Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.
Rating: K
A/N: Just a little drabble I wrote back around Halloween. Enjoy!
After the war, the rumors died down for a while. It wouldn't do to mock a war hero, after all.
Six years passed in relative peace; the castle was returned to its former glory, students came and went, and everyone moved on with their lives.
But then, seven years after the fall of Voldemort, the whispers returned.
Whispers of Professor Snape, and a giant bat that lurked in the dungeons. They got out of hand, as rumors usually do, and soon the bat was larger than a person, with glowing red eyes. It drank the blood of errant students out after curfew, too.
None of the staff paid the rumors any more mind than they had all those years ago. Really, if Severus went out in the sun a bit more, and got some color in is complexion, perhaps the students would eventually stop thinking he transformed into a vampire bat at night.
Their amused indifference lasted right up until the night a frazzled Minerva McGonagall burst into the staff room, claiming to have been attacked by a giant bat while she'd been patrolling the halls in her Animagus form.
The dungeons being his domain, Severus, who had been peacefully reading by the fireplace, sighed and got up, agreeing to go investigate while Poppy tried to pour a Calming Draught down the Headmistress's throat.
The tiniest chirp from the shadows told him he'd found his culprit.
"You've terrified Minerva, you know," he informed the huge bat conversationally. "She's convinced the castle has a pest problem."
The bat rustled its wings in a leathery shrug of indifference and Severus smirked.
He held out his arm, offering a perch for the creature, who promptly detached from the masonry and swooped down. His arm dipped momentarily as he was saddled with all two and a half pounds of the golden-crowned flying fox he'd been addressing; even with his arm at shoulder level, its head reached well below his waist.
Yes, there was indeed a great bat in the dungeons.
Yes, it was Professor Snape.
But…
"You know, one of these days you'll have to tell the Headmistress about your Animagus form," Severus said as they entered his quarters.
The bat squeaked in what could only be described as a derisive sound before detaching from his arm and flipping right-side up and transforming.
Professor Hermione Snape smirked devilishly. "Now Severus, what fun would that be?"