In Principio

Identity Swap

Heaving her bag onto her shoulder, Rose made her way down the dungeons and into Professor Snape's potions class. Of all her classes, it would had to have been her least favorite, which was no surprise as all Gryffindors hated Snape with a burning passion. She settled into her seat and retrieved her cauldron along with the list of ingredients scrawled on the board that she would be needing today.

Professor Snape began class with his usual despicable demeanor by criticizing some fellow Gryffindor whilst awarding undeserved points to a Slytherin. They were to make Polyjuice Potion today, and drink it themselves when they were finished with a piece of their partner's added hair to earn a grade. Since it was a small dose, the effect would wear off within five minutes or so.

"When you have completed your potion, bottle a flask and place it at my desk to receive accuracy marks. You will also be required to drink a small portion of your own Polyjuice Potion to observe its effects . . . firsthand," said Snape, sneering at Wood the sixth year Gryffindor's bluish solution that had gone horribly wrong. With ten minutes remaining in class, Rose took Scorpius's hair and poured a flask full of her completed solution, downing the drink in one gulp.

She sat expectantly, anticipating some kind of abrupt change to grip her. 

She got up, just when her vision began to go hazy. She gripped her chair as the classroom began to rotate, spinning furiously, causing her stomach to convulse and heave as she morphed into a being taller than herself. Her clothes began to feel tight around her waist, her feet cramming in her shoes until she flung them off. Gasping, she retched as the tingly fire of the transformation traveled down her body, causing her to feel extremely nauseous. Finally the pain subsided, clearing her view, the change complete.

She looked down at the blond haired guy in tight robes, and stifled a chuckle. He looked hilarious in her tight attire. Scorpius wasn't the most friendliest of Slytherins; in fact, he was said to have been quite cruel and stuck up since his father had been a death eater before You-Know-Who's fall, not to mention his posse. Glancing across the room she saw the boy with whom she had exchanged hairs with and started at the image. Her rich auburn waves splayed over his baggy clothes, her green eyes looking just as astonished as she felt. The pale hollows of her cheeks bloomed crimson as he also came to terms with his new body. Seeing herself in a mirror was an entirely different scenario than seeing herself from afar, even though Rose knew it wasn't really herself.

Glimpsing at her watch, Rose noticed that five minutes were almost up. All around the room, she saw the students changing back to themselves like the hammers in an open piano when its keys are hit, up and down, shrinking and growing. Except her and Scorpius.

Panic began to rise in her chest as she realized something wasn't right, that she should've changed back by now like the other students.

"Scorpius! Why aren't we changing back?" she hissed angrily at her reflection.

With a scowl he replied, "I don't know! Do I look like the potions master?"

"We must've done something wrong —maybe there wasn't enough powdered snake fang or we didn't stir it enough times or the Nettle shells weren't crushed properly. But it doesn't matter, does it? We're stuck in these semi-permanent-face-swaps, aren't we?!" Rose muttered in worry, her words rushing over one another.

"Stop babbling would you and think this out! Until we find an antidote or reversal spell —of which I know none— we'll have to get used to these bodies"— giving extra emphasis to the word as if it disgusted him— "and pretend we are each other. That means I have to be a pesky Gryffindor until this wears off and you get to be me." And with that, he stalked off as the bells rang, signaling Rose's next class.