Summary: AU, SSHG, Crack, In a world where Lily lived, life was not perfect for Severus Snape. Hope came with the arrival of Hermione Granger who first became his apprentice, friend, and then so much more. But old friends are not happy with his happiness, and one spell changes everything.

Beta Love: Dragon and the Rose, Dutchgirl01

Barely

Chapter Three

The maniacal lunatics in control of our society know exactly how human beings tick and they are masters at manipulation.

—Bruce McDonald

"Headmaster, it has already been approved by the Board of Governors," Andersen said with a nod to the others on the board. "We are ecstatic that someone wishes to take on the old ways and have not just one but two apprentices. Minerva McGonagall is well known as one of the foremost transfiguration specialists in the world, which you yourself have touted on many occasions. That kind of knowledge and expertise needs to be passed down to the next generation of talent."

"Minerva already has more than enough responsibility as our Gryffindor Head of House as well as Deputy—"

"We are aware," Andersen interrupted with a brief roll of his eyes. He rubbed his beard that was tightly trimmed. He came from a very old family, and his fine silk robes were lined with intricate patterns. "If anything, having a pair of apprentices will lessen her load and not increase it for they will be able to assist with her everyday tasks once they are settled in. I am not quite sure why you are protesting this so vigorously, Headmaster. These apprenticeships will bring great prestige to both Hogwarts, your Deputy Head, and the two apprentices as well. Why would you want to deny both the school and the children such a great opportunity? If it catches on, we could have ol' Flitwick or even Pomona taking apprentices. If Madam Pomfrey took on an apprentice, just think of the experiences such a student could have learning from one of these great figures. We all signed off on this, Headmaster, and we will hear no more of your objections against it."

"Your protests make me think that you are upset by the news, Albus," Aldrich observed shrewdly as he stood up from the stone meeting table. He blew out one of the nearby candles with a short puff of air. "Andersen is correct when he says only good things can come of this, so I ask you, why are you so adamant that you must interrupt our meeting over something already voted and sealed as of a week ago?"

"A week—" Albus trailed off.

"We have already arranged for McGonagall's staff quarters to be modified to accommodate her two apprentices. They will be allowed to stay the entire year due to their apprenticeship with the option of taking holidays permitted at her discretion. All of the necessary paperwork has been filed. Do not even try to mess this up, Albus," Aldrich said, his eyes narrowing in an unmistakable warning. "Hogwarts cannot afford any bad press right now. We already have the Ministry breathing down our necks because of rumours that funds at this school have been used for purposes for which they were not intended. Something about low-income students not having the requisite paperwork on file with regard to to having their tuition and supplies paid for by the school."

"As Hogwarts' Headmaster, this should have been passed by me first," Albus blustered.

"Apprenticeships are and have always been filed with the Ministry and Board of Mastery," Andersen pointed out. "Their representative then comes before us during a meeting. It is the way it has always been, as you should well know from when Minerva first apprenticed under you, Albus, or have you perhaps somehow forgotten this and the sacred bond of magic involved in taking an apprentice?"

"The bond is already sealed?" Albus said, his voice quiet.

"The Mastery Board insisted on it," Andersen said. Both he and Aldrich seemed rather wary of the nature of Albus' train of thought. "And I'm quite sure you are well aware of what might happen should someone or something attempt to break such a magical bond."

Albus straightened. "Of course, I will ensure that they are properly settled in."

"Good," the two elder wizards said as they swept from the room. "Good night, Headmaster."

Dumbledore frowned as he came into Minerva's sitting room and saw Fawkes happily playing with some sort of spotted kitten as McGonagall was pointing to something on a scroll of parchment on her desk. A young black-haired boy was nodding, scratching his head idly as he seemed to carefully absorb what the witch was saying

"Of course, Master. We will both work on the exercises together before bed."

Minerva clucked her tongue and nodded approvingly. "Very good, Severus," she said. "We should be able to get Hermione here back to a more human form soon enough, don't you fret, lad."

Squawk!

