Time for a Change: Bottoms Up

Time for a Change
Chapter 13
By: Lori Finnegan
2007

Inside of the Great Hall, Pansy let Harry pass and then grabbed Ron’s arm before he could make his way to the table. She dragged him outside of the Great hall and pulled him into a nearby alcove.

“What’s the deal?” he demanded, shaking his arm away from her grasp.

“Remember when we talked yesterday?” she said to him in a rushed voice. “Well, it’s all happening tonight. Hermione and I are going to drink a reversal potion that we made. So, just so you know, hopefully when you see Hermione tomorrow morning, she’ll be back to normal.”

Ron smiled at her, but it faded quickly. “And just what happens if the potion doesn’t work?”

“Oh, please, Ron,” she said, giving him a slap on his chest with the back of her hand. “Hermione made the potion herself. Do you honestly think that anything could go wrong?”

Ron let out a breath. “Good point there.”

Pansy grabbed his sleeve and pulled him out of the alcove. “I thought you should know about it, that’s all,” she told him and the two of them went back into the Great Hall.

“So,” Ron said over the crowd. “I guess I’ll be… seeing you around?”

Pansy hesitated before nodding at him. This would be her last meal at the Gryffindor table.

__________________________________________________________________________

Hermione, who had avoided the Great Hall all together, had decided to go hungry in order to avoid meeting Draco after dinner. By the end of tonight, she would be back to being Hermione and wouldn’t have to worry about Draco Malfoy anymore. Besides, she figured she had messed up Pansy’s love life enough already. She wasn’t going to tell Pansy about Draco’s… growing feelings, but after the fiasco after Care of Magical Creatures, she didn’t feel like she had a choice anymore; Pansy had to know.

And to be absolutely sure that she wouldn’t run into him, Hermione packed up her homework and traveled onto their secret room. After two hours, she had completely finished her Arithmancy assignment and was starting on a Transfiguration essay when the door burst open and a fuming Draco appeared before her.

“I knew I’d find you here,” he said, slamming the door behind himself. “What makes you think that you can just run around this place avoiding me?”

Almost without realizing it, Hermione pushed the potion back a little further under the couch with the heel of her shoe. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say to him, but she would have to think of something and fast; his face was turning a weird shade of pink.

“Is it okay if I do my homework?” was what came out of her mouth.

Draco didn’t seem happy with that answer. She could tell by the way he stomped over to her, his shoes clacking against the hard ground. “Excuse me?” he demanded. “I thought we had agreed to meet after dinner… or maybe I misunderstood. I didn’t realize that part of your plan was to completely skip dinner and then avoid me all together.”

Hermione closed her book and pushed it off her lap. “Look, Draco,” she said. “I wasn’t feeling well, and I had a lot of homework to do. I just needed some quiet time alone. Is that okay with you?”

Draco didn’t say anything, he only stared at her. She could tell that he was using the anger to cover his feelings, and she felt horrible about it. But what could she really do?

They stared at each other for another moment before Hermione stood up from her seat on the couch and put her arms around his waist, pulling him in for a tight hug. She had never seen someone who needed a hug more than Draco at that moment.

He relaxed against her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, pressing her face to his sweater. “Can we talk later, though?”

He pulled away and looked down at her with his cold eyes. “I guess,” he relented.

She smiled up at him weakly, still feeling horrible for pushing him away. It wasn’t every day that anyone saw any true feelings surface from Draco Malfoy. “I just need some time to think,” she added. “Talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

He nodded, and then swept out the door just as quickly as he had come in, only this time, he didn’t slam the door on his way.

Hermione fell back onto the couch and took a deep breath. She hadn’t been expecting him to find her before they could drink the potion… but fortunately, he would leave her alone for the rest of the night, giving her and Pansy the chance to drink the potion in private.

__________________________________________________________________________

At exactly ten o’clock that night, Pansy flew into the secret room and threw Hermione’s backpack on the ground. “I made it,” she said, breathing hard as she looked over at Hermione. “It was rather hard to get away from your friends,” she sighed and then sat besides Hermione on the couch. “It seems like everyone was up for a chat tonight.”

It didn’t take long before Pansy realized that Hermione wasn’t listening to a word she was saying. She poked her in the shoulder. “Hey, something the matter?”

