Author's Note: In this chapter, I refer to the girls by their real names -- not the names of who everyone else thinks they are. Hope it is clear.

Chapter 32
Who Are You Now?

Cassie stood for a long moment without doing anything. Then she carefully undid the fastenings on her robe and hung it on the hook. Then she unbuttoned her blouse and unfastened her bra, feeling goosebumps break out all over. It was cold in here. "Here, Cassie. I cleaned them for you, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks." Cassie reached down and took the bundle of clothes that Hermione passed under the stall divider. She handed her clothes to Hermione and then heard the softly murmured cleaning spell. She hadn't even thought about changing clothes but it made sense, she realized. She fussed for a few seconds trying to do the unfamiliar bra fastening and then tried to pull the bra up but realized instantly that it wasn't going to work. "Um, Hermione? We have a problem. I can't wear your bra. I'm sorry."

She heard Ginny start giggling and despite that fact that she was alone in the stall, Cassie felt her face flame bright red. She was not what she would call overly well-endowed, at least compared to most of her friends, but Hermione was obviously smaller even than she was. She heard Hermione sigh a second later.

"Yeah. I see what you mean. Uh, well, I can do your stuff up with no problem. So I'll finish and then we'll drink the potion and then everything should fit."

"Good idea." Cassie slowly put Hermione's robe on and fastened it up, leaving her blouse off. The robe was too long for her and she carefully picked it up so she wouldn't step on it as she exited the stall. She went over and stood by Ginny who still had a silly expression on her face. Hermione joined them both a minute later and her cheeks were still slightly pink. "Do we really have to do this, Hermione? Don't you think you'll get in trouble for not being in Transfiguration?"

"I will be in Transfiguration."

"Well, yeah . . . but the Professor won't know it."

"Harry is just going to tell her I'm still really upset about this morning, which actually works out quite conveniently. She won't mind. I'm one of her best students, after all. And to answer your other question, yes, we do have to do this. Unless you want to go in there and do the double transfiguration she said you would have to do."

"No. I mean, obviously I can't do that . . . but can't one of you just do it from your seats or something? This just seems a little drastic."

"It is drastic, but totally necessary. She would notice the spells coming from the back of the room where we always sit. We don't have time to argue about this. Just believe me when I say this is the best way. Transfigurations are too tricky. I don't like it any more than you do." Hermione reached into her book bag and pulled out two large containers. Ginny looked with undisguised curiosity at the liquid inside as Hermione removed both lids.

"So . . . you got this from Dumbledore, right? We're not all going to get in trouble?"

"Yeah. He had some in stock somewhere in his office. He said it comes in handy every once in a while. Anyway, he was happy to give it to us. He didn't even ask when exactly I'd be doing it. I suppose he probably didn't want to know."

Cassie leaned over and looked into the two containers as well. Hermione had told her a little bit about this yesterday and then they had discussed it further this morning, but she had to admit she was unsure it would actually work. Both the other girls seemed confident, though. Hermione turned to Cassie. "Give me the three hairs, please." Cassie pulled three hairs out of her head and watched with morbid fascination as Hermione added them to the first beaker. The stuff in there had been a rather disgusting green color but when the hairs were added, it started smoking and bubbling and turned to a muddy brown. And the smell . . . well. Cassie didn't even want to think about it. A little bit like cooked cabbage. Yuck. Hermione screwed the lid back onto the first container and then pulled out some of her hairs and added them to the second one. She knew this was the one she was going to have to drink and she felt definitely queasy as she watched the color change happen again.

Hermione pulled a set of six small beakers out of her bookbag and began pouring the nasty gloppy stuff into them - three from the set with Cassie's hair and three from the set with Hermione's hair. There still seemed to be a lot left in the original containers, more than Cassie really wanted to think about drinking. The smell was really starting to get to her now.

"Here. Now like I told you, you need to drink one of these every hour. You'll have to be prompt because from what Harry and Ron said the timing is exact. Don't drink it in front of anyone. Just go to the toilet or something. And don't be late because once you start changing back, it's harder to go back to being me. This first time is pretty nasty anyway although I think the maintenance doses are supposed to be easier." The three beakers were pressed into her hand and Cassie automatically put them into her bookbag.

"Why don't I feel better about this?" Cassie eyed the steaming stinking container with definite distaste.

"It's okay to be nervous. But look, we've got to get this done or I'm going to be late for class. I'm sure you don't want detention with McGonagal. Just swallow it quickly. If you hold your nose, it might make it easier."