Fawkes let out a playful warble as the spotted kitten caught him by the tail, but he shed one feather and escaped his erstwhile furry captor. The feline almost seemed to pout, her mouth full of phoenix feather. It trotted over to the boy victoriously, mrowling and headbumping into his leg.

Albus frowned. He wasn't all that familiar with regard to varied cat species, but whatever sort of kitten it was that the boy had, it seemed to already have charmed Fawkes. The phoenix looked completely happy to be kitten sitting rather than flying back to the Headmaster's office.

The boy grinned as he scooped up the kitten with a slight grunt of effort, apparently it was a bit heavier than it looked, and took the feather from its mouth.

"Eaow!" the kitten cried, looking mighty smug.

"Yes, oh great and mighty hunter, you have vanquished the fierce phoenix tail," the boy said, chuckling softly. His skin was remarkably pale, as if he rarely went out in the sun, but Albus could see the flush of warmth in his expression as the kitten proclaimed victory over its feathered foe. The boy looked a little too thin under his apprentice robes, almost gaunt, as if he had missed more than a few meals of late.

It was clear, however, that Minerva was ensuring her apprentices were now well-fed, as the smell of food was coming from the adjoining room.

"Why don't you two go get ready for dinner and don't wait up for me. I will join you both after I am finished speaking with the headmaster."

"Thank you, Master," the boy said, carting the kitten with him.

Fawkes squawked in distress and followed them into the other room, obviously not one to be left out of whatever shenanigans a phoenix was prone to get into when left to his own devices.

"May I help you, Albus?" Minerva said as she cleaned up the pile of scrolls.

"Are the new accommodations to your approval, Minerva?"

"Of course, Albus," Minerva replied with a smile. "Hogwarts seemed to know exactly what was needed."

Dumbledore looked around and saw that Minerva's quarters were now liberally decorated with slanting branches and leafy vines and more plants. He sighed ruefully. No wonder Fawkes liked being here instead of gracing his office.

"I see," he said, obviously stewing on something he chose to leave unsaid.

"Was there something you needed?" Minerva asked, arching a brow in inquiry.

"Minerva, why didn't you inform me of your intention to take on apprentices?" he asked.

"Whatever do you mean?" Minerva said, her brows furrowing.

"You could have at least asked me first," he said.

"Albus, there isn't anything that goes on here that you don't seem to know about," Minerva said. "Besides, Fawkes himself delivered the paperwork to be filled out. I presumed you knew as you tend to know everything else."

"Fa—" Albus trailed off. "The phoenix?"

"Not the saboteur, most assuredly," Minerva said tartly. "Is there a problem?"

"Ah, no," Albus said, looking a bit flustered. "No, I was just checking to make sure your apprentices were settling in well."

"Very well, thank you," Minerva replied. "And if I do not go see to them soon, there will not be enough haggis left for my own supper."

"Of course," Albus said, his smile seeming a little tight around the edges. "Could you send Fawkes on his way, please?"

"Ah, my apologies," Minerva with a nod. She walked into the next room to retrieve a certain errant phoenix.

"Off you go, Fawkes," she chided. "You can take some of the grapes with you. Albus wants you to go back home."

Dumbledore saw a blur of multicoloured feathers as the phoenix flew by and out the door, but not before passing a rather ripe bit of fruity flatulence right by Albus' head in a pointed expression of avian displeasure.

Minerva was watching him. "Goodnight, Albus."

Taking the hint, the headmaster left her quarters, the door closing behind him.

Minerva, her eyes narrowed in suspicion, walked over to check the door, and then walked back into the dining room. "Alright, you two, I hope you left me some haggis, or there will be words."

She smiled as both boy wizard and cub perked at the table. They'd already dished her up a heaping plate and were waiting not so patiently for her to attend.

A part of her chewed on the thought of whatever Albus Dumbledore was up to, but she ultimately decided to put it out of her mind and simply enjoy the evening with her two young apprentices.

Minerva chuckled to herself as she noticed that her cub apprentice had a wand grasped in her mouth and managed to zap Severus on the rump with a mild stinging hex.

The young wizard yelped and glared at her.

