not get any worse, they did. Somehow, Justin was petrified a couple of days after the dueling club incident, along with Nearly Headless Nick. I was also caught as the person who did it, even though I didn't do anything.

I had to go to Dumbledores office, where he talked to me about the possibility of me being put into Slytherin. I also got to witness Dumbledores pet Phoenix, Fawkes on his burning day. It was amazing. Hagrid also came to prove my innocence, but somehow Dumbledore believed him.

But now was not the time for that, it was now Christmas, and it was time to put our plan into action using the Polyjuice Potion that Y/N and Hermione have been working on in their spare time.

Hopefully we can get some answers soon.

Y/Ns POV

"Everything has been set." Hermione told us. "We just need a bit of hair for who you're changing into."

"Crabbe." Harry said.

"Goyle." Ron replied in disgust.

"I will be staying behind." I said.

"Why do you get to stay here?" Ron asked.

"Because somebody needs to keep watch, and there's no way in hell I'm taking one of those hairs." I said.

"Whose hair are you ripping out then?" Ron asked Hermione.

"I've already got mine." She responded while pulling out a few strands of blonde hair. "Millicent Bullstrode—I got these off her robes when she was choking me."

"We need to make sure that the real Crabbe and Goyle don't walk in on us while we're interrogating Malfoy." I said.

"How do you suppose we do that?" Ron asked.

"We've got it all worked out." Hermione said while presenting two cakes. "Me and Y/N have filled these with a powerful Sleeping Draught that should knock them both asleep."

"Like the dumbarse's they are, they will fall for it." I said. "Once they are asleep, hide them in a nearby broom closet and pull out a few of their hairs, and put on their robes."

"Me and Y/N are going to check on the Polyjuice Potion. Make sure Crabbe and Goyle get these cakes."

Me and Hermione continued to check the potion constantly until Ron and Harry came in moments later with Crabbe and Goyles hairs.

Complete idiots, I'm telling you.

Nightfall eventually came around and it was time to put our plan into action.

Hermione took the three shot glasses and poured the slimy liquid into each one. "We'll have exactly one hour before we change back into ourselves." She said.

"Add the hairs."

"Essence of Crabbe." Ron groaned as he dipped the strand into his glass, which turned into a different color. All the glasses had done the same as we stared into it.

"Bottoms up." Harry said as he downed the glass. They all moaned in disgust as they drank.

"Disgusting." Ron said while rising out of the way to the nearest stall.

"Me too." Hermione said while running into another stall.

"Ughh." They all groaned. Harry came out of his stall, and now looked exactly like Goyle, only with round glasses.

"You look exactly like Goyle, Harry." I said.

"I do?" He asked while looking in the mirror.

"Uh.....guys?" Ron said as he yelled out the stall, looking like Vincent Crabbe.

"Ron?" We asked.

"Bloody hell."

"We still sound like ourselves. Ron, you need to sound more like Crabbe." Harry said.

"Bloody hell." Ron said in a voice that sounded like Crabbe.

"Excellent." I said.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked.

"I..I don't think I'm going." She said in a weary voice.

"Hermione are you alright?" Harry asked.

"Just go. You're wasting time!"

"I'll take care of her. You guys can go." I said.

"Have fun." Ron said with a smirk.

"Just get out of here." I said lightly punching him in the shoulder."

As Harry and Ron left the bathroom, I went over to the stall that Hermione was currently in.

"Hermione?" I called out softly. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine!" She said rather quickly. "Perfectly fine."

"Mione if something is wrong, you can tell me. I'm not going to make fun of you."

"I'm fine Y/N."

"Alright then." I said. "I'm just going to wait here until you tell me what's wrong."

A few moments of silence lingered for a bit until she broke it.

"You promise you won't laugh at me?"

"Why would I laugh Mione?" I asked.

Moaning Myrtle than appeared and started giggling.

"That might change when you see her."

"What is it Myrtle?" I asked. "What is so funny?"

"Like you don't know." She said while giggling some more.

"No i don't." I replied.

She just continued to giggle and blush at me.

"Are you still okay Mione?" I asked.

"Y/N, promise you won't laugh."

"I promise." I said.

The lock on the stall door clicked open. The door flung open with a clunk, allowing me to enter and see Hermione.

She laid her head down in her knees and she didn't look up.

"Hermione?" I asked.

She looked up to reveal herself.

She looked nothing like Millicent Bullstrode thank God.

Instead, she looks like a cat. Her skin turned to a furry black and her eyes had changed colors, but they had also changed to the shape of a cats. To top it all off, she now had cat ears sticking up at the top of her head.

"Do you remember when we were brewing the potion one time, and I mentioned it only works on human transformations?" She said. "It was cat hair I plucked off Millicent's robes. Look at my face. I look hideous."

