Chocolate Enchantment

Chapter 11: Castle Under Attack and 12: Softer Than Indifference

Chapter 11: Softer than Indifference

She felt prickles all over her skin, like when circulation returns after blood has been cut off to a limb. Hermione fought the urge to open her eyes and look at what might be going on, focusing inward instead as the discomfort grew in her hands and feet, along her arms and legs and even on her abdomen. The world seemed to grow large around her, or maybe she was shrinking. She couldn't be sure.

The sound of metal crashing on stone down the hall broke her concentration, and pain seared momentarily along her skin as her eyes blinked open in surprise and she lay panting on Professor McGonagall's office floor.

Muttering something under her breath, the professor marched over to the heavy wooden door, swung it open, and continued into the halls. A moment later Hermione, still breathing hard from the effort she had expended, heard the old woman's voice carry down the hall to the office. "Peeves, leave those suits of armor alone! How many times must I tell you?"

Hermione heard Peeves' sing-song voice in response, but couldn't understand the words. Then the sound of Professor McGonagall's footsteps echoed in the hallway as she returned to her office.

"One of these days that poltergeist is going to go too far. If it hadn't been for the havoc he caused Umbridge—" McGonagall stopped her muttering when she saw Hermione trying to stand on the rug again. Hermione got the distinct impression the woman had forgotten about her student. "That was wonderful Hermione. A very good first try. Any ideas what you were turning into?"

Hermione took the hand up her professor offered her and accompanied McGonagall to the desk, where two chairs sat side by side. McGonagall conjured some tea and biscuits and began to pour out.

"No, Ma'am. I could feel pin pricks on my skin, but I have no idea. I suppose it must have been fur sprouting. Does it always hurt like that?"

After adding a touch of milk to her own cup, the professor smiled and settled into her chair. "No, the first few times are the least comfortable. I never even feel the hair sprouting on me anymore when I change. And it wasn't fur, Miss Granger, it was feathers."

Hermione blinked in surprise. "Feathers. So I'm a bird. What kind, do you suppose? What color were the feathers? I'd like to try it again in a few minutes."

"They were white tipped, some were brown, others more bluish, and it was definitely a smallish bird. But don't be foolish; you shouldn't even attempt it again for at least twenty-four hours. There may be many years between now and the days I was learning my shape, but that doesn't mean I don't remember how exhausting it can be. You might strain your magic if you try again before tomorrow evening. And we're trying an interesting new bit of transfiguration in class tomorrow you'll want to have all your power available for." Her eyes sparkled over her tea cup as she took a sip.

"Really? What are we doing?" Hermione paused with a biscuit halfway to her mouth, curiosity overcoming her.

"You'll have to wait and see."

When Hermione left a few minutes later she felt a bit stronger; the tea and biscuits had revived her somewhat. She cast the Disillusionment Charm on herself, then made her way down the halls to the dungeons, slipping silently into Severus's private quarters.

Before she made a sound to announce herself, however, she heard his voice calling out to her. "It does no good to be stealthy around me, you know. It's not like I couldn't sense you growing nearer for the past five minutes."

Without making herself visible again, Hermione stepped behind him and slid her invisible hands along his collarbone. He shivered slightly when her thumbs touched the skin just above his high collar and she got an interesting idea. "Miss me much?"