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Summary: SSHG, A gargoyle pup follows Severus around school, protecting him from shenanigans, but when it’s hurt protecting him from his own stupidity, he has an epiphany as to his obsession with Lily Evans.
Beta Love: Who, what, where? It’s MEEEEEEEEEEE Superdimples
Roll for Snamione:
1. Hogwarts
2. Rita Skeeter
3. Trope/Tag: Miscommunication
4. Patronus
5. Companion: Fang
6. Transport: London Underground
7. Wildcard: Hand sanitizer
A/N: Happy birthday to Severus Snape (Belated)
Grotesque
Scully: Maybe you're just seeing what you wanted to see.
Mulder: What makes you think I'd want to see that?
-X-files
The first time he’d seen it, he’d been attacked by something he couldn’t see as he was covered in dung bombs and half-dragged as he screamed down the hallway by some invisible force.
Until he wasn’t.
There was a thump and a jerking motion, growling, and then tearing. He heard frantic feet running down the hallway, and he struggled to lift his head.
He heard ferocious growling and snarling as something warm and leathery thumped into him.
He reached out into the emptiness and met—something solid?
He felt a warm rasp of a tongue against his skin.
The stench of the dung bombs lifted as a wash of magic went over him, and he saw the plants in the window planter looked—perkier?
Could a plant look perkier?
He realised that the dung that had been on him was now helping fertilise the window planter, and he was—amazingly clean.
He blinked when the body of a gargoyle appeared, eating something off itself like a mother bird eating the shell of their hatched chicks. Its body shimmered, turning invisible and then visible a few times before it let out a soft belch of magic and licked its muzzle with satisfaction, its long tail looped at the tip.
It looked at him with curious brown eyes
“Thank you,” Severus said, having no words for what he felt.
Rage? No, not anymore.
Gratitude? Yes.
He still wasn’t sure who had been tormenting him, but it seemed he wasn’t entirely without allies in this magical school. Maybe the school really did take care of its students?
“Are you alright, lad?”
McGonagall looked at him with concern as she paused in the hallway. He looked around. His gargoyle companion had disappeared like smoke.
“I was attacked in the hallway,” he said, looking up and to the left as he recounted. “I heard voices but saw nothing. I was dragged—”
As he stood with McGonagall’s help, she saw the scrapes on his knees and the scuffs where his shoes had dragged against the flagstones, along with the skin of his legs.
“Let’s get you to the infirmary for a check, laddie,” McGonagall said. “You can tell me what happened as we go.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Severus said, looking down awkwardly.
As they walked together back to the infirmary, a gargoyle materialised in the hall, looped their tail, and then disappeared again with a foop!
Potter and his mates seemed—angry.
Even the other Gryffindor were giving them dirty looks with all the whinging they were doing on their side of the Great Hall.
They were taking out a lot of frustration on everyone around them, and they weren’t above blaming each other for—something?
What it was, however, seemed to be a mystery.
Why complain about something when you couldn’t actually tell someone what it was? It made no sense. One thing he did notice, however—his invisible tormentors no longer plagued him or any of the other Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff that seemed to be the focus of many “pranks.”
Now, Potter and his mates were being caught more often—either while setting up the pranks, or fleeing the scene of chaos.
While Severus couldn’t say he’d actually seen Potter or his mates hassle him in the dark corridors, it had the same malice to their other acts of “pranking.”
Whatever was really going on, he was glad for the reprieve.
When winter came, he found the gargoyle pup playing with the Whomping Willow, dodging all the whomps and sometimes grabbing onto a branch and holding on for dear life. When play was done, the tree set the pup down on the ground, ruffled their mane, and went back to being cranky.
They trotted up to him, tail looping, and shook about ten shovels worth of snow on his boots, and sat down, looking up at him with a happy sort of grin on their muzzle.
The pup had grown a thick mane of woolly fur that travelled from head to tail for the Scottish winter, and it seemed like the snow just gathered on top until they shook, and then all of it just fell off like a landslide.
It had a snowball in its mouth, and its tail wiggled in invitation as it dropped the ball at his feet.
Severus frowned slightly, picked up the ball, and threw it.
FWOOOOM!
The pup bounded straight into the snow field, tunnelling a path under the drifts to get at the snowball in the snow—somewhere.
The pup returned, and he threw it again. Sometimes he would pause and soothe that mane with his hand before throwing the snowball again. Off they’d go, ploughing through the snow as effective as a Muggle machine, determined to get to the snowball he’d thrown. He couldn’t help but smile. Time passed easily between them, and he found he enjoyed the company of this wayward pup who chose to spend their time with him. He threw the ball in another direction, smiling as the pup burrowed into the drift and heading toward the snowball with determination.
“What are you doing, Sev?” Lily asked as she walked up while nursing a mug of cocoa.
Severus frowned. “Taking a walk. Enjoying the silence.”