"Oh Hermione." I said bringing her in for a hug. "You are not hideous. I think you actually look quite adorable." I said while rubbing her back, causing her to purr.

"You....think so?" She asked quietly.

"Of course!" I exclaimed. You're still Hermione Granger, one of the most amazing people I know."

"Thank you so much Y/N." She said while hugging me tightly.

"I'm always here for you Mione." I said. "Honestly, I thought it would be a lot worse."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You could have actually been Millicent Bullstrode." I said as she laughed.

"Y/N?" She asked in a worried tone.

"Yes Mione?"

"You know what happened to Justin and Colin?" She asked. "They got petrified. What if that happens to me?"

Oh no, if Hermione became petrified, I wouldn't know what to do. I didn't want her to. I care about her so much. Knowing that I now have a crush on her would make it worse!

"I promise Mione, I will do everything I can to protect you, even if my life depends on it." I said.

A/N: Sobbing :(

Hermione then smiled, cupped my face, and placed a soft kiss on my cheek.

"I don't want you to get hurt for me Y/N, I care about you so much! But that is very noble of you."

We continued to talk for the next half hour with each other. We talked about our classes, things we did over the summer, and lots of other things. Just hearing Hermione talk about anything makes me smile. I could listen to her for hours.

Eventually, we heard the doors open and we saw Harry, and Ron walk in with green Slytherin robes and looking like their normal selves.

"You get anything off bleach boy?" I asked.

"Unfortunately no." Harry said. "He's not the heir. He did mention that the Chamber was opened 50 years ago and a Muggle-born died shortly after."

Christ.

"That's not all." Ron said. "He was being a giant git. He wanted a Muggle-born to die and was hoping it would be Hermione."

Looks like me and Malfoy need to have a talk at some point.

Hermione hugged me tightly in fear as I looked back at her and kissed the top of her head.

"Damn, back to square one." I said. "We have to make a trip to the hospital wing, don't ask why."

I picked Hermione up bridal style while she hid her face in my chest. I then carried her over to Madam Pomfrey's with the boys following.

Thankfully, she believes in patient confidentiality and didn't ask why she looked like a cat. I'm sure after all these years, she's seen crazier things happen.

———————————————————————————

Hermione had to stay in the hospital wing for several weeks, when the rest of the school came back from the holidays, there were many new rumors on what had happened to her.

Me, Harry, and Ron went to visit her every evening. We even brought her each days homework when the term started. I would go up by myself sometimes. Just to keep her company and to make sure she was ok.

"If I had sprouted whiskers, I'd take a break from work." Ron said while placing a large stack of books on Hermione's bedside table.

"Don't be silly Ron, I've got to keep up." She responded.

"She's right you know." I said.

Her mood was much happier now that the hair had left her face and her chocolate brown eyes had come back. The eyes I've grown to like so much.

Damn, I really do have a crush on this girl.

"Don't suppose you have any leads?" She whispered to not attract attention.

"Nothing." Harry said gloomily.

"I was so sure it was Malfoy." Ron said.

"What's this?" I asked while pointing at a gold object on the floor next to her bed.

"Lockhart sent me a get well card." She said annoyingly.

I'm so proud she realizes he's a fraud.

I picked up the note and read it aloud.

To Miss Granger,
Wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League and five time winner of Witch Weekly's most charming smile award.

"Jesus Christ how pathetic is this git." I said.

Before we could further the conversation, Madam Pomfrey shooed us away to give Hermione her evening dose of medicine.

I went to bed that night thinking about who the heir of Slytherin could possibly be. Thankfully we narrowed it down, even if it was just one person.

-Timeskip a Few Days-

Hermione's last day in the hospital wing was today. I came by every day to give her all the work she had missed, tell her all the bullshit Lockhart spewed at us, and just to talk to her. Like always, she excels at every spell. We hugged, said our goodbyes, and I met up with the boys.

"Only one day and she'll be back with us." I said.

"That's great!" Harry said while Ron agreed.

"Hey what's that?" Ron asked.

He was pointing at a puddle coming from none other than Moaning Myrtles bathroom.

As we entered the bathroom, Myrtles voice shrieked.

"Ohh, ohh, ohhhhhh, huh-huh." She wailed "Come to throw something at me? Oh hello Y/N." She smiled and blushed.

"Hello Myrtle." I replied. "Why would we throw something at you?"

"Don't ask me! Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me!"

"It can't hurt if someone throws something at you." Ron said. "I mean it'll just go through you."

"Sure let's all throw books at Myrtle because she can't feel is! Ten points if you get it in her stomach! Fifty points if it goes through her head!"

