A/N: This is the story I never thought I'd write. It's a short story in three chapters.

1: Roar

"RRROAR!"

Minerva threw herself back, almost toppling over as her weight landed on her bad knee. Quickly, she cast a shimmering Protego in front of her, holding the large predator at bay.

Her student was pacing, large paws threading silently on the stone floor, head hanging low, tail lashing from side to side. There was no recognition in those yellow eyes, none at all. The muscles in her shoulders bunched as she moved back and forth, unhurried, relaxed, like she hadn't just lunged for Minerva's frail body, claws out and teeth bared.

Panting, Minerva clutched her throat, as if her thundering pulse could be stilled by the touch of her hand. She tried to calm her breathing, silently thanking her experience and instinct for staying a few metres away from her student's first transformation. Because, who would have thought that sweet, intelligent Hermione Granger would become a fierce lioness animagus?

Xxxx

"Severus," Minerva's voice was as cool as always, but as he looked up from his desk, he could see something had ruffled her feathers. Thoroughly so.

"Enter," he granted, making a quick motion with his hand to invite her into the circular chamber of the Headmaster's office. The walls were covered with shelves filled to the brim with books, tomes and scrolls, and in the corner on a small table, his magically modified record player sat. For the moment, it was quiet, the Black Sabbath record having stopped only minutes before Minerva had requested entrance.

His face dropped into a scowl, as he saw know-it-all Granger trail after her Head of House into his room.

"To what do I owe this surprising pleasure?" he asked, feeling irritated that Minerva saw the need to drag a student into his office. As if Granger, Head Girl and Model Student Extraordinaire would ever warrant a visit to the Headmaster's office for any offence. Most likely, Minerva dragged her here to sing her praises, and he was not about to…

"Can I have a Firewhisky?" the old witch wheezed.

Severus almost did a double take. Minerva was requesting a whisky in front of a student? Whatever had Granger done?

Curiosity won over his grumpiness, and he Summoned a tumbler and a bottle. "Help yourself," he said ungracefully. Minerva might think it acceptable to drink in front of her student, never mind the student being of age, but he was not about to offer Granger his best Firewhisky, and he most certainly wouldn't partake in front of her.

Well, Granger was practically an adult, anyway. She had returned for her seventh year after the war, eager to take her NEWTs and probably to raise her hands in classes with incessant questions. Thank Merlin he didn't have to teach as Headmaster, or he would have regretted surviving Nagini. Surviving lessons with Granger had been an experience much like the Muggle trivia TV-shows he had watched in his childhood. The chit had always been over-eager.

"Are you here to tell me Granger has gotten a scandalous E on her last essay, or has she actually done something wrong?" he drawled, seeing the girl flush with irritation at his jibe.

Minerva downed her whisky, promptly refilling it. His eyebrows rose, but Granger just stared down at the tiles on the floor, twirling her wand between her fingers, nibbling on her bottom lip.

Pinching her mouth into a frown, Minerva bit back: "No need to get all snippy, Headmaster. On the contrary, Miss Granger has succeeded in her efforts to become an animagus this very afternoon".

"Congratulations," he said drily. As silence descended, he became even more curious. "Why are both of you looking like it's a funeral, then?"

Minerva wiped her mouth, before locking her eyes at him. "Because Miss Granger turned into a lioness, Severus."

Xxxx

The silence was deafening, and Hermione peeked up. To her great surprise, she could see the normally stoic Headmaster gaping in surprise, even blinking slightly. Then his eyes moved onto herself, and she quickly averted her gaze, feeling her lip tremble.

Of all the animals in the world, why did I have to transform into a lioness? Tears were almost burning in her eyes, and she swallowed.

Hermione had been taking extra credit lessons with Professor McGonagall this year, because she was aiming for a mastery in Transfiguration. Having always wanted to be an animagus, she had studied enthusiastically, putting all her efforts into succeeding. And now, she had.

Blinking back those damnable tears - she was not about to cry in front of Severus Snape, sarcastic bastard extraordinaire, as Merlin knew how much fuel for his spite that would be - but this was bad. Real bad.

