Aloha!
Some notes about this chapter:
-I'm finally getting to a part of the plot I planned! Go me! This was
supposed to be chapter six, lol.
-Yes, Pansy visits Dumbledore. I didn't have Dumbledore talk that much because
I'm not too good at writing it. His character is too bubbly, it's weird. Ah
well.
-I made up a secret room. --" I was hoping I wouldn't have to, but I figured
Harry wouldn't want to drag those two to, say, the Room of Requirement.
-Dang, if I keep 2-3 weeks in between chapters, I get loads of reviews. *Evil
grin* Lucky for you, that's not the reason I've been slow - I have school, original
fiction and poetry, and a comic that I need to keep up with too. (But hey, if
you want to see the comic, it's on my website. *Winks* Gotta love Margin
Man!.)
-I will try and get to the HPSS "romance" within the next 2-3 chapters...
I have to get there a -certain- way in order to lead up to the dramatic climax.
Lol. And then there's always Voldie to hold me up... *makes face* but he could
actually prove useful.
The characters we know of are (body - person IN body):
Blaise Zabini - Harry Potter
Crabbe - Padma Patil
Goyle - Dumbledore
Neville - McGonagall
Ron Weasley - Blaise Zabini
Draco - Lavender
Padma - Ron
Harry - Draco
Pansy - Snape
Thank you to my wonderful reviewers!....
Lady Darkness13 (this soon enough? ^^""), Aria-fic (that's good to hear, I don't really think I'm that good at staying in-character. I've bookmarked the story you suggested I read and I'll try and read it as soon as I can find the chance. :) ), Aerielle5 (lol, thanks), Rayn (Wow, you reviewed every chapter? Thanks. ^^ Eeee I'm "worthy of reading", woot!), Prophetess Of Hearts (yepper, Draco's a prat :D Love to write his character though), risi (not really, the "real plan" is being developed mostly as I write, lol. The Padma-in-Crabbe [Cradma? Pabbe?]/Harry bit was a bit of an unexpected speed bump... oh well... I'll work it somehow :D), Necromant (thanks!), penny, Winnie2 (yes :D), Ruth (I can't tellll you... but I have that part all planned out in my head... as well as when they find out who each other really is... *evil grin*), LeeLeePotter (sooner or later!), Flashfire (well, that's usually a good sign, lol), Kaaera (hehe yes, it really is. It'll happen sooner or later! I'm sorry I'm so slow, but I really am having fun taunting you guys... just kidding! ^^"), n snape, ataraxis (*grins*), Lisa13 (lol! Well, the idea was originally to make it utterly unexpected for Harry, since canon Harry isn't gay, lol. I dunno, Snape being Pansy seemed to fit with the rest), c[R]ud[E]dly (heh... I'll figure out Padma's situation later...), BURN THE R.U.M (well, Zabini just pretended to not understand homework to get Draco alone with him. *Shrugs* Wasn't planned or anything, but I like it. ^^"), Doneril (soon, yes! :) ), borne-shadow-childe (uhm, okay), Bellatrix Rules My World (thanks and okay! :D), Awen (dang, the demand is greater than the supply [of time I have to write], isn't it? :S), Kursed SeeD (okay!), Fuzzy-Bumpkins (yepper! And that bit is going to screw things up for poor ol' Moldyshorts... er, Voldemort...), ManicReversed (*nods* that's the idea, lol. He won't give in yet though.), Devona Wolfe (aww, thanks. *grins*).
Whew. I *really* need to space those out next chapter.
Ah yes, this is slash, male/male romance... just to enlighten the unenlightened. Potter belongs to JK Rowling. I'm not JK Rowling. I'm just a girl who lives in the United States who happens to enjoy terrorizing JKR's creations.
.~*~.
Chapter *Nine*
Breakfast was normally a quiet affair at Hogwarts. Owls would swoop in and
land in the bacon, or drop letters and newspapers onto the French toast, which
they would bounce off of into the soup. It was like a game to some of the owls
since the students had been switched, how many dishes they could turn useless
with a letter or two.
This particular morning was particularly dull. It was a Monday, meaning Harry
had Care of Magical Creatures first, followed by Charms. He figured he could
finish, or at least begin the first class' homework in Charms. All they
ever did was argue in that class–and most of the students could do their
charming better than the new Flitwick. Surely he wouldn't be noticed;
or, if the teacher even noticed, bothered.
And these were the thoughts he'd been having before the letter landed
on the top of his half-finished toast.
Harry had jumped, and then stared at the letter. It was made of thick parchment–he
guessed that the parchment of the letter had been folded and stamped into its
own envelope. He looked up and watched a large falcon swooping out the window,
surrounded by owls of various colors.
