Author's Note: This is just a little fluffy birthday gift for CorvusDraconis.
Be-Sandwiched
The sign above the shop read "Abbot's Amazing Appetizers" in large, bronze, cursive letters. A bright glass window showcased a number of delectable treats spinning in slowly rotating display cases, with cute little hand-lettered signs in cursive that detailed the names and prices of each item.
"Catering by appointment only," read a sign attached to a brochure stand near the door, which featured folded pamphlets with lists and moving photographs that looked almost delicious enough to eat.
A cloaked figure stopped in front of the door and stared at the treats on the other side of the glass.
The bell chimed merrily and Hannah found herself running down the stairs from the upstairs apartment over the shop where she lived, desperately trying not to trip and fall as she tried to tie on her shop apron on the way down. Her glasses lay forgotten on the cabinet next to the sink of her tiny bathroom, but Hannah wasn't thinking about her declining eyesight.
"Good morning and welcome to Abbot's Amazing Appetizers!" she sang cheerfully as she put on her best smile for the customer.
The emerald hood was drawn back and Hanna gasped with surprise.
"Headmistress!" she exclaimed excitedly, "What brings you here today?"
"Why, I thought I'd stop by and see your lovely store," Headmistress Minerva McGonagall replied with a small smile. "I've heard only good things."
Hannah puffed out her chest with pride as she watched the Headmistress look back at the display items with longing.
"I only use fresh ingredients, which are delivered daily from all local sources," she started, "and I make each item at the time of order!"
"Normally, the house elves of Hogwarts will cater my staff meetings," Minerva said, looking back at Hannah with a kind expression, "however, I heard such rave reviews from everyone, that I've decided to place an order with you. Will this afternoon at three-thirty be enough advanced notice? I'll need at least twenty sandwiches of varying styles, a fruit salad, and enough of your famous lemonade to drown a hippogriff!"
Hannah's eyes widened and she nodded emphatically in return.
"Anything for my dear friends from Hogwarts!" she exclaimed happily. "Just let me grab a pen and paper and I'll write up the details."
"No need," Minerva replied, pulling a rolled piece of parchment from her robes. "This should be sufficient."
Hannah grabbed it and smiled wide at her old Transfiguration Professor.
"Oh, no! Don't worry about that! Your satisfaction is guaranteed!" she said, putting up her hand as Minerva began to open a bag that clinked loudly as its contents shifted inside, "I won't request payment until after you've finished."
"Well, if you're absolutely sure..." Minerva said uncertainly, "Simply send the bill once you have the chance, then."
"I shall begin at once!" Hannah said happily, unrolling the parchment in her hand and pointing to a blank spot at the bottom. "If you include your floo address here, I will deliver it myself!"
"Certainly!" Minerva said, filling out the information with a flourish of her hand. "Now then, is that all you need from me?"
"Yes! Thank you again, Headmistress!" Hannah replied brightly. "I shall contact you when everything is ready!"
"Very good. I shall see you this afternoon." With that, Minerva placed the hood back over her face and turned towards the door.
Hannah stared at the list that the Headmistress had written on the parchment, her eyes dancing with anticipation. This was her first big order and there was no way she was going to mess it up.
It was too bad that fate appeared to have other ideas.
Neville Longbottom skipped merrily as he whistled down the forest path to Hogsmeade. He carried several black wooden boxes stuffed with various clippings and cuttings from his most recent greenhouse harvest. Professor Sprout had retired only several months before, and Neville was still getting used to teaching Herbology to real students, but he wasn't worried. After he'd received his Mastery in Herbology, Neville found that his confidence had grown by leaps and bounds. He was no longer a timid, shy boy about anything, and he'd finally grown into his deep baritone voice, thanks to his and Hermione's rigorous workout routine. Neville had always known that Hermione Granger was intelligent, but she'd received two masteries at the same time, a whole year before Neville had begun working at Hogwarts. Her first had been in Transfiguration, which made sense, as she'd always been highly competent in the subject, but her second Mastery had, interestingly enough, been in Arithmancy. Neville hadn't realized that Hermione had such a knack for the stuff, which always seemed to make his head hurt when he had to look at the glowing equations on the board. Hermione had confided in him that she'd started out doing it as a hobby, but it had snowballed out of control. She had recently told him that she was considering getting a Mastery in both Charms and Potions as well.
"Wow!" Neville had exclaimed as they'd turned the corner of the south side of the castle on their fifth lap around the inner grounds, "You're amazing, Hermione!"
"Don't let Hannah hear you say things like that," Hermione had replied with a smirk, "or you'll be in the doghouse for a month!"
