Black and Potter | H. Potter

15 ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆ family reunion.

"Ron — come on back under the cloak —" Hermione panted. "Dumbledore — the Minister —they'll be coming back out in a minute —"

But before they could cover themselves again, before they could even catch their breath, they heard the soft pounding of gigantic paws. . . Something was bounding toward them, quiet as a shadow — an enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog. Ara recognized it.

"Snuffles?" said Ara, eyebrows furrowed.

Harry reached for his wand, but too late — the dog had made an enormous leap and the front paws hit him on the chest; he keeled over backwards in a whirl of hair; he felt its hot breath, saw inch-long teeth —

Thankfully Ara had already made her way over and pushed the dog aside; it rolled off him as she helped Harry sit up and Ara could tell that by his faraway look he was dazed. She placed a hand on his shoulder, willing him to try and stand up, she could hear Snuffles growling as it skidded around for a new attack.

Ron was on his feet. As the dog sprang back toward them he pushed Ara aside; the dog's jaws fastened instead around Ron's outstretched arm. Ara lunged forward, she seized a handful of the brute's hair, but it was dragging Ron away as easily as though he were a rag doll —

"Ron!"

Then, out of nowhere, something went to hit Ara across the face but Harry got there and pushed her out of the way so he was hit instead, it was so hard he was knocked off his feet again.

"Harry! You self-sacrificing idiot!" Ara groaned loudly, going over to inspect his now bloody face. "Are you okay?"

"Perfect," he sarcastically croaked out, making Ara roll her eyes.

From the corner of her eye, Ara could see something rapidly make its way towards Hermione, she quickly went over and yanked her friend to the side, all while getting hit in the ribs, getting all of her air pushed out of her.

"Who's the self-sacrificing idiot now?" Harry said as he groped for his wand, blinking blood out of his eyes. His eyes still scanned her worriedly despite his words.

"Ha ha," Ara scoffed, an arm slung over her ribs.

"Are you alright?" Hermione stressed.

"Oh yeah, I just need to breathe for a moment," Ara grimaced, she was bleeding too, she had a cut on her abdomen.

"Lumos!" Harry whispered.

The wand light showed them all the trunk of a thick tree; they had chased Scabbers into the shadow of the Whomping Willow and its branches were creaking as though in a high wind, whipping backwards and forward to stop them going nearer.

And there, at the base of the trunk, was the dog, dragging Ron backwards into a large gap in the roots — Ron was fighting furiously, but his head and torso were slipping out of sight —

"Ron!" Harry shouted, as he and Ara tried to follow, but a heavy branch whipped lethally through the air and they were forced backwards.

All they could see now was one of Ron's legs, which he had hooked around a root in an effort to stop the dog from pulling him farther underground — but a horrible crack cut the air like a gunshot; Ron's leg had broken, and a moment later, his foot vanished from sight.

"Harry—Ara — we've got to go for help —" Hermione gasped.

"No!" Ara cut her off. "We don't have enough time—"

"Ara — we're never going to get through without help —"

Another branch whipped down at them, twigs clenched like knuckles.