Blood In the Water

chapter 12.

  The very earth seemed to already be in mourning of Buck Beak. Only the crows were singing a song of anguish to come while the executioner ominously sharped his axe. He seemed to enjoy their fear, allowing it to fuel the wicked glint in his eyes.
   The wind howled and attacked Sarah, Ron, Hermione, and Harry as they made their way over to Hagrid's hut to ensure that he wasn't a total mess, the image of the axe plastered onto Sarah's mind. She just wanted to get to his hut without any other complications, but fate seemed to have other plans. Crabbe, Goyle, and Draco were waltzing up the hill when they spotted the four Gryffindors. Much to the dismay of the others, Hermione marched over to the group. "Look who's here!"
  "Ah! Come to see the show?" Both Sarah and Draco were actively pretending that they were both respectively not present. It was one of the only times Sarah and Draco ever agreed on something.
  "You! You foul, evil, loathsome little cockroach!" Try saying that five times fast. Hermione whipped out her wand, brandishing in front of Draco's face as he cowered against the stone.
  "Hermione no!"
  Ron looked genuinely worried about the situation, but Sarah found herself unable to stop herself from shouting, "Hermione yes!"
  Ron gave her a harsh glare before despairing, "He's not worth it." Hermione lowered her wand, seemingly done with the situation. In an instant, Hermione punched Draco directly in the face. There was something so satisfying about seeing his smirk punched off of his face by a muggle-born no less. The devil works hard, but Hermione will always work harder.
  Draco dramatically scrambled away whilst clutching his nose and sobbing. Sarah was desperately trying to hold in her laughter, but a few giggles managed to escape. Ron finally came to his senses, "That was amazing, Hermione!" Harry and Sarah enthusiastically nodded in agreement.
   "It did feel really good."
   "I'm a little jealous, Hermione." The group laughed before continuing on their journey to Hagrid's hut. The momentary glee faded away with each step closer to Buck Beak. His fate was sealed and so was Hagrid's despair.
  Harry tapped on the hut's door to announce their arrival before pushing it open to reveal a glossy-eyed Hagrid. Sarah gave him a look of pity as she walked up to him. She attempted to comfort him by patting his arm awkwardly. Comforting people was just not her strong suit, and Sarah is coming to terms with the that slowly. "How are you doing, Hagrid?"
   "I'm not doing too well given the circumstances, but thanks for asking, Harry."
  "Is there anything we can, Hagrid?"
  "I'm afraid not. No one can save Buck Beak at this point, and it's my fault."
  "It's not your fault! It's Malfoy's. You warned the entire class about hippogriffs and how to treat them, but he completely ignored that and did the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do."
   "Thanks, guys, but it doesn't change anything."
  "Would it make you feel any better if I told you that Hermione just punched Malfoy directly in the face?"
   Hagrid's let out a small chuckle before agreeing, "As a teacher, I'm not supposed to say this, but it did make me feel a little bit better." Without warning, a vase broke next to Sarah, and Hermione flinched, touching the back of her head as if something hit her. The group could her voices approaching the outside of the hut. "Go. Now. Out the back door."
  "We should stay, Hagrid. We could be here for  you."
  "I'll be fine. Now go before they get here." The group rushed out the back door of the hut as the executioner and Ministry employee entered through the front door. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Sarah crouched down behind a section of large pumpkins. They did not say a single word as they watched the pair enter Hagrid's hut. All four of them spun around as a slight cracking of branches and the sound of movement was heard behind them. Sarah's eyes scanned the woods, but she could not find anyone or anything. She was pulled out of her thoughts due to a tug on the sleeve of her orange sweater by Ron. The four of them rushed up the hill back towards the castle.
  They all stopped at the top of the hill; everything seemed to come to an abrupt stop as Sarah followed the executioner's movements over to Buck Beak. She threw a hand over her mouth, holding in her horrified scream as the executioner raised his axe over Buck Beak's head and brought it down without hesitation. Buck Beak lead out one last squawk as all of the crows in the area fled in fear of being next. Hermione cried onto Ron's shoulders as the silence began to set in. The thud of Buck Beak's head as it rolled on the ground could be heard even from where they were standing; without a doubt, the sound of the hippogriff's head would haunt her, but she knew that the emotionless look in the executioner's eyes was what would terrorize her nightmare for at least months to come.
  They were all drawn out of their grief by Ron rushing over to a rat. "Scabbers! Where have you been?" Sarah threw a hand over her heart, clutching her chest in relief, but it only lasted a few seconds before she heard a dog growling behind them. It looked exactly like the grim she has heard so much about from Professor Trelawney.
   She bolted forward towards Ron as she heard him shout at Harry, "Harry, Hermione, Sarah! Run! It's the grim" Sarah bolted forward and threw her hands over Ron's, trying to pull him away from the grim that seemed dead set on attacking Ron. Instead of saving him, she got dragged into the hole of the Whomping Willow with him when the beast bit his ankle. Sarah held on for dear life as their screams of fear bounced off of the walls of what appeared to be a tunnel. Sarah did not have plenty of time to observe her surroundings before she hit her head on a sharp corner of the walls, blacking out.

enjoy!!