Hey! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in awhile. My explanation was in my profile, I hope you all read it. Anyways, I'll make this short and let you hurry up and read this chapter and REVIEW! PLEASE! It'll help me work faster lol.
Cutiepiethesecond—Lol very nice review. Loved it! If you have any ideas, you know my email address! I love hearing from you.
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Chapter two—Crazy Ideas that could just work
"And that's what happened?"
Sigh. "Yes."
"But that doesn't make sense! He just passed out? How did it happen?"
"When your friends with me, nothing makes much sense."
"Oh, Harry, it's not your fault. We don't even know if Voldemort was behind this."
"Who else could it have been, Hermione?"
"Harry, Malfoy's in the hospital, too. From what Crabbe and Goyle said, Malfoy passed out around the same time Ron did."
"We can't really count on those two though, can we?"
Groan.
Ron groaned and moved his head to the side. He wanted to open his eyes, but couldn't. Harry's and Hermione's voices ran through his ears. He tried to remember where he was.....a letter...an owl...white light.....
Ron's eyes snapped open as he tried to get up. He immediately yelled out and fell back, having felt a sharp pain in his stomach.
"Is he okay?"
'Who are they?' Ron wondered. He knew those voices, but had no idea what they were doing here. He opened his eyes and yelled out again. Crabbe's face was inches from his. His small eyes stared back at Ron with a blank expression.
"What are you doing?!" Ron cried out, shoving Crabbe away from him. Crabbe stumbled back into Goyle, who was looking a little surprised. Ron sat up, staring at them sternly.
"What were you doing by my bed? Thought it would be funny to hex me?" Ron demanded.
"Shut up, Malfoy! There are other people in the Hospital Wing, you know." Harry snapped.
Ron was taken aback. Harry and Hermione were sitting on the bed next to him, blocking the figure who was laying on the bed. Ron's mouth hung open.
"What?" he asked incredulously. Harry hadn't snapped at him in awhile, especially while he was laying the hospital wing.
"You heard me." Harry snapped. He took out his wand. "Tell Voldemort I don't know what he's up to, but if he ever hurts any of my friends, I'll personally take care of him."
Ron just stared up at Harry in shock. Hermione had taken a hold of Harry's arm so he'd lower his wand. Harry sighed and turned around, giving Ron a full view of the person in the next bed.
He's eyes got rounder in shock. Red hair.....freckles.....
'No.' Ron thought in horror.
He grabbed a mirror from the bed stand and looked into it. He nearly vomited at what he saw. Blonde hair, grey eyes......
Ron yelled out. It was too much. He didn't know whether or not he was going crazy. His head hit the pillow and the next thing he saw was black.
Ron groaned and rolled his head to the side, his eyes still closed. He didn't want to wake up....not yet.....
Slowly, he opened his eyes and was greeted with a dark Hospital Wing. He glanced up at the clock. It was past midnight. His head was aching horribly. He slowly sat up.
"About time you woke up, Weasley." A voice drawled nearby.
Ron jumped and turned around. He knew that voice, but it couldn't be.
'That's MY voice.' Ron thought.
Suddenly, everything came back to him. Seeing Crabbe and Goyle, Harry snapping, seeing his face in the mirror—
"Who are you?" Ron demanded.
The person in the bed next to him laughed.
"You're not going to like it, Weasley." The boy said.
"Try me." Ron said through clenched teeth. He had a guess on who it was and wasn't looking forward to seeing if he was right.
"Just don't yell like you did last time." The boy said. He reached over and turned on the light, illuminating them both into the light.
Ron shielded his eyes and looking away. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he looked up at the person in the bed next to him and saw—
Himself.
Ron's jaw dropped as he stared at the body that was supposed to be his.
"What—how—did....this—what—" Ron stuttered.
"Weasley, stop stuttering!" the boy said, annoyed.
Ron's shut his mouth, but couldn't take his eyes off the figure in front of him.
"Look in the mirror, Weasl King." The boy said with a smirk on his face.
Slowly, Ron reached for the mirror. Once he did, he dropped it to the ground with a CLUNK.
"Don't like what you see?" the boy sneered.
'I'm in Malfoy's body....' Ron thought in horror.
"So....Malfoy? Y-you're in my body?" Ron asked, knowing it sounded redundant.
Malfoy, who was in his body, sneered. "I thought that was obvious."
"Don't sneer." Ron ordered.
"What?"
"I don't look good when I sneer."
Malfoy laughed. "Weasley, you don't look good anyways."
"Shut up!"
"Nice comeback, Weasel King."
"Shut up."
"It's getting old."