"Can I just say one thing, Hermione?"

"I guess so."

"This just reinforces all the nasty stereotypes I ever heard about witches before I came here. You know, 'Boil, bubble, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble . . .' and all that!"

"Very funny!" Hermione scowled, but Cassie could tell that she was smiling behind her stern expression. Ginny giggled again and Cassie smiled to hide her nervousness.

Holding her nose was a good theory. It didn't work. Cassie's stomach immediately rebelled as the foul liquid hit it and Cassie was grateful that Hermione had insisted she eat breakfast. She would have hated to have this on an empty stomach. As it was she could feel the need to vomit shoot through her system and she instinctively ran toward the toilet stall. Cassie knelt over the toilet for a couple of minutes and fleetingly wondered why she was putting herself through this. She finally felt well enough to stand up and was pleased that she hadn't really thrown up -- Hermione had told her that if she threw it up, she would have to take another dose. As it was, she wasn't sure she was going to be able to force herself to choke down the contents of those three beakers that looked to hold about six gallons of the goop - each.

She stood after a minute and felt a strange tingling in her fingers and face. She exited the stall again and walked over to the mirror. It was a horrible feeling, like her insides were being rearranged and the tingling spread all over her body but she watched with some morbid interest as her features rearranged themselves into the familiar face of the Head Girl. Hermione was looking out of the mirror at her. Cassie reached up and touched her face and it was Hermione's hand that moved. "Aaah. This is strange." She gasped again when she turned around and saw herself standing next to Ginny. "Ooh. This is the stuff nightmares are made of. It's like I'm dead, watching myself."

"You'll be all right, Hermione." Ginny said, trying to comfort her a little bit.

Cassie suddenly realized Ginny was talking to her. "Oh, now I have to answer to your name, Hermione. This is just getting so confusing . . . I'm going to need a playbill just to remember who I'm supposed to be. First I'm Cassie . . . then Pia . . . now Hermione. Just promise me I won't have to be Harry or Ron anytime soon! I'm not sure I could handle that!"

Hermione and Ginny both laughed although Hermione kept her eyes on her face and Cassie had a hard time tearing her eyes away from herself, watching the play of expressions on her own face. "This is really bizarre."

Hermione nodded emphatically and then turned beet red. "Does the bra fit better now?"

"Oh!" Cassie had completely forgotten that under her robes she was basically undressed. "I haven't tried. Sorry." She ran back into the stall and unfastened the robe. The bra went on easily now and she buttoned the blouse over it.

"I never really thought of myself as exceptionally small . . . but I guess maybe I am." Cassie could hear a bit of hurt and uncertainty in Hermione's voice. She expected to hear Ginny offering some comforting words but instead heard a very teasing voice that she didn't recognize.

"If you don't like it . . . there's a spell you can use to fix them."

"There's nothing wrong with . . . them, Myrtle. Go away!"

"Why should I? It's my bathroom!" Cassie realized suddenly that the voice must belong to the ghost that Hermione had warned her about. She thought about hiding in the bathroom until it left, but that idea was stupid as a ghostly head suddenly poked through the wall of her stall and looked her over. The girl was unattractive, pimply-faced, mousy, and transparent! Cassie let out a shriek and ripped the door open to run over to where Hermione and Ginny were standing. The ghost followed her.

"I must say, dearie, you definitely got the worse side of the bargain - if she looks like you did." Hermione flushed bright red again and the ghost laughed at her discomfiture.

"Go away, Myrtle! I mean it. You don't want me to tell Harry you're being a prat, do you?" Myrtle scowled but she zoomed into one of the stalls and a second later there was a loud splash. Both Hermione and Ginny giggled. "She has a bit of a crush on Harry. It's the only threat that really works on her." Cassie didn't really want to contemplate the intricacies of a ghost having a crush on a living breathing boy - nor did she really want to know how Myrtle even knew Harry, being that this was a girls' toilet. But she didn't ask. Things were too weird as it was.

Despite Hermione's earlier words about needing to hurry to class, she seemed reluctant to leave the earlier subject although it was making Cassie terribly uncomfortable. "Do you think I should try a spell . . . I mean, maybe it would really help. Do you think I'm . . . too flat?"

"You're not now!" Ginny exclaimed, making quite a show of looking her over before she burst into laughter. Cassie blushed bright red and Hermione covered her face with her hands before flashing Ginny a disgusted look.

