Author's Note:

The Houses Competition (or THC) Round 3

House: Slytherin

Class: Ancient Runes

Category: Standard (up to 3,000 words)

Prompt: [Creature] Hippogriff, [Colour] Orange

Word Count: 2,848

Note: Please be advised that in this story, I use double quotes and non-italicized text like this: "spoken dialogue here" to denote spoken word and italicized words with single quotes like this: 'italicized word here' to denote mentally conveyed words.

Beta Love: Thanks to Charlie, Moss, and Corvus for looking over my story!

Horsefeathers

"Hagrid? Are you home?" Severus knocked softly on the groundskeeper's hut and shivered as the wind cut through his cloak, barely controlling his urge to turn back and sequester himself in his nice, warm quarters for the evening.

At breakfast that morning, the half-giant had practically begged Severus to visit him in his hut after classes were over. Severus, to his credit, had done his best to graciously decline, but then he'd been hit with an incentive even stronger than the prospect of time to himself at the end of a long day.

"C'mon, Severus, ya gotta take a look! It's a potion I've never seen before!" Hagrid had boomed, turning heads in the crowded Great Hall. "The bloke told me it was guaranteed to give anyone who takes it an instant Animagus form!"

Severus had been about to bluntly tell Hagrid to dump the likely fake potion down the drain before he poisoned himself when the worst possible thing he could imagine occurred.

"Oh? How intriguing," came the voice of Hermione Granger, Transfiguration professor, from Hagrid's left. "If Severus is too busy, I'd be happy to visit and take a look."

Her smug tone made Severus want to grind his teeth, but he controlled himself. She gripped Hagrid's coat sleeve and tugged until she was rewarded by the half-giant's attention and subsequently excited grin.

"Ah, Hermione, that'd be swell," Hagrid had said, clapping his trash-can-lid-sized hands together.

Severus had winced, feeling forced to accept Hagrid's invitation to avoid being shown up by the grinning orange-frocked menace who was smirking in his general direction while Hagrid went on providing far too much information about the state of the hippogriff stables for it to be polite breakfast banter.

There was no answer at the door, and Severus knocked louder, resisting the urge to start nibbling nervously on his fingernails. It was a bad habit, and he'd been making so much progress on finally breaking it but then—well—the sorry state of his cuticles was all her fault.

Hermione had been a thorn in his side ever since he'd made the disastrous decision to come back and teach at Hogwarts following Minerva's ascension to Headmistress and Severus' inability to find meaningful work outside of interviews with gossip columnists. First, it had been her penchant for wearing cheerily-coloured orange robes, which made her both incredibly visible and drew his eye, regardless of how much he attempted to ignore her. This had, inevitably, led to her divining the daft idea that he was actually interested in becoming friends with her. From there, she'd begun an utterly relentless campaign to wear him down with snacks, copies of interesting articles about obscure spells and potions, impromptu visits to his office, and, throughout it all, incessant chatter. Severus had known from day one what sort of witch Hermione Granger was, and he'd not been wrong. She was hyper-competent, unapologetic, determined, insufferable, and worst of all, extremely good at getting under his skin.

A muffled shriek sounded on the other end of the door, and Severus drew his wand in an instant, his senses on high alert. Warm, golden light shone merrily from the closed windows of the hut, but the interior was obscured by thick, insulating curtains.

Severus sneered as he considered his options, none of which were good. He wasn't about to go storming in, not when he had no idea what he was walking into. With Hagrid, it could be anything from an angry Acromantula he would swear up and down was "harmless" to some sort of innocuous thing that wasn't a problem whatsoever. The thought of rushing in with a panicked expression on his face only to find Hagrid and Hermione playing Exploding Snap was enough to make him hesitate.

Another shriek came from inside, this one sounding less than human, and Severus knew he couldn't justify waiting any longer. He raised a strong shield charm and tried the handle. It was unlocked. With the Full Body Bind spell on his lips, he swung the door open and rushed forward to face whatever lay within.

Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that what lay within was the problem. A dark, burnt-orange smoke poured through his magical shield without any resistance, and Severus tried in vain to switch to the Bubble Head Charm, only succeeding in trapping more smoke in the magical dome. Coughing and sputtering, Severus sank to his knees, already light-headed as he tried to breathe. He tried to beat a swift retreat, but the traitorous wind outside slammed the heavy door shut behind him before he could even turn fully towards the door. Inside, the smoke nearly glowed, and Severus found a small pocket of clear air near the floor that he could breathe. He vaguely heard the scrabbling sound of something small and clawed, and the thump of something heavy and soft, but visibility was nearly zero.

"H—" he started, then began to cough again, shocked as something shot from his mouth and fluttered to the floor.

