Chapter 10: The Exploration

Albus Dumbledore looked sternly at Harry Potter, who was seated at the other side of his desk next to Minerva McGonagall.

"Now, Harry, these dreams of yours have been getting worse lately?" Harry shifted in his seat and looked down.

"Visions, actually. I mean, I still have the nightmares about Ced…well, I still have nightmares. But these…these are different. They happen when I'm awake. It's almost like I can…see what he's seeing and feel what he's feeling." Dumbledore took off his glasses and started cleaning them thoughtfully.

"I do not think you should dwell upon these visions, Harry. Perhaps they are a trap set purposely by Tom, or maybe they are the result of the extreme stress that you are under-"

"I'm not stressed!" Harry banged his fist on Dumbledore's desk and stood up. Both McGonagall and Dumbledore looked slightly taken aback. Harry sat down sheepishly.

"Well, I mean, of course I am. But I don't think that's it! He was very angry today! I felt it! Someone messed up…his followers…they made a mistake…they lost something important, or couldn't find it in the first place…I just…what if he doesn't know about this? What if I can help the Order with this…" Dumbledore gave McGonagall a worried look and held his hand up.

"Harry, Tom may be many things, but an idiot he is not. If there is any connection between the two of you, he will be very much aware. If these visions become more severe over time, I am afraid we will have to act. However, for now, it would be best to ignore them. Look at the time! It's getting late, wouldn't want you to sleep through your morning class! Goodnight, Harry! Sleep well!" Harry slowly got out of his chair.

"Goodnight Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall." As soon as he left, McGonagall straightened up in her chair.

"Albus, do you think it odd that Potter is under the impression that You-Know-Who is angry that he lost something the day we find Miss Beckett and bring her here? Why could he possibly want Potter to know about that?" Dumbledore sighed.

"I think our Amy is the exact reason that Tom wasn't exactly pleased; we took her right under the noses of his Death Eaters. However, Harry Potter has more than enough to deal with at this time. If his visions get worse or if he simply cannot ignore him, I will refer him to Severus for Occlumency lessons."

"Do you think Severus would agree to such an arrangement?" McGonagall asked.

"Minerva, Severus has never refused me a favor for as long as he has been a spy for us. I do not think he plans on starting now."

"Very well," said McGonagall as she got up from her seat. "I have rounds to make. Goodnight, Albus."

"Night, Minerva," he said as he watched her go. His gaze stayed where she had left as he took in the entire day's events. After a few minutes he got up, walked over to his Pensive, and put his wand to his head. He relaxed as the wispy blue-white stream left his head. Once he was finished, he retired to his own room for the night.

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When Amy awoke on Saturday afternoon, she gave a great yawn and stretched across her bed. She opened her eyes, gasped, and surveyed the foreign room. All of her belongings were in it, but it was definitely not the same room she had woken up in the previous night.

Where am I? she wondered. She glanced up at the desk and noticed the cauldrons of various sizes and materials still on it.

So it wasn't a dream. The events from the previous day came flooding back to her.

But wait…how did I end up back in here? I don't remember ever coming back to this room. She then noticed some things that weren't on her desk previously. Such as the history paper that she had handed in last week. Graded. She hurriedly flipped to the back page where the grade was. She gave a short cry of outrage as she stared at the grade, willing it to change.

"B+? He has the nerve to give me a B+? I spent days preparing for this stupid paper! Screw him!" Amy exclaimed as she threw the paper down in disgust. She then turned to the other papers on her desk. They were assignments for each of her five classes for the week.

"This looks like loads of fun," she said sarcastically as she put the papers down and went to turn her laptop on. However, it did not turn on. She pressed the power button about five times, then reached for the power cord. Amy moved frantically about the room as she realized there was no place to plug it in.

"How am I going to get any work done if I can't even turn this stupid thing on?" She stormed away from her computer and toward one of her bags. She took out her Ipod and pressed the power button. Nothing happened.

"Don't tell me you don't work either! Damn it! How do these wizarding people stay sane?" She threw the Ipod onto her bed and went into the bathroom.

A shower. That's all I need, a shower so that I don't go kill someone.

However, when Amy drew back the curtain of her shower, she didn't see any sort of knobs to make the water come out. Deciding that it wasn't worth her time, she threw the curtains shut, fuming.

I need to get out of this stupid little room. Maybe someone out there will know why none of my stuff works. She opened the door and slammed it shut behind her. Having no idea where she was going, she walked up a staircase and to the right. A girl with flamingo pink hair styled in a Mohawk spotted her and walked up to her.

