Hello readers! New update! I really hope you like it. I took a bit of artistic liberty with this chapter. In the book, it takes Hermione weeks to de-fur after the polyjuice incident. And she never seemed to get into any trouble. I find it a bit hard to believe that Snape wouldn't have realized what had happened. For my story's purposes, I sped up the healing process.

And, as always, I do not own any of the characters. I just like to borrow them.

Enjoy,

DARecruit

Problems With Polyjuice

Severus Snape was used to being summoned to the hospital wing to help Madam Pomfrey identify injuries or side effects caused by any number of potions brewed incorrectly by dunces and imbeciles, but he was very surprised to walk in and find a girl covered in thick black fur with the eyes and ears of a cat. And not just any girl. Hermione Granger.

And standing in the corner, behind both Madam Pomfrey and Granger on the hospital bed were Potter and Weasley, looking anxious. "How very interesting. Our trio, in trouble again, aren't we?" Professor Snape sneered.

"N-no, Professor Snape. This is my fault. The boys had nothing to do with it," Hermione squeaked, knowing that if the boys got into any more serious trouble, they would be expelled for sure. Regardless of the consequences, she would do her best to protect them.

"I find that very unlikely, Miss Granger. The three of you are thick as thieves. And you are the most behaved of the lot. How is it that Potter and Weasley were not apart of this scheme?" Professor Snape quipped.

"Please, sir, I…I wanted to try out this p-potion to—"

"Polyjuice, is it not?" Professor Snape inquired, cutting the girl off. He already knew the answer, of course, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"Y-yes sir," Hermione stammered, looking down at her hands.

"And you are aware that that potion is N.E.W.T. level and brewing said potion in any other year besides seventh is against school rules?" Professor Snape asked, noticing the girl squirm nervously.

"Yes sir."

"Then what, may I ask, possessed you to brew this potion? What on earth were you trying to prove?" Professor Snape asked sternly, his voice cold as ice.

"I-I read about it and I…I just wanted to see if I c-could do it, sir," Hermione mumbled, feeling tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. Snape scared her tremendously, and he was beginning to make her feel very guilty.

"This seems to be a reoccurring habit of yours, Miss Granger, does it not? I seem to recall you reading about trolls last year and getting the notion in your head that you could take on one of them. Now you're brewing potions far beyond your schooling. This is a serious problem, young lady, one that I plan on correcting just as soon as we deal with this furry problem of yours," Snape said, his voice ominously low.

Hermione began crying, and Madam Pomfrey put a comforting arm around her. "There, there dear, we'll get you fixed up. Professor Snape has your best interests in mind, child," she soothed.

Professor Snape turned to the two boys cowering in the corner. "Detention for the pair of you, for allowing Miss Granger to brew this potion as dangerous as it is. And ten points from Gryffindor. Return to your dormitory."

"Sir, couldn't we stay, to make sure Hermione is ok?" Harry asked, stepping forward.

"Miss Granger will be perfectly fine, Mr. Potter. Madam Pomfrey and I do not need the two of you underfoot while we de-fur your classmate. Now return to your dormitory before I decide to add another detention!" Snape said. The boys hurried off, giving Hermione an anxious glance as they passed.

After Professor Snape successfully transformed Hermione Granger back into a furless little girl, he made his way Minerva McGonagall's office, but not before giving Granger orders to report to him as soon as she was released from the hospital wing in the morning.

Professor Snape knocked on Professor McGonagall's door and entered a moment after.

"Severus, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Minerva asked, looking up from a stack of papers she was grading.

"One of your cubs, Minerva. Hermione Granger," Severus replied, taking a seat near the fire.

"Granger? What on earth did she do?" Minerva asked, setting the rolls of essays aside and giving her full attention to the younger professor. She listened intently as he went over the events of the last hour.

"I will deal with her, Severus. She won't do it again," Minerva said, returning her attention to the essays.