The cub's eyes went wide and she gently rubbed her head against his chest in apology.

Severus sighed, giving her an ear rub. "It's fine. Just watch out where you point that thing, okay?"

Hermione had, for whatever reason, stubbornly remained as a cub despite her exercises, and McGonagall wasn't quite sure why. She kept her human mind, unlike some Animagi who stayed in their form too long or were stuck there due to poor or insufficient training. So, she read her lessons and completed her exercises as a cub.

Oddly, it worked, save for the odd awkward moment when she tried to hold a wand between her teeth.

The pair seemed very eager to learn however strange the methods had to be once they were suitably tweaked, and Severus seemed to enjoy helping out cub-Hermione with her studies, whether it was simply reading to her or assisting when her paws and claws and teeth proved to be not as smoothly effective as human hands.

Minerva found the sound of a child's laughter and the frantic stampede of cub paws as a certain feline zoomed around the rooms at high tilt, utterly endearing. She never thought of Hermione as an animal or a physically challenged student, but she did understand that she had to make certain adjustments to assist the pair of them in learning together.

When she had attempted to contact Severus' home to let them know about his apprenticeship, the odious man had slammed the door in her face snarling that he had no son and she could go take her bloody freak self and throw herself in front of a lorry.

Hermione's family had been slightly better about supporting her transfer to a "prestigious magical school" but it was very clear they had no idea what that even meant. The sister, Minerva noticed, was positively ecstatic to hear that Hermione may not return, even going as far as to request that her parents clear out her sister's room and throw out all of her "freak stuff."

The drama Minerva was more than happy to leave behind as Hermione's parents immediately demanded that their elder daughter explain herself.

The cub-Hermione, nestled safely in Severus' arms for most of the trip, immediately dove under the bed on their return to the school and remained there for most of the day.

Only the persistent Severus, a phoenix feather guided by deft wandwork, and the threat to stop reading to her if she didn't come out lured the cub from under the bed and got her back to studying with her friend.

As their official school year at Hogwarts edged ever closer, it became increasingly clear why Albus had been so edgy over her apprentices. Remus Lupin was attending Hogwarts the following school year—the boy who had been savaged by Fenrir Greyback as a toddler. The extra pairs of eyes watching the school for news and updates on the newest apprentices would cast even more light over Hogwarts, something Albus did not want for Lupin's safety at the school.

Minerva questioned the safety of the students in general with a werewolf on the premises, but Albus had assured her that he had created a safe place for the boy to undergo his monthly transformations guarded by none other than the ever-cranky Whomping Willow. She was doubtful as to his measures being foolproof, but she sincerely hoped that the headmaster hadn't grown too overconfident in his abilities.

Children were children, after all, and they often found a way to break rules and find loopholes in anything and everything. Keeping such a potentially deadly secret at Hogwarts, especially one such as lycanthropy, only begged for a tragic outcome.

Once she found out, however, their Animagus lessons immediately became her top priority, and she wanted both Hermione and Severus to be able to hold a form even in sleep. Hermione, obviously, had that down easily, but she had yet to relax enough to remain human longer than the amount of time it took to brush her teeth.

Then, foop, back she was as a cub.

Apparently, brushing her teeth was enough inspiration to shift to a human form but little else seemed to sufficiently motivate her.

Still, Severus was doing better at managing his controlled transformations, and they were both ahead of schedule due to having already obtained their forms. It was just the control they still needed to work on, and she'd rather that be taken care of before puberty hit.

Puberty never failed to make lunatics out of even the most sane young people.

The last thing she wanted was for Severus to lose his ever-loving mind, shift, and proceed to take someone apart. Hermione, too, was looking to grow into something huge, and the young cub was going to be large enough to ride like a war-cat Nundu into the fray.

Albus might not realise that Hermione was anything more than a "kitten" of indeterminate species but Minerva knew her felines.

Hermione was going to be something that likely hadn't walked the Earth since prehistoric times. She might not know what species exactly, but just judging by the size of Hermione's paws, she was going to be enormous. So, Minerva was going to make sure her apprentices were well-versed in the art of Animagus self-defence. If there was going to be so much as a hint of a werewolf at Hogwarts, she wanted them to be able to protect themselves, even if it meant shifting and fleeing as fast as possible to avoid a fight.

