Mend Me

Eleven

A little over a week remains of the school year. Danu leaves her last Transfiguration class of the year, where once again, she's reminded of how utterly awful she is at non-verbal magic. Passing though the Transfiguration courtyard, she overhears a group of students talking about Hagrid and slows down.

"Buckbeak lost," Said a boy with red hair, presumably another Weasley, "Hagrid's just sent this." The girl standing next to him reads a scrap of parchment aloud. "Lost appeal. They're going to execute at sunset. Nothing you can do. Don't come down. I don't want you to see it. Hagrid"

The two of them take off running towards the entrance of the castle, and Danu stands glued to the spot, unable to move. Hagrid never told her that Buckbeak was in trouble. She was there the night he brought Buckbeak to the castle, saw the way Hagrid's face lit up every time he saw Buckbeak. She knew, of course, what had happened between Buckbeak and the git Malfoy. Her heart sank, not just for Buckbeak, but for herself as well. Hagrid was so close to her, she always felt so safe and warm in his hut, now he felt like a stranger.

Suddenly, she realizes that she had been to Hagrid's only twice this year, he quickly hurried her off as he was expecting company. She had been so busy since then, she hadn't had a chance to see him at all. Her feet instinctively carry her to him, she must comfort him. Hagrid's heart is so soft and full of love for everyone and everything he comes in to contact with, she can't let him suffer alone.

Coming to the top of the hill, overlooking the patch of giant pumpkins Hagrid grows, she sees Buckbeak tethered to a post out front of the hut. The Weasley boy, the curly headed girl who read the note, and Harry Potter run past her towards Hagrid's. Dumbledore suddenly appears in the doorway and makes to leave, Hagrid spots Harry and his friends and waves them in before quickly closing the door behind Dumbledore. Danu turns and makes her way back the way she came. Thankful that Hagrid is not alone when he's undoubtedly heartbroken but saddened that he hadn't even noticed her standing just feet behind the running children.

Before she knows it, her feet have carried her to the edge of the Black Lake. She sits beneath the same tree Snape had found her at when he turned her pumpkin juice bottle into a dragonfly. Danu leans her back against the tree and sighs, careful not to let any of the stray students scurrying about the lake catch her wipe the tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her cloak.

--

Danu sits beneath the tree for what feels like hours. It's nearing sunset, and her stomach twists in knots for Hagrid and Buckbeak. She lifts her head to the sky and lets out a deep breath. Just then, through the branches of the trees, a sea of black streak across the sky from behind the clouds. All of the Dementors are retreating. Could that mean that they have found Sirius Black?She stands and follows the streak of Dementors with her eyes as the sun sets lower in the sky. In the distance, atop a hill on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, she spots it.

The Shrieking Shack.

The answer to the question that's been plaguing her for weeks. She decided at once that she would not return to Bernadette's this summer. Danu sprints back to the castle to start preparing. This won't be an easy feat, but she suspects, with how easily she can move without being detected, that she can pull it off.

—

It is a common misconception that the Shrieking Shack is haunted. Danu happened to know that it wasn't. Professor Sprout, and Hagrid after she pressed for further information during her second year, told her all about it. Professor Sprout showed her how to still the Womping Willow by remaining low and pressing a knot on the trunk of the tree. Once paralyzed, a small opening would appear low on the trunk. Professor Sprout would tell her no more, but she happened to catch Hagrid after a few bottles of Daisy Root Draught, and he told her all about the Shrieking Shack and how it's only bewitched to appear haunted. Lucky for her, he also told her how all of the doors and windows are false, and the only way to enter the shack is from beneath the Womping Willow. She could kiss Hagrid for that right now!