The pain of last year hasn't been forgotten, as Valentina Black wishes. She has already lost her mother and sister, but now she has to live with the grief of losing Cedric Diggory.
Will she lose more of the people she loves and cares so much for? O...
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"You did everything you could. No one can win against that hold hag," Ron says as I follow behind him, Monie, and Harry in silence as we walk across the old, fragile bridge.
"Even Dumbledore didn't see this coming. Harry, if it's anyone's fault, it's ours," I nod my head agreeing with Hermione but still deciding to be silent.
"Yeah, we talked you into it," Ron says, and I stop just behind him, facing toward the black, murky water beneath me.
"Yeah, but I agreed. I tried so hard to help, and all its done is make things worse. Anyway, that doesn't matter anymore," Harry says, and I face back toward him. "Because I don't want to play anymore. All it does is make you care too much, and the more you care, the more you have to lose. So maybe it's just better to."
Hermione cuts him off. "To what?"
"To go it alone," Harry says, and I turn my attention to him in disbelief.
"Don't even think you can do this without me. Without us," I scoff, and they all turn to me, looking as if they forgot I was there.
"Psst!" We all turn ahead of us where Hagrid stands, trying to hide behind the wall.
"Hagrid," Harry lets out a sigh of relief and walks to Hagrid with us following in toe behind.
Not one of us speaks as we walk into the Forbidden Forest that blankets us in a hug by the fog. I watch my feet as I try not to trip over the many tree roots that coat the ground.
"Any idea where he's taking us?" Ron asks and I shrug my shoulders at him.
"Hagrid, why can't you just tell us?" Harry asks and I stop in my track at the sound of an animal. There is no way I'm walking any further until I know what we are doing.
Ron turns around once he notices I've stopped walking and motions me to hurry up, but I stay where I am and shake my head no. I hear him groan in annoyance and run back to me, grabbing my arm and pulling me behind him. We both stop behind Harry and Monie because of the sound of horses and I watch in shock as I see half men, half horses run past us, deeper into the forest.
"I've never seen the centaurs so riled, and they're dangerous at the best of times," Hagrid lets out a sigh.
I turn my attention back to him. "A centaur? What the fu-"
He cuts me off before I can finish my sentence. "The Ministry restricts their territory much more, they're gonna have a full uprising on their hands."
"Hagrid, what's going on?" I can hear the fear in Monie's voice as she talks. I'm guessing this isn't normal.
"I'm sorry to be so mysterious, you four. I-I wouldn't be bothering you at all with it, but with Dumbledore gone, I'll likely be getting the sack any day now," I watch as he nervously fumbles with his hands and avoids making eye contact with any of us. "And I just couldn't leave without telling someone about him."
Suddenly thunderous footsteps approach us, and we all look at each other confused.
My jaw drops at the sight of a giant that stops in front of us. We all look at the giant shocked, and take a few steps back in sync, not knowing what is going to happen.
"Grawpy?" Hagrid walks closer to the giant. This time none of us follow. "Down here, you great buffoon."
The giant that I assume is named Grawpy, turns around quickly and I watch as his hands come towards each other just above my head and Ron's, making me grab Ron to duck us both down, just as Grawpy's hands connect with each other, catching a bird.
"Oh. Grawpy, bought you some company," Hagrid says, and I slowly stand back up while making sure everyone is okay.
The ground beneath me starts to vibrate at the sudden movement of Grawpy running towards us four. I start to run backward but manage to trip over a root and land on the dirt. Accepting my fate, I cover my face with my arm and hold my breath but hear a tug and feel someone grab my arm, pulling me back onto my feet. To my surprise, Grawpy is at a safe distance away from us due to a rope that is attached to him.
"I couldn't just leave him, because-because he's, my brother," Hagrid admits quietly, and I wipe the dirt off me while taking three more steps back. "Well, half-brother, really. He's completely harmless just like I said." He comes closer to the other three that start to move backward to where I am. "Little high-spirited, is all."
Grawpy grabs Hermione, lifting her into the air as she screams, and I run towards her hoping I could grab her arm, but I miss.
"Grawpy, that is not polite!" Hagrid shouts.
I turn to Hagrid in panic. "Hagrid, do something!"
Ron rushes towards Hagrid as I look at Harry who looks clueless.
"We talked about this. You do not grab, do you? That's your new friend, Hermione," Hagrid scowls at his brother while Ron picks up a log and runs to Grawpy, hitting his leg with the log in hopes that it would help Hermione, but it doesn't make a difference, except for breaking the log in half. "Grawpy!"
I watch as Ron gets kicked backward by Grawpy, hitting his head on a tree root.
"Ron!" I shriek and rush over to him, helping him up.
"Grawpy! Put me down!" Hermione orders and points her finger at Grawpy, trying to make herself seem stern. "Now!"
We stand in silence as her tone and words work and she gets put back down as I rush to her and pull her back with me.
"Are you alright?" Ron asks and I notice the way he looks at Hermione. The worry and admiration in his eyes as he looks at her makes me smile but I turn back to Grawpy who walks away.
"Fine. Just needs a firm hand, is all," she says and grabs her arm.
"I think you've got an admirer," I tease and watch as Grawpy starts to look through a pile of junk.
"You just stay away from her, all right?" Ron says and I smirk at him.
"I think Weasley might be jealous," I whisper, and Harry turns to me agreeing.
Grawpy turns back around and rings a bell that's on a broken bike. He walks back towards Monie, slowly handing her the bike that she grabs, and rings the bell.
Awe he's a big softy for Monie.
"He gets his own food and all. It's company he'll be needing when I'm gone," Hagrid says as his brother sits on the floor with another broken bike, ringing the bell once more. "You will look after him, won't you? I'm the only family he's got."
I look at all of us and let out a small smile. "Of course, we will Hagrid."
The three of them look at me but all nod agreeing.
