Hermione found herself walking beside Professor Snape on a well worn jogging path around the lake. She hadn't noticed it in all her years as a student at Hogwarts, but then again, she hadn't been looking. They walked in a companionable and comfortable silence, not that Hermione could say anything, but she was glad Professor Snape wasn't either. He seemed unbothered by the quiet which made Hermione very grateful she wasn't stuck with a teacher who would have rambled on in a one sided conversation. Silence gave her time to think and reflect on her situation, something she needed to do to keep herself grounded and sane.

Her first full day in her Animagus form had gone well. The Potions classes had bored her, but that meant she had gotten a few good naps and was able to just lie around and get the feel for her new body.

Professor Dumbledore had told her that the first few days would actually be the easiest, and then when she hadn't returned to her human state in that time that the instincts would come on to her full force. He reminded her of Peter Pettigrew, who had been a rat for years without changing, and how he'd lost complete control for a long time until his mind had been reawaken in fear at seeing Sirius's escape in the papers. He'd warned her that many people stayed in their Animagus form out of choice but then lost their human conscience after staying in it too long - that choice revoked as they completely absorbed and became the animal they appeared as.

Hermione was petrified of that happening to her. To lose herself, her intelligence, her chance at a life as a witch was terrifying and made her want to vomit. Feeling a shiver roll through her at the thought, she glanced up at a Professor Snape. Professor Dumbledore had said he was her only hope to make it through this unless they could reverse her form early enough, which was highly unlikely. He said Professor Snape had experience in these matters that no one else on the staff could offer. She frowned, turning away before he noticed her looking, wondering what that might mean. Was he an Animagus too? Had he been trapped in his form before? Lost himself? Or was it just what Dumbledore had said outside of the door to his office last night, that he was the only one who could control her? Professor Dumbledore was the strongest wizard alive, but he wouldn't have time to take care of her, so that had left Professor Snape who was apparently the second strongest wizard on the staff.

What would he do to her if she lost control and someone was in danger? Professor Dumbledore had put that spell on her to block magical advances, so it wasn't like he could stun her. Was he going to physically attack her? Glancing up again, she eyed his frame. He was tall, but very thin. She knew he was strong as to how easily he yanked her around by her harness, but he was no match for her sharp teeth and claws and brutal strength should she lose control. He was quick and intelligent, but she was a wild animal. Looking away again and back down at the ground under her, she twitched her tail in irritation at her lack of knowledge. How would Professor Snape control her, and teach her how to control herself?

As if hearing her thoughts, or sensing her distress, the man beside her stopped and Hermione continued a few steps before she realized, whirling around quickly to face him, her thoughts swirling away as she focused on the present. He transfigured a flower into a stone bench and sat down on it, still watching her. Hermione shifted her weight uncomfortably, feeling her paws flatten into the ground as she did.

"We'll start our first lesson today," he said cooly, pulling out his wand. Hermione stood at complete attention, waiting to see what he'd do.

"In order to gain full control of your Animagus form and to eradicate dangerous instincts, you will first need to become absolutely comfortable with your body, as comfortable as you are when you're human. This isn't something you can force, it comes naturally with time - however, there are ways to speed up the process, the same way you learn to master your human body - you do things with it. You play sports, you run, jump, swim, any type of physical activity. Lying around gets you comfortable with lying around. Physical activities get you comfortable with actually using your body. That's why the first part of your "program" is physical." He paused, observing his wand, turning it in his hand as he spoke, avoiding her eyes which were focused intently on him.

"Second, we'll address your instincts. There are instincts that we will be ignoring, that are of no danger and are therefore unimportant. Such instincts and behaviors include your purring, for example, or desire for lying near a warm fire, possibly on your back waving your feet around in the air,"

Hermione huffed indignantly and glared at him. He smirked and continued,

"We will never be able to get rid of all your instincts, so we won't try. It will do more harm than good. You're a lioness, and that isn't going to change any time soon, so you'll have to accept the lioness behaviors that come with the territory. What we can, and will, be addressing are your dangerous behaviors that make you lose control. When you're purring, or have the urge to be in front of a warm fire, your mind is still present, in control, is it not?" He looked at her now, an eyebrow raised expectantly. Hermione nodded, she was in control during those times for the most part, the purring was just a feeling she expressed, she didn't lose control of her whole her body.

