#i can imagine when things got real tense in the early dungeon years he and Delgal got into some wicked fights

[mondaynice]

I know basically everyone and their mama has said that everyone in Dungeon Meshi has a dash of the autism but has anyone talked about BPD Thistle? Part of the reason I love him so much is because I see similar traits in myself. I love how well-rounded so many of these characters are. They feel so real in so many ways.

[bush-viper-cutie]

“Hagrid and Buckbeak” || YEAR 3 – Ch.21 (HP au)

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Day posted: 9/18/2020

Word count: 3,147

Relationship: EVENTUAL severus X oc (slow burn)

Rating: E for everyone

Warnings: none

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A/N: This is my first fan fic I’m writing mainly as a way to practice. This is a retelling of the hp books with an inserted character. Although most every character will be written about, this is mostly for the pro snape fandom. Please do not fear, although this is a severus x oc story, it is an incredibly slow burn as I do not intend for them to get together at all until after the final book events. Chapters will be posted twice a week.

This derivative work follows the events of the Harry Potter books by Jk Rowling and is intended as a fun way to practice my writing. Thank you for reading :D

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Heather opened her eyes slowly and turned her head. Everyone was still in their beds, which meant she was up extremely early. She sat up and sighed, remembering what she’d heard yesterday. She dug around her trunk for her sweater and her skirt and went to take a long shower.

As she absentmindedly scrubbed her arms with one of the spongey things she’d bought over the summer from ‘Bath Bubbles and Scaley Scrubbers’, she thought of Harry, and what he was probably feeling, being the one who cared more deeply when it had to do with their parents. He was probably angry… maybe feeling hurt for them. He’d want to talk to her about it, wouldn’t he?

She didn’t really want to talk about a murderer who betrayed his best friend, or about anything really. She felt numb and detached from the world… she felt like a simple dust clump come to life whose had all these troubles thrust upon her unfairly… but Harry was all the family she had and if he wanted to talk… she’d listen.

She toweled down and got dressed. She headed for her room to see everyone still asleep and took out her herbology and art book, ready to do some studying and plant drawings. For several more hours she sat alone until the time to leave Hogwarts for the holiday break snuck up and before she knew it, the common room was alive with excited chatter about going home to mansions and rich parents.

Pansy made sure to tell everyone what she thought she was getting – something about a topaz encrusted dragon’s eye that’s supposed to help her pick out real gold from jewelry shops – and about how she couldn’t wait to see her famous explorer uncle, who had most recently ventured into the arctic and discovered the feather of a previously confirmed extinct bird. Every year, one way or another, Pansy would mention some new famous relative to connect to her already famous family.

The chatter died down as everyone left together and she was left alone. She wasn’t sure how many Slytherins had decided to stay behind, but she was sure well over half of them had left, if not all. No pureblood would be caught dead staying behind like ‘those muggle borns’ as she’d heard a seventh year say – except they didn’t use the word ‘muggle born’.

She sat by the fire studying, moving on to potions as she always liked to finish with that, and after an hour she heard a knock at the common room door. She got up and opened it to find Ron and Hermione standing looking apprehensive about something.

“Hey… Do you want to come in?” She swung the door open further but Ron shook his head.

“No way. I never want to go in there again.”

“Heather we’ve been practicing all morning and – well Harry’s still asleep and we’re worried.”

She nodded and told them to hold a moment while she put all her things away in her room. She stepped out and walked with them back to their tower, talking the whole way.

“How are you feeling after yesterday?” Hermione glanced at her, clearly not wanting to seem too worried and failing.

“I’m fine. What were you saying about Harry?”

“We were thinking of making sure he wasn’t going to go and do anything stupid.” Hermione lowered her voice, “Like sneak out and try to capture Black himself.”

“He sounded real mad last night in his sleep, mumbling angrily.” Ron whispered the password and the portrait swung open. “At least I think he was asleep. He kept turning and fixing the blankets. I got so tired watching him I fell asleep.”

Heather looked around at all the red everywhere and gold-framed portraits of lions and sat down facing the window, glad to add any other color to her vision. Ron moved his game of chess and offered Heather the first game.

“When he gets up, we can tell him how awful the idea of going after him is. And if we’re all in agreement, maybe he’d see we’re right,” Hermione looked at her again. “We ARE all in agreement, aren’t we?”

