Albus Dumbledore stood in the doorway of Severus's quarters, his wand raised and his brow furrowed, lips pressed in a thin line. His face was pale and slightly green with illness, his black and withered hand hanging limp at his side.

His eyes were focused on the tiger that he'd stunned for only a second before he turned his attention to the lioness on the floor underneath it. He paled even further and murmured something under his breath, his face softening with concern, and he rushed forward as fast as he could to her side. The tiger was lying limp over half of her body, his mouth open and lack, Hermione's blood flowing over his tongue and out the sides of his cheeks. Albus waved his wand over the unconscious form, focusing his magic and attention until the tiger was no longer present, but a man was. His clothes, which automatically appeared on an Animagus's body after transforming, were tattered. His hips were slashed and bleeding, and as Albus pushed his body off of Hermione's, he saw that the right half of his face was split open with mutliple gashes. With Severus now out of the way, Hermione struggled to her feet, blood pouring from her neck, eyes wide and teeth bared.

Albus reacted quickly, stunning the lioness before she had a chance to strike him with the paw she was raising. Her body slumped to the floor and Albus sent his patronus quickly to request the aide of Minerva, Filius, and Poppy.

Albus moved and knelt over Hermione, working quickly to try to stop the bleeding. Albus had caught Severus just in time, knocking him out before he had a chance to rip Hermione's throat out, but she was still quite wounded; Severus's four canine teeth had punctured deeply into her neck and she was bleeding profusely.

The room was filled with a screaming silence that was left by nothing other than destruction. The only sound was the soft gurgle of blood from Hermione's throat and the exhausted breathing of Albus as he fought to stem the bleeding. Compared to the screaming, roaring, and thudding of two feline bodies that had filled the room moments before, the room seemed much too quiet, and it unnerved Albus. To him, the silence sounded like death. He was not healthy enough to deal with healing an Animagus form, and his magic was already depleted from trying to counteract the curse in his hand. If someone didn't respond to his patronus soon, Harry Potter's best friend and best chance of winning the war would perish.

Albus cursed under his breath and tossed his wand to the floor by his knees, leaning forward to press his good hand onto Hermione's neck until help came.

Just a few seconds later the sound of swishing robes caught Albus's attention, and he turned immediately towards the noise.

"Poppy, attend to Severus. Filius, Minerva, you must come up with a way to get Miss Granger back into her human form! I'm unable to stop the bleeding, and she's only just recovered from Harry's attack... She's lost a lot of blood, she needs -"

Exhaustion and pain suddenly overwhelmed Albus and he stopped speaking, swaying slightly, causing Minerva and Filius to rush forward to his aid.

"Oh Merlin, Albus! What happened to your hand?" Albus shook his head and pointed shakily to the lioness once again bleeding openly.

"Are you sure? Are you alright?" Minerva asked, glancing frantically from Hermione back to Albus, unsure of who to aid. Albus nodded firmly, and Minerva moved, kneeling by Hermione's head to address her neck.

"Filius, come here and help me!"

Filius and Minerva worked diligently, but to no avail, trying to get the bleeding to stop. They had, like Albus, given up on using magic, and were now trying to pack the wound on her neck with gauze summoned from Poppy's stores.

"Severus is healed and awake, Albus,"

Albus rested his head in his hands and groaned slightly.

"You should have left him unconscious, Poppy," he whispered, preparing himself for the outburst that would surely come from Severus, who was stirring on the other side of the room.

"I'm drunk, Poppy," were his first words, and a bottle of sober-up potion soared into the room into Poppy's outstretched hand. She gave it to Severus, and he swallowed it down, pressing his hands to his temple for a moment before opening his eyes and standing up from the couch where Poppy had moved him, scanning the room until his eyes fell on the mass of bloody lioness under the hands of Minerva and Filius.

"Oh, god." He whispered, horrified. He jumped up, oblivious to his healing injuries, and sprinted across the room, throwing himself down over Hermione's limp body.

"The magic won't work?" He asked frantically, waving his wand expertly over her neck. Filius and Minerva shook their heads and Minerva set a bloody hand on his shoulder as he moved to place his hand in her place.

"Severus."

He ignored her, waving his left hand to get Hermione's diagnostics. The numbers swirled in the air for a brief moment, then disappeared, and Severus pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Her body will no longer accept healing magic. It's still exhausted from the last time, and is now resisting it. The body finds it un-natural, thinks it's dangerous," he mumbled, shoving his wand back into his pocket and motioning for Minerva to move out of the way so he could take over.

