Time for a Change: Unexpected

Time for a Change
Chapter Twelve
By: Lori Finnegan
2007

After dinner, Pansy, Ginny and Ron walked up the stairs to the hospital wing and knocked on the door to Madam Pomfrey’s office. When she opened the door, Ron leaned past Pansy so that he could see her clearly.

“Excuse us, Madam Pomfrey, but we’re wondering if Harry is able to have visitors yet,” he wondered.

“Oh, yes,” she replied as she pushed her way past the three of them and led them across the hallway. “He’s basically healed up, but still quite sore. He’ll have to stay the night, I’m afraid.”

“I’m just glad he’s okay,” Pansy said, and Ron gave her a funny look. She was getting pretty good at playing Hermione, he thought.

Madam Pomfrey pushed open the door to reveal Harry sitting up in the cot nearest to the door. He smiled when he saw his friends standing in the doorway.

“Harry!” Ginny exclaimed, rushing over to his side and sitting down at the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay,” Harry replied as Pansy sat down on the other side of his legs, and Ron stood at the foot of the bed. He heard the door click shut, signaling Madam Pomfrey’s exit and then looked back at Harry.

“That was a close one, mate,” he said and put his hands in the pockets of his trousers. “We were a bit worried there for a second.”

Harry nodded. “So was I. I’m just mad that I ruined the game for everyone.”

“Don’t worry about it, Harry,” Pansy assured him. “There’ll be other games. And you’re hardly behind. It was only the first game of the year, after all.”

Harry sighed, and Ginny looked down at her hands. Ron looked over at Pansy and narrowed his eyes at her. Didn’t she understand Quidditch at all? Or perhaps she was rooting for her home team. Ron took his hands out of his pockets to fold his arms over his chest.

“You would say that,” he decided to say. “You’ve never appreciated the art of Quidditch.” And it was true. The real Hermione truly didn’t understand Quidditch.

Pansy turned to look at him. “We didn’t come here to fight,” she told Ron. “We’re supposed to be visiting with Harry and giving him his things.”

“My things?” Harry said, curious.

“Oh,” Ron said as he bent over to pick up a backpack at his feet. “I just packed some things to keep you occupied tonight. I know how boring it is sitting here all night.”

Harry took the bag from Ron and tucked it under his arms. “Thanks, Ron,” he said. “I’ve already been bored out of my mind, and I’ve only been awake for about an hour. My only company has been Madam Pomfrey… oh, and Malfoy. He burst in here acting completely obnoxious, as usual.”

“Weird that he’d be looking for you,” Ginny pointed out.

“He wasn’t,” Harry said. “I asked him, and he said it wasn’t any of my business.” He rolled his eyes for his friends. “As if I care what he does in his free time. As long as he does it far away from me, I couldn’t care less.”

“That prat,” Ron muttered as he sat down on the edge of the cot opposite from Harry. “He’s probably up to something.”

“He’s always up to something,” Ginny chimed in. “But let’s just hope it doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

“You don’t think he had something to do with that bludger hitting you, do you, Harry?” Ron wanted to know.

“Of course not!” Pansy said, standing up from the bed to look at Ron straight on. “You know as well as I know that it’s against the rules to tamper with any of the Quidditch equipment.”

“That hasn’t stopped people from doing it before,” Harry commented.

“Why, Hermione,” Ron said, sending Pansy a slight smile. “You almost sound like you’re sticking up for Malfoy. How could that be?”

“I’m just stating the facts,” Pansy said, shooting him a glare.

“Yeah, really,” Ginny said. “Lay off, Ron, as if she’d stick up for Malfoy.”

Pansy stuck her nose up at Ron. “Seriously, Ron.”

Soon after, Ron gave up trying to get Pansy to admit anything, as Madam Pomfrey had burst into the room complaining about the noise and ordered the three of them to return to their dormitories so that Harry could get the rest he needed. Sighing, they walked out to the hallways in silence, just hoping for an end to the day.
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It had been just fifteen minutes since Madam Pomfrey had given Hermione a clear bill of health, and she was already on her way back to the Slytherin dormitories. Because of her hospital wing stint, she had missed several hours of precious homework time, and she was determined to catch up by the end of the night.