Hermione finally looked over at her. “Before we drink the potion, there’s something we need to talk about.”

Pansy noticed her face was flushed, and she crinkled her nose in reaction. She couldn’t wait to hear this. “What is it?”

Hermione shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “It’s just Draco…”

“What about him?”

“Well…” she said, turning her eyes away from Pansy’s. “He’s got a little thing for you.”

Pansy almost laughed. “Oh, please!” she exclaimed. “I already knew that. He’s completely obvious.”

Hermione looked back at her. “Are you sure? Because whatever was going on in him seemed a little… new.”

“Of course it was new for you,” Pansy said. “To be honest I should have warned you about him, but I knew that he wouldn’t ever actually admit to himself that he liked someone more than himself, so I didn’t think it would be a problem. That boy is so full of himself…”

“See, that’s just the thing,” Hermione interrupted. “I don’t think he’s planning on keeping it in anymore. I’m just telling you this as a warning. I think he’s going to be… a little different than how you remember him acting around you.”

Pansy looked over at Hermione from the side of her eye. Was she serious? Had something actually happened between them? “Whatever,” she decided. “I’ll deal with Draco when the time comes. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay, good,” Hermione concluded and then bent over to pull out the potion from underneath the couch. “Before we start though… is there anything different going on between the Gryffindors that I should be aware of?”

Pansy thought about it for a moment. “No, things are pretty much the same,” she lied. There was no point in telling her about something that was over and done with.

Hermione smiled at her and then pulled out two glass mugs from her backpack. “I came prepared,” she announced.

Pansy rolled her eyes. When was Hermione ever not prepared? “Great,” she said, taking the bowl from Hermione and then waiting while she pulled out a large spoon from her backpack.

Hermione spooned up enough of the gloppy mixture to fill one mug, and then handed it to Pansy. Taking a deep breath, she filled the second glass, put the spoon back into the bowl and let Pansy move the bowl to the floor.

The two girls sat in silence, staring into their mugs.

“Did you ever come across anything that mentioned… side effects?” Pansy asked. “Should we be prepared?”

Hermione shook her head. “No, I didn’t,” she replied. “Though, I’m not completely convinced I’ve read all of the literature about the potion. I don’t think the Hogwarts library is adequately stocked on the matter.”

Pansy gulped, once again looking into her glass. As much as she wanted to go back to being herself, the thought of drinking the potion that Snape hadn’t supervised made her a tad nervous. Then again, Hermione was the top student in Potions, not to mention the rest of her classes. “Well, bottoms up?” she suggested.

Hermione raised her glass and clinked it to the side of Pansy’s. “Bottoms up,” she repeated, and then tilted the glass to her mouth.

Pansy followed suit, but paused when she felt the warm liquid reach her lips. The taste was horrible! She reached up with her other hand and plugged her nose before gulping down the rest of the potion. When she had finished, she turned to look at Hermione, who had the same look of disgust on her face.

The problem was, she was still looking at her own face. They hadn’t switched places.

Hermione took the mug from Pansy and got up to set them on the table. “It’s okay,” she said, taking note of Pansy’s distress. “It’s probably not an immediate effect. Not all potions are work as quickly as the simple ones we do in class.”

Pansy let out a breath and leaned back against the couch. “Well, I hope it happens soon,” she said. “I’m exhausted, and I want to sleep in my own bed for a change.”

“Me, too,” Hermione concurred. “I almost miss listening to Lavender and Parvati chatting as I fall asleep. You’d be surprised.”

Pansy gasped. “I certainly am surprised! I can barely stand those two!”

Hermione laughed, and then it fell silent as they looked at each other, waiting to change back at any second.

Nothing happened.

“Let’s just go to bed,” Pansy suggested. “Maybe it takes a little bit longer.”

“Probably,” Hermione agreed. “We’ll meet tomorrow as usual after breakfast if nothing has happened and decide where to go from there.”

Pansy nodded and then stood up. “Hey, Hermione?” she asked as she picked up her backpack and then looked over at the other girl.

“Yes?” Hermione was busy packing up the glasses and pushing the potion back underneath the couch.

“How long do most complicated potions take to work?”

Hermione stood up straight and looked at her. “Anywhere from an hour to twelve hours for this type of potion, I’d say… but it’s really hard to know for sure. I wish we had more information on it.”

