Chapter 4

This time, Hermione was prepared for the change back to her human form, and she managed to remain upright on her own two feet. McGonagall hurried to Transfigure her some clothing, but Professor Snape held up a hand to stop the older woman when she made to drape the robes around Hermione's nakedness.

"I need to inspect for any hint as to why this is happening," he offered by way of explanation.

McGonagall's sharp gasp echoed Hermione's own. "Severus, you can't—"

But those were the wrong words. He spun on McGonagall, nostrils flared. "You may not like it, but you must admit we need to cover every avenue! You and Miss Granger both agreed to this and any other so-called invasion of privacy when you asked for my assistance." The two professors stared one another down, while Hermione inched towards the forgotten robe. Eventually Snape relented enough to say, "You may stay if you wish but I will not be questioned again."

McGonagall looked to Hermione, who quickly snatched the robe and held it protectively in front of her. "It's okay, Professor," Hermione said. "I'll be fine. I know Professor Snape will be nothing short of professional." She glared at Snape as she said it. In truth, she could only hope that he completed his assessment in silence, rather than in cutting criticism. Regardless, it was not an event that she wanted Professor McGonagall present for.

"Very well. Do not hesitate to send your Patronus if you need me," McGonagall instructed Hermione, giving Snape one last hard look before exiting Hermione's dungeon lab. The door had only just swung shut when Hermione felt the robe ripped from her grasp.

"Hey!" She reached over to swipe it back, but Snape simply tossed it far behind him. Hermione crossed her arms over herself, but then he'd pointed his wand and body-bound her, arms outstretched and legs splayed.

"You may cover yourself when I am done," he told her, his eyes traveling over her body. Hermione's cheeks flamed but there was nothing she could do, so she settled for staring at him with as much anger as she could channel into her expression. She searched his face for any sign of his feelings, but his look was purely clinical as he circled her and then bent to examine her feet. Slowly, his gaze fell over every square inch of skin; he rose bit by bit as he searched her ankles, then her calves, knees, and thighs. Hermione made a point of looking up at the ceiling when he reached the juncture of her legs and pelvic region—she did not need that horrible image in her head. Thankfully, he didn't spend any more time looking at her most private area than he had at her ankles, but it was still unnerving. When he stood and walked behind her, Hermione let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She wasn't comfortable with her professor staring at her bum, either, but at least he wasn't in her line of sight.

A ghost of a touch on the back of her hip surprised her and she would have jumped a foot in the air had she not been magically frozen in place.

"I'm surprised," came the cryptic comment, and Hermione remembered the tiny symbol she'd had tattooed there after the war in a fit of recklessness: the Deathly Hallows. Deciding his comment didn't warrant a response, she pressed her lips together and stared straight ahead. When Snape came back around into her vision, she could have sworn one corner of his mouth was tilted in a smile.

But that expression soon changed when he began his catalogue of her arms. Bellatrix's Mudblood was looking better these days, thanks to a scar-reducing ointment she'd been ordering from Witch's Whimsy, but she had resigned herself to seeing the ugly word for the rest of her life. However, Snape was looking downright furious. And he was continuing to stare. Hermione frowned.

"Professor?" she prodded.

"No one deserves this," he snarled at her, tearing his eyes away and coming to stand fully in front of her. Hermione was taken aback by his vehemence, but she supposed everyone was entitled to their triggers. As he continued his perusal, she wondered if perhaps he too had had similar run-ins with the late Lestrange.

And then his eyes scanned across her breasts, and Hermione's thoughts were scattered. She closed her eyes and counted to twenty, hoping that when she looked again Professor Snape would have moved on to another portion of her body. It couldn't be too much longer before she'd be able to get dressed...

Another feather-light touch just under her collarbone surprised her again. Snape was—tracing her Department of Mysteries scar? Hermione slitted one eye open and was shocked to see what appeared to be genuine dismay on her professor's face. Her eyes opened considerably wider when he apologized.

"I regret that I was unable to prevent this," he told her, glancing up to meet her eyes briefly before returning his gaze to her scar. "I was focused on counteracting the curse, at the time, and then it was too late to think about cosmetics—"

"It's, um, it's fine. Please don't apologize. You, er, saved my life. So thank you." Merlin, how badly she wanted to fidget right now! As if this wasn't the most uncomfortable conversation she'd ever had in her life, she was also having it completely bared to her professor's unreadable eyes. "Um, are we done?"

To her great relief, Snape scanned her face and neck rather quickly before releasing the spell that held her. Hermione hurriedly stumbled to the crumpled robe and pulled it on. "What's next?" she asked, trying to remain civil in light of his apparent remorse for her scar.

"Next, we try to keep you human," he snapped, the moment over. Hermione sighed and reached for her notebooks.

A/N: Okay so this scene kind of went in its own direction, but explanations coming soon, I promise! I took some liberties with the idea of Hermione getting tatted, and I always keep the movie-canon 'Mudblood' scar in there, because that scene was just so powerful!