The Potion Cure

Hermione and Severus had their dinner and then went to his newly unsealed chambers to fetch what they could. Hermione looked around the rooms curiously. They were thoroughly clean – courtesy of the house elves. However, unlike her chambers, they were sparse and cold – despite the roaring fire in the grate. Besides the overabundance of books, there was very little to be seen of mementos or anything else personal. While Severus climbed up the bookcase to show where that particular Potions book was located, she peeked into his bedroom. Just like the rest of the rooms, it was functional, but not comfortable or cozy. No wonder he didn't want to leave my quarters, she thought - especially if he has been here alone here for the last five years…and who knows how many before that! She knew that she had spoiled the bat since the day that she found him, but she determined then that she would continue to do so and to make him as comfortable as possible while he stayed in her rooms with her. She wanted him to know that he did not have to live such a comfortless existence as these rooms implied.

They stayed up late that night as they pored over the text, studied the formula, and matched up the available ingredients – with Hermione flipping back and forth between her human and animal forms - until her head began to droop with exhaustion. Severus finally noticed how tired she was. Even though he couldn't talk with her since she was currently in human form, he knew that she needed to go to bed. After all, she had dunderheads to teach on the following day, and Merlin knew that one had to be sharp and alert for that activity! Therefore, he climbed off his perch, over the table, and pulled on her shirt gently with his little bat mouth. Once he had gotten her attention, he purposely inclined his head towards her bedroom to try and indicate that she needed to sleep. However, he wasn't prepared for the delightful little laugh that she gave.

"Careful, Severus, someone might think that you are trying to proposition me," she said and smiled brightly at him. "However, you are right. I do need to go to bed." With those words, she arose from her seat, gave him his customary head rub, but shocked him to his core when she bent down to kiss the top of his head, as well! "Goodnight, Severus!" she whispered and then made her way to bed leaving both the man and the bat very confused behind her.

As was the case with most types of transformative potions, this particular one, Animalis Transuerso (Animal Reversal) needed to be assembled and brewed during the full moon. Since the full moon had just passed, hence the Wolfsbane potion that Hermione had recently made, that meant that they needed to wait until the next month before they could attempt to reverse his condition. Severus found that his hostess was much more upset on his behalf upon reading that little caveat than he was. He just shrugged his little bat shoulders.

"It's been five years, Hermione. Therefore, one more month is nothing to me!" He didn't even realize that he had used her given name for the first time ever until he heard her gasp of surprise. However, to his surprise it had not felt strange or abnormal to address her in such an informal fashion, at all. Since when have I become so comfortable with the witch? Severus wondered, slightly alarmed at this new development.

The next month passed far more quickly than either of them realized that it would. During the day, Hermione taught her classes as usual. However, Severus was often claimed by Minerva and secretly transported to the Head's office for fruit for him, tea for her, and private conversation where the future was often discussed between the two old friends and plans were made. Severus enjoyed these visits very much, but to his astonishment (and to the delight of both women) he liked spending time in Hermione's classroom even more, and the students soon became used to his presence. Quite a few even talked to him regularly and some of them even stroked his furry little head upon entering or leaving the room - as if he was someone's cute pet. One day a bold Gryffindor even brought him some magical fruit varieties that his grandparents in the Caribbean had sent to him in a care package. That night in the lab, since most of their evening and nights were mostly spent there working on all of the stages of the AT potion that could be completed before the final assembly, Severus made one of the biggest concessions of his life. He actually admitted to Hermione that maybe not all Gryffindorswere dunderheads, after all. That caused Hermione to send a wide beautiful cat grin his way which he mentally noted was almost as attractive as her human one – if one could look past the sharp teeth that were meant for dismembering smaller animals like himself, that is!