She didn’t even care who saw her enter when she pushed open the doors to the Common Room and passed by all of the Slytherin students who were chatting excitedly about the game. No doubt they were nothing but pleased that Harry had fallen off of his broom during the game. And that thought made her want to speak with them even less than she had before.

“Wait, Pansy,” she heard Draco say just as she reached the hallway that led to the girls dormitories. She tried to ignore him, but she didn’t get far before she felt his hand grasping her elbow.

“What is it?” she asked, only turning her head partly in his direction. She didn’t want to give him the impression that she was up for a chat.

“I was worried about you,” Draco said, his silver eyes glistening in the candle light. “You disappeared during the game… and Blaise said you were in the hospital wing because you felt sick or something.” He looked at her for a moment, as if hoping she would pick up and start explaining what had happened. “Are you okay?”

“Of course, I’m fine,” she told him, as if being in the hospital wing were no big deal. “It was just a touch of the stomach flu, that’s all. Madam Pomfrey cured me with a draft. Nothing to worry about.”

Draco looked at her for longer than she would consider a moment, and then dropped her elbow. “Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he said. “Do you want to stay up with us? We’re celebrating a win.”

Hermione had to stop herself from scoffing. A win? An injury to the other team was hardly a win. It was more like a forfeit. “No thanks,” she said, holding her feelings about the subject matter inside. “I have a lot of homework to do. So if you’d please excuse me…” she trailed off, turning around and walking down the hallway again. She half expected him to stop her, but he didn’t. And before long, she was safe inside of Pansy’s room.

For now.

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Harry sighed heavily from his hospital cot as he watched the night sky through the large window on the other side of his room. His legs were feeling better than before, but they still ached quite a bit. Madam Pomfrey had forbid him to get out of bed until morning, save for using the restroom, until she had a chance to check on him.

But he was so bored, having to sit there in the silence for so long, that he almost wanted to get up and move around a bit just to keep himself busy.

Then, he remembered that Ron had given him a backpack filled with his things earlier that day, and he reached down besides his cot to retrieve it. Hurriedly, he unzipped it, and reached his hand inside. The first thing he pulled out was the Quidditch Magazine that he had already read twice. He let it fall back to the floor and then reached in again. This time, he pulled out an old piece of parchment he was very much familiar with; the Marauder’s Map.

He’d spent a lot of time looking at the Map and spying on people around the castle, but this had been the first time he’d given it a look since fifth year. He set it down on his right side, and then reached back into the bag. The next thing he pulled out was an old Quidditch book that looked like it had been Mr. Weasley’s when Mr. Weasley had been in school.

Harry stuck it back inside and put the bag on the floor. It looked like the most interesting thing that Ron had brought was the Map, after all. He reached for his wand on the small table besides his bed and pointed it at the folds in the parchment. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” he said, and suddenly, the map became covered in words. Harry opened it up and rested it on his lap.

He saw his own name in the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey’s in her private quarters. He also saw the names of two Hufflepuff students in the hallway that led to the Grand Staircase, and they were moving along as though they were in a hurry. Harry soon saw why. Professor Snape’s name was just around the corner. He smiled slightly as he looked around the map.

He was a little curious as to whether Ron, Hermione and Ginny had gotten into their beds at a decent hour, but before he could look at the area that showed the Gryffindor Towers, a name out of place caught his eye. He leaned forward to look more closely at the Slytherin Dungeons, and wondered if it could be a mistake. What in the world was Hermione doing down in the dungeons at this hour!?

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Hermione pulled the potion out from underneath the couch and peered into the warm, bubbling liquid. It stunk so badly, that she almost gagged before she could pinch her nose with her fingers. She wasn’t sure what the potion was supposed to look like, but it hadn’t disintegrated, so that was at least good news.