Lily proceeded to chatter at him nonstop about her projects and drag him off by the scarf.
Severus looked back to the hole in the snow to see the mournful pup looking at him, the ball of snow dropping from their mouth as he was pulled away.
He saw them next in the spring, and they had flowers woven into its mane along with a few fiber bows.
Severus pet the pup with his fingers, and they purr-rumbled at him, flopping into his lap as he studied under the tree. His fingers caught the wisps of quiviut-like underwool that shed from their thick winter coat.
They seemed to appreciate the help, holding still as he worked until he had a large pile of warm gargoyle wool. It was warmer and lighter than anything he had ever felt before—luxurious and imbued with the magic the beast had gathered in their travels.
“Seems Hermione likes you, foal of Hogwarts.”
Severus startled as a large—well, he supposed all centaurs were large in comparison to him—centaur looked down at him. Hermione leapt up and immediately ran circles around the centaur’s legs.
“Normally we use a comb to gather her wool,” the centaur said, “but it seems you have things well in hand.”
Hermione rrrrrrrr rrrr rrrrred like an engine revving up, and she shook her mane as even more wool blowout seemed to generate itself into an even larger pile.
Severus couldn’t help but laugh as the centaur chuckled.
“Thank you, Hermione,” the centaur said. “The mares will find your gift without equal.”
He gathered the pile of wool into a basket lashed to his back.
Severus began to gather his pile and put it into the basket.
“Nay, foal of Hogwarts,” the centaur said. “She gives freely to the both of us. I hope your spinning skills are practiced.”
“I—” Severus trailed. “I have no knowledge of how to spin.
“Well, the mares love a new student,” the centaur said, “and a foal should have life skills.”
The centaur flicked his tail. “Come along, then,” he said, jerking his head in a come hither and follow gesture. “Stay close.”
Severus could do little but follow. Curiosity, bane of every Slytherin, demanded he acquire new knowledge. Meanwhile, Hermione bounded along beside and ahead of him, kicking up loam and leaves as she went with excited hops.
When Severus came back to Hogwarts with his face covered in Earth pigment and his hair woven with coloured wool and feathers, he endured the ridicule from the other students who had nothing better to do. He knew better.
He had a Name.
He had permission to travel in the Dark Forest and mingle with the herd.
He would wear the markings of the herd proudly.
“What are those markings, Sev?”
“The centaur gave them to me.”
“Why?”
“Because they gave me a name.”
“Why?”
“Because I was respectful.”
“Why?”
“Because they are living beings who live in the Dark Forest and deserve respect.”
“How?”
“By being polite,” Severus snapped. “Why are you giving me the Spanish Inquisition?”
“Tell me how to do it!” Lily demanded.
“Wh—why?” Severus asked.
“You know how many great plants that can only be taken from the Dark Forest?” she gibbered excitedly.
“They wouldn’t like that, even if they did allow you in the forest,” Severus replied.
“Come on, Sev!” Lily insisted. “YEEWOOOOOWWW!”
Severus blinked as Lily screamed and ran up the path to Hogwarts as if the hounds of Hell were after her.
Hermione spit out Lily’s shoe with a growl and peed on it.
Severus placed a hand on her mane and rubbed. “Thanks.”
Hermione’s tail wrapped around his arm with warmth.
“I don’t know how they find me when I’m alone,” Severus said as he sat with a hand spindle, making a strong yarn. “It’s like they always know when I’m not with someone else.
Hermione nudged her head under his hand for scritches, informing him that he had stopped petting in between spins.
“You are insufferable,” Severus said as Hermione’s tail thumped against the ground.
A fly buzzed by her head, and she snapped it up with a clack.
“Free protein?” Severus asked.
Hermione licked her chops.
“Vile,” Severus said, grimacing.
Hermione looked up at him, a curl in her tail.
You should try it.
Severus shook his head. “No,” he said adamantly. “And I need to stop imagining you can talk.”
Maybe you aren’t imagining.
Severus huffed, finishing the skein of wool yarn he was working on.
Hermione growled softly, vanishing from sight.
Severus looked around, discomfitted. He tucked the yarn skein into the hidden hole in the tree and stood. It wasn’t like Hermione to vanish unless something or someone was coming.
“Look, Snivellus is out doing arts and crafts,” Black heckled.
“Maybe he’s knitting himself a pair of pants,” Pettigrew added.
“We heard you’ve found yourself some shady income,” Potter said. “Can’t have that.”
Severus stepped back into the Dark Forest, putting distance from himself and his tormentors.
“You think stepping into some cursed forest is going to scare us, Snivellus?” Black said.