A week before the full moon, the students went home for the holidays, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief that she could now focus on Severus and the potion that already took up several cauldrons in the lab – especially since there were several steps left to be completed before all of the parts could actually be assembled under the full moon. First, they still had to hunt down several missing ingredients, however. Fortunately, Neville was able to supply Hermione with the skin of the snake-like Naga fruit, Hagrid gave her a sliver of unicorn hoof, and Hermione floo-called Charlie Weasley in Romania and urgently asked him for the scale of a Chinese Fireball for an emergency potion. Fortunately, Charlie was used to her asking for odd dragon parts for her work, so he didn't ask too many questions and a package, containing the requested scale as well as several more from different species, was delivered by floo the very next day. Therefore, all of those ingredients turned out to be relatively easy to find. However, they had to go out and harvest the fuzzy green and gold leaves from the "Leprechaun" plant themselves. Therefore, one clear but very cold evening, Hermione bundled up herself and Bat Severus warmly and apparated with him to a cliffside in Ireland where Severus remembered that the plant grew. Once he had pointed it out to her, she cut several of the leaves, but left the root to grow – just in case they ever needed it again. She then quickly apparated them back home where Severus nestled in her thick winter lynx fur as she lay before the fire until the chill was banished from both of their bones. They both enjoyed the experience very much. Without discussing it, this actually became one of their nightly routines before they called it quits and went to bed. Both Severus and Hermione found that they looked forward to this quietly affectionate time all snuggled up together by the fire. It helped to fill the hole of something that was obviously missing from both of their lives.

After the Wolfsbane potion was also brewed and delivered, it was time to begin the final preparations for the AT potion. Finally, their month of hard work all came down to a steaming cauldron out on the balcony under the full moon with the end result of one very small syringe full of a noxious smelling potion. Back in the comfort of her chambers, Hermione held it out towards her bat friend as he shot her an anxious look.

"I know, Severus! Try not to worry, though. We are both Potion Masters and we have checked, double checked, and then rechecked everything yet again in order to make sure that the potion is right. Therefore, if it doesn't work, then it was not anything that we did incorrectly…and if that is the case, then we will just find another way." She held the syringe closer to him. "However, we will never know if you don't try it. Come on now," she said with gentle encouragement. "I want to see the face of the man that I have grown so surprisingly fond of in the past couple of months." At those words, he looked up at her in surprise, and in a sudden understanding of his own jumbled feelings, he understood that he wanted her to see him as a man, as well. Therefore, he opened his mouth and she squeezed the potion into it. Then she stroked his ears comfortingly as they waited in anticipation. Seconds passed, and then a minute, but still nothing happened. The smile was beginning to fall from Hermione's face and Severus felt the weight of his disappointment threaten to crush him.

All of a sudden, however, a red hot pain lanced through his small body. It was quickly followed by another one and then another. His body writhed with pain on the sofa where Hermione had the good sense and foresight to place him for the transformation - because he surely would have fallen off of his perch, otherwise! Even through his intense discomfort, however, Severus was able to latch onto a thought. This feels a lot like Skele-Gro, he thought, just multiplied by a thousand! Surprisingly, the thought was actually comforting because one stage of the AT potion-making process was almost identical to that of the infamous bone regrowth potion. That means that it's actually working! he thought triumphantly as the pain wracked his body. Meanwhile, Hermione continue to stroke his head and ears soothingly. It didn't actually help ease the pain, but he suddenly realized that her presence was comforting all the same, and he was extremely grateful for it. Then his body started to stretch and grow until his enlarged bat form threatened to spill off of the sofa. Finally, his wings and fur started to recede. Hermione watched in amazement as his features smoothed out and she found that she was carding her fingers through long black hair instead of fur. Then after one intense burst of pain and light, a long, lanky, hook-nosed, and extremely naked man lay on the sofa.

"Where in Merlin's name are my robes?" he roared and he tried to shoot up and cover himself.

"Here, Severus, wrap up in this and I will transfigure it for you. That should be fine for now." Hermione said as she handed him the cozy throw off of the back of the sofa and tried not to look anywhere that would embarrass them both.

"I…um…thank you," he said a little nervously as he looked up at the woman who, with just a flick of her wand had fashioned some simple robes for him. He found that he just couldn't stop looking at her with his human eyes which saw everything, including her, with more depth and clarity than his bats' eyes could. He just looked the lovely woman in front of him and knew that she had been his savior in more ways than one during these past few months. She was beaming joyfully at him and his heart soared at the sight.

"Welcome back to the human world, Severus Snape!" she exclaimed and then surprised him with the first warm hug that he had received in far more than just the five years in which he had been a bat. She suddenly realized that he may not appreciate her Gryffindor boldness, however, so she released him and stepped back. "How do you feel?" she asked instead to cover up her possible faux pas.

