Chapter 49: All Out of Forgiveness
Hermione yawned herself awake, opening one sleepy eye. She was cuddling Aleksander in her front legs, using the firebird as her personal pillow, and the evidence of her drool over her brother's feathers was only one indicator of many that Hermione had smothered him right proper to that end.
Aleksander made an "rrrrrk"ing sort of sound in his throat, his flaming feathers wisped around, tickling her chin. Hermione leaned back against Viktor's body, but continued to cuddle her brother's rounded bird body, her beak preened his feathers lazily.
Lazar's icy bird head popped up from the pile up, beak parted in an extended yawn. He stretched his neck out and nailed Valko on the rump, causing the brown earthy-toned bird to jump, eyes wide as he looked around the room. Valko stretched out his left leg, pulled it back like a pinball plunger, and kicked out suddenly, sending a misty bird ball tumbling out of the pile with an undignified squawk.
Aleksander, however, was still pinned between Hermione's forelegs, and she yawned beakily with an eagle squeak, snuggled into Viktor's warmth with habitual ease.
Three sets of mischievious bird eyes settled on the fiery bird ball that was Aleksander, and three sets of beaks nailed him on the rump.
Aleksander woke with a squawk, startling himself out of Hermione's embrace, and settled a few feet over, preening his offended posterior with his beak.
Aleksander yawned and flapped his wings, taking off into the air and flying towards one of the bathrooms.
The other three remaining birds seemed to chuckle amongst themselves, pausing in their bird laughter to preen each other dutifully.
Hermione's foreleg shot out and pinned all three of them down, and she yawned beakily over them, then mercilessly preened them all at once, floofing their feathers in all sorts of oddball directions before releasing them with a chirp.
Three sets of bird eyes gazed back at their sleepy gryphon sister. Dark fathomless eyes peered at the three remaining bird brothers as Severus yawned, hooting softly.
Hermione stretched lazily, slowly getting up. Her tail swished back and forth slightly as she turned her head to preen the owl perched on Viktor's withers. The dark owl half closed his eyes tolerantly as she fussed over him before padding off to one of the free bathrooms with a snake-shaped hitchhiker coiled around her neck.
The sounds of faucets being turned and water running came shortly after, the clicking of talons across the tile after that, and a loud sploosh came shortly after that.
The Sky Brothers shrugged their wings and bird walked towards the bathroom together.
The actual main bathroom, not to be confused with the smaller ones they had built, Hermione had said that it looked much like an indoor pond scape or hotsprings than a bathroom. The purpose of the faucets was more to add custom salts and bubbles to the water. There was an area to the side that was set aside for actually washing, but the larger area was for soaking.
They had customized the area for washing to accommodate paws and claws, beaks and muzzles, as well as hands, and it was quite customary for them to share the baths with each other in their animagus form rather than their human ones, but on the rare occasion they shared it as humans. Their animagus forms were, odd as it may have seemed to those that had never experienced it, more natural, so it was just as commonplace to find a waterlogged gryphon sprawled in the warm water with an inland taipan curled up on one of the heated rocks in the "pond" while one lurking simurgh sat covered in soapy bubbles so only his head stuck out.
There were shallow pools for the birds, and it was even known to find Severus sitting up to his breast feathers in warm water and suds, eyes half closed as he enjoyed the warm vapors and water of the bath area.
Lazar, Valko, and Petya fluttered over to the washing pools and fluttered in them, splashing water over themselves in bird style before damply fluttering over to the steaming pools made for soaking, depositing themselves squarely into the welcoming warm water. It wasn't long before they resembled something akin to a fluffy sea urchin rather than birds, but none of them seemed to mind.
Aleksander shambled in with a towel around his waist and one wrapped around his head. He sleepily shambled directly into the soaking pool, threw himself back against one of the underwater shelves, and submerged himself up to the nose.
"So," he said after a soak. "Thinking maybe we make annoyingly cute Easter eggs for holiday. After seeing one sestrá got in mail. Maybe we fill with pastries, sample drinks, tiny innocuous potions that turn hair different colors."
Petya hopped into the water and suds and emerged as a human. "Maybe sestrá and Viktor make cute adorable animated animals to put in eggs."
"So dhey can jump out and eat your face?" Aleksander asked.
"No, brother," Petya said. "Dat only back home."
"Oh," Aleksander said sadly. "Pity."
Petya slapped the water towards his brother.
Hermione yawned rather loudly that ended in a soft eagle squeak. She rose out of the water and shook from beak to tailtip, causing her brothers to dive under the water and ruffle their feathers respectively. Draco slipped off his heated rock and slithered into her neck feathers, reestablishing himself as her resident neck serpent.
She curled her her tail in a minor loop over her back, giving a soft chuckle as she padded out of the bath.
Aleksander turned to Petya. "Wonder if she put cold paw on Viktor's back this morning?"
A canine yip came from the adjoining room, followed by irritated hooting.
Petya grinned as he submerged back into the hot steaming water. "Dat answer dat, brother," he chortled.
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Hagrid was pretty sure he was going to die the moment the dark cloaked figures came over the hill towards him. The sun was starting to come down just over the hill, and the silhouettes that were approaching him looked about a hundred degrees into unfriendly and fifty extra degrees into lethal. He had a feeling he was going to be sacked soon by Umbridge, and he was even ready for it, but what was coming towards him now looked like a squad of Death Eaters.
