Hermione dreams of Belle

The Beast refused to eat dinner with Hermione, so she had a quiet dinner and went to bed early.

She discovered that she was really tired after a long day of finding herself in a new place and trying to survive in it.

She changed into the nightgown that Madame De Garderobe had given her and she fell into bed.

She lay awake for a while thinking about all she'd seen and heard.

She wondered how Belle was doing. This woman she didn't know but had utterly disrupted the life of. Hermione fell asleep thinking of Belle.

As Hermione thoughts turned into dreams, she found herself in Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix Lestrange used both magical and physical pain as her instruments of torture.

That dream, this nightmare, haunted Hermione. Sometimes, in her dream, Bellatrix broke her and killed everyone: Harry, Ron, Luna, Dean, and Mr. Ollivander. Sometimes, in her dream, Draco Malfoy helped his aunt, leering at Hermione. Other times, Malfoy tried to save her.

But this time, something different happened. Bellatrix transformed into someone Hermione didn't recognize. A blonde, beautiful woman with flowing blue robes. The room was no longer Malfoy Manor. It had become a silvery yet cozy circular sitting room.

There was no knife. No torture. Only peace and contentment.

"She's waiting for you," the woman said, gesturing to an open door that had only just appeared when Hermione looked. All Hermione could see through the door was a glowing blue sky and an open field.

Hermione didn't move. "Who are you?" she asked.

"All will be revealed in time," the woman said. "It is for you to discover."

Hermione glanced at the door and back at the woman. But she was gone.

With no other option, Hermione crossed the threshold through the open door and found herself in an expansive meadow on top of a hill that overlooked plains of grass. It was beautiful and serene.

A gasp behind Hermione made her turn around. Hermione gasped in turn.

It was as if she was looking at her own reflection, but with some minor changes.

A woman stood in front of Hermione wearing a blue dress with a white apron. Her hair was smooth and pulled back into a neat ponytail, tied back by a blue ribbon. She carried herself with a certain elegance that Hermione had never been able to pull off. Yet almost everything else was the same as what Hermione saw when she looked at herself every day.

"It's you," Hermione whispered. "Belle."

"Yes," Belle said. "And you must be Hermione."

Hermione had so many things she wanted to say to Belle and but started with, "Are you at Hogwarts? Are you okay?"

"Yes," Belle said. "It seems that I'm at Hogwarts." She paused. "I don't know if I'm okay. Physically I'm fine, but it's a lot to take in. Ginny's been wonderful."

"Oh good," Hermione said, relieved. "What happ–?"

"Why did you do this?" Belle demanded, cutting Hermione off. "Switching our places?"

"I couldn't bear to live in my own life anymore," Hermione said honestly, thinking Belle deserved the truth. "The reality became too much for me."

"But you have friends who care for you. A boyfriend who loves you. You go to a school of magic, for heaven's sake," Belle said. "You have everything. And you wanted to change places with me in my miserable situation?"

"Your situation only starts miserable!" Hermione exclaimed. "You then find true love and live happily ever after. But I don't deserve that ending for myself after taking you out of your own story, so I'm trying to help them with logic and my own skills."

"My story? That's not the first time I've heard this. Ginny said something about you becoming obsessed with fairy tales," Belle said. "But how am I in a fairy tale? I read about them all the time, but I can't possibly be in one."

"Perhaps because, for you, the story is still being written," Hermione said. "And in my time, it became one."

Belle seemed to think about this for a moment. Then asked, "Are you going to reverse this?"

"I don't know how," Hermione admitted. "I invented the spell on my own and tried it before figuring out if it was reversible." It was truly reckless of Hermione to do this. Very unlike her. But that's what she'd done.

"Ginny took me to see someone called Professor McGonagall," Belle said. "A portrait of an old man spoke to us and told us that only you and I could reverse the spell."

"Was he wearing half-moon spectacles?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Belle said. "You know him, I presume?"

"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione confirmed, her eyes filling with tears. "Of course, he'd know about this kind of magic."

