A Terrible Temptation

A/N - Thanks to Kate for taking time away from her own work on Teacher-teacher to edit this chapter. I am humbly grateful for her amazing input. I have gotten so many great reviews for this story that I am unable to respond to them all, but I must say that you are all incredible and I adore you!


Chapter 33 – Feline Politics

Hermione sat with her tail neatly across her toes and waited for the sour-faced Mrs. Norris to finish with the old business. Leaf Catcher’s eternal argument with Always Sleeping over who got the Library window had taken up a good chunk of the last hour. Apparently they kept avoiding the fight option in favor of the endless debate option. It was dull for the rest of the tribe but those two never tired of the argument.

“The afternoon sun is particularly good in that spot and he always takes it at that time!” Leaf Catcher was complaining. The whole group of cats sighed and flipped their tails in boredom.

Hermione stretched, arching her back and digging her claws into the floorboards of the greenhouse. Stretching took on a whole new realm of pleasure as a cat. The longer spinal cord with tail led to a sensual pleasure in the simple act. She was completely aware of every muscle and sinew and the physicality of it was amazing to a girl who had always been aware of her mind first and her body a very distant second.

She noted that Soot, sitting beside Crookshanks, was watching her with a certain intensity that she found familiar. She had never seen a black cat with black eyes before and a suspicion began to form in her mind. Severus had never said he was an Animagus, but neither had he said he wasn’t.

She suddenly remembered “Harry’s” concern over her training, how knowledgeable he had seemed on the subject. Another furtive glance at the other cat and she was certain her conclusion was correct.

Her mind began to whirl as the implication hit her. “Now, if I were a Slytherin why wouldn’t I tell my girlfriend that I was an Animagus?” she asked herself and Harry’s face rose in her vision. For years she had told Harry and Ron everything and yet Harry’s thoughts were not entirely safe from Voldemort these days, despite the occlumency lessons he had been receiving from Dumbledore. Following that logic track it implied that Voldemort did not know that Severus was an Animagus.

This was a dangerous piece of knowledge that she had extrapolated. Should it ever come out that Severus had kept such a secret from his supposed master, he would die instantly. She knew that not only must she say nothing to Harry or Ron about this but also she mustn’t let either boy even suspect that there was a secret being kept from them.

As far as her relationship with Severus went, Hermione trusted him to be able to come up with a convincing set of lies for Voldemort should he ever discover the truth about them, from either Harry’s mind or through other means. She was also quite prepared to die before she betrayed the truth to Voldemort; Severus had suffered too much to lose either her or his own life.

Looking at him as he sat half-hidden behind Crookshank’s bulk, his attention divided between the ongoing argument and her, she could see the fragility of him. He was strung tight between two roles, his real persona only emerging when she curled against him. It took effort to burrow beneath the protective layers of his mind to commune with the true soul hidden deep inside.

“Finally, the new business.” Mrs. Norris grumbled as the two enemies left the field of battle with nothing solved yet again. Professor McGonagall nudged Hermione forward and she took her position respectfully in front of the older cat. “We have all been watching you, kitten, as you learn our ways.” Mrs. Norris was definitely glaring at her.

“The name we have selected for you was debated for some time between us.” Crooks put in with an amused twitch of the whiskers. Mrs. Norris looked sourly at Hermione’s familiar.

“I wanted to call you Breaker of Rules, or Ignorer of Curfew, but Sure Death indicated that your actions as a two-leg have no bearing on your actions as a Tribe member.” Mrs. Norris’ baleful glare and aggravated lashing of her tail indicated her disapproval of that argument.

Suddenly her animosity made a certain degree of sense; after all, as a girl, Hermione had evaded both Mrs. Norris and Filch on several occasions. That must be rather galling for thoud oud leader of the Tribe.

“We decided in the end to call you Curiosity and make you a Stalker in partnership with Soot.” Hermione was pleased and yet also slightly chagrined by the name. Her constant questioning of the other cats had been tolerated with amusement but it had certainly led to this naming.

“I am grateful for the Tribe’s forbearance.” She answered with a touch of embarrassment and they all gave little cat laughs, even Mrs. Norris, who seemed to be becoming reconciled to Hermione’s presence.

