A/N: I don't own Harry Potter

This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Sci fi September You've been a test subject for all of your life.

You don't have any idea what life outside of the lab could possibly be like, but you know the life you have now is hell. Today, you find a possibility to escape this hell of a life.

Word Count: 1294

Warning: character death, animal abuse, abuse

Hermione collapsed against the wall of her cell, her cage. She'd done it, she'd run the race in the shortest time yet. Her head pounded, her chest throbbed. This was what she'd been made for, to be the best. Slowly, her breathing eased slightly. She opened her eyes, the slit like pupils widening in the darkness of her cell.

Cats. That's how this whole thing had started – with cats. Once it was discovered cats were capable of carrying a pathogen that could help eradicate cancer, creating human cat hybrids was the next logical step.

Hermione had been born here, in the Hogwarts Lab. She looked down at her pawed hands, at her twitching tail, and made a saw mewing sound. She was a reject in their eyes. Her body didn't contain enough cat DNA to make her a carrier for their tests, instead, they used her to see just how much a hybrid body could take before giving in upon itself.

Hermione had already reached maturity and had seen her litter mates paired off, each producing off spring of their own. Hermione wasn't given that opportunity. She was defective, she must not be allowed to spread her genes.

She bit back tears as she sank to the floor. Her legs ached from running the maze. It was all part of seeing just how fast she could become, how smart she actually was. She knew that test was wrong. She was a lot smarter than she'd let anyone know. She had started plotting, started planning, her own idea of what her life should be.

"Cat, down," someone yelled outside her cage. She watched as one of her litter mates, Lavender, was pulled from her cage. Lavender's fur was matted to the side, her eyes sparkled with tears. Lavender was clawing at the man who had pulled her from her cage.

Hermione hissed. She hated Argus Filch with a passion. He was cruel to them, doing anything he could to cause them pain. She watched Lavender try to get back into her cage, only to have her body thrown against the floor. Lavender's dying cries filled Hermione's ears, so did the desperate mews of her kittens, as they were taken by Filch.

Hermione knew she'd never see those kittens again. She didn't know what happened after Filch took a litter, but she knew it couldn't be good. She looked at Lavender's body. Something sparkled in her clenched paw.

Hermione gasped. Lavender had the keys. She'd taken Filch's keys. Glancing around, Hermione quickly let herself out of her cage. That was one of her little tricks. She'd been doing that for ages. She walked over, grabbed the keys, and slowly made her way towards the exit. She could leave now, she could finally get out of here, finally know what was beyond these slate grey walls.

She hesitated. She'd already escaped her cage, the room where she was kept. She knew the exit, the way to the outside world was further down this hallway. Could she do it?

The world was big, it was scary, she didn't know anything or anyone. She heard Filch's footsteps coming back this direction again, probably to dispose of Lavender's body. Hermione shuddered. She couldn't be here when he came back. She didn't want to share the same fate as Lavender.

Without thinking about it, Hermione opened the door leading to the outside and took her first steps in the sunlight. She hadn't gotten very far when her legs started giving out beneath her. She slunk into a nearby alley and curled up, falling asleep in the warmth of the sun.

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Severus doubled checked the address on the chart again. He hated coming to this lab. He had no idea what they actually did, but something about the whole place creeped him out. He dropped the package in the slot and turned to get back in his truck.

Something moving across the way caught his attention. A cat? No, it was too big to be a cat. Cautiously he approached the creature. It was the size of a human girl, with fur, ears, and a tail. She was naked and looked to be asleep.

"Miss?" Severus asked, looking down at her. He could see her ribs, the fur on her body was mattered with what looked like possibly blood. She blinked her eyes, looking up at him. He wasn't surprised to see her eyes looked like those of a cat.

"Merew?" she asked, stretching and studying him.

"Are you alright? Can you speak English?" he asked.

"Reow?" Hermione asked.

"I'll take that as no, where did you come from?"

Hermione looked around, finally pointing to the lab. Severus' eyes widened.

"You came from there? I knew they were doing something horrible. I had no idea...I don't even know what you are. Are you a cat? A girl? You look hungry, did they feed you?" he asked, pulling a stick of beef jerky from his pocket and offering it to Hermione. She sniffed it before nipping off a bit.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Did they hurt you?" he asked. Hermione nodded slowly.

"Lavender," she purred, "they kill Lavender," she managed to say. Her tongue didn't like making human sounds, but this man, he wanted to help. He could help her stop them. He could help set everyone free.

"Do you have a name?"

"'Mione," she hissed.

"Mione, right. You said they killed someone?"

Hermione nodded, tired of making human speech.

"And the government, they know about this? Are they in on it? Did they make you?" Severus asked, wondering just how far this went. He'd known the government had found a cure for some cancers, a cure that involved cats... was that what Mione was?

Hermione glanced around, her whole body trembling. She had no idea how long she'd been outside the lab. Had they realized she was missing yet?

"Are you hiding from someone? Yes? C'mon then, my truck is over here. I'm a courier. I deliver packages and letters. You can get in the back, there you go. Yes, you can sit in the empty box."

Hermione nestled herself in the box.

Slowly Severus started asking her questions again. This time, one at a time, giving Hermione time to nod or shake her head. Once he'd figured out exactly what was going on in the lab, that people, he didn't care if they had cat features, they were people, were being killed, he knew he had to do something.

Hermione didn't seem to think the government was involved.

"Mrew," she'd answered. Severus was getting better at translating her sounds. He did some more research on Hogwarts Labs. It was a private research facility without any government oversight apparently.

He informed the government what was going on, that there were dead bodies surrounding Hogwarts. He didn't tell them about Hermione. He knew what would happen if they found out about her. She'd become someone else's experiment and she would never be allowed to be free.

Severus also alerted several animal welfare groups. He and Hermione watched them swarm upon Hogwarts Lab in droves until the whole place was shut down and those who were still alive and sane were slowly found new homes.

"We did it, Hermione. We saved them," Severus stated. "I guess you should join them? In those new communities they're making for the survivors?"

Hermione shook her head and rubbed against Severus purring.

"Yours," she whispered, as he scratched behind her ears. He wasn't sure how this was going to work in the long run, but being right here with Hermione made him feel something he had never felt before. If she didn't want to leave him, then who was he to tell her 'no'?