"You're not helping, Ginny! What do you think, Cassie? Do you think I need to give Mother Nature a hand, so to speak?" Cassie didn't dare look down at the area Hermione was staring at. It was strange thinking that looking down at her (own) chest would be staring at some other girl's cleavage, but . . ."

"Uh. No. I think they're fine. I'm sure Ron likes them and that's the important part." Hermione squeaked and looked up into Cassie's face immediately and Cassie found herself staring into her (own) blue eyes - wide with something akin to panic.

"What?" her own voice spit out. Ginny was laughing so hard now that she was bent over the sink, holding on to it like she would collapse if she didn't hang on to something solid.

"I mean . . . I'm sure he likes looking at them!"

"What?!!" Her own face was turning bright red across the space between them and Cassie was sure that she was about to burst into flames in a second herself, she was so embarrassed at what a mess she was making of this conversation.

"I mean . . . I'm sure he thinks they're a nice size! Oh, never mind! Do we have to talk about this now?"

Ginny had now completely abandoned the idea of remaining upright and sitting on the floor, practically hysterical, holding her stomach to stop the ache.

"I don't think Ron cares . . . I mean . . . I guess all guys care. I know they do. Do you think he looks at them . . . What am I saying? Of course he looks at them . . . when he thinks I won't notice . . . Maybe he thinks they're too small . . . ." Hermione was muttering as she stared at herself before her voice trailed off. They both stood there, facing at each other in abject humiliation.

Ginny wiped away the tears of amusement from her eyes and dragged herself upright, using the wall for support. "Merlin! You two should see each other! This is the funniest thing I've ever heard. I wish I could tell Harry about it." Both Cassie and Hermione whirled on the red-head, relieved to find some target for their overheated emotions. "I'm kidding. . . I'm kidding. I won't tell." She gasped, trying to catch her breath and giggling a few more times as she tried to regain her composure. "Hermione . . . you aren't small. You're just thin and more athletic in build. Cassie isn't throwing a fit that you're taller than she is and complaining that she's too short. So stop worrying about it. And as for Ron . . . you're the only girlfriend he's ever had. I'm sure he is perfectly satisfied with you exactly the way you are. And if he's not . . . you can tell him to sod off."

"Ginny!" both girls said simultaneously but she just smiled in response.

"Come on, Pia! We'd better get to class. Or we really will be late. We've only got five more minutes." Both Hermione and Cassie turned to follow her. Ginny smiled at Cassie. "Not you, Hermione. Remember? You're going to go up to the common room and read. And Pia is going to come with me to Transfiguration class. Okay?" Hermione followed Ginny out of the bathroom only to run back in a second later.

"We've got to change bookbags. I can't believe I forgot! And we've got to swap the potion beakers, too!" There was a flurry of activity as they swapped the beakers to the other bags and then Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out her wand before Cassie swung it up onto her shoulder.

"Wait! Don't you need my wand?"

"No. No one will notice. I wouldn't dare try transfigurations with your wand. They look enough alike. It shouldn't be a problem." She grabbed Cassie's bag and handed her her wand. Cassie stood there as they left, and realized only a minute later that Hermione was taking her skiving snackboxes with her. Not that she had any intention of using them again - ever, but they were sort of a security blanket. She was very nervous, extremely nervous about this. She had wanted to ask Hermione a million questions but there hadn't been time. As she stood there for a second, she realized that she really needed to use the toilet - obviously her nerves were getting to her bladder. She set down Hermione's bag and walked toward the stall where she had changed clothes. She saw the puddles on the floor and remembered that the ghost had splashed into the toilet and changed her mind immediately. She could make it to Gryffindor tower before she got desperate if she hurried. She grabbed the bag again, grunting at its weight as she slipped it over her shoulder and exited the bathroom.

Fortunately, Cassie didn't have any problem finding her way back to Gryffindor Tower. She thought it might look more than a little suspicious if the Head Girl could not find her way around the school in her seventh year. The Fat Lady didn't even blink when she gave the password and Cassie gratefully climbed in through the portrait hole, looking around the nearly empty common room. She saw two first-year boys whose faces were a mixture of nervousness and curiosity. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if they had skived off their class and were now afraid she would reprimand them. Then the thought occurred to her that perhaps they knew she was the one doing the skiving. She dismissed the idea, though. It would be impossible to remember anyone else's schedule in this school. It made no logical sense in her opinion and she figured it was all someone could do to remember their own.

