Hey guys back again with a new update.

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So, without further delay.


Just a note. Hermione's comments in her Animagus forms are translated in brackets. And Minerva is speaking in Gaelic which I took off Google translate so apologies to anyone who speaks Scottish Gaelic and the translation is incorrect. I did attempt.


Chapter 6: The road to recovery

Minerva and Albus walked down the halls passing by several students on their way. Some stopped to chat others distanced themselves not wanting to be caught out by either of the two if they said the wrong thing or were suspicious.

It made Minerva chuckle as she looked over to her husband staring fondly into his eyes as they entered the Great Hall together. No one batted an eye to their close contact. The two had been married for over a decade and a half. Their marriage was common knowledge amount many of the magical world. Still, they had chosen to have their marriage quiet, reclutant to share anything about their private lives with any of the students' let alone friends and staff. In fact, the only person who had an inside view on the matter was Severus and most of the information between Albus and Minerva he did not want to know.

After Albus conducted a quick announcement to the student's informing them of several places that were off limits, including Filches' storeroom cupboard he sat down next to his wife.

Albus chuckled as he looked over to his wife removing placing the kitten from her pocket into her lap. It clung on to it's teddy, laying on top of it and attempting to grab some more sleep.

Albus reached across the table grabbing a napkin and transfiguring it into a blanket before passing it over to his wife to wrap the kitten in. She smiled warmly at her husband before beginning her meal, thinking she'd feed the kitten when she was more awake.

"So Tabby were you able to pick up any of my Sherbet Lemons and Biltong Jerky when you were in London?"

Minerva eyes widened.

"In all honesty Albus, I had completely forgotten about them. Tomorrow is the weekend. Perhaps we could go together. Have some time alone" She smiled at him.

"Fearful you may pick up another stray if you go by yourself?"

She rolled her eyes at him.

"I'd suppose, however we do really need to get away from the castle once in a while. You've been snowed under with Ministry paperwork since June. It's time we had a break"

"Oh and what will your newly adopted familiar be doing when we're away"

Minerva turned to him and smiled.

"I thought perhaps a babysitter would be in order"

Albus smiled at her, his eyes twinkling.

"Oh and who were you thinking?"

As if on cue, Severus walked in. Minerva smiled wickedly.

"My apologies Headmaster but I've had to stop some trouble makers in the hallway"

"Oh and what were they doing?" Albus smiled watching as the younger man pulled his chair out, taking a seat next to Minerva on Albus' left.

"I overheard them talking about a taking a 'joy ride on the happy stick' in the 'hidden place'" Severus rolled his eyes taking a sip of his decaffinated long black coffee before taking a bite of his food. He snarled putting his fork down tasting the blandness of the food.

"I hope you're going to eat more than that Severus. You really are too thin"

"Beginning to sound like Poppy, you are" He scolded her. Minerva sighed as she picked up her fork continuing on with her meal.

"In any case, did you find out where this place was? I've already had to inform the school at yesterdays feast against a zero tolerance policy on any illicit material" Albus stated seriously.

"Unfortunately, they did not go into detail about it. I will find out. It's likely some Gryffindore's in any case" Severus took another bite of his food and gritted his teeth. Food of late had tasted so bland. He sought no enjoyment out of it lately. In fact, much of his current routine and lifestyle had not been in the least bit entertaining. He had sat down with Minerva a month ago stating that he was possibly experiencing an early mid-life crisis. Minerva had suggested that he take a vacation to get away for a while but he had shrugged her comment away stating that he had no interest in travelling. He had started teaching when he was only 21 years of age, after attending college and gaining his masters in potionniering. He was now only 25 with five years of teaching experience under his belt but his mental health had flat-lined.

He wiped his mouth before leaning back on his chair giving up on his food for the night and staying with his coffee.

"Oh! and why do you believe it is Gyffindore students that are the cause of this influx of Reefer?"

He turned to her taking another sip of his coffee.

