Firstly apologies if I confused people. Charlie Weasley is in first year. I had said previously Snape had been teaching him for a few years so ignore that.
Chapter 8: Making friends
'Knock, Knock' The older witch wrapped her knuckles again the small hut her long time friend had resided in. The door clacked open with a loud thud and in stood the half giant with a pink flowery apron on.
"Well e'llo there Minerva, how are ya this fine evenin'? "
"Well thank you, Hagrid. I was wondering if yer might have some time for a chat"
"Of course, anythin' for yer, Min" He smiled happily. Hermione decided to poke her head out of the coat and look to see who Minerva was talking too. She regretted it the instant she saw the giant man, pacing in his house preparing to set up tea. Hermione sunk lower in the witches pocket, deciding to hide this out.
Hagrid had allowed Minerva entrance and pulled a seat out for her at the dining room table for her. She sat down happily as the man prepared some tea. Hermione purred as she felt Minerva's hand ontop of her head soothing her. The girl was momentarily distracted before she felt the woman pull her onto the witches' lap.
"Now, what can I do for yer?"
"I was wondering if you could help me, Hagrid. You see I have recently gotten a new familiar of which currently Severus and I are sharing and we need assistance with general care of the creature"
"Oh and wha' type of creature are we talkin' abou' ?" He smiled gleamingly, hoping it was a dragon. Although knowing Minerva and Severus it was difficult to tell. They were both held in high prestige and did not like to joke around. So, if they were to be sharing any type of animal it would have to be an almost solitary, quiet creature. A fox perhaps.
"Well she's a little shy" Minerva picked the animal up. Hagrid smiled, nodding. He knew he had gotten that part right. She winced her face as she felt claws instantly stick into her leg.
"Oosh, come now Bear. Don't be shy?" She felt the kitten trying to stop her from forcing her to great the giant.
"Bear? You brought a bear 'ere. Tabby that's amazin'. Though I mus' say. Seems a little out of the ordinary knowin' you and Severus all these years"
Minerva scowled.
"Ooch, she's not a Bear, Hagrid. That's just her name" She removed the kitten's claws from her dress and pulled the cat on the table. Hermione gulped, her eyes widening in panic. She stared at the half giant in utter shock and fear.
"Mew" ("Mommy!").
She pelted back to Minerva trying to hide her face in her cloak.
"Oh dear, I should have warned ye. I found the poor dear abandoned on the streets of London with quite severe injuries. We've healed them up as best as we could but she's still quite a fearful cat. Poppy thinks she was abused"
"Oh Tabby, she's beautiful. May I hold her?" Hagrid asked. He had a big soft spot for small injured animals. Minerva smiled at the big softy and nodded.
"She hasn't tried to bite or scratch anyone that I know. Though she did hiss once a Severus when we first got here" Minerva picked Bear up and placed her into Hagrid's arms. Hermione stared at the man as he cradled her into the nook of his below and chest, her stomach exposed to him. He could instantly feel her shaking in fear.
"Ay ya poor thin'. Just look at yer! Who would ever want to 'urt a little baby" Hagrid felt the kitten's shaken lessen as he cooed to her. He smiled knowing the cat was calming down.
"She's so cute Minerva. Gosh I ain't seen a wee kitten in such a long time. Since I got Fang in fact" Hagrid nodded his head towards the sleeping puppy by the fire.
Minerva smiled. Hagrid had gotten him as a present from Albus two months ago for his birthday and since then the two have been inseparable.
"How is he?"
"He's good. Though he practically jumps at every bloody thin'. The pups a scardy cat...Ah, no offence Bear"
Hermione felt like rolling her eyes and would if she could she resigned herself to settling down in his arms and allowing his beard to tickle her fur. In return she would lose herself to her primitive instincts and bat her paws at his beard to play. Something which Minerva had yet to witness in the young cat.
"So yer needed advice?"
"We've discovered that Bears a Kneazle and need to know how to properly care for such a creature. She's very small for her age as a result of the abuse and we just want her to be healthy"
"Well she does look like a Kneazle though she is missin' the lion tail but that might be due to her extremely long fur" Hagrid chuckled tickling her tummy which made Bear stretch out.
