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Author: cryslin Story: Switched Rating: Young Teens Setting: AU Status: Completed Reviews: 4 Words: 20,411
The Quidditch season started interestingly. The Seekers of both the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams were still in different bodies. At the moment, both argued about which broom they would use. Malfoy insisted he should use the Firebolt since it was suited for Harry’s body. Harry, on the other hand, argued that all possessions of his are his alone and no one else’s. This argument ensued for two hours in Madame Hooch’s office. That is, until she threatened to suspend them if they did not stop berating each other for the sake of which broom went with which person. Basically put, Harry won this small battle and started to leave with a victorious smile on his face. As he walked out of the office, he could hear Malfoy growling threats against the Gryffindor team under his breath. “Problems, Malfoy?” Harry purred mockingly. “Don’t you think you can win every fight we have, Potter! Just wait until the match. Since I’m you, Merlin forbid, I now can catch the Snitch,” Malfoy retorted as he leaned against the wall with a triumphant sneer. “Stop sneering, you’re making me look bad,” Harry scolded. Malfoy snorted in disdain as Harry continued, “Besides, it’s not the body that catches the Snitch; it’s the talent that one possesses. If I remember correctly, I did make it to the team without buying my way in. In first year nonetheless.” “Don’t brag, Potter. It doesn’t suit you. Have fun fitting into your robes, I know I sure as hell won’t,” he replied angrily before leaving Harry alone in the hall. Smirking and shaking his head, Harry made his way back to the Tower. “I take it she’s letting you use your Firebolt?” Ron asked as Harry entered the common room. “Yep. After we argued for two hours straight, she finally got frustrated with us and I won the argument.” “Good, ‘cause we need a victory tomorrow bad. Professor McGonagall wants that Cup back in her office.” “She told you that?” “Yep. Cornered me after class and threatened detention if I didn’t pull through.” Harry laughed at the image as he headed up the stairs to the boys' side of the Tower. He had been asked by Professor McGonagall to try on his Quidditch robes in case they needed to make adjustments to it before the game. Sighing, he put his robes on and looked in the mirror. He turned this way and that, satisfied with what he saw. It was the first set of clothing that fit him correctly. “Good fit, wrong person though,” the mirror told him. Scary that he fits into some of my clothes so well. He looked at his reflection: the scarlet and gold uniform looked out of place on Malfoy’s body. The colors paled his complexion drastically and almost turned him as ghostly white as his hair. Harry then thought of himself in the Slytherin colors and violently shook his head to get rid of the image. Tomorrow’s game should definitely be an interesting endeavor. ~*~ The cheers from the crowd could not lift Harry’s spirits as they approached the pitch. He had noticed Malfoy earlier that morning in his Quidditch attire and nearly gouged his eyes out. Malfoy looked strange in his uniform, like it was rejecting him. Harry saw that his skin color also paled in Slytherin colors, but it also gave him a foreboding countenance. Not good. Almost too quickly, the team reached the pitch and waited to start the game. The captains had to meet center field to shake hands before the game started, and Harry noticed Ron grimace as he headed forward. Must be strange to shake my hand when Malfoy’s there. The shake was brief and then the teams ascended into the air to begin the game. The first hour was exciting as both team’s Chasers tirelessly passed the Quaffle from one end to the other. Neither side's Beaters were having a great game since there were plenty of near misses on both sides. It was only with their combined skills and not a small amount of luck that there were no injuries. Harry watched as Ginny held the Quaffle and flew at a dizzying speed toward the goal with Slytherin Chasers in close pursuit to double-team against her while the final Chaser waited for the Quaffle to fly to him. Malfoy moved suddenly out toward the walls of the pitch as she made her way down the field and Harry saw him signal to one of the Beaters close by. “Ginny, watch out!” She turned sharply to the left to avoid being hit by a Bludger that had been sent her way by the Beater Malfoy signaled. Malfoy looked angry as his plan soured. Harry could see him get angrier as his movements got sharper and his commands, from what he could pick up, were sharper in tone. This happened when Ginny scored a goal after looping around the Keeper a few times making him dizzy and disoriented. Harry smiled since that had been Ron’s idea and looked to see Ron grinning widely with the success of his plan. The Snitch decided to make its appearance just then behind Ron’s left ear. Oh great. Harry was on the other side of the pitch and noticed that Malfoy was less than half a pitch away from Ron. Malfoy was signaling to his players another plan leaving him distracted only for a moment. Harry took this opportunity to glide by him disguised as a Chaser pursuing the Quaffle. The Quaffle