Changes

A/N: Early update as I'm busy busy tomorrow. Happy Hollowen everyone x

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. ~ Alan Watts

Hermione and Severus were standing in her lab with the cauldron of Polyjuice sitting between them and ready to be added to the flasks. Phoebe Gilroy was also there, because for this part of the trial they needed an assistant.

'Phoebe, these are the final stages of the trial for tonight. Please would you write them up on the board?' Hermione smiled at the witch reassuringly before handing her a sheet of parchment, and received a small smile in return. Phoebe walked to the chalk board without speaking and started to write down the next steps.

Relations between them had cooled somewhat since it had been decided that Phoebe was to go to Salem, the younger witch being so withdrawn that Hermione was really starting to worry about her. When she had mentioned as much to Severus, it had been his suggestion to include her in this part of the trial so that he could observe the witch for himself. The concerned glance that passed between him and Hermione told her that she hadn't been imagining it.

'Miss Gilroy, I understand you are to attend Salem after Hogwarts. I hear it is a fine academic establishment,' Severus said quietly.

Phoebe Gilroy was not stupid enough to ignore her Head of House, but Hermione saw her gather herself before speaking, and there was nothing Phoebe could do to hide the tremor in her voice. 'Yes, sir. My father is an acquaintance of the Principal, and he is very keen to have me there.' Her features were schooled into a pale mask, but Hermione knew that Severus wasn't fooled by it. Hadn't he perfected the art of dissembling himself?

'Any establishment will be fortunate to have you, of that I have no doubt, Miss Gilroy. And there is still the opening with Healer Pye, should you change your mind of course?' Severus looked at Phoebe's face closely and flinched as she bit her lip and turned back to board without speaking. He looked at Hermione helplessly, and she shook her head. She didn't want to upset the girl, so she decided it was better to concentrate on the task in hand.

'Right. Step one,' Hermione said, smoothing the front of her robes as she walked to the board. 'We will fill two flasks for our trial now. At this stage, Phoebe can add the pine needles – I'll count them for you, you just need to add them,' she said, catching the brief look of panic on Phoebe's face. 'You can flask and store the rest of the potion later.' Hermione looked at Phoebe and Severus and they both nodded their agreement. 'Professor Snape and I will go through the incantations while you prepare the flasks, Phoebe. We'll be in the other room, but we'll be back shortly.'

Giving her final instruction, Hermione walked to the bench and carefully measured out the pine needles from a stoppered bottle, leaving them in a small dish beside the cauldron. She lifted a sheaf of notes and then walked through to her rooms, followed closely by Severus. She turned to him and smiled.

'Are you ready for this?' she asked him playfully. They had decided to take this stage of the trial further by appearing as each other among their colleagues at breakfast. It would be a good test to see if any of them noticed that Hermione was Severus, and vice versa. She had teased him mercilessly over the past three weeks leading up the trial with tales of various items of underwear she might choose to have him in while he sat at the teacher's table in the Great Hall, while he had threatened her with a worse fate of going commando. In the end they had agreed to no underwear tampering, and Hermione was just happy to be back on good terms with Severus. He had become her confidante, and she had shared some of her more gruesome war memories with him before he helped her to remove the worst of them. It had been a slow and emotional process, but it had the benefit of bringing them closer. In Hermione's opinion, she was getting the very best of Severus Snape, and it made her feel very special indeed that he had allowed her to get to know him so well.

'I'm ready.' He sat swiftly in one of Hermione's armchairs and stared broodingly into the fire. Hermione could see he was troubled, and she thought she knew why. She sat in the chair opposite and leaned towards him.

'Severus, Phoebe is a bright girl. She will excel wherever she ends up, even if it wasn't her first choice. She won't let me approach her father, so my hands are tied. I don't know what else we can do,' she said softly.

'I am not in a position to help either. Gaius Gilroy and I were never friends, even before the Dark Lord. I have little influence,' he mused.

'Perhaps Minerva could think of something? I'll try and speak to her tomorrow after the potion wears off,' she said decidedly. 'Now, Professor Snape. I believe it's time I got you out of those clothes,' she said teasingly, waggling her eyebrows as Severus suggestively. It had the desired effect, and Severus laughed out loud at her innuendo.

'I sincerely hope Miss Gilroy isn't behind your door with her ear pressed against it,' he said with a chuckle.

'Imagine the scandal,' Hermione replied with a grin. Secretly, she thought that getting Severus out of his clothes was quite a good idea, but she couldn't allow herself that distraction right now. She had spells to cast, and the last thing she wanted to do was to get any part of them wrong. She lifted the sheet with her incantations on and copied it for Severus, and they each practised without their wands to ensure they had the pronunciation correct. Severus looked up at Hermione finally and nodded, and they stood together and walked back into the lab.

Phoebe Gilroy stood by the cauldron of Polyjuice and slowly ladled the last of it into a clean flask before adding it to the crate with the others. The prepared flasks sat on the end of the bench, and she waited patiently for further instruction as her Professors stood before each other with their wands ready.

'The next step it to cast the incantations and then immediately take the Polyjuice,' Hermione said, for her own benefit more than anything. They had been over this so many times she could recite it in her sleep, but speaking it aloud was reassuring.

