Hermione recovered quickly from the rush of finding him. She sobered when she remembered who she was talking to.
"Snape wants to see you." She rushed of after Ginny.
Draco stood, silently kicking himself for saying absolutely nothing. He trudged wearily back into the castle in search of Snape.
Hermione caught up with Ginny near Gryffindor Tower.
"He wants to try," Ginny said as she noticed the tears in Hermione's eyes.
"I'm sure he does."
"What happened to make you feel this way, anyway?" Ginny asked.
"What? The crying? He's an arse." Hermione said stopping in front of the portrait.
"Password?" Said the Fat Lady.
"Malfoy's an arse!" Hermione said.
"Uh, no…try again." The Fat Lady looked down at her disapprovingly.
"Polyjuice," said Ginny.
The idea struck both girls at the same time.
"If I turn into a cat again I'm going to be seriously upset," Hermione said, as the girls sat down to plot.
"What's going on with them?" Ron asked Harry, while they sat outside under a tree.
"I'm not sure. What's Lavendar said about it? Ginny's been acting pretty weird." Harry picked up a quill and scribbled down an incantation.
"Not a lot. She says they've just been together a lot in the library. And, uh, there's another thing…" Ron trailed off.
"What's that?" Harry asked, uninterested.
"She's been seeing Ginny around a lot...with um…"
"Spit it out."
"Malfoy. Ginny's been with Malfoy."
"EXCUSE ME!"
"We don't have time for a Polyjuice Potion, Ginny. It's too much time. Draco could find another girl by then." Hermione poured over more and more books looking for an Instant Recipe.
"You know, we'll have to explain something to Harry. If this all goes as planned I mean. What's he going to think? His girlfriend running around with Draco Malfoy. Poor kid would be heartbroken." Ginny walked away to find another book.
"Find anything interesting, Granger." Drawled a cold voice behind her.
She ignored him.
"Hey, Mudblood!"
Hermione could hear the shuffle of feet behind her; she braced herself as her chair was whipped around. She glared up at Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle…and Pansy.
Apparently we're already out of time, Hermione thought.
"Honestly, the whole castle could cave in before she'd pull herself out of those books." Draco mocked her.
Hermione's blood began to boil as Pansy draped an arm around Draco's waist. Pain flashed through his eyes as he watched Hermione. Instead of witnessing the hurt he wished he'd seen, she merely looked bored.
"If you don't mind, Malfoy, I've got things to do." Hermione turned herself around and picked up another book.
"I've found something," Ginny said as she reappeared from behind a shelf. "Oh, Malfoy. Hi."
"Weasley." Malfoy said, nearing polite.
"Why are you being nice to her?" Pansy said, pulling Draco closer.
"Well, she is a Pureblood. Come on," he said, walking away. "They're no fun."
"There's no point now, Gin. He's clearly back with Pansy."
"Yeah, because that wasn't a ploy to drive you insane at all, was it?" Ginny said, pushing the book in front of Hermione.
"Formus Reflectus," Hermione read out of the book. "This incantation allows any two people to switch physical forms until the counter spell is spoken."
Hermione looked up smiling.
"I think this just might work."
Harry tore up the slopes back towards the castle, Ron was fast on his heels.
"Wait a minute, mate!" Ron yelled. "You may not know the whole story!"
"I know what I need to know."
"Harry! Wait, I'm wrong. Uh, it wasn't Ginny at all. I bet it was that new girl with the red hair," Ron froze as Harry stopped on the steps. "Oy! Lavendar's always getting her gossip mixed about, that's it! It wasn't Ginny. Ginny's been with Hermione remember?"
Harry turned around slowly. Ron let out a breath as his coup had worked.
"You're a terrible liar, Ron."
"So, this is the plan. We'll switch every few days and you can go be me with Malfoy, while I hide in the library pretending to be you." Ginny asked Hermione.
"Right, it'll give me time to get to know him more, without him knowing that it's me."
"And we'll tell Harry and Ron, before anything goes sour, right?"
"Right, the next time we see them, we'll tell them." Hermione agreed.
"Wait, if Draco likes you…but you look like me. What if he thinks he's falling for the real me?" Ginny asked.
"Well, uh. He won't. He won't find out the truth. I just want to get to know him, then we'll switch back, and I'll know best how to act. I just have to make him think that I, Ginny, am helping him win you, Hermione." Hermione said, confusing herself.
"All those library hours are going to kill me, don't you think?"
"Ginny, you must be brave." Hermione laughed.
Her laughter lasted only a moment, as Harry and Ron appeared in the library.
"Ginny, can I speak with you?" Harry said. He didn't mean to sound so angry with her, well…he did. But all he really wanted was an explanation.
"Sure, Harry. What's the matter?" She asked as he pulled her behind a shelf.
"It's just…uh, I wanted to know something. There's been talk, about you and Malfoy, being seen together. I just wanted to know…uh, is there something going on?"
Ginny laughed. As she saw the panic sweep across Harry's face she stopped instantly.
"No! Harry, nothing is going on with me and Malfoy."
"But, he was asking for your help, then you went off onto the grounds with him…"
"I know, I'm so sorry, Harry. For what that must of felt like. But he does need my help." Ginny grabbed his large hand in her small one. "Two of my friends need help, and I wouldn't feel right if I didn't try everything I can to help them."
"Two? Who's the other one?" Harry asked.
"Don't worry, please? I need you to trust me. I'm going to explain everything when this works out, at least, if it works out. But Harry, you're going to be seeing me with Malfoy a lot more than usual…" she trailed off as Harry had a minor heart attack.
"What!"
"I mean! Wait, you can't understand yet. It's just don't worry about anything. It isn't me exactly…we'll it will be, but it won't. Can you please just trust me?"
"Yes, Ginny. I'm going to trust you enough to throw you to the snakes!"
"I can handle myself! I'm not going anywhere near the snakes!"
"You just said you were!"
"It's not me!"
"You said it was!"
"Harry, please. Please, just this one time. Let. It. Go." She closed her eyes and tightened her jaw, just for effect.
"Be careful. I don't think Malfoy can be trusted, Ginny."
"I think Potter's right," drawled a voice behind the both of them.