Tomorrow night, at ten o’clock, she and Pansy would be drinking it. It was honestly not something she was looking forward to tasting, but she was most definitely looking forward to having this whole ordeal over with.

With a sigh, she pushed the potion back underneath the couch and then lifted her backpack up on top of it. She sat down next to her things and pulled out her books. She had found that the secret room was without a doubt the quietest place to get her homework done… even if the stench of the potion was looming in the air.

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Harry grabbed onto the crutches that Madam Pomfrey had left by his bed just in case he had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, and hoisted himself up onto them. His legs were still sore and moved slowly, but were feeling better all the time. He was sure he would be able to somehow get from the hospital wing to the Slytherin dungeons. He just had to make sure that Hermione was okay.

What if someone was keeping her there against her will? Someone like Malfoy. Perhaps that was what he was doing in the hospital wing earlier that day. He was probably trying to make sure Harry was incapacitated before he followed through with his evil plan.

With this thought in mind folded the map back up, put it into his pocket and limped all the way down the grand staircase, ignoring the aching pain that shot up his spine. After all, he had to get to Hermione before something truly bad happened.

The hallways of the dungeon were much darker than the rest of the castle. They lacked the moonlight shining through the windows, and with both hands on his crutches, Harry didn’t have an extra hand to light his wand. And since he couldn’t carry his map either, he had memorized the area in which he had seen Hermione’s name and hoped she would stay put.

When he reached the room, he took one hand from his crutches and reached for the doorknob, suddenly freezing. What if there were other people in there with her that hadn’t been there when he had been viewing the map? He was hardly in the condition to put up a fight.

But this was Hermione in there, and he had to do everything he could to protect her. Taking a deep breath, he turned the doorknob and pushed, watching as the dust swept up from the floor, shining against the slight candle light that crept in from behind him. It was hard to see anything at all in the room.

Quickly, he grabbed his wand from his pocket and whispered, “Lumos!” as he pointed it into the room.

The room instantly lit up, the shadows dancing around him, but Hermione, nor anyone else, was in the room. Harry looked around a bit more before deciding that he was truly alone and then turned around to exit the room.

“Excuse me, Mr. Potter, what exactly is it that you think you’re doing down here so late at night? Even the Slytherin students are not allowed to roam the dungeons after ten.”

Harry jumped at the sound of Snape’s voice, and nearly lost his balance on his crutches.

“Do you have a death sentence?” Snape wanted to know as he watched Harry clutch his crutches.

Harry’s mind ran over excuses so quickly that he forgot most of them by the time he had finished thinking. “I lost my Potion book,” he spat out before he had a chance to reconsider his response.

“I see,” Snape replied. “You were missing your Potion text. So, being the studious, straight A student that you are, you decided to escape the hospital wing and come roaming the castle late at night looking for it so that you could study all through the night.”

Harry just stared at him.

“Get back to your hospital bed, Potter,” Snape growled, stepping aside from the doorway so that Harry could pass. “And I expect you to know every single answer during my class tomorrow or I’m taking an additional fifty points away from Gryffindor.”

“Additional!?” was all that Harry could get out.

“That’s right. It’s a standard fifty point loss for being out of bed after hours. You should know that better than anyone.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Harry grumbled, limping past Professor Snape and going back up the dungeon hallway.

“I have eyes in the back of my head, Potter,” Harry heard him say as he hobbled along. “And if you go anywhere other than the hospital wing, you shall be sorry.”

Harry narrowed his eyes at the stairs in front of him. At least Snape hadn’t found the Map.

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Pansy was having trouble falling asleep that night. No matter how hard she tried to clear her mind, she just couldn’t stop thinking about tomorrow night when she and Hermione were to drink the potion that they’d been brewing for a week and a half. She was nervous about the results, but excited at the same time. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow night, she would be back in her own body for good.

Giving up on sleeping at that moment, Pansy sat up in her bed and reached for her nightstand to put a ponytail holder around Hermione’s massive head of hair. She could no longer stand it being in her face, and just had to do something about it.