He looked down, eyes wide. A—feather? His vision swam before him as his arms began to itch terribly. At first he thought it was the smoke, but as he tore at his sleeves, pulling them up to view the skin underneath, he realized that his fingers had grown longer, his nails darkening and lengthening into wicked sickle-like claws. His forearms began to bristle and he stared in horror as pinfeathers began to burst out of his biceps and shoulders. His clothing made a sickening noise as he began to swell, his breath coming in shallow, panicked gasps that made him dangerously dizzy. As his sight dimmed, he was vaguely aware of a sharp tearing sensation in his back. He let out an alien, piercing cry, and then there was nothing but oblivion.

A warm, rough sensation, like sandpaper, was running down Severus' cheek. A cold breeze ran over his body, and he breathed in crisp, late-autumn air. His head rang and pounded as he struggled to bring himself back from unconsciousness. He groaned, his movements awkward, his body heavy. He blinked, his field of vision filled with a blurry orange blob that appeared to be sitting on his face and purring.

"What in the bloody—?" Severus said, or at least, that was what he meant to say. What escaped his lips instead was a strange, strangled series of squawks.

He tried again, and the squawking grew unbearably shrill. He tried to raise a hand to his mouth only to find that he had talons, which made it blessedly lucky that when they reached his lips, they were no longer there, and they raked instead against a hard, obsidian beak. The creature near his cheek resolved itself into a small, fiery-orange furred cat—no, that wasn't right—there was something about her face—

She cocked her head to the side, proud eagle eyes fixing him with a look that he vaguely recognized.

'Hi, Severus. You're looking dapper,' Hermione's voice echoed in his mind even as her beak opened to let out a soft cry.

The lynx-sized griffin, for that was what she was, spread her wings and awkwardly alighted into the air, landing at the top of a bookcase near Hagrid's mantle place. She stared down with laughing amber eyes.

"How are—" He tried to speak again, but all that escaped his mouth was an infernal hissing sound.

'Relax. I'm speaking in your mind. It's similar to Legilimency, which you should be fairly familiar with. And Harry said learning it was impractical.' Hermione's mind-voice echoed in his head again.

Shocked, Severus shook his head back and forth, flailing and feeling two strong wings knocking over Hagrid's assorted housewares behind him as he tried to stand on wobbly legs. Finally, he got to his feet—well, hooves and claws, rather.

Turning, he fixed Hermione with a stern look. 'All right, then. What are you playing at?'

'There you go,' she purred, 'just like a pro. And I'm not playing at anything. I was just sitting with Hagrid and having a delightful cup of tea with some freshly baked rock cakes when his Niffler accidentally knocked that new potion Hagrid was telling us about into the fire. I woke up like this. I will have to say, I was a bit disappointed that I am not—full-sized, unlike some other people.'

She swished her fluffy, orange tail back and forth with annoyance and regarded him coolly as he raised his talons and made a thoughtful gesture against his beak.

Severus swept his gaze around the hut, his eyes finally landing on the large, not-very-Hagrid-shaped hole in the wall next to the door. 'Let me guess. Hagrid also got a mighty whiff of smoke as well.'

Hermione nodded. 'Got it in one. I doubt that a diminutive griffin such as myself could do much to subdue someone like Hagrid, especially not in that state, but together, I think we have a chance.'

'Is there a reason you're perched up there?' he asked, puzzled.

'You'll have to understand that at my current size, you could probably eat me in one bite, so you'll have to pardon me for being wary. As it is, I nearly got slashed by your claws when you awoke,' Hermione countered, flapping her wings and gliding down to stand on the floor, her head tilting up to meet his gaze. 'Also, I imagine I'll have quite the neck cramp if I do this for too long."

Severus thought back to that comforting rough, warm sensation on his cheek and his mind went blank. Had she been—grooming him? With her tongue? His thoughts raced, and he struggled to keep his mind on the task at hand. Specifically, finding a giant-Hagrid-something before it found the castle or got up to any other misadventures, and absolutely under no circumstances thinking about how comforting and pleasurable it had been to be given a tongue bath by Hermione Granger, of all people—or griffins—or—whatever.

This simply would not do.

Severus felt a weight on his back and turned his head back to see Hermione had leapt neatly onto his back and was now curled up there as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

'You can't expect me to keep up with you,' she challenged him, her expression defiant. 'Short legs, you know.'

Severus opened his beak before remembering he couldn't speak aloud in his current form. Instead, he found his gaze drawn to Hermione, who, on a second glance, wasn't completely orange. Her honey ginger coat was peppered with auburn spots, and her paws were large and densely furred. Her eagle's head was a golden brown with two large tufts that functioned much like ears, accentuating her expression. She swished her striped tail from side to side thoughtfully, her dappled wings were tucked down against her back tightly enough that they were nearly invisible against her fur. In so many ways, he could read her body language almost more accurately in this form than when she was human. There was some part of her that was intimidated, but he realized that by putting herself in such a vulnerable position so close to him, she was also putting her trust in him, and he couldn't help but savour it.

