The Wolf's Lion ~ Harry Potter (Editing)

Chapter Thirty-Seven | Beat 'Em All

That weekend the quartet headed down to Hagrid's. The ground was still covered in a layer of sparkling white snow, the same colour as Ariana's hair. The air was extremely nippy and the sun occasions hung low in the sky, but it never stopped the Gryffindors from reaching the cabin.

Inside the dark cabin, Ariana heard Fang barking madly as they arrived by the door, obviously sensing their arrival. The curtains had been drawn since the article had been published and today was no different.

"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted, pounding on his front door. "Hagrid, that's enough. We know you're in there! Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! You can't keep that foul Skeeter woman do this to you!  Hagrid, get out here, you're just being -" The door opened. "About t -"

Hermione stopped abruptly as she cane face-to-face with Dumbledore, looking quite pleased with their indignation at Rita's article.

"Good afternoon," he said, smiling down at them.

"We - er - we wanted to see Hagrid," Hermione said, her voice sheepish and small.

"Yes, I surmised as much," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Why don't you come in?"

"Oh... um... OK,’ Hermione mumbled, walking past Dumbledore with her eyes pinned on the wooden floorboards.

Ariana smiled and entered the cabin, flanked by Harry and Ron. In another circumstance she would of found Hermione's situation amusing, but Hagrid was certainly a sight for sore eyes.

As Fang lept as Harry, Ariana saw Hagrid for the first time in a few days. In all honesty, he looked atrocious. His face was covered in red blotches, his eyes swollen and bloodshot from crying. His hair was even more out of control than usual; it looked rather like a wig of voluminous, tangled brown wire.

Ariana grabbed Harry's hands and helped him get back onto his feet, having managed to fight Fang off.

"Thanks," he said, then turned to Hagrid, who was staring into the depths of a large tea cup on the table in front of him. "Hi, Hagrid."

Hagrid looked up through puffy eyes. "'Lo," he mumbled, his voice as hoarse as Ariana's after a full moon.

"More tea, I think," Dumbledore said, closing the door and wielding his wand; a tea-tray appeared in mid-air, accompanied by a plate of cakes. "Please, do sit down."

The four students sat around the dining table, Ariana in between Harry and Ron. Fang was underneath the table, resting his head in his owner's lap in an attempt to cheer him up, which Ariana thought was quite sweet.

"Did you by any chance hear what Miss. Granger was shouting?" Dumbledore enquired, picking at a small cake. Hermione's cheeks went pink, but the Headmaster sent her a reassuring smile and continued, "Hermione, Harry, Ariana and Ron still seem to want you to know, judging by the way they were attempting to break down the door."

Ariana smiled at the way Dumbledore worded his sentence, then spoke, "Of course we want you to know, Hagrid. You're incredibly mistaken if you think we care about the article. Skeeter had no right to attack you because of your heritage, no right at all."

"Exactly," Harry agreed. "You don't think anything that Skeeter cow - sorry, Professor," he added quickly, looking at Dumbledore.

"I have gone temporarily deaf and haven't any idea what you said, Harry," Dumbledore said, his eyes focused on the ceiling.

"Er - right," said Harry quietly, then started up his original topic of conversation, "I just meant - Hagrid, how could you think we'd care about what that - woman - wrote about you?"