A/N: I must say that I am a bit disappointed that I only got two reviews for the last chapter and one for the one before that. Well maybe I shouldn't post any more chapters until people begin reviewing more. Maybe I should take a week or two to post a chapter that way people have time to review. Tell me what you think in a review!
Winter Blaze: Thanks for your review. It was a bit small, but oh well at least you reviewed.
Tabitha78: Thank you again for all your great reviews. I hope that you received the responses to them that I sent you via e-mail. I really enjoyed being able to read what you thought and respond to it. It was the highlight of my day, which I don't get many of them.
Recap
Tonks had looked around the hospital wing, but didn't find anything she knew would help Harry. She wished that Madam Pomfrey would have been there, she would have known exactly what to do to help Harry. Unfortunately for Harry and her it didn't seem like anyone was around. Tonks made her way over to the bed she had placed Harry on. "I am sorry Harry I have failed you again." A tear rolled down her cheek as she placed her hand on to Harry's shoulder.
Chapter Fifteen: Dead World Or Virus World Part Two
Tonks just kept looking at Harry's limp body as it laid in the hospital bed. An hour had almost passed since they had come through the vortex, and still there was no change in Harry's condition. Tonks was becoming even more worried, as she had no idea what to do.
Back on the Pitch
Harry finished watching the fire in the sky. As the last bit of fire left the trail in the sky Harry felt an all to familiar tug behind his navel.
What Happened
Harry's eyes shot open and he stared at the red-rimmed eyes of Tonks sitting next to him. Quickly his mind raced through his memories to make sure this wasn't another memory. Though it didn't take him long to realize that this wasn't one of his memories.
As Harry's eyes had popped open, Tonks heart about jumped out of her chest. A great feeling of relief washed over her as she grabbed Harry in a hug. "You're alive!"
"Not for long" Harry cried as he was being crush by an over excited Tonks.
Tonks quickly left go of him and sat back down in her seat. "I was so worried about you! I was beginning to think you were dead or something."
Harry cringed at the thought as he looked at Tonks. "For a time there I thought I was dead or at least dying."
Tonks just looked at him shocked. She was not sure what to think as she had no idea what Harry was talking about. "Harry what happened while you were unconscious?"
Harry looked at her for a moment as he tried to sort through what had happened to him. "Well it was sort like my life was flashing before me, as I just stood there and watched. The first memory I relived was the first time I went to Diagon Alley with Hagrid. Only when the memory ended I could have sworn I saw a man standing behind me. It was like he was watching what was happening in the leaky cauldron just like I was."
Tonks just looked at him, she didn't know what to think about what he said. "Do you know who the man was?"
Harry looked at her as he thought about the man he thought he saw in his dream or memory. "No I didn't get a good look at him. He was gone when I turned around to see him better."
Tonks looked down at the floor. "That's too bad, might be nice to know who was stalking you."
Harry grinned, as he never thought about the fact that the man was possible stalking him. "I never thought of it that way. Well after that I felt like a Portkey was pulling me. Then I was in my next memory. This time I was watching myself as I got on to the Hogwarts Express for the first time. Only this time when the train pulled out of the station I thought I seen light glimmering off something metal, like a sword blade."
Tonks eyes widened as she listen to Harry's story. "You mean you seen someone with a sword on the train?"
Harry thought about what he had seen and then spoke. "No I didn't see anyone, all I seen was a quick glimpse of the blade. Then I felt the pull of the Portkey again. This time I was sucked into the memory of when my friends and I got stuck in a corridor we shouldn't have. The corridor had a big three headed dog named Fluffy in it. That was one mean ass dog."
Tonks was shocked again, she never heard of a three-headed dog being at Hogwarts. "Wow I bet that was scary. Why would they put a big three headed dog in a corridor at Hogwarts?"