Heather rolled her eyes. “Of course we are. It’s the Ministry’s job to get him, not ours – Wait can I move this here? – And besides, the last thing I want is to get involved with anything to do with You-Know-Who and his followers. We’ve dealt with him enough.”

“Even if Black betrayed your parents?” Ron gave her a different sort of look.

“Ron,” Hermione hissed. “What is your goal here?”

He frowned, “Nothing I just – I kind of get where Harry’s coming from… But I don’t really get where – ”

Heather picked up her fallen queen and shifted the board towards Hermione. “Look. He betrayed my parents. Not me. His business should be with them, not me and Harry. We’re not our parents.”

Ron pressed on. “But aren’t you mad FOR them?” Hermione pinched his arm. “Ow!”

At that moment the boy’s dormitory door creaked and they all stood up, waiting for Harry to come down the stairs. He looked around and rubbed his eyes, pushing his glasses up with his knuckles. “Where’s everyone?”

Heather laughed, “Gone home. Did you forget what day it was?”

“Yesterday was end of term! It’s first day of holidays today!” Ron jumped up and opened his arms, motioning to the empty room. “It’s all ours now.”

Hermione stepped forward and looked Harry up and down. “How’d you sleep? You look… tired.”

Harry frowned. “Fine.”

Hermione nodded and looked around at them. “Harry, we wanted to say – We know you must be very upset about what we heard. But I think it would be very foolish to want to go do something about it.”

Harry crossed his arms. “Do what?”

“Go after Black yourself,” said Ron, trying to stand like Hermione was, with his chin held slightly higher.

Heather looked away and sat down, letting them handle it.

“Just tell us you won’t. Please?”

Ron dropped his posture, looking very genuine. “He’s not worth dying for.”

Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed Harry’s face turn towards her. “Every time a dementor gets near me, I hear my Mum scream and plead Voldemort not to kill us.”

Heather closed her eyes and looked away. Something tugged at her heart. She tried to push out the image of her mom begging for their lives. She must have loved them a lot, as much as she loved Harry, to be begging You-Know-Who. She shook her head and opened her eyes. Harry’s attention was back on Ron and Hermione.

“Imagine it was your mothers. Screaming like that. A-and their friend who sent Voldemort after them was out there, free – ”

“So what would you do that the dementors couldn’t do?” Heather stood up and crossed her arms. “Why not leave it to the Ministry! It’s their problem, not yours.”

Harry stepped forward. “Fudge said Black wasn’t effected by dementors. Azkaban isn’t any real punishment for him!”

Ron tensed up. “You’re not saying – You don’t want to kill Black, do you?”

Hermione quickly cut in, “Oh of course not! Harry doesn’t want to – to kill anyone, right?”

Harry didn’t respond. Heather frowned and felt her anxiety rise again. She shifted her weight, hoping she didn’t have to start worrying about Harry really actually doing something foolish. She thought he’d just be upset, angry, not – vengeful. Would he really go after Black?

He looked at Heather. “Malfoy knows, remember? In potions he said – ”

“Who cares what Malfoy said?”

“Are you really suggesting taking Malfoy’s advice instead of ours?” Ron looked offended. “Malfoy’s? He WANTS you to go chase after Black! He must know what happened to Peter Pettigrew – You know what Pettigrew’s mum got? His order of Merlin, First Class, and his finger.”

Harry was clearly not listening, shaking his head at the abandoned game of chess. “His dad must have told him. He was in Voldemort’s inner circle – he could have been friends with Black – !”

Hermione started sobbing. “Harry! You mustn��t go looking for him! Black wants you to go looking for him so he can kill you! Don’t give him what he wants. Your mum and dad wouldn’t want you to go putting yourself in danger for them!”

“I’ll never know that, will I? Because of him.”

Heather shook her head, “Except you do, don’t you? You said you hear our Mother pleading for our lives. So you know she’d want us safe – and alive.”

Everyone stayed silent as Heather’s words settled in Harry’s head.

Ron swallowed. “Let’s head down to Hagrid’s. It’s nearly Christmas and we haven’t gone down to see him in ages!”

Heather nodded desperately, needing fresh air and any distraction at all.

