I Beg Your Pardon, Potter?

Chapter 51

"This feels weird," Harry said. He was standing in the Room of Requirement, transformed into Pansy by polyjuice potion. "I hadn't thought about how different it was going to feel being a different gender." Hermione and the real Pansy frowned at him. "I'm not quite sure how to move properly. My center of gravity is different." He took several steps forward, convinced he was going to fall forward or look silly, but he found he soon started to get used to it.

"Just keep walking around, Harry," Hermione said.

"You could even try some running," Pansy suggested. Harry did and was immediately struck by how uncomfortable it was to run with breasts. He clapped his hands to them to try to stop them from bouncing, because even the bra that Pansy had given him to wear wasn't doing much.

"I would appreciate it," Ron said from one of the sofas the Room had provided. "If you could refrain from feeling up my girlfriend."

"I - what? I'm not," Harry protested even as Pansy started laughing. But he removed his hands from his chest all the same.

"Next up," Hermione said. "Heels."

"What, actually?"

"Yes. It's a nice lunch. I would wear heels to it," Pansy said. "Which means that you have to." She produced a pair of low heels from her bag and held them out to Harry. He frowned but took them from her. He slipped them on to his feet and grew by several inches, which made him closer to his normal height.

"Good," Hermione said. "Now walk." Harry did. Or, at least, he tried to. It was much harder than either of them had made it look. Hermione sighed. "We probably should have had you practicing in these earlier."

"He could always wear flats," Pansy said quietly.

"It would probably be better," Hermione agreed, wincing as Harry hobbled around the room. "He's going to give himself away otherwise. Or twist his ankle." She brought her hand up and massaged her temples. "I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier."

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Pansy said, laying a hand on Hermione's arm. "I didn't either and I'm the one that picked the outfit."

"Oh, take them off," Hermione said and Harry immediately kicked off the heels. Pansy pulled out a pair of flat pumps and handed them to Harry.

"That's better," he said, putting them on.

"We should get going," Draco said, checking his pocket watch. "It's nearly eleven and we have to get down to Hogsmeade." Harry nodded. While Dumbledore had technically approved their plan, they still had to use the Honeydukes tunnel to get into Hogsmeade as the gates would still be shut. Harry assumed that it had something to do with plausible deniability.

"Right," Hermione said. "Here is your handbag. I've put your wand in there, along with a flask containing extra polyjuice potion. You shouldn't need it, but I wouldn't want to send you to Malfoy Manor unprepared. I've also put your invisibility cloak in there. It's in an inner pocket so that it's not immediately obvious."

"Thanks, 'Mione," Harry said. She pulled him into a quick hug and then it was time to leave. "Off to the Hog's Head." He started towards the door but pulled up short when he heard the popping noise that the Room usually made when it was providing something. He looked around, trying to figure out what was different and saw a portrait of a young woman hanging on the back wall. Frowning, he walked over to it.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked. "We don't have time to waste." But as Harry stared at the portrait, the young woman beckoned him forward and then the painting swung forward to reveal a tunnel lit with brass lamps that hung every few feet along the wall. It looked as though it had been there for years. They all gaped at it.