Chapter 19:

Explore Some More

By Jelsemium

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, alas.

Harry really had intended to keep his promise to stay put.

However, the boredom and a sense of foreboding had him feeling restless.

It didn't help calm his nerves when Dumbledore informed him that, instead of waiting for the end of August, he would be "allowed" to take the OWLs on July 30.

He wasn't sure if he was ready. He'd had an extra month. However, unlike Hermione, he could only revise for so many hours at a time before he had to take a break.

Adding annoyance to disquiet, the Prank war between Sirius and Tonks had escalated. Furniture sprouted teeth. Pillows sprouted wings. Crockery and glassware made suicidal runs on anything that moved.

So Harry went back to taking his chances on the castle, in spite of the hazards. Like the staircase that suddenly decided it was tired of people tramping up and down it during its holiday and turned into a slippery slope.

Only a quick snatch from a friendly suit of Gryffindor armor prevented Harry from taking a nasty spill.

Another time, Harry was practicing his self-transfiguration (it was easier to sneak around in cat form) when Tonks stepped out of what appeared to be a tapestry and tripped on him.

This resulted in a lot of swearing on Tonks' part on the floor and hissing on Harry-the-Cat's part from on top of a bust of Ravenclaw's Sir Edgar Allan of Nevermore.

Tonks glared up, her blue eyes going golden and feline. Her sweet face transformed into a credible imitation of McGonagall's cat face.

Harry stopped hissing and changed back into his boy form

"Might I inquire as to why you are not currently occupying your bed in the hospital wing?" Tonks inquired cattily.

"Erm," Harry said. He thought that mentioning that he was trying to avoid her and her cousin would be impolitic. "Madam Pomfrey said that I could go to the loo?"

A feline ear flickered.

"I have a suspicion that Madam Pomfrey meant the loo in the hospital wing, not the one in Gryffindor Tower."

"Oh, really?" Harry failed to even approximate innocence.

"Yes, I really think so," Tonks said dryly. Her face morphed back into a human face, only she still looked like a young McGonagall. "You're just lucky you're so cute. Come on; let's get you back to bed."

Harry raised an eyebrow at her unintentional double entendre and grinned.

Tonks turned bright pink and her face changed back to her own, with the slight exception that she had no mouth.

Harry's grin became wider.

Tonks snorted and turned away. She indicated, with a jerk of her head, that Harry should follow.

Harry was too busy trying to put a straight face on to pay attention to where they were headed. For some reason he assumed that Tonks knew where she was going.

When he recognized the corridor they were in, he hesitated.

Mouthless Tonks looked over her shoulder at him. "Hmmee? Wfs wng?" A cat muzzle sprouted on her face. "Harry? What's wrong?" she asked nervously. Cat ears appeared on her head and swiveled nervously.

"This is the corridor that Fluffy used to guard," Harry said, equally nervously.

"Fluffy?"

"Hagrid's pet Cerberus," Harry explained.

"Fluffy?"

"Hagrid," Harry repeated.

"Oh, right," Tonks said. She frowned and her face faded back into a human's face. "Wasn't that in your first year?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "When Dumbledore was hiding the Philosopher's Stone here," he said.

"I heard that Flamel destroyed it," Tonks said.

Harry nodded.

"Then, Fluffy should be gone, too, right?"

Harry shrugged. "I have no idea where he is," he admitted. He thought about the past four years and then added. "Although there haven't been any warnings to stay out of this corridor since my first year."

"So there shouldn't be anything scarier than Peeves around here, right?" Tonks asked, clearly wanting reassurance since she was still whispering and looking around.

"Erm," Harry said.

"Right, let's go then," Tonks said.

They didn't get far before they were stopped short by the sight of a water dish the size of a bathtub and a food dish filled with dismembered chicken carcasses.

Not that Tonks and Harry spent a lot of time examining the dishes. Not when the owner of the bowls was lying right next to them, snoring away.

Tonks and Harry gaped, much as Harry and his classmates had gaped at Fluffy, because every snore was accompanied by a puff of smoke.

Without so much as an exchange of glances, both stepped backwards very slowly and with as little noise as humanly possible.

Then the guardian of the hall shifted its weight, and let out a snort. A small jet of flame shot out from the Norwegian Ridgeback's nostrils.

Neither Tonks nor Harry was in danger of being singed, though. The minute that the dragon moved, they bolted back the way they came like, well, there was a dragon breathing fire at them.

By the time they ran out of breath and corridor, they were out of breath and completely lost.

"That, that wasn't Fluffy, right? Right?" Tonks demanded. She leaned over and clutched her knees as she fought for breath.

"No," panted Harry. "Not sure, but I think…" He stopped to drag in some air into his burning lungs. "I think that was Norbert."

"Norbert?" Tonks said faintly.

"Of course, it's been years since I saw him," Harry added when he had more oxygen to spare. "He was only so big then." He gestured to indicate the smallness of Baby Norbert.

"Harry, you're joking, right?" Tonks demanded. "Even Hagrid couldn't want a pet dragon."

Harry didn't answer.

"Tell me that you're joking," Tonks insisted. "Lie if you must."

Harry took a deep breath, couldn't think of anything to say, and stalled by looking around. "I think this corridor looks like it leads somewhere… safe," he said, pointing to their left. "Well, safer, anyway. Come on." He started off at a fast pace.

Tonks shook her head and followed, grumbling. "The one time I need a man to lie to me…"