She made her way carefully through the room and a few people nodded or said hello. She greeted them back, making sure to not address anyone by name. Even though she felt fairly confident for a couple of them, she was afraid that if she somehow made a mistake it would be noted and remembered. And her goal for the next little while was to remain completely inconspicuous. She was very tempted to go up and lay down on her bed but knew that she would actually have to lay on Hermione's bed and she did not think she would be able to relax. Plus, there was the fact that she had to remain awake and aware so that in . . . 45 minutes she could take the next dose of that disgusting potion. If she fell asleep, it could be a major disaster. So, reading was probably the best option. Just like Hermione had suggested. Dang it. She briefly thought of going to the toilet as she had been so desperate only a few minutes ago. But that was obviously just nerves because she felt no need now.

She made her way to the couch where their group usually sat in front of the fire. It was not, unfortunately, completely unoccupied although there was room for her. At one end was a girl Cassie recognized as a fifth-year even though she could not think of her name for the life of her. The girl smiled. "Hi, Hermione." Cassie said hello back in what she hoped was a Hermione-like way and then settled down on the empty end of the couch. She opened Hermione's book bag and pulled out the book she had promised would be there available for her reading enjoyment. She instantly realized why the bag was so heavy. This one book alone had to weigh 10 kilograms. She studied the cover and remembered that Hermione had referred to this book multiple times during the limited time she had known the girl. It must be her favorite and Cassie wondered vaguely if she had the thing memorized. But if she had it memorized, was it realistic that she would be reading it again? Well. There was no hope for it. She would have to read it and look interested. Great. It promised to be a real snoozer. She hoped she didn't fall asleep down here. That would be even more disastrous than falling asleep upstairs.

She yawned lazily and turned to the first page of Hogwarts, a History. She was pleasantly surprised to find that actually it was pretty interesting. She learned something new practically every sentence and wondered vaguely why Ron and Harry had never read it. There was a lot of good stuff in it.

She was still reading ten minutes later when the portrait hole opened and Ron slid through, dragging his bookbag behind him. He looked around frantically and then, spying Hermione, he hurried over to Cassie. Cassie watched him approach and wondered why he was there and not in class. She wondered if he was aware that she was really Cassie, rather than Hermione, but that question was answered moments later as he sat down very close beside her. He wasn't.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione. I'm so, so sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Ron. I'm just fine." He cupped her cheek in his hand and bent in for a quick kiss. Cassie turned her face aside at the last moment and his lips actually met her cheek. He pulled back casually though and didn't comment. Maybe he thought it was an accident. "Shouldn't you be in class, Ron?" This was difficult. Ron and Hermione had a very distinct way of talking to each other - Hermione seemed to be in charge, and yet . . . not. Cassie really had no idea how she was going to fake this. It would be easier to just tell him the truth, but with the fifth-year girl sitting so close to the two of them, there was no way she could do it right now.

"I'm not going to sit in bloody Transfiguration class when you are here upset and worried about your parents. I saw Colin and he told me about last night. Then I went to class and I saw Harry, Ginny, and Pia there, but my Hermione was missing. That's when I knew you were probably upset and here in Gryffindor feeling angry with me. So, I came directly here. I'm so sorry! Why didn't you have Harry wake me up this morning?" Cassie tried desperately to remember what Hermione had said this morning.

"Um. Well, there was nothing you could do. And we had important things to discuss . . . about Pia, you know. Her class schedule?" Cassie was trying to hint to Ron that he didn't know what was going on today, but he didn't pick up on the hint.

"Well, I know. But you must have been worried sick. I'm sorry I wasn't there with you when you found out. Are you sure you're okay? I mean, your parents are all right and everything, right?"

"Yes, Ron, they are. Thanks." Cassie patted him on the knee, smiled at him, and hoped that it would be enough like Hermione's look that he wouldn't notice. "You really should be in class. It's an important day today."

"No it isn't. It's just review."

"Pia is supposed to be doing that double transfiguration today, though. Don't you want to watch her?" Cassie hoped that this little conversation would jog Ron's memory - if Pia was there trying to do a double transfiguration, he would know that there was something going on. But, he was persistent, which she figured was probably saying something about how much he really did like Hermione. It was obvious he really was concerned about her.