'Well?' she pressed

He let out a resigned sigh. 'Fine, but you're lucky that it's dark out and there's no one around to see you riding me, or you'd be out of luck.'

'Thank you,' she replied primly, 'and, Severus?'

'Yes?' he asked, almost dreading the answer.

'Do try not to fall arse over teakettle.'

He huffed with impatience and broke into a run, leaping through the jagged wood in the busted wall, delighting in her screech of surprise as they landed on the gravel path outside the hut.

'Oh, Hermione, I believe it is you who should take your own advice.' He panted, his instinct taking over as he picked up speed and then caught the air with his wings. Hermione's eagle-screech of terror and scrambling paws as the trees grew small underneath them was worth the ringing in his ears.

Severus could feel Hermione's claws digging gently into his shoulders, but it wasn't painful, merely a reminder that she was still aboard. Other than that, her fur was a blessed warmth as he flew through the frosty air. Below them, he was tracking a very fresh trail of fallen trees that was leading further into the Forbidden Forest. Severus was concerned. If Hagrid had transformed, it was possible that he was disoriented from smoke inhalation. They needed to figure out how to get to where Hagrid was and make sure he was all right before getting back to the castle for reinforcements.

'Though I don't know how much good we'll be without opposable thumbs,' Severus thought glumly.

'There! Below!' Hermione tugged on his left ear tuft gently with her beak to get him to look down at the unnatural clearing with a large, fuzzy lump lying in it. Severus immediately took them down. He did fudge the landing a bit, but everyone reached terra firma with all limbs intact, so the fact that he landed on his (considerably larger) arse with Hermione clinging to his head like a terrified housecat, he supposed it was serviceable enough.

A huge, white-furred creature that Severus supposed was Hagrid, as it was well-documented that Yeti were not native to Scotland, lay on its back, its large belly rising steadily as it snored.

'Seems like Hagrid must have tired himself out by knocking over half of the forest,' Hermione observed, hovering over his face. 'Breath stinks, though. Seems like someone's been giving the Giant Squid a run for his money in sheer total fish consumption.'

'You're telling me we came all this way just to find Hagrid sleeping off a food coma?' Severus asked, incredulous.

'Seems that way.'

'Be that as it may, neither of us have a comparable winter coat to survive a night sleeping out of doors, and I am not willing to have a snuggle party with a creature that could tie me in a knot without breaking a sweat,' Severus replied. 'Might I suggest that we retire to a warmer location until the morning?'

Hermione leapt up and settled in what was becoming her customary place on Severus' back. He found that he wasn't even the slightest bit unhappy about the comforting presence of her body pressed against his, especially as he took off again. The flight was a bit more graceful than before. He let his mind go blank, marveling at how different it was to fly with wings instead of a spell or broom. He could feel his muscles flexing against Hermione's warm, furry form. A small, contented sigh escaped his beak when she snuggled more deeply against him.

Finally, he circled around and found what he'd been looking for. There was a small building over by the stables where Care of Magical Creatures was taught when the weather was bad, complete with a smaller office area for preparing lessons. Hermione was small enough to squeeze through the window Hagrid had accidentally left cracked on one side of the building, and she unlocked the door to let Severus inside. They found a bunch of musty cloaks in a closet that had been left by students over the years and pulled them to the ground to create an impromptu nest. Bedding attended to, they curled up together and were asleep in moments.

In the morning, Severus and Hermione were shocked to awaken in human form in their tattered clothing. Still, it felt decadent and deliciously right to lie curled up in one another's arms, despite the musty odor of the cloaks.

Hagrid, too, was no worse for wear other than a bit of indigestion, though it took him a few days to get the hole in his hut patched up to his satisfaction. As for the mysterious potion, it was discovered that the wizard who had been selling it had stolen it from the Department of Mysteries while working on janitorial duty, and it wasn't clear where it had come from. Suffice to say, Hermione, Severus, and Hagrid found that they had the ability to switch forms, though it was less of an Animagus transformation than a separate form they could slip into at will, so they were exempt from the Animagus registry. Hagrid used his cold-resistance, added strength, and bulk to help clean out invasive weeds from the Black Lake and was able to haul in the customary massive holiday trees in half the time.

As for Hermione and Severus, he often found her curled up on his chest, purring in her mini-griffin form in the mornings, but no matter what forms they held, they always had plenty of love, comfort, and, yes, even the occasional grooming session to share with one another.

'Hermione, I've been wondering. Is it all you'd hoped it would be?' Severus asked one day as they soared high above Hogwarts castle.

'All of it and more, Severus,' Hermione purred. 'All of it and more.'