Hermione had been Neville's first friend, and it was easy to see why. She was bossy and overbearing when he was laid-back and willing to listen. She always came off like the cool older sister that Neville always wanted to go on adventures with, even though they were the same age.
Hannah, though...wow...she was on a completely different level. Hannah was like the scent spring on the wind after a long, cruel winter. She made him feel giddy and lightheaded and full of joy. He was addicted to watching the way her smile lit up her eyes. When she was happy, she practically glowed, and he loved her ever more for it. Neville was rapidly running out of reasons not to propose to her, which made his belly ache with a thousand butterflies at the thought of her possible reply.
"Neville! I'm glad I ran into you!" A familiar voice called out from his left and Neville started, shaking his head as he snapped out of his daydream.
A woman was standing at the side of the road with a sheepish look on her face. Her cart had halfway toppled over in the ditch at the side of the road and one of the wheels looked as though it was broken.
"I got too close to the edge and now I have a cracked axle," she explained, shaking her head at the wheel, "I'm going to be late with Hannah's shipment. It's not that big today, though. You look like you're on the way to visit her, am I right?"
"Well, yeah...but…" Neville looked at the boxes on the cart nervously. They sure didn't look like a small shipment.
"Oh, this?" The farmer-witch smiled and picked up a box. "Catch!"
Neville shifted his own boxes to one arm and made a desperate dive for the box, but he needn't have worried. It floated down slowly in a wide arc and he caught it easily with one finger.
"See? Light as a feather!" she exclaimed with a smirk. "I'm Allyson, by the way. I tend to the field that's in the valley over yonder and have a right magical little farm. All of the food is raised with minimal magic, but I can't help but place a Featherweight Charm on my boxes. The magic doesn't affect my food at all, and it makes deliveries a snap. So, what do you say, do you want to be the hero of the hour? I owled away for a mobile repair service, but it could be another hour before I'm back on the road."
Neville nodded. He liked the idea of being a hero, even if it was just produce.
"Sure! I'm already on the way, so why not?" He grinned as she tossed him two other boxes, and he was able to balance them all on his finger as well.
"Don't get too cocky," Allyson said with a smirk. "You don't wanna drop them, after all. The weight of the items inside is all too real."
Neville nodded again and thanked the farmer-witch for the advice before setting out on his way again.
He did not see the tiny puffball floating up from his own box through the slats in one of the produce containers.
Hermione ran down the moving staircases at a breakneck speed, her purple cape flying out behind her. Droplets of sweat ran down her face and her frizzed out from her head as though she'd just been struck with lightning. She was far too warm, but she knew she didn't have a chance to run back to her office to shed her excess layers. Besides, it had been a cold morning and the castle was always drafty and cold during most of the year. It didn't help that her quarters was up in one of the less-used towers, which had seen better days and seemed to average a good ten degrees colder than the rest of the castle.
Teaching Arithmancy and helping out by substitute teaching Transfiguration while Minerva had been at a retreat the past few weeks had run Hermione ragged. She'd actually just woken up with a start, her forehead pressed against the blackboard. She'd squeaked with alarm when she'd seen the time. Her hand was still clutching the chalk tightly, and she was fairly certain that there was still a smudge on her face even after having wiped her face with her sleeve, but she didn't have time to duck into the loo and check in the mirror.
"I'm Late! Late! Late!" she shouted, zooming around a small group of students.
She dashed around the corner and ran headlong into someone who was coming the opposite direction almost as quickly.
"OOF! Watch where you're going, you dunder-h-Hermione?!"
"Oh! I'm sorry, Severus!" Hermione rubbed her sore bottom as she picked herself up off of the ground and looked at the confused and irritated look of Severus Snape, who was also sitting on his arse looking rather undignified. She extended her hand and he took it, scoffing loudly as though her kind gesture was really putting him out, but she knew better. They'd become closer ever since he'd returned to teach at Hogwarts. There had been a number of nights where he'd cleaned the floor with her at Wizard's Chess, but it had been fun and Hermione had gotten much better as time went on. What made it all worthwhile was the fact that they were finally on a first-name basis, which Hermione relished after having been called "Granger" in a disparaging voice for over five years.
At first, everyone had been surprised when Severus Snape had returned to his post as Potions professor, but Hermione knew that it had been more out of necessity than desire. After all, though he was best known for being a terrifying teacher, it was what he'd done for over a decade and there hadn't been a lot of job opportunities for someone with his checkered past, no matter how many Orders of Merlin he had received.
