Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own anything but the plot I put these poor helpless characters in.

Flabbergasted

Chapter 14: Crookshanks

Hermione woke up to a pounding at her portrait door. Disoriented, she cast a Tempus spell, and found that it was two o'clock in the morning. Wondering who could be so rude as to knock on the portrait (The subjects of said portraits were awfully sensitive, and preferred that they be asked to alert the owner of the room for permission to open.), she groggily crawled from her warm bed and wrapped a dressing gown over her night shirt. She opened the portrait (the animagus who resided in it was gone by now.) to find a disgruntled Severus Snape holding up a very furry orange cat by its scruff. Its squashed face looked just as irritated, and Hermione knew from experience that he was bound to wreak vengeance once let loose. She decided it was best to placate the half-kneazle before that happened.

"Oh Crookshanks!" She quickly took the cat from the Potions Master, petting down the long fur that was puffed out in indignation. The cat settled a little, pleased to finally be out of that undignified grasp he had been in before. Hermione made sure he was comfortably situated before she raised her gaze once again to the potions master, who had been observing her quietly. "What happened?"

She saw a sneer crawl across his face before he explained, "That monster decided it would be fun to sneak into my rooms and make himself at home. He managed to not only cover half my wardrobe in orange hair," at this, he pulled his robes away from his body, to emphasize the hairs covering him, "but also pounced on me in my sleep. I don't know about your reflexes, but mine are still honed for war, and nothing is worse than being surprised in my sleep. That blasted thing was lucky I stopped hexing after one spell, and quick enough to dodge it."

Hermione blinked and looked down once again at her familiar. The half-kneazle had an expression bordering on smug. "I'm sure he didn't mean any harm by it. Maybe he likes you." To this, both looked at her incredulously. Hermione stifled a chuckle. It was way too early for this. "Why don't you come in for a quick bit of tea? I'm sure it'll help both of us." Opening her portrait door a bit wider, she allowed him to enter. Gesturing for him to sit on her couch, she felt slightly awkward. This was the first time a man had been in her quarters. Not even Harry or Ron had been free from Auror training enough to visit yet.

"What do you prefer?" To this, Severus shrugged and gestured for her to choose. "Earl Gray it is, then." With that, she turned to her mini kitchen and got started on it. "I hate to wake the elves for something as simply got as tea," She said in explanation. Turning around, she noticed that Severus and Crookshanks were having a stare-down, the tension between them palpable. She walked over and picked the squashed-faced kneazle up and carried him to the kitchenette. It's good that it's a Saturday, she thought, as she yawned widely. When the tea was done, she set her cat down and brought it to the coffee table in front of the couch.

"I would have provided some sustenance to go along with the tea, but I don't have any, and, like I said, I'd rather not wake the house elves." Severus nodded in understanding to this and took the cup she handed him, sighing into it.

"Thank you," He muttered, and Hermione could barely believe he had said it.

"You're welcome." They sat in silence for a while on the couch, both on opposite ends, and Hermione felt that the atmosphere wasn't quite as awkward as before. She smiled into her cup. After a few minutes, Severus placed his back on the tea tray and stood, preparing to leave. Hermione put hers down and stood as well. They looked at one another for a few seconds, and Severus went to say something, while backing away to get around the coffee table, when an unholy sound rang through the room.

Startled, this caused Severus to stumble forward, tripping on an unseen Crookshanks and tackling Hermione onto the floor between the couch and coffee table.

"Oof!" She managed to say, thankful that her living room floor was thickly carpeted. She blinked up at Severus, whose eyes were quite wide at the moment. After a moment, he completely relaxed his body, tucking his face into her hair and neck.

"It's too early," He grumped, and Hermione couldn't help the shiver that ran through her as his warm breath warmed her neck. He became still, and then…was he sniffing her? Hermione felt a red hot blush flood her face. He was! Soon enough, it wasn't just sniffing he was doing either. She felt him nuzzle her neck with his nose, and then place a light kiss on it. At that, she couldn't help the sharp intake of breath, which he no doubt felt and heard.

He lifted off her a bit, his eyes examining her expression and most likely noting the bright blush on her face. His eyes now seemed to be quite sharp for it being two-thirty in the morning. To her surprise, he brought he face back down to the side of her neck, and she felt his arms encircle her as he moved half-way off her body. She didn't have to wonder for long what he was doing, as she felt his lips once again against her neck. She shuddered and couldn't help her own arms from wrapping around him.

As she accepted him through her actions, the feather-light pressure of his lips changed, and soon she was gasping and wriggling at what he was doing to her neck. He gripped her to him, trying to hold her still as he ravished her. "Severus…" She sighed, and he moaned into her. Suddenly, his moan turned into a yelp, and he rolled off of her to look down at his ankle, which was being attacked with tooth and claw through his pants.

Hermione, still a little dazed at what had just transpired, scolded, "Crookshanks! Bad boy!" She unsteadily got to her feet and pulled the kneazle into her arms, carrying him to her room and shutting the door after him. She walked back to where Severus was now sitting on the carpet between her couch and coffee table, an unusual look on his face. The blush that had left with the shock of her cat's actions came back with a vengeance.

She watched as Severus stood, using the couch as a support, and he soon faced her, unruffled but for the orange cat hair all over his person. She smiled, and he smirked back, turning to walk towards the portrait door. Hermione followed him and opened it for him.

"Goodnight, Hermione," He said softly, leaning down for a light kiss.

"Goodnight," She sighed as she watched him stalk down the corridor, no doubt heading back to his rooms. She shut her portrait, before the animagus that had returned to it could have anything to say to her, and leaned against the inside of it. Maybe she should let Crookshanks loose more often, if she got such good company out of it.

A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you liked it! Poor abused Crookshanks! Hahaha…Anyways, please review! I want to see how fast I can get to two hundred reviews! Lol.

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