“I have done nothing to you,” Severus said. He hadn’t. Hermione’s gentle company had proven to him that he didn’t have to prove anything to anyone. He could provide for himself. Learn with the herd—be self sufficient. His grudge against his tormentors—
He’d learned to let it go because, if he got in trouble, Hermione would see him doing horrible things, and she looked up to him with the faith of someone who had never been hurt. He never wanted to see her hurt because of him.
Because he couldn’t let go.
Because he couldn’t be—a man about it.
So, he stepped back into the forest, away from them, and away from conflict.
The herd taught him that when one of them was hurt, the whole took care of the injured one. A wound to one was a wound to all of them. He would not take wounds and have them thinking they had to take care of him for his own stupidity.
He was better than they were.
He didn’t have to prove it because those that mattered knew.
“Where you going, Snape?” Lupin said, his wand sticking into Snape’s spine.
Potter patted him down and smiled as he pulled out a bundle of unspun gargoyle wool. He smiled. “A little birdie told us you’ve been stealing from the centaur to make money. Seems you are.”
Severus grit his teeth but said nothing.
“Wonder what else you’ve been stealing?” Pettigrew asked with a smirk on his mouth. He took the quill set Severus had saved for and took it along with his leatherbound notebook. “You can’t afford any of this, eh? We know you come from the scum of Cokeworth with a drunken Muggle father and a meek widdle mummy.”
Severus took a step forward.
“Oh ho! He’s angry! Look at him ready to take us to fistycuffs!” James heckled. “Are you going to take a swing at me, Snivellus? Going to make me bleed? Prove you are a Dark Wizard and get expelled? Go ahead. Do it. Punch me. Prove to everyone that you are a murderous little shit.”
Magic threw him down in the mud and leaves, and Severus felt his face burning with embarrassment. Then he felt her—Hermione—her warmth pressing against his skin as her low growl moved into his body. He couldn’t see her, but he could feel her over him—protecting him. Comforting him. Through her, he could feel the herd.
“Get bent,” Severus said.
They towered over him, their faces twisted with a sort of glee. Eagerness.
As they pointed their wands at him, each starting with a different spell—
The point of a spear jutted into their necks as the centaur surrounded them.
Severus was pulled up by a roan centaur he recognised as Koragos, along with a palomino Oeneus, and the dark bay Xanthos.
“You are not welcome here, foals of Hogwarts,” Oeneus said. “You are here without our permission or escort by one of the adult staff of Hogwarts.
“Snivellus stole something from us!” Pettigrew said.
“He stole things from you!” Potter hissed.
“You are mistaken,” Xanthos said. “He is a member of our herd and cannot steal what is freely shared just as he shares with us, and your insulting nicknames do nothing to endear yourselves to us.”
Koragos snatched the items Lupin was trying to hide—Severus’ writing quill set and his leather notebook. “It seems you are the thieves, not he.”
“He stole what’s ours!”
Spear tips jabbed a little deeper into their necks. “Get out or we will drag you out by the hair and then drag you behind us. If we catch you in the forest again, we will invoke the will of Artemis or give you to Circe as playthings, for she cares not if you are foals.”
The boys paled and backpeddled, tripping and running, slamming into foliage as they went.
A beetle buzzed toward Severus, coming towards his head.
SNAP!
Hermione crunched it like she did every other offering of free protein.
Only the screaming caused Hermione to startle, thumping her rump up against both Severus and the centaur.
A blonde, bloody, half-crushed woman screamed bloody murder on the ground in front of them.
The centaur narrowed their eyes together. “More human trickery,” Xanthos said. He took what seemed like a coin out of a belt pouch and rubbed it until it shone then tossed it onto the screaming woman. “Problem solving,” the centaur said, and the coin glowed brightly as it and the screaming woman disappeared.
“Are you alright, Severus?” Oeneus asked.
“I’m fine,” Severus replied, brushing the dirt and leaves off his robes.
Hermione had the box of quills and the leatherbound notebook in her mouth, and she rrr rrr rrrred excitedly, her tail swishing back and forth like a whip.
“Thank you,” he said, stroking her head fondly. “Where did you send her?”
“The Head Boss of You at the Department of Mysteries,” the centaur replied. “She is one of the few who respect our ways in the Wizarding World.”
Severus’ eyes widened. “Oh.”
Rita Skeeter Found Guilty Of Unregistered Animagery, Spying, Bribery, Trespass, And More At A Closed Wizengamot Meeting.
Sentenced To Twelve Years In Azkaban For Causing Suicides Of Innocent Victims Of Slander
Dumbledore found James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew suspended by their feet, all of which were seemingly stuck to the ceiling in the corridors. A pile of their pranking items lay below them, having fallen from their pockets along with their robes, hoarded snacks from the Great Hall, and a strange piece of parchment.
He bent down to pick it up, his eyes narrowing as he saw names swarming over the surface like ants.
“Mischief managed!” Peter hissed.
Dumbledore realised the map was of Hogwarts, and every person within was marked with a name. Even him. Everyone—
Staff. Students. Even familiars and ghosts.