Pansy took a deep breath and lifted her backpack over her shoulder. “See you tomorrow morning,” she said on her way out the door. “And cross your fingers.”

__________________________________________________________________________


Hermione clutched her pillows tightly to her chest as she took a deep breath in, realizing that she was awake. Everything suddenly flooded back into her memory; the potion, saying goodbye to Pansy and hoping that when they woke up in the morning, everything would finally be back to normal.

She didn’t want to open here eyes, afraid that she would still be in Pansy’s body and still stuck in this nightmare.

But when she did open her eyes, she noticed that she was still surrounded by Pansy’s belongings, and still sleeping within Pansy’s bed and in Pansy’s room. She let out a sad sigh, relaxing against the bed as the hope faded.

After a moment of thought, she rolled out of bed and walked carefully over to the mirror. She had to make sure it was indeed Pansy’s face that was looking back at her before she jumped to conclusions.

There would be no jumping. As Hermione stared at Pansy’s face as her reflection, she knew for sure that the potion had not yet worked.

__________________________________________________________________________


Pansy flew down the staircase that led from the girls' dormitories and pushed open the door to the Common Room. Her plan was to get out of there as quickly as possibly, make a break for the Slytherin dungeons, find Hermione and demand answers.

But she didn't get that far. Before she knew it, Ron had his arms around her and was holding her in the tightest hug she had ever experienced. After the shock had worn off, she took hold of his shoulders and roughly shoved him away.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded as she looked up at his surprised face.

"Oh," he said, his face falling. "I take it that your plan was unsuccessful." It wasn't a question.

Pansy let go of his shoulders and walked around him. "Don't look so disappointed, Ron," she said as she looked around the room to make sure they were alone. "Hermione says that some potions take up to twelve hours to work. I'm still confident that we'll change back."

"Oh," Ron said again, turning to face her. "Well, you better... do something."

Pansy twirled around to meet his gaze. "Do what?" she wanted to know. "There's nothing we can do but wait. Besides, I'm going to find Hermione now," she said as she walked towards the portrait hole.

"See you later, then," Ron replied.

"Oh," she said, spinning around again to smile at him. "Thanks for the hug." And she quickly exited the room with just enough time to see his face light up in red freckles.

Taking a quick moment to grin to herself at his embarrassment, she quickly sobered and then rushed down the hallway, onto her mission of finding Hermione. By the time she reached the Slytherin dungeons, she was so worried that the potion wasn’t going to work that she didn’t even care who saw a Gryffindor down where she didn’t belong. She just had to find Hermione so that her mind could be set at ease, and she could go to breakfast, confident in their still moving plan.

She shoved past several confused Slytherin girls who were standing in the near the entrance to the Common Room, said the password loud enough for everyone in the area to hear, and then pushed through the dungeon door.

She wasn’t even remotely surprised to see Draco Malfoy stand up just after she had burst inside. The book from his lap fell to the ground, its pages crumpling against the floor, and he took a step forward.

“Excuse me?” he said, his voice loud. “Just what do you think you’re doing in here, mudblood?”

Pansy didn’t stop walking towards her destination. She looked at Draco right in his eyes as she approached him. “Move aside, Malfoy,” she spat at him as she pushed him so hard that he fell back against the chair he had gotten up from. She didn’t even pause to look at what she assumed would be his shocked expression, and she stomped her way back into the girls’ dormitories.

When she reached her own door, she didn’t knock. She just twisted the handle and went on in. She found Hermione pulling up the covers to the bed, but once she saw Pansy standing there, she dropped them quickly, and then ran behind her to lock the door.

“Who saw you?” she demanded. “And what are you doing in here?!”

“In case you haven’t noticed,” Pansy said, turning around to face her. “I’m still in your body!”

“Shh!” Hermione hushed, pushing her further back into the room. “And don’t you think I’ve already realized that? You’re going to ruin everything by coming in here! I hope no one saw you!”

“Relax,” she said, rolling her eyes and shaking Hermione’s hands away from her arms. “It was only Draco.”

Hermione’s eyes widened. “Only, Draco?!” she demanded. “Pansy, you have got to hold it together! In just a few more hours—”

“In just a few more hours, what, Hermione?” Pansy wanted to know. “We’ll still be in each other’s bodies? What in the hell are we supposed to do? Let’s just face it! The potion did not work!”

