MAGIANIMA // Hermione Granger

If You Don't Trust Me

Atlas dropped to her knees and pressed her forehead against the grass, sobbing silently into the green, her arm throbbed as her heart did, like a painful reminder of the reason Buckbeak had been sentenced to death in the first place. The three long talon marks will always serve as a reminder of the Hippogriff and what became of him. Her mind flickered to the platinum Slytherin and hate seeped into her heart.

"Hagrid..." She heard Harry mutter and soon felt the cold of the night tickling at her back when Harry moved forward, the cloak slipping off her just the slightest bit.

"We can't," Ron said weakly. "He'll be in worse trouble if they know we've been to see him...."

"How -- could -- they?" Hermione choked, crouching down beside Atlas and pulling the girl to her chest. "How could they?"

"We need to go," Ron reminded, a quiet chatter from his teeth accompanying the words but Atlas didn't feel the cold, not physically. She stood up, swaying slightly and let Hermione drag her forward, their sides so close they looked conjoined. The light of the setting sun was dying fast and by the time they had reached the open grounds of Hogwarts it had succumbed to the darkness, the moon hidden behind the clouds, not yet risen to its fullest.

"Scabbers, keep still," Ron hissed and Atlas stopped, casting a blank look over to the boy as he tried to force the rat further into his pocket. "What's the matter with you, You stupid rat? Stay still -- OUCH! He bit me!"

"Ron, be quiet!" Hermione whispered urgently. "Fudge'll be out here in a minute --"

"He won't -- stay -- put --"

Atlas could see the rat was terrified and was writhing with all his might, trying to break free of his owner's grip. Her gut was telling her to grab it and lob it as far as she could but she refrained, opting to not murder her best friend's rat.

"What's the matter with him?" Harry asked.

Just then, in the corner of her eye, Atlas saw the wide yellow eyes glinting in the darkness, eyes she had been welcomed to in the nights she would have nightmares. His body was low and his gaze was set in the direction of Scabbers's squeaks. It was Crookshanks and he looked positively deadly.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione groaned. "No, go away, Crookshanks! Go away!"

The little git didn't listen and grew nearer, pouncing after Scabbers slipped between Ron's fingers and hit the ground. Ron bounded after him before any of them could stop him. The Invisibility Cloak was pulled off of them and held behind Hermione and Harry like a cape, Atlas opting to just run after the boy, out in the open.

"Ron!" Harry shouted.

Thundering footsteps sounded ahead of them and Atlas shifted her eyes, following after Ron who was zig-zagging after Crookshanks, the cat apparently hell-bent on catching the stupid rat. "Get away from him -- get away -- Scabbers, come here --" Ron threw himself to his chest, much like he had done the months before when Crookshanks had chased the rat beneath a set of chest of drawers. "Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat --"

Atlas came to an immediate stop, leaning down to pick up Crookshanks who - surprisingly - fought back, swiping furiously at her face which she kept just out of reach. The cat looked manic and Atlas started to actually sympathise with the smelly flesh bag that was Ron's rat.

"Ron, Atty -- come on, back under the cloak --" Hermione panted and Atlas turned to her. "Dumbledore -- the Minister -- they'll be coming back out in a minute --"

The rhythmic pounding of gigantic paws approached them, catching their respective attentions. It reminded Atlas of the sound her own paws made when she sprinted through the Forbidden Forest and further reminded her of the stray dog she had found who would always run right beside her.