did come his way and he quickly kicked it to Ginny while making sure Malfoy did not see him. Malfoy was watching Ginny with such an intensity that angered Harry; however, the Snitch was still by Ron and he needed to get there first. After passing Malfoy, Harry saw the Snitch still hovering by Ron although it had moved to his right ear this time. Harry now raced toward his friend. Malfoy saw Harry race to Ron and quickly turned before flattening himself against his broom to gain for lost ground. Ron saw Malfoy to his left and Harry to his right racing to him and a Slytherin Chaser in front of him with the Quaffle that he managed to snatch from Ginny. Ron looked left, then right, then in front and sped forward to get the Slytherin Chaser. Harry and Malfoy, meanwhile, headed through the hoop (brushing past Ron) and down the pole in hot pursuit of the Snitch that now sped down to the ground. The Snitch then turned and began zigzagging up the pitch followed by the Seekers. Malfoy was slightly ahead of Harry, his arm outstretched toward the glint of gold. Harry decided to fly upward out of Malfoy’s path and slowly ascended until he was two broom lengths above Malfoy. The Snitch then rose slightly causing Harry to dive and Malfoy to ascend, resulting in a spectacular midair collision that caused both Seekers to plummet to the ground at an alarming rate. They were not too far up, but it was a significant impact as the two Seekers hit the ground with a loud crash. Malfoy landed on his back with his broom under him; Harry rolled away from Malfoy with his right hand cupped and his left hand clutching the handle of his Firebolt. The crowd became silent as Madame Hooch flew over to inspect the two players. “Game over, Gryffindor caught the Snitch! One hundred and fifty points to Gryffindor!” She announced as Harry held the Snitch high above his head for all to see. The crowd roared its approval as Harry picked himself up off the ground and looked over to Malfoy who was getting his broom. “Hey, Malfoy, look. This will be the only time you will ever see yourself holding the Snitch,” Harry boasted with a smirk while holding the Snitch. Malfoy glared at him icily before retorting, “And this will be the only time you see yourself without it.” “Putting yourself down now? That’s a shame,” he said, knowing that Malfoy was wrong; he had missed the Snitch once in his third year and later when he was banned his fifth year. Shaking his head, he turned away and was quickly caught up in a breath-taking hug by Ginny. “Great job, Harry! We won!” “By how much?” “210 Slytherin to 340 us.” “Excellent. You guys did a great job too.” Ron came up and patted him on the back and was mentioning a celebration with Fred and George before Harry stopped suddenly and turned to him. Ron was caught off guard and stumbled into Harry. Ginny looked on confused and helped her brother steady himself before heading off to the girls’ locker rooms. When Ron regained balance, he looked at Harry questioningly. “They don’t know, do they?” Harry asked in a worried manner. “What do you mean?” “Ron, take a look at me and ask again,” Harry told him rudely as they got to the locker rooms. “Why would – oh no,” Ron noted in a hushed tone. “That’s not good. I haven’t told anyone outside Hogwarts about you.” “That’s not good, Ron. Your brothers are going to throw me out of the Tower and try to beat me into pumpkin pulp before you have a chance to explain.” “So what’ll we do?” “I have a plan…” * Ginny walked alone back to Gryffindor Tower, according to any bystanders who happened to be watching. “Harry, I don’t think they’ll kill you. It will just be an interesting story to tell them. Also, can you please take off your Invisibility Cloak? I look like I’m talking to myself.” “Sorry, Gin. Do you mind if I call you ‘Gin’?” Harry asked nervously as they made their way through the school. When she nodded her assent he continued, “I just don’t want to be immediately thrown out before I even have a moment to explain. I will go in and head up the stairs to drop off the Cloak. Then, I’ll wait for you, Ron and Hermione to explain to Fred and George what happened before I come out.” “Okay, Harry. I don’t know how they’ll react though.” “We’ll figure that out when we get there. One other question, did they see the game?” “Nope. They only know that we won. They were in Hogsmeade when you caught the Snitch, so they came to see how the game was going. When they asked a passing professor they found out the score. They met up with Ron just as he was heading to the locker rooms and told him that they would throw a party in the common room to celebrate the win.” As they reached the portrait hole Harry said, “Great. Now we’re here. You know what to do.” Ginny nodded and gave the password before she moved aside to let Harry in first and quickly followed. Fred and George were setting up a food table with a punch bowl at the end when they arrived. Harry swiftly sprinted to the sixth-year’s dormitory and put the Cloak away before slowly walking back down the stairs. He stopped just inside the doorway of the boys' staircase watching what the twins' reactions were as his friends told them the story. The twins' expressions changed from surprise to disbelief. “Yeah... right,” George snorted. “If that’s the case, then where