the order - f.weasley

- c h a p t e r - f i f t e e n -

 "HAGRID! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Gemma could hardly contain her shout.

"Merlin's beard, keep it down!" Hagrid shot at her, his eyes swinging around to ensure no one heard her. "Under that cloak, are yeh? Well, get in, get in!"

Gemma's heart was hammering in her chest as she gasped, "I am so so sorry, but what happened?!"

The four of them, who had been hiding under the Invisibility Cloak, were out in the open now watching Hagrid hastily shutting windows and curtains while he exclaimed, "It's nuthin', it's nuthin'!"

But Gemma didn't care if they got caught.

She wanted to know why Hagrid's hair was congealed in blood, and his left eye was basically invisible under puffy purple bruises. His face and hands were also covered in many cuts.

And as Quidditch players, Gemma and Harry noticed he was moving around slowly and carefully, and they suspected that the half-giant had broken some ribs.

He looked like he had just arrived with his travelling still tossed over the back of a chair.

The giant moved to the fire, placing the copper kettle over it.

"What happened to you?" Harry demanded as Fang almost knocked Gemma to the ground.

"Told yeh, nuthin'," Hagrid said a little harshly. "Want a cuppa?"

"Come off it," Ron snapped right back at him, "you're in a right state!"

"I'm tellin' yeh, I'm fine," Hagrid straightened, turning to them and smiling through a wince. "Blimey, it's good ter see you four again — had good summers, did yeh?"

"Hagrid, you've been attacked!"

"Fer the las' time, it's nuthin'!"

"Would you say it was nothing if one of us turned up with a pound of mince instead of a face?"

"You ought to go and see Madam Pomfrey, Hagrid," Hermione jumped in, her voice quivering. "Some of those cuts look nasty."

"I'm dealin' with it, all righ'?" Hagrid said again.

He moved across the room, tossing a tea towel of something before picking up a piece of meat that looked green and definitely rotten.

Gemma's stomach rolled at the sight of it as she asked, "Uhhh...Hagrid, that's not your dinner, right?"

"It looks poisonous," Ron added, moving forward to inspect it.

"It's s'posed ter look like that, it's dragon meat," Hagrid told them. "An' I didn' get it ter eat."

He put it on his face, and Gemma almost gagged as greenish blood trickled into his beard, and he sighed in relief before saying, "Tha's better. It helps with the stingin', yeh know."

"So, are you going to tell us what's happened to you?" Harry questioned again, giving Gemma a worried glance as she buried her face into Fang's neck, hiding Hagrid from view.

"Can', Harry. Top secret," Hagrid told him sternly. "More'n me job's worth ter tell yeh that."

"Did the giants beat you up, Hagrid?" Hermione asked gently.

Gemma could hear the meat slip and land grossly on Hagrid's chest before he grabbed the meat again and questioned, "Giants? Who said anythin' abou' giants? Who yeh bin talkin' to? Who's told yeh what I've — who's said I've bin — eh?"

"We guessed," Hermione told him, placing a hand on Gemma's shoulder as the teenager tried to get over her sudden revulsion at the sight of raw meat.

"Oh, yeh did, did yeh?" Hagrid snipped a little.