My vision floated in and out of focus and I tried to hold onto the table to stop it from moving while I was bombarded with emotions that didn't make sense. Fear, sadness, devastation, guilt, and a ton of other confusing emotions jumbled up in a ball were shoved into my brain and made it feel like it was made of pudding. I didn't know what was happening. I heard mum and dads faint cries of worry in the background, but I could not understand their words as the floor suddenly jumped up to attack me.
Chapter 8:
I woke up with a feeling that something was terribly wrong. But his time it was like a familiar wrong. I knew without having to check that I was back in my own body. It was strange how this knowledge made me feel anxious. As if I needed yet another strange thing to happen atop of all the others. It was also very clear that this would not last. Things didn't simply solve themselves without an effort. That was not how things worked.
Still, I had never been so happy to find myself laying in someone elses bed (certainly not since I knew this was Snapes bed). I couldn't resist the urge to squeeze my boobs, just to check if they were there, feel the familiarity of my face and extend my feet in front of me to wiggle my toes in delight.
So, Snape and I had changed back. But how? Why now?
I looked around at my surroundings. I was alone in a dark dingy room that I recognized as Snapes room at Grimmauld place. It was quiet except the sound of raindrops drumming loudly on the window. It was currently pouring down outside.
That was it then. The rain.
Rain was what they had meant by 'liquid sunshine', but did that mean we would switch bodies every time it started raining?
This was definitely news, and I realized quickly that Dumbledore and Amaryllis needed to know. I also realized that Snape was currently at my parents' house . . . ugh, I did not like that idea. Even though my mum and dad could handle snappish rude bastards quite well, I figured I would have to go and find them and at least introduce them or something.
It wasn't until I got out of bed that I noticed how strange my face felt. It was hot and sticky and uncommonly blotched. I ran to the bathroom to see what was wrong and it surprised me to see that it looked like I had been crying . . . for hours. What had happened? Could it be that Snape had been crying all this time? Surely not. Snape didn't cry, did he?
But it was hard to imagine another explanation. I remembered the confusing jumble of emotions I had felt before I passed out. Could they possibly have come from Snape? But surely not. How was that even possible? I mean, I had seen some crazy magic these last few days, but surely there must be some limits to what magic could do? We couldn't simply share emotions just like that!
But then again, only a few days ago, I had thought switching bodies was impossible. . .
But what could make Snape cry for hours? Could it be because of what he said to me earlier? Or was it something else? For all I knew it could be that he stumped his toe, or that the sun was too bright. But most likely not. Snape didn't seem like the kind of guy who burst into tears for nothing.
Would he be angry if I asked him?
The sound of someone running up the stairs startled me. I had a feeling it was Snape, so I headed out of the bathroom to meet him. I was right. Snape had a strange expression of determination on his face while he ran up the stairs. And maybe a hint of hope? He stopped when he noticed me. His hair was drizzled with raindrops, his cheeks where slightly pink, and for some strange reason I realized I had never seen him more human.
"It's the rain" he said, panting slightly "we changed when it started raining."
If I hadn't spent the last few days in his body I am sure I would never have noticed the subtle change in his expression when he noticed my face. There was something in his eyes. Was it shame? I knew he could see how blotched it was, and I also knew he understood that I had noticed. He said nothing though and that was when I decided not to mention it. Why would I bother him about it?
Instead I focused on something else. He was still wearing my dad's clothes, and I had a hard time not to laugh. My mum was right; he really did look like a hillbilly. Thank god he wasn't wearing dungarees.
I forced myself to be serious and nodded "Liquid sunshine was used as a metaphor for rain in ancient poems."
"How do you know that?"
"My dad told me, he is very fond of old English literature. He knows what he is talking about."
"It is not permanent" stated Snape. He had schooled his face back to the normal emotionless expression, but I could see a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
"I know"
"How do you know?"
"The same way you do I suppose. I just feel it."
"Yes" Snape said.