Then he squinted at the seal while peeling the butter-slick letter off of his
toast. He thumbed the dent where the owl had been holding it absently while
trying to make out the stamp. Behind him, he heard a Hufflepuff yelling to an
owl about throwing a letter into his soup. Somewhere, a clock made known that
it was currently eight and he had fifteen minutes to get going.
Then he realized what the seal was. The Dark Mark.
"Shit," he muttered, turning the letter over. In the spidery handwriting
of who he assumed to be one of Voldemort's followers was 'Blaise
Zabini.'
He imagined he should probably hand it over to the real Zabini before reading
it. But it was nagging at him, practically calling out 'unfold me!'
to him. At the same time, his more wary instincts told him to be careful, in
case it was cursed. After all, hadn't Ron said something about his father
being a traitor? What if Voldemort had stuck a portkey inside? Or something
worse?
I have to ask Zabini first.
He looked up to the Gryffindor table, past his forgotten toast. Ron, who was
usually was already watching him when he sensed trouble, had his eyes on...
his body? Malfoy?
"Come in!"
The old man really is too cheery for a Monday morning, were Pansy's
first thoughts as she entered the headmaster's office. Goyle was seated
in Dumbledore's usual place, sipping tea and opening a small jar of lemon
drops.
It was a rather scary sight.
"Miss Parkinson, what an unexpected visitor! Do have a seat."
Pansy awkwardly sat in the now plaid chair that sat across from Goyle's
desk. The upholstery on this particular chair was always changing, and it usually
grated her nerves a lot more than it did today. Hey, it was better plaid than
it had been on her last Valentine's Day visit. Pink hearts really didn't
suit the chair.
"Lemon drop?"
She brushed the question aside. "Al–Dumbledore, I've been
studying the unfinished wards on the castle, and I think I might have found
something which may prove useful."
"Ah, Severus! How has it been, reliving your teenage years?"
She gritted her teeth in irritation. "Please, Albus. I've been researching the affects malfunctioning wards have on curses. I assume the Dark Lord and his followers did their dirty work with simple invisibility cloaks and a small variation of the killing curse, creating a mass-killing-curse meant to blot out all inhabitants of the castle." She inhaled. "Now, we know that all humans–no other creatures, according to the house elves I have asked–switched bodies, and this... 'replacement'... is one of the aftereffects I found with more in-depth research." She exhaled. "Using these results, I believe I can find out just how far along we were with the wards on the castle, leading us to a countercurse which will, hopefully, undo the 'replacement' without killing us as the curse was intended to do." She inhaled. "Of course, the only minor setback is the fact that the curse was placed from inside the castle. That means that testing anything would be pointless, as we would need the exact same circumstances–same time, same volume of space, same number of people and animals in the hallway, the list goes on." She exhaled. "But we must keep the security of the outgoing communication good. If he catches wind that we have all switched bodies rather than remained unaffected, he will know that disabling the wards will kill us all."
Goyle had been listening with rapt attention, and he now nodded. "Yes.
That makes sense–you certainly are determined, working on this even with
these minor setbacks," he said, waving around vaguely and grinning. "I
was hoping hormones would open you up a little."
Pansy spluttered indignantly. "Spies don't 'open up,'
Albus."
"Oh, I am aware," he said, still managing to make Goyle's
eyes twinkle. Pansy wondered how many hours he'd spent in front of the
mirror, learning how to make them do that again. "I don't think
you should pass up the opportunity you've been given with our young Mr.
Zabini though."
How much does this man know?
"Now, off with you, Severus."
Shooed from the headmaster's office, Pansy had no choice but to get up,
walk out, and be left right where she'd started. She'd forgotten
to ask if the headmaster could tell her what particular wards he'd used.
Bother, I'm not going back in to ask.
When he'd reached the Gryffindor table, the steps seeming to take forever,
Harry had only had to show the seal to Ron before he'd abruptly stood,
grabbed the letter and his shoulder, and pulled him out of the Hall with him.
"When the hell did you get this?"
"A falcon just dropped it in my breakfast," Harry answered, shrugging
Ron's hand off, but his grip was too strong to budge. He was squeezing
his shoulder so hard it had already gone numb.
"Shit shit shit shit...."
"What is it?"
Draco had just come in, and asked his question in a lazy drawl, leaning on Ron's
shoulder and glancing down at the letter. Then he was silent. Thinking.
"Get off." Ron pulled out of Draco's lean, while at the same
time, unclenching from Harry's shoulder. Harry backstepped.
"But I thought you wanted me," the other Gryffindor whined.
Harry, forgotten, blinked.
"I do, just not right this moment. And if you don't recall,
the owner of the body you're currently using is standing right
over there."
"'Ello Potter. I hope you don't mind that I'm engaging
your body in gay–"
"Merlin, Malfoy, shut up for a moment. Do you think he's cursed
it?"
