Basilisk Eyes

Chapter 153: Wet dog

Harry's heart lunged to his throat as he thought about the possibility of being trapped in the little cave with the huge dog sniffing him out. His palms prickled as sweat coated them. He couldn't let the dog get Gemma and Aminah. He wiped his palms on his knees.

Gemma's wand clattered on the earth next to her as she draped Nio around his neck and lifted his hands so that they were resting on hers while she signed.

"Breathe. It'll be okay. I don't think we have to fear that dog..." Gemma consoled and then continued when Harry shook his head in response. "I don't care what they say. He has such sad eyes. He could have attacked us, but he hasn't. He is near. He could have hurt us, but he hasn't. Do you ______ me?"

He tried to make the sign he didn't understand, pulling his eyebrows together into a question and she fingerspelled it into his hand, "T-R-U-S-T," repeated the sign, and then corrected Harry as he moved his hands through the sign.

He nodded.

"Good. Let's see what happens. I trust the dog more than I trust that A-U-R-O-R. We wait here. Tell Aminah, tell Nio," she said, her signs composed and heartening. He wondered how such a small person could inspire so much confidence.

I should be the one reassuring her, he thought, berating himself for being afraid. He turned to Aminah and told her what Gemma had said, then repeated the conversation for Nio.

"So we just wait here?" Aminah said, slumping against Harry. "I want to know what's happening with my Abu!"

"Gemma says that we should wait. Besel is coming to find us. We just have to hang tight for a little longer, Aminah," Harry put his arm around her in an attempt to comfort her. Clumsy though it was, it seemed to help. Gemma huddled close on his other side, lifting her wand so that it poked up on the cloak a little whenever Harry spoke to Aminah or Nio. He realized that she must be using it like a torch to read the slips of paper, but it wasn't bright enough for him to notice it, even though it was close to his face. He sighed heavily, hoping that it didn't shine out from under the cloak.

Harry tried to calm his ragged breath so that he could hear the sounds of the cavern over it and strained to hear signs of activity. His stomach rumbled and Gemma must have felt it because she asked him, "What?" He put a hand on his stomach in response and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Why do you think the dog was wet?" Harry asked Gemma and she shrugged in response and then signed under his hand, "he was smelly? Wanted a bath? S-E-W-E-R?"

Harry shrugged.

"What did Gemma say?" Aminah asked.

"That maybe he was stinky from being in the sewer and wanted a bath..."

"Isn't he a wixen? Can't he just Scourgify himself?"

"I imagine he doesn't have a wand... what with escaping from Azkaban and all," Harry said.

"True. Do you think they'll send my Abu there?" Aminah said, her arm linked through Harry's trembling.

"Healer Jordan said that she'd share her memories of what that bloke McCarthy said. I can share mine, too. And Septima... can squibs share memories? We all were there when he was confessing his crimes. If the Aurors would only listen to us!" Harry squeezed his hand into a fist in frustration.

They were quiet after that. It seemed like they had been waiting for an eternity. Every once in a while one of them would shift to relieve limbs that had fallen asleep. Harry transferred Nio to the spot by his belly button and he was certain the snake was asleep because he didn't move at all. Harry's eyes were heavy and in the cozy warmth under the cloak, his head kept lolling and jerking as he tried to stay awake.