"Now when the instinct is dangerous, you do lose control of your mind and as a result, every aspect of your body. These are the instincts that need to be controlled. If you can do it, you'll still have urges, but you'll be able to suppress them until they subside." He paused, and she nodded in understanding.

"The best way I know to address this is through Occlumency," Hermione immediately brightened. She'd be learning Occlumency! From none other than the strongest Occlumens she knew! Oh, was that what Professor Dumbledore had meant?

"Calm down," he snarled, seeing her excitement. "It will not be easy. Especially since you cannot speak, so I will be teaching you blind. You must promise to listen and do exactly as I say and to always put forth your best effort," Hermione met his eye and did not hesitate to nod firmly. Professor Snape rose from the bench and flicked his wand at it, causing it to turn back into a small yellow flower. He pocketed his wand and inclined his head at her.

"That's all for today," and he began walking again.

They walked one more lap before returning to the school for dinner. Afterwards, Hermione had some more red meat, this time delivered to her with the cover off, and had the same experience she did that morning. She was now lying on one of the tree branches in her room, her paw dangling and tail swinging.

She was debating what she was supposed to do about her smell. She'd been extremely nervous for a prolonged period of time, spent the day lying on the castle floor and walking on the dirt path outside, and had eaten bloody, raw steaks twice. She'd tried to lick herself clean but she could only do so much. Deciding that it was better to push her limits sooner rather than later, Hermione plopped down from her branch and on to the floor and made her way to Professor Snape. He was sitting in his recliner again, leaned back, his feet up, reading. Hermione suppressed an evil grin and settled herself silently beside him on the floor.

She didn't have to wait long.

"What in the bloody hell is that awful smell?" He mumbled to himself, looking up from his reading. After a second, his eyes fell down to where Hermione lay, and he growled deeply,

"Miss Granger,"

Hermione rose to sit in front of him, looking at him innocently.

"Go away, you smell atrocious,"

Hermione lowered her head and tried to look pitiful, then sheepish. She knew she smelled, duh, but she couldn't exactly do anything about it!

Sighing, Professor Snape narrowed his eyes and tried to cast a cleansing spell, although they both knew it wouldn't work. When nothing changed he slammed his book down firmly on the glass top of the table and rose, steaming.

He stalked over to the fire and called Professor Dumbledore, who's head poked through the flames a second later.

"Is everything all right?" He asked, concerned. Professor Snape jabbed a finger furiously towards him.

"No, everything is NOT all right, you meddling old git. How am I supposed to keep the animal from smelling when I can't cast a cleansing charm?!" Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with amusement even through the flames.

"She is not an animal, Severus, don't offend her. And by all means boy, just give her a bath!"

Professor Snape paled, then got even more angry.

"You give her a bath! I'm not giving a girl who happens to be a student of mine a BATH! It's inappropriate, and I don't want to end up smelling like wet dog either!" Professor Dumbledore huffed a breath impatiently.

"You're acting like a child, Severus. Miss Granger may be a young woman who is your student, but her body is a lioness. You won't be seeing anything inappropriate and you've already touched her. It's no different with soap and water," he paused, steam practically shooting from Professor Snape's ears, "It's not a choice, Severus. She's your responsibility. Be responsible," with that, he disappeared. Professor Snape turned, his rage redirected.

