Open field, Unknown Location...
Night had fallen and with it a whole new set of problems arouse for Hermione Granger. Severus had still been struggling with his beast nature and it often caused the two of them to clash. It had been quite some time since the two of them had been intimate as a result and it only served to fuel their discontent. The hormonal werewolf had not liked the idea of being so emotionally and physically attached to the young witch to begin with but he had been a slave to Hircine's will at least for the most part. His mood swings had become increasingly more vile and he had to be excused from his classes due to his ever worsening temper. Hermione did her best to weather the storm of her Potions Professor boyfriend's, if you could even call him that...temperament. This particular night, Snape had taken off following a very emotional argument with said witch. He ran off toward the forbidden forest causing the worried Gryffindor to take off after him.
She feared he would hurt whomever had been unfortunate to cross his path and unlike Lupin, Severus had been in a danger of losing himself to his beast blood. The Wolfish Potions Master had been leaping like mad as he cut through the trees and fallen logs that blocked his blood thirsty path. He needed to hunt. And it had been as persistent as a coming storm consuming a good deal of his raw emotions. Snape's keen ear picked up the sound of easy prey as he lept into the cool night air and landed on a defenseless deer.
Hermione's eyes widened as she noted how ferocious Snape had been given that he had not transformed to kill the creature. The sound of him snapping the wild deer's neck with his ebony clad arms had been more than a bit alarming. It seemed Snape was becoming more and more in tune with his other self than anyone of them realized.
"S-Severus." said the witch in a cautious tone.
Snape didn't look upon her though his obsidian eyes had been filled with a barely sated blood lust.
"You should not have come here." he said in a surprisingly cold tone. "This matter no longer concerns you."
"How can you say that?" asked Hermione a bit hurt by her lover's cold words. "After everything we've shared..."
"Could you think of a more fitting way to pass the time?" he said in the same tone.
The bushy haired witch narrowed her amber eyes at him.
"I won't even dignify that callous remark with a response." she replied. "I don't know what you are trying to accomplish by playing the unfeeling git card but I know you entirely too well for any of this hogwash to make any sense."
Snape rolled his eyes.
He had not appeared to care one way or the other what she thought about his demeanor.
"This isn't going to get us anywhere." said Hermione. "Hircine has been attempting to drive you mad all month...what we need is a new plan of attack."
Snape snarled as the images of blood swirled in his mind. He felt like ripping his flesh apart and running wild. His hormones were getting the better of him, as well as her lingering scent. He had made up his mind not to hurt Hermione, and sought to drive her away in a bid to keep Hircine's plans from coming into fruition.
He could hear the whispers and the goading on the part of the father of man-beasts and found himself in a very real struggle for control over his own consciousness.
"GO BACK TO HOGWARTS!" Snape shouted as he dropped to his knees.
A look of absolute agony filed across his face. Hermione attempted to soothe him but Snape found himself in the grips of another wave of agony. Her touch seemed to make it hurt all the more. For a brief moment she had wondered if staying away from him really had been the best method.
"N-No!" said Snape evidently reading her thoughts. "S-Stay...please...stay...I can't combat this on my own."
The shifting in mood had become the normal standard for when Hermione had to deal with Snape in this condition. He leaned into her touch and there was a moment where the pain seemed to be worth it for him as he continued to defy Hircine's plans for him.
{"IF YOU WILL NOT BEND THE KNEE TO ME FREELY...THEN YOU WILL SURRENDER TO THE HUNT!"} hissed the voice inside Snape's head.
The Potions Professor yelled out in agony once more as Hircine twisted something inside him.
"NO!" shouted Snape. "I WILL NOT BE CONTROLLED BY THE LIKES OF YOU!"
{"IMPRESSIVE, I HAVE RENDERED YOU POWERLESS TO YOUR BASER NATURE AND STILL YOU FIGHT."} said Hircine in Snape's mind. {"BUT REST ASSURED, YOU WILL SURRENDER TO THE HUNT...YOU WILL KILL THE WITCH AND LEAVE HER BLOODIED BROKEN LITTLE MORTAL CARCASS FOR ME AS A TOKEN OF YOUR LOYALTY."}
"I WILL NOT!" shouted Snape fighting with all the strength he had left in him to keep control of himself. "I WILL NOT HARM HER...SHE IS MINE!"
