Chapter 2: The Result

Chapter 2: The Result

There was a light knock at her door. Hermione went to open it and found her body staring at her. Finding it mildly amusing to find herself knocking at her own door, she opened it and let Severus come in. He began pacing immediately. Hermione crossed her arms in front of her and tapped her foot.

"What do you want?" she demanded, her anger returning in full force.

Severus turned and came up to her.

"Hermione, I'm sorry. I got carried away. I didn't think of how quickly word gets around in the school."

Hermione huffed at him. "Don't lie, Severus! That's all you thought about. You wanted me to be embarrassed. You succeeded."

"You were not the only one getting pointed at and talked about in that Hall, Hermione!"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I didn't try to destroy any respect that the students have for you! You were out of line."

"You're right, I was."

"And you started it! Had you not gone on about me being a know-it-all, I would not have made fun of you."

"I know."

"You know," Hermione said dubiously.

"I know."

"And that's all you have to say for yourself?"

"Yes," he replied.

"What is it with you?" she bellowed.

Severus looked at her curiously.

"You have been awful to me all year. I thought we had become friends."

Severus looked down at the floor. Hermione thought that he looked quite vulnerable in her body at this moment.

"Did I do something that upset you?" she asked him finally.

He just stared at the floor and said nothing.

Hermione was getting angry. "If you're not going to say anything, then you can just get out!" she yelled at him.

She saw herself look up with eyes that held no emotion. She never thought she would see such a closed look cross her face, but there it was.

"And don't use my eyes against me, Severus Snape, it won't work!"

"You have done nothing to deserve my poor treatment of you," Severus said finally.

"Then what has possessed you to act in such a way?" Hermione demanded. She was now beginning to understand just how hard it was not to sound gruff with his voice.

"It is none of your concern," Severus snapped.

Hermione looked at him quizzically. "If it involves me, how can it not be my concern?" she asked a little more gently.

She saw herself screw her face up in frustration.

What on earth could his problem be? Hermione thought to herself.

"Look, I know I'm not you're favorite person in the world," Hermione offered, "but I thought we were getting along for a while there. What happened?"

Severus closed the gap between them and looked up at his own face.

"You're wrong, Hermione. You are my favorite person in the world."

Fear gripped her. What had he just said? What did it mean?

"Would you like to elaborate on that statement?" she said as she swallowed hard.

Severus studied her, or rather himself, closely. He could not do this now, not while staring at himself, instead of the one he truly loved.

"I will," he said finally, "but not now. I will talk to you tomorrow, when we have hopefully changed back."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him but didn't press him. She knew he would talk to her in his own time. She watched him as he looked at her in a flustered manner. Did he just blush?

Severus looked to Hermione, realizing he had just consigned himself to tell her of his infatuation. He could feel himself turning red. He hurriedly stepped away from her.

"I had McGonagall announce to the students that someone had slipped a love potion into your drink at breakfast. That should counteract anything negative that has come from my joke."

He turned quickly and shot out of the room without a look back.

Hermione watched her body escape her room, not really knowing what to make of Severus and all that he had said. From his explanation of how he had righted things to his cryptic words, she was left feeling extremely puzzled. She was relieved to know that the students would no longer think of her in a negative light, but it really was unlike him to go out of his way to fix something he had created. Then there was his cryptic statement. The only thing she could think of about that was so remotely impossible that she laughed at herself. How could Severus possibly care for her when he had been so horrid to her all year?

oooOOOooo

Severus paced in his rooms. Granted, it wasn't as effective as usual because he was several inches shorter, quite a bit more petite, and didn't have a black cape to swish behind him as he turned and moved. Finally he stopped, the pacing not satisfactory enough to keep him at it.

What would he tell Hermione? Why had he let himself slip and say she was his favorite person? How could he possibly make that sound inconsequential? Perhaps he should just be up front with her. After a lifetime of secrets, that seemed rather an odd statement to make, but maybe it was time for truth telling. What would be the worst thing that could happen? She would reject him. He would still not have her, so he would be no worse off than he already was, but he at least would know the truth. He would not hold out for something that would never come.

Hopefully, it would turn out better than that. She had admitted earlier to not liking Weasley anymore. And what had all that been about him letting his guard down so people could care for him? Could she possibly be attracted to him? She was awfully friendly, even when he was nasty. He had often wondered how much snark it would take to have her show her anger, but no matter how much he had taunted her, she had infrequently lost her temper. Until today of course, and then it hadn't even been anger that had lasted with her. It had been intense sorrow.