Dumbledore grit his teeth as he felt his jaw tense. “I believe we are overdue for a discussion in my office, gentlemen,” he said. He relieved them of their sticky situation and gestured toward his office.
The boys looked down as they walked toward the Headmaster’s Office.
Are you sure this is where your friend wanted to meet?
Hermione looked about nervously. The glamour on her made her look like a canine, but her mind voice was nervous in such a new place.
“She said to meet her in London,” Severus said. “She must have meant the Leaky—”
She didn’t say?
“No.”
That’s confusing.
“Very.”
Are you sure it was her?
“What?”
Are you sure she sent the message?
Severus frowned. “It’s her handwriting. Her awful perfume.”
You must have sensed something off, Hermione said. You had me come with you.
Severus frowned a little deeper. “I do not know.”
Hermione didn’t press, but she did wrap the end of her tail around his wrist.
There was a loud bang as a boarhound puppy went crashing through the tavern, knocking over chairs and tables.
“Fang! Get back here!” a half-giant yelled, trying to catch the puppy.
The pup dragged its leash around, knocking over so many things before coming up to Hermione and sitting down, tail wagging.
Hermione looked to Severus. Do we want a dog?
“No,” Severus said.
Fang looked up at him adoringly.
“Definitely, no,” Severus said.
Fang whinged, tail wagging with all the hope in the universe.
The half-giant was covered in tables and chairs and other debris from the pup’s rampage. Tom, the tavernkeep, looked ready to split himself in two and have a litter of kittens at the same time.
When the large man pushed off the floor and tried to catch the chaos puppy, Fang bolted out the Muggle side, gleefully taking a chair with him.
Tom glared at the half-giant. “Hagrid, I’ve had enough with your raining destruction down on my establishment!”
“Sorry, er, I'll get 'em!” Hagrid bellowed as he chased his pup down the street.
“What about my TAVERN?” Tom yelled as debris kept falling all around.
Severus sighed, taking out his wand and casting a rapid series of spells to set the tavern to rights.
Tom nodded to him gratefully, and brought him a full plate and a butterbeer along with a giant bowl of meat scraps for Hermione.
I like him. Hermione tucked into the bowl with happiness.
“You are too easily bribed,” Severus muttered, but he smiled as he ate the thick stew, soda bread, and chips.
Hermione radiated an aura of contentment as she made the scraps disappear.
As he sat drinking the last of his butterbeer, a bright, piercing image of a goldfish flew through the wall and began to yell, “Sev! Where are you? I’m at the King’s Cross and St Pancras station!”
Severus blinked at the light-fish that was using Lily’s voice. As it disappeared with a pop.
What was that? Hermione asked, her head cocked to the side.
“A Patronus,” Severus said. “A way to send messages without an owl. I had no idea she had been studying such a thing.”
Maybe she’ll tell you about it at this station.
Severus placed a few coins on the table. Tom had not charged him for the meal, but it would have been rude not to at least leave something.
He gave a nod towards Tom in thanks, and headed out the Muggle side of the Leaky.
Severus wrinkled his nose as there was some sort of goo on the turnstyle, and he used a bottle of the hand sanitiser he had developed to clean his hands. It was useful for when he wanted to brew potions without accidentally contaminating it—and he was grateful he didn’t go anywhere without it.
Nasty, Hermione said, her nose sniffing at where he’d picked up the goo.
“Come along,” Severus said. “Don’t get any of that on you.”
Hermione shook her head, looped her tail around his arm, and followed him into the station.
“Sev!” Lily cried as she hurried up. “Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for over an hour!”
“Your message gave no location but London,” Severus said. “I was waiting at the Leaky.”
“But I sent you another message to meet at this station!”
“The first I heard was from your Patronus,” Severus said.
“But—” Lily sighed. “Fine, come on, let’s go!”
“Go?”
“The Natural History Museum!”
“Wha—”
“Come on!” Lily dragged him to the ticket counter and bounced on her heels as she gave him a jut of her chin to the teller.
Severus stared at her.
“I don’t have Muggle money on me!” Lily whispered.
Severus sighed and knelt to rummage through Hermione’s packs, pulling out quid for the tickets. The teller gave them both tickets, and checked to see that his “dog” was on a lead.
They made their way to the rails and waited.
“When did you get a dog, Sev?” Lily asked.
“She’s normally with the herd,” Severus said.
“But why did you bring her?”
“She wanted to come,” Severus said, “and I did not expect to be going to the museums.”
“Well, it’s important,” Lily said. “Flitwick wants a perfect project, and I have an idea, but I need to see the bones of a real dinosaur.”
Severus blinked. The train pulled up and passengers exited, and they moved into the train and sat down.
“You need to see the bones of a real dinosaur—that you couldn’t just see a photograph in a book?”