Hermione had been at a loss for words as she watched the dour man struggle to overcome his torment on the inside. The most she could do for him was offer him moral support. Snape's obsidian eyes had been fixed on the witch before him as he continued to fight off Hircine's control. He had been relatively strong in terms of mental defenses given his line of work with the dark lord.
{"KILL HER MY SON."} goaded Hircine. {"KILL THE WITCH AND TAKE YOUR PLACE AMONG MY PRESTIGIOUS HOUNDS OF THE HUNT!"}
"Whatever he's telling you don't listen to him Severus." said Hermione noticing Snape beginning to waver a bit in the wake of his struggle. "You're stronger than his manipulations."
Snape didn't take his eyes off the witch as images of their private relationship flooded his mind. Her amber eyes had been filled with worry as she watched him struggle and the frustration of not being able to actively help him had been written all over her face.
"Severus please..." she pleaded with him. "You have to fight him."
Snape began to spontaneously transform but seemed to halt it mid transformation. A feral growl erupted from deep within him and he tackled Hermione to the ground. Her amber eyes had been wide with the notion of fear but Snape didn't seem phased by it. His body had been pressed into her fragile form and another growl escaped him.
"S-Severus." she said her amber eyes meeting his cold obsidian gaze. "I know you won't hurt me."
She seemed to relax a bit but her concern for him seem to intensify.
Snape let out a low whimper and rested his head against her chest. He began licking at the exposed flesh he managed to get to in the wake of clawing through her attire and she let out a soft moan. His ears perked and he found himself becoming aroused. A grunt escaped him and he found himself more interested in bedding the witch then ripping out her throat, although it didn't stop him from licking it.
"T-Talk to me." said Hermione knowing all to well how to deal with her werewolf lover's wayward hormones.
Snape had been distracted by the sound of her heart beat and the flow of blood in her veins. It caused him to salivate as he dug his half formed claws into the earth near her head. His flaring nostrils took in the scent of jasmine from her hair as he continued to run his tongue along the soft flesh of her throat.
It wouldn't have taken much.
Just a moment of locking his powerful jaws and he would have sunk his dagger sharp canine's into her soft pallet. She would have been gone before she even knew how excruciating the pain would have been. Hermione could feel Snape's half-wolf form tremble with need of what she had no clue but it was clear his intent had been to kill her or rather beast had intended as much before Snape's good sense prevailed.
With a coarse grunt he pulled away from her.
"STAY AWAY!" he growled viciously before taking off into the forbidden forest leaving a fearful and confused Hermione Granger behind.
"SEVERUS!" she called after him, not at all wishing to believe the worst was befalling the otherwise stubborn wizard.
This had all been so confusing, Severus had been managing his condition just fine up until now and due to this Hircine's interjections he was of the mind to kill her indefinitely.
The coldness of the darkened forest only seemed to intensify as Hermione got to her feet. She could only imagine what Severus must have been feeling but she knew better than to pursue him any longer. He had barely managed to hold off ending her life this time, she doubted he would have the strength to do so again.
"Be careful." she said in more of a whispered wish than an actual means of conversation.
Severus Snape had been long gone having made up his mind to get as far away from the foolish young witch as possible for fear of hurting her. The night was a long one as Hermione returned to Hogwarts meeting a concerned Remus Lupin at the edge of the forest.
"He's becoming feral." said Lupin not at all taking his eyes off the forest. "There is nothing more we can do for him."
"I don't believe that." replied Hermione with a determined expression filed across her tear stained face. "There must be some way to help him...He doesn't deserve this."
"Few people seldom do." replied Lupin as he made his way back into the school. "But Severus is a Hound of Hircine...he belongs to the father now."
"Like hell he does." mutter Hermione enraged.
Defeated at least for the moment, she made her way back to Gryffindor tower but not before giving a silent promise to assist Severus however she could until she could free him from Hircine's control.