"I believe the girl needs a firmer hand in this matter, Minerva. I've already instructed her to report to me in the morning."

"Really, Severus. I'm her Head, I'll deal with her appropriately."

"Just how did you deal with her with the troll, if I may ask? Clearly the message did not sink in, if she's doing the same thing a year later. And I do not believe for a minute that those boys were not involved," Severus said, grinding his teeth.

"You have no proof to say otherwise, Severus. And you gave them detention, correct? I think that's enough for now. As for Miss Granger…I spanked her for the troll."

"How?" Severus pressed.

"The normal way, Severus, how else? I believe I gave her a dozen or so swats. She was very contrite. I did not think I needed to be overly firm with her. She already knew she had done wrong," Minerva said exasperated.

"That was hardly an appropriate punishment for the situation! No wonder she's still being foolhardy. The girl is far too clever for her own good! Don't you see? If she isn't reigned in, who knows what she will think up next? And with those dunderheads Potter and Weasley—"

"Alright Severus…alright. You're right. Hermione could have been seriously injured. Perhaps I did not handle last year as well as I should. I sincerely thought she had learned her lesson…I let you deal with Potter at the start of term and you did not kill him. You may handle Miss Granger as well," Minerva said, rubbing her temples.

"Thank you, Minerva," Severus said, rising from his seat. He was halfway to the door when Minerva stopped him.

"Severus? Don't be too hard on her. She's only a little girl."

"She is. A little girl that needs to be taught some boundaries if we hope to see her grow up into an amazing young woman. Especially if that little girl is determined to pal around with Potter and Weasley of all people!" Severus said, flaring his robes out. "I only wish to teach her a lesson, not scar her for life. Instill a little fear perhaps, and a very sore backside. Miss Granger will be just fine…I promise you that."

"You really do have a soft gooey inside, don't you Severus?" Minerva asked, smiling at the younger man impishly. Snape huffed and left without another word. As soon as the door shut, Minerva McGonagall burst into laughter.

Hermione Granger shook like a leaf as she waited outside Professor Snape's door the next morning. She tossed and turned all night, imaging how much a spanking from Professor Snape was going to hurt. Was he going to use the paddle on her like he had Harry? It was bad enough getting spanked by Professor McGonagall last year, but at least she was only sore for a few hours afterwards. Harry had been sore for a full three days after his paddling for the flying car incident. Hermione really didn't want to go through that as well.

"Do come in, Miss Granger," Professor Snape said, making the young girl jump. He smirked and moved aside to let the child slide passed him into the room.

"G-good morning, sir," Hermione squeaked, mindful of her manners.

"It is for one of us, I'm sure," Snape said, shutting the door with a loud click.

Hermione watched anxiously as her professor made his way to a straight-backed chair in front of his desk and took a seat. She couldn't help but notice a small container of some kind of salve on his desk next to him, but there was no paddle. Instead lay a polished dark wooden hairbrush, the head of which was roughly five inches long and three centimeters thick.

"Come here, Miss Granger," Professor Snape ordered, giving the girl a stern look. Hermione gulped and made her way over to her professor's side.

Professor Snape wasted no time and positioned the girl over his lap, raising her skirt as he did so. Hermione wiggled as she felt the man pull her knickers down to her knees. The cool air made her shiver.

She gasped as she felt the cold salve touch her skin, but she tried to stay as still as possible as Professor Snape rubbed the stuff in.

"The salve will prevent bruising. I do not wish to cause lasting harm, Miss Granger. I do want to teach you a firm lesson, however. Now, why are you receiving this spanking?" Professor Snape said, doling out six crisp swats without any warning.

"Ow! Ouch! I—OW!—I b-brewed Polyjuice, s-sir! Ow!" Hermione yelped, her bottom already stinging.