"This is fucking brilliant," he snarled, hands clenched into fists. Hermione cowered, unsure about what he would do. Upon seeing her reaction, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He seemed to gather himself, and his voice was considerably calmer, even if his eyes still shone with anger, and he said,

"Get what you need and I'll show you to the bathroom,"

Hermione nodded quickly then sprinted down the hallway, only needing a few strides to reach her rooms. She looked around frantically, realizing she had none of her possessions. She pressed a paw to the wall, picturing her bath supplies desperately, but nothing happened. She reluctantly turned from her room and sulked back to Professor Snape who glared at her, then seemed to think and snarled,

"Dobby," the house elf appeared instantly, looking up to Professor Snape for instructions, "Get Miss Granger's bath supplies," Dobby nodded.

"Yes sir!" And disappeared. Professor Snape began walking, Hermione assumed towards the bathroom. She was surprised when he stopped in front of the door that she'd seen at the end of the bookshelf on the right side of the room when she'd first arrived. He looked down at her firmly.

"You will never come through this door without my permission. The only reason I'm allowing it at all is because the guest bathroom has no bath, and I have no other choice," Hermione nodded her head, then the door opened to reveal Professor Snape's bedroom.

She got only a brief glimpse before he led her into the bathroom, but it was enough. His bedroom looked a lot like the living room, only the walls were a dark navy. There was a large bed in the center of the far wall, bookshelves lining the walls beside it and there were two dressers and a nightstand. That was it, or all she saw.

She turned her head to the bathroom, which she was walking into. It was big, but not massive by any stretch, much smaller than the Prefect's bathroom. To the right was a sink, then past that the toilet, and to the left was the bathtub and shower, which she wasn't surprised to see was black.

Dobby appeared with a few items in his hands, all of which Severus was not looking forward to seeing. She probably had a bunch of crazy smelling shampoos and conditioners and soaps, he shivered just thinking about it.

Therefore, he was surprised when Dobby simply handed him three white bottles and a dark violet loofah. He set everything on the sink, not bothering to deal with them until he had to, and he turned to the lioness beside him. He quickly removed the harness, she remembered to pick her leg up, and he set is aside and looked down at her.

"Get in Miss Granger," she glanced up at him, then jumped casually and with little effort into the tub before turning back to him.

She was very graceful.

Shaking that thought from his head angrily, he looked down at himself. Most of his outfit would have to go. With a wave of his hand everything was removed and folded except for his white long sleeve shirt and black trousers. He rolled up his sleeves, ignoring the shocked look on Miss Granger's face at seeing him without his black coat, and grabbed the shower head from it's holder, directing the head towards the drain as he turned on the water.

He ran his hand under the shower head, fiddling with the temperature until it was quite warm but not too hot, and then turned to look directly at the lioness. Her dark chestnut eyes met his steadily, and he took a deep breath in preparation before scowling.

"I'm going to do this as quickly as possible. Do as I say and it will be less painful," to his surprise, she merely rolled her eyes at his threat and regarded him cooly. Scowling deeper at that response and adding a sneer, he kneeled beside the tub and directed the water onto her back.

The temperature must have been acceptable, because she didn't flinch, instead almost leaning towards the stream of warm water.

He sprayed her until her coat was sufficiently darker in color, reflecting how wet she was, and he turned off the shower, reaching behind him to grab all three of the bottles. Placing them so the labels were facing her, he sneered,

"Do you really need all three of these?" She responded by looking thoughtful for a moment, pondering his question, while once again ignoring his biting tone, before she shrugged, her body lowering so her shoulder blades could pop up in the gesture. She rose back up and pushed her large face forward, her wet black nose bumping one of the bottles. Severus picked it up, moving the others to the side, and read the label.

It was vanilla scented body wash. He could handle that. He opened the cap and went to pour it over her when she pulled back, raising a paw from the floor. He stopped, sighing impatiently, feeling the anger rise.

"What?" He snapped.

She tossed her head, looking beyond him, and Severus turned to the counter and grabbed the loofa. Of course, she needed the bloody fucking loofa.

Only, as he poured the body wash onto it and began scrubbing, he reluctantly acknowledged that it was a lot better than having to use his hands. The body wash foamed up quickly and the material of the violet loofa scrubbed it in without him having to get his fingers and hands all dirty.