"It's just...I'm terribly late to the staff meeting and- wait- why were you going the other way? It's down back past the kitchens and…" Hermione trailed off, looking puzzled.
"Ah, it's a good thing that we ran into each other, then," Severus replied, smirking slightly at his rather well-timed pun.
"Oh Merlin, Severus! That was terrible!" Hermione groaned, but she grinned back and he shook his head at her antics.
"Come along then. We mustn't be late to the first staff meeting since Minerva went out partying with the other Headmasters from magical schools around the world," he said, offering her his arm.
Hermione felt the blush rising on her face, looking up at him like a deer caught in the headlamp of an oncoming train.
"Um...thank you?" she tittered nervously, wondering why he was being so cavalier about touching anyone, much less her. After all, Hermione was comfortable hugging most of the staff, except for maybe grumpy old Filch, but she had never even considered hugging Severus Snape. He was so aloof and standoffish that she was secretly terrified that all of her hard work to befriend him would evaporate if she pushed their established boundaries.
"If we do not get moving, we really will be late and Minerva will give us a tongue lashing," Severus replied, his voice full of dark humor. "I wonder, are you a masochist for the Headmistress, or are you simply stunned that someone such as myself would help you?"
Hermione felt her face grow even hotter and she shook her head.
"U...um….lead the way!" she replied, grasping his arm tightly.
Moments later, Hermione was soundly regretting having gone along with him. A scolding from Minerva would be preferable to the pain in her body at being forced to run along at such an uncomfortable pace. Severus had very long legs hidden under his voluminous teaching robes and he was using them to pull her down the hall at a frightening speed. Her short legs were screaming with pain and so when they stopped abruptly, Hermione took the opportunity to take deep, cleansing breaths.
"Hold on," Severus said gruffly, and she vaguely registered the sound of a squeaky set of hinges before Severus had grabbed her under her arms and pressed her tightly to his chest. Hermione didn't even have time to squeak with surprise before they were tumbling out of an open window and into thin air.
Hermione was screaming and screaming, but she noticed rather quickly that no sound was coming out of her mouth. She looked at Severus, but he only glanced at her as if to say I do not appreciate having my eardrums blown out and you know it before he continued flying towards the gazebo where Minerva had designated their meeting. Hermione could already smell the heavenly aroma from where they were, and it didn't take more than a few minutes to touch down on the ground. Severus let go of her and undid the Silencing Charm with a wave of his wand as Hermione shot a reproachful look at him.
"You could have warned me," she grumbled.
"You would have given me a lecture and we'd be even later than we already are," Severus retorted, arching his eyebrow at her as if to say Check and Mate.
Hermione huffed and grumbled, but in the end, she had to admit that he was right. Finally, she sighed loudly and put her hands on her hips.
"Well, I reserve the right to be unhappy about having been tossed out of a window," she said, a bit more huffily than she would have liked.
"Remind me not to offer my assistance in the future, then," Severus replied sardonically, his eyebrow still arched at a dangerous angle.
"Point taken," Hermione sighed, "Now, let's get to the gazebo before the entire meeting is over."
The gazebo was out behind the kitchens on the far side of the castle and it overlooked a beautiful meadow, which was just beginning to fill with assorted wildflowers, due to the copious amount of gentle spring rain followed by sunny days. Oddly enough, the meadow had escaped the final battle at Hogwarts relatively unscathed, and it was one of the only places that was not filled with painful memories for the majority of those who had been there when Voldemort had breathed his last. It was for this reason that Minerva had set Hagrid to work on constructing the gazebo, which was a bright white with golden trim around the ceiling. There was a mural on the ceiling that Luna Lovegood had painted herself before going on her tour of the world with her husband; golden names linked together beautifully. As she walked up the steps, she glanced at the ceiling momentarily before her eyes darted away again, remembering exactly what was up there. Hermione knew that her name was on the mural somewhere, as were many of those who had died, but the names were too small to read with the naked eye.
"It's just as well," she muttered under her breath as Severus shot her a puzzled look.
"Ah, there you two are!" Minerva said, smirking at them from the head of the table, "Normally, I'd have some sharp words for you both, but, seeing as I am recently back from my retreat, I am in a good enough mood to look the other way. Let's begin, shall we?"
Severus and Hermione took a seat next to one another, since the other seats appeared to have been taken. Hermione shot an irritated look at Neville, who blanched from the other side of the table. It figured that she'd have to sit next to Severus, even though she was still a little mad at him, and therefore would have prefered to stomp off to the other end of the table.
