Post switch: chapter one

On Saturday morning, as expected, Hermione had found herself rousing in her own body again. She immediately had gone in search for a tape measurer to see if everything had gotten back to it's original size. It seemed about right although she wasn't sure about the size of her bum. Had it always been this way? Really?

Well, at least she wasn't coughing up any fur balls like last time.

And even though she was very glad to be having her old body back, she wasn't exactly doing a happy-joy-joy-dance. She was sort of going to miss the excitement of having a body that was completely new an unpredictable. She also noted that she had a little trouble putting her mind back into 'female-mode' when that morning she had a little 'whoops, I've got to sit down for this'-moment. But still, she was quite relieved for the comfort of her own body and having the security that everything had gone back to normal.

Well, almost everything...

When that same morning she had bumped into Draco on her way to breakfast she suddenly found herself quite incapable to find any sensible words to say. She felt as if he had just caught her doing something out of bounds. She knew it was crazy, but seeing him in the body she had carried for seven days made her feel quite ashamed of herself. As if he had some sort of backtracking device installed in it and could see what she had done with it (and she had done a thing or two she didn't want him –or anyone else for that matter- to know she had done).

But then again; that was kind of silly.

But what was also silly was that Draco himself was quite resembling a deer caught in headlights that same morning... and the day after that.

And the day after that.

A week had passed and they had barely even spoken to each other. Was it out of embarrassment? Perhaps. Having someone you weren't initially close to knowing you more intimately than anyone else is rather disturbing. Every time Hermione now had to change her clothes, take a shower or go to the bathroom she automatically started blushing, thinking that Draco had done all this in her body for a week. She had been rather surprised that he hadn't made fun of her. She wasn't physical perfection and she knew quite well what her flaws were in that department. Ever since the initial switch she had been dreading the moment Draco would open his big fat mouth and point these things out to her.

But it had never come.

Why?

And apparently during those seven days Draco had taken his job in taking over Hermione's role somewhat more serious than she had initially assumed. This she had realised when suddenly she had found herself in a somewhat confusing conversation with Ginny.

"'Mione!"

"Hi Ginny" Hermione said as she saw her friend running up to her, who seemed very happy for some reason. She was just about to ask what was up, but she unexpectedly found herself squeezed in a tight hug that almost took the wind out of her.

"Ginny? You alright?" she squeaked and was relieved to see that her friend somewhat lessened her grip.

"Thanks for your advice" she said, beaming.

"Advise?" Hermione frowned.

"Yeah" Ginny said with a giggle. "I haven't exactly had to draw him a map, but I did have to give him verbal instructions to get him back to base camp."

"Ginny, wha-?"

"And you were so right about the multiples-thing" she continued as she dragged Hermione along to lunch. "Girls do come back with a vengeance."

By then Hermione had gotten a vague idea what her friend was talking about.

...

Multiples?

As she was laying out her things in preparation for Double Potions Hermione thought about how surprisingly easy everything had fallen back into place again. It was like she had simply taken up her life where it had ended the week before. She was really grateful that she could talk to Harry and Ron again, although she did notice that for the first few days Ron seemed a little evasive towards her. She had just pretended not to notice it and -for whatever reason he acted that way- he seemed to get over it after a while.

And then there were some other things Hermione had grown aware of in the week after they had gone back into their old bodies; things about Draco. Things she hadn't even noticed when she resided in his body. But then again, she couldn't have noticed these things really, since it wasn't exactlyhis body that concerned her focus of attention. Not entirely anyway.She noticed how different he was –his body- when Draco himself occupied it. It was odd really -and fascinating in a way- how a person's spirit can change his or hers entire exterior. She couldn't help but watch him sometimes when she was sure that he wasn't looking; when he was at dinner or when they were in a class together. She knew every angle of his body since she had spent lots of times looking in the mirror while in it, but it just wasn't the same. Draco had a different... Aura to him. She just couldn't understand how thick everyone had been not to have noticed anything during the switch.

Everything might have gone back to normal and all, but there was one thing that from Hermione's perspective seemed to shroud everything in shadows like some big cloud of doom. Hermione was quite aware that she and Draco had grown somewhat more friendly towards each other in the past week which, keeping all the ordeals they had went through in mind, was quite inevitable and nothing out of the ordinary. But now, since Draco had gotten back into his old form -and you have to admit; it is quite a nice looking form- it was like something had clicked inside Hermione's head. For some inexplicable reason; every time he walked into view she started to get fuzzy feelings.

'Oh, this is not good' Hermione thought to herself. This is Malfoy! The very person who had made her life a living Hell for the past six years. The person who openly resented her for the very blood that ran through her veins. Why on earth would she regard him in a romantic –or even friendly- way? She had always thought herself to be above silly stuff like this. How many times hadn't she rolled her eyes whenever Parvati or Lavender had set their sights on their new beaux of the week and started fluttering about worrying about the shade of their mascara or what not? It didn't make any sense! It was like these feelings had just popped up over night. It's not natural. It must be some sort of side-effect to the Polyjuice-plus potion.