It was perfectly okay, she told them, to flee instead of fight. Survival was more than just something that Slytherins did, and sometimes bravery was knowing when it was better not to be where spells were being flung willy nilly. There was, she insisted, no shame in avoiding a fight or danger. As their master, it was her responsibility to be mindful of their safety and their education, shelter, and needs. While other masters often took such responsibility less seriously, she took it very sombrely. Nora had explained the horrible situation with Severus' living conditions, and her connections to the Muggle police had made it crystal clear that getting Severus out of that home was only going to help his situation. As for Hermione's situation—

Nora had a gut feeling that the young girl would thrive vastly better in an apprenticed life than with the constant badgering from said sister. As a Muggleborn herself, Nora knew quite well that the dynamics of families with one magical child could go many different ways, but oftentimes it was one of frustration. There just weren't enough ways to engage such families in the magical world so they understood and didn't feel excluded—or oftentimes jealous and angry.

Minerva was confident that the pair would be ready at the very least to know when to flee even if they couldn't control their forms completely by the time young Remus Lupin arrived at Hogwarts. They were learning quickly, each feeding off the other's growing excitement and enthusiasm to absorb as much knowledge as they possibly could and heal as best they could from a world that couldn't understand them.

Becoming Animagi at such a young age was not typical even in the magical world, and prejudice was hardly just a Muggle concept. Children were often the first to pound down anything that stuck out, and the apprenticeship would help protect them and give them a safe space in which to learn. Unlike with her apprenticeship with Dumbledore, which had happened later in life after having already gained her education at Hogwarts, she would be a help-guide and educate them properly from the start.

Even now, she could feel she had made the right choice. Severus was already showing small smiles that she'd almost thought impossible that first day—

He'd even put on some weight and showed more concern for his own health, and she had a feeling it was from Hermione's influence more than hers. He felt safe enough to be a child, and that alone made her angry—angry that he'd never before been allowed to be a child.

Her family had been wonderfully supportive, her only regret was falling in love with a handsome Muggle farm boy and then leaving him for the magical world. The statute had never made such things fair. Muggle parents could know about the magical world, so why couldn't someone you wanted to marry?

Maybe it was because you couldn't swear a Muggle to secrecy under a Wizarding Oath—while parents were, at least to some extent, more apt to protect themselves and their children. She couldn't be sure. There had been many hypotheses made, but in the end, no one was absolutely sure.

Severus' situation, however, made Minerva wonder what had caused someone to give up their magic for a person who quite obviously did not have the slightest bit of tolerance for anything magical. The ways of relationships, she knew, were exceedingly complicated. Magical or Muggle made no difference with regard to the complexity.

All she knew for sure was that she would do her very best to ensure that her apprentices had all the best possible opportunities to succeed. While Hogwarts strived to give every magical child a great education, there were always those few idiots who didn't appreciate the enormous gift that such a thing was. The pair, however, seemed to know the gift it presented.

That, Minerva knew, was a gift to her.

Hermione shifted uneasily under the countless new eyes that stared holes through her courtesy of all the new students who had come to Hogwarts. She and Severus were used to sitting at the Head Table with their master, and they were accustomed to Hogwarts itself in many ways, but the Sorting was such an intense, high energy ordeal.

She felt much safer as a feline, even if it made eating at the Head Table a bit more challenging.

Thanks to McGonagall's various exercises and meditations, she and Severus had gained more control over their forms, but stress tended to give her feline ears even if she didn't make it to a full-on cub form. Severus seemed to shift whenever his emotions got the better of him, but they were both coming along nicely, at least according to their master.

Fortunately for them, their Sorting had been held in private just so they had a house affiliation on record, but since they were apprentices, they didn't win or lose any points unlike the rest of their house. There had been some fuss from Dumbledore about forcing them to spend time with their houses, but Minerva was not having any of the "forced" anything. They were welcome to spend time with the house and socialise as they wished, but if they didn't, they were not obligated to do so.

