A/N Thanks for reading as always. Hope you enjoy. Love to get feedback.

Chapter 4

"Why?" Granger says. She looks at me dead on and the fury in her eyes is almost tangible. I worry she might reach out and choke me. Goyle let it slip about how she punched Draco in the face so I know what she's capable of.

"Why, what?" I say. Playing dumb is my best option until she has incontrovertible proof I'm guilty. Deny. Deny. Deny.

"You know what!" There's a vein bulging on her forehead and I'm tempted to tell her about it. "What you did in the library!"

"What? Fall asleep? Sorry I didn't know it bothered you so much!" I try sounding indignant. Really, to play this off right I should be angrier and stalk off but I just can't bring myself to do it. "I thought you were here to forgive me and talk, not to yell at me."

That cools her down a bit. She is definitely a softy. I realize that it's her weakness, one that is easily exploitable especially for a gifted actress such as myself. All I need to do is play the victim and she's all mine...In the strict sense of being at my mercy that is.

With hurt in my face I slowly stand, "Nevermind. We can't be friends, it was a stupid idea anyway. Sorry to waste your time."

"Wait," she says and I try to hide my grin. It's all in her eyes. She's considering the option that maybe I'm not the culprit after all, that maybe she made a mistake. I knew she didn't have any proof. I called her bluff and now she's feeling all guilty. Ha! My experience in mind reading pays off even when I'm no longer in people's heads because I still remember how they think. Or…

Or…

Or maybe I'm losing control of it again. Please no. Please let this be simple intuition. This is not the time or place to be losing control of my legilimency. Even though I sit back down I don't look her way. Think of something else. Anything else. Take your mind off Granger or…or else…

Too late…

I sense myself losing my grip on the sensation of my body. It falls away like a dream.

The feeling of the earth shifting under me, the tightness of the skirt around my waist, and a change in my body temperature. That's bizarre. She's literally warmer than me. I can feel the heat emanating from her body—my body—in waves. Oh no this isn't good. Fuck.

It's a new feeling. More evidence that my condition is getting worse not better. All of the previous times I've entered people's minds I leave my own body behind, lose awareness of it. It remains motionless waiting for me to return, with the tiniest hint of awareness so that if anything extreme happens to my body I would still sense it. But now I find myself split in two: my body sensations are hers but from the neck up the sensations are rooted in my own body. It feels almost like I'm paralyzed because without feeling I have no control.

I must look strange because she begins staring at me.

"Is something wrong?" she asks with concern.

"No, fine, just...um...have a muscle cramp is all."

"Oh. Where is it?"

"My neck."

I use the time she's inspecting my neck to frantically attempt to extricate my mind from hers, part of it anyway. And, out! Get out! It's no use. Shit. What am I gonna do? I can't sit here forever!

"It's still there?" Her voice goes up an octave. She's afraid for my safety. When I decided to play the victim to gain her trust this is NOT what I had in mind.

"Yes it—uh, please get Pomfrey or McGonagall."

"It's that bad? What—"

"Yes! Why all the bloody questions? Just get them!"

My testiness backfires.

"You don't have a cramp you liar! I don't know what you're trying to pull but we're going to the Headmistress directly so I can tell her all about the incident in the library."

Without a hint of the tenderness she showed earlier she grabs my arm and pulls, hard. I watch my body fall forward in a hideously clumsy fashion, my arms folding under my chest and my legs stubbornly remaining in their crosslegged position. My chest is on the wet grass along with my cheek. I imagine I look like someone who had five too many butterbeers at the Hog's Head.

I can feel Hermione's heart drumming away. "What on earth?" she screams. She's either angry or terrified but now that my only view is of the green lawn I can't tell which. This is horrifying. Potentially the worst day of my life and that's including the one where Draco dumped me like heap of garbage after the war ended. Not open minded enough, he said. The fucking hypocrite. After the war he had a kind of spiritual awakening or some such nonsense.

"Now will you get Pomfrey or McGonagall!" I scream back. Hysteria is taking over. If I could feel my own heart I'm sure it would outpace Hermione's. More than embarrassment I feel the overwhelming fear that this affliction is going to end my life, my physical one that is. It's already destroyed my social one.