"But who threw it at you?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, I didn't see them. I was sitting in the Ubend thinking about death when it fell through my head. It's over there, it got washed out."

Harry looked under the sink where Myrtle was pointing and picked up a small, thin book. It had a shabby cover and looked completely drenched.

Harry tried to open it until Ron stopped him. "Are you mad? It could be dangerous!"

"Give it to me." I said as Harry passed over the book.

I opened it up and shouted "Oh my god! My eyes!"

"Y/N are you alright!" Ron exclaimed.

"You jackass, there's nothing wrong with it." I said while laughing. "Besides it's completely blank."

The cover of the book read "Tom Marvalo Riddle."

"Wait, I've seen that name before." Ron said. "Filch had me polish his award to the school about 50 times!"

Harry then pocketed the book as we walked out of the bathroom.

———————————————————————————

Hermione emerged from the hospital wing, de-whiskered, fur free, and tail-less. She was back to her old self to everyone's delight, especially mine.

She took great interest in Tom Riddle's diary. She theorized that the special award he was given was for catching the heir of Slytherin, as the award was dated 50 years ago when the chamber first opened. It was a very good theory, but the problem was that the pages were blank. So we had nothing to back it up.

Harry had seemed to become very interested in the diary. Even though the diary was completely blank, he kept absent mindedly looking at the blank pages.

Thankfully, there had been no more attacks since the ones on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, Madam Pomfrey was delighted to report that the Mandrakes were becoming very moody and secretive, which meant they were fast leaving childhood.

The negative aspect? Lockhart was convinced that he was the one who stopped the attacks.

Yeah right.

"The culprit must have known it was only a matter of time before I caught them. This school needs a morale booster.....And I know just the thing!" He announced to the teachers who had a similar question.

What the hell does he mean by a morale booster?

This question was answered on February the 14th, which happened to be Valentine's Day.

I hadn't been getting much sleep recently due to late running Quidditch practices, so I went to the Great Hall slightly late. At first, I thought I was in the wrong room. The walls were covered in large, pink flowers and pink heart shaped confetti fell from the pale blue ceiling.

Hermione looked extremely giggly and cheery at the sight. As I took a seat next to her, I noticed a slight blush on her face.

"What the hell is this?" I asked while pulling confetti off of my eggs.

Ron pointed disgustingly over to to the teachers table. Lockhart was wearing pink robes to match the decorations. The teachers, especially Mum were looking at him with annoyed expressions.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" He exclaimed. "And may I thank the forty six people who have so far sent me cards. The surprise doesn't end here though." He clapped his hands and out walked several dwarves wearing golden wings and carrying harps.

"My friendly, card carrying cupids!" He beamed. "They will be roaming around the school today delivering your Valentine's." I then suddenly had a vast amount of eyes look in my direction.

The entire day was hell, Lockhart's "Cupid's" interrupted classes and other conversations to read out poems that expressed one persons love for another. It was pretty cute at first, but after the 50th time, I was very close to losing my cool.

As we were on our way to Charms class, we were stopped on the stairs by one of the dwarves.

"Oy, you! Harry Potter!" A dwarf shouted. He flew over the heads of incoming students to get to Harry, who was now trying to run.

"Oh no you don't!" I said grabbing Harry. "You are staying right here."

"I've got a musical message to deliver to Harry Potter in person." The dwarf said.

"That's even better!" Ron exclaimed.

"Please no, not here." Harry pleaded

"His eyes are as green as a pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard,
I wish he was mine, he's really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord." The dwarf sang.

Harry was going red from embarrassment as we finally let go.

Throughout the day, dwarves were constantly chasing me around reciting poems from girls who had a crush on me that I didn't even know. I received a couple of cards as well. Such as,

Hey cutie! Happy Valentine's Day! Maybe we could go out sometime?

-LB

and,

I'd do anything to make you mine.
I'd climb a tree,
Swing on a vine,
I'd bungee jump,
Get stung by bees,
Be my Valentine oh please!

And I can't forget,

I want to wish you a Happy Valentines Day
But unless this card is going to finally going to get you naked, I have to admit my hearts not really in it.

- FD

Damn.

I also managed to get a card with a love potion from Parvarti. It was quite messy.

What I did notice was Hermione was not enjoying the amount of attention and the amount of cards and poems I was receiving.

Before the day ended, I had received up to 50 Valentine's Day cards and poems. Before I went to the common room for the night, I was stopped by a dwarf who gave me one last card.

I opened it and read the very neat handwriting to myself.

Happy Valentine's Day!
I hope we can share one soon.

Secret Admirer.

Out of all the cards I had received today, this was the cutest one. I wonder who this secret admirer is?

A/N: I am not ready for next chapter, and neither is Y/N