Hermione knew Severus truly appreciated the respite and the vigorous defence of McGonagall on their behalf. They were both curious as to the houses, but neither of them liked the fact that if one of them wanted to check out the common room of their house the other would not be allowed to join them.

The headmaster had attempted on multiple occasions to get them to separate and learn more about their respective houses, but neither found the suggestion particularly appealing. When Dumbledore had tried to introduce Severus to Horace Slughorn, Slughorn invited Severus to come visit with him in the Slytherin common room and meet some of the other students. When Hermione had come trotting along, tail up and ready to go, the headmaster had merely twinkled at her and proclaimed that the invitation was for Severus alone.

Utterly dejected, Hermione had slunk away to hide under her bed, and Severus had subsequently found himself feline-snubbed for the next few days with no willing study partner, lap warmer, or simple company.

While Hermione had later confessed that it hadn't really been him she'd be upset about, the entire situation had caused her to reevaluate the magic of the magical world from the safety of under her bed.

It had caused enough discomfort for the both of them that they'd ended up binge reading together afterwards as if to make up for lost time, and if angry retributional reading was a real thing, they did their best to fight against the injustice—silently.

And if Dumbledore had been confined to his rooms out of necessity because one Minerva McGonagall may or may not have permanently transfigured the headmaster's entire collection of pants into a seething horde of voracious robe-eating moths, well, no one said anything about it.

Madam Malkin was quite delighted with the tidy sack of galleons she had made off the rush order she had received from Dumbledore shortly after, even if she did wonder what in Merlin's had happened to leave the aged headmaster without so much as a stitch to his name.

Minerva had subsequently made it abundantly clear that as her apprentices, they could follow her anywhere she went if she so desired, so when Hermione went to make her introductions to Gryffindor, Severus came along too. When Minerva chose to visit Horace in his office, they accompanied her there as well.

Hermione wasn't quite sure why the headmaster seemed so stubbornly determined to separate them, but they took comfort in the fact that their master wasn't having any of it. They met with Nora every weekend like clockwork, and they always owled to let her know if they couldn't make it for whatever reason. The same went with weekly appointments with the Department of Mysteries, which, as it turned out, had been instrumental in unearthing information as to the specifics of "what in Merlin's name was that cat" that Hermione Evans had turned into.

As far as they could tell, she was a member of the long extinct species of sabre-toothed cat that had lived in what ended up being North America after it floated off to become its own continent. Longer and sleeker than the more familiar smilodon, she was going to grow up to become quite a ferocious example of the apex feline predator.

Fawkes seemed to be encouraging her to stalk and pounce him, taunting her with his long tail at every opportunity. The phoenix was seemingly enamoured with Hermione, and he'd sneak into Minerva's quarters at all hours just to help himself to the fruit offerings and entice Hermione to play.

Severus was suspicious of the phoenix on most days, knowing that the bird was supposedly the headmaster's familiar, yet—

He wasn't acting like a true familiar to Dumbledore.

Hermione had her suspicions that the phoenix was not being treated as well as he would have liked. Not neglected in a failing to provide food and shelter sort of way, but it seemed like emotionally, the bird was far happier keeping company with herself along with Severus and Professor McGonagall.

Even to the point of being a dutiful birdie pillow at night—

She'd had no idea that birds liked to be cuddled. She didn't have any pets at home because—

'Tunie had claimed it was an accident, of course.

Hermione had been heartbroken when her little calico kitten had an unfortunate accident. Gemma had somehow climbed up on their garden wall, escaping their yard, and was subsequently hit by a car.

Poor Gemma hadn't survived.

Her parents had flatly refused to allow her to get another pet and try again after that.

Hermione swore she hadn't let Gemma out. She hadn't!

But it didn't matter to her parents. She wasn't "ready" for such a responsibility, they had said.

'Tunie had seemed super happy after that. She loved to bring it up to Hermione every time she so much as mentioned missing her sweet little Gemma.