"Okay! Hold on! I'll get someone."

Crunch, crunch, crunch. The sound of her footsteps fade off into the distance. I'm alone in my severed head. But I do have Hermione's body to keep me company. I can feel it running down a flight of stairs, and left, and opening a door, and stopping. Her hands start moving about, gesturing to somebody her need of assistance.

One lonely student walks by, staring at me, I can see him out of the corner of my eye.

"Piss off will you!"

He giggles and darts away, probably eager to gather all of his friends to bear witness to the spectacle that is me. I'm hoping Granger comes back soon. Really hoping she comes to save me from this predicament. Stranger and stranger. What next? I fall in love with that mudblood? Ha! Now that is truly ridiculous. At least that won't happen.

I become aware of the sounds of footsteps coming my way. It's Hermione, the sensations and sounds are a match. About time.

"There she is. I don't know what's wrong with her but she said she had a cramp in her neck and then I tried to pull her up and she fell forward. She's obviously completely paralyzed." Hermione explains in her best teacher's pet voice. It's proud, as if it had been her plan all along to be present for this disaster so she could save me from it.

"Thank you Miss Granger I can handle it from here." A man's voice. Damn Dominicus. Uh oh.

"Should I get Pomfrey?"

"No. I can fix this." He lifts me from the ground, cradling me in his arms while my head hangs limply, staring down at his well-polished shoes.

It's excruciatingly painful: The lecture from Dominicus that follows. While he goes on and on about responsibility and being reckless I try my best to focus on Granger's body. It's sitting for awhile, probably reading, and then it walks to the dining hall where it consumes a surprisingly large meal. I resent that I experience the discomfort of being too full without the pleasure of tasting the food. How does she manage to keep in shape? Eating like this and sitting reading books all day? Wish I had her body...Oh yeah...I do.

Finally I'm left alone as Dominicus leaves to prepare some ingredients for a spell. He says this will help ground me in my own body. I ask why he never used it on me before, in our lessons he never once even mentioned such a spell. Before he leaves he mumbles something about the situation not having been "extreme enough to warrant it". That's comforting.

I'm waiting patiently. Lying on my back on a desk in his office. How scandalous this would be if any of the girls saw. But no one will at this time of night, so I let myself relax.

Granger is moving about. Hands going to her hips and through her thick hair. What's this? She's starting to unbutton her blouse? I sincerely hope this is all her doing this time. Can't get caught with my hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. But I can't help noticing every sensation. As her top falls away the cool night air buffets her back and it feels nice. I wonder if she thinks it feels nice. She must. And now she moves her hands down to her skirt and slides it down her hips. It snags a little on her underwear and pulls it down a couple inches. Another breeze of cool air.

I'm fascinated by her body. I pay close attention to every nuance as if my life depended on it. It's purely intellectual curiosity I think. My body's lower half isn't here to tell me otherwise so I prefer to think of it as platonic interest. After all she is beneath me. And if I'm stuck with her body I might as well learn something.

It's when she settles nude into a hot bath that I can no longer deny the fact that I'm attracted to her body. From the inside out. I can feel her blood rise to the surface trying to cool itself off. Her muscles begin to relax and I realize how tense she's been the whole time. What a pain it must be to be so guarded at all times, ready to take action, save the world. Her pulse hits a slow rhythm that is contagious. I find my own mind begin to quiet.

Now she's washing her body with soap, a muggle soap I can tell. But I don't mind that too much. I'm just glad she decided to use her own hands to rub it into her skin so I can feel that too. Her neck, sudsed up. Along her collarbone and delicate shoulders. Down her arms. Then her breasts. I can feel that her nipples are hard but she isn't aroused, I can sense that too. As her hands travel south between her legs I begin to wish I could feel my own body's excitement.

I'm disappointed that she doesn't linger too long on any of the best pleasure points. It's all business down there. Washing and rinsing. None of the fun stuff that is all I can think about. I'd really love to—

"Okay I have all the necessary chemical elements to help coax you back to your own body." Dominicus. Ruining a great moment. The thought alone causes my body to sigh in exasperation.