"Because I've just deducted points off two Gyffindore's in the hallway"

Minerva's eyes widened before she leaned forth noticing the house points on the side of the wall. In last place, with 100 points less than there was last time she checked it was Gryffindore"

"Ooch 100 points Severus. Was that necessary?"

"As the headmaster has stated, there is a ban on any illicit material. I was only doing my job as a teacher, Tabby. If you feel so inclined that it be unfair; take it up with your husband" His lips twitched into a smirk as Minerva shot a dirty look towards him.

Albus chuckled at their rivalry.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Severus on this one, my dear"

"Oileanaich fuilteach (Bloody students)" Minerva hissed in Gaelic before she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Severus laughed quietly.

"Mew?" ("Hungry!")

Severus' eyes landed on Minerva's lap, noticing the kitten.

"Honesty, Minerva. Couldn't leave the bloody thing in your quarters"

"Unfortunately not, Poppy has informed me of the trauma that Bear has been through and she is currently requiring around the clock care"

"Mew" Severus watched as the kitten poked it's head up eyeing Severus' full plate. He rolled his eyes before placing the plate down on the floor. Minerva smiled gratefully at him.

"You're too kind Severus" She helped place the kitten down on the floor carefully wrapped in her blanket.

"Better to your new familiar than to the waste" Severus seethed folding his arms over his chest. Minerva smirked. She had known the dark man since he was a boy and knew all of his quirks and annoyances. Despite his stoic posture, Minerva knew Severus was jealous even if he didn't want to admit it.

"Actually Severus, I'm still undecided about adopting her" His eyes instantly turned to her in curiosity.

"Oh"

"Yes and you see Albus and I are needing some time to ourselves tomorrow and we'd ask that you take care of Bear whilst we're out"

"How long?"

"Just for a couple of hours"

Severus scratched the back of his neck before agreeing.

"Fine, Minerva"

She smiled warmly towards him.

"I'm sure you two will get along just fine"

Severus rolled his eyes thinking back to their conversation on avoiding other staff. Minerva turned back to her plate before an idea popped into her head.

"Oh Albus, I also forgot" Minerva pulled the picture she had taken earlier out of her pocket. Severus' eyes widened in anger.

"Tabby don't you dare"

"I got a nice photo of Severus with the new familiar" Albus plucked the photo out of his wifes' hands to avoid a catastrophy.

"I don't think I've seen you ever relaxed before, my boy"

He gritted his teeth folding his arms huffing.

"Ooch, Severus, you look absolutely adorable"

"I'm leaving. Goodnight Minerva, Albus" He stalked off.

The older couple were left in almost tears causing a scene at the head table.

"Oh my, I haven't laughed that much in a while" Albus wiped a tear from his right eye.

"What were you planning on doing with the picture"

"I was thinking of putting it in that muggle photo album you bought me"

"And for no one to see. I beg to differ" He replicated the photo twice.

"One for the photo album, one for Severus and one to show the rest of the staff on Thursday morning for the staff meeting"

They howled with laughter.


Albus and Minerva had both returned to their shared quarters in the evening residing to play a game of chess before reading.

They sat playing for over an hour in concentration with the kitten sleeping on Minerva's lap every now and again the kitten would turn and make a howling noise being woken up in it's sleep by it's own snoring. Minerva thought it was funny. They had both concluded that the kitten's lack of playfulness was merely down to exhaustion.

"So where is she going to sleep?" Albus asked curiously.

"Well, cats are nocturnal so perhaps she could sleep out in the living the area next to the fire. However, until she's well I believe she may sleep with us. I can place a pillow out for her and perhaps charm a heated blanket for her"

Albus nodded.

"Of course, my dear" He moved his king to the side.

"Check"

"So it is"


If someone had told Hermione she had died and gone to heaven, she would have believed them. She had never been treated so well since her parents had passed on.

Even the dark man had given her food, held her and comforted her when she howled for company.

This woman, Minerva, was so nice.

