Faery Heroes

Chapter 35: Day of the Dead

Hermione forced herself not to stumble into Charms class on Halloween morning; the stamina potions she and her lovers had consumed the previous night had temporarily soothed the aches they accumulated in addition to giving them the energy to continue their love- and lust-driven ritual, but she was certainly feeling them now. She dropped heavily into her habitual seat, Harry joining her not two seconds later and laying his head tiredly on the table. "I'm really envious of Luna right now," he muttered.

"Because sleeping halfway through first period means she skipped Herbology and doesn't have another class till after lunch?"

"And that one's History," he confirmed. "I could really go for a nap, myself."

"Then perhaps you should get to bed at a reasonable hour, Mr. Potter." Flitwick rapped his wand against the tiny desk at the front of the room. "Today, class, we are going to take a look at the very first illusion you will learn, the basic glamour. A useful little charm, it functions to change your appearance without risking the dangers of misapplied human transfiguration…"

She tuned the quarter-goblin out; these review lessons had lost their novelty weeks ago, and they were now nothing more than a source of continuous irritation. There were so many other things she could be doing with her time, analyzing ward schemes or performing research or even getting ahead on the homework she knew the teachers would assign. Instead, she spent an hour doodling on the parchment in front of her and prodding Harry whenever he looked like he was about to doze off. His bleary glare was far too amusing considering she was the only one of the trio who was not a morning person.

Flitwick eventually clapped his hands. "Now, unless there are any questions, we'll begin practicing this spell. It is easier to adjust the power with which you're casting if you can see the results, but as we do not have any mirrors, you will have to use your neighbor as your model. For today, I just want you to focus on changing your partner's hair color."

"Finally," her boyfriend groused as he drew his wand. "Any particular shade you want, or should I just give you the Tonks special?"

"I doubt I'd look good with a rainbow. Let's go with basic blonde," she commanded.

"Lovegood, Abbott, or Malfoy?"

Her left eye twitched. "Harry…"

"All right, all right. One Luna clone, coming right up. Dissimulo."

She felt the spell wash over her and frowned; normally, the full-body tingling she was currently experiencing was limited to the area the spell altered. Harry's mouth slowly dropped open as the students around them grew silent, and he looked at his wand in apparent shock. Suddenly nervous but afraid to look for herself, she asked, "Harry? What's wrong?"

"Er… well… I…"

"Oh, my." The short professor approached her and cocked his head while examining the results of the spell. He wetted his lips as if trying to decide what to say. "Mr. Potter? Just my personal opinion, but perhaps you should give it a little less oomph next time."

The brunette glanced down at her hands and gasped. They were absolutely covered in short yellow hairs, making her look like some strange monkey-human crossbreed. She raised her head and stared her lover in the eye. "Harry James Potter, you better not have done what I think you did."