"How did this happen?"
"I don't know."
"You're so useless."
"Shut up."
"Very nice comeback, Malfoy."
"Thank you."
"Did a Malfoy just thank me?"
Malfoy stayed silent after this statement, obviously at a loss for words. Ron laughed aloud. Malfoy looked up, startled.
"Don't do that!"
"Do what?" Ron asked, confused.
"Laugh!"
Ron laughed again, just to annoy him. "Why not?"
"It doesn't fit on my face." Malfoy mumbled.
Ron smiled.
"Weasel King, if you ruin my reputation, I'll make sure to ruin yours." Malfoy sneered in a low voice.
Ron's smile dropped to a frown. "Was that a threat?"
"Very good. I see the Mudblood has been rubbing off on you." Malfoy said, rolling his eyes.
Ron clenched his fists. "Don't call her that!"
Silence followed the last statement. Malfoy stared at the ceiling, while Ron's mind was reeling. How did this happen? How were they going to fix it? Holidays were coming up, and if Ron showed up at his parents doorstep looking like Draco Malfoy, they would surely have a heart attack. They needed answers....someone with answers....
Usually Ron would go to Hermione, but he didn't want her to see him in this state.
"Dumbledore!" Ron breathed.
"What?" Malfoy asked.
Ron took a moment to study his features. Whenever he looked at himself in the mirror, he always complained on how his red hair was so messy. Now, that he was looking at himself, he thought he didn't look half bad.
"What are you looking at, Weasley?" Malfoy snapped.
"Myself." Ron replied, as if it were the obvious thing in the world.
Ron picked up the mirror and studied himself in Malfoy's body.
"We need to do something about your hair." Ron said.
"You're not touching my hair!" Malfoy said angrily.
Ron shrugged and put down the mirror. "If I'm going to be in your body for the time being, I should at least be comfortable."
"Why did you say Dumbledore's name?" Malfoy asked suddenly.
It took Ron awhile to figure out what he was talking about.
"We should go to Dumbledore." Ron stated. "Winter holidays start tomorrow. I'm supposed to be leaving with my family. I don't even want to think how my mum would react if I showed up looking like you."
Malfoy seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Fine." He said shortly. "But your talking to the old coot. I want nothing to do with him."
Ron shrugged. Normally, he would argue, but it was just too early in the morning.
Ron slowly crawled out of bed and reached out for the green dress robe at the end of the bed.
"What are you doing?" Malfoy asked suddenly. He jumped out of bed and took the robe Ron was reaching for. "This is mine. I can't have you wearing it, whether your in my body or not!"
Malfoy slipped on the green robe. Ron noted how horrible he looked in green. He slowly reached for his red robe and slipped it on. Malfoy groaned.
"Your lucky no one sees me, Weasley. I look horrible in red." Malfoy said.
"It's not the only thing you look horrible in." Ron mumbled.
"What was that, Weasley?" Malfoy demanded as he pushed open the Hospital Wing doors.
"Oh, nothing." Ron said in feigned politeness.
Malfoy glared at Ron and stepped out of the Hospital Wing. Ron sighed and followed quietly. When they shut the door, they swiftly walked toward Dumbledore's office.
"How do we know the old fool is even awake?" Malfoy asked.
"He probably already knows we're coming." Ron replied, thinking on how Dumbledore never seemed surprised when something or someone strange showed up.
"How do we know he's not the one who did this?" Malfoy asked while stopping in his tracks.
Ron stopped and eyed Malfoy carefully. "Are you scared of him?"
"No!" Malfoy snapped.
Ron grinned. "Oh, I see. Since Dumbledore is the only one You-Know-Who ever feared—besides Harry—your scared of him to, huh? Are you still sore about your dad being put in prison?"
"Shut up, Weasley!"
"You are scared!"
"Shut up!"
"Not until you prove me wrong."
Malfoy glared daggers at Ron. All Ron did was smirk at the face the used to be his.
"Go on. If your so brave, lead the way." Ron said, smiling.
Malfoy stuck his nose in the air and strutted down the hall. Amused, Ron followed suit.
Ron led the way. They finally reached the two gargoyles, who looked at them oddly.
"Well?" Malfoy prompted after a few minutes of silence.
"What?" Ron snapped.
Malfoy scoffed. "You need a password to get in there."
"So?"
"Weasley, you are so dense. You've been here with Potter enough times to know the password. What is it?"
Ron shut his mouth. Harry had told him of the times when he went inside Dumbledore's office, but Ron never bothered to remember the password. All he remembered was that it had to do with candy.
"Er....."
"Weasley?"
"Er......"