“I need to, okay?” Lily said.
What is she hiding? Hermione asked. She smells like she’s hiding something.
Severus curled his fingers in Hermione’s mane. He had no idea what Lily was up to, and it bothered him that she’d use him for getting to the museums but not tell him what she was trying to do.
Hermione placed her head on his knee, and he stroked her head and ears for his own comfort. She let out a soft, rumbling gargoyle purr.
Lily seemed to be in her own little world, and Severus wasn’t sure what to say to her. Normally, she did all the talking and barely let him breathe in between, so it was odd that she wasn’t.
Odd and—unusual.
Realising that he needed a way to communicate with Hermione without being heard, he resolved to look into more ways to do so. She could speak with him—surely he should be able to figure out a way to do so, too?
Just think it toward me.
Severus blinked. Could it be that easy?
Yup. Just like that.
Severus boggled. He stared at Lily. Hey.
Lily kept staring at her notebook, unaffected.
She’s closed off to such things, Hermione said.
How do you know? He asked.
I just roared into her head, and she didn’t hear it.
Severus snorted, stifling a laugh.
“What?” Lily accused.
“Just thinking,” Severus said.
Lily went back to her notebook, furiously flipping from page to page but keeping her hand over the side to prevent him from seeing what was in it like he was trying to cheat on his homework or test.
She was definitely up to something, and like a typical Gryffindor, she was pants at keeping something secret without making people around her suspicious.
At least we get to see the museums, Severus said. I think you’ll like them, but you’ll have to make yourself invisible.
Okay, she replied warmly. I hope it’s fun!
Severus smiled.
Severus panted as he followed Hermione’s lead to run from the museum. What—what is it?
Something’s wrong. We need to be away!
Severus, unsure, trusted Hermione’s senses and followed her out. They had enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at the Natural History Museum, but after Lily had left them to explore her own interests, Hermione started to get—nervous.
While he couldn’t sense what she was, he’d learned long ago that Hermione’s senses were more finely honed than his own, so if she was nervous, there was a reason. Probably a really good one.
When she led him to the small cafe, he wondered if her stomach was leading them, but she cocked her head nervously despite the location, but she seemed to think that they were “far enough” away from what was bothering her. She kept her rump against his leg like a trained attack dog, even settling between his legs as he walked.
No, something was really bothering her.
What do you sense?
She flattened her ears. Something we don’t want to be there for if they are caught.
Severus frowned but went to the counter to get a coffee and some snacks. Thanks to their woollen side-hustle, he had money to spare for such things, something he had always struggled to be on top of when his father saw no point in supporting a “freak.”
As he split his sarnie with Hermione, he waited for her feeling to pass. It was no use arguing with her, and she had never been wrong in her feelings, unlike most humans he knew.
As Hermione licked his fingers clean of crumbs and sauce, there was a pulling sensation as witches and wizards dressed in white hooded cloaks and silver masks Apparated in. One in red robes gestured with precise hand signals, and there was another pulling sensation as they put something that looked like an hourglass in the air.
“Seal the breach!” a female voice ordered. “Contain the tear and find the Origin. Take them down, take out the CCTV, fry the electronics.”
“Ma’am!”
The red-robed woman turned and looked at Severus, walking over.
“You’re a wizard,” she said.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
She looked at Hermione.
“Ah, you are Severus. Hermione?”
Hermione sat down and greeted the woman with a smile of teeth like daggers.
To Severus’ horror. The woman patted Hermione freely and even rubbed her tongue like a trainer with an orca, and Hermione purred with an even happier greeting.
“I am Amelia Bones of the Department of Mysteries,” the woman said. “We have detected a time breach. Have you seen anything—more unusual than usual?”
Severus blinked. “No, but Hermione told us to get out of the building because she felt something was off.”
“There is a time whorl,” Amelia said. “It means something could pass through to us or go to whatever time it was opened to. If you had been near it—you could have found yourself surrounded by giant dragonflies or other gems of prehistory.”
Severus blinked. “My friend—Lily—she may be trapped inside.”
Amelia frowned. “Do you know which exhibits she was looking at?”
Severus shook his head. “She just told me to find something to do, and we’d meet up after she was done.”
Amelia hrmphed. “Please stay here until I get back. I cannot guarantee what will be contained, but I can protect this place in a pocket—” She gestured with her wand and a dome covered the cafe.
“Yes, Ma’am,” Severus replied.
She nodded curtly and disappeared into the depths of the museum.
“What do you think this is about?” Severus asked Hermione.
Hermione tilted her head. I hope no one disturbed the bones. Bones should be respected, even if you are eating them.
Severus chuckled. Who could argue with such logic? He gave her a fond ear rub.
He sat and read from one of the infobooks as Hermione listened to him attentively.