Everyone knew that the first ten or twenty transformations were difficult, what with the animal instincts taking completely over for the human mind, before control came gradually with experience. Most new animagi needed the support of another animagus to forcibly curb those instincts, to keep one from hunting other animals, or even going so far as scavenging.

A small animagus, like McGonagall's cat form, could never contain or stop a lioness on the prowl. The trouble was, most animagi weren't large predators. They were dogs, cats, birds, foxes, deer or mice. To turn into animals like lions and tigers was exceedingly rare, and the danger to other animals or even humans was very real. Hermione supposed, the only thing worse than a lion, would be transforming into a dragon.

Sighing raggedly, she knew what this meant. She could never transform again, and she would need to give up her dream of becoming a Transfiguration Mistress. And now, the Headmaster would declare her unfit for further studies in Transfiguration. A lone tear ran down the bridge of her nose, as she bowed her head, hiding behind her hair.

Xxxx

Minerva cleared her throat. "Severus. You must help her."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Miss Granger's head snap up, her eyes red-rimmed and her face pale.

Her paleness, though, was nothing against the colour on Severus face. The man was positively ashen.

"Minerva…" he began weakly, but she interrupted him rudely, soldiering on before he could say anything more.

"You know how gifted Miss Granger is. Britain will lose the possibly finest Transfiguration Mistress we could get in years, if she has to terminate her studies. Surely, you can help her. If not for her, think of the knowledge we will lose in the future by stopping her career. I'm sure Miss Granger will single handedly improve the research in Transfiguration, if she gets the opportunity."

Beside her, the girl flushed by hearing herself praised so. Minerva almost smirked, but kept her attention on Severus.

"You know, you're the only one in Britain who can help her," she continued, unmercifully prodding at his penchant for saving people. Oh, he had hidden it well, over the years, but after the war, it was out in the open. Everyone knew that Severus Snape was a selfless hero.

The man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, before he Summoned another tumbler, pouring himself a glass of Firewhisky too. By that, Minerva knew she had gotten to him. For Severus to do something as unheard of as drinking in front of a student, he had to be severely shaken.

Xxxx

"Minerva, " he began again, hoping he'd be allowed to finish his sentence this time. "I … you don't know what you're asking," he said, the disbelief colouring his voice.

"As a matter of fact, I think I do," the witch said, arching her eyebrows at him. "You need to let go of another secret, to help a student. Is that so hard? There's no shame in this."

Frustrated, he sighed again. "It's not about the secret," he grunted, trying to avoid Minerva's glare. Granger was now staring at the two of them, her eyes flitting back and forth, alive with curiosity, her tears apparently forgotten. "As a matter of fact, keeping my animal form a secret has lost its importance with the end of the war. It doesn't matter anymore."

He swallowed, feeling queasy and almost ill with embarrassment.

"Minerva, the dynamics … what will happen … there's a very real risk…" Gods, he couldn't say it. Not in front of Minerva and a student. Fuck, this was incredibly mortifying.

"Yes, very risky," Minerva snorted sarcastically, "we might utilize one of the greatest minds in Britain in future Transfiguration research."

He cleared his throat, aware that his normally sallow cheeks had two flaming spots of high colour.

Turning to the student in question, he said stiffly, revealing his secret: "Miss Granger, I am a lion animagus too."

And the stupid girl literally beamed at him.

Xxxx

"That's wonderful," she breathed. She was grinning so much, her cheeks hurt. "I had no idea, Headmaster, that you were an animagus!"

"Very few know, as it was a secret," he said, looking pointedly at McGonagall. "It was never prudent to broadcast this before."

Then he cleared his throat, the scarred skin on his neck moving as he swallowed almost convulsively. "Miss Granger… do you have any idea as to how natural lions behave… how they socialize…?"

Hermione furrowed her brow. The man was clearly uncomfortable. From her right, she heard a small gasp from McGonagall, but Hermione was now in the mode for answering questions, and filed their odd responses into a compartment in her brain for later examination.

"Lions are the only big cats living in groups," she stated, digging for what she knew from nature programs on the telly and biology lessons from primary school. Lions hadn't figured in her Hogwarts education, and she was not up to her usual excellence, she knew that.