He felt so low; he had been so cold to her. No wonder she thought he hated her. He had shown her nothing but hatred for the last several months. He hadn't been able to help himself. Every time he saw her, he wanted to take her in his arms and cover her in kisses. He knew if he had, she would probably throw up all over him, and the thought of his body covered in vomit put him in a horrid mood. Of course, his being in a bad mood translated to him being awful to his coworker. He shook his head. She would never like him if he was constantly awful to her. He had turned himself into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

He checked his watch. It was growing late. He went into the bathroom and began to change for bed. Looking into the mirror, he was again startled to see Hermione staring at him. Well, if he was going to be trapped in her body, he might as well enjoy himself. He studied her face closer than he ever had before. She had deep brown eyes that were entrancing. Her hair, which used to be a rat's nest years ago, now fell in lovely curls that framed her face beautifully. Taking his finger, he traced the image of her cheek in the mirror. Perhaps he would just stay up and look at her in the mirror for the rest of the night, as if it were the Mirror of Erised.

He frowned to himself. What would Hermione think if she appeared late in the night to find him gazing at her in the mirror? She probably would think he was the biggest pervert that ever lived. Shaking Hermione's head, he headed out of the bathroom and went to his dresser. Looking over his choice of sleepwear, he found nothing suitable for a young lady. He did have some black satin pajamas that might shrink to fit this body well, though. He pulled them out and resized them.

Severus pulled off his robes so he could change into the pajamas. That was his first mistake. Oh Merlin, how was he supposed to sleep in a body this hot? He glanced down at his chest, then looked away quickly. Black lace was really a good choice in underwear, but not when one was possessed by a virile man who hadn't had a serious girlfriend in . . . well . . . ever. How was he supposed to sleep with those black-laced . . . and that . . . as a part of him? This was pure torture! For Merlin's sake, he was just a man! He slid his hand along her shape before quickly jerking it back. What did he think he was doing? If he thought that Hermione would think of him as a pervert because he had been staring at the mirror, he couldn't imagine what she would think of him if she caught him caressing her nearly naked body. Severus Snape, you're a sick, sick man!

He closed his eyes and felt along the bed until his hand met his pajamas. He slipped them on and finally opened his eyes and sighed. Decorum, control, propriety . . . you're a teacher, Snape, act like one. Hermione expects you to respect her body, keep your lecherous eyes and hands off of it! Glancing down, he found the silky pajamas fit his new shapely form perfectly.

Getting in his bed, he sighed again. He hoped he could fall asleep quickly. Unfortunately, he doubted it. He drew back the covers and sunk into his soft, comfortable bed. When he awoke, hopefully he would be himself again.

oooOOOooo

Hermione thought that pacing might be an appropriate response right now, she was so nervous to find out what Severus was going to say to her tomorrow. She tried a little of it, even stooping over a bit like Severus did, but didn't find it very helpful. She stopped and threw herself into her favorite chair. It was a dark brown, wing backed chair that was squishy and completely comfortable. She had fallen asleep in this very place many a night, a book propped up in her lap.

Of course, Severus' body didn't fit right in the chair. She was uncomfortable and couldn't find a good position. She got up moodily and went to her bedroom. She might as well get ready for bed.

She suddenly got a grin on her face. Severus and she would no doubt re-trade bodies sometime in the night. Perhaps she could put something on that would totally embarrass him. She rushed to her dresser and searched through her sleepwear. Finally she found the perfect thing. She pulled the pajamas from the drawer and laid them on the bed. Taking her wand, she made them large enough to fit Severus' well-defined body. She stepped back and admired her work. Perfect, she thought. Then another evil grin spread across her face. She would do something to his hair!

Racing to the bathroom, she stared into the mirror. Severus' face stared back. She gasped as his eyes looked straight into her. Those eyes were entrancing. She admired the rest of his face, stroking the mirrored reflection of him, while she debated what to do with his hair. Perhaps it was time for a color change? Grabbing her wand, she twirled it around her head and watched his black locks turn into blonde ones. She giggled at her reflection, admiring her intoxicating voice, then studied herself further. No, that wasn't quite right. He looked too much like Lucius Malfoy now, only with shorter hair. She twirled the wand again, and immediately the blonde organized itself into stripes alternating with his black hair. Almost there, she thought. With another twirl of her wand pink stripes had been added to the black and blonde.

Hermione laughed loudly. His hair looked hideous. He looked like a deranged clown. She threw some purple stripes in too, just for fun. Hermione pulled her vanity drawer open and dug through her hair accessories. Pulling out a small jar of hair ties, she sat down and began to work. She carefully divided Severus' hair into sections and began to cornrow it. After about half an hour, she was done. It looked ridiculous! Hermione laughed at her reflection as she put away the hair ties and stood to go to bed. She wished she had a camera to mark his reaction when he looked in the mirror.

Going to the bed, she began to disrobe and then froze in the middle of pulling her shirt off. He had a nice chest. Examining his body a little closer, she noticed he had a nice everything. He was quite thin, but he was defined. Oh, so very defined.

