Harry's Shorts

The Bloody Chicken

Summary: What if Buckbeak's sentence actually got reversed?

Harry finally convinced a dubious Hermione to take a little flight on Buckbeak with him in celebration while Hagrid was off in Hogsmeade having a pint with Dumbledore and Ron was in detention. While they were flying, an enraged Draco decided to take matters into his own hands, mistaking one of Hagrid's other Hippogriffs for Buckbeak.

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Hermione was glowing as Harry helped her down from Buckbeak, her bushy hair even wilder than usual after billowing in the wind. She had enjoyed the flight much more than she had thought she would after her initial terror had faded.

Then, a piercing screech from the edge of the Forbidden Forest caught their ears. Alarm shot through the pair of them and they dashed into the woods looking for the source of the sound. Harry grit his teeth angrily at what he saw.

Crabbe and Goyle had managed to ensnare another one of Hagrid's hippogriffs in the paddock—which they had clearly mistaken for Buckbeak—with strong ropes as Draco Malfoy stood as far away from it as he could with his wand out.

"Hold the bloody chicken still!" Malfoy snapped at his henchmen. "How am I supposed to cut off its head with a Diffindo spell if it keeps moving?"

Harry furiously whipped out his wand, but before he could stop her, Hermione charged at Malfoy, darting into his line of fire. Draco Malfoy whirled around, his eyes bulging with fright to see the bushy haired missile hurtling towards him, and dropped his wand.

"You foul, loathsome, little cockroach! " Hermione shrieked as she launched herself at Malfoy.

Her knee connected with his privates, and her balled up fist struck his face as he doubled over in pain and howled. He collapsed in a heap on the ground, but Hermione was relentless.

Harry felt like cheering and egging her on a bit, but instead he grabbed her before she could properly aim her kick at Malfoy, who was still prostrate on the ground, holding his bloody nose with one hand and his groin with the other.

Crabbe and Goyle stood there petrified in shock, mouths agape.

"Let me go, Harry!" Hermione screamed, her cheeks blazing like a furnace as she kicked out, her foot barely missing Malfoy's head.

"I know he deserves it Hermione," said Harry as he struggled to hold onto her, "but I don't want you to get in trouble."

"She broke it..." Malfoy wailed, somehow managing to clamber to his feet, "...da budblood broke by dose!"

"I'll let her go if you don't clear off now!" Harry snarled at the sniveling wretch. "And if I hear that any of Hagrid's pets have been hurt in the future, I won't hold her back next time."

Malfoy's face was a picture of fury and fear as he snatched his wand from the ground with one hand, still holding the other over his bleeding nose. He scarpered as fast as his feet could carry him, followed by his two terrified goons.

Hermione deflated in Harry's arms, panting.

"It's alright Hermione! I think you scared him off!" he said, giving her a grin. "That was great! ... Malfoy won't be going near any more of Hagrid's pets anytime soon!"

"I... I did frighten him, didn't I!?" she responded, looking a bit ashamed of herself and finally relaxing enough to let out a guilty little giggle just as Ron ran up, puffing heavily.

"Bloody hell!" he wheezed, still out of breath after pelting down the hill, "Did you really just...?"

"...kick Malfoy where it hurts and break his nose?" said Harry, still grinning. "Yeah—she did!"

Ron gaped at her with awe. "Bloody brilliant, Hermione! ... Wish I'd got a closer look—I only just got out of detention with Snape..."

~o0o~

"Episkey."

"Gaaaah!" yelled Draco as his nose snapped back into place. "Watch it—that bloody hurt."

Madam Pomfrey handed him a wet cloth to wipe off his bloody face, her eyebrows raised.

"Alright, Mr. Malfoy, I'll get you a pain potion. Now why don't you tell me what happened?"

"It was G—" Crabbe shut up when Draco shot him a vicious warning look.

"It was, er... a... a tree," Draco lied after casting around wildly for a good excuse; the last thing he wanted was for everyone to know that he'd been beaten up by Granger. "I wasn't looking where I was going and I ran into a tree."

He shot another glare at Crabbe and Goyle and they both started nodding.

"Yeah," said Goyle gormlessly,

"It was a tree," Crabbe agreed.

"A tree," said Madam Pomfrey skeptically.

"Yeah—it was a bloody tree!" Draco snapped. "So what about that pain potion then?"

"Very well, Mr. Malfoy," Madam Pomfrey sighed, reaching into the pocket of her apron and handing him a vial.