When The Dog Bites

3. Battered

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Hagrid are you up?”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Please let me in. Hagrid?”

BANG! BANG! The door flew open. 

“Hermione? What’re ye-” Hagrid’s eyes flew open at the sight of the girl. Her clothes were torn and tattered exposing far too much skin, most of which was scraped and bruised. Blood was running down her left side where her shirt was basically nonexistent and was pooling around her foot where the thin flesh bandage had torn exposing the gashes on her calf. “What happened to ye?” 

“I couldn't get to the castle without Snape seeing and I think Im only running on adrenaline right now and I tried to heal myself but the wounds keep ripping open quite literally and OH MAN it hurts, and I had to run here all the way from the whomping willow and snape was going towards the whomping willow and he can't know or my friend will get in trouble and if my friend gets in trouble I'll never forgive myself.” She answered in one breath. 

Hagrid ushered a completely manic Hermione into his hut as she continued to ramble on about her friend and the tree and the wounds that kept ripping. He was having trouble keeping up with everything she was saying. All he knew for certain was that she was hurt, badly, and she was probably freezing in what little clothing remained intact on the poor girl’s battered body. 

“Okay.” He swallowed loudly trying to figure out his next course of action. “Okay let's get ye cleaned up.” She nodded in reply. “Right this way.”

Hermione followed him into his sitting room, swaying slightly as she struggled to keep herself upright. He helped her sit down on his oversized couch before rushing off to another room. 

By the time he returned, the rush adrenaline had subsided and Hermione looked reminiscent of a corpse. Her skin had turned a pale shade of green, her eyes clouded over, and her white lips pierced together trying to hold back groans of pain. Her mouth began to water intensely and she tasted the tell tale taste of pennies warning her before her stomach even began to churn. She gagged and coughed and struggled to catch her breath as she dry heaved, her gut begging her to expel whatever was left in her stomach from the day before, which happened to be nothing at all. Her throat burned as her stomach acid fought to escape. She hardly registered the rusty pot Hagrid had thrust into her lap when the foul, green, liquid spilled from her mouth. She continued to gag even after her body expelled all of the bile from her stomach.

Hagrid pulled a vial from his pocket, uncorking it before helping her pour it down her throat. She gave him a questioning look, unable to actually speak.

“Pepper up.” He answered her unspoken question. “I’m not positive it’ll help much, but it's all I got with me. Might be best if I helped ye up to Madam Pompfrey.” He vaguely noted the look of panic that donned her features at the mention of the matron. 

“NO!” She croaked, startling him. “Noone can know Hagrid. Please.” She sounded completely defeated, her scratchy voice nearly a whimper. He sighed in defeat. 

“Hermione, did yer friend really do this to ye?” He asked quietly. She nodded.

“Yes. But he doesnt know.”

“He doesnt know he hurt ye?” How was that possible? She shook her head no. “Who did this Hermione?”

“I c-can't tell you Hagrid. I can't tell anyone.” She was swaying in her seat, almost spilling her pot of bile as she struggled to remain upright. Her head was spinning and all she wanted to do was collapse and sleep.

“Okay. Ye don't have to tell me, but let me get you cleaned up.” He helped her sip some water from a large bowl before dunking a torn white cloth in it. He gently cleaned around the gashes on her leg, wincing at the sight of it. He wrapped her wounds in a thick bandage before moving to attend to the wound on her ribs. He wiped away clumps of dried blood, applying pressure when new blood poured out. After a long while of cleaning and pausing and cleaning and pausing, the would was finally visible against her now clean skin and he gasped loudly. 

“Is that a bite mark?!” He nearly yelled.

Before she could answer, a loud bang echoed around the room.

“Hagrid, open up you bloody oaf!” A deep voice commanded from the other side of the door. 

“Shit.” Hagrid grunted. Hermione had never heard the half giant curse. His hands threaded through his unruly hair as he paced for a short moment in panic. “That'll be Professor Snape. You can't walk.” He took one look at the girl before making a decision. He picked her up carefully to carry her into another room.

“Hagrid!” Snape's voice boomed as he banged on the door again. 

Hagrid deposited the injured student on a sofa in his bed chambers before rushing back to the sitting room to answer the door. 

“Good mornin’ Professor.” He greeted the man with fake enthusiasm. He didn't bother keeping up the act when he noticed the scarier than normal sneer that donned Snape’s features.

“Save it oaf.” He demanded, raising his hand to order pause. “Please explain to me why on bloody earth there is a trail of BLOOD leading up to your hut.” Hagrid could see the panic in the man’s eyes, even if he spoke calmly.

He scratched the back of his neck, a nervous tick he had when he didn't know what to say. “Well…. You see… uh,”

“Spit it out Hagrid!” Snape interrupted, his calm demeanor slipping. “A student may be in danger.”

Hagrid knew Snape was telling the truth. The student in question was on his couch, severely injured, and she had no intention of letting anyone but him know. He wouldn't break her trust.

“Which student? What happened.” How much did the potions master know?

“I don't know the specifics. I only know that there is a large possibility that someone may have been… how do i put this?.... I think a student may have been mauled last night. The trail leads here.” He explained.

“Mauled?” He was shocked by the choice of words, but the marks of Hermione's body did indicate that she may in fact have been ‘mauled’. “By what?” 

“I can't tell you if you don't already know.” He stated. “Damn laws.” He muttered under his breath. 

“Well,” Hagrid collected himself. “Not to worry Professor sir. One of my pets wandered out to that damned angry tree out there, came back this mornin all clawed up and bloody, poor thing. Patched em up and sent em back inta the forest, I did.” He hated lying, but hermione and her friends had kept so many of his secrets that it was only right that he returned the favor. 

“Very well.” Snape said warily. 

Once the man left, Hagrid rushed back to the battered witch hoping to hell that she was okay after being left alone for so long. Well in reality it hadn't been that long, but it was still concerning given the state he had left her in. But relief flooded through him when he saw the girl resting peacefully. She was still breathing.