“No!” Hermione shook her head furiously. “They can’t leave the castle! They’re supposed to – ”

“Yes! Let’s go.” Harry turned back around and headed up the stairs. He stopped at the landing and looked down at them, “I think I’d like to know why Hagrid never told us all this.”

Heather smacked her hand to her face.

Ron looked around quickly. “Or we could play more chess! I’ve already beaten Heather and Hermione! I’m undefeated so far – Or actually we could play Gobstones! Percy told me he left a set in his room – ”

“No. We’re visiting Hagrid.” Harry turned away from them and walked into the boy’s dorm, slamming the door shut.

Hermione wiped her face. “Well that went horribly.”

They got their cloaks and Ron managed to find an extra one from the lost and found for her so they wouldn’t have to go into the dungeons for her to fetch hers. They left the tower and headed down and out of Hogwarts towards Hagrid’s hut, wading through the snow as they walked.

The four of them walked in a line down the lawn, led by a very determined Harry. They made a deep trench in the powdery, glittering snow that went up to their knees. The blizzard had stopped and the whole world looked as still as a muggle painting. The forbidden forest sparkled white and Hagrid’s tiny hut looked absolutely cozy among all the snow.

They stomped up the steps, trying to shake off the frozen snow stuck to their cloaks and socks, and waited as Harry knocked. There was no answer. Unlike Professor Snape, Hagrid normally answered as immediately as possible, happy to greet whoever visited. They pressed their ears to the door and heard Fang whining, along with another weird sort of noise.

They pulled back and looked at each other.

Harry frowned and started knocking on the door as hard as he could. “Hagrid! Are you in there? Hagrid?” Harry paused his knocks long enough to listen.

Heavy footsteps approached and then the door slowly creaked open. Hagrid looked down at them with red swollen eyes and a pink nose. Tears dripped off his nose like a leaky faucet, splashing onto his damp beard.

“Yeh’ve heard!” He opened the door further and pulled Harry and Hermione in for hugs.

Ron and Heather looked at each other and shrugged quickly before Hagrid ended the hug. Harry looked back at them bewildered and before he could open his mouth, Ron and Hermione led Hagrid into one of his chairs. Harry and Heather walked in and shut the door as Hagrid slumped over the table and continued sobbing.

Harry looked down at the table and slid an envelope towards them. “Is this – ?”

Hagrid nodded and pulled out the letter, handing it back to Harry. “Read that.”

Harry handed the letter to Heather and she cleared her throat. “‘Dear Mr. Hagrid, Further to our inquiry into the attack by a hippogriff on a student in your class, we have accepted the assurances of Professor Dumbledore that you bear no responsibilities for the regrettable incident. – ’”

“That’s great news!” Ron clapped Hagrid on the back.

Heather cleared her throat again. “‘However, – ’”

Ron’s smile shrunk and he pulled his hand back.

“‘We must register our concern about the hippogriff in question. We have decided to uphold the complaint of Mr. Lucius Malfoy, and this matter will therefore be handed off to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. The hearing will take place April twentieth, and we ask you to present yourself and the hippogriff in question at the Committee’s office in London on the previously mentioned date. In the meantime, safety measures should be taken for the safety of other wizards and witches. The hippogriff should be tethered and isolated from the public and the other hippogriffs in your care. Yours in fellowship . . . ’” Heather scanned the list of governors and handed back the letter.

“Well,” Ron bit his lip. “You said Buckbeak wasn’t a bad hippogriff so surely when they see him they’ll see that.”

Hagrid lifted his forehead off the table and shook his head before thumping it back down. “Yeh don’t know them Committee fer the Desposal o’ Dangerous Creatures. They wouldn’t know innocent an’ friendly if they stepped in it.”

There was a loud huff and the four of them turned around quickly. Buckbeak was sitting on Hagrid’s rug by the fire, tearing into something raw and bloody with Fang resting under his wing. He rubbed at his beak with his talons and cooed at them.

Heather sighed. Normally Hagrid always confused dangerous for cute and cuddly, but this time she was afraid he was right. Buckbeak looked no more a threat than Fang did, both lying there, enjoying the warmth of the fire and each other.