"Wotcher," said the girl with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Excuse me?" asked Amy, confused. The girl slapped herself in the head.

"It's me! Tonks! Person who took you out of your world and brought you here? You can't have forgotten me after only one day!"

"Tonks?" Amy said, then remembered that Tonks had the ability to change her appearance at will.

"Sorry, I didn't recognize you. What are you doing here, I thought you said you weren't coming back until next week?"

"I'm covering for one of the other Aurors. He's wife's caught a nasty case of Dragon Pox, and there was no one else to watch the kids. I volunteered to do that, but for some reason he thinks I'd be a bad influence. Me! Imagine that!" She smiled, then tilted her head at Amy, concerned.

"Is everything alright? You were sort of…stalking about before." Amy grinned sheepishly.

"I've just had a bad morning. I had forgotten where I was when I woke up, none of my things work, my history professor had the nerve to give me a B+ when I know I deserved an A…"

"Hang on, the grading system is a bit different here. B+ isn't failing, is it?"

"Well no, not at all, I mean, well it's sort of good, I suppose. I just…wanted to do better." Tonks smiled at Amy.

"I know someone you'd get along with." Just then, Amy's stomach let out a fierce growl.

"Where can I get some food around here?" she asked.

"Well, usually at the Great Hall, but seeing as how you've missed breakfast and lunch…"

"Wait!" Amy exclaimed. "What time is it, then?"

"Almost a quarter past one," Tonks answered. Amy looked horrified.

"I slept that long? Shit! How did that happen?" She looked at Tonks as if she knew the answer.

"Dunno, maybe Snape slipped you some Dreamless Sleep or something. I'm joking, I don't think he would have done that, unless he found you particularly irritating," Tonks said at Amy's look of alarm.

"You haven't had much of a tour of the castle, have you? Why don't I take you down to the kitchens? I used to sleep through breakfast every weekend," Tonks smiled.

"We're allowed to go in the kitchens?" Amy asked, surprised. Tonks looked down at the floor.

"Well, uh, not exactly. But you'll find that at this school, breaking the rules is a bit of a tradition." Both girls walked though the halls, Amy trying to look at everything they passed and Tonks occasionally waving at people. One thing that caught Amy's eye in particular was a portrait of two pirates having a sword fight. She stopped walking to watch them. One of the pirates turned toward her nastily.

"What arrr yeh lookin at?" he asked. Amy moved back slightly.

"Oh…sorry I…I didn't mean…I'll just…" she started. However, the other pirate in the portrait waved his sword and took off the arm of the one who yelled at Amy. She gasped and put her hand over her mouth.

"Now look what yeh've made me….gahh!" he exclaimed as the other pirate sliced off one of his legs as well.

"You deserved it, you nosy codger," Tonks said as she pulled Amy away.

"Don't worry, not all the portraits are so cheeky." Both girls remained silent until they reached a hallway filled with portraits of fruit. Tonks walked up to one of the portraits and tickled a pear. It giggled, squirmed, and then turned into a doorknob. Tonks turned it, and about twenty houselves crowded around the now open door.

"Can we get misses anything?" One of them asked. Amy backed away, but Tonks went closer toward them.

"Miss Tonks is back!" one of them exclaimed. Five others rushed at Amy and Tonks with a teakettle and a plate of biscuits.

"Nice to see you all again! It feels like I haven't been down here in ages. We've missed lunch, you see, so we were wondering if we might get a bit of food to hold us over until dinner."

"Certainly, miss, it is our pleasure!" exclaimed one with a particularly high voice. Amy just stood there, bewildered, as houselves shoved a tray into her hands filled with ham sandwiches, a couple of slices of bread, and two large cups of pumpkin juice.

"Th-thanks," she finally said, shakily.

"Thanks a lot, guys! We've got to be going now. We really appreciate it!" She headed for the door.

"It is our pleasure!" yelled one of the elves as a group of them bowed. "Come back any time!"

They walked for a bit until Tonks stopped, took out her wand, and conjured a table and two chairs. They settled the food on the table and sat down.

"So those were…house elves?" Amy asked.

"Yep! They're the ones who make the food and the beds and everything around here. They're great; they love to serve and do a brilliant job. No one really goes into the kitchens, so when someone actually does, they get really excited. Not all of them are so nice, though. My cousin's got one and he's, well, that's not important. Dig in!"