Professor Snape continued to swat the girl's bottom with his hand, making sure to cover every inch of skin. He always spanked every child differently, based on their needs. When he had spanked Potter, he had to be quite firm and give the boy a shock in order to get through to him because the boy is so impulsive. Granger, on the other hand, is extremely logical, but she needs to be given time to adjust to the punishment and sort through her feelings.

"Ah! Ouch! S-sir, please! Ow!" Hermione cried, kicking her legs out in an effort to relieve the growing sting.

"There is a reason Polyjuice is reserved for seventh year students, Miss Granger! It is extremely dangerous! Any number of things could go wrong. You are lucky I was able to reverse the effects of your foolhardy stunt! You would have been walking around as a cat girl for the rest of your life had I been unable to!" Professor Snape scolded, wrapping an arm around the girl's waist and focusing on her sit spots. Hermione's cries grew louder.

"S-s-sorry!" Hermione bawled, wishing the spanking would end already. She knew she still had the hairbrush coming and did not know how she would be able to handle it. She was already so sore!

Severus paused and surveyed the damage. Hermione's bottom was a bright pink and he was sure it hurt very much. He wanted to get it over with as much as the girl did. He may be the bat of the dungeon, but he really did not enjoy hearing children cry.

"I'm sure you are sorry, Miss Granger. We are almost done," Severus said, picking up the brush and patting it on the girl's sit spots. She squirmed uncomfortably and cried more.

Not wanting to prolong it any further, Severus began landing crisp swats with the brush.

Thwhack! Thwhack! Thwhack!

"Nooo, noo! OWW! Pl-please s-s-sir! OUCH!" Hermione cried, squirming hard now. The brush burned her bottom, she felt like she had sat on a hot stove! "B-b-burns!"

"Yes it does, Miss Granger. It will help you remember not to be foolhardy in the future! And not to act upon things you read in books!" Severus scolded, punctuating the last part with extra hard swats.

"OWW! I-I'm s-sorry s-sir! I'll be g-g-good! I swear! I—OW! OUCH!—swear!" Hermione bawled, going limp over her professor's lap.

Severus landed two more spanks to each sit spot and then carefully replaced the girl's knickers to their proper place. Unlike Potter, he let Hermione lay still across his lap for a moment to calm down. The poor girl just kept sobbing, not realizing the punishment had ended, so Severus awkwardly patted her back. "There, there, Miss Granger. Calm down," he said.

Hermione was aware that her professor was now patting her back. He was the last person on earth who she would have thought would do this after spanking a child. It was odd, coming from Snape. She began wiggling to get down, and Snape quickly set her on her feet.

"I do hope you have learned your lesson this time, Miss Granger. I will not hesitate to do this again if I must," Snape said, returning to his normal nastiness.

Hermione looked up at her professor through teary eyes. "Y-yes s-s-sir. I p-promise," she stammered through her tears.

"Very well, Miss Granger. Go stand in the corner and calm down. I will not have you leave my office in this state. Others will think I tortured you," Snape said, pointing to the nearest corner.

Ten minutes later, Hermione was making her way back to Gryffindor Tower. She was exhausted and just wanted to go lay in her bed. Luckily, it was still early enough in the morning that she didn't encounter anyone else on her way and was able to slip into the portrait hole without any issues.

"Hermione!" Harry and Ron shouted as soon as they saw their friend enter the common room.

Hermione smiled sheepishly at her friends and noticed they had prepared one of the armchairs with plush pillows for her to sit on. She rubbed at her eyes as she felt a few tears trickle down her face at the gesture.

"It was really brave, what you did, Hermione," Ron said as Hermione eased herself down on the pillows. She still winced as her bottom made contact, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"We're sorry you had to take the fall for us again. So today, we're going to do anything you want! Whatever you want!" Harry added.

"Can we read Hogwarts, A History together?" Hermione asked, and laughed when the boys groaned. "You did say anything I wanted."

The three friends spent the rest of the day playing Exploding Snap and relaxing by the fire. Hermione was so happy, she had almost forgotten she had a sore bum. Almost.