Chapter One, Monday:
Albus stared in shock at himself standing across the room. "Minerva?" He gasped, surprised at the high quality and accent of his voice.
"Albus?" Minerva asked, then attempted to clear her throat. "What's going on?"
"I have no idea." He walked over to her, cautiously. "You're me."
"You're me," she said. She reached out and touched his arm, which used to be hers. Then she reached up and felt her face, rough with a long beard. She was in Albus' body.
Albus stared at Minerva up and down. Then he looked down at himself. He was thin and shapely. 'Good grief, I'm Minerva,' he thought.
"Let's sit down and figure out what to do, Minerva," he said. He took her by the arm and guided her back to the couch. It sure felt weird having to be the man in a woman's body. They sat down on the couch. "Now Minerva," said Albus in Minerva's voice. "I want you to tell me everything that happened to you last night, especially anything strange. You felt sick remember? I bet that has something to do with it. When did you start feeling sick?"
Minerva made Albus' face frown. "It started in the library. I pulled a book off the shelf and opened it and I suddenly felt dizzy, and cold. Then it went away and I decided I had better go to bed."
"What book did you open?" Albus asked quickly.
Minerva rolled her eyes in thought, and Albus had to stifle a laugh. He looked so strange rolling his eyes.
"I had it with me!" Minerva said suddenly. "When you brought me here, I had it in my hand."
"So you did!" Said Albus. "I'll go get it." He stood up and headed for his office. He stumbled, not used to the lightness of his body. He grabbed the book and made his way back to sit next to Minerva...er himself. He looked at the cover of the book. 'Transfigure Your World' by Eliza Elfsnatch. He opened it slowly, expecting something to happen. Nothing did.
"What page did you turn to, Minerva?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. I didn't even turn to a specific page. I just opened it. I'm sorry, I have no way of knowing."
He nodded. "Well, what are we going to do, Minerva? Poppy will be here today, she'll have some sort of solution, I'm sure."
"No, Albus!" Minerva spoke up quickly, in Albus' own deep voice. Anyone listening in would have thought that they were talking to themselves.
"Why not?" Albus asked.
"She'll surely keep us in the hospital wing until we're back to normal, and we can't afford to do that, Albus, we have a school to run!"
"Ok, ok, Minerva." He patted her in his body awkwardly on the back. He didn't realize he had such broad shoulders. "But really Minerva, we can't stay like this forever!"
"Not forever, just until we have time to stay in the hospital. Come on Albus, we can do it. You know that we can't stay in the hospital wing with the students coming tonight!"
"Yes, yes I know." He thought for a moment. "Well, if you're willing to live in my body, then I'm willing to live in yours. Of course we'll have to do a great deal of acting you realize. You'll have to be headmaster, er, mistress, and I will have to the school's Transfiguration teacher."
"Oh, you'll have no problem with that, Albus, you were Transfiguration teacher once before, remember. But I have no idea how to run the school!"
"Well then we'd better get to work!"
For the next few hours, they trained each other. Minerva showed Albus where she kept all of the papers in her school room, and explained her lesson plans to him. Albus explained to Minerva all of the headmaster's duties, and how to carry them out. They practised walking back and forth, getting use to each other's bodies. They were still in their clothes from the day before, and Minerva had to keep reminding Albus to act like a lady.
"Act like a lady?!" Albus exclaimed.
Minerva giggled. "This will be the perfect chance for you to get in touch with your feminine side, Albus!"
Albus glared at her but didn't say anything.
They practised calling each other by their own names, and reminded each other of certain habits that they had to carry out. Minerva was left-handed, and Albus found that out when they tried to eat lunch and he couldn't hold his fork right. He held up Minerva's right hand.
"Minerva, what's wrong with your hand?"
Minerva, who hadn't started eating yet, looked up curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Why can't I hold my fork?"
"Oh! I'm left-handed, Albus, I thought you knew."
"No, I didn't. I've known you for over forty years and I never knew you were left-handed." He put the fork in his left hand, and watched as it lifted turkey as easily as his right hand had when he was in his own body. "Amazing."
Minerva, learning from Albus' mistake, used her right hand.
As they ate, Minerva asked, "Albus, what about living conditions? Will we sleep in each other's chambers?"
"Of course. It would be terribly hard to explain if there was an emergency or something, and instead of finding me in my bed, they found you. Or at least your body."
"Oh yes." Minerva stopped eating for a moment. "You know Albus, your taste buds are kind of weird."