"He called my story the tale of 'Beauty and the Beast,'" Belle said.

"Yes, that's what we call it," Hermione said. "Though the reality is different from what I've read. I guess that's how it always is."

"Would you reverse this?" Belle asked. "Even if you knew how?"

Hermione was silent for a moment. "Yes," she said. "I would. If only because I didn't realize how much my actions would affect others. I didn't think I'd be potentially ruining someone else's life."

Belle nodded. "Will you help my father?" Belle asked. "Make sure he's okay?"

"I'll do my best," Hermione said. "The Beast isn't happy with me right now. I told him the truth and he's furious at me for taking you away."

Belle looked startled. "Really?" she said, surprised that he would care about her being gone one way or another. "We did reach somewhat of an agreement last night after our adventures with the wolves."

"I heard about that," Hermione said. "Mrs. Potts said she'd reminded the Beast of the dangers outside of the castle."

"Mrs. Potts!" Belle said. "She's such a dear. I met your boyfriend tonight. And Harry Potter. And someone called Draco Malfoy."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed. "I forgot. It was Slughorn's start of term party, right? How did they respond to you?"

"Well, Ron kissed me," Belle said, still looking startled about it. "Then Ginny explained to them the situation. Draco Malfoy questioned me at the party, but I didn't respond to him and then Ron got mad at me for talking to him."

Hermione sighed. "Are you pretending to be me?" she asked.

"Yes," Belle said. "I wasn't given an option. Professor McGonagall said times were too unstable for me to not be you." Belle looked down. "But it seems I can do magic."

"You can?" Hermione asked, surprised. "That's amazing! What have you done?"

"Everything that Ginny asked me to do," Belle said and described what she'd done.

"Fascinating," Hermione said. "And you didn't use any spells to do this?"

Belle shook her head, "No," she confirmed. "I thought about what I wanted to happen and it just…happened."

"I wish I had a library right now," Hermione said. "I want to read all about this."

"The library at Hogwarts is amazing!" Belle said giddily, recalling the library's vast tomes and many stacks. "I could live in there."

"Unfortunately, the librarian Madam Pince doesn't take kindly to that," Hermione said. "If she catches you asleep, she'll set her cat on you and that is not a pleasant experience."

"Your cat did not like me," Belle said. "He knew that it wasn't you."

"Oh, Crookshanks," Hermione said fondly. "He's very skilled at knowing who's not what they claim to be. Your horse also didn't like me."

"Philippe!" Belle exclaimed. "He's a good horse. Very loyal. Could you make sure he's fed and taken care of?"

"Of course," said Hermione, realizing that she had no idea whether Philippe had a food source or any sort of accommodations. "It's the least I can do."

"So, if reversing this spell is up to us," Belle said. "What do we do?"

"I don't know," Hermione said. "I don't have access to a library or any means of finding a wand. I also promised to break the enchantment on the Beast and his staff. I hope he'll warm up to me soon so I can start investigating."

"From what I've started to get to know about him," Belle said. "He has a hard time controlling his temper, but he actually seems to care."

"Hopefully, after a good night's sleep, he'll be more cooperative," Hermione said.

"Are there any books you can point me towards to read so I can help?" Belle asked, thinking again about the library.

"I'm not sure how much sense it will make to you, but the books on the first row on the top shelf of my bookcase were the ones I'd been using as inspiration for my spellcraft to come here," Hermione said. "The journal in the top right drawer of my desk has my notes. I bewitched the drawer to only open for me, but hopefully since you're in my body it'll open for you."

"Okay," Belle said. "Will we see each other here every night?"

"I hope so," said Hermione. "That way we can fill each other in and get to know each other. About each other's lives and worlds." Hermione looked around. "By the way, do you know where here is?"

"Why yes," Belle said. "This is where I come to escape from my daily worries. It's my favorite place in the whole world. Not that I've seen much of the world besides my village, Paris, and now the Beast's castle."

"I love Paris!" Hermione said. "Have you seen—?" But as Hermione started her question, the world started to fade and Belle disappeared.

Everything went black.