"No. I don't want to leave you alone. I missed you this morning. I'm so used to having breakfast with you and everything . . . . And Pia's transfigurations in class have nothing to do with me."

"You never know." Cassie tried to say this quite firmly but he didn't listen.

"I know this." Ron put his hand firmly on her knee and turned her chin toward him. Cassie tried to look down at her book, hoping he would get the idea but he was persistent and his mouth got closer and closer to hers, almost like slow motion.

"Ron . . . look." Cassie pulled her face out of his grip and looked steadily down at her book. "I really just want to be alone right now, okay? I need to think. And I think I'm going to write a letter home . . . to my parents. You know, I want to tell them I love them and everything. I can't help but feel responsible for what happened." She tried to inject an appropriate amount of sad distress into her voice.

Ron scowled briefly. "I won't bother you if you want to write to them. I'll just . . . keep you company, like this." He pushed her hair away from her ear and bent toward her, nibbling a little on her earlobe. Cassie tried not to laugh. It tickled, plus the entire situation was really out of control.

"Um . . . if you keep me company like that, I'll never get my letter written." Cassie tried to go back to reading, hoping Ron would get the message. He didn't. Ron kept kissing her on her neck and cheek and placed his hand on her knee again. Cassie was dying inside, unsure of how to put a stop to this in a way that would convince everyone in the common room that she was actually Hermione. Sure, she may look like Hermione and Ron may be thinking he was kissing Hermione, but he wasn't. He was kissing her and Cassie felt very uncomfortable that someone else's boyfriend was attempting to snog her. She glanced over at the fifth-year girl at the other end of the couch and noticed she was doing her best to watch Ron's cuddling without looking like she was watching but Cassie had noticed that she hadn't turned a single page since Ron had sat down. A quick scan of the rest of the room showed that everyone else was doing the same thing.

Ron was getting a little more aggressive as he sensed her passivity and his hand curled around the back of her neck to pull her closer to him. She put her hands firmly on his chest and looked at her watch. Twenty more minutes before she had to take that potion. "Ron! We have an audience." That didn't deter him.

"So. They've seen us kissing before. We're not doing anything obscene or anything."

"But . . . I'm the Head Girl. I'm supposed to set an example."

Ron looked around at the few students sitting around the room. "You can set an example of what it's like to snog with a boyfriend or girlfriend in a very tasteful manner."

"Ron!" Cassie couldn't help but laugh softly. She had never known Ron like this and he was actually pretty fun to be around. Not that she was interested. . . but she understood Hermione's attraction to him a little more.

"Shall I ask if anyone objects?" He whispered into her ear. "We can take a poll to find out if they want me to kiss you, or hug you, or . . . or just hold you." His hand was unbuttoning the fastenings on her robe and she was pushing it away, only to have it return. She didn't really want to think about what he was doing. She had the quick and probably totally inappropriate thought that he didn't seem to be complaining about the way Hermione filled out her blouse.

Cassie blushed, though. This would never do. "No. No polls. I don't think I should be doing this in public. We need to stop."

"We could go somewhere else. If you wanted. Maybe our favorite spot is available right now." This was getting really awkward. She definitely did not want to go anywhere with him where he could be even more insistent with his kissing and touching. Fifteen minutes now . . . and that wasn't counting time to get to the toilet. She had to put an end to this.

Cassie leaned into Ron and whispered as softly as she could. "Ron, let's go up to your room where we can be alone. We can . . . talk more up there." Ron sat up suddenly and practically fell off of the couch. His eyes bugged out, he turned crimson and asked her what she had just said in a voice a little more loud than Cassie wanted. She blushed but persevered. "I said, let's go upstairs where we can have a little more privacy."

"I . . . uh, yeah. Well, okay. Yeah, if you're sure. Are you sure you want to? Now?"

"Yes. Now is the best time. Come on." Cassie stood up and pulled at Ron to stand up and follow her. He still was staring at her bug-eyed but he stood up, not protesting too much. Now everyone in the common room was looking at the two of them and pretending not to look. She was positive that visiting the boys' room alone like this was definitely forbidden. But she wasn't really planning on going up there. She just needed to get him onto the stairs. She could tell him there. She started walking toward the stairs with a firm step. Ron grabbed her bookbag and followed her, grabbing her hand as they approached them.

"Hermione, are you sure you really want to go up - in the middle of the day? What if we, well . . . you know, uh, get caught?"

