Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

From the moment he woke, Harry knew something wasn't quite right.

A shudder ran up Harry's back, and he pulled the covers tighter around him. Of course, he woke up most of the time feeling uneasy. The Dursley's had all but conditioned it into him, so much so Harry often found himself waking in the middle of the night for no apparent reason.

Still, this feeling wasn't the usual Dursley related feeling. This felt darker somehow, almost like someone was watching him.

That was silly though, Harry thought to himself, the others were still asleep. Even now he could hear Ron's heavy snoring, the rustle of sheets as the other boys tossed in their sleep.

Maybe it was just him then. Harry shuffled further down his bed, snuffling back into his warm pillow and closing his eyes. What ever it was could wait for morning. Sleep, however, seemed to have deserted him completely, his bed far too hot and still with that feeling of unease. Sighing, Harry turned again to stare fuzzily at his glasses on the bed side table.

Maybe whatever had woke him up was responsible for petrifying Filch's cat? It was possible. Harry shuddered, pulling his quilt further up so it covered his head. That wasn't something he wanted to think about, he'd never get to sleep.

Something rustled in the far corner, and Harry grimaced. Was whatever it was still in there? How could it even get in? Straining his hearing, Harry could just make out the faintest sound, like sandpaper against stone, and the dull thump of whatever it was making its way down the stairs. Harry lowered his covers, chancing a glance.

Nothing.

Was it in his head? Was his over active, sleep deprived mind playing tricks on him? It certainly wouldn't be the first time. But no, that thing had gone downstairs, hadn't it? Down to the common room. Reaching for his wand and glasses, Harry slipped out of his bed, grabbing his invisabilty cloak as he went, and made his way over to the stairs.

It was dark, but a whispered Lumos soon had the hallway lit enough to see. The common room was empty when he got there, the dying embers in the hearth the only sound in the room. Nothing moved. Well, that settled it then didn't it. It was all in his head. Harry turned to go back to bed.

The quiet thunk of the portrait door had Harry pausing. Was someone sneaking out? Harry thought for a moment. Maybe a firstie had decided to see what the castle looked like at night? Harry couldn't blame them for their curiosity, however if Snape found them points would surely be taken. Best to fetch them back now before anything bad could happen.

Mind made up, Harry turned back around and left the tower, closing the portrait behind him softly as to not wake the Fat Lady. At a glance, it seemed like the corridor was empty. Harry supposed they couldn't be too far ahead.

Harry fiddled with his cloak for a moment, making sure it was securely covering him before he hopped onto one of the moving staircases. The scraping sounds continued, and Harry followed them as quickly as he could until he was stood outside the second floor girls bathroom, the usually closed door swinging slightly on its hinges.

Placing a hand on the old wood, Harry eased the door open slowly. The room was dark, lit only by moon light coming in from the tall windows near the sinks. To his left, Harry could just about see the rows of stalls, varnished a dark brown and nearly invisible with the lack of light.

"Tap..."

What? "Who's there?" Harry called out. He stepped into the room, shutting the door firmly behind him and pulled off his cloak. He couldn't see anyone.

A shudder raced through him. Great, now he was talking to disembodied voices. What next, was someone going to jump out of the loo? Was this a joke?

"Tap.. open."

Harry frowned, making his way over to the porcelain sinks. None of this was making any sense.

"Sslytherin give me sstrength. Just ssay open you idiot!"

Harry jumped, yelping in surprise. Well then, someone was impatient.

"Oh, um.. open." Harry hissed.

Quite suddenly the sound of stone grinding on stone filled the room. Harry stumbled back just in time for the marble steps he had once been standing on to fall away.

"Jump."

Ok, so the voice was obviously insane. Could it not see the dark, mysterious and most defiantly not safe pit? "And drop to my death, no thank you."

"Boy, I swear to the foundersss-"

"Harry!"

