Bloodlines || A Draco Malfoy Romance Fanfiction

Caught in Chaos - 47

We headed down toward Hagrid's hut. My heart hurting as I passed by innocent Buckbeak, who looked at us curiously. 

"Why don't we just set him free?" Harry asked. 

Hagrid explained that they would know it was him, and both he and Dumbledore would get in trouble. However, Dumbledore was coming down to support Hagrid when they finally took Buckbeak.

"We'll stay with you Hagrid," Hermione volunteered. Standing up from her seat beside me.

Hagrid's eyes widened and brow furrowed. "You'll do no such thing. Think I want you seeing something like that? No, you just drink your tea and be off." He paused a moment, rememberng. "Oh, before you do, Ron..." He turned and walked over to a hutch, opened a canister, and pulled something out before turning back around. He was holding a rat.

"Scabbers! You're alive." Ron said, going up to Hagrid to take his pet back.

"Want to keep a closer eye on your pets, Ron," Hagrid warned.

I crossed my arms, standing by Hermione and looking at Ron. "I think that means you owe someone an apology," I said in defense of Hermione. She gave me a small smile in thanks before giving Ron the same look I was.

He looked at me. "Right." Then he looked back at Hermione snidely. "Next time I see Crookshanks, I'll let him know."

"She meant me!" Hermione said at the said time I scoffed at him for being so rude.

CRACK!

The squabble was quickly dispersed as we turned to the table to see the pot in the center seemed to break out of nowhere. "Blimey! What was that?" Hagrid asked. I watched as Hermione pick up a small rock that hadn't been on the table previously.

"OW!" Harry exclaimed. I whipped my head up to see Harry clutching the back of his head and looking out the window. "Hagrid."

Harry had noticed the Minister of Magic, along with Dumbledore and the executioner. Hagrid rushed us out the back way, and we snuck out, hiding behind a pile of Hagrid's gigantic pumpkins so as not to be seen.

We watch through the window as the Minister read the Decree ordering Buckbeak's death.

But as soon as we found a moment where we'd be less likely to be caught, we made our way up the hill, ending up back at the boulders we'd started at. By that point, the executioner had made it back outside. I couldn't see Buckbeak from where I was, but knew it was probably for the best. 

The executioner lifted his ax high, then let it drop down. I didn't have to guess what the slicing sound was.

Emotion filled me, and Hermione and I both began quietly sobbing. She turned to Ron, who wrapped his arms around her, and Harry did the same. Neither noticed me cry because I was standing behind them, but it also wasn't lost on me that the one who would usually support me when I was upset wasn't here, and why.

"He bit me! Scabbers!" Ron said, drawing my attention to them and out of my sorrow. Ron went around us, eyes toward the ground as he ran off.

Without thinking, I followed Ron. Harry and Hermione ran after us and called for him to stop.

I finally caught up to him after he pounced on the ground, catching Scabbers. I stopped near him to catch my breath, unaware of my surroundings.

"Ron, Aphry, run!" Harry shouted, causing us to look toward him.

My eyes widened. Behind them was a large, monstrous-looking black dog. Its fur was matted, and it looked feral as it bared its razor-sharp teeth, and its eyes had a strange glow as dusk was falling on the already gloomy day. My heart began pounding in my chest yet again.

I froze in fear, but thankfully Ron was able to warn them. "Harry, Hermione, run! It's the grim!"

Harry and Hermione turned, and the dog growled. Suddenly, it started racing toward them. I screamed, fearing for them.

The dog jumped, with enough height to go over the both of them, and a new scream left me as the dog was now barrelling toward Ron and me. In a flash, the dog locked its jaw down on Ron's leg and began pulling him away. I followed without thinking, not sure what I could do to help, but desperate to.

I tried to grab hold of Ron's hand, and almost succeeded a couple of times. But our hands were clammy from fear and sweat, preventing us from getting a good grip. The dog dragged Ron into a hole in what I now realized was the base of the whomping willow.

Hesitating for a half moment to decide how to get in, I climbed in feet first, and slid down the muddy pathway. I planted my feet, trying to catch myself at the bottom. That turned out to be a mistake, as while one foot slid from the mud, my left ankle twisted considerably, and I screamed with pain.

But soon as it happened, I knew I did not have time to lose. I lifted myself, and could still see Ron and the dog were many yards ahead of me at that point. I treaded forward as fast as my twisted ankle would allow.

I followed the two up a set of stairs and into a small square hole. Once I got myself up, I realized I was in some sort of house in horrible condition, with windows boarded, peeling wallpaper, and warped flooring.

"Aphry," Ron shouted as the dog pulled him up a flight of stairs to the second floor.

I rounded the corner to find the steps. Ron had been dragged up the first flight and was being turned to go up a second.

"I'm coming, Ron!" I said, hobbling up the stairs after them.

Finally getting to the second floor, I saw Ron in the room across the hall from the stairs. The dog finally released him and ran to the other side of the room.

I rushed to Ron, who was sitting on the dirty chaise lounge with a firm grip on Scabbers. "Are you okay?" I asked as I sat with him.

"My leg..." he said. I looked down and became appalled by the bloody mess his leg was in.

I turned my head up in the direction I saw the dog go, watching as he transformed before my eyes into a man. His black hair was long and dirty, and his tattered, worn clothes revealed where he had come from. I immediately recognized him from the papers. "You... your..." I stuttered, staring right into the face of Sirius Black.