CHAPTER 10:
One Month earlier
Hagrid slurped his tea for a few seconds, avoiding their questioning stares, for a half-giant, he looked very elegant as he held out one pinky in the air while squeezing the miniscule teacup in his hand. Hermione winced as she imagined the porcelain cup breaking into a million tiny pieces between Hagrid's fingers.
Hagrid finally tore his gaze away from the brown clear liquid and with a helpless expression, he began to explain the situation.
Hermione shifted in her seat as the spring poked the side of her hip through her skirt, in doing so, she leaned further onto Draco and the boy raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise but didn't say a word. Hermione blushed slightly as she felt Draco inch away from her, this continued as Hagrid explained the task, which they were to complete. "The Minister of Magic was here earlier to check on me and make sure I wasn't harbouring any dangerous creatures " Hagrid imitated Cornelius Fudge with a high-pitched voice. Draco snorted and Hermione shot him a warning stare. The boy impatiently indicated for Hagrid to continue, "Go on."
Hagrid cleared his throat and continued. "…then when Fortis comes 'long, ye just lead him to the centre of the forest so the Centaurs can protect him there. Make sure they don't see you,"
"They're very territorial this time of year," interrupted Hermione "I was reading about them for your class Hagrid." She beamed at the groundskeeper and Draco rolled his eyes.
Know-it-all The Slytherin boy muttered under his breath. But he was impressed. He knew He'd made the right choice to bring her for this mission.
Hagrid smiled at her proudly then told them to come back to his hut the following week "Saturday night, bring a tent and some warm clothes, wouldn't want ye to get sick."
"You mean I have to camp with him all night to lure Fortis into hiding from the minister?" Hermione nervously glanced across at Malfoy to gauge his reaction about this.
The boy stood up and brushed his sweaty palms on his trousers, he turned to Hermione with an undecipherable expression and then nodded at Hagrid. Hermione watched the blond boy walk out, she sighed frustratedly, he turned around when he reached the foot of the stairs and smirked at her "See you around Granger."
Hagrid shrugged and walked over to the cauldron, he picked out a bone and threw it to Fang, who devoured it within seconds. Hermione waved at Hagrid and turned on her heel to make it back to the castle before Ron and Harry could question her.