Mistaken Identities

Draco was glad when Hermione finally decided they were far enough out of the city and pulled off the road to locate a hotel. He was doubly glad he’d rented a car since getting this far out would have taken a great deal longer than it already had. Truthfully, if he had to be in the car with a silent, hostile woman for one minute more he was going to break something. They rented a room in one of the endless chain hotels on the side of the highway. It was nothing special, two beds and a bathroom really. There was a dresser but it didn’t look all that particularly sturdy. He tossed his backpack on the bed and turned to face her.

“So, drop the act. It’s creeping me out.” He said, waving his hand vaguely in her direction. She just rolled her eyes and put the bag she’d picked up from a locker at the bus station on the other bed.

“Get real Malfoy. First I need to know how to put it back on without risking destroying myself and then I need to know what the hell is going on,” she said. Hermione reached one hand into her bag and pulled out a small trunk. She set it on the floor and waved a wand over it, enlarging it.

“How about this instead? I tell you how the spell works and where I found it and you take it off. Then you dose with me that crap and demand answers from me. You know it’s possible lie under veritiserum don’t you?” He leaned against the headboard and propped one hand up on his knee and cocked an eyebrow at her.

“It's not really lying. If you know what you're doing, you can just answer the question rather than revealing the whole truth. But if I demand direct answers and repeat the questions a lot I’ll get the truth. I’m not sure why this is so hard for you to get but I did get extremely high O.W.L.S. and I am one of the better students at school.” She stared at him, partially hostile, as she set up a hot plate and a cauldron on the nightstand. She waved her wand under it and a flame began to burn.

“Merlin’s Robe, Hermione. You practically broke the Hogwart’s record for every O.W.L. you took. Are you telling me I’m going to have to sit here and twiddle my thumbs waiting for that thing to brew?” Draco felt twitchy sitting in this small, drab room with her still in her club gear. She'd been an absolute bitch since they’d left his hotel room and he had no desire to be dosed with veritiserum by one of the Golden Trio.

“There are many fascinating things to be learned in books. Among them is a version of veritiserum that brews much faster but has absolutely no shelf life.” She sliced ingredients on a small portable cutting board as she spoke. “Once everything is put in the pot, it will only take ten minutes to be ready.”

“Then drop the charm, Hermione.” He knew he shouldn’t be so insistent about the damn charm but it was hard to see her and remember what she looked under him, over him, moaning... he really needed to stop thinking about it. He was hoping it was going to be easier to do when faced with the round face and bushy hair he was accustomed to seeing.

“What’s with the obsession, Draco? Tell me how to use the bead and I’ll drop it.” She started dropping ingredients in and stirring.

“After Flitwick mentioned it in class I did a search in the restricted section and at home. I found the spell in a small book and was really excited and then actually read the book. I thought it was a joke and almost threw it away but decided it was worth a shot. And it worked.” Draco shrugged.

“Which is very very interesting but not very informative.” Hermione glanced at him as she stirred. “I hope there’s more to it than that.”

“The book is called Ye Olde Magical Charms,” he replied, giving her a half smile. “And pretty much you get a wooden oak bead, surround it with white dove feathers and then direct the spell towards the beads. There’s also a little dance. I thought it was too simple but it really did work.”

“Ye Olde... you know, that’s almost too ridiculous to be a lie. What kind of little dance? Never mind, I don’t want to know. I hope you’re telling the truth because I’m going to be pissed if you’re not.” She turned to face him and studied his face. Then she waved her wand and said clearly ‘ReNormali’. The charm dropped and Draco felt his jaw drop. This was not Hermione Granger. Well it was but... not the way she was supposed to look. For starters, she had muscles. *The girl’s got a six pack!* Her hair was braided tightly against her head so he couldn’t tell if it was bushy or not. It was definitely shorter. There was a hardness to her face that had not been there only a few weeks ago.

“What is going on? You still don’t look like you.” Draco was starting to get mad. Why did everything have to be so difficult?