Snape met her again after supper and almost got a heart attack, seeing her sprawled on a table with her eyes closed.

"Hestia, who did this to you?"

Her hand lifted her wand and shakily wrote one word

Baron

With that, her hand fell with a thud, a dying message floating above them. He lifted her limp body and carried her to the hospital wing.

Few hours later, she woke up, and was almost knocked unconcious again by Madam Pomfrey's nagging.

"Do you know why you came here? Strain and overwork! The first week didn't even pass!"

She brought a large bar of chocolate and began smashing it with a small wooden hammer. Hestia flinched everytime Madam Pomfrey smashed the chocolate, feeling that the chocolate could be herself if she came to the infirmary again.

"I've got a bad feeling that we'll meet each other a lot, Miss Potter."

Hestia gulped, and slowly chewed the chocolate in her hands.

Hestia hurried to the Great Hall for breakfast the next day when she ran straight into Snape. She tried to sneak away but a low voice stopped her.

"Not so fast, Potter. Follow me."

Her shoulders drooped, and she slowly followed him to his office.

"Well? What have you been doing with Bloody Baron?"

"...He was teaching me Animagi"

Snape let out a groan.

"No wonder. Did you think about asking Professor McGonagall?"

"I did, but she refused."

He let out a second groan, louder than the first.

"Even if I tell you not to, you are still going to do it, is that correct?"

She nodded. Snape looked at her, than waved his hand, saying that she was free to go. She smiled sheepishly, then quickly left the room.

Weeks passed and it was Halloween. The day passed nicely and they were having supper.

"...I'm not going to eat pumpkin after this day."

Every food had pumpkin it it in some way or another, which created a heavy, sweet smell enough to suffocate her.
Hestia ate her steak (without the pumpkin sauce it came with) and was looking for a pumpkin-free dessert when Professor Quirrell came running in.

"Troll! Troll in the dungeons!"

Then he fainted dramatically.

Instantly, there was a great commotion and students began to head toward their dormitories frantically. Hestia was slowly walking to her dormitory when she saw Harry and Ron run to the dungeons.

"Harry!!!"

She ran after them and found a troll in the girls' bathroom.

"...Granger?"

She saw that she was frozen in fear. The two boys did no help, either.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

The three lions stared at the serpent who calmly motioned at them to come over.

"If you learned magic, then use it!"

"But we don't know any..."

"Then you could have told a professor!"

"That she is right."

Professor McGonagall was standing, glaring at them.

"15 points to Slytherin for defeating the troll and calling me. Miss Potter, Professor Snape wants you to come to his office for extra lessons."

Hestia thanked her, then walked toward Snape's office. Entering it, she smelled blood right away. (Her sense of smell became accute as she learned animagi)

"Professor?"

"Potter, sit over there while I,"

"Accio Dittany"

She didn't listen to his words and summoned a bottle of dittany. She crouched in front of him and tore the lig of the pants to expose the wound.

"Bitten by something?"

He tried to answer, but instead he had to grip the arms of his chair because she literally poured the potion on the wound.

"Reparo... Scorgify..."

Hestia cleaned and repaire the blood-soaked pants and stood up, arms folded. She lifted one eyebrow.

"It's nothing, Hestia."

"Nothing?" she repeated. "Are you saying that being bitten by a gigantic beast is nothing?"

She was becoming hysterical. Snape began to look for a Soothing Solution when she hugged his neck.

"I don't want you getting hurt. I don't. I really don't."

Hestia buried her face in his shoulder, clinging on to him.

[Don't sacrifice yourself for everything, Sev. Promise me.]

[Hestia. Hestia, my girl...]

[Promise!!]

She lifted her face up which, to his surprise, was wet with tears.

"Please..."

Snape drew her to his lap, then held her hand. Partly to stop her from rubbing her eyes, and partly to comfort her and himself.

"I promise."

He waited till she stopped crying, then tapped her eyes gently with his wand to make the puffiness vanish.

"You need to go to your dormitory now."

She nodded and left, leaving him alone. He sat back in his chair and went through the warm feeling over and over again through the night. He liked being called 'Sev' again after such a long time.

A/N: Major Time skip!!!

It was December, and it began to snow. In an empty classroom, Hestia closed her eyes and focused. Then she transformed. Opening her eyes, she found out that every thing got bigger.

"You succeeded."

Baron put her down in front of a mirror for her to see.

She was a black fox and the tip of her tail was white. Her eyes were green and her pupils were horizontal slits, just like a cat's. 

Hestia turned back into human form, but found out that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get her claws and tails to disappear. She looked at Baron with despair in her eyes.

"It will disappear a few days later."

With that he disappeared, leaving Hestia (who was practically petrified) alone in the room.