Who: Padme, Hermione, and Kitty-Wan Kenobi When: Monday Afternoon, 10/21 Where: Hermione’s House What: Hermione reverses Bellatrix’s spell, turning Obi-Wan back into a real boy. *ahem* Rating/Warning: PG-13, for quick, non-sexual nudity Status: Complete
wasn’t</i> an opportunity for some manner of self-improvement. A gift, perhaps, although in all honesty the crazy-eyed woman at the market didn’t seem so well-intentioned. Regardless, he was on the verge of… some kind of epiphany, or a realization close to one.
Once Padmé had gotten word from Faiza that Obi-Wan was residing at her place she made her way over. It was probably a good idea to get this done sooner rather than later. Of course she wouldn’t mind Obi-Wan being stuck as a cat for a while for the shits and giggles, but he was far more useful as a human. So, soon enough she was at Faiza’s place and being led to where Obi-Wan was. “Come out, Obi-Wan. We’re going to go take you to a nice witch’s place and she’ll turn you back to normal,” she hoped he understood her somewhat. The speech bubbles were over, so it would be harder to communicate, so she knelt down and waited for the Obi-Wan to come to her.
In actuality, Obi-Wan was on top of the refrigerator, hiding behind boxes of cereal that he so missed eating. When Padme appeared, he narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, not fully believing Anakin wasn’t far behind. If the boy saw him like this… No, pride was what had gotten him into this mess.
He jumped down to the counter and then to the floor. His cat-reflexes were much more refined than they had been a week ago.
“Heyyyy! There you are. Still absolutely adorable, which almost makes me want to keep you like this. But I know you would slash me with those claws. But it’s just me and we’re going to go meet this lovely lady named Hermione Granger. I think she’s going to be able to fix you, so if you’re a good boy I will let you ride in the front seat,” she wish she didn’t sound like a crazy person talking to a cat, but she knew Obi-Wan could understand everything she was saying. She just wanted to get this moving along because Obi-Wan would probably like to be human sooner rather than later.
As long as being fixed only referred to turning him back into a human… Obi-Wan paused to nuzzle Faiza’s palm as she pet him. It was the most physical contact they could manage, lately. He was eager to change that, as well.
He followed Padme to the car and felt like a bizarre re-interpretation of Chewbacca as he sat in the front seat like a co-pilot. The path to this Hermione’s house comprised of no more than the usual neighborhood jaunt, but to Obi-Wan it felt like he was passing through some enchanted map, like the Yellow Brick Road, on his way to meet the Wizard of Oz.
Hermione had her spellbooks out. She'd woken to find some new ones, and one in transfiguration, so she was brushing up. Crookshanks was curling himself around her ankles as she sat at the kitchen table. When she heard the knock, she jumped up and rushed to answer it.
"Now, Crookshanks, I want you to be kind to Miss Padme and her cat friend," she said to her own cat with the bottle brush tail.
Crookshanks mewed as if he understood every word, then sat back on his haunches as Hermione opened the door.
Padme had carried Obi-Wan to the door just in case something spooked him or some squirrel came by and he felt the urge to run after it instead of going inside the house. She scratched behind his ear as they waited for Hermione to answer the door, “I’ll kind of miss you being a cat. Anakin and I could have taken turns having you at our places.” It amused her to no end, but she was ready for him to be a normal human being again. When Hermione opened the door she smiled brightly at the woman, “Hello!”
"Meow," said Obi-Wan, which was cat for, Try it and I'd fill your shoes with kitty litter. Oh, pride, old boy, pride...
Hermione gave a bright smile as she stepped out of the way to admit the woman and the cat. “You must be Padme. I’m Hermione. Come on in.”
Crookshanks sniffed suspiciously at the grumpy looking cat. His tail twitched a few times, running back and forth across the carpet behind where he was sitting. He cocked his head to the side and remained silent and mostly still.
"I am, so lovely to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to help us out. This is Obi-Wan and unfortunately he doesn't have speech bubbles anymore, so we can't get the specifics of the witch and spell," she set him down on the ground by Crookshanks.
Obi-Wan tucked his chin, regarding the cat with a wary eye. His interactions with other animals had not gone especially well, and he had never fully trusted cats to begin with. Not since Dani’s. He was decidedly a dog person.
Well, it was a good thing that Crookshanks was only half cat. He was also half kneazle, a magical creature from Hermione’s dream world. He could sort of sense what was coming from Obi-Wan, sense that the man was good inside there. It was a similar feeling to what he had with Sirius when Padfoot came around Hogwarts. Only, Crookshanks wasn’t sure how much of his body language Obi-Wan could understand.
Hermione nodded, closing the door once Obi and Padme were safely in her place. “I have a few things I can try. Fortunately, there aren’t many spells that can do this sort of thing to another human being. Do you have any idea who it was?”
