Professor Snape rose, but Hermione didn't move, merely stood watching him. He regarded her for a moment, his brows furrowed in concentration but not malice, before he walked off in the direction of the hall. Hermione followed him, realizing then that if it was going to be as bad as he thought there was no way he'd allow her to have breakfast in his living room.

Sure enough, Professor Snape went directly to her room, only to her surprise, he kept going, straight out the back door. Before it could close behind him, she slunk through, back out into the brisk fall air. The sun was rising quickly now but they had plenty of time before breakfast was served in the Great Hall.

Professor Snape walked forward a few paces, then turned, his cloak billowing out behind him.

"I'll call the house elf in a moment, but first, some advice. For the first time, don't fight it. Let the instincts take over. Once you know what it's like to lose total control, you'll have a better understanding of how to deal with it in the future," he began, "now when I say you'll lose total control, I mean that your human conscience will not have a say over what your body does. I don't know what the Headmaster told you, I had more important things on my mind at the time. Let's suffice to say I know better than him anyhow. Now, when you see the meat, you, Miss Granger, will cease to exist, and the lioness will surge into the forefront of your mind, you'll still be there, you'll remember what you did, but you'll be powerless to stop it. Once you've devoured your meal, you'll be in a position where you can regain power over the lioness. Take it slow, concentrate on strengthening your human thoughts. Don't try to drown out the lioness, don't try to beat her into submission. Just allow her to drift away while you drift back in. That's all you can do for now. Don't panic, I will not allow you to hurt yourself or anyone else," he stopped speaking, and stared down at her.

Hermione was nervous, as usual, but had a nagging feeling she'd be more embarrassed than anything after this was over. She nodded her acknowledgment to her Professor and waited as he called the elf with her breakfast.

Severus called out,

"Dobby,"

He'd been unable to avoid the blasted elf ever since the thing had learned of all the times he'd stepped in to save the-ignorant-boy-intent-on-dying, so he figured he might as well put him to good use and make him in charge of Miss Granger's meals.

The house-elf appeared, grinning at him, a huge silver platter in his hands. He leaned conspiratorially towards the wizard before him,

"Dobby's got Hermy's meat," he said with a wink. Severus pinched the bridge of his nose, suppressing his annoyance.

"Just throw it towards her and get out of here," he instructed, lowering his hand with an exasperated sigh.

At the house elf's appearance, and no doubt the smell of the raw steaks, Granger was leaning forward, her nose in the air, twitching.

Dobby nodded eagerly.

"Yes sir!" And tossed the whole platter towards her, cover and all before disappearing with a light snap. Groaning inwardly he focused on stilling his mind and suppressing his anger, he needed to be alert and calm during what was about to happen.

Severus returned his eyes to the figure in front of him, who for a moment, fought for control, then, as if remembering his words, her eyes lost the bright light of the young girl that occupied them and flashed in a wild frenzy. Severus raised a shield charm around himself, but wasn't worried. All her energy and focus was on the sealed platter in front of her.

It wasn't sealed for long.

Two huge paws, claws unsheathed, dug into the silver lid, crushing it easily. Her mouth lowered, teeth bared, and snarling she ripped the cover off, sending it flying like a dillappatated frisbee.

Then she was into the meat.

The muscles rippled in her shoulders and hindquarters as she knelt down and buried her face into the blood red steaks, snarling as she went at ripping and tearing and clawing, swallowing chunks whole.

It was only a minute before they were gone, and she turned to pacing, prowling back and forth, her ears pinned, tail low and sweeping, teeth bared. She whipped around, stalking the other direction for a few yards, then turned back. She caught sight of Severus, who standing completely still, watching her cooly. He waited for her to take his eye contact as a threat, but there was enough Granger returning that she didn't. She kept an ear on him, but dropped her eyes, focusing internally as she sought to slowly regain control.

It was impressive, as sour as the word was in his mind to think. She'd come back within 8 minutes, doing nothing rash, merely pacing back in forth in an ever decreasing state of coiled energy and broiling instincts.

She sat before him now, completely in control, and he watched her lick her lips absently then visibly cringe at the taste. She collected herself, however, and blinked determinedly up at him.

He had dropped his shield charm minutes before, and stepped forward, twirling his wand in his hand.