But then another part of Hermione –a less rational part- had come up with another possible explanation.

Had she actually started to like Draco somewhere during the course of the week, but couldn't really fancy him because he was in her body at the time? And now that he was back into his old body –and thus; able to be fancied- the floodgates of fuzzy feelings had breached?

Silly, right?

But then why did her heart start racing whenever someone even so much as mentioned his name?

Damn hormones!

If before she was worried that certain parts of her body weren't quite reacting to the opposite sex the way they should; she was quite sure they were reacting properly now. Hormones were 'raging', all right. And it was quite coincidental that they started kicking in whenever a certain blond Slytherin was to enter a room. Or when she saw him run his fingers through his hair, making it fall into his eyes again.

Or when he started fiddling with his nails whenever he started to get bored.

Or the way the muscles of his back rippled when he had to reach to get something from the upper shelf of the potions cupboard,-

Shit! Shit! SHIT!

Hermione hoped they would, but those damn butterflies in her stomach didn't seem to be going away.

Instead they seemed to be nesting.

This actually wouldn't be so much of a problem if they wouldn't turn her into a bumbling idiot whenever she even so much as considered the idea of conversing with Draco. So she figured that the only way to keep her feelings to herself was to stay clear of him. And luckily for Hermione, Draco didn't really seem to mind that.

Almost a month had passed since the switch and Draco and Hermione still hadn't so much as exchanged a word to each other. Somehow they managed to do their Head-duties without conversing, by having arranged the schedules individually and hoping the other was thinking the same. It was quite a miracle that it actually worked. Not that it was ideal, but it kept themselves from having to talk to each other... for whatever reason that actually was for Draco.

This went on till on a certain evening Hermione was interrupted in her studies by a knock on her bedroom door.

"Hi" Hermione squeaked as she opened the door and encountered Draco on the other side.

"Hi" Draco said. "Er, I just noticed what date it is."

"O... kay?" Hermione said with a frown.

"You know... the bargain" Draco explained.

"The b-?" Hermione started, but then it dawned on her.

The massage.

"Yes, er, come in" she said, trying not to sound to eager, revolted, intimidated, scared, thrilled,... just not too much of anything. They were now both standing in her room; making her feel a little lost.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to you know" she blurted out, wanting to give him an opening to back out of it if he wanted to.

"Ow, don't you want me to- ?"

"No. No. It's not that" Hermione quickly interrupted, trying to make it clear that the thought of him giving her a massage wasn't unappealing her. It was more the opposite that was the problem, really.

"So..." Draco said as he gestured towards the bed.

Hermione swallowed nervously as she sat down onto her bed with Draco quickly joining her. She moved to lie down, but the sudden rush of blood towards her face told her that this move was a very bad idea.

"Let's just do this sitting up" she said, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks.

"Alright" Draco agreed.

Hermione turned her back towards him with her legs to the side of the bed. She remembered that in those old black and white films the actors always had to keep one foot touching the floor while sitting on a bed to keep things decent, so for some reason she firmly did the same. She almost yelped as she felt both his hands touching her shoulders.

"So, how have you been?" Draco asked, obviously trying to fill the uncomfortable silence while he started kneading her muscles. His breathing against Hermione's neck created shivers all over her spine. He was so close!

"Fine" Hermione answered breathlessly. "You?"

"Fine".

...

So much for conversation.

By now Draco's hands had been moving steadily downwards and were kneading the tender muscles of Hermione's lower back. She had closed her eyes and actually had to bite her lip to keep herself from moaning out loud. Merlin, his hands were magical. But then again, he could have been the worst massager ever and she still would have to stop herself from whimpering by his touch. She couldn't help but wonder how his hands would feel on other parts of her body. Would they be just as caring? So filled with skilled determination? Or would they be more rough and careless depending on what parts they were touching? Just when she was about to scold herself for thinking these thoughts... he removed his hands.

"Hermione?"

"Yes?" she answered huskily. Merlin, just the sound of his voice was enough to force her into having to go change into a dry pair of knickers. She swallowed nervously. There was a painful knot in her chest that was tightening with every passing moment. Surely he could hear the rapid thumping of her heart.

"Turn around"

She shuddered by that request. He would see it in her eyes. She hesitated. A part of her so desperately wanted him to know, but she feared his reaction to it. She knew that he did not fancy her. He had been ignoring her for a month for Merlin's sake. How could he fancy her, having seen and experienced all the things her body does? Not that his body reacted all that graceful for 24 hours a day either, but it was different for a guy. She could feel him gently touching her shoulder, slowly twisting her around so she would face him. She looked up at him and that painful knot in her chest gave an aching squeeze.

'Damn it all' she thought in a rush as she put her hands on either side of his face and stretched upwards to capture his lips with her own.

Damn the consequences!

Damn if he rejects her!

Damn it all!

All she knew is that she desperately wanted to taste his lips. And that she did.