"She does really look like a fuzz ball with all tha' fur" He smiled. Minerva agreed, combing her had been rather difficult and had not seemed to help tame the large amount of fur. All she could say is that the cat will look as though she'd touch an electrical socket come Summer.
"Kneazles do require a bit more meat on ter' bone than normal cats do. Usually do well with being combed 'bout twice a week. They like water so if yer ever give her a wash it's fine. There extremely loyal but that does make em difficult pets to 'ave. 'specially in the jealousy departmen'; and 'specially if they 'ave to share"
"Aye, we found that out within the first few days of having her" Minerva sipped on her cup remembering when she had spoken to Severus about adopting and the kitten practically chucked a hissy fit.
"Wha' else about Kneazles yer need to know? Well they are extremely intelligent creatures and are very good judges of character. Other then tha', that's really it"
Minerva smiled.
"Thank you Hagrid" She finished her tea before setting it aside noticing that Fang had know woken up and was interested to see what his owner was holding.
'Well, 'ello Fang' bout time you woken up. Yer lazy dog. You want to meet your new friend?"
"Mew" ("Fwend?"). 'Whose Fang?' Hermione wondered, her thought siezed when she saw the scared dog staring at her in panic. Hermione gulped as Hagrid lowered her to the ground. She wasn't used to seeing anyone afraid of her. It made her nervous. The two watched as Fang sniffed the kitten's face before moving around her to smell her rear.
Hermione silently hissed.
'Don't do that. It's rude'
Fang's eyes lit up in horror at the kitten speaking to him.
'Dog, talk?'
Hermione rolled her eyes walking up to him.
'Yes but I'm a cat' She flicked her tail at him.
'Cat not hurt Fang?'
She stared at him in horror. Never before had she ever been a bully to others and she had no interest in starting now. Her mother and father had always said she was a good girl and she'd continue to be that way in their honour.
'Never. Why would you think that?'
'Everything bigger than Fang. Fang scared' The dog whimpered.
Hermione felt guilty for hissing at him earlier.
'I'm sorwy Fang. I didn't mean to upset you'
Fang stopped whimpering and stared up into the kitten's innocent eyes. They were both about the same height which made Fang feel reassured that she wasn't going to hurt her.
'Fwends?'
Fang jumped up excitedly, his tail wagging happily in the air as he crouched down attempting to play with her.
'Friends? I want a friend!" He panted.
Hermione chirped.
'I'm Hermione...well I guess I'm also technicwy Bear' She walked up to him and bumped her head with him on instinct.
'Fang' He picked her face.
'Bear play?'
She nodded before running after Fang as he excitedly ran away.
Hagrid laughed.
"That Fang 'asn't gotten along with any of the other familiars 'round 'ere. I'm glad you found her Minerva. Bring her round anytime you wan' a babysitter. Fang could really use some extra company"
Minerva snickered.
"And I'm sure Bear can learn how to share" Minerva thought back to getting her adoptive child.
Charlie Weasley watched in excitement as he saw his head of house walk through the Great Hall doors with the kitten happily purring in her hands.
"Mr Weasley" She fluently came over to the Gryffindore table to find the boy sitting reading a book on dragons.
He stood up quickly shutting the book and throwing his book in his bag before he cheerfully smiled at the kitten. She could see the utter excitement on his face as he saw her and Bear. She knew Charlies situation at home. Having a large family meant that expenses were tight. He had to buy second hand robes along with second hand books. Minerva had kindly donated a few to the large family after Charlie had began at the school. She also knew like any child, Charlie craved for his own space, his only things but were usually shared between six other children.
Her allowing him to care for Bear from time to time seemed like a good opportunity for Charlie to have a somewhat of a familiar even if it was shared between two of his professors.
"She's all yours for the next several hours. Be sure to take the utmost care of her"
"Of course Professor" Charlie smiled as Bear pounced into his arms. She turned to Minerva pawing towards her pocket to remove her teddy bear. Minerva seemed to pick up on the signal and chuckled.
"Smart cat" She acknowledged before passing it to Bear who grabbed it in her teeth. She gave the kitten one last pat on the head before moving off.
"Come on Bear. I'll show you around Hogwarts"
Charlie had taken the next two hours showing Bear most of the including the Great Hall, Courtyard, Library which for some reason took a while to stop the kitten from pawing all over the books. Charlie purposely avoided the dungeon not wanting to pump into any snakes, though he had bothered enough to take her to the kitchen's.
