by squidward
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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: Again, thank you for the nice reviews: artemisgirl, RussellGrl15, isnani, updated updater of updatedly updated updates(LOLZ!!! I love you name! I will never downDATE and I'll be happy to be your prom update, as long as you're a guy coz I'm a gurl),Pullmanlover(Crookshanks can talk because being inside a human's body enabled him to do human activities),Trym, airhead14(blush I'm so touched! Sorry if the previous one is short),tsk tsk, colin, Vals(confusing eh? Sorry about that, but just like what I said before, you guys are smart enough to know who is who.), TigerLily130, T and Persephone'schild.
SORRY for the late update and the short chapter! My PC had gone bonkers and a gigantic writer's block just hit me – straight on the face! I'll update the next chap soon and it will be longer in return. I just saw POA and it wasn't good as I expected...
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Chapter III: Good Night, Sleep Tight
Ron gulped when the doorknob clicked and the door opened. His heart was throbbing dangerously fast. This was the girl's dormitory. And he would not just sneak inside it tonight - he would be sleeping with one of its occupants tonight! If Ron was in his original body he would surely turn into a perfect redhead, complete with fiery red hair and burning scarlet face. But he was now inside Crookshanks' body whose orange fur never changed color in relation to the soul's emotion.
Hermione entered the room and Ron hung petrified on her arms. He was too nervous and shock to move. His mind raced. Should he run away and just sleep at the common room or should he just stay in Hermione's arms this night? Ron thought the former was the most decent act, but the latter was undeniably appealing. Ron shook his head vigorously. For Merlin's sake, this is your bestfriend!
"Are you not feeling well, honey?" Hermione asked when she felt Ron shook his head. Ron's blood rushed on his face. Honey… Hermione sounded that they were a couple but remembered that she was referring to Crookshanks and not him.
Ron was surprised to see that they had already entered the room. It was like the boy's dormitory - a circular room with five four-posters – though it was neater and had this distinct girlish aura. It seemed that Hermione's roommates were already asleep - Ron could hear soft snores from his spot.
Hermione pulled the curtains of her four-poster and put Ron on the bed. "Just stay there," she whispered and started rummaging her trunk. Ron watched her blankly, clueless on what she might be up to. Then he almost died of shock when he saw her pulling a nightdress.
She was going to change.
Ron couldn't decide if it was his heart beating in an alarming rate or his breath getting shallower and shallower that would lead him to an early death. Why hadn't he expected this? She would not sleep in her school robes of course – she HAD to change. His face was burning again and it almost burst when Hermione started undressing her robes.
Feeling as though he was caught red-handed for committing a hideous crime, Ron hurriedly scampered away and jumped into a dark corner, his back facing Hermione. He was breathing hard and he was even starting to sweat. He stared nervously at the wall, hoping against hope that Hermione would not grab him with only a bra on her top.
Luckily (or was it really lucky? – he doubt it), Hermione didn't notice that he left the bed until she was fully dressed. She spotted him without difficulty and grabbed him again.
"Oh my, you're shaking! Are you sick baby?" she asked worriedly as she sat on her bed. Ron was indeed shaking madly like a delirious old man. Hermione was stroking his fur gently and the contact made him nervous all the more.
"I guess you're very tired. Let's just sleep and tomorrow you'll be okay," Hermione lifted him to her eye level and kissed him – on the lips. She smiled and put him into a tight embrace before putting the blanket over them.
Ron could hear his heartbeat very clearly as if he was listening to a radio. It was beating like mad. Hermione just kissed him! And she kissed him on the lips! His face was now resting on her chest and he couldn't move because she was cuddling him too tight. Ron felt his insides leave his body and the scent of the perfume he gave her made the matter worse – she smelled so nice he wanted to stay there forever. He tried to loosen her tight grip but his efforts were futile, probably because a part of him didn't really want to leave her at all. A part of him was actually enjoying the situation.
His face went warm, feeling guilty. He would be declared as the most perverted guy in the whole wide world for doing this. But what could he do? He didn't force her into this, didn't he? So it wasn't entirely his fault.
'But if you have the slightest decency in your body you will leave her,' the objective and sensible voice in his head said.
'I'm not in my body, remember?' he retorted angrily, having a stupid idea that he left every bits of his decency in his physical body. But he knew that getting out of the dormitory was the best thing to do.
So Ron made up his mind. He looked up at Hermione's face for the last time. She was sleeping peacefully and disturbing her serenity would be the most gruesome felony to commit. Watching her like this would be enough to make him alive for a month without food. But taking advantage of her unawareness was against his will too so he carefully struggled out of her loosening embrace, jumped to the floor and darted to the door.
He went down to the common room and climbed on the nearest sofa. He saw Neville yawning openly and closed the boy's dormitory door. He thought that he could sleep to the boy's dormitory but decided against it – he had a strong feeling that it was not a good idea at all. His heartbeat and breathing started to normalize. Hermione is dangerous to my health, he thought absently. He sighed and closed his eyes, feeling that he was thrown wandless in the girl's dormitories to fight a hungry Hungarian Horntail.
He opened his eyes again and stared blankly on the ceiling, contemplating on what had happened to him. The fact that he and Crookshanks switched bodies was settled, he was sure about it. Crookshanks was aware of the situation too. But how did it happen? He couldn't think of anything that might cause this accident. Worse, he couldn't ask for Harry's or Hermione's help because he couldn't speak any human language. If Hermione learned about this she will probably kill me first before she will decide to help me, he thought. So everything was depending on Crookshanks now…
But what if Crookshanks didn't want to help? He seemed to be enjoying himself and Ron swore he fancied Hermione. 'So he is the real pervert then, sleeping with her all this years!' he thought angrily, furious at the fact that that silly cat was 'harassing' his bestfriend.
You're just jealous because you're not the one sleeping with her, a mischievous voice in his mind blurted.
'Shut up!' Ron roared loudly and heard himself let out an angry meow. He didn't want to have lustful thoughts about Hermione though he was not a hypocrite to deny that he didn't have. But it was a boy's instinct. He was trying hard to get rid of it – his true personality didn't want to lust for her. Hermione was chaste and modest in his perception, and that would remain like that forever. He felt guilty for having naughty thoughts about her, but he couldn't help that. He was a boy, and Hermione was so damn cute you couldn't resist that feeling.
The memory of their kiss flashed in his mind. Her lips were so soft he could still feel the sensation. He realized that his paw was touching the spot she kissed and he smiled to himself. He had felt this way before – when he was in fifth year and Hermione kissed him on the cheek. It was amusing to know that the girl who induced that feeling one year ago was one and the same.
Ron's eyes were dropping and he felt sleepy. This day was very tiring and he needed to rest. Who knows, maybe this was just a dream and next day he would wake up wearing his pajamas - back to his own body. 'But if it wasn't, I had to talk to that bloody cat tomorrow.' He hoped Crookshanks could understand feline language before his eyes stick together.
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