"We have many things to discuss," Minerva was saying as she clasped her hands together, "but first, let's all put together our lunches, which are courtesy of Miss Abbot's delectable sandwich shop down in Hogsmeade."
There was a smattering of applause, especially from Hagrid, who looked as though he was literally forcing himself not to make a grab for the amazing looking sandwiches that were spread out on a fancy four-tiered plate. Everyone grabbed for the sandwiches they thought looked the best, and soon, everyone was seated with a sandwich and a tall glass of ice-cold lemonade. A bowl of fruit salad was passed around, and Hermione made a mental note to see if she could cajole the recipe out of Hannah later.
She glanced over at Severus and noticed that he hadn't put anything on his plate.
"Not hungry?" she asked him somewhat waspishly, "Hannah made these fresh for us. The least you can do is try a bite."
He made a frustrated noise in his throat as Minerva gave him a pointed look and grabbed one of the smallest sandwiches, shoving in his mouth and swallowing it in one gulp. Then he crossed his arms and looked at Minerva with a very pointed stare.
"Git," Hermione muttered as she took a bite out of her cucumber and herring sandwich and forced herself to ignore him even though he was now obviously glaring at her. It was absolutely delectable. In fact, she went back for a second one after she'd finished her fruit salad and gulped down the refreshing lemonade.
Hagrid ended up eating at least twelve, and by the end of the lunch, everyone looked spectacularly stuffed...well...except for Severus, that is.
"Now that we've all eaten, I'd like to discuss a couple of things that I've heard will be changing in the upcoming months," Minerva said primly as the conversation died down. She began to go on at length until a strange noise suddenly came from Hagrid's mouth.
"What was that, Rubeus?" Minerva asked, her eyebrows furrowing with irritation at having been interrupted.
Hagrid tried to open his mouth, but instead of words, a strange trumpeting sound shot from his throat, and he shuddered violently. Hermione stood to see if perhaps he was choking on something when a horrible shattering noise to her left made her turn to see Severus flailing backwards and knocking assorted glassware off of the table as he tried to steady himself. He landed on the wooden floor of the gazebo and began convulsing in a terrifying manner. Meanwhile, Hagrid's nose was now comically long and growing grayer by the moment. Huge, spiky teeth were protruding from his mouth and the other professors were running out of the way as his clothes began to split and gray, tough hide showed through underneath. Hagrid was swelling even larger than his usual size, and it was with a trumpeting cry that he crashed backwards and flew over the railing into the bushes, growing larger with each passing minute. A startled cry came from her left and she saw that Professor Flitwick's neck had elongated to an absurd length and he was bent over the table, trying to steady himself as long, knobby legs grew from his sleeves. Hermione wanted to cry out, to go get help, but she too felt her belly twisting and turning with red-hot pain and she sank to her knees next to Severus, who had shrunken into his clothing where she could no longer see him, even though she could see him thrashing around from within the folds of his cloak. As she began to feel her bones shifting and shrinking, she tore at the buttons of his frock coat and desperately tried to free him from the suffocating materials. It was with this thought that she felt her mouth and nose reform with such severe pain that she cried out and lost consciousness, collapsing onto the floor as she heard odd noises crying out in distress around her and wondered where everything had gone wrong.
Hermione's nose twitched violently and she opened her eyes slowly. She tried to speak but all that came out was a strange clicking purr. Attempting to stand on two legs didn't work as well as she'd expected, as her torso had become far longer and...furrier? She squeaked with dismay. What kind of horrible creature had she become? She looked down at her paws and flexed them, marveling at the slight webbing between each toe. She tried to frown, but apparently, whatever she was did not have that ability, so she merely stomped her feet on the ground, which seemed to have the desired effect. She looked around her, but all that she could see was discarded clothing and the remnants of chaos. The table was on its side and one of the wooden struts in the gazebo had been broken, seemingly by something large crashing into it. Hermione looked down and saw that she'd mostly wiggled out of her clothing at some point.
Her ears perked up when she heard a similar clicking growl noise from nearby. Severus was nowhere to be found, but there did appear to be a strange, furry head peeking out from the neck of his jacket, which lay on the floor.
"Squeak-growl!" The otter exclaimed angrily, thrashing around in the frock coat.
It was obvious that the creature wanted to escape, but Hermione didn't have opposable thumbs anymore. Testing out a theory, she ran her tongue along her teeth.
Good. They were sharp and would definitely do the trick.
Hermione felt bad for biting off the top buttons of the nicely tailored jacket, but it was the only way the otter inside would be able to get free, and she felt terrible that the poor creature was trapped.