She smiled as the woman placed her on a pillow in the bedroom, wrapped in a blanket and hugging her teddy. She couldn't wait to drift off into a peaceful slumber knowing she had found a family.

Hermione had slept until 2AM. Since then she had been awake and watching the two sleep. She had deduced that due to her cat instincts that she was noturnal and bound to not get much sleep during the night. So, rather than hoping down off the bed and risk injuring herself, she had decided to get up and walk over to Minerva and inspect the two of them.

Minerva appeared to be a nice woman. If Hermione had to guess she was either 50 and her husband maybe 60. Hermione knew she wasn't good at guessing people's ages yet. She herself low maybe 20cm off Minerva's neck, near the nightstand and watched the two of them snoring.

That was something she was going to have to get used too. The older woman man breathing noises but the man snored quiet loudly. Hermione's intense hearing picked everything up which was probably why she was having such trouble sleeping.

The young girl noticed the wrinkles under Minerva's eyes. Not being able to stop herself she pawed her splinted hand at them, wanting to feel the texture of her skin as oppose to always being prodded by the hands. Hermione purred, she was soft. She nudged herself closer to the woman's neck feeling the heat radiating off her. Cautious about the woman waking up Hermione carefully treaded closer and closer until she was yielded in the crook of the witches neck.

Feeling the woman's breathing began to soothe the young girl and soon she was drifting off into a gentle slumber.


Minerva moaned as she felt something warm and soft tickling the side of her neck. She lifted her hand up feeling the small body of the feline practically laying on her neck for warmth.

'Click'

Minerva's eyes fluttered open as she turned to see her husband up and already dressed for the day. He was holding the camera in his hands, obviously charmed so it wouldn't cause a flash and wake the two of them up.

"Good morning, Min" He smiled happily towards the two. She glared at him as he chuckled, waving the picture before showing his wife.

"I believe that's another to add to the photo album"

The witch took the photo from his hands before staring down at the photo. The first notice she took was the picture was still of her sleep, her long black and partially grey hair weaved out on the pillow. The second thing she noticed was the kitten resting her head just below Minerva's ear with it's splinted arm running along Minerva's neck.

"Honestly, Albus. It's too early for your shenanigans" She groaned before taking the kitten off her neck and placing it on her chest as she sat up.

"Tea dear?" Her husband asked gently.

She nodded yawning on to the back of her hand Bear began to gently stretch out against her chest attempting to fall back to sleep.

"Ooch, Poppy wasn't kidding about you needing rest" She pat the cat's head before calling out to her husband in the kitchen for a bottle of milk.

Two cups of tea and a stay-in breakfast later, the couple were happily on their way to the dungeons to drop off Bear to the younger man.

The dark man glared at them as Minerva placed a charmed heated pillow down upon his desk before placing the kitten along with her stuffed teddy bear with her.

"Now I'm trying to feed her at least six meals a day due to her weight. Albus and I will be gone for most of the day so try to get in at least three to four feeds. She did quite well on the solid foods yesterday so I'm more than happy if you want to feed her some beef but only in small portions" She informed him tucking the kitten up under a blanket.

Severus rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair.

"Honestly, Tabby I have only detentions and paperwork to serve today. Your familiar will be fine, she will remain at my desk for the remainder of the day and seeing as though she's already fallen back asleep it won't be too difficult to keen an eye on her.

Minerva leaned down kissing the unconscious kitten's head and rustling Severus' hair. He growled.

"Ooch and wash that hair of yours, my boy" She joked at him. He seethed through his teeth standing up at his desk watching as they quickly said their goodbyes before the younger man could give them both a piece of his mind.

He slumped back into his chair sighing at his desk before he turned his eyes towards Bear (Hermione).

"Dumb name" He muttered under his breath.

"I don't know why Minerva insists that we consider sharing familiars. You're not particularly intimidating" He leaned back in his chair as he watched the lazy kitten begin to awaken no doubt having experienced a long night with Albus' snoring to lull her to sleep"

"If I were to have a familiar I'd want something that could at least scare the students into not wreaking havoc in my class. Let alone exploding cauldrons" Severus stood up walking over to his bookshelf.

