The Raven

Disclaimer: It’s not mine. It all belongs to JKR.


Chapter 15

The first thing that Hermione realized upon waking up was that she was in her human form. Professor McGonagall had stressed enough times the importance of an Animagus understanding the nature of one’s other side, or sides in Hermione's case. She didn’t know how many other animal forms she could take. Hermione had only experimented with four so far and they all worked, to the shock and dismay of Professor McGonagall, who seemed to think that this was one of those rare cases. But Hermione had this deep-rooted feeling that it was really a lot deeper than just Animagus mutation. She just didn't know what.

Looking around the room she was in, she realized she was not in her own room. This room was eloquently decorated with books lining every shelf and surface. To most people it would look like disarray, but Hermione was familiar with this kind of organized chaos since her room at home wasn't much better. The comforter she was laying on was the most beautiful green color, like that of a forest after a light rain. She spent about five minutes just running her hands over the crushed velvet, feeling the decadent texture.

Snape stood in the deep shadows of the room, watching her slowly awake. He was impressed that she did not show fear or surprise that she was back in her human form. Then he saw her looking at his books, and he was happy that her eyes sparkled at them. He knew of her love of books, which mirrored his own, and he longed to share them with her, but never had the chance before.

Then he saw her lie back down on the bed. He felt sad that he would be unable to talk to her, but then he saw she was not going to sleep: instead, she was just running her hands over the velvet comforter.

"I did that quite a bit myself when I first bought it,” he said as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Oh!" Hermione bolted up into a sitting position instantly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Snape said as he walked up to the bed and sat on the edge of it to look at her.

"Th-this is your room?"

"Yes, the last time I looked." He looked into her eyes and smiled.

He SMILED!!! Hermione almost swooned. That was only the second time she had seen it, and by the gods it was a stunning smile that just lit his face. It was not all toothy like Lockhart's.

"Y-you smiled!"

"Yes," he laughed.

He LAUGHED!! She would never forget this moment.

"It’s not the first time I’ve smiled, and it will not be the last. Though I must say, in the past few years, I’ve had little to smile about."

'Oh, MY!' she thought to herself. 'His laugh is deep and ohh my, so sexy! No, no, no, no, stop it, Hermione, he is still your teacher! No more of these thoughts!'

Snape looked at her with concern, as she was shaking her head in denial – or perhaps it was just an extreme headache. He didn't think his smiling at her would put her in such shock. 'Well, I guess I was wrong about one thing about her: she does see me like the others do.'

"Sorry to startle you with it, it shall not happen again," he said in his best classroom voice.

"NO!"

"No? What do you mean by ‘no,’ young lady?”

Sighing deeply, she had a feeling her reaction had just slammed a door closed to her that she most desperately wanted to be open again. But how does one get Professor Snape in such a happy mood like the one that she had just ruined? Well, if in doubt, truth usually worked... if not, she would just turn back into a cute little mouse and nuzzle his hand again.

"What I mean to say, sir, is that yes, I was startled, because in all the time I have been a student here, I have never seen you give a genuine smile, or a laugh for that matter. But please, don't hide it again… they..."

"They?" he encouraged... though he didn't look like it; he was holding his breath with fear and anticipation of what she was about to say.

"Umm, they – your smile and your laugh – are quite lovely actually, and so I guess that startled me, too."

Shock was radiating from his eyes as he looked at her...

’Lovely, she thinks my smile and laugh are lovely... He didn't know if he should blush or laugh hysterically. Never had anyone used such a word to describe him. Not knowing what to say or do to next, he decided to just lock that joyful feeling away for now, and get on with the original conversation he needed to have with her.

"Ahem, yes, well, there are things we need to talk about."

"Of course, sir," Hermione replied, noticing a faint tint of pink on his cheek... 'How cute!' she thought.

"So, how many forms can you take?"

"Well, sir, I have only tried four but they all worked."

"And they are?"

"Let’s see, you know of the mouse… I can do a sparrow, a fox, and a black panther."

"A black panther?

"Yes, I wanted to try something exotic. It was kind of fun, really."

"And where did you try this?"

"The Room of Requirement. Where else would one go to try out something that big?"

"Were you alone?"

"No, Harry was with me. Professor McGonagall said never to try this alone, just in case something went wrong."

"And what could the famous Mr. Potter do to help you then?"

Hermione smiled at this statement. The animosity between Harry and Snape ran deep on both sides.

"Harry could run for help! What else?"

"Indeed." Snape smiled at her, knowing she was humoring him.