Her thoughts drifted back to when she had first needed to use the loo earlier today. She hadn't really thought of much of anything until she had pulled her pants down. Of course, she had forgotten that she was in a man's body. Her eyes had widened. Holy cow! She wasn't going to be forgetting that again any time soon! In fact, she'd probably be dreaming about that particular part of Severus' body for quite some time. Yes indeed, Severus Snape was a fine specimen of a man.

Hermione shook her head violently. She didn't need to be thinking such thoughts right before bed. She glanced down and groaned. Too late! Her man's libido had kicked in. Being a man all the time with such responses must be torture! Hermione quickly disrobed and slipped on the pajamas she had transfigured. She settled into the bed for what she hoped would be a good night's rest. If she remained this uncomfortable, however, she felt she would never get to sleep. She pulled her pajama pants away for one last look. Oh, Merlin, she would not sleep tonight! Letting the pants snap back into place, she turned onto her side. She felt like she had a giant kick stand attached to her private area. She could only hope that her body would calm itself down and allow her to finally relax.

oooOOOooo

When Hermione awoke the next morning, she found herself in a room in which she had never been. Gazing around, she let her mind come back to reality as she remembered just why she had awakened in this room.

The room was softly lit by a candle that seemed to be enchanted to constantly glow. She lay on a large four-poster bed that had a blue canopy over it. She noticed that the bed was incredibly comfortable. She was sunken into it, but it wasn't lumpy in any way. In fact it felt like she was lying on a cloud. Finally, after reveling in the softness of the bed, she sat up. She noticed that there was a dark blue shag rug on the stone floor and a dark wooden dresser in the corner. Other than that, the only other item in the room was a full-length mirror that was on a wooden stand-up frame.

She glanced at her attire: black satin pajamas. Hermione suddenly felt a pang of guilt as she thought of how she had dressed Severus for the morning. Perhaps she had been too mean to him. After all, he had apologized for being a git yesterday. She shrugged. It was too late to make any changes now. She should probably prepare for a huge tirade whenever he decided to make his entrance.

oooOOOooo

Severus woke up and rubbed his eyes. The bedroom was incredibly bright. He looked to his left to find a window streaming sunlight directly in his face. He frowned. He enjoyed sleeping in on the weekends.

Rising from the bed, he looked down and realized he had his body back again. Unfortunately the happiness he should feel about that was overshadowed by his outfit. He wore pink pajama bottoms and a pink t-shirt top. To add insult to injury, the pajama set was covered with rabbits. He supposed he should call them bunnies, but that word really wasn't in his vocabulary. They all were doing something different. One was nibbling on a carrot. Another was in mid hop. Several were playing together. The whole thing was sickeningly cutesy.

He frowned as he got up and went to the bathroom. He would get Granger for making him look like a poof. Luckily his robes were laid over a chair near the bathroom door, so he didn't have to traipse through the halls in embarrassment.

He glanced in the mirror and then took a double take. What had that insufferable woman done to his hair! Gads, it was horrid. There were numerous braids in it, and it was no longer just black but also had blonde, purple, and, of all colors, pink in it. Wonderful!

He extracted his wand and waved it over his head to set his hair back as it once was. Nothing happened. He did the spell again. The braids and colored hair remained. Severus sneered at his reflection. Finally he put his wand down and tried to pry the hair ties off of his head. They complied, and after a little while, all of the braids were undone, leaving Severus with striped and incredibly wavy hair. He tried the hair spell again, but to no avail. He scowled. Hermione needed to make this right.

He stormed out of the bathroom and began to get dressed. He pulled his shirt off and noticed something out of the corner of his eye. There was something written on his chest. He rushed back to the bathroom only to find the words I Love Hermione scrawled in black across his chest.

Severus stared at the writing. Of course, the sentiment was true, but she had written on him! He didn't know whether to be livid or to laugh. Taking the high road, he decided to finally give in and be amused. Of course, Hermione could never know that he found her little escapade amusing. He turned and went back to the bedroom to finish dressing.

oooOOOooo

The door burst open, and an irate Severus Snape stormed into his quarters. Hermione, who had been sitting in the black leather chair by the fire, jumped about five feet into the air. At least that was what it felt like. She looked up to see Severus coming toward her with a murderous look in his eye. He looked so frightening that she didn't have any time to be embarrassed about seeing so much of him the night before. She gave him a sheepish grin as he bent over her menacingly, forcing her back into the chair.

"It was just a little joke?" she said timidly.

"You will change my hair back to what it was immediately or you can say goodbye to your apprenticeship. I have never been so embarrassed in my life. Do you know how many stares I got while coming here? The students were pointing and laughing at me!"