"This is where I come if I want to get some additional snacks. The elves are really nice. They always serve me and my friends when we come down here" He showed her how to access the kitchens through tickling the pears. Hermione popped her head in but for some reason the kitchen seemed empty. Funny, she imagined that people with pointy ears would be in here.
"Next I'll show you the prefect bathroom. This is how we first met Bear. Remember? I was brewing a Draught of Peace for Hagrid. He wanted to trial it on Hagrid to stop the puppy's nervousness around other animals"
Bear nodded her head as she took in the position between the headmasters stairwell and the Ravenclaw common room.
"Sanctuary" Charlie spoke the password unlocking the portrait and stepping through. Hermione instantly leaped out of his hands and ran around for a little bit leaving Charlie to watch and play with the threads of his worn down green jacket his father had passed on to him.
"Do you like it Bear?" She turned back to him as she poked one of the large tubs bubbles in her paw. She nodded before returning to her task.
"I knew you would!" He chuckled knowing all cats had a thing for anything fish related. He stared up at the portrait of the mermaid coming her hair.
"This is the best bathroom in all of Hogwarts. No one really comes in here except from Prefects from time to time and it's usually either Ravenclaw or Gyffindore, like me" He pointed at his red and gold badge in pride. Hermione ran up to him curious about the news. She needed somewhere to go to be human and this was the perfect spot. She could clean herself, heck maybe even steal some books from the library and hide out in here for the day whilst Severus and Minerva were teaching.
"...Usually the prefect bathroom is too far away for the other houses but I don't think they mind too much. Slytherine's usually keep to themselves, so do Ravenclaws, I guess. They like to study a lot" He leaned over his knees noticing Bears eyes brighten up at the word study. He felt almost jealous at the fact that Bear could like another house based on the fact that they were somewhat studious.
"I like to study too Bear. You know I'm top of my house year for Care for Magical Creatures" He said proudly. Hermione chirped.
He snickered running his hand down Bears back who bumped her head against his palm in response. He smiled.
"I like transfigurations too. Potions is okay but Professor Snape can be a bit much. He's really biased against Gryffindores and likes to reduce house points so his classes aren't too much fun but he's a really good teachers. Oh what else...um... Charms class; Professor Flitwick is amazing. I think he's the nicest professor there is"
He noticed Bear turn her head in curiosity. He thought she was taking offence to her mistress.
"Oh well, Professor McGonagall is also really nice but she's very stern where as Professor Flitwick is very bubbly"
'I have to meet him. Maybe Min will introduce me' Hermione thought.
"Then we also have Herbology with Professor Sprout. She's okay, she's really passionate about plants and gets pretty offended if you treat them badly in her class"
He watched as Bear nodded. He brushed his his fingers along her long fur wishing he could have a familiar but knew he couldn't. He sent his parents a letter at the beginning of the year saying he'd love one but money was tight.
"Well, other than this there's only the Gryffindore tower next before Professor McG picks you up" He held his hand out allowing her to jump in.
"I can't wait to show you off to my friends. Especially the muggleborns. They love seeing magical creatures"
Hermione chirped happily.
A few days later sort the staff meeting which Severus had arrived early for. He usually liked to make a dramatic late entrance but Minerva had asked him to babysit Bear for the afternoon since he had a free period.
He waited patiently for all the staff to step through to the staff room. Unfortunately, today Professor Trelawney felt the need to sit opposite him and stare at him with her big bulging eyes. She was only two years younger then Severus but acted practically like a child most days. The girl had had a crush on him all throughout college despite being in separate departments and Severus had had enough of her stalking to last a life time.
He gritted his teeth, sipping his coffee.
"H-have a nice day p-planned, Severus" She asked fumbling over her words.
He knew the woman had a crush on him and by the state of things a very big crush. Her shaking hand slipped it's grasp on her coffee mug spilling it's contents onto her side of the table.
"Oh my" She bumbled making Severus roll his eyes.
"Ummm..." She instantly grabbed a few napkins from the side and began pelting them at the coffee which made even Severus more shocked at her state of affairs. How does this woman even function?
Rather than start any conversation with the woman he waved his wand clearing up the coffee before returning back to his book on animal transfiguration.