Soot looked a little taken aback at being named her partner; Hermione hadn’t gotten far in that line of questioning with the other cats so she wasn’t quite sure what it meant except that he would be responsible for training her in her job. He was watching her with that piercing gaze and there was speculation and interest in his eyes. She gave him a confident twitch of her tail and he chuckled.

Even as a cat he was amazingly sexy, she thought, and then was instantly horrified at her musings. There was a line there that she was completely uninterested in crossing.

Harry leaned back and, pulling his arms over his head, stretched the kinks out of his muscles. Ginny sat beside him, idly chewing on her quill as she read her homework assignment. The Library wasn’t crowded today and the quiet was enervating. Harry felt slightly sleepy and slow; he was having trouble concentrating on his Transfiguration homework.

Snape had been right about his grades; they had never been as good as they were when Snape had been using his body. He was finding himself in the unenviable position of competing with himself. His teachers had grown used to the new more studious Harry even though they had known it had really been Snape. They seemed disappointed now though when they called on him and he was back to his usual self.

Ginny glanced at him from under her lashes and he knew that at least one person preferred him as he was to the person he had been as Snape. Hermione had fallen in love with the faux-Harry and Ron had found Snape to be a good enough friend that he now regularly ditched Harry to spend time in the dungeons with him. Heck, even McGonagall seemed to miss having him in class.

“Knut for your thoughts Harry?” Ginny’s sweet voice lured him out of his somewhat self-pitying musings. That reminded him, speaking of self-pitying…

“Just wondering what happened to Malfoy. I haven’t seen him about lately.” Harry smirked at Ginny who grinned right back. Malfoy slunk around the school of late, since his ignominious defeat at “Harry’s” hands; he seemed to be trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

“Gosh, what a shame, I miss the ferret so much.” Ginny’s voice dripped with sarcasm. Since her first year’s experience with the diary, Ginny had an almost obsessive hatred of all things Malfoy. Harry couldn’t blame her; he had the same feelings about the family himself. Still, something Ron had said earlier niggled in the back of his brain.
“I hate not knowing what he’s up to, though.” Harry scratched his chin thoughtfully. The slight stubble under his nails was still surprising to him. The need to shave was recent and he was still getting used to it. On the other hand, Seamus had started shaving at fourteen so Harry should be glad that his hormones had held off this long.

“Well, since Pansy ditched him for Blaise, he’s been acting like he was never interested in her anyway and is now dating Daphne Greenglass, who is such a cow.” Ginny rolled her eyes as she imparted this piece of gossip. Harry looked at her in surprise and she sighed. “It’s all over the school Harry.”

“Whenever I need to know something gossip-related I guess I will just ask you.” Harry chuckled. Ginny was obviously paying a lot more attention to the rumor mill than he was -- that was good to know. Dumbledore was always saying how the details were important. Maybe he needed to start paying closer attention to them.
Starting with Malfoy.

Ron leaned forward and looked back and forth between Hermione and Harry. The Army was meeting in the Room of Requirement and Harry’s suggestion that they needed to keep closer watch on Draco Malfoy was going over like a cup of cold sick. Hermione hadn’t said anything either way, apparently content to let Harry and Lavender argue it out.

“Harry, he’s nothing, a non-entity; what do we care?” Lavender tossed her head and Ron knew that she was annoyed.

“His father is a Death Eater, who knows what kind of information he is sending or receiving from his family. How do we know what he might be up to?” Harry argued back. Ron thought that he might have a point but kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to get between his best friend and his girlfriend.

“Since you humiliated him he’s been quiet, why stir things up?” Lavender shrugged.

“Yeah, he’s been quiet. How much like the Draco Malfoy we all know and hate is that?” Ginny pointed out. “He’s an arrogant little swot, why hasn’t he been trying to hex us in the halls?” There was a long silence as they all pondered that.

“We should keep an eye on him.” Lavender’s eyes were thoughtful as she spoke and her abstracted air told Ron that her gears were whirring at top speed.

“I think that is a very good idea.” Harry refrained from saying “I told you so” and Ron felt a surge of warmth for him. Maybe Harry was learning to really be a leader. Hopefully, he would come to admit that Snape wasn’t the enemy as well. Yeah, when pigs fly.