#8 ~ A Rather Catty Situation

Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR (except Odessa Divine). All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 6 ~ The Morning After


Severus was sleeping the peaceful sleep of the sated when his consciousness began to stir. He first became groggily aware of something quite heavy resting on his chest, much heavier than his wife. Much warmer too. Not only was it heavy, it was snoring, loudly, a kind of huffing snore.

Severus slowly opened his eyes and looked down. He froze. Lying across his chest was a huge feline head, it’s eyes closed, apparently resting very comfortably. A large padded paw was stretched possessively across his thigh. It flexed, exposing sharp, curved claws for a moment, before they retracted. He was relieved they didn’t dig in. The beast slept peacefully, its tawny sides rising and falling rhythmically, stunted snores emitting from the large nostrils. Severus could have pissed himself. A lion was in the bed, cuddling with him. No, a lioness. No mane.

The lioness’s eyes were not closed all the way, and he could make out the blank amber irises beneath the furry lids. Amber irises? Hardly daring to breathe, his eyes swept down the great cat’s body, and he saw the tattered remains of Hermione’s shift. She had been shivering during the night, despite his body heat, and thinking she had caught a chill, he had retrieved the discarded gown, and dressed her while she slept. He looked at the torn gown then put two and two together. Hermione must have transformed in her sleep. Good gods, what a way to discover she had succeeded in becoming an animagus.

Severus lay there, pinned beneath his transformed wife, unsure if he wanted to wake her. He wasn’t sure how complete the transformation was. Would she know who he was if she woke up in this form? What if she didn’t? Would she rip him to shreds? Great Merlin’s balls. What the hell was he going to do? The lioness shifted, purring now and drawing his leg closer with her paw. Shit.

Gingerly, Severus grasped the huge paw, and lifted it, holding his breath. He slid the heavy limb off his thigh. The lioness made a scarfing noise in her throat, but didn’t wake. He sighed quietly in relief. Carefully he placed both of his hands on the great whiskered head and lifted it slightly, trying to hold it level. Slowly, more slowly than he had ever moved in his life, he slid from under it, placing it gently on the mattress, and rolling quietly from the bed. He looked at the creature that was his wife. She was a beautiful animal, sleek, lean, with a glossy coat, a little darker than usual, close to the chestnut color of her hair. She made a facial movement, her lip curling, revealing a very disturbing flash of fang. Severus thought she might be waking up, and quickly walked to his study, closing the bedroom door quietly behind him.

Shit. He wiped his brow, it was soaked. So was his chest. He had been unaware he was sweating. But who wouldn’t sweat, waking up with a lioness wrapped around him. He stood there a moment, trying to pull himself together. He walked over to the floo, tossed in some floo powder and quietly called Minerva. He had to do it several times before she answered him.

“Severus, is that you?” her voice said sleepily.

“Yes, Minerva. I have a bit of a problem. There’s a lioness in my bed,” he said in a low voice.

There was silence. Then Minerva’s voice came through again, quaking with mirth.

“Most men would be very happy about that, Severus,” she quipped.

He scowled. This was no time for levity.

“Minerva, my wife has transformed into a lioness with very large teeth and claws. She is currently asleep…”

Suddenly a large thump came from the bedroom, accompanied by a rather hair-raising growl, and a loud snuffling at the bottom of the closed door. Severus could make out a shadow moving back and forth.

“Correction, my wife, the lioness is currently awake, and the only thing between us is a flimsy wooden door. Now, tell me. Is she going to know who I am, or should I vacate the premises immediately?” Severus asked, as the door buckled a bit, possibly hit by a paw or nudged by a huge furry head. The growling increased.

“Don’t worry, Severus. She’ll know who you are,” Minerva replied, her glee at the Potion Master’s discomfort barely contained in her voice. Not many things shook Severus up.

There was a stronger bump against the bedroom door, and the heart stopping sound of claws experimentally stripping wood.

“She’ll probably transform back in a minute or two. It was an unconscious transformation. It won’t hold long.” Minerva said. Severus heard her turning back over in her bed. So Minerva thought this situation nothing to be concerned about. He could hear Hermione clawing the door with more gusto. She let out a little roar of what could only be exasperation.