After a second of tense and awkward silence I suggested we go and see Dumbledore. Snape nodded, turned around and headed down the stairs without a word.
Since the kitchen was occupied, we had to apparate to Hogsmeade and walk from there. Snape intended to disguise me while we walked to Hogwarts but I didn't want to sneak around. Instead I insisted we'd make up some story if we met someone. "Perhaps you're 'following' me for a meeting with Dumbledore or something" I suggested with a shrug. I didn't expect him to agree so easily but he just rolled his eyes and waved his hand indistinctively in the air before he walked away and left me behind. Perhaps he was in a good mood. His behaviour wasn't exactly friendly, but I didn't bother to get insulted. Instead I walked behind him in the rain, thinking about my ow things or simply relishing in the feeling of familiarity within my own skin.
Dumbledore and Amaryllis where both surprised about our new discovery (Amaryllis was inappropriately excited) and they both asked a lot of questions about the experience we felt at the time. The task of answering questions fell to me while Snape sat awkwardly in silence while being poked and probed by Amaryllis. Again. He was not comfortable with being touched and especially not by her.
Wait, how did I know that?
Anyway, the happiness of being back in my own body was short lasted. It stopped raining during our stay in Dumbledores office but later in the evening it started raining again. At least I got to spend a few hours in my own body, which I used to go back to my parents' house and explain what had happened. I brought Snapes clothes back for him when I returned.
I went up the stairs in Grimmauld place 12, knocked on the door to his room and held out the pile when he opened. He took it with a harrumph, but I stopped him when he tried to close the door. "May I come in?" I asked.
"Why?"
"I just wanted to tell you something."
"No."
"Fine, I'll tell you here then." I said and crossed my arms. "I don't blame you for this thing" I gestured between us "it's not your fault, you know."
He studied me with raised eyebrows as if I had just told him I liked rainbow coloured unicorns. But I knew there was some kind of emotion behind his eyes. I couldn't decipher what. "That's it?" he asked.
"Yep, I thought you ought to know. Well then, I'll see you later I guess" I said and left him alone in the doorway. I didn't dare stay there longer. Snape was a lot more intimidating in his own body than he was in mine.
Later I went to hang in the kitchen with some of the order members and the Weasley kids. One of the Weasley childrens friends, a girl called Hermione Granger had joined the house during the day and I used most of my time getting to know her and the youngest Weasley girl, Ginny. I had a swell time and I didn't think much of where Snape was until I felt the same kind of dizziness as earlier and suddenly found myself sitting alone in the Grimmauld place library. This time the change had been much faster. It only took about thirty seconds. The others sitting around the table might not have noticed unless they looked straight at me while it happened.
I felt a sudden wave of exhaustion while I sat there in the candlelight and decided to fight the urge to check whether Snape was okay (or that he wasn't ruining my life) and go to bed. Snape had changed back to his own long, black robes but he hadn't thrown away my dads' old clothes like I had expected. Instead he had folded them on a neat pile on his bed with a note that said:
It was kind of your father let me borrow these but I do not appreciate being dressed up like a doll. You will cease this kind of behaviour immediately or there will be consequences.
How sweet.
I had to smile at the letter. He always thought the worst in people. Did he think I had been dressing him up like a doll and parading around in silly clothes for a laugh? What did he think of me? I found a pen and wrote a reply underneath his message:
Red suits you.
Let's see how he would take that.
While I lay there in Snapes bed dressed in Snapes stupid nightshirt I wondered if the loneliness I had felt in the library after being snatched away from the kitchen had been my own feelings, or if it had been a glimpse of Snapes emotions.
Authors note:
Hello readers. I know this story has been a bit slow so far, but I promise there will be more action soon. So please bare with me.
I got the idea of using the rain as a way to switch bodies from a Korean drama called 'Secret garden'. It's quite a silly drama, but it is very sweet and I recommend you to check it out if you havent seen it already. Ta!
