Secrets I have held in my heart (part 1)

Chapter 41: The Whomping Willow

Despite our win, there was still finals to study for. Hermione had showed us her perplexing exam timetable, she had two exams each hour but she didn't give an explanation as to why. And unfortunately, Buckbeak's execution was set on the last day of exams, right after the Divination exam.

The weeks before the exams were nerve-wracking. Percy, Fred's brother who was a Prefect and in his last year was threatening to punish anyone as he was on edge, he was taking his NEWTS and wanted to get into the Ministry, which at times made him quite insufferable . The only person who seemed more nervous was Hermione, she spent sleepless nights studying for her never ending list of classes. 

Fred also seemed to be taking his classes seriously, ever since he had had George back to a relative normal state (it depended on the day and we still were trying to find out what was going on with him) he was more motivated. In fact it was him that was forcing me to study. I usually just laid in bed and mourned over everything. Ever since the George had acknowledge that I existed after months and then forgetting all over again I felt even worse than before. It was the worst breakup I ever experienced and I just wanted the year to end, I had planned to maybe convince dad to send me back to Beauxbaton's, maybe there I would be happier. I hadn't told anyone yet though, it was still in the air and dad was incredibly busy.

The day of the final exam it was my birthday. Only a few people knew and Fred had actually made an effort to wake up early, come to my room and give me an array of cupcakes he had attempted to bake when he sneaked into the kitchens. Hermione had gotten me a book about Transfiguration to help me in my classes next year, I thanked her despite knowing I would probably not be here next year. Harry and Ron had naturally forgotten but I didn't mind, it was exam season after all. 

It was now the afternoon, the Divination exam was given out. I could hardly focus, for starters Trelawney's room was incredibly hot and the heavy smell of incense made me drowsy. I also was preoccupied about Hagrid, the execution would be happening this afternoon and I couldn't bear to see Buckbeak die. Once everyone turned in their exams, our group ran down to Hagrid's hut.

He was gloomily brewing some tea, he was preparing it for the Minister of Magic, Dumbledore and the executioner. He was in tears while he prepared the tea but he came to his senses when he remembered to give Ron back Scabbers.

'he's alive' exclaimed Ron, 

'barely' I though to myself, the rat was incredibly skinny and had bald patches all over its body-

Hermione looked at him resentfully, expecting an apology for giving her a hard time. I cleared my throat to remind them we were there for Hagrid and not to get petty over Ron's rat. 

Voices were heard approaching the hut,

'ye better head out, don' want ye seein' it' warned Hagrid, looking out the window where Buckbeak was chained to a post and sighing sadly

We bade Hagrid goodbye reluctantly and left his house without being spotted. We quickly hid behind some large pumpkins as we couldn't make our way back without being seen by the Minister and Dumbledore, we weren't supposed to be out at these hours due to Sirius Black still being on the loose.

From where we stood, we could see Hagrid engaging in conversation with the other men. It didn't seem particularly pleasant as the executioner had his huge axe with him, a constant reminder that we couldn't do anything to save Buckbeak. However, something distracted us, a twig snapped behind us, making the whole lot of us look towards the trees behind us, it was too dark to see who was there so we scrambled away, frightened by what could be lingering behind our backs. We now stood behind some naturally stone made pillars, we had a view down to the hut but could voluntarily block the view, which was the plan as we didn't want to see the execution.

A nasty laugh ringed from behind, I immediately clenched my jaw and my body had gone stiff. It was Malfoy and his gang of thickheaded friends, Crabbe and Goyle who seemed to share half a brain cell collectively. 

Malfoy was now in front of us, a smirk drawn on his face,

'lovely show this will be' he mocked, Crabbe and Goyle laughed with him unsure of what they were supposed to be laughing about

For the first time, it wasn't me that lost their temper. Hermione had drawn out her wand and was pointing it at Malfoy's neck, who had started whimpering in fright.

'you foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach' she shouted ferociously, her wand still poking his neck dangerously

I was in disbelief, yes Hermione could have the occasional temper but I had never seen her this way. In fact, I was in awe and couldn't find any way to react.

'Hermione' broke Ron, he and Harry were just as startled as I was 'it's not worth it' 

Hermione reflected on this for a few seconds and lowered her wand, turning around to walk back to us. Unfortunately, Malfoy had decided to snicker in order to ridicule her. She swiftly turned back around and hurled an unexpected punch right in the middle of his face.

'shit Granger' I blurted in frightened excitement

Malfoy and his gang quickly ran away, Malfoy cursing under his breath while Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be trying to contain their laughs.

'that was amazing' gaped Ron

Harry had his mouth wide open, still processing what had just happened.

'he deserved it and it felt good' Hermione sighed breathlessly

'damn right he did Granger, where did you learn to punch like that?' I asked amazed

She gave a nervous chuckle but we were interrupted when we heard Hagrid's voice from down bellow. It was a signal that Buckbeak was going to be executed at any moment. We all sobered up and now held our breaths, hoping that anything could save Buckbeak from his inevitable doom. But nothing could save him, it was too late, the slash of the axe that proved this could have been heard from miles away.

Hermione let out a cry and hugged Ron's neck. Harry had gotten hold of my hand but my body was still stiff, all the work we had put in to save the innocent creature had been meaningless and now he was dead.

'ouch' yelped Ron, he had put his finger to his mouth 

'he bit me' he cried in disbelief 'he's never done that- wait, he's running away, Scabbers!' he called out, already tailing behind the slim rat

Harry, Hermione and I followed Ron, we had hesitated before leaving as the shock was still fresh so Ron was a few feet in front of us. Finally, he had gotten hold of the rat and was sitting on the grass, stroking his precious pet.

'the- gri-grim' Ron whimpered, now looking up and pointing right behind us in fear

We turned around and we were face to face to a black dog, it looked prepared to attack, its fangs displaying as it growled directly at Ron. The dog leaped towards us and we automatically moved apart to save ourselves. However, it had gotten grip of Ron's leg and was dragging him into the large tree that was glowering over us, Ron had started howling in agony and screaming for help. Hermione looked distraught, ordering Harry and I to do something but we couldn't, Ron had been taken away into a cavity at the tree's base and we could only hear his faint cries for help echoing from inside the tree.

'wait' ordered Hermione, she had regained some composure 'be careful, it's the Whomping Willow'

'the what?' I asked, looking at her in bewilderment

We needed to get Ron, not a lecture about the decaying tree in front of us but I was wrong, just as Hermione was about to speak, a massive branch of the tree swept down. Harry had managed to dive under it but I wasn't so successful. I hadn't registered Harry's warning quick enough and the branch hit me right in my stomach, knocking all the air out of me and launching me back several feet. The last thing I remembered was Hermione and Harry screaming out my name before I hit the ground with a loud thud, knocking me out cold.