is he?” his brother asked. Ron turned to Ginny who then turned to the stairway signaling Harry to make his appearance. When Harry walked out into the common room, Fred and George’s eyes widened and their jaws dropped in shock as Harry approached, meeting up with them at the food table before gazing at the two shocked faces. “I think it’s going well. I’m not pumpkin pulp yet,” he joked in relief. When they still said nothing he continued, “At least you two are still standing. If my memory serves me, Ron almost fell to the floor when it happened.” Ron turned Weasley red with the memory while Ginny stifled a laugh. Meanwhile, Hermione shook her head as Harry walked over to the couches to find a place to sit. A loud thud made him turn around to see George lying on the floor and Fred holding onto the table. Ginny was now laughing loudly with Ron while Hermione quietly chuckled. Harry walked over to George and pulled him back on his feet with Ginny’s help. “Are you all right?” “Yeah. I’ll be fine. This is really weird, Harry.” “I know. Believe me.” “Wait until the others hear about this…” Fred started to say before Harry cut him off. “No! You are not telling them unless they are at Hogwarts. I don’t need more people to start worrying about me when I’m like this. Especially your mother!” “But, Harry, they’ll need to know,” George told him. “If they were to know, then Dumbledore would have already told them. It happened two weeks ago, and I have another two weeks until the reversal spell is complete.” “Okay, Harry. We’ll try to keep this under wraps. But if you get a Howler from Mum, then it’s your arse not mine.” “Deal, George.” The two looked around and saw that more of Gryffindor house was coming in and the twins were not finished setting up. The party was about to start and everyone needed some fun, especially Harry. * The party lasted well past midnight. Try as she may, Hermione did not realize the twins had slipped Firewhiskey into the punch until after she had a couple of cups to drink. The slightly chemically-altered Hermione was more relaxed around everyone. She was almost acting like her roommates as she started to show more than necessary affection to Ron. Harry had cocked an eyebrow at her when she draped her arms dramatically around him before Ron came over to see how she was doing. Then as quickly as she got to Harry she sashayed over to Ron and laughed loudly. Ron gave Harry a confused look before Lavender spared them any more embarrassment and took Hermione upstairs to bed. “She’s going to feel that in the morning,” Ron muttered before he left to follow Lavender to the girls’ side doorway. Harry nodded in agreement, knowing full well that she would not last the night without a few trips to the loo. He then turned to see where Ginny was, but was caught by surprise when someone put their hands over his eyes. He shyly smiled and quickly turned to see Ginny laugh behind him. “Having fun?” she asked as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Yeah. I was just wondering where you were.” “Right here,” she coyly whispered in his ear. He looked at her with genuine adoration before he tilted his head to give her a long kiss. He had never really displayed affection in public before, but this was different. It was the music in the air, the alcohol coursing in his blood, and the feeling of joy he felt when she was around. All of that together at the moment was overwhelming to the point where he felt as if everything and everyone in the room had disappeared for that one glorious moment while he was with Ginny. The moment ended too soon. “Oi, Potter! Get a room if you want to do that!” yelled a suspiciously Irish tone. Harry looked over Ginny’s shoulders to spot a sniggering Seamus. “Ginevra!! What in bloody Merlin’s name are you doing?!” he heard the twin Weasleys exclaim. The chorus of voices interrupted their tender moment and Harry looked around the room at the faces that were staring at him and Ginny. Ginny was turning Weasley red when the comments started and got even redder when her brothers approached. Harry could not tell if it was from embarrassment or anger that caused the crimson blush, but Ginny definitely was looking for a fight as Fred and George came around the punch table while Ron approached them from the stairs. Harry knew that they were in deep trouble. Ginny was about to yell back at her brothers when, as luck would have it, Professor McGonagall stepped through the portrait hole and interrupted the party. Thankful for the distraction, Harry quickly and discreetly disappeared from the room holding Ginny’s hand as they left. He managed to get to the door of the sixth year boys' room before he pulled Ginny closer for a brief good night kiss and apology. “Why are you apologizing?” “You’re in trouble with your brothers. I am too, but I did not want you in trouble with McGonagall as well. For that, I am sorry.” She pulled his face to hers and gave him a lingering kiss that showed she forgave him. “Besides,” she said after releasing him, “it must have been an interesting show. A ‘Malfoy’ willingly kissing me or me willingly kissing a Malfoy, something along those lines would work.” He had forgotten that he was still in Malfoy’s body and groaned in frustration. He saw her smile before she left him alone in the