Belle meets Ginny
The red-haired woman scooped the orange cat off of the bed, took him outside of the room, set him down, and shut the door behind her.
"Crookshanks hissed at Hermione. I never thought I'd see the day," the woman muttered crossing the room back to where Belle still sat in bed. "That has to mean something." She began pacing at the foot of Belle's bed, muttering to herself.
Belle couldn't understand half of what the young woman was talking about. Belle didn't think it was just the language barrier either. Though there were many words and places she was unfamiliar with.
"Hermione had never been quite right after the Battle of Hogwarts. But who was? Last year was awful in so many ways. We lost so many people…" the young woman's voice cracked a little as she said this. She took a breath and continued her diatribe. "When Hermione decided to finish her final year at Hogwarts, we all thought it would be a good thing for her. A step back towards normalcy and all that. Over the summer, she'd gotten obsessed with reading fairy tales, both Muggle and the wizard kind. At first, we'd all thought it was because of the Deathly Hallows and that she'd wanted to ensure there weren't other secret magical items around. But then when we got back to school last week, she told me in confidence that she thought she could magic herself into one of them. But I didn't think she'd actually do it! Oh, what will Ron say? What will Harry say? Should I tell them? I'd have to go to the owlry and borrow an owl. Would she have done this if they were here?"
Belle was at a loss. For now, she let the young woman keep talking.
"D0 I tell Professor McGonagall? Is that a good idea? She is the headmistress. People are going to realize that something isn't quite right about Hermione. She'll find out sooner or later. Maybe that's what I should do."
The young woman stopped her pacing, seeming to come to a decision.
"Yes, that's what I'll do," she looked over at Belle. "I'd like for you to come and meet our headmistress. She'll know what to do."
The young woman paused, considering.
"What's your name, anyway?" she asked. Then remembering her manners, she said, "My name is Ginny. Ginny Weasley. Well, technically, Ginny is my nickname, short for Ginevra, but only my great auntie Muriel calls me that." She took a breath. "Sorry, I'm rambling. Please tell me your name."
Belle smiled a little. Ginny seemed like a nice person. "My name is Belle."
"Belle. Nice to meet you," Ginny said. "I know this must be super overwhelming. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I believe my friend Hermione cast a spell that caused you two to switch places."
Switch places? Belle's head started spinning at that. How would that affect her father's fate? Would the Beast notice? Did he even care? Maybe not.
"This…is all so much to take in," Belle finally said to Ginny. "I didn't understand half of what you were saying."
Ginny smiled sympathetically. "I can only imagine. Just wait until you see more."