“Minerva, she doesn’t sound like she knows where she is,” he said, glancing back at the door, “she is slowly ripping the door apart.

“She probably smells you, and want to come to you,” Minerva said sleepily, “just open the door.”

The tips of the lioness’ sharp claws shoved themselves through the wood. Severus was poised for flight. How fast was a lion? He looked about…there was no where to run, really. By the time the bookcase opened, his wife would be on him. He heard the door splinter, and the lioness poked her head out of the hole, and looked at him, her eyes narrowed.

“Shit. I’m going to be eaten by my wife,” Severus thought as the lioness pulled her head back and extended a taloned paw, pulling at the splintered wood and making the hole larger. The paw receded and the lioness’ head and shoulder appeared now, the beast forcing her way through the door.

“Minerva,” Severus hissed, frozen in place by the sight of the huge cat wrestling her way through the broken door. The lioness emerged, snarling and looked at him. Severus swallowed as she padded over to him, her amber eyes never leaving his face. It stopped in front of him, and roared. Then she rose up on her hind legs and clasped his shoulders with her front paws, but she didn’t dig her claws in. They stood face to face. Suddenly, Severus was licked with a large, wet, sandpapery tongue that threatened to pull off a layer of skin. The big cat dropped, and rubbed its head against him, purring. He breathed in relief. The lioness rubbed her muzzle against both his thighs. Severus remembered reading something about scent glands located on lions…was she marking him?

The big cat looked up at him, still purring, still rubbing her great head against him. Tentatively, he reached down and caressed the top of her head. She rolled it against his hand, arching against him, pushing him slightly back with her weight. She was no tabby cat. Severus scratched behind her ears, and the cat’s eyes slitted with pleasure as she sat on her haunches and enjoyed his ministrations. He sighed in relief. She wasn’t going to eat him. Slowly, he walked over to the armchair and sat down, followed by the lioness, who shoved her head into his lap, demanding more scratches and caresses, purring. He looked into the lioness’ eyes.

“Hermione?” he said tentatively. The lioness looked up at him and purred louder.

“You are beautiful,” he breathed.

In response, the lioness backed away from him, and stretched langorously, stretching out her neck, lengthening her sleek, muscular body, her intimidating claws extending, then retracting. She lashed her tail and looked at him rather coquettishly for a cat. He smiled, knowing she was showing off for him.

“Finding you…like this, in the bed was quite a shock,” he said softly as the lioness returned, lifting her head so he could scratch under her chin. She flashed her fangs at him, in a frightening simile of a grin.

“Minerva said the transformation shouldn’t last long. You should change back soon,” he said, enjoying the softness of her fur beneath his palm. She really was a beautiful creature. Suddenly, she began to shudder. Her eyes widened and she yowled.

“Hermione? Hermione!” Severus said as the lioness bolted into the bedroom. There followed some horrible roaring, and Severus ran to the room just in time to see Hermione complete her transformation back to human form. She lay on the bed, panting, covered in perspiration, completely naked. She lifted her head.

“Severus,” she said softly, before passing out.

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In the infirmary, Severus paced back and forth like a big cat himself as Pomfrey examined his sleeping wife.

“She’s fine, Severus,” Pomfrey said, turning to him and smiling at his concerned expression. “First time transformation is quite an ordeal, especially if it was not intentional. She just needs to rest. She’ll be fine, and the transformations will become easier over time.”

She looked at him in a pained way.

“But you’ll have to take her back to your rooms, I can’t afford to have her transform and terrify the rest of my patients,” Pomfrey said, clearly not happy about having to release Hermione in Severus’ care. She would have rather watched over the witch herself, as usual. But this was a special case.

Severus nodded, and bending over, lifted his sleeping wife in his arms and walked to the floo.

“Would you mind, Pomfrey?” he asked, indicating the floo powder with his dark eyes.

The medi-witch bustled up. “Of course, Severus,” she said, taking a handful of powder and casting it into the flames.

“Thank you,” Severus said, nodding at her and looking down into the face of his sleeping wife tenderly. He stepped through the flames. Pomfrey sighed. That wizard certainly adored his wife.

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A/N: Interesting chapter eh? Imagine waking up under a lion. Poor Severus. Guess the night before was all she needed to bring out the inner animal. Fun chapter to write. Please review.