Chapter Eight: Shocked?

Hermione rolled over in bed, something wasn't right. Why was she in bed? She'd been in potions just a minute before. Neville's potion had exploded. But where was she? Had Neville's potion really worked? Hermione kept her eyes shut, something else was amiss, something else didn't feel right. Suddenly she sat bolt upright her eyes now wide open. She was naked! Why was she naked? What had she done? No, what would she do? She hadn't done anything yet; it was her future, not her present. So why was she naked?

Why was her room green? It looked just like her room but it was green. Green! Green!

'Oh no! This isn't my room! And there is only one other room in the whole school which looks just like mine. And I'm in it naked!'

Hermione tilted her head to the bed beside her and saw the sleeping form of another person. Hermione screamed, she didn't think that it would achieve much but she felt she had to do it. She also felt that she had to get off the bed, which she did, taking some of the sheets with her.

Draco awoke with a jump, and watched as Hermione jumped off of his bed and backed away from him.

"Hermione?" he questioned. Hermione noted an unusual amount of concern in his voice. Draco pushed himself up off of the bed. Hermione swung around so as not to see his naked form. She could feel him moving towards her and clamped her eyes tight shut. She could tell he was now standing in front of her.

"Hermione?" he repeated. Hermione, however, did not move. She felt him place a hand on her arm. It was such a gentle move, so unlike the Malfoy that she'd always known.

"Hermione? What's wrong?" he asked and then because he received no reply he added, "Please, talk to me."

"This isn't happening." Hermione managed to say, "I'm not really here, this can't be my future."

"Oh!"

Hermione felt the hand drop from her shoulder as Draco moved away. A door opened but Hermione didn't think that it was the door to leave the room.

"You can open your eyes now, it's ok."

Hermione chanced it and saw that he was now in robes. He was looking at her with a puzzling look that she couldn't read.

"You said this would happen."

"What?"

"You told me that you would be swapped. I knew, of course, that it would happen; I saw you disappear that day in potions; but I didn't know that it would happen so soon."

Hermione stared at him in silence as he walked over and flopped back onto the bed.

"She asked me to look after you." he said through the pillow his face was buried in.

"Who? What? Huh?"

"You, you wanted me to look after you for the day." He lifted himself up onto his elbows and looked at her, a deep longing in his eyes, but no pain, not like she'd seen the day before.

"Come here." Draco requested. Hermione found herself moving towards the figure on the bed. She sat down next to him taking care not to move the sheets wrapped tightly around her. "You asked me to give you this." He said handing her a letter.

Hermione ripped it open and read:

Hello Hermione,

I know it's all strange, but don't worry it's ok and before you ask no I am not, nor will you be, under any kind of spell from him. This was my choice and will also be yours. Don't worry just stay with Draco for the day, and don't do anything I didn't do. Trust him!

Take care,

Hermione.

P.S. It's ok, don't worry about it!

"What's it say?" Draco asked.

"It says to trust you and everything will be ok."

"Always knew that you were a smart witch." Draco said, a smile playing on his lips, "Now come here."

"No, I want to know what's going on first." Hermione demanded.

"Ok." Draco said, oddly compliantly, "It's like this: you see, we're a couple. Well, at least in private we are. You don't want Harry and Ron to find out because you think that they would totally flip out."

"Too right they would," Hermione interrupted, "and I am now."

"Yes well give it a few months and you'll be singing a different tune."

"A FEW MONTHS!" Hermione gasped, "That's all it took for me, you, us to stop hating each other and hop into bed together?"

"Yeah well…" Draco started, "… are you OK?"

"Yeah."

"Sure?"

Deep breaths, Hermione. Nice, calming, deep breaths.

"Yes, I'm sure."

Hermione turned to face away from Draco, her legs swung over the side of the bed. Draco slid up behind her, a leg either side of hers and his arms wrapped around her body.

"Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, this is just all too much to digest." Hermione answered. She paused.

"Draco?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you have your arms around me?"

"Because I love you."

"Oh."

Hermione sat there for a minute before it sunk in.

"WHAT?"

Hermione pushed away from Draco, and turned back so she was facing him, slowly backing away from the last person on earth she would have expected to say that he loved her.

Draco smiled impishly, "You seem to have forgotten something."

Hermione watched in horror as he bent down and picked up the sheet that had moments before been wrapped around her. She was frozen, she couldn't move; now this really was too much.

"Don't worry; it's nothing I haven't seen before." Draco said walking over to her, wrapping the sheet around her shoulders and kissing her softly on the cheek. Hermione didn't react as he kissed her again on the other cheek.

Hermione's mind raced back to the day in Flourish and Blotts; something stirred inside her. Hermione felt her desire begin to crawl out from under a stack of very heavy looking books and preparing to leap into action full force, but before it could escape her mind stepped back in, dropping another book onto the pile. The reality of the situation began to register, she was in Draco Malfoy's room with only a sheet around her, and Draco now had his arms wrapped around her holding her close. Imagine how this would look to an outside perspective?

"Miss Granger! Mr. Malfoy! What in god's name are you doing?"