Harry just laughed as he thought about Fluffy. "Fluffy as Hagrid called him, was set in the corridor to protect a trapdoor. Dumbledore was protecting a stone there that Voldemort wanted. Anyway that was the memory that I realized that I had to be dreaming, because Fluffy took a swipe at me and it went right through me. Once I realized this fact I again felt the pull of the Portkey. That is when I entered the last memory I had. This one was when I first learned how to play Quidditch after I had been accepted to the house team. After it was all done I began to think that there was nothing special about the memory. Then after the me in the vision and the team captain left the pitch I saw it. I saw a trail of fire streak across the night sky."
Tonks eyes widened with fright at the mention of fire. She hadn't thought about it since Harry had awoken, but now she remembered. She remembered about the burn on the back of Harry's head, where it had scorched off his hair on the back on his head. "Harry I think the fire you seen was a result of the fire that hit you when we left the last world."
Harry had been so wrapped up in trying to understand his memories or dream that he had forgot about the fire. "I forgot all about that."
Harry went to get out of bed but stopped when Tonks jumped in front of him. "Harry you need to rest. You took a nasty shot to the back of your head. I tried finding you help, but it doesn't seem like anyone is around."
Harry forced his way a past Tonks and tried to see what damage had been done. He transfigured a bed into a three-way mirror, so he could see the back of his head. He about fell over when he seen the hair was gone from the back of his head. "Why hair! That bastard singed off my hair!"
Tonks was shocked that Harry was only concerned with his hair. "Harry look closer! You also have some nasty burns from it too, and I think you should rest."
Harry looked closer but he could not see any burns on his head. "What are you talking about Tonks? All I see is my bald scalp from the missing hair."
Tonks went over and looked at the back of his head for herself. Sure enough the first and second-degree burns that she had seen earlier were gone. "What the hell? How could you have healed from the burns already?"
Harry didn't know how he had healed or what was going on with the burns. Maybe Tonks had only been seeing things or maybe something else was happening. Harry didn't know, but what he did know was that he was getting tired. "Tonks lets worry about it in the morning I am getting tired. I think we both should get some sleep after I check the timer."
Harry pulled out the timer and was glad to see that it was back in his possession. As he looked at it he seen it said "14:14:13:12" Harry couldn't believe it he was stuck on this world for fourteen days more.
Harry and Tonks laid down in separate beds after discussing what the time on the timer meant to them and their stay on the planet. It didn't take long for Tonks to fall asleep. Harry on the other hand laid in the bed just wishing that his hair was back to normal. He hated the idea of his hair being missing; it would just give people something else to stare at. After a while he finally managed to fall into a restless sleep.
Harry awoke the next day and found himself starving. He got of out of bed, and seen that Tonks was still sound asleep. Harry decided to allow her to sleep as he tried to find something to eat. Harry made his way towards the kitchen. Even if the castle was completely empty he hoped that there was at least some food in the kitchen.
Harry was shocked as he entered and found a passed out Winky lying on the kitchen floor. As he began to look around he saw Dobby appear in front of him. "Wow where you come from Dobby?"
Dobby was as shocked as Harry was. "Your human? How are you alive? Dobby thought all humans were dead. Sir how did you know Dobby's name?"
"Dobby I will explain what I can, but first is there any food here?" Ask Harry as he looked at the house elf.
Dobby found Harry some food to eat and as he ate he explained to Dobby how he had got to the world. He also told Dobby about how Tonks came to along with him. After he had finished he got some food for Tonks and headed back up to the hospital wing.
Harry walked in and found Tonks just waking up as he made his way towards her bed. "Good morning my lady, here is some breakfast for you."
Harry sat the tray of food down on the bed for Tonks and began to turn around to go sit down.
"Harry!" Tonks yelled as he turned to go sit down.
Harry turns back around and looks at Tonks to see what is wrong. "What?" Harry asked in a scared tone not knowing what the problem was.
"Your hair!" Tonks cried as she looked at Harry.
Harry got a disappointed and angry look on his face. He had hoped that Tonks would have been the one person to a past his missing hair. "Tonks come on I know it's gone, but do you have to rub it in?"
Tonks grinned widely as she jumped out of bed almost sending the tray of food flying at Harry. Luckily he his seeker skills added to his advantage and managed to catch the tray of food before it totally left the bed.
