"Now Hermione, let me tell you a bit more about Animagus. Only very powerful and skilled wizards are able to become Animagi. The process of becoming an Animagus is long and arduous, and has the potential to backfire and cause the transformation to go horribly wrong." He looked over at her and saw her drink in all the information." Now, not all Animagus are powerful or skilled wizards, but you still need to have a lot of skills to get it done. "
He continued "Animagi can only take on the form of one specific animal. This animal form is not chosen by the wizard, but determined by their personality and inner traits. Thus, one's Animagus form is a reflection of one's inner nature ." Hermione interrupted him there "are you a Animagus Severus?" She waited for him to respond as suddenly Severus started to disappear and suddenly a large panther with longer hair then normal was standing in front of was black as the night and his eyes were the same as Severus'. She gasped and started to walk over to him. His head reached her shoulders. She put her hand on his fur and felt how silk it felt. "You're Beautiful" she whispered, not noticing that Severus was purring under her touch. Severus suddenly was standing in front of her again and she still had her hand on him. He took hold of her hand and stroked it lightly, leaned forward and stroke her lips with his own.
He was surprised to feel her lean into him, deepening the kiss and felt her hand going up in his hair. He locked his arms around her and pulling her closer. After a few minutes they broke the kiss, panting and looking each other in the eye. Severus suddenly pulled back " I'm sorry Hermione, I shouldn't have done that, not now" he started to walk away but felt her hand holding his sleeve. "Please don't run" he saw a blush on her cheeks and smiled " Hermione, I'm not running…. But you wanted to learn about Animagus so we better spend our time doing that".
After they both were back to normal, she nodded for him to continue. "Each Animagus bears an identifying mark on their animal form that is caused by something on their human body. This may be a physical trait like dental structure, or an acquired trait such as glasses or hair. As with me, you saw that my form didn't have the normal short hair that a panther is supposed to have but it was longer." With this he pointed to his hair." If an Animagus undergoes a major physical change, such as the loss of a limb, their animal form will also reflect that."
"So if you would lose a leg, your panther form will also be running around with 3 legs?" she asked, giggling at the picture. "well, yeah, you can put it that way, although I hope that never would happen"
"In addition, an Animagus will appear to lose their clothing upon morphing. The clothing will reappear upon re-establishing the human form. This is why we enchanted your clothes to your body, so whenever you are going into Animagus form, if you lose the clothes you have on then and it aren't these " he pointed over to her clothes" then you will not turn back, naked but these will be there instead."
"Now to get you started, I want you to try and mediate to get in contact with your inner… animal". Once you found that, you will come to me immediately. Once you achieved that, we will continue the lesson." He wasn't sure what to do now, she wasn't one of his students he could just dismiss. Hermione seemed to make up his mind for him " ok Severus, It's time I get back to my own chambers and start practicing" she stood up and left his classroom.
The next day Hermione walked into the Great Hall when she noticed that some students were gathered around something. Walking over to where they were she heard them talking" Oooh a masked ball and in 2 weeks, we better hurry up to get our costumes" and the giggling group of girls walked away. As Hermione approached the banner she read " Masked Ball as a relaxation before exams start. You are to be dressed as something personal, a hero or villain that you learned to love, a animal that is a part of you…" she was reading further when suddenly a shadow was on her, she looked up to see Severus standing there.
He hadn't spoken to her since the night before. " Hello Severus, are you feeling ok?" she noticed he looked tired and he had rings under his eyes. He looked at her and managed to put on a little smile " yes Hermione, I'm feeling ok, just a bit stiff, I had to brew some potions for the infirmary last night and I hardly had any sleep". He started to read the banner as well and groaned in frustration. " Why does Dumbledore takes so much joy in annoying us teachers with balls like these,he knows that the students take great advantage of it." He rubbed his eyes " Severus, next time you need to brew some potions I'll be happy to help and don't think this will all stop, Dumbledore keeps going with these parties until atleast another 15 years.' To this Severus even groaned louder.
He started to walk towards the head table and he noticed that she appeared not to know what to do. He remembered that she normally always stays in her rooms for dinner and such. Turning around he walked back over to her" would you like to join me at the Head Table, Hermione?" she looked up at him and smiled " yes Severus, thank you" and she followed him. He summoned another chair and set it next to his and offered it to her as a gentleman. Once all the students had filled in, lunch appeared on the table and with great delight Hermione took some roasted chicken and mashed potatoes with some gravy.
During lunch, they talked about what kind of potions Severus had to make and he noticed that she had a knack for it, wich pleased him. After half an hour of talking and hardly eating Dumbledore passed them on his way out" Make sure to eat something you two. Oh and Hermione, I do hope you can make it to our Masked Ball, I would be delighted to see you there before you take off." Hermione looked at him, puzzled " What do you mean sir? Has my Time-Turner been fixed?". Severus looked down at his plate, he knew this moment would come, but he didn't like it at all. " Yes Hermione, the person that I mentioned is working on it as we speak and should be finished a few days after the ball." With that, Dumbledore strode of.
Hermione looked over to Severus and saw that he was just picking at his food, like it had done something wrong to him. She took his hand in hers and saw he looked up at her trying to force a smile. "Severus, we knew this was coming, and I need to get back and you know why" she trailed off, not wanting to go either. But she knew she had to and she still had to make up her mind how she was going to let her existence here disappear. "I know Hermione, doesn't mean I have to like it" he kept poking his food with his fork.
After lunch, Severus invited her over to his lab for some potion brewing. She, offcourse, was delighted to come along. They brew in silence, and it wasn't until Hermione stretched herself that she was aware what time it was. " Severus, I think we missed dinner" as she looked over the a clock sitting on the mantle of the fireplace. Severus looked up, " It appears that way, would you like to have some dinner here with me?" With a smile she nodded and he left to get some dinner. After a few minutes he walked back, took her hand and led her to his private chambers. She looked over to where he was leading her and saw that he had a table for 2 set up, with candles and all. Music started to play "Oh Severus, this looks amazing!" he hugged him and went over to the table, leaving a little stunned Severus behind. He shook himself awake and followed her. "I'm glad you like it Hermione" and he helped her into her seat. Right after he seated himself, he snapped his fingers and food appeared on the table. He had ordered steak, all kinds of vegetables and roasted, mashed and cooked potatoes. Hermione digged in with great hunger.
Severus opened a bottle of his finest wine and poured her a glass, after he did the same for him he offered her the glass " To our friendship, may it last until we're both gone" Hermione smiled and had to fight a tear. She touched his glass with her own and drank. They talked and talked deep into the night.
Suddenly Hermione stood up, walked over to Severus and took his hand. He looked up at her and saw that she was blushing. "Let's dance, Severus" he agreed and stood up, making their way over to a little free space and started to dance. He held her close, trying to absorb as much of her as possible. He smelled her hair, and found that she was smelling like cherry blossoms and….. parchement. He stroke the small of her back and lead his head on top of hers.
He felt Hermione holding him a bit closer as he heard her sigh. She totally relaxed into him. When he looked down to her he noticed that she was crying softly. She reached up and kissed him, sending all of her emotions into that one kiss.
That's it for now, have to get to work so prepare for another chapter tonight or tomorrow!