"You did well for your first time. You re-gained control fairly quickly after you finished the meat, and didn't try to harm me," her ears flicked forward at his assessment, "However, you have a long way to go," he said briskly, heading towards the door again, throwing over his shoulder a snide,

"I'd suggest you clean yourself up, Nyota, you don't want to go to breakfast covered in blood,"

Hermione had been licking her coat ferociously, even going so far as to dipping her forelimbs in the pool of water in the corner of the room, then her face, to clean herself. Finally satisfied that there wasn't a speck of blood on her legs and chest, and from what she could see of her face, she ambled out into the living room.

Professor Snape was waiting for her at the door. His eyes appraised her, making sure she was presentable, before narrowing at her.

"You are Nyota, my familiar, and don't forget it,"

Hermione nodded, but on the inside she was rolling her eyes. He'd better make sure he didn't forget, not just her.

Then again, he was a very successful spy, there was a better chance of him wearing pink than forgetting his role.

Hermione was lost in thought as they made their way up to the main floor of the castle. She had adjusted her long, sloping gait to match the Professor's, and was now on cruise control as she thought about everything that had happened up until this point. She hadn't really thought about the relationship between her and her new "master", and now found her mind wandering in that direction.

He'd been surprisingly well behaved.

Sure he'd been snarky, rude, sarcastic.

But he'd also not meant all of it, at least not to the extent he usually did.

Had she been human, Hermione would have lost her temper at the man ages ago, even before he'd actually walked into Dumbledore's office to get a look at her, but when she was human, it was impossible to see the small flickers of emotion that slipped through his barriers that her lioness form picked up on.

It was these little slips of emotion that had made Hermione realize that Professor Snape wasn't all that bad. Sure, it had only been one night and part of a morning, but a Professor Snape never waited around to make people miserable. He'd given her a wonderful bedroom, covering it up with his remark about how he'd done so so she'd never leave, but it was sarcasm. It wasn't supposed to be taken to heart, not completely. She figured there was some truth to the statement, but she found she couldn't blame him. He'd been thrust into a horrible predicament. And actually, now that she thought about it, some of his snarky comments had come across to Hermione as amusing. They always had, even before, as a student in his class, Hermione found herself holding back laughter at the meaning of comments and insults that went over her classmates heads.

This was definitely something she'd have to figure out and analyze over time. It would take her more than a day to figure out her complicated Professor, and as they made their way down the hallway towards the Great Hall, Hermione found herself unable to continue in her thoughts anyways.

Students had begun appearing as they'd ascended, and their staring, pointing, and general gawking had immediately caught her attention and put her on guard. She knew they weren't threats, but she needed to be aware all the same, it was instinct. And plus, who could ignore open mouthed, shocked pointing?

She was aware of the Professor slowing his strides beside her, and she followed his lead, and was then caught off guard by his knee driving into her side and his hand clasping her harness, hidden from view by his billowing coat, as he took hold of it and pushed her sideways.

Resisting the urge to act on the defensive, she allowed him to move her, turning her body in compliance so that his knee and hand fell away, one arm rising up to push open a door she hadn't noticed. She strongly believed that was because the door hadn't been visible until his hand touched it. He turned the knob, and Hermione strode through into a narrow hallway lit with candles that let to one other door straight ahead. Professor Snape began walking, and she followed, the hallway too narrow to be at his side. He paused when they reached the other door, looking at her sternly, and the conversation about her behavior for breakfast floated into her mind. She met his eyes and blinked.

The door swung open, and Hermione followed Professor Snape towards the High Table where all the other teachers sat conversing. Hermione had gone to Hogwarts long enough, and more importantly, had been paying attention long enough, to know that a majority of the teachers went to breakfast early to get a chance at conversation with fellow staff before the meal. Professor Snape never did that. He arrived to breakfast when he wanted to be there.

Today was no different. Scanning the hall while she got the chance, Hermione saw quite a few students already at the tables, but the big burst of late risers (aka most of the student population) had yet to arrive, and then her view disappeared as they walked behind the table and Professor Snape took his seat.

Hermione sat to Professor Snape's left, then realized as she did that she was tall enough to just see over the top of the table. That meant students could see her too.

She looked up at Snape questioningly, but he was looking straight ahead, a firm scowl on his face. She pinned her ears back in annoyance, trying to think of a subtle way to get his attention. She noticed his hands where clasped in his lap, so she took her nose and butted it under his bent elbow, lifting it up over her. He tensed immediately at the contact, looking down at her in anger. She turned her ears sideways, trying to look apologetic, then removed her head gently and sat up straight, pointedly looking over the table then back at him. He followed her gaze, looking back down at her and how the top of her head stuck up over the Dias. He brought his hand down onto her head, resting it there, holding her eyes and giving her a nod. She stayed where she was.