"Something that would keep the student's from pestering me with their mundane and asinine problems" He plucked one of the books from the shelves and opened the page. Hermione's eyes lit up at the book she stood up wanting to see what he had placed down on the desk.

"I'd perhaps want a big animal something dangerous maybe" He smirked at the kitten noticing it's interest in his words.

"Let's see" He flicked through the pages.

"Snake?" Hermione noticed the giant python on the page and noticed him instantly shuddered.

"Nope," He flicked page.

"Wolverine. Not particularly big animals but are known for their agressiveness. Still it would be difficult to train"

"Lion? Like that would go down well with Minerva and the rest of Slytherin" Hermione turned her head signalling to him that she was confused at the word 'Slytherin'.

"My house?"

That just made her even more confused.

He rolled his eyes.

"And I thought Kneazles were suppose to be smart" He muttered taking a stab at the cat.

"Hyena? Not particularly a fan of dogs"

"Honey Badger. Ha" Severus laughed.

"Shark, Gorilla, Spider, Eel" He rolled his eyes flicking a few pages over before leaning back in his chair and scrubbing his face with his hands.

"This is hopeless. None of them are appealing" He growled to himself.

Hermione stared back down at the book wanting to continue to read. She grabbed a hold of one of the pages and it over in her teeth before staring down at the picture that intrigued her.

"A Siberian Tiger?" He arched his eyebrow at the kitten.

"Now that's interesting. Perhaps I have underestimated your intelligence"

"Mew" ("everyone does") Hermione smirked at him.

He leaned forward reading the passage to her.

"...in particular the Amur, also known as the Siberian tiger is the biggest cat of them all. The tigers usually weight up to 300kg and measure up to 4metres in length. I'd suppose that would make a more appropriate familiar, wouldn't you agree?"

Hermione chirped at him. He smirked.

"I will take that as an agreement, however I am unsure of where one would procure such a beast. Nevertheless how to house train one" He shook his head.

"What am I thinking. Taking in a giant, killer cat into a school filled with idiotic children. They'd be eaten alive within a day. Could you imagine the paperwork I'd have to do" He rolled his eyes making Hermione gulp.

"No, Albus would never agree"

"Mew" ("Good").

He looked back over to her noticing her paw resting on the picture. He looked back and forth between her and the book.

"However, if the animal were to not be a tiger but a transfigured familiar appearing as such animal. Now that could be interesting" He smiled down at the kitten sinisterly.

"Yes, now that could work. I could imagine you sitting right by the desk roaring at them"

"MEW!" Hermione attempted to roar. He chuckled.

"Not quite"

"Mew" ("A for Effort") She retorted sitting down on her belly and watched as he scratched his chin.

"I'd have to ask Minerva and Albus if they'd agree to transfigure you. It's either that or I ask Flitwick to create an illusion charm on an item for you to wear. Perhaps a collar. Though it shouldn't be too hard to figure out"

'Knock, Knock'

He closed the book and sighed.

"Bloody brilliant, my first detention for today"

He stood up.

"We will discuss this after Bear. I expect you to be on your best behaviour. The student is serving detention and does not require any disruptions. That means keeping your 'mewings' to a minimum" He ordered. Hermione nodded before returning back to her blanket and pillow.


Hey guys first off I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Special thanks to:

sarahsellers21; DWTARDISGirl; WizardSmurf; ; IAmTheDungeonMaster; CrazyReader3; Sarabi95110; HKirin; Beccax95; willam and jack and jake and Shorty653 for reviewing.

From your feedback I've decided that Severus will be acting as a mentor/brotherly role which will be more revealed in later chapters.

A lot of people have suggested that Hermione either ends up with Harry or Neville. Let me know what you guys think?

Lastly, who do you think Hermione should reveal herself too? This will be also coming up in later chapters.