“Shh!” Hermione hissed.

Just then, there was a loud pounding at the door. “Open up, Pansy. The Common Room’s been raided by a Gryffindor mudblood,” they heard Draco’s voice say.

They both froze, staring at each other.

“I’m… I’m not decent!” Hermione said after a slight pause. “I’ll be out in a moment!” She turned to Pansy and hissed, “Just great! Now what? How are you supposed to get out of here?”

Pansy shrugged. She honestly had no idea… but she wasn’t about to be caught.

“Hide in here,” Hermione suggested in a whisper as she gently pushed Pansy into the closet and helped to pull the robes around herself so she wouldn’t be seen. “Once everyone’s in class, it’ll be safe to come out.”

“And then what?” Pansy demanded while she was being pushed into the darkness of the closet. “What happens when ten o’clock rolls around?”

“We’ll decide that when the time comes!” Hermione assured her, but it was only a voice. Before Pansy knew it, the door had clicked close and she was gone.

__________________________________________________________________________


Hermione slipped out of Pansy's room and quickly closed the door behind herself before Draco could catch a peek inside. She leaned against the door, listening as it clicked shut. Draco was looking at her curiously.

"What took so long?" he wanted to know.

Hermione grabbed his wrist and pulled him back towards the Common Room. "I told you," she said as they walked. "I was getting dressed." She didn't give him a chance to respond. "I'm starving. Let's get to breakfast."

"Did you even see who was in here?"

"No, but I don't even care," Hermione lied, still pulling on his arm and dragging him towards the door. "Come on, already! I'm starving!"

After they were out in the hallway, Draco apparently came out of his dazed state because he grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. "You're not listening to me," he said between his teeth. "Don't you even realize what just happened?"

She was getting sick of playing the game, but instead of fighting, she humored him. "What happened, Draco?" she asked, trying her best to seem interested when all she wanted to do was get him as far away from the Slytherin Common Room as possible so that Pansy could escape.

"It was that mudblood, Granger!" he hissed. "You should have seen her! She burst into the Common Room like she owned the place or something!"

Hermione attempted to look perplexed. "How did she know the password?"

"Who knows," Draco mumbled. He grabbed her arm and pulled her along the hall. Apparently, now that he had her attention, it was okay to go to breakfast. "But I bet she and her weirdo friends are up to something. You seriously should have seen her."

"Crazy," Hermione said, rolling her eyes when she was sure he wasn't looking at her. "Anyway, who cares? I mean, she'll leave eventually. It's not like we have any secrets stored away or anything."

"Whatever," Draco said. "It's just unnerving to know that anyone can just break in whenever they want. And Granger! It's just not right!"

"Calm down," Hermione suggested. "It's not the end of the world. When you get back to your precious Common Room everything will have gone back to normal." And she hoped she was right. She hoped that by the time lunch rolled around, she and Pansy would be in their own bodies... for good.

__________________________________________________________________________


Harry, returning from the Hospital wing, entered the Common Room, setting his backpack on the floor just as he stepped inside. Briefly, he wondered if Ron and Hermione were already off to breakfast, but stopped wondering when he saw his friend sitting on a cozy couch in front of the fire with a book in his lap.

“Well, this is an odd sight to see,” he commented, causing Ron to turn around and look at him. “You’re actually studying in the morning?”

Ron shrugged and then looked back at his book. “I guess,” he answered.

Harry flopped down on the chair adjacent from the couch that Ron was sitting on and stared at him. “Something wrong, Ron? You’ve been so quiet lately.”

Ron shook his head but didn’t look up from his book. “Nothing’s wrong,” he insisted.

“Oh,” Harry muttered, even though he knew it was a lie. Ron had been moping and angry for several days, and honestly, it was starting to annoy him. But Ron was obviously not about to give anything up, so Harry decided he might as well change the subject.

“So,” he said. “Where’s Hermione? If you’re sitting here studying this early, I kinda expected to see her on the other side of the room with her wand pointed at you or something.”

“Ha, ha,” Ron said. “Very funny. And to be honest, she ran off somewhere before I could ask. Looked as though she was in a hurry. I’m sure it’s just some stupid club meeting with her nerdy Arithmancy friends.”