So did his hand.

She almost laughed, but wasn't quite sure how that would sound as a lioness. Poor Professor Snape, having to put up appearances in front of the whole school, staff and students, that he actually liked the animal at his side. She felt her lips curl up, then realized hastily that was a sign of aggression. She forced her lips down into a relaxed position.

She sat still, lost in thought, long bored with ease dropping on the mundane conversations of the professors at the head table, when she felt something move on her head. She'd totally forgotten about Professor Snape's hand residing there, and apparently so had he, because as she strained to glance up at him without moving her head she found him staring pensively off into space, his head resting in his hand, his elbow braced on the table.

She'd seem him look like that before when she sat with Harry and Ron at the Gryffindor table.

Only this time, she was here beside him, and his thumb was stroking her ear absently. Overcoming her initial shock at the movement, she found that it felt absolutely delightful, and after a moment, she arched her head into his head like a house cat, earning for more. At her movement his stilled, and she felt his whole body stiffen again before he gradually relaxed, and then slowly his thumb started moving again.

Hermione sighed in relief, holding still as long as she could so as not to discourage him before she couldn't do it any longer, and she butted his hand again, begging for firmer attention. She caught him look down at her with humor and some undefined emotion, and he obliged her, firmly stroking down the top of her skull, then down behind her ear where she knew she had soft tufts of curly fur, which he scratched, then he made his way up her ear, folding it between his hand as it moved upwards. It felt incredible, and after a a few repetitions, a low rumble made it's way out of her, and she realized she was purring hoarsely. She hadn't even realized lions could purr. Apparently neither had Professor Snape, and seeing the shocked look in her eyes, realized she had no control of it, which sent his eyes narrowing mischievously and silent laughter shook him.

Oh dear, she was in trouble.

She was saved from his evoking of more purring by the appearance of Professor Vector (teacher of Arithmancy, her favorite subject) simultaneously entering her field of vision as food appeared on the plates at the table.

Ooooh, the smells.

Her head was spinning wildly, inhaling bacon, sausage, eggs, English muffins, toast, and

A firm yank on her muzzle as her head was wrenched up to look at Professor Snape, who looked her straight in the eyes, pulling her back into reality. He held her gaze, the unasked question obvious in his eyes.

Was she ok? Was she in control? Focusing on his eyes, she organized her thoughts, pushing the scents away as unimportant. She was not hungry. The scents did not matter. She twitched her ear at him firmly, then blinked, then cast her eyes to the right in warning of Professor Vector's approach. He scratched her chin, although his eyes were cold and hard, then he dropped his hand and brought it up to the table. She heard the clink of silverware as he took a bite of his breakfast, and Hermione turned away to look at Professor Vector, who was now directly beside her. Hermione's eyes trailed up until they met her face, and she reminded herself who she was. She was Nyota.

"Severus!" The woman exclaimed, "Who in the world is this beautiful creature?"

Hermione's ears raised at the praise, but she steadfastly avoided Snape's eyes, sure they were rolling and he was sneering in contempt.

"My familiar, obviously," he said in a disinterested drone, continuing with his breakfast as if Professor Vector wasn't still standing there.

"When did you get a familiar?" A voice beside her asked, and Hermione's left ear twitched as she twisted the other direction to look up at Madam Hooch. The witch hadn't noticed Hermione's presence until now, it seemed. Wow.

Hermione decided to ignore the unobservant witch and turned her neck back around to face Professor Vector. Professor Snape hadn't answered her question but replied with an uncommitted grunt. Professor Vector tsk'd, but didn't press the issue.

"What's her name?"

This he did respond to.

"Nyota, since you're too blind to read her collar," he sneered, earning him a thump on the back. Hermione, remembering to play the part of Nyota, pinned her ears back and curled her lip threateningly. Severus turned his head to face the Professor and smiled devilishly, clearly pleased with Hermione's reaction and the look on Professor Vector's face.

"If you think she's going to stop me from smacking you, you're got another thing coming," she said resolutely, narrowing her eyes at him. He raised an eyebrow, looking down at Hermione then back at the other professor.

"Oh?" In response, Hermione let out a low snarl, her tail twitching. Professor Vector raised her hands up in surrender, laughing good heartedly.

"Forget I said anything," she said, and Severus dropped his brow and smirked.

"Wise decision,"

He turned back to his breakfast, and Professor Vector regarded Hermione. She dropped her lip and relaxed her ears forward, then looked away as if she were ignoring the Professor's curious stare.