Finally, the otter slipped free, and one look at his backside told Hermione that he was male.
He turned around and stared her down with a loud grunting growl, seemingly chastising her for staring at his bits.
It was then that Hermione suddenly realized something. This wasn't an otter that had suddenly found its way into Professor Snape's clothing. This WAS Severus Snape, only in otter form!
She tried to laugh, but it merely came out in an embarrassing squeaky snort. This was absurd. Why would they have turned into animals? They weren't animaguses, and they hadn't- oh...oh no…
Hermione's mind flashed back to the lunch spread, and how amazing it had been.
'Everyone started getting sick right after we finished eating,' she thought frantically. 'but that doesn't make any sense! Hannah has no reason to transform us into animals!"
"Hermione? Is that you?" Hermione shook her head and looked up at a giant Neville.
On second thought, he wasn't gigantic, it was just that Hermione had gotten smaller.
Forgetting that she couldn't speak, she began squeaking angrily at him, berating him for having allowed his girlfriend to poison everyone with her weird sandwiches...but then she stopped when she realized that Neville was not transformed at all.
She cocked her head to the side in askance and Neville wrung his hands and moaned in fear.
"I don't know what happened, Hermione!" he cried unhappily, "I already ate a bunch of sandwiches while I was in the shop with Hannah, so I didn't feel hungry at all for the meeting! She made them for me with her leftovers from yesterday, so I didn't think anything of it, but I watched her make each sandwich fresh before I delivered them here myself. She didn't tamper with them at all! Oh, what am I going to do? The Headmistress turned into a lioness and Flitwick is a giraffe and you wouldn't believe how big Hagrid….he's an elephant, can you believe it?!"
Severus squeaked derisively and Neville shut his mouth abruptly.
"Oh sweet Merlin, not you too, Professor Snape!" he yelped.
Snape nodded, and Hermione noted to herself that it was weird to see an otter nod in such a human-like way.
Hermione squeaked and motioned for Neville to follow her. Just because she was stuck in an otter's body didn't mean that she was completely unable to communicate. She grabbed a stick from under one of the bushes in her mouth and ran to a wide stretch of soil that was still waiting to be re-planted. Using it, she began to write as best she could in big block letters.
RETRACE YOUR STEPS, she wrote.
Severus nodded again and squeaked at her, motioning with his head for her stick.
She handed it to him with her mouth and she could feel her hair standing up on end when he brushed his whiskers against hers. He seemed to notice it as well, for he stood there with the stick dangling from his mouth and stared at her for a few moments before he seemed to recover and shake his head, drawing his own words in the dirt below hers.
SEE MADAM POMFREY, he wrote. Then, as though he'd thought better of it, he began scribbling again. DESTROY REMAINING SANDWICHES, he added.
Neville nodded emphatically and turned to run back to the gazebo to do just that.
Hermione squeaked for the stick and he returned it to her gingerly, both of them shivering when the same, almost shock-like sensation filled them upon brushing against one another.
There wasn't much room left in the dirt, so she knew she had to be succinct.
Finally, she decided upon LET HARRY AND RON KNOW. THEY WILL HELP.
Severus growled at this and stamped his feet with irritation, but Hermione simply held her head high and fixed him with an unimpressed look. Even if Harry and Ron couldn't actually solve the problem of the transfigured Hogwarts staff, they had enough connections in the community to get the right people to come and fix whatever had caused this catastrophe in the first place.
Even though she and Ron had gone their separate ways romantically over four years prior, he was still a good friend. In fact, he had grown to become an integral part of the research and development arm of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, so he knew more than a little about various ingredients and how they interacted.
Harry, on the other hand, had many friends and connections within the Ministry, and Hermione knew for a fact that aurors not only had to deal with spells and potions of dubious origin, but they worked closely with some of the Unspeakables on deciphering and understanding odd bits of evidence after apprehending criminals.
And besides, they were both fiercely protective of Hermione and Minerva, especially, though they had a great affection for everyone who worked at Hogwarts (Snape possibly excluded- neither Ron nor Harry saw eye-to-eye with the scowling Potions master, even though everyone now knew what role he'd had in the war).
With that, she dropped the stick and began to gambol towards the castle.
"Squeak?!" Severus was behind her, sounding as though she'd personally offended him, but his otter voice was so high-pitched that it made Hermione want to laugh. It was too bad that the best she could manage was a whuffling squeal that sounded more like someone had stepped on her tail. She turned and gave him a look that said you don't have to follow me, you know.
He simply continued to follow her and sighed loudly as though saying you know I can't let you run off and get yourself killed by being a reckless moron.