"It's true, I have no illusions about my friends. I love them both dearly but I know their limitations better than they do."

"Of this I have no doubt. Since I have seen you in your mouse form, and I really would not like a bird or a panther running around my personal chambers, let’s try seeing what your fox form looks like."

Within moments, a small brownish red fox sat before him on the bed. She didn't even really need to meditate to make the change, as it seemed to come naturally for her. But something happened that Snape wasn't counting on... a fox's curiosity.

Hermione's fox form was looking at him until something caught her eye... something shiny off to the right. It was a glass vial containing a beautiful blue liquid and a purple liquid. The liquids never mixed or blended together, they just swirled in graceful layers. She gracefully leaped off the bed and made a beeline to the glass.

Snape, seeing what she was doing, caught her in mid-air.

"Oh, no, you don't! I'm not sure what you were looking at, but with that leap it would only cause trouble in this room."

Fox-Hermione squirmed in his arms, still wanting to investigate the pretty glass vial. Suddenly a hand started rubbing just under her left ear, then everything melted away.

“Like that, do you, you little vixen?" a deep voice rumbled.

Hermione wasn't listening; she was just enjoying the attention...

‘Damn the man for finding my weak points so quickly.’ She remembered he’d put her to sleep earlier while she was in her mouse form. Purring, she tilted her nuzzle up so he could scratch under her neck... ‘Yes, that’s the spot.’

Chuckling, he slowly turned the fox over on her back, so he could rub her stomach like a baby.

While in his arms, she playfully nipped him on the nose, and felt quite embarrassed afterwards. She knew instinctively that the nip she gave him was a sign of foreplay for foxes that wanted to mate. She tried to jump off his lap but he held on to her too tightly, anticipating her bid for freedom.

"No, not letting you go, my dear." He brought his nose to her fur and inhaled the jasmine and spices that he knew was Hermione's scent... WAIT! After sniffing her again he put her down.

"Transform back, please."

Slightly confused by the sniffing and the demand, she did what he asked.

He stood up and leaned down to her neck, then sniffed her behind the ear.

Shock and excitement rushed through Hermione; she felt a deep heat pool between her legs. 'Oh my, this is crazy! He’s not even touching me and I have this kind of a reaction.'

"Hmmm," he said as he moved away from her. In truth he was as affected by that contact as she was, something he knew by looking at her face. Talk about temptation! He was almost overpowered by a desire to just pull the girl into his arms and taste that heated skin he’d just smelled.

"A-and wh-what was that about?"

"All Animagi take on the scent of the animal they turn into, with only a hint of their own human scent. You, on the other hand, keep your human scent. Tell me, was there any brown or red in your black panther form?"

"No, or it wouldn't have been black. Oh! I see, Professor McGonagall did say my telltale sign was that all the forms have the same markings, but my fox form did have it. Not sure about the sparrow."

"Does she know of the panther?"

"No, I haven't told her about that one yet. I just did it a few days ago and everything has been crazy since, so I haven't had the chance."

"Well, my dear Miss Granger, it seems that you are not an Animagus"

"Oh, then what am I?"

"It seems to me that you are what was once called a shapeshifter, more commonly known as a polymorph or a changeling – someone that can take on any form or look they want."

"Like Tonks?"

"Yes and no. Tonks is a Metamorphmagus, so she can only change her appearance, such as her hair and eye color. While she can make her nose resemble a pig snout, she remains human; for example, she could never grow wings and fly. An Animagus transfigures into one form of animal but retains all human mental powers, with some ability to communicate with animals. I feel not only could you change into any animal you wish, but also you could most likely change your looks at will as well. Not just hair color, but take on someone else’s looks entirely."

"Without Polyjuice Potion? Do you think that I can do this because of the Polyjuice accident in my second year?"

"No, I think it’s hereditary. Some traits skip a generation, but I think this particular talent has lain dormant for many, many generations in your family, because of the Muggle influence. There have been documented cases where a witch or wizard gives up magic and becomes so engrossed in the Muggle world that they shut off anything magical, and so that is what is passed on until one of their descendants comes along and reawakens this ability. I believe that your changeling ancestor was most likely ran off to the Muggle world when the magical would turned against and started hunting down changelings back in the 1700’s."

"Wow, I would have run. too."

"Indeed." Snape retrieved a book from his bookshelf and walked over to her, handing her the volume. He led her back to the living room, and they sat.