"But she's got a chance. Minerva, summon me my cauterizer,"

"I'm sorry. You're what?" Minerva responded, twisting her face up in confusion.

"My cauterizer! We're going to have to use Muggle techniques to save her," Minerva and Filius exchanged a look and Severus bellowed, "Now!"

"Accio Severus's cauterizer," Minerva finally said, swishing her wand. A white stick with a pointed end flew through the air and Minerva caught it like it might bite, handing it gingerly to Severus, who grabbed it out of her hand and clicked a button, causing it to buzz loudly.

Severus grabbed his wand out of his pocket again and enlarged the object in his hand, pressing the button again, this time lowering the white pen like object into one of the wounds in Hermione's neck.

The smell of burning flesh and blood filled the room, causing everyone but Severus to fight the urge to gag at the thick stench. Poppy came up to Severus's side, concerned.

"What are you doing to the poor girl, Severus?!"

"I'm saving her,"

"But how? You're burning her flesh off!"

"I'm not, Poppy. I'm cauterizing it. Burning it so the wound closes and can't bleed,"

"Really?"

"Muggle's aren't always as useless and ignorant as they seem, are they?" He responded rhetorically, lifting the cauterizer from the wound he'd been working on. It was burnt,and still bleeding a little, but nothing like it had been before. Minerva, Filius, and Poppy all leaned closer.

"Oh," Filius said, whistling slightly.

"Shouldn't you stitch it now? Isn't that the Muggle method?" Poppy asked, eyes narrowed in concentration as she observed Severus work. Severus shook his head.

"No. You never close up an animal bite like this, they get infected much too easily."

"An animal bite? What bit her?!" Minerva asked, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. Severus frowned deeply and ignored her, turning his attention to Hermione's remaining wounds. Once they were all sealed, he waved his wand over her, casting a cleansing charm to rid her of the blood. Then he stood, cleaned himself, and turned to Albus, who was sitting on the floor a few feet away. He fixed the old man with his most intense glare and stalked away towards his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Filius and Minerva exchanged a brief look before Poppy raced to Albus's side, fussing over him and telling Minerva and Filius that she'd be taking him up to the hospital wing.

"Would you like our help, Poppy?" Minerva asked, moving to walk over to assist.

"No, dear. You stay with Hermione here. I don't know what happened, but she shouldn't be alone with Severus," Poppy instructed.

"No," Albus said weakly, causing everyone to turn to him. "Get Severus to stay with her,"

Eyebrows rose, and Poppy asked,

"Are you sure, Albus? It looks like Severus was involved, somehow. Did you see his face?"

"Poppy," he croaked weakly, "I'm sure."

A knock on Severus's door caused him to pause in his pacing, and he turned towards the sound.

"Severus," It was Minerva. "I know you're in there,"

Severus rolled his eyes and clenched his jaw.

"Obviously."

He could hear Minerva huff, but was in no mood to find humour in it.

"You need to come out. Albus wants you to stay with Hermione once she's awake. She's stirring now,"

Severus's heart started beating faster in his chest.

"That's not the wisest idea, Minerva," He said, making his voice sound as threatening as possible.

"I don't give a damn, Severus. Get your arse out here before I break down the door and drag you out!"

Severus had every confidence that his wards would hold, but he was not so confident that Albus would not use his power as Headmaster to make the castle open up to let Minerva in. He would be listening to see if Severus did as he was told, and if he didn't, Albus would interfere.

The fucking meddling old prick.

Severus stormed over to his door and wrenched it open, brushing past Minerva to sit himself angrily in his arm chair, only to find Filius sitting in it. Letting out a growl, he turned away, moving to pace back and forth in front of the fireplace.

"Must you pace, Severus?" Filius asked, frowning in his direction. Severus turned towards him and silenced him with a snarl. Minerva walked over to where Hermione was lying on the couch and knelt by her face, stroking her head softly.

"Hermione?" She cooed, like she was talking to her own child.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Severus said in a dull, uninterested drone.

"Oh, really? And why not?" Minerva asked, not moving from her position.

The lioness's eyes shot wide open and she reacted instantly to the person hovering over her in her space, striking out with her paw and knocking her violently away before jumping up, snarling visciously and glancing around the room, her hackles raised and claws digging into the leather of the couch.

"That's why," Severus breathed under his breath, looking at Minerva long enough to make sure she was unharmed before turning his attention to the lioness.

"Hermione, remember what I taught you," Severus said slowly, meeting the lioness's dark amber eyes steadily with his own. "Focus on your imagery, focus on yourself. Forget about the lioness. Forget about everything she senses. Focus inside your mind. Don't try to over power her. Don't try to force her down. Just focus on your imagery," His voice was smooth, steady and low. It was mesmerizing to hear, like what a pendulum would sound like if it had a voice.