A Carnasaurus stomped by chasing a Bactrosaurus, who was also being chased by an angry Tyrannosaurus rex. A group of Parasaurolophuses ran in the opposite direction, as a smaller group of Stenonychosaurus raided the snack shelves.
Hermione growled, disturbed by the invasive species she had never seen before, and Severus felt much the same. While part of him was excited to see real live dinosaurs, he felt this was not the way he would have preferred to see them.
“I was about to say, it was only dinosaurs,” Severus confessed, “but then I realised those were real dinosaurs—”
Hermione whined and curled her tail around his arm.
They felt safe in the bubble Madam Bones had given them, but Severus wondered what could have possibly caused something so powerful that brought dinosaurs to life—
It wasn’t that he doubted it was possible. Magic was magic. But it wasn’t any magic he’d studied.
He wondered if they would find Lily before she was stomped on by a dinosaur. He hoped so. She was always so narrowly focused on her projects. Secretive. Sometimes he wondered if she was a bit too ambitious and self-serving to fit into Gryffindor’s mould.
Hermione grabbed a package of dried figs from the snack shelves and brought it over, her tail looped with hopefulness.
Severus snorted, gave her some coins, and she trotted over to place the money on the counter, coming back in time to share the spoils with him. She gently lipped the figs off his hand, radiating contentment.
Do you think they’ll find Lily?
“I hope so,” he said. “Knowing her, she’s staring at some exhibit and doesn’t even notice the dinosaur walking around.”
There was a roar and a crash as an even larger Tyrannosaurus stomped through the hall.
Why is there a rat riding on the dinosaur?
Severus blinked. “What?” He squinted.
There was a vague rodent shape sitting on the dinosaur’s head.
“What the—bloodly hell—” He stood up.
The dinosaur turned in horror movie style slowness to stare at him before charging ahead.
Get back! Hermione cried getting between them, pushing him back into the shield he had unintentionally moved past.
A strange beam came from the dinosaur’s head—from the rat—and it hit Hermione, flinging her out into the open, away from the barrier—as a human.
The dinosaur roared, obviously eager to tear into the soft, meaty morsel.
“No!”
Severus felt fear and rage pool in his stomach and explode like a cauldron on high heat.
He was moving faster than he ever moved before. He was on fire. He was freezing. He was faster than thought. His body moved over Hermione’s strange, human body—a massive mane of curls that resembled her gargoyle mane.
The dinosaur was hellbent on making the both of them hors d’oeuvres.
Severus let out a deep, earthen growl as his body jerked and twisted, expanding, tearing out of his tattered clothing as paws replaced hands, a muzzle full of dagger teeth stretched out of his elongating jaws, a long tail lashed as it grew out from the base of his spine, and his size—expanded.
He roared his wrath down on the invading dinosaur, his body bristling with Earth energy and magic as it crackled down his spine. He stood over Hermione’s vulnerable body, digging in his claws to the floor to brace himself.
Tears seemed to form in the air. A strange primordial world screeched within. It was as if prehistory was trying to reassert itself on the modern world.
Dinosaurs from the museum stormed their way into the tears, seeing, smelling the scents they were accustomed to. Predators chased prey, prey dove for the cover they recognised, and the cycle of eat or be eaten moved across the museum and into the tears.
A huge female Tyrannosaurus with two half-grown rexlings spotted the rival in front of her and roared, making a bee-line to slam into them, tumbling them into the tear in space-time as the two rexlings roared and chased after their mum.
A rat-like shape sprung at the rip, seemingly to come back through, but it bounced off the tear as the fabric of time seemed to put its foot down and deny reentry.
One of the young rexling’s mouths closed around it with a decisive SNAP.
There was a scream—a human one— as the tear closed up, and a rat-like hand bounced across the marble floor and came to rest at the feet of an Unspeakable. A group of them turned to watch the breaches closing throughout the museum as an ominous streak blazed across that primordial sky. The tears closed completely as the streak grew unnaturally bright as the great meteor of prehistory slammed into Earth.
“You alright, lad?” Amelia asked.
Severus’ eyes grew wide as he realised she was addressing him.
“Try not to move too fast,” she said. “You’re a lot bigger than the rest of us.”
Amelia took off her crimson outer robe and wrapped it around Hermione. “There, lass, you’re safe. We’ll figure out what spell you were hit with.”
“Lock this place down, make sure the Muggles are safe, scramble the CCTVs, fix the damage, and get out of here. Move people!”
“Ma’am!” the Unspeakables called from all around, moving around like busy bees.
“Come with me, lad,” Amelia said. “I’ll take you both someplace safe.”
Severus lowered his head and nodded, nosing Hermione gently with his snout.
A dark shadow rose up from Hermione’s body and hissed at him, smacking him with a cilia and tooth covered appendage.
“Walter!” Amelia admonished. “Behave.”
