Together (A Harry Potter love story) 3

10

MILLIES POV

Very shaken, the Care of Magical Creatures class followed in Hagrid's direction at a walk. The Slytherins were all shouting about him.

"They should sack him straight away!" Parkinson yelled, who was in tears.

"It was Malfoy's fault!" Dean snapped. Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles threateningly.

"Don't you two start," I growled, glancing between the two Slytherin boys. "If you and Malfoy hadn't been whispering about how to sabotage Hagrid's class, Malfoy would've known not to insult a Hippogriff!"

Crabbe and Goyle exchanged a confused look and I sighed - they probably didn't understand a word I had just said.

"I'm going to see if he's okay!" Parkinson cried, and I watched her run up the marble staircase in disgust. The Slytherins, still muttering about Hagrid, headed away in the direction of their common room; the Gryffindors proceeded upstairs to Gryffindor Tower.

"D'you think he'll be alright?" Mione asked nervously.

"'Course he will," Harry said instantly, running his hand through his messy hair.

Mione didn't look convinced.

"Madam Pom Pom can mend cuts in about a second," I reassured my bestfriend, rubbing her arm.

"That was a really bad thing to happen in Hagrid's first lesson, though, wasn't it?" said Ron, looking worried. "Trust Malfoy to mess things up for him..."

We were among the first to reach the Great Hall at dinner-time, hoping to see Hagrid, but he wasn't there.

"They wouldn't sack him, would they?" Mione said anxiously, not touching her food.

"They'd better not," said Ron, who wasn't eating either.

I was watching the Slytherin table. A large group, including Crabbe and Goyle, were huddled together, deep in conversation. I was sure they were cooking up their own version of how Malfoy had got injured.

"Well, you can't say it wasn't an interesting first day back," said Ron gloomily.

We went up to the crowded Gryffindor common room after dinner and tried to do the homework Professor McGonagall (aka Minnie) had set us, but I kept breaking off and glancing out of the tower window.

"There's a light on in Hagrid's window," Harry said suddenly, straightening up.

I bit my lip in anticipation, while Ron looked at his watch.

"If we hurried, we could go and see him, it's still quite early-"

"I don't know," said Mione slowly, glancing at Harry.

"I'm allowed to walk across the grounds," he moaned pointedly, standing up. "Sirius Black hasn't got past the Dementors here, has he?"

So we put our things away and headed out of the portrait hole, glad not to meet anybody on our way to the front doors, as I wasn't entirely sure we were supposed to be out.

The grass was still wet and looked almost black in the twilight. When we reached Hagrid's hut, we knocked and a voice growled, "C'min."

Hagrid was sitting in his shirt-sleeves at his scrubbed wooden table; Fang had his head in Hagrid's lap. One look told me that Hagrid had been drinking a lot; there was a pewter tankard almost as big as a bucket in front of him, and he seemed to be having difficulty in getting us into focus.

"'Spect it's a record," he said thickly, once he'd recognised us. "Don' reckon they've ever had a teacher who on'y lasted a day before."

I gasped. "You haven't been sacked, have you?"