"Shut up and say the password!"
"I thought you wanted me to shut up?"
"Don't get smart with me, Weasley!"
"Don't raise your voice to me, Malfoy!"
"I'll do what I want, you little peasant b—"
""Mrs. Norris, my sweet, I hear voices. Ooooh, we'll catch whoever's out of bed now!"
Ron and Malfoy both froze at the last statement. It hadn't been said by one of those two, so there was only one other person they knew that wandered around Hogwarts at night.
"Filch." Ron groaned.
"Thanks for stating the obvious, Weasel King." Malfoy replied, rolling his eyes.
Ignoring the boy next to him, Ron faced the gargoyles.
"Canary Cremes?" Ron asked hopefully.
Neither gargoyles moved.
"Weasley, what are you doing?" Malfoy hissed, staring at the direction Filch was coming in.
"Lemon Drops?"
"Weasley, your mad!"
At this point, light could be seen form the end of the hallway, showing that Filch was near.
"Fainting Fancies!" Ron blurted out.
The gargoyles sprung to life and jumped aside while Ron stared in disbelief.
"You've got to be kidding me." Ron muttered and he raced through the door with Malfoy behind him. Ron shut it and sighed.
'That was close.' He thought.
Ron looked around the office. He had to do a double take to make sure what he saw was correct.
"No one's here." Malfoy stated in a bored voice.
Ron just glared his way and began pacing. Dumbledore wasn't here.....the only one who could fix the problem was gone. Now what were they supposed to do? Everyone left for the holidays in less than five hours, what was he supposed to tell his parents when he showed up looking like Malfoy—
"Ha! What kind of ugly bird is this? And I thought Hagrid's hippogriff looked horrible!" Malfoy laughed, snapping Ron out of his thoughts. Ron looked up. Malfoy was looking at Dumbledore's Pheonix, Fawkes, with distaste.
Ignoring him, Ron turned around and was looking at the portraits placed around the office.
"Well, let's see how great this bird really is." Malfoy was saying. Ron turned around in time to see Malfoy grab a quill and aim it for the bird.
Ron made an angry noise and leapt toward Malfoy just as he was about to throw it at Fawkes. Fawkes made an indignant noise—
"Mr. Malfoy? Mr. Weasly? May I ask what you two are doing in my office at this time of night?"
The voice caught Ron off guard, making him tumble right into Malfoy. He quickly dropped the quill and fell to the ground. When the two of them untangled themselves, Ron looked up to see Albus Dumbledore standing there in front of him.
Dumbledore was looking at Malfoy—who was in Ron's body—curiously.
"Mr. Weasley? Perhaps you can give me an explanation?" Dumbledore asked politely.
"Sir, we have something important to tell you—"Ron started to say, but was interrupted.
"Mr. Malfoy, I believe I was talking to Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore asked kindly., eyes twinkling.
Ron shut his mouth confused. Finally, he understood.
"Sir, I'm Ron." Ron said, noting how odd it sounded.
Dumbledore raised in eyebrow, looking mildly confused. "Oh? I would think you were Mr. Malfoy by the way you look."
Ron fumbled over his words, trying to think on how he could explain this. "Sir, I'm Ron, b-but in Malfoy's body. I don't know how this happened but I woke up in the hospital wing and look! I'm in Draco Malfoy's body! Sir, I know it's late, but it's early in the morning and we leave to go home for the winter holidays sir, you know I can't go home like this."
Ron was looking straight at Dumbledore's face, hoping he would get what he meant. Ginny and the others were going to the Grimmauld Place for the winter holidays and he knew they would never take him if he looked like this.
However, Dumbledore just stared at Ron silently. Feeling hot, Ron turned to Malfoy, who seemed bored with the whole scene.
"Er...sir?" Ron asked shortly, after not getting an answer.
Dumbledore turned and sat at his desk, staring at Ron and Malfoy through his half moon spectacles.
"Well," Dumbledore began, "I'm afraid I have no idea what caused this—or how to fix it."
Ron and Malfoy's mouths dropped in horror. There was a sudden outburst from both boys.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIX IT?!"
"You don't understand! I can't go home like this!"
"I CAN'T GO HOME LOOKING LIKE A WEASLEY! MY FAMILY IS HOLDING A CHRISTMAS PARTY! I CAN'T GO LOOKING LIKE A WEASLEY, THAT'S JUST SHAMEFULL!"
"You think I want to look like a long nosed, blonde haired, greasy git?!"
"My hair isn't greasy, Weasley."
