Chapter 2 – Switching Roles

...

I wanna stand up, I wanna let go,

You know, you know, no you don't, you don't.

I wanna shine on, in the hearts of men,

I wanna mean it from the back of my broken hand.

The Killers – All These Things That I've Done

I don't own Harry Potter :(

The next day I go down to the Quidditch pitch early to try and blow off some steam. Flying always helps.

My hair flies around behind me and all my worries disappear just for a little while and all I can think is This Is The Life.

The air is cold and a sharp wind whips my face but it doesn't bother me. The sky is a bright, clear white and it has been snowing. The view of the castle from up here is incredible. I can see every last turret and tower.

Up here I feel free and powerful. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of me, I do what I enjoy and I have fun. This is the definition of that.

Everywhere is so beautiful. I feel I could see the entire world if I wanted to. The odd snowflake falls onto my face and I decide that no matter what happens with Rose, I Am Going To Have A Good Day.

I land, feeling slightly out of breath, and sit on an old bench by the broomstick shed just trying to figure out how to stop her being so annoyed at me. I know it's my own fault, but I don't know what to do.

I think over what she said. "You need to get over yourself and appreciate everything you've got. And if you don't, I'll bloody well do it for you."

Appreciate what I've got? I do appreciate what I've got. I know I'm lucky. I mean, my dad is one of the most famous wizards alive, I have an amazing family and group of friends, I appreciate it, I really do … my temper has nothing to do with not appreciating it.

I can't help it.

And anyway what did she mean she would do it for me? That doesn't make any sense. How could anyone appreciate someone else's life? She's so infuriating.

I glare at nothing in particular and then notice Malfoy leaning casually against the old broom shed. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

He smirks. 'What have you done this time Loony?' I hate my parents for giving me two names that both sound like loony.

'What makes you think I've done anything?' I snap. I can't help noticing how his shirt is ever-so-slightly too tight and just a teeny bit see through. Stop looking, Lily.

He smirks again and ignores my question. Dammit, he saw me looking.

'Like what you see?' He asks.

'You wish.' I glare at him and get prepared to pull my wand out of my pocket. I hate this bastard.

He laughs. 'It's okay, Potter, you can admit it. You're only human after all.' How someone so arrogant can have any friends at all completely baffles me.

I stage a yawn and raise my eyebrows at him. 'Are you trying to flirt with me, Malfoy?'

'Are you kidding me? Potter, in case you hadn't noticed, I hate you. If the feeling's not mutual then it's your problem. I would never flirt with you.' He looks deadly serious and his silver eyes have clouded grey. Never underestimate Scorpius Malfoy when he gets angry.

'Don't worry. The feeling is mutual. It's a shame murder's illegal really.'

His expression is stony. I don't understand how he flips from being flirty, sarcastic and frustrating – to being furious, angry and downright scary in the space of a few seconds.

'Don't think it'll stop me, Potter.' He hisses.

I'll be honest. He does freak me out just a little when he gets like this, so before he gets any madder, I smirk and blow him a kiss as I depart the scene.

That's exactly what Rose would do.

ϟ O-O¬

I see her later when I finally head back to the castle for breakfast. She's sitting at the Slytherin table with Al and Hugo. I think about going over but I know it'll only irritate her, and besides, Malfoy's bound to join them soon.

Sure enough, as I walk into the Great Hall and begin to head over to the Ravenclaw table I see Malfoy sit down opposite her. She gets up almost immediately and joins her best friends Anna, Erin and Mia on the Gryffindor table.

She probably hates him more than I do, and that's saying something.

The ceiling today is clear and white with the odd snowflake falling towards us and disappearing before they can reach us. I have many favourite types of weather … but this has got to be one of them. I love the feeling of being cool and refreshed, and yet not freezing. I'm hoping my friends will agree to a snowball fight later.

I eat a quick breakfast and then leave the Great Hall at the same as Rose in an attempt to bump into her. Which I do.

'Rose, I'm sorry about yesterday …' I say kind of pathetically in an attempt to get her to talk to me again. I know I'm being selfish, but she's a friend of mine as well as a cousin and I hate her being mad at me even if it was my fault.

She rolls her eyes at me. 'Lily, I know you get mad easy and all, but you have such a perfect life. There's nothing to get mad about.'

This pisses me off. Before I can stop myself I'm saying, 'I do not have a perfect life, okay? Stop saying that like it's some kind of insult. I do appreciate what I've got but you've got far more, Rose.'

She glares at me. 'Fine. If that's what you think, we'll just have to see, won't we?' she snaps.

'What do you mean?' I ask.

She looks around to see if anyone is watching and then drags me into an abandoned classroom.

There is nothing in here but one old desk and a large chalk board with the letters LW and OG written on. It was obviously written a while ago as it is faded and grey rather than white.