"Weird?" Albus said. "You should feel yours. Everything tastes so strong."
"Yours are the exact opposite."
"Yes," said Albus, nodding Minerva's head, "that's from all of the lemon drops."
"Ew," Minerva wrinkled up her nose. "I don't like lemon drops. I don't like lemons period actually."
"Well, while you're in my body you do," said Albus. "What if someone offered you a lemon drop and you refused? Albus Dumbledore never refuses Lemon drops!"
"Maybe I ought to stuff you full of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans," Minerva said, grinning.
"Don't even think about it," said Albus, "or I shall have to take drastic measures."
"Like what?" Minerva asked. "You're so small now." She laughed.
"You're making fun of your own body?" Asked Albus.
Minerva laughed again. "No, I'm making fun of you being in it!"
After lunch, they both agreed to take baths and change and meet back down in the Great Hall when they were finished. They seperated, and headed towards their own rooms before remembering they were switching chambers. They turned around and walking past each other, laughed.
Once up in Albus' room, Minerva went over to his closet, and looked at his clothes. She'd never dressed like a man before, so she had no idea where to start. Especially not in Albus' colorful closet. Eventually she pulled out some plain, light blue robes that matched Albus' eyes and then turned towards his set of drawers. She quickly pulled out some underwear and hurried into the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, she saw Albus' cheeks were pink, because she had just realized that living in Albus' body meant doing very private things. Such as changing and bathing.
She gingerly pulled Albus' robes over his head, and folding them up neatly, put them in the hamper. She turned back to the mirror and ran her hands lightly over Albus' smooth, flat chest. She'd never seen so much of his body before. Suddenly, she wished that they were back to normal so that she could run her own hands over his chest. She blinked and Albus blushed even harder. 'What are you doing, Minerva, thinking thoughts like that?' she thought to herself.
She turned on the shower, and without looking down, peeled Albus' underwear off and hopped in the shower. As she soaped up his arms, she thought about how to clean the rest of him without getting too private. Suddenly she stopped. If SHE was having these kinds of problems with Albus' body, that meant he was having the same problems with hers. Minerva's eyes opened wide, and she covered her mouth. Albus was supposed to be giving her a bath as well, which meant he was seeing her body naked! Minerva caught a glance of herself in the mirror. She'd never seen Albus so red before. "Well, I hope he likes what he sees," she said out loud, then buried her face in her hands. "Oh, goodness!" She'd never been so embaressed in her life.
Albus stepped into Minerva's room and closed the door behind him. He'd only been in here a few times, and he loved each time. Minerva's room seemed so warm and cozy, books filled the walls, and since her living quarters was all one big room, that was a lot of books. There was a big fireplace and by the fireplace, with a red afghan slung over the back, stood a wooden rocking chair. On the other side of the fireplace, was Minerva's high bed, which was covered with white iolet comforters and bed spreads. By the door was her wardrobe, and on the opposite wall from the bed was the door to her bathroom. She had also in the room a chest of drawers, a trunk, a closet, and a small refridgerator/freezer combination that she used because she didn't like calling on the house-elves at all hours of the night. Albus knew for a fact that she always kept it stocked with all sorts of treats and drinks. It held a lot, even thought it didn't take up much space, because of the inside expanding charm that Minerva had used.
Albus closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He went over to Minerva's wardrobe, opened the doors and peered inside. Inside was the most drab looking set of robes and dresses he'd ever seen. All blacks, dark blues, reds, greens, and greys, and all plain floor length numbers, too. Albus picked through them, looking for anything a little lighter than what he saw, but didn't see anything. "Oh well," he sighed. He picked out a dark green set of robes, and waving Minerva's wand over them, made them several shades lighter.
He went over to her chest of drawers and sliding the first drawer open, blinked at the selection of bras inside. It had just dawned on him how intimate he was going to have to get with Minerva's body. He swallowed hard. He quickly snatched a bra out and grabbing a pair of underwear from the next drawer down, ran into the bathroom and shut the door. He shut his eyes and quickly undressed Minerva's body, not daring to take even a little peek, even though he had to admit he was curious. He was amazed at how soft her skin was, how smooth everything was...he snatched his wandering hands away and took a deep breath. 'Be a gentleman, Albus,' he thought. 'When Minerva said you'd get in touch with your feminine side, she didn't mean HER feminine side.'