"Why don't you sod—"
"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy, that's quite enough." Dumbledore stated firmly, yet he looked amused. "I'm afraid I don't know how to fix it. No, please be silent, Mr. Weas—er...Mr. Malfoy. However, I will investigate it and with some luck, you could be changed back in a week's time. I will contact both of you when I find what I'm looking for."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Ron asked, dread in his voice.
"You will not have to go home looking they way you do now. Instead, so there's no panic, I am afraid that you, Mr. Weasley, will have to go to the Malfoy Manor and pretend to be Draco Malfoy. And you, Mr. Malfoy, will need to spend the holiday as Ron Weasley."
A huge silence followed that statement.
"B-but...." Ron stuttered. Was he mad?! Sending a Death Eaters son to the Grimmauld Place? Malfoy would have full access of the Order's plans or even try to hurt Harry in his sleep!
"Just wait until my father hears about this!" Malfoy said loudly.
Dumbledore looked at him. "Mr. Malfoy, unless you wish to release a huge argument, I suggest you keep this quiet. The two of you could also get in serious trouble, for the Ministry would surely get involved, causing the both of you to be expelled."
Malfoy stared at Dumbledore dumbly, causing Ron to snicker.
"Now," Dumbledore said, standing up, "I think it's time for the two of you to go to bed. Ah yes, Mr. Malfoy, you need to report here around ten o'clock. The Weasleys won't be taking the train home."
Malfoy was so angry he didn't even ask questions. It wasn't every day he was told what to do. He nodded and strode from the room, slamming the door on his way out. When he was gone, Ron turned to Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore," Ron said quickly, "you know my parents are in the Order and you know Malfoy's are Death Eaters! His father was put in jail for Merlin's sake! If you take him to the Order's hideout, isn't it possible that he has access to most of the light sides plans—"
Dumbledore put up his hand to silence Ron. Looking upset and being put down, he shut his mouth.
"Mr. Weasley, I will need you to trust me. Mr. Malfoy will be carefully watched, I can assure you that. Now, I need you to get on the train tomorrow and head to the Malfoy Manor. I will keep in contact with you in case anything were to happen." Dumbledore explained.
Ron nodded, not really liking the idea. He was too tired to argue, so he walked out of the office, shutting the door behind him.
Dumbledore stared after the two boys that had just left the office.
A cat, who had been sitting by the fire, transformed into the Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall.
"Albus, are you sure that was a smart thing to do?" she asked worriedly.
"I trust those boys."
"Are you going to tell the rest of the Order?"
"This is best kept a secret for the time being."
"Narcissa is quite bright, you know. Weasley doesn't possess the same qualities as Malfoy does, she's bound to notice something."
Dumbledore nodded his head. "I know there is a risk of her finding out."
McGonagall's eyes flashed angrily. "Are you willing to put the boy in danger?"
Dumbledore sighed and looked up at her wearily. "This was no accident. This was done to them on purpose."
McGonagall looked taken aback. "Who would want to do this to those two boys?"
"Voldemort."
Wincing, McGonagall seemed alert. "So then his Death Eaters must know that Ron Weasley, Harry Potter's best friend and son of the ones who are in the Order, are going to be in their grasp!"
Dumbledore nodded gravely.
"Alus, you can't do this! That boy could be killed or tortured for information!" McGonagall cried.
"That is a possibility, Minerva. But I will not leave him unarmed. However, I also think this could be used to turn this war around. I'm assume you know that Fred Weasley has been missing for more than a week?"
McGonagall looked away, tears in her eyes. "Molly has been hysterical."
Dumbledore nodded. "Ronald Weasley is a determined boy. No doubt he, more than any of us, will be able to save his brother."
"Albus, that's dangerous! You're playing with someone's life!"
"I would not do this if I didn't think he could. But he can. At the moment, he is our best shot at saving Fred Weasley."
"And Draco Malfoy?"
"I have plans for him also. With some luck and help from Harry and Hermione, I think it's possible to have this young man join the Order and become as valuable to us as Severus is."
Professor McGonagall sighed. "Alus, I truly hope you know what your getting these boys into."
Albus Dumbledore looked out the window. No matter how much he thought about it, a nagging voice in his head was telling him he just made possibly the biggest mistake he could make.
A/N. Done! Wow, that took nearly a week to type up! Anyways, I'm sorry it took so long! Please don't hate me! I've been so busy, but the end of the quarter ended yesterday, so I decided to take a break and finish this chapter. I hope you like it, and I know I might be a little rusty since I haven't written in nearly a month!
Thanks for waiting and for the reviews. I PROMISE to update faster. I have a feeling I won't have to take another long break like that for awhile.
Love always,
Amour Lily