Tonks now stood in from of a disappointed and angry Harry. "Harry I am not making fun of your hair being missing. I am just shocked that your hair has grown back already. It looks like it did when I first met you. I was going to ask you where you got the food and how you managed to get your hair back. Are there other people in the castle after all?"
Tonks would have probably kept on rambling but she stopped when she seen Harry run for the three-way mirror he had transfigured the night before. Harry was shocked as he looked in the mirror. His hair was in fact back to normal, and he had no idea how it happened. "I don't know how my hair returned but I am grateful that it did."
Tonks looked at Harry for a moment. "You mean that someone didn't help you to grow it back?"
"No one helped me with the hair Tonks." Said Harry as he looked at the floor. "There aren't any other living humans left on this world." Said Harry in a hushed tone.
"Harry" Tonks said after a moment of silence. "Do you mean it just grew back over night without any help at all?"
Harry just looked at Tonks still confused. He did not know what Tonks wanted him to say. After all he went to bed hoping and praying that it would go to normal and now it was normal. "Yes Tonks it grew back without any potion or spell. All I did was wish that it would normal then I fell sleep."
Harry didn't know what hit him as Tonks practically knocked him to the floor by jumping on to him giving him a massive hug. "Harry do you know what this means?" asked Tonks very excitedly.
Harry tried to escape Tonks tight hug but found that she was really stuck on. "It means you so excited your going to crush me to dead." Harry gasped as he tried to breath under Tonks gripping hug.
Tonks blushed scarlet red as she left go of Harry and looked at the floor. "Sorry about that. Guess I got a bit over excited."
Harry laughed as he was finally able to breath again. "Yeah maybe just a little. So what got you so excited?"
Tonks looked up at Harry and her face was still bright red. "Harry you know that I am a Metamorphmagus right? Well as you know it is very rare to find other Metamorphmaguses because only one is born normally in a century. Harry I believe that you are a Metamorphmagus too."
Harry was shocked. He never thought it was possible for him to be a Metamorphmagus, but now that she mentioned it, it made sense. That explains why when Aunt Petunia shaved his head bald it had grown back by the next day. It also explained why it grew back this time. "Tonks I think you might be right, but how come I wouldn't have known?"
Tonks just looked at Harry a moment not really sure how to reply. "Well Harry it is possible that you just didn't know what you were looking for. For me it came natural because I had been changing my appearance since I was a baby. You however it may be harder to get use to it, though I am quit certain that you are a Metamorphmagus. There is no other possible way for your hair to have grown back over night. Well at least without the aid of a hair replacing potion or a hair repairing spell."
Harry didn't know what to think. He was still in shock and disbelief as he listened to Tonks. Though there were other matters that needed attention other than his ability to grow is hair back overnight. "Tonks you had better eat before your food gets cold."
Tonks had been so excited about Harry being a Metamorphmagus that she had forgotten about the food that Harry brought her. She went back to the bed with the tray on it and sat down to eat. "Harry where did you get the food?"
"From the kitchen." Said Harry as he sat down in the chair by the bed. He knew he would have to tell Tonks all that he knew, but he wasn't sure how to tell her.
"So are there others here?" Asked Tonks as she continued to eat.
Harry swallowed hard as he looked at Tonks. "Well that is a bit complicated. There are house elves here. That's how I managed to get the food. However there are no living humans left on this world."
Tonks gasped and sent bits of egg flying at Harry. Tonks blushed as she seen Harry wipe the eggs off his face. "Sorry, what do you mean there are no living humans on this world?"
Harry swallowed hard as he stood up and began pacing. "Dobby said that it was the muggles that caused all this to happen. The muggles became aware of the wizarding world and wanted it destroyed. They put their best scientists on to it, and came up with a virus that was to kill only those who were witches and wizards. From what Dobby told me it worked at first. At first it had only killed those of the wizarding world, but then the virus began to mutate. It began to kill off all humankind whether they were magical or muggle it didn't matter to the virus. It spread like wild fire everywhere killing them all. Though Dobby did say that the virus did not kill some of the more powerful of the muggles and wizards. Instead they were changed into zombies or some other dark undead creature. Though they do not come out during the daylight hours, at night they will hunt for food."
