Disclaimer: Little me, own this??? I don't think so….
Shanks lightly padded through the darkened corridors of Hogwarts trying to puzzle out something of the character of the obviously annoyed Potions Master trailing behind him. 'He has a sense of drama. That's promising, definitely something that can be worked with.' mused Shanks, 'doesn't reveal his feelings much though, which could be problematic… And he does have a rather exaggerated view of his importance, but still, that can be used too.' He paused at a twist in the corridor, making sure that his unwilling companion followed.
Snape meanwhile was having a few thoughts of his own, mainly of the grumbling variety. He was somewhat surprised at himself. A few months ago he would have had little qualm about blasting the wretched creature in front of him into oblivion. Now, strangely, he didn't feel the level of anger required to dispatch the hellcat without remorse. He hated to admit it but he was getting mellower now that the threat of Voldemort had been lifted. He shuddered involuntarily as his subconscious enlightened him to the fact that he felt a small amount of respect for the fiery lump of fur for staring him out earlier in the evening. He shook his head, clamping down on the unpleasant sensation and pushed it to the darkest recesses of his mind. What would his former Deatheater comrades say if they knew that he was becoming fond of a silly know-it-all's cat?
From the corner of his eye, Shanks discreetly observed the Professor. The man seemed to be struggling with some inner torment. This was a tad worrying. It wouldn't fit his plan well if it turned out that Snape was unstable. Although, now Shanks thought about it, that might tug the heartstrings of his kind mistress. She seemed destined to always struggle after lost causes. She did it with tweedle-dum and dumber, forever picking up after them and preventing them from dying horrible deaths by being the brains that anticipated the messes before they got too far into them. She'd even taken on the cause of the House Elves, in spite of their lack of appreciation. Indeed it almost seemed like the more impossible a task, the more determined she was to accomplish it.
'Well,' thought Crookshanks, 'thawing our cold elixir brewer's heart should be right up her street. All I need to do is get the idea into her head and help her along the way. He won't stand a chance.' He paused in his thoughts as they reached the infirmary. The final destination was no shock to Severus. He had rightly concluded that it was Hermione the cat was leading him to.
The arrival of the odd couple did not go unnoticed. A thin, dour looking cat with tattered whiskers observed their entrance and arched her eyebrow.
a/n: look, there… can you see it? A little button saying 'go' right next to the words 'submit review'. Press it, go on, make it feel loved! Next chapter will be up in the next couple of days, it's all written, I just have to draft through it for typo's.