Hagrid reached for his umbrella with trepidation. He had not planned on a fight to the death under the cover of darkness, and every ache and pain from his attempts to civilize his brother started to remind him exactly how horrible his attempts were coming along. Where the hell was that damn dog? Useless.
The silhouettes were coming down the pathway like specters, and much like specters, the descent was eerily silent. Hagrid wondered how many of them would try stunning spells and curses on him. He was highly resistant to those, at least, thanks to his giant heritage.
It was misting instead of raining, the particles of precipitation stuck to his beard and hair, making it seem even more inhospitable. It was a horrible night to be facing Death Eaters… not that there was really a "good" night to face Death Eaters…
As the group of them came into a dangerous range, Hagrid clasped his umbrella close to him. "'Ey now. What you be 'anting on this horrible night? I don' be 'anting trouble."
Each one of the figures were hooded and cloaked. One was in a dark red, one in a dark blue, one in a dark brown that was so dark it was almost black, one in a silvery gray, and then there were two of them draped entirely in black.
One of the figures in black was carrying a crate of something, but it was the other, shorter figure in black that pulled back their hood, exposing a very familiar set of bushy brown hair.
"'Ermione?" Hagrid exclaimed. He loosened his grip on his umbrella. "What are yeh doin' 'ere at this hour?"
"You did not pick up your Murtlap Essense you requested from my Master," Hermione said without emotion, her face was absent of the warmth the young woman normally showed to all her friends. Her eyes, even in the gloom, were dark and piercing. She extended her hand towards the crate. "It was understood that you required the essence immediately. Was my Master mistaken?"
"Well no, er, uh," Hagrid stumbled over his words. "You can put the crate in 'ere."
The taller figure in black walked past Hagrid and hoisted the crate into his table and returned to Hermione's side. The entourage that was escorting her were silent, keeping their hoods over their faces in the misting rain
"Er," Hagrid said awkwardly. "Thank Professor Snape for me… if you would… please."
Hermione's eyes flicked up to meet his, but her expression did not change. "I will do so. Is there anything else you require?"
Hagrid shifted uncomfortably. Never had Hermione been so cold to him before. She had always been warm and emotional. "'Ermione…" he said. "Is there something wrong?"
Hermione stared up at Hagrid without a change in expression. "There is a pure-blood supremacist in power at Hogwarts that wants all half-bloods and mudbloods expelled out of principle and the previous Headmaster has been banished for conspiracy and sedition. Whatever could possibly be wrong?"
Hagrid winced at her tone. "Can you not talk to me, 'ermione? Is it because of these—"
Hermione tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "These are my bodyguards, Hagrid. My Master believes I require extra…tending… due to my most recent proclivity to being almost crushed to death."
Hagrid looked down at his boots. "Oh…er… right. Look, 'ermione. I'm really sorry about that…"
Hermione raised her hand to stop his apology. "Do not say what you do not mean, Hagrid," she replied coldly. It's been almost two weeks since your half-brother tried to squeeze the life out of me, and I have not had one whisper of concern come from you the entire time.
"And maybe I do not rate such concern with your preoccupations as of late and that is fine, but that could have been Harry being crushed out there, Hagrid, and I guarantee you that Harry does not know how to channel crush resistant spells while getting the air squeezed out of him at the same time. It was only by the help of the centaur and the training of my Master that allowed me to survive long enough for my Master to find me and bind my wounds."
Hermione glared up at him. "And while I was getting my life squeezed out of me, my friend Harry Potter tried to cast a spell to save me. Only that spell didn't hit the right target, because my Professor who is supposed to look out for the lives of his students and the person who I thought was my friend, cared more for his half-brother he barely knew over someone who has been nothing but supportive of you for the last five years.
"So, no, Hagrid," Hermione said in a tone that mirrored her father's scorn. "Do not apologize to me. Because if you are going to apologize, I want you to mean it."
Hermione pulled her hood up over her head. "Goodnight, Professor," she said with a tone that was far more official that Hagrid had ever heard her address him. She spun on her heels and glided up the hill path back to Hogwarts, her entourage following her without a word.
Hagrid walked glumly back into his hut and sat down in one of his chairs, cradling his head in his hands.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
A/N: Eek! Where did all that animosity come from?! *eyedarts* If Hermione had pulled that with Ron back in the last year, the boy would have probably shat himself and would still be hiding under the rock he buried himself under after she did it. I realize the story is technically coming out of my head, but that entire argument kinda took me by surprise!
I'm still debating on what I'm going to do about Grawp within the confines of my story, and I'm having some apparent mental debate on how I'm going to resolve Hermione's realization that her half-giant "friend" basically left her to die rather than save her from his half-brother. What do you guys think? Should Hagrid have a good groveling with an apology scene? Or maybe Harry will have to work his own relationship magic to get Hermione to forgive Hagrid? Maybe both. Maybe Harry should slap Hagrid upside the face and get him to go grovel! Lol. I'm interested to know what you guys think. Maybe Grawp can redeem himself by squishing the right overly pink person before or after the centaurs are done with her… so many choices.
And now… back to my case studies homework. *whimper*