'Uncork the flasks please, Phoebe.'

The student did as she was asked, and watched with fascination as her Professors removed hairs from their heads, added them to the flasks and then swapped them with each other, holding a flask in one hand and their wand in the other. Hermione charmed the incantation sheet to hover beside them so they could each follow the wording, and with a nod, they began to chant together, lifting their wands in precise, smooth movements.

'Res Vocem. Res Lineamentum. Qualatites Verto. Mutat Personam.'

A shower of sparks flew from their wands, surrounding them in golden light, and as one, they lifted their flasks and swallowed the contents quickly. They began to change features, and Hermione waited for the right moment to cast her charm that swapped their clothes over. Phoebe gasped as Professor Granger became Professor Snape, and he became her Potions Mistress. It was the first time she had seen Polyjuice at work, and she gave her Professors a genuine smile when they finally stood in front of her as each other.

'That is so cool,' she said in awe. Hermione, as Professor Snape, couldn't help but laugh, but instead of her light, feminine laughter, she let out a chuckle that she immediately recognised. Her spells had worked, and not only did she look like Severus, she also sounded and acted like him. At Phoebe's look of shock – she had never heard Professor Snape laugh – Hermione graced her with a Snape eyebrow, and then grimaced at she saw her student reel back in surprise.

'I think you have convinced at least one person that you're me.' Hermione turned at the sound of her own voice, and realised that Severus was smiling at her in amusement.

Hermione pulled herself up to Snape's full height. 'Indeed,' she said with a smirk.

***

Severus and Hermione had agreed that for their deception to work, they would have to part ways and go to their respective rooms just in case a student should need them. This was on the understanding that they would not discuss personal things like using the bathroom or being naked, and they would treat each others bodies with respect. After all, it was unreasonable to expect the other to not undress for bed or shower the next morning.

Only Minerva knew of their current trial in case of emergencies, and Phoebe, who had been sworn to secrecy. Thus, Severus, disguised as Hermione, was currently in his old dungeon quarters. He wasn't enjoying it very much. The chairs were the same, the décor the same, and the slightly damp and fusty smell was the same. He had no desire to stay in rooms that brought back so many unpleasant memories, and given that Hermione had given him free rein, he assumed this meant he could change things around a little. Taking out his wand, he started with the chairs, transfiguring them from stiff, green leather to softer burgundy velour. He used a bath towel and changed it into a rug similar to his own, in muted colours of red and ochre with a hint of moss green. In the lab, he found a supply of lavender oil and sandalwood and added this to some plain candles. He lit them, and after a few moments the dank, dungeon smell started to lift, along with his mood.

He wandered over to the bookshelf and noted with amusement that the highest filled shelf was as eye level, leaving the three top shelves empty. He realised this was because Hermione couldn't reach, but he was puzzled still. She could always use her wand to get a book down from the higher shelves. He resolved to question her on that later, and started to scan the spines of the books in front of him. There were potions books, some of them rare and all of them he also had in his own collection, along with a series of books on flora and fauna appropriate for a Potions Mistress. Then there were Muggle books on philosophy and sociology, chemistry and biology. He shook his head and wondered of what use they would be to a witch, but assumed Hermione must have had them for a reason. Severus had a sudden thought and grinned to himself. There were some Muggle books he had been curious about for some time on Hermione's bedside locker, and this was the perfect opportunity to get a better look.

With purposeful steps, he made his way to Hermione's bedroom. The bed was neatly made with the old green bedspread, which Severus immediately turned into deep, purple chenille. The room looked cosier than the rest of his rooms, and he saw a pair of fleece pyjamas folded neatly at the end of the bed that he presumed Hermione intended him to wear. He shuddered at the thought. He slept naked at all times and tonight would be no different, despite his change of physical shape. He scanned the rest of the room and saw the books he was looking for on the bedside locker. He sat and lifted the first book, and let out a light giggle at the cover illustration of a raven-haired beauty swooning in the arms of muscular Lothario, paused before the inevitable kiss, his shirt open to the navel, his torso rippled and shiny with sweat. The title of the book was 'Beauty and the Beast,' but Severus was willing to bet that the contents were nothing to do with the Muggle fairy story. The pages of the book were obviously well-thumbed, and as he held the book it fell open in the middle of the fourth chapter. Severus frowned as he saw the corner of the page turned down, thinking that Hermione would never treat a book so badly as to damage the page. However, when he started to read, he began to understand why she might want to skip to this section more than once. Unconsciously, his hand drifted to his crotch and he rubbed his hand firmly against himself in response to the distinct tingling and throbbing between his legs.

Severus tore his eyes away from the book, not aware that his cheeks were pink and his breathing a little faster. His heart was beating loudly in his ears, and he couldn't help but imagine Hermione frigging herself along with the book. He groaned and closed his eyes, imagining what her slim fingers would look like slipping between her folds. When he opened his eyes they were heavy with desire, and he ran the tip of his tongue over his lips. Almost without thinking, he stood and walked to the bathroom, and in front of the mirror, he started to undress.