After her hair was securely tied into a ponytail, she stood up from the bed and walked to the exit of her dormitory. The dark room filled with sleeping girls was getting boring, and she wanted to go out. The problem was, it was almost impossible to escape from the Gryffindors, as she well knew by now. But now that she was a little used to being among them, she would even settle for a chat with anyone who happened to be sitting in the Common Room.

When she arrived and noticed that Ron was the only person still up, she felt like turning around and going back up to the dormitories. But it was too late; he had already seen her. She looked away at first, but then looked back when she saw the expression on his face. It was one of obvious worry. Figuring that there was nothing else she could do as Hermione, she walked over to him and sat next to him on the couch he was sitting on.

“Why are you still up?” she asked as they both stared down at their feet.

“I could ask you the same question,” Ron muttered.

Pansy glanced up at him and then back down at her feet. “Fine then,” she said. “What’s got you in such a pissy mood lately?”

“None of your business,” he replied.

“Since when?” she wanted to know. “Aren’t we supposed to be friends?”

Ron looked away from her and didn’t say anything. Pansy wondered briefly if she had ruined Hermione’s friendship with Ron, but then figured it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t have to deal with it come Monday night anyway. She decided to be a little bit more of herself tonight.

“Seriously, Ron,” she said, moving slightly closer to him. “Something has really been bothering you lately. And to be honest, it’s really beginning to piss me off. So here’s the deal. You either tell me what it is that’s bothering you, or I’m going to tell Harry that you told me his little secret… whatever that is.”

He turned his head slightly to look at her. “You know,” he said, “You’re incredibly annoying for a girl.”

“And so I am,” she smiled, draping her arm around his shoulders. “But you’re gonna tell me, right?”

Ron shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Aw, come on, Ron. What is there that you couldn’t tell me?”

Ron was quiet for a moment, and Pansy stared at him, waiting for him to say something. The wheels seemed to be turning awfully fast in his head. “I’m just worried, that’s all,” he finally said, but stopped there.

“And…?” she prompted. “What exactly is it that you’re worried about?”

“I’m worried about my friends,” he said right away. “About Harry… and Hermione.”

Pansy stared at him. For a moment she wondered why he was speaking about Hermione as if she wasn’t right in front of him. “Okay,” she said, pushing the thought aside. “Why are you worried about us?”

“No,” Ron shook his head, glancing up at her briefly. “I’m not worried about you, I’m worried about Hermione.”

Now Pansy knew that he definitely hadn’t made a mistake in his sentence earlier. “Excuse me?” she muttered, being it was the only thing she was able to spit out.

“You heard me, Pansy,” he said, looking bored with the conversation. “I know you’re not Hermione. I’ve known for several days. Lucky for you, I haven’t told anyone, or you and Hermione would be in big trouble.”

Pansy was having trouble breathing much less moving, and she kept her arm around his shoulders. “What… how did you…?” she stammered.

“I’ve been trying to crack you for days,” Ron went on. “But you’re surprisingly good at staying in character.”

The blood finally started running through Pansy’s veins, and she removed her arm from his shoulder. “You’re not going to… tell anyone, are you?”

“That depends,” Ron said, watching as she scooted a little ways away from him. “When are we getting the real Hermione back?”

Pansy looked away from him, almost ashamed that she had been caught. “Hopefully, tomorrow night,” she admitted. “If all goes well.”

“Good,” Ron said. “Things have been absolutely crazy lately, and I think it would be nice to have Hermione back to settle things out.”

“Yeah,” Pansy agreed with a sigh. It was apparent how much he liked Hermione and how much he despised her.

“Not that you didn’t do well,” Ron added in, apparently sensing her discomfort with their conversation. “Harry was a little suspicious of you, but he never figured it out. No one else did either. You should win some sort of acting award or something.”

Pansy wasn’t sure if he was trying to compliment her or not. “Thanks,” she said anyway. “Well, it’ll all be over tomorrow night. And please,” she said, looking back at him, directly into his eyes. “Please don’t say anything to Harry. We didn’t want anyone to know. So let’s just pretend this whole thing never happened… and then tomorrow, we can all go on with our lives as if none of this ever happened.”