Severus found that he immediately mourned the loss of her touch, but he ignored that feeling for the present as he thought seriously about her question. He flexed his muscles and joints. The potion had not only returned him to his human form, but had renewed it, as well. He felt better than ever! Therefore, he told her honestly. "I feel fantastic!" he exclaimed and, ever the potioneer, he wondered if he and Hermione could experiment with that old formula and create something that could provide comfort to people like Minerva who suffered from joint pains and other similar problems. He realized that he was a bit astounded to be actually thinking about the future now…and apparently about a future that Hermione was in with him! Therefore, he looked up again at his companion who was still smiling at him, but in a slightly uncertain way now. He found that he didn't want her, of all people, to be uneasy around him, not after they had grown so close during their time together. Therefore, he held his hand out to her and when she took it, he made a sudden decision and pulled her into a close hug. "I can't thank you enough, little witch!" he murmured into her hair.

"Oh, Severus!" she whispered. "You don't have to thank me. Friends help each other. It's what they do."

"Friends?" he asked softly into her hair and she couldn't help but to smile at the obvious disappointment in his voice. "Is that what you want for us to be?"

"Why? Is that not what you want, Severus?" she asked as she pulled away from him slightly in order to see his face.

The sly Slytherin in him weighed his choice of responses before he settled on the least embarrassing one. "I would very much like to…explore the options with you…Hermione."

"Does that mean that you plan to stick around then?" she asked, and he watched her bite her bottom lip. It was a nervous habit that he had noticed many times while she was working in the lab.

She is worried that I am going to leave now! he thought incredulously. She actually wants me to stay! He felt an unfamiliar rush of emotion at this realization and therefore could only utter a rough-sounding, "Yeah!" without giving himself away.

She had no such reservations, however, and the bright smile that she turned on him told him everything that he needed to know and he started to smile himself. "Well then," she said. "If that's the case, then I guess that I could possibly consider exploring the options with you and we can just see where it takes us." She then flashed such a cheeky grin at him that he immediately wanted to snog it off of her.

What's stopping me? he thought. When he couldn't come up with a reasonable answer to that equally reasonable question, he gave in to the temptation. He pulled her to him and kissed her until they were both flushed and breathless.

"I like the options, so far!" she breathed and he couldn't help but to agree with her. Therefore, he did the only logical thing and kissed her again…and then again after that. The kissing possibly could have gone on indefinitely if Minerva's presence hadn't been announced by her excited knocking on the door.

"Oh, Severus, my dear boy. It's so very good to see you!" she exclaimed as she threw herself into his arms.

"You aren't going to start licking my ears again, are you?" he asked with some snark to try and cover up the fact that the moisture in his eyes was threatening to overflow at the display of obvious affection from the woman.

"Hush it, you!" she exclaimed and hugged him some more.

He then proceeded to enjoy the rest of the night with his two favorite women in the world…all while getting used to all of the little pleasures of being a man again. First, he took a hot shower before donning the comfortable flannel pajamas that Minerva had transfigured for him (in the McGonagall tartan, of course) and ate a hearty meal that did not include any fruit whatsoever. Then for the next several hours, they planned their futures. It was decided that after Severus came back out in society and proved to everyone that he was alive and well that he would return as Potions Master in the new school year. He had watched Hermione teach enough by now that he was actually eager to try out her style for himself – now that he had nothing to hide and nothing to prove to himself or to anyone else. Hermione would finish up the current school year as Potions Mistress and then switch over to Transfiguration for the next year. When Severus expressed some doubts about taking her position away from her, she just scoffed.

"Nonsense! Transfiguration is my first love and I would have taught it right away if Minerva hadn't been desperate to find someone qualified enough to take over for Professor Slughorn. However, Professor Nyuto, who took over for Minerva when she became Headmistress, has now decided to move back to Japan and teach at the Mahoutokoro School in order to be near her new granddaughter. Therefore, the Transfiguration position will be open again."

"You two have been planning this all along," he said in a slightly accusatory voice when he realized what the two Gryffindor women had done.

"Not really," Hermione said and smiled. "We have just been exploring our options!" Then she laughed and leaned over in order to give him a little kiss while Minerva looked on approvingly.

"Plus, Severus," the older woman said with a seriousness that was belied by the twinkle in her eye that was almost eerily reminiscent of Dumbledore. "You know very well that you and I have been doing the very same thing when Hermione was in class. Imagine how pleased I was when it turned out that we all wanted it to be this way."