Well, at least, that's what Hermione imagined he was thinking. She'd spent enough time with him to know that even when he cared about someone enough to call them by their first name, he still had trouble not automatically thinking the worst of everyone.
She quickened her pace, despising how the dirt felt against her paws. She had no idea how wild otters managed. Perhaps she could figure out how to balance on her hind legs more steadily with practice.
'Though, with any luck, I won't have to be an otter for long,' she hoped fervently.
She finally made it to the steps of the castle and looked up at the big, heavy entrance doors. This was going to be a problem.
A tugging sensation on her back end made her turn around and squeak angrily. Severus was behind her, his mouth on the tip of her tail.
She growled at him angrily. What did he want, anyway? She hadn't asked him to tag along with her.
He let go of her tail and moved his head in the direction of the Black Lake. She stared at him skeptically. What exactly was he suggesting, anyway?
Hermione turned back to the doors. They were as heavy and closed as before.
Perhaps Severus knew another way into the castle. He squeaked again as though confirming her thoughts, and she finally turned to follow him.
'Bloody show-off,' she thought irritably.
On their way down to the Black Lake, they say a number of odd things. The first was a lioness stuck in a tree. The Whomping Willow to be exact. Somehow, Minerva had found herself on the V-shaped part of the Willow's trunk and was clinging on for dear life as the Willow swung its bludgeoning arms around and around, narrowly missing her large, furry body.
"Mrrrrrrrorrrrrrrr!" she yowled as the otters turned and stared at her.
Hermione and Severus stared, transfixed on the drama unfolding before them. Moments later, a giraffe with a chair stuck around his neck shot through the clearing towards the Forbidden Forest, tripping all over its knobby, long legs. A massive elephant had its head stuck in the door of Hagrid's hut, and Fang the dog had somehow gotten up on the back of the elephant and was curled up, fast asleep. They also saw a very large golden eagle trying to get off the ground even as she kept tangling her talons and her wings somehow. She screamed shrilly with irritation and kept trying, only managing to get a few feet off the ground before crashing into the dirt beak first. But that wasn't as odd as the ostrich who was still wearing the remains of Madam Hooch's robes, flapping behind her like some kind of superhero cape as she ran. The muggles studies professor was nowhere to be seen, but a large monarch butterfly fluttered through the air above them, and Hermione thought that the wing markings looked oddly familiar.
There was a splash behind her as Severus slipped into the water, and Hermione turned to follow. She was not looking forward to the feeling of the freezing cold water on her skin, but it turned out not to be nearly as bad in her new body. The water was murky and it was difficult to see, but she found that she could swim as quickly as Severus with her webbed feet and serpentine body, which helped her move through the water with ease. Severus led her down around the side of the castle cliffs, and there were a few moments when she felt slightly claustrophobic, as the space they swam through was little wider than what would accommodate a fairly thin person, but then they were popping up and up towards blessed air. She pulled herself up out of the water, panting hard from her exertions. Even though an otter had a superior lung capacity, it still had its limits. Severus seemed to be just as exhausted as well, and Hermione didn't even flinch as he curled up next to her, panting and snuffling as he caught his breath. Being out of the water now seemed like a terrible idea, as it was somewhat cold even though there didn't seem to be a draft. Pressing herself up against Severus felt better, and Hermione could feel the exhaustion taking over again. Even though it was odd, somehow being next to him felt soothing and right in a way that Hermione could not explain in words.
Severus placed his paw on her side and she snuggled her whiskery cheek into his neck, which made him squeak with what she supposed was laughter at having been tickled.
She squeaked back an apology, and he responded by licking her head and grooming her fur into what felt like a spiky mess, but Hermione didn't really mind. She felt safe, warm and sleepy. And, all things considered, it was rather nice to be with Severus like this.
Hermione's eyes shot open and she jolted onto her feet. There was a moment of panic where she wondered where she was and what was going on, and then she realized that she was still an otter and that Severus was grumbling at her in Otter-ese for having kicked him in the stomach. She squeaked her apology and began grooming his head, half as retribution and half as a way to calm him down. He seemed to accept her ministrations, but as soon as she'd finished, he began grooming her back. At some point, she realized that this would be a pretty embarrassing and odd thing to explain to anyone. The thought of telling her mother that she'd engaged in naked licking with her coworker made her insides grow hot with embarrassment.
But it felt so good.
With a start, Hermione realized that she was not fully in control of her otter body any longer. Strange, intrusive, almost animalistic thoughts were filling her head, and she longed to take this male as her mate, find a special rock, fill their bellies with fish and raise pups together in the riv- 'oh god, what am I even thinking?'