hallway. Won’t this make for an interesting conversation tomorrow: “Have fun snogging?” Rolling his eyes at the impending doom that would plague him tomorrow he went into the room and straight to bed without a word to anyone. ~*~ Word of the kiss had spread quickly because of the uproar that resounded from the Slytherin table the minute he walked in to eat breakfast the next morning. Oh great. Not now. Malfoy blocked his way when he started to walk down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. Harry tried to go around him but to no avail. Frustrated and annoyed, he finally asked the raven-haired roadblock why he was in the way. “I heard what you did, Potter,” he seethed, his cold green eyes locked on him. “So?” Harry spat rudely. “That was not a smart thing to do. You know that you don’t have much time until the Dark Lord comes for you again.” “How would you know that? Does he talk to you now since I’m not in that body?” Harry mocked. “Poor excuse of a joke, Potter. Did you really think that he’d lay low since our little ‘mishap’?” Malfoy retorted. “He does not care to harm a Malfoy, but since I’m in this pitiful excuse of a person and you’re in my body still…I guess that didn’t occur to you. Only two more weeks until your nightmares return and everything returns to normal.” Malfoy smirked at the thought and left the Great Hall leaving Harry in his wake. After Malfoy left, he finally stumbled to a seat away from Ron and Hermione but could not eat. He’s right, he thought. I haven’t had any visions or nightmares in the past couple weeks. He turned to look at the doors as Ginny came in and sat down next to him. “What’s wrong, love?” she asked in concern when she saw Harry by himself picking at his food. He was about to say ‘nothing,’ but he knew that Ginny would continue to pester him until he finally cracked and told her. This time he would save her the trouble. “Malfoy.” “That git? Why do you listen to him? What did he do this time?” “He threw reality at me.” Ginny gave him a perplexed expression before he continued to answer her. “He told me that…well…I’m being left alone by Voldemort until this incident passes. This means that the instant I am back in my own body, I get all the visions and nightmares that have plagued me before back. I’ll be returning to the horror-ravaged Harry that I was before the switch.” When he finished his statement, he pushed his food forward so he could put his head down on the table. Ginny knew that he was sleeping better, but she did not realize that it was because of Voldemort’s dealings. The visions must only happen to Harry’s body because of the scar. She remembered that their physical appearances stayed the same, no magical scars transferred to the other. She pondered other reasons before she noticed that Harry’s shoulders were shaking and surmised that he was trying to choke down quiet sobs. Tenderly, she placed her hand on his back and rubbed it. His sobs soon quieted until they were a shuddered sigh and forced breath. Harry then turned his head to her and gave a grateful smile before he raised his head up and attempted to eat breakfast. They were almost finished when Ron and Hermione came in. Ron saw Harry and Ginny before he scowled at them. Hermione was sympathetic to them and left Ron sitting with Seamus. “Ignore Ron. He’s still mad at you.” “Which ‘you,’ Hermione? Me or Ginny?” Harry asked sarcastically. “Both.” “I can take a guess why…” Harry muttered darkly. “How are you doing, Hermione?” Ginny asked, changing the subject. “Better. Those brothers of yours need to stop messing with the punch.” “Sorry. They’re not my problem,” Ginny lightly noted. “But they’re mine,” Harry said just as darkly. “Harry, I think it will be okay. Ron told me and I didn’t believe it. You know how he is at over-exaggerating a story,” Hermione said, with Harry sighing in relief. “However, I asked Parvati and she told me close to the same thing as Ron.” “Close to the same thing? What did he tell you Hermione?” Harry asked in concern. “Something along the lines of…” “Of what?” Harry asked. Hermione whispered the answer to Ginny who began to blush as Hermione continued to talk. Just as Hermione finished, she stood up and stormed over to Ron. When she got to him, she promptly punched him in the mouth. “Do I even want to know?” Harry asked while Ron flew to the floor. “She’ll tell you when she cools down, Harry. It was pretty explicit though,” she stated as they watched Ginny being forcefully removed by Dean and Seamus. Neville picked up a battered Ron up off the floor before the professors came over to intervene. They could catch bits and pieces of what she was yelling at Ron. Most was profane language that made Hermione blush while Harry smirked at the brazen gall Ginny possessed. Finally, after waiting for Hermione to finish her breakfast, he went to where Dean and Seamus were guarding Ginny and escorted her out of the Great Hall. As they left, Harry saw Hermione go over to Ron and start where Ginny left off. Even though there were no swear words, her demeanor showed her anger at Ron who cowered into the table. Thank goodness it’s Ron and not me on the receiving end of Hermione’s human Howler, he thought as he and Ginny started up the marble staircase.
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