Still, she rattled off, hoping that sir David Attenborough was to be trusted: "It's a large predator, hunting in groups, and the families consist of a group of females, their cubs and one or two males. Any new male taking over a lion pride, will usually kill the cubs and impregnate the lionesses with his own offspring…"

Her voice faltered, and she stared at the Headmaster. Hermione swallowed. Surely not…? But the flaming colour on Severus Snape's face told her she was right.

Xxxx

Minerva didn't know if she should giggle or be shocked. The thought of Severus Snape and Hermione Granger mating as lions was … ridiculous at the best, horrifying at the worst.

The man was almost squirming in his chair, and then he said, voice gravelly: "Miss Granger, you should know the risk. It isn't a given, but I think it is likely."

She nodded sagely, not trusting herself to say anything, not knowing if what would come out of her mouth was a great, big guffaw or an exclamation of sympathy. The silence stretched, and the more Minerva thought about it, the sillier she found the situation.

In the end, she rose, saying pointedly: "I believe I should leave the two of you alone to … hammer out the details of this." By that, she retreated hastily, her mouth twitching, but she managed to keep her laughter inside until she had entered the stairwell, slamming the heavy door behind her.

Xxxx

Severus swallowed. Merlin, what a mess. Minerva was right, Granger was too brilliant for him to not consider helping her. Still, discussing the possibility of having sex with a student, in his animagus form no less, was very far outside his comfort zone.

Pulling himself together, he said tonelessly: "Miss Granger. As you probably discovered, a predator has very strong instincts, and it's difficult to curb them completely. I've never met a lioness before, neither an animagus or a natural, so I have no idea how the lion in me will react. Still, I'm afraid the outcome will be… mating."

There, he had said it. Granger was flaming red, not meeting his eyes, and suddenly, he felt sorry for her. Here she was, having to choose between losing her opportunity to study the subject she loved, or mate with her old, greasy Headmaster, who had tormented her as a child.

The young woman licked her lips, and suddenly, he was uncomfortably aware of her being just that, a young, attractive woman. Not just a student, an annoyance, but a lithe woman with curves in just the right places, big brown eyes, pink, soft lips and a brain to match his own.

Severus shifted on his chair, feeling ashamed by his cock stirring. He never thought about students like that. Never. He was not about to begin now, with someone twenty years younger than himself. Nineteen, whispered a voice in his mind, just nineteen years younger. He almost snorted. As if that made it any better.

"Sir," the girl said, her voice almost a whisper. "Are you sure about this?" Then she gave off a small, mirthless laugh, before saying: "I never thought I'd lose my virginity to my Headmaster, and in lion form to boot."

Severus felt a shock of heat travel through his body, and his face reddened even more. A virgin. Images of a very improper kind flashed through his brain, to his shock and horror. Shaking himself, he forced his thought away from the gutter. Of course, the girl harboured no fantasies of him, quite the contrary. She hated him, to be sure.

Still, a stupid part of him him, probably his male pride, or maybe the prideful part of him that had made his animagus form a lion, made him say gruffly:

"You may think me some kind of sexless creature, being your Professor, but I assure you, I'm a man in my prime, and that will translate into my lion form, whether I will or no."

Xxxx

Hermione blushed horribly. Somewhere deep in her belly, a lick of heat curled, twisted and grew, and she stared shamefacedly down on the floor. She did not want to think about Severus Snape as a man with a sex drive. Did he mean… Did he find her attractive…? Feeling her heart rate pick up, she clenched her thighs together.

Swallowing, she thought of her options, but she knew, she had already decided. She wanted more than anything to be a Transfiguration Mistress. So be it, if it included shagging her Headmaster in lion form.

Straightening herself, she took a deep breath, before looking him into the eyes: "If you are willing to try, sir, I'll be grateful for your help. No matter … that."

A/N: I read this wonderful SS/HG, "The Irony" by awakethelion, where Hermione was a lioness animagus. When it became clear that Severus was an animagus too, though not a lion, I realized I had this wild craving for them both to be lions. Hence, this story. LOL.