Both girls started eating as if they hadn't seen food for days. After a few minutes of eating in silence, Amy asked, "So…did you change your appearance a lot like…when you were in school?" Tonks laughed.

"Well, not in the beginning. I didn't know I was a metamorph until during my third year. Was a bit of a shock, actually. A Slytherin started teasing me after I tripped over a bench in the courtyard. My face turned bright red, but that wasn't the only thing. A bunch more Slytherins started teasing me, and others just stared. Imagine my surprise when I walked out by the lake and saw my hair reflected bright red. I went to Professor Sprout, who took me to Professor Dumbledore, and after doing a bit of research I found out what I was. However, after I learned, I used it to my advantage. By seventh year, I could morph my entire face. It kept me out of trouble a bunch of times. Except with Snape. He always knew it was me, the bastard."

"You had Snape as a professor?" Amy asked, slightly surprised.

"Unfortunately. What a pain in the arse that man was. Makes students lives hell, especially in Potions." Amy looked in horror over Tonks' shoulder and saw that Snape was silently inching up behind her. Amy tried clearing her throat loudly.

"Food stuck in your throat? Here, darling, drink your pumpkin juice. Now, as I was saying, Snape was such a miserable bat that during my sixth year I tried to slip him a love potion during dinner. Now, the way that love potion worked, you would fall desperately in love with the first person who you made eye contact with. Professor Dumbledore sat on his right, and McGonagall on his left, so the results would have been hysterical…but…"

"But you should have known better than to try to poison a Potions Master," said a silky voice from behind Tonks. She jumped and her sandwich went flying across the room.

"As I recall, Miss Tonks, you were given detention for a week, squeezing out bubotuber pus and collecting spider legs," Snape reminisced with a smirk.

"Listen, I would have pulled it off if Jamie had actually done her job and distracted you," Tonks said, crossing her arms.

"I'm sure," said Snape, who turned over to Amy. "I see the princess has awoken."

"How did I get back into my room last night?" Amy asked. Tonks picked up her head and glanced between Amy and Snape with a look somewhere between suspicion and amusement.

"Well, when I woke up this morning, on my couch," he growled, "I noticed that you were out cold with no intention of waking. First I checked for a pulse, then levitated you from my bed into your own. Couldn't have you nosing about in my rooms while I wasn't there. Dumbledore seemed a bit concerned that you weren't at breakfast or lunch, but I convinced him that you could do with a bit of rest. I hope you don't have the intention of sleeping through every morning here."

"…what on Earth were you doing in Snape's bed?" Tonks asked, as she began to laugh.

"It's not what it sounds like!" Amy exclaimed, and Snape just rolled his eyes. Then Amy turned back to Snape.

"No...I don't know how that happened….but….but maybe if any of my things actually worked I'd have been able to set an alarm!" She said, suddenly annoyed.

"Muggle electricity does not, for the most part, work inside of Hogwarts. However, if you talk to the Headmaster, I'm sure he will accommodate you. Now then, when you are quite finished with your little picnic, you are going to come with me to see Madam Pomphrey." Amy's eyes opened wide in panic.

"What? So soon? But I haven't had a chance to…prepare!" Amy exclaimed lamely. Tonks looked beyond confused.

"Why do you have to see Madame Pomphrey? And what were you doing in Snape's bed?" However, she was ignored once again.

"Prepare? For what? Get a hold of yourself, girl. I simply asked her to give you a checkup. It will take no longer than five minutes, and it will be completely pain free. We must go today, because the Hospital Wing is quite busy on weekdays during classes. A lot of incompetent students get into….accidents." He smirked at Tonks when he said this. She glared at him and crossed her arms.

"Is anyone going to tell me what I apparently missed yesterday?" For a third time, her question was ignored.

"Don't you have a…job to do or something?" Snape asked coldly.

"I'm going, I'm going," Tonks growled as she cleaned up the chairs and table.

"This doesn't end here! You've got some explaining to do!" she called out to Amy as Snape started dragging her away.

"Bye Tonks!" she yelled. "Thanks for…er…lunch!" Tonks winked at her.

"Any time! See you later! Don't let the old bat drive you crazy!" Snape glared at the back of Tonks' head as she skipped down the opposite corridor. Amy had to walk briskly to keep up with Snape and was soon out of breath.

"Albus has told me he has sent some things from your school to your room. Have you received them?" Snape asked as they ascended up a flight of stairs.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did. Can you believe that my professor had the nerve to give me a B+? I worked on that paper for ages! I could kill the…ah!" Amy let out a small shriek as she tripped up the last step. Snape shook his head at her.