"Are you sure that you are a Gryffindor and not a Slytherin?" he asked her suspiciously.

She just laughed and said, "Well, I will neither confirm nor deny that the Sorting Hat suggested that I would do equally well in either house – and then let me choose for myself which one I wanted!"

"That explains so much!" Severus said with a little groan that choked off as Minerva hugged him again.

He did not look forward to his reintroduction to the Hogwarts staff on the next day, though – even after Minerva had softened the blow, of course, by breaking the news first at an emergency staff meeting for those who had stayed at the castle…and for the rest who had flooed back in for the occasion. However, after he had received Hagrid's joyful bonecrushing hug when he realized that Severus was also his large megabat friend, and when he knelt down to receive Filius's tearfully apologetic hug, he realized that some things in life were worth the discomfort. Severus soon became much better friends with the two men than they had ever been before. In fact, he soon spent almost as much time with them as he did with Hermione and Minerva. Consequently, all in all, it was one of the best Christmas holidays that any of them had ever experienced.

The Real Cure

Several months later, Severus had successfully rejoined and reestablished himself in the wizarding world with the help of Hermione and Minerva. After the initial uproar, things settled down quickly and Severus began his new life. He needed employment so Minerva contracted him as a one-on-one tutor for struggling students for the rest of the school year until he reclaimed the Potions classes again in the fall. Surprisingly, he rather enjoyed it and viewed it as a practice session for dealing with children again…in the right way this time…before the main event.

He also kept his old chambers, which Hermione helped him to redecorate and turn into a much more comfortable living environment. This was especially true since he now knew that she brought so much of the new warmth and light into them simply because she chose to spend so much time there herself. The two of them had continued to explore their options together and it was not long before Severus knew exactly which option that he wanted to make permanent…and he believed that she desired it, as well. However, he knew that it was a bit too soon to declare his intentions. Nevertheless, a ring now waited in his nightstand drawer for whenever the time felt right – for both of them. He only hoped that the right time would be relatively soon because he could no longer happily contemplate a future that his witch, his savior, and his love did not share with him…as his partner and wife!

In this way, the time passed quickly and pleasantly and the spring holidays soon arrived. The majority of children left Hogwarts to spend them with their families. This left Severus and Hermione free to roam the grounds while she tried to persuade him to join her for a frivolous frolic in their animal forms. Understandably, Severus was reluctant to transform and had not done so since he had returned to his human body – on the odd chance that he would get stuck again.

"Please, Severus," Hermione asked sweetly and he groaned, already knowing that he was going to give in to her request. "I miss rubbing the cute little fuzzy ears on Bat Severus," she said mischievously before adding, "…and I certainly wouldn't mind seeing more of the animal in you." He growled his appreciation of the sentiment and stalked over to her.

"Your wish is my command, Witch!" he said as he grabbed her and kissed her intensely – which she returned just as enthusiastically for a moment before she slipped out of his grasp.

The next thing that he knew he was holding nothing but air as a lynx bounded playfully away from him. She paused just a few meters away, and inclined her head as if say, Well, come on, then!

"Minx!" he thought to himself as he shifted easily and flew after her. He was thrilled to be in the air again, and mentally reminded himself to thank the little witch for being right…again! She certainly made a habit of it, but he found that he just didn't care. In fact, as she playfully swatted at him with her paw while he dive-bombed the tufts of fur on the tips of her ears, he realized that he had never been happier in his entire life - and that it was all thanks to that not-so-insufferable know-it-all Gryffindor!

Finis :)

Author's Note:

This is a slighted expanded version (especially Chapter 6) of the story that was written for kerravonsen for the 2017 SSHG Giftfest on LJ.

She requested a Severus who genuinely disliked Gryffindors. She also asked for there to be no hanky panky and for the two of them to be friends first. She also provided several possible prompts, from which I chose the following to mish and mash into the creation of this fic:

· * "Many a friendship, long, loyal, and self-sacrificing, rested at first on no thicker a foundation than a kind word." - Frederick William Faber.

· * Both Severus and Hermione are used to doing everything themselves, without help. To ask for help is unthinkable. But then something happens to one of them (either Severus or Hermione) and that person is laid low. The other one is the only one who notices that something is wrong, and the only one who tries to help.

· * Post-Voldemort. Hermione is hearing voices that no-one else can hear - well, one voice in particular: Severus Snape. But he's dead, isn't he?