"She really is gorgeous," she said, her voice slightly dreamy as she looked at the lioness before her. "How old is she? She looks young, she's in perfect condition, not a scratch on her, her coat is shiny, the only thing missing is some muscle," she thought aloud. Hermione's ears pinned back at the comment of her lack of muscle. Professor Vector quickly added, "I'm sure you just haven't gotten a chance to get her in condition, since you just got her recently," Hermione's ears were still pinned, but Professor Vector was her favorite teacher, and she didn't mean any harm. After a moment she let her ears flick forward again. Professor Snape was still completely ignoring his colleague. After another pause, Professor Vector asked hopefully,

"Can I pet her?" At this Professor Snape stilled, then glanced down at Hermione's pointed glare and chuckled. He rolled his eyes, then grumbled, "if she lets you,"

Hermione had not been touched, ever, except by Professor Snape, just moments ago. It sounded ridiculous, but she felt like this was a lot of stimulation for her to go through in such a small expanse of time. She focused on her breathing, trying to relax. She felt Professor Snape's fingers curl around her harness almost casually. He didn't grip, just curled them under the leather, resting them there, as if reassuring her that he wouldn't let her do any harm.

Hermione was determined not to let herself cause any harm, nor to flinch away in a manner that would make her "master" look bad, so she stood frozen, eying Professor Vector as she stretched her hand out.

Luckily for her, it seemed that Professor Vector knew just how to approach her. She kept her body language soft, her hand slowly moving forwards, her fingers loose. Hermione leaned forward and sniffed them, behaving like an animal would, then allowed Professor Vector to rest her hand softly on her nose. Professor Vector let out a whoof of air.

"By Merlin she's soft," Her hand rotated until it wasn't her palm, but the back of her hand resting on Hermione's head, and then she slid it down the side of Hermione's face, the knuckles of two fingers caressing her gently, until they were scratching under her chin. Hermione raised her head in appreciation, the scratching feeling wonderful, especially in that spot right near her scent glands.

The sudden slap of an unfamiliar hand on her back sent her launching into the air, twisting around, her jaw snapping as her instincts blinded her conscience in an automatic reaction. Immediately two pieces of leather bound her muzzle shut, and a firm hand hauled her back so that she slammed into Professor Snape's chair. Professor Vector had her hand grasped to her chest, eyes wide, but Hermione only noticed Madam Hooch, who was frowning at her. She opened her mouth to speak, but Professor Snape beat her to it.

"I'd advise you to keep your hands off my familiar in the future, Rolanda. She won't always have a muzzle to keep her from biting your hand off. Learn some respect, she's not a dog," His voice was low and threatening, and colder than Hermione had heard it in a while. Madam Hooch's mouth flopped open, ready to respond, but she thought better of it, and closed it, returning to her breakfast.

"Ignorant wench," she heard Professor Snape mumble irritably under his breath, but she felt his fingers scratch her back briefly as he released her harness and let her sag to the floor and she knew the insult wasn't directed at her. She'd have known anyways, but the gesture was nice. She fought the sudden urge to tremble at the awareness of how close she'd been to hurting someone, and instead lowered her head to the floor as the leather binding around her mouth slipped away.

Professor Vector looked down at her from where she stood a few feet away.

"So incredible," she murmured, as if Hermione hadn't just lashed out ferociously in front of her eyes, before she walked away to return to her spot at the table.

Professor Snape stood only a few minutes later, stepping gracefully over Hermione before she could rise. She lie still until he was over her, then rose, following after him. They made it to the door before Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick called out to them. Professor Snape turned, narrowing his eyes at them and frowning.

"How's your familiar settling in?" Professor McGonagall asked, looking down at her and slipping her a wink. Hermione narrowed her eyes at her too, flicking her ears back. She didn't need to have any distractions from fulfilling her role, she didn't need any reminders that she was a human trapped in her Animagus form. Flitwick gave her a warm smile, and Hermione realized she was looking down at him and that he looked rather nervous about it. She flicked her ears forward and tried to give him a warm smile in return with her eyes.

"She's adjusting... and seeing as how Hooch just slapped her on the back out of the middle of nowhere and evoked quite the startled and appropriate response, I think it be best that we leave before someone else decides that my familiar is as innocent and accepting as a puppy," he said this with absolute disgust, and the two professors in front of her exchanged concerned looks before turning cold eyes on the Quidditch teacher. Before they had a chance to turn back around, Professor Snape stalked off, followed closely by his familiar.