𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 \\ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗷. 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

𝑋𝐶𝐼𝐼𝐼.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙮-𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

THE POTION WAS ready, and the victims were selected. They weren't really victims, that was just what Caroline said to lighten the mood. It didn't work. They came up with a plan, and once the four people they were impersonating were unconscious, the girls plucked their hairs and mixed them into the vials of potion. "Right," Hermione said with a sigh. "Remember what we said. Don't speak to anyone unless absolutely necessary." Caroline handed Harry his potion, Hermione giving one to Ron.

        "Just try and act normal. Do what everybody else is doing. Don't make any scenes." Caroline instructed, tying her braids into a loose ponytail.

        "If we do that, then with a bit of luck, we'll get inside. And then–" Hermione cut herself off, dreading the next phase of Caroline's plan. Caroline was the planner, the one with the crazy ideas. Hermione was the executor, the realist, and the boys were the muscle. That's how it had always been.

        "It gets really tricky." Harry said, holding his wand.

        "Correct." Hermione spoke, stepping between the boys, Caroline on Harry's right.

        Caroline sighed. She had come with a lot of plans in her day, but this was probably the worst. "This is completely mental." Harry said with a tight-lipped smile on his face.

        "I tried." Caroline shrugged, Harry's hand casually on the small of her back.

        "It's completely, utterly mental." Hermione said strongly.

        "The world's mental," Ron said, staring at the four innocent people in front of them. "Come on. We've got a horcrux to find."

        It was a funny twist of fate that the people Harry and Caroline were impersonating happened to be married. Taking a deep breath, Caroline removed all of her jewelry besides her ring, and Harry's moon bracelet, taking his medallion one and tucking them into her bag that she easily concealed from sight with a simple spell. She was so happy to use magic again. Caroline fixed Harry's tie and suspenders, kissing him once after she had changed into the uptight outfit the blonde woman was wearing.

        Caroline had used Polyjuice Potion twice before, but it always felt so weird for her to look at her hands and see a different colour of skin, to fix her hair and find her curls gone, this time replaced with long, straight, blonde hair. She wondered if she would ever get used to it, but she figured she wouldn't.

        The four friends, now adults going into work, walked through the streets of London, getting used to their new bodies. They split up, the girls entering the female bathroom, the boys entering the males. Caroline thought the process was utterly disgusting, but she didn't comment on it. The woman she acted as, Penelope Runcorn, was very used to this process.

        When they entered the Ministry, Caroline couldn't find the other three right away. That was okay. She would find them at the meeting space. Caroline relaxed when she found Hermione, standing in front of a statue. Harry came up to them, noticing what they were looking at, why they were so uncomfortable. "Are those–?" Harry trailed off. Caroline was his wife for the day, so he had no issues grabbing her hand and holding it as he noticed it starting to shake.

        "Muggles. In their rightful place." Hermione said, trying to mask her hesitation.

        Then Ron found them. "Gotta tell you, I'm starting to freak out a bit." he said, disguised as a blonde man with a moustache.