Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter sob!
Shanks was rudely awakened as he hit the floor with a hard thump. He had been having a pleasant dream about Finula Fairfax, a particularly fine example of the female leprechaun, made more alluring by the fact that she was an innkeeper's daughter. Things had just got to an interesting stage in their flirty conversation, he was twirling a strand of her auburn hair through his fingers when his dream transformed and he had shrunk to the size of an imp, tumbling down her tresses before being awakened by the dull pain caused by his large rear impacting the stone paves. He tilted his head up to glare accusingly at his assailant and was miffed to find that said attacker was paying him absolutely no attention.
The occupants of the Gryffindor common room would have been surprised to observe what the cat did next. Crookshanks' normal reaction to an offence against him was generally quick and brutal. The hapless individual who had unwisely stoked the cat's temper usually found that they were treated to a short but highly painful introduction to Shank's left paw, which from his brawling days was by far his strongest. Most of the time, the inflicted gashes were deep enough to warrant a visit to the infirmary by the poor victim.
So for Shanks to do nothing more than glower menacingly at Snape would have drawn a deluge of comments. Sadly there was no-one around to witness this uncharacteristic restraint by the moggy. Nor would anyone register the most unusual look of apology on Snape's face as he turned to face the cat. Even if someone had been present, they could have been forgiven for not noting it, for it only appeared for a second before being replaced by the trademark 'mocking smirk' of the Potions professor. Cats, however, have the ability to monitor the tiniest of details from behind half-lidded eyes. Thus Shanks saw the look and wondered whether all the tall tales about the evil Dungeons Dweller he had heard over the years were pure childish fantasy.
He decided to accompany Snape for the day to find out.
a/n: not that much humour and very short, but more is to come, just had to move the story along a little. I know it's been an age since I last updated but if people let me know if they're still interested in this fic I'll update more regularly! Reviews are greatly appreciated.