Tonks this time launched pumpkin juice out of her mouth and nose. "So what you're saying is that they hunt for food at night and we just happen to be the main course?"
Harry hadn't thought about it that way, but she was right nonetheless. "Unfortunately it would seem that way. Dobby said there are about twenty creatures around here in the Forbidden Forest. They have been feeding on the creatures of the forest, but if they find out we are here they will come looking for us."
Tonks sat the tray off to the side of the bed, all this talk about undead creatures wanting to eat her made her lose her appetite. "We are safe as long as we stay in here right?"
Harry smiled as he looked at Tonks. "Yeah we are safe inside the castle. We just can't go outside when it begins to get dark here. During the daylight we are safe to go out, but not from dusk till dawn."
Tonks breathed a sigh of relief at this fact. "Well I don't plan on leaving this castle. We only have two weeks here, and I am use to spending much more time in here than that. Though I am not sure what we will do for the next two weeks to keep use occupied." Tonks said with a wink to Harry and then turned and blushed as she thought about what her mouth had just said.
Harry just looked down at the floor feeling his face begin to get warm. "Well I plan on using these next two weeks to train myself. I need to get better at fighting, or else I will never be able to protect those that I care for. I will not stand by and watch as my friends are tortured and killed!"
Tonks could tell that Harry was becoming aggravated again because he was thinking about what Voldemort has done to him. Tonks couldn't blame him; because after all she had been through on her world she hated Voldemort just like Harry did. Though it was clear that Harry hated him even more. "That sounds like an excellent plan Harry. I think we both could use the training. I know if I was better I would be able to defend myself better and watch your back better."
Harry didn't know what to think about Tonks reaction. He knew that she would want to help on her own world, but why would she want to help Harry now. After all it was Harry that had drug her along with him into his hellish life. It was his fault that she was now stuck on a world where there were undead creatures possible threatening to kill them at night. "If that is what you want Tonks, but why would you want to help me?"
Tonks blushed a bit as she was starting to care about Harry more than she should have. There was something about him that she had felt when they first met that told her to trust him. There was something about Harry that drew her to him and yet she wasn't sure what it was. "Why wouldn't I help you? You helped me on my world. I would have been dead if it wasn't for you. Now it is my turn to help you by being by your side on each world we come to until we finally reach your world."
Harry knew that Tonks was pretty good at dueling if she could just gain more control over where her feet went. It was her clumsiness that caused her to mess up when dueling not her lack of knowledge. Harry just hoped that clumsiness wasn't a part of being a Metamorphmagus. "Well I will help you train in fighting, if you help me train in being a Metamorphmagus."
Tonks just smiled as she thought about all that she could show him. "You got yourself a deal."
They spent the rest of the daylight hours searching around the castle for anything that might help them in their training. They knew that they would need a lot of practice to get better, and they had two weeks to begin their improving. Harry arranged with it with Dobby to bring food up to the Gryffindor common room for them to eat for supper that evening. Dobby was more than willing to help since he didn't have anyone to work for, for the last five years since the last living wizard became a zombie.
That night they watched the grounds from the astrology tower. They wanted to see what they might be facing one night soon. However the light outside was not bright enough to see anything, so they decided to call it a night. They retired to Gryffindor common room where Harry transfigured two of the couches into beds so they could sleep in the same room. Harry didn't want her to far away just in case something it happen.
The first week of them being on the world passed pretty quietly. They had spent the week training in the art of dueling and also in the art of changing their personal appearance. Tonks was proving to Harry what he already knew. She was excellent at dueling she just needed help getting her legs to work right. Harry was making great improvements in altering his appearance. He had managed to change his eye color and the color of his hair. He was still having problems changing other aspects of his body, but Tonks kept telling him he would get better with practice.
