"Jus' a baby when a first got 'im, ee was. All delicate an' 'elpless. Now ee's grown righ' big an' fine with the softest fur you could 'magine. Would you like to see?"
'Erm, sure,' said Ron. Hagrid handn't actually said what 'ee' was, and past experience had taught him that Hagrid used adjectives like 'soft' and 'delicate' were anyone else would use, 'gruesome' and 'deadly'.
'Come on then, ee won't bite yeh.'
Ron followed Hagrid to the table, on which stood a large tank. At first glance, it looked to be empty except for a habitat of forest leaves and a few branches, but then Hagrid reached inside and lifted out a large, hairy --
'Spider!' gasped Ron, hoarsely. Fear petrifying him and his heart rate speeding up as his hands turned clammy and he began to sweat.
'Aye, grand wee beastie, ain't ee?'
In Ron's opinion, this particular spider (as big as one of Hagrid's hands) could in no way be described as wee, except, maybe, if compared to Aragog, and Ron most definitely did not want to think about him right now.
Hagrid set the spider down on the table in front of Ron and said, 'would yeh like to 'ave a go at strokin' im? ee feels like righ' fine silk.'
'N-no, thanks. I'm … uh … a cotton man,' Ron babbled.
The spider twitched and stretched a leg as though to move toward Ron. His heart rate went up another notch and his breathing became erratic as waves of dizziness and nausea over-came him. Stumbling backwards, he fainted against Hagrid.
'Well, fancy tha' ...'
NOTES: Written for a LiveJournal ficlet challenge community in 2003.CHAL: Hagrid helps Ron face a fear.