"He may have said pregnant and angry. Know any witches like that on the network? He didn't give me a name otherwise I would happily tell you it," she explained. She should have gotten more info from Obi when he had the bubbles, but she wasn't sure if he even knew the witch's name, "But go ahead and try them. Better than nothing. So thanks for agreeing to try."
He likely could have understood Crookshanks a great deal more in Jedi form, as the Force tended to communicate with animals more effectively than with more complex minds. Animals didn’t put up walls, though they also couldn’t manipulate the Force, which was the problem Obi-Wan faced right now. He could, however, understand every word Padme and Hermione were sharing. He looked back and forth between them, his tail twitching as he did so.
Hermione frowned a bit. Pregnant and Angry. The only witch that she’d seen in this world who would have done something like this to a complete stranger was… Bellatrix Lestrange. The color fell from her cheeks at the mere thought of the crazy witch, and she swallowed. “Okay. I suppose… yes. I can try some things.”
Crookshanks led the way into the Apartment’s living room, and jumped up onto the arm of the Captain’s chair to watch what was happening. He flicked his tail a couple of times and watched Obi as a cat with bright, yellow eyes.
“Here goes nothing.” Hermione said under her breath, then raised her wand. She’d have to try a few counter-jinxes, but she was fairly confident. The idea that it may have been Bellatrix that did this spellwork… that was a bit of a confidence crush, to be honest.
Padme stood back and literally watched the magic happen. It wasn't something she had seen before in her life so it was utterly fascinating. It was disappointing when the spells didn't work, but Hermione continued to come up with other spells to try. She couldn't help but cross her fingers as she watched and hoped one would work.
Hermione tried about six spells, one of them twice with different wand movements, but none were working. With a frown she went back to consult get book. Crookshanks jumped up onto the table and pawed at the book, as if he was trying to help.
"One more try," Hermione said, apologetically. Then she waved her wand intricately and said the incantation that was sure to change him back…
It wasn’t that Obi-Wan had exactly lost hope, but he was genuinely surprised when he at last began to feel some ...something... move through him. He was warm, but it wasn’t a real heat. All his insides felt like they were dancing beneath his skin, creating movement and friction.
It unfolded slowly, at first, and then the floor shot down from beneath him, as if he had suddenly flown upward. There was a flash of white and a SNAP! that sounded like a lightning. And then the floor flew back towards him as he fell.
“Eyyyhh…” Obi-Wan groaned. The landing hurt quite a lot, actually; he’d had no time to brace himself. He took a long, deep breath to steady himself, blinking at the changes in his vision--the cat eyes had been much sharper--but there was also the rush of the Force as his abilities returned all at once, which more than made up for it. For a few seconds, Padme and Hermione’s thoughts screamed in his head, and then it was bearable once more. “Oy…”
It had worked! Whatever nonsense the young witch had spouted had really worked. He was human again!
And then Obi-Wan realized he was totally naked.
The fact that the spell had finally worked was quite a surprise to Padme and she watched with wide eyes as Obi-Wan was transformed back into a human. This had to be one of the more interesting things she had seen in her lifetime. She was happy to see Obi-Wan finally becoming a human again, but she hadn’t expected to see all of him when he turned back. Her cheeks turned pink and she covered her mouth as she tried not to laugh.
If Hermione had been thinking straight, if she’d been at the top of her game, she would have caught him with a levitation charm, or put a cushioning charm on the floor so he’d land softly. As it was, she was so surprised that the anti-jinx worked, she was a bit flabberghasted. It took her a moment to realize that the man in front of her was completely nude. Oh, God, what if Jim walked in on this?? she thought, then coughed to stop herself from laughing. “Blanket?” She said, pointedly averting her eyes and reaching for a throw blanket on the back of the nearby sofa. She held it out to him.
Since he’d left his clothing behind at the market when he’d become a cat, it only made sense that he’d be in the buff now. Obi-Wan was returning to his senses with just enough speed to take the blanket and drape it over himself. Meanwhile, the room was still spinning a bit. His face was red as a tomato. Even his copper hair seemed to be blushing.
Padme was about to double over in laughter, but she managed to advert her eyes so he could put the blanket around him. She looked at Hermione instead, "Bravo! I am so thankful and thoroughly impressed that you managed to fix him! And Obi! How does it feel to be a real boy now?" Once he was covered up she turned back to him with pink cheeks and an amused grin.
A real boy? We’ll, he’d proved that, had he not? Of all the people to see him like this, why Padme? It was like his sister walking in on him in the bathroom. Obi-Wan took a deep breath as he finally stood up, wrapping the blanket like a toga. “Hermione, was it?” he addressed the other girl...who looked a great deal like someone else he knew. “I’ll admit, I doubted you. I apologize. I stand corrected, thank goodness.”
