"Oh, Neville, no. Headmistress McGonagall said those paintings go along the corridor on the 5th floor, not here."
"Oh, right, Hermione. Thanks, I'll fix it."
Hermione sighed with mild frustration. The war was over. Voldemort had been defeated months before, and now they were working to restore the castle back to its original condition before the new term started. It still felt like a dream to Hermione. She woke up most nights jerked awake by sudden theories on how to finish the Horcrux hunt for good. Being hunted herself was a hard feeling to shake, it turns out.
She shook herself out of her reverie and looked around. Working around the clock for months had paid off, and really all that was left were cosmetic things -paintings, statues and tapestries. She and Neville had been tasked to the corridors in Gryffindor Tower, and thankfully, they were on the last one. She loved Neville, truly, but holding his hand and guiding him on every task was becoming unbearable. She grabbed the last statue, a small pixie carrying a globe. How odd, thought Hermione. I've never seen this one before. She walked along the corridor, searching for a place to put it. She found an empty pedestal and decided this place was as good as any. Job finished, she dusted her hands off and turned to see where Neville had gone off to.
"Neville?" She didn't see him anywhere. "Neville? Did you find another trick step again?"
Honestly, this castle has so many secrets. She thought, how people don't just up and disappear daily into the ether is beyond me.
She turned the corner, heading towards the stairs when she suddenly bumped into someone, who reached out to steady her before she fell.
"Nev- oh! I'm sorry!"
They both had rounded the corner so quickly that her hand had been caught between her body and her new companion's. She definitely felt that he was male, and her neck and face had begun to flush red.
"OH my god, oh god. I'm so sor- Draco?"
"I'm sorry, do I know you?"
She huffed a laugh at him. Draco had been working with everyone to restore the castle, after he had been found not guilty during the trials at the Wizengamot. It had taken a couple weeks, but eventually he had let his guard down, and those around him did the same. They had actually started to consider him as one of the group, even Harry, to everyone's surprise.
"What, dye your hair brown and suddenly you want to play the stranger game? You know, you get more and more odd the more I get to know you, Draco."
He looked at her with one quizzical brow raised.
"I'm sorry, but I truly don't know what you're talking about. You were right, I am Draco, but I'm afraid I don't know your name. Have we met?"
"Alright, alright, is this like a 'New Hair, New You" kind of thing? I'll play along. It actually looks quite fetching. Have you shown the others? I'm dying to know Harry's reaction."
Draco was well known for many things, but most notably had been his white-blonde hair. She had seen the frequent articles in the paper, almost daily stories filled with whatever mundane activities he had been up to. She didn't blame him one bit for wanting to disguise his hair to lay low for a while.
He was still staring at her with a confused expression. "I think maybe you ha-"
"Oi! Drake! We're almost late, what are you waiting for?"
Ron came quickly around the corner, seemingly not even noticing Hermione. He was looking at Draco with an impatient expression, eager to see what the hold up was.
'Drake'. That's new. Definitely taking note of that to make fun of Ron for later.
Before Draco, or Drake, could answer, Hermione reached out to nudge Ron lightly on the shoulder.
"Ron! You finished up by the Hufflepuff rooms quickly! Ugh, I'm so jealous. Did you come up to help Neville and I out?"
Ron turned and noticed her for the first time. "Wha—oh. Oh, I see. New bird? Alright. Just.. I thought you said we were going flying?" He looked back at Drake with a slightly amused expression.
Drake held up his hands in a baffled gesture. "We are. I was coming up here to get my broom and I ran into her. Literally. She copped a feel and everything. "
Hermione squawked indignantly. "Wh- HEY! No, that was an accident and you know it. I most certainly did not "cop a feel". At least not on purpose, and there wasn't even much to feel anyways."
Ron barked a laugh at Drake's expense, and gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Tough luck, mate."
Draco shrugged Ron's hand off his shoulder and cleared his throat, ready to set the record straight when Hermione interrupted.
"Ooooh kay, well, this has been fun. I love that you two are working together to do this weird 'Stranger Game' bit, but honestly today has been pure torture and I just want to get these tapestries hung up so I can be done. Now, did either of you see Neville on your way up?"
Ron was first to answer. "Uh, Nev? Yeah, he said he was coming up to get his broom too so we could go fly for a bit before .. ah, see? There he is now."
The portrait behind Hermione had opened, and sure enough Neville stepped out with a broom slung over his shoulder. Only, that wasn't Neville. He had a face that was similar to Neville but his body was someone else's entirely. Hermione scanned him, head to toe, and was pretty sure she felt her jaw drop in disbelief. He was built like a muggle basketball player, his lithe arm muscles easily seen under his muggle t-shirt. At least 6 feet tall, he was eating an apple (because of course he was) with his other hand, and she could see his leg muscles flexing under his slightly too tight jeans. He seemed to be moving in slow motion like the main love interest in one of her terrible (but favorite) muggle movies and Hermione was thankful for it because she needed the extra seconds to soak it all in.
Holy Circe on a stick."Nev!" Ron happily greeted his friend with a high five, as though nothing was amiss. Hermione watched as Drake, Ron and Nev grouped together, excitedly talking about something that Hermione honestly couldn't focus on.
What is happening right now? WHO is that and .. what is happening right now?!"Slightly in a daze, and definitely feeling a panic attack coming on, Hermione reached out to the nearest sleeve and gave a small tug. It turned out to be Drake's arm and he turned to her and raised a brow in question.
"I um.. I think I need to go see the Headmistress."
- - - - - - - - - - -
Drake, Ron, and Nev guided Hermione through the castle towards McGonagall's office. She was trying to focus only on the pairs of feet in front of her, hesitant to look around and catch more changes. Try as she might, she still caught the occasional painting that should've been up by the prefect's bathroom, but instead was near the library. She tried to blame the changes on the fact that the castle is currently being restored, it would be only natural to find paintings in weird places, right? Still, a feeling in her gut said that something awful had happened. They walked up to the circular staircase with giant Hippogriff statues in front of it.
"Supposed to be gargoyles." Hermione muttered to herself.
"Sorry?" Drake asked.
"It's supposed to be Gargoyle statues here. Not Hippogriffs. Gargoyles." She said in a loud, slightly aggressive tone.
Drake looked over to Nev, who just shrugged, and Ron who mouthed 'She's barmy, mate'.
They rode the stairs in silence, and when Hermione entered McGonagall's office, she froze. In front of her was a beautiful older woman with long gray hair in a braid, purple robes and blue twinkling eyes.
"Hello dear, how can I be of help to you?"
Hermione sighed and answered in a defeated tone. "You're not McGonagall. We were looking for the Headmistress."
The woman looked at Hermione with a twinkle in her eye, and she smiled at Hermione with kindness and patience.
"Well you've certainly come to the right place. " The woman said. "You've found me, although my name isn't McGonagall. It's Dumbledore. I'm Ariana Dumbledore, Headmistress of Hogwarts."