A series of cheers signalled the end of the Sorting as the headmaster told everyone to tuck into their food before going to their dorms. The noise was a bit overwhelming to her, and she could see Severus wince a bit, too. The professors were all chatting about which students looked to be better prospects for their classes, and Slughorn was looking over the student body as one would cherry pick the best crops.

A group of students that had just been Sorted into Gryffindor, one with an unruly mop of black hair and the other with far too much Sleekeazy's slathered on his head, were staring, pointing, and giggling in her general direction.

"Don't pay them any mind," Severus advised, passing her some of her favourite wholemeal toast slathered with a thick layer of lingonberry jam.

It was one of her true weaknesses. She loved lingonberry jam because her grandmother had loved it and shared it with her.

Tunie hated it, of course, but that had never bothered Hermione.

There was more for her that way.

She smiled at Severus and thanked him for the toast, her mouth watering in anticipation.

SPLAT!

A large helping of mashed potatoes loaded with peas and gravy landed on her plate of toast.

Hermione gave a cry of startled surprise, and before she or Severus could even react, the blur of McGonagall's crushed velvet robes passed by as she cast a spell that sent a bright beam of light tracing the dribbles of potatoes and gravy that came from—

Her own house's table.

McGonagall's expression was one of absolute fury as she grabbed two boys by the ears and dragged them off. "That will be ten points from Gryffindor for each of you little heathens," Minerva said. "I will tolerate no funny business from my own house on today of all days especially. Now march. You will be depriving our Headmaster of one of his favourite times of the year to deal with your shenanigans."

The rest of the Gryffindor table looked properly horrified, and they ate far more quietly after the two pranksters and their professor had gone.

Pomona Sprout quickly waved her wand and cleaned up the sloppy mess that was the Head Table. "Oh, that's definitely not a good way to start the year with Minerva," she tutted. "They'll learn quickly that being in her house will not save their sorry hides from her wrath."

"Just a bit of harmless fun," Dumbledore said nonchalantly as he stood up to follow Minerva.

"Don't you dare play down an open attack on an apprentice, Albus," Flitwick said, his eyes narrowing at the older wizard. "Every eye in the Ministry is watching us now. It'll be all over the Prophet one way or another."

Albus sighed, stroking his beard in thought as he headed out of the Great Hall.

"What is with Albus?" Poppy asked as she sipped from her cup of tea. "He seems rather grumpy of late."

Fawkes made a strange rumbling noise.

"I don't know," Pomona said, "but he's definitely had something on his mind for some time now."

"You can bet it's not anything pertaining to the balance of the school," Sinistra scoffed.

"True, Aurora," Pomona said, nodding in fervent agreement.

"Are you alright, dear?" Pomona asked Hermione.

"Yes, thank you, Professor," Hermione replied.

"Don't you worry," Poppy said comfortingly. "Minerva is about as fair as fair gets. An attack on her apprentice is an attack upon her, and if Dumbledore tries to play it down, she has every right to defend your honour just as fiercely as she would her own."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."

The rest of the evening meal went smoothly, and by the time they made their way back to their quarters, Hermione was utterly grateful for the reprieve from all the noise and chatter.

"Goodnight, Severus," she said when he handed back her knapsack of books for the morning. "Thank you."

He was silent, but he nodded at her.

She smiled at him and took her books with her to her room.

End of Chapter Three

A/N: Dragon and the Rose seems to think you may be curious as to what exactly Hermione is. She's a Machairodus Lahayishupup which was a species of prehistoric sabre-toothed cat that lived on the landmass that is now North America during the Miocene epoch (between 5 million and 9 million years ago). They were estimated to be from 210-427 kg in mass and stood up to the shoulder of a 180 cm man (around 6 feet high for those who go by non-metric standard measurements). They were somewhat longer and sleeker than the standard smilodon but built more like a lion that chases down its prey rather than an ambush-type predator. While most of what is known about them is guesswork, I loved the illustration done on prehistoric-fauna dot com, and it is the basis of my mind's eye vision of Hermione once she's all grown up. For those of you who don't care about the specifics, my apologies for the wall of text.