He turned and looked in the mirror. He reached up and undid Minerva's bun. As her hair fell onto her shoulders, Albus gazed longingly at his reflection. "Oh, how I wish I were myself right now," he said. She was beautiful. So beautiful. He had known for a while that he had feelings for Minerva, but didn't want to ruin the wonderful friendship they had, so hadn't said anything. He had known this would happen. That he would go crazy in Minerva's body, smelling her everyday, feeling her everyday, but having to feel the torture of knowing that it wasn't him who was touching her, but her herself, that it was all a dream. Minerva still didn't requite his love, and whatever he did with her body, it wouldn't affect her now. He could tickle her, but only be tickling himself. He could kiss her all over, but still only be kissing himself. Minerva wouldn't feel it. And when she got back to her body, she wouldn't know the difference. It wasn't her body he wanted, it was her in it.
He reached up and ran his fingers through her long dark hair. It was soft and silky. He closed his eyes and imagined that it was his hands touching her, that she was the one in the body, that she would turn to him, and wrap her arms around him, while he stood and stroked her hair...He opened his eyes. He had things to do. He sighed.
"Albus old boy, you've certainly gotten yourself into a mess this time."
Without daring to look down, he turned on the water for the shower and hopped in. As HE soaped up, he thought of what Minerva was doing in his body. A little smile spread across Minerva's face. "I hope she likes what she sees," he said out loud. He poured shampoo on Minerva's head and lathered her hair up, running her wet, soapy hair through her fingers. After he rinsed her hair, he grabbed a washcloth from off of the back of the toilet, and after getting it all wet and soapy, took a deep breath and quickly and roughly scrubbed all of Minerva's body. He thought of how embaressed Minerva must feel. He didn't look down the whole time, and finished as quickly as he could, not touching her with anything but the washcloth. 'We should have thought of this before we agreed to stay this way,' Albus thought grimly.
Meanwhile, in HIS shower, Minerva was coming to the same conclusion, both on how to wash Albus' body and that they should have thought of all the consequences first.
After she had finished showering, she hopped out and dried off. She sighed and started getting dressed, slipping Albus' clothes on. When she was finished, she grabbed a comb and combed Albus' hair and beard, and grimaced. "I am so glad I don't have a beard," she said, looking in the mirror. She walked back in Albus' bedroom and opened his bottom dresser drawer. It was filled with socks, like she wanted, but they were all weird socks. There wasn't a normal pair of socks in the bunch. All bright and wild. No solid color at all. 'Ugh.' She finally picked out a pair of zig zag socks with a lot of blue in them and slipped them on Albus' feet, wiggling her toes to get her foot all of the way in. She put on Albus' shoes and then stood up and faced his bedroom mirror. "Why, Albus," she said to her reflection. "You look rather nice, if I do say so myself." She paused. "Except for the socks."
Albus hopped out of the shower and dried off. He slid into the pair of underwear, then held up the bra. "How on earth do you work this?" He asked, frowning. He studied it from all angles, but simply couldn't figure it out. "Oh, bother!" He grabbed Minerva's wand and magicked it onto her body. "There," he said, proud of his handiwork. He finished getting dressed and made his way back into Minerva's bedroom. He stood in front of her floor length mirror and brushed out her hair, after drying it. He searched her dresser drawers, but couldn't find a decent pair of socks so he settled for a plain pair of black ones. He pulled on her boots and headed downstairs to meet Minerva herself.
Minerva headed down to the Great Hall, and when she got there and saw Albus, she gasped. "Albus! What is my hair doing down?"
Albus looked up. "I think you look beautiful with your hair down," he smiled at her.
Minerva felt Albus' heart squeeze but ignored it and reached out to touch her hair.
Albus slapped her hand away. "I'm in your body, Minerva, and it's staying down."
"Oh, alright, but it'll be your fault if the others are curious. Oh, what is everyone going to think?"
"Maybe you should stop thinking of everyone else and think of yourself for once."
Minerva looked at him, but didn't say anything.
"Nice choice of clothes," Albus said. "I myself would have chosen something a little brighter, especially when starting off the school year. But they're not bad."
"I want to know where you got those robes from," Minerva said. "I don't have any robes that look like that."
"I know," said Albus. "I transfigured them. I like your room, Minerva, but I can't say much for your closet."
"Well, I could say the same about your sock collection," Minerva said, having an urge to stick her tongue out.
"Yes, your socks are just as bad as the rest of your clothes," said Albus.
Minerva just rolled her eyes.