Her thoughts were interrupted as Severus began to groom her lower and lower, which wouldn't have been a problem had she been a mere otter, but as a human, Hermione panicked. With a squeak, she pushed herself away and began to run up the rocky shore of the underground cave. Severus followed her, squeaking playfully. She could tell that he too was falling prey to the animal instinct of the form he'd been transformed into. Hermione squeaked at him sharply and his eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment before they grew intelligent again and he froze, his body going rigid as he seemed to realize exactly what he'd been up to.
After a moment, he moved towards a stone stairway that was recessed into the stone wall of the cave and began to climb ahead of her, refusing to look back. She could feel a wave of shame emanating from his body. She wanted to tell him that part of her had wanted for him to continue, but the other part of her was somewhat horrified about being turned back into a human and then somehow finding herself giving birth to otter pups later on. She had no idea what magic had turned her into an otter, or what the long term consequences would be, so it was always possible that this was all simply wild speculation on her part.
But she couldn't be too certain.
Hermione and Severus crept through the castle, avoiding students and Mrs. Norris, who they knew would not take too kindly to a pair of otter trespassers.
They finally reached the library together, and Hermione slipped inside, glad that the swinging doors to the library were far lighter than the entrance doors to the castle.
It took them awhile to find the books they were looking for, being otters and not having their wands, but they managed. There was little in the way of potions information on anything that caused transfiguration into animals, but Hermione did find a reference to a list of potions ingredients that could cause transformations. As she began to think more critically, she realized that Neville had been around Hannah while she was making the food for the luncheon. And Neville was the Herbology professor now, which meant that he spent plenty of time in the magical greenhouses working with various plants with magical properties.
They looked at each other simultaneously and squeaked before rubbing their noses together with excitement. Whatever had transformed them must be something growing in Neville's greenhouses!
"There you are!" Neville cried out as he ran towards where they were standing on the table, looking over a tome and pointing at passages, "Everyone's been looking all over for you two! We almost didn't catch Professor Giltrap- she was a bloody giant monarch butterfly, if you'll believe it!"
Hermione simply looked at Neville as if to say and why would I not, seeing as I've turned into a bloody otter? Neville simply blushed with embarrassment, upon realizing how silly he sounded.
She pointed to the passage about herbs that can cause spontaneous transformations and clicked her tongue at him.
"Well, I suppose that it could be one of those sorts of plants," Neville said, frowning as he read the passage, "but I don't stock anything that could turn you into animals in and of itself. Perhaps...no...that can't be it...it's frighteningly rare, and for good reason!"
Hermione and Severus squeaked sharply together. Bloody annoying man, why couldn't he just spit it out?
"I'm sorry," Neville stuttered, "It's just...Bestibellus Gallinphyrus is a very rare plant, but it grows in a similar location as what we refer to as Morning Myrtle, and I just received a shipment of plants a week ago."
Hermione and Severus looked at each other and before she knew what she was doing, they were touching noses and rubbing against each other like a pair of cats in the middle of scent-marking each other.
"Um...you guys? I know you're happy we've found a potential solution, but you're making me feel weird," Neville said hesitantly.
Severus ran over and nipped Neville lightly on the foot in reply as Hermione stayed behind him and gently held onto his tail with her mouth. For some reason, this was becoming disturbingly normal to her, and she was beginning to feel somewhat distraught at the thought of no longer having a tail or whiskers any longer.
It wasn't much longer until Harry and Ron arrived, and had Severus and Hermione placed in a small holding area that was shaped like a river habitat at a zoo. Hermione imagined that they must have created it with magic, though she couldn't tell how. The other professors were in their own habitats as well, and it seemed to Hermione that a zoo had sprung up on the back meadow of Hogwarts castle.
The students enjoyed coming down to look at their professors on display in their exhibits. Hermione was secretly very happy to play in the water and sun herself on the rocks each day. She especially loved curling up to sleep with Severus at night. He made her feel safe in a way that made her wonder if she'd ever get used to sleeping alone after everyone was human once more. Harry and Ron came by every day to tell her that they'd been able to get some substitute professors to run classes while Neville worked on the extraction process for the pollen of the rare Bestibellus Gallinphyrus, which had indeed taken root at the back of his patch of Morning Myrtle.