"Gah!" Harry screamed, spinning on his heals just in time to see, of all things, a girl leap out of one of the stalls. His foot caught a particularly slippery tile, and then he was falling.

Harry landed with a thump, his fall not in the least cushioned by the water he'd fell into. Groaning, he picked himself up, rubbing at his bruised hip as he looked around.

He was in what looked to be a sewer, which wasn't a surprise considering where he'd just come from. The high ceiling was covered with brown and green moss, small droplets of water falling from the clumps. The water covering the floor was only about two inches deep. Harry didn't want to think what might be in it.

Both his cloak and wand were gone, probably still in the bathroom above where he'd flung them when that girl had surprised him.

What a night this was turning out to be.

"Thisss way." And there was that voice again, closer now than ever. It sounded slurred, and Harry wondered not for the first time if he should really be there. The obvious answer was no, but there was really no going back now.

Collecting himself, Harry gave his cousin's shirt a tug. Well, might as well. He started to walk, following the tube as it twisted and turned until finally Harry found himself in a large, open room. Pillars lined each side of the room, sat in long, overflowing troughs. A stone face sat at the end, it's huge mouth gaping in what Harry supposed was meant to be a scream.

"Hello sspeaker."

Harry didn't even bother looking around, he knew he wouldn't see anything. "Yes?"

Water splashed behind him, and suddenly Harry was face to face with the largest snake he had ever seen in his twelve years of existence. He fell back in surprise, hitting the floor and wriggling back as the snake towered over him, all green scales and red feathers.

The snake opened its mouth. "Oh don't be like that. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Well I don't know that do I?" Harry all but shrieked. Seriously what was up with this school?

The snake seemed to huff, lowering it's massive head so it was on eye level. It's eyes were milky, like a film was covering them, but Harry could still see the yellow of it's irises. "Really now, is that any way to treat your host? If I wasn't sso desperate for company I'd have eaten you by now."

"Company?"

"Yess, Company! What, you think just becausse I'm a creature that means I like living alone! Of coursse not!" The snake growled out, venom or spit or something dripping from it's mouth. It raised up again, turning sharply towards the opened mouth statue. "Well, come on then. We don't have all night you know."

The beast disappeared into the statue. Harry sat there for a few moments, dumbfounded. What the Hell..?

"Hurry up!"

Harry scrambled to his feet.

It took a moment for Harry to heave himself over the bottom lip of the statue, but when he finally did he found himself in a large humid space, the floor covered with bits of straw and twigs, as well as suspiciously bone like splinters and bits of congealed stuff Harry didn't even want to think about.

The snake was curled up at the back, watching with a somewhat grumpy expression as it's visitor inspected it's living area.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"Oh, sorry." Harry mumbled, seating himself in one of the few dry bits of straw. The snake sighed, it's tail thumping against the stone.

Harry coughed. "So, um. How long have you been here then?"

The snake levelled him a look. "Far longer than you can imagine."

"Oh.."

They sat there in silence for awhile. Harry rubbed a stick between his fingers. The snake gave him a dark look. "Oh jusst ssay ssomething pleasse! Anything, just not more silence."

Alright then.

Surprisingly the snake wasn't actually that bad of a conversation partner. It knew quite a lot, something it seemed quite proud of. It meant, according to it, that it was not just some mindless beast, but a scholar in its own right. Harry wasn't too sure, but didn't want to disagree.

A few hours passed, and soon Harry found himself yawning.

"I'll take you back now." The creature said. "You follow me now, something as stupid as you might get lost in these pipes."

"Yeah, whatever," Harry yawned.

The snake glanced back. "So, you'll come back tomorrow, won't you? As dull as you are, dull company is better than no company."

Ah, why the Hell not. "Sure."

AN: My first Harry Potter fic! Yay! This has been several years in the works, so much so I was writing the first drafts about seven years ago. Still have no idea what I'm doing, but oh well!

Don' forget to comment, follow and favourate!