Snarry One Shots

Hunt me like an animal

Summary: Harriet wanders through the forest one night. Snape catches her scent.

Ships: SeverusSnapexHarryPotter

All credit goes to lone_amaryllis on Ao3

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The forest smelled like home.

Harriet took another deep breath of the night air and smiled. Her nose twitched. The breeze carried a multilayered array of scents, and she knew every single one of them. The earthy smell of the forest floor, the slight decaying fragrance of leaves, the humid aroma of thick moss, the clear notes of a nearby pond, the musky traces of various animals—all part of the unique bouquet of the Forbidden Forest.

She knew those smells, and she loved them.

The tapestry of sounds animating the woods was equally familiar. Her ears flicked back and forth, catching bird calls, animals skittering around, the low bubbling of a stream, and a Threstral scratching at the ground somewhere on her right. There was a bird in particular who was producing ominous, mournful trills that rang like a funeral pall into the night. She thought it might have been an Augurey.

Above her, a sliver of moon hung in the velvet sky, casting pale, weak light onto the landscape. It was June and the day had been blisteringly hot, but here and now, under the trees after the midnight, it was cool enough for Harriet to get goosebumps.

She should have been in bed.

Instead, she was walking deeper and deeper into the Forbidden Forest, alone. She didn't need her wand to light the way. Her night vision was far better than before, allowing her to perceive everything in detail. Eyesight, sense of smell, of hearing—when her creature inheritance had triggered, it had brought about a lot of changes.

She had panicked at first. She'd woken up in mild pain, confused, her body throbbing in odd places. Hermione had calmed her down, and Ron had explained what was happening to her. Creature inheritances usually developed in the year preceding the wizard's or witch's coming of age. They were rare, but of course with Harriet's luck it had to happen to her.

She'd managed the change alright. She used a glamour to hide her large, furry doe ears, her flat nose and the soft white fur covering her belly and legs. No one at school had any idea, except maybe for Dumbledore, but he hadn't asked.

Maybe later, she'd go public about it. For now, it was too dangerous. Apparently wizarding society had all kind of stupid ideas about what creature inheritances meant and how they shaped an individual's personality. As a doe, Harriet would be seen as cute and submissive.

A prey.

Harriet's answer was, in short, fuck that. She wasn't a prey, and she wouldn't be constrained by outdated views.

The inheritance hadn't changed her life that much. It was useful in some ways. Her increased sense of smell made her better at Potions, allowing her to detect the freshest ingredients among all others, and her reflexes had been enhanced. On the flip side, there were nights where she just couldn't sleep, possessed by a restless kind of energy that demanded to be spent.

When that happened, she either made herself come until she couldn't see straight anymore, or she sneaked out to go run in the woods.

She had chosen the second option tonight.

The forest was alive around her, thrumming with scents and sounds and colors, and Harriet was home.

Bounding forward, she broke into a run.