"You're the one who said we need to show the other students how to . . . snog in a tasteful fashion. I am sure the others would rather us keep our affectionate displays away from them. Some of them, after all, are only first years." Cassie held her head up high and stepped onto the stairs, wondering if she would die of embarrassment before she could do this. But she had only ten more minutes and she had to do this right now. She glanced back over Ron's shoulder and noticed every face in the room looking at the two of them. "Come on, Ron. It was your idea." Cassie had a sick feeling. She had to do this quickly so that Hermione's reputation would not be damaged. Ron had a flushed, nervous, bewildered expression. She tightened her grip on his hand (which she vaguely noted was sweating now) and led him quickly up the winding staircase until they were out of sight and sound of the common room. She then stopped, turned, and looked at Ron, but was too embarrassed to actually look up into his face. Instead, she stared firmly at his shoulder.

"Ron, I'm not Hermione. I'm Pia. We used some potion this morning. Poly . . . andry or something." Ron went absolutely still and Cassie could have sworn he stopped breathing.

She could see the hot color rushing up his neck as he absorbed what she said. "Bloody hell!" he practically screamed. Cassie tried to shush him but he just looked at her again in dismay and screamed "Bloody hell!" again. Cassie looked at his face now and wondered if the top of his head was going to come off. He looked at her one more time and then ran down the stairs, fortunately dropping her bookbag before he ran through and out of the common room. Cassie could hear several students laughing. She leaned against the wall and waited for her heart to stop beating fast and then walked, as calmly as possible, back down into the common room. Everyone looked up at her as she entered. She held her head up firmly, trying to act like she thought Hermione would. The fifth-year girl buried her face in her book again, but Cassie noticed that the book was upside down. Somehow, she doubted she was reading it.

Cassie's mind raced. She had to somehow try to smooth things over and make Hermione look a little more "Head-Girl-like." Cassie shook her head in a very Hermione-like way and said in her most disapproving tone, "I tried to take him up where I could privately tell him he needed to cool down. I didn't want to publicly embarrass him. I shouldn't have bothered since he did a good job of humiliating himself on his own." The fifth year burst out laughing and grinned at Cassie. The other students also laughed or smiled and Cassie breathed slowly. Okay. She had managed that embarrassing scene all right. Now she just had to make it to the toilet and take the potion. In five minutes. She could do it.

Hermione was wrong, she decided, six minutes later. True, she didn't have all the tingling and rearranging and things . . .but the stuff tasted just as bad and she still felt like she was going to throw up. It was time for lunch and she wasn't sure she was going to be able to eat anything. And she still had two more doses to go. How wonderful. Cassie walked out into the common room to head down to lunch. The other students had at least stopped laughing out loud and were only grinning broadly at each other and at her. Cassie had a definite idea Ron was going to get a lot of ribbing by his fellow Gryffindors. Well. She had done her best to spare him. He had no one to blame but himself.

She arrived in the entrance hall right as Hermione, Ginny, and Harry did, just fresh from Transfiguration. Even though she rationally knew who she was, it was still weird to look across and see herself. She didn't think she would ever get used to it and was glad they only had to be each other for another couple of hours.

Hermione happily told Cassie that Transfiguration class had gone "just smashing." In fact, Professor McGonagal had been so impressed with her transfiguration work that she had told her she didn't need to do the assigned homework for next class as obviously her prior teachers had taught her very well, indeed. They all laughed and Ginny grinned widely. "You should have seen the look on Malfoy's face. I think he was quite impressed."

Hermione looked a little smug as Cassie turned to her. "Why didn't you accidently aim your wand at him and turn him into a toad? It would have made my life a lot easier."

Harry laughed. "I think someone already did." Cassie laughed loudly. He really had a wicked sense of humor. He just rarely let it show.

Hermione looked around. "Did you see Ron? He never came in to class. I have no idea where he has been all day. I'm starting to wonder if he's up to something." Cassie took a deep breath. She was going to have to tell at least Hermione, and probably all of them really, what had happened in the common room. If she didn't tell them, they would find out anyway. She had seen the gossip machine work around here and she was positive that by dinnertime tonight, the entire school would know about the incident in the Gryffindor common room. The four of them found a spot near the front of the long Gryffindor table, sat down, and started to dish up food. Cassie left an open spot next to her for Ron, but was not positive that he would dare show his face. Many of the students were whispering to each other, glancing at her and smiling. She just smiled back. She didn't think the whispers and looks were malicious. People were just enjoying a funny story - and the fact it was about the Head Girl (they thought) made it all the more amusing.