He made his way over her back and then under her stomach, then addressed her hind leg and to his disgust, her tail. It was very thick and surprisingly strong, with a tuft of thick, curly black hair at the end. When he accidentally pulled it a little too harshly, he ducked just it time to miss it flying over his head. He cast her a threatening look, to which she responded by narrowing her eyes.

The lioness personality was really getting to her. Sure, she was a Gryffindor, but Miss Granger had never been this courageous or daring. He was stunned to realized that it didn't bother him, though. It was refreshing to have someone who gave some of his shit back to him and who wasn't constantly afraid of him. And he'd caught her stifling laughter before in his classes at some of his harsh comments, the girl was smart, she understood dry humor.

Mentally shrugging, and forcing down a small smile, he told her to turn around and he scrubbed down her other side before making his way to her neck and face.

She eyed the soapy loofa in his hand nervously, but he knew better to go near her face with it, and was already setting it down on the floor of the tub. He grabbed the bottle, poured some of the thick substance in his hand, and dabbed it between her eyes and streaked some down her nose. Then he applied a liberal amount to her ears and scrubbed some under her chin until she looked quite amusing covered in small suds and bubbles.

Turning the shower back on, he rinsed his hands, then placed on over each eye to protect them while he rinsed the soap away. He had to use his hands for this, like a squeegee, pressing into her body to slide the soap and water from the lower layers of her coat out and off her. He did the rest of her, finishing with her tail, and turned the shower off again, making to stand. She placed a large paw on the side of the top with a loud smack, sending water flying, at which she looked up at him with a horrified expression. He stilled, narrowing his obsidian eyes at her, and snarled,

"What?" Looking nervous, she slid her paw down to one of the other bottles and knocked it towards him. He caught it reflexively and furrowed his brow,

"Conditioner?" He said it like the word was venomous, and she flicked her ears back and raised a lip in defense. He sighed, grabbing the loofa, but she shook her head.

"Then what am I supposed to do with this?" She looked at him patiently, waiting for him to figure it out. He did, and she gave him a grateful and appreciative look as he poured the conditioner on her and smoothed it out over her, not scrubbing it in, just applying it over her coat. He didn't do her face, but she apparently didn't expect him too, and then he rinsed it out, this time rising without interruption. He then remember he couldn't cast a drying charm on her, curse fucking Dumbledore for that, and grabbed a thick green towel from the closet, tossing it over her. He kneeled back down, rubbing her thoroughly, his forearms burning by the time he finished. He stepped back, admiring his work. She was still damp, but she was clean, and she, thank Merlin, did not smell like wet dog OR an overly strong girly teenage scent, but the perfect amount of vanilla and a little bit of violet.

He looked down at himself then, pleased to see that he was relatively dry and that there were no lion hairs plastered to him. He waved his wand, drying what bit of him was wet, and lined the bottles up along the end of the tub, reluctantly recognizing that he would have to bath her again.

Miss Granger looked up at him with an obvious look of pure appreciation and acknowledgment at the sacrifice of personal dignity he'd made to complete the task (he was amazed at the level of emotion she could show with a lion's face, they were apparently extremely expressive) and then she leaned forward to where his hands were gripping the tub and her tongue darted out, it's raspy surface darting over his skin before she pulled back, alarmed.

He yanked his hand back at the touch, feeling like he'd been shocked, and looked at her with a mixture or rage and incredulousness until he saw the embarrassment, shame, and horror on her face.

He immediately thought she was horrified at the fact that she'd touched him, and he rose to leave the room, his pride and dignity even more damaged, but then realized that she was horrified at his reaction and embarrassed that she'd lost control of herself and violated his personal space, especially since he was clearly a person who despised being touched.

He wasn't sure how he'd figured that out, but looking back at her face again, the reason for her expression just seemed glaringly obvious.

Gathering his self control and stilling his emotions, he softened his eyes and gave her a small, very brief half smile, before motioning for her to proceed him out of the bathroom and out of his bedroom so he could close the doors behind her.