The cloak-like shadow seemed to glare at Severus before wrapping protectively around Hermione, its body evicting Amelia’s crimson robes as it took the place of them.
Amelia sighed. “Of all the times and places—alright, take my hand.”
Severus put his paw against her palm.
Crack!
They were gone.
“I’m sorry, Mr Snape,” Madam Bones said. “It seems that your friend had a very specific agenda.”
She tapped a journal with her fingernail. Lily’s perfume came off it with a distinctive odour. “That agenda was to gain a living sample of an animal from prehistory in order to craft a transformation spell that would allow a sort of Animagus form only—the form of her choice. She used a time spell on a large bone in the museum and took a sample from it. It was a T-rex bone from an unfortunate beast that had been killed by the meteor. It seems that she was being influenced by a friend. A Peter Pettigrew. He was an Animagus, so she trusted him to advise her. Our people have analysed the formula and spellwork, and she basically turned herself into his own private dinosaur weapon. For all of thirty minutes before she was sucked back into the time whorl and met the fate of the dinosaur whose bone she used. This is not the story we will release to the public, but I believe you deserve to know the truth of it.”
“Why did she do it?” Severus asked.
“She was in love with a fellow student—Remus Lupin,” Amelia said. “She was allergic to mandrake, and could not be a normal Animagus. She wanted to be the first to have a controlled transformation without the Animagus study. She also wanted to safely be with her boyfriend during—full moons.”
Severus stared. “He’s a werewolf.”
“So she said in her notes,” Amelia said. “Regardless of whether it is true or not, she believed it. I do believe, however, it was true. I will have to confront Dumbledore about it soon enough. Obviously, these facts are covered under our non-disclosure agreement. I hope you can understand why.”
“I do,” Severus said. “I am just glad to know the truth.” He looked to Hermione.
Hermione, who was levitating in the air with the aide of a Lethifold as she did her meditations to try and relax enough to return to her natural form.
A Lethifold.
A carnivorous cloak.
It shouldn’t surprise him, really. He’d turned into a giant gargoyle under stress—who was he to judge that his friend befriended a Lethifold?
Especially, when his childhood friend had apparently used him to get her to a museum so she could do some time thievery—
He could have been in so much trouble if they’d thought he had willingly helped her do that. People didn’t believe people like him when it was a matter of character. Lily managed to look innocent covered in blood. Severus just had to be within a Quidditch pitch distance away, and it was his fault—somehow.
Amelia had offered him a safe space at the Department of Mysteries, and Hermione seemed okay with it, so he was seemingly okay with it.
It surprised him how easy it was to be calm when she was calm. Equally, perhaps, he felt surprise that he’d found such protective wrath deep within him when he thought she was in genuine danger. Hermione was usually perfectly strong—it bothered him when she was vulnerable. It was for that reason that he easily swore what he’d learned while under the DoM’s protection to secrecy.
He wanted Hermione’s existence and her freedom to remain unthreatened. If he had to keep a few secrets to ensure she was safe, he would. Gladly.
She was awkward in her humanity—more in that she wasn’t used to being bipedal or having her arms and legs not be the “right” length. She did, however, find a great fascination with hands, and she used them to help her access books of every kind. He’d always read to her from his books before, but he hadn’t realised she’d learned to read from the experience. It shouldn’t have really surprised him. She’d paid attention to every spell and every lesson. She was the swottiest gargoyle he knew.
Hermione let out a soft sigh, and the Lethifold was draped over her head like a cat in a sunbeam. It rubbed her temples for her, and Hermione wilted.
This is frustrating.
“Understandable,” Severus said.
I must look horrifying to you.
“What? No! You—you just look human, that’s all,” he said. “It’s different, but it’s not horrifying.”
Hermione looked at him with doubt, but she tilted her head in such a gargoyle fashion, that he laughed.
“You’re amazing,” he said.
Hermione bit her lip. You mean that?
“You’ve always been amazing to me,” he said. “Of course, I mean it.”
You’ll—still like me if I look like this?
“It will never matter what you look like to me,” Severus said. “Well, unless you look like Potter or Dumbledore. Then, we’d have words.”
Hermione giggled.
And Severus realised her smile was all he ever needed.
“What?” Dumbledore said as a look of stunned disbelief crossed his face.
“It seems the taboo on a certain wizard’s name allows followers of said Dark wizard to immediately transport themselves to the location regardless of wards or protective spells, jinxes, or otherwise.”
Dumbledore stared at Amelia Bones, his jaw twitching. “And someone—just happened to say the name while deep in Black Lake’s Suffocating Lashweed patch and drown every follower of this Dark wizard?”
“And the leader,” Amelia said as the Unspeakables pulled a dark clad, drowned body from the water.
The moment Albus saw their face, he paled instantly.
“You do know him,” Amelia said, her lips flattening in a line. “We should speak, but not here. In my office, if you would be so kind.”