Finally it was time for the other staff to arrive to begin getting ready for the students. While Albus and Minerva waited, they reviewed things to do and not to do, and practised calling each other by their own names some more, since that was something particularly hard to get ahold of. But fortunately, they both seemed to be good at acting, so that after a while they appeared to have it down.
Minerva looked out a window of the Great Hall, and spotted the carriages coming with the staff. "Here they come Al-Minerva."
"Alright," said Albus, going over how to be a lady one last time in his head. "I'm ready."
Then with deep breaths, and quick smiles at each other, they walked outside to greet their co-workers.
As the staff climbed out of the carriages, they stared at their headmaster and headmistress. They'd never seen Albus so serious and Minerva so...hyper looking before. And Minerva had her hair down!
Minerva looked down, and smoothed Albus' robes down.
While she was looking down, Poppy Pomfrey stepped up to the two. "Professor Dumbledore!" She said, looking at Minerva. Albus in Minerva's body looked up, and opened his mouth as if to say something then shut it. He looked over at Minerva, who was inspecting his nails and he nearly groaned. He nudged her in the ribs.
"Ahem, Albus!" He said.
Minerva looked up, surprised, then looked at Poppy. "Oh! Hello, Poppy dear." She reached out and took Poppy's hand. "How are you feeling?"
Poppy looked at Minerva in Albus' body strangely. "I'm fine, headmaster, and how are you?"
Minerva nodded. "Fine, fine. Excuse me please." She grabbed Albus' arm and dragged him away. "Albus, what did I do wrong? Why did Poppy look at me like that?"
Albus gave her a look. "Don't call me that! You just acted a little over-zealous is all. Come on, we'd better go back, or people are going to start thnking things."
A few minutes later, all of the teachers were gathered together in the Great Hall for the Annual start-of-the-year staff meeting.
Before Minerva knew it, she was standing up in front of them all, about to perform one of the many headmaster duties she was to perform.
"You can do it Min," she whispered to herself. Albus HAD gone over things with her. Besides, she'd been at the school for over forty years, she practically knew what Albus discussed by heart.
"Alright," she began, "first of all, as you all well know, you'll each have a job to perform besides your teaching duties. Some of you keep this job every year, such as Poppy and checking the students regularly for lice, and out breaks of illnesses, and some of you may have a different job every year. This year the jobs are as follows: Helena, you'll be making sure the quidditch field, bleachers, equipment and locker rooms are in good condition and kept in their proper places, as usual. Don't forget to ask the quidditch teams to help you.
Pomona, you'll be taking care of the plants and greenhouses this year, as usual, but you'll also be helping Hagrid with the grounds, as he requested extra help this year. That brings us to Hagrid himself. Hagrid, you'll be taking care of the grounds, and making sure that no students go into the Forbidden forest, we all know the dangers in there. You'll also be feeding and taking care of the Thestrals and other creatures around Hogwarts. Would you also take care of the Owlery this year?"
When Hagrid nodded, Minerva continued. "Good. Serena, in addition to keeping the astronomy tower and telescopes clean, you'll also need to help Argus with the window cleaning this year. Filius, you will be in charge as usual, of decorating on holidays, and in charge of the kitchen and house-elves. Severus, you will keep a list of chores that can be used as detention, and update it regularly. Argus, you know your job."
And so Minerva went on, going through each teacher and staff member and reviewing what duties they would have this year until she got to herself. "Minerva," she said looking at Albus, "you'll be an assistant to me, and teach an extra class this year, as we have quite a few students wanting to be animagi.
Helena, Pomona, Severus, and Minerva, don't forget to carry out your head-of-house duties as well. I trust you all have your schedules?"
When everyone nodded, she took a deep breath. "Alright. There may be a Yule ball again this year, but I'm not sure yet. Any questions?"
After she answered everyone's questions, she looked at Albus, and he mouthed 'good job'. Minerva sat her papers back down. "Remember everyone, be happy, and help with everything you have time for! It is only when we all work together that we get everything done." She looked at Albus' wristwatch. "The carriages with the students are due in about 20 minutes, so be prepared! That's all."
The staff mingled with each other while Minerva went over to Albus. "How did I do?" She asked him.
"Good." He smiled and patted her awkwardly again. "Almost as good as me." Minerva watched her eyes twinkle and couldn't help smiling.
About 20 minutes later, the carriages pulled in again, and soon the school was filled with the noise and chatter of many students. They all filed into the Great Hall where the tachers were already. Minerva made to sit in her regular seat when Albus grabbed her arm. "ALBUS," he hissed. She started, and sat down in his chair, feeling the large arms and looking up at him. He smiled at her and grabbing the sorting hat and customary stool, went to begin the sorting.
