Chapter 7

(A/N: Again, sorry for any errors! Please continue to comment and review!)

July 2, 1995 1:39 pm

"Sirius."

"What?"

"What's behind this curtain?" She was pointing at the curtain behind Bellatrix's bed. At first glance it appeared to be another wall, but when you looked closely you could tell that it was made of fabric.

"I don't know," Sirius said, tugging on it. It fell to the floor, revealing a metal cage.

"Bloody hell," Tonks whispered. The creature inside the cage was starting to stir; it rose up, crunching human bones beneath its massive feet. "Why does Bella have a dragon in her room?"

"More importantly, what the fudge are we going to do with it?" yelled Sirius.

"What the 'fudge'?" Tonks repeated. "You totally just ruined the dramatic moment we had going on there."

There was silence for a moment, and then they both started to laugh. The dragon seemed to want to know what was so funny; it snorted flame out of its nostrils, almost catching the carpet on fire.

"Do you think it's tame?" Sirius asked uncertainly. He looked like he thought having a dragon as a pet would liven up his boring life quite a bit.

"I doubt it," Tonks replied. "And even if it was at one time, it's sure to be in a bad mood now; who knows when its last meal was."

"We could feed it," Sirius said excitedly. "Kreacher would make a great meal.

"Kreacher?" Tonks asked.

"My mum's old house elf. He's completely loony," Sirius explained.

"I don't really think feeding the dragon a house elf is a good idea. Don't you have anything else?" Tonks asked.

Sirius's reply was cut off by the dragon as it let out a huge roar. It grabbed the bars of the cage with its jaws and they splintered like matchsticks. Sirius let out a high pitched scream, sounding a lot like his mother.

"Run!" yelled Tonks.

"Go to the pantry," Sirius ordered as they rushed down the stairs, the dragon following. "There's a bunch of dead animals in there for Buckbeak."

"Who's Buckbeak?" asked Tonks, who, instead of running down the stairs like her cousin, was simply sliding down the banister.

"I'll explain later. How is the dragon going to fit through the pantry door?" Sirius asked.

"Defodio!" Tonks shouted, as the door came into sight. It exploded, making a big enough gap for the dragon to fit through. Luckily, it was fairly small, only about five metres tall when it stood on its hind legs.

"Bellatrix probably had some kind of charm on the cage that wore out," Tonks said, jumping off the banister.

Sirius nodded, gasping for breath. Horrible munching noises were coming from the pantry as the dragon devoured its contents. It emerged a few minutes later.

"Hey boy," Sirius said, approaching it. The dragon backed away.

"Look," Tonks said, pointing to the long scars covering the dragons back. "I think Bellatrix might have been a little abusive to it."

"Maybe we should put it back in its cage," Sirius said nervously. "You know, before it tries to eat us."

"I'm sure Molly and Arthur would be absolutely fine with a dragon in their room," Tonks replied sarcastically. "That cage is too small for it anyway."

"We could keep it in the hidden room across from Regulus's old room," Sirius suggested. "The door is only visible for those who know its contents."

"What is going on down here?" Remus's voice floated down the stairs. "Why can't you two just behave yourselves?" He appeared a second later, his expression turning from tiredness to shock for the second time that day. "What on Earth happened to the kitchen? I just cleaned it a little while ago. And please tell me that is not a dragon."

"This is Cuddles," Sirius said, patting the dragon on the head. "He is replacing you as my new best friend because you are too boring."

Remus just stood there with his mouth open.

"Anyway, Moony, we're taking Cuddles up to his new home on the fourth floor. Have fun cleaning the kitchen." Sirius left the room, Cuddles following.