Albus fidgeted, forcing a smile on his face as the rest of the staff stared. “Of course, Madam Bones. Minerva, if you would please mind the school while I speak with Madam Bones.”
Minerva nodded, wringing her hands a bit as the parade of bodies floated by in magical wrapped body bags.
She immediately started to run damage control, sending the rest of the staff to handle, wrangle, and otherwise keep the other children from accidentally wandering by.
Albus looked grim as Amelia led him to the Apparition point.
Dark Lord Cult Found Drowned In Black Lake
Aurors Suspect They Were Attempting to Attack Hogwarts and School’s Defences Protected Students and Staff
Auror Sting Uses Taboo To Snare Surviving Followers of You Know Who
Dark Lord Identified As Tom Marvolo Riddle
Student Unravels Anagram “I am Lord Voldemort”
Wizengamot Condemns Surviving Followers of You Know Who To Azkaban
Tom Riddle’s Horcruxes Found Along With Cave of Inferi Victims
“Who knew Lethifolds could be so useful?” Amelia said, her smile indicating she knew very well how useful they were.
Albus looked paler than he had ever been, as a lineup of Horcruxes lay on a tray and was pushed into the infamous Fiendfyre ovens.
The Lethifolds hovered nearby, seeming to wait for the screaming clouds of released soul-debris to stop screaming. Once they did, the Lethifolds wooshed away, floating over to where a gargoyle lay her head on Snape’s lap as he read Handbook for Unspeakable Agents: Welcome to the Department of Mysteries. Each Lethifold tucked themselves around Snape and Hermione.
“You used Lethifolds to fetch—Dark Horcruxes?” Albus whispered.
“I didn’t use anything,” Amelia said. “They did it on their own once they realised what we were looking for. They are natural Dark creatures and are immune to Dark magic. It was a perfect situation.”
Albus frowned deeper.
“Look, Albus, I know you had some sort of plan in the works to deal with Tom Riddle,” Amelia said, not missing as Albus flinched at the name, “but it was reckless to try and handle it on your own and thus endanger countless people that would have been collateral damage to your long game. You should have told us. That being said, we have completed the paperwork to apprentice Mister Snape with the Department of Mysteries. We feel that his situation at Hogwarts is less than safe.”
“Amelia, Hogwarts is a vital rite of passage—”
“He was bullied and manipulated by students you have admitted you did not know were unregistered Animagi, and his best friend turned into a Tyrannosaurus and tried to eat him under the influence of another student you have notably favoured. We will allow you to keep your secrets in exchange for custody over Mr Snape. If you press me, Albus—your little werewolf secret will not remain secret. Even so, I will be sending agents to guard the Shrieking Shack every full moon cycle.”
Albus flinched. “Of course, Amelia.”
“Excellent,” Amelia said, “Jarvis will see to your paperwork.”
An anthropomorphic Jarvey smiled at Albus with a mouth full of sharp teeth. “This way, Headmaster. I only bite if you try to escape.”
Albus swallowed hard before following Jarvis to the mountain of paperwork that awaited him.
Congratulations, Hermione exclaimed, her tail looped.
Severus pulled the mask off his face and knelt to press his forehead to hers. “I’ve missed you.”
I’ve missed you, too. She nuzzled his chin, radiating a comforting, familiar warmth.
“I’ve decided what I want in my life,” Severus said. “I’ve finished my studies. My mastery. But there is only one study that mattered to me.”
Hermione tilted her head. What did you study?
Severus pulled his head back from hers and fell backwards on himself as his body reformed into the larger gargoyle form he had stress-transformed into at the museum. This time, however, it was fully controlled.
Hermione stared at him wide-eyed.
I want to be with you, he said. This was my study—to be able to be with you like you have been there for me all my school life. Be with me. Let us share our lifetime together.
You—want me?
Be mine, Severus said. Let us carve a life together. Be my mate.
Hermione nuzzled him. Yes, I would be your mate.
Thank the gods. I had a long list of Plans B through Z for how I was going to bury myself in the Earth and disappear if you rejected me. Severus curved his head around to give her a hug.
I love you, Hermione said. I always have. It just changed as I grew up, and then—I figured you would find a nice human female at the Department of Mysteries.
You’ve seen the DoM, Severus muttered. The last thing I’d end up with would be a human. A human wouldn’t have been you. You are who I want to spend my life with. I love you. Only you.
“Finally,” Magorian said as he blew Earth pigment on both Hermione and Severus until their gargoyle skin shimmered. “The stars and planets are always right, but you two were like binary stars orbiting and chasing each other across the cosmos.”
Hermione and Severus blushed as the herd surrounded them and they were married by the elders of the Dark Forest Herd.
And lived gargoylifically ever after!
A/N: I have the crud. I'm a sick pile of feathers and misery. I have crocheted chickens from my sick bed/desk.