"Thank you Sev-Severus" She smiled sincerely. By Severus' standards: a rather toothy grin.
He nodded his head wanting to ignore her for the rest of their short time together.
Minerva walked in shortly, with Poppy both linking arms and giggling like women do. Severus deduced gossip on students. It was their usual bussel to keep their boring lives at least some bit entertained.
Next Professor Sinastra, the Astrology teacher at Hogwarts for the last year and a half. She was relatively new to say the least. Quite usually but held a very professional appearance about her. She was a dark skinned woman with long black hair. She flashed a quick smile at Severus, taking a seat by his right as Poppy and Minerva sat by his left. Severus closed his book knowing Min would probably want the first pick at it if she saw. Unforunately, she did and gave him a rarely uncomfortable wink in his direction. He grumbled.
The rest of the staff poured in: Septima, Hagrid, Filius, Pomona, Filch (god knows why. Severus rolled his eyes), Irma Pince (the librarian), Charity Burbage (the muggle studies professor), Hooch, Bathsheda Babbling (the ancient runes professor), Silvanus and as luck would have it. This years DADA professor Slughorn (much to Severus' distaste). The man was a worse DADA professor as he was a head of house.
Severus had bet a period of seven months, he would last. Minerva had bet eight with a 60 galleon wager.
"Good morning everyone" Albus bursted in with his normally theatrical happiness. Drama Queen Severus rolled his eyes. Albus took his seat at the head of the round table.
"I have a few announcements to make" Albus shuffed his papers.
"Firstly, the Ministry of Magic are sending some of their people down to take a look into some of the classes we are running. This will include a visit from Ms. Delorus Umbridge whose acting as Minister Fudge's secretary. They'll be coming in a fortnight's time, I feel I should warn everyone now as they are looking to audit the school" Albus threw that one to the side already knowing the pain it was going to cause to both him and his staff.
"Secondly, there have been some complaints made about the Slytherine's doing something called 'dacking' the hufflepuffs. Severus and Horace, if either of you could please sort that one out I would love for our dear students not to be exposing one another in the hallway" They both nodded.
'Give me two weeks' Severus smirked panning his fingers against his transfigurations book.
"Thirdly, our fourth years Yule Ball is fast approaching with just over three months away. The head boy and girl are currently organising that along with Pomona and Filius" He smiled at them who both nodded their heads.
"And lastly, we need to discuss the drug epidemic that is currently plaguing our school. Poppy has had to treat a number of student's for having illicit substances in their system and we need to stop it immediately. Parents are already beginning to complain. Any suggestions?"
"Do we know whose dealing it?" Septima asked gently.
"Likely some Slytherin's" Hooch howled earning a few laughs.
"If I'm not mistaken, Rolanda. Gryffindore seems to be the house with the high risk takers. Not to mention the absurd amount of points they have lost within the last month since the substance use began" Severus seethed in anger.
"Enough. We need solutions not more problems. I want each of you to begin staggering your patrols for the nights and changing your usual routes. I fear the students may be dealing after hours"
All the staff agreed.
"Are their any further items we need to discuss"
"...Actually Headmaster there is" Argus turned his head to Dumbledore.
"I've caught two sixth year Ravenclaw students hanging around near the third floor room storeroom"
"And what's your point?"
He shrugged looking around.
"Well it's a little suspicious to me that they started hanging around that area considering the fact there ain't no classes around there"
Albus nodded.
"Filius would you please ask your student's in regards to what their doing around the storage room. I'd hate to think that they have set up an illegal blackmarket in Hogwarts"
"Anything further?"
Everyone remained silent.
"Meeting adorned"
Minerva swiped the page of her meeting notes and everyone began to pack up. Severus gathered his book noticing Trelawney stumbled over collecting her notes and trying to grab his attention. Luckily she stumbled over her footings and almost fell as the dark haired man made it to the door.
Unfortunately, he wasn't quick enough and Slughorn drapped his arm around Severus.
He glared angrily at the man who seemed absent minded to who he was touching.
"Severus, my boy. I'd like a word with you if that's alright?"
Severus was practically seething through his teeth.
Next chapter will be up maybe in two days time and will be about Severus and Bear (aka Hermione) bonding.
Please review.