Instead of looking regretful, Hermione's face turned bitter. "Well, now you know how I felt yesterday! The spell will wear off in 24 hours. I assure you, you can live with it until then." Hermione took her hand and felt his hair, scrunching it a little with her fingers. "Besides, that style gives your hair such body! It doesn't look all limp like it usually does. All of the girls must be jealous!"

Severus gritted his teeth and sneered. Hermione twisted herself so she could snake her way around Severus and stood up to leave. He grabbed her arm.

"Just where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"I am going back to my room now that you have vacated it," she said hotly.

"There's still the little matter of this to deal with!" Severus bellowed as he pulled his robes open to display the graffiti that was scrawled on it.

Hermione's face softened. "Oh! That's so sweet! Did you write that for me?"

"Hermione, this is not the time to joke. Remove this abomination immediately!"

Hermione's smile dropped from her face. "But, Severus, I didn't do that." She got closer to his chest and touched the inscription. "I swear, Severus, I only messed with your hair and dressed you like a girl, that's it!"

Severus felt a jolt at her touch. He was tempted to grasp her hand and never let go, but now there was a mystery to be solved. There would be time for sentimentality later.

"Hermione, if you didn't do this, then how did it get scrawled onto my chest?" Severus snapped.

"Perhaps you put it there yourself?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

Severus tensed and scoffed at her. "Believe me, Hermione; I think I would remember something like that."

Hermione looked up at Severus with concern. Her concern, however, was tempered by his appearance. She could not keep a huge smirk from crossing her face. Hermione removed her wand and twirled it over Severus' head, restoring his hair to its natural state.

"Sorry you couldn't keep your rainbow locks longer, but I found them a bit too distracting for such a serious conversation. You can count yourself lucky."

Severus smirked back at her. "I guess I should thank you then?"

Hermione shrugged and looked back to his chest. She had to admit that it was quite stimulating to spend so much time examining it. She drew her fingers across the markings once again, drawing in an involuntary breath as her fingers danced across his chest. She then took her wand and tried to remove the writing. Nothing happened. She looked back up at Severus.

"Any ideas?" she asked.

Severus frowned. "None whatsoever."

"Perhaps it has something to do with the Potions accident?" Hermione offered.

"I don't see how it could. Do you have any strange writing on you?"

It was Hermione's turn to frown. "Not that I have noticed. I'm certainly not going to bare my chest to you," she said as she turned and retreated to the bathroom.

After a few minutes, Hermione emerged frowning more. She went back to Severus and pulled her sleeve up above her shoulder to reveal the images now imprinted there. I Love Severus.

Severus raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, at least the writing is consistent, spouting off epithets of love for one another."

"Did you write this on my body, Severus?" she asked plainly.

"No, I did not!" Severus said haughtily.

Hermione pulled her sleeve down. "I didn't think so."

Severus pulled her sleeve back up and fingered the inscription.

"Perhaps this does have something to do with the explosion." He looked at her tentatively.

"Is there any truth to this inscription," he asked her with trepidation.

She pulled her arm from his grasp.

"Is there any truth to yours?" she retorted.

"I asked you first."

"Well, you said I was your favorite person yesterday. What is that supposed to mean, and what am I supposed to think about it?"

Severus looked down at the ground. He debated how to answer her. His heart said one thing, but his head said another. He was used to following his head, but would it be so awful to follow his heart for a change?

He looked back up at Hermione. "Yes," he said finally, hoping this wouldn't backfire and explode in his face. "It is completely true. I love you."

Hermione didn't know what she expected him to say, but it certainly wasn't that. She felt her knees go weak and she stumbled forward. Severus caught her and looked at her with concern.

"It's the Draught of Knowledge then," she said finally. "It mutated, and instead of giving us the knowledge in our minds, it wrote it on our bodies."

Severus looked at Hermione curiously. "You mean to say . . ."

She looked into his dark endless eyes. "That I'm in love with you? That's exactly what I mean to say."

Severus was in shock. Everything he had hoped for, but dared not think of, now became a possibility. Hermione watched him as he smiled at her, just the way he had smiled at her last year. It was a smile filled with affection. It took her breath away.

Now certain of her affections, he pulled her into a loving embrace. His lips descended on hers and they kissed passionately. Hermione felt her heart filling with love for him. Finally she understood his aloof actions. He loved her. All of this time, he had been distant because he loved her. Of course that would have made no sense whatsoever had it been coming from someone else, but it made entirely too much sense when it was applied to Severus Snape.

She snaked her arm around him and placed her hand on his neck. She pulled him even closer, kissing him hungrily as she tried to make him a part of her.

They finally separated and Severus placed his forehead on hers.

"I'm sorry I've been so nasty these past few months," he told her.

"I understand," she assured him before showering him with more kisses.

The End

A/N: Thank you so much for reading, and I loved all of your comments. I hope this half was as enjoyable as the first. ;)