No, thank goodness

As Hermione walked down the corridor, she heard steps behind her. Not knowing who it was, she ducked behind a suit of armor.

"Granger, we've already seen your arse, what are you hiding for?", she heard Daphne's voice call out.

"Oh, it's you... I didn't know who was coming!" Hermione stepped out of her hiding spot and let the Slytherins catch up to her.

"So, what have you been up to, Granger?" Pansy said as they neared the entrance hall. Skulking around naked? Maybe seeing if you can get used to walking around the halls like this for when everyone gets back?"

Hermione immediately tried to close off her mind in case Daphne tried to look inside. "Well... Yes, actually..." She was hoping this was the answer they'd want and that it might blind them to the truth: That she had one, maybe two ideas, on how to get more clothes before the start of term...

Daphne, who was staring at Hermione as if trying to see through her head, wasn't watching where she was going and tripped on the loose end of a carpet.

"Watch it there!" Millicent cried, trying and failing to catch Daphne by the neck of her robe before she fell down.

Hermione immediately rushed over to help Daphne up. She was the only one of the three that seemed to really care about Hermione's wellbeing, so it didn't take a second thought. When Hermione looked back, she saw that Millicent simply shrugged, but Pansy was looking at Hermione with suspicion.

They sat at the table and ate in silence for a bit. Hermione was doing her best to focus on the fish and chips in front of her when Pansy spoke up again. "So... Are you excited?"

Hermione looked up. "Excited for what, exactly?" She hoped to sound nonchalant, but she was still nervous.

"Well... We managed to convince Draco to send us the polyjuice potion! We'll be getting it tonight!" Pansy smirked.

"Oh..." Hermione responded. At least it wasn't anything new. "So, when did you want to do this challenge, then?"

"Well now, let's see..." Pansy began to think. "I think we should do it on Saturday evening before everyone gets back."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. This was surprisingly convenient, but she wasn't about to press her luck by asking questions.

Millicent however, wasn't going to let that sit. "Hold on, why not sooner? We could do it tomorrow!"

"Unfortunately, Draco isn't giving us a finished potion..." Pansy sighed. "It's almost done, it just has to stew for a few more days before the final ingredient is added to each of our glasses."

It was Daphne's turn to raise her eyebrows. "Our?" She questioned.

"Yes," Pansy said, giving her friends a quelling look. "I'll explain in the common room. But you," she pointed at Hermione, "Just be ready. You've had it before, yes?"

"Um, yes," Hermione nodded. "Just... Just make sure that the hairs we're using are human..."

The Slytherin girls looked at Hermione. "Why?" Daphne asked. "What, did you try to turn into an animal with it or something?"

Hermione flushed. The only people who knew what happened in her accident with the potion were Ron, Harry, and Madam Pomfrey, but she felt like she couldn't help herself from telling the Slytherins. Besides, avoiding this mistake would also keep Madam Pomfrey from asking questions. "Well... Back when we were trying to figure out who the heir of Slytherin was... Ron, Harry, and I made some polyjuice potion..."

"How would turning into an animal help you with that?" Millicent asked.

"Well... I didn't mean to use an animal hair..." Hermione said quickly. "Harry became Goyle, Ron became Crabbe, and I-" She stopped quickly. She realized that if she told the truth, it might not go so well.

Daphne, however, was looking right at Hermione during this. "You tried to turn into Millie!" she whispered.

Millicent's face turned red. "You WHAT?! How were you planning to get my hair, you little mudblood?! What were you going to do?!"

"I... I had your hair, or at least what I thought was your hair, from Lockhart's dueling club!" Hermione quavered. "Remember? You put me in a headlock, and while you had me like that, I grabbed a hair off your robe, but it wasn't your hair! It was a cat's hair!"

Millicent looked furious, but Pansy was interested. "And, what happened when you drank it?"

"Well... I... I grew a lot of fur... My face and ears changed and I..." She paused, as this was perhaps the most embarrassing part.

"You grew a tail!?" Daphne giggled, evidently still looking into Hermione's mind.

Hermione could do nothing but nod. "And I didn't even change back after the hour was up... It took Madam Pomfrey over a month to get me back to normal..."

Pansy and Daphne broke into roaring laughter. Millicent however, still looked miffed. "Well, it served you right! Daphe, you wanted the mudblood to be your pet, right? Maybe we should do it again!"

Hermione's eyes widened in fear. They wouldn't do that, would they?

"Oh, maybe later... After we've seen how much leftover potion we have!" Daphne snickered through tears of mirth.

When they finished lunch, the Slytherins headed down the stairs that led into the dungeons, as Hermione pondered how to spend the rest of the day...