Hermione could have responded that she wasn’t sure herself it could be done--at least, not by her. She was the smartest witch of her age in her dreams, surely, but that was in the Dream World. And she was only sixteen in her dreams. There were far greater witches and wizards than she. But it seemed to have all worked out well. He looked… Hermione went a little pink, trying her best not to look. It was hard when he looked like that, but she managed. (Hermione, too, knew someone who looked an awful lot like Obi.)
“Yes, Hermione,” she said, giving him a nod and a little flick of her wand. Some gold sparks shot out the end, almost like glitter. “I’m really glad I was able to help. You say the woman who did this to you was…?”
"Sort of... short, with mad eyes and a mess of wild black hair. I never got her name."
Hermione’s face drained of all color. “Bellatrix Lestrange.” She whispered. “...you’re lucky to be alive.” She knew how dangerous the crazy woman was from her Dreams, and didn’t doubt that crazy could very well--and did--leak over from those Dreams.
"Good job, Obi, pissing off a witch that could have killed you," she could help but shake her head at that. Of course he would make someone like that mad - damn Jedi. She was however quite impressed with Hermione and happy things managed to get settled, "Anything we can do to thank you for fixing him?"
Hermione shook her head. “No no, just the chance to use my magic is enough of a reward.” She wanted to hone her craft as much as she possibly could.
Since it was so long after the fact, and since Hermione had been able to undo the spell, Obi-Wan didn’t see much point in worrying about whether or not he might have been killed. He’d almost died too many times as it was, here as well as his dreams. “I’ll be in your debt for quite some time, if not forever,” he said to Hermione.
Padme gave Hermione a smile while resisting the urge to whip out her cell phone and snap a picture of Obi-Wan in his attempt of a toga. Hermione was fantastic in her mind and she really wished that the woman would take something as a thanks, but she would have to keep her in mind in case she needed legal help or maybe invite her to something the Star Wars clan did, “Thank you again so much. Are you ready to go, Obi-Wan? I don’t think we should take up too much of Hermione’s time.”
Obi-Wan looked from the young witch to Padme and back again, shifting his weight a bit anxiously as he did so. He looked down at the throw draped around his torso. “Hermione… I noticed you seem to have a husband… who may very well have some clothing I might, hm, borrow. Is that a possibility?” He saw photos and Hermione’s wedding band, to start, and it just seemed likely that there was a man about.
Hermione would absolutely take friendship as Thanks. She smiled between the two of them, then nodded. "Oh, of course. Just a moment." She could absolutely grab some clothes from Jim's closet, and took her leave into the bedroom to do so. She came out a moment later with pants, a shirt, socks and shoes. She figured Obi wouldn't want to wear Jim's underwear.
"I will get them back to you one way or another," Padme promised. She had no issue with sending them out for cleaning and then back to Hermione's place, "you are the coolest witch I know. Alright, Jedi, go get dressed so you can kiss your girlfriend with your actual lips instead of a kitty kiss."
Truth be told, it wasn’t the first time Obi-Wan had randomly ended up naked in a compromising, but comical, situation, but that was another story for another time. Or never. Probably never. Meanwhile, Padme got a marked glance over his shoulder as he walked off to the bathroom to change. One day, she would probably find it very strange, perhaps even upsetting, that he had a girlfriend, that he wasn’t celibate or pure has the snow. He hoped she’d never think him a hypocrite. He hoped Anakin would never think worse…
The clothing fit, though Hermione’s husband was clearly a taller man than he. The shoes didn’t fit at all, but Obi-Wan didn’t mind. He’d gotten used to the feeling of the ground directly beneath his feet.
He returned, passing the shoes back to Hermione and thanking her again. He’d come up with a more than acceptable way to properly repay her. Then, he turned to Padme. “You know, I think I might like to walk home,” he said, as they made their way back outside. “I’d like to get some use out of these legs.”
It made sense why he would want to walk home. Two legs had to be easier than four, but she still felt weird letting him go off by himself. "Alright, just don't climb any trees, fight any dogs, and piss off anymore witches," she explained him him with a playful smile as she grabbed her purse and went towards the door. She opened it up and held it open for Obi-Wan to pass through, "And text me when you make it back. Oh and Obi? Welcome back, it's nice to have you back in your regular body."
He stepped outside into the fresh air, his nose already pointed in the direction of Faiza’s as he took a long breath. Obi-Wan felt as though he could hardly wait to show her what had been set right.
He glanced back at Padme before jogging off. “Sorry again for the, er, eyeful.”
"Don't mention it again, please. Come by my place with the clothes sometime and I can send them back to her. We can buy her a gift too," she smirked to herself as she walked to her car. This was definitely an interesting day. She waved to him as she unlocked her door and got inside.
Obi-Wan waved back, before disappearing around a corner. He was quite full of energy, and his smile was bright.