Severus woke and momentarily panicked at the heavy weight pressing on him until he realized what it was, or rather, who it was. Hermione was lying on top of him and still asleep. One large paw was resting on his shoulder, the other curled under his back beside her head, which was on his other shoulder. He found his right arm hooked over her shoulder blade, his hand buried in the soft fur of her neck. His other arm was draped over her stomach, his hand splayed across her ribs. His right leg was slightly bent, his knee pressing into the back of the couch, and his foot was flat against her lower back, his toes touching the base of her tail. His other leg was straight out and resting on top of one of her hind legs.
Her body rose and fell rhythmically, her breath soft in his ear.
He supposed now they were friends.
The Death Eater meeting had been brutal, but only mentally. The Dark Lord wasn't expecting any information from him, the purpose of the meeting was to bring the Death Eaters together, to raise their spirits. He'd had to attend a revel.
The Dark Lord enjoyed watching them almost as much as a majority of the Death Eaters enjoyed participating in them, and he pulled out all the stops.
Naked women tied to poles, some thrown on slabs of rocks. They were all beaten, tortured, and raped relentlessly. Severus had long ago convinced his master that he was unable to perform sexually, not that it was hard to prove considering how his stomach rolled at the disgusting sights in front of him. Severus got no enjoyment out of it.
But he was forced to watch and motivate the others, and his wand and mind were expected to be put to good use to make the guests' stay as painful as possible. Bellatrix had screamed with joy, dancing around, wand waving in the air and firing at random. Bellatrix loved nothing more than a good revel. Her screams of joy and the screams of pain from the innocent women echoed through his head, causing him to shiver and subconsciously pull the weight of the lion on top of him in closer.
He had not expected to walk into his quarters that night to be mauled (embraced) by Hermione.
It was obvious that she hadn't meant to jump on him and practically knock him over, evoking a dangerous response that almost killed her, but he had felt her trembling and heard her desperate whining and realized that she'd had a night almost as bad as his.
The shock of having someone who cared enough to pace and cry and worry for 5 hours straight broke something inside Severus that he hadn't known was there. He'd felt a warmness inside and had no control as his arms had wrapped around the lioness in return.
His whole life, no one had cared that much about him, not even Dumbledore, and here she was, after only a few days in his care... She was such a Gryffindor, but he realized she was much more than that. She was Hermione, and she wasn't doing this because she pitied him or thought he needed fixing. She was doing this because she genuinely cared, he'd seen the raw emotion in her eyes and it had astounded him, shocked him to the core.
He didn't know what he'd gotten himself into, but he determined then and there, the heavy lioness on top of him and his arms around her, that he'd finally found a true friend and he wasn't going to let her go easily. He wasn't going to change, the girl knew what she'd signed up for, but now he supposed he would be able to accept her, now that he'd seen she truly cared and that he could trust her.
Friend. The word sounded foreign, unfamiliar in his mind. It would take him a while to get used to it.
This was definitely not what he'd expected to happen when Albus had thrust her into his life.
Hermione woke, breathing in the comforting scent of herbs and the minty bite of aftershave, and then she tensed in realization. She was lying on top of Severus Snape. Oh god, she was dead. He was going to kill her. Her mind raced frantically, trying to determine how to move without waking him up -
A hand moved on her back, and she felt a vibration as the man under her chuckled,
"Good morning," came his voice, deep and gruff from sleep. Hermione raised her head from where it was resting on his shoulder and looked at him. "I'm having difficulty breathing," he added, his dark eyes brightening with amusement. Hermione got up immediately, and Severus stretched and groaned under her. She noticed the imprint of her ear on his cheek and purred in her own amusement. He brought a hand up to his cheek, following her eyes. Feeling the ridges he furrowed his brow.
"Wonderful," he grumbled, moving to sit up under her. She jumped down off the couch and walked towards the fire place to sit facing him. He ran a hand wearily through his hair and glanced up at her.
Hermione brought her eyebrows together in concern.
"It was a revel," he sighed. She lifted her head in surprise, she hadn't expected him to tell her anything, but then she lowered her head in sympathy and cast him a sorrowful look. He stood and went to the kitchen. She padded after him and sat in the doorway.
"I don't have to participate in the... Activities... But I still..." He shuddered, "see them." He glanced down at her before taking a sip of tea.
"I'd appreciate it if no one spoke to me today,"
Hermione nodded her big lioness head in understanding, and after he finished his tea he called Dobby to bring her breakfast as well as a vial of vitamins, and she ate, and then they made their way to the Great Hall.
Professor McGonagall turned to Severus as soon as he sat down at the High Table. Hermione situated herself between them, lifting her head and releasing a low growl to get the other Professor's attention.
Surprised, her Head of House looked down at her. Hermione shook her head side to side, but the Professor just gave her a confused look before redirecting her attention to the silent man behind her. As she opened her mouth to speak, Hermione let out a louder growl, stretching her neck up to force herself into McGonagall's field of vision.
Comprehension dawned on her face as her eyes darted from the defensive lioness to Severus, who was bowed over a cup of coffee, his black hair falling like a curtain to hide his face.
"Fine," she said to Hermione, turning away to talk to the teacher to her left.
Hermione turned to face Severus and nuzzled him reassuringly on the arm before sitting and positioning her head to rest on top of his thigh. At her movement, Severus didn't tense but seemed to relax, letting out a low sigh as he dropped a hand to run down her head before curling a few fingers around one ear, his thumb moving in circles over her fur. Hermione closed her eyes as his meal appeared, and they sat, unconsciously giving one another comfort as he ate.
The clink of silverware and the smell of food quickly became lost on Hermione as she drifted into thought about the previous night.
She'd surprised herself, running towards Severus like she had, but what had surprised her even more were the arms that wrapped around her, and then minutes later, the arms that welcomed her into his arms again to lie with him.
She had been a comfort to him, a comfort that he had sought to have lying on him throughout the night after his horrible experience with Voldermort and the revel.
She had done it. She'd finally done something that he'd accepted, and now their relationship had changed. She could feel it, see it in his eyes. There was friendship now. He trusted her, she trusted him, and it appeared they both were comfortable around one another and with one another's touch, and there was that uncanny ability they shared to easily read one another's emotions without the need for words.
She was going to do everything she could to keep their friendship. She didn't want to lose it. This was different than her friendship with Harry and Ron, although she didn't have the words yet to describe the difference, but it was a deeper, more meaningful friendship, more natural, she supposed.
He rubbed under her ear, evoking a purr and shaking her from her thoughts.
She looked up to see him smirking and she narrowed her eyes at him before giving up and losing herself to the pleasurable feeling, her purrs growing louder.