Ron looked back at her and then stuck out his hand. “Deal?”

Pansy took his hand in hers and gave it a quick shake. “Deal,” she confirmed.
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Early the next morning, Hermione woke up to the pages of a text book. She had fallen asleep with her nose actually buried in the book this time and when she jerked awake and the book had fallen to the floor, she realized that she had fallen asleep studying in the secret room.

After she checked her watch and realized that she had about twenty minutes before class started, she quickly threw her things into her backpack, blew out the lanterns and rushed out of the room. If she was going to eat anything before lunch, she had better get down to the Great Hall for breakfast quickly.

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Draco stuck his fork into his eggs and then lifted them to his mouth. He had been a little grumpy all morning after Pansy had turned him down the night before, and what made matters worse was that when everyone was leaving for breakfast, she wasn’t anywhere to be found.

He was chewing on his eggs when he noticed Blaise staring at him from the other side of the table. “What are you looking at?” he said after he had swallowed. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Just that scowl you’ve been wearing since last night,” Blaise replied.

Draco scoffed and looked back down at his breakfast. “Don’t concern yourself,” he said, and it was then that he felt someone take a seat besides him. He looked up to see Pansy herself sitting there and picking up a piece of toast from a platter at the center of the table.

“And just where have you been?” he asked her as he folded his arms over his chest. “I waited for you in the common room for twenty minutes!”

Pansy took a bite of toast and shrugged at him. “I’m sorry, Draco,” she said, her mouth full. “I guess I slept in. I was up pretty late studying.”

Draco looked back down at his food. Yeah, while she was studying, he was lying awake in bed thinking about her, yet he was still able to wake up on time for breakfast. “Sure,” he said, his feelings still stinging. “Well, I’m glad you made it.”

It was quiet for a moment, and the other Slytherins must have felt the tension radiating from Draco, because they all excused themselves from the area he was sitting, and went to their classes… including Crabbe and Goyle who usually stayed for thirds at almost every meal.

Draco could see Pansy looking at him from the corner of his eye, and he set down his fork, no longer hungry. He felt completely rejected, and that was a feeling he hadn’t ever felt before. For the first time, he didn’t feel comfortable under her gaze.

“Is something wrong, Draco?” she wanted to know, breaking the silence. “You seem so quiet all of a sudden.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” he snapped as he looked over at her briefly and then went back to his plate. “Can’t I be thoughtful once in a while?”

“You?” she laughed, but then seemed to realize that he didn’t think it was funny. “I guess everyone has that right…” she surmised.

Draco didn’t say anything. He just continued to stare at his food. How could he let her get to him like this? He should have been studying for his Herbology test, but instead, thoughts of Pansy invaded his mind and prevented him from accomplishing anything… not even sleep. But then again, he was getting used to being tired all of the time.

As much as he wanted to be with her, at that moment, all he wanted to do was get out of her sight. He felt so completely exposed, and he was completely sure that it wasn’t an feeling he ever wanted to have again.

“I’m going to get to class, Pans,” he mumbled, pushing his plate slightly towards the center of the table and picking up his backpack from the floor. “Talk to you later.”

He didn’t give her the opportunity to reply. The next moment, he was outside the Great Hall and swiftly walking down the castle’s halls, trying to put as much distance between himself and Pansy as possible. Before he had the nerve to confront her with anything, he had to make sure that he knew exactly what he wanted, and had worked out a foolproof plan to obtain that want.

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Classes went horribly slow for Pansy that day. She was so nervous and excited for that night that every word that came out of Professor Sprout’s mouth seemed to be in slow motion. At least after Herbology she only had Care of Magical Creatures left, and as horrible as she thought Hagrid was with his stupid beasts, the period usually seemed to breeze by.

She couldn’t wait to sit down with her homework that night, race through it and then make her way to the secret room so that they could finally end the horrible nightmare that they’d been living in for the past week and a half.