Hermione also noted the glances and whispers. "Hermione? Why is everyone looking at you?"

"Yeah. Well. That's sort of a funny story." She hoped Hermione would think it was funny and not inspire her to curse her or anything. She grinned. "Funny story. See, um, Ron actually did go to Transfiguration today . . ." She told them everything, although she didn't describe in too much detail how Ron actually touched her. She figured that Hermione wouldn't necessarily want either Harry or Ginny to know the details of her, uh, love life. By the time she got to the part about walking up the stairs, Ginny and Harry were laughing so hard they could hardly stay on the bench. Cassie had been speaking very quietly so other students wouldn't be able to hear her and, therefore, had to wait until they quieted down. She explained how they started upstairs and what had happened as they stopped in the stairwell. Hermione's eyes grew very wide and Cassie had the fleeting thought that she obviously didn't think it was as funny as she did.

Hermione opened her mouth and Cassie figured she was just about to get a very strict dressing down but fate intervened. The timing couldn't have been better, because just then Ron decided to show up to lunch. He slowly came in the door, looked up and down the Gryffindor table and then slowly, almost reluctantly, made his way up along the table toward the front. Several students smirked at Ron as he approached the group. He stopped, looked at Hermione as Cassie and then Cassie as Hermione. Finally, he walked up to Cassie, leaned down and whispered in her ear, "So who the hell are you now?"

Cassie fought a giggle working its way up her throat and simply whispered back, "I'm still Pia. Sorry."

Ron blushed profusely. "Oh, hell." He turned away from her, walked around the table and forced his way in between Hermione and Ginny where there really was no space but he didn't let that deter him. A plate and utensils magically appeared in front of him.

However, Hermione realized that this was not going to work. She whispered in a strained and irritated voice, "Go back over and sit next to me!"

Ron's expression was extremely pained as he said in a voice louder than he should, "Oh, bloody hell!"

The entire table was staring at the five of them and Cassie noted that other tables were also interested in the goings-on at the Gryffindor table. Many students started laughing as he began to rise. Hermione grabbed his robe, pulled him down and said, "And be affectionate."

"Ooohhh. . . ." Ron moaned as he trooped back around to Cassie, sat down next to her, stared at Hermione for a moment and then carefully, as if it was almost painful, put his arm on Cassie's shoulders, his hand resting awkwardly on her shoulder. Ginny and Harry were laughing into their hands so hard there were tears in their eyes. Hermione rolled her eyes and tossed her strawberry-blond Cassie-curls in frustration.

The rest of the lunch was extremely awkward as Ron sat stiffly next to Cassie and kept looking furtively across to Hermione. Every so often she would glare at him and he would moan and make a half-hearted attempt to put his arm around Cassie or touch her in a natural-looking way. Ginny and Harry spent the remainder of the lunch looking across the table at the two of them and joining in a new round of snickering. Ginny practically spit out the pumpkin juice she was drinking when Ron looked across at Hermione and she nodded toward Cassie's hand which was resting on the table. Ron whimpered and barely touched her hand. Cassie blushed and Ron muttered a swear word under his breath. Cassie felt bad for Ron, and herself. Lunch blessedly came to an end after what seemed like a year and all five of them stood.

The other three came around the table to Cassie and Ron who were standing awkwardly next to each other. Cassie again noticed numerous sets of eyes on her and Ron. As they started to walk out, Cassie heard Hermione (who was standing behind the two of them) whisper menacingly to Ron, "Hold my hand." His face lit up and he turned and reached for her hand. She glared at him. "Not my hand, my hand."

His face fell. "Oh, hell." He looked at Cassie with obvious frustration and took hold of two of her fingers. Cassie blushed as she heard a few of the students chuckling and one or two say something about how they must be fighting. She even heard one girl say she'd heard what he tried to do earlier that morning and that she didn't blame Hermione for being upset. They walked out of the Great Hall and Hermione motioned all of them to follow her to an empty classroom. Cassie glanced at her watch. She had 23 minutes before she had to take another dose of the foul goop in the second beaker. So, even though she knew she, and probably Ron, were going to get yelled at, she at least knew it would be over before then. It would be an interesting experience to watch . . . herself yell at . . .herself. She wondered if she would ever recover from this or if she would wake up screaming with nightmares about this day 50 years from now.