Because You Love Me

32. Detention With Hagrid

They went inside Alaina's office and she closed the door.  She instructed Harry to sit down.  He sat down on the couch and placed his hands in his lap.  He looked up at Alaina, who had started to pace the floor in front of him.

"Harry, I want you to listen to me.  Professor McGonagall told me what happened last night, how you sneaked out of your dormitory and went down to Hagrid's.  All I want to know is why."  She stopped and turned to him.  "Why would you do something like that?  You know you're not supposed to be out after hours."

Harry averted her eyes, studying his hands apprehensively.  So she did know.  "I'm sorry, Mum."

"Sorry doesn't always cut it," she said harshly.  "You could have gotten hurt or...worse."

"We wanted to go and visit Hagrid."

"And you couldn't visit him during the day?"

Harry sighed.  "I made a mistake." 

"And you're being punished for it.  I know that."  She sighed in frustration.  "I just want you to understand...I love you so much.  And if anything happened to you I wouldn't know how to handle it.  Promise me you won't do anything else like this again."

"I can't," Harry said honestly.

Alaina smirked.  "Why not?"

"I'm too curious I guess."

She walked over and sat down beside him.  She embraced him tightly.  "Just promise me you'll be careful then.  And try not to get caught next time."

He gazed up at her strangely.

"I'm not giving you permission to break the rules, I'm just saying if you think you're going to die if you don't or there's an emergency to be as careful as you can."

Harry smiled.  "I promise."

She kissed him on the cheek.  "That's my boy."  She stood.  "Now you better go and get started on your homework.  Your detention is in half an hour."

He nodded.  "I love you, Mum."

"Love you, too."

She watched Harry leave her office and she sighed.  She hated scolding him.  He always seemed so wounded when she did.  What she told him was true though.  If anything ever happened to him, she would not be able to handle it.  Lily and James's death was hard enough for her to handle.  To have to bury her son, would be the final straw.  She would literally go insane.  Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, she left her office.  She needed to go and spill her guts to someone and Severus was the first person who entered her mind.

She knocked on the door when she got down to his office.  There was a faint rustling inside and then the door opened.  Severus seemed a little agitated until he saw it was Alaina standing in his doorway.  He smiled.

"Alaina, what brings you down here?" he asked.

Alaina ran her fingers through her hair.  "I just had a long talk with Harry.  Did you hear what he and his friends did?"

Severus beckoned her to come in.  She walked inside and he closed the door.  "I'm well aware of their nighttime adventure.  I just finished speaking with Mr. Malfoy.  I noticed Slytherin was minus points and McGonagall stopped by to tell me why.  I gave him a good tongue-lashing.  It was stupid behavior.  No excuse for it."

"I know.  I wasn't nearly as hard on Harry as I would have liked to have been," she admitted, pulling up a chair in front of his desk.  "I'm just so afraid I'll lose control and I can't.  I would kill him if I did."