It took about two weeks, but finally, the extraction was successful and a team of Ministry Potions masters brewed a highly potent antidote after Neville sealed the plant and presented it to the Unspeakables as evidence. Dark curtains were placed around each habitat for privacy. The antidote was administered in bowls within each habitat for the various professors to lap up and draped robes over the sides for them to pick up once they'd completed their transformation.
Hermione could feel her body realigning and nearly cried as the fur on her body receded and all she was left with was naked skin. It felt odd to be human again. Almost unnatural. She pulled the robes over her head, feeling for the wand that was still tucked in the pocket with a mixture of sadness and elation. Finally, she could do magic again.
"And I can talk!" she said, marveling at how husky her voice sounded after so long without the ability to speak.
"Indeed," said a voice from behind her, and she turned to see Severus clad in a similar formless black robe. He smirked somewhat playfully at her and she felt her heart skip a beat.
"So...about the whole...er...otter thing…" Hermione trailed off, not knowing what to say.
"We were animals, Hermione," Severus replied, hanging back from her slightly, "We...cared for each other in the only way animals know how."
"But...I...liked it...I like it, Severus," Hermione said, forcing herself to say the words.
"I can hardly groom you in this state, Hermione," he replied with an arched brow, "What would the neighbors think?"
Hermione snorted with laughter at that particular mental image.
"I really don't want to be alone," she said, toeing the sand beneath her feet, "I don't think I could bear being alone in my bed, if that makes any sense."
"Hermione," Severus breathed, and somehow, he was so close to her that he was nearly touching her, even though she'd only blinked once. "Is this true?"
She'd nearly forgotten how intense his human eyes could get, especially when she was looking into them as deeply as she was at that moment. Somehow, even though her whiskers were gone, she just had to do it. Leaning forward, she pressed her nose against his, moving her head back and forth until she was practically nuzzling him. He never broke her gaze as she did this, his mouth hanging slightly open as though he'd been stunned into silence. Hermione couldn't help but stare at his human lips, wondering why she'd never noticed just how kissable they were, and before she knew it, she'd slid her hand up to cradle his chin and pressed her lips against him softly, feeling him stiffen with surprise before he pressed back, kissing her deeply.
"Please," she moaned softly, biting her lip softly once they'd come up for air, "I don't want to be alone tonight."
"I think," Severus replied, kissing her softly on the nose, "that I can accommodate your needs immediately. In fact, I am almost certain that I can accommodate your needs for the near future as well, that is, if you can stand sharing a bed with a snarky bastard."
"Only if the snarky bastard in question is you, Severus," Hermione replied with a knowing grin as she kissed him on the nose as well.
Severus arched his brow and smirked somewhat wickedly before extending his arm.
"I think it's time we escape from captivity, wouldn't you say?" he said playfully.
"I think I'll miss the place a bit, to be honest," Hermione replied wistfully, "That's where we swam together every day and there's our favorite sunning rock. Maybe I'll talk to Minerva about the steps to becoming an animagus. I feel like maybe it would be good closure for me."
He nodded and rummaged around in his pockets for a moment, as though looking for something important.
"Hermione, I'd like for you to have this," Severus said, pressing something into her hand.
Hermione knew what it was before she saw it. It was a smooth, round, flat stone, the one that Severus had preferred while in his otter form. Hermione hadn't been able to find one, and so they'd shared it and played together with it while on their sunning rock.
"It's beautiful," Hermione replied, sliding it around in her hand with obvious pleasure before slipping it into her pocket for safekeeping, "I will treasure it forever. Just like my love for you."
She covered her mouth and her eyes widened with the realization that her normally internal dialogue had just escaped her lips, but when she looked at him, she realized she needn't have worried. It didn't escape Hermione's notice how Severus blushed furiously at this admission, and moments later, he'd thrown his arms around her, kissing her even more deeply than before.
As she pressed up against him and wrapped her arms tightly around his body, she didn't feel the least bit afraid as they lifted off into the air, clearing the wall of their enclosure in moments. They flew swiftly over the groups of Aurors who were waiting below, milling around obliviously at the flying couple above them.
"I was not lying when I said that I wished to accommodate you...immediately," Severus whispered in Hermione's ear, sending pleasurable shivers through her body.
For, though she'd staved off her animal instincts to take Severus as her mate while they'd been transformed, she was rapidly beginning to realize that she wouldn't be able to do so for much longer now that they were human again, and his desire for her was still as real as hers was for him.
It was only after they lay in bed beside one another, their bodies slick with sweat and the sense of sated desire, that he whispered into her hair how much he had come to love her more than he could bear to say.
Hermione held him tightly as she closed her eyes with contentment, knowing that as long as Severus was by her side, that all was right with the world.