Harry leaned against the armrest. “I see,” he said. “Well, I suppose we’ll see her in class, then.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Pansy waited for what she assumed had been an hour, and when she was sure that breakfast was over and all of the students were out of not only the Great Hall, but the Common Room as well, and she would be save to exit and return to class with everyone else.

She pushed her own clothes out of the way and emerged out of the closet and into the empty room, tip-toeing across the floor. When she reached the door, she hesitated and leaned against the door so that she could listen to see if she heard any sort of activity on the other side of the door.

Hearing nothing but silence, she quietly opened the door and peeked out, letting out a relieved breath when she realized that indeed, everyone had vacated the area.

From there on out, she didn’t find any opposition and without trouble, she made it easily to her first class. Her only problem was that Professor McGonagall gave her a very disappointed look as she walked into class over fifteen minutes late and took her seat next to Harry in the very front row of the Gryffindor side of the classroom.

“Where have you been?” Harry hissed to her once she had pulled out her books. “Ron said you ran off somewhere before breakfast, but wouldn’t tell me where.”

Pansy hadn’t anticipated this conversation, so she said the first thing that came to mind. “I wanted to be prepared for Arithmancy,” she explained in a whisper. “I told him that there was a big test today, so I went to the library to get in some last minute studying.” It surprised her how good she was getting at this Hermione thing.

Pansy watched as Harry looked back down at his desk. “That’s strange,” he whispered. “Ron told me that you didn’t tell him where you went.”

Hearing his name, Ron, who was on the other side of Harry, turned his head to look their way. Instead, he met eyes with Pansy, the silent questioning look in his eyes enough to make her hold his gaze until Professor McGonagall cleared her throat.

Pansy didn’t pay attention during class. Instead, she kept her eyes glued to the clock. With each second time crept closer to ten o’clock, and with each second, Pansy felt her hope sliding further and further away. Every once in awhile she would close her eyes and just hope that when she opened them she would be back on the Slytherin side of the room, but every time she opened them, she was still sitting in the same seat next to Harry.

The clock finally reached the ten o’clock mark, and McGonagall dismissed her students from class. Pansy grabbed her things in a hurry and rushed out of the room. The last thing she wanted was to be reprimanded from McGonagall when she had much more important things to attend to. But before she could get out of the door, Ron grabbed her arm.

“Well?” he said when she looked at him. “Aren’t you going to tell me what happened? I take it the switch didn’t work yet.”

She pulled him out of the way of the rushing students and put her finger over her lips. “Shh!” she hissed. “Don’t talk about it in front of everyone!”

“No one’s listening,” Ron insisted.

“I don’t care. I need to find Hermione and figure this out. The time period she said it should work in is over, and I’m not sure what we’re going to do.”

Ron frowned at her. “Just great,” he said.

“Whatever,” Pansy brushed his remark aside. “I just need you to distract Harry so that Hermione and I can figure out what we’re going to do next. Keep him away from me.”

“Fine,” Ron agreed, lifting up his backpack further onto his shoulder. “Good luck… Hermione.” And he turned around, grabbing Harry’s arm just as he emerged from the room and steered him in the other direction.

Pansy took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was starting to be one of her longer days.

Finally, Hermione emerged from the room, and Pansy cleared her throat loudly.

“There you are!” Hermione said, rushing over to Pansy. “I was worried when you rushed out so quickly that I would miss you!”

Pansy pulled her further down the hallway where the crowd of students moving between classes was thinning out. “Look,” she said, completely dismissing Hermione’s worry. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s after ten, and we’re still stuck in each other’s bodies.”

Hermione looked away from her. “Yeah,” she said. “I’ve kinda noticed that.”

“So? What are we supposed to do next? You can’t actually think we can continue living like this forever!”

“Of course not!” Hermione said in a hushed voice. “I was worrying about this after the potion didn’t work right away, but I didn’t want either of to panic about it.”

Pansy’s jaw dropped. “Why didn’t you say something earlier?” she demanded.

Hermione cautiously looked back at her. “There was a chance it would still work, so I thought the best thing would be to stay positive.”

“Great,” Pansy said as she leaned up against the stone wall and put her hands over her face. When Hermione didn’t say anything, she lowered her hands and stared at her. “What exactly do you suggest we do, then?”

“I’m afraid there’s only one thing we can do,” Hermione said regretfully.

“And that is?” Pansy prompted.

“We have to go to Snape.”