𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 •°𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴

[16]

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Snow was still thick upon the grounds, and the greenhouse windows were covered in condensation so thick that no one couldn't see out of them in Herbology. Nobody was looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures much in this weather, though as Ron said, the skrewts would probably warm them up nicely, either by chasing them, or blasting off so forcefully that Hagrid's cabin would catch fire.

When the Gryffindors arrived at Hagrid 's cabin, however, they found an elderly witch with closely cropped gray hair and a very prominent chin standing before his front door.

'Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago,' she barked at them as they struggled toward her through the snow.

'Who're you?' Ron asked, staring at her. 'Where's Hagrid?'

'My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank,' she said briskly. 'I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher.'

'Where's Hagrid?' Sara and Harry repeated loudly.

'He is indisposed,' Grubbly-Plank said shortly.

Soft and unpleasant laughter reached Sara's ears. She turned; Draco and the rest of the Slytherins were joining the class. All of them looked gleeful, and none of them looked surprised to see Professor Grubbly-Plank.

'Malfoy is up to something,' Sara told Nico in a whisper but she couldn't help but blush when their hands touched.

'He certainly is,' Nico replied softly, biting his lip.

'This way, please,' the professor said, and she strode off around the paddock where the Beauxbatons horses were shivering.

Sara and Nico followed her, looking back over their shoulders at Hagrid's cabin. All the curtains were closed. Was Hagrid in there, alone and ill?

'What's up with Hagrid?' Sara asked Nico who just shrugged.

Professor Grubbly-Plank led them past the paddock where the huge Beauxbatons horses were standing, huddled against the cold, and toward a tree on the edge of the forest, where a large and beautiful unicorn was tethered.

Many of the girls "ooooohed!" at the sight of the unicorn.

'Oh it's so beautiful!' Lavender whispered. 'How did she get it? They're supposed to be really hard to catch!'

The unicorn was so brightly white it made the snow all around look gray. It was pawing the ground nervously with its golden hooves and throwing back its horned head.

'Boys keep back!' Grubbly-Plank barked, throwing out an arm and catching Harry hard in the chest. 'They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it. . . . '

Sara sent Nico a soft smile and she approached the white creature.

The unicorn was relaxing as the girls were carefully running their fingers through it's white fur; it was soft and puffy.

Sara couldn't stay there for too long as 4 voices reached her ears; they seemed to argue.

She immediately got back to her best friend which was standing right next to Harry and Ron.

'What's happening there?' Sara asked and raised her eyebrows at Nico.

Harry's face was full with anger, Nico was red and Ron was about to punch Draco.

'Oh Potter! Nice that you joined us, what if you see for yourself?' Draco smirked and gave Sara a copy of the Daily Prophet.

As Nico was approaching Sara, anger still showing in his eyes, the redhead ran her eyes on the words that were written on the first page of the Prophet.

DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE

'How dare you--' Sara hissed as soon as she finished reading.

'What do you think, Potter? Is this enough to get your giant friend kicked out of Hogwarts?' Draco said, in an amused tone.

'Sara—' Nico started and put an arm on Sara's shoulder to calm her down.

It sent electricity trough her whole body but Sara couldn't think about that; she was boiling with anger, ready to explode at any minute and hex the pathetic blonde at any minute.

'You horrible boy!How dare you?'And the flobberworms haven't even got teeth!' she shot an angry look at Crabbe who smirked. 'What's this rubbish about Hagrid??'

'Rubbish?' he smirked, looking at the redhead. 'Everything we said is just as true as the fact that your parents are dead.'

Sara almost punched Draco but she was caught and held back by Nico, who looked as though he would beat the blonde up himself.

'How dare you!!' she yelled, trying to break free of Nico's grip which was only tightening by the second. 'You are being a brat and all now, but you will see that in a few years you'll get what you deserve for being so full of yourself and ruining everyone's lives!'

'Ooh, should I be afraid?' Draco and the Slytherins laughed.

'For Merlin's sake, shove off Malfoy!' Nico snapped and turned Sara away from him.

'Oh right, your little girlfriend can't take care of herself,' he shouted after them but neither Sara nor Nico seemed to care of his comments anymore.

Sara turned so red that you couldn't know where did her hair start and Nico was so angry that his ears where dangerously red, just like Ron's would.

'Hagrid,' was the only word Sara managed to say before she collapsed into Nico's open arms and she started crying.

'He's going to be okay,' Nico muttered as he drew different shapes with his fingers on Sara's back, in order to calm her down.

When they left for lunch, Sara was still sobbing and her eyes were red. Nico didn't say anything; he looked at her every time her eyes sifted to his and that was all they needed, because he understood her and she understood him.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───