Hermione sat down on a chair opposite Hagrid and placed her hands flat on the table. “You’ll need a good defense, Hagrid. You’ll need to prove Buckbeak’s innocence with character witnesses – in person is better but I’m sure they’ll accept letters – ”

“Are you a lawyer now too?” Heather tried not to smile.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

“That won’t matter!” Hagrid sighed into the rough wood of the table. “Lucius Malfoy has them all in his pockets. If I lose the case, then Buckbeak’ll…” He sobbed and sat up, cheeks glazed with fresh tears, and slid his finger over his throat. He sobbed again and fell back onto the table, wailing painfully at the thought.

“W-what about Dumbledore? Can’t he – ?”

Hagrid shook his head. “He’s done so much fer me already. I can’t ask him fer more. He’s got keepin’ those dementors out of the castle – and Black still lurkin’ about.”

Harry sighed, looking very troubled but understanding. He put a hand on Hagrid’s large arm and squeezed tight. “Don’t give up Hagrid. Hermione’s right about building up your defense. In fact – we’ll be your witnesses!”

Hermione nodded. “I’m sure there are plenty of cases to look at that could help us too!”

Heather put a finger to her chin. “Are there wizard libraries outside of Hogwarts? Maybe we could ask Madam Pince to have them send – actually, asking Madam Pince anything sound like a horrible time – but we’ll do it for you Hagrid, if it helps Buckbeak!”

Hagrid howled loudly and they all looked at each other, unsure of what more to say.

Ron picked up a kettle. “Do you want tea?” He looked at them and shrugged. “Mum always makes tea when someone’s crying.” Ron filled it with water and hung it over the fire, careful not to disturb Buckbeak, and soon the water was steaming.

Within minutes Hagrid had a fresh cup of tea and a box of tissues by his side, placed down by Hermione.

Hagrid blew his nose into a handkerchief the size of a towel and dried his tears. “Yeh’re all right. I gotta pull meself together… Too much to do to let meself go ter pieces.”

Fang got up from cuddling Buckbeak and placed his chin on Hagrid’s lap.

“Needa get back ter being meself. I got more responsibilities now – even if no one’s likin’ me classes – ”

“We like your classes,” Hermione bit her lip.

“They’re really… interesting,” Ron nodded slowly.

“How’re the flobberworms?” Heather remembered reading about them being picky about cold temperatures.

“Dead,” Hagrid said glumly.

The corners of Ron’s mouth were twitching. “Because of the snow?”

Hagrid shook his head and slurped more of the tea. “Too much lettuce. An’ on top of e’rything else – those ruddy dementors! Gotta walk past ‘em every time I want to get meself a drink from the Three Broomsticks. Almost like being back at Azkaban – ” He finished his tea.

They were all quiet.

Heather tapped on the table with her finger. “Is… it awful there?”

Hagrid looked into his empty teacup. “Yeh’ve no idea. Bein’ ‘round ‘em dementors makes all yer worst memories come back, playing like pictures, over an’ over in yer mind. I thought I was goin’ mad in there. Every time I slept I hoped I wouldn’t wake up again. After a few days yeh can’t remember who yeh really are. No point in livin’ after that…” He sighed and looked at them, shaking his head. “When they let me out it felt like bein’ born again. Was the best feeling in the word, getting’ all me happiness again, all at once… Course the dementors weren’t happy to let me go.”

He stared behind them at Buckbeak. “Thought ‘bout jus’ lettin’ Buckbeak go… Lettin’ ‘im fly free – but how can I explain to ‘im he can’t be seen around here? He’s a hippogriff. He’d want to come back an’ see his friends an’ get fed.” He sniffed. “An’ I don’t want to break the law an’ get sent back ter Azkaban.”

They were all quiet after that, and this time none of them broke the silence. Eventually Hagrid stood up and saw them to the door, thanking them each for being there for him and wanting to help out. He closed the door slowly and left them standing on his small snowy porch.

They all looked at each other and nodded, silently agreeing to head to the library and begin their search for anything and everything that could help their friend. They trotted back up the snowy slopes quickly and jumped up the stairs, careful not to slip and fall. The last thing they wanted was to get yelled at by Mr. Filch about all the snow they were tracking in.

They headed into the library and very slowly, Heather felt a smile pull on her lips. As sad as it was to see Hagrid in such distress, she was glad for the distraction. Not one of them brought up Black again, and everyone was nose-deep in books about hippogriffs and the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. She felt at ease and put all her focus on Buckbeak’s case for the rest of the day.

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