The Black Rabbit
By Isa Akane B.
(Author's note: Don't ask where this thing came from; I just love lop rabbits and a certain Potions master, so this bad excuse for a fic had to exist ^_^.)
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It was a sunny and warm late Friday afternoon, and as any other rabbit the black one hopping on Hogwarts grounds should have been happy. This particular rabbit, however, was feeling pissed. He didn't like hopping around like that. He didn't like being a rabbit. Because he wasn't really one. If any of his students knew their feared Potions master was an Animagus, they would have been surprised and would certainly have looked at him with awe. But if they knew his animal form was a white-spotted black rabbit, they would have died from laughing. And he would have died of shame. Only Dumbledore knew, as he was the one who had suggested this and trained him. It was supposed to allow him easier spying. He suspected the old wizard knew what was going to happen when he started training him. A rabbit. Not a big black fearful dog like Black or even a useful cat form like McGonagall. No. A stupid hopping rabbit. Well, not stupid as he still had his brain under control. But this fluffy little black furball was unbearable to him.
He hopped faster towards one of the many secret entries to the castle when he saw something that made him stop dead. Three students were turning a corner and stopped right in front of him. Three damned seventh year Gryffindors. Of course. These three ones.
"Oh look, isn't it cute?"
Hermione pointed at the still frozen rabbit and Ron jumped ahead to catch him before he could start moving. He hated his current form more than ever. How could this boy touch him? Before he could try to escape he was dumped into Hermione's arms and the girl started stroking the black fur with silly sounding comments. He suddenly felt a brief sympathy for all pets rabbits in the Muggle world.
"Look at these cute little white spots on its legs. It looks like it's wearing gloves. And this big one on its head. Do you know you're really cute, Sweety?"
How dared she? Nobody ever told him he was cute. Nobody ever called him Sweety. Somehow he felt jealous of his rabbit self. He tried jumping from the girl's arms but she just held him tighter. Ron stroke a falling long ear. Unbearable!
"Do you see its funny ears? Are they broken or something?"
"No, Ron. It's its race. Some rabbits have ears like this. It looks like they're falling but it's their proper form, falling down on either side of its head. It's called a Lop Rabbit."
Harry rolled his eyes. Miss Encyclopedia had opened her mouth once more. Bunny-Snape looked at Harry with relief. So far he was the only one who hadn't touched him. Ron was now playing with one of the rabbit's ears and eyeing the poor beast all around.
"Do you think it's a male or a female?"
Hermione shrugged. Bunny-Snape shuddered with sudden strange dread.
"I don't know. We can try to look if it has testicles. If nothing is clearly visible, I've read somewhere that breeders use a trick to see it on young rabbits. You rub the rabbit's lower belly and you see if it's exciting it and... Well let's see."
She turned the rabbit on its back and it frantically tried to run away. Ron grabbed its back legs.
"Keep quiet, we won't hurt you."
Then the rabbit disappeared from their hands. They looked up at Harry who was holding a panting and shivering rabbit in his arms.
"Can't you leave this poor little fellow in peace? It doesn't want you to touch it like this."
Hermione didn't look pleased.
"We only wanted to see if it was a male or not. There's nothing wrong with it. Give it back."
"Would you like a bigger creature stripping you of your clothes and touching you like this to see what you are?"
Hermione went very pale and Ron looked sick. The rabbit had calmed and if someone had looked closer they would have seen something like an evil smile on its small white face. The smile disappeared when Harry started stroking the silky black fur. The boy turned and started to walk away.
"Where are you going?"
"Putting it back in the forest, away from perverted students like you."
He didn't hear their shocked reply and headed straight to the Forbidden Forest. Bunny-Snape let out a rabbit sigh, both at the idea of having to hop back all the way to the castle and... the not so unpleasant feeling, after all, of fingers gently rubbing his skin. Too bad it was Potter.
They were rather far inside the forest when Harry stopped and held the rabbit in the air, his face in front of the little white nose. Somehow, the rabbit reminded him of someone. Someone he would never have suspected he'd loved only two years before.
"It's true you're cute, you know. And this cute moving little nose... I've always found it nice, the way a rabbit's nose was moving. Nice enough to kiss it."
Harry's face leaned closer to the rabbit's nose but this time it didn't try to escape. Without realizing what had happened, Harry found himself face to face with his Potions teacher who was keeping enough distance between Harry's lips and his nose. Snape backed up a little in order to dislodge Harry's hands which were still holding what had previously been a rabbit's sides.
"I'd like you to stay away from my nose and especially not kiss it."
Harry watched gaping as Snape straightened his robes.
"What are you staring at? Twenty points from Gryffindor: students are not supposed to walk in the forest."
"If I hadn't taken you there, Hermione would have tried that breeder trick on you."
Snape shuddered and tightened his robes around him. The horror of that idea made him forget to take more points from Gryffindor and give Harry a detention. Harry was eyeing him with interest and had a strangely evil smile on his face.
"So... our respectable teacher is a unregistered Animagus... And a bunny one..."
"What are you trying to do, Potter? Blackmailing me? All right, no points will be taken from your house in exchange of your silence. This ability needs to remain secret for really serious reasons."
Harry was still looking at Snape's nose and getting slowly closer.
"You can take the points, I want something more for my silence."