"Merlin's bullocks, you're a Granger-Tonks," he complained.

"I'm a what?" Amy asked, getting up and rubbing the knee that she fell on.

"Nothing," he said as he kept walking. He entered a room that looked like a miniature hospital and stopped. He suddenly looked worried.

"Wait a second…I wonder if she knows you're a…" He didn't get to finish, because at that moment Madame Pomphrey bustled in.

"Now now, sit down, sit down dear," she said hurriedly as she shoved a bottle filled with clear liquid into Amy's hand.

"What is it?" she asked, turning it around in her hand.

"It's a tracer. It will allow me to examine you fully and quickly. It reacts with my wand. If my wand turns blue, everything is normal. If it turns red, there is some sort of issue. Don't worry, it won't be anything I can't fix. Now drink it."

Amy opened the bottle and sniffed it tentatively. Relatively sure that it wouldn't kill her, she drank from it. Madame Pomphrey kneeled down next to her and studied her face.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"….tingly?" Amy said after searching for a word to describe the prickly sensation all over her body.

"Good. Severus, stand back please," she ordered as she took out her wand. "Ostendo infirmitas!" she said as she waved her wand over Amy. It turned blue and started humming.

"Lift up your arm dear, good, now turn this way, yes, now move a bit, right…" She continued to bark commands at Amy, while waving her wand. Amy kept her eye on the wand, afraid that it would turn red, especially when the wand reached her abdomen. However, after what could have been no more than a few minutes, Madame Pomphrey stopped.

"Well, you're perfectly healthy. You're free to go," she told Amy briskly. Snape, however, did not move.

"Are…are you quite certain?" he asked. "Nothing seems…amiss?" Madame Pomphrey crossed her arms and walked over to Snape. Although she was a great deal shorter than him, she seemed to draw herself up to his height.

"Are you questioning my medical authority? I've been a mediwitch since before you were born, Severus, I am quite sure I know what I'm doing." Snape hesitated for a moment.

"Well of course…I never thought…thank you, Poppy," he finished abruptly without looking at her. She didn't have a chance to answer, however, as McGonagall came rushing into the room with what looked like a gigantic plant with legs. Madame Pomphrey gaped for only a second before she came rushing over. McGonagall, however, came rushing toward Severus. Amy remained on her bed, watching the scene with interest.

"Is that Mr. Longbottom?!" Madame Pomphrey exclaimed.

"Indeed it is. Severus, the students in your house have gone too far. Dueling in the corridors! Longbottom wasn't even involved! A stray curse of Mr. Goyle's hit Mr. Longbottom as he was walking down the hall. I think he meant the curse to do something else, but this is the result. I expect you will make it your priority to speak with him, Severus." However, Snape was only half listening and seemed very distracted.

"Of course, Minerva. However, my priority lies somewhere else at the moment." He indicated to Amy. McGonagall appeared to have seen her for the first time.

"Oh, yes, of course," she said shortly, and turned her attention away from them. Snape beckoned for Amy to get up. She hesitated and turned toward Madame Pomphrey, wanting to thank her, but she was completely immersed in Neville's condition. They slipped out silently and unnoticed and walked the entire way to the dungeons silently. Snape stopped in front of Amy's room and appeared to be waiting for her to go inside.

"Is everything alright, Sev?" Amy asked.

"Why wouldn't it be?" he asked without looking at her.

"Well for one thing, you didn't yell at me for calling you Sev. And you seem distracted." However, his response seemed to be more to himself than to Amy.

"It's just…she should have caught…surely she would have noticed…need to see Dumbledore." Amy just looked at him. After a few seconds, he appeared to snap out of it and turned to Amy.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I scheduled a detention for one of the annoying Creevy brats Monday evening. You will therefore have your first potions lesson tomorrow evening instead. Bring the cauldrons, I will provide everything else. I need to see Professor Dumbledore right now. I'll have one of the houseleves show you how to work the alarm and anything else you might have trouble with. I'll see at dinner." And with that he walked away without giving Amy a chance to speak. She stood there for a few moments, frowning, then spoke the password to her rooms and went in to read some of the 300 pages of work she had for the week.

Latin: ostendo reveal, infirmitas infirmity.

A/N: Thanks for reading. This story has a lot more hits than I ever expected. But not so many reviews. Really, I'd like to know what you think. You can review just once. I'm back from vacation so the updates will be quicker. Thanks to all my previous and current readers and reviewers.