"Gay what?"
"Scan it, stupid."
"Ah, yes." Ron began muttering odd Latin words, doing a familiar
flick and swish. Nothing seemed to be happening, which Harry took for a good
thing.
"Oh, and Potter," Draco began, turning to the Slytherin. "What
the hell is up with your nightmares?"
"Oh, shit. You've been having nightmares?"
"Last night. Voldemort used some 'reminisce' spell on me.
What does it do?"
Harry was nervously wringing his hands while he thought, but stopped when Ron
glared over at him. Obviously he didn't like his body looking vulnerable.
"Did you even try to, you know, block it?"
"I was too busy being confused, if you'd like to know."
"Seems clean," Ron said.
They silently watched Malfoy exiting the Hall. He nervously rushed past their
stares towards the commons to get his books.
"Come on, we need to find somewhere more private to open it,"
Ron growled. The prospect of missing Care of Magical Creatures, one of the few
classes that had gotten harder with the switch, wasn't all that gloomy
to Harry.
Thus, ten minutes later they were to be found in a hidden room in the astronomy
tower, which, while the size of a fairly-large closet, had light and a table
and two armchairs.
Harry watched in confusion as the two Gryffindors across from him took the same
seat, Draco flinging his arm around Ron's shoulders. They seemed oblivious
to his oblivion.
"Here. You open it."
"Why me?" Harry looked down at the letter that had been slid across
the tiny table to him.
"Because neither of us want any unknown curses on us, Gryffindork."
"If you don't recall, you two are the Gryffindorks at the moment,"
Harry mumbled, but broke the seal anyway, in one quick movement.
All three boys froze, waiting.
When nothing happened, they simultaneously sighed in relief.
"Okay, give it back."
"Er."
"I don't say 'er'. Don't ever say 'er'."
Draco had started reading the letter as Harry and Ron bickered.
"Prat."
"Idiot."
"Shut up," Draco interjected, leaning out of Ron's vision,
eyes flitting across the paper.
"What does it say?"
"He wants you to join the Death Eaters," Draco said, incredulously.
"What?" Harry and Ron asked in unison.
Draco looked at Ron. Harry looked at Ron. Ron stared at the letter that was
still out of his line of vision.
"Gimme that!"
There was a short scuffle as Draco tried to dangle the parchment out of Ron's
reach, and a shorter one as Draco tried to get it back from Harry when he plucked
it right out of his hand.
B. Zabini,
I have held a recent meeting with my followers and they have decided to spare
your father, provided you join my ranks as a loyal Death Eater. By doing this,
you can repay the debts that your father has brought to your family name.
If you refuse to do this, I will make certain–
"Give me my effing letter!"
There was silence as both Harry and Draco watched Ron read. When he finished
the brief read, he looked up, visibly unchanged.
"I don't care if there's some 'debt' on my family
name. They can repay their own debt."
He crinkled the parchment up and opened the window to throw it out, but had
second thoughts. With a flick of his wand, the letter was gone in a burst of
green flame.
"They're going to come after you though, Zabini. You're
your father's only heir. He won't want your sister, he'll
want you."
"I can protect myself. What are you anyway? A Death Eater turned spy?"
"I'm unclassifiable," Draco said proudly.
"Lovely," Harry broke in mildly. "What does this have to
do with me?"
"Nothing. Just stay out of the way of anyone you know is a Death
Eater."
"As easy as I wish it would be to stay out of Malfoy's way–"
"You don't know of any other Death Eaters?" Now, Ron looked
visibly paler.
"What about Parkinson? She seems pretty distant. Do you know who she is?"
"I've been wanting to find out," Harry answered carefully,
as casually as he could.
"You fancy her," Ron added, immediately.
"God, Potter, are you really that stupid?"
"What? It was him who said it, not–"
There were footsteps above them. They looked up at the trap door in the ceiling,
not even daring to breathe.
"Shit, how are we going to get out if they have a daytime class?"
Harry shrugged. "Wait until they're on the roof?"
"How're we supposed to know when that is?"
"Lumos."
The room became slightly less dim. Harry poked up on the trap door, and slowly
raised it, peeking out.
One pair of feet disappeared onto the roof. There didn't seem to be any
other shoe noises.
He threw open the door as softly as he could, and pulled himself out before
looking behind him.
"What're you doing here?"
Harry snapped his head around to see Padma, halfway through tying a bootlace.
"Ron! Shh, we just need to get out."
"Well, hurry up, they're coming right back in. They're seeing
how much in rained the other day. Something to do with how visible the stars
are supposed to be. I wasn't listening."
"Help me get them out."
"You were in the makeout closet with these two?"
All three made a face.
"No! We were just looking at a letter, s'all. Thanks Ron,"
and they were out of the room without being detected.