Snape watched in horror Harry's lips getting closer to his face... to end up in a gentle kiss on his nose. These kids are mad and perverted, the three of them, Snape was getting certain of this. He didn't know what to do. Killing a student wasn't something Dumbledore would let him do. Even for such a reason. A reason that would make the Headmaster laugh, after all. He opted for something more usual. Dark look and cold tone. But his usual harsh words wouldn't come out.
"I'm not used to have someone fantasize on that part of my anatomy (*or any other part at all*, he thought). Usually it's more the subject of stupid students jokes than–"
He never finished his sentence as Harry's lips were pressing on his. Disgustingly pleasant sensation. He kissed him back and with self loathing opened his mouth to Harry's urging tongue. What was he doing? He was supposed to hate that boy, not... not... Coherent thoughts were getting impossible with the boy's arms around his waist and his body pressed against him. What the hell was he doing? This was one of his students, and one he hated. Well, maybe not really hated. But he had never found him attractive. Except maybe a few times when he had found himself watching him. No, he wasn't thinking this! Never! The first thing he had to do was remove Harry's hands from him, before they could reach their goal which currently seemed to be his groin. He backed away, with all his might (and reluctantly).
"What do you think you're doing, Potter?"
"Undressing you?..."
"Please enlighten me. Where exactly in the school's rules have you seen it was allowed for a student to undress a teacher in the Forbidden Forest?"
"I haven't seen it's allowed but as it's not stated it's forbidden... I guess it's OK. And for the place, if you don't like this one maybe we can go to your dungeon."
Harry was smiling at him. A warm, hopeful and sincere smile. A crush. He had to endure a student's crush. Why him? It never happened to him. Well, maybe that look on Malfoy's face wasn't that innocent... He sighed and walked past Harry, his usual cold look back on his face.
"I'm not interested."
Harry's smile disappeared and was replaced by a panicked expression. So he had mistaken these looks? All these times when Severus was staring at him without his usual disdainful look... It couldn't be. He ran to follow Snape's fast pace and grabbed his arm, ready to be hit by an Unforgivable Curse. Snape just stopped but didn't look at him. He simply didn't want to see the hurt on the boy's face, and he didn't want to know why. He freed himself rather gently from Harry's grip and went away. When Harry got out of the forest, too, his friends were arguing on whether or not Ron could have tried to cook the rabbit. Harry felt disgusted and didn't even want to smile. He headed back to the castle, back to his dormitory. They looked at him questioningly but he just ignored them.
Harry didn't go down for dinner. Ron and Hermione hadn't managed to get an answer from him about his strange and sudden behavior and they couldn't answer their Gryffindor friends' questions about Harry's absence. What they didn't notice, as they never bothered looking in his direction, was Snape staring strangely at the empty seat.
It was past midnight when Harry finally fell asleep... to be suddenly woken by something dropping on his bed. Something that slipped between the sheets and curled up against his bare chest. It was a nice feeling, something warm and soft, just like... Harry's eyes opened wide. He didn't dare watching but when he felt a tiny tongue licking his chest he pulled away the sheet and looked at a dark furball who was watching back. He dragged the curtains closed around his bed and felt his bed sink a bit at the sudden change of weight. He grabbed Snape's neck, not wanting to let him go this time. Snape whispered in his ear, managing to keep his voice as velvety as ever.
"I hope you're aware of the trouble I had to get here. Hopping around the castle isn't funny at all. Hopping up the stairs is simply awful. And then I had to wait for someone who would get into your common room to be able to enter too. Next time, we'll meet in my dungeon."
"Next time?"
"I thought you would be interested in a next time..."
"Of course I am!"
That statement was followed by an enthusiastic hug and numerous kisses from Snape's neck to his lips. Then he simply rested his head on the man's shoulder, enjoying the warm and comforting body against his.
"Then let's say my office, tomorrow, after breakfast. Your little friends will have to go to Hogsmeade without you. Just tell me... tell me I'm not wasting my time with a mere teenager's crush."
"It's not just a crush, I know what it's like. It's... more than that."
"Good, I'm precisely looking for 'more than that'".
His lips left Harry's ear to press on his mouth again, pushing the boy back on the bed. Harry moaned softly. Snape was there, on his bed, leaning above him, kissing him. Surely, he was still asleep. But his dreams had never felt so real. Snape broke the kiss and sat back.
"We can't continue this interesting conversation now, it will have to wait until tomorrow."
He turned back to his rabbit form and was about to jump down the bed when Harry grabbed him.
"Wait! I'm taking you back."
He grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and draped them both with it, then went downstairs to the dungeons. Walking along the corridors at night under the cloak had become a habit so it didn't take long for them to reach Snape's quarters. Harry didn't want to drop the rabbit who was starting to fidget in his arms. When he felt it become heavier he let go and Snape was facing him again.
"I'm not going away, you know. I just need some sleep... unless you want me to be too tired tomorrow to... play the little games you have certainly be planning."
Harry grinned at the thought. He suddenly found himself alone and invisible in the dark and cool corridor. He watch the closed door for a while then headed back to his tower. Back to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long and exhausting day. He laid down and smiled. As he closed his eyes he was picturing a cute black bunny hoping around his bed. Before falling asleep he promised himself to discover if Snape's Animagus form had something to do with his abilities in bed...
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© Isa Akane B. , 2002 - 2003