She almost cried from the sheer emotion that welled up inside of her as she felt him snaking his arm around her waist and responding to her kiss as he hugged her close to him. She stroked her tongue against his bottom lip, begging for the entry which he seemed to be glad to give. She let out a soft moan in the back of her throat as his luscious tongue embraced hers. A soft tingly feeling was spreading throughout her body as her tongue got drenched in the sensation of the foreign interior of his mouth. This was so much more than she ever had imagined it to be. She had kissed before; during several embarrassing moments in games of Truth or Dare when all-in-all she was basically made to kiss just about every boy in her class. She had even kissed Ron a couple of times –with whom, upon a time, she did see the potential formation of a relationship more than friendship- but it still did not compare to this. And it would be completely stupid and redundant to even mention Pansy's assault as a comparison.

He softly nibbled on her bottom lip as he ran his fingers through her hair. The touch of his fingers on the base of her neck made her shiver. She revelled in Draco's sweet scent. The scent she had missed for almost a month. She hadn't even noticed it when she was in his body; but now smelling it once more made her feel like she was home again. Her heartbeat quickened and she could feel his body heat scorching against her. That painful knot in her chest had all but disappeared, but the aching in her feminine core increased even more. An urgent throbbing was calling out from deep inside of her; wanting to be satiated. In this very moment she realised that for the first time she could truly imagine herself to be with a man in a sexual way. She had never felt like this before; the burning need to posses another; and be possessed at the same time. She needed... something. Needed this yearning to be quenched. Wanted more.

And just then the kiss stopped.

She wanted to scream herself hoarse from sheer frustration.

Why did he stop? Why?

She looked up at him. They were both somewhat shaky. Lips swollen, eyes darkened with desire, clothing wrinkled, hair dishevelled. The electricity in the air was so thick you could almost hear the 'zing' from the static.

"I should go" Draco said in a husky voice.

"Yeah" Hermione said in agreement. She watched him leave, her mind in a haze.

When he had gone she just sat there for a moment; backtracking. After a few passing seconds, when everything had sunk in on what just had happened, she flopped herself on her bed, buried her face in the pillow and started crying... not really sure exactly why.

For feeling this way.

For kissing him.

For him kissing her back.

For stopping.

For the unquenched desire her body still felt.

She didn't really know.

And that confusion just gave her another reason to cry some more.

End of post switch: chapter one.

A/N: O dear, I suspect that after this chapter half of you want to hug me and the other half wants to smack me over the head with a baseball bat. All I can say is: sorry if you don't like the new development!

Just so you know: only three more chapters to go.

Thanks for reviewing!

Aileen: ROFL! You should have said this sooner because I never even considered thongs. I bought the damn things once and I'm never buying them again. I'm not sure Hermione is the type to wear them either though. But you know, I have been considering doing a prequel of sorts with Lily and James. Would Lily wear a thong? *grins evilly*

Appareteawayhp: You're welcome. :)

Heaven C.: Ow joy, I've got a fan! The characters aren't mine though you know. ;) *sighs dramatically* Why o Why aren't they mine?!?

Cinnamon: Yeah, I know, but some people like to have them around as a security blanket during a particular rough day.

Bambu: The banter is always fun. I suppose that's why Draco/Hermione fics are so much fun. Not because of the smut, the pretty people, or the sexual innuendo's; but because of the banter. I'm lying through my teeth now, aren't I?

EgyptQueen17: To me the breasts-thing seemed like a typical thing Draco would do. Can't say why exactly. :)

Sakuya: Yeah, at times being a girl can suck terribly. But –to quote Draco- at least we have breasts right? ;)

Rubberduck: You sooooo hate me right now, don't you? Sorry. And I'll check on the 'annoyedly' thing. It probably isn't a word since I wasn't sure of it to begin with. But my English dictionary basically sucks and I don't trust my spelling-check.

BeautifullyMalicious: Aw thanks, and I'll try.

Amonara: They're going to be a bit longer since smut tends to take up a lot of space. :)

Ashes: I'm glad you liked them. And a happy birthday! (It was your birthday wasn't it?)

JaneAlexander: Just because I didn't write any scenes about Draco 'exploring himself', didn't mean they didn't happen. You'll see. And LOL, I remember that Buffy-line. Must use it somewhere. ;) And about Hermione, well; let's just blame it on stress. (Or does that have the opposite effect? Don't know) :)

The Charmed One: Either people seemed eager to read the story because of the title, or either they stayed away from it because of it. Dammit, this is the last time I'm using the first title that pops into my head. ;)

diehard draco hermione: Was this chapter a good warmer up for ya'h? ;)

KarateBob: Glad you like it. Draco can be such a girl sometimes, so him having womanly issues are quite fun to write.

Millie: Hm, I guess I'll just have to do with your firstborn then. I'm not that much into kids anyway. ;)

Megan: ... indeed it is. *grins*

Campy Capybara: Thanks. It will take another chapter or two before the story will do any 'propelling', though. ;)

Monique: Well, even if Hermione knew about Ron fancying her, things would only get awkward between them and her attention would still mainly be directed elsewhere..

Miki: Do you see passion now? I hope I didn't rush the emotions too much, though.