The lioness let out a growl in response, her tail swishing dangerously from side to side.

"Hermione," he said again, never looking away from her eyes, "You can do this."

"Rrraow," the lioness garbled, blinking in surprise at the pain that no doubt rose as her throat vibrated from the sound. She shook her head and looked back up at Severus, her eyes hard and determined. Severus was the enemy. Severus lifted his hands, holding them in front of him, before taking a step back towards the fireplace.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Hermione."

Oh god, how this pained him. He'd turned on the one person he'd never wanted to hurt, the one person whom he actually wanted in his life, his one friend. He'd turned on her and almost killed her. He was no better than Potter. He was no better than the Dark Lord. Oh no, he was worst. Far worst. He was so selfish.

He would never hurt her again.

After this, he would never let her close enough.

Hermione heard Severus faintly at the edge of her consciousness, saw him vaguely, standing in front of her, but she couldn't focus on any of it. The lioness was in charge. She could feel the rage and the power flowing through her veins, the strength in her bones, and it was oh so potent, and it felt so good, to lose power like that. To let the lioness surge, to see red in front of her pupils, to let loose and feel the adrenaline burn through her. It was like a drug. It was so easy to be like this. All her problems, gone. The lioness would take care of her. Keep her alive. She didn't need anyone, not like this. The lioness was freeing. Is this what Harry felt like when Voldemort influenced his mind?

Harry.

Oh, god. She couldn't leave Harry.

No, she couldn't let the lioness take over. She was stronger than that. She had a life to live, she couldn't give it up just because it seemed easier to be a wild cat. She was seeing now, what Severus and Professor Dumbledore meant... She understood now how others that stayed in their Animagus forms too long lost themselves completely.

She couldn't do that.

"Just focus on your imagery." The words danced around the edge of her control, just barely out of reach. A whisper, a light breeze, and it took her a moment to understand what he was saying, what it meant.

"Hermione. You can do this." She was Hermione. She wasn't a wild lion, she wasn't Nyota, she was Hermione.

She heard herself make some sort of noise, a strange, confused garbled sound, and a strong, aching pain overwhelmed her throat and her eyes widened, fear and rage rising up again.

She'd been hurt, she'd been hurt by the man in front of her. That blurry figure that Hermione saw the lioness could see clearly, and it was the enemy.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Hermione." No, no, he was not the enemy, something was wrong, but he wasn't evil. She knew that. Didn't she?

Focus, Hermione.

What had he said?

Imagery. Focus on the imagery.

Hermione focused. The cauldron appeared before her, and then the ingredients and the bench and the bubbling liquid, calming draught, and Hermione started reciting the process for brewing slowly to herself, preparing and adding ingredients as she did. The smell grew stronger, and she could feel herself relaxing, focusing, but something was missing.

Ah, there it was.

Severus, standing over her shoulder, his scent and presence the last thing she needed to regain control.

No, he couldn't be evil. He couldn't.

Something was wrong.

Hermione opened her eyes and saw Severus clearly in front of her. He must have been able to tell the difference in her gaze, because she saw his tense body relax slightly, his shoulders dropping and his chest lowering as he breathed out deeply. He held her gaze for a moment before looking over to Professor Flitwick.

"You find a way to change her back, and you do it fast. Stop fucking around. This isn't a game, it isn't amusing, it isn't anything but dangerous." He looked at Professor McGonagall. "Change her back."

A/N - I just want to say thank you to everyone who's read this and commented, and made it through the awful cliff hanger from the last chapter! Sorry about that ;) As for this chapter, I hope I didn't disappoint, but I'm a bit nervous I did. I've been quite sick so I haven't been able to be on the computer for very long without getting a migraine, so I didn't get a chance to do much in depth research on the best way for Severus to save Hermione (and I didn't want you guys to have to wait even longer to find out what happened next) I figured cauterizing the wounds would work, and it was better than having Hermione bleed to death, so *sheepish shrug* hopefully you guys don't mind too much! And I'm sorry if you do, and it makes the story seem unrealistic or anything like that, because that wasn't my intention and I definitely don't want to ruin it for you by being inaccurate, but it was my only option at the time. If you know anything about medicine please comment if you can think of a better, more realistic way for Severus to stop the bleeding and I'll change it! Who knows, though, maybe I'm not that far off and it's all right. I look forward to the comments and thanks again for reading! You're all so awesome! :D