Now they only had six more days left on this world. Surprisingly they were finding that being locked up in the castle alone was becoming rather boring. Sure they had their training to take up their time. They also spent time talking to Dobby and the other house elves. They even found that Nearly Headless Nick had a few stories that they had never heard, so they spent a few hours listening to him as well. However now they sat quietly in the Gryffindor common room reading. Harry was reading the book Tesi Shun Lotos by Leonardo Matrix. Tonks had been reading Dark Arts and Ways to Protect Yourself by Alastor Moody, which Harry had given to her to read after he finished it.
Tonks put down the book and looked at Harry. "Harry could we go into Hogsmeade today?"
Harry marked his place in his book and reduced it in size to fit in his pocket. He learned by now never to leave anything important behind even if you had a long time till you left. "I suppose we could, but we have to make sure we are back before dark. I don't feel like running into any of those zombies that are said to be outside."
Tonks agreed and they left the Gryffindor common room. Harry had decided to use the secret passage into Hogsmeade since it was faster than the main highway was. However once he got to the statue leading to the passage he began to get a feeling that he shouldn't be going that way.
Harry paused before opening the entrance and looked at Tonks. "This way is faster, but maybe it would be safer to go on the main road."
Tonks looked a bit scared. "Do you think something might be down there?"
Harry just looked down as he thought about one of the earlier worlds he had been on. "There was a world I went to where a giant crab like monster came up through this very passage. Now I don't know I might just be worrying over nothing, but there might be a nest of zombies down in this passage."
Tonks was really scared as she looked at the statue. "If there is why haven't they attacked?"
Harry thought about this, and had only come to one conclusion. "Since they are zombies they don't have the ability anymore to open the passage way on this end. However in Hogsmeade they could open the trap door."
Tonks just looked at Harry for a moment. "Well we could always take the road. It will only take an extra twenty minutes."
"Yeah I think we should just in case." Harry said as they made their way out of the castle. This was the first time since they got there that they had been outside. The rays of the sun felt great on their skin after being trapped in the castle for so long.
They made their way into the village of Hogsmeade and found it just as empty as the castle, which in a way was a relief. That at least meant that there were no zombies hiding in the buildings of the village.
Tonks decided to help herself to a change of robes in Gladrags Wizardwear. She figured since everyone here was dead they wouldn't mind. She really needed to get out of the robes that she had been wearing for the past week.
Harry happened to walk into the shop as Tonks was trying on some of the outfits. He was shocked and embarrassed when Tonks walked out in just a bra and panties while grabbing a different set clothes to try on.
"I'm sorry." Said Harry as he turned scarlet in the face and turned to look away.
Tonks blushed and then laughed. "What you never seen a lady in just her under garments before?"
Harry blushed even more but thankfully Tonks couldn't see his face. "Actually...to be honest I haven't."
Tonks stopped laughing as she realized what she was doing to Harry. She was really making him feel awkward standing there. "How about I meet you at The Three Broomsticks when I am done."
Harry just nodded and rushed out of the shop. He was never happier to be out of there than he had right at that moment. He decided to go check out The Three Broomsticks and see what he could find there as he waited for Tonks to finish with her clothes gathering.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful while in Hogsmeade though Harry did find a bit hard to look at Tonks the same way. He admitted to himself that she was beautiful, but to see her that way was just too much for him to take. Every time he looked at her now he had to think about anything but her or else he would return to thinking about how she looked in the robe shop.
They had slightly lost track of time while in Hogsmeade and seen it was slowly getting closer to being dark out. Harry looked at Tonks. "We will have to chance taking the passage way back. Otherwise it will be dark by time we hit the castle grounds. I really don't want to find out if those zombies really want to eat us or not."
They made their way to Honeydukes and went to the trap door. Harry had that same unnerving feeling that he had before. Though this time he didn't have the option of going around.
Harry took the lead going into the tunnel and made his way down the passage making sure that Tonks was right behind him. However about half way down the tunnel Harry saw what he had been dreading. There were five big nasty smelling zombies standing in the passageway glaring right at Harry and Tonks.
A/N: Oh how evil I left ya with another cliffhanger. I was hoping to finish this world in this chapter but it is getting a bit long, so I have decided to end it here. I hope I start getting more reviews from people, or else I may start feeling more depressed than I am now. So if you want the next chapter up SOON you need to review!