The whole room is filled with dust and looks as if it hasn't been used for years.

I look around in interest for a moment before Rose clicks her tongue impatiently and says, 'This is what I mean.'

Then she takes out her wand and starts muttering things as she waves it around the two of us creating some sort of force field.

I stand there nervously with no idea of what she's about to do. 'Er … Rose …?' I say nervously.

She shushes me and carries on with her elegant wand work.

Only Rose would know how to do this. Whatever this is.

Suddenly my eyes are forced shut and I feel an odd ripping sensation near my heart … only it doesn't hurt quite so much as I expect it to. I have no idea what is going on.

When I finally manage to force my eyes back open, I see myself standing in front of me. I widen my eyes in shock. Has she used Polyjuice potion or something? Rose has become me.

'What the –' I begin to say, but she cuts me off.

'Now we'll see, won't we?' she says. Only it's me saying it. I see my mouth move and hear the words being said in my own voice. I know it's her though, because of what she said and the way she said it.

'Rose … what have you done?' I ask, and then slam my hand over my mouth when I realise the words have come out in her voice.

And it's not my hand that I've covered my mouth with. It's paler than mine, and there's less freckles on it.

It's Rose's hand. She is me and I am her.

'I've switched us,' she says proudly, 'let's live a few weeks or months of our lives as the other, and then we'll see.'

'We'll see what …?' I ask slowly, in Rose's voice.

'Who has it worse off. I said I'd appreciate your life for you, and I'm going to. You can sort mine out for me.'

'Rose, what the hell! Switch us back, right now.'

'You see? You can't think my life is all that perfect or you'd want to live it.'

'I have my own life to live! It's not perfect but it's me! I'm in the middle of my O.W.L.s, I have to practice Quidditch to get on the team, I have to …' I trail off.

She – or should I say I? - is standing with her – my – hands on her hips. My hips. She's raising her eyebrows. My eyebrows.

'You can still play Quidditch, Lily; no one will know you're not me. As for your O.W.L.s, I already know the stuff so I'll be getting you high grades in your lessons, and I'll teach you everything you miss before we switch back.'

I suddenly realise I'm going to have to do all her N.E.W.T work. 'Rose … I can't do your lessons … I can't do O.W.L work let alone N.E.W.T!'

'You'll be fine. You're a Ravenclaw. So here's the deal; you control your anger, because you're me, and you learn to appreciate being you.'

I glare at her. At me. 'And how about you learn to stop being so uptight and have a bit of fun? I always thought the sorting hat got us mixed up. You're the clever one.'

'And you're the pretty, popular, fun one. Yeah, I get it, okay? Let's just help one another out.'

I'm furious. She cannot have my body. She could do whatever she wanted and I would get the blame. She could get me into loads of trouble … she could do whatever she wanted and there would be nothing I could do about it.

'Rose, don't you dare get me into trouble. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Or I will kill you.'

'So you'll do it?' she asks.

'I don't think I have much choice.' I scowl.

'No, you don't.' she agrees, and smiles as she walks out of the room. As I walk out of the room. I've never seen what I look like from behind before …

The floor in here is dusty and dirty. My feet feel strange on it as I walk, and then I realise it is because they are not my feet. They are Rose's … and these are not my shoes.

I turn back and look at the writing on the board. I don't recognise the initials.

Suddenly the sun breaks through the clouds outside and the room is lit up for a few seconds and dust is visibly swirling around in the air. I turn again to leave.

I wonder what's going to happen now.

How am I supposed to be Rose when I am Lily? I smile at the thought, remembering that we both have flower names.

Well, the strange little Lily who is generally known for being a little unusual has become a Rose.

And people better watch out because Rose's have thorns, and this Rose, is not in a good mood.

A/N: (Don't feel you have to read this by the way:)

So yeah, I know that switching bodies with somebody is probably completely impossible (even in Harry Potter) unless you use Polyjuice Potion but let's just say for arguments sake that what Rose has done is basically the same as that except it's permanent until the person who cast the spell ... un-casts it if that makes any sense:)

I've always wondered what happens when a girl turns into a boy or vise versa, like when Hermione and Fleur became Harry ... it might be a bit awkward if you know what I mean but let's forget about that;)

So it's all going to get a little confusing now that they've switched places but please let me know if I'm not being clear about anything:)

Thank you so much for your reviews, they literally make my day:) You have no idea how happy I get when I see the little email...;)
If you're enjoying, please keep reviewing! And if not, let me know how I can make it better:)

Thank you for reading, I love you all!

~Mango

[P.S. Little note to 'Cause I'm Cool Like That' if you're reading this, to say thank you for reviewing my poem, made me smile;) And also I think your PenName is the coolest thing ever because I am ALWAYS saying that! :) ~Mango X]