"This book is about the history of the changelings massacre, which started in Wales when the local Muggles feared the fairies had left changeling children –plentyn newid – in the place of human babies. In truth, the fairies were innocent; those changelings were real children who were killed because of their talent. I'm sure you would want to read the volume, so you can better understand your heritage."

"Thank you," she said in awe by his generosity. "You wouldn’t happen to have one about changelings themselves, would you? About what they can do and how?"

"Unfortunately no, as all such books were burned or banned during that time. Even today it is taboo to own such books; I think the Ministry fears anyone with such great power."

"So, I guess I shouldn’t tell anyone that I am a changeling then... Oh! Professor McGonagall! She is such a stickler for protocol it’s unreal." Hermione gasped and covered her mouth, embarrassed at saying something negative about a teacher in front of another teacher. Talk about taboo!

A deep laugh filled the room, and she turned to find Snape laughing hysterically, holding his sides while trying to catch his breath...

Hermione blinked a few dozen times, almost going into shock. She knew somehow she must have wandered into an old American TV show her parents liked to watch really late at night, called “The Twilight Zone.” It was a show that talked about different people in strange and serious circumstances, and how they dealt with them. Most of the episodes were a bit scary, and like the people in the show, she just thought she was going insane...

Catching his breath, finally, he looked at Hermione. When he saw the glazed look on her face, he walked over to her, still smiling. As they would be working in close physical contact in their animal forms, he thought that she needed to get used to him sooner or later, and sooner would be far better in his opinion.

"Hermione, you have to get used to the real me. During your school years I had to act the way I did – not only was I a teacher, but a spy. That doesn’t make me any less of a human man."

She looked up at him, the way he said “man:” he was no less of a man, with male wants and needs. It all spoke very loudly in that one word, but why was he saying that to her?

"You must get used to my habits and moods, since we are going to work together under dangerous circumstances."

"Work together," Hermione said, delaying realizing that he was speaking to her.

"Yes, Dumbledore told me that he was going to approve your working as my understudy. I hope you’re up to a lot of paper grading."

"You mean you’re going to let me intern with you?" she said excitedly, jumping up and down.

Snape only saw her ample breasts bouncing up and down. Transfixed, he wondered how they would look without such confinements.

"Professor Snape?"

He heard his name as if from a fog, then he realized that Hermione was talking to him, and that he was staring at her... not just at her, but at her breasts. Trying to hide his slight blush, he quickly spoke in his most fearsome voice.

"Stop that tiresome jumping around. You must learn to control yourself if you are to work with me." He silently called himself every name of hypocrite he could think of... talk about someone needing to control themselves! He got hard just by watching her jump around, and it would’ve been even worse if they were still in the bedroom.

"Yes, sir; sorry, sir," she said happily, but with respect.

"Remember that." He turned away from her, pretending to shuffle some papers. In truth his trousers were getting a bit too tight, and he had to adjust himself.

Hermione noticed not only his blush, and the fascination he had with her breasts, but also the slight movement of his hands when he was shuffling papers... 'So the good Professor has a problem,' she thought with an evil laugh. ‘Well, it’s best for me to just keep acting like the sweet innocent schoolgirl for now, just to see what happens.'

"Let’s get back to the original subject," he said as he turned around. "I believe we should keep this between us for now."

"Between us?"

"Yes, if anyone else learns of it you will be in great danger."

‘Danger?’ she thought to herself. ’What is he talking about? Is he talking about our time together? I’m almost out of school, so why would this be dangerous... unless he’s talking about Voldemort. But I am already on Voldemort’s most desperately wanted list because I’m Harry’s friend, so why would seeing Snape make things that more dangerous than it is now?’

Seeing her confused face Snape gave an exasperated sigh, realizing he’d lost her on this subject.

"Miss Granger."

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him.

"Being a changeling in this day and age doesn’t mean you will be marked for death legally, but there are still too many people fearful of ones such as you. In addition, the Dark Lord may want to control your abilities for his own purposes, as changelings are exceptionally rare."

"Oh, changelings... yes, right, I got it. " ‘Oh, silly me!’ she yelled at herself. ‘Of course, he wouldn’t be thinking of me in any other way.’

"Please keep your mind on subject, Miss Granger"

"Yes, sir; sorry, sir. It will never happen again."

He gave her a look that indicated that he didn’t quite believe her.

And so Snape began her training in not only controlling the Twin Demon Mirrors of the Soulless, but also her changeling abilities.

A/N: Thanks to June for beta reading, and to Lana for doing all the posting and back and forth for me.. I hate writing on word pad!