Well, okay… so it wasn’t all that horrible. Some parts hadn’t been all that bad. But even so, she couldn’t wait to go back to being a Slytherin.

“Psst,” Ron hissed, poking her arm with his elbow. “Did you get that last bit?”

She blinked back at him and shrugged. “Sorry,” she said, giving him a knowing smile. After all, she wasn’t the meticulous note taker that Hermione was. “I guess I sorta faded out there.”

Ron frowned at her, but she could tell by his eyes that he didn’t really mean it. “Never mind,” he whispered back. “I’m sure this stuff isn’t all that important.” He poked the plant in front of him only to hear it growl back. Quickly, he jerked his hand away. “Geez!”

Pansy stifled a giggle. It was then that she realized that she should probably give Ron a few more details about their plans to switch back tonight… or when Hermione was actually Hermione again, she would definitely figure out that he had known. Slowly, she leaned her head closer to his. “Hey, Ron,” she whispered. “We’ve gotta talk later. Meet me outside the Great Hall before dinner.”

Ron gave her an odd look, but nodded anyway.

She looked out at the plants and gave a small sigh. This would all work out… it had to.

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Hermione let out a breath that she didn’t realize she was holding as Hagrid announced that their last class of the day was over. She picked her things up from the cold ground and began to make her way back towards the castle, but before she could get very far, someone had a hold of her arm, and she jerked around to see who was preventing her from going on.

Of course, it was Draco.

“Pans, wait,” he said. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

She looked at him as if he were crazy. “Out here?” she wanted to know. “Draco, It’s cold! We’ve already spent an hour outside, and I’m not sure—”

But before she could finish, he pulled her against his chest and snaked his fingers into her hair. She had one second to take in a shocked breath before he leaned down and pressed his lips firmly against hers.

Hermione pushed against his chest until he let her free. “You call that talking!?” she exclaimed as she tried to catch her breath. “What is going on with you?”

Draco grabbed her robes and pulled her back to himself. “You must know by now,” he said. “Isn’t it completely obvious?”

As Hermione looked into his gray eyes, she didn’t have a doubt in her mind what he was talking about, but she didn’t want to say it out loud. Some weird romance with Draco Malfoy while she was in Pansy’s body was not something she thought was a very good idea.

So she gave him a sly smile. “Is this some sort of a joke?” she asked coyly. “Do you want something from me? Are you’re trying to make me agreeable by using your charm?” She didn’t wait for him to reply. “Because you know, Draco Malfoy, you are the most charming boy here at Hogwarts.”

Draco’s face turned slightly pink, and he just stared at her.

Hermione went on, “Or are you just trying to boost my popularity status?” She looked over at the students who were still standing in the classroom area staring at them. “Everyone’s watching, you know.”

“Um,” Draco said, and Hermione smiled at her victory. It wasn’t often that Draco Malfoy was rendered speechless.

She grabbed a hold of his tie and raised her chin so that their faces were even. “Dare you to do that again.”

But instead of kissing her, he broke away from her hold and grabbed her arm once again. This time, he didn’t pull her close, he pulled her back up the hill and towards the castle. Hermione figured that he didn’t appreciate her show of mocking his feelings.

When they were besides the castle and alone, he let go of her arm and turned to face her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, his cheeks still red. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you!”

Hermione pretended to be surprised at this revelation. “I’m sorry, Draco,” she said. “I thought we were just messing around.”

Draco looked down at her as if he really wanted to say something, but couldn’t decide upon the words. “It’s okay,” he finally said, looking away from her and then running his fingers through his hair. “Never mind. I’ll talk to you after dinner, okay?”

Hermione nodded at him, feeling slightly bad for pushing his feelings away. “Yeah,” she said. “Sure.”

They stood there for a moment avoiding eye contact. Finally, Hermione broke the silence.

“I’m going to work on my homework for awhile. See you at dinner.” And she turned around quickly and rushed towards the doors as quickly as she could without seeming as though she was trying to escape from his presence.