"Now when I call you name..." Minerva heard her voice say. She smiled. Albus was very good at pretending to be her. Minerva looked around while Albus sorted and spotted Harry Potter and his friends watching the sorting quietly. Harry looked up, and spotting who he thought was his headmaster looking at him, smiled and then turned back to the sorting. Minerva blinked and started to pay attention. A good lot of Gryffindors this year, good.
After the sorting was over, Minerva watched herself walk back up behind the table and sit beside her. "How did I do?" Albus asked her, laughter in his voice.
"Good," said Minerva, "almost as good as me." She stood up. "There will be now announcements, let the feast begin!" Then feeling very powerful all of a sudden, waved her arms, causing the food to appear on the plates.
When she sat back down, Albus leaned over to whisper in her ear, "fun, wasn't it?"
Minerva nodded. "It was actually!"
Albus just shook Minerva's head and grinned.
After dinner, (Which was delicious, as usual.) and everyone was leaving the Great Hall, Harry Potter and his two friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, came up to Minerva and Albus.
"Hello sir," Harry said to Minerva, "I was wondering if you were alright. You seemed a little tired tonight."
Minerva looked a little indignant, but Albus put a hand on her shoulder. "Yes, I'm sure the Headmaster is very tired," he said. Minerva turned and gave him a dirty look.
"Well, I know a good sleeping charm, Professor, perhaps you'd like to use that," Hermione said.
Ron rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure the Headmaster already knows the charm, Hermione," said Albus. "I might stop by the kitchens and get her a cup of tea though."
"No, that's quite alright, MINERVA," Minerva said," I don't need any tea."
"Yes you do," said Albus, his eyes laughing.
"No I don't!" Said Minerva, getting a little frustrated.
"Yes you do!"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other.
Ron's head moved back and forth as if he was watching a tennis match.
"It will make you sleep better!"
"I don't need to be pampered!"
"Yes, I do!" Albus said, putting emphasis on the I.
Minerva blinked. She'd just realized that they were nearly giving everything away. She turned and looked at the three 6th years. Harry had raised eyebrows, Hermione had a look on her face that suggested she suspected something was going on, and Ron looked as if he thought they were total nutters.
Minerva cleared her throat. "Er, we'd better get on to bed then. You three too. Excuse us." She grabbed her arm and pulled Albus away from the three. "We've got to be more careful, Albus!"
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other. "Er," said Ron, "was it just me, or did McGonagall and Dumbledore seem a little.....different this year?"
He had no idea.
After parting ways, Minerva headed towards Albus' room, and he headed towards hers. They both kept an eye out for anyone to see them going into the wrong bedroom before slipping in and shutting the door.
Albus leaned against Minerva's bedroom door and smiled. He was back in Minerva's rooms again, and what's more, was going to sleep in her bed! He slipped Minerva's cloak off, which he had put on to keep warm, since Minerva's body got colder easier than his, and hung it on the hook on the back of her door. He quickly changed into a white nightgown, and kicking her boots and socks off and leaving them in the middle of the floor, went over to her dresser. He picked up her hairbrush, brushed her hair and then made his way over to her bed. He flipped the covers back, slipped beneath them and snuggled down. He took her glasses off, turned her light off, and laid back against her pillow. He sighed happily. Minerva's bed was definitely more comfortable than his. He couldn't help thinking that her bed would be so much better if he were in his own body and sharing it with her.
As Minerva's body relaxed, he took another deep breath and then yawned. He turned over onto his side, and buried his nose into Minerva's pillow. Oh, she smelt so good. Like vanilla and nuts. He breathed deeply, and then, hugging her pillow, fell asleep with a giant smile on his face.
Minerva slowly let herself into Albus' rooms and dressed in one of his pinstriped undershirts. She was so sleepy......She doubted she'd stay awake long enough to drink a cup of tea anyways. She could barely keep her eyes open as she slipped Albus' boots and socks off and lined them up neatly along the side of the bed. She took off her glasses, put them on the night table and crawled underneath of Albus' blankets. Albus' bed was a lot like Albus himself, she thought. Strong and able. Soft and warm. It smelled like lemons and peppermint...She fell asleep dreaming of floating on clouds shaped like Albus' beard.....
'Sleep my child, sleep, and may your dreams be filled with joy and peace. Amen.'
