PRINCESS ➳ harry potter , draco malfoy (OLD VERSION)

78 || Flight to Freedom

Katie let out a very loud shriek of horror, she couldn't help herself. Hagrid was barely recognisable. The parts of his face that weren't already obscured by his thick beard and mane of tangled hair was brutally mutilated. His right eye was heavily bruised and so inflamed that his eyelid shrouded his beetle black eyeball. His entire face was swollen and covered in purple and yellow bruises. There were at least seven cuts on his cheeks and forehead, some of which were still gently oozing blood.

"Hagrid!" Katie cried. "What happened to you?"

"Nothin', nothin," Hagrid replied gruffly. "C'mon in, want a cup o' tea?"

"Er — yeah, please, Hagrid, are you all right?" Katie asked worriedly, sitting down.

"Fine, fine, don' worry abou' it. Sugar?" Hagrid brushed her off as he removed a steaming teapot from the fire and began pouring two bucket-sized mugs of tea.

"No, thank you."

Fang the boarhound leapt excitedly from his bed, leaned his enormous paws on Katie's shoulders, licked her face, then rested his head on her lap while she pat his head lethargically.

"That was quite the show Fred an' George put on, wasn' it?" Hagrid chuckled, setting a hot cup of tea on the table in front of Katie and sitting down across from her.

"What? Oh, yeah, it was excellent." she said. She had been so distracted by the injuries that Hagrid had sustained that it took a moment for his statement to register.

"So," Hagrid began after taking a great gulp of his tea. "How've yeh been?"

"Good." Katie said casually, bringing her large and heavy cup of tea to her lips.

"Yeah?" Hagrid arched one bushy eyebrow. "Not mopin' around over Harry, are yeh?"

Katie blinked at Hagrid. She couldn't believe that people were still on that topic — it was April, after all. But, she supposed, she hadn't actually been to visit Hagrid since her fight with Harry in the Gryffindor common room all the way back in November, so his questioning could be justified.

"Oh, no, we're way passed that now." Katie told him without meeting his eyes.

Hagrid frowned deeply. "Shame, really, yeh made quite a good couple. Still friends though, righ'?"

Katie opened her mouth to respond with a simple "Yes," but hesitated. Could she and Harry still be classified as friends?

"Suppose so?" she shrugged nonchalantly, pretending that the question had not sparked a sudden sadness inside her. Hagrid seemed to sense that this particular topic of discussion wasn't very appealing to Katie, so he swiftly changed the subject.

"Had yer Careers Meeting yet?" he asked.

"Yeah, I had it on Monday."

"And?"

Katie let out a cynical snort. "The idiot wants me to be an Alchemist! An Alchemist, Hagrid!"

"Well, I hear yeh are good at Potions, an' Alchemy is linked with that." Hagrid justified.

Katie took a deep swig of her tea before responding.

"I s'pose, he didn't have to go insulting my Quidditch skills, though." she grumbled, still feeling rather sour about Snape's rude comments five days later.

Hagrid let out a very dramatic gasp. "He did not!" Katie nodded. "Well, yeh'll show him next week when yer team beats Hufflepuff, won't yeh? Insulting yer Quidditch skills... the nerve..." he added in a disgusted rumble.

As though someone had just injected a shot of anxiety into her veins, Katie suddenly forgot all about Hagrid's mysterious injuries and Fred and George's great escape as her brain became clouded by the thought of the impending Quidditch match. She had not once took time to ponder the fact